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Ah, Cianide. The classic Chicago Death Metal band that’s so crushingly, lurchingly heavy they’re like Obituary on steroids. This was definitely an album I was looking forward to hearing, along with various other Old-School Death Metal comebacks and New-Wave-of-Old-School-Death-Metal (NWOSDM?) releases.

I never actually heard their last “comeback” album (2005′s  ”Hell’s Rebirth”), so my only frame of reference for Cianide is their 90′s golden era, which spawned evil, monolithic, and fucking DOOOOOM albums like “The Dying Truth” and “A Descent Into Hell”. “Gods of Death” isn’t quite as slow as the classics, and the small change of pace subtly shifts the feel of the music away from the band’s former death-doom majesty. The riffs tend to sound a little bit more generic, and at times the band employs galloping motorhead-inspired style very similar to that of fellow Chicago natives Master. That’s not necessarily a negative thing, and I like the adrenaline charged, testosterone powered shenanigans of Motorhead and Master, but this isn’t really what I wanted from Cianide. There are still doomy passages in every song, but the dead, abysmal sound of  ”Second Life” and “The Undead March” is no more.

Don’t get me wrong, there is enjoyment to be found in this album, but whether their dynamic shift was a conscious decision or just natural progression, it does not deliver on the level Cianide have been capable of in the past. In short, this is far better than Morbid Angel’s latest, “Illud Divinum Insanus”, but it has nothing on Autopsy’s 2011 instant classic “Macabre Eternal”. I’d give this a 6/10, worth a listen for Cianide fans or dedicated Old School Death Metal junkies like myself.

US death metal pioneers Incantation have recently been added to the already stacked line up for this year’s Neurotic Deathfest, which runs April 29th & 30th in Tilburg, Netherlands. Drummer Kyle Severn gave the following statement:

“On behalf of myself and Incantation, we would like to announce that we have just been added to the greatest indoor European death metal fest line up that we have ever seen. Yes, I’m talking about this year’s Neurotic Deathfest in Holland. Incantation is honored to share the stage again with the almighty Autopsy, as well as the return of At The Gates, and other metal legends like Obituary, and new metallers of the 2K-era Hail Of Bullets. We plan to play a very obscure set in honor of this amazing line up and for our very supportive fans, old school and new alike. With a well rounded fest lineup bound together with leather and spikes, you will not want to miss this Incantation setlist, which is already a making in the metal history. We are riding the metal storm out with the same line up as we had this time last year when we successfully spread blasphemy across Europe during our headlining tour for the highly respected 7” EP Scapegoat with Alex Bouks (Goreaphobia, Master) guitars, Chuck Sherwood (Blood Storm) bass, John McEntee on guitar and vokills and myself skinsmans Kyle Severn on the drums….Kyle666″

Neurotic Deathfest 2011, featuring the likes of At The Gates, Autopsy, Obituary, Hate Eternal, Incantation and many more, is already shaping up to be the most brutal festival of the year. Keep checking in at www.neuroticdeathfest.com for information and updates.

Polish death metallers Ulcer are the latest inductees to the expanding Pulverised Records roster. Formed in 2006, the young Ulcer consists of past and present members from Blaze Of Perdition, Squashed Bowels, Deivos and Abusiveness. The band recorded two demos in 2006 and a debut full-length album entitled Serpent Trinity in 2007.

Ulcer‘s Pulverised debut, entitled Grant Us Death, is currently underway with an expected release date later this year. Artwork and track listing to be unveiled soon.

Comments Ulcer frontman D. (aka Sonneillon) of the signing: “We are proud to join the ranks of the well-known and respected label Pulverised Records. When we were searching for a label to release our new material, we wanted to find someone who not only can offer decent conditions, but also knows what death metal is about. We’ve never had an urgent need to release anything anywhere. We just needed a label that understands what we do, and to put it simply: Pulverised is perfect for us – nothing more, nothing less. It’s a privilege to praise death along with such great names as Desultory, Impiety, Interment, Master, Nominon and Tribulation, who are all ravenous as hell. We’ll do our best to prove that we are worthy to be a part of this great label with our album Grant Us Death. Expect nothing but raging death metal inferno in its pure and classic form. ONLY DEATH IS HOLY!”

Added Pulverised Records A&R manager Calvin Chiang : “When we first heard two recently-recorded tracks from Ulcer, it was very clear to us that these guys mean serious business! The raw essence of ugly-as-fuck, in-your-face ’90s death metal yet with thought-out [song] structures are all very much evident; but Ulcer emits a certain darkness and morbidity that sets them apart. The band sent their raw mixes from the upcoming album Grant Us Death and just judging from these raw tracks, the new album will be an unbridled mix of violent and macabre old school death metal!”

Ulcer is:
D. (aka Sonneillon) – Vocals
Angelfuck – Vocals
LucaSS – Guitar
Mscislaw (aka Revenger) – Guitar
Kamil “Szwed” – Bass
Wizun – Drums

Genres: Death Metal, Thrash
Label: Pulverised Records

All hail the Master of old school death metal!
Master’s newest assault on the senses is fast, brutal, and politically charged. There’s great riffs, great solos, and great vocals. But at times it touches cookie-cutter territory, taking the same riff for too long, or similar riffs used in different songs. Thankfully, these times are few and far between, leaving the listener to bang their head to good stuff like “Twisted Truth”, “Suppress Free Thinking”, and the album closer “Impale to Kill”.
If you’re looking for American death metal the way that it should be played, while adding in some thrash and punk elements, look no further than The Human Machine.
7 out of 10.

Master on MySpace.

Giving a new twist to horror, the Afterparty Massacre, brings metal, blood and gore back to the screen! Written by Kristoff (Horrormerch.com/Spookygirls.com) and Kyle Severn (Incantation, Acheron, and other various side projects), Afterparty Massacre is one killer party with mind-blowing amounts of blood, metal and (naked) flesh!

Afterparty Massacre centers around live performances by Acheron and Incantation. During the show they encounter a mysterious female fan, that becomes a bloodthirsty killer with a voyeuristic side to her. “She loves watching and waiting for the perfect moment to attack her victims. Her bloodlust can not be contained and in the final scenes she unleashes her wrath on the band as well as the crowd until no one is left standing!”

Kristoff mentions. Plus, the soundtrack itself is a major part of this production including bands such as: 16volt, Asphyx, Cardiac Arrest, Crucifier, Denial Fiend, Divine Eve, Estuary, Fatalist, Funerus, Goreaphobia, Gravehill, Luxury Pushers, Master, Pentacle, Ventana and more! Both Incantation and Acheron are performing new exclusive songs within the movie. While Denial Fiend, Goreaphobia, Ventana and a few other bands will have unreleased exclusive tracks for this feature as well. “The music is just as important to this movie as the blood and gore.” Kyle mentions. “The music itself really makes the scenes, it really completes the soundscape for a total massacre. We plan on releasing a CD of the bands featured in the movie via Ibex Moon around the time of the release of the film as well.”

This film will be full of side stories, drunken crowds and plenty of scantly clad metal chicks with its share of nudity. “We’re going at it from all angles!” Kristoff laughs. “We’re shooting both hardcore and soft-core versions of footage here, just not sure at the immediate on which version it’s all going to end up!”

This brings up the point that there may be two different versions of the film released. “We had the idea of shooting two versions of the film for both audiences… the ones that want a darker story with all the blood and gore but not all the hardcore sex involved, and the ones that want all hardcore sex with a lighter story line and the blood and gore mixed in!” He also notes “We’ll be editing them both a bit differently to cater to both audiences. We’ll be shooting the kill scenes from multiple angles and also doing the same with the hardcore/soft-core scenes so it’s not just the same movie repackaged with ‘bonus footage’ as most movies are released today. Both versions will have different exclusive audio tracks and exclusive kill scenes in each version so it adds in a bit more to the depth of the production making it actually worth checking out both versions.”

Along with the overdose on blood, metal, booze and sex comes the sideshow aspect as well. “We’ve ‘hooked up’ with a suspension crew and we’re bringing in a few friends of ours to do up some fire/piercing/grinding performances as well.” adds Kristoff. “We wanted to bring in these dangerous aspects within this subcultre that don’t always get the most attention. We’ll have guys suspended by hooks flying through the air, girls fire breathing, girls with split tounges, guys with all sorts of different body modifications and performance piercings everywhere! Having this dangerous attraction will be a great addition to this movie for sure!”

“It’s a really fun project that I’m looking forward to be a part of!” mentions Kristoff in talking with him about the film. “Having worked with Rob Rotten on Texas Vibrator Massacre (Metro Video/Punx Productions) I definitely learned a lot from that experience and wanted to give horror movie making a go for myself.” He also adds, “Plus when Kyle approached me about making a movie with all the bands that wanted to be part of such a huge soundtrack, we sat down with a few existing ideas I had and we elaborated on them to create this production.”

The film is to be shot this February, with a tentative May release date in open markets. “With Incantation playing the Maryland Deathfest, we figured this would be the absolute best time for the release. Tons of black/death metal, lots of blood, lots of naked chicks, it’s an ideal release date for this movie!” mentions Kyle in regards to the release of the film.

With the release of the UNRATED version for the Maryland Deathfest, Ibex Moon will be distributing the “cleaner” version of the film. On the other side, Punx Productions is on board to release the XXXTRA FLESH (adult) version as well, “Rob Rotten is great to work with and when I mentioned this idea to him he was hyped to bring this in line of his other horror releases (Texas Vibrator Massacre/Porn of the Dead) and being involved wherever he could.” Kristoff mentions.

Look for both the UNRATED and XXXTRA FLESH versions of the movie plus the CD soundtrack for the Afterparty Massacre due out in late May.

((Credit goes to Cassandra Baun))