Pyromancer – Absolute Dominion by Fire Review

By Mark Z.

When you get down to it, hell doesn’t seem like such a bad place. It’s warm. The decor is probably pretty metal. And presumably, you get to witness some of the worst people you’ve met in your life getting tortured. As for music that makes you feel like you’re in hell, let me introduce you to Absolute Dominion by Fire. This is the debut album of Pyromancer, a new-ish band out of Kentucky whose two members bring experience from numerous other groups, including Tombstalker and Apocryphal Revelation. With nothing previous to their name other than a 2015 demo and a split last year with the fukkin fantastic Perversion from Detroit,1 I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from this record, but I figured it would probably be war metal.

Lo and behold, I wasn’t quite correct. While there are certainly bestial war whiffs present here, Absolute Dominion by Fire feels more like a trve black metal album that forgoes Nordic frost in favor of the sweltering air of the Bluegrass State. The overall sound here is hot and tortured, with a raggedy guitar tone serving as the foil for short, simple riffs that feel suffocating in their bluntness and yet entrancing nonetheless. Adding to the hellish feel is the dual vocal approach, with drummer “Master of Graveyard Torment” and guitarist “Conqueror Horus” trading off garbled rasps and monstrous roars. Other than the “hot” sound, perhaps the biggest difference between this and more traditional black metal are the varied tempos. While blast beats do appear on songs like “Hellish Visions,” Pyromancer more often choose to lurch forward on mid-paced beats that feel both commanding and inexorable. Combined with the occasional ominous synthesizers, the overall approach is like the bastard child of Profanatica, Fornicus, and Mystifier.

Absolute Dominion by Fire works because it stays within its comfort zone while exploring every nook and cranny of it. In other words, the album offers plenty of variety while maintaining thematic unity and avoiding misguided experimentation. While the first proper track, “Ancient Hatred,” is probably the most typical example of Pyromancer’s sound, “Unholy Cremation” soon mixes things up with its lurching groove and hammering half-time stomp that sounds a lot like the Australian black metal band Hunters Moon.2 The aforementioned “Hellish Visions” and the closer, “Volcanic Rapture,” use bouts of battering fury that evoke the war metal of Proclamation, while “Alchemical Red Death” employs a slow, anguished guitar line to drag your stupid fucking ass straight to hell. Later, the title track unleashes staccato, breakneck riffing that could pass for thrash in a different context, while “Perverse Immolation” serves as an early highlight with its searing tremolos and staggering, stompy midsection.

Though primitive black metal is rarely considered a nuanced style, Pyromancer have a keen sense of how to make it work. The largely instrumental opener “Igniting the Sacrificial Fire” sets the stage well with its brooding synths, blunt mid-tempo riffs, and wailing leads, while the interlude “Fireborn Witchery” serves as a nice respite with its crackling hellfire and looming ambiance. While the riffs may occasionally feel a little too rudimentary, the album’s 39-minute runtime keeps it from overstaying its welcome, and the fact that you get 12 tracks in that time means that no one idea lingers around too long. The raw and trebly production job is also commendable, as it helps conjure an infernal and cavernous atmosphere while keeping the riffs wholly discernible.

While Absolute Dominion by Fire may not be for everyone, this is an impressive debut for those who dabble in this kind of music. Pyromancer are clearly veterans of the scene and know how to take a style that could easily be a repetitive snorefest and turn it into one of the strongest black metal albums I’ve heard this year. The band’s use of different vocal approaches, tempos, and riffing styles keeps things engaging, and the dense atmosphere makes everything all the more captivating. If this is what hell sounds like, sign me the fukk up.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Adirondack Black Mass | Bandcamp
Website: facebook.com/pyromancerblackdeath
Releases Worldwide: May 9th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AbsoluteDominionByFire #AdirondackBlackMass #AmericanMetal #ApocryphalRevelation #Bathory #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #Fornicus #HuntersMoon #May25 #Mystifier #Perversion #Proclamation #Profanatica #Pyromancer #Review #Reviews #Tombstalker #Vomitor

Vomitrot – Emetic Imprecations Review

By Mark Z.

Somewhere along the way I got pegged as this website’s “vomit” guy, and I can’t say I’m bothered by that. Seeing the word “vomit” in a band name tells you absolutely nothing about whether the music will be good or bad, but it does tell you that what you’re about to hear will probably be fukkin nasty. And that’s exactly the way I like my music. Thus, when I learned a band called Vomitrot had an album in our promo bin, I couldn’t wait to get my grubby little paws on it. Formed in 2019 by members with experience in the funeral doom band Gravkväde, this Swedish trio first spewed their filth upon the world with a 2020 demo before retching up their debut album, 2022’s Rotten Vomit. Somehow my trusty vomit detector didn’t pick up on that record, but with song titles like “Apex Vomit,” “Upheaval of Vomit,” “Rotten Vomit,” and “Bludgeoned by Puke,” you can bet your ass I enjoyed that album. With second album Emetic Imprecations, the band have apparently cut down on their dinner portions, as this puke pile consists of a mere six tracks in just under twenty-six minutes. But is this foul expulsion still worth your bile?

With a bludgeoning approach and a dense amalgamation of surprisingly varied riffs, Emetic Imprecations treads an interesting line between war metal and death metal. The group roughly sound like they were crafted in the same factory as Antichrist Siege Machine, only before they reached the end of the assembly line, some poor underpaid worker lost his lunch all over the components. Unsurprisingly, the result is dirty, disgusting, and utterly unconcerned with whether you enjoy it or not. Opener “Envomited” fittingly begins with a sample of someone puking before erupting into a shitstorm of hammering blast beats, belligerent riffs, lurching chugs, garbled growls, and even a brief bout of squawking notes that recalls Concrete Winds. It all sounds like a vat of vomit churning itself into sentience, and things only get better from here.

Imprecations works because it knows how to keep things engaging. The songs frequently shift between ideas but rarely feel overstuffed, and while the music is relentlessly heavy, the use of different tempos and riffing styles results in plenty of notable moments. Second track “Emtophilic Cro-Magnon” employs rushing black metal riffs as a counterpoint to the more visceral assault of its predecessor, while “Odious Fetid Aberrations” invokes its inner Incantation with tremolo riffs that alternately swirl and strain for the heavens. “Heinous Sulphuric Phlegm” opts for a more punishing approach, beating the listener into submission with bouts of fast lockstep chugs before collapsing into a segment that could pass for slam. Both guitarist “Rotted Vomitor” and bassist “Vomitroth” contribute vocals, and the two ensure everything remains suitably vile and barbaric with their gurgling rasps and monstrous growls. Combined with the hostile and pounding drums, the overall effect is like being caught in the middle of an epic war between rival Neanderthal clans.

My biggest complaints about Imprecations are essentially quibbles. The aforementioned opener “Envomited” feels like it crams a few too many ideas into its three-minute runtime, and the album slows down a bit too much in its back half. In particular, closer “Vomitous Execrations” feels like it needs a few more blast beats to give the record the explosive ending it needs, even if its sharp recurring motif works well overall. Fortunately, the production is great, with a thick cavernous sound that retains more than enough dynamic range to let the riffs breathe.

Emetic Imprecations is a real treat. On paper, this album seems like it should have the IQ of a caveman; in actuality, the record’s primitive pummeling comes via some unexpectedly complex compositions. The result is an album that gets in, hurls all over you, and leaves you dripping in disgust as you sort through all the various bits and pieces that have just been coughed up. Fans of Infernal Coil and Of Feather and Bone will likely eat this up, as will those who like war metal that oozes with the primal aggression of bands like Caveman Cult. Vomitrot is a young group, but with Imprecations, they’ve easily joined the hallowed ranks of artists like Vomitor, Slutvomit, Witch Vomit, Anal Vomit, Death Vomit, Funeral Vomit, and Vomitheist. Get ready to retch, and hail the fukkin vomit!

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Personal Records
Websites: vomitrot.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/vomitrot
Releases Worldwide: August 24th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AnalVomit #AntichristSiegeMachine #Aug24 #BlackMetal #CavemanCult #ConcreteWinds #DeathMetal #DeathVomit #EmeticImprecations #FuneralVomit #Gravkväde #Incantation #InfernalCoil #OfFeatherAndBone #PersonalRecords #Review #Reviews #Slutvomit #SwedishMetal #Vomitheist #Vomitor #Vomitrot #WitchVomit

Mages Terror – Damnation’s Sight Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Look at this, another metal exploration by the horror-loving guitarist and drum programmer, Horror Illogium. While staying busy between his efforts as founder of Portal and guitarist of Vomitor, this Australian native seems incapable of sitting still for long. With the help of the vocalist and guitarists of Australia’s newest Pustilence, Illogium is out to ravage the annals of black, death, thrash, and speed metal with Mages Terror’s debut record, Damnation’s Sight. While the man is not new to writing thrashy licks for Vomitor, Mages Terror is an old-school tribute to the sounds of olde. Stripped to its basic elements, Damnation’s Sight does little to tinker with them individually, they combine them all to deliver a unique twist in Illogium fashion. Spattering the riffs and song structures with eerie and sinister guitar tricks, this record looks to meld death and speed elements into those early, dark days of Sodom. It’s time to damn them eyes.

Having been a part of the Australian metal scene for a long time, this new project is unique because Illogium has teamed up with young pups that only recently released their first full-length record. And, according to Metal Archives, the drummer has never seen combat. But that doesn’t slow them down as they dive into this weird combination of genres and smash out ten songs in a mere 36 minutes. The result is barebones with a guitar tone that feels like I’m back in the late ’80s/early ’90s. Which, inevitably, does no more than any other band of its kind, but the spooky tone of the record is very much as you would expect from an outfit led by Illogium. Between its short runtime and horror-inspired character, there’s just enough to keep the interest up for a rather old-man inclusion into the metalverse.

“Serpent Bat” kicks things off in good form with old-school Sodom vibes as the vocalist alternates between black metal rasps and death metal growls. The fast-moving blackened thrash riff moves along nicely, interrupting itself in the song’s final minute to drop some heavy chugs wrapped in a dark presence. This latter riff, in particular, sets up the mood for the rest of the album. The follow-up track, “Paramount Specter,” keeps the ball rolling with its own black/thrash character and overlapping rasps and growls. The guitar work also increases a bit, delivering an intricate riff that, sometimes, feels like the guitars can’t keep up with the drums. But this is only the beginning. This song is all over the place, transitioning to some heavy riffage before introducing strange guitar leads and a mid-paced groove. For only three-ish minutes in length, this is the most confusing track on the record because it has no idea which riffs it wants to settle on.

Better tracks on the album are “Ruthless Guild,” “Master in the Black Cavern,” and the surprising instrumental, “Demon Bell.” The first is a trve banger with a high-pitched, mid-paced thrash lick that builds throughout. Its first riff change comes with neck-breaking beauty and punching vocals that remind me of the older stompers in 1349’s catalog. It also shows off some solid drum work from the newly-christened drummer. “Master in the Black Cavern” also sees solid drum work as it leads this heavy number chockful of tasty soloing tidbits. The bass also lends its sinisterness to the mix to create something truly cavernous in the final, chugging moments. “Demon Bell” is a surprising piece because, being near the end of the record, I didn’t think something with such killer riffs and structure would come without vocals. But it’s a nifty piece with surprising dueling guitar work—at least in comparison to the album’s other instrumental, “Presage.” This instrumental isn’t bad, but its sad, reverberating guitars do little to introduce its follow-up.

Damnation’s Sight has a lot of old-school character, where simplicity reigned supreme and solos ruled the roost. That alone sets it apart from those modern outfits trying to mash multiple genres and sub-genres together to create something unique. Not once did I feel like I was heading somewhere special with this release, but I still enjoyed it for what it was. Sure, the chorus of “Fane of the Slug Gods” is so forced that it becomes almost funny. And “Vulgar Overlord” is so simplistic that I barely remember it with each new listen. But, for what it is, the old tone matches the style, and the weird, eerie guitar work on songs like “Paramount Specter” provides a unique twist to the album. In the end, Damnation’s Sight is a solid effort even if it doesn’t completely grab me.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Invictus Productions | Bandcamp
Website: facebook.com/magesterrorfront
Releases Worldwide: July 12th, 2024

#1349 #25 #2024 #AustralianMetal #BlackMetal #DamnationSSight #DeathMetal #InvictusProductions #Jul24 #MagesTerror #Portal #Pustilence #Review #Reviews #Sodom #SpeedMetal #ThrashMetal #Vomitor