Various Artists – Metallurg Music – Metal Is Forged Here Vol II
Various Artists – Metallurg Music – Metal Is Forged Here Vol II
Metallurg Music
Release Date: 13/02/23
Running Time: 1:15:43
Review by Dark Juan
7/10
Let me, if I may, take you on a musical journey. In my sweaty paw, I have a copy of the latest compilation from the Polish / Ukrainian label that is Metallurg Music. As you will no doubt recall, I reviewed the first compilation they released (https://www.ever-metal.com/2022/03/09/various-artists-metal-is-forged-here/ should you be so inclined) and I really quite enjoyed it, so when offered the chance to have a second crack at this Eastern European label, Dark Juan was in there quicker than the speed with which he’d gain access to a convent full of young nuns clad only in a bow tie, brogues and clutching a bottle of champagne. The correct footwear is so important for a gentleman. Technically they should be Oxfords if you are in town and require a formal shoe, but most convents are away from town, so brogues will suffice nicely.
I will dispense with the usual verbose nonsense I subject you to when I normally write and will try to contain myself and keep to a few words that actually impart information about the bands and tunes arrayed for my perusal (and yours) on this compilation record. Let us begin…
My Testament – Hell:on
The lyrics on this song are taken from an English-language translation of a poem named ‘Заповіт’ (Zapovit), which translates to ‘Testament’. The poem was first published in 1845 and written by Taras Shevchenko, a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, and political figure, as well as folklorist and ethnographer, whose influence on modern Ukraine and especially the language of Ukraine is regarded to be incredibly important. The song, however, is an interesting Metalcore / Thrash mashup with a strong Killswitch Engage vibe over-pinned with an uncompromising assault on the throat of the vocalist, who appears to be content only if his lungs are hanging outside his body, such is his commitment to roaring.
Vultures – Vice
Coming from jolly old Blighty, Vice offer a slice of Metal that contrasts a clean and a gruff vocal, and a chorus that is specifically designed to have audiences screaming it back at them and the lyrics deal with the bastards and bitches that take advantage of the vulnerable when they are at their lowest point. Musically, the band are pretty Trad Metal in places, but then they intersperse this with breakdowns and some pretty tasty soloing and bring in elements of Hard Rock as well Metalcore. It’s a pretty pleasing, if unspectacular tune. One for the car on the way to work or just a long road trip playlist, I feel.
Eldprov – Until Nightfall
This is more like it. A drummer obviously off his tits on Billy Whizz plays at his absolute maximum speed and expects the rest of his Folk-ish / Scandi Metal band to keep up. One can detect the obvious withering hatred of the guitarist trying to keep up with the drummer while the rest of the band try to shoehorn some melodies and bombast into a song that has at least four different movements in five minutes because the drummer only knows one speed (fucking RAPID) and they are trying to match velocities and add a bit of variety. Satisfyingly technical, well-written Metal that slams with just the right amount of silliness. Sounds incredibly Swedish. Turns out that the band are from Sweden.
Silent Obsession – Against The Process
Next up is an Algerian band playing some modern Death Metal with guest vocalist Redouane Aoermeur of Lelahell. First of all, it’s fucking cool to hear Metal coming out of Muslim countries because there ain’t a lot of it that I get to hear, be that due to restrictive governments or religious proscription or whatever, and this is a chonky piece of speedy DM that nods as much to the current state of Death Metal as it does to the greats of the past like Morbid Angel or Cannibal Corpse. Whilst it is not the most CURRENT sounding music ever, it is a well-played slab of extremity that will be of interest to any fans of Death Metal.
Iron Wings – Virus
Trad Metal done right (this time from the Baltic state of Latvia) but with a Thrash vocalist and some pretty yummy riffing. Speedy and heavy, with one of the most Thrash Metal guitar solos I have ever heard (all whammy bar abuse and very little actual playing), this is three minutes or so of late 1980’s timewarp dragged forward through time. I expect the band are all wearing white Nike trainers and tight jeans and Nocturnus T-shirts in a wholly unironic fashion.
Bad As – Crucified Society
Hello, is that the lawyer for Bad As? Skid Row and Accept would like to speak to you about the fact that your sound is very reminiscent of theirs, mangled together with a kind of sub-Helloween chorus and a middle eight that is just a tiny bit mad and has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the song. Mildly sleazy, like being stared at by someone middle-aged when you’re in your early twenties. Or so I have been told. Me, being gorgeous inside and out, can stare at who I wish, because my social anxiety will sure as fuck preclude my talking to them…
Mental Torment – Untitled
Ukraine are up next with Mental Torment, which starts off with some actually very cool keyboards and guitar histrionics and a vocalist with such a deep voice that he risks caving in the bedrock around Kyiv. Overwhelmingly reminiscent of My Dying Bride (Heckmondwike) and ‘Der Perfekte Traum’ era Rotting Christ (Greece, not Yorkshire) with a bit of Halifax’s finest export Paradise Lost thrown in for good measure, this is so far up Dark Juan’s street that it’s having a brew with me in my kitchen and chatting about the weather. Superior Gothic Doom from Ukraine, then. One wonders whether any of the band have been to Kirklees or the Calder Valley, being as it is Doom Metal Central…
Midnite Hellion – Army Of The Dead
Next up is an offering from the British Overseas Colonies of America and it is an eight-minute opus composed of three movements, inspired by the White (should be Wight, but who am I to argue with George R.R. Martin?) Walkers from Game of Thrones, and it is so Traditional it puts long tablecloths on tables so no one is sexually excited by the legs of the table and their elegant curves. It is also let down by a weak vocalist, and the music is not even slightly innovative, although competently played, and this Hellpriest could confidently predict every single moment of the song. For example, there is five minutes of Trad Metal everything, a five second gap and then the song goes all mystical for the last two minutes. Iron Maiden have been doing this shit for thirty years plus and do it much fucking better. For this style of music to work (Trad Metal) you need a superb, free-ranging vocalist and you need expansive arrangement and shitloads of self-aware, mildly amused bombast. Midnite Hellion have none of these things. I rarely say this but Dark Juan was actually bored during this song.
Relentless Aggression – American Carnage
This time the mood has changed, but we are still in the 80’s heyday of Metal with a Norwegian band playing the kind of Thrash that Dark Juan adored back when he was a mere Neophyte and Slayer and Metallica were the biggest things in his musical life. Relentless Aggression appear to want to be the European knock-off of Slayer so much it hurts them. The vocalist has virtually the exact same vocal delivery as Tom Araya, although the music leans more towards the chunkier Euro-Thrash of Kreator and Sodom and Destruction rather than the polish of the Big Four of Yank Thrash. However, it’s short, sharp and absolutely to the point and reminded Dark Juan of being off his tits on Thunderbird wine as a teen and trying to get into a girl called Emma’s pants in my bedroom. But she liked Nirvana and not Nuclear Assault. Therefore, it is good.
Reap The Light – Deliver Hell
Another band from His Majesty’s American colonies. However, they have got Trad Metal right, where Midnite Hellion made it the kind of tedium that makes me want to slam a line of Charlie just to get myself moving. Operatic vocals, speedy tempo, no fucking about and guitarists who actually sound interested in what they are doing with a fucking GROOVY central riff and a bass-led middle eight that’s as wonderful as it is daft. Good old-fashioned fun, even if the vocalist struggles with his upper range. Not original by any means, but still fucking FUN and that is what Metal is supposed to be.
Hate Beyond – Decomposed
Japanese Thrash. Oof. Surgical musical precision. This song marks the return of French vocalist Moreno (singer is too precise a term for what he does with his vocal chords). An engaging mix of the punky fury of Nuclear Assault and the brutality of Sarcofago and Overkill. It even has the twangy bass sound it is supposed to have. Excellent, but the Japanese are known for their attention to detail, so it is executed almost too perfectly.
Fleshgore – Stop The Possessor
Excellent OSDM from the Ukraine rages against the occupation of Crimea by the Soviet shitbiscuit, military uniform fetishist and wannabe dictator Vladimir “More Latently Homosexual Than An Entire Turkish Bath Filled With Muscular and Oiled Men All Fondling Each Other” Putin (DISCLAIMER: THIS IS DARK JUAN’S PERSONAL VIEW ABOUT THE SAWN-OFF KGB CASTOFF AND DOES NOT REPRESENT THE VIEW OF EVER-METAL.COM. PUBLICALLY, ANYWAY) and becomes especially relevant considering the fact the Russian Army is having its collective arse handed to it by the Ukrainians currently. But this is some of the best OSDM I have heard in a long time – Cannibal Corpse during the “The Bleeding” era and the whole Morrisound time spring to mind and that is a Very Good Thing because that is when Dark Juan discovered Death Metal.
Eternal Drak – The Eyeless Gleeth
Canadians Eternal Drak claim to play Groove Thrash Black Metal but end up sounding like Blackie Lawless taking the piss out of himself and the abomination W.A.S.P. have become. Unimpressive and simplistic, and the only word in their description of their music that is accurate is Metal. What the FUCK is a “Gleeth” anyway?
Enbor Arnasa – Minez Negar
This very raw band hail from the Basque country and remind your correspondent of the kind of martial, uncompromising Black Metal when that scene was just starting out. Enbor Arnasa share that same DIY aesthetic, that same sense of untrammelled rage and the sheer DESIRE to get their music out there that the early BM scene had, without the worrying tendency to go around murdering each other because “He looked at me funny” or burning churches. While Dark Juan abhors all religion, he is quite fond of the architecture of churches and likes looking at them. Plus, as well, Dark Juan believes that the Basque people should have their own country and not be subsumed into Spain. Make of that what you will. I like this song a lot. All one minute and seventeen seconds of it.
Outward – Rays Of The Sun
Well, this got the attention of your faithful correspondent and no mistake. Czechia gives us Outward, who claim to play Blackened Post Metal. Dark Juan’s attention was instantly arrested by the sound of the music of the verse which was immediately reminiscent of Joy Division and the Sisters Of Mercy and believe or not I can even hear the influence of The Cure and Gun Club in there. This makes it utterly Gothtastic, although having a clean, baritone vocal would have considerably enhanced the song rather than throat-abusing Metal shenanigans, because this a fucking brilliant modern Goth / Post-Punk tune.
Threnody – Maggot Feast
The USA features again on this compilation, this time giving us Threnody, who are unashamedly an Old School Death Metal band, musically more in the vein of the clean grind of Morbid Angel rather than the gore-obsessed vomiting of Autopsy and Cannibal Corpse although the lyrics are a bit Carcass / Cannibal Corpsey. The vocalist of this band is fucking brilliant. Even though he’s roaring like an entire mob of demented, CJD infected butchers, one can actually understand his diction and the lyrics. Most excellent OSDM.
Thy Despair – Falcon
Another Ukrainian band to close out this compilation, this time a Gothic Metal band complete with histrionic female alto-soprano and bad-tempered growly bloke. Imagine, if you please, a union of Lacuna Coil and Cradle Of Filth with Nightwish and Delain joining in near the vinegar stroke……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Sorry, that metaphor took a while to shift from my mind. By no means exceptional, but entirely acceptable and fun, this is another song referencing the sawn-off Soviet spunkbubble Vladimir Putin and his illegal occupation of Crimea and the Eastern parts of Ukraine and becomes once more relevant considering current events in that beleaguered country and the suffering of the people there, all for the sake of political hubris and the aggrandisement of a tiny man with a tiny penis and a massive superiority complex. Why can’t people just fucking learn to get along? Why must there always be some basic, generally short-arsed person with a personality defect, an expensive suit and an overweening sense of their own importance, a thick-headed C**T who wants to be in charge or thinks that they are right and the rest of the world is wrong?
Слава Україні!
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Запатентована система оцінки бризок крові Dark Juan для наших українських друзів and opatentowany system oceny rozprysków krwi Dark Juan, również dla naszych polskich przyjaciół) awards this second compilation from Metallurg Music 7/10. It shows the variety of the bands on the label to their considerable advantage, but there needs to be a bit more quality control as the music ranges from turgid and uninteresting to extremely vibrant and exciting. However, at over an hour of music it’s fucking brilliant value for money and is yet another win for a record label that is not afraid to stretch its own boundaries.
TRACKLISTING:
01. My Testament
02. Vultures
03. Until The Nightfall
04. Against The Process
05. Virus
06. Crucified Society
07. Untitled
08. Army Of The Dead
09. American Carnage
10. Deliver Hell
11. Decomposed
12. Stop The Possessor
13. The Eyeless Gleeth
14. Minez Nagar
15. Rays Of The Sun
16. Maggot Feast
17. Falcon
LINE-UP:
No. Just no…
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
