Clandestine Cuts #1 - featuring Crematoria, Ancestor's Revenge, Imperial Conquest, Privilege Of Approval and more
| Written by: | jupitreas, KwonVerge, BitterCOld, Doc G., Thryce |
| Published: | September 24, 2010 |
Here at Metal Storm we love to think of new ways to make this website better: more complete, more user-friendly, more awesome... just more metal. This is why you regularly see new features, additions to the site's functionality, design changes and new talented people who want their opinions about metal to be read all around the world.
Unfortunately, we've always had a bit of a problem with demos and EPs. You see - we receive hundreds of them every year and as much as we like writing reviews for all of the most underground bands out there - we are after all also people with day jobs and mundane responsibilities. Moreover, does every demo really deserve to appear on the front page of Metal Storm along with other full reviews of bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slayer? Some certainly might - after all, most huge bands also began their careers by releasing crummy self-produced demos...
With this said, it recently became obvious to us that instead of writing full reviews of demos and EPs that nobody will read, why not create a new feature - a demo/EP spotlight where we can give some succint and focused opinons on some of the more interesting underground releases that make it our way.
This is why I now hereby introduce a new Metal Storm monthly feature - Clandestine Cuts. Enjoy!
-jupitreas
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Clandestine Cuts #1
The Metal Storm Demo/EP Spotlight
| Crematoria - Embodiment Of Brutality EP http://www.myspace.com/crematoriadeath It doesn't take long to notice that compared to juggernauts like Misery Index or Pig Destroyer, Crematoria is not exactly an Embodiment Of Brutality. Pig squeels and mid-tempo, breakdown-laden compositions do not make me shit my pants by their sheer brutality; however, when all is said and done, this is not actually an entirely uncharismatic record. By not going too over the top, Crematoria manages to avoid being cartoonish and this EP can certainly be enjoyed simply as a fun, if a little mediocre, death/grind album. by jupitreas |  |
 | Ancestor's Revenge - Heretical Halitosis http://www.myspace.com/ancestorsrevenge So Quebec is world renowned for it's brutal death metal scene, boasting bands such as Gorguts, Cryptopsy, and Quo Vadis. What if you to take that genuine crushing death metal sound and combine it with some slightly more melodic thrash riffing? A much smoother experience is what you'd get! But don't let that fool you, Ancestors Revenge is still supremely aggressive. Granted, similar music has already been created by many other bands, but but it's death metal brought to it's necessary aggressive extreme - what else do you want? by Luke Godin |
| Imperial Conquest - Omnipotence http://www.myspace.com/imperialconquestfl If the name Imperial Conquest would lead you to think the band might have been influenced by Emperor, the one-two punch of the pomp of the orchestral "Intro" into the machinegun blast beats and keyboard soaked verses of "Where the Portals Intertwined" would confirm that these Tampa, Florida lads revere their copies of Anthems. While not particularly original, they do play an enjoyable form of chaotic, yet melodic black metal. If you're going to wear your influences on your sleeves, that band from Norway isn't a bad place to start. by BitterCOld |  |
 | Privilege of Approval - Privilege of Approval http://www.myspace.com/privilegeofapproval This is the first EP of this Austrian band and it consists of 5 tracks (including intro/outro), moving in death metal soundscapes. Dare i say, this is a successful mix of straight to your face death metal with groovy and powerful riffing, relentless drumming and deep grunting vocals and of the more melodic aggression of Gothenburg style the way it was formed by At The Gates etc. Although being not very original in sound, they know how to present what they want to offer with good musicianship and this self-titled EP is just the beginning of what is yet to come. by DerRozzengarten |
| Thulium - 69 http://www.myspace.com/Thulium69 Thulium might be one of the worst bands to ever send us anything to review. Wow. I'm surprised the band's vocalist Boubou can still sing in his annoying, nasal manner - wouldn't deepthroating so many label executives make him sore? 69 is an EP with 3 vapid radio-friendly pop songs that just happen to have some guitars in them. Don't be fooled though - this is pure pablum. This band shouldn't have sent their EP to a metal website. by jupitreas |  |
 | Pay No Respect - Moving On http://www.myspace.com/paynorespect Kicking a maximum amount of ass with a minimal level of originality. Those are the cruel intentions of Pay No Respect, a young UK outfit balancing on the tightrope between metal and hardcore. The music is anger-fueled, the compositions razor-tight, the attitude indisputably hardcore... but the innovative impact nonexistent. So while not breaking any new ground, Pay No Respect is so badass it will put you in the hospital. Tasty appetizer in anticipation of the new Madball album. by Thryce |
| Supremacy - In Death And Pleasure EP http://www.myspace.com/supremacyinferno Arriving on the scene about 15 years too late, Supremacy plays pseudo-black metal in the style of early Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth. There is absolutely no evil in this EP, it might have just as well been called In Pleasure since all the songs feature happy, bouncy rhythms and silly vocals. Its not all bad though - Supremacy can be pretty catchy and in the future, once songwriting and production difficulties have been overcome, they should capitalize on that. by jupitreas |  |
Comments
Comments: 28
Visited by: 433 users
| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Correction... Slayer never released a demo 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| jupitreas hi-fi / lo-life Staff Posts: 6659  |
Yeah, that is truly the most important comment one could make about this article.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Doc G. Full Grown Hoser Staff Posts: 9718  |
Damn, we all need to give ourselves a pat on the back if I must say so, this looks real slick. Great idea, Jup!
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287  |
Nice work, Jup! like the layout.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
They lay-out is cool. Also the inclusion of the myspace links is very handy. I hope this format takes off and people will enjoy it. But to remain the nitpicker I am... I keep on stating that Slayer never released a demo And btw yes, I do find pointing out such flaws, in an otherwise good introductory text, extremely important.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| jupitreas hi-fi / lo-life Staff Posts: 6659 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 25.09.2010 at 21:15 There, happy?
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Yep. Totally happy now. Now it's perfect :-)
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Jon Posts: 182  |
Good idea despite the elusiveness of the actual section. Chronicles of Chaos have this but it never gets updated. Decent range here, hope it continues in that fashion. Not sure whether Thulium are the best joke ever or just really tragic. They list the Foo Fighters, Nickelback and the Red Hot Chili Peppers among their influences and have pictures of what appear to be World of Warcraft/ Dungeons and Dragons characters on their Myspace. Not in the cool way that a power metal band would have a badass knight or a wizard on their album, these seem to have been lifted straight from a computer game.
---- A mythology is a religion different enough from your own for it's absurdity to be obvious.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573  |
Great idea, no doubt, but why include stuff that suxx here, like Thulium? I think Clandestine Cuts should be something like staff picks for demos: only the stuff that in the reviewer's opinion is worth listening to.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| patrickmetal12 Posts: 110  |
Written by K✞ulu on 26.09.2010 at 16:15 good idea. or maybe just have a section for the... not-so-good demos/EP's
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1201  |
To be more fair to the bands, you should call it "some-people-but-not-everyone-might-like-Eps". 
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| jupitreas hi-fi / lo-life Staff Posts: 6659 |
Our choice of demos and eps for this section depends entirely on what promo material we receive from bands in a given month. If some of them happen to suck, at least we'll be the first to honestly tell u that.
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| Symmachus Posts: 2002 |
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
This idea is quite good, and being monthly, I think it will be nice to see which bands will send you their demos, I hope more staffers will write this short and handy reviews in the future
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287 |
Written by Daggon on 26.09.2010 at 23:53 the reviews are a mix of how many requests get submitted, how many other reviews staffers have obligations for, and, oh, the real life stuff. by shortening the length from 400 words to 50 or so per review, we'll be able to do more. and if we get a truly dynamite release (like, say, Shattered Hope) we'll likely give it the old fashioned full review treatment. hopefully this format will garner more views on MS and more hits on the bands' sites.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Written by jupitreas on 26.09.2010 at 21:42 thanks for explaining. had to look up words like pablum and vapid to make sure I got what you meant haha
---- loves 小巫
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| DrM DreaMutilated Posts: 131  |
At first I thought this might be an interesting read, however all the bands featured here are a bunch of Death or Hardcore bands, with not a single shroud of originality in any of them. I could criticize these selections all I want, but the fact of the matter is that this is the most usual type of new undiscovered metal bands these days. Except for Nu, and you don't want to get me started on that matter. Could you please try to add a few original and/or prog bands on the next article? I've heard good things on a new act called "Anthriel" for example, should be worth a mention in my opinion.
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| jupitreas hi-fi / lo-life Staff Posts: 6659 |
Written by DrM on 27.09.2010 at 10:16 Once again, the choice of albums for review in this section depends entirely on what we receive from bands in a given month. If Anthriel or any other band wants to be featured here, they need to send us their demo/EP.
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| ANGEL REAPER Posts: 3687  |
Keep on the good work ! I would like to see this articles in a next few(hundred) years!
---- "Cross is only an iron,hope is just an illusion,freedom is nothing but a name..." "Build your walls of the dead stone...Build your roofs of a dead wood..Build your dreams of a dead thoughts" 
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| DrM DreaMutilated Posts: 131 |
Written by jupitreas on 27.09.2010 at 11:37 I see, wasn't aware of that. Either way, this is a great idea - keep up the good work!
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| Aetherius Posts: 219  |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
This looks so much better than I had anticipated Jup. Looking forward to making a few contributions for the next edition!
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Klaudya Posts: 1  |
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| Promonex Cathemeral Elite Posts: 9720  |
Written by Klaudya on 13.12.2010 at 17:52 Ancestors Revenge by far. The only band which managed to make me listen to every single song on their Myspace. Not really original, but very cool indeed. Fortunately I listened to "The Rash That Spreads" as the last song as it doesn't seem very representative for the other two songs.
---- All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now. - The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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| Sulac Posts: 242  |
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9028  |
So this is where it began
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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