Death by a 1000 Bullets: Abraxas Horn, Deadspace, Abysmal Oceans,Bloody Sadism, Kajgun,Dreadnaught,Hoof,Canary Bones,Choof and Khazurvaal.
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Death by a 1000 Bullets: Incredible Mixed Releases: Abraxas Horn, Deadspace, Abysmal Oceans,Bloody Sadism, Kajgun, Dreadnaught, Hoof, Canary Bones , Choof and Khazurvaal. Reviewed by Mark J. These are the dog bollocks, concise short reviews of shit you need to buy now. Got it, now read, buy and thank me later fuckface. We have a blindingly awesome selection of releases here. Let's go and get into these bangers. Heaps of amazing metal on this list!!!.
MY APOLOGIES FOR MANY OF THESE REVIEWS FOR BEING POSTED SO LATE AFTER RELEASE DATES, BUT I HAVE HAD MY OWN MEDICAL ISSUES ETC. BUT MY COMMITMENT TO UNDERGROUND MUSIC NEVERS FALTERS, SO ENJOY!!!
Abraxas Horn-Liminal Darkness. Holy shitballs, this is awesome. And utterly makes you full of joy knowing you are accessing proper underground extreme music, not mainstream shite. This is a torrid, punishing and epic release of weirdish black metal with a darkwave-ish synth focus that utterly rules. Clever writing and a commitment to abrasive joy makes this a pleasure to engage with. This second release for the project is a flawless work because the synth is broodingly atmospheric, and the vocals and riffs are hectic and acidic. I always love music that is equally pulverising, unsettling and calming. Probably because it appeals to my insanity,peculiar things calm eccentric people down. Merging atmospheric elements reminiscent of old horror movies mixed with brutal power electronics and hard industrial shouldn't work, but it does. Creepy, fucked up raw early black metal(and death metal) in a constant war with dark ambient textures creates a warped and textured unique tone that is jarring, but super entrancing. I love how Abysmal Void sounds like extreme metal in a psych ward, and then Descent is a chilling ambient piece that is scintillating. Next Yellow King is quite basic but devastatingly effective in a gloomy, extreme gothic sledgehammer manner. This is glorious, warped brilliance. And how incredible is the cover art?.
Buy it now: 
Abysmal Oceans-Ravenous Abyss. Unreal, another first I have never heard; this time a insanely great Black Metal from the damn Maldives(yes, the place known for expensive tropical holidays,lol). This is solid and very much in the Mayhem and Dark Funeral style-warlike drums and insane tremolo picking on meth. Layered over the top are some of the sickest and suffocating vocals around. Like many modern interpretations of basic black metal; there isn't anything particularly groundbreaking or new, but who wants that from black metal anyway???. You get four solid and headbanging beasts of dramatic and exhilarating intense black metal. Buy the release and keep an eye on this great band. Every track is skinpeelingly great!!!,
That being said the music is crushing, insane in a meth-fueled metal manner and is a whole heap of fun. Reminds me of many peak 90’s Goregrind bands in Melbourne,Australia. But you never get subtle anything in this genre, so turn it up way loud and eat the organs of those you just killed.
Iran makes some insane metal that’s for sure.
Buy it:
Kajgun-Oddha Raur. On to something a little bit more diverse and tangential, and amazing. This act refers to themselves as “we are the punks of Jazz Metal”. This album and frankly everything they put out is schizoid improv done how I want-experimental, weird wigout of mad synth, sax ,strings, theremin and insane drum and guitar work. Oddha Raur is an album you need to take time with on a great sound system or at the very least with excellent over-ear headphones insitu. The core is absolutely a foundation of solid free-form jazz mixed with metal and deep psychedelic music influences, but every track is avante-garde, atonal and tangential, you can feel the creativity. The four tracks are worth your time because the creative skill in the whole album will blow you away, it’s entertaining and mindblowing-one of the most skilled and intriguing bands I have heard in the last 15 years; unique and brilliant.
Buy now and support them hard:
Dreadnaught-Shutdown in a Heartbeat. What more can be said for this colossal metal band that has been consistently one of Australia’s best bands since the 90’s. The heart of this band is always insane guitarwork and Greg’s amazing Ronnie James Dio on Meth vocals(he is one of the best Metal vocalists in Australia-both in terms of intensity and melodic skill).Plus Dreadnaught could always write the best songs. 2025 sees the drop of this new album and thank fuck some things like a cold beer on a hot day always deliver like this phenomenal band. This their sixth album is their finest hour with heavy track after heavy track; it is brooding, moody as fuck and angrier than 20 ferrets down a rabbit hole. The production is sublime on this and it definitely showcases all the many refined skills this breathtaking band has, whilst being as raw and acerbic as we would expect. Exactly like the herculean cover art, the songs fool you in a false sense of calm -then assault you with a barrage of insane, skilful and measured metal majesty. Take More Money Than Sympathy-it has some cheesy as hell riffs, some breathing space as the band builds the story in the track and truckloads of tension and of course those vivid vocals. And this is the flavour across this excellent release, a mix of old school metal-be it straight thrash, melodic death metal or classic heavy metal. The diverse layers all build the tone and the divisive balance of melody and hostility is to be celebrated. Deathcamp Disneyland, which is like that scene in the first Hellraiser with multiple hooks embedded in your body pulling you in multiple directions, except you want this audio violence to never end; as we extreme metal fans adore this type of punishment. This anxiety-inducing classic is brilliant. The ten tracks have enough variety and adventure in their veins to easily hold your interest for the entire album and this release will be incredible live, no doubt. Even the quieter moments of this release were brilliant as they balance everything out, this is an album that should be listened to from start to end. And Dreadnaught is still the kings of Aussie metal. Buy now:
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https://abraxashorn.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-darkness
Deadspace-The Dark Enlightenment. I have seen the name, but have never heard their releases. Fuck me with a chainsaw, this is some wild, strident musical brutality on this release and I have no idea why this band isn't getting more press; as this album is superb. The Dark Enlightenment is the band's 8th album and a move towards a more dynamic and more aggressive focus. All seven tracks on this are better than most proponents of this style. The cacophonous mood, and sharp song structure are perfect and the sheer weight of the atmosphere on the album is epic. If the dominating drums and biting riffs don't grab you, the raucous vocals will. The tempos are skillfully varied and the bombastic production suits the blackened death metal vehicle they are driving off the cliff. Every track is sublime and this album is one of the best in Australia for this style. Don't fuck about buy the album asap and support this band hard.
https://deadspacecollective.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-enlightenment
Bloody Sadism-Restless Blood. The one-man tech brutal death metal/goregrind machine is back with those chill easy listening tunes for your Sunday church setlist. This EP like the rest of their catalogue stinks of early raw grind and we are talking full marbles in the mouth/no idea what the lyrics are type of glorious filth. You know that the lyrics will be atypical of the genre-I mean it’s a given with the very family friendly titles such as Slack Tide of C*nts, Restless Vaginal Syndrome and Bloodborne.
That being said the music is crushing, insane in a meth-fueled metal manner and is a whole heap of fun. Reminds me of many peak 90’s Goregrind bands in Melbourne,Australia. But you never get subtle anything in this genre, so turn it up way loud and eat the organs of those you just killed.
Iran makes some insane metal that’s for sure.
Buy it:
Kajgun-Oddha Raur. On to something a little bit more diverse and tangential, and amazing. This act refers to themselves as “we are the punks of Jazz Metal”. This album and frankly everything they put out is schizoid improv done how I want-experimental, weird wigout of mad synth, sax ,strings, theremin and insane drum and guitar work. Oddha Raur is an album you need to take time with on a great sound system or at the very least with excellent over-ear headphones insitu. The core is absolutely a foundation of solid free-form jazz mixed with metal and deep psychedelic music influences, but every track is avante-garde, atonal and tangential, you can feel the creativity. The four tracks are worth your time because the creative skill in the whole album will blow you away, it’s entertaining and mindblowing-one of the most skilled and intriguing bands I have heard in the last 15 years; unique and brilliant.
Buy now and support them hard:
Dreadnaught-Shutdown in a Heartbeat. What more can be said for this colossal metal band that has been consistently one of Australia’s best bands since the 90’s. The heart of this band is always insane guitarwork and Greg’s amazing Ronnie James Dio on Meth vocals(he is one of the best Metal vocalists in Australia-both in terms of intensity and melodic skill).Plus Dreadnaught could always write the best songs. 2025 sees the drop of this new album and thank fuck some things like a cold beer on a hot day always deliver like this phenomenal band. This their sixth album is their finest hour with heavy track after heavy track; it is brooding, moody as fuck and angrier than 20 ferrets down a rabbit hole. The production is sublime on this and it definitely showcases all the many refined skills this breathtaking band has, whilst being as raw and acerbic as we would expect. Exactly like the herculean cover art, the songs fool you in a false sense of calm -then assault you with a barrage of insane, skilful and measured metal majesty. Take More Money Than Sympathy-it has some cheesy as hell riffs, some breathing space as the band builds the story in the track and truckloads of tension and of course those vivid vocals. And this is the flavour across this excellent release, a mix of old school metal-be it straight thrash, melodic death metal or classic heavy metal. The diverse layers all build the tone and the divisive balance of melody and hostility is to be celebrated. Deathcamp Disneyland, which is like that scene in the first Hellraiser with multiple hooks embedded in your body pulling you in multiple directions, except you want this audio violence to never end; as we extreme metal fans adore this type of punishment. This anxiety-inducing classic is brilliant. The ten tracks have enough variety and adventure in their veins to easily hold your interest for the entire album and this release will be incredible live, no doubt. Even the quieter moments of this release were brilliant as they balance everything out, this is an album that should be listened to from start to end. And Dreadnaught is still the kings of Aussie metal. Buy now:
https://dreadnaughtaust.bandcamp.com/album/shutdown-in-a-heartbeat
Hoof-Compost the Living Feed the Dead. Now this is a band that always delivers live every damn time with energetic and engaging thrashy groove-based death metal that grabs your throat instantly. Now they dropped their insanely brilliant debut; it has all the ingredients we need grotty insane vocals, tight as fuck rhythm sections, and chainsaw-style guitarwork. They mix it up across the album with what can only be described as Lamb of God covering a Obituary or Carcass track whilst being impacted by metallic hardcore bands etc-YES THAT FUCKING WILD. Drop yourself in the mayhem of Deader Living and not only will you mosh wherever you are, but you will also need a metho bath to clean the pure filth of this track. The gory groove metal base serves these bastards well as everything sounds like a band very much in sync with each other. Every track is solid, headbanging gold. I haven’t heard so much confidence drip through my speakers since the 90s when bands mixed up hardcore and metal so well; even with a Nu Metal vibe. This is a sensationally solid album and proves why this band should be scoring international support slots. As this is a ripper. Don’t hesitate, buy this asap and go see the band live!!!
Hoof-Compost the Living Feed the Dead. Now this is a band that always delivers live every damn time with energetic and engaging thrashy groove-based death metal that grabs your throat instantly. Now they dropped their insanely brilliant debut; it has all the ingredients we need grotty insane vocals, tight as fuck rhythm sections, and chainsaw-style guitarwork. They mix it up across the album with what can only be described as Lamb of God covering a Obituary or Carcass track whilst being impacted by metallic hardcore bands etc-YES THAT FUCKING WILD. Drop yourself in the mayhem of Deader Living and not only will you mosh wherever you are, but you will also need a metho bath to clean the pure filth of this track. The gory groove metal base serves these bastards well as everything sounds like a band very much in sync with each other. Every track is solid, headbanging gold. I haven’t heard so much confidence drip through my speakers since the 90s when bands mixed up hardcore and metal so well; even with a Nu Metal vibe. This is a sensationally solid album and proves why this band should be scoring international support slots. As this is a ripper. Don’t hesitate, buy this asap and go see the band live!!!
https://hooffooh.bandcamp.com/album/compost-the-living-feed-the-dead
Canary Bones-Demo. Hell yes, their singer Dave has been in some killer bands and this is certainly dissimilar to his other magnificent projects and Canary Bones is staggeringly exceptional. This is noisy, post-hardcore and the mood/tone on each of the four tracks is outstanding. This intelligent band has the needed space between vocals where post-hardcore bands soar. Like old DC hardcore; this breathing room allows for musical tangents/fusion and to utilise post-punk concepts so cleverly. And this debut deeply reminds me of Black Flag’s more experimental albums(which were always their finest hour) and one of Australia’s best-ever noise rock/post-punk band’s Venom P. Stinger. The guitar tone is as aggressive as it is noisy and shoegazy. To my ears there sounds like keys of some sort on this recording and it just adds to the controlled craziness. The audio drift between doomy slow borderline crust meets jazzy noise rock warms my soul. In a town with so many cookie-cutter bands, Canary Bones is a refreshing, sharp and welcome addition to the music community. I utterly loved every second of this gem, for a demo it has classic written all over it-cannot wait for a full album of this gold.
Canary Bones-Demo. Hell yes, their singer Dave has been in some killer bands and this is certainly dissimilar to his other magnificent projects and Canary Bones is staggeringly exceptional. This is noisy, post-hardcore and the mood/tone on each of the four tracks is outstanding. This intelligent band has the needed space between vocals where post-hardcore bands soar. Like old DC hardcore; this breathing room allows for musical tangents/fusion and to utilise post-punk concepts so cleverly. And this debut deeply reminds me of Black Flag’s more experimental albums(which were always their finest hour) and one of Australia’s best-ever noise rock/post-punk band’s Venom P. Stinger. The guitar tone is as aggressive as it is noisy and shoegazy. To my ears there sounds like keys of some sort on this recording and it just adds to the controlled craziness. The audio drift between doomy slow borderline crust meets jazzy noise rock warms my soul. In a town with so many cookie-cutter bands, Canary Bones is a refreshing, sharp and welcome addition to the music community. I utterly loved every second of this gem, for a demo it has classic written all over it-cannot wait for a full album of this gold.
CHOOF-A VERY SPECIAL BLEND OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EXTREME VIOLENCE. Argh the kings of being subtle,Choof-we all dug the sludgy dirge of the demo and the insanity of the first EP really set the tone. Highly hectic, rocking in its cesspool of unhinged powerviolence at war with Eyehategod in the gutter. Now I certainly dug it at the time, but in retrospect; the production and mixing on the last release missed that special power boost that their live violence relies on. So do they continue with their pro-booze and drugs agenda that is what all the trendy folk want?, does their staggering array of corporate merch seem so removed from their DIY/Underground beginnings or are they simply full of shit with all their shirts off bravado-so many questions to ponder, but as Jake would scream:
"OI Cunt shut the fuck up and buy the album!!!". You just gotta love these decrepit pissheads...and you most definitely will kneel at the altar of Choof after hearing this crazed, but clever album.
Cliches can choke you harder than a cheap night at a cut price BDSM dungeon, however, Choof has upped the game and set the standards so high, despite being a bunch of deadhead morons. First, the recording and mixing is way more aggressive and completely sounds like a live recording. The debut album is a unhinged recording that sounds like a bezerker on meth and goon at the same time, but dynamic and chunky as hell.Secondly, the songs are way better and anyone who has caught them in the last 6 months knows this. The hooks are suffocating on every track, the domineering riffs have always been an essential part of the Choof live show as much as Jake's incessant tomfoolery and abuse of the punters.
The 20 tracks work so damn well and hopefully reinforce that the core to the sound is pure underground power violence-be it Man is a Bastard, Apartment 213, Spazz ,Lack of Interest, Crossed Out etc (and I know PV from that time dipped in between thrashcore, death metal and original grind influence), but this ain't no grind band FFS. This foundation is fine and dandy, but why this album is so wicked is finally they have the definitive Choof sound. The band sounds tighter than ever and whilst upping the tempo, the appealing mayhem and chaos is just a layer as the four-piece sounds really locked in. Both drums and bass have never sounded so raucous and skinpeeling, previous releases have all been vocal and guitar-centric; but the sound Sir Fuller pulls out of the band is potent as fuck. Jake's vocals have never sounded so grating and corrosive, same with the deep backing vocals. For all the hilarity and yobbo banter, this band craft phenomenal tracks, not one second of their songs here are remotely throwaway or mediocre. Both sides of the release are classics and whilst the tracks rip past you so quick-it is that gravelly distaste and endless earworms that compels you to listen to this record, over and over again. No faves, no dislikes- this will be in my top ten albums of the year already. If you dislike this, you have no clue about proper underground music and its merits, this is a wicked, demented powerviolence/sludgy hardcore masterpiece.
Out next week with typical sellout merch and a blinding tour just before it drops, go here for all the Choof you'll ever need:
Khazurvaal-Unyielding Shadows. Just as I am certain that Choof will be in my top ten releases of the year particularly in the hardcore/underground genre space, this astonishing black metal project will equally be up there in the mix without any doubt. These five tracks are simply some of the truest and well constructed traditional black metal tracks I have heard in ages,and this amazingly is the band's debut release. And I am talking old-school, bullshit-free black metal like the originators: Bathory, Venom, Hellhammer and then the second wave greatness of Immortal, Mayhem, Emperor, Darkthrone, and Gorgoroth etc, zero modern black metal horseshit. Unyielding Shadows definitely excels in a overwhelming manner, because everything is spot on under the guise of an atmospheric grim soundscape be it vocals, drums or brilliant guitar work. The stunning compositions are well structured and maximise the very focused purpose of being forbidding, dynamic and harshly captivating. How one project can get everything so perfect is a credit to the songwriter, as shitloads of copycat bands don't even touch the black metal heights Khazurvaal reaches. All tracks are well crafted, catchy as hell and as the cliche goes...THE TRUE BLACK METAL!!!!! ALL HAIL KHAZURVAAL. This album just gets better with each listen.
Out now:
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