Vulcanocide

Vulcan Tyrant know how to pick a bandname, and also how to piss you off. In the first place, the Dutch pair surely love Vulcano and Hellhammer, but starting and ending their debut album Vulcanocide with the disgusting (and identical, if mirrored) ‘Introcide’ and ‘Outrocide’ seems unnecessary. For 2 minutes each, these tracks pulse with strange electronics and then rather painful beams of staticky fuzz (the other way round for 'Outrocide') without achieving anything except perhaps a headache for the listener. The resulting 24 minute release of listenable music thus already feels disappointing, especially considering they first formed 17 years ago, though paused the band for a decade, as they have again for the time being.

The 8 songs between the intros are disgusting too, just in a better manner, heaping sonic filth onto a “who fucking cares?” barrage of thrash, death, and speed that actually possesses some structuring and groove beneath the grime. In some ways, this replicates the real feel of early '80s extremity by being more messy than heavy, 'Demonize the Spirit' just coming on like Venom with poor production, while the vocals are decidedly harsh but not utterly rabid. That as many of the songs as possible concern Satan in the lyrics may reflect the direct nature of the release, though the slapdash soloing will communicate much the same on songs like 'Eating Your Mind', while 'Your Eyes and Ears Will Bleed' effectively carries its message by title alone. Fans of the ancient underground will dig Vulcanocide and its off the rails monotony, even though it’s nothing remotely new.


Originally written in edited form for Metalegion #11 - www.metalegion.com