Review
Sons of Azrael
The Conjuration of Vengeance

Metal Blade (2007) Kevin Fitzpatrick

Sons of Azrael – The Conjuration of Vengeance cover artwork
Sons of Azrael – The Conjuration of Vengeance — Metal Blade, 2007

"Trail of Flesh," "Sweet Blasphemy," and "Scent of a Dead Whore". Sure, we all know these titles as classic children's books, but did you know that they've been adapted into songs by a group called Sons of Azrael? Yes, that's right - all your favorite bedtime stories set to music on one convenient disc

as sung by the cookie monster.

Ok, that's cheap - the cookie monster joke's been done to death and I feel like a lesser person having used it. You know what else has been done to death? This music. These boys from Buffalo play the metal des morte and they play it well - blastbeats galore and all, but there's something lacking. Oh yeah, that's what it is. I can't seem to remember a single damn song on the album. After repeated listens, I can't remember a single note, growl, or grunt. The song titles are memorable. "Turn That Crown Upside Down", being a personal fave. Just don't ask me to tell you how it goes.

Look, The Conjuration of Vengeance is the S.O.A.'s debut album and it doesn't suck - the band just needs to streamline their sound, because it sounds very much like a debut album - that is to say, every influence they've ever known shit out in digital quality. Maybe "bled out" would be more fitting, as the band clearly put their heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, spit and spoo into this release. Death metal is a genre that is in desperate need of bands that break the weather-beaten tradition of the sound. Everybody's vying for that coveted "special guest" slot on Ozzfest by sounding exactly like every band they're competing with and the snake just winds up eating its own tail.

There's a reason why the pioneer bands of the genre are so revered - bands like Death, Carcass and Morbid Angel - because even though they were all painted by the same media-brush as it's own subgenre, they each had very distinct sounds, and those familiar with the music could distinguish the difference in nanoseconds. Try that with the bands of today - the Red Chords, the Black Dahlia Murders, the Despised Icons - again, bands that aren't terrible but are wallowing in the tar pit of a style of music that for the most part doesn't care if they go under or not, because they're fully aware they'll be another sound-alike band to take their place before Sharon Osbourne even has a chance to check the gate receipts.

Sons of Azrael – The Conjuration of Vengeance cover artwork
Sons of Azrael – The Conjuration of Vengeance — Metal Blade, 2007

Recently-posted album reviews

Between the Buried and Me

The Blue Nowhere
Inside Out (2025)

Between The Buried And Me are seasoned vets to the progressive metalcore, electronic, prog (whatever other genre they bend) scene and continue to drop album after album. Their career started back in 2000 from the ashes of one of the greatest metalcore bands of all time (in my humble opinion), Prayer For Cleansing. As the band has progressed over the … Read more

The Beths

Straight Line Was A Lie
Anti (2025)

Dear Beths, Congratulations on the new release. I’ve been reflecting on our relationship and, as I’ve recently started to write about music again, have been asked to share my thoughts with you. First and foremost, I want to say that this isn’t easy for me. I cherish your album Future Me Hates Me from 2018. The title track alone is … Read more

East End Redemption

Crashing Down
Independent (2025)

Who would’ve thought that from the land of lobsters and blueberries, you’d find a punk band? East End Redemption is a four-piece band that brings their flavor of punk from Portland, Maine to the masses with their eleven song, debut full-length album, Crashing Down. They mix elements of skate punk, power pop, and even hints of hardcore punk. The band … Read more