Devil's Horns Zine

  Burial Pit-Suburban Scum album review. FFO: Heavy, brutal soul-crushing extreme death metal-influenced sludge. When I saw the subgenre tag extreme sludge, I was damn skeptical, to say the least. But the tag is so damn accurate, I definitely like some sludge; but only when it pushes boundaries and makes my skull rattle and my soul dissolve. Burial Pit is brutal and masterful merchants of dissonant grief inflicting metal. Over the course of this perfect album, the jarring and harsh beauty that is Suburban Scum will overwhelm each listener and make each an immediate fan.  The six tracks are all solid, well written, and served best as a whole document. The influences are broad and mostly from extreme music; be it black or death metal, crust-punk, or grindcore. The harsh bass and guitar tone match an equally coarse vocal masterclass and there is no brightness in the sound at all, thankfully. Mother Tongue and Priest are the standout tracks for this listener, but as I suggested t...

  Burning Witches-The Witch Of The North album review. FFO: Classic metal like Judas Priest, Dio, Manowar etc. Solid vocals and raging riffs. 2021 I declared was a year I would vary up the reviews and initially I was not expecting much as this band's previous works did very little for me. But this album is classic metal and it definitely grows on you. On this release, they have a new vocalist and guitarist, and to be frank it's what the band needed. You get the awesome vocal skillset that is perfectly supported by great guitar work and purposeful songwriting. Where the album soars is in its fast-paced Judas Priest-like crackers that really grab your attention and are punchy as hell. Examples of this are the title track,  The Circle of Five, Thrall, Nine Worlds, For Eternity, Dragon's Dream, and Hall Of The Mountain King . These are all exceptionally well-written, dynamic and remind you of all the classic bands that got you into metal. Each of these excellent tracks takes yo...

  Demons-Privation album review. FFO: Clever hardcore/punk in the vein of Cancer Bats, The Bronx, Fucked Up, and Gallows. This album dropped last month, but it needs your ears. The album starts off in the kinda crazed Converge mathcore style, but this band is so much more than that. The Cancer Bats/The Bronx comparisons are justified because they have intelligent riff-laden grooves and wicked tempo changes that echo these great bands. This album can certainly rage hard, but it also dips in and out of that post-hardcore and semi alternative rock festival-style ground as well. There is also some sludgy doom-inspired riffage and both the guitar work and vocal work are quite sublime. The record has fuckloads of depth because every track is well written and hits the spot in an anthemic and hooky way. My favorite type of album is one in which the vocals work as an instrument that complements the other parts of each composition. Kind of like how the early classic (pre the current shitty v...

  Go Ahead and Die-S/T album review and Interview. FFO: Old school metal/crust and hardcore punk. Wow, this one caught me by surprise. Not in that the band members were lacking in skill even remotely, I mean Max Cavalera is a metal god and an absolute creative genius that formed two of my fave bands ever, Sepultura and Nailbomb. Then you have his son, Igor who has been in his own brilliant bands and has epic skill and talent. Add an amazing drummer in the form of Zach Coleman, who is an utter natural drumming beast that adds a warlike tone to every track. This is a three-piece band with so much firepower and energy. Plus they play a style I personally worship; a mix of old school metal be it death/thrash or doom and mix it with everything from classic crust in the vein of Doom, Anti-Cimex, etc to the pure metal glory of Venom and Hellhammer. And it's not forced or a carbon copy, something I rant on about; too many new bands that sound like a feeble version of a well-known band..jus...

  Locked In-The Solemn Leap EP review. Raging Italian Hardcore with power. This fantastic band has been kicking since 2007 and I have only just heard them, damn wish I discovered them earlier. If you dig old-school hardcore and even proper emo hardcore, not that lame screamo bullshit; you will love this. This just drips in pure emotive power, the guitar work is sublime and overall a totally awesome release. What it also has in its corner is an amazing production style that is punchy and in your face. The Solemn Leap is only five tracks long and one is a beautiful acoustic, but fitting intro track that leaps into sheer dynamic aggression. The riffs dominate every song as much as do the very confident vocals and every track is varied, but all pretty pacey. As well as a slight emo hardcore vibe, it also echoes musical finesse associated with classic straight edge bands. This is evident in sick breakdowns and wicked group vocals. Added to this are guest vocals that make a difference to...

Black Rheno new awesome track(plus video/tour) and interview with Nano. Australia's brutal groove masters Black Rheno return with a massive east coast tour throughout May & June to celebrate their new single entitled " Battle Ready ". It'll have been just over a year since Black Rheno has brought their hell-raising sludge, grind, groove party to the stage. Having released their debut album "Noise Smasher" at the end of 2019. Then backing it up hitting stages across Japan, Australia & New Zealand with New Orleans sludge royalty EYEHATEGOD, the guys were just gearing up to start taking the rest of the world on when this pandemic hit and stopped them in their tracks. Ryan Miller (vocals) tells us: Yes, it was crazy; we'd just come home off the back of one of the most insane tours playing night after night with some of our biggest idols. From beginning to end, it was just intense. The shows in Japan were a fuse box of insanity and positive energy. It...

  Van Diemen-Self Titled album review. Metal as hell and catchy tunes!!! This is a cool project indeed. Patrick was born and bred in Tasmania, but moved to Germany a few years back. The vocals are performed by the singer from a killer german underground band named Majak. And it's as The Young One's Vivian would say"Very Metal". Excellent quality melodic death/thrash metal with some equally traditional classic leanings as well as some stoner vibes. The vocals match the riffs which are massive and epic. It all paces along nicely, whilst not being anything hugely original; it's catchy and done with strong skills. Solid songs, done well. None of the six tracks are distractions, the album flows well and is a fantastic ode to the home where the project's writer lived. It does vary between tones and pace and appears to be an album that would be adored on a live stage. This album is very old school and worth frequent replays of this release. Very decent. Available her...

  Nathaniel Shannon and the Vanishing Twin unveil the video for Mater Suspiriorum and it's freaking awesome!!!!. We love Nathaniel and his amazing work from multiple mediums, but this recent EP "The Three Mothers" was a dark, fantastically creepy celebration of original music with depth and color. So course we are stoked to see he has just dropped an insanely and suitably macabre, yet technicolor video and you will love it.  Nathaniel Shannon and The Vanishing Twin is an experimental dark folk project and the creation of Detroit-bred and Brooklyn based photographer and multimedia artist Nathaniel Shannon. Today sees the release of his spooky video for Mater Suspiriorum . The song is taken from THE THREE MOTHERS , out on US based label Aqualamb , the second video from the EP after Mater Tenebrarum was released earlier this year.   THE THREE MOTHERS bore its roots several years ago as a few disjointed keyboard-based loops in Nathaniel’s apartment. Some feedback, extre...