Review : Yes, yes, yes. There have been a few times when waves of bands in the underground sounded like a big fucking mess, not necessarily because they were trying to sound like a big fucking mess, but because their drive for the extreme got beyond their abilities as musicians. HELLHAMMER, SODOM's In The Sign of Evil, BLASPHEMY's Fallen Angel of Doom, BEHERIT's The Oath of Black Blood, anything from GOATLORD... you get the idea. Glorious times, and glorious releases.

KRATORNAS' Hecatomb To Affliction captures the spirit of those releases perfectly. The production is resplendently disgusting. You actually hear mics/amps feeding back from time to time. Appropriately, this is a cassette-only release limited to 300, so even the tape hiss is intact. The vocals are vile beyond compare... laden with reverb, they sound like 1,000 cats dying 1,000 deaths and someone throwing a grenade into the midst of it all. Musically, Hecatomb To Affliction is primitive and barbaric, but like the early works of VENOM and KREATOR, memorable.

Could you call it black metal? I guess so. Death metal? Yeah, sure. Thrash? Absolutely, but to slap KRATORNAS with any one defining genre would not do them justice. Just as the aforementioned bands transcended genres, as much because no one had (and, in many cases, still hasn't) though up a name putrid enough to aptly describe the chaos they generated, KRATORNAS have reached new levels of debauchery and insanity on Hecatomb To Affliction, and the release sits proudly along with the albums mentioned above as a new extreme in raw, unbridled ugliness. Seek this one out before it is gone if it is not already, and if you miss the boat, pray that KRATORNAS get around to recording something else as the world might become a too beautiful place without them. 9/10

Whereabouts : New York, USA
Author : Al Kikuras

Review : After an absence of 4 years, Kratornas is back with a new album. And the Asiatic South-East's demon is as destructive and unhealthy as ever. The metal scenes of this part of the world has offered us some of the most blasphemous and chaotic bands (like Abhorer, Impiety, Bazzah, Prophecy), but this band from the Philippines is the most depraved of them.

"Hecatomb to Affliction" was writed in 1998, but was only recorded in 2003. For those who already know Kratornas, it's yet a torrent of morbid chaos, of vocals coming from the deepest abyss of the Pacific, and of filthy loudness. This album is on the other hand slightly more melodic than "The Onslaught of Battledemons", with some more quiet parts ; possibly more in the vein of the demo "Enorth Eht Nihtiw Si Taog Eht", but without keyboard. But don't worry, it's always the same good old destructive Kratornas. The album is formed of only 3 songs, but they are long songs (1 of 4:23, and the 2 others of more than 10 minutes). Like the canadian band Lust, despite of their butality, Kratornas is yet an enough technical band, what make of them rather a complete band. For sure, even if the Black Metal scene has absolutely advanced during the last 4 years, Kratornas is yet the most extreme band of the world Black Metal scene.

The music of many bands are qualified of insane, extreme and/or chaotic Black Metal, but generally, it's totally false, and it's only a marketing tool. But, for Kratornas, all this terms define them perfectly. Besides, no one must can use this terms for describe a Black Metal band if he never heard Kratornas, Goatpenis, Lust (Canada), Enbilulugugal and Botulistum. 80/100

Whereabouts : Quebec, Canada
Author : Pierre-Marc Brosseau

Review : This is the second demo from Kratornas, a band from the Philippines that plays raw, chaotic thrashing black metal.

The guitar here is a thrashing wall of sound, with some old-school metal lead parts. The drums are almost entirely blast-beats, though they slow down to an stately beat every now and again. The vocals are easily the best part of Kratornas - they're heavily distorted snarls, and they lend the recording a particularly sick atmosphere.

Kratornas' songwriting is excellent. This demo is three songs, and nearly half an hour long, yet there's not a boring moment. The last few minutes of "Hollow Ground Destruction" are especially noteworthy, as it sounds as if the band is firing off heavy munitions after each riff! These songs are highly chaotic, but the band's performance is more than good enough to pull it off, giving the demo a natural flow that belies its complexity. The mix here isn't the best, but it works well for this style of metal, especially the distorted, booming drums.

This is one of the best demos I've heard in a while. Kratornas is certainly worth looking into, especially for fans of dirty, thrashing Asian metal. Recommended.

Standout Tracks: "Hollow Ground Destruction"

Whereabouts : USA
Author : Cathy / Vorfeed Zine

Review : Oh, a new release by Kratornas!!!! This time is old material from back in 1998 and in my point of view different than the "Onslaught…" chaoz. This time beyond the fast and chaotic war Black/Death parts you will find many mid-tempo Thrash/old school Death parts that are really neck breaking many times, also some Heavy Metal riffs in my opinion appears some times. The stuff sounds more mature than the demo tape and the sound is a bit better but excellent for such sickness. All the tracks have many chapters and as I can understand any of them is a concept track or something. The vocals are in the same way as on the demo but this time sounds to me better and in the right time (he, he), maybe the sickest and more extreme vox in today's scene. Influences? When it has to do with Kratornas I think that no influences should be mentioned because this band has it own style and sicknoize, and produced again a great work you should get surely, I wait also the new release during this year, I am sure that this one will be fucking killer and enthrone Kratornas where they deserve to be - on the throne of the South Asian Black/Death metal.

Whereabouts : Thessaloniki, Greece
Author : Giorgios Papachristos

Review : Here we have a brand new release of one of the most brutal and extreme act from the Far East: Kratornas!! This little jewel of brutality has composed of 3 long songs for a total of 26 minutes of pure nihilism and it should be released as a Cassette EP by the French Ordealis Records. The trademark of these songs is as always the inhume vocals and the drum machine at full speed: only in the second song "Hollow Ground Destruction" it slackens speed to create morbid atmospheres. This is surely my favorite song also because because there are some melodic guitar riffs (even if called "melodic" is a bit excessive!!) and this makes the song more variegated. To conclude, this release must be in every stereo of a Blasphemy or Beherit fan or in every hands of all guys who think that the real spirit of Metal is to annihilate every kind of life!!! 8/10

Whereabouts : La Spezia, Italy
Author : Riccardo Cadorraghi

Review : This EP of 20 minutes are 2 songs (promo) but it's seperate in several chapters. The sound is really destroyer, nothing of pussy productions, this is the Fucking HELL and I love this but Warning: Something weaks can produce pain of head, HaHaHa! The first track (Hollow Ground Destruction) is fucking amazing. The killer riffs in the vein of Thrash Metal are brilliants! The vocals are... Rotten and Dirty!!! Of course, with a high distortion and it produces the fucking apocalypse. I'd say it's Black Metal but primitive till death. Besides the 2nd song (Arrant Woe) is pure hate, more raw and the voice (?) is like a cat in the fire. I adore this band because it's diabolical with Powerful Energy, whole of dark feelings but this is not for sensitive ears!

Whereabouts : Pontevedra, Spain
Author : Jose Bouzas

Review : I sent for "The Onslaught of Battledemons" last year, and it was ok. This, though, is another beast entirely, and I worship this! In the vein of BEHERIT, early SODOM, and BLASPHEMY, among other more Scandinavian styled bands, KRATORNAS destroys! I don't get where Bruno calls this an EP, though. It's half a fuckin' hour long! Three tracks, split up into a total of 13 chapters! Long-ass songs, for sure. They carry a truly dark feeling, and are only occasionally guilty of dragging themselves out interminably. Most of the time, they're an easy listen. Pretty good shit. I look forward to the next one.

Whereabouts : Ohio, USA
Author : Andrew Parrish

Review : Kratornas is a one-man band from the Philippines. You could meet my review on his previous stuff "Onslaught of Battledemons" in S & M #4. That time I warned every trend-followers to avoid this band, now the case is the same. The sound and the music remained Raw, Necro Black Metal, which devoids of any commercial elements. I am not sure that many fans will like it, but if your ears are used to noisy, chaotic productions, this is something for you. It is incredible how crazy voices could this man press out of himself, and the music also is as insane as the vocal themes.
Whereabouts : Tokaj, Hungary
Author : Erik Zoldi

Review : Well here it is the first contact with the metal scene from Philippines. Bruno is standing behind this name and band. This is a one man band and it is a real underground work. There are only 3 songs on it, but they're composed of chapters and that means longer timming around 26 min. The music is black with thrash/death influence from the '90 which is a kind of interesting mix. Well, the production isn't that good, but it's in my territory with proper sound and it doesn't bother me. Maybe Bruno vocals need some changes…but, all in all Kratornas didn't disappointed me and now I'll know that even on the Philippines you can search for a interesting underground acts.
Whereabouts : Skopje, Macedonia
Author : Darko Krsteski

Review : This is out right now through Ordealis on pro tape, they also have t-shirts of "The onslaught of battledemons" & I'm sure Bruno also has some of his own print still available. Not much to add to the intie featured in this issue. I think the global sound approach is now colder (especially the guitars) though the thrashing strings are still present; it's all heading in some sort of indus/noise direction due to the peculiar fat sounding percussions & sound arrangements. Infamous blasting warfare, enormous pieces of burning metal crushing on cold stone, ravaging thousands of lives; fucking cold, inexorable, the musical embodiement of mass destruction weapons. Beherit meets Slayer in Hiroshima, the brutal ending of all life forms in a ray. Disinteressed global destruction for the sole sake of total annihilation. Planets taken out of their orbit to crash onto whatever comes up the way. As far as I could perceive it, this is evil pushed a step further into musical handling. Impressive.

Whereabouts : Marseille, France
Author : Thomas Donner

Review : Kratornas, maybe one of the most hatred bands in the whole world are back with a great 3 track demo! It´s still worse, yet evil and ill! 26 min. of extreme terror are on that tape (Hey cool, Ordealis Rec. is also doing pro-tapes)! The lay-out is pro-done, the sound, too! For some it´s only noise for others´ pure cult (I can tell that I´m not belonging to the first ones). Bad thing is that stupid drum-pc, the rest is ok! Well played riffs, so god-damned thrashy! The voice is a fist in everybodys face! Everybody who hated "The Onslaught of Battldedemons" (demo/10") will hate this again! It´s not allowed to me to tell something about the lyrics, but read for yourself some lines taken from the songs: "Death to muslim plague, christian souls will burn, this muslim cancer, we destroy their lives, dead jesus, sub-human genocide, ground zero, arabs will crawl, mediterranean hatred, goatlords´commant, kill in the name of satan"! So, fukkin´ extreme!!

Whereabouts : Weibenthurm, Germany
Author : Hurricane

Review : Oh ja, tötet mich, argh, ist das ein barbarisches Gescheppere. Der Sound klingt wie ein Livetape von 1986, das jahrelang in einer feuchten Gruft geschlummert hat und nun aus dieser befreit und veröffentlicht wurde. Kratornas sind nicht schön, sie sind nicht harmonisch, sie sind die totale Zerstörung. So gesehen ist dann auch ihre Musik das Optimum an Krach, vergleichbar mit Bands wie Beherit zu Demozeiten, Krieg, Impaled Nazarene in ihrer embryonalen Phase, Blasphemy. Es wird geschrotet, gerast und geknüppelt, der Shouter kreischröchelt derweil haßerfüllt seine antichristlichen Parolen ins Mikro. Ach, herrlich, man fühlt sich gleich zwölf Jahre jünger. Das noisige Inferno zeigt schon Struktur, sonst würde ich es nicht mögen, sorry, hassen können. Was Kratornas da abliefern ist die pure musikalische Blasphemy. Nun ja, es ist ja auch nur ein Demo, aber eines, das es in sich hat. Die explosionsartigen Klangeruptionen, die über den zuweilen wirklich packenden, einfachen Riffs und Läufen der Band liegen, steigern den irrwitzigen Ausdruck der Musik bis hinein ins pure Chaos. Kratornas sind keine Band für den allgemeinen Musikkonsumenten. Nur eine kleine, dafür umso fanatischere Schar von Höllenkreaturen wird sich dieser Band öffnen können, denn die drei längeren Tracks zermalmen einfach alles. Ein wenig besser im Sound und man könnte sie mit viele aktuellen Killerbands in eine Liga stellen, denn so primitiv das hier auch klingt, Kratornas sind instrumental nicht die Superstümper, für die man sie halten könnte. Es ist dieser morbide, scheppernde, klirrende und knarzende Sound, der wahrlich Songstrukturen nur erahnen lässt, sobald Kratornas das Gaspedal durchdrücken. Gerade die vielen groovigen, mittelschnellen bis schleppenden Passagen geben dem Material erst richtig sein satanisches Feeling. Diese Band ist besessen, sie muß besessen sein. Brillant, irgendwie, betörend krankhaft, zerstörerisch, chaotisch...ich bin verliebt. 300 Exemplare gibt es von diesem Demotape, sichert Euch eines bei www.ordealis.com

Whereabouts : Wiesenthau, Germany
Author : Sir Lord Doom

Review : Em quatro faixas totalmente inspiradas pelo mais derradeiro, destruidor, sujo e agressivo Black Metal o Kratornas de Filipinas destoam de muita coisa que se ouve na cena underground mundial atual. Riffs total sujos e bem cavalgados, batera simples coesa e ā toda velocidade, a cozinha para falar a verdade é apenas um grave que se faz parecer presente, porém pela sujeira proposta a prķpria banda... Vômito total, o trampo dos caras mostra-se ser uma excelente pedida para quem gosta de ouvir audiįões anaudíveis tipo grindcore e crust!!! Porradaria total... ouįa a excelente faixa "Hollow Ground Destruction" que apresenta excelente influęncias do velho Thrashão dos anos oitenta na guitarra porém que pelo menos para mim não lembra ninguém! Do caralho para quem está disposto ā esporrear o seu pescoįo!!! 4/5

Whereabouts : Aluminio/SP, Brazil
Author : Vinicius Vidal

Review : Filippiineiltä kotoisin oleva Kratornas on vuonna 1995 perustettu yhden miehen bändi ja nyt käsillä on kolmen biisin kasetti-EP:n CD-R-promo, joka sisältää vajaat puolituntia äärimmäisen raakaa, primitiivistä ja törkysoundista black/death -hybridiä. Tempo vaihtelee nopean kaahauksen ja keskitempoisen runttauksen välillä, mutta erityisesti huomio kiinnittyy bändin ultra-rujoon ulosantiin, joka pistää lähes uusiksi käsitteen kellarisoundi. Tuotannollisesti biisejä voisikin luonnehtia lähinnä death/black metallin Beherith/Ildjarn -vastineeksi, mutta näiden klassikkoyhtyeiden tasolle Kratornas ei kuitenkaan nouse. Soitannollisella saralla biisit ovat kaoottisia ja välillä huomio kiinnittyy varsin toimiviin demppausriffeihin, jotka tosin ovat ilman varsinaista potkua soundin ollessa mitä on. Muutoin nopeammista kohdista tulee mieleen hetkittäin Conquerorin tapaiset ääriväkivaltaiset turpasaunat, mutta tyylihajonnan takia yhtymäkohdat ovat kokonaisuuden osalta hieman kaukaa haettuja. Laulut ovat raakaa rääyntää särjetyllä äänellä, joka sopii kieltämättä hyvin bändin mädänhajuisiin biiseihin. Vaikka raakasoundisuus ei monesti haitaksi tämän genren saralla olekaan, vetää Kratornas kuitenkin hieman yli. Enemmän DM-painotteiset kohdat tuntuvat vatkautuvan melkoiseksi puuroksi, josta ei välillä saa selvää väkipakollakaan. Demoksi tekele olisi ehkä astetta kelvollisempi, sillä soundia lukuun ottamatta tuotos on kaikessa alkukantaisuudessaan omalla tavalla viehättävää kuunneltavaa välipalaksi parempien levyjen välillä. 6/10

Whereabouts : Finland
Author : Serpent

Review : Najbrutalniji I najopskurniji metal današnjice dolazi iz Azije. Kratornas je bend sa sve jace filipinske scene, gotovo potpuno nepoznate domacim metal fanovima. Bend tretira black/death na najprljaviji mogici nacin, a produkcija je "krž živi" što doprinosui simpaticnosti I "podzemnosti" izdanja. Bnend postoji vec 8 godina. Bend u svom katalogu ima dva uspešna dema (drugi je prodat u cak 2000 kopija) I mLP za francusku kucu Ordealis koja ce objaviti I ovaj album na MCD-u, EP-ju I kaseti.Kažem "ce objaviti" jer smo dobili advance promo kopiju koju nam je poslao lider benda koji se "krije" pod imenom Bruno. Ako ste spremni za istinski underground u kome ne važe pravila iz "normalnog" muzickog biznisa svratite na njegov sajt http://kratornas.cjb.net ili mu pišite na kratornas@anti-christ.net. A ako više volite pisma, evo I snail-mail adrese: Bruno, 21 Emerald St., San Eusebio Subdivision, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, 6121 Philippines. Samo da vas upozorim, ovo nije muzika za svakoga! 7/10

Whereabouts : Beograd, Yugoslavia
Author : Branko Rogošic

Review : Have heard nothing new from Kratornas for about 4 years now. Still warring Black/Death with some 80s Thrash riffing mixed with sewage like Archgoat etc… Really sick sounding vocals & raw production.
Whereabouts : Philadelphia, USA
Author : Dale Roy

Review : Bruno Zamora baratomat azt hiszem, hogy a Mirgilus Siculorum olvasoinak nem kell bemutatnom, hiszen o az a fazon, aki minden honapban keszit nekunk egy-ket nagyon erdekes es tartalmas interjut. Bruno baratunk regi underground metal harcos, regebben keszitett egy nagyon igenyes zinet is, es koztudott, hogy o all az undergroundban mar elismerest szerzo Kratornas mogott is. Eddig szamos demon, kislemezen, es egy teljes nagylemezen engedett betekintest a Kratornas zenei vilagaba, ez az uj kiadvanya egy igenyes papirtokba csomagolt CD-R, ami a csapat egy korai demojat tartalmazza. Bruno azt irja, hogy ujra lett veve az egesz demo, viszont a keves anyagi keretnek koszonhetoen a vegeredmeny nem lett valami fenyes, maga Brunos sem elegedett az anyaggal. A Kratornas zajos black/thrash mufajban tevekenykedik, van egy egyeni hangulata a daloknak, ami csak az azsiai bandak sajatja. Jo temakban, notakban nincsen hiany, de a gyenge, kaotikus megszolalasnak koszonhetoen, nagyon sok minden elvesz a zenebol. Az eddigi kiadvanyaival is ez volt a bajom, ez most sincs maskeppen, kar erte, mert nagyon jo temakat jatszik a ficko. A Hecatomb To Affliction egy koncept Ep, 3 hosszu notabol all, melyek fel vannak osztva fejezetekre, viszont nem kulonulnek el elesen egymastol. A szovegek sem egyszeru estimesek, meg nekem sem sikerult megfejtenem, hogy mit is takar a koncepcio, de teny, hogy nagyon erdekes. A kiadvany nagyon igenyes meg a szovegek is mellekelve vannak, 500 kezzel sorszamozott peldanyban jelent meg. Az Ordealis kiado hamarosan megjelenteti kazetta valtozatban is. Nem egy tucat produkcio az biztos, az egzotikus orszagok zenei irant erdeklodok tehetnek egy probat a malaj Kratornassal. 7.5/10

Whereabouts : Hargita, Romania
Author : Boros Szabolcs

Review : This band is bassed out of the Philippines & play some very raw sounding Death/Black Metal music. The music is very fast & noisy sounding. They do have a balanced blend of the two styles. There are some good grooves at times through out the music. The vocals are done in a weird Black Metal type growl with some weird echo effect. This is one for all fans of raw intense Black Metal. This CD is all old material being rerecorded from 1998 for this release!!!

Whereabouts : Philadelphia, USA
Author : Burt Wolf

Review : Some sick raw Death/Black metal. Vocals from the pits of hell. Production so fuckin raw it reminds me of demo's from the 80's. This band crushes. Way fast riffs and this spews out evil force.
Whereabouts : New Jersey, USA
Author : Chris Forbes

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