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Reverence

Germany Country of Origin: Germany

Reverence
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Type: EP
Release Date: June 18th, 2010
Label: Self Released
Genre: Thrash
1. Gluttonous Evisceration
2. A Human Sticking
3. Skinned Alive
4. Rat Food
5. Amalgamated Entrails
6. Flesh Reimagined
7. Anthropoid Abattoir
8. Demonic Carrion
1. Signs Of A Dead World
2. The Defying Ones
3. Exiles
4. Chariots Of The Gods

Review by Greg on December 25, 2023.

Talk about being on a roll, won't ya? Nanowar Of Steel appeared determined to lose as little momentum as possible when they announced their 6th album Dislike To False Metal at the start of the year. Coming after the incredible one-two punch of the power metal compendium Stairway To Valhalla and the super fun, folky Italian Folk Metal, this one acts as a sort of synthesis between the two, with added flavors. The album marks the return of English lyrics, but their folk turn wasn't a one-off phase as there are still traces of accordions and various instruments. And again, there's more...

...okay, if you're keeping track, the band had already made parodies of several non-metal genres, and I'm imagining you rightfully bracing yourself for the worst after having spotted 'Disco Metal' within the tracklist. Well, what can I say... it's exactly what you're fearing, I'm afraid. If you can't bear the excessive use of autotune/vocoder typical of italo-disco, you better skip it altogether, but guess what? Somehow they managed to nail this one as well. This isn't much of a 'secret guilty pleasure', so to speak, but more of a sincere admiration for a group of artists who seemingly excel at everything they try, even when well outside everyone's comfort zone, or the limits of common sense. This isn't cheap humor, in case you're still suspecting it. You can refer to the longest episodes here: closer 'The Power Of Imodium' attempts a rather puerile 'Bohemian Rhapsody'-styled bridge, but there's undeniable talent on display as always, and 'Chupacabra Cadabra' is just... man, I don't know anymore. The 'Painkiller' drum intro is the last sane thing you'll hear within these almost 10 minutes. Basically, it's like a giant suite mixing flamenco, western, samba, telling some head-scratching fictional tale (where poor George W. Sanchez makes an appearance as well) in an anglicized Spanish. Yeah, sorry 'Odino & Valhalla', you've been dethroned.

There would be so much to say about every track, honestly. There are a couple of special guests – Eleine's Madeleine Liljestam more than contributes to the epicness of a song about dandruff, of all things (the advance single 'Winterstorm In The Night'), while Sabaton's Joakim Brodén appears on 'Pasadena 1994' mimicking his own group, much like Fabio Lione did two LPs ago, narrating the history of the Italian defeat in the World Cup of the same year from a cruel, but hilarious historic perspective. Bonus points for the Swede's perfect pronunciation of 'catenaccio'. There is a simply irresistible Backstreet Boys-esque love pop ballad in 'Protocols (Of The Elders Of Zion) Of Love', poking fun at stupid conspiracy theorists (man, every word in this sentence sounds wrong, doesn't it?). 'Dimmu Boogie' is a classic rock number which also happens to have a killer solo (think Motörhead's 'Angel City', but with more blues to it) and might even be my favourite of the lot. There are surprises waiting for you at every turn throughout these almost 50 minutes.

At the end of the day, my main gripe with Dislike To False Metal is that, as long as it doesn't stray too much away from the previously laden path, it simply doesn't do anything that wasn't already made, in a better way, before. 'Sober' sounds like a lite version of 'La Maledizione Di Capitan Findus', when you come to think about it, and 'Metal Boomer Battalion' doesn't sound too dissimilar from 'Ironmonger'. But probably that's just me being an asshole about something that's made to be fun, mostly – not to mention the fact that most of the running time is indeed spent on doing something new. I just fear I'm not gonna be replaying this as much as the other two, but those were such mighty opponents, admittedly. Also, the return to English lyrics meant that the band couldn't go all-out talking about trash TV and local stuff, so they really outdid themselves on the jokes aspect – literally every line is a pun on something, to the point I'm avoiding quotes since I'd easily fill this page only with my favourite ones, and the lyrics are hilarious even without the music in the background. The aforementioned 'Metal Boomer Battalion' makes the whole thing metal by mentioning Metal Archives in its bridge. Now we're talking.

Closing an admirable trifecta, Dislike To False Metal is of course an experience recommended to everyone. What's beyond the shadow of a doubt is that, with every album, Nanowar Of Steel put themselves in the more and more difficult position of following it up. They've worked great so far – but what's left to parody?

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

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Review by Greg on December 25, 2023.

Talk about being on a roll, won't ya? Nanowar Of Steel appeared determined to lose as little momentum as possible when they announced their 6th album Dislike To False Metal at the start of the year. Coming after the incredible one-two punch of the power metal compendium Stairway To Valhalla and the super fun, folky Italian Folk Metal, this one acts as a sort of synthesis between the two, with added flavors. The album marks the return of English lyrics, but their folk turn wasn't a one-off phase as there are still traces of accordions and various instruments. And again, there's more...

...okay, if you're keeping track, the band had already made parodies of several non-metal genres, and I'm imagining you rightfully bracing yourself for the worst after having spotted 'Disco Metal' within the tracklist. Well, what can I say... it's exactly what you're fearing, I'm afraid. If you can't bear the excessive use of autotune/vocoder typical of italo-disco, you better skip it altogether, but guess what? Somehow they managed to nail this one as well. This isn't much of a 'secret guilty pleasure', so to speak, but more of a sincere admiration for a group of artists who seemingly excel at everything they try, even when well outside everyone's comfort zone, or the limits of common sense. This isn't cheap humor, in case you're still suspecting it. You can refer to the longest episodes here: closer 'The Power Of Imodium' attempts a rather puerile 'Bohemian Rhapsody'-styled bridge, but there's undeniable talent on display as always, and 'Chupacabra Cadabra' is just... man, I don't know anymore. The 'Painkiller' drum intro is the last sane thing you'll hear within these almost 10 minutes. Basically, it's like a giant suite mixing flamenco, western, samba, telling some head-scratching fictional tale (where poor George W. Sanchez makes an appearance as well) in an anglicized Spanish. Yeah, sorry 'Odino & Valhalla', you've been dethroned.

There would be so much to say about every track, honestly. There are a couple of special guests – Eleine's Madeleine Liljestam more than contributes to the epicness of a song about dandruff, of all things (the advance single 'Winterstorm In The Night'), while Sabaton's Joakim Brodén appears on 'Pasadena 1994' mimicking his own group, much like Fabio Lione did two LPs ago, narrating the history of the Italian defeat in the World Cup of the same year from a cruel, but hilarious historic perspective. Bonus points for the Swede's perfect pronunciation of 'catenaccio'. There is a simply irresistible Backstreet Boys-esque love pop ballad in 'Protocols (Of The Elders Of Zion) Of Love', poking fun at stupid conspiracy theorists (man, every word in this sentence sounds wrong, doesn't it?). 'Dimmu Boogie' is a classic rock number which also happens to have a killer solo (think Motörhead's 'Angel City', but with more blues to it) and might even be my favourite of the lot. There are surprises waiting for you at every turn throughout these almost 50 minutes.

At the end of the day, my main gripe with Dislike To False Metal is that, as long as it doesn't stray too much away from the previously laden path, it simply doesn't do anything that wasn't already made, in a better way, before. 'Sober' sounds like a lite version of 'La Maledizione Di Capitan Findus', when you come to think about it, and 'Metal Boomer Battalion' doesn't sound too dissimilar from 'Ironmonger'. But probably that's just me being an asshole about something that's made to be fun, mostly – not to mention the fact that most of the running time is indeed spent on doing something new. I just fear I'm not gonna be replaying this as much as the other two, but those were such mighty opponents, admittedly. Also, the return to English lyrics meant that the band couldn't go all-out talking about trash TV and local stuff, so they really outdid themselves on the jokes aspect – literally every line is a pun on something, to the point I'm avoiding quotes since I'd easily fill this page only with my favourite ones, and the lyrics are hilarious even without the music in the background. The aforementioned 'Metal Boomer Battalion' makes the whole thing metal by mentioning Metal Archives in its bridge. Now we're talking.

Closing an admirable trifecta, Dislike To False Metal is of course an experience recommended to everyone. What's beyond the shadow of a doubt is that, with every album, Nanowar Of Steel put themselves in the more and more difficult position of following it up. They've worked great so far – but what's left to parody?

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

   828

Review by Carl on October 27, 2024.

This one was sold to me as being 'like Mortician'. Yeah, no, that's not what this is. Not every brutal death metal band operating with a drum machine is 'like Mortician', and certainly not Necroveg, a one-man business dealing in a way more slamming type of music.

I can say the same thing about Necroveg as what I said a while back about Gargling. It's like there are only two types of parts here, either slamming heaviness or else blastbeaten frenzy, alternated in a plethora of different orders. After a couple of spins, I do have to adjust this claim somewhat in the case of my man Nate here, the only member of Necroveg. Yes, the emphasis here is indeed very strongly on guttural slamming death metal with bursts of raging velocity, but throughout there are somewhat more guitar-oriented parts included in the punishing mixture, alleviating some of the suffocating density of the music. At times Nate utilizes a sort of tremolo-picked style to play over the chugging midtempo slams, adding a touch of variation to his style of relentless death. Keep in mind though, that what Necroveg does here is all about crushing power and belligerence, despite the added niceties here and there.

Looking at this album, it isn't a bad effort, despite lacking somewhat in the originality department, but there was something that got on my nerves. No, it's not the somewhat boxy-sounding programmed drums, and neither was it the production, which keeps it all pretty heavy and menacing. No, it was the swathes of electronics that combined the tracks with each other, even appearing in the songs themselves. Combined with Necroveg's pulsing bulldozer death metal, these parts aren't without charm, adding a kinda surprising element even, but between the songs they annoy me. The sound they have, it's as if a hand in a glove of sandpaper is massaging my nerve endings. Apart from that, I also can not shake the idea that these parts are simply there to pad out the runtime of this album, stretching proceedings out just to fill up the disc. And then it still is only 23 and some minutes long. Honestly, I would've preferred it had the electronics been more worked into the actual music, because the instances where Necroveg actually did this sound great. Also, instead of the intro's, I would not have minded some more original material, because I can dig what's being done here, death metal-wise.

I certainly appreciate the actual music here. We get a solid, albeit not so original mixture of heaviness and aggression, with a small smattering of unconventional elements sprinkled into the concoction, but it's the short runtime and the redundant electronic filler between a lot of the tracks that lessens the fun for me here. Despite this, I will reiterate that the music itself is worth the effort, and if you happen to be immersed in brutal slamming guttural death metal and you're not a cranky, overly critical old bastard like me, I'm sure you'll appreciate Necroveg even more than I do.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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Review by JD on March 7, 2011.

There is a moment in every reviewer’s career, when he thinks that he has found that certain album that speaks to him in a way that others never have. It would be an album that straddles boundaries, genres and even his or herself to have that something. Me thinks that I have found an album that has done just that... and they are Canadian too. Cool.

Chariots Of The Gods hail from Canada’s capital city of Ottawa Ontario and unlike our illustriously non-effective government morons, these guys are doing everything right. With powerful alignments of basic old school, explosive Thrash and straight out Death Metal they are talented enough and powerful enough to show the world Canada rocks hard. They are taking over right now.

The old school part of their sound makes for melodies that stick in your mind while the Death Metal end powers the whole thing with unwavering assault of heaviness and harsh overtones. It is the thrashy parts that stick out, melding the other two parts into a demon metallic monster that is unmistakenly good. Four songs... for mighty tracks... and you are wanting more.

Because this is only a EP (my readers know my thoughts on this already) it is a bit of a tease. They need to put out a full album, and then wait for it to take over the world. Because they are in the capital city they just might take over parliament on just pure force. Canadian metal shows the world once more, it can not be ignored because it won't let it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

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