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Zobrazují se příspěvky se štítkem#MassStrangulation. Zobrazit všechny příspěvky
Zobrazují se příspěvky se štítkem#MassStrangulation. Zobrazit všechny příspěvky

úterý 3. února 2026

Recenze/review - MASS STRANGULATION - The Red Tip Massacre (2026)


MASS STRANGULATION - The Red Tip Massacre
EP 2026, Sign Of Evil Productions

for english please scroll down

Bylo to jen pár kilometrů. Chodívala si z práce každý den. Ohlížela ses za sebe a těšila se, až si doma napustíš vanu. Obyčejný život obyčejné dívky. Dny ubíhaly a tvoje sny se pomalu plnily. Potkala si jej poprvé, když přišel k vám do práce. Nebyl vyloženě hezký, ale pokaždé se usmíval a měl v sobě něco jiného, než ostatní. Okouzlil tě. Dělalo ti to dobře. Jednou tě vyzvedl z práce a měla si radost, že nemusíš jít pěšky. Jeho pohled se ale změnil a stala si se jeho další obětí v řadě. Pohltila tě temnota.

Představte si malý domek v lesích. Pod ním sklep a spoutanou mučenou dívku. Ano, death metal, ten pravý, ryzí, opravdový a autentický bývá o hnusných věcech. Italští MASS STRANGULATION si vybrali jako hlavní nosné téma svých textů sériové vrahy. Jejich hudba by mohla být klidně soundtrackem k ohavným činům, které prováděl dlouhé roky ten elegantní pán z úvodu dnešní recenze. EP jsem ochutnal nejdříve jen opatrně, ale všechny tři skladby se mi ihned zařízly do mozku i do vnitřností jako čerstvě nabroušený skalpel. Ano, přesně takhle to mám já, starý pes, rád. Poslouchejte v chladu, naprosté tmě a hlavně hodně nahlas! 


Pokaždé, když se dívám na nějaký dokument o sériových vrazích, tak mě fascinuje a mnohdy i bolí atmosféra, zlo, které se plazí najednou kolem mě, jako jedovatí hadi. Beznaděj. Strach. Bolest a utrpení. Italským tmářům se povedlo všechno tohle doslova narvat i do nového EP "The Red Tip Massacre". Novinka má poctivý, masivní a velmi dobře čitelný zvuk, který v sobě obsahuje i takovou tu starodávnou patinu, kterou máme všichni fanoušci smrtícího kovu tolik rádi. Motiv na obalu je děsivý, tematický a určitě si jej zapamatujete. A hlavně, hudba je zde opravdu dobře napsána, má v sobě potřebný drive, tlak i energii. Pánové řežou do živého a nenudil jsem se ani chvilku. Naopak, kapelu jsem neznal a najednou jsem přišel domů a přemýšlel jsem, co budu večer poslouchat. Asi tušíte, jak to dopadlo. Ano, tohle EP má v sobě něco morbidně přitažlivého, možná děsivého a mocného. Pro mě osobně se jedná o velké překvapení a pevně doufám v to, že kapela brzy vydá i dlouhohrající album. MASS STRANGULATION mě přenesli na místa, na kterých se stalo něco zlého, ošklivého, násilného. Kolem se vznáší pach smrti a ve sklepě je připravena další oběť. Ještě před několika hodinami elegantní a usměvavý pán má ve tváři bestiální výraz. Jeho oči žhnou, do těla se mi zadírá další riff, další úder bicích, umírám v šílených křečích. Moje kosti jednou najdou zakopané na zahradě v mělkém hrobě a můj vrah bude poskytovat rozhovory a napíšou o něm knihu. Svět je někdy pěkně hnusné místo. Za mě nelze jinak, než vám novou nahrávku doporučit. Hoří totiž zevnitř a na povrchu je chladná a temná jako ruka mrtvoly. Starý, prašivý, temný a chladný death metal, který je nasáklý zkaženou krví! Zlo číhá ve stínu! 


Asphyx says:

It was only a few kilometers. You walked home from work every day. You looked back and looked forward to running a bath at home. The ordinary life of an ordinary girl. The days passed and your dreams slowly came true. You met him for the first time when he came to your workplace. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he always smiled and had something different about him than the others. He charmed you. It made you feel good. Once he picked you up from work and you were happy you didn't have to walk. But his gaze changed and you became his next victim in a row. Darkness engulfed you.

Imagine a small house in the woods. Beneath it, a cellar and a tortured girl in chains. Yes, death metal, the real, pure, true, and authentic kind, is often about horrible things. Italian band MASS STRANGULATION chose serial killers as the main theme of their lyrics. Their music could easily be the soundtrack to the heinous acts committed over many years by the elegant gentleman from the beginning of today's review. At first, I approached the EP cautiously, but all three songs immediately cut into my brain and guts like a freshly sharpened scalpel. Yes, that's exactly how I, an old dog, like it. Listen to it in the cold, in complete darkness, and most importantly, very loudly! 


Every time I watch a documentary about serial killers, I am fascinated and often pained by the atmosphere, the evil that suddenly creeps around me like poisonous snakes. Hopelessness. Fear. Pain and suffering. Italian obscurantists have managed to literally cram all of this into their new EP, "The Red Tip Massacre". The new release has an honest, massive, and very clear sound, which also contains that ancient patina that all fans of deadly metal love so much. The cover art is terrifying, thematic, and definitely memorable. Most importantly, the music is really well written, with the necessary drive, pressure, and energy. These guys really hit the mark, and I wasn't bored for a moment. On the contrary, I didn't know the band, and suddenly I came home and wondered what I would listen to that evening. You can probably guess how it turned out. Yes, this EP has something morbidly attractive, perhaps frightening and powerful about it. For me personally, it's a big surprise, and I sincerely hope that the band will release a full-length album soon. MASS STRANGULATION transported me to places where something evil, ugly, violent had happened. The smell of death hangs in the air, and another victim lies waiting in the basement. Just a few hours ago, an elegant and smiling gentleman now has a beastly expression on his face. His eyes are burning, another riff pierces my body, another drum beat, I die in crazy convulsions. My bones will one day be found buried in a shallow grave in the garden, and my murderer will give interviews and they will write a book about him. The world is sometimes a pretty nasty place. I can't help but recommend this new recording to you. It burns from the inside and is cold and dark on the surface, like the hand of a corpse. Old, mangy, dark, and cold death metal, soaked in rotten blood! Evil lurks in the shadows!


tracklist:
01. Psychotic Murder 
02. Caliber 38 
03. The Red Tip Massacre

A few questions - interview with death metal band from Italy - MASS STRANGULATION.


A few questions - interview with death metal band from Italy - MASS STRANGULATION.

Answered Roberto (bass), thank you!

Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?

(Roberto) Hello, and thank you for this interview!

Mass Strangulation was formed in 2007 in Campobasso, southern Italy. From the outset, our intention was to compose original songs inspired by the legendary European death metal scene of the early 1990s. After putting together five tracks and just as we were about to record them, the guitarist and drummer at the time left us, leaving me and Francesco with a handful of songs and nothing else, so we mothballed the band.

In 2022, over a few beers, we decided to revive the group, and immediately contacted Marco and Jacopo on guitars and Pino on drums. We began composing new songs, completely discarding those from 15 years earlier, and after choosing three, we recorded and released them as an EP, “The Red Tip Massacre”, our official debut.


Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?

(Roberto) ‘The Red Tip Massacre’ had a somewhat complicated gestation. The drums were recorded at Landscape Studio by Gianluca Vergalito, the guitars and bass were recorded at Samnite Studio by Marco Alfieri, our guitarist, while the vocals were recorded, also at Samnite Studio, by Giuseppe, the singer of Sakahiter, in which Marco, Pino and I also play. When everything was ready, we entrusted it to the skilled hands of Stefano Morabito, mastermind of 16th Cellar Studio in Rome, who took care of the mixing and mastering.

How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?

(Roberto) The EP was released on CD and tape, in a very limited edition! To be honest, I can't tell you exactly how many copies Sign Of Evil Production printed, simply because its owner, immediately after sending us the CDs and tapes, just... disappeared! We haven't heard from him since, so we have no idea how many copies he put on the market, let alone how many he sold…


Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?

(Roberto) We don't like things to be conventional, so I can tell you, without any problems or embarrassment, that we don't write the lyrics, but Valeria, who is Francesco's partner, our singer.

You may wonder why we made this choice... Well, it's easy to explain... While we were busy composing songs in the rehearsal room, one day she came up with three lyrics that simply left us speechless, so we decided that from then on she would take care of them. She is also a psychologist, so she is able to tackle the themes we deal with from three very particular points of view: that of someone who is passionate about the issues analysed, that of a woman and that of a doctor.

The themes deal with serial killers and brutal murders, with one peculiarity: they are all Italian murderers! We wanted to distinguish ourselves a little from the usual themes addressed by death metal bands, while remaining in a similar field that would go well with the sound of our songs, and here we are...

Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?

(Roberto) The logo is the work of Roberto Toderico, a dear friend of mine, whom many will surely know as the creator of numerous logos and covers for bands of a certain calibre such as Asphix, Sodom, Artillery, Pestilence, Severe Torture, as well as artwork for festivals such as Party.San.

The cover, on the other hand, features a drawing by Mario Uggeri, an old Italian illustrator, depicting the Circeo massacre carried out by Angelo Izzo, who is also the protagonist of the story told in the EP's title track.

The rest of the CD artwork is my work, while the website is still under construction.

Being an old man, I literally hate social networks, but luckily Marco and Jacopo are younger and take care of them. I realise how important they can be nowadays, even though I consider them absolutely ephemeral compared to the old means of communication such as magazines, fanzines, radio, etc., and that is exactly why I cannot tolerate the fact that today, instead of moving forward on the basis of their real value and the effort they put into composing and promoting their music with live performances, bands have to worry about constantly posting content on social media to make people aware of their existence. It's a stupid way to approach music, and it's a product of the stupidity of today's times, as well as, in my humble opinion, the antithesis of the original philosophy and lifestyle of metal...


Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?

(Roberto) As I mentioned earlier, ‘The Red Tip Massacre’ was released in February 2025 by Sign Of Evil Productions, a small Polish label that mainly deals with extreme underground metal. It was Viktor, the owner, who contacted us immediately after we uploaded our EP to the main streaming platforms, waiting for a label interested in releasing it. At first, we enthusiastically accepted his proposal for two reasons: we had an important live show in Rome supporting Cancer coming up, so we were in a bit of a hurry to release the EP, and also because he seemed like a very active and proactive guy, so much so that from the very first contacts we were also talking about possible dates in Poland to promote the CD. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, after sending us the material, he disappeared, and we still have no contact with him, so I can already tell you that we will definitely be looking for a new label for the release of the full album…

Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?

(Roberto) If you've had a chance to listen to the three tracks on the EP, you'll have noticed that our main inspiration comes from the Swedish death metal scene, so leading names such as Entombed, Dismember and Unleashed, without forgetting other European bands such as Bolt Thrower, or a few American bands, although the latter influence is undoubtedly less significant than the others…


Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?

(Roberto) As already mentioned, everything was done very quickly, so as far as the EP is concerned, the only real contact we had was with Sing Of Evil Production. We will definitely be sending out some promos soon to start looking around in anticipation of the first full album, which we would like to release by the end of 2026.

How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?

(Roberto) I'll tell you that despite the long break from 2007 to 2022, and despite only having one EP to our credit, since we got back into action we've been asked to play around here in southern Italy, and at the moment we've already played a good number of live shows, many of them with bands of old friends who are also active in the underground scene, such as Taxidermia or Mauled, just to name a couple.

Personally, I like both situations. I like small live clubs because the performance takes on a wilder form, with people pogoing on top of you, while I like festivals because they are generally better organised, the stages are bigger, you meet people, you see old friends again...

Of the dates we've played so far, the one supporting Cancer in Rome is definitely the one that left us with the best memories, both because of the calibre of John Walker's band and because there were so many people there, they were moshing like crazy under the stage and we had a really great time...

What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?

(Roberto) We are currently working on the full-length album. We have five complete tracks and a series of riffs that will make up the remaining three, after which we will begin pre-production and plan to start recording in late summer, so that we can release the album by the end of the year, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

What we want right now is to play as much as possible, because live performances are what we do best, as confirmed by the feedback and compliments we have received.

On stage, we are able to unleash our wildest side...

How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?

(Roberto) Despite myself, we are on all the major social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, and on digital platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp, but I prefer people to stop and talk to us before and after our live shows. Face-to-face contact is always the best way to communicate...

Thanx for the interview.

(Roberto) Thank you for giving us this space and greetings to your readers. If we happen to be in your area, come and say hello and rock out in front of the stage during our performance, you won't regret it!





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