EP Review: Monumentomb - Ritual Exhumation (2014)

It's hard not to think of Ritual Exhumation as the work of seasoned death metal veterans, however it would appear that this is not the case. Monumentomb were formed in September 2013 while, rather incredibly, Ritual Exhumation was released in February 2014. Monumentomb's sound could be seen as the culmination of the British and Swedish death metal scenes of the early 90's with a nice dose of black metal atmosphere. A good example of these influences can be found on Perennial Interment, where Monumentomb take the pounding aggression of Bolt Thrower and mix it with the rotten and twisted melodies of Dismember. However even with all the mentions of influences, Monumentomb are not a tribute act. While formed out of their love for Old School Death Metal, they add a sense of modernity into their form of OSDM through their classy melodic tremolo lines and solos.

The band's overall performance is rather quite excellent  with some fantastic guitar work from Byron Braidwood (who also handles vocals) and Alex Brown. While it is not always audible, Gaius Toulson's bass performance provides a great low-end and a thick sound. The drumming from Lee Charlton is also very solid and precise, although, along with the bass, is fairly typical of the genre. They form a solid rhythm section nonetheless. Finally, guitarist Braidwood's low growled vocals are a perfect fit for the sound of the EP, while some higher screams sprinkled throughout, such as in Perpetual Execution Torment, add some variation that prevents any monotony from setting in.

Ritual Exhumation doesn't have any real low points aside from the possible arguments of it not being the most original release. All of the songs are solid, catchy and have replayability. The highlight of Ritual Exhumation would have to be the larger-than-life but rather majestic blackened death metal of Citadel Of The Living Dead that is very reminiscent of God Dethroned. It is simply a sublime closer to the EP and leaves you craving for more. Monumentomb are a breath of freash air to the UK death metal scene with their form of melodic blackened death metal. The fact that this release sounds like the work of death metal veterans is a great achievment in itself. If they can produce such a complete EP in less than six months of being a band, then who knows what they'll be able to do for their debut album? It will be interesting to see where they can go from here, and hopefully the best is yet to come.

8/10

Ritual Exhumation can be streamed and bought from: monumentomb.bandcamp.com

Album Review: Krabathor - Cool Mortification (1993)

Hailing from, of all places, the Czech Republic, Krabathor were formed in 1984 under the guise of Monster before adapting to Krabator in 1987, and then finally to Krabathor in 1990. Cool Mortification was released in 1993 and is the band's second album, coming a year after the rather lukewarm reaction to the debut Only Our Death Is Welcome… While the previous album could be seen as a thrash album with death influences, Cool Mortification saw Krabathor venture into more death metal territory with a thicker sound and deep vocals, although the thrash influence did remain in the riffing and tempo.

While it may seem to be an odd title at first, Cool Mortification describes the album to a tee; an eerily haunting, and at times cold, onslaught of death. This is documented excellently in The Loop, which features an evocative clean intro with lovely synth work that leads into the sinister thrash style of riffing that is prevalent throughout the album. This leads smoothly into Without The Following Dawn, a song that features the largest influence from thrash metal, particularly in its main riff that wouldn't sound out of place in a lot of thrash. It should also be noted that, while Krabathor's sound is not original for the time, they manage to stand out from the crowd due how well it is executed. The riff work on the album is rather simplistic and at times quite groovy, but is complimented by some classy lead work.

The longest song on the album, Forget The Gods, is another highlight. Featuring a heavy groove at a slow pace, it would be expected that the song becomes boring fast, however Krabathor really know what they're doing when they slow down the pace, and as always, the simplistic riff work is complemented excellently by some nice leads. Temporary Being Of Insignificancy features some of the best bass and lead work on the album, even including a bass solo. The song almost brings an atmosphere of melancholy, something that I can't say I have heard in death metal with no doom influence. It's a compelling album closer.

The overall production of this album should be commended. Every instrument can be heard perfectly while the chilling atmosphere remains. Unlike many death metal albums the bass is easily heard and quite prominent in the mix, and Cool Mortification is all the more better for it due to the superb playing from Bronislav Kovarik. Along with Kovarik's excellent bass work, Petr Kopacek's drumming should also be noted. Playing more of a thrash metal style, Kopacek and Kovarik provide an excellent and interesting rhythm section. The rest of the band members also pull their weight, with the guitarists Martin Mikulec and Petr Krystof supplying some excellent lead work that complements their simplistic, thrash metal riff style. Krystof also provides lead vocals for the album with some great sounding growls. While it could be argued that there is not a lot of variation in his vocals, it is still an effective performance.

Overall, Cool Mortification is executed almost perfectly; Krabathor definitely know their way around their instruments, and they provide solid songwriting throughout. They manage to fully grasp the listener's attention. My only true complaint about the album is that the album could be seen as unoriginal due to the death/thrash style being extremely popular at the time. However, if all you are looking for is a fix of death metal through a thrash metal filter, then Cool Mortification is by far one of your best bets.

8.5/10

Album Review: Morgue - Eroded Thoughts (1993)

Formed in Illinois in 1990, Morgue released their only album, Eroded Thoughts, in 1993 on the very respectable Grind Core label. Now long out-of-print, Eroded Thoughts has come to be seen as somewhat of an underground classic through its mixture of Autopsy-esque doom passages and catchy rhythm and lead work. However, is this status deserved, or are Morgue just another third rate band that never made any waves in the very crowded death metal scene of the early 90s?

As previously mentioned, there is a lot of influence from pack leaders Autopsy. This is best shown in songs such as Random Decay and Plagued Birth, both featuring Autopsy's trademark of slow and heavy grooves. However, it would be wrong to say that Morgue were simply another Autopsy rip-off with other influences coming from bands such as Death and Pestilence, while adding their own twisted riff style. Coroner's Report would be an excellent example of this, featuring very catchy style of riffing that leads into a very rock-based groove around the half-way mark. Along with Coroner's Report, another highlight of the album would be Plagued Birth, which features more of the excellent, almost flashy but purposeful lead work and twisted riffing that features throughout the album.

It could be argued that the main weakness of the album is that Morgue do not always use their doom passages effectively. Random Decay is the closest that Eroded Thoughts comes to being uninteresting, with a plodding riff that doesn't seem to go anywhere. However, improvement does come through the implementation of some more technical lead work (see a pattern here?) however, it does not stop Random Decay from being one of the weaker moments on the album. Severe Psychopathology also features the doom of Random Decay, albeit an improvement due to more variation from the inclusion tempo changes and some ripping riff work.

It is easy to see that Morgue were a very talented band, and they clearly knew how to write a good song. There is some very solid songwriting throughout, and the band themselves were not slouches. Brad Buldak's vocals are fairly standard low growls for the genre, and his bass lines, while not always prevelant, provide great backing to the guitars. The guitarists Ryan Jerzak and Darrel Moore provide some very intriguing and twisted riffing that is complemented by great lead work. Eroded Thoughts also features two drummers; Nick Sebock of Cianide, who provides drums for tracks 1-3, and Ted Van Tilburg, who provides drums for tracks 4-7. I am no expert on the instrument but both musicans are extremely competent and do provide some compelling drum work.

With only seven songs and a 32 minute run-time, Eroded Thoughts does not stick around long enough to become boring. There are some slight flaws in the thin production job where the vocals are too far forward in the mix, and that while they could write some truly excellent riffs, they could not really utilise the slower passages in their songs effectively enough to be more than just competent. Eroded Thoughts is not a classic but it is an underground gem that has steadily gained more popularity throughout the years. Unfortunately this is Morgue's only album; it would have been nice to see how they developed from here.

7.5/10

Eroded Thoughts is soon to be re-released with demos on CD and vinyl as a joint venture between Dark Descent and The Crypt.