Blasphemous – To Lay Siege and Conquer Review

By Alekhines Gun

Have you ever looked back on the grander, moister bands of yore and thought “Man, I sure do wish Immortal and Angelcorpse did an album together”? That’s okay, neither have I—apparently we have no imagination. Luckily, New Jersey blackened death outfit Blasphemous is prepared to uncork its fourth album, To Lay Siege and Conquer to show us what we’ve been missing. After releasing a pair of albums before breaking up in 2013, Blasphemous reformed with a refreshed lineup for 2018’s Emerging Through Fire, an album that seemed poised to make serious waves in the underground before a certain disease strolled up and ruined things for everybody. Fortunately, band founder/vocalist RK managed to keep the group together through the pandemic and got back to writing, and you can be assured the perpetuated lineup has paid serious dividends.

The first thing that caught the ear’s attention was how much better To Lay Siege and Conquer sounds than its predecessor. Whether by artistic intent or budgetary limitations, Emerging Through Fire had a much more raw, tinny, and thin approach, emphasizing the blacker half of the band’s sound at the cost of weight and power. To Lay Siege and Conquer has no such problems, crushing the listener with a modern productional heft worthy of Watain or Decrepit Birth and giving it the power of modern death without sacrificing an ounce of its blacker, acid-drenched melodies. Absolutely everything here is militant and bombastic, from the abused bass rumblings (“Son of the Forsaken”) to the attacked-by-killer-bees solos (“Spiritual Enslavement,” “Martyr Complex”), to RK’s constant vocal conducting, which rides atop but never drowns out the music. His performance in particular holds the album together, sounding like a much younger, far more pissed-off Thomas Lindberg (At the Gates), and though his vocal range may be a bit limited, his pitch manages to maintain its power and clarity without ever stagnating or growing boring.

To Lay Siege and Conquer is no vocalist’s grandstanding album, however, as Blasphemous takes a SWAT team approach to songwriting, with a “get in, wreck stuff, leave” mentality. Melodies and moments rarely repeat beyond their shelf life, instead evolving gradually around their melodic theme. The album’s title track is a prime example of this, with a rolling tank of a groove uncorked by Steve Shreve and Hal Microutsicos that alternates between rapid-fire tremolos and half-time chugs while drummer Mark Vizza adjusts his blasts to a thicker barrage to compensate. The drums are arranged to punctuate shifting riffs and intensity. Mark’s toolbox doesn’t really expand beyond the “blast, gallop, and groove” trifecta, but he masterfully ebbs and flows, pulling back into tasteful cymbal tempo-keeping as easily as uncorking an expected avalanche of snare abuse under leads that range from razor-sharp blackened harmonies to vaguely eastern flair (“Curse of the Witchchrist”) To Lay Siege and Conquer doesn’t want for a variety of engaging moments.

The only real flaw facing Blasphemous is consistency. Instead of being customarily frontloaded and fizzling out, To Lay Siege and Consquer is refreshingly bookended by its highlights, with the first and last two songs being the most engaging, while the middle stretch turns into a bit of a drag. Some of the slower moments (“Dead and Still” and “Martyr Complex”) remind of the punkier sounds of Sons of Northern Darkness without ever building to any kind of climax or theme, while “Spiritual Enslavement” can’t seem to decide what flavor it wants to be, causing otherwise effective riffs to lose momentum before the song suddenly ends. Still, Blasphemous wisely errs on the side of brevity, keeping things at a lean 29 minutes, before closing the album on a note of triumph with the anthemic closer, “Neverborn.”

To Lay Siege and Conquer is an enjoyable carpet bombing of riffy,[Ah yes, who doesn’t love a good… carpet… bombing? – AMG] throwdown, brodown blackened death goodness. Lovers of the style will undoubtedly find much to enjoy here, and Blasphemous is knocking on the door of something special. Maintaining the lineup has improved its cohesion and confidence, and the production highlights the power of the performances, ensuring many of the songs will level bars across the nation when played live. Keep an eye out for their fifth album to see if they can unlock the next gear in their compositional skills, and for now, enjoy laying siege to your neighbors.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: mp3
Label: Adirondack Black Mass
Websites: blasphemousphilly.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blasphemousmetal
Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AdirondackBlackMass #AmericanMetal #Angelcorpse #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #Blasphemous #DeathMetal #DecrepitBirth #Immortal #Oct24 #Review #Reviews #ToLaySiegeAndConquer #Watain

Concrete Winds – Concrete Winds Review

By Maddog

I left my first splotch on this fair site with Concrete Winds in 2021. The regrettably-titled Nerve Butcherer was an archetypal 3.0. Concrete Winds’ brand of war metal was fierce, concise, and exciting, but I haven’t returned to it due to its shameless recycling of ideas. Their new self-titled record seems to promise a similar experience, even in its minutiae. Much like its predecessors, Concrete Winds sports amorphous cover art and unfolds over nine tracks with silly faux-death-metal two-word titles.1 I approached the album expecting Concrete Winds to deliver a satisfactory but indistinguishable rehash of their past assaults.

I was half right. Concrete Winds’ sound is instantly recognizable, but it isn’t a photocopy of Nerve Butcherer. As before, Concrete Winds’ blackened riffs sound razor-sharp despite their simplicity. The album unfolds at a frantic pace, spanning nine tracks that treat your ears like a relay race baton. While Concrete Winds’ single-minded barrage feels familiar, it comes with some tweaks. The rhythmic experimentation that both helped and hurt Nerve Butcherer takes a back seat, with occasional exceptions like “Demented Gospels.” If anything, Concrete Winds leans further into their grindcore influences, cutting even straighter to the point (“Daylight Amputations”). Conversely, shrill guitar leads expand the band’s style while fitting snugly within it, augmenting Concrete Winds’ air raid with a siren. Other digressions include industrial percussion (“Subterranean Persuasion”) and Sodom-esque first-wave black metal (“Pounding Devotion”). Concrete Winds steps out of their comfort zone on their self-titled, even if only by an inch.

Concrete Winds’ old habits and new flourishes merge into an explosive 25 minutes. Every riff shines through its uncontainable energy, making any ten-second snippet of the record a pleasure in its own right. Occasional forays into other styles add novelty without skimping on power, like the industrial segments and traditional death metal influences of “Subterranean Persuasion.” Concrete Winds hits hardest when these pieces come together. For instance, the aggression of highlight “Infernal Repeater” fits the band’s mold, while the track’s flailing guitar melodies both stand out and heighten its intensity. Consistently smooth transitions between different songs and styles help the album’s new experiments feel at home throughout. Concrete Winds continues to play to their strengths, maintaining their violence-first approach while taking new steps.

Still, Concrete Winds struggles to stay fresh as a complete record. Despite diverging from its predecessors, it wears out through repetition. Concrete Winds’ trademark lowbrow war metal is the album’s core, and variations like the air raid siren guitars show up so often that they become forgettable. Once you settle into Concrete Winds’ style, even its most extreme cuts feel cookie-cutter, especially after several listens (“Virulent Glow”). Luckily, the album doesn’t brazenly self-plagiarize riffs as Nerve Butcherer did, but both its shortest songs (“Permanent Dissonance”) and its longest (“Demented Gospels”) pull from the same bag of tricks. Every idea here works in isolation, but different sections step on each other’s toes, making the final product less exciting to revisit.

Concrete Winds hit me hard on my first spin, but it dulls as the weeks go by. A first glance reveals marked improvements over Nerve Butcherer and Primitive Force. Concrete Winds has added new tools to their arsenal and reduced their raw repetition of riffs, all while sounding just as sharp. But even over just half an hour, this abrasive brand of grindy blackened death loses its edge through overuse. Your mileage may vary. Devotees of bands like Angelcorpse should pay heed, and Dolph’s enthusiasm suggests that the album may be a hit with no-good cetaceans. While Concrete Winds won’t threaten my year-end list, it’s a thrilling listen with enough innovation to get me excited for its follow-up.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Sepulchral Voice Records
Websites: concretewinds.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/aggressivenoisetorment
Releases Worldwide: August 30th, 2024

#2024 #30 #Angelcorpse #Aug24 #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #BlackenedGrind #ConcreteWinds #DeathMetal #FinnishMetal #Grindcore #Review #Reviews #SepulchralVoiceRecords #Sodom #WarMetal