Split The Abyss - With Savage Intent

Split The Abyss is a 4-piece death metal band hailing from Ohio, and “With Savage Intent” marks an interesting, albeit flawed sophomore record. With 12-songs and an hour of material, there are certainly great moments to be had on this record, but it also displays some amateurish tendencies (whether or not that is a plus is in the eye of the beholder, but I’d argue it works against Split the Abyss). The opening track, “Metathronon”, for example, gets things off to a bit of a bad start. It begins with a heavy riff, but the guitar tones are so vastly different between the two rhythm guitars that it makes the guitars sound out of tune with each other. The opening riff in particular compounds this effect; however, once the band speeds up (and it isn’t long before that happens), this issue shouldn’t bother you anymore.

Where you will be immediately impressed is in the quality of the vocals delivered. They are relatively understandable for death metal, but still retain an abrasive aspect. In addition, there is some variation to the vocals, as they have the power needed to do lows and some higher moments (though a rough death/thrash style is certainly the most prominent sound). The riffs run the gamut of the death/thrash sound, but are at their best when they stick with tremolo picking. This is most evident on “Radical Schism”, which is one of the stronger tracks.

It’s pretty clear Split The Abyss has the potential to do great, but sometimes the flaws are just too obvious to ignore. The composition in the solos is pretty weak, as there is no recurring theme, general structure, or really anything that makes a lot of sense. I haven’t nit-picked every note, but it feels like not everything may be in time with the rest of the music. At the very least, the transitions in solo sections are awkward, but this is not something that is exclusive to the guitar solos. Often times the riffs have an equally strange transition. It isn’t that any of the riffs on these songs sound out of place, but rather that consecutively linked riffs have no flow together. When the band avoids this, they are at their best. “Hand of Mercy” is the best place to see this; the verse riff, although simplistic, displays a well-written riff, but the chorus riff is strange and doesn’t seem to work at all. 

Another area where I have to fault “With Savage Intent” is that its simply too long. Only a select number of bands can truly justify releasing an hour’s worth of material at a time. There is definitely enough quality material (both riffs and songs) on the album to create a chaotic, brutal 30-40 minute experience, but when things don’t gel perfectly, 60-minutes is a lot to digest. With all that said, I urge you not to look past this release. Split The Abyss has created plenty of moments to get your head banging, and there are quite a few tracks worth hearing.

Be sure to check out and like Split The Abyss on Facebook!

Highlights

"Radical Schism"

Final Rating

3.3/5 or 66%. 

Written by Scott 

Zealotry – The Charnel Expanse

On first sight of the album cover of “The Charnel Expanse”, it should become quite clear what Zealotry is all about. The twisted, psychotic looking creature immediately gives off vibes of dark, cavernous death metal. Not unlike Immolation and Incantation (who appear to be the primary influences), Zealotry also deliver crushing death metal characterized by strange riffs, unique usage of pinch harmonics, and massive drumming. There is a perpetual use of melody, but it is done in a way that enhances the brooding atmosphere, as it compliments heavier riffs underneath the leads. The guitar solos show homage to Immolation axe-shredder Bob Vigna, with their almost backwards approach to lead guitar.

Continuing along the Immolation path, vocalist R. Temin does an impressive job matching Ross Dolan’s unearthly guttural vocals. Beyond the Immolation worship, there are some surprises. “Avatars of Contempts” (a 3-part track) features a moment of clean guitars in the middle before it returns to sheer brutality.  Likewise, “Blighted” opens with some softer moments prior to excruciatingly heavy guitars come in. Additionally, the lyrical approach on the record tends to give “The Charnel Expanse” a different atmosphere from your typical death metal record. Combining these types of lyrics with a mostly slower approach creates a feeling of endless dread and hopelessness. Musically, this sound comes from the combination of at least a couple of layers of guitars, and Lille Gruber’s (Defeated Sanity) drumming. While he certainly knows his way around the kit, it is his drumming in the slower moments that makes this album so heavy. At times, he leaves huge spaces in the drumming to let the riffs breathe, while at others, he relentlessly unleashes double bass to make the rhythms more pounding. The mixing of the drums is perfect, as they’re a bit louder than normal, so the focus is on the rhythm side of the record, but they’re in no way distracting or annoying. 

Overall, “The Charnel Expanse” is an impressive offering of old-school sounding death metal. There is a wave of Incantation clone bands at the moment, but Zealotry is truly something above and beyond most of these bands. It takes a lot for me to get excited about a newer death metal band, and Zealotry have done a pretty impressive job of creating a unique sounding record that will leave you wanting more.

Be sure to check out and like Zealotry on Facebook!

Highlights

"Avatars of Contempt"

"Blighted"

"Decaying Echoes"

Final Rating

4.2/5 or 84%. 

Written by Scott 

Deicide Interview

After hearing the new album from death metal monstrosity Deicide, I had to go straight to the source on why this album is so awesome. Check out this interview with guitarist Kevin Quirion, and make sure you blast the album as you read it!

SFM: Hi Kevin! Let's start with your contributions to the album. You wrote a lot of music on the new record, despite it being your first time recording with Deicide. Did you find that Glen and Steve were pretty open to your suggestions even though they've written a lot on recent albums?  

Kevin Quirion (KQ): Yeah, they were both pretty receptive. I've put together a couple Order Of Ennead albums with Steve, so we had a routine for putting songs together - basically Jack and Glen were added to the mix making it Deicide. I know Steve was a little burnt out on doing it all himself, and Glen doesn't write too much of the music – though he did write a couple riffs on this one, his first since ‘Legion’ – so another writer was welcomed. Jack had a lot more material on this album as compared to the previous ones he appeared on, also.

SFM: The songs you wrote sound like classic Deicide. Was it easy to come up with very authentic sounding Deicide riffs?

KQ: I grew up on Deicide, so their influence was always there. I just come up with riffs and if it sounds like it could be a Deicide riff then I'll show it to them – If one of the guys doesn't like a riff then I'll use it for something else. I know early there was concern that anything I came up with would sound like Order Of Ennead, but if you put Glen's vocals on something, it sounds like Deicide to me. It was never a concern to me (laughing)...

SFM: I believe this is your third stint in Deicide. Can you speak a bit about how you joined the band again?

KQ: It's not really my third stint. I've been used for live shows whenever they weren't getting along with the other guitarist. I was just filling in here and there since maybe 2008 – they'd make up with him, I'd get a regular job, and then before the tour or shows I'd get a call to start going over the material. It was... “interesting” is a word. One set of shows, I only had a couple days to refresh the songs and it had been many months since playing them.

SFM: You've played in bands with Steve Asheim before, but this was the first recording experience with Deicide. What was it like working with these guys in the studio, and how does it differ from some other bands you have recorded with?

KQ: Recording was smooth. There was never a time that everyone was there at the same time, so that was different. I was there for all but about a day of tracking vocals because I just enjoy being in the studio. So it would be Steve, Jason Seucof and myself, and then Jack, Seucof and myself, and then Glen, Seucof and myself. During my solos it was just me and Jason and we had a great time. I was adding different guitar parts and solos that no one had heard, but they trusted that Jason wouldn't let me get away with anything too out there. Jay even came up with some cool parts and did a solo or four.

SFM: The band recently completed a North America tour before the album came out. How was the reception and turnout?

KQ: The turnouts were all really solid, some of the best shows I've played with them. That L.A. show was awesome – great tour package and people were asking a lot about the album and wanting to hear some new tunes.

SFM: How do you balance putting new songs into the setlist before the album is released when fans wouldn't yet know the songs?

KQ: We didn't play any songs from the new album. There was talk about it and we were going to, but then didn't in the end. We could have played the title track because it was released online and had a pretty good amount of views, but we are saving them for next time. I can't wait to start playing these songs live and hope we play a lot of them.

SFM: These days it seems like concerts continue to get more expensive while bands play shorter and shorter sets. You guys generally seem to play about 18-20 songs, which is better than a lot of bands do. How do you guys determine the ideal number of songs to make sure fans are satisfied?

KQ: We try to play about 1:15 to 1:20. Some of their songs are short so that will add up to 18-20 songs. It will be interesting to see how many from the new album we end up playing and which songs get dropped. There are some that are must plays in their history for sure.

SFM: A lot of bands are starting to play albums in their entirety live. Is this something Deicide would do in the future, and if so, which album would be most likely? Most Deicide albums are short enough that you guys could do this and still play a ton of stuff from other records.

KQ: None of the older albums will ever be played in their entirety. If it ever happened it would be this new album, ‘In The Minds Of Evil.’ We will be getting all 11 songs prepared, but that's just in case a song gets requested live that we didn't intend on playing. We want to be able to interchange them. Maybe a song is great on CD but we lose people live, so we want to be able to fix that and not drop a song or play one of those for an entire tour.

SFM: How do you feel the older death metal bands are going to hold up over the next decade or so given the physical demands of the music? Thrash bands seem to be doing ok so far, but death metal is even a few notches higher in intensity.

KQ: The biggest concern I'd have is with the drummers, they are the ones pulling off a marathon every night. The rest of us can just stand there and chill as long as our wrist, arms and hands hold up.

SFM: Being in Deicide is a great opportunity to bring out some great new, young death metal bands on tour. Are there any specific bands you'd like to have open for you guys to get more exposure?

KQ: Well, I'm never asked about such situations, but let me see what I can come up with… I don't know if a band would be a death metal band, though. I like a mixed package, but not hardcore or anything like that. A black metal band or different genre of death... We'd like to take Disgorge on the road again, they were great to tour with. I got into Ne Obliviscaris, but I'm probably the only one that would enjoy that. Lecherous Nocturne are old friends from South Carolina, so that would be great again.

SFM: Any last words for the fans out there?

KQ: Thanks for reading. Give the new album a listen and come see us on tour – we'll be playing a lot of new songs and the classics you want to hear. 

Deicide – In The Minds of Evil

“In The Minds of Evil” marks the 11^th release from death metal’s favourite blasphemous band, and while the lyrical impact of Deicide has diminished over the years, the music continues to be pummeling. After three albums of Ralph Santolla’s out of place (though enjoyable), melodic ramblings, the band has once again recruited Kevin Quirion, who contributed to a bulk of the songwriting. This simple change has led Deicide to sound like the band that everyone knew from the self-titled debut through “Serpents of the Light”. In particular, the guitar solos are not virtuosic, but instead are some of the most evil guitar patterns written, much in line with what the Hoffman brothers used to do in the band.

Another way the band tried to capture the old-school sound was through the production and song structures. In the case of “To Hell With God”, both of these elements were very obvious and in your face. The production was loud and modern, while the songs were not particularly complex (at least for Deicide). On “In The Minds of Evil”, the band makes use of more intricate riffing and patterns, while hiding behind a less startling production. A song like “Thou Begone” uses riffs with more complicated time signatures in order to bring back the feel of old Deicide. The riffs in general tend to jump between heavily muted power chords, and feature plenty of chugging.

Knowing that Quirion and Jack Owen have done their job, the discussion now needs to turn to the band’s veterans, Steve Asheim and Glen Benton. Asheim’s performances have never been in doubt. Once again, he provides a rhythmically pummeling showing that would put other drummers to shame. Armed with a barrage of blast beats and double bass, Asheim is practically a machine (though his performance never feels mechanical like in bands such as Fleshgod Apocalypse). Moving on to Benton, he mostly retains the style of vocals he used on “To Hell With God”. He no longer gargles his way through the album, but instead uses the brutal and understandable vocal style he was known for in the 90’s. In addition, the harmonized high and low harsh vocals he continues to use still impress. Though they are not as frequent as they used to be, it just makes their appearance more impactful. 

“In The Minds of Evil” is not only a great record, but also a surprising one. Although each Deicide album feels unique to me, I’m willing to admit I’m a pretty big fanboy of the band. This release is truly a return to form of one of death metal’s best bands. Picking a favourite track is largely an effort in futility. Songs like the title track, "Godkill", and "End The Wrath of God" are certainly the catchiest, but this album is simply a cohesive force of riffs known as Deicide.

Be sure to check out and like Deicide on Facebook!

Highlights

"In The Minds of Evil"

"Thou Begone"

"Godkill"

"End The Wrath of God"

Final Rating

4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott 

Satan’s Host – Virgin Sails

In my formative metal years, I had always hoped that there would be bands that combined the music of more extreme styles of metal with cleaner vocals. Some bands had elements of this; certain power metal bands started incorporating blast beats, but no band had even come close to creating the sound I had hoped for. That is, until I found Satan’s Host. Led by the legendary Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer), Satan’s Host creates a serious blast of brutal metal with satisfying melodic overtones. It is worth mentioning, however, that this album isn’t simply an amalgamation of two contrasting styles. Instead, the band also uses occasional harsh vocals, and even some rougher clean vocals. In the end, the album feels pretty natural in its transition between vocal styles.

Right from the onset, Satan’s Host display a sludgy, doomy guitar tone on “Cor Malifecus – Heart of Evil”. Everything about the production and presentation of “Virgin Sails” feels like it was written for fans of crushing extreme metal. The production sounds almost cavernous, with its monolithic drum and guitar sounds. The music supports this, as it doesn’t simply rely on speed like most extreme metal (though there is no shortage of speed either). Instead, the opening track, for example, uses mid-paced riffs to amp up the heaviness, and let Conklin’s soothing vocals hypnotize you. Other tracks, such as "Of Beast and Men", display more prototypical death metal riffs (the opening riff of this track sounds like it was inspired by Cannibal Corpse).

With 8 full songs and almost 55 minutes of material, sometimes this album meanders around. There are no doubt definitive choruses throughout the record, but Satan’s Host does not conform to simplistic song structures. Instead, each song takes you on a journey through different tempos and feelings. Though this can initially be off-putting, it makes for a more satisfying experience in the long run, as there is always something new to discover on the album. With that said, I would not be averse to cutting a couple of songs. The two beginning tracks are standouts, but beyond those, none of the other songs are particularly notable. 

“Virgin Sails” is not necessarily what you might expect if you’ve never heard Satan’s Host before. It is certainly darker, yet less brutal than I expected, but overall very impressive. There is an enormous supply of riffs, as well as the necessary aggression, so it should be enjoyable to fans of nearly all style of metals. With that said, if you struggle with more extreme styles of metal, this record is by no means catchy enough to convert you.

Be sure to check out and like Satan's Host on Facebook!

Highlights

"Cor Malifecus - Heart of Evil"

"Island of the Giant Ants"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott