Review by Felix on December 16, 2023.

It took more than 25 years until I found a band of Spain that really attracted my attention. Körgull the Exterminator convinced me with the ultra-rabid "War of the Voivodes", their second full-length. Due to their amazing performance on this record, I was very interested in their further outputs. Here we have a split album with Graveyard. While this formation belongs to the death metal genre, the girl and the guys of Körgull present their proven bastard of punk, thrash and death metal. By the way, this vinyl marks no collaboration between bands that do not know each other. Quite the opposite, two of the involved musicians play in both groups. Therefore, the stylistic differences are remarkable. If you agree, I like to start with Körgull.

Despite some initial difficulties due to the fact that their first song does not really offer some gripping or memorable parts, the band delivers a very good contribution. They create fanatically a high speed chaos while simultaneously structuring it. The result of this procedure is that the band showcases fascinating audio experiences. For example, the chorus of "Black Pandemic", the second brand new track, demonstrates its versatiliy while being catchy, aggressive and hymnal at the same time. It proves that high velocity and absolute heaviness are no alibi for the neglect of memorable parts. The mercilessly shredding guitars leave room for these outstanding moments and that´s a great advantage of Körgull´s sound in general. Furthermore, Lilith´s rasping voice adds a nice portion of cruelty.

The bands pay tribute to each other by playing a cover song. You have to keep this fact in mind. Otherwise, you will be at risk to be of the wrong opinion that "Horrors of the Undead" is a typical number of Körgull, written by the group itself. The song takes no prisoners and seems to be strictly "körgullized", because it follows exactly the usual approach of the band´s own compositions. Graveyard cover a song of Körgull´s first full-length, but the most interesting track of their contribution is "A Dream of a Million Corpses". This nightmare lasts seven minutes. It is kicked off by an piano intro and transforms to a slow-moving roller. A short up-tempo part is also included so that you will not be bored by this relatively melodic death metal tune. This is also because this song - as well as the remaining tracks of Graveyard - is well produced while offering the genre-specific low tuned guitars and the typical growling vocals. Taking into account the further solid songs of Graveyard, the band appears more or less as an ordinary death metal band. If you like the genre in general, you will also like this group in particular - and vice versa.

Nevertheless, by a narrow margin, Körgull is the winner of this competition. Their songs also benefit from an appropriate sound and they are more thrilling than those of their partners in crime. But that´s just my personal opinion. Death metal maniacs will probably not share my point of view.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 24, 2023.

"We are Körgull The Exterminator... ...and We are here to Stay!!!!" - this is what the constantly angry band tells us in the booklet of the new album. Well, staying alive is no value in itself. If you do not share this point of view, listen to the fantastic "Defenders of the Faith" - and then take a close look at the average quality of the products of Judas Priest during the last thirty years. Indeed, the Priests are still alive, but their miserable condition cannot be overlooked. Thus, I am glad that this review is not about an album of the comatose Grandfathers from Britain. We are talking about Körgull and they have always been a very predictable partner for their maniacs up till now. Unfortunately, their image gets first cracks in view of the material of "Reborn from the Ashes", because the band makes a serious mistake. Admittedly, "Hatred Rules Again" is a strong number. It shows the typical formula of Körgull's best tunes, because it mixes a drilling riff with fanatic power and a tiny pinch of melody. But this song has already been published on their split with Akerbeltz. To re-release this piece is nothing else but a slap in the face of their most loyal fans, who bought the crudely formatted split while hoping they get exclusive tunes. I don't want to hide the fact that the song appears in a slightly modified form. But come on, who has missed another version of this track?

Apart from this shortcoming, the new album holds another negative surprise. Körgull have lost a certain quantum of their previous insanity. They are still heavier than the largest part of their competitors. But the album does not achieve the level of intensity that "War of the Voivodes" and "Metal Fist Destroyer" reached with great ease. A song like "The Stalker" starts with a riff that Lemmy forgot to present under the banner of Motörhead. The number emanates a dirty rock'n roll feeling, before a break at 1:40 gives way to a more chaotic part. The song cannot be dismissed as irrelevant or useless. But it is not the kind of sonic grenade that makes your blood runs cold and the specific cruelty of Körgull does not show up in its full glory. Rather, they sound like Killer from Belgium after 72 hours without sleep. Anyway, the Spanish horde does not only worship Lemmy. The cover version of Razor's debut classic "Take this Torch" proves the good taste of the band, albeit I am no big fan of cover versions. Finally, it goes without saying, that Voivod is the greatest influence. Roughly 40 seconds of "Traitor's Gate", beginning at 1:27, seem to be stolen from previously unknown leftovers of the "Killing Technology" recording session. The order of the blackguards is still alive!

The song material delivers some highlights. The mixture of a concise riff and rushing high speed parts ennobles the title track. Beats of a timpanist make me think of Celtic Frost, although the hectic "Warriors of the Night" has nothing in common with the Swiss revolutionists. "Wall of the Battlefield" shines with a casual riff without neglecting the necessary degree of hostility. But all in all, the quality of the songs is slightly weaker than it was on the preceding works and the production fails to push the tracks on the next level. Nevertheless, the merciless brutality of the death thrash squadron cannot be completely suppressed. Inter alia the demonic parts of "Hellish Onslaught" leave no doubt that the maniacs of Körgull are still immune against any form of effeminacy. For example, Lillith, the female force at the mic, sounds angry as always and I am sure that a kiss of her is as sweet as a kick in the balls. However, Körgull the Exterminator have released a violent fourth album with little blemishes. Music is naturally always a matter of taste, but the recycling of previously released songs must generally be branded as an objective disadvantage. I hope that they will never fool their most enthusiastic fans again. Otherwise it would be difficult for unforgiving dudes like me to stay loyal.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10