Chilean melodic death act In Cold Blood produces its first demo of four tracks that really surprised me. I fully expected some mall-like sound to fully bastardize the ‘melodic death’ term to its fullest heights. What I hear instead is a solid band creating some borderline thrash progression of a polished variety with some definitive death elements.

The music is very…well, melodic; it has some strong arrangements and bounces evenly between conscious melodies and chugging riffing that is in and out like a quick spring storm. “Black Block” is the all-consuming ‘bash’ track to get your blood going, while “Payback” seems to saturate the progressive ‘groove’ metal side of the coin to a fine point. I can definitely hear a slight hint of Jeff Loomis in approach if not overt style; I fully understand the melodic death tag, but I think it stultifies the band by generalizing it to this one area. There are some thrash, progressive and, yes, death tones to the music, but it really is all over the place in the cleanest of efforts.

Vocally it’s a very familiar yelling style that can be gruff and throaty, but the lyrics are clear and concise, adding the oft-lost clarity to the music. There’s nothing new in the delivery, but it works well and doesn’t distract. The closest the band comes to full on death is “Apocalypse Now”, a speedy track that starts out pretty deadly by design, but settles back into the groove-orientation the demo follows.

I actually like the sound the band has here and would like to see what else the future hold for our friends in Chile.

Immensité, In Cold Blood & ZOM

May 26, 2012

CHRIS

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Immensité - Immensité

When I first heard this band Immensité I was immediately drawn to the ugly, breathy vocals that move along the perimeter of the music like a slow moving fog that will soon envelop you. The death metal feel to these otherwise low-fi, low-key tracks is somewhat overwhelming and all-consuming. With songs based on poetry by Georges Bataille, this demo showcases a very disheveled and malevolent side to death metal music too often wrought with guttural vocals and patterned directionless imitation.

“Bottom of Abysm” fools you into this solemn sense of solemnity, only to have “Holy Father’s Butchery” take you through a speedy beginning and drop you flat in the middle of a sinister vibe that really creates a phenomenal aura of horror and despair, words I never use lightly in describing a band’s music. There is a very thick layer of despair over these songs, especially in “Ruin Without Boundaries”, which is literally like an open crypt belching forth its unattractive contents to an unsuspecting public. The music, low and almost backdrop, serves its unearthly purpose by creating a very sickening atmosphere just perfect for the poetic verses offered.  

These four tracks move in and out of your ears in under ten minutes, but you’ll keep playing them as I have so far…you almost can’t help it!

ZOM - Demo 2011

Release Date:  December 29, 2011
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  The Horror from Beyond  2.  Cult of the Black Flame  3.  The Chaos Dimension  4.  Infernal Lord of Deepest Black 
5.  Cosmic Winds    -    Total playing time:  20:10

ZOM hails from Ireland, a country rich in heritage and not exactly known for black/death metal. At first I wasn’t sure what to make of ZOM’s sound; where they trying to go for the Venom sound, the overused Norse sound of ‘corpse’ tone, or are they just flat out under-produced? Well, it might be a combination of all three.

The criminally thick sound might serve better to be polished just a bit so as not to sound like a dense fog wafting through the air with little breathing room, but there is a certain charm to the music if you don’t mind indecipherable vocals buried under the music, guitars somewhere in the mix and literally no bass to be head, though I do feel its presence in the bottom end on occasion. To be honest, I had high hopes for the demo when I found it, but it’s so typically bargain-basin 80’s that I am just unimpressed with a sound I’ve heard a thousand times over the years.

That said the one track that does stand out for me as total black chaos is “The Chaos Dimension”, which is every bit as KVLT as it gets with some really old-school guitar tones and malevolent riffs straight out of the Tormentor (Kreator) demo book. It sounds as if the band had an idea in mind, but it’s so vastly convoluted that I can’t enjoy it as a whole concept. 

It’s not a bad demo, but it’s also not wholly memorable for me.   

In Cold Blood - Demo 2012

Release Date:  February 15, 2012
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Black Block  2.  Payback  3.  Apocalypse Now  4.  Panopticon
-    Total playing time:  18:54

For a copy of Demo 2012 contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).

Release Date:  May 22, 2012
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Bottom of Abysm  2.  Holy Father’s Butchery  3.  Ruin Without Boundaries  4.  Spinning Graves  
-    Total playing time:  9:50

DOWNLOAD a copy of Immensité via the band's bandcamp page (click on link above).

 

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DEMO ARCHIVE

For a copy of Demo 2011 contact the band via their facebook page (click on link above).

Immensite, In Cold Blood & ZOM