Bloodshedd's Spare No One (Original Cover "Beast Six Nine Six")

Fuck it. Bloodshedd have released a Thrash Metal album extravaganza that I’ll probably still listen to after many years when the apocalypse comes. Here we have an album that is a slab of excellent Filipino Thrash Metal.

I’ve only listened to them live, and my initial impression of the band, is the same as with a lot of other Filipino Metal bands playing the streets of Manila, their sound deserves to be on a bigger stage, with better equipment. In “Spare No One”, the drumming leaves me asking for more. The drumming keeps my attention on the music throughout the album. A drastic comparison to their live performances where the bass drum can’t be heard. A pity since their live performances are very head bangin’ entertaining.

Although it may sound that I’m talking all praise about the album, I couldn’t help but want more growls into the music. Don’t get me wrong, Jojo’s vocal performance is relentless and has easily become one of my favourites in the Filipino Metal scene, but in its entirety,  someone doing some backing guttural vocals on some of the songs would have just hit the spot for me.

Time will tell when the album grows on me enough for me to just sing along to it. One thing’s for sure, I now need to listen to their debut album and see what happens from there.

Bloodshedd on – Metal Archives – MySpace – Tower of Doom -

Sky Church

As long as I can remember, I always listened to artists outside of the more than 7,000 islands that comprised what we call the Philippines. Whether it was my forced introduction to Tears for Fears, to the early slab of Black Sabbath and Motorhead, there wasn’t anything “local” that would grab my ears and make me want to buy a record from a “local band”.

Not that I don’t appreciate music from the country, but I just hear a re-hash of what’s already done. All of that changed when I got wind of Sky Church. They’re the ones I blame for setting me straight. Filipinos can play, and when they play well, they fucking slay.

How I heard of Sky Church was by way of LA105.9, a radio station back in Manila that used to play Rock and Metal. It was my favourite radio station. The first ever song that I heard from Sky Church was “Kamao” (pronounce kah-mah-oh). Another thing that appealed to me was that these guys were brothers. Three of them, starting a band and playing some metal. People would interchangeably talk about the “Dela Cruz Brothers” as Sky Church.

“Kamao” played and it was intense. The song could have done with a better production, but it grew on me. Today, I can say that “Kamao” is a classic that stands to this day. I love how it sounds so raw, so gritty and booming, and I will always remember how it helped me move forward in Metal as a whole.

So I went on the lookout across the clueless record stores around Southern Manila and all I got was Sky Church’s second album “Unaware, Unwarned”.

I loved it. It was a good few months before it left my playlist. Although I was initially disappointed to know that “Kamao” wasn’t on the album. I mean, hearing “Kamao”, getting hooked, then buying an album only find out the song isn’t there, hell, I wondered what the first album sounded like.

I still remember where I was able to secure their first album . It was at the “Bargain Bin” at Odyssey Record Store in SM Southmall. It was selling for Php100 (a regular CD cost Php425 back then). My ears were flapping.

Upon getting home, I proceeded in blasting the speakers out of my room to the CD. I was happy. Although I could discern the big difference in song writing, the influences, and the musical direction the first album, overall I liked “Unaware, Unwarned” better. I spoke too soon. The last song played and Sky Church’s “Agony” to this day is my favourite song of theirs.

That song is full of emotion that it almost sounds like a different band. Even to this day, I kind of wish that they built up on that kind of music. Very melodic, but brutal. It could have sparked a Filipino Melodic Death Metal movement even. Still, I’m happy with “Unaware, Unwarned”. The song “Delubyo” from the record kills!

Sky Church are no more unfortunately. They have moved on, and upon the ashes of the band, rose “Intolerant”. I’ll be writing about them soon.