DUNGEON STEEL "Bloodlust"
By Dr. Abner Mality
I thought DUNGEON STEEL should have been called DUNGEON SYNTH after the opening cut bearing the same name as the band droned for three plus minutes of barely there spookhouse synth. A great way to waste precious time on a mini-album, but really after hearing the whole thing, I could say it didn't make much difference.
Here we have an Ecuadorian band with members of WAMPYRIC RITES trying to indulge in a raw version of 80's satanic speed metal. A worthy goal, if you can achieve it. Which DUNGEON STEEL falls well short of doing. The term "raw production" is these days being substituted for the more accurate "sounds like shit". VENOM and BATHORY had the trick of sounding raw but having balls as well. This is just a mess, with lousy production, atrocious attempts at falsetto vocals mixed with "necro" black metal stuff and in general songs that have some of the flavor of the 80's underground but none of the actual quality. Although short in duration, it was a real chore getting through "Bloodlust" (wonder where they came up with that name?).
There's far better retro speed/thrash/first wave black metal stuff out there than this. Nuff said!