Silovanje - Taste of Death


Cost: $15

Silovanje, the Lords of Northern Rapegore have unleashed their grotesque debut album on Grindhead Records. Hailing from Adelaide and featuring members of the cult grindcore outfit Captain Cleanoff (as well as Kosher Clinic and Apocalypse), Silovanje play a brutal brand of cyber gore/grind influenced by Australian contemporaries Fuck... I'm Dead alongside Mortician, Disgorge, Gut, Beheaded and Abuse.

These twelve tracks of break-neck depraved gore and grind brutality make a must-have piece of vomit-inducing gored out sickness for fans of fast-paced, high-energy, uncompromising and ruthlessly sadistic gore. The group describe their sound as "somewhat similar to a woman getting raped with a rusty pickaxe".

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Tartarean Desire
Australia is certainly making a name for itself, metal-wise. In my opinion, it’s arguably one of the top ten countries of the genre, boasting recognizable artists such as Astriaal, Destroyer 666, Bestial Warlust, Blood Duster, and so forth. Needless to say, I’m diggin’ the Down Under right about now. Consequently, when Silovanje’s “Taste of Death” was sent my way, I was rather excited. Silovanje is a relatively fresh brutal grind/death project hailing from Adelaide, with Sam from Berzerker on guitar, and influences that run the gamut from Regurgitate and Devourment to G.G. Allin. ToD is their first full-length release, by way of Aussie super-label Grindhead Records... Taste of Death has a rather crushing, yet pleasingly clean sound to it. The production is favorable, and with the exception of the drum programming, the music is great. The riffs pulverize, and the raw, guttural vocals complement the menagerie quite nicely. The songs are short and sweet (twelve songs collectively spanning just under twenty minutes); the perfect length for bringing the pain, without prolonging it to the point of monotony. Rhythms and tempos are switched up regularly, never becoming repetitive in the slightest. And they were even nice enough to throw in some snazzy electronic industrial-esque parts to please all the Battlestar Galactica fans! Overall, “Taste of Death” is a great example of modern brutal death metal/grindcore. I still think that an actual drummer would bring so much more to this, but luckily the music redeems itself in other aspects. It’s original, it’s brutal, and with songs like “I Raped a Rapist”, “There’s a Time to Rape”, and the eloquently named “Bitch”, it’s downright entertaining. If you’re in the mood for twenty minutes of some good ol’ cyber gore, don’t pass this up.

Metal Revolution
Silovanje, which means ‘rape’ in Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian language, is one of the most brutal death grind bands down under. Taste of Death is band’ debut album, a very short one, but very intense, brutal and interesting. There’re a few things I like about this album. First I like the guitar attack performed by guitarist Sam, contributing with fuller and thicker sound. From the very beginning of the album the guitars are in front, being heavy and brutal. Interesting enough there’re quite few solos on this release, which is unusual for this kind of music. I also like pure, powerful and raw vocals esp. on tracks like “I raped the rapist” and “Silovanje”. On the other hand I’m not a big fan of this form for programmed drums. Lyrically speaking the band is cliché, singing about rape, sex, violence, death and other ‘brutal’ topics. The band reminds me a lot of some of the 90s American brutal bands such Cannibal Corpse, The Berzerker and Dying Fetus. In general I liked Taste of Death a lot being overall a very decent and nice grind album. I can highly recommend you to check these guys out esp. if you’re a fan of above mentioned bands. 82/100

Vomit Zine
SILOVANJE comes with its first full length entitled “Taste of death”, and unleashing 12 tracks for almost 20 minutes of Brutal Death Grind with a very personnal touch due to the programmed drums. Musically, I’d say SILOVANJE makes me think of some classic Grind bands like MORTICIAN and REGURGITATE, with some classic influences of Brutal Death like CANNIBAL CORPSE, SEVERE TORTURE or even DYING FETUS. But the particularity of SILOVANJE is the way the drums are programmed. During the first listenings I thought that it would be better with more work for this programming, but finally I’m more in the idea that it sounds really unique and interesting with that kind of easy cyber programming, rather far from MORTICIAN or THE BERZEKER, but I really think it gives a really interesting side to the stuff!! About the other elements of the musick, so it’s about a Brutal Death Grind band with the influences named above, but with interesting stuffs like furious and fast guitar parts, dual vocals, some interludes, and finally this is a very good release, coming with a strange artwork and layout!! BUY OR DIE!!!

Brutalism
"Silovanje" is a yugo word for rape and that's pretty much what the listener is in for. "A Taste of Death" is just a friken berserker that will shred through your soul like an Ginsu 2, infect you with tetanus like a rusty nail, and before you even realize it's through with you, you've got lockjaw. Your jaw is glued to the floor. You won't be able to remove your jaw from the fucking floor. All you can do is sit there with that stunned look on your face. And isn't that what extreme metal is all about? 20 minutes and it's all over, most songs less than two minutes long. I Can't believe they get such incredible sound from a Zoom drum machine, but that's exactly what they are using. And while the fact they are using a drum machine would tend to put them in the category of "sounds better on headphones," the songs on "Taste Of Death" hold their own on any set of speakers. Perverted cybergore-grind with a definite influence from their countrymen Fuck ... I'm Dead and also German porngrind band Gut, as well as older Cannibal Corpse, ala "Vile," Silovanje manage to assault the listener with a brand of carnality all their very own. Standout tracks are "Recognized," "I Raped A Rapist" and "I the Baby of Hate." These tunes in particular have got killer guitar riffs, catchy guttural growls that grind and groove, and double-bass drums blasting away with machine-like precision (which of course they should, since they are created by a fukken machine!!). Good scream samples, human voice samples, howling dingos, etc. abound through "Taste of Death," and a couple of the tracks, "Bitch," and the last track "Silovanje" include some interesting industrio-rhythmic breaks which work very well.

antiMUSIC
Well I’ve got to review the newest release from Grindhead Records. In Silovanje we get some head-snapping computer-aided cyber gore grind, at times bringing to mind fellow gore-soaked Aussies F*ck… I’m Dead alongside Mortician, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Disgorge and Gut and featuring members of the almighty Captain Cleanoff. This is a furious, dual-vocal full frontal grind assault – (as opposed to the down tuned, sludgy, incoherent gore I care naught to little for). The vocals themselves switch from F*ck I’m Dead type screeches to death metal roars. At times we get a few stylish grooves and blistering solos amongst the ridiculously brutal drumming and higher pitch frenetic shredding. All the songs are structured well enough to keep me from getting bored, and the production is solid. A solid debut effort from the self-proclaimed Northern Lords of Rape Gore.

Metal Rage
Silovanje was formed in 2002 and Taste of Death is their debut CD. They have been described as one of the most brutal grind/death bands from Australia. Let’s see what’s true about that. After a sample in the title song of the CD, Silovanje blasts of with ‘Midnight’. The double bass reaches an insane, inhumane speed which sounds awesome in the beginning but quickly it starts sounding like some kind of electronic noise. Fortunately they don’t use this insane Berzerker speeds much, but it’s too bad that you’re not hearing a drummer of flesh and blood. Guitarist Sam used to play in Berzerker by the way. Silovanje is strongly influenced by bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus which for instance can be heard in the nice low, deep grunts; but also some high, filthy, almost blackmetalish screaming occurs in a song like ‘There’s a Time to Rape’. The great thing about this CD is that each song clearly has its own face, it’s not like you’re listening to blast beats all the time; many nice rhythms pass by. The songs’ playing time are around the two minutes and are very well produced, for 20 minutes long the adrenaline rushes through your veins, because it’s indeed very brutal. With Taste of Death Silovanje managed to make an impressive, brutal debut CD, but with the next release I would like to hear a real drummer, see more professional artwork and hear more songs, because 20 minutes is just to short to hear from this great band.

Nuclear Abominations
Australia has its good share of solid bands despite the relatively rarefied population, it seems every genre is played down there in a totally different, reinvented way, be it Death, Black or Grind or whatever. Even though I am more into disgusting shit a la Intense Hammer Rage of Kutabare (man what a masterpiece that one is), I can't but recognize there is also a new thriving scene of whacked, fucked up grindcore bands which shamelessly use the drum machine to create cockeyed, nutty, oddball music and good shit comes from the cauldron indeed. I thought Fuck... I'm Dead was a mild choice for the Razorback roster with its fake sounding drum machine but this Silovanje sounds a pinch more savage and well, their guitar riffs are just plain good, with a small dose of micro-solos appearing in the middle of the chaotic frenzy of downtuned grindcore we have here.

This is a good example of musicianship gone for the better. There is a battering, headbanging vibe in the riffs that just helps the whole songs push forward with strong pressure. Take the song "I Rape a Rapist" and you'll certainly understand what I mean. The whole groove comes from the arrangements and not some cheap breakdowns and that is a definite turn over. The vocals here are the already tested to be efficacious mix of incoherent screams and a more masculine, full body growls and the whole thing just has the right chemistry. I think this drum machine is quite good but as always a real drummer would make this band really stick out. The "album"'s concept (man, 19 minutes is really too little to call this an album without using quotation marks) is about rape. Aussies really have no shame ahah. I remember the shit that fell when Intense Hammer Rage released Holy P... whatever. The pics are not overly sharp and in the end I am not able to tell if it's just computer graphics or just a combination of real life photos. In any case this time we have an efficacious mix. A tidbit difficult to read sometimes but nice packaging overally speaking.

Thrash Pit
Silovanje have made quite a name for themselves in the Australia grind/brutal death underground. After the release of their debut EP called I Raped The Rapist, Silovanje have issued a new album entitled Taste Of Death, a good record that is both brutal and exciting. One thing I liked about this album is how the guitar attack was relentless. From the beginning to the end of the album, the guitars never stopped being fast, heavy and brutal. Another thing that makes Silovanje's album much different from many other grind bands is the amount of solos there are. Though it seems rare at times, solos are always tossed in to mix up the music, and it works. Band member Pedj contributes largely to the album by operating the drum machine, which is absolutely crazy. The double bass samples are lightning fast and the drums are a very special feature to "Taste Of Death." Singer Dinga does a good job on vocals, even though the vocals seem somewhat bland at times. His growls are powerful and mix well with the rest of the mayhem. Dinga also uses some strange high pitch vocals that are just as scary as they are deafening. There was the occasional moment when I thought a vocal change would be nice, but he overall did a swell performance. I liked Taste Of Death. It wasn't amazing, but it certainly wasn't shitty, it's just a nice grind album. If you're into grind and brutal death, you're going to want to check these guys out. Taste Of Death is overall a decent effort.

My Last Chapter

The promo sheet says Silovanje’s strongly influenced by Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Devourment and Regurgitate with a twist of GG Allin. In all honesty I think it sounds more like a death metal version of SMES, Microphallus or such. Like a death cybergoregrind mix, with maybe a dose of hardcore. Some of the stuff is pretty cool while others become a little bit too much for me. For a band that holds members from both Captain Cleanoff and Berzerker I think you can kinda guess what’s going on.

Rabid, high pitch screaming vs. regular growling. The two different vocals interact in a great way, though it’s mostly growling. Riffing-wise I can see the resemblance to both Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, but the drums are so obviously programmed that I can’t help to think of cybergoregrind. I’m not an enemy of drum machines, but Silovanje haven’t really made an effort to make it sound like real drums, and so it sounds like Blue Holocaust and the likes. About 40 seconds into #10 there’s a breakdown that gives it an even higher cyber vibe.
Some bits are great, but in all honesty I think it’s just too weird for me. I definitely like the genres cybergore, grindcore and death metal, but with the three combined it’s a bit too diffused for my taste. They have an upcoming fullength on Grindhead Records so I guess we’ll have to see what I think of their new stuff that time around.