Pallbearer, Toxic Hate & War Master

August 30, 2010

CHRIS

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Pallbearer - 2010 Demo

This is some of the best doom metal I’ve heard since Hour of 13.

Pallbearer hails from Little Rock, Arkansas, yet sounds like Birmingham, England might have been a more logical suit. At nearly twenty-four minutes this three-track demo is every doom head’s perfect companion to the likes of Warning, Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus or the aforementioned Hour of 13. Some very well-organized metal music is here without all of the bells and whistles of some of the more annoyingly predictable bands trying to replicate Black Sabbath.

The opening track is just acidic doom rock that just plunges your head into icy cold water and makes you take immediate notice. It’s powerful without pretention and heavy without saturation. Vocalist/Guitarist Brett Campbell offers a brilliant performance that is exactly what this style calls for in a simple, yet effective effort that is soaring and very much in the vein of Pat Walker from Warning. In fact, Warning would be a perfect comparison especially since I feel that Warning is the best doom band since St. Vitus. With the right amount of exposure these guys could be just as popular because this demo is great!   

War Master - Chapel of the Apocalypse

Release Date: 2010
Label: Torture Garden Picture Company

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Chapel of the Apocalypse  2.  (Intro) Awake in Darkness /
Warplague  3.  Thrones of Tyranny         
-    Total playing time: 12:53

Houston death metallers War Master sent in its first demo Chapel of the Apocalypse that is pretty decent overall, if somewhat primitive. For your desired death metal sound that doesn’t necessarily reinvent electricity but provides a decent show, Chapel is a good beginning.

What we have here is a raw, heavy-hitting band sound on Chapel that calls upon the old Bolt Thrower/early Immolation sound pretty well, albeit to an obligatory degree. “Thrones of Tyranny” has that foreboding, evil sound that makes the genre both loved by fans and despised by “critics”. The production here is pretty muddy overall, but for the style you can almost get past it pretty easily. The music is quite good for that early almost doom-style death metal that can shift so caustically to a brutal jagged point. It’s formulaic all over, but it’s entertaining.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this demo and see the band has some serious attitudes when it comes to the music created. That said, the band has just issued an EP titled Thrones of Tyranny that shadows this one in production. It has “Thrones of Tyranny” and a new track called “Undead Warmachine” that should be an immediate follow-up to the demo so you can get the best of both efforts. For the endless barrage of death metal that makes one sick it’s so contrived, War Master can offer you something more in the way of the Bolt Thrower style.

I could grade the EP a little higher, but I go with what’s in front of me and this one is decent, but the band gets better the second time around.

Toxic Hate - Demo 2010

Release Date:  2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Intro  2.  Toxic Hate  3.  Bastard     
-    Total playing time: 9:23

Mexican death metal emerges to the north with Toxic Hate’s first demo of three songs that can strip the skin from aging bones as easily as tying shoes. What we have here is a very solid death metal recording.

Vocalist Erradicator and instrumentalist Hatemaster offer us some classic death metal that might well be derivative of the genre, but is nevertheless brutal and engaging. Immolation, Bolt Thrower, Vader, all highly credible influences are within these three tracks that have some real promise. I especially like “Bastard”, which moves along at one heavy, blood-drying pace, only to find the riff management and guitar solo pretty decent.

I like the vocals as they aren’t too guttural to where the lyrics get lost in the swelter that can be the music. The production is decent overall and provides a fine audio experience, even void of total perfection. The rawness and murkiness isn’t at all annoying as it is obligatory and vital. I’d like to hear some other songs by these guys with a bit more polish.

I’ve always said Mexico is the hotbed for metal these days and Toxic Hate is the newest addition to the itinerary. Check ‘em out.

DOWNLOAD Demo 2010 FREE from the band's myspace page (click on link above).

TO THE TOP

Release Date:  2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  The Legend  2.  Devoid of Redemption  3.  Gloomy Sunday      -    Total playing time: 23:21

DOWNLOAD Demo 2010 FREE from the band's official website: http://www.pallbearerdoom.com/

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

DEMO ARCHIVE