Written by: The Administrator

Welcome to Sleeping Village Micro-Reviews: Volume I! The following is a collection of very short reviews written in reaction to individual tracks submitted by a delightfully eclectic assortment of artists. The only thing the musicians featured herein all have in common? They responded to our following twitter prompt: "If you reply to this tweet within the next uhhhh 60 minutes with a link to one of your songs, I'll check it out and write a lil' micro review."

And so here we are. Thank you to everyone who submitted tunes, I had a lot of fun doing this and will certainly be sending out a similar prompt again in the future. To everyone reading, I hope you find something lurking below that appeals to your tastes. Please note: we had a few submissions come in after the deadline--they will not appear here, but I will collect them all in a forthcoming Volume of Sleeping Village Micro-Reviews. If you are responsible for one of those submissions, fear not and stay tuned!

Enough of my blathering. Without further ado:

In a continuing attempt to cover more music that would all-too-oft slip through the very large cracks, we slumbering scribes are making an effort to publish the little one-off reviews that were previously (and arbitrarily) deemed too short for publication. Here's a mini-review of a delightfully slimy death metal EP.

Written by: The Administrator

The roster of underground death metal bands that deserve more attention is nigh-infinite, and while underappreciation is inevitable, everyone needs to stop sleeping on Cork's own Bodydrinkers. In an attempt to remedy this scenario, we slumbering scribes try our hand at rousing the masses. Wake up! Plug this into your earholes!

A mere three tracks, Swamp Hammer is nonetheless a beast. The titular track kicks things off with glorious belligerence, a churning muscular barrage accompanied by an engaging range of vocal delivery. The riffage roils with pythonian strength, and while delivering an effective bludgeoning, the track does not overstay its welcome. My personal favorite track, the follow-up "Byzantine Blinding," opts for a slower yet no less pugilistic angle. The vocals here are truly monstrous, and play inordinately well off the massive surge of instrumentation. Closer "Bio Terroristic Occult Sermon" threads the needle between the two extremes, delivering a slightly more grindy and unhinged take on Bodydrinkers' apparent trademark aggression. The variety presented herein is quite enjoyable, and the short runtime simply isn't enough. I crave more.

Given the EP title and slimy descriptor, I was admittedly expecting a little more sludgy lumbering and dripping riffage, but as a fan of the mire, that's on me. What we get instead is top-notch stuff, no bones about it. Swamp Hammer is delightfully aggressive and takes no prisoners in the sonic bombardment department. I highly recommend checking this one out! Listen here and snag a tape from (the illustrative) Fiadh Productionshere.

Bodydrinkers - Swamp Hammer was released January 20th, 2023 (Digital) and June 2nd, 2023 (Cassette) via Fiadh Productions

Bodydrinkers can be found:
Bandcamp
​Facebook

While I feel like a significant portion of death metal misses the mark when it comes to an elevator pitch, Blight House hit the nail on the head with their straightforward "gross death metal" tag. This stuff is, indeed, very gross. Throwing on their latest offering, the appropriately entitled Blight The Way, is like unto watching a series of straight-to-vhs horror movies whilst lounging uncomfortably in a medical waste dumpster. Y'know, the good times and healthy activities we all dream of.

Blight House knows how to effectively apply campy aesthetics in pursuit of a rousingly good time. As such, a necessary degree of self-aware good humor pervades in the lyrics and numerous chopped samples, as well as the song titles themselves. Punny examples such as "Grassquatch" and "Dismembers Only" aside, "Florida Man Hails Satan" is an absolute banger. I hasten to add that humor isn't used as a crutch here so much as an essential component of a greater picture. Without grunting and grinding music that goes, as they say, hard as absolute fuck, this project would fall apart pretty damn quick. But fear not: Blight House deliver the goods in the engaging music department. The chugs, while far from complex, chug with an engaging foot-stomping vigor, and, most notably, the omnipresent bass bounces throughout at a loose lope. The bass indeed dominates--for a prime example, look to the sasquatchian "Grassquatch" as it moves with earthshaking heft. The vocals are quite flexible, running the gamut between gross-out sewer gurgles and mucus-coated raspy roars.

Written by: The Administrator

When ye olde Sleeping Village is pillaged and plundered in typical fashion--a frequent occurrence, if we're being honest--the inevitable spoils of the marauders feels fairly obvious: livestock, gold, artifacts, leather-bound tomes containing alchemical secrets. However, we were recently targeted by a new kind of thievery as an HM-2 afflicted crew graced us with their boisterous presence, demanding not the usual fare, but rather the bile from our rotten guts. After a messy and putrid passing of the collection plate, Vomitheist left us, erm, vomit-less. Lacking a certain subtlety, it was a little too noisy to be considered a heist per se, but rather than stew in the unfairness of it all, we slumbering scribes simply decided to give their tunes a spin.

​As it turns out, Vomitheist's debut album is a remarkable first outing, an absolute beast of a release. Straddling both a classic buzzsaw Swedish death metal muscularity and a putridity that distinctly reeks of a butchered Autopsy, NekroFvneral nails that delicious cadaver-licking foul factor while remaining a highly listenable--dare I say infectious--affair. This is a dominating debut performance, and Vomitheist have declared themselves a name to watch in very short order indeed.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

​This year hasn’t really seen a whole lot in the realm of standout death metal, probably a personal take of mine due to the massive influx of it in recent times. This would change with the U.S. death metal act Kommand dropping their second full-length (not to be confused with the black/thrash act Kömmand). Entitled Death Age, this sees a continuation of their first album a couple years ago. Terrorscape was already pretty tight, but here is where we gain an even higher jump in quality.

Despite being such a short release of only six tracks (also like the previous album), this passes before us rather quickly, but they pack a lot into a small container. Chunky, marshy riffs that carry loads of weight are pulled by compelling leads, some with a bit of a catchier ring to them. This is aided by production that gives it an echo-effect without overdoing anything, as well as a cleanliness level that brings everything forward without sanitizing what’s supposed to be filthy. Pacing is executed well for all of this release, letting the slower grooves swing into eruptive blasts with ease. “Chimera Soldiers” has a particularly strong ear for this, with opening leads that lay down strong dual-guitar layers.

Written by: The Administrator

I undoubtably speak for everyone here: sometimes we all just need our craniums caved in with a boulder the size of a small boulder. When you require such necessary service, I highly recommend looking no further than Denver's Cronos Compulsion. Just take a gander at the appropriately burly and bloody album artwork for this (very good) five track EP and let me know what Malicious Regression sounds like. Your suspicions are undoubtably correct.

Cronos Compulsion wield a truly neolithic approach to the model of simple but bluntly effective riffcraft, alongside a rumbling doomy density. The vocals are as bestial and cavernous as ye might expect. At times, ambient harsh noise serves to break up and/or intensify the abyssal soundscape. Bludgeoning atmosphere is the general rule, and when the riffs encounter peak sludge, a notable sense of despair prevails. Personally, I find these slower and gloomier moments to be some of the strongest. While there are certainly no weak songs, the lumbering "Consumed By Malignant Spirit" is an absolute crushing track, and, by extension, one absolute hell of a closer.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

The classic Florida death metallers Obituary have remained pretty constant over their several decade existence, whether or not their albums actually hold up. Being an outfit that plays things a bit too safe sometimes, their discography can certainly be spotty, but the bright side is that it leaves little room for outright failure. Their 2017 self-titled album was a solid slice of their business as usual displays, and six years later we get Dying Of Everything. The only difference is, they actually stepped out of their comfort zone more than they have in a very long time.

It admittedly takes little to expand upon Obituary’s brand of death metal, but them doing it to themselves worked wonders. For the most part, Dying Of Everything touches on a lot of what the more varied outings have given us in the recent decade. Using modern production tactics to the advantage of echo and haunting effects beside buzzing riffs made a world’s difference, rather than cleaning everything so much. The end result is a disc that boasts all of the sludgy, dense characteristics that made Slowly We Rot incredible with a refreshing new personality.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

In 2018, the Italian act Thulsa Doom caught my attention with the EP Realms Of Hatred, but for the longest time, I got no follow up. Last year, it slipped past my radar, because the debut full-length entitled A Fate Worse Than Death delivered exactly what I look for in the death metal genre. While this is a bit of a continuation of what was offered up before, the execution here is splendid. Nothing really reinvents the wheel, but comprehension and strong riffage take the throne.

For the most part, this is reflective of the old school Florida sound, using chunky but concise playing patterns, held up with an extra boost from the bass. It’s hard to not notice the refined nature in the production, letting go of the raw insides that the previous effort gave, but I see this as an improvement, and nothing is too over the top. The constant weaving of blasting drum avalanches between harder kicks and bright solos create a steady contrast. Matter of fact, the drum and bass combos play a noticeable enough role here to share the spotlight with everything else.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

Following a short career consisting of two demos and a full-length that have all gotten solid praise from me, Conjureth are back with a second full-length. While not changing too much, there’s enough here to get whiffs of exploration that feel just a little scared to move that direction. The Parasitic Chambers certainly maintains everything that made the band’s coarse, yet simple and furious nature stick the first time. As such a style can run dry quickly, it’s good that there are some signs of other ideas.

For starters, the focus on advanced rhythms and lead guitars is propped up a bit. Album one may have had a little bit of this, but it was hardly the focus. On The Parasitic Chambers, drastic swings from more traditional playing to intense, panic-stricken breaks take precedence. What’s really maintained is the louder atmosphere, which admittedly makes some of this harder to realize unless you’re playing on an incredible sound system. The outro of “Dimensional Ascendency” is the first spot that this nuance becomes quite clear, particularly with the small solo.

Written by: The Administrator

​Given that this particular scribe's familiarity with (the reputedly well-acclaimed) Bloodborne verges on nonexistent, the thematic content lurking behind Soulmass' stellar Let Us Pray has zero impact on my experience. That's certainly not a bad thing–the music speaks for itself without the implicit weight of a fan's expectations when it comes to faithful lore.

And damn, does the music ever speak to me. This album has been in consistent rotation ever since I received the promo, effectively holding my January and February listening habits in a fiercely tight and omnipresent stranglehold. One dreams of such albums at the top of the year.