Video Premiere: Implore – Sentenced, New Album Due Next Week

Posted on September 4, 2015 by News Team

Ghost Cult Magazine is pleased to present the new video from crusty grindcore/power violence up and comers Implore, for their song ‘Sentenced’. The blistering track with a chaotic and poignant video comes from their début full length album, Depopulation, due out next week from Pelagic Records. You can watch the ‘Sentenced’ video at this link or below:

After releasing their initial EP Black Knell in 2014, the Hamburg based, multi-national band is ready to continue making a mark on the underground scene. The band has a pedigree that includes past performances on record from Heaven Shall Burn drummer Christian Bass (co-founder and drums on Depopulation) and Kevin Talley drumming on Black Knell (Suffocation/Dying Fetus). They have already extensively toured Europe and North America as well. Coming into their own on Depopulation, Implore is brutal enough to make you throw down in the mosh pit, yet uncompromisingly smart and eye-opening.

Implore, photo credit Pelagic Records

Pre-order Depopulation

vinyl: http://pelagic-records.com/shop/vinyl/implore-depopulation-lp/
CD: http://pelagic-records.com/shop/cds-dvds-books/implore-depopulation-cd/

Implore band (new permanent line-up)

Gabriel Dubko – bass/vocals

Daniel – Guitar/vocals

Michael Pheffer – drums

Implore online at Pelagic Records

Implore on Facebook

Implore on Bandcamp

Immortal Bird – Empress/Abscess

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Steve Tovey

When you see bands described as “genre-defining” or “indescribable”, the usual outcome is that they’ve got the odd weird bit, or they’ve bolted some styles together that are strange bed-fellows, yet when that gaze of Sauron is brought to bear on Immortal Bird it holds truer than most, as Empress/Abscess (Broken Limbs/Manatee Rampage) builds on the promise of their self-released debut EP Akrasia, and sees them moulding their ideas into more focused, while concurrently increasingly divergent from each other, beings.

The brainchild of Rae Amitay, who has relinquished duel duties to focus purely on vocals with Garry Naples picking up the varied tempos from behind the drumkit, and guitarist Evan Berry, Immortal Bird take influence from all manner of fuels including sludge flecked crusty punk (‘Neoplastic’) controlled melodic black(ened) metal (‘Saprophyte’ and ‘To A Watery Grave’) and Scandinavian death rock (‘Sycophant’), while opening their scarred arms to embrace mid-tempo discordant jangles, djent shudders and thrashing, all supporting Amitay’s envenomed snarl and captured in a granite encased production courtesy of Pete Grossman (Veil of Maya, Weekend Nachos) and mixed by Colin Marston (yes, he of Krallice); the pair finding the requisite abrasiveness of tone, so that each note is clear, defined and scouring your inner ear like sandpaper on rough bark.

All this is clasped together by an impressive force of personality that allows the entity to be Immortal Bird all at the same time, yet, like an ethereal membrane holding together a writhing mass of hungry, angry bacteria (should said bacteria be sentient), listening to Empress/Abscess means being subjected to a complicated relationship as the brain seeks to strengthen its hold on the music within, to find hooks and make sense, to strengthen its ability to contain the multitude of collisions that ultimately lead to breaches, and a feeling of the parts, actually, being greater than the whole… as a collective organism, it just doesn’t quite all work, regardless of the potency of each of the contained pieces.

There is plenty to enrich within this thirty minute explosion of anger, sorrow and frictional metallic exploration, and immortality has to begin somewhere. With the open minded and progressive, musically dissonant talents needed to nurture the host already in situ, once this ornithological wonder fully spreads its wings in years to come, it will display a most vitriolic and impressive plumage. The chick just needs time to grow.

7.0/10

STEVE TOVEY

On The Road…. Mutilation Rites and Mantar

Posted on March 20, 2015 by News Team

As much as the underground music fan loves a battle-tested road dog band, don’t let anyone fool you: touring isn’t glamorous, and at times not fun. If it wasn’t for the love of music, why else would people do it? This never more true than for your crusty, blackened metal miscreant bands such as Mutilation Rites. Playing 27 dates over five weeks,crisscrossing the country to do it in a van ain’t exactly for the weak. The only stop of any length is for South By Southwest, which is its own little nightmare in and of itself. On the road supporting last summer’s excellent release Harbinger (Prosthetic Records), Mutilation Rites just finished a tour of Europe and has more gigs in the offing. Joined on the tour by the crushing German duo Mantar, enjoying their first time on tour in the USA, this has to be one of the cooler, truer tours of the early going in 2015. Catching both bands in the intimate 51 West venue in Phoenix AZ, photographer Julian Thompson glimpsed the bands both chilling out before the show, and boiling over live.

Mutilation Rites, by Julian Thompson

Mantar, by Julian Thompson

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PHOTOS BY JULIAN THOMPSON

The Banner – Greying

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Steve Tovey

The Banner are one of those bands who, if you reach in to the deepest recesses of your memory, showed real signs of promise in the early 2000’s. It is almost crazy to think that the band are already on their fifth studio album with Greying (Good Fight) because they have always been so under the radar, but you’ll be two tracks into this record and immediately you’ll feel that THIS is what they are capable of. Now, before all you diehard fans of the band start throwing us evil glares and shaking your finger in disregard, we know this has been a long six year wait, but with these being the results after such a length of time, The Banner could well see themselves becoming a blip on the radar after all.

Previous records from this band have all been relatively varied. The 2006 release Frailty (Ferret) is the album which many point to as their best due to its aggression and calculated fury, but with Greying the band have been able to blend this with a heightened emphasis on a far darker and brooding tone. The first four tracks on here contain elements which wouldn’t be misplaced on a Doom record, before it suddenly explodes into more of a Hardcore sound on ‘Unbaptized’. The darker edge throughout the record, really allows it to set itself apart from other Hardcore Punk bands – in fact to a degree where you should probably take the ‘Hardcore Punk’ label with a pinch of salt on this record.

Overall then, Greying is almost certainly The Banner’s finest album to date, with a maturity in the sound unrivalled compared to their other records. This is the sound of a band who have been able to truly collate together all of their strengths from previous releases and mashed them together into one big snarling beast of a record. One thing is for sure, Greying will surely get more people talking about The Banner a lot more, a fact which many of its closest fans feel should have happened many years ago.

8.0/10

The Banner on Facebook

TOM DONNO

Krieg – Transient

Posted on October 10, 2014 by News Team

New Jersey isn’t a place you’d imagine was capable of spawning a Black Metal act that could appease the kvlt masses, all 666 of them. Indeed, the Garden State had best prepare for the oncoming blizzard. Being a band for nearly 20 years, Krieg has been among the forerunners of the USBM movement alongside Judas Iscariot, Weakling, and Leviathan, a distinction well deserved if it culminates in the release at hand, entitled Transient. The unassuming cover art features naught but a ruined building in black & white; no logo, no title, just an unassuming portrait of decay to accompany the equally grim music.

Far from being merely an imitation of the Norse masters, one can still pick out glimmers of old Immortal, and DarkThrone, as well as that distinctively American (fuck yeah) sound that pays homage to Crust Punk. Speaking of that, there’s a killer cover of Amebix’s ‘Winter’, with faithfully replicated vocals, cleverly placed in the middle of the album as opposed to being tacked on at the end. Not many bands do this, but I feel as though Transient on its own could have gotten away with that, seeing as the material is strong enough to hold its own merit. The drumming’s cannonading assault is rhythmically sound, and even provides enough subtlety, particularly in the cymbalwork, to keep me tuned in throughout. The guitar work is simple, but does its job well enough that they don’t need flashy solos, complex intertwining harmonies, etc. Just endless snow. Even the bass is audible, and that extra layer of low end goes a long way in enhancing the already potent axes.

Overall, I found myself preferring the tracks with the catchiest melodies, as I’m a sucker for songwriting in my Black Metal. ‘Atlas With A Broken Arm’ has a particularly sorrowful, even catchy melody, and near the end puts in a rockin’ headbang section, complete with an atmospheric lead (or is it a synth?), finishing with a spectacularly anguished wail that departs from Lord Imperial’s standard delivery. ‘Ruin Our Lives’ opens slow, has a brief electronic interlude, and returns with renewed malice in the form of Satanic Warmaster-esque pummeling. Closing track ‘Gospel Hand’ is perhaps, alongside ‘Atlas’, one of the strongest tracks, due to its melody also being quite the earworm, insofar as Black Metal can have catchy riffs without being false. Take notes, aspiring Black Metallers, before strapping on those spiked gauntlets: You can make music.

Picturesque bleakness and a comforting sense of nihility pervade this release. No filler makes itself known here, even though the average song is around 4-5 minutes, the longest being ‘Home’, an ambient track featuring a seasonably bleak spoken word piece that drives er… home the essence and heart of the album. Enriched by electronics and a simple acoustic guitar riff, it’s a welcome shift musically, tonally cohesive enough to earn its place. In all, the album doesn’t reek of modernity, nor wallow in its vinyl closet, but offers quality at every turn. A highly recommended soundtrack for your impending death.

9/10

Krieg on Facebook

SEAN PIERRE-ANTOINE

Old Wounds – Death Projection

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Steve Tovey

The meeting of Crust punk, hardcore and metal is by no means an original concept, just look at the plethora of bands in recent years that the likes of Black Breath and Trap Them have opened the doors to, and it is certainly a formula that New Jersey upstarts Old Wounds are not adding any real creativity to on their debut EP Death Projection (Good Fight), but it does prove that they pack a punch.

With only 4 tracks and an overall playing time of approximately 10 minutes, Death Projection is a short, sharp kick to the gonads of raw, sweaty metallic tinged punk. All the traits you can expect are present, from the rabid bark at the front to the blistering energy backing it. At 3 minutes long the curiously titled ‘Epilogue of a Possession’ is the most interesting prospect on the EP, with a more black metal style riffing at first before drifting into a cleaner, eerie tone.

There may not be a huge amount of uniqueness about these guys but there are hints of out of the box thinking. Where they really prove themselves is in their visceral vigor which holds them as ones to watch for.

7.0/10

Old Wounds on Facebook

CHRIS TIPPELL

Enabler Signs to Century Media, Recent Album To See European Release

Posted on September 24, 2014 by News Team

Enabler, one of the most impressive bands in recent memory have signed to Century Media Records. First on the agenda is the official European release of their album La Fin Absolue Du Monde, which was released last spring from The Compound/Creator-Destructor labels in the USA. The band has been touring tirelessly behind that release, including a cross country tour opening for EyeHateGod.

Of La Fin Absolue Du Monde, Ghost Cult’s Tim Ledin remarked in his review of the album and the band:

“The sheer energy that the Wisconsin threesome create in this newest release is what hardcore bands of today should be modeling themselves after. Enabler is able to create speedy, short songs and give a crossover thrash and d-beat feel but keep their hardcore roots in as well.”

And…

“They got my goosebumps to grow goosebumps.”

Photo by Meg Loyal Photography

From The Press Release:

Following the initial release of Enabler‘s acclaimed second LP, La Fin Absolue Du Monde — which hit the streets in May via an alliance between The Compound and Creator-Destructor — the album will now see an official European release through Century Media, as the band has officially signed with the label.

Issued Enabler‘s founding guitarist/vocalist Jeffrey Lohrber of the union with Century Media: “I couldn’t be happier for all of this to come together. We’ve had a lot of good people working behind us for years, friends who have lived through the blood, sweat, and tears with myself and the multitude of extremely talented musicians who have shared the stage playing in Enabler. Myself and the musicians who share this with me are going to take this to the next level. The best is yet to come.”

We at The Earsplit Compound are stoked to see our close allies in Enabler get hooked up with an amazing worldwide deal with a label like Century Media and can’t wait to see them remove many faces live and on record through the New Year.

While European fans await the Century Media reissue of the album, those based in North America can order La Fin Absolue Du Monde now, the first pressing of the LP version from The Compound available on black/white/Orange Crush splatter, limited to 250 copies, in a wide-spine, uncoated jacket with a digital download code included, the CD housed in a high-quality, six-panel digipak. Additionally, The Compound released Enabler‘s previous Flies EP, which is also still available on digipak CD (for a mere $5) and on limited import 12″ LP courtesy of a licensing deal with London’s Holy Roar Records. Order all physical versions of both releases HERE.

Watch Enabler’s “Close My Eyes” video via Metal Injection AT THIS LOCATION.

Enabler on Facebook

Century Media on Facebook

The Compound On Facebook

Creator-Destructor on Facebook

Enabler – La Fin Absolue Du Monde

Posted on August 4, 2014 by News Team

Milwaukee’s own, Enabler, are back and ready to break your face (or maybe just your ears) in their newest release, La Fin Absolue Du Monde (The Compound/Creator Destructor ). Now I will come out and say that I am not really the biggest fan of hardcore punk and normally do not end up at said shows. However, Enabler has done a great service in recruiting me as a fan of what they have to offer. The sheer energy that the Wisconsin threesome create in this newest release is what hardcore bands of today should be modeling themselves after. Enabler is able to create speedy, short songs and give a crossover thrash and d-beat feel but keep their hardcore roots in as well. Lastly, well-timed breakdowns are extremely important and should not be the center of the song. So out of the 14 neck-breaking tracks, I was able to pick out a few of my favorites, although just about every song was enjoyable.

‘Neglect’ has one of my favorite riffs/tones on the album as Enabler keeps it really crusty which is one of the big selling points for a hardcore band for me. I love the pace of the song as well as it starts off quick then just runs into a breakdown and stays in that tempo to finish off the song. My favorite lyrics come from the end of the very next track, ‘I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This’ and no, this is not a cover of Taking Back Sunday. The listener is once again greeted to a high-speed tempo attack to start of this track. Just when your neck starts to hurt, the tempo slows down but the aggression picks up. At the end of this track, the lyrics, “No future, no fate, there’s nothing but the lives we make” is repeated a few times. Not only do I completely agree with these lyrics, but the delivery of the message wrapped in the Enabler energy got my goose bumps to grow goose bumps. One last song I wanted to point out, which happens to be the longest song on the album at 5:46 in length, is ‘Felony.’ The intro riff to this song almost sounds like some sort of alarm you would hear out of a Silent Hill knock-off as it gives off vibes of something big coming. The song hits a crescendo that kicks into the high-speed tempo I’ve come to highly enjoy throughout the album until we hit what sounds like a build up for a breakdown. What we get instead is a breakdown that has the most epic feel to it that literally brings the song down back to just a crusty guitar riff until that too fades away.

Overall, it only took me a few spins of this album to get hooked on it. This band has indeed earned at least one more fan today in me and I will be searching for more at this point without a doubt. Looking back on La Fin Absolue Du Monde and the sound that Enabler is pulling for, I can only wish that I am able to review their next tour when it comes through my way. And maybe, just maybe, Cancer Bats can be included on said tour as well. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.

8/10

Enabler on Facebook

TIM LEDIN

666% Free – Jan Slezak of Ramlord

Posted on July 16, 2014 by News Team

One of the most exciting underground bands in America today is Ramlord. Led by the positively nihilistic Jan Slezak (Leather Chalice), their mesh of crust-laden blackened d-beat has kids beating the piss out of each other up and down the east coast and scowling a lot in general. Sort of an anti-hero band for people in these times of anti-everything; these guys play fast, sick music without apology or regard for typical conventions. Their recent album, Crippled Minds, Sundered Wisdom (Hypaethral Records) was a keeper too. Ghost Cult scribe Sean Pierre-Antoine has risked his own life and limb in the mosh pits of raided-by-police DIY venues and Elk’s Lodges to witness the fury Jan and his mates put down. It was only fitting that a fellow eccentric, like Sean, pen this Q & A for the band to try to uncover some ugly truths about them.

Aside from the obvious, what inspired the name Ramlord?

The name Ramlord was created by founding member and ex-bassist Brian, who played on Stench of Fallacy and the couple splits that followed it. I can only imagine his sick obsession with melding common livestock with honored religious figures. We praise the horned one eternal at the dawn of each painful, regrettable day.

On the topic of influence; what are some non-metal/punk artists that the band draws from?

I honestly don’t listen to anything outside of trve territory besides some harsh noise/power electronics and dark ambient, although those genres don’t have much influence on Ramlord. We draw from all extreme corners within punk and metal though.

You’ve got splits out with Cara Neir, Condensed Flesh, Welkin Dusk, and most recently, Nuclear Devastation; do you have a favorite?

Each release is special to me and slowly helps fill the many voids I experience on a daily basis. The romantic sounds of ‘Ceaseless Grief’ (from Welkin Dusk split) serve a different purpose than the introspective ‘Affliction of Clairvoyence’ (from Cara Neir split) so it is difficult to decide.

How would you describe the creative process behind the “normal” Ramlord song?

Although I write a majority of the music and bring it to practice beforehand, the songs shape and evolve when other members contribute their ideas to the sound. We often jam on one riff for a very long time until we can churn out the filthiest noise from it and then commit the best part of the jam into a short section of the track. It is an ever-evolving mass of sewage although it is always very clear when the trail of slime runs dry.

At the risk of raising discontent; is there anything you are dissatisfied with under the Ramlord name?

Ramlord is the ultimate project I can image being in, as I feel 666% free to pursue the musical direction in my filthy heart. All those strange pieces somehow come together to create one vision, or perhaps not, but our discography is so fragmented through short releases that no one notices.

How do you view the growing popularity of your stench?

It is very rewarding to see people making bootleg crewnecks and getting numerous pressings of releases and seeing my words and music resonate with many other suicidal failures. I have a very specific vision for songwriting and I am getting closer and closer to it with each release, this is the only optimistic aspect of my life.

What are your thoughts on the term “USBM”, and do you feel as though Ramlord fits in this category?

I would guess our closest genre is “blackened crust” although I feel quite detached from the metal, hardcore and punk scenes in my area. People have told us we aren’t “black metal enough” so this could be a big reason why.

What band(s) would you kill to tour with; active, non-touring or dead?

For all eternity :: Discharge. Other legends like Blasphemy, Incantation, Venom, Coffins, Abigail, Autopsy, Saint Vitus, Bathory hologram, etc..

How many songs about death, despair and loneliness do you have left in your collective soul?

I always thought I was constantly evolving lyrically with each release but I recently read through all the lyrics in one session and realized they are all about self-loathing and the fetishism of death’s release. No matter what I set out to write about, it comes full circle to the one true master : death.

Should we expect musical experimentation on future releases?

The newer recordings we have are heavier and use more ODSM influence, however, there are no plans to leave the banner of punk and metal any time soon. We have often talked about doing a 40-minute song of pure doom but with the constant barrage of splits, it might be a while before that happens.

Is there ever too much Discharge?

Absolutely not. I have never heard of a Discharge-clone I didn’t like, especially live. All bands should play Discharge covers, regardless of genre, if they want to be taken seriously (by me).

Smoke weed//Kill cops forever

Ramlord on Facebook

Ramlord on Bandcamp

Future Ramlord releases:

Krieg/Ramlord (7” on Unholy Anarchy, cassette on Wolves ov Hades)

Stench of Fallacy repress (cassette on Wolves ov Hades)

Untitled EP (7” on Broken Limbs)

Sea of Bones/Ramlord (7” on Broken Limbs)

SEAN PIERRE-ANTOINE

Nails – Inherit: Live At Birthdays, London

Posted on July 16, 2014 by News Team

Buried in the heart of Dalston, Birthdays seems an unlike venue to host one of the US’s finest hardcore bands, Nails. Packed full of neon lighting and modern décor the hoard of hardcore and metal fans invading the establishment for the evening seem mildly out of place. While the venue may not have been ideal, this didn’t deter the fans as the show sold out a week in advance.

With only two bands on that evening, it’s a late start at half eight for Inherit. Heading up from the southeast, this 5-piece opened an excited buzz of people already crushing in to gain the prized places at the front. Playing a mix of hardcore and thrash their music is abrasive, launching into an all-out assault of sound. Vocalist Adam Malik is chatty, energetic and enthusiastic pacing the stage and attempting to enthuse the audience. Despite his best efforts, the atmosphere wasn’t there for them that night and the music fell a little flat.

The popularity of Nails is evident as the venue becomes a mass of bodies and the walls begin to drip with sweat. Although the venue may have sold out, but there was not a hint of selling out from the band. With a heartfelt thank you to the audience and the people who have helped bring them over, Nails seem genuinely touched by the reception that evening.

Not a band for long or gentle intros, the band catapult full force into the set. The energy and atmosphere is intoxicating as limbs began to fly and the crowd mirror the chaotic madness spilling from the stage. With such short tracks, it quickly became hard to keep up with which song was being played and what tracked had preceded that, but ultimately this was unimportant. Nails music may be carefully crafted from across the most violent aspects of both punk and metal but to really get the most from seeing this band live you have to put away the analysis and loose yourself in the moment. Their high-energy performance keeps the crowd moving from beginning to end, and while the majority staggered out the venue appearing to have been through a mixture of an intense beating and a sauna, the cries of appreciation at the end of the set were unmistakable. With the promise of a new album and a return to the UK, it seems this band are not a force that will be stopping any time soon.

Nails on Facebook

Inherit on Facebook

CAITLIN SMITH

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