Vault Excavations vol. 3 : Unearthing Ripping Corpse's forgotten rehearsal tape

The 90's New Jersey Death Metal scene was an absolute goldmine. While everyone's eyes and ears were turned towards New York, Florida & Sweden at the time, New Jersey had bands like Revenant, Mass Psychosis, Human Remains, Symphony of Grief, Mortal Decay, Deteriorot & more putting out some of the sickest and weirdest death metal in the world. So many high quality bands came out of there, it makes you wonder whether they put hallucinogenics in the tap water. If it was the case, it would explain why everyone there wrote such psychotic riffs. However, if I had to pick a favorite band from that era and that scene, it would certainly be Red Bank's Ripping Corpse. They do not need any introduction. They are the greatest death/thrash band that ever existed and their influence on the metal scene is often understated. By combining the sounds of US Heavy, Thrash, Speed and Death Metal together with an old school hardcore punk edge, Ripping Corpse created a sound and an atmosphere that was truly their own. Aside from the sheer savagery & primal aggression behind Ripping Corpse's music, there was a deep layer of complexity and a unique sense of intricacy behind their compositions and in the way they did things. Even the way Shaune Kelley & Erik Rutan played guitar was unlike anything people had done before in death metal. The process was something like this : They often layered several guitar tracks on top of each other and then played the riffs with their thumb slightly pressed on the strings to create a constant stream of semi-natural harmonic notes, the same way one uses his thumb to play pinch harmonics. It was made more obvious when the riffs shifted into tremolo picked melodies though. I dubbed this way of playing the "Corpse picking" technique, which I use in my bands as well. At the time though, it was something no one had done to this extent before. The overall result is often dizzying and almost hypnotizing, thus giving a unique texture to the band's twisted soundscapes.

After the release of several demos and their legendary debut album "Dreaming With The Dead" which was met with great success and enthusiasm Ripping Corpse released an EP titled "Industry" and almost immediately begun recording their 2nd full length album. Their label at the time went out of business, causing the band to break up during the making of their 2nd album which was being recorded at Soundspa Studios. Because Ripping Corpse were extremely prolific songwriters, the band had also recorded a series of rehearsal tapes featuring material not present on any of the scrapped Soundspa Studio sessions. All of these files would only re-surface decades later on various filesharing forums alongside the unfinished album. In the current age, most Ripping Corpse fans have already familiarized themselves with the unreleased album as it is quite easy to find on youtube and various blogs. Finding the unreleased rehearsal tapes is another story, however. By sheer coincidence, I happened to stumble upon one of these tapes in my old external hard-drive the other day. I don't know exactly how or when I got ahold of these files, but let's just accept the fact that these files were there all along for the world to hear eventually. Please note that these are NOT the same rehearsal session as the other video titled "rehearsal 1992" already up on youtube. I could only find these 5 tracks and the titles are missing. I have taken it upon myself to upload the files for your listening pleasure below :

https://youtu.be/W08QvxM_KHM

Interestingly enough, the band Electro Quarterstaff borrowed some of the riffs from the second song in this rehearsal tape on their own song "Titanium overlords". It seems these guys were also quite the connoisseurs and have access to the goods very early on. Even when presented in the rawest, most lo-fi and basic format possible, Ripping Corpse's music remains timeless and is instantly recognizable. The aforementioned techniques I mentioned above that made Ripping Corpse such distinct musicians, as well as the band's eclectic mix of influences, can all be found within this rehearsal demo. It is safe to say that alongside Dim Mak, Ripping Corpse are in a class of their own, with a sound that transcended all eras and subgenres. I hope you enjoyed this demo as much as I did. Written by Phil Tougas // The Vault

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Review : Chthe'ilist - Passage Into The Xexanotth by Metal Injection

Via Metal Injection : "Chthe'ilist’s Le Dernier Crépuscule was a bona fide modern classic. Easily one of the decade's great metal records. So, to say that the bar is set absurdly, unfairly high for any follow up release is a colossal understatement. Still, Passage into the Xexanotth nearly hits the mark. The Canadian death metal anomaly’s new two-song EP is an unearthly descent into a primordial hellscape. It's split between the title track and a cover of the long-defunct Swedish death metal band Crematory’s “Beneath the Crypts.” It utterly annihilates any notion that Chthe'ilist’s 2016 debut was a fluke.

Fans of Le Dernier Crépuscule will be right at home, which is monumental praise in and of itself, but the title track is hardly just a rehash of the band's prior work. Although hardly necessary, Passage into the Xexanotth is further proof that Chthe'ilist’s technical skills songwriting prowess exude inventiveness and unpredictability. The song constantly warps and slivers around in tone and pace, while the sheer quality of the musicianship means that all ingenuity stays fresh on numerous subsequent spins.

The bass lick that ignites the song’s first heavy segment about a minute into the record is easily one of my favorite musical moments of the year so far. The song’s following grisly and monstrously heavy outro ends things on a monumental note. Of course, frontman Phil Tougas’ genuinely inhuman vocal performance is still without peer. The demon that inhabits Tougas—his vocals are far beyond anything else in the genre—is a malicious entity. It perfectly complements the relentlessly alien nature of the backing music.

While the EP’s clearest highlights are found in its title track, much of this effusive praise is also owed to the release’s cover song. The Quebec unit hits the perfect tone for a cover song, staying true to the original sound while adding their own twists and signature stylings as needed. While “Beneath the Crypts’” more direct structure differentiates the song from Chthe'ilist’s more convoluted original work, the track hardly sounds out of place here.

While the title track’s opening and closing sections are particularly exceptional, the atmosphere and production in its midsection are noticeably thinner than Le Dernier Crépuscule's material. The haunting soundscape that defined that record is most prominent in “Passage into the Xexanotth’s” closing sequence. Of course, there’s no denying that the song as a whole is a comparably straightforward listen. This isn’t necessarily severely negative and stylistic diversions are certainly welcome, but the utterly Lovecraftian bleakness that defined the band’s debut elevated the superb material into a truly masterful territory, and its comparable sparseness on the EP is nonetheless unfortunate.

Make no mistake, it is the minute differences that separate this EP from one of the best albums in years. We’re apparently some time away from Chthe'ilist’s sophomore record, but Passage into the Xexanotth is ample proof that it should be one of the most highly anticipated metal records. Until then, this EP is mandatory listening."

SCORE: 9.5/10

Review : Chthe'ilist - Passage Into The Xexanotth by Toiletovhell

Via Toiletovhell : "In case you fucked-off early last Friday you may have missed that everyone’s favourite Lovecraftian luminaries Chthe’ilist sprung a surprise 2-track release of cosmic chaos on the world. And it’s pretty much all a few of us have been spinning since. Consisting of one track from the recording sessions for 2016’s immense debut Le Dernier Crépuscule, and a cover of a classic Crematory cut (the original Swedish band, not that fake German cover-act), Passage Into The Xexanotth is a brief but no less welcome offering from the Canadian weird-death wonks.

Not being as well-versed in the mythos as some, I’m not the one to tell you which gruesome grimoire the track’s lyrics draw from, but what I can tell you is that Tougas and co. bring everything that made Le Dernier Crépuscule a standout success to the table on ‘Passage Into The Xexanotth’. The band’s take on an arcane combination of some of death metal’s most recondite recordings makes for a truly amazing and ultimately unique soundscape. The riffing takes the tumult of Timeghoul and the dement of Demilich, but rather than amble around a theme in an almost aimless fashion, it funnels the flow into a solid stream which feels far more deliberate and satisfyingly ‘song-like’ than either of the one-album wonders’ work.

Structurally the song is quite a bit more linear than you may expect for the style, which definitely helps lend it the aforementioned instant accessibility. However, it’s the mood evoked around the half-way point from the introduction of the sinister synths (think Phlebotomized or those of their Chthulu-cohort in Catacomb) and Phil Tougas’ otherworldly leads that transcend the track beyond the corporeal and into the cosmic. To hear the guitar solo tone alone is worth the price of admission, as the only thing which comes close that I’ve heard in recent memory is that of Cosmic Atrophy. Stellar stuff! If all that wasn’t enough, the Crematory cover betters the original. Although, I did sort of expect a slight funeral doom divergence at some point based on that rad Thergothon-ass logo change, but I am a suggestable simpleton. Anyway, here are some toilet testimonials from people who actually know what they’re talking about –

Leif Bearikson

It seems like only 2.5 years ago that Chthe’ilist released their outstanding debut Le Dernier Crépuscule. Wait, it was 2.5 years ago? Wow, that feels like decades ago in this new hellscape world we’ve found ourselves in. Well, 2.5 to 25 years later, depending on who you ask, we finally have some new music out of these crazed Canucks. As an EP containing one new song and a cover, it’s a bit of a tease, but it’s a DAMN good tease. Written even before Le Dernier Crépuscule, the titular ‘Passage into Xexanotth’ sounds like it could easily be slotted into the band’s lone full length. It contains everything you love about Chthe’ilist, from the frog vocals to bouncy, Seinfeld bass to the brilliant and creative leads (the Iommi-esque doubled up, slightly staggered solos are especially inspired). The other half of this EP is a cover of Crematory’s (the good Swedish one, not the German one trying to guilt you into buying tickets) “Beneath the Crypts.” I’m not gonna lie, I like it more than the original version. Chthe’ilist have taken it, cleaned it off and beefed it up. There’s a sense of energy and urgency coursing through that just doesn’t come across in the muddled original and it really gives “Beneath the Crypts” new life. Oh, and most importantly of all: How about that Thergothon style logo? All in all, fantastic stuff here but it’s gotten me quite impatient for more.

W

Aeons ago, in the year 2015, Randall Thor suggested I check out a (relatively) obscure Canadian death metal band called Chthe’ilist and their “god-tier” demo Amechth’ntaas’m’rriachth. On this account, Randall Thor was no fool; the demo certainly delivered on the weird 90s death metal goodness my deviant heart craved, and the debut LP that dropped just a year later only served to seal my ruin. As if to spite me, Chth’eilist – now a four piece thanks to the recording debut of funky bassmeister Antoine Daigenault – call back through the shifting sands of time to their since transcended-cult status with an excellent croaking, noodling 7″ of eldritch aggression. “Passage into the Xexanotth” feels a bit more linear than the sprawling work on Le Dernier Crépuscule, easily making the nearly seven-minute run time slip past you in a flash. It’s a welcome addition to the band’s growing canon, as is the deliciously perverse cover track, and Daigenault’s delicate (ha!) tinkling on the keys lends the EP an air of mysticism throughout. Perhaps “god-tier” isn’t quite the right description for this band; that they can reincarnate two older pieces of music with such bilious aplomb hints at an antediluvian knowledge and skill far more sinister."

Originally written by Lacertilian, Leif Beirikson & W for Toiletovhell