A couple of months ago we covered a song by a German band named Vaulting. I characterized the song as having ”plenty of fast-paced leads, hooks and sharp edges”. A few weeks later the band released its debut record Nucleus, containing thirteen brand new songs of pretty much the same general inclination. If it wasn’t for a bunch of them being rather different.

So Nucleus is a debut according to drummer Sebastian Gathof, so it’s kinda strange how Encyclopaedia Metallum lists 2008’s Epilog as a full-length too. Because taking a closer look at it, it seems more like an EP, with only 18 odd minutes of playing time. Yet there are eight songs which is more than you’d expect on a normal EP. The key is in the Grindcorian length of songs: one of them is only four seconds.

It’s been quiet here for a while, which is due some issues with my hosting provider. This seems to be a yearly recurring theme or something, though thankfully this one was solved rather quickly. They do tend to respond rather quickly.

Anyfuck, we’re back now and we’re back with Arbiter, which was a suggestion by Rufio. He described the American band’s music as ”a heavier, Djentier Omnium Gatherum”, but also admitted he ”didn’t poke around at much”. Can’t blame him, but if he had, he would’ve found out the band certainly isn’t comparable to Omnium Gatherum.

Instead, these five dudes from Charlevoix, Michigan, do some proper brutal Death Metal with distinctive Deathcore elements. Having listened to some of their stuff, they seem to me like a bunch of breakdown kings, which I know will put half of you off. The other half, or whatever the exact split is, might actually enjoy several shitloads of the band’s getting-hit-by-a-freight-train experience.

Still a bit raw, but full of original and refreshing ideas. That Organism Jenova operates in the Deathcore department, but it’s not really like anything I’ve ever heard, although there are familiar elements.

The band formed in 2009 and has, according to their ReverbNation page, already shared the stage with bigger names in Metalcore, like After the Burial, Born of Osiris and All That Remains. In terms of releases, there have been two EPs, one self-titled, the other titled The Second Cumming. Cheesy!

You guys remember Fractals, the Technical Deathcore outfit from Britain? Although their debut full-length is only seven months young, they’re already back at our doors with an EP called Corridors. This EP clearly show’s the guys have matured over time with everything from lyrics to music becoming more professional and solid.

Style-wise the guys have kept to their Technical Death Metal roots, but Corridors seems to show that they know what they’re doing. Where Paradox contained a lot of short songs ranging between half a minute to two minutes, Corridors shows more lengthy songs, and personally I find it more pleasant to listen to than Paradox. I even found myself tapping my foot to it, which is quite something regarding that this is not really my cup of tea.

As a proper-bred Metalhead I obviously have no fuckin’ clue who Sharon Tate is. Likely, I hope, you don’t either. Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress, born in 1943, and married to Roman Polański, a.k.a. Mr. Afraid to Leave Europe 1977 Child Rapist whose arrest led to public outrage because he happens to have made a movie or two. In 1969 Sharon was murdered by Charles Manson and his band of Weird Ass Nazi Bitches. Events such as these, of course, are certain to attract the interest of Metalbands looking for a shocking band name.

And thanks to Emily we now know this band is called, DUH!, The Sharon Tate. And they hail from Hungary, Budapest it seems. I’ve been able to gather a few facts about these chaps, but internet turns up pretty empty to be honest. Thankfully we’ve got stacks of music to share, after the jump!

Quite the crude stuff is what’s delivered by The Way of Purity, from Norway. And no, it’s not because it’s Black Metal, which would be hinted at by the cover of their Biteback EP. It’s something else. The current contribution, by the way, isn’t our first acquaintance with the band, as we reviewed their debut record Crosscore last year. Somehow that went straight past me though, as I personally didn’t get to know the band until Biteback.

Tumblr really seems to be the new way to find bands. Although it’s mostly filled with porn, posers and goths, with which most of us wouldn’t have a problem, there are some treasures to be found. Like todays Fractals, who play a Deathcore-influenced kind of Technical Death Metal. This three-piece from Britain released their debut album Paradox on Bandcamp in May 2011 and it seems to be very promising.

Paradox consists of eleven songs and is about 35 minutes long. There are some really short songs and some really long songs, which makes it an interesting listen. The music itself has a bit of an electronic feel to it, which is mainly due to the programmed drums and the really tight and sterile way of playing these guys have. Perhaps the best way of describing the music is by the definition of their name. A fractal is “An irregular geometric object that is self-similar to its substructure at any level of refinement.” Don’t ask me what self-similar and substructure mean, but they are most definitely irregular and geometric.

I haven’t heard proper Deathcore for ages. So long in fact that I hardly seem to recognize it now. Still, I believe Vaulting, from Wiesbaden, Germany, are operating in the department. Perhaps on the genre’s border with Progressive Death Metal. It’s hard to tell genres apart these days. What I can tell you though, is that Vaulting’s material sounds aggressive, weird and different. All in the good way.

I was contacted by Sebastian, the band’s drummer and he told me they have their debut album approaching is release date fast: it’s scheduled to be aired on October 28 via Unundeux Records. The album’s to be called Nucleus and we may review it later. At this moment in time we’d like to introduce you to the band’s earlier work and serve you a few tracks off Nucleus already.

More bands should write their lyrics in German. I mean that. As a language it’s got immense poetic, vivacious characteristics and moreover it just sounds powerful in a brutal sort of way. Why else do you think all those American war movies contain so many German enemy soldiers?! In any case, it’s a perfect match for Metal. Scharbock from the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany understood this perfectly. Or perhaps they’re just proud of their language. Which they should be.

What scharbock is exactly, or rather, what the band is pointing at, I’m not sure about. Wiki lists three options: 1) the alter ego of the early 20^th century poet Werner Riegel, 2) a spring plant, extremely rich of vitamin C or 3) a disease English-speakers call Scurvy. I have a dark brown feeling the band might be referring to the third option.

The band that formed in 2004 recorded its first full-length record in summer of 2010. They titled it Blickwinkel and released it in February of this year. And guess what, it’s the one undergoing our scrutiny this very moment!

About a month ago we reviewed the self-titled debut of a brutal American Death Metal band with the not-so-brutal name Super Happy Story Time Land. Their album was a surprise, in the positive sense of the word. We got into contact with Travis, who’s sorta like the band’s manager and were given the opportunity to interview the band. Given the band’s rep, we didn’t even take the trouble of coming up with serious questions. And guess what, this interview was a revelation!

For those who haven’t yet read our review of SHSTL, you can find it here.