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Mars' is out and the reviews are in!
From ANTICHRIST Zine (Ukraine):
SCORCHED-EARTH “Mars” 2009 TAPE
Novisible Scars Productinos
Novisible Scars prods is coming from USA, they release professional Tapes with obscure bands. This time again I have earlier unknown for me band from USA… SCORCHED-EARTH was formed back in 1995 and have had more-less active life so far; they have about 4 releases. Well, first, about release, this Tape made ltd to 100 copies(!) and comes with pin, patch and wrapped in ala 7”EP booklet, and finally – have pretty good old-school artwork! And what the kind of music falling upon me? Huh, this is totally great meeting I have to say, as SCORCHED-EARTH plays purest old-school Metal of Death! Fuck, shit, it was just amazing listen to this Tape for about 25 times!? And I want listen to it again and again. Musically here’s some kind of rolling death metal, made with influences from ancient metal/rock and from 80-s… So you should wait for only next – do you like fast fucking rolling and twisted guitar riffs? Do you like such massive thrashing rhythm section? Do you like mad pick solos? Do you like just music inspired by such bands like MOTORHEAD, VENOM, early BATHORY, DESTROYER666 etc?! If you like all of afore-mentioned things than SCORCHED-EARTH is fucking totally for your soul! I was impressed by this straight-forward nuclear way which made these Americans. The music is sick, raw, dirty and fast, and fucking destructive. All of those rolling guitars which from time to time come with excellent guitar solos and dense drumming, obscure vocals and just extremely catching songs structure…. Argh! This is hellish beast comes upon the earth and he’s ready destroy everything appears on his path.
101% from 100%
Contact (band): http://www.myspace.com/hailscorchedearth
Contact (label): novisiblescars@gmail.com
(c) ANTICHRIST 'zine #10/2010 [http://antichrist.deadshop.info]
From Invisible Oranges: http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2010/03/scorched-earth-mars/
Like heavy metal, the planet Mars has power that doesn’t wither. Fools say metal and Mars have nothing to offer, save irony and frozen water. The informed know better. On Mars (NoVisible Scars, 2009), Olympus Mons houses ancient theocracy, the canals run with blood, and the music mixes double amounts of Slough Feg and Sodom with the Realm of Chaos the cover implies.
Few bands meld classic and death metal yet remain this breathless. The melody in these songs is never pretty. Tracks like “The Gods Themselves” charge forward with double bass and saber-wielding Celtic riffs. People are subjugated and rebellions are quelled. Elsewhere, death and thrash take precedent, and the results are equally powerful. “Spearhead from Space” is a blitzkrieg for the heart of Mars: it only lasts two minutes, yet mangles its victims for life. The album seldom relents. Occasionally, the music lapses into doom, as though surveying the landscape in horror, but it always recovers and rushes onward.
Crucially, Scorched-Earth refuse to treat the concept as a joke. The idea of war on Mars is adolescent stuff, and that’s part of its appeal. Mars could have been condescending bullshit, full of apologetic winks or cheap intellectualism. Instead, Scorched-Earth take their concept seriously and deliver soulful metal. Like great science fiction, the story feels relevant but resists allegory. An ancient civilization entices a young and naive one into imperialist war. Humans and Martians are both villains. Oligarchy reigns, and the sane die.
— Anthony Abboreno
Artwork by Sean McGrath
From The Werkshed:
Scorched Earth is a great thrashing death metal band from up in Seattle. They have been making their brand of chaotic yet catchy death noise since 1995, and have been putting out albums since 2000. I'm a big fan of these fuckers and this album didn't disappoint.
"Mars" is their 4th full length album and it continues the legacy of simplistic yet great metal of death!
They are similar to Gravehill in that they have basic parts and riffs to songs (maybe call us the AC/DC and Motorhead of death metal?)
When a band is good, they are good. It really doesn't matter how many riffs are in a song, or if there are just 2 drum beats in a song.
Scorched Earth are one of these bands that can ride a riff for a while and smash and thrash it until it is dead as fuck. And one other thing about Scorched Earth is that they have TONS of killer riffs going on. Each song out-does each other with riff after riff of killer metal. The tempo of the songs are usually 3 speeds: either mid paced banger, fast beat banger, or blast beat banger.
These guys mix the death metal, thrash and black metal perfectly on here as usual.
Terry's death howl is in fine effect on here as well. You will just want bang your fucking head off when you hear this album!
Any fan of killer old school style death/thrash/black will love this band.
Get your friends over, get a ton of beer and whiskey, put this fucker on 11, and let the massacre begin!
The songs are as follows: Warlords Of Mars, The Gods Themselves, Devils In Iron, No Blade Of Grass, Hell On Mars, Spearhead From Space, The Knights Of The Black Cross vs. The Reavers Of The Red Death, Out Of The Violent Planet, The Dead Of Winter.
Hails to Scorched Earth for yet again delivering the goods of great metal madness!!!! This was put out by Novisible Scars.
Review By: Mike Abominator 10/10
From Diabolical Conquest:
I recently received, Mars, the fourth full-length album by the Seattle troupe, Scorched Earth. I could name drop with ease here with bands that span Destroyer 666 and Morbid Angel to Celtic Frost and Pentagram, but, quite frankly, I think such descriptions are too difficult to compute and often times sound like a big, jumble-fucked mess. In this instance, I think it is simpler and more effective to describe the band as playing a primitive form of black thrash that also employs old-school death metal and odd, yet effective doom-inspired bits. I have not heard previous output from Scorched Earth, so I cannot speak as to whether they had the "jumble-fucked" sound their lengthy and diverse list of influences might suggest, but the songs here incorporate the influences listed yet have been largely honed to a razor-sharp and deadly point.
Like I said to begin, the backbone of the material here is black thrash with death metal also having a healthy role in the bludgeoning. While Scorched Earth may not contribute new ideas musically to either genre, the thrash here is reminiscent of the early days in the scene. It is chaotic and sloppy, though likely done so intentionally, yet the thing I like most about it is the youthful thrash energy. The superior musicianship and recording capabilities of today usually makes it tough to re-create this type of energy, but Scorched Earth has done it with moments on"Warlords of Mars", "Devils in Iron" and "Hell on Mars" only the slightest nudge away from total self-destruction. I bet this material stirs a hell of a pit.
The counterpoint to the thrash here are smatterings of old-school death metal and occasional doom-inspired dirges. The death metal bits certainly add to the aggressive tone on the album with songs like "Spearhead From Space" being a quick, two minute death metal blast to your gut, but it is the doom that is the most surprising here. The instrumental "No Blade Of Grass"brings about the first doom-y exploit, but it is not in the style you might expect. The bass of Sanford Johnson bounces and plods away underneath big distorted chords, sprawling solos and the occasional textural bit with a 70s doom approach. It is unexpected, but surprisingly effective. Johnson has a rather large presence throughout the album but is most notable during the doom-y moments where he really drives those sections - as a good bassist should. The doom sections, though few and far between, also serve as a nice reprieve from the heavier, up-tempo material. This approach works well on "Out Of the Violent Planet" where its doom-y, reverb slathered intro is slightly altered and used later for a brief interlude with effective results.
The major issue I had with the album is there were a couple times where I felt certain thoughts went on a bit too long. The nearly ten minute "Warlords of Mars" is the best example of this. I realize part of the length is due to the attached intro, but the song also has three different solos, albeit none of them overly lengthy. While textural bits are added, the up-picked addition towards the end is a welcome change, I think the song would have been stronger had a minute or so been absent. A similar argument could be made for the doom-y mid-section on "The Knights of the Black Cross vs. The Reavers of the Red Death". I get the point and it works, but it also lingers too long.
Scorched Earth has thoroughly and relentlessly beat the hell out of my ears since the first day I got my hands on the cassette. I know there are a lot of people that find the notion of cassette releases to be useless and outdated. Those of you with this mindset can pick up a copy on CD through the band's website. I will make a case for the cassette in this instance, however. If you are able to get by with cassettes, the label has also enclosed a 1" logo pin, a 7" vinyl-size copy of the badass, old-school artwork and a 4X4 patch of the artwork. NoVisible Scars also seems like a label that really supports its bands - a rarity these days and a cause I think we all can get behind. But regardless of format, there is one constant: Scorched Earth crushes.
http://diabolicalconquest.com/reviews/scorched-earth-mars.htm
From hellridemusic.com:
Scorched Earth - Mars (No Visible Scars)
By Janet
February 6, 2010
Bill from the No Visible Scars label noticed some of my reviews and my bio here on Hellride and thought that I would really dig this release, he thought right. Described as a Venom sounding band, but to me that description deosn’t do it justice, these bastards sound like a killer hybrid of old school thrash, fused with old school death via early Morbid Angel/Malevolent Creation and than throw in some doom elements in terms of slow riffs with a Sabbathy/Pentagram 70’s twist. The ideal sound this label is going for, along with the bands they sign, is the old analog sound of chrome cassettes and vinyl from the tape trading heyday of true heavy metal. These guys hail from Seattle, Washington, home to some killer underground metal acts right now, but have actually been around since ~1995.
These guys have toured with the likes of Kult Ov Azazel, Drawn and Quartered, Exhumed, Impaled, Serpents Aeon, Anal Blast…. They are said to draw their sound from early cult thrash and death metal, and that’s a damn good description of it. If you like it old-school raw, but with quality musicianship, addictive rhythms, diversity in tempo,etc. this is an essential to at least hear, but I’d say get the fucker before it disappears like their other releases have.
In fact one of the songs I’m currently listening to (“Out of the Violent Planet) has this amazing horror-surf style tremolo/reverb intro that just goes into this great guitar jam, and then the vokills come in and it just makes you want to jump around and tear things apart. With that being said, there shouldn’t be anyone out there whose mouth isn’t watering and their ears aren’t itching in anticipation of this stuff.
Now I’m listening to “The Knights of the black Cross vs. the Reavers of the Red Death”, it has a great buzzsaw riff throughout sort of like old Darkthrone then fused with Sabbath, then it starts back into that great tremolo picking surf blistering sound again. This album is relentless, get off your ass and get this shit NOW!!!!!! But don’t blame them when you burn the place down in a frenzy while giving it it’s de-virginizing spin. This stuff is hotter than Hell in terms of everything a good metal album could have, and will spit out flames as it plays. The album is on red Chrome cassette and comes with mini LP style artwork, a great silk-screened patch and pin, it makes me feel like a kid again buying music. This is not only a band to watch for, but the NVS label is truly an underground force that will probably keep dropping releases that measure at a 9 on the metal Richter Scale, although if you play these loud enough they might measure enough on the real scale too. For analog recordings this stuff is clearer and more solid sounding than anything digital and is one of many reasons that I’m scrounging up cash to get my analog system together again.
If you dig any of the following and especially the idea of the best elements of each thrown in a stew of noise, you MUST get this one: High on Fire, Kreator, Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation, Autopsy, Exodus, Venom, Celtic Frost,Slayer, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal, this SOB has it all and many to add. Smoking like a burning Christian corpse at Satans Luau, and reeks of malice and perverted intent!!!!!! Honestly, this thing slams, jams, grooves, kills, slays, bulldozes, stomps….By now you probably get the idea.
02.04.2010. 09:29
Press Coverage
interviews KSUB Interview Terry McCorriston was interviewed by KSUB's Paul Brown. You can listen to the mp3 of the interview by clicking here Or you can find it on their website... www.ksubseattle.org ----------------------------------------------------------- Freak Show Interview Video conducted by Freak, from The Freak Show ----------------------------------------------------------- Live audio interview with Terry and Joshua [mp3 - 128kbps] Conducted May 5th 2005 at: Fenix Underground in Seattle, WA by Darksoul7.com reviews Scorched-Earth - "Gods, Kings, and Conquerors" review by Scott at Live4Metal.com I enjoyed this one, not so much because of blinding technicality or innovation in the arrangements, but because of its unabashedly old school death metal aesthetic. On Gods, Kings, and Conquerors, Seattle's Scorched - Earth play raw, old school death metal with a few black metal flourishes (mainly the primitive grooves). The arrangements are fairly basic, though not ineffective. The guitars hold a pretty good groove, but I thought the rhythm section could stand a little tightening. The drumming leans more toward the early years of death metal with some fast playing and effective fills, but little in the way of blast beat overdrive; in today's world of overly technical drumming, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Guitarist/vocalist Terry McCorriston's singing is more mid-range scream than low-end growl, not unlike Brett Hoffman (ex-Malevolent Creation). "Thy Kingdom Crushed" kicks off the album with a plodding chug, featuring a chorus that actually has some degree of melody, resulting in a tune that is more than just pure brutality. On "Helter Skelter Land," the boys move from mid-paced crunching to furious speeding with a cool main guitar riff. "Neo-Zombies" and "Iron Tyrant" are both primal speedsters, the latter of which has a Motorhead-meets-Venom feel. On the whole, my picky criticisms shouldn't be the focus here. Scorched-Earth have made an album that takes the bludgeoning musical elements of death metal and combines it with a heavy dose of evil atmosphere and nasty attitude That's good enough for me. Scorched-Earth - "Gods, Kings, and Conquerors" review by Chris Slack at BlizzardBeast.com Seattle's Scorched-Earth came to exist in 1995 when founder Terry McCorriston attempted to get like minded individuals together "to fully express S.E.'s Metal of Extermination". After a number of lineup changes they released the "Thy Kingdom Crushed" demo CD in 2000. After three years the latest CD, "Gods, Kings, and Conquerors", was recorded by the current lineup of Terry McCorriston (guitar/vocals), Sanford Johnson (bass), and Josh Hanenburg (drums). The first thing I noticed when listening to "Gods, Kings, and Conquerors" is that it actually sounds like the three piece back that is Scorched-Earth, which is cool as most three pieces seem to layer multiple guitars to (maybe) hide the fact that there are only three members. The major upside to this is that when one sees the band live they will get basically what they hear on the album. I would describe the music of Scorched-Earth as classic thrash ala Sodom/Kreator/Celtic Frost mixed with the speed (at times) of modern death metal and the rawness and blasphemic tone of war metal bands like Blasphemy and Revenge. Songs are mid to fast-paced with some near-blast speed parts added for good measure. Don't expect technical riffs and complex beats, this is violent and raw metal that's played for feeling rather than showing off the bands abilities. Standout tracks include "YHWH", a fairly brutal track with a KILLER Celtic Frost like string bending riff that's used in parts and "Napoleon, Conqueror of the Pyramids", a track that compels the listener to headbang. My only complaint is that to me the drums are mixed a little high and the vocals a little low for my liking. That could have been the intention of the band though, who's to say. All in all this is a pretty impressive release from a band that constantly improves each time I see them play. Old school thrashers and war/black metal fans should enjoy this quite a bit. If the death metal fans can get past the rawness of the production I think it would be appreciated by them as well. Scorched-Earth - "Thy Kingdom Crushed" review by Metal Side The band from Seattle play a kind of death metal that without any restrictions can be called original. In times when most bands only try to copy the patterns of older ones, it should be really appreciated when someone is looking for the own ways of expression. But of course, not always 'to be original' means 'to be good', mostly because of the fact that many bands go in the experiments much too far, loosing the control over own music. Luckily Scorched-Earth trying something new, don't forget where the roots are. Perhaps this is the strongest side of this material: there're many elements of old thrash metal here, connected skillfully with newer sounds, closer to death metal. And again, an important remark: there's a popular trend to play the music rooted in the glorious past of the 80-thies, to copy old Slayer, Destruction, Celtic Frost and so on. The problem is that many of the bands which have chosen such way of development, don't add anything own to the old patterns and really many of them are very boring. Scorched-Earth is able not only to worship the tradition but to develop it creatively. Although not very brutal, this music is heavy enough to call a death metal fan's attention. Riffs are good composed. If I had to complain of something, I would say that the structures of the tracks could be more diversified. More fast parts would make this music more attractive, at least for me, because more doom-orientated fans would say that the band should rather play even slower. But don't think that telling such things, I suggest that Scorched-Earth is a boring band. Not at all. The next and last important thing about this album is that it's a material that can please fans of death/thrash metal, rooted in the 80-thies, as well as the listeners of modern death/doom. |
10.10.2009. 09:49
