Shithammered--Atomic Sodomizer cd{Born For Burning Prod.} Posted on 11-3-24

 

Shithammered  is a duo that comes out of  New Hampshire's blackend thrash metal scene.The debut EP contains four tracks of fast old school blackend thrash metal at it's finest.Up  first is Atomic Sodomizer starting off with  fast and relentless guitars the guitarist plays relentless and aggressive passages.Their are some well played solo's and patterns.The vocals are grim,raw black thrashy screams.Up next is Drink Til You Bleed another ripping extremly fast song with hyperspeed guitar patterns that is played with intense passages.The vocals are more grim.raw gruff growls and screams that are done with power.Alcholic Triumphator is a raging fast and furious thrash song with extremly fast and chaotic guitars that are played with skillful writing.The drums are played with outburst of blasting drums.The vocals are old school grim and gruff screams,The final song is a cover of Bulldozer's Whiskey Time which is another raging fast and furious song that is played with skill and power.If  you are a fan of insanely fast old school black and thrash metal then be sure to pick up a copy of Atomic Sodomizer today you will not be disapointed.                                                                                                                 Born For Burning Prod.                                                                                                                                https://bornforburning.bigcartel.com/products                                                                                            https://www.facebook.com/bloodfiredeath1975                                                                                          

Thy Legion--Grand Cosmic Funeral cd{Art Gates Rec.} posted on 11-3-24

 

Malta's Thy Legion  return with their fourth full length of  brutal blackend death metal.Grand Cosmic Funeral consists of seven well written and performed songs that blends a nice mix of extremely fast and chaotic passages with some well performed mid paced passages.The guitars are played with a nice mix that showcases the guitarist skill of performing crazed fast paced passages.The guitarist also performs some well played mid paced patterns adding in some well performed solo's.The drums are also played with some interesting and well delievered passages.With a mix of crazed fast drum patterns and some slower more controlled mid paced drums to give the listener a nice mix.The drummer does perform some well played drum patterns.The  vocals are a mix of death metal gruff growls and some demonic death metal growls and black metal screams.Both vocal styles fit Thy Legion's music perfectly.If you are a fan of Thy Legion's previous  releases then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Grand Cosmic Funeral today.                                                                                                                                   Thy  Legion                                                                                                                                                   https://www.facebook.com/thylegionmt/                                                                                                      https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialThyLegion                                                                                     Art Gates Records                                                                                                                                         https://artgatesrecords.com/                                                                                                                          https://www.facebook.com/ArtGatesRecords/                                                                                            https://www.instagram.com/artgatesrecords/                                                                                               

Regicide/Bloodrust--Through Death We Reigh Split cd/digital{Masters Of Kaos Prod./Tikoes Kecemploeng Prodposted on 10-29-24

 

Through Death We Reigh is a split release between Indonesia's Regicide and Falken Island's solo project Bloodrust.Starting off the  split is Regicide with four tracks of brutal old school death metal that has a mix of extreme fast and some mid paced passages.The guitarist does write and execute some well performed patterns that are played with heavy and intense patterns.The guitarist does add some well played thrash guitar passages in a few of the songs.The vocals are mix of old school death metal growls and screams.Up  next is Bloodrust  who performs classic old school death metal with alot of skillful writing and arrangements.The guitars are played with a mix of heavy mid paced guitar patterns that are done with power.The guitars do speed up to a faster more aggressive style throughout a few of the songs to give each song a nice mix.The drums are done with mid paced drum passages that are done with skill.The drums do speed to a faster pace for a nice balance of mid paced drums and some faster drum patterns.The vocals are death metal growls that really fit the music perfectly. Both bands on this split play extremely well executed old school death metal.Regicide is defintly the more brutal of the two bands but both bands deliever quality within their songs.                                                                      Regicide                                                                                                                                                         https://www.facebook.com/regicidebali                                                                                                       https://www.instagram.com/regicide_official/#                                                                                           https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMPlJxL-tiGBAgt40FzCM6g                                                           Bloodrust                                                                                                                                                      https://bloodrust-osdm.bandcamp.com/merch                                                                                             https://www.facebook.com/BloodrustMetal                                                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/bloodrust_metal/                                                                                              Masters Of Kaos Prod.                                                                                                                                   https://mastersofkaos.bandcamp.com/merch                                                                                            https://mastersofkaos.bandcamp.com/album/regicide-indonesia-bloodrust-falkland-islands-through-death-we-reign-split                                                                                                                                       https://www.facebook.com/people/Masters-Of-Kaos-Productions/100083264766354/                              https://www.instagram.com/mastersofkaosrecords/                                                                                     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ5mrPBaMgDuGn71cyYWpbw                                                      

Terragon--Chapitre IV:The Middle Earth-Part two cd/digital{Self Released} posted on 10-22-24

 

Terragon the French black metal solo project returns with their fourth full length release.Chapitre IV:The Middle Earth-Part two contains twelve tracks of well executed and performed black metal that has a good mix of fast paced and mid paced passages.The  guitar  is played with some extremely fast paced guitar patterns that are played with intensity.The guitars do slow to a more melodic and calm pace throughout some of the songs.Both guitar styles are played with a skillful writing ability.The vocals are Grim,gruff death metal growls that are done with powerful vocal passages.Their are also some black metal screams used throughout some of the songs to give it a nice balance between the two vocal styles.Terragon  has created another great release that combines mid paced and faster black metal styles together for a great release.If you are a fan of quality well executed and delievered black metal then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy,                                                                                                 Terragon                                                                                                                                                        https://xterragonx.bandcamp.com/album/chapitre-iv-the-middle-earth-part-two                                       https://www.facebook.com/people/Terragon/100088815138885/                                                                https://www.instagram.com/manylaethurius/                                                                                              

OmInum--War For Peace cd{Witches Brew} posted on 10-22-24

 

Ominum is a band that comes out of Sweden's thrash metal scene and this is a review of the bands newest EP..War For Peace features five tracks of  well written and delievered thrash metal that is aggressive yet very well performed.The first track is Divided We Stand and is extremly well written and performed with fast paced guitar that are played with skill with some very fast paced patterns.The guitarist does add some slower passages into the song with some well played solo's.The drums are done with hyper speed fast drums that are played with intensity.The vocals are gruff growls and screams that fit the music perfectly.Up next is Land Of  Hate which is much heavier and faster with pounding drums and whirlwind fast guitars.Both the drums and guitars are played with tremendous skill and writing ability.The vocals are gruff growls and screams.War For Peace is up next and is a fast and furious song with extremly fast guitars that are played with a whirlwind of patterns.The drumming is done with hyper fast drums that are played equally as fast and well crafted drum passages.An Empty,Endless Race is the next track and starts off with aggressive guitars and drums that are done with fast paced musicial passages.The guitarist does write and perform some well played solo's and passages.Epitaph-remix is the final song and ends on a great note very well written and delievered song.That starts off with a nice mid paced guitar but doesn't take long for the song to go extremly fast and chaotic with some well played guitars that are done with aggressive fast paced patterns.The drums are done with a mix of mid paced drums and some extremly fast paced drum sections to give the song a nice balance between mid paced and fast aggressive range.The vocals are gruff  screams and growls.War For Peace  is a  excellent thrashing release from start to finish that is sure to please all fans of  aggressive thrash metal that should'dt be  missed.                                                                                                                        Ominum                                                                                                                                                      https://ominumthrash.bandcamp.com/                                                                                                          https://www.facebook.com/OminumThrash                                                                                                  https://www.instagram.com/ominumband/                                                                                                    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO9OD7yyPo5aUjV8g3ffLXA                                                          Witches  Brew                                                                                                                                                https://witchesbrew.eu/en                                                                                                                              https://witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com/                                                                                                https://www.facebook.com/witchesbrewthrashes                                                                                          https://www.youtube.com/user/WitchesBrewThrashes                                                                                                                                                                                    

Interview with Humanity's Plague Prod. done on 10-17-24

 

1.Hello Rich please introduce yourself to the readers?

 I’m Rich and am the man behind Humanity’s Plague Prod. and in previous years, Lost Disciple Rec.

2.At what age did you first discover rock and roll and heavy metal music? Who were the first bands and artists that you heard?

 I was 7 and the band was, and to this day still is my favorite, KISS. From there, it just snowballed with Zeppelin, AC/DC, Hendrix, then Sabbath, Priest Maiden, Metallica, Slayer etc…it’s just a constant building upon the foundation that started in 1977.

3.What was it that drew you to the more extreme black and death metal music scenes? And who were the first bands and artists that you discovered? Who are some of the current bands that have caught your attention?

 The energy, power and honesty of when they first came out. I’m in an age bracket where I saw the beginnings of heavy metal, thrash, death metal, black metal etc, & I’m very fortunate for that…and as far as who I discovered see the answer above. You just run with those genres and listen to/go after all you can find and decide for yourself on what suits you. I’m still discovering bands from the 70’s and 80’s to this day…there is so much out there and that keeps it fresh so you’re not stuck listening got the same 5 bands or same 10 songs constantly. As far as current bands there’s so many I don’t know where to start without shameless self promotion 😉

4.Rich you own and operate the black metal label Humanity's Plague Prod. . when did you first get the idea to start a label? Are you satisfied with how things have gone with the label over the years?

 So this path started when I did Lost Disciple Rec. I wanted to be in the music industry but it’s a difficult one to break into…so instead of going somewhere I started one myself. Once I killed LDR, I still wanted to be doing something with music but not on an LDR scale and something more focused, specialized. Where LDR was all encompassing metal/hardcore genres, I wanted to focus on BM…and here we are. As far as where HPP is currently, it’s constantly growing and building at a pace I am comfortable with.

5.What do you feel is the easiest and hardest part about running a label?Do you have any friends or contacts who help you with the label?

 Not sure any of it is “easy”. A lot goes into it, especially being an army of one. The hardest for me is getting timely responses from other labels or artists. Some are great…others not so much. It is what it is I guess. Also getting people to check music out. You would think in the age of the internet where it’s all at your fingertips, people would just take a listen but for whatever reason, don’t. I mean it’s not like pre-internet when you had to buy an entire album only to find out you hated it. It’s FREE to check out at this point!! As far as help, anyone who deals with me on any level is a help weather it’s a purchase, a post share, a trade, a review, an interview…it all helps in getting the name out there & the artists’ some attention

6.How many hours a day would you say you work on label business? 

Varies from day to day…depends on the other factors in my life at that time. I like to think I have a good balance between all the facets in my life that still allows me to do this and whatever else with family and such…

7.What do you look for when signing and releasing a band?

 Sound…feel…presentation…honesty…probably the same as someone looking for a new band to listen to.

8.What are some of your current releases that you have released? Are there any upcoming releases the readers should watch out for soon?

 We recently did UNHOLY CALAMITY & PHAUNOS cds…we are working on THRENOMANCY & BORGTARN LPs with another 4 lps and 4 cds releases planned …we are rapidly approaching 60 releases which I am proud of…anyone reading this should look at our discography and check some of it out…guarantee you find something that aligns with your tastes…

9.What styles of metal do you carry in your distro?Do you do many trades or do you prefer to buy wholesale? 

We deal in all black metal…on the rare occasion a DM title or 2 but for the most part just BM. We try to trade as much as possible but there are times I do buy wholesale as that is sometimes the only option presented. Not all labels trade so it is what it is.

10.If there are any labels or distro's reading this what styles of metal besides black metal do you carry in your distro?Where can the labels get in touch with you about possible trades? 

If it’s BM, you can email humanplagueprod@aol.com with your list and we can see what we can do.

11.What does Black metal mean to you?

 Freedom in darkness…opposition to religion…strength… aspiring to learn & achieve as much as possible.

12.When you need to take a break from working on label business what do you enjoy doing in your free time? TV, reading, finding & listening to bands old & new, doing family things.

13.Did you read alot of fanzines when you first started out in the Underground Scene?If yes what were some of your favorite fanzines to read?

 Love zines…I really liked Thrashing Rage out of France years ago…Petrified by FMP…Ablaze in Germany…so many I can’t remember them all off the top of my head.

14.What do you feel made a good fanzine? Are there any current fan or web-zines that you try to keep up with?

 I think first and foremost the bands presented and then the questions asked…I like an interviewer asking thoughtful questions and not just the same generic ones every band gets…and layout is big too…I’m a sucker for a good appealing layout …I’m just discovering new zines out there…RAW WAR, ZINE DEATHMETAL,

15.Besides fanzines i know tape-trading was huge back in the 80's and 90's did you do any tape trading?What were some of your most prized releases that you were able to buy or trade for? 

The tape trading I did had to do with when I was in a band and it was basically all thrash. Bands from PR or Canada would get in touch. Didn’t do a whole lot with black or death at the time…we had metal radio broadcasts on college radio and would mostly listen to those and pick up artists based on what I heard.

16.Thank you Rich for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final comments for the readers? Thank you for this opportunity and thank you to those who have supported my vision of a label over the years …HPP does not exist with you…                                                                                  Humanity's Plague Productions                                                                                                                     https://www.discogs.com/seller/humanitysplagueprod/profile                                                                     https://www.facebook.com/HumanitysPlagueProdBlackMetal                                                                   https://www.instagram.com/humanitysplagueprod/                                                                                     

Blasphemous interview posted on 10-16-24

 

1.Hello please introduce yourself to the readers?

I’m Ron (RK) Kaiser, Vocalist & founding member of Blasphemous

2.When did you first discover death and black metal?What is it about these genre's that drew you in and keeps your interest today?

Not long after I started my first year of High School back in 1990-91. I started with traditional Metal & some glam, then I got into Metallica & Slayer and got into heavier stuff. I would go to a record store called Rock & Roll Plus on South St and there would be a great selection of underground & imports that they wouldn’t have at the Tower Records across the street.

3.Who were the first bands that caught your attention? Who are some of the current bands that have caught your attention?

 Obituary, Deicide, Death, Sepultura, Morbid Angel got my ear early on. Currently, Undeath, Skeletal Remains, Torture Rack, Necrot, Obscene, they all got new albums that are in heavy rotation.

4. Blasphemous was started in 2003 what gave you the idea to start this band? Are you satisfied with how the band has progressed over the years?

 Myself and our original drummer were in a grind band that fell apart, so we decided to explore something different. It was very raw and primal sounding at first. For a long time we had what seemed to be a revolving lineup and it was tough to get real chemistry when you constantly have to change a member here or there. Once I reformed Blasphemous in 2016, I felt a new energy and once the lineup came together, it felt natural.

5.What is the current line of the band? Who would you say are Blasphemous's biggest influences and have they remained the same over the years?

 The current lineup has been consistent since 2016, with the exception of one change in 2020. Myself on vocals, Hal Microutsicos(Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Steve Shreve(Lead Guitar), Mark Vizza(Drums), and Dan Lee(Bass). As far as our influences, it’s been mostly consistent, Deicide, Death, Morbid Angel, Dissection, Mayhem, Angelcorpse.

6.To Lay Siege And Conquer is the bands fourth full length how long did it take the band to write the music for this release?Does the whole band take part in the writing process or does one member usually write everything?

 Ideas for this go as far back as 2019. 2020 was Covid and it kinda killed things temporarily. Typically, Hal or Steve will have an idea, trading riff ideas back and forth. And they’ll share the ideas with the rest of us. Hal will program drums on these riff ideas, and the rest of us learn it and play it out together.

7.Where does the band draw inspiration for the lyrics and what are some subjects written about on the new release? Which usually comes first the music or the lyrics?

 On this album, Hal has stepped up with the lyrics. Ordinarily, I’ve handled the majority of the lyrics and vocal patterns. But Hal wrote the lyrics for three songs and the themes vary, but overall darkness can be found in a lot of subjects we write about. The title track “To Lay Siege And Conquer” can be construed as an anti religious theme or even anti political too, I like to mix it up, you can’t have a full album be a half hour long Christ-bashing session.

8.Besides the upcoming To Lay Siege And Conquer are the bands previous releases still availible for the readers to purchase? Besides physical releases does the band have any other merchandise currently availible?If yes what is availible and where can the readers purchase it?

 The first two albums are out of print. But they are available on our Bandcamp page for digital download, and eventually will be on other streaming services. We got our other releases available there and also shirts too. Very soon we will have a beer available from Attic Brewing Co in Philadelphia called “Dead And Still”

9.Has Blasphemous gotten to play very many live shows over the years?What have been some of the bands most memorable shows over the years?Who are some of your favorite bands that you have gotten to share the stage with?

 We have, but over the last few years we haven’t played as often as we wanted. But one of my favorites was playing with Watain in Allentown back in 2008, it was the end of their tour, and this was when they still had the animal blood and carcasses. The stench stuck with you and the smell somehow lingered in my car afterwards.

10.Are there any tours or shows planned in support of To Lay Siege And Conquer? If yes where will the band be playing?

 Right now we are doing a show the week after the album comes out. It will be 11/2 in Philly with Antichrist Siege Machine and Entrail Asphyxiation. We may do some more weekend runs and mini tours in 2025, hopefully some fest appearances too.

11.Blasphemous comes out of Pennsylvania's black and death metal scene.What is your opinion of the scene over the years in Pennsylvania?

 The scene has definitely gotten better. There’s definitely more interest now than 10 years ago. And there’s plenty of promoters helping to push things.

12.Who are your all-time favorite bands coming out of Pennsylvania?Are there any new bands you could recomend to the readers?

 Around here, I got to also include South NJ and Delaware area too. All-time, definitely Goreaphobia, Polterchrist, Mortal Decay, Sapremia, Crucifier, Corpus Rottus. Currently: Cavern Womb, Scorched, Outer Heaven, Hematoid, and Distant Dominion(which has members of Mortal Decay, Polterchrist, ICE, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, Krieg)

13.Besides working in Blasphemous do any of the members currently work with any other bands or solo projects? If yes please tell the readers a little about them?

 Hal has a project called Engulf, that has a few releases. He does all the vocals and guitars and drum programming. The rest of us dabble in projects too, but that’s the biggest one of note.

14.When you need to take a break from working on new music or band business what do you like to do in your free time? 

I’m big into brewing my own beer. It takes time, but it’s so much fun to do.

15.Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final comments for the readers? 

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