{"id":31186,"date":"2015-06-14T00:01:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-14T00:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=31186"},"modified":"2015-06-14T16:20:29","modified_gmt":"2015-06-14T16:20:29","slug":"album-review-e-force-demonikhol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-e-force-demonikhol\/","title":{"rendered":"E-FORCE – Demonikhol (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

E-FORCE
Demonikhol<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMausoleum (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I really enjoyed 2014\u2019s The Curse…<\/em><\/a> opus from E-Force; the band put together in 2001 by ex-Voivod shouter Eric Forrest. And so I was looking forward to this new album, and left wondering once again just why these guys aren\u2019t more popular within the thrash metal field, because while the genre is constantly being swamped by mediocre acts aping the past, E-Force just go for the throat and leave you gasping for air as your jugular is removed and blood spurts back into the gaping wound for you to choke on.<\/p>\n

Demonikhol<\/em> offers up 11 tracks, and each one is a scathing beast of ferocity and hostility; in fact, everything a thrash fan wants from a thrash metal record. And just to make sure your ears are dissected, lacerated, and amputated in grisly fashion, Forrest has enlisted the talents of five guitarists to share the leads on the record, those chosen few being Sacrifice\u2019s Rob Urbinati, Monument\u2019s Dan Baune, Exorcizphobia\u2019s Tom\u00e1\u0161 Sko\u0159epa, Yotangor\u2019s Vincent Agar and the neo-classical talents of Antonello Gilliberto.<\/p>\n

Time then to step into this tour de force of a thrash metal composition, and once again be blitzed by the industrial-tinged madness this platter has to offer. I\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll say it again; it\u2019s no wonder Forrest fitted into the Voivod framework so well, because again he\u2019s come up with a myriad of spiky rhythms, snarling structures and chaotic grooves which will put your faith back into thrash metal immediately.<\/p>\n

Of course, Forrest couldn\u2019t create such an infrastructure without the drum clanks of Krof who rumbles along like some wayward, maniacal golem which enables this cold, harsh yet somehow fiery and angry thrash composition to truly come to life. For me, once the brief instrumental intro (\u2018Ap\u00e9ro\u2019) is out of the way, we\u2019re transported into that violent Voivod-esque landscape of hammering, clanking, cluttering and smoking scrapyard of hostility \u2013 E-Force tinging their sound with a discordant, industrialised smokiness bringing to mind the dry energy of Sadus and more obscure lethal tendencies of Anacrusis.<\/p>\n

This is the sort of thrash metal I crave, with flecks of complexity, streaks of the unorthodox, but always pure (and impure!) to those old school thrash values where as a beast this has no interest in trend. Instead, we get those grating, grey riffs, bony angular drums and Forrest\u2019s mocking sneers. But this time round, due to the injection of varying lead guitar talents, it\u2019s as if we\u2019re hearing one of those cult technical thrash metal masterpieces of the late 80s; the sort of menacing and ultra-cool manifestations which passed many by but remained close to the hearts of those who knew.<\/p>\n

For me, and some will disagree, E-Force\u2019s latest abomination even hints at the complex ferocity of Death circa-The Sound Of Perseverance<\/em><\/a> (1998), where mainman Chuck Schuldiner altered his vocal style from gore-soaked coughs to dry, harsh yelps. Forrest brings the same arrogant menace to the table, \u2018Grievance\u2019 using speed yet technical prowess to the point where I\u2019m constantly replaying this violent gem only to realise it\u2019s my job to play the rest of the album!<\/p>\n

And so we come to another host of razor-backed killers; the punked up gallop of \u2018Double Edged Sword\u2019 with its lashing bass and insistent droning guitar before it resorts to a volatile chug, and then there\u2019s the whiplash of \u2018Invasion\u2019, which is catchy in its chords and juddering in its skin cracks. For me, its barbed, techno-metal at its finest \u2013 nifty, passionate and derisive.<\/p>\n

That scornful prowess just keeps on coming. \u2018Debauchery\u2019 offers up a slab of chugging mosh-metal until the solo pierces the skin and the vocal lowers itself to a deathly grunt, while \u2018The Day After\u2019 is an unexpected twist; a smouldering reflection to a backdrop of industrialised hums. Elsewhere, \u2018Ultimatum\u2019, \u2018Insidious\u2019 and the title track leave the ears sore and scabbed. \u2018Demonikhol\u2019 is a harsh, scathing featurette of cold, grey abrasive guitars, and Forrest\u2019s nasty snarl all enshrouded within that opening melodic stomp. \u2018Insidious\u2019 hints at traditional metal values and \u2018Ultimatum\u2019 gets its hooks in immediately by way of a catchy lick and further grating menace.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s still two more tunes to go. The chugging \u2018State Of Delusion\u2019 is another accessible strain boasting Krof\u2019s heavy hitting, while closer \u2018Last Call\u2019 is a fantastic industrialised throb and nothing more, and yet its rounds off the cyber-punk tone of this rasping, grainy and above all seething thrash record which will leave you feeling as if you\u2019ve spent the night with a Brillo pad. <\/p>\n

With so many of the so-called thrash giants forgetting their roots and incorporating too much watery melody into their sound over the last few decades, E-Force is a timely reminder as to what thrash metal is all about. Demonikhol<\/em> just doesn\u2019t conform; instead, it entangles, ensnares, nips, rips, snips, grips, pinches, slashes, dices, lashes and tears before it leaves you rusty around the edges. There\u2019s nothing showy here in spite of the lethal injections of the soloists; Forrest has instead upped the ante and created a thrash metal masterpiece that mocks, rocks and above all shocks the system by way of industrialised thrash strength.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E-FORCEDemonikhol Mausoleum (2015)Rating: 9\/10 I really enjoyed 2014\u2019s The Curse… opus from E-Force; the band put together in 2001 by ex-Voivod shouter Eric Forrest. And so I was looking forward to this new album, and left wondering once again just why these guys aren\u2019t more popular within the thrash metal field, because while the genre […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1237],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-e-force"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31186"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31191,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31186\/revisions\/31191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}