Ivan Tibos.

One of Belgium’s greatest acts ever are Aborted, active for almost twenty years.

Abaddon Incarnate from Ireland were formed when Bereaved were put to rest in 1994. After some demos, they were signed by France’s label Season Of Mist, and in 1999 they released The Last Supper, followed in 2001 by Nadir (through Sentinel) and Dark Crusade in 2004 (Xtreem Music).

I very recently reviewed the six-way split Monsters! … (see update June 2^nd 2014 under ‘various’), which brought pretty refreshing, original and / or at least distinctive Grindcore-attacks, and now Kaotoxin are here again with another grinding split, this time by two sweet combos that will make you gradually nauseous. A Fairytale Full Of Apotemnophiliac Moments is how this collection of Gore / Porn lullabies is entitled, and it will be released in a limited edition of 1,000 copies with no repressing afterwards.

I do not think Triptykon need any introduction anymore. They actually started six years ago as a side-project of Celtic Frost, but soon it all turned more serious. Tom G. ‘Warrior’ Fischer left Celtic Frost (and Celtic Frost disbanded soon after), and lots of material he wrote after the Monotheist-sessions (which I still think was a splendid album) seemed to be a logical basement for his new group.

Scourge from Brazil (there used to be another Brazilian Death Metal act at the end of the former century) were formed in 2008 as some kind of Sarcófago-tribute project, yet with the aim to play own material instead of playing covers only. Their debut …On The Sin, Death, Lust And Hate… proved that they were able to pay honour to these Brazilian Cult-masters (and FYI: it was produced by Sarcófago’s Gerald ‘Incubus’ Minelli).

Because Dutch band Phlebotomized were different from the average Death Metal band, and then I am talking about the very early nineties, they were both loved and hated. Their approach was pretty unique back then, so I’d like to refer to the review on the compilation album Devoted To God, Preaching Eternal Gospels, posted on July 20^th 2013.

Patria are a Brazilian Black Metal formation, forged in 2008 by two very experienced musicians: multi-instrumentalist Marcelo ‘Mantus’ Vasco, known from e.g.

When Martyr Defiled debuted with their full length Collusion, they were sort of catapulted to the top of the scene in the U.K. Also, they built up an enormous ‘popularity’ for their extreme live performances. In mean time, Martyr Defiled shared the stage with the likes of The Black Dahlia Murder, Thy Art Is Murder, Despised Icon and All Shall Perish.

Young quartet Hirsipuu hails from Finland and self-releases the eight-tracker Ihmisestä, which lasts for eighteen minutes. This means: short tracks, all of them in between two and three minutes, so expect a fist-in-the-face product that will take no prisoners. And indeed it does not.

It is not because I am chauvinistic, but normally we consider the U.S., Sweden and Germany as the most important countries when it comes to Death Metal. I think the Lowlands, i.e. Belgium and (especially) the Netherlands, are at least as influential for the worldwide scene. It was the case in the earliest years, and it has not changed.