Dementor-Demo 2014

Self-Release/Independent
2014

Hey, somebody put hardcore in my thrash! Scratch that, somebody put thrash in my hardcore! Never mind the nonsense it's Altoona, PA-based Dementor! And, here's their bio: "Railroad City hardcore. Est. 2014. Bang your head or bang your dick!". Subtle and yet straight to the point right? Granted there is nothing subtle about this two-track demo! "Betrayer" (1:48) and "Chained" (2:04) do the old "wreck your crib, knock about your neighbors" via metallic hardcore influenced as much by Sick Of It All as Slayer! Dementor, featuring Troy and Glenn on vocals (as two mouths are better then one!), Ty on guitar, Noah on guitar and vocals, Shaun on bass and vocals and Rocco on the drums, are offering this one as a name your own price download and friends, it's worth every cent! You can find it here: http://dementorhc.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2014 while you can read all about these raw rockers here: https://www.facebook.com/Dementorhc. And really, despite the early morning "man, I need more coffee if I have any hope of functioning" write-up on this 2-track release, "Demo 2014" is pretty rad in a real, garage metal hardcore/basement metal hardcore kind of way. I'd actually like to hear more from this lot as their almost punk-like, D.I.Y approach to playing and recording is a reminder of the way hardcore used to be!

French Metal Friday: The Betrayer's Judgement-Philosopher

Twin Peak Records
2013

"Godzilla meets Mothra. Hardcore meets Djent. Destruction ensues. The audience is in awe." 

That's pretty bold right? And yet that's what greeted me when I went to check out the latest release from France's own The Betrayer's Judgement. While I wouldn't say if left me in "awe" I will say that when it was all said and done this 6-track EP left me with an overall favorable impressive of this young French metal/hardcore act. Harsh, almost death metal-like (and most assuredly imposing!) lead vocals come from Cyril Szczepaniak while guitarist Jean-Aimé Leclercq handles the "clean" singing. It's a combination that seems to work out well for The Betrayer's Judgement and with "Philosopher" offering plenty of huge metal riffs to go along with the more melodic moments it seems as if it would be hard to argue that this band has anywhere to go but up. This is not the band's first go around as they do have the 12-track "Run Out Of Fuel" from 2011 as well as a cover of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" (also released in 2013). For those new to the band though this one seems like a good place to start as any. On the plus side it's technical enough all around to keep you focused in on where this French act might be going next. With each new emerging moment there's a chance that this whole house of cards is either going to collapse or explode so you do end up waiting with heavy breath to see which direction it will go. And, as the band shifts between the ultra-heavy, riff-happy metallic barrage that is modern metal/hardcore and off-the-cuff, spontaneous melodies they do it decisively well. It does keep you on your toes. On the down side though this EP does remind me entirely too much of modern metalcore. Blame the harsh/clean vocal-interplay and radical shifts if you want, but the difference between metalcore and hardcore/djent doesn't seem all that great (divide-wise) to me. Still, for what it is worth and all that jazz folks, I'd take a release like this any day of the week over the bulk of metalcore releases that inevitably all show up at once (and usually from one particular label in general-no names please)! and threaten to drive me insane with the same set-up of thrash, breakdown, thrash, breakdown, etc!

http://thebetrayersjudgement.bandcamp.com/album/philosopher