How many bands do you need to create a ‘scene’? Well if the answer is ‘more than one ‘ then there is indeed a Bangladeshi blackened death metal scene and kudos to the labels for getting these two debut EPs out to a wider public. Not an obvious place to go hunting for extreme metal talent but it’s always heartening to see people just getting out there and doing it regardless of cultural backdrop, race, religion or style of government telling them not to in one way or another.
So first up we have Orobas – Arise In Impurity (Satanath). A little random intro noise and we thump into ‘The Ravana’. Mid-paced death metal of the blackened variety which ends with a quiet, weird little out of tune piano, which is actually rather neat and suggests imagination at play. Yeah, it’s OK. The production seems a little flat somehow but not cripplingly so. ‘Lord Ramesses’ and ‘Bad Blood Hunter’ up next and I guess the sound of Orobas begins to remind me of Polish band Pandemonium, and others; a slightly technical sound, good solid death metal shaded a nice black just a little unformed identity wise at present, but that will come. They finish with a cover of Venom’s ‘Black Metal’ which is a serviceable death metal variation. Lots of enthusiasm here, a good bit of obvious playing ability. It’s a good start. (6/10)
Secondly we get Serpent Spells – Mantras Within Ascending Fire (Godz Ov War). A nicely picked intro drops heavily into ‘Piercing The Cervix Of Nehemah’, a full tilt bit of galloping death metal with eyes raised in a Nile direction with more of a black metal feel to the vocals, something continued with the equally frantic ‘Scourge Heretic Consecration’. It’s veering towards the technical, though the crispness isn’t quite there yet and the drum sound is a little thin. On the plus side though, the time variations are good and the slower section is simple, effective and eerie. The title track closes things in another headlong, spikey drive. Honours even I’d say. (6/10)
There you go. As debut releases, both are genuinely promising and enthusiastic, studied students. Not much that would mark them out as being from their particular region, but may be yet to come. A little more growth and maturity and I’m sure more individuality will push through. In the meantime; good start guys, good start.
(Gizmo)
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