Diocletian - Darkness Swallows All EP (2021)

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Diocletian have been pummelling peoples ears into submission for the last decade and with their newly realized 'Darkness Swallows All' EP the band is looking to turn a corner after 'Amongst The Flames of a Bvrning God'. New Zealand has proven to be a gestation ground for bestial sounding death metal with bands like Vassafor, Heresiarch, Witchrist, Vesicant and Diocletian at the helm of all the chaos. Vassafor's 'To The Death' release last year was among one of my favourites, just ugly!

But this new EP from Diocletian seems to be cut from a cloth of death metal that is at its core even more raw and even more crude than that of their opus "Gesundrian'…which a lot of the time, is a welcomed force in terms of my taste… This time, I'm not too sure. One thing is certain, It's an absolute far cry from the sheer ferocity a band like KNEEL were able to impose on their 3-song EP last year.

I'm posting this one up for the vultures to feast on, as for me, I am unsure of the direction these brutish Kiwis are taking. All is fair in love and war.

Diocletian - Darkness Swallows All (bandcamp)

Vassafor - Vassafor III, To the Death (2020)

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New Zealand's soil is no stranger to dredging up some filthy and uncompromising death metal over the last few decades and Vassafor has always been at the forefront of this auditory barrage, along with the likes of Heresiarch, Diocletian, Witchrist, and Vesicant to name a few of the prominent forces within the Kiwi stratosphere.

Vassafor is one of my favourites out of the bunch, consistently being a barbaric force within the arena of death/black metal and with the newly released Vassafor III, To the Death I'm even more bullish. This album is a big breath of fresh air in a genre that sees a lot of futile attempts at invoking any real atmosphere, which Vassafor has done in spades on this record, giving lengthy songs ample room to move around a cavern of densely layered guitars, mollifying and calcified under the weight and plod of the drumming. Everything is recorded and produced perfectly, harkening to a much more underground sound, nothing plasticky or over-produced to be found on here, pure old-school filth and sonic evisceration that lends itself to be one of the better death metal albums of the year by my count. Absolute penetration!

Vassafor III, To the Death (bandcamp)

Heresiarch - Incursions (2019)

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Heresiarch, man, pure filth. New Zealand's Heresiarch sticks its hand back in the pot of fetid death metal, and I care again, after what felt like a long pause between Death Metal that maintains my interest. It would be a be a bit preemptive of me to say that this is the best Heresiarch have sounded, but this is the best Heresiarch have sounded. Calloused riffs gestating in a cesspit of war-tuned drums and an antediluvian vocal belch that does nothing to diminish its ferocity. I'm still in the getting to know you phase of this album, but I have no doubts this one will garner plenty of spins.

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And then Jesus said "Let thee who doubt my turbulence wake up to moths devouring their only garb, let their words of blasphemy turn into dust in their mouths, let sustenance do nothing to satiate,  and please let night remain night until they beg for the sun to forgive them."

It's up for 1 Euro on bandcamp, so roll up your nickels and pay up.

Heresiarch - Incursions (bandcamp)

Meth Drinker - Oil (2014)

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If you are unfamiliar with Meth Drinker then please let me acquaint you. Dearest reader, this is Meth Drinker, Meth Drinker this is dearest reader, be gentle with them. Isn't the name quaint? It's kinda like Bongripper, with a bit more fuck you to the upper class cadre. These New Zealanders join the venerable echelon of country mates; Witchrist, Diocletian, Heresiarch, Vassafor, Ulcerate and that dude that directed one of my favorite sci-fi horror movies ever, Bad Taste.

Meth Drinker will fill your day up with palpable dread and they will shit directly into your soul and rape the youthful effervescence you thought you had retained.

The droning crunch of guitars give way to a few riffs reminiscent to early Autopsy, only played at an even slower paced tempo. The drums are mixed in with a peculiar fragility to the toms and it seems the bell cymbal overpowers it, which works well to give it that calcified in rot vibe I like my sewer doom to have. 

Based on the two songs I have heard, I like it a lot. And maybe when the variance between the American to Canadian dollar conversion ceases to fuck my Paypal purchases I will actually buy the album in full and relish in the cankering charm of 'Oil'.

Meth Drinker (bandcamp)

Heresiarch - Wælwulf (2014)

Begrimed, soupy bestial death metal from New Zealand. I've been a fan of these Kiwi's since I bought their EP Hammers of Intransigence back in 2011 and have been impatiently waiting for a full-length release ever since, but instead another EP is released to sate my lust for destrvktion…

Also, thanks to New Zealand for Meth Drinker, Ulcerate, Witchrist, Diocletian, and Vassafor.

Wælwulf
Heresiarch Bandcamp (Buy Wælwulf $666 NZD)