One of Russia’s oldest Death Metal acts for sure is this one: Bestial Deform, created in 1990 and still active. There was an official break for a couple of years at the end of last century, and the past decade there was nearly anything going on (the last album, Stop The Christianity!, was released in 2005). But since I do consider Bestial Deform as one of the strongest and most influential Death Metal acts from Russia, I am truly pleased by the band’s return.
Basilisk are a Japanese band that was formed in 1997 when Monarchie Infernale split up. Throughout the years, the band underwent several line-up changes, and they were joined by musicians active in other notorious Japanese acts like Stillbirth. There were not that much activities, not in the studio, nor live on stage, and a couple of times Basilisk were put on hold.
Atra Vetosus are a Tasmanian band that are on Immortal Frost’s roster for a couple of years. In 2011 this collaboration resulted in the release of the demonstrational recording A Palace Shrouded In Emptiness (the tracks from that demo, by the way, have been re-arranged for this debut full length) (back then, by the way, Atra Vetosus were a duo, i.e.
French act Paramnesia formed in 2005 and they released a first single, Les Contemplations, in early 2013. As from then on, the band decided to sort of number their tracks, and the self-released EP Ce Que Dit La Bouche De L’Ombre (‘what the mouth of the shadow tells’) consisted of the tracks I and II. Earlier this year, the band and Les Acteurs De L’Ombre released a split with fellow countrymen Unru, and Paramnesia’s contribution was called III.
All-female band Mortals (Caryn Havlik, Elizabeth Cline and Lesley Wolf) hail from Brooklyn (United States of the New World). Some of you might remember the highly acclaimed Death Ritual EP, self-released in 2012. Now they return with their first full length album for Relapse Records, Cursed To See The Future, which lasts for forty eight minutes. That’s nice, for it consists of six songs only.
Luna are a solo-outfit by Anton Demort, aka DeMort, whom you might know from the Doom-Death band Amily (remember the nice To All In Graves-album in 2012, also done via probably the greatest Funeral Doom / Doom-Death label on Mater Terra, Russia’s Solitude Productions?). He started this project one year ago and now comes with the first album, called Ashes To Ashes.
A.O.D. is the abbreviation for Architects Of Disease. It’s a Polish act, formed in 2012 after the demise of Iugulatus. The question is whether A.O.D. can be considered a new band, or whether it is Iugulatus after a change of moniker. As a matter of fact, Iugulatus split up after the departure of singer Balrog; shortly before, also drummer Wojtass left. Both of them are now in Slain, but that’s another story.
Villainy are a Dutch act that were born to pay tribute to the origins of Extreme Metal. The trio recorded this debut, ingeniously titled I (just joking; there’s nothing wrong with such a title, of course) at Perimeter Audio with Marc van Duivenvoorde (Entrapment, Acid Deathtrip, F.U.B.A.R. etc.) and it lasts for forty minutes.
Sunchariot are a solo-project by former Svetovid-member C.R.G., located in San Francisco, California. After two demos, Sunchariot signed to Winter Solace Productions, with Warrior Of The Winds as first result, followed by Swirling Sunwheel Of Eternal Life via Werewolf Promotion. It’s the first of these two records that this review deals with.
Šmiercieslaŭ are a duo (Darkut-d and Radzim-v, g, b; both of them used to play together in Oyhra, and are active as well in Zmrok) from Belarus that were formed at the end of last century (1998 to be more precise). Despite one and a half decade of existence, Šmiercieslaŭ weren’t that active.
