Amherst to Boston transplants DeathAmphetamine sure knows how to thrash both brutally and melodically. Along with Deceased’s Surreal Overdose, The Lost Album is some of the finest thrash/punk/death/grind but mainly thrash cut to tape in recent years. This trio isn’t fucking around. There’s a unique backstory to go along with the release of The Lost Album, as it would seem that the original masters were stolen by crackheads!? Since the band loves peppering their blazing riff grind with sci-fi/conspiracy themes, it’s very fitting that the story of the record is about the last man on Earth uncovering this MIA album in the midst of wartorn, post-apocalyptic distress.

Sadly, I can’t reveal the names who perpetrated this work as the Internet is getting increasingly dysfunctional and harder to find information on. I can’t load Myspace anymore, the group’s Bandcamp is sparse on information, the press sheet’s appropriately vague, and I won’t even strain my eyes looking at that Facebook Timeline mess. Ugh. Remember when the ‘net was neatly organized? Maybe, I should have checked Encylopedia Metallum, but to be honest, I just kind of want to write about the music at this point, since it’s bubbling fresh in my cranium like a vat of dissolving acid. So the strong soldier on without information and hopefully don’t make an ass out of themselves (yeah right). Opener, “The Story so Far” is an FX-fucked smatter of key/organ drone ran through a meatgrinder of sci-fi laser blasts. It has you thinking that this record’s going to sound like Voivod’s The Outer Limits or something along the lines of creepy space prog/metal, yet when “1-1-2-3-5” starts us off proper with a gravity defying stop/start blast beat and riffs to match, you know what you’re really getting into. Deep space tremolo picking lends a black metal atmosphere to the band’s relentless grind, while the chunky slowdowns, dual vocals (a scream and a low growl), and rapid fire guitar solos cement DA firmly in the classic death/thrash dirt.

“Losing it All” is the first real standout. Sounding a bit like Dismember in the early going the band revels in Swedish melody, limber bass groove that’s cleanly played, and fluid, mid-tempo double bass. What’s to follow is some of the most rock n’ rolly thrash ever cut to tape, the riffs strangling a Motorhead groove into submission over a rollicking d-beat punk tempo as rebel guitar solos cut a swath straight to Jupiter and back. The rest of the track never chooses the easy path; they drop off right before the midpoint with what sounds like an epic crust break (Tragedy/His Hero is Gone type stuff) that lets the toms give a tribal workout while the guitar adds a few melodic note patterns beside that gorgeous bass tone, but that idea is quickly crushed like a soup can by interstellar, blackened grind then reassembled by chugging, mid-tempo thrash grooves before the whole thing collapses into an abyss of the exact same manic, rocked-out thrash that kicked things off in the first place! Wow, you can call me a fan right about now because “Losing it All” is a classic thrash song if I’ve ever heard one. They work the same formula on the shorter “Dactyl Nightmare,” grind, black, thrash, and death coming together in an orgy of semen, douche, intoxicating Slayer riffs, and grinding d-beat carnage with just a little bit of Northern darkness stalking the background. Another exercise in tight songwriting and structure comes in the form of “The Black Moment,” and its intro melodies that are somewhere between Tragedy’s melodic stuff and glossy Swedish melo-thrash (Dismember, At the Gates…the hard stuff, not In Flames). Once the song itself begins to take shape, we’re greeted with an executioner’s axe of kinetic crust-punk with overtly melodic riffs, jazzy clean bass runs, and hyperactive drumming that stops and starts on a dime, pounding out a typically thrash-y rhythm one minute, a punk d-beat the next, and working technical snare fills in between nearly every stylistic transition. There’s still enough terse, palm-muted thrash groove to remind your head of which beat to bang on, and just when you think they’ve got nothing left in their arsenal DA spazzes out with some grindcore blasting, throaty hardcore punk vocals (there’s a Lemmy inflection going on), and Slayer shred soloing for a fulfilling metal romp that strides the fence right between Deceased sounding thrash/death mince and Tragedian punk groove.

The album’s second half is no slouch either, “The Immortalist” kicking things off with potent, unfiltered thrash/grind that’s all about ear irreverent aggression and methlike reflexes. But as you might guess from what I’ve been yammering about so far, this isn’t a band that likes to stay in one mold and the group presages the climax with an explosion of slightly melodic black metal where the lead guitar shines with frostbitten arpeggios beneath a shower of concrete blasts and bass licks that eat, sleep, and shit a jazz-like, clean proficiency. I mean there’s not one bum track in this batch, which leaves me looking for an exit point for this review. How much more can I say to convince you? I’ll tell you that the mid-tempo thrash chug at the 1:30 mark of “Domestic Human” is one of the best of its kind…or how about how “More Sauce for the Goose,” opens with wailing, completely sung power metal vocals and has the best set of riffs, solos, breaks, grooves, and rabid crusty, d-beat belligerence of the entire album? Yeah, I could write another 1,000 words easy, but let’s talk to the conductor about stopping this train before we can’t.

DeathAmphetamine’s The Lost Album is essential for thrash fans. The instrumentation, concept, and songwriting are all top-notch. If Surreal Overdose, and Satanic Royalty are two of your most played “fast/extreme” metal albums of the last year, well this is what you should be buying next. No ifs, ands, or fucking buts about it…this is thrash the way it should sound, with a lot of other cool elements putrefying the mix. And, “More Sauce for the Goose” has a nearly minute long guitar solo to die for that’s by far one of the best you’re going to hear all year long in the thrash realm. This review is already too fuckin’ wordy, and repetitive…buy this damn album as I shut the fuck up and go listen to The Lost Album one more time!

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Pick up a copy here — http://obscenitycultrecords.bigcartel.com/product/deathamphetamine-the-lost-album-cassette

Or buy the digital version here — http://obscenitycultrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lost-album

Armageddon Shop Providence
436 Broadway, Providence, RI
1 401.521.6667

Armageddon Shop Boston
12 Eliot St., Cambridge, MA
1 617.492.1235

After more than a decade of demos and EPs, Americans throw Deathamphetamine “The Lost Album”, or whatever it is, their first full length.

For those who do not know, this trio of Boston practice a style that blends to perfection all the brutality of Metal (Thrash, Death) with the aggressiveness and speed of Punk more genuine.

The themes of “The Lost Album” are whirlwinds ends that go through your head at a rate ultrasonic mercilessly. Speed is one of the hallmarks of Deathamphetamine, not to mention a wide variety of guitar riffs (we can enjoy a perfect combination of clean chords, bass and sharp on this CD), in a loud voice and mostly torn in two variants (acute and severe), a battery with a devastating hit our ears incessant drilled without compassion and a bass that provides that degree of heaviness cojonuda required to complete this work.

Ten tracks of extreme brutality that you will enjoy as a child and leave you wanting more. That would be my summary of “The Lost Album”, an excellent work that you unleash on the most basic instincts.

Obscenity Cult (2012)

Rating: 9/10

Sergio Fernandez

sergio@queensofsteel.com

http://obscenitycultrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lost-album

1. The Story So Far
2. 1-1-2-3-5
3. Losing It All
4. Dactyl Nightmare
5. The Black Moment
6. The Immortalist
7. More Sauce For The Goose
8. Stalinizer
9. Domestic Human
10. The Last Man

http://deathamphetamine.com

http://obscenitycult.com

KRUDS–

1. Hatchet Face
2. Dead Bent
3. Advantage / Harlot
4. Chumbawumba / Fuck Charles Day

RAMPANT DECAY–

1. Political Lemmings
2. King Of The Trash

http://facebook.com/pages/Kruds/160340403988405

http://rampantdecay.blogspot.com

http://facebook.com/pages/Blast-A-Lot-Records/152816651433823

http://obscenitycult.com

http://riotousoutburst.bandcamp.com/

http://chowdahouse.com/

http://store.buriedinhell.com/

http://givepraiserecords.com/

With The Lost Album, Deathamphetamine continue their genre-bending sojourn with ten tracks of aural intensity. Blurring the lines between metal and punk, they manage to take catchy rock hooks and brutalize them into unrelenting blast-laden thrash metal. While they may wear their influences (and their Trekkerdom) on their sleeves, Deathampetamine’s The Lost Album is a welcome rarity in a galaxy of monotony.

The album has the tongue-in-cheek sense of humor one might expect from punk rock. This is established immediately during the obligatory intro track, which features a goofy montage of lo-fi samples off of a cassette. The samples give way to a minute and a half of blistering metal, setting the pace for the rest of the album. Tracks are generally short, reminiscent in structure of eighties crossover thrash/thrash punk. They hit you hard and leave you wanting more.

Taking from such disparate sources as Bay Area thrash, early American hardcore, heavy metal, black metal, and death metal, Deathamphetamine is one of those rare bands that can blend many obvious influences into cohesive and original music. Tracks like “Dactyl Nightmare” squeeze brutal death metal riffage, and d-beat style hardcore into a punishing minute and a half. “More Sauce for the Goose” opens with Exhumed-like grinding before transitioning into a section of octave-chord American hardcore. And, while it might sound like the riffs are all over the place, every transition is seamless. That cohesiveness is a testament to Deathamphetamine’s musicianship and songwriting. The impeccable drumming leaves no transitional awkwardness, the songs are thought out and the playing is tight. The vocals also lend themselves well to the cross-genre experience. Blackened raspy vocals dominate, but are balanced with guttural lows, an occasional falsetto and a couple of moments of gruff singing.

Throughout The Lost Album, Deathampetamine set themselves apart from the often generic bands coming out of the current resurgence in thrash metal. Their genuine sense of humor is certainly not a shoddy attempt to cover up regurgitated Metallica riffs. And when you reach the end, and you find yourself rocking out to a super secret Misfits cover, you may be surprised, but chances are you will listen to The Lost Album over and over again.

The Lost Album will be out this summer from your friends here at Obscenity Cult Records. You can check out the band online at http://deathamphetamine.bandcamp.com

Blood of the Gods ‘The Shadow Before’

Entombed, that’s the recurring idea banging around in my mind when I first hear ‘Earthborne’ from Blood of the Gods. It’s a hell of an album opener. A slow build up to huge guitars, pounding drums driving the song and deep, guttural vocals. This grabs my attention. This is death metal done right. Not to be saddled with preconceived notions of genre, there are elements of doom and black metal adding texture to songs on ‘The Shadow Before’. The sparse intro to ‘Haunted Legacy’ serves as a stark contrast to the crushing elements in the song. I really like the doomed out closer ‘Cloak of Sorrow’. It’s heavy as fuck. As a whole, the songs are well structured with all the elements and riffs melding together making for great tunes. All too often, despairing genres are thrown together with a lack of cohesiveness. Thankfully, this is not the case with ‘The Shadow Before’. This album is not full of jittery, angular pieces or a sampler of what the cool genre in metal is. It’s toss your beer and bang your head goodness. Blood of the Gods take death metal back.

Purchase the digital download of Blood of the Gods ‘The Shadow Before’ here: http://obscenitycultrecords.bandcamp.com/

CDs available at shows or by mail here:

http://obscenitycultrecords.bigcartel.com/

Gjennom Nordlige Vinder is the first demo from Norwegian black metallers Til Evighet. The production value is good for a demo; the mix is solid, with clear guitars and audible vocals. If anything, the overall cleanliness is the first drawback for such a release. There is nothing raw here.

The overall tone is more akin to the current wave of shoe gaze influenced black metal. Unfortunately, by achieving such cleanliness in recording the monotony of the music really shines through. The drums are obviously electronic, albeit well programmed at times. In general the riffs are uninspired typical black metal fare. There are a few exceptions, the second track “År Tusen og Femti” and the fifth track “Den Døde Landsbyen” both offer some entertaining guitar moments.

The vocals also detract from the overall potential both in style and delivery. Stylistically the vocals are more reminiscent of death-core than black metal, and may be the single most irritating element of this release. Consisting predominately of low guttural vocals they would fit better if they were trying to be Vehemence, but not so much over the Darkthrone worship.

And that is the problem; the music is Darkthrone circa 1995 with the production of Dimmu Borgir 2011. That’s not to say there is no potential here. There is musical talent in Til Evighet, and once they find direction they could be a force to be reckoned with.

You can listen to Til Evighet online at http://myspace.com/tilevighet

I don’t use fancy, outrageous words and I’m not a expert critic so let’s do this and keep it simple. First let me talk about the music overall. If timing was as important in black metal as it is in jazz these guys would be fucked. from personal experience with drum machines I can say its pretty damn time consuming and you need to know what your doing  so to me the first two or three tracks sound like they just rushed through the drums just to get them over with. Next the album has a pretty cool introduction which I enjoy a lot. Its not just a bunch of noise. Another thing I realized is that with every track you listen to the music just gets better and better. The quality gets better, the riffs get more intense and the drums get faster. Personally I am not a fan of crystal clear recording in BM but Hekseri kinda evens things out between perfect and tape deck eh. Kept things simple, basic blast beats with a perfect quality drum tone (duh it’s a machine), the guitars sounded a little rough not heavily distorted like Burzum’s Jesus’ tod but they sounded more like immortals tone on Sons Of Northern Darkness, and last but not least are the vocals… They were just great for the music, there could have been a little bit of distortion added but what ever its no big deal. Right away Immortal influence was heard about half way through the album along with some insane Dark Funeral blasts. All in all this album was great to listen too and Hekseri definitely has the potential to make some great and memorable material. This album has me wondering when is the next release!

You can listen to Hekseri online at http://www.facebook.com/hekseri