Devil's Horns Zine

  100 Years War- Stand Amongst The Fallen album review. FFO: Pummelling, aggressive crusty metal. Yes, I missed this release a little while back, but you cannot let this one escape your necessary releases of the year. If you are a fan of massive riffs, excellent build-ups and fantastic angry vocals, this is your jam. This band is made up of well experienced extreme metal musos and this is well evident from start to end. This release is broadly a death metal album with strong foundations of crust punk/hardcore. But at the same time, you have epic thrash and punk undertones that keep it fresh and energetic. The tone is dark with some excellent sprinkles of Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death influence that pleases me as a huge fan of these bands. But again the band make the sound their own, but not being anything groundbreaking, but in extreme metal what is new, to be honest.  The album just utterly assaults you and the unrelenting pace and aggression were astounding. Absolutely hangi...

  Dark Horse-Trauma-Taught Self-Destruct album review. FFO: Energetic, emotive but gritty Crusty Hardcore that is killer. Sydney crust institution Dark Horse dropped their fantastic and abrasive as fuck 3rd full-length not long ago and as usual it delivers in spades. Nothing amazingly groundbreaking, but personally that appeals to my dirty punk heart perfectly. At their core, they are an epic crust hardcore band that relies on the thick riffs as well as dominating gruff vocals. Not one song overstays its welcome and sonically they slay you over the 12 tracks. I have read some reviews saying the guitars or overall tone is too clean, I feel the mixing and mastering is spot on. It's like that shit argument that old black metal is more real or so raw, nonsense it sounded like utter audio garbage; this is how a modern hardcore album should sound; angry, energetic and punchy as hell. Most songs are definitely made for the live performances and definitely echo equal parts Tragedy, Napalm ...

  Wicked Sisters-Double Crossed: Pleasure To Burn EP review. FFO: Gritty, riff-heavy and sensational Industrial Metal with a goth/grim tone. I have reviewed this band previously and they like The Amenta and No Names are setting the standard for innovative metal bands. Wicked Sisters focus and touch on some great genres, but make it their own. let me fucking shout it from the rooftops, Be original and individual and your music really fucking resonates.  There may only be four tracks on this glorious EP, but they do more on these tracks than some bands do on lengthy albums. The work of art that this band is creating with each release is deep, weighty and sublime. As with their previous releases, the production is stunning, loud and forcibly intrusive. Something to note is, these tracks would be scintillating live because they seize your attention on headphones in a demanding way.  Pleasure to Burn kicks off with the Godflesh/Ministry influenced gem that is Nothing. I loved ...

  Elizabeth Short-Torture of the Whore album review. FFO: Brutal GoreGrind insanity!!!. Poison Arrow Records dropped this a little while back, but frankly, I didn't want this to be missed by people as it is a clear beast of a goregrind record. This record label out of Pittsburgh puts out some mad extreme metal and this aptly named band(google the name and the murder...utterly nuts) is just out of control full-blown insane goregrind, with some slight Death Metal stylings/added grime. It is nine tracks of hideously named songs that frankly would even scare the hell out of Cannibal Corpse. It's brutal, abrasive, but actually, is a wild listen if you are a goregrind devotee. Because despite the obvious mental deep vocals, these fuckers have the tunes and song structure. For something so unhinged, the tracks are well planned and executed. For a dose of harsh extreme metal, this actually rules hard and is one of the best goregrind releases I have heard in ages. Quality brutality!!. H...

  Fever Shack-S/T Album review. FFO: Perfect Hardcore that is bursting with power and energy.   Not sure what the hell is in the water down Frankston and surrounding suburbs, but it is creating some of the finest hardcore bands in Australia. Like their fellow local colleagues Eight Count, this crew ain't here to piss about. This is chunky hardcore with power and guile to the rafters. From the second this debut album kicks off, it's all intense riffs, bouncy grooves and mad arse vocals. While it has the swagger of 50 Lions and various Aussie top tier Trial & Error/Resist Records bands, it maintains its own original style. There is a fun element to this band but completely underpinned by focused rage and aggression. Lyrically Fever Shack are way ahead of most bands, choosing to colour their tracks with excellent social commentary and a maturity that is lacking in most hardcore bands. Topics are wide-ranged, but all are delivered intelligently and like their music with w...

Circle of Blood-Insania Seorsum Demo review. FFO: Filthy, Grotty Old School Death Metal.  This is the most brutal 12 mins(and 37 secs!) you will hear of heavy music this year. And it will tick every box for the old school and new school Death Metal fan. The release is made by proficient musicians from the hardcore community that have a genuine love for this extreme music and it is truly nasty. Whilst there are only three tracks, you could easily think this was peak 90's Old School Death Metal album songs. The riffage is thick, completely focused and so damn moshy. The songwriting is clever, utterly on point and obviously influenced by the classic bands of that genre. Demagogue is a very Morbid Angel/Obituaryesque track with a slight touch of hardcore in its brief two steppy moments. Such an overwhelming opener with abrasive vocals mixed with hectic guitar wizard and lovely dissonance. Drums are confidently grim and first-class as is every part of this debut. Flesh Torn from Bone ...

  Sick Times/Bug Attack Split LP album review. FFO: Fast-paced punk/hardcore and raging garage punk. This is a sick arse split album from two-way different styled bands from Germany. Sick Times is an always pacey punk band that sounds like top-shelf U.S. hardcore bands that have that solid punk ethos, but encourage drinking and moshing. The lyrics are quality and excellent sociopolitical content as well as observations on the punk community itself. Bug Attack is a one-man garage punk/noise that there is very little info about this act, but it's wild raw, garage punk stuff with bite. Both these bands have tons of releases and all are worth your time. Sick Times toured Australia a few years back and they crushed it with their blazing and dare I say total anthem hardcore/punk. This release dropped recently and tbh really showcases how much each band really dominate their styles. Sick Times start this split and give us 12 excellent tracks. As expected all have bone-crushing punk vocals...

  Kimura-Circle the Prey album review. FFO: Thrashy/Groovy Metalcore of the highest order!. This Aussie band has been around for a few years, but definitely, the change of vocalist raised the bar of the pure aggression of this band. Circle the Prey takes a super cohesive formula and just amps the fuck out of it. The band has a Parkway Drive metalcore confidence mixed with the groove of Lamb Of God type jams. Initially, I was expecting some generic metalcore type cancer that seemed to dominate and in my mind pollute the hardcore scene in Australia. But not at all, this is a killer band that literally saturates you in thick nasty riffs that are dynamic as hell and also gritty and heavy as fuck. Just take into account how hectic the first four tracks are of this release, Cliff & Step demands immediately that you take this band seriously with a track that could easily close most sets, Sharpen the Bones and Digital Mercy are also epic glaciers of evil and bulking scale. I also love...

  Cropsey-Cropsey (1054 redux) EP review. FFO: Riffy, Moshy NYHC. New York (and surrounding regions) have always produced some of the world's best hardcore and this newcomer follows that strong history. This debut EP was originally released digitally by the band in January 2021 followed by a very limited CD Digipack pressing by German label FWH Records, Cropsey has recently joined the 1054 roster To kick things off 1054 have done a jewel case CD repress with a 4-page colour booklet containing lyrics and with a brand new bonus track named "Crackwhore" which shows the bands progression & where their sound is heading ahead of a proposed full length in the near future !. This is a dense and strong release that lays on the riffs and vocals with confidence, in fact, the confidence is that of a much more experienced band. Now that's encouraging as hell for a debut EP.  Cropsey has tons of layers and whilst every track is exceptionally heavy, the composition of all the el...

  Another Bloodshed-Molotov EP review. FFO: hard as fuck Euro beatdown hardcore. Yet again 1054 records floors us with the heavy hitters. 1054 is now ripping thru the USA as well as across Europe (and South America as well) and this French assault force Another Bloodshed just dropped this brutal EP of classic beatdown hardcore. This is decent on all fronts-really original vocals with variation, mad ass gang vocals and sensational riffs to encourage mass violence at gigs. This might be five tracks, but by the end of it, you'll need more than Gatorade to recover from this vicious onslaught. Each track mixes up the style which is predominantly metallic hardcore of the highest order, but initially, I didn't know how to interpret the vocals. But after a few tracks, you realise they are utterly vicious and unhinged like the big riffs in every track. This is evidently clear in my fave tracks, Blind Rage, Molotov and Feel Your Pain . This is a mix of solid hardcore in the vein of Firs...

  SCHKEUDITZER KREUZ-ISOLATED AND ALONE ALBUM REVIEW. FFO: AGGRESSIVE INDUSTRIAL PUNK. Australia continues to set the standard for extreme music, pretty much year after year. This one-man assault declares this premise perfectly. And the bio is very clear in intent and purpose: Schkeuditzer Kreuz is one human and some machines, making noise, in the face of it all. Live electro-industrial punk created out of the wreck of the plague year 2020. The human element of SK has been playing stringed instruments in punk bands since the days when the world had happiness and hope. Since the decline, there has been a building of greater affinity with machines making the creation of SK inevitable. The name Schkeuditzer Kreuz comes from a motorway intersection between the A9 and the A14 in Sachsen, Germany – the sign for which was glimpsed out the back of a moving vehicle while escaping Leipzig many years ago. The sound and feeling behind SK is based around that signpost. S.K. in essence, but...

  ISUA-I EP Review. FFO: Crushing, Apocalyptic Doom/Sludge/Extreme Metal. There is no other way to put this; THIS IS A FUCKING CRUSHING DEBUT. It doesn't matter if you push these devastating tracks through an oversized speaker, your headphones or via your crappy car audio, this will melt your brain and disintegrate your ears. Whilst the EP is just two tracks, the promise of what comes next will hook you, as well as the sheer oppressive nature of this release. To throw a simple label of sludge is a touch lazy, as the EP tracks touch on many variations of alternative genres from doom, punk, post-rock, black metal, death metal, stoner metal and blackened hardcore. And this is not from a band failing to find their identity, they have simply gathered punishing weapons from various areas to concentrate on an all-out attack. The two tracks are definitely downtempo but full of vigour and colour. Opener Burden of Dreams begins grimly and the bleak tone doesn't lift at all; this miserab...

  Born From Demise-American Desperate EP review. FFO: Nasty, Heavy Hardcore. In what is proving to be 1054 records biggest year, Born from Demise deliver the goods straight to your skull all the way from Massachusetts. And we all know that area has produced some of the hardest hardcore bands ever....argh Blood for Blood, Siege, SSD, Slapshot and Death before Dishonor to name but a few legends. So the history is huge for this region and whilst these cats (or really anyone) has a long way to go before achieving that level of skill, this EP is an epic start to their career. This is six solid tracks of heavy hardcore that refuses to fuck about. Whilst there isn't a huge progression in sound over this solid EP, that's fine by me. What many fans want is heavy and metal-influenced tunes that kick your arse. Every track does this and it is as much old school hardcore as beatdown. The vocals are harsh and really punishing. This EP demands you play it again and again. The production is ...

  Mereflesh-Baptised in Blood album review. FFO: Harsh, Dark Death Metal/Slam. Straight out of Melbourne is this killer band that has built on their initial release from 2018, The Nightmare Begins . This album is heavier, darker and is absolutely stupidly confident in how fucking nasty this album is. But the band is made up of two hardcore veterans of very notable bands, so it's hardly a surprise. The lyrics match the massive riffs as much as the grim, yet amusing cover art that is phenomenal. Heath's riffs work exceptionally well as it touches the intricacies of brutal, yet technical death metal but also has deathcore sensibility of blazing staccatos and wild breakdowns. The music is chunky, thick in overall sound and relies on dissonant focus and so much mood, in an utterly nihilistic fashion. The production is perfectly crushing as expected. What lifts this sensational album is Makka's vocals that serve as an insane instrument/weapon and drive each track as much as the r...

  Ministry-Moral Hygiene album review. FFO: well Ministry let's be honest. Ministry is an incredible band that for many of us was a strong highlight for the end of the '80s and the start of the '90s. They ruled live and their tracks floored the dancefloor in many alternative clubs I was a huge fan of. Whilst they have had a dip in album quality for the last seven albums, this album is certainly a return to form. Whilst some trimming of some songs would have made this a more robust album, it is solid enough to please most fans and seems like many tracks would slot perfectly between set faves. Alert Level, Sabotage is Sex (with the mighty Jello), Disinformation and Tv Song#6 is prime time Ministry with scintillating beats, industrial tone and samples, all with sharp sociopolitical wit. That is the most easily likeable part of the album and then you have less tempo obsessed tracks like Good Trouble, Death Toll and We Shall Resist that definitely build with each listen. The...

  Scarfold-We Shall Suffer album review. FFO: Old school, chunky Hardcore-This is killer!! What can I say, this is an energy-filled release of straight-up hardcore with huge riffs, groove and power. There is no wasting of your time-just simple, angry hardcore glory. From the first track, you feel you are in the pit with this band. Scarfold has been raging since 2015 and this fourth album seems to be the finest collection of all their skills honed so perfectly. We Shall Suffer is a huge release, it rips from the perfect opener Open Seizure that floors you with an earthquake of a riff backed up by abrasive vocals and killer bass and drums. Massive start to a killer album. Rotting Earth follows thru with the same no bs hardcore confidence that is executed on every track with sublime songwriting and destructively punchy production. Born Decayed slays as strongly but with even greater tempo and a real sense of suffocating tempo and as a bonus has one of hardcore's best vocals via...

  Mastiff-Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth album review. FFO: Nasty, Gritty extreme Metal/Hardcore.  Mastiff is a frankly stunning extreme metal band from Hull, U.K. that luckily a metal twitter comrade told me about. They epitomise what is IMHO the best resurgence of grim metal from that region of the world. The number of bands coming out with ridiculously top class releases is endless and it has a grimly appealing tone. This album is one of my fave extreme metal releases of the last ten years.  It is self-proclaimed miserable music that really reflects the current state of the globe in so many ways. At its foundation is a dark post-hardcore base that mixes sludge/grind/death metal, but the sound is also unique to this band. The riffs are massive, the vocals are harsh and the storytelling is perfect. The album starts with a distorted almost industrial build-up(the industrial feel is evident across many tracks) with the best opening track I have heard in some time with The...

  Seum-Live from the Seum​-​Cave album review. FFO: Dirty and groovy raw sludge/doom glory. We love this band immensely and raise our glasses to all of their fantastic releases. This lovingly dropped very recently as a thank you to their fans, this is a gnarly live set that features from both their killer first EP Summer of Seum to their album this year, the dirty masterpiece that is Winterized .  Now live albums tend to divide fans, but this like all masterfully captured live albums makes you feel you are at the gig and breathing in all the beer, smoke and distortion. The song selection is so spot on and a shrewd mix of their killer first EP and the latest album. Everything works well because it's as dirty and gritty as all their releases-but louder and more forceful. As with everything this band drops, it is utterly about distorted atmosphere and groove. It drips in gloomy doom and sludge but is quite punky and raw. This album is great for long drives, the gym or pretty much...

  Carcass-Torn Arteries album review. FFO: Goregrind, Death Metal, amazing riffs and brutally melodic riffs!. Carcass is an utter powerhouse of extreme metal through their early classic albums and of course the magnificent Surgical Steel. And this album takes all the elements this band are so masterful in and it's a showcase of how amazing this band is. Every track revels in riff worship and whilst I am quite obsessed about albums being dynamic, having decent tempo or tempo change and mood, this pleased me so much as a listener to see every one of these boxes ticked off. There is literally no negatives about this album that has just dropped. It has all the essence of what makes this band so essential but adds some elements that make this album significantly catchy and dare I say it, more fun. This element is really evident because whilst Bill Steer is and has always been the main foundation of this band, he definitely adds some definite blues stylings to his endless bucket of guita...

  Neil Bloem-Dying Earth EP. FFO: Dark, ambient soundscapes. This is definitely a different release for Aussie hardcore label Life Lair Regret Records. But in an absolutely great way and kudos to them for releasing this absolute ambient masterpiece. This is six solid tracks of music recorded during this wizard's (he is a very skilled musician and photographer) camping and hiking escapades in Tasmania and by utilising natural sounds from this journey. It is reflective, dark yet exceptionally relaxing in a moody and gloomy ambient style. There is a real essence of embracing the landscape and using it to reflect the way man has destroyed many parts of the natural world. It is sombre and mournful, but that is the purpose to this listener. Refreshingly I found this to be a calm and quite meditative set of tracks. This release is not defined by a genre, it may be slightly tribal in both indigenous and raw forms of musical structure/form, but it is very atmospheric and solemn. The album e...

  No Coffin-All Life Must End EP review. FFO: Hardcore, Metal and Dirty fkn Groove. 2020 saw the killer EP Ugly, Broke, Decayed from this crazed band drop and it was utterly raw and hectic. This seems to match the shows captured live via YouTube, just gritty, gnarly warped hardcore. This second EP will fuel your fire without any doubt. Not only is the music, heavy as hell but the themes are as well - tying in their artwork, lyrics and music videos to create a visceral and violent aesthetic. No Coffin make dangerous music for a dangerous world, keep your head on a fucking swivel, especially if you're experiencing these guys in a moshpit. Kicking off with their debut EP Ugly, Broke, Decayed in 2020 it was immediately obvious that the band had a knack for making brutal but groovy music, and now with the latest release All Life Must End, they've further established their misanthropic style. This four-track EP is as epic as its predecessor and continues the multigenred style they r...

  Kartosoewirjo?-Mandi Darah Saudara Sendiri EP review. FFO: Chaotic Mathcore/Hardcore: Converge, Botch, Mr Bungle. This brilliant act from Jakarta, Indonesia is killer, it's a one-man project that is extreme, almost jazzy and wild. The execution is technical, the production punchy as hell and it has many guest vocalists and whilst short, is a heap of insane fun. All in all, a wild ride of Mathcore, jazzy hardcore and metal and it would be wild live. I loved every second, but the act needs to do a whole album of this goodness. Great, epic and deranged. Grab it now: https://kartosoewirjo.bandcamp.com/ Antisocial: https://www.facebook.com/Krtswrj Here's a cool interview from another zine about the project: https://ever-metal.com/2021/06/09/emqs-with-kartosoewirjo/?fbclid=IwAR2YyfqtufmnU1ofzLfGWOnCYNt8ICwRFZyOXQzQbOSQFm2e5A9DduqKvzM

  Primal Age-Masked album review. FFO: Metal influenced Hardcore-Earth Crisis, Hatebreed, Sworn Enemy, All Out War. This is a total beast of a release. Angry, but clever as hell. Lyrically biting and every track has buckets of gnarly riffs. This may be their third album, but it's definitely their masterpiece. As a huge fan of hardcore and old school SXE hardcore, I love how this mixes the heavy shit of thrash/metalcore with the face kick of SXE hardcore. At times it has a solid Earth Crisis vibe, some H8000 influence and more modern metal like Lamb of God or Walls of Jericho. This album draws you in from the very start and every track is solid, chunky, has awesome lyrics and sounds spot on. There is tons of variety, the tone is strong and it's inspiring/catchy. Well recommended!. Grab it here: https://backl.ink/144823441 Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGFDJmf9d5k Antisocial: https://www.facebook.com/PRIMALAGE

  Latest God-S/T EP review. FFO: Classic Hardcore. Yes, I realise this was last month or so, but to me, this is the best Aussie Hardcore EP since the '90s. Latest God's sum of parts is old dudes(like me, it's true) from various hardcore bands getting together and forming a band that definitely tilts its head to the classic bands of the past. This drips in Dag Nasty, Ignition, Minor Threat and even Slapshot style worship. But they ain't a cover band, this is well written, catchy and emotive gold. And there's even a Minute Minder cover, plus wicked art and coloured vinyl. Perfection!. If you haven't heard this, grab a copy, even digital this is excellent and frankly the best music you will hear this year!!. https://lifelairregretrecords.bandcamp.com/album/self-titled-5

  Dee Snider-Leave a Scar album review. FFO:Metal, Heavy Metal and more Metal. This is a solid album that soars with its more rage-filled moments. Leave A Scar balances out the melodic tracks with some serious killer tracks that even border on metalcore. This sounds huge as production is expertly handled by Jamey Jasta and it pops hard. I personally think that the harder tracks stand out more, but Dee is 66 years of age he can do what the fuck he wants. His voice on his solo albums is so much better than the TS albums and he mixes the old school with the new, and no one does that well. This is a wicked release and it is well worth getting as it warrants endless plays. The album is like Judas Priest's 2018 classic Firepower a record that defies time and shines a spotlight on proper metal gods.

  Jalang-Santau album review. FFO: Raging crust that is surprisingly catchy and epic!. Here's the bio or update: Jalang (formerly Lái) play fast-paced and danceable D-beat punk, propelling the band’s ferocious vocals into the face of the listener. Vocalist Alda’s lyrics are delivered in Bahasa Indonesia and English, engaging with both her own and collective narratives that explore politics, religion, feminism and queer rights in South East Asia, and the diaspora in so-called Australia. Timmy (Extinct Exist, Pisschrist, Schifosi) on guitar and Tessa (Ubik, Masses) on bass were joined by Kyle (Sheer Mag) on drums in 2021. Lái's 2020 debut masterpiece  Pontianak was one of my fave album's last year by its raging crust explosiveness and brilliant political content. How could they top that?. Well, the name may have changed as well as some lineup changes and that answer is a firm HELL YES!. Santau takes a very basic formula and improves it in every way. The changes are big and co...