Abest - "Demo MMXII"

Abest from Northern Germany are blurring the lines between atmospheric Post-Metal and bleak Hardcore to create a dark and pounding emotional atmosphere.

Abest - "Demo MMXII"

-DCKR

Coma Void - "Coma Void"

Space black metal. Wherever you are in relation to understanding that space black metal is actually a thing, you need to listen to this. Jump into the Coma Void.

Coma Void - "Coma Void"

- DCKR

Centura - "Black Sheep"

Get you some deathy thrash metal music from a netlabel that knows you cares and cares if you know.

Centura - "Black Sheep"

- DCKR

Hansel - Crude Matters [DTRASH184]

After almost five years off the radar, Hansel returns! I received a promo copy of this album from Schizoid (proprietor over at DTrash Records) and was instantly excited. I've been a Hansel fan for 10 years now! Back in 2004 they sent out a hard copy cd "sub atomic particles" for free to people on their mailing list. That act of awesomeness solidified my fandom. Crude Matters does not disappoint.

It so happens my favorite track is probably track one, "One-Bad-Shoulder". It's melancholy synth lines sound as though the synth itself is crying out through delay and decay. A simple yet well written break stumbles prettily along behind it. With 31 songs total "Crude Matters" contains a lot you would not expect from the angst ridden aggressive legacy left by previous Hansel offerings. Vocals don't appear till track three, "We Refuse to Exist", where after being told to "Suck my dick" it appears Hansel hasn't changed too much! Glitched out string arrangements, slightly dirty beats and dark atmospheres all remind of the Hansel I grew to love. While Alan Flux's vocals are well done and the delivery on point, the lyrics are at times adolescent. Couple that with occasional squeals and/or guitar riffs that would fit well in a Marilyn Manson album. That being said its probably why I love Hansel. The combination of hard electronics mixed with sounds that inspire nostalgia because of its reminiscence of metal bands of my youth that combined electronics and hard rock/metal. This may put off some listeners, but I wasn't particularly bothered. There is much to positively balance out those short comings (if short comings they are, depends on your perception and preferences). On "Dividing Red" the song starts off with teenage sounding pleas and accusations filled with sad rage backed mostly by toned down guitar. I particularly like the vocals on this song. It reminds of a dialogue one would have with themselves in a moment of self pity. That is not all there is to "Diving Red". Three quarters of the way through the track, a pitched up sped up beat box break emerges that plays around a crunchy foreground breakbeat and beautiful synth organ outro.

Overall the production is superb. This is a record you listen to on headphones or a good system set up to take full advantage of stereo. Even though there are thirty songs no sound is over used. Every track is at least sonically unique. The vocals stay on the metal side of things. Previous releases like "Sub-Atomic Particles" had vocals that stayed mostly on the a hip hop delivery. One thing noticeably missing on this release is the amen break. This is not a bad thing. The amen is probably the most over used break in music (that coming from a guy who makes breakcore, a genre notorious for its excessive use of the amen). There are moments of psuedo-hip hop. "Halfsharkalligatorman (Dr. Octagon)" is an obvious homage to the great Kool Keith and is executed fantastically. "Leaving the Space Station" also has Alan Flux rapping over a hard drum and bass break. While the use of the amen break is missing, that doesn't mean there aren't parts that get fast and dirty. "Nutmegz" uses beautiful string samples mixed with hard, fast, dirty breaks which back fast distorted aggressive vocals. "Nutmegz" is only a minute and a half long leaving the listener wishing for more. I would have liked to hear it go on longer, but it is followed up quite well with "Time". If Orgy was a digital hardcore outfit it might sound like this. "Time" ends with a well placed harpsichord piece. That combined with the well edited drum and bass breaks that support the whole track, it is easy to think of breakcore masters like Ablecain.

"Crude Matters" is a fairly diverse album, though it does stay within certain barriers. While it is mostly definitely Hansel at heart there is a good amount of experimentation that came out positively. Old paths are retraced and new routes are uncovered. "It's a Shame" shows a less aggressive more vulnerable side to Alan Flux's vocal delivery. "G0odfist" dabbles in the love/hate genre of "Dubstep". A great return release from Hansel all and all. I wish alot of the tracks were longer and more fleshed out. "Soulless Men" is an acoustic track that took me surprise in the most pleasant of ways. The cover of "Eleanor Rigby" titled "Eleanor Big" very much reminds me of the 2000/2001 cover by the goth industrial band Godhead. "Eleanor Rigby" is a song that in my opinion has been covered far too many times.

The production is enviable. And while there is a tad bit of experimentation and exit from Hansel's 'comfort zone', almost every track still is comprised of a few key features. Dark string arrangements, angst ridden vocals, and mid tempo breaks are all key features although they do not appear together on every track. With this release, Hansel's sound has been refined to the point of perfection. I look forward to the next Hansel release. Hopefully they evolve beyond their current template. "Crude Matters" perhaps shows a want of a new direction. It feels like they have done all they can with their present sound but hey, they do it damn well.

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tooth_eye

Tsar Bomb - "Tsar Bomb EP"

Spanish blackened death metal of the highest, if slightly over-produced, caliber. I actually really love everything about this EP other than the fact that the production is a little too clean. Blow a speaker listening to ti the first, then give it another listen with a blown speaker. Yeah.

Tasr Bomb - "Tsar Bomb EP"

- DCKR

Xiphest - "Beseecher"

Torn Flesh Records coming up on 800 releases! This time around it's from Xiphest with some self-described Transcendent Psychedelic Technical Slamming Brutal Death Metal. That seems a bit lofty of a description for my tastes, but truth be told - there are definitely some psychedelic and transcendent moments and overtones in places, all over some really great death metal vocals and crushing guitars alongside what sounds like programmed drums. In places it makes me think of what death metal would sound like if A.i.(d) made some.

Xiphest - "Beseecher"

- DCKR

Word Of Unmaking / Grue - "Lo, the Curse of the World Cometh"

A single 16 minute track of absolute molasses like funeral doom from Word Of Unmaking along with with another 16 minutes of pretty alright black metal across 5 tracks courtesy of Grue on this split cassette release you can have for free digitally. Get murky.

Grue side
Word Of Unmaking side

- DCKR

Napalm Christ - "2013 Demo"

It's been a bit since I've posted here at Magicore, and this time around I bring you the first coming of Napalm Christ. Goatprayer is going to make this and some additional songs available for purchase on cassette, but being the good folks that they are - you can have these for free! Crusty deathy blacky metallic goodness that you need to bash your face off with.

Napalm Christ - "2013 Demo"

- DCKR

Daggra - "Daggra"

Magicore homie Phil from A Beautiful Lotus does vocals for this new project entitled Daggra. Relentless and agressive grindy goodness from front to back, some powerful riffs and tightly played drums paint the picture for Phil's vocals and together it's a masterpiece of heaviness. Check it.

Daggra - "Daggra"

- DCKR

V/A - Brokecore Forever

A fun romp through the extended Brokecore family. A Family that has been split up and gone through rough times, but has finally come back together in a tender embrace. The last Brokecore compilation was nigh on 7 years ago. The label has been pretty much on indefinite hiatus since. Now its back with a vengeance! 38 tracks of br00t41 nast'. Relative newcomer Mherdad kicks things off with a pretty straight forward breakcore banger, filled to the brim with breaks, edits, and gabber kicks. The following track by another newcomer, Freebase Frenzy, sounds as though Stuntrock himself (circa '00) took possession and kicked out the jams with his track "Mr Austin Tends To Get A Little Cranky If He Doesn't Get A Beer By Noon". The intensity never lets up. Whether its top notch noise blasts from the likes of Michigan's RedSK or evil chiptune anthems from Pittsburgh's very own Bit Mummy, you will not be disappointed. Evil Robot Ted, Brokecore's owner, known for his harsh digi noise pieces and broken breakbeat montages brings the finest, cleanest piece of Jungle/Drum n Bass I've ever heard from him. Ditching the standard noise pads for phasing melodies reminiscent of the raving early 90s and backing it up with varied, well edited amens provides a quite enjoyable listening experience. The track order is superb, songs often mixing very well into the following track. Evil Robot Ted's track runs perfectly into the mellow I DO NOT LOVE.'s "Come Back", subdued vocals harkening back to Joy Divisions haunting vocalist Ian Curtis coupled with a pretty electronic melody that slowly washes away in a sea of reverb and echo along with the rest of the song, a deep dark well of doomed synth pop. While there are many new names to the Brokecore roster introduced on this compilation, that doesn't mean there aren't a few old favorites in the mix either. Kindergarten Hazing Ritual, DJ Scratchin', and Helium Ointment all lend their talents. A joy to listen to, an honor to have had the opportunity to participate. Brokecore FOREVER!

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Haapoja - "Haapoja"

Some pretty well executed Finnish hardcore with an air of progressive and black metal to it. Great riffs and chords, awesome shifts in time signatures, drums are on point, vocals are just the right amount of screaming and growling and sit well in the mix of everything else. Check it.

Haapoja - "Haapoja"

- DCKR

Light Bearer - "Silver Tongue"

If you're a fan of post-metal and post-hardcore, even if not a fan of those genre terms, then Light Bearer's new one entitled "Silver Tongue" should absolutely not be slept upon. Plain and simple. Huge walls of guitar and coarse vocals with a nice and varied backbone of drums, bass, and atmosphere. All executed superbly. From front to back, beginning to end, "Silver Tongue" tells a story successfully and expertly, as you would expect from this description of the band:

all encompassing DIY art, music and narrative project, based around a story written by their vocalist Alex, who drew influence from the writings of Philip Pullman’s "His Dark Materials" trilogy, John Milton’s "Paradise Lost", and the Book of Genesis.

With defined intros, segue ways, and outros, "Silver Tongue" is a heavy soundtrack to some more refined
creative outlets among the metal masses. Truly something to be experience from front to back in one sitting.

Light Bearer - "Silver Tongue"

- DCKR

Heartless - "Certain Death"

I was fortunate enough to win a prize pack of this release on clear, black, and test press 7" and am thrilled to let you all know you can have at least a digital version for free for yourself. You should throw them some dollars if you can, but throw some horns up to for nothing at bare minimum. Heartless on Halo Of Flies with some gnarly grindy hardcore shit that is angry and relentless. Fucking pummeling and brutal. Incredible.

Heartless - "Certain Death"

- DCKR

Outre - "Tranquility"

Awesome and fairly technical thrashy black metal from Russia courtesy of Outre. Kick ass riffs and chords, vocals are a nice breed of thrashy blackened death, and the drums are full of double kickdrum assaults under really rad fills, rolls, and cymbal workouts. Get it.

Outre - "Tranquility"

- DCKR

V/A - "Hell's Headbangers Compilation 6"

Hell's Headbangers is one of the best and most respected metal distros and labels out there. So, it goes without saying that you should pick up this free compilation from the crew. Hails!

V/A - "Hell's Headbangers Compilation 6"

- DCKR

Tenebrositas - "Toward The Solemn Realm Of Prophet's Twilight"

No scene. No politics. Darkness alone.

Well said. Trve cvlt black metal from Croatia's Tenebrositas. Get it.

- DCKR

Deuil - "Acceptance/Rebuild"

Belgian post black metal and forward thinking doom by way of Deuil. "Acceptance" spends half of its 20 minutes in borderline ambient/drone doom realms before ultimately unleashing a blackened beast from the post-apocalyptic bowels of post-whatever-as-a-genre while the fittingly titled "Rebuild" continues on the basic trajectory of "Acceptance" as it attempts to rebuild your psyche after the pummeling it received from "Acceptance". Loud, deep, angry, inviting.

Deuil - "Acceptance/Rebuild"

- DCKR

Kryzgx - "Kryzgx I"

Genuinely creepy and ritualistic atmospheric black metal from Kryzgx, and artists name you'll never remember how to spell correctly. It is mixed and recorded by Munkie Poo, featured here in the past, so I'm curious as to whether or not this is an alias project from him. Either way, the fuzzed out melodies and leftfield vocal flexings are a nice take on a timeless classic, in terms of the black metal genre. Check it.

Kryzgx - "Kryzgx I"

- DCKR

Le Kraken - "Self Titled / Exalt"

Get you a couple of free releases from sludge / post-hardcore / etc powerhouse Le Kraken. Both their "Self-titled" and "Exalt" efforts are powerful and emotion filled varieties of crusty sludgy doom tinged post-hardcore that are sure to please.

Le Kraken - "Self-titled"
Le Kraken - "Exalt"

- DCKR

Divtech - Machines of Decay

Divtech's incredible debut on Realicide Youth Records, now available for free download!

Slammin' beats and awesome art.

[tlr]

DL