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Features - Column
 Dethroned Emperor #7 Column by Josh Haun | July 13th, 2008
One of the great things about being a columnist/reviewer for Sonic Frontiers is being able to get your hands on advance copies of some truly amazing albums, not to mention having the distinct honor of sharing your opinions of them with fellow music fanatics from all over the world. But, try as I might to give all the great metal records that come across my desk the amount of coverage they deserve, there are inevitably a few recordings that come dangerously close to slipping through the cracks of doom. This has absolutely nothing to do with any lack of quality or favoritism, it's simply a matter of only having so much column space and way too many killer CDs to discuss.
So without further ado, I hope to take the first steps towards rectifying this situation by shedding some light on a few of the unsung releases of 2008...
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 Hatchet - Awaiting Evil (Metal Blade)
Riffs, riffs and more riffs. Of all the hordes of nu thrash bands that are coming out of the woodwork lately, few of them seem to understand the importance of the almighty riff quite like Hatchet. I've seen this album getting some mediocre reviews, and for the life of me I can't understand why. It could have something to do with the overload of bands in this style now stalking the metal landscape (Merciless Death, Avenger of Blood, Fuelled By Fire, Bonded By Blood, Dekapitator, Warbringer, etc, etc…), but Hatchet have an air of legitimacy about them that I don't always sense when listening to records by other thrash revivalists. Much of this can be attributed to the guitar tandem of Julz Ramos and Sterling Bailey, who provide crunchy oldschool riffage and shredding lead-work in spades. Every song on Awaiting Evil has at least one riff perfectly designed to incite a head-banging, fist-pumping, beer-swilling frenzy, usually complimented by catchy gang vocal refrains and ripping guitar solos. Hatchet has the thrash formula down, offering up just about everything you could possibly want from the genre.
Although Hatchet has undoubtedly done a mighty fine job of delivering some ripping thrash on Awaiting Evil, there are a few minor flaws. Marcus Kirchen's lead vocal patterns tend to be a bit repetitive and although the band has some killer songwriting chops, sometimes one can't help but get the feeling they adhere a little too closely to the traditional thrash metal template. But, Hatchet is a young band so it's no surprise that they haven't totally refined their sound, and these very slight imperfections in no way detract from the fact that the quintet screams potential at every turn throughout the album's forty minutes.
Sure, there are many points when the band sounds like they were cryogenically frozen in 1987 and unthawed in the present, but that's because they manage to capture the spirit of what the original thrash movement was all about, from the gnarly production values to juvenile lyrics about Morlocks, demons and the living dead. Hatchet make a solid case for modern thrash on Awaiting Evil, and hopefully they'll be able to shred their way through the sizeable amount of competition currently clogging the metal scene.
 Nefastus Dies - Urban Cancer (Candlelight)
While some black metal purists may scoff at this Canadian quintet due to their tenuous ties with metalcore middleweights Ion Dissonance, they are missing out on one of the year's more well-conceived black metal releases. Granted this is a quasi re-release, as the album was originally put out in 2006 to virtually non-existent distribution and equally little fanfare by Deepsend Records. Thankfully, the band is now signed to Candlelight/Siege of Amida and will hopefully receive the attention they so obviously deserve. Regardless of the when the disc was recorded, Urban Cancer is undoubtedly a breath of fetid air in today's black metal scene.
Musically speaking, the album reeks of freezing cold orthodoxy reminiscent of Norway circa 1994 (never a bad thing). Intensity abounds, as the band rarely lets up from anything less than breakneck speeds throughout the recording, with subtle keyboard work lending some appropriately eerie underlying atmosphere to the tracks. From a vocal standpoint, singer Ill-Fate keeps things interesting and isn't afraid to step way outside the standard black metal rasping. This guy abuses and contorts his pipes in more ways than seem humanly possible, ranging from the dreaded low pig squeals to an ear-bleedingly high pitched screech and just about every other point in between.
Thematically, the band defies the standard "evil" black metal conventions, as evidenced by song titles such as "Cost-Effective Mergers" and "The Irony of Anti-Establishment Ideologies". Unfortunately the promotional copy didn't come with lyrics, but it's a pretty safe bet these tracks aren't about dark forests and black worship. It is this ability to mix old and new ideas that makes Nefastus Dies a band to watch and Urban Cancer worth more than just a few listens.
 Copremesis - Muay Thai Ladyboys (Paragon)
I'm not sure which is more disgusting, the bodily fluids-soaked gore-grind Copremesis unleash on Muay Thai Ladyboys, or the quasi-psychedelic/pornographic artwork that makes up the album's packaging. But once you get past the disturbing visual presentation, it becomes obvious that Copremesis are serious about their metal. While many bands in their chosen genre possess a musical approach that's as sophomoric as the poorly photoshopped crime scene images that typically adorn their album covers, Copremesis offer up a tightly wound, crushing assault. The trio manages to avoid the blasting monotony that the bulk of their goregrind peers often fall into by adding some technical flare to the riffs, as well as lacing the album with a few bone-grinding slower sections that make for a surprisingly varied listen.
Although I have no idea what songs such as "Bestial Castration" and "Mustache" are about, Muay Thai Ladyboys still manages to conjure images of a Japanese anime version of so-called "torture porn" films such as Hostel and Turistas. Come to think of it, the album could be the death metal soundtrack to ultra-violent, psycho-sexual Asian cinema such as Takashi Miike's Ichi The Killer or Audition.
After listening to Muay Thai Ladyboys, you'll undoubtedly feel extremely dirty, and I mean that in the best way possible. If you've got a jones for some seriously brutalizing gore-grind and/or pictures of Asian women sporting "boy-parts", this is the album for you.
 Dagon - In Desolationem Per Nefandum (Fire of Fire)
It seems like most of the truly atmospheric black metal out there is being produced by one man acts. Someone must've forgotten to mention this unwritten rule to Texas-based four-piece Dagon, because their latest album exudes even more eerie malevolence than the Lovecraft-ian elder god for which the band is named.
And much like Lovecraft's Dagon, the band sounds like it crawled out of the hellish depths of the abyss, seething with a very palpable feeling of esoteric evil. Songs like "The Kings of Malice Return to their Rightful Place" and "Corpus Hermecticum" aren't just songs, they are works of arcane sorcery crafted to fill you with dread and dismay. The guitars are a wash of filthy, amorphous distortion, while the drums clatter away in the background and the truly chilling vocals of Blood Moon Ausar rise up out of the void to invoke some sort of unnameable cosmic doom.
In Desolationem Per Nefandum is the perfect album to listen to alone in a pitch black room while visions of Lovecraft's Great Old Ones, not dead but dreaming, slither and shamble out of the darkest corners of your mind's eye.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, there are even more records out there begging for additional coverage and I'm determined to give each and every one of them their fare shake before the year is out. Among them, Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1, Krallice - s/t, Wold - Stratification, The Rotted - Get Dead or Die Trying, Gorgoroth - True Norwegian Black Metal: Live in Grieghallen, Vader - XXV… Let's just say it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Expect more info on these slabs of slaughter as I wrap my ears around them further.
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In the News
One of my favorite passtimes is trolling myspace for weird and wonderful new bands, and although my searches for undiscovered greatness usually come up woefully short, one band that has undoubtedly caught my attention of late is Aanal Beehemoth. I'm not sure what to make of these guys, are they truly demented purveyors of quasi-psychedelic, garage rock damaged black metal, or just a massive piss-take? At the end of the night it doesn't really matter, because the band manages to use this twisted formula to whip up some killer tunes, coming off like a scuzzy black metal version of vintage Stooges. You can check out the band's entire debut album, the appropriately named Forest Paranoid here, or sample several tracks at their MySpace page. I can't help but think this is what Darkthrone might've sounded like if they had been around in the 1960s…
Cannibal Corpse has become a household name over the years, not to mention the only death metal band I know of that's appeared in a Jim Carrey film (see 1994's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective). On July 8th, the Floridian quintet unleashed Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years, a triple DVD compendium of live footage, video clips and biographical information. For those of you wanting to get a preview taste of the atrocities contained within this monster release before making a purchase, a number of sites across the web are offering exclusive clips for your viewing displeasure. Among the web domains offering preview footage are the band's official website, Fangoria Magazine, and even MTV. Now I have to admit, I am generally not a huge fan of concert DVDs, but this thing looks pretty amazing and honestly how can you not love the Corpse?
And in tour news, Lair of the Minotaur, the Chicago power trio responsible for the one of the year's finest metal releases in War Metal Battle Master, not to mention probably the greatest metal video of all time, have once again hit the road. This time out they're making the rounds with the likes of Japanese avant-metallers Boris, then later on hooking up with old-school crossover purveyors MOD. I had the chance to see these guys tear up the stage on their last tour with Today is the Day and Mouth of the Architect and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not to be missed. If you like Venom, Celtic Frost or songs about killing people with large medieval weaponry, you owe it to yourself to catch one of their shows.
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Bands or labels interested in news, interviews, or reviews for future installments of Dethroned Emperor, please get in touch: jhaun@sonicfrontiers.net.
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