Typically, I avoid bands with such long names (yes, yes, I have too many pet peeves I know!) with the impression of these bands either being too metalcore-ish for my liking or simply being too pretentious. But the fascinating artwork on Clinging on the Trees of a Forest Fire (CTTTOAFF)'s latest release, Visceral easily captured my attention, in fact, even before I noticed the long name of the band.

Not knowing what to expect was certainly a good thing, with no expectations of the band, as a crushing, sludgy riff greets the listener on the intro track \\\. The random scratching noises and the feedback on the guitar reminds one instantly of crazed death metal bands such as Impetuous Ritual and their related band, Portal, with the heavy experimentation on the instruments and songwriting that create music so extreme that could truly be called their own. The listener is then thrown to the next track, Lower than Life, High as the Sky, greeted by the tortured growls of Ethan, at times even leaning towards a grindcore style. As the band blazes onward with little warning, the sudden outburst by John immediately brings to mind war metal bands such as Heresiarch, bringing the already crushing experience up another notch. Throughout the release, John gets many moments to shine, such as those towards the end of Garbage, and these are some of the personal highlights, with the brutality and the high precision in his drumming.

While there is a constant transition between slow, sludgy moments and blistering, energy-filled grindcore moments, these are done with little awkwardness. In fact, the slower moments on the album help to build up a high amount of tension within the listener, and through the faster moments it feels almost as if the band had finally found an outlet to release all that pent up tension, and this is especially so at the transition between Lower than Life, High as the Sky and Garbage, giving the listeners a good opportunity to mosh along at the same time. Contained on the release are also pure grindcore songs, such as Special Education and Biracial. The ability of the band to contain such perfect balance of slow, heavy and fast, furious segments has definitely made Visceral an extremely enjoyable release, fit for fans of any form of extreme metal.

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The progressive extreme metal tag typically reminds me of bands like Opeth and Ihsahn, with these bands being some of the ones that marked my initial foray into extreme progressive metal. UK extreme progressive metal band De Profundis has over their past 2 albums displayed a constant improvement in their capabilities, and this year sees the release of their third full length album, The Emptiness Within.

Opening track From the Depths sound almost like the soundtrack to the intro of a movie, and sets a dark mood for the album. Delirium begins the album proper, with melodic death metal-sounding lead guitars, before giving way to an almost black metal blast-beat and riffing section. One then instantly knows that this is going to be an interesting ride filled with influences from all over the metal spectrum to be present on The Emptiness Within. The progressive elements on the album are extremely prominent, with tracks containing transitions into numerous different sounds within each of them, constantly testing and pushing the boundaries of the band members as musicians, and the band as a songwriting unit. While most of them range from the usual black and death metal elements, there is even a jazz-sounding section towards the end of Release, as a preview to how wide-sounding The Emptiness Within is.

Throughout the album, there is a dark cloud that constantly shrouds the music, lingering in the atmosphere, and this is usually done through the playing of haunting clean guitar lines in the background, such as on Silent Gods, which gives a contradicting sense of calm yet unease at the same time as the band suddenly shifting into more aggressive sections with little warning, eliminating the need for the usage of synths to enhance the atmosphere which could potentially end up resulting in a cheesy sound instead. It is also nice to hear how the band manages to keep up that atmosphere despite the relatively fast pace that they usually travel at. Furthermore, vocalist Craig also alternates between shrieks, growls and clean vocals according to the mood of the music, displaying his vocal range, and this can be heard on This Wretched Plague, where there is the inclusion of an almost chant-like clean vocals in the middle of the track.

The technical abilities of the individual musicians in De Profundis are constantly displayed throughout, and in particular Arran's bass playing captures my attention, with his style being reminiscent of such bassists as Obscura's Linus and Dream Theater's John Myung, though slightly less flamboyant. The abundance of bass spots for him and the way he utilises his instrument as though it were a third lead instrument is evidence of his talent. Guitarists Roman and Soikot also display versatility in their playing styles, ranging from aggressive black metal-styled trem-picking to an almost jazz-fusion style lead guitar playing, all executed with much flair. The feel that is put in the lead guitar playing also enhances the enjoyment of the album, and moments such as the introductory solo of This Wretched Plague are particularly memorable and melodic. Drummer Nick as well displays his influences throughout, at times sounding like Mikkey Dee's work on King Diamond's Abigail album, especially the play on the ride on This Wretched Plague and later, Twisted Landscapes. There is also the playing in odd time signatures that test the independence of his limbs like on Release.

To be honest, first listens did not left much of an impact nor an impression on me, and this was largely due to the production quality which at times sees the drums almost drowning out the rest of the instruments, though numerous listens later the album really starts growing on the listener.

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Finland's Cavus in 2009 crashed out of nowhere with their self-released debut self-titled EP. A year later, the band has signed to Listenable Records and release their debut full length release, Fester and Putrefy. Finnish black metal has often been characterised by the raw and cold sound exemplified by bands like Sargeist and Satanic Warmaster, but already evident from 2009's Cavus, Cavus aims to bring in a more aggressive touch to their black metal.

Opening track Sea of Tongues almost sounds as if the band had recorded this in a rehearsal studio, with the seemingly random notes that are plucked out of the guitar, though the inhuman growls and shrieks by W at the background helps to bring about a sinister atmosphere in the music. Just as it was about to border on being draggy, the band breaks into Fist of a Titan, and true to the song title, the cacophony immediately hits the listener in the face relentlessly. The band's aggressive style is somewhat reminiscent of Swedish black metal horde Marduk, with the urgent pace that drummer T.T.T. sets up and the heavy riffs unleashed by guitarists B.P. and J.K.. Vocalist W, while not as gruff as those of Marduk's Mortuus, manages to bring about some resemblance with the usage of growls instead of the shrieking-style as preferred by his other Finnish black metal counterparts. The drums of T.T.T. are the personal highlight on Fester and Putrefy. The punishing hits on the snare on songs like Discovering Through Suffering are some good examples of what he is capable of, sounding like a machine-gunner go out of control.

The one thing that could probably affect Fester and Putrefy is the songwriting on the album. While the aggression of the band certainly shines through, the album fails at containing variety in the songs, with most of the tracks making use of similar formulae and song structures, resulting in songs sounding similar to each other, and the 45 minute runtime could prove to be slightly too boring and draggy and risk getting pointless towards the end of the album. The band tries to be innovative at times though, with the quirky intro on Death Rattle, but even moments like these are too sporadic to be noteworthy as the band soon goes back to their usual style. The song also does incorporate some shout-a-long moments with the chorus that reminds listeners of some of Watain's later works, though this is considerably more bestial and abrasive.

If one loves the more straightforward and brutal style of black metal, Fester and Putrefy would definitely have the potential to fulfil that thirst, though one shouldn't expect too much surprises on the album. That said though, Fester and Putrefy has been a pretty enjoyable release personally.

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Sweden has been spitting out a large wave of bands reviving old school Swedish death metal in the veins of Entombed and Nihilist in recent times, and so receiving Desultor's debut full length album, Masters of Hate left me slightly apprehensive, but the space-themed album artwork and futuristic band logo gave me some hope of this being different from the typical Swedish offering, and finally getting around to listening to this album was a fortunately surprising experience.

Just like the crisp and futuristic album artwork, the music on Masters of Hate is modern, and this is topped by that nice and clean production job on the album. Chapter 1: New Era opens through setting the stage for the rest of the album, with the sound effects that instantly puts one in outer-space, but as Black Monday begins the album proper, one is immediately thrown into a myriad of death metal riffs and punishing blast-beats, all topped up by clean singing vocals. This definitely threw me off slightly, with the high intensity music leaning more towards extreme metal territory and left me almost expecting a death growl to complement it. Surprisingly though, vocalist/guitarist Markus fits extremely well in all the commotion that goes on around, perhaps due to his high-vocal range, or perhaps due to his occasional usage of shrieks and growls throughout the album. Whatever it is, Markus manages to do his job well and the result is an extremely unique-sounding record, and at times it even sounds almost as if it were Control Denied/Pharaoh's Tim Aymar singing in The Project Hate, especially the vocal work on Another World.

While comparisons to bands such as Into Eternity are bound to come, Desultor manages to infuse a more extreme edge in their songwriting and execution, and this is most evident in the drumming of Ibrahim, with the relentless blasting throughout the album. The riffing patterns of Markus also incorporates not only death metal elements, but at times, thrash metal riffs are also spotted, with some of the riffs on Denied sounding like Seek & Destroy but sped up by infinite times, and this is sure to satisfy the hunger of extreme metal fans craving for some speed. However, their superb songwriting skills are proven through the ability to maintain extremely catchy and melodic throughout despite this weird combination of different elements, incorporating huge hooks in their songs such as on Division Insane. The sense of melody is also evident through the melodic lead guitar work of Markus, such as those on The Luxury of Pain.

Masters of Hate has been an excellent debut release by Desultor, and this definitely helps the band live up to their claim to play "murder metal". The clean vocals might require some listeners to take some time to get used to, but this is easily overcome with the superb musicianship on the album. Fans disappointed with Into Eternity's later works, Masters of Hate would instantly satisfy all cravings, and make you not look back into their catalogue anymore.

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Germany's Revel in Flesh is another of those bands that display how far-reaching the influence of Swedish death metal is, with their debut full length album, Deaethevokation. From that razor sharp classic Swedish death metal guitar tone to the riffing patterns, and what Bloodbath calls the "Stockholm beat" on Culpa et Inferna, Deathevokation is a nice homage to the founders of Swedish death metal such as Entombed and the likes. But unlike the wave of newer Swedish death metal bands such as Entrails, Revel in Flesh's Deathevokation has somehow managed to capture my attention more. Perhaps it is due to the more ballsy attitude that they have, giving the music on Deathevokation a heavier and more brutal feel that other new bands and albums lack.

From the start of the album to the end, there is not a single moment to breathe as the band lambasts the listener with crushing after crushing riff, and the only slow moments are those in between tracks and this gives fans of the band plenty of time to headbang and mosh around. And even on slower tracks like Iron Coffin, the band ensures that the intensity level is not reduced, replacing speed with chugging riffs to up the heaviness in the music That magical touch by producer Dan Swano is also evident here, with the quality of the production of the music on the album certainly helping to bring out the best of the band, and the sound samples that are incorporated in a number of tracks certainly help to reinforce that destructive and filthy mood of the band.

The numerous guitar solos that are littered throughout the album are also tastefully done, with large melodies that help to hook the attention of the listener, with the lead guitars at times helping to provide some sense of sanity among the chaos and violence that is happening all around. Maggesson also punishes the skins mercilessly, and are one of the main highlights on the album as well.

Deathevokation has been an extremely catchy and enjoyable journey, and while Revel in Flesh does not add anything new to the already saturated Swedish death metal genre, with that inclusion of both brutality and some sense of melody on Deathevokation, this album definitely is a fun one to listen to.

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