Paraphrenic Hostility – Prepare For War

“Prepare For War” is the first demo from Philippines-based thrash metal band Paraphrenic Hostility. The title is an apt description of the 3 songs the band presents on this release. Their approach is fast and noisy, but the playing is tight. Riffs are thrown at the listener with rapid fire, rarely letting up. While these riffs are grounded in thrash, Paraphrenic Hostility’s singer takes more of a rougher death/thrash approach. The combination of his low-pitched grunting alongside being a bit further back in the mix keeps the riffs in focus throughout this release. It is only when the guitar solos appear that the riffs take a back seat. These solos demonstrate that the band’s guitarists are quite talented, as their sound is not dissimilar from early Kreator. In other words, Paraphrenic Hostility’s guitarists play speedy atonal licks that are designed to make the music feel even more chaotic. 

Though the band is successful in achieving a noisy sound, it also hurts them. There is little semblance of memorable riffs or vocal lines. The guitars put forth such a buzz that one can’t help but feel that sounding cleaner would greatly benefit the band. When thing are simplified, such as in the breakdown near the end of “Kamatayan sa Kamay na Bakal”, the band really gets on a roll. Most of the time, however, it is too difficult to discern what is going on. Overall, “Prepare For War” is a demo that shows potential, but is harmed by production. Fans of thrash should still check it out, but it is likely that Paraphrenic Hostility will go on to greater things in the future.

Be sure to check out and like Paraphrenic Hostility on Facebook!

Highlights

All/none

Final Rating

3.25/5 or 65%. 

Written by Scott

Torchia – Ending Beginning

“Ending Beginning” is demo number 2 for Finnish melodic death metal band Torchia. Unlike their fellow countrymen, Insomnium, who are perhaps the leaders of the scene at the moment, Torchia largely avoids melodeath’s modern tendencies towards overly emotional, less chaotic music. Instead, the band comes from the school of groups like At The Gates who wrote music that caused absolute carnage, while still injecting melodic lead guitars. The title track sets the tone for this almost instantly, as the band launches into a high-speed thrashy riff. Later on in the track, the guitars shred and sweep along with perfect accuracy. About halfway into the song, things slow down for a short interlude, but the feeling remains quite different from the melancholic state that melodeath is currently obsessed with. It isn’t long before the band returns to their previous tempos to create a strong finish to the song. 

Though “Ending Beginning” is the best of the three tracks, the two that follow it are also solid. They’re not as good, but they display many of the same tactics: riff-driven, aggressive melodic death metal. Melodies come in the form of awesome harmonized sections (“My Land Shall Burn” has a great pounding example), as well as more technically dazzling moments. The band’s sound is propelled by a truly stellar production. This doesn’t sound like a demo, let alone one from a small band. In fact, it would be right at home alongside at Nuclear Blast or Century Media melodic death metal band (both in terms of production and quality). Nobody is fighting to be heard (bass included), and it doesn’t matter whether the guitars are playing on the lower strings or the higher ones, as it all sounds good. The most impressive thing about Torchia’s sound is that it is so professional. As a casual listener of this subgenre, if you had played this to me and told me it was Dark Tranquility or (old) In Flames, I would have believed you. That’s not to say Torchia apes those bands, but simply that their songwriting and sound is up to par with them.

 Be sure to check out and like Torchia on Facebook!

Highlight

"Ending Beginning"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott 

Armory – S.M.I.

Armory is billed as a speed metal band that comes from Sweden. The band put out a 4-track demo a couple of years ago, and has returned in 2015 with a second demo, entitled “S.M.I.”. Though the speed metal label is quite fitting, it would be equally fair to say that there is a lot of thrash in their sound. In other words, this demo comes from the darker and dirtier side of speed metal (think early Slayer rather than double-speed Iron Maiden). The production is rough, but the consistent buzzing of the guitars cuts through the mix. There is an overload of riffs, and pretty much all of them are high-charged, explosive affairs. This energetic approach works well when combined with the vocals. Armory’s singer embraces the raw approach of this music well; on the one hand, he uses a more melodic style most of the time, but on the other hand, his vocals really aren’t all that polished. That doesn’t mean that he can’t hit the notes, but more that his technique doesn’t sound all that refined. A good comparison would be to the singer of Deathrow (though Armory’s vocalist has a bit more range), who has a really solid voice, but doesn’t exactly sound like Bruce Dickinson.

Part of what keeps this record firmly planted in the speed metal territory is the use of melody. A song like “Alien Invasion” shows the band pulling off some great leads, alongside plenty of shreddy guitar solos, and the opening song "Blazing Lazers" has some wicked harmonized guitars that quite fittingly sound like blazing lazers. No matter how melodic the band gets, they never let up the energy. Even the latter parts of the aforementioned "Alien Invasion" are travelling at warp speed as Armory’s vocalist lets off some crazy-high wails. Regardless of how you categorize this demo, it is clearly an inspired release. It doesn’t really scratch the surface of being original, but it has more than enough enthusiasm to make up for that fact. While the rougher production actually does suit the band’s music, it would be very interesting to hear a tighter sound on their upcoming full-length.

Be sure to check out and like Armory on Facebook!

Highlights

"Blazing Lazers"

"Alien Invasion"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott 

Crÿptic Shift – Beyond The Celestial

“Beyond The Celestial” is the newest demo from UK extreme metal band Crÿptic Shift. Though it offers just two tracks, there is plenty of material here to enjoy. In fact, this demo is features an absurd number of riffs, each and every one of which will induce immediate neck trauma. The band doesn’t play at full speed for the entirety of the demo, but they do serve up some pretty absurd tempos. Their riffing style is abstract, and unlike anything I’ve ever heard. “Voyage Through Dimensions” in particular has a riff that starts out like an extreme thrashy riff and then ends with a technical, modern-day Cannibal Corpse-styled riff. If that description made little to no sense, it really is a perfect description then; at times, this demo gets downright weird. The aforementioned track also features plenty of riffs that are harmonized, and at times, some of these sections sound like the guitars are competing against each other, rather than working together.

Aside from the weirdness of this band, Crÿptic Shift does provide more normal metal elements. The vocals are a death/black hybrid-sounding rasp, with more than enough aggression to suit the music. The drumming is stellar, coming up with some unique patterns (see the intro of “Voyage Through Dimensions” for the best example). The bass playing is difficult to hear (except for when neither guitar is playing anything on the low end), but that is more of a function of the production, which admittedly is not the best. This album is noisy, and it will take a few listens to really decipher what is happening. In that respect, it actually reminds me of early Voivod, which might also be an apt comparison for the general sound of this band. They use interesting chords and dissonant sounds to take familiar metal tropes and put their own spin on them. While more Crÿptic Shift is extreme than Voivod, they share that same twisted vision.

Be sure to check out and like Crÿptic Shift on Facebook!

Highlight

"Voyage Through Dimensions"

Final Rating

3.9/5 or 78%. 

Written by Scott