Big Dumb Skulls presents: Filtheater - Tenebrae

Big Dumb Skulls is a blog with a simple but brilliant concept. Each day a metal album cover sporting a skull is presented, and both the skull and the music is reviewed (or more often than not, thrashed). The skull is selected on these criteria: "It must be a metal band. Nothing too fancy, nothing too oblique, nothing too busy. No multiple skulls. No animal skulls. No piles of skulls. Just one skull. One big dumb fucking skull". The writing by Friar Wagner and Friar Johnsen is incisive and often hilarious. Big Dumb Skulls is, well basically it is the best thing, ever.

But don't just take my words for it. Check out the glowing endorsements from these honorable members of the Metal Society:

• The esteemed Full Metal Attorney. "This is the greatest blog idea ever...."
• E, mysterious drummer from Ashencult. "The best blog. Period."
• Steve, Infiltrator shredmeister extraordinaire. "I check this every day when I get home from work to unwind."
• I.s. Lander, editor-in-chief at No Clean Singing. "Pure fucking genius."
• The mighty Autothrall. "I have seen the 'big dumb skulls' blog, and it is indeed hilarious."

And now, for your reading (and listening) pleasure, here's SKULL396:

Artwork by Jared Moran

The skull:
The largest picture we have of this cover isn’t huge, but it looks like those are maggots shivering out from under the skull, having fed on the fleshy gunk left behind by the poor decomposed subject. Looking at the bigger picture, one wonders: At what temperature do maggots melt? It must be an extremely high one, and I’ve arrived at this conclusion because not only did the candles flanking the skull melt, but it appears to be so hot in there that the skull’s cheek bones turned into Richard Nixon-esque jowls. Take a look! We have not seen the likes of this before here at Big Dumb Skulls HQ, and likely will never see it again. [The Elders of the Council of the Skull have awarded a special badge of honor to Filtheater, as every single one of their releases features a skull, skulls, or a human head that's real close to becoming a skull.]

The music:
Now this is chaotic noise-drenched death metal a guy can rock out to. I quite like this little EP, a caustic, ripping, raw 20 minutes that sort of sounds like Brutal Truth covering Nuclear Death. The drumming and overall production aesthetic resembles Brutal Truth, and the noise-factor, including riffs that sound like they were written by a tone-deaf guitarist, are evocative of my beloved Nuclear Death. The ability is here, with every member capably delivering their part of the bloodthirsty, unhinged madness. It’s clear this band truly believe in what they’re doing and their sound is more convincing than many modern-day US death metal bands content to rip off Incantation a little too closely. There’s a crust vibe in spots, and big chunks of Fiend for Blood-era Autopsy too, yet Filtheater emerges from the wreckage with a sound that, while showing its influences, is pretty much all their own. I don’t yet own anything by this band, but as soon as they compile these tape and ridiculously-limited EP releases into some sort of collection, I’m buyin’.
– Friar Wagner

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

As Friar Wagner mentions the artwork for Tenebrae isn't in the highest quality; so I thought I'd share a couple more Filtheater EP's, so you can appreciate Jared Moran's awesome skulls (and more delicious death metal of course). It is not exactly the collection Friar Wagner requested, but the entire Filtheater discography is available very cheaply on their Bandcamp. Here's Noctivagant from 2012, and their latest Crepuscule from 2013.

Artwork by Jared Moran

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Artwork by Jared Moran

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Serpent Eater - Hyena

Written by Majbritt Levinsen.


*Insert 3 lines of foul words in capital letters here* Or in other words: Yes, yes, yes... you need to hear this, if you haven’t already!

Sadly I encountered Serpent Eater and their brutally massive Hyena too late to be way up high on my top 10 of 2013, it 'only' positioned itself at number 9. But the fact that they did manage to maneuver into my top ten is not something to take lightly.

So what is it that made Hyena blow me away? Well every time I listen to it I just get an undeniable desire to jump around the house going berserk and belch out whatever it is the singer is screaming. Sadly I can’t hear a word and no lyrics posted, which makes me a bit sad as usual. According to the release notes on Bandcamp the lyrics are about "the weirdness and deformations of the psyche as well as the emotions of a violated mankind in modern society" and that only makes me more curious. Musically this is massive rumbling fury straight out of Germany translated into death blackened sludge hardcore" (Quoting the band here, as it is so much more).

It is groovy and easy to get into. Every instrument has equal focus and as a bass enthusiast I’m delighted to hear the sweet sound of the bass. But what I really like is the perfect combination of fury, despair, beauty, anger and melancholy woven into the tapestry of so many musical genres I don’t even want to begin to try and write them down. That is what makes this album so great: the diversity, the blasting fury and the calm waters, the ugly and the beauty, the unpredictable and the comfort.

I have had a hard time not to add foul words to emphasis my true feelings about this album and struggled not to hit caps lock when writing this review. That is how good I think Hyena is! But enough words, now you go and listen, and let the music speak for itself.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Things you might have missed.

Written by Kevin Page.


Punishing French flamenco death metallers return with a 2 song EP, along with a new lineup. If you enjoyed their debut as much as I did (2010's La Iglesia del Odio), then you will surely find lots to love here. Without losing an ounce of their brutal death metal approach, they smartly integrated even more flamenco aspects, which can only help separate them from the countless hordes of bands these days. Let's hope this is a sign of even more new music from them in 2014.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Whiplash has been plugging away with their brand of thrash since 1984. Their third album, 1990's Insult to Injury, is my personal favorite thrash album of all time. So naturally I've been anxiously awaiting some new material, as their last release was in 2009. Finally we are graced with a single from the upcoming EP, Old School American Way, Volume 1. Sword Meet Skull, Skull Meet Sword was released back in June with no mention of when the EP is actually due (or how many songs it will have). So in the meantime we just have to enjoy a basic, catchy, quality Whiplash tune.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

While we await a new full length in 2014 from these Canadian masters of swirling death metal chaos, we at least have a two song EP to wet our appetite. Picking up right where 2011's Parasignosis left off, its 12+ minutes of brain dizzying madness barbarism. Does this sound even more sinister than they usually do? I think so.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

I love death/doom as much as the next guy, but let's face it, each day brings a seemingly a new band into the fray with a 60+ minute album. My real life commitments prevent me from really absorbing too many of those types of ditties these days (especially since I need repeated listens to accurately judge the product). So it's completely refreshing that Orlando, FL's Druid Lord eschew that notion. They have yet to write a song longer than six minutes. It's death/doom but it gets to the point. After releasing their debut album, Hymns for the Wicked in 2010, they have been busy with three splits and now their second EP, Baron Blood. Featuring their slowest material to date (yet not treading as far into funeral doom as you would imagine), these two songs are the perfect soundtrack to a horror film torture scene. It truly does feel like a rotted corpse has crawled from the earth to terrorize the living [Note: The two songs on the EP are not available together, they must be bought separately].

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]