AN NCS INTERVIEW: HEMOTOXIN

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 062024
 

(What you’ll find below is Comrade Aleks‘ in-depth and wide-ranging interview of Michael Chavez, the mastermind behind the California death/thrash band Hemotoxin, whose new album When Time Becomes Loss is set for release on May 17th via Pulverised Records.)

Fresh and savage death metal from Hemotoxin is rooted in thrash and shaped in twisted progressive forms. The band itself was started in 2010 by Michael Chavez (vocals, guitars, bass), and after three full-length albums and global lineup changes it reaches its new top with the fourth album When Time Becomes Loss.

Or, as the official press-release states, “discordant in euphonious harmony yet ruminative in essence, riff-mogul Michael Chavez inflicts a gaping wound that perfectly intersects forward-thinking thrash and prog metal”.

So many people, so many opinions… However, let’s now devote our own time, as Hemotoxin’s mastermind Michael Chavez provided us the in-depth story of When Time Becomes Loss and far more. Continue reading »

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES — PLAYING CATCH-UP

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 222020
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli wrote and packaged together this series of mini-reviews of 2020 albums he wants to recommend.)

So many albums I’m trying to catch up on and reviews I’m still trying to pump out, but I figured in the meantime I’d offer this collection of mini-reviews of albums I recommend.

STATIC-X

Static-X I think are a pretty niche band, but I personally loved their brand of dance groove industrial metal.  I thought Wayne Static was a great vocalist, and except for a couple of questionable albums, their discography was always reliably good, assuming you liked the premise of their sound.  Project: Regeneration Vol.1 is the first in a series of two albums that Wayne Static had started demo-ing prior to his death in 2014.  Helmed by the band’s OG lineup of bassist Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda, and drummer Ken Jay, the band decided they’d try to pay tribute to their departed friend and bandmate while doing something for the fans, and finish what he started. Continue reading »

HEMOTOXIN (“BIOLOGICAL ENSLAVEMENT”) AND NUCLEUS (“SENTIENT”)

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Mar 092016
 

Hemotoxin-Biological Enslavement

 

(In this post Allen Griffin provides brief reviews of a pair of forthcoming albums.)

If Ripper’s fantastic new album Experiment of Existence (reviewed here) wasn’t proof enough, Unspeakable Axe is releasing two more records that show they have somehow tapped a special vein of Old School Death and Thrash Metal, all of which seem to mine Science Fictional lyrical themes. To a certain degree, naysayers may try to argue that these bands bring nothing new to the table, yet if hindsight is truly 20/20, these hybridizations of Metal’s past are certainly able to produce excellent material that stands on its own in this current musical climate.

HEMOTOXIN

First up is California-based unit Hemotoxin and their second full-length release Biological Enslavement. Much like the aforementioned Ripper, Hemotoxin draw much of their influence from the era when Thrash was transitioning into Death Metal, but also add their own highly technical spin to their material. But where Ripper look toward groups such as Kreator and Merciless, Hemotoxin seem to be a bit more rooted in Bay Area classics, but are well-indebted to early Death Metal as well. Continue reading »