ASENBLUT - "LEGENDEN" (2018)

ASENBLUT - "LEGENDEN"
(Running time: 22:32 minutes; 5 songs)
("AFM Records"; 2018; CD):

Hey guys, yes, I'm back on track again. So for now you will get this post and this very one will be or better is my record review on the current ASENBLUT Mini-CD "LEGENDEN" that was released pretty to very recently via the pretty big and active "AFM RECORDS" label, yes, and then tomorrow you will get the 'obligatoiary' "CLASSICK OF THE MONTH" post and then that will be pretty much all for this month... the two bigger posts that I've announced and promised you earlier this month for coming up still this very month I will serve you pretty soon and early at the beginning of April 2018 because... I was just too damn lazy to get it still right now done and I was especially far too lazy during my current (easter) holidays/vacations... I know, shame on me... to get the finishing touches done on 'them'... sorry folks... and, okay, after you now know 'what's up currently?' up here let's kick this 'thing' here really off and so now let's go: ASENBLUT are a Viking themed Death Metal band from Germany (I think, more precisely, from the City of Göttingen, pretty much near-by where I live) and they are already around for a bit over a decade or so I think and for all what I've read they seem to be a bit 'controversially discussed'... to be honest, yes, I don't see any reasons why. First of to this pseudo- and wannabe-political bullcrap farce that ASENBLUT would be a right winging Nazi band I won't even say anything but just: Hell no, they are definitely not, period. Just get a real life you AFA nutjobs and your most worst problems (especially those that you have with yourself) will  surely and simply vanish. And second or 'secondly'... music-wise... oh mighty Buddha, stop talking them down just because you don't like their german lyrics or because you are full of complexes and so you don't like that their frontman and singer is outspoken about being an active Strongman and an inactive Bodybuilder or because you just have to talk them down because they are 'just a band from near-by' because anyone and everyone who likes AMON AMARTH will also like ASENBLUT simply because at least today with what they show us here on and with "LEGENDEN" they are already next to the guys from Sweden, point and fact. I used that phrase 'at least today' because their earlier relases I don't know properly so far, but this very one here, ASENBLUT's "LEGENDEN", I know very, very well and it features four own old songs of them that are for what I know more or less completly re-done on their current level of skill(s), and this four songs namely are "DIE LEGENDE", "HELDENBÜRDE", "ASENBLUT", and "VON DES VERRÄTERS UNTERGANG", and then they also add a pretty nice and cool cover of MANOWAR's "GOD OR MAN" to it (no match compared to/with the original but still a very decent one). Heavy forward(s) pushing bulldozing Death Metal with a clear and strong Viking (or Pagan) vibe and spirit to it and with a focus on rousing mid-pace slashers with some few faster up-paced outbreaks and with very massive and the songs strongly marking melody lines to it all. Very compact and focussed songwriting that creates a pretty huge intensity and shines with a tight atmosphere. Crushing guitars, harsh grunts and screams (but still also pretty easy to understand), and a thundering rhythm section to back it all up. Imagine a good and strong mixture out of AMON AMARTH, with some UNLEASHED and some BOLT THROWER (especially if we talk about the general approach and the pace work of the songs), add some skullsmashing Thrash Metal to it with some few blackened notes to it all and you're pretty much right there. I would just wish that ASENBLUT would maybe work some more variations into their song arrangements to fresh it all up and maybe work out your own identity at least a bit more but maybe that's also just me (and after I like my Death Metal more of the brutal and U.S. american kind I am also maybe surely just not in the main target group of ASENBLUT as well, just that you know that) and other than that I really like what ASENBLUT serve us here with their "LEGENDEN" Mini-CD and I can calmly recommend this little shining disc to you. Some 'genre-typical' lyrics, a also 'genre-typical' and pretty good artwork, and a fat bombing production sound we get on top of it all. So, yes, even I am surely not in the main target group of a band like ASENBLUT they definitely convinced me with their "LEGENDEN" and made me pretty curious for a new longplayer of them hitting the scenery in the future and if you are into the above described and named styles of music and bands you now get right here and right now my honest and clear recommendation(s).

(7,5 of 10 points)

http://www.asenblut.de/ (-the link to the homepage of the band)

ASENBLUT - "ASENBLUT" (2018, "LEGENDEN")

WOLFBRIGADE - "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" (2017)

WOLFBRIGADE - "RUN WITH THE HUNTED"
(Running time: 26:51 minutes; 10 songs)
("Southern Lord Recordings"; 2017; CD):

Hey guys, yes, I am back at the regular work up here and so here already now incoming is the first 'really new' post after the (sort of...) 'mandatory' retrospection post on 2017, yes, and so now here you get my record-review on the larger-than-life 2017 masterpiece of/by the absolutely almighty WOLFBRIGADE from Sverige titled "RUN WITH THE HIUNTED", the successor album to/of their 2012 immortal masterpiece "DAMNED" (also released back then via "SOUTHERN LOTRD RECORDINGS"), and it was released at the 28th of april of 2017 and this of course (again) by/through/via "SOUTHERN LORD RECORDINGS". WOLFBRIGADE's "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" features ten new songs in roughly half-an-hour of a total running time, yes, and this would be sort of the only 'critical-point' of it because that's simply not much of a running time anyhow anyway... but WOLFBRIGADE really manage to make up for this with two huge points: (1.) "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" is so massively and 'overwhelmingly' intense that it definitely 'devastatingly' destroys absolutely everything and atomizes de facto everyone in its way in this shortly twenty-seven minutes so that it leaves no questions unanswered and no wishes unfullfilled; (2.) WOLFBRIGADE are simply that incredible damn good, nah, they are that larger-than-life great that this roughly twenty-seven minutes are packed up full with a so high skilled songwriting that beneath the overwhelming intensity and also all the high'n'tight atmosphere, beneath the brutal and yet all the time melodic and diverse massacre an incredible amount of multi-variations and diversity is waiting, enriching and cultivating it all massively and just waiting there to be discovered by all of you outta there. WOLFBRIGADE were founded back then in 1995 as WOLFPACK and they conquered me sort of instantly back then with their massively impressive debut full-length-album "A NEW DAWN FADES" and from then on and on and on and on, all the time, always. In 1999 then they changed from WOLFPACK to WOLFBRIGADE and... continued to conquer me supremely and this also all the time. Their 2012 masterpiece "DAMNED" was (in my book) back then their so far crowning chapter of their impressive career and discography... and now we have 2017 and... nah, sorry, bullshit... we (have) had 2017 and "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" was unleashed at the world, hell yeahr, and I don't know how they did it but they 'at least' hold on to "DAMNED" on the exact same larger-than-life level but I would even go so far to/and say that "RUN WUTH THE HUNTED" even is a step ahead, yes, that totally amazing and absoultely fantastic it is. This is at its core highest intensity Crustcore with some beefy'n'bulky D-Beat roots in it as well as truckloads of devastating (Sverige) Death Metal and just looking at respectively listening to some of the melodic and symphonic guitar leads and also partly because of the nihilistic atmosphere also some Black Metal marks here and there in it, too, yes, and this all done on or from a very, very unique and characteristic stand-alone position with a gigantic and forceful own identity to it all. At a very loose description I would say that if you imagine a very high skilled and 'amazingly' fresh and self-contained and stand-alone mixture out of the glorious old WOLFPACK masterpieces (like "A NEW DAWN FADES", "LYCANTHRO PUNK", and "ALLDAY HELL"), THE EXPLOTED (especially "THE MASSACRE", "BEAT THE BASTARDS", and "FUCK THE SYSTEM"), and DISCHARGE on the one side, yes, and Sverige Death Metal somewhere between AT THE GATES, ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER, and UNLEASHED on the other side, yes, then you do have a pretty good starting description of what to expect of/from WOLFBRIGADE in general and of/from "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" in particular, yes, and fans of the GENOCIDE SUPERSTARS, SKITSYSTEM, and DISFEAR will find here in and with WOLFBRIGADE's "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" surely their new holy grail as well. But with facing that namedropping here and now please keep in mind that WOLFBRIGADE absolutely do their very, very own thing, point and fact. All is done by surely high skilled musicians that/who deliver it all via outstanding songwriting: Forceful, intense, massive, brutal, harsh, stunning, and yet very melodical and also hymnal arranged and 'impressively' playful and soulful, yes, and also beneath the 'surface' of this high-intensity raging massacre it's all very diverse and enriched with fresh ideas and clever subtle enrichments and exciting twists'n'turns all along the ride that grant us 'ongoingly' grapping moments without end that really shine bright and are nothing else but absolutely overwhelming. The same it to say about the all the time incredible sheer exciting and grapping highest intensity and the very intense, tight, and breathtaking atmosphere of all the songs and the whole album. Carried out is this all via razorsharp cutting and sledgehammer-like banging guitars that deliver powerful raging riffing and crushing rhythm work as well as (and especially) stunningly intense and breathtaking atmospheric melody lines and leads'n'solos, yes, and that are marking the songs strongly and heavily and this also for sure for all the right reasons; the pretty much same is to say about the great and very charismatic vokillz that are brutal done 'throaty' shouts that still deliver melodies and anthemic/hymnal lines (verses and Refrains a-like) and that totally (over)shine bright, too. The fast raging and harsh thundering rhythm section then finally tears down every resistance and smashes through everything and everyone, yes, and that's a total wrecking ball going highest skilled to work. The pace of the songs is mostly up-tempo to fast pace but take the time and listen intense and you will find so much exciting and impressive surprises, yes, that will absoultely leave you breathless in all positive ways. My personal favorites? Forget it. The whole damn album is my personal total favorite, period. Strong and thought-provoking lyrics, a great artwork, and a powerful blasting production sound round it all finally up, yes, turning this absolutely into the real deal and the complete package. I know I did this time no real 'ranked list' of 'my top albums of/for 2017' but if I would have done one then WOLFBRIGADE's "RUN WITH THE HUNTED" would be clearly in my top three of/for 2017, yes, and this without a single doubt. I love this band and album. Okay, I think I've said so much all what I had to say so far about WOLFBRIGADE's "RUN WITH THE HUNTED", yes, and everyone into Crustcore, D-Beat, really hard Punk and Hardcore (Punk) musick, and (Sverige) Death Metal (that's slightly blackened) simply definitely and desperately needs to have this absolutely mindblowing and breathtaking surely larger-than-life masterpiece and this (in case you really should not have or even know it) best 'yesterday than today', if you get what I mean. Anyhow, my last words: Get it!!!

(10 of 10 points)

https://wolfbrigadeofficial.wordpress.com/ (-the link to the sort of homepage of the band)

WOLFBRIGADE - "KALLOCAIN" (2017, "RUN WITH THE HUNTED")

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER - "NIGHTBRINGERS" (2017)

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER - "NIGHTBRINGERS"
(Running time: 49:18 minutes; 14 songs)
("Metal Blade Records"; 2017; CD):

Hey guys, okay, time to give you some new stuff to read up here again and so here now comes the next dose for you which means the next record-review by me for you and this time it will be all about the (brand)new THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER full-length-album "NIGHTBRINGERS" released at the 6th of october of this very year of 2017 via the mighty "METAL BLADE RECORDS" label. THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER were always pretty to very much under my radar-screen because somehow they never really (sort of...) 'spoke to me' so far and so their newest release "NIGHTBRINGERS", which is their 'all-in-all' already 8th studio-full-length-album, is my real first 'meeting' with them. I have the limited edition that comes in an absoultely amazing artwork and that features five bonus tracks of which two are live recordings of (I would guess...) older songs of/by/from them ("ABYSMAL" and "WHEN THE LAST GRAVE HAS EMPTIED") and two cover versions, one of AT THE GATES' "THE SWARM" and one of CARCASS' "THIS MORTAL COIL" and these two cover-tunes point pretty much in the right direction of what THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER give us music-wise: Melodic Death Metal, hyper-aggressive and 'technically' truly high-skilled, and with a modern touch to it all that will surely make them more than only a little bit like-able for all you Metalcore and Deathcore fans outta there. (Btw, the 'normal' version crosses the finishing line in about 33 minutes or so.) This never was and still isn't that much 'my thing' and so... hm... so where or how to start... maybe here and so: Like already said this is truly and through and through hyper-aggressive and filled on and on with a forceful guitar work that delivers so damn sharp cutting, precise slaying, and mercylessly slashing, damn heavy guitar riffing and such headcracking rhythm work that you mostly instantly start to bang your head, yes, and where the guitars really shine is when it comes to the delivered highly melodic leads and the absoultely amazing solos, oh hell yeahr, and there's no need of any further mentioning of how strong and also of how heavily marking the guitars are for the songs and the music of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. Pretty much the same (when it comes to being heavily marking for the songs of the music of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER) is to say when we talk about the high pitched, hysterical, diabolical, and just also hyper-aggressive screamed lead vocals that sometimes change to deep and dark guttural grunts but mostly settle in the mentioned territory of the very harsh delivered screams and that are by any means also pure aggression set to music and that deliver an nearly if not sheer incredible amount of lyrics in/with/through the all-in-all anyhow anyway not that long songs; and that also mark the songs heavily. All is then backed up by a very tight and precise and stunningly heavy rhythm section. The songwriting is also pretty to very strong and definitely far above average and delivers truckloads of energetic rhythm work, dynamic pace changings, and a pretty intense atmosphere pretty much all the time; and that the guys in/of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER are really high skilled musicians should need no further explanation here and now anyhow anyway. All in all THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's "NIGHTBRINGERS" I would locate on a pretty self-contained position somewhere between AT THE GATES (think of their larger than life masterpiece "SLAUGHTER OF THE SOUL"), CARCASS (think of their groundbreaking "HEARTWORK" masterpiece), some modern Metalcore and Deathcore somewhere between acts like HEAVEN SHALL BURN and ABHORRENT DECIMATION, as well as some up-to-date pseudo Death Metal like ARCH ENEMY, yes, I think somewhere between this bands and styles and influences you should find THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and their "NIGHTBRINGERS" and you should find them pretty quick (and also surely pretty strong). The only problem that I have with this album or maybe sort of with this band and album and that certain style of music, hm, I miss a special flavour and really exciting moments because at the end it is all pretty equal to one another (song- and also band-wise in general) and that's also here the case; but maybe that's just me and it's anyhow surely a matter of personal preferences but just that you know mine and don't wonder why my final rating on it is or will be how it is/will be. But this a more general problem I have with this Modern Melodic Death Metal'n'Metalcore'n'Deathcore stuff and this out of the way a particular problem with "NIGHTBRINGERS" is definitely that the songs are too short and offer in that short space'n'time simply (but definitely) far too much lyrics so that the songs are far too damn often simply too 'overloaded' and the music itself is put too often in the background and sort of 'sinks down under/beneath the words' and also so-this-way it turns out to be that the songs simply  again'n'again are a overly hectic and stressful affair (and not the good way of being 'hectic'n'stressy' which means demanding and challenging... but instead of this from time to time quite annoying)... damn it, I mean: longer songs or less words - one of it would have been the golden way, definitely. Also I would wish, like already mentioned a few passages above, that the songs as single songs would have a stronger own identity because (also, at least if you ask me, due to being 'overflooded by the lyrics') for my personal taste the songs sound too often too equal... but maybe that's just and nothing but a matter of my personal taste, who knows. But anyhow, more or less, despite all this THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's "NIGHTBRINGERS" definitely is still a good to damn good album and if you are into the named style(s) of music and/or the named bands then you should definitely risk an ear and give it a fair try. A big bunch of sick, sinister, and pretty 'evil' lyrics, a (like already mentioned) absoultely beautiful artwork, and a heavy bombing (but maybe a little bit too 'trigger-happy') production sound finally round it all up. So, yes, I think now you know all what there's from my point of view to know about the "NIGHTBRINGERS" of/by THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, yes, and so why not give it a good round and a fair try and this best right now.

(7,5 of 10 points)

http://www.tbdmofficial.com/ (-the link to the homepage of the band)

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER - "NIGHTBRINGERS" (2017, "NIGHTBRINGERS")