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THE DEMO CORNER
Columbian black thrash - it sounds like some underground VHS-doomed thriller that makes its rounds in the black market of movie lore. Actually what we have is three guys taking elements of black metal and old-school thrash and meshing them in some horribly incestuous foray that defies both logic and convention. While vying to figure out the connotations therein, allow me to say that Hellbreaker is pretty good, but far from perfect.

The songs are nothing new or overly spectacular, but some efforts are certainly better than others and Hellbreaker does a decent job for an initial foot in the water. It’s rough, crude in spots, off-kilter and especially immature, but the songs are pretty true to the art form and carry a much more potent wallop than you might think. I especially like the “Merciless Thrash Attack” because it reminds me of a late 80’s thrash band that I got a demo from back then and I wish I could remember their name. It was a simplistic, anthem-inducing call-to-arms much like our Columbian friends here, and it does manage to stay in the head for a while, which is always a selling point to me. The vocals on this demo are harsh bellowing that certainly fit the music, but are a dime-a-dozen in design. Overall, these young gents carry off a sound to a discernible degree and deserve kudos for not completing hosing down the patio. 

Yes, there are a thousand bands doing just this style right now because someone thought it would be a good idea to label this ‘nu-thrash’ thing. For good entertainment value void of overt style and originality Hellbreaker is worthy in its most pedestrian form.
Azurah, Hellbreaker, Necropsy & Noye
January 8, 2012
CHRIS
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Azurah - Demo 2012
Admittedly I do like this modern black metal/shoegaze hybrid, though as I predicted over a year ago it has gotten way out of control with too many bands piled atop one another vying to get noticed. Some are really good, most are rudimentary charlatans, but now and again you find the gem in the rough.

From North Carolina Azurah arises, and as the calm serenity of the first track settles over me I’m startled out of my lull by an explosion of black metal fury that makes its presence known, only to then simmer in a belligerent pacing. I will say the word chaotic does pop into my head during the 15-minute experience, but this has a most fascinating slant to it. It’s hypnotic and suspicious, invoking and primitive, even discordant and befuddling. The running battering of the drumming in select spots through “Ascending the Mountains of Velothi” seems to coincide nicely with a musical sojourn along these regions, real or imagined. There’s a subtle charm to the lack of real production, but often times that is what makes a recording aural in its basest, most digestible sense. For two tracks it’s a really strong feeling of cold and wintry disease that is culminated with “The Beauty of Endings”, a tempestuousness that relies on atmospheric edging to make a staunch point.

This is some serious shoegaze that seemingly gets lost in the shuffle between Mazzy Star and Marduk. Some folks just don’t get it, but this guy does.
Necropsy - Devouring Fresh Body 2011
Release Date:  July 17, 2011
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Devouring Fresh Body  2.  Maggottropolish  3.  Injeski Saluran Perusak Adrenalin           -    Total playing time:  10:52
From Indonesia’s sick and dire underbelly Necropsy simmers in the sewage like fifty pounds of rotten filth that stinks to low hell and produces some pretty good death/grind. In three tracks I can hear some quality death metal with some grindcore edges, and this is a medium I’m not really even much of a fan of, yet the riffs and time changes are vital and interesting enough to bounce around my head for a while.

“Maggottropolish” is a slow and disgusting meandering through a severely sick and deathly pallor of sound that doesn’t blind you with speed and keeps the decay flowing at a medium pace throughout. This demo impresses me with its effort to create structured tracks and not go-for-broke with intangible messes posing as songs. The vocals are standard breathy guttural growls, but I’ve heard my share of vocals in this vein that I simply cannot ingest; these are a fine effort for what they are. I don’t know why they don’t bother me like others do; maybe it’s the quality of the music.

Really good Indonesian death.
Hellbreaker - Hell’s Viper
Release Date:  December 5, 2011
Label:  Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Witchcraft / Hell's Viper  2.  Bestial Crew  3.  Hades Whore  4.  Merciless Thrash Attack  5.  Awake the Beast from Hell  6.  Rites of Death           -    Total playing time: 20:39
For a physical CD of Hell's Viper contact the band via their myspace page or at hellbreakerthrash @ hotmail.com .
Release Date:  January 16, 2012
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Ascending the Mountains of Velothi  2.  The Beauty of Endings          -    Total playing time: 15:33
DOWNLOAD Demo 2012 from the band's bandcamp page (click on link above).
For a copy of Devouring Fresh Body 2011 contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).
Noye - Demo 2011
Noye is a ‘post-metal’ or sludge outfit from the Russian Federation that put out its first demo with the expectation that this ‘post’ thing would resonate past the already-tired tag it’s become. The silly genre-humping aside, Noye is a really excellent example of how the stoner-esque heavy metal still warms the cockles of the heart. Usually a band has a one, maybe two solid tracks on its demo, then one throw-away, but all three songs on this effort are really fantastic.

The vocal are a raspy gasping for supremacy that is really quite different from the overall norm. “Spinners” shows the versatility that can actually be implemented with such a style if the proper attention is paid to even the smallest of details. As the music sort of powers over and dips unexpectedly here and there I’m immersed, particularly with “They Move Slowly” which is straight-on stoner/doom metal. This is my favorite of the three, but let me say all three tracks are really good choices for your next sludgy pick-up. As instrumentals go it’s one of the cleanest pieces of ugly I’ve heard and it will most definitely grab you by the neck and hold your head underwater. The sharp production only helps the cause.

I hope these guys keep up the solidity.
Release Date:  October 14, 2011
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Dead Stones  2.  Spinners  3.  They Move Slowly
-    Total playing time:  14:15
For a copy of Demo 2011 contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).
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