Ah, we all seem to have been taking a turn with these as this label seem to release so much material we have no choice but to lump them all in together girls in this reviewing format. Casket Records part of Copro Productions started back in 1998 and were at the time releasing albums by groups such as Desecration, Snub and Earthtone 9. As the years progressed so did the releases and I have to say in my opinion the label has been all quantity over quality, the dumping ground for the sort of groups who would never get signed elsewhere and a label with albums designed to fill up bargain bins of record shops (when they actually existed) all over town. Of course there are exceptions to the rule and I am really happy when we manage to pick out a gem from the label and heap praise upon it, something that has been done recently for the likes of For Ruin, Nightlord and Monsterworks. I have to admit the last album on the label I heard that blew me away was Tor Marrock – ‘A Classic Romance’ way back in 2007, so I approached my pile with caution wondering if I could possibly unearth a diamond in the rough.
Silent Resistance – A Thousand Voices Well I am afraid to say I certainly was not going to find it here. To be fair to this young UK band, if this had turned up on its own it would not have passed our reviewing rules and would have been rejected. The production is good and the intro builds up necessary atmosphere but after this it all goes way downhill with horrible clean vocals counterpoised with boring harsh growls. Yep this form of modern metal is so generic and unexciting it’s akin to watching paint dry and I fail to see how it can stir up anything approaching emotion in its emotive discourse to anyone but the complacent, unchallenged listener. At times the clean harmonies make this feel little more than bland rock with a slight edge and the metallic form of any resistance found within its songs are pretty much negated by silence. Not one for kicking a horse, especially a foal when it’s down I’m passing over any further judgement on this MCD. I honestly cannot see any reviewers or readers of this site liking this lot so let’s move on to the more extreme offerings from the label.
Dark Reign – From Grief To Greatness Hailing from Amsterdam and citing influences from all the clichéd metal names you could mention; from Slayer through to Lamb Of God and Pantera to Scar Symmetry, it’s a case of bridging the old school with the new way of thinking on this MCD. With just one self released album 2006 ‘Prisoner Of Imagination’ behind them this new offering proffers a blood curdling scream which evolves into chugging guitar and harsh gruff barked out vocals on opening track. ‘Premonition.’ There is a bit of a thrashing mindset behind this and although modern trappings can be heard this is on the whole the sound of a band keeping it real and going back to their roots. They are happy to throw a solo into the mix and the songs flow along with a good sense of melody and brutality. It took a few listens but numbers like ‘Misery Loves Company’ are beginning to get beneath the skin and although this offers nothing new it’s fairly well executed stuff that gets the blood pumping and by last song ‘Why This Life’ I am interested enough to wonder where they will go from here and if a full length album is on the cards in the future. The funny thing is that I really hear none of the “jackpot” heavy hitting bands cited in their PR blurb but much more worthy death, thrash and even doom groups which could be namedropped. Perhaps market yourself more honestly and you may well get taken a bit more seriously!
Annihilation – Against The Storm Time for a short hop, skip and jump over to Portugal for something undeniably brutal. This debut album was apparently self released in 2010 before being picked up by Casket and according to my blurb the group’s intention was to create their own sound and something original. Well it’s anything but that, this is hammer and nails death metal and totally generic with it. Take pounding drums and grinding guitars along with rough as sandpaper vocals and song titles like ‘Tortured With Hate’ and there you have it; just over half an hour of one-dimensional songs with one task in mind, to batter the listener into submission. There is nothing that the group are doing particularly wrong as far as their playing is concerned, things are savagely executed and this is a pretty remorseless listen with just a few subtle bridges slowing things down and allowing you to take a pause for breath, but it’s pretty damn boring and has little in the way of atmosphere about it. I suppose if you are a fan of bands like Obituary and Deicide you are going to find something you like here and Annihilation are surely a suitable support band for such an act when they visit Portugal. The more doom-laden ‘Hear Them’ sticks out a bit with a touch of early Morbid Angel about it but this on the whole has a feeling of brutal death by numbers and it really does lack its own identity on the whole; still it’s just a debut so perhaps that can be found in the future.
Hyban Draco – Dead Are Not Silent Ah this should be up my street, a Spanish black death hybrid which starts off with instrumentation sounding like the bastard son of Dissection and Watain As the first song proper ‘The Star That Lights The Lake’ rasps in. The vocals are apt and guitars thorny and as things progress it is evident that a lot of emphasis is put on the melody and there is a bit of a virtuoso flair about the fret work. It’s obvious that this fairly young band can play but (and there is always a but) I think the simplest way of putting things is that their music just does not move me. If I am yet again sounding negative and picky, well it is not on purpose, as I cannot fault the playing here but the immediacy of the songs are lost amongst the guitar flailing histrionics and although the vocals do the job, they don’t have the rabid bite of their peers and any grim atmosphere is negated by a feeling that this is a band flirting with satanic overtures but not really having the conviction or skill to back them up like many more serious. Still if you are looking for heady guitar flourishes and songs with a good grasp of melody and even a fairly strong chorus such as ‘Infernal Glory’ this isn’t too shoddy by half. If you are looking for occult and orthodox black metal which is arcane and serious you are going to find this a bit on the twee side. Apparently they played various small venues in England in July, must have passed me right by.
http://www.myspace.com/silentresistance
http://www.myspace.com/darkreign1
http://www.myspace.com/annihilationmetal
http://www.myspace.com/hybandraco
Pete Woods
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