Review by JD on August 3, 2014.

The Czech Republic has been offering good extreme metal for a while now. They seem to take metal, throw away the blueprints and make it their own. Many forms of metal are invoked from this former Soviet Union satellite, and one such act is blackened pagan metallists Panychida - a band I have reviewed awhile back.

Combining various types of instruments along with their brand of black brutal guitar riffs and blast beat drums, Panychida has finally come of age. Their last album I reviewed (2011 - Woodland Journey - Rating: 8.8) was showing a band that was near their potential and yet not quite there at that point in time. With this new album and matured as musicians, this band has now have arrived.

With eleven great tracks flowing effortlessly as one, it is difficult to choose a few tracks to talk about so the solution is to put it out there. Grief For An Idol is one of the strongest albums in the whole black/pagan metal scene. They know when to go at it full force, when to pull back and when just to go for the jugular. The truest mark of a band that has finally worked it all out.

This is an album that has made a firm fan of me. Panychida has proven my prediction right, and is one that probably will hit my top ten. It is satisfying for me when any band lives up to every ounce of their potential and they even give hints that there is a new level to come. I'll wait to see what it is that is next, and hope like mad that they have not peaked just yet.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by JD on August 20, 2012.

Way back, I was a rebel even amongst my headbanging brothers and sisters. I was a metalhead that also loved listening to vicious and yet well played Hardcore Punk like Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. Even today, some of my favorite songs are that rebellious little brother to metal. I was perhaps ‘crossover’ before the term had ever surfaced on the musical landscape, considering Punkers and Metalheads were at the time, mortal enemies bent on destroying the other.

Vise Massacre hails out of New York City, and they are the real deal here. Blending perfectly the aggressive straight forward chaos of Hardcore with the more refined and controlled explosiveness of Death Metal with a touch of thrash to perfectly execute what true Crossover is. Think of early Hatebreed with SOD, Cro-Mags and Dark Angel, combined with a mile high ‘fuck you’ attitude.... awesome, HUH?

Looking at the list of songs on the album while listening to it, I can only say that not one song actually stood out as the best here but each one seems to have a life of its own. All the songs were incredibly well made and had this venomous aggressiveness that grabs you, and they still keep this unpolished and unwavering ideology of Hardcore that seems to complemented the banger philosophy as well. These two sides seem to meld well together, while still fights hard to be the leader.

I was so impressed, as I heard the Crossover sound that I love to hear - one part metal, one part Hardcore and full of blistering attitude. This is not near rocket science, or its just another shredder band that wants to be over complex and make the music inaccessible to the audience. This is a band that makes music that is simple, yet not stupid and always brutally honest. This is what both Metal and Punk is all about... celebrate it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7.5
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Review by JD on August 20, 2012.

Way back, I was a rebel even amongst my headbanging brothers and sisters. I was a metalhead that also loved listening to vicious and yet well played Hardcore Punk like Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. Even today, some of my favorite songs are that rebellious little brother to metal. I was perhaps ‘crossover’ before the term had ever surfaced on the musical landscape, considering Punkers and Metalheads were at the time, mortal enemies bent on destroying the other.

Vise Massacre hails out of New York City, and they are the real deal here. Blending perfectly the aggressive straight forward chaos of Hardcore with the more refined and controlled explosiveness of Death Metal with a touch of thrash to perfectly execute what true Crossover is. Think of early Hatebreed with SOD, Cro-Mags and Dark Angel, combined with a mile high ‘fuck you’ attitude.... awesome, HUH?

Looking at the list of songs on the album while listening to it, I can only say that not one song actually stood out as the best here but each one seems to have a life of its own. All the songs were incredibly well made and had this venomous aggressiveness that grabs you, and they still keep this unpolished and unwavering ideology of Hardcore that seems to complemented the banger philosophy as well. These two sides seem to meld well together, while still fights hard to be the leader.

I was so impressed, as I heard the Crossover sound that I love to hear - one part metal, one part Hardcore and full of blistering attitude. This is not near rocket science, or its just another shredder band that wants to be over complex and make the music inaccessible to the audience. This is a band that makes music that is simple, yet not stupid and always brutally honest. This is what both Metal and Punk is all about... celebrate it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7.5
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.0 out of 10