Naked Whipper - Chapel Defilement

Labels: Iron Bonehead Productions/Messe Noire Productions

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital

Release Date: 31 Jan 2025

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. Depraved to the Bone

3. Bloodstained White Icon

4. Top Notch Slavedriver

5. (Pray Macabre) Chapel Defilement

6. Fucked on Cross

7. Intro

8. Celebrate Their Downfall

9. Nail or be Nailed

10. Out the Norm

11. The Swinepriest Bedlam

12. Flamethrow Messiah / The Purgatory Trial

13. Wow Wow Wholy Whore, Hot Wax Fat Candles

30 years on their debut album Painstreaks, which gained them a cult following in the extreme metal underground, German black metal/grind band Naked Whipper returned earlier this year with their newest full-length Chapel Defilement. Their story began in 1993 with the release of their debut self-titled EP. Following the release of their second EP Moloch: Acid Orgy (also in 1995), they fell silent.

Naked Whipper's sole constant Dominus A.S. gathered together musicians from Germany's truly blasphemous underbelly and together, the quartet found themselves working in partnership with compatriots Iron Bonehead Productions, committing these thirteen tracks to vinyl and CD. A tape variant was released via fellow German label Messe Noire Productions, featuring two additional live tracks.

For transparency, I’m reviewing the Iron Bonehead release tonight. Chapel Defilement begins with an Intro (it’s actually the first of two intros on this album). It’s an unnerving intro where gentle piano joins female cries that almost fit the melody it plays. Those cries no doubt caused by the seedy sounding perpetrator. It’s actually quite a fitting opener as ‘Depraved to the Bone’ kicks in with instant force. It’s fast and grinding but not without its groove, which is sometimes missed by black metal bands. The mix of black metal and grind makes complete sense, blowing new life into current underground “trends”. 

‘Bloodstained White Icon’ takes the grind influence even further, especially given Naked Whipper’s respect for Napalm Death. It’s definitely for the maniacs! If you had forgotten that they were from Germany, that’s understandable as their sound very much aligns with the barbarity of Brazilian war metal. ‘Top Notch Slavedriver’ only adds to that notion with frenetic percussion, razor-sharp bass/guitar and utterly disgusting vocals. Dare I say how enjoyable this album is so far?.

Given the ferocity of the songs so far, ‘(Pray Macabre) Chapel Defilement’s song length might have you thinking it’s going to be a slower murkier number, but you’re wrong, as Naked Whipper use it to push their extremes even further. Infusing their sound with death metal influences, they continue to find ways to reach greater tempos. ‘Fucked on Cross’ proves exactly that with yet more crazed musicianship and festering vocals. I know Germany’s known for it’s Teutonic thrash but it seems like easy listening compared to this!

That second ‘Intro’ I mentioned above is scary white noise that leads into ‘Celebrate Their Downfall’, which sees Naked Whipper continuing their aural onslaught. Whether that ‘Intro’ should have been called an interlude is another matter but the song that follows it grinds and rocks in all the right places. ‘Nail or be Nailed’ is as rabid as Naked Whipper’s songs get here. Fast, blasting and blackened. There’s no more adequate way of describing it really.

As song-titles go, ’Out the Norm’ reads as if it was thought of by an Englishman! Obviously, that wasn’t the case though and semantics aside, you’re presented with yet another raging heretical hymn that leaves no time for calm. That hymn is followed immediately by ‘The Swinepriest Bedlam’, which maintains the same intense approach. It’s mad to think that after 30 years, Naked Whipper still sound as fearsome as they did back then.

They combine what seems like two songs into one for their penultimate number ‘Flamethrow Messiah / The Purgatory Trial’. It’s four-minutes in length, so it’s nearly a symphony for them! Jokes aside, it gathers so many different influences from the Teutonic thrash of their homeland, to the barbarism of Brazilian war metal and countless other influences besides. Closing out with ‘Wow Wow Wholy Whore, Hot Wax Fat Candles’, I’m not sure what to think. It could have been written and performed by Japan’s Abigail given its sexual references, but it’s all Naked Whipper’s own creation.

I know that it seems odd to be reviewing an album from January in December but it is what it is. I’d love to have the time (and earnings) to be able to run this blog full-time. Sadly, that isn’t the case and I have to remain a corporate slave. Bands like Naked Whipper help me keep the faith though as they unapologetically deliver music that means so much to them. One day we’ll exist in utopia, maybe!

You can stream and purchase Chapel Defilement on all formats (except vinyl) below:-

Vinyl and CD copies are also available to purchase from Hells Headbangers below:-

https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/

Naked Whipper - @naked_whipper_

Hells Headbangers - https://www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers

Messe Noire Productions - https://www.facebook.com/messenoireproductions

Skelethal/Cadaveric Fumes - Heirs Of Hideous Secrecies Split 7"

Labels: Hells Headbangers

Formats: Vinyl/Digital

Release Date: 30 Nov 2018

Tracklist:

1. Cadaveric Fumes - The Spectral Parade

2. Cadaveric Fumes - Necromancy Sublime

3. Skelethal - Emerging From The Ethereal Threshhold

4. Skelethal - Torrents Of Putrefying Viscosity

I always told myself I wouldn't write if I couldn't think of anything to start my review off with; however, I think conveying a bit of humanity is a good thing as it shows I'm not just a robot when it comes to this. Anyway, this is the latest split 7" from French death metal bands Skelethal and Cadaveric Fumes. It was released at the end of November via Hells Headbangers and despite the sheer amount of strong death metal that's already been unleashed this year, this is a split of pretty mighty proportions. 

First up you have the old-school sounds of Cadaveric Fumes and The Spectral Parade may sound like a feel-good punk song during the intro but it soon twists itself into a dark and gloomy mid-paced death metal piece with the blues/jazz riffs that could only come from France. It’s stellar. Necromancy Sublime is equally as rich in disgusting death, with uptempo verses and lowly doom-like passages in-between. I’d love to know where Cadaveric Fumes get that weird guitar tone from because it reminds me of Voivod at times. If you’re a devout follower of death metal then you’ll no doubt already be familiar with Cadaveric Fumes but if not, give them your time as they’re fantastic.

Skelethal may only be a duo but their sound is thick and noisy, as Emerging From The Ethereal Threshold demonstrates. The menace is strong here but once again it thrashes hard. The screeching guitar solo mid-way through it delivered with precision as well. Epic madness takes over! There’s no time for breath as the instant smash of the brilliantly titled Torrents Of Putrefying Viscosity drags you through Skelethal’s pyre and on to certain death. There is technicality here but it’s tasteful. Nothing about their sound is staid and like Cadaveric Fumes, you’ve got to immerse yourself in it. 

This split is great with both bands presenting themselves in the best possible way. We all know that death metal is alive and well but the sheer variation across the genre is what truly surprises. Old-school death is where that variation seems to be in the rudest of health and both Cadaveric Fumes and Skelethal are writing a new chapter for the French underground. 

You can stream "Heirs Of Hideous Secrecies" below via Hells Headbangers, where you can also grab it on vinyl or as a digital download:-

Cadaveric Fumes - https://www.facebook.com/CadavericFumes/

Skelethal - https://www.facebook.com/skelethal/

Hells Headbangers - https://www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers/

Druid Lord - Grotesque Offerings

Tracklist:

1. House Of Dripping Gore

2. Night Gallery

3. Spells Of The Necromancer

4. Evil That Haunts The Ground

5. Black Candle Seance

6. Creature Feature

7. Into The Crypts

8. Murderous Mr. Hyde

9. Last Drop Of Blood

10. Final Resting Place

I sat down to write this review and got writer's block. I don't now why I use that term though as I'm not really a writer in the traditional sense. I'm also sluggish as hell this week but that's probably because I know that next week I'm not going to be working! I can't wait for a break in all honesty. Before that comes round though I've got a couple more reviews that I want to get out there before I start planning some new ideas for this blog. 

Tonight's subject is Floridian doom/death quartet Druid Lord and their latest LP "Grotesque Offerings". Druid Lord started out in 2010, releaseing their first full-length "Hymns For The Wicked" via Horror Pain Gore Death Productions that same year. They later released a number of splits and EPs, before unleashing this new ten song beast in January 2018 via Hells Headbangers.

“Grotesque Offerings” begins with an organ during the intro to House Of Dripping Gore, which reminds me of The Adams Family, but that image is quickly banished by Druid Lord’s hellish doom/death. It’s the lead guitar work early on that really catches the ear. It creates an atmosphere that’s bolder and more real than anything I’ve heard from this particular sub-genre for a while. The rest of Druid Lord isn’t bad either, with both the percussion and bass providing the death metal edge, while the vocals bellow and roar like they’re coming out of the mouth of a demon. In fact, Druid Lord pulls off this lurid and slow form of extreme metal better than their genre defining (and mostly Scandinavian) counterparts. It’s not often you hear that said but if you listen to Night Gallery, you might understand where I'm coming from. It’s the gloomy simplicity of their doom that’s the key here. The riffs at the six-minute mark are so heavy as well. 

They elect to break up the heaviness with some short interludes, where in the case of Spells Of The Necromancer, they mix spoken-word samples with old-school twin guitar melodies. It leads straight into Evil That Haunts This Ground, with it’s faint thrash and low-end heft. It takes their music in  a slower direction and the addition of more organ/keys adds occult imagery. “Grotesque Offerings’ is an utterly listenable record, which gets better the deeper you get into it. Black Candle Seance mixes the traditional elements of their sound and throws in some modern song-writing touches to keep things interesting. They certainly work! The sample at the start of Creature Feature is one of the scariest samples I think I’ve ever heard. It’s right at home on the album though. The rest of the song isn’t quite as disturbing thankfully. It is a lurching slab of brilliantly played doom/death though! To be honest I’ll take this over some brutally fast death metal any day.

Into The Crypts is a brooding but short instrumental piece, which quenches the thirst for more. Murderous Mr. Hyde takes the well-known story/horror and makes it even scarier through the band’s imagination. It’s perfect for this record. The music contained here is as inspired by death as it is by darkness and you really feel that on penultimate song Last Drop Of Blood. It goes beyond just a musical medium to something that is more thought provoking and frightening. Final Resting Place is the most apt title for this album’s closing song and it’s eerie organ/keyboard tones take centre stage again. “Grotesque Offerings” is great album. It’s recording/production/mastering helps it sound impressive while even with a slowish tempo, it’s filled with real momentum. More please!

You can stream "Grotesque Offerings" below:-

Druid Lord - https://www.facebook.com/DruidDeathCult/

It is available from Hells Headbangers via their bandcamp page above and via their webstore on all format, including tape, cd and vinyl - https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/releases-records.asp.

Hells Headbangers - https://www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers/

Hammr - Unholy Destruction

Labels: Hells Headbangers

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital

Release Date: 23 Feb 2018

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. Satanic Raid

3. Under Black Command

4. Eternal Prey

5. Desecrator

6. Sadistic Poison

7. Death Reign

8. Unholy Destruction

9. Demonic Rites

10. Into The Pentagram

11. Final Sacrifice

Tonight is reserved for a journey into hell. The vessel of choice for that journey is the newest LP by Cleveland, Ohio's black/speed/punk entity Hammr. Having formed in 2013 under the name Schizoid Hammer, sole contributor J. Hammer altered the band's moniker and released a self-titled EP in 2015. A demo called "Into The Pentragram" swiftly followed a year later, before debut album "Unholy Destruction" was brought to unsuspecting ears by Hells Headbangers earlier this year. Hammr has connections to fellow Hells Headbangers band Demona and revels in all things occult and fast.

“Unholy Destruction” kicks off with an Intro that sounds absolutely perfect. The guitar riffs and the mixing/mastering of Commandor Vanik and Joel Grind respectively make the hairs stand on the back of your neck. The volume is high yet the pace gives no clue as to the madness to come. Satanic Raid is the first song proper and it rips with lashings of punk, thrash and black metal mayhem. The reverb on the vocals, which sit deep in the mix, fit the underground atmosphere of Hammr like a studded and spike-covered glove. On Under Black Command, J. Hammer channels the energy of classic Motorhead and label mates Nunslaughter into a galloping, headbanging rager. 

The speed metal of Hammr is obviously prominent throughout and Eternal Prey is a prime example. There’s absolutely no let up during this song, with the low-end rumbling away at a ridiculous pace while the screeching solo gives no rest. It’s one of only two songs that pass the three-minute mark, which should give you a clue as to the intentions of the band. At times Hammr sounds more akin to the early speed metal originators from Brazil and other parts of South America, especially during Desecrator. This record flies by and it’s the succinct manner in which J. Hammer delivers his songs that make it so listenable. Sadistic Poison is like a Wurlitzer to the face, that keeps on going even when there’s no face left to damage. 

Talking of damage…Death Reign inflicts it with one of the best old-school solo’s period. The drumming ain’t bad either. The title-track features a repetitive string of riffs that scream punk and cause involuntary whiplash. The whole album is really catchy, in a perverse sort of way, as illustrated by Demonic Rites. The record gets even more bonkers on penultimate track Into The Pentagram, the screaming lead guitar fading in and out as J. Hammer cycles through countless scales and finger picks to within an inch of his life. Album closer Final Sacrifice ends the madness the only way it can, with more! Hammr definitely produces speed metal that’s filled with variation and genuine grin-inducing musicality. As far as this sub-genre goes, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better record this year. 

You can stream "Unholy Destruction" and purchase it on all formats below:-

Hammr - https://www.facebook.com/Hammr666/

Hells Headbangers - https://www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers/