Belgium’s Epoch prove with a great and almighty fury that it doesn’t need to take an entire hour’s worth of blistering brutal death before you are barreled headfirst into the ground, bleeding in suubmission. Originally released independently on their Bandcamp in 2015, a physical version of the record is now available for distribution courtesy of Lavadome Productions. Obviously the label thought it was a killer release that deserved a widespread distribution and I’d have to agree with them on that. The sort of brutal death metal that these guys (or guy – I can’t really tell from any of the information I have here) play mixes well within some firey tremolos and obscure progressive tinkerings. This mixture can give it an almost hypnotic effect, making one feel as if they’re being swallowed by a tornado of sorts. Noting that, we’re also getting a familiar machine-gun approach to the drumming but not in the sense that it contains consistent blasts, which I’m thankful for. The drummer actually seems to know what he’s doing behind the kit, and such a backbone only makes the hot winds of fuzz and death sound all the more interesting. The vocal approach on this one is absolutely frightening in some instances, not giving us the sound of a wimp behind the microphone, but an enraged and possibly deadly individual who knows how to sing right from the gut – literally. It almost feels as though he pulled his stomach out and allowed it to communicate it’s thoughts on the recording. As I stated earlier, there are moments when the tone of the record becomes a tad more technical than you might expect, which is the very reason why it should be hunted down at all costs. This is a level of technical death not unlike Wormed or even Demilich at times, and will no doubt astound you if you’re able to get your grimy mitts on a physical copy of it – which thanks to Lavadome, should now be possible. The amount of experimentation that has been tapped into the level of death metal that is on display for this one is almost legendary. As for the future of the act, it is unclear. According to Metal Archives, the only current member of the act is R. Polon, who is also currently in the active bands Omega Centauri, Santcus Nex, Alarde Esperpénticoa and Heksenrijder among others. Needless to say, he still has several other projects to keep him busy, regardless of whether or not this act continues. Of course, the main problem with Epoch would be topping Sacrosanct. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s even possible. Without a doubt, Sacrosanct is one of the most groundbreaking death metal related experiences that I’ve heard from this genre in quite a while and that should mean something. I remember falling in love with it after the very first listen, and I’m sure that you will too. This is the more intelligent and unique side of death metal experimentism that we just don’t hear every day, especially in the deathcore and triggered-drum era. Definitely pick it up if you haven’t already, as it is definitely one of my top death metal releases of the year, and will stand as one of the best death metal releases of all-time for me. (8 Tracks, 36:00)10/10Doomster Reich – Let Us Fall (2015) – A bit of an older release, but still worth mentioning, this EP marked what was the Polish doomster’s last recording for a good while. As of right now they have a single entitled “Seven Seals” but that one comes nearly two years prior to this recording. It is interesting that the band’s debut album The League For Mental Distillation, comes just one year prior to this release, meaning that some of the pieces here could have been cast-offs from that release. Three of the seven tracks are covers as well, so that’s worth keeping in mind. Covered here are pieces from Pentagram, Bedemon and Saint Vitus, which are all fair efforts as far as I’m concerned, with the real treats being delivered later on in the performance. “The World Must Die” starts us off with a mixture of what sounds like doom mixed in with a sort of bleak sludge as frontman Rasz (Deathlust, Flagvm, Persecutor) offers up a kind of unexpected and rowdy vocal performance. It almost comes off a bit ravenous here, which adds a nice touch. “Hidden Path” comes next, with a bit of a dirtier and slightly more frightening vibe. That remains until the band become trippy, which is where they truly excel. Rasz and guitarist Markiz (Architect Of Disease, Deep Desolation) shove a fistful of acid blotter tabs into the cut, which only serve to accentuate the piece even though it sands down the spikes a little. The Pentagram cover of “Forever My Queen” rolls into groove and pumps in a rather prominent solo section amidst some hefty jamming. It’s a relatively short song that comes in and out quicker than a radio-play number. The next original piece is a literal goliath that seems a tribute to LSD and all of the trippy zippy things about fuzzy doom metal. It’s also quite lengthy, coming in at nearly eight minutes. The track sounds like a literal drug-trip and only continues to ride with the vibe until it seems to find Jimi Hendrix on some floating rock out in the middle of space, where Rasz and Markiz work to channel him. Not surprisingly, it has a sort of “jam band” nature to it, but I honestly feel like I’m getting a buzz just from listening to it. Works for me! Though I’ve enjoyed the original having heard it admittedly not so long ago, the band’s cover of the Saint Vitus classic “One Mind” sounds much better than the original. As much as I enjoy the cheesy camp of lengendary frontman Scott Reagers (and I do mean enjoy it), there’s just something about Rasz’s vocals here that change the whole song for me. I’ve listened to it four times today, because it’s taken on a sort of new life for me. Reagers was trying to go for a bit of a psychotic tone with some of the vocal lines and there are a few outlandish howls here and there, but I really like what Doomster Reich have done with it. You see, Rasz already has a bit of a raspy voice and it feels like he has a throat full of razor blades at times, which brings an unexpected sort of anger to the performance. Go ahead, read the lyrics again if you’ve forgotten them. When you tie that sort of anger and frustration to these lyrics, it seems to work better for the song. I feel the passion here and it just works. I love how during the repetition of “no one understands your mind” the vocal tone just seems to lead more and more towards insanity, which I think Reagers was trying to do (and did manage to hit perfectly on a few songs) but Rasz seems to have taken the microphone from him at this point, and really delivers something new, fresh and a little disturbing. It’s just the delivery and vocal tone behind it that really starts to reverberate in my head, no doubt I’ll be listening to this one a great deal because I always feel like that guy in public that no one can figure out. Everyone is always talking about something different than what I’m thinking at the current moment and it almost makes me think that I might be crazy, as I certainly don’t think on the same flight-path as everyone else. As the lyrics reverberate over and over in my head, the dark and bluesy overtones of the piece seem to demonstrate my own lack of sanity. I simply love it. The next track performed here is the band’s last original recording for the album, but it is a real whopper and shows that they should very well have a more fitting place at the table of doom. It is essentially a mixture of the genre at it’s darkest and most satanic, but with an added psychedelia that spikes the satanic punch bowl with a little more LSD. Then things sort of get a bit bizarre after that, which again – is a plus. It might sound like your CD player is on the fritz and about to explode, before the next track comes in. The final cut we have here is a cover of Bedemon’s “Serpent Venom.” I’m not familiar with Bedemon as much as I am Pentagram and Saint Vitus, so let’s learn a little about them. First of all, these US based doomers have been bootlegged for years and it wasn’t until ’05 before a compilation of all that good stuff was released from the original master tapes, which happens to include this song. They are known for featuring former members of Pentagram, The Obsessed and Macabre. The track itself is very dark and dreary, drawing heavily on Sabbath before they “lightened up a little” and that too, is a good thing (there have been quite a few of those on this album). It’s a short piece, but nonetheless effective and makes me wonder why this Polish act haven’t gotten as much attention as they should. Clearly, I’ll be listening to their cover of “One Mind” an awful lot, but there are no doubt myriads of trips in which one can partake with this recording. Doomster Reich just plain known how to play good, memorable and downright meaningful doom. There’s no doubt about that. The album is a bit longer than most EP’s and feels like a full-length album. Even if some of these were cast-offs from the earlier released debut, I’m sure as hell not going to complain about it. Good doom is good doom, and Let Us Fall gives me the right amount of creepiness, trip factor and even some unexpected angst that comes off as a very fulfilling release in the genre. Wish I’d heard this one a bit sooner. (7 Tracks, 43:00)8/10Ibyss – Hate Speech (2017) – Here we have an interesting situation, in which I have to use my abilities as a music journalist to do what I feel is right. Ibyss are an amazing German industrial band with an electrifying EP that reminds me fondly of acts like Godflesh and Killing Joke. The band seek to bring “industrial music back to it’s underground roots” and offer up an “assault on the progressive sound complex of today’s heavy metal.” Problem is, German media is very politically correct these days and the band is taking heat for their album title and some of the lyrical content, which I couldn’t even garner any offense to. Obviously there’s nothing of the Nazi party here, and I know that other than Nazi related materials, German is usually quite open-minded. They’ve given us the mecca of fetish in their red light district. Or at least, they did. If things have gotten this out of hand, then there is literally no telling as to how much they’ve cracked down over there. Now I’ll be honest. I’m not really digging the album’s opener “Faceoff” very much and even on this second listen, it feels a little flat. It very much feels like a demo of sorts from these guys, in an attempt to get their bearings for the rest of the record. Also, it more or less just repeats the same couple of phrases over and over again. When I first heard this one, I thought it was pretty weak and had a lot of Fear Factory worship. I was kind of letdown immediately, assuming that this would be the whole album. But it wasn’t. “Faceoff” is just a weird fluke that is in my opinion, an awful way to start an album. Due to the track’s simplicity, it also feels like it overstays it’s welcome, which is definitely not something you want in an album opener. Despite all of that, we get an interesting twenty-three minutes of music that shouldn’t disappoint you in the same way that the aforementioned did. “Bois Ton Sang” actually makes me think a little bit of Doom grooves (and I do mean the PC game Doom) along with a creepy little lead that snakes in and out as hefty German missiles seem to launch from frontman Jens’ gaping hole. As for the guitars, programmed drums and and bass work, that is all handled by Nihil. Both guys manage to deliver exactly what they claim to bring to the table, which is “two guys, two guitars, riffs, shouts, growls, programmed drums and distorted bass” and sounds miuch better than you think. After the Doom node, there’s a piece called “Home Is Where The Graves Are” where Killing Joke (or Prong, if you like) seem to appear as an influence. Jens nearly mirrors that classic vocal style as Nihil even adds a worthwhile guitar solo into the mix. Sometimes the approach can be a little peculiar, but that only adds to intrigue for me. As for “Like Drones” I hear a bit of Fear Factory, but a more stripped down and raw version that sounds better without all the gloss. Think “Demanufacture” and you’ve got it. The band rolls in with “Senseless Ordeal” next, which is the longest song here, coming in at seven minutes. It is a bit slower and plods more than the other tracks, as it also offers some cleaner vocal lines amidst a few spurts of heavy shouts and loud guitars. It’s definitely different territory than I’ve heard prior from the band and it’s by no means a wash. They’ve demonstrated a different side of themselves here and I’d like to see if something more becomes of it in the future. The album ends with “Frontlines” which kind of brings the Fear Factory/Killing Joke vibe back a little. Maybe I’m reminded of early Mushroomhead a bit towards the end as well? In any case, the record seems to be just as good as the band’s ’14 debut Obsidian, and though shorter, it shows a lot of potential and more or less excites me. The influences have been aptly named, (the band also cite Nailbomb, Ministry and Pitchshifter – this must be early Pitchshifter) but they display in the band quite beautifully, leaving us with a very solid release that does everything that the record was made to do. It is a bit unfortunate about the German press, but I haven’t really heard anything that I feel is offensive in such a manner that the media would hammer down on it, especially since the lyric material is more or less anti-religion and corruption, enslavement and those sorts of things. The same kind of crap I sing about, really. Germany must have really stepped up it’s social justice game or something as this is pretty tame. Unless the album cover is really that frightening, which astounds me. This is nothing, Germany. As far as the US is concerned, there’s nothing wrong with this album. I quite like it, and I think fans of all the acts I’ve named in this observation will as well. At least, I hope they would. I think you’ll agree with me about “Faceoff” though, it just doesn’t hit as hard as the others for some reason. These guys definitely have what it takes to matter in the indudtrial scene though and hopefully someone will recognize that.
