SOULBURN, ROTTING CHRIST, SPEEDBREAKER

SOULBURN is one of those fine mid ’90s bands that had their roots firmly planted in the ’80s and the very early ’90s, but that is not surprising since the band was formed by ex-Asphyx drummer Bob Bagchus and his former Asphyx bandmate, guitarist Eric Daniels. The original line up was completed by Wannes Gubbels from Pentacle (who has also served time in Asphyx), all of whom had remained true to the death metal cause throughout the tough times. The band’s debut album ‘Feeding On Angels’ was released by Century Media in 1998 and is a hellhammering doomy dark blackened death metal assault coming across like a more black/death sounding Asphyx overall, which should appeal to fans of both that band and Pentacle as well as bands such as Hellhammer, early Celtic Frost, classic Bathory, Messiah, Desaster etc., forsaking technicality in favour of primitive but very powerful riffs, topped off with rasping vocals, pounding drumming and an organic production. See them live at Party.San Metal Open Air 2015.

Edging ever closer towards 30 years as a band, ROTTING CHRIST is an act that’s seen the ups and downs of the music industry, and been around for much of metal’s evolution. The band isn’t sitting still with only one style, and the latest outputs propels its sounds into a new arena that will draw in some fans from unexpected sources. From the early days there was no doubt that ROTTING CHRIST were a truly unique band, but with their last two albums, “Theogonia” and “Aealo”, and now even more with the brand new “Κατά Τον Δαίμονα Εαυτού” they are proving once again not only that they are an unstoppable force in the extreme Metal scene but also that they still have a lot to offer.

Much like the grand thrash revival of the early 2000′s, that is really still going strong today, good old fashioned speed metal seems to be making a major comeback in recent years. While many bands no doubt realize the importance of acts speed metal classics like Motörhead, Exciter and Razor, it would seem that not until recently, at least, that the younger generations are realizing just how fun speed metal can be. SPEEDBREAKER is one such speed metal revival act, focusing on fast and rollicking paced heavy metal with a melodically infused dual guitar attack and whiskey drenched vocals that would make Lemmy proud. See them live at Party.San Metal Open Air 2015.