UMUR "Imperivm" is the debut full-length studio album by Spanish, Lugo, Galicia based hardcore/metalcore act Ictus. The album was released in 2007 through various smaller labels. It was recorded and mixed at Sadman Studios in April 2007. Ictus were formed in 2004 and have several minor releases under their belt.

"Imperivm" is a relatively unique release as it only features one single track. The track is 39:00 minutes long though, but this is not your "regular" doom metal monolith or progressive metal epic, which is usually the case with one track albums, but instead the music is a combination of aggressive hardcore and melodeath. This is what it would sound like if you mixed Converge with early In Flames and sprinkled a little Burst over it, and then created an album length track out of the stew.

"Imperivm" is predominantly a fast-paced affair, with frenetic D-beat drumming, fast melodic guitar riffs, and a raw screaming hardcore vocalist in front. Ictus do take the pace down a couple of times during the album´s playing time, and around 16 minutes in there´s even a short atmospheric clean guitar section, and around the 25 minute mark there is a heavy mid-paced section, but the music is generally pretty one-dimensionally fast-paced.

The lack of variation becomes a bit of an issue after a while, and you begin to long for those few and far between heavy or atmospheric sections. When that is said "Imperivm" is a both well played and well produced album, and the overall quality of the songwriting is also of a good quality, so it´s only the lack of variation that´s an issue, and I´m not even sure it would have been much of an issue if the long track had been divided into shorter tracks. It might have been easier to handle then. As it is "Imperivm" is still a rather interesting release, and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Vim Fuego There’s plenty of scope for poking fun at Extreme Noise Terror. For starters, there’s the ridiculous name. Was the band 12 when they dreamed that up? And what about the “songs” they play- often, they don’t even hit the minute mark. And what the hell is actually going on in the music? Everyone seems to play really, really fast, but it all seems like the same note.

You can’t make fun of Extreme Noise Terror’s intentions though. Extreme Noise Terror is all about anger- anger at the state of the world, at politicians, at consumerism, at the music industry, at animal exploitation. Whether you agree with the band’s point of view or not, their dedication to their causes is beyond question. Extreme Noise Terror’s anger is too much for just one man to express, so the band has always had two vocalists, producing a sound unique in the early UK grindcore scene.

1980s grindcore is often hard to come by because the movement was so far underground as to almost pop out the other side of the planet in China. Luckily, Extreme Noise Terror recorded three sessions, in 1987, 1988 and 1990, for John Peel’s radio show, offering the band a chance to record in a good studio.

The untrained ear hears little but white noise and shouting, but once you become accustomed to the band’s style, it is possible to identify riffs and song structures, even if they are quite rudimentary. However, even with a lyric sheet, both vocalists are still nigh on incomprehensible. One spits forth a throat shredding gargle, while the other is a deep growl from the depths of the underworld. The lyrics are highly political, or critical of the incestuous grindcore/hardcore scene the band was a part of, but really, the vocalists are two more instruments in the band, their emanations more vocal riffs than singing.

The anti-meat song “Murder” is one of Extreme Noise Terror’s signature tunes. The version here has even more venom than the studio original. It is possible to make out a few of the words to the song, but it pretty much expresses the view that Extreme Noise Terror aren’t going to be visiting McDonald’s any time soon. The two new versions of “Only In It For The Music” differ little from the original, but that really doesn’t matter, because the song is a total blur anyway.

The real oddity on this album is the cover of the Cockney Rejects’ “I’m Not A Fool”, renamed “I’m A Bloody Fool”. Musically, the song is quite recognisable and faithful, although infinitely heavier, and the vocals are almost understandable. Almost…

Even though the sessions were recorded over a three year period, there is little difference in quality or musical ability in any of them. You could accuse Extreme Noise Terror of standing still, considering the levels of progress contemporaries like Carcass and Napalm Death made over the same period, but it would be more accurate to say these guys stuck to their guns. Unlike the aforementioned bands, there was not even the slightest hint of incorporating death metal into Extreme Noise Terror’s repertoire.

At the end of the day, you’re either going to get it, or Extreme Noise Terror is going to leave you cold. This collection is a valuable historical artifact from Extreme Music’s past. The late John Peel should be congratulated for having the foresight to preserve it.

Warthur A foundational crust punk battlecry, Amebix's Arise! combines decidedly relevant concerns about the world's direction with raw, dirty punk rock fused with grimy speed metal and proto-thrash metal in the Venom/Motorhead tradition. The end result is a stirring, angry album and you can tell why acts like Darkthrone have taken to drawing on this neglected musical vein in recent years, because when you're listening to the Amebix crew ranting about the Earth's surface being reduced to a burned radioactive crust you know you are dealing with some powerful shit. More grounded than heavy metal, but more epic in its scope than punk, Amebix's crust punk vision is a potent one which is worth standing up for.

siLLy puPPy Well, they did it. On MMA in the sea of doom, gloom, destruction, depression and Satan, SHITFUCKER caught my eye on the new releases bar and made me check them out with their uplifting debut album SUCK COCKS IN HELL, complete with marred swastika on the cover. After reading that it is thrash/black/death metal with crust and hardcore punk, how could I resist but giving it a listen! With song titles like “Smash Your Skull,” “Sex Dungeon,” and “Go To Hell / Rock n' Roll Freaky Dude,” you know you're not in for a concept album about philosophical existentialism or anything of the sort. THIS IS PUNK, BABY!

Well, as you can imagine the songs mostly sound the same, but it is an interesting mix of crusty punk with black metal vocals. Not exactly sure where the death metal comes in but WTF. In a day when I wonder if there's anything left that a teenage girl can do to shock her parents, I now am gratified in knowing that she can go up to her parents and say - “Mom, Dad, I'm going to the Shitfucker concert. It's the Suck Cocks In Hell tour and I have a backstage pass.” Ridiculous stuff, but after one listen the joke will wear thin and we're left with good but not outstanding punk metal.

Favorite track: “I Am The Devil.”

Time Signature Unwilling to forgive...

Genre: crust

Originally released in 2005, the now defunct Stormcrow's Enslaved in Darkness is seeing the light of day (or dark of night) once again, recently having been reissued on Selfmadegod.

Stormcrow's style is rooted in crust punk and thrash and death metal – with Amebix' dark and heavy aesthetics being a major influence. Combining the attitude and sloppiness of crust punk with the more refined approach to aggressive music that is associated with heavy metal, the tracks on Enslaved in Darkness are much more varied than what one might be used to in crust-derived music in general. Rather than relying heavily on d-beats, Stormcrow make use of several elements from the metal universe, such as galloping guitars, heavy doomy passages, palm-muted riffing, double bass drums and generally varied drumming as well as a couple of guitar leads now and then. Occasionally, a some d-beating pops up accompanied by more hardcore punk-oriented riffage, and this complements the dominant metal framework quite well.

Thus, the general framework is closer to death-thrash (the vocals are growled, which is, of course, not unheard of in certain crust punk spheres [just check a band like Nuclear Death Terror]) and, thus, one could say that this release is essentially a crossover release which explores a darker territory than do the likes of S.O.D., .M.O.D., Wehrmacht and Agnostic Front.

The production is quite raw, and the massively distorted bass, whose sound quality is slightly akin to Danny Lilker's sound on Handle With Care, helps generate a dark and sloppy overall sound which definitely pays a lot of respect to the way that Amebix paved years ago. The performance itself might also be described as sloppy, but perhaps "organic" is a better term, as the release captures a lot of energy and attitude from the performance, and the "sloppiness" is actually an important factor here.

Dark, crusty, thrashy and deathy, this release should appeal to fans of Amebix-inspired crust punk as well as to fans of primitive death metal and raw death-thrash. And, if you like all three types of music, then do not hesitate to invest in Enslaved in darkness - you are likely to enjoy its 28 minutes of crust-death-thrash mayhem.

(review originally released in seaoftranquility.org)