This week the Wizard turns his magical gaze upon a four-song collection called Scorn Coalescence, which features two brutal bands from Sri Lanka and two brutal bands from New Zealand. Cyclopean Eye Productions are the people responsible for this little slab of slaughter, and the world of extreme music should send them their thanks for such an awesome introduction to some bands that just might rise up out of the underground sludge and butcher many bones.
The album is split up by country and we get Sri Lanka on side one, New Zealand on side two. Watch in wonder as the Wizard turns his watchful eye and discriminating ear upon this international husk of cruelty.
Sri Lanka greets you with:
Serpents Athirst—Poisoning the Seven is up first. Black Metal and towering riffs combine to make this salvo of destruction the ultimate album opener. These guys hold nothing back, strafing the landscape of souls with their theistic Satanism and their brutal warfare. Fast and furious and bleak, with little hints of melodicism to keep things interesting. They know just when to pull back and riff and when to plow full speed ahead.
Three Wands out of Five
Genocide Shrines—All And/Or Nothing rumbles with guttural authority. This is pretty old school Death Metal. It just runs you over and beats you down, offering no apologies and no respite. Pit-worthy for sure. Especially love the drumming on this track, with its constant thunder accented by tiny melodic touches. For fans of brutal Death.
Three Wands out of Five
New Zealand says howdy with:
Trepanation—B/H/T offers a combo of Grind and War, all lo-fi and deep, resonate doom. There’s touches of Industrial in here but overall, this is one unforgiving and rather unlistenable track. Some people are into this kind of harshness and for them, this will be an utter delight. Talk about bleak! This band should wear their hatred with pride for many will praise them for it. No mercy is offered on this one.
Three Wands out of Five
Heresiarch—Dread Prophecy lumbers out of the gate, the last track on the album, drunken and slurring evil. And then it speeds up and rushes at you like a methhead ready to fight. Blackened Death is the bedrock here, the band delivering their sound with much vigor. An excellent way to close the collection, kind of summarizing everything that has gone before. Heresiarch appear to be the most “commercial” of the offerings here, but when we’re talking about music this evil and heavy, there’s really nothing commercial about it.
Three Wands out of Five
In the end, this is an excellent taster of terror, offering four bands with different sounds yet similar aesthetics and showcasing an underground metal scene that is vibrant in two countries you might not have every considered as metal-heavy. This is an excellent showcase of international, brutal music, and although each track gets an individual Three Wands, the entire collection as a whole merits…
Four Wands out of Five
The Wizard has Spoken!