Belial - Nihil Est (New Release) & Belial (Self Titled EP)

Belial are a UK based Godless scourge, so you might like them. This technical death metal band are releasing double EP Nihil Est on 27th January via Siege Records, Their title means "There is nothing", which I'm assuming has something to do with their proclaimed Godlessness. Either way, it's a great title so a good start. Does the album live up to the title?

Belial - Nihil Est

Opening with an industrial haunting feel that always grabs my attention, In Extremis introduces the album in a very scatty, disjointed way. It'll no doubt have many Tech Metal fans reaching for their favourite wank rag, although I personally like some order amongst the insanity, which doesn't appear until about 2 minutes into this track. Once it does, I get a pretty euphoric feeling from the song.

Eon from the outset is more like it and is an intriguing track with the marrying of the soft piano and synth parts and the brutal heaviness creating an effective hypnotic, creepy ambience. This blends seamlessly into Naught. The initial whack of double bass and blast beats catches you a bit off guard, but it settles into a good, seriously heavy track with parts to grove too and parts to just take in all the madness.

Odium begins and you think 'this is it, this is the track that's going to blow me away'. And whilst it loses a bit of its impact after the intro it then builds back into a fucking insane solo and breakdown which is simply brilliant. This track is full of bits to enjoy and admire. And the same goes for In Origin. It starts off strong and has some real epic moments and is driven and direct throughout. It's a good way to end this strong new release from a band who clearly have a fantastic future ahead of them.

Self Titled

As I was fortunate enough to have the first EP included, I'll review it as well. Why the fuck not hey! Heroin Holidays opens the proceedings and I'm feeling more at home. This is more organised chaos than the majority of the new EP. The vocal is more gutteral and it's good, soooo good. Whilst it still has the fiddly, Tech traits of the new EP, you can get deeply into it and immerse yourself in the track. This is a thoroughly enjoyable offering.

The quality continues in the form of Wraiths, which has some downright kickass grooves and an uplifting feel, it's seriously a fucking brilliant piece of work.

Host is in parts epic, the melodies and feels created at certain points are almost unparalleled In any of their work, however the track is a bit too disjointed for me to turn these parts into a bone crushingly brilliant track. Luckily the interlude Wen saves the day with a riff that makes you hold onto your balls before introducing you to album closer Parasite.

And it's a great way to close out the EP, summising all that is done well throughout both releases. Great riffs, huge drive from the rhythm work, good synth sounds and a vocal consistent in its deep growl and on point throughout both records.

Conclusion

These are incredibly clear well produced EP's full of second to none musicianship and an ear for eerie melody. The use of samples, synths etc is well thought out and creative. When they nail it, in tracks like Heroin Holiday, Wraiths, Parasite and Odium, it is seriously nailed tight and going nowhere.

I am not saying the other tracks are bad, they aren't, quite the opposite in fact. They are, in parts, a little chaotic for my personal taste however I think fans of this specific genre would be calling me out on that conclusion, as it's kinda the point, but there are moments of pure brilliance in literally every song.

Just to add an extra dimension as well, when being able to appreciate them as instrumental tracks that are at the end of the EP (I'm not sure if these will be part of every release), you get a different kind of enjoyment out of them and can further appreciate the top rate musicianship on display.

Two very strong offerings. How these guys are not on the Techfest 2017 bill already is beyond me, but I'm assuming they will be after this album gets some circulation.  I strongly urge Tech Death fans to be getting a copy of this pre-ordered and buy the first EP here.

Follow them on Twitter/Facebook

Boris The Blade - Warpath

Boris the Blade release Warpath on 27th January. Named after Snatch's arms dealing gangster, you probably get that your not going to be hearing romantic odes to Florence Fanny or whoever. No these guys are a Deathcore band full of anger as violent intent.

Warpath

The albums title track Warpath, is also it's opener. Psychotic glitches and relentless heaviness drive  the track. An eerie melody underpins the all out battering of a great title track packed with machine gun double bass, groove elements and anger.

Second track,Backstabber, starts with a more atmospheric slow feel, but when the vocal smacks you in the face you know you're listening to Boris the Blade, soon your head is spinning with tech metal runs and black metal melodies. It is a bit stop start in places, which put me off my stride a little, but then contains a glorious breakdown and second passage with a vocal performance Corey Taylor would be proud of and lyrics that Jonathan Davies would give you a blowy and a cheeseburger for.

Misery is in a similar vein to Warpath, another relentless barrage of aggression, with interesting changes in dynamics that flow into each other well. But directly after is Nihilist, which has a high impact opening full of atmosphere and punch. I like the way this track, in it's own way, gives you a break from the battering ram of heaviness. It's a creepy, dark number which stand alone is my favourite so far.

Omens is dark, extreme and abrasive and has the addition of a rapped/spoken word bit that reminded me of I Am Hated by Slipknot. It was a highlight of a track that unfortunately I didn't quite get up to that point.

As soon as Paralysed opened up I started to think, 'this is more like it'. A track full of drive and direction, brutally bludgeoning in a satisfying sadomasochistic way. Great drum work, guitar parts that are varied, skills up and melodic and heavy like a sledgehammer. A song that had my attention from beginning to end.

Thorns, in a similar vein to Nihilist, breaks things up a bit. Whilst it can't be accused of not being heavy, it includes more mellow, ambient parts which sound like they could become an epic 20 minute tour de force. But that's not what these fella's do. No wanky flouncing, just moments of serene melody cut short by grievous intent! And you wouldn't want it to be any different.

Devastated opens up with electro noises and machine gun bass drum. Again bringing an eerie ambience in droves, underpinned by the increasingly impressive drum work. Whereas Elixir follows the same paths as previously trodden on the album in terms of the heavy underlined by melody formula before the battering ram intro to Solace begins the end of the album.

Conclusion

By this point I am feeling battered and bruised! Mostly in a way like you might after lasting 12 rounds with Tyson! It left me with a great feeling, like I've had an outlet for my aggression and anger, but also wishing there was a knockout earlier in the fight. Whilst it lacks a track which stopped me dead and made me replay again and again the album as a whole is a great listen. It is full of good songs, excellent musicianship, and a vocal performance that is sublime in its anger and directness.

It should be a popular pick for Deathcore and Extreme Metal fans, fans of Technical Metal (some of the musicianship is simply incredible). I could also see it as a great feeder album into the more extreme side of the metal genre for those dabbling on the fringes. I could easily see a Slipknot maggot picking this up and having a eureka moment. It carries the right balance between melody, brutal belligerence and sinister intent to speak to a wide audience. And an album that can help broaden the horizons of music fans is worth its weight in munitions!

You can pre-order it here or via trusty old Bandcamp, and while your waiting for it, if these guys are new to you, go and check them out on Facebook.

Interview With A Wizard...... Union Collective

Wizard Union are a Sludgy Stoner band from Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti MI with an interesting sound and ethic. The band started in 2012, when whilst playing with seperate projects Drummer Larry and Guitarist Samir decided to jam together. They later invited Samir's workmate Aaron to play Bass in this project, and have been producing colon crushing Stoner riffs ever since.

I was fortunate to get to hear their new release Phantom Fury and speak to Collective member Samir about how they go about their thing. And no this is not a tale of tragedy, Vampire children and immortality, like the title would have you believe. It's far more interesting than that.

So why is their project any different from anything else? What makes them unique?

Wizard Union are part of a collective, the Wizard Union Collective, which is all about promoting and distributing their various projects. What does this mean? I hear you ask.

Samir: ''Overall it's about having musical freedom to do and play whatever we want without calling it Wizard Union. It's just a part of a larger body of work''. So potentially this approach could incorporate different projects from the same musicians, an opportunity to explore different sounds and genres as a group".

So why does this approach work for Wizard Union?

Samir; (There's) ''No deadlines. (We) release as much as we want from different members. Play shows with whoever is available within the collective. Right now we're still pretty young as a collective, but the three of us have been playing with each other for almost 5 years now, and we're open to jamming with others, and if we jam with someone else and it doesn't sound like Wizard Union, then we'll call it something else and release it''.

So, this is a metally musical melting pot, allowing freedom of expression for the musicians that are involved. An idea that I find fascinating and intriguing, so my main thought is how does it transpose itself to actual performance? Is it garbled, without direction or identity, or is it creative and purposeful?

Listening to Phantom Fury I am pleased to hear a great many influences sounds and also unintentional influences. There seems to be a hardcore punk ethic and I hear hints of EyeHateGod, Thrash even Surfer Rock! Whilst all this is evident it is not confused but instead pleasingly interesting and most importantly as heavy as a left hook from Chuck Norris. I asked Samir where influence were drawn from.

"I'd like to think Wizard Union is what happens when the three of us get together. I know the one band that binds us altogether is The Melvins, but we're all into different shit. I listen to a lot of punk and metal. It's funny you mention surf rock, because I'm definitely a fan, I just never consciously wrote anything like that. I was in a stoner/doom/thrash metal band called Lord Centipede, so maybe that's where the thrash comes from. I like the Eyehategod's Dopesick album.'' (C'mon you like EVERY EyeHateGod Album, just admit it to your self Samir - Editor)

Phantom Fury is full of heavy fuzz, grinding guitars and is held together well by the quality of Larry's drumming. Harsh Tokes Of The Wizards Pipe has grinding guitars, a hint of an eerie edge with a punky style vocal.  Whereas Cosmic Gatekeeper is fast paced, almost a punk track in its own right, until it hits the sludgy breakdowns, slowing the situation down with a pleasing groovy step down sequence.

Ancient Evil Bong chugs along joyously, hitting you aurally with guitar stabs and vocal aggression before taking an inspired turn with a breakdown and buzzing solo then it slowly works itself back into the faster paced chug of Doom.

Burn Bitches, Not Witches would be the crowd pleaser of the tracks, with a chorus that was made for shouting back at the mans and a great lead riff. Not just a pretty name! Samir; ''The chorus Burn Fucking Bitches Not Fucking Witches, came from something I read on the Internet somewhere. I thought, that's funny, I should make that a song title or use it for something. I have lists for song titles, album names, and band names for projects in the collective, for when I find shit like that. Once I had the title for the song I was like so what's this gonna be about? And it's about the Salem witch trial. I guess people can sing along to the chorus if they want to, but that's not what I had in mind when I wrote it.''

Burial Ground opens with a wet psychedelic sounding bass before leading into the most outright stoner riff on the album. My fist reaction was to head bang and there was no cause to stop throughout the entire track. Full of monumental riffage and drum attack, this is an absolutely storming track.

Phantom Fury takes off where Burial Ground finishes, continuing the stoner theme with great riffs but covers more ground musically than any other track, taking many turns and directions.

This is definitely a release that improves with each track in terms of sound and songwriting in my opinion. Speaking to Samir about this progression and future plans he told me;

''Our next Wizard Union band project which we'll start recording next spring is going to be the start of a living LP. We're going to have an album on Bandcamp that keeps getting updated with new songs over time, rather than just releasing a bunch of EPs. When we think the LP is full, we'll release the physical copy and then start the next LP the same way. So the evolution of the songs that you mentioned on Phantom Fury, might be even more apparent on the LPs. We have 3 songs ready to record, and maybe 3-4 written that I think are good enough to start practising, so who knows how different those songs will be compared to our previous works. They're fucking heavy though.''

As far as I'm concerned this a Collective to keep an eye on. They have plenty to offer in terms of the Stoner Sludge sound but also touch on different styles which could open them up to a larger fan base. But to just regard the Wizard Union element would be wrong, there's other things to look forward to from these musicians.

Samir; ''As far as projects we have lined up, Larry and I have a Sludge Punk Noise Rock thing called Bladder that we're planning to record in the spring. That project pretty much came out of he and I playing together as Wizard Union as a duo, because our Bass Player Aaron had to drop out at the last minute, and we didn't wanna cancel'' Samir took over Bass duties for this show as they felt it might add to the Doom effect, but they were not happy with the outcome. ''We didn't necessarily like Wizard Union songs played with just a bass and drums, but Larry was like, hey how about we keep this going as a godheadsilo type thing, and that's pretty much how the collective idea was born. Keep it all under one umbrella.''

Check these guys out on Bandcamp and give them a follow on Facebook and Twitter. If they're you're thing the EP is only $3, which is cheaper than a pint of Fosters Kangaroo Piss. Have a taste below! (of the band not Kangaroo Piss).

Circle of Dust - Machines Of Our Disgrace

If all you want for Christmas is not to listen to Mariah's mind numbing rectal discharges but hear some ass ripping industrial metal and electronic music, with some of the most satisfyingly crisp production you're likely to hear for a while, then Circle Of Dust going to be for you.

Producer/artist Klayton, who some may know from his work with multi-genre project Celldweller, is back creating under the pseudonym Circle Of Dust, who he has released 4 other albums as, the last one being twenty years ago!

I have to say I'm not familiar with his previous work as Circle of Dust, but after hearing this album I intend to be and am at the same time disappointed in myself.

Machines Of Our Disgrace

From the start of the first track, Re-Engage, onwards I was drawn in by a stunning quality of sound which is carried through the entire album. I took the opportunity on a long drive down to London, to preview a couple of tracks to my pal, who is an electronic music producer himself, to gauge just how good it is. He was wax a lyrical about the what he heard. My belief that this is brilliant work was confirmed.

In songs like title track Machines of Our Disgrace and Contagion, Klayton displays a flair for amalgamating catchy riffs, elements of classic metal sound, quality use of samples and electronics and song composition that holds the listener. This mix of skills creates intrigue and genuine moments of "holy shit this is brilliant"!

Then with racks such as Embracing Entropy (featuring Celldweller), alt_Human and Hive Mind Klayton introduces a more outright industrial style.

Embracing Entropy and Hive Mind, amongst others on the album, have a splattering of poppy hooks and a glorious tinge of 80's electronics, whilst never losing an alternative edge. alt_Human is peppered with industrial soundscapes and is full of edgy ambiance. As a fan of electronic music, outside of my metal fandom, these tracks tick a lot of boxes for me.

One of the biggest highlights for me is the track Humanarchy, which is an aggressive gem. Mixing growling vocals and the machine gun double bass with industrial noise, juxtaposed by a melodic, catchy vocal chorus it's a great all round performance. Neurachem balances bravely on the edge of metal and electronica which would normally irritate the tits off of me but this doesn't which is helped in no small part by a groove aspect that is impossible not to enjoy.

Conclusion

This album covers so much ground, including industrial metal, electronica, classic metal, pop and incorporates some fantastic voice samples, which along with the incredible production, culminates in a seriously good release. Klayton shows off an undeniable multitude of talents in terms of song writing, multi-instrumental-ism and production. It will please industrial metal fans as well as fans of multiple genres.

On release this will be going up on my genius production shelf alongside Ils - Bohemia and Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium.

Score 4.8/5

Follow Circle Of Dust: Facebook/Twitter

Pre order on Bandcamp  or on FiXT (Both Worldwide). 

King Minos - The Minos Touch

In Greek mythology King Minos, the first King of Crete, was a bit of a grim bugger. In life, he made made King Aegus choose 7 young boys and 7 young girls to send to a labrynth to be devoured by a Minotaur every 9 years. In death, he was judge of the dead. He could often be seen with a snake attached to his pecker via it's teeth. 

All in all a gruesome, hard bastard. So basically, King Minos is a FUCKING GREAT name for a metal band. I think it was either that or 'pecker snake', and the UK based thrashy trio made the right choice......just. 

The opener, Destroy By The Use Of Violence, has a vocal performance with growl and grit. Musically its busy and interesting with some nice touches with the bass and drum stabs. There is a brilliant seamless transition between deep heavyness and high end melody on guitar. The track has a definite groove element and at points also took me back to Diabolos era Slayer, an album which holds many great memories for me. 

Get All The Knives doesnt hang about in giving you a shot to the jugular. This tracks grinds and pounds relentlessly and repetitively which accentuates the first breakdown when it hits and adds to it's effectiveness. Towards the end of the track it again slows, this time creating a chilly, menacing feel, added to by the evil laugh seeing he track out!

As soon as Eschaton begins you can tell this is going to be musically excellent. Heavy and choppier than a pork cut, with chaotic but tight drumming, this is intense. The vocal is abrasive at first but you soon adjust. Melodic elements of the guitar work and the way the vocal cuts through remind me again of Slayer. This is not their only similarity with the behemoths of thrash, as they're not afraid to take on things that are high on the political and worldwide agenda lyrically. For me, they saved the best 'til last.

Conclusion

This is a musically excellent release, all instruments in crushingly heavy tandem, creating a dirty, thrashy, grinding, bowel adjusting noise.

The vocals, shared between all three members, are at times Serj Tankian, at times Tom Araya and at times Max Cavalera! Abrasive on the first listen, but once you adjust to the tones you realise their almost another instrument adding to the heavyness.

A good EP offering some sound song writing and raw energy. I think theres scope for some great music from these guys and I'm looking forward to hearing it.....

Score 3.8/5

Get it here

Follow King Minos: Facebook/Twitter

Written by Jonny Radley