Death Engine // Amen EP

French hardcore band Death Engine bill themselves as “violent and oscure noise” while their label Throatruiner Records draws comparisons between them and bands like Playing Enemy, Amenra, and even Swans. That’s a pretty tall order, and it’s one that nudged me to eagerly press play. What I found didn’t exactly meet my expectations, but that’s not a bad thing because Death Engine seared my ears off with their blistering metallic hardcore. Let’s just say that I wasn’t disappointed with what I found.

Less Swans transcendant noise worship and more Converge’s controlled hardcore chaos, Death Engine’s four-track EP is a tour-de-force containing some of the more brutal hardcore I’ve heard this year. The band sort of splits the EP between blistering hardcore punk speed and a more mid-tempo noise demolition. But no matter what speed they’re playing at the band finds a way to make the music sound downright apocalyptic. With massive guitar riffs, crashing drum hits, and primal vocal screams, Death Engine seek to bring the world down around them with this EP and they damn near succeed at doing it. This music crushes everything under its heavy foot and leaves nothing behind other than a cloud of dust and a ringing in your ears.

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Cowards // Shooting Blanks & Pills

I have been reading nothing but glowing reviews of Cowards’ debut album Shooting Blanks & Pills, so I finally decided to check it out. Turns out that it’s a good thing I did because the album is up for free download only this month. If you’re the least bit curious I’d recommend grabbing it before it’s no longer there.

Having done time in numerous other bands, these Parisian dudes have done their homework and it shows in the confidence and brutality of this album. That being said, this is the first black metal album that I’ve heard this year that has made me really sit up and salivate. Incorporating elements of doom and blackened hardcore, Shooting Blanks & Pills will suck the breath right out of your lungs. It opens up with a track humorously titled “Hoarse from the Get Go” that sets the stage for the rest of the album. It’s a furious blast of metal that thrashes about like a wild animal complete with thick crunching guitars, primal vox, and drum fills that are absolutely ridiculous. If you, like me, were on the lookout for proof that black metal can still melt faces in 2012, then look no further than Shooting Blanks & Pills. It’s out later this month on Throatruiner Records.

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HOMEPAGE | BANDCAMP | FACEBOOK

 

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