DEATH METAL in TEXAS – reviews – part V
www.deathmetalside.com (July 2005)
Bowels Out
“Remnants of Gutted Bowels”
2004, self-released
Bowels Out is the third band from El Paso I heard. Reign of Terror and Obeisance were very good. Bowels Out has
equally many advantages. While Reign of Terror plays brutal Death Metal and
Obeisance presents blackened Death/Thrash, Bowels Out’s stylistic choice is
fast Grind/Death. That’s very violent music with many blast beats, shredding
riffs and brutal vocals. It’s a must for those who like Terrorizer,
Dying Fetus or Gorgasm. The material isn’t long: 8
tracks and 13 minutes but its intensity is murderous. The compositions have
many good tempo changes so this fast material is very well-organized and varied
although some tracks are shorter than two minutes. Bowels Out signed a deal
with CDN Records that’s why we should hear more
devastating music soon. www.myspace.com/bowelsout
Degradation
"Demo 2005"
Degradation comes from Texas. The Demo
from 2005 includes five brutal tracks. The opening one, “Internal Eruption”,
gives you the exact picture of Degradation’s style. Very fast drumming, deep
vocals and shredding guitar riffs have the roots in the old traditions of US
Death Metal scene. At least few very good bands from Texas play similar kind of Death Metal: Infliction, Reign of Terror, Nothing
Remains, or Death of Millions. Their albums are well known for everyone who is
seriously interested in Texan scene. Degradation has chances to achieve similar
position in Texan underground. This Demo is an announcement of good debut
full-length album. Taking into consideration the standards of demo materials,
Degradation’s release has relatively solid sound although the purists will say
that it should be cleaner. My favorite compositions are “In The
Dusk” and “Hostility” because in my opinion they have the best riffs: very
brutal and straightforward. However, the differences between them and the other
tracks aren’t significant, that’s why analyzing the quality of all songs, the demo presents good, equal level. http://www.degradation.netfirms.com/
Distorted Rage
“Harsh Realities”
1996, Unborn Productions (demo)
It’s a real pleasure to discover such band. Although its career ended
many years ago, the material recorded by Distorted Rage in the mid 90’s,
shouldn’t be forgotten. I can regret that I didn’t know the band from Texas when it existed, but it’s better to hear such good music late than
never. Distorted Rage had the same advantages which made many bands from that
state popular in the underground, but also had the same problems which caused
that those very good bands had never been very successful taking into
consideration the number of sold copies of their albums. First, I want to say
something about the advantages. Like Devastation, Gammacide,
Kaos, Rigor Mortis, so the best Texan Thrash Metal
acts, Distorted Rage played violent and energetic music. While Thrash Metal
bands from California and New York, speaking of the most successful scenes, tended to compose aggressive
but also catchy material, the artists from Texas had more uncompromising approach. It doesn’t mean that their songs
didn’t have memorable riffs. Listening to Distorted Rage I hear many such riffs.
On “Harsh Realities” you won’t find any radio-friendly hits but such
compositions like “Dark Side of Life” or “Dead End” could be popular Thrash
Metal tracks very easily. However, they would have been popular if Distorted
Rage had signed a good deal with prominent record label. Unfortunately, it has
never happened. And that’s the problem I announced earlier. Some good bands
from Texas had more luck and they had pretty good deals but even those bands like
Rigor Mortis or Devastation didn’t get such support of the business which had
some bands from New York and California. I asked lately Distorted Rage and Gammacide’s
members why in their opinion Texas hadn’t such
successful bands like Overkill or Testament. The answers are interesting. The
problem wasn’t the music itself for Texas had the bands talented enough to conquer the Metal World. However,
since the major labels are from the both Coasts, the bands from NY or California had much shorter way to a good recording deal. Also uncompromising
style of many Texan bands caused that they never got a chance to play a
significant role for the scene. Fortunately, the commercial success isn’t the
most important thing for good band, and that’s the reason why so many bands
from Texas are worth praising no matter if they were popular or not. Distorted
Rage with their good material will please the fans of Devastation, Slayer and
early Sepultura (from the era of “Schizophrenia” and
“Beneath the Remains”). I hope that you will have a chance to listen to “Harsh
Realities”. TitanicCranium@aol.com, http://audiostreet.net/distortedrage
Emperial Massacre
"Dawn of Suffering"
Demo 2005
Three tracks from brand new Texan Death Metal band are a good debut
material. That's not a surprise for me because the band has former Mortal
Suffering's member in the line-up and I liked that probably defunct project. Emperial Massacre goes in similar direction, modifying a
bit the style. "Tainted Viaticum" is a violent introduction of Emperial Massacre's potential to compose and play brutal
Death Metal. It's very dynamic track with good tempo changes and characteristic
chorus. The title composition is much slower, mainly in mid-tempos, although
there is a fast part in the middle of the track. Frankly, in my opinion that's
the weakest song on the demo. Comparing with the other tracks, it’s much less
intense although it has pretty interesting structure. "Voices of
Tormenting Redemption" is comeback of very fast drumming and shredding
guitar riffs that remind of Hate Eternal, Scarabaeus,
and El Paso's Reign of Terror. It’s well-executed pure brutality. Texan scene can be
proud of new good band.
http://www.geocities.com/emperialmassacre/
Hellchurch
“Armadillogeddon”
2004, Demo CD
Being a new incarnation of Seventh Gate, good and underrated Houston’s band from the 90’s, Hellchurch continues
the good traditions of Texan Thrash Metal. Since all band’s members are matured
musicians who use in their style different, also non-metal influences, Hellchurch’s demo is very competent material. The quality
of sound isn’t ideal but it’s not a problem. The compositions are most
important and they are worth complimenting. They’re mainly mid-paced and have
simple, compact structures. Not being particularly intense or brutal, their
strength is first of all good, memorable riffing. It has the roots in classical
Thrash Metal of the 80’s. Such traditional approach was a good idea especially
that old forms of Thrash have new expression. The vocals one can classify as a
mixture of Thrash Metal and Death Metal. These five songs encourage me to wait
for Hellchurch’s full-length album. www.hellchurch.com
Into The Grey
“Demo”
The band from Texas, with former
Sarcoma’s members in the line-up, presents only two tracks. Short demo isn’t
bad, however, to judge the band’s style. This style is first of all brutal.
It’s interesting that Into The Grey didn’t copy the
most dominant current trends in Brutal Death Metal. Instead of very fast Death
Metal which is most typical now, Into The Grey decided
to play mid-paced riffs with only occasional very fast drumming. The intensity
and heaviness of the material is good enough not to worry that it isn’t
furious, ultra fast music. I tried to find some good comparisons for you, but
it’s not so easy. Into The Grey is one of those bands which don’t invent
anything new but are original enough to avoid all easy labels. I thought about Devourment but I realized very quickly that such
comparisons wouldn’t be precise. However, I’d like to hear more Into The Grey’s tracks to formulate the thesis about their
originality. The compositions from demo are promising and I like them, but we
need more.
http://www.myspace.com/intothegrey, www.intothegery.net