12:34 - HORIZONTAL

Line Up:

Michael Casey - vocals, guitar

Chris Dougherty - drums

Brian Layer- bass

JGPS - lead and rhythm guitar

Music by 12:34

Lyrics by 12:34

Tracks:

1-Deep inside

2-Horizontal

3-Colour of Life

4-Led Astray

Opening with the mid tempo of “Deep Inside” the band shows a heavy guitar sound and a lot of rhythmic riffs that transmit pure heaviness to the listener. The riffs are direct and powerful and they leave a lot of space for the vocals to do their work. And the vocals are essential because they are clean but powerful and they deliver interesting and memorable lines. And this vocals sometimes turn into more extreme type like in some parts in “Horizontal”. There is a good work in developing the four songs here making each of them violent and memorable growing into a climax every time. Despite having a pure metal feeling the band also has influences of bands of the style of Black label Society. Pure powerful rhythmic crushing music.

Produced by 12:34

286 - PROFILED

Line Up:

Adam

Nikee

Pete

Martin

Music by 286

Lyrics by 286

Tracks:

1-Profiled

2-68

3-Broken Peace

4-Dark Carnival

5-Record Store Prophets

This band is pure heavy rock with stoner rock influences and good guitar riffs of the rhythmic type designed to make people jump and follow the rhythm. The vocals are pure rock with a lot of strength and they create also some interesting rhythmic patterns in tunes like “68”. The tunes here are raw and direct and they use simple rhythmic session patterns in order to make the tunes more memorable. The tunes are not that original but they are rocking enough to make you follow the rhythms with your head. The sound of the recording is raw and I have to remark the loud guitars that are the essence of the band´s music. A pure rocking release.

Recorded in downtown Los Angeles

Produced by 286

ABLAZE IN HATRED - DECEPTIVE AWARENESS

Line Up:

Antti Hakkala -drums

Mika Ikonen - vocals, guitars, keyboards

Miaka Lehtivuori - bass

Juhani Sanna - guitars

Music by Ikonen / Sanna

Lyrics by Ikonen

Tracks:

1-Lost (the overture)

2-When the Blackened Candles Shine

3-Howls Unknown

4-Constant Stillness

5-Ongoing Fall

6-To Breathe and to Suffocate

7-Closure of Life

A dark atmosphere opens up this recording making the listener feel all the feeling of sorrow and melancholy that this band delivers. A clean guitar enters the composition with sadness before the wall of distorted guitars show that the band can be sad and melancholic and at the same time really powerful. Here we have compositions that are pure doom with excellent arrangements that make the band sound original besides depressive. And everything here is done in order to transmit the feeling of heaviness and sorrow to the listener. It is essential here the role of the guitars that deliver heavier than hell riffs along with some melodies. The vocals are really extreme, and they sound like coming from the underworld, fitting well the overall feeling of the music. The drumming is intense, focusing on the heaviness of the patterns and showing aggression besides slow patterns. The compositions are carefully constructed and I recommend this album to lovers of doom metal and also to lovers of bands like My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost or Anathema that have evolved into a different kind of music.

Recorded at Noisecamp Studios

Produced by Ablaze in Hatred

ALLERJEN - RESURRECTION

Line Up:

John Dower - vocals, bass

Paul Wilkinson - guitars

Paul Tarbuck - drums

Music by Allerjen

Lyrics by Allerjen

Tracks:

1-Resurrection

2-Beyond the Promised Land

3-Courage Will Find You

Opening climatically with a bass pattern in “Resurrection” before the pure aggression enters with heavy guitars and extreme vocals. The band´s music has elements of thrash metal and death metal with strong emphasis in rhythms and not on speed and they add here and there some more direct riffs in order to achieve really memorable moments. The vocals are extreme of the agonic type that shows that the vocalist spits his lungs to achieve utter aggression. But the main thing here are the riffs that are created in order to be heavy and aggressive but at the same time to make memorable moments that are essential to separate Allerjen from the other bands in the style. The rhythm section is solid and they leave space for the guitars to develope their ideas adding also some bass aptterns and many tempo changes and breaks. Here we have memorable tunes full of power and aggression with a killer deathly feeling.

Recorded at Studio-Studio

Produced by Allerjen

ANCIENT RITES - RVBICON

Line Up:

Gunther Theys (vocals)

Erik Sprooten (guitars)

Bart Vandereycken (guitars)

Raf (guitars)

Domingo Smets (bass)

Davy Wouters (keyboards)

Walter Van Cortenberg (drums)

Music by Ancient Rites

Lyrics by Ancient Rites

Tracks:

1- Crusade

2-Templar

3-Mithras

4-Thermopylae

5-Rubicon

6-Invictus

7-Ypres

8-Galilean

9-Cheruscan

10-Brabantia

This band is really amazing as always!! Their combination of extreme metal with more traditional influences is what sets them apart from most of the bands in the world. Combining speed in the rhythms along with majestic keyboards and killer guitar solos the band has achieved their own sound which is getting much better on each new album. The extreme vocals have that particular Ancient Rites sound that makes them so particular. And the songs here are complex, always changing and evolving into different moods and sounds. This is a much more epic release than their previous “Dim Carcosa” album and here the band shows all their evolution as musicians and also as composers showing a lot of technical skills and compositional habilities. The sound of the recording is really good letting you appreciate all the arrangements, solos and changes that this album has. A must have for any metal lover.

Recorded at Spacelab Studios

Produced by Oliver Phillips, Christian Moos & Ancient Rites

ARCANAR - DUSTY LORD

Line Up:

Alexander Zernov – vocal, keyboard
Roman Ilyin - guitar
Andrew Agapitov - guitar
Felix Vigorov - bass
Dmitry Osadchev - drums

Music by Arcanar

Lyrics by Arcanar

Tracks:

1. Intro
2. Without Changes
3. The Shadow Of My Own
4. Etude no. 1
5. Dusty Lord
6. I Could Be the Other
7. Etude no. 2
8. Insomnia
9. Arcanar

A beautiful intro with keyboards that create a feeling of sadness and solitude opens this album. Then comes the essence of the band´s music. That is a combination of death metal, black metal and also doom metal. Here we have the pure aggression of the guttural vocals and the guitar riffs, combined with the melancholy of the keyboards creating Arcanar´s own sound. Clean guitar arpeggios are also a way used here to achieve the melancholic feeling that the compositions have, sounding truly weird and original at moments. And here you can fully appreciate the good musicianship that this guys have that allows them to play intricate counterpoints between the two guitars and then change into a more violent riff and then come back to a clean rhythm. The vocals also change a lot going from the deep growl to a dark melancholic voice within the same composition. If I have to label the music I would say that this can be called dark death progressive metal but it is better to not label this extremely original band and enjoy their music instead.

Recorded at Elixirmusic Studio

Produced by Arcanar

AUDIOWAR - UNDER ENEMY CONTROL

Line Up:

GRaham Rayner

Christian Weber

Music by Audiowar

Lyrics by Audiowar

Tracks:

1-Superfreak (Kreuzdammer Remix)

2-Breaking Down (Low Down Remix)

3-One Drug (Stealth Mix)

4-Money Shot (Hypefactor Remix)

5-Analyze (Dub)

6-One Drug (Libitina Remix)

7-Audio Crash (THe Pain machinery Filthy Sex Remix)

8-Super freak (Action Directe Red Colossus Remix)

9- Analyze (K-Nitrate De-Humanize Remix)

Opening fastly with "Superfreak" the band delivers dynamic compositions with noisy guitar sound and samplers that give sort of an industrial feeling to their rocking music. There is power her and also plenty of experimentation that makes this band sound truly original. The use of electronics is essential here and contrasts heavily with the heavy guitars  This is a remix album with remixes from an album we have reviewed before that is “Negativity” and here the band have experimented with different sides of their musical personality twisting and turning each composition making them like complete different songs. This guys extract new sounds from their instruments and turn them into industrial metal mayhem on each of the compositions here. Pure experimentation but without forgeting the powerful side of the music.

Produced by Audiowar

AUTUNNA ET SA ROSE - L´ART ET LA MORT

Line Up:

Sonia Visentin - soprano

Simone Montanari - cello

Gianluca Lo Presti - guitars, electronics, programming

Disorder - vocasl, piano, percussion, electronics, sampled orchestra

Laura Lo Buono - violin

Music by Disorder

Tracks:

1- Qui, au sein...

2-Quand nous reverrons-nous

3-Kyfi

4-Lune et Arcades

5-ostia

6-N´importe oú hors du monde

7-Neue Wirklichkeit

8-Ewig-Dunkel

9-Et je me souviens aussi de...

We reviewed this musical project before in a split with Ataraxia and we noticed a huge amount of talent in their music. The main thing here are atmospheres full of melancholy and with some dark element that makes things even more sad. The piano melodies are essential here in order to achieve the exact feeling, mix of gothic, classical, medieval and experimental. The electronics add also a completely different feeling which gives a lot of identity to the music here. There is plenty of experimentation here and the vocals show that too being whispered at some times and spoken in other parts.  We have here lyrics in many different languages and that gives also a weird feeling to the music. I have to remark the good sound that the recording has that helps to feel inside the mood that Autunna et Sa Rose create here and also the amazing packaging that is like a bonus to this recording.

Recorded at loto Studio

AWAKE - INSANA

Line Up:

Joan - guitars, vocals

Matts - guitars

Jose - keyboards, add.vocals

Lajnen - bass

Sisco - drums

Music by Awake

Lyrics by Awake

Tracks:

1-Insana

2-Cosmic

3-Hell.O

4-I Die tonight

5-Mind

6-Inside my Vains

7-The option 05

8-Intropection

9-Crying

10-I hear the voices

11-Zombie

12- Adios

Combining really aggressive moments with killer musicianship the guys in Awake have managed to create here twelve tunes full of powerful riffs and dark melodies. This is modern metal with some elements of classic thrash and also from death metal. The main thing here are the powerful guitar riffs that give aggression to the music but at the same time leave plenty space for the vocals to develop melodies and harmonies. And the guitars are also used in a clean way in many parts to add a darker feeling to the music.  There is a combination of clean vocals and more aggressive ones that is another essential trademark of this band. The rhythm section is tight and that is essential to make the band sound as heavy as they are. The sound of the recording is really good and that makes the arrangements shine on each of the songs

Recorded by Hadrien Fergnad and David Martinez

Mastered by Mika Jussila

AXAMENTA - EVER-ARCH-I-TECH-TURE

Line Up:

Music by Axamenta

Lyrics by Axamenta

Tracks:

I have listened literally thousands of albums and recordings for reviewing on the webzine and it is amazing how you can find a masterpiece just listening a couple of minutes of a recording. This is the case of this Axamenta album which combines masterfully aggression, technical skills and clever arrangements. This band combines cleverly the aggression and speed of black metal with multiple influences that go from pure heavy metal to progressive metal achieving their own distinctive sound. It is like listening the score of a violent movie full of arrangements and aggressive patterns. As always the vocals are really extreme, fitting well the mood of the compositions, from the fastest tempos to the slowest ones. The sound of the recording is pure violence unleashed and it makes each arrangement shine. Lovers of extreme metal with good musicianship should like this one.

Recorded at Jacob Hansen Studios

Mixed by Fredrik Nordström

BATTALION - WINTER CAMPAIGN

Line Up:

Pieter - guitars

Kristof - bass

Ruben - vocals

Tomme - drums

Music by Battalion

Lyrics by Battalion

Tracks:

1-Spitfire

2-Bombenkrieg

3-Warfiend

4-Nuclear Devastation

5-Winter Campaign

6-Monolith

7-Skeleton City

8-Superior Fire Power

9-Defcon 696

10-The Swarm (Locus Invasion)

11-Ghost of War

12- Torture Tactics

13- Death at the Helm

Pure fucking death metal with extremely brutal parts and ultra fast guitar riffs is what you will find here. This is pure aggression with crushing drumming full of double bass and fast patterns. And the guitars deliver here riffs that are extremely aggressive and fast without abusing the one note runs that some death metal bands use so often, emphasizing instead the rhythms in order to make things even heavier. And the guitars deliver also original riffs that are not typical of the style as it happens in 3. If you like guttural vocals then Battalion is your band of choice cause here you have growling type of vocals that fits the deathly feeling of the music. The rhythm section is solid as hell making things tighter and heavier. I have to remark that the album has a direct and loud sound with good mix and that makes things even more brutal. An album that is like a fist through your brain.

Recorded at CCR Studios

Produced by Battalion

BLACK CANDLE - LEAD ME TO THE TOMBS

Line Up:

Simon - vocals, bass, guitar, synths

Dan - lead guitars

Shadow - drums

Music by Simon

Lyrics by Simon

Tracks:

1-October Mist

2-Meeting with the Beast

3-Lead me to the Tombs

4-An d´Raaten...

5-My Black Sky

6-Dir Sidd all Dreck

7-Poisoned Dagger

8-A New Burial

9-Into Comfortable Darkness

10-Endtime Eon

We reviewed some years ago Black Candle´s previous album “The Faceless Angel”. This one shows that the band continues in the direction that is experimenting within a black metal context with agonic vocals and powerful guitar riffs. The combination of more straight forward old school black metal tunes with more experimental ones is a trademark. There is no speed abuse here, and mostly there is work on mid tempos with some Celtic Frost-ish parts such as in "My Black Sky". The vocals are truly in the black metal vein of the agonic type fitting well the agression and the dark spirit of the music. The sound of the recording is raw and dark fitting well the old school spirit of the music. Darkness with killer mid tempos and with some experimentation.

Recorded by Simon

Produced by Black Candle

BLASPHEMER / ESKATON / MODUS DELICTI - SPLIT CD

Tracks:

Blasphemer:

1-Nihilist Preachers of Death

2-Dining Upon the Unburied

3-38-gauge Absolution

Eskaton

4-Genocide

5-Crucified by Oblivion

6-3 Seconds to Extinction

Modus Delicti

7-Entomologia Forense

8-The Appearance of Others existances

9-Emotional Cooling-Off

Blasphemer starts this split CD with no mercy for the listener. They start at full speed with their grind/death showing how extreme violence in music must be. Ultra fast riffs, blast beating drumming and hyper fast rhythms are the essence here. The vocals are extremely guttural of the grindcore type. The three tracks here are an experience in extreme violence.

Then comes Eskaton with a similar style but a rawer and more chaotic sound. Their music has ultra fast riffs with a chainsaw like sound and it has also guttural vocals that give the grind/death feeling to the music. The sound is worse than the one achieved by Blasphemer and that becomes evident specially in drums and guitars that have a really live show type sound.

Finally Modus Delicti delivers their brutal grind/death at full speed and showing why this is one of the most brutal split cds of the year. Blast beating drums crush the listener´s brain while the ultra guttural voice spits the lyrics with full hate. The guitars deliver fast riff after fast riff unleashing all their brutality. The sound of the guitars is raw and loud and maybe with a more compact sound like the one used by Blasphemer the result could be even better.  

Recorded at AM Studio (Blasphemer), Screw Factory (Eskaton), live in Rozzano (Modus Delicti)

BLOODFLOWERZ - DARK LOVE POEMS

Line Up:

Kirsten Zahn - vocals

Jochen Laser - guitars

Jan Beckmann - bass

Tim Schwarz - drums

Music by Bloodflowerz

Lyrics by Bloodflowerz

Tracks:

1-Sajidas´Song

2-Damaged Promises

3-The Last dance

4-Healing Hearts

5-Illusionary Fields

6-Anthem for a Stranger

7-Violent Voices

8-THe Fool and the King

9-Dark Angel

10-Queen of the Freakshow

11-Dead love (A necrology)

We have reviewed the “Diabolic Angel” album from this beautiful band from Germany a couple of years ago. Here we have extremely memorable tunes in a mixture of rock and gothic style where the main thing is the dark feeling and the carefully constructed songs. Here we have powerful guitar riffs combined with an ethereal and powerful female voice (Kirsten delivers amazing vocals on this album). As I said the songs are carefully constructed with melancholic melodies that are the heart and soul of the music here. The tunes are direct and memorable and that is an essential quality in Bloodflowerz music. The sound of this recording is crystal clear making the sound powerful and introspective at the same time

Recorded at Mastersound Studios

Produced by Alexander Krull

BRASSUM - LIVE

Line Up:

Dan Clucas - cornet

Michael Vlatkovich - trombone

Mark Weaver - tuba

Harris Eisenstadt - drumset

Music by Mark Weaver

Tracks:

1- Selvage

2-The Meaning of the Word / hades of Grey

3-In Place Of

4-Brown Blue

5-Slub

6-A Grain of Mustrd Seed

7-Pumpkin Pie

Here we have jazzy improvisation at top level but with strong emphasis on some melodic lines. And that is what distinguishes Brassum from many others improvisers or spontaneous musicians. Here we have exploration of lines done with trombones and tubas and cornets with a certain jazz feeling but keeping main ideas through all the compositions. This is exploration of new sounds with a lot of coherence and developing new ideas but always keeping the main structures in mind that is what gives a pure jazz feeling .

Recorded live on tour 2004/2005

Produced by Mark Weaver

BURNING SKIES - DESOLATION

Line Up:

Merv - vocals

Liam - guitars

Ben - guitars / vocals

Andie - bass

Phil - drums

Music by Burning Skies

Lyrics by Merv

Tracks:

1-Intro

2-RKD

3-The Sweet Sound of Violence

4-Bauer power

5-Desolation (For the denial of ignorance)

6-Damaged

7-Fairytale Supremacy

8-Caught in the Circle

9-Lurid Demolition

10-Could you sink any lower?

A noisy intro gets soon to an end leaving place for the aggression of “RKD”. And the guys deliver pure brutality in a death metal format from beginning to end. Intense drumming that includes blast beats and hyper fast patterns are the essence here, and huge guitars with insanely fast riffs are a trademark too. The vocals are pure death metal and brutality adding also some metal core feeling here and there. The rhythm section is extremely solid and they sound like a clockwork of brutality while delivering all the bestial rhythms that Burning Skies create. And there are also some melodies here and there that give a different feeling but without loosing any of the aggression. The sound is huge and that adds also extra points of hatred and violence to the recording. Lovers of pure brutality will love this one.

Recorded at Rape of Harmonies

Produced by Burning Skies

BY NIGHT - A NEW SHAPE OF DESPERATION

Line Up:

Adrian Westin - vocals

Marcus Wesslen - bass

Andre Gonzales - guitars

Henrik Persson - guitars

Per Quarnström - drums

Music by By Night

Lyrics by Adrian Westin

Tracks:

1-It Starts Within

2-The Truth is Sold

3-Peple Like You

4-Through Ashes We Crawl

5-Same Old Story

6-Dead Eyes See no Future

7-Walls of Insecure

8-Idiot

9-Forsaken love

10-Cursed by The Thought

11- Time is Running Out

Superb drumming starts “The truth is sold” with razor sharp guitars tat deliver a huge riff that seems to be great for a live show. The band enters with full aggression showing that their music is pure violence with influences of metalcore, thrash metal and also death metal. The trademark of the band is their precise and machine like sound. Yes, they are so tight that they blast your face with all the intensity that they deliver tune after tune. The vocals are powerful spitting with hatred the lyrics and fitting well the aggression of the music. One point to remark is that the tunes are extremely memorable so you can listen this album over and over again. The sound is really good and that is essential here because this destructive machine called By Night needs this huge sound in order to crush the listener with all their bestiality.

Recorded at Studio Mega

Produced by By Night

CALLING HOUR - THE SMALL ROOM

Line Up:

Mark Fanning - all instruments, all vocals

Music by Mark Fanning

Lyrics by Mark Fanning

Tracks:

1-Calling Hour

2-Soaked in Red

3-the Small Room

4-Dead End Mind

This is a one man band where Mark Fanning delivers each instrument with violence and aggression. The music here can be described as something of industrial death metal. Let´s say the music is 70% death metal, 20% thrash/modern metal and 10% industrial (mainly due to the use of programmed drums). Here Fanning delivers aggressive riffs that are the center of the compositions and he also creates some amazing deathly vocals. This vocals are extreme but not too guttural and that is good because you can follow really well the lyrics. Most of the time Fanning accentuates the guitar riffs with his voice. One essential point here is the use of guitar melodies and solos that add a lot of personality to Calling Hour´s music while showing some Morbid Angel influence here and there. A release that combines clever arrangements with aggression.

Produced by MArk Fanning

CARPATHIAN FOREST - FUCK YOU ALL !!!

Line Up:

Music by Carpathian Forest

Lyrics by Carpathian Forest

Tracks:

Here comes the new Carpathian Forest album, full of bestial black metal, full of fast rhythms that go beyond the speed of sound. Raw guitar riffs playing fast direct riffs are the essence of the music that Carpathian Forest delivers on each album. Here we have the blast beats that are the essence in the style and also the agonic vocals that send the listener right to hell with no return. The band has the strategy of using riffs over and over through the compositions to make them stick in the mind of the listener with full violence. A grim atmosphere is essential here and it is achieved through the guitars and the vocals. The band shows again their influence of bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone and others of the raw black metal style. The sound is raw and loud and it fits well the direct feeling of the compositions without loosing any power. Pure darkness unleashed with no mercy

Produced by Carpathian Forest

COCKROACH - THE OBSERVER

Line Up:

Frank Geue - vocals, guitars

Ulrich Mewes - guitars

Alexander Reichelt - drums

Timo Flöther - bass

Music by Cockroach

Lyrics by Frank Geue

Tracks:

1- Unexpected Life

2-The Calling

3-The Observer

4-Alive

5-Perfect World

6-Kiss to Eternity

7-Desireless

8-Eternal life

9-The Prophecy

10-By the Way

11-the Red Duke

12- Run Away

Cockroach kicks off violently with utter violence with “Unexpected Life”. We have reviewed before this band and here they show some improvements, specially in the sound that they have achieved here. Here the band delivers twelve tunes of their thrash metal with influence of modern metal bands like Fear Factory, Machine Head that includes also some death metal elements here and there. The riffs here are powerful and they are delivered with a huge sound that I think is an essential element here. We have also here a really tight rhythm section that is so compact that makes the music sound even more aggressive. And also we have a powerful voice that spits with aggression the lyrics. As I said, the sound is loud and huge making each riff sound like a stampede of elephants stepping through your head. If you like bands that are already classic thrash but that at the same time have modernized their sound (Anthrax for example) then you should like Cockroach´s music.

Recorded at Maranis Studios

Produced by Vagelis Maranis

COLLISION - ROADKILLER

Line Up:

Music by Collision

Lyrics by Collision

Tracks:

1-Oh my goth

2-Redneck Rampage

3-On the Loose to reproduce

4-Drama Queen

5-Kill Phill

6-Heading for the End

7-Twins of Evil

8-Avoid the Masses

9-Body Building Blowout

10-Kung Fu Chicks with Dirty Tricks

11-Car Crash Cruelty

12-Cattle Killing Creatures

13-Attitude

14-A New Age of Stupidity

Fourteen tunes of pure aggression that include ultra fast rhythms, some death metal, some hardcore and also their main style which is grindcore. This guys have no boundaries in the methods they use in order to achieve utter violence.  This album does not stop bombarding you with their ultra fast rhythms from beginning to end. They include blast beats, fast thrashing rhythms on each composition. And the vocals go from the most guttural grinding voice to screaming hardcore type vocals. The compositions are short and effective succeeding in blasting the listener. One thing that sets Collision apart from other bands of the style is that they have a huge sound, specially on the guitars that turns them much more aggressive than most of the grind bands. A band whose music is designed to destroy and devastate.

Recorded at Toneshed Studios

Mastered at imperial Mastering

COMATOSE VIGIL - NOT A GLEAM OF HOPE

Line Up:

Music by Comatose Vigil

Lyrics by Comatose Vigil

Tracks:

1-Suicide Grotesque

2-Cataracts

3-Mirrors of Despair

4-Galleries of Coma

This is pure doom the way it must be done. That is with ultra heavy guitar riffs, graveyard like vocals and darker than hell keyboards. And also really long compositions like “Suicide Grotesque” which is almost 20 minutes long. Depression is the main feeling here and every note played is full of it. This guys succeed in creating this landscapes of pure sadness and sorrow with their compositions. The growling vocals sound almost like coming from an open grave and that is essential to achieve the desired depressive effect. The sound of the recording is direct and loud and that makes things even better cause it is essential to have a good sound to listen all the subtle elements that Comatose Vigil´s music has.

Produced by Comatose Vigil

CRYPTIC VISION - IN A WORLD

Line Up:

Todd Plant - vocals, ac. guitar

Sam Conable - bass, vocals, bass pedals

Rick Duncan - drums, keyboards, guitar

Howard Helm - keyboards, vocals

Timothy Keese - guitars, vocals

Music by Rick Duncan

Lyrics by Duncan (1,2,3,8,10,12) ,Conable(6,7) ,  Plant (5) , Conable/Duncan/Plant (9), Duncan/Plant (11)

Tracks:

1- In A World

2-This Dream part 1

3-Common Ground

4-Merkaba

5-All Along

6-The Space in Between

7-I Am the Energy

8-Point of View

9-Power to Mend

10-Find

11-The Balance

12- This Dream part 2 / In a World (reprise)

We have reviewed this band before and we have remarked how virtuosism is essential in the band´s music. And here comes this new album in order to show that we were right when telling that. Here we have a band that can create from ultra melodic parts to intrincated tempo changes or odd time patterns without missing a beat.  The compositions here are long and full of changes and arrangements that show amazing musicianship. The vocals are epic and show that the singer has amazing range and vocal skills, adding melodies and moods to the music. The sound of the recording is crystal clear and that is essential because in this way you can listen each arrangement and texture that is created here. Lovers of bands like Dream Theater, Fates Warning and Spock Beard´s will surely love this album

Recorded at Paradox Recording Studios

Produced by Rick duncan

DEADSOIL - SACRIFICE

Line Up:

Boris Pracht - guitars

Jens Basten - guitara

Friedrich Weber - vocals

Christian Bass - drums

Andres Schuessler - bass

Music by Deadsoil

Lyrics by Deadsoil

Tracks:

1-Unspoken

2-Cross the Great Divide

3-The Day I Die

4-THese Stings

5-Viper

6-Forgot Everything

7-Echoes

8-Remembrance

9-Collapse

10-Ultimate Domination

11-True Belief

12- Sacrifice

Kicking off without mercy with “Unspoken” the band shows all their power from the beginning to end of this recording. With huge sounding guitars this band shows their killer mix of metal and hardcore. Their sound is pure violence unleashed and they deliver riff after riff but they also add many melodies which are essential to make each tune memorable. There is a lot of good technical skills here and that is evident mainly in the amazing drumming with crushing double bass that is used on all the tracks. And the guitar riffs are designed to devastate the listener with pure aggression. The vocals are extreme most of the time but they add also some melodies here and there making each chorus memorable. The sound of this release is perfect and that is also essential in order to achieve this killer result.

Recorded at Principal Studios

Produced by Deadsoil

DEATH BEFORE DISCO - BARRICADES

Line Up:

Ace Zec - drums, b. vocals

Yannick Dumarey -bass

Ioan Kaes - vocals

Birger Finaut - guitars

Frederik De Moor - guitars

Music by Death Before Disco

Lyrics by Death Before Disco

Tracks:

1-Etireno

2-Barricades of Rumble

3-Full Metal Jacket

4-Jaguar

5-Goodbye

6-Pyramids on Mars

7-Matschstick Girl

8-Kill the Dancer

9- Modern Times

10-Set the Minutes

Some noises open up this recording before the whole band enters in their rocking way showing power and melody.  The music here is difficult to describe but I would say that is pure heavy rock mixed with some metal moments and full of melancholic vocals and melodies. There are multiple changes in tempo here and here is where the band shows a lot of experimentation, breaking all the cliches in heavy rock and creating their own sound. The band constantly surprises adding new elements to the compositions, showing that they can be hard rocking but at the same time original. The vocals here are clean and melancholic and in many parts this guy screams at the top of his lungs changing the overall feeling. A truly original release.

Recorded at Casa Zecsual

Produced by Ace Zec

DEATHWORK - EVOLVE TO EXTINGUISH

Line Up:

Fabrizio "Sentence" Malaponte - vocals

Riccardo Costantino - bass

Luigi Oreto - guitars

Armando Alioto - drums

Christian Balsamo - guitar

Music by Deathwork

Lyrics by Malaponte

Tracks:

1-Intro / Evolve to Extinguish

2-Deranged Sanity

3-The Last Deilement

4-Buried by the Dark

5-Way to the Void

6-My own War

A weird intro leads us directly into “Evolve to Extinguish” and here we can see that this band delivers some sort of cool combination of old school death metal and thrash metal, including a lot of eighties thrash metal riffs and technical parts. And they have also some more brutal parts. But the main thing here is to blast the listener with full aggression and crushing riffs. The drumming has intense double bass which is essential to achieve the main feeling here, and the vocals are really deathly but at the same time clear enough to allow you to follow the lyrics. There are some dark melodies here and there that give some sad feeling to some parts but the main thing here is the aggression. The sound of the recording is raw and powerful letting you feel all the violence unleashed and also the multiple arrangements that this guys have created here.

Recorded at Officina Sonora Analogica

Produced by Deathwork

DECAY THE ASTRAL SELF - MANIFESTATION OF MALEVOLENCE

Line Up:

Curr - vocals

Leech - guitars

Dezz - bass

Grimm - drums

Music by Decay the Astral Self

Lyrics by Decay the Astral Self

Tracks:

1-Hallowed be the hunger

2-Die Like this

3-Unfortold

4-(Embraced by the loving) Arms of Oblivion

Starting with an unconventional sound the band soon shows their black /death metal weapons. Here we have fast blast beats in the black metal way but combined with more brutal riffs that come directly from the death metal arsenal. Here we have also combination of agonic black metal vocals with ultra guttural death metal ones that also influence the feeling of the music. And in tracks like "Die like this" there are also spoken vocals that give a darker feeling to the music. The guitars are brutal and aggressive and they also create really rhythmic riffs that turn things even more violent. The rhythms are mostly fast and mid tempos emphasizing the heaviness of the music instead of only showing speed. The sound is raw and somewhat muddy but it lets you appreciate the violence unleashed by this original band.

Produced by Decay the Astral Self

DEN OF GERMS - THE FIRST SIX

Line Up:

Chris Kalandras - guitars, vocals

Rob Michael - bass, vocals

Nort - drums

Music by Den of Germs

Lyrics by Den of Germs

Tracks:

1-Goodbye

2-Death Ride

3-She Waits

4-Blame it All

5-Fun and Games

6-50 Miles to Nowhere

This is a band that is really difficult to label. Their music is extremely heavy with really extreme vocals but at the same time it has sort of a rocking feeling that is not common in bands of the most extreme styles. The guitar riffs are heavy and at the same time rhythmic creating the main part of the compositions while there is a growling voice that adds a deathly feeling to the music and another voice with a more melodic approach that gives a completely different feeling. The rhythm section is solid and fast creating interesting patterns and the main rhythms, interacting cleverly with the guitars. There are pure rocking guitar solos in the vein of bands like Cathedral and that surprises also. A band that has achieved their own sound and they have release amazing compositions here.

Recorded atSheffield Studio

Produced by nDrew Mazurek

DEVASTATHOR - FEAST HAS BEGUN

Line Up:

Sprato - vocals, bass, synths

Bitls - guitars

Nimrod - drums

Music by Devastathor

Lyrics by Devastathor

Tracks:

1-Ecstasy Above Dissected Body

2-Birth by Vomiting

3-Deformed and Shredded

4-Screwdriver Thrust Into the Head

5-Torment of the Deceased

6-Coitus in a Coffin

This is a band whose band is pure brutality of the old school. The music here is death metal with ultra guttural vocals and with influences of bands like Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and classic bands of this most extreme style. With complex riffs and plenty of rhythm changes this guys succeed in transmitting utter violence to the listener. There are ultra fast rhythms also where this guys show that they are really tight as band and that they can go at full speed while using their downtuned guitars to add heaviness to their sound. The vocals are guttural and there are also some deathly screamings of the agonic type. The sound is raw and direct and that gives the impression of being in front of their raw amplifiers. Lovers of old school death metal will surely love Devastathor.

Recorded at GM Studio

Produced by Devastathor

DOOM:VS - AETERNUS VALE

Line Up:

Johan Ericson - all instruments and vocals

Music by Johan Ericson

Lyrics by Johan Ericson

Tracks:

1-the light that Would Fade

2-Empire of the Fallen

3-The Faded Earth

4-Oblivion Upon Us

5-The Crawling Inserts

6-Aeternus

Here is the new recording of this depressive band whose music can turn everything into tears and sadness. Johan Ericsson is also the brain behind Draconian but Doom:Vs is completely different from that other band.  Here we have slow guitar riffs that develop heavy riffs and melancholic melodies that succeed in transporting the listener to a grey world like the one in the cover art of this recording. This album is about creating atmospheres and here you have plenty of them and all of them are darker than hell. Slow rhythms combined with guttural voices are essential here in creating the right environment for the sadness unleashed. And the melodies are essential here and they give a lot of identity to the music as the sad solos also do. An album full of sadness and sorrow.

Recorded by Johan Ericson

Produced by Johan Ericson

DRAGOBRATH - SCRIPTURE OF THE WOODS

Line Up:

Krukh - vocals

Synevir - instruments

Music by Synevir

Lyrics by Krukh

Tracks:

1-Entering the Austere Realm of Forestpower

2-Scripture of the Woods

3-Idols of the Yore

4-Eerie Obscure

5-Subjugated by the Barbaric Pan Power

6-Ephemeral Tunnel Leading to the Past

7-Entombment of Crapulent Souls

8-Anamarphosis into the Ancient Aeons

9-Transylvanian Hunger

Dragobrath is pure black metal coming directly from Ukraine. Here we have a band whose music has strong influences of early nineties Norwegian black metal and that has a raw and aggressive sound combining hyper fast rhythms with mid-tempo ones in the darkest parts of the compositions. The good thing is that the band has made a conscious effort in order to mix correctly the recording so each of the instruments can be fully heard. This is pure darkness and aggression where Synevir plays all instruments in a really solvent way and Krukh does all the agonic vocals. And the band has succeeded in this mix of raw old school black metal combined with atmospheric parts. The Darkthrone cover adds some extra points to this release. Lovers of black metal will surely like Dragobrath

Recorded atCapitollium Studios

Produced by Dagobrath

EMERGENCY GATE - NIGHTLY RAY

Line Up:

Chris Rybak - keyboards, synths

Fabian Kiessling - guitar, vocals

Vladi Doose - guitars

Mario Lochert - bass

Chris Widmann - drums

Music by Emergency Gate

Lyrics by Emergency Gate

Tracks:

1-Nightly Ray

2-Kill the Dying

3-Another Day Nowhere

4-The Inside

5-In My Dreams

6-Discre Pantz

7-Breed Evil

8-Soulstreamer

9-Hold Me Again

10-No Clown

11-Guardian of time

12- Rock Me Amadeus

13- Eternal Echo

This is pure heavy metal with some elements of other styles such as modern metal, hard rock and power metal. The first thing that strucked me is that this guys have a much heavier guitar sound than most of the bands of the style. And they combine it with a keyboard that delivers good arrangements through all the compositions. The vocals are raw and I like this guy much more than most of the pure metal singers because he has a powerful voice and he avoids all the clichés of the style. But the main thing here is the combination of the ultra heavy riffs with the killer keyboards that deliver Emergency Gate´s unique sound. The mix in the album is loud and clear and that lets you feel the power that this metal band has. there is a version of an eighties classic "Rock Me Amadeus ina  pure metal way. I totally recommend this band.

Produced by Mario Lochert and Spike Streefkerk

ENDSTAND - THE TIME IS NOW

Line Up:

Janne - vocals

Mika - guitar

Joel - bass

Juho - guitars

Pekka - drums

Music by Endstand

Lyrics by Endstand

Tracks:

1-Way out

2-Whatever it Takes

3-King of Drama

4-Counting the Days

5-Right from the Start

6-To Feel Alive

7-Lost Balance

8-These Scars Won´t Heal

9-Empty Promises

10-Sometimes Dreams Might Come True

This is pure hardcore with plenty punk influences. Here we have ten tunes that are direct and catchy with memorable choruses and full of aggression. This guys come directly from Finland and they show influences from early eighties bands of this style, combining fast riffs with catchy melodies. I would prefer the band to do more powerful riffing instead of adding so many melodies, but anyway, that is their style. The rhythm section is simple and solid and it gives some extra power to the music. The vocals are violent and fit well the music that the rest of the band delivers. The sound is raw and direct and gives the impression of a live show from this band transmitting energy.

Recorded at Astia Studio

Produced by Endstand

FALL OF SERENITY - BLOODRED SALVATION

Line Up:

Eddy langner - guitars

John Gahiert - bass

René Betzold - vocals

Lutz Elmenkel - drums

Alexander Fischer - guitars

Music by Fall of Serenity

Lyrics by Fall of Serenity

Tracks:

1-Blood Starts Running

2-Out of the Clouds

3-A Piece of You

4-Dead Eyes

5-Bloodred Salvation

6-Raise your Remorse

7-As I Watch

8-Overflowing Senses

9-Swallowed Lies

10-Twin Curse

“Blood Starts Running” is the dark intro that opens up this album with some keyboards that create a calm atmosphere. But is the calm before the storm because soon the guitars enter with a heavy riff that turns things much heavier. From the beginning is evident that the guitars sound huge and that the drumming is full of double bass. Then comes “Out of the Clouds” which is pure violence and hatred unleashed. With blast beats, double bass and hyper fast rhythms the band delivers pure death metal with technical and fast riffs and with melodies that are really well calculated in order to make each composition really unique without loosing any power. There are plenty of breaks and changes that make each tune really twisted and violent. The vocals are deathly and extreme and they make things even more extreme. And the sound, achieved in the Rape of Harmonies and Hansen Studios is huge making this recording like a panzer division blasting the listener.

Recorded at Rape of Harmonies

Produced by Ralf Müller and Patrick W. Egel

GORELORD - NORWEGIAN CHAINSAW MASSACRE

Line Up:

Frediablo - all vocals, all instruments

Music by Frediablo

Lyrics by Frediablo

Tracks:

1-Outback Part II

2-Dying or Dreaming

3-All Hail the Gods of Horror

4-Flesh to Feed

5-Man of hit

6-Deathbreed

7-Hammered

8-The Rising of the Undead

9-Sprayed with gasoline

10-Glorification of Violence

11-The Final Cut

Gorelord is another band from Frediablo, the brain behind Grimfist. And Gorelord shows his more deathly and brutal side. Showing from the start that he has achieve an ultra huge guitar sound and combining it with extremely tight riffs Gorelord soon shows that their sound is similar to a Panzer Division blasting through the brain of the listener. With incredible drumming full of double bass that sounds almost like a mechanical machine this guys deliver here eleven death metal tracks that have also a modern metal influence in them that turns them into louder and harder musical compositions. Take bands like Mortician and add a more modern sound and here you have Gorelord. I can tell you that this album at full volume can surely blast your speakers. Pure brutality and aggression at the most extreme levels.

Recorded at Godfed Studios

Produced by Frediablo

GRACECALL - HEAVY METAL BREAKTHROUGH

Line Up:

Daniel Peter - guitars

Fabio Velvano - guitars

Fred Hilke - bass, vocals

Joachim Orawetz - drums

Music by Gracecall

Lyrics by Gracecall

Tracks:

1-Code Yellowfin

2-Kilers on your back

3-CRM-114

4-Round-Trip Hell

5-Hungry Hearts

Gracecall is pure metal with strong eighties influences and also with some elements of power metal. The soud of the band is really European and that is evident in the majestic / epic melodies that they use in their compositions. Strong guitar riffs are the essence here and they are the core of the band´s music giving the power and memorable moments to the compositions. The vocals are raw of the type, let´s say of Biff Byford and singers of the style, that is powerful and not too clean giving that raw edge to the songs. The rhythms are solid and they leave plenty of space for guitar solos and for developing the melodies. The sound of the recording is direct and loud, especially on the guitars and it gives as result a powerful and loud recording.

Recorded at Kupferdächle

Produced by Gracecall

GUN BARREL - BOMBARD YOUR SOUL

Line Up:

Rolf - guitars

Xaver - vocals

Tomcat - bass

Toni - drums

Music by Gun Barrel

Lyrics by Gun Barrel

Tracks:

1-Begging for Awakening

2-Dear Mr. DEvil

3-Down and Dirty

4-FEaring the Fear of My Fears

5-THe Fallen One

6-Lights and Shadows

7-Dive into the Flame

8-Bombard your Soul

9-Bloody Pretender

10-On the Road Again

11-I´m alive

12- ...Is You

A long intro called “Begging for awakening” with keyboards and a mysterious feeling opens this album and leads us directly into the powerful metal of “Dear Mr. Devil” a tune of pure heavy metal with good guitar riffs and powerful harsh vocals. And that is the essence of Gun Barrel´s music: pure metal in the classic tradition but with a more violent sound with a singer that is pure power unleashed, fitting really well the music and not falling in cliches. This band also has all the elements of german heavy metal since they have this choruses that are typical of bands like Running Wild or Grave Digger and that you can sing with your fist in the air. The songs are well constructed showing that tyhey can be original within the style and that they can be memorable too. The sound is raw and loud and that gives extra power points to this band.

Produced by Piet Sielck and Yenz Leonhardt

HISTORY OF GUNS - APOPHENIA

Line Up:

Max

Del

Fest

Rev

Goose

Music by History of Guns

Lyrics by History of Guns

Tracks:

1-Death of a NAtion

2-Your Obedient Servants

3-I Am / You Are

4-1 In 3

5-Apophenia

6-Divide and Conquer

7-TV Spotlight

8-Does anyone remember the war?

9-Battle of the bands

10-History of Guns / After the Breakdown

This is with no doubt a weird band. It is almost impossible to classify their music. In fact I can hear elements of punk, metal, gothic and also some industrial in some parts. Weird, isn´t it? Despite all this influences they have managed to create direct compositions with harsh vocals and direct rhythms that make their listening accessible. There is use of clean and distorted guitars that set different moods along this recording as happens in tracks like "I Am/You Are". And there is use of different vocals and vocal harmonies that make each composition original. The recording has a raw and direct sound that gives more weird feelings to the listener, specially when some guitars with wah wah appear really loud in tunes like "I Am / You Are". Pure experimentation.

Produced by Max Rael

IN ART - IN ART

Line Up:

Dheim - claen and lead guitars, vocals, programming

Alex - rhythm guitars, synth, programming

Music by Alex, exc 8 by Dheim

Lyrics by Dheim, exc 7 by E.Bronte

Tracks:

1-As Waves...

2-unrevealed

3-No Escape

4-Believe

5-September I

6-In Art

7-Rodric

8-September II

Beautiful keyboards with acoustic guitars open up this album in “As waves”, before the powerful guitars enter creating a landscape of pure epic and sad melodies. The band soon turns into a more powerful approach in “Unrevealed” where the rhythms are faster and there is an overall Viking metal feeling. Melancholy is essential here because it is present on each composition, from the ones adorned with synths and acoustic sounds to the ones that have more distorted guitars and faster rhythms. The melodies created by one of the voices is essential here while the other voice adds a more brutal feeling to the songs. There is really good compositional work here, full of original and sad ideas. The sound is a little bit muddy and I would mix the guitars a little bit louder as well as the programmed bass drums and snare in order to make the release sound even more powerful. A great combination of beauty, melancholy and originality.

Recorded at home recording

Produced by In Art

INCENDIUM - CRAWLING QUIETLY

Line Up:

Aki Hahto - vocals

Antti Haapala - guitars

Hannu Perälä - guitars

Mika Hirvikoski - bass

Patri Kahra - synths

Otto Väisänen - drums

Music by Incendium

Lyrics by Incendium

Tracks:

1-Infection

2-Sad One in the Mirror

3-Stim of Misery

4-Emnity

5-Black Hole

Here is the new MCD from this finnish band from Vaasa. Opening with the powerful yet melancholic “Infection” the band delivers a tune that si full of desperation and aggression and alo full of interesting dark melodies created by the vocals and the guitars. I really love how this guys create climaxes on each tunes using more extreme vocals when they want to add a more violent feeling to the music. And the riffs are essential here because they are powerful but at the same time leave space for the vocals and for the keyboards arrangements that are trademarks of Incendium´s music. The song are memorable and they are powerful at the same time showing that this guys work a lot in constructing good arrangements and in putting together their compositions. This is one of the releases of the month.

Recorded at Biotech Audio Solutions

Produced by Incendium

INFECTED MALIGNITY - THE MALIGNITY BORN FROM DESPAIR

Line Up:

Yuuto Sugano - drums

Takuma Sugano - guitars

Katsuyuki Oota - vocals, bass

Music by Takuma Sugano

Lyrics by Katsuyuki Oota

Tracks:

1-Anesthetized Vision

2-Revival

3-Cruel Recollection

4-Desperate Death

5-Frightened at the Crime

6-Revenge to Capitalism

7-Retaliate Against the Pain

8-Reflected Loss

"Anesthesized Vision" opens without mercy this extremely brutal release. This is pure death metal with some grind parts where each note is created in order to destroy the listener. Do you want blast beats? Here there are plenty. Also here we have mid tempo rhythms that emphasize the heaviness of the music. And here we have a technical drummer that delivers incredible double bass and fast patterns through all the recording. The guitars are heavily downtuned and they create complex and fast riffs that are an essential element here. The vocals are extremely guttural and they are used like another instrument to emphasize the aggression and violence of the music that this japanese guys unleash. The sound is loud and direct fitting the brutal feeling of the music.

Recorded at Yellow Knife Studio

Produced by Infected Malignity

INSIDIOUS DECREPANCY - THE INERRANCY OF PROFANATION

Line Up:

Shawn Whitaker - guitars, bass, vocal, programming

Music by Shawn Whitaker

Lyrics by William HUtching

Tracks:

Here we have the new release of this one man brutal death metal machine called Insidious Decrepancy. If I thought on their previous album that the brutality could not be topped here Shawn Whitaker has created an even heavier release. With his heavily downtuned guitar and with crushing programmed drums this guy has managed to create eight tracks where brutality is taken to the limits. And he has good technical skills with the guitars, making the listening enjoyable with killer riffs and melodies. The vocals here are really guttural and that fits specially well the fastest parts. The sound is much better than on the previous album and that makes the compositions even more brutal and direct. Pure bestiality unleashed fromWhitaker´s brutal mind.

Recorded at Johnny Killed Rock´n´Roll Studios

Produced by Shawn Whitaker

JIM HORNE - PANIC ATTACK

Line Up:

Jim Horne - guitars, bass, drums programmig

Music by Jim Horne

Tracks:

1-What If

2-Distraction

3-Inside-Out

4-Speed Trip

5-Time´s Up

6-Indiscretion

7-Breakdown

8-Melophobia

9-lost

10-Apology

11-Healer

Here we have Jim Horne´s latest release, an album full of virtuosism and incredible technical skills with the guitars. Here we have eleven compositions where Horne shows all the amazing things he can do with his guitar. Arpeggios, solos, riffs, everything here shows excellent musicianship and Horne seems really comfortable with this style of music. And the good thing is that Jim has his own recognizible sound, a thing that not many musicians can say. And here also we have "Speed Trip" where Jim is joined by virtuoso Francesco Fareri making you delight with a shredding tune full of guitar acrobatics and virtuosism. A must have for any lover of good guitar playing and good compositional work full of guitar arrangements.

Recorded at Jim´s Home Studio

Produced by Jim Horne

KHAOSPHERE - ENTERING THE KHAOSPHERE

Line Up:

Claudio Rodia - vocals

Antonio Mele - guitars

Enrico Ronchi - keyboards

Vito De Michele - bass

Guido penta - drums, percussion

Music by Khaosphere

Lyrics by Khaosphere

Tracks:

1-Khaosphere

2-Born in Chains

3-Il Giardino della Disarmonia

Khaosphere is a band that combines successfully elements of death metal and black metal (the two man styles here even if there are plenty of different influences here) showing at the same time good musicianship and aggression. There are heavy guitar riffs here played with a huge sound but with strong black metal influences…and this combination gives a lot of originality to the guitar sound. There is also heavy use of keyboards. Tracks like "Born in Chains" reminded me to experimental extreme metal bands like Cynic or Atheist but with the crushing Khaosphere sound. The band shows originality and experimentation on each tune and they show also good technical skills that are essential to make the complex compositions sound as well as they do. Pure imagination in an extreme metal context.

Recorded at Jolly Roger Studio

Produced by Khaosphere

KIMAERA - EBONY VEILED

Line Up:

Paul - lead guitars

Sabine - vocals

Pascal - drums

Moe - keyboards

JP - guitars, vocals

Wissam - bass

Music by Kimaera

Lyrics by Kimaera

Tracks:

1-Disarray

2-Among the Dead

3-Idyllic Illusions

4-The Day Innocence Died

5-In a Dying Embrace

6-God´s Wrath

7-Mess of Hostility

8-Ebony Veiled

Crushing from the first seconds of “Disarray” this band shows how they have a huge guitar sound and that is essential in this kind of doom metal with a lot of atmospheric elements in order to give extreme power to the music while achieving ultimate melancholy. Here we have a band that cleverly combines doom with death metal, with some progressive elements and also with some gothic influences. I have to remark the amazing development of atmospheres and melodies that this band has achieved here, creating landscapes of pure sadness through all this recording. Here we have deathly / doom growls and female melancholic vocals that are essential to the style. And also we have plenty of crushing guitar and atmospheric keyboards. I hope this band shows the way for other bands from Lebanon to start creating a huge metal scene in there.

Recorded at Kimaera Home Studio

Produced by Kimaera

KREAGEN - UNSPOKEN HISTORY

Line Up:

Music by Kreagen

Lyrics by Kreagen

Tracks:

1-Death of Democracy

2-Permanent Scar

3-Wish

The recording opens up with a pure heavy metal riff before the whole band enters showing that this band is pure metal with strong European power metal influences. There is not that much originality here but we have solid compositions with influences of bands like Helloween, Stratovarius or even Symphony X. Here we have epic and memorable tunes in a true metal vein showing good melodies, arrangements and guitar solos that can make the lovers of the style to have orgasms. The vocals are solid and they fit really well the music and there are also interesting vocal harmonies too. The sound is direct and powerful and it allows the listener to feel the epic power of this band.

Recorded at Drowning Sun Recordings

Produced by Kreagen

LA TULIPE NOIRE - NOSTIMON HEMAR

Line Up:

Alix  Piano, synths

Hyde - bass, keyboards

Ima - vocals

Kostas Savvides - guitars

Nick Kassavetis - drums, percussion

Music by Hyde / Alix

Lyrics by Hyde / Alix

Tracks:

1-Anakroussis

2-Oenops Pontos

3-Lotus Eaters

4-Polyphemus

5-Circe

6-Tiresias

7-Nissos Sirinon

8-Scylla and Charybdis

9-Calypso

10-Phaeacia

11-Ithaca

Here we have La Tulipe Noir´s latest album, fully based in Homer´s Odyssey and showing the great musicianship that is the essence of the band an also showing good parts of Odysseus adventures in the lyrics. The album opens with the mysterious “Anakroussis” with majestic keyboards and hypnotic rhythms that send us directly into the heart of the stories presented here. La Tulipe Noir are masters of developing amazing arrangements and the keyboards have a fundamental role here in delivering melodies, chord progressions and textures. Ima´s vocals are really beautiful and powerful at the same time creating melodic lines full of feeling and good vocal range. And Kostas guitars are powerful and contrast with the keyboards adding aggression and power to this amazing progressive recording. This is an album full of amazing musicianship and ideas exploration.

Recorded at 111 Argyrion Studios

Produced by Hyde / Alix

LACRIMA CRISTI - LAST BREATH

Line Up:

Guillermo Casquet - drums, keyboards

Miguel A Castillo - bas, b. vocals

J Ramon Castillo - guitars

Adam Hates - vocals, keyboards

Music by Lacrima Cristi

Lyrics by Lacrima Cristi

Tracks:

1-Bad Omen

2-The Storm Traveller

3-Damned

4-Talking to Myself

5-The Sun is Dead

Some melancholic keyboard notes open this recording leading you to think that this would be sort of a melancholic metal album. But you are deceived because this band soon crushes you with their sheer aggression. Growling vocals are essential here and they are combined with guitars that have a huge downtuned sound and that play really heavy riffs. There is strong use of the keyboards to make dark arrangements giving the listener a feeling of contrasts between darkness and aggression. There is also a contrasting clean voice that does solid melodies against the most extreme voice. The rhythm section is solid and it has the skills to play the multiple changes that the compositions here have. The recording has a direct sound with a powerful mix where the guitars stand out due to their powerful sound. A recording with memorable and aggressive tunes.

Produced by Lacrima Cristi

LAST RITES - H.A.T.E.

Line Up:

Dave - vocals, guitars

Jan - guitars

Libu - bass

Laccio -drums

Music by Last Rites

Lyrics by Last Rites

Tracks:

1-Equilibrium

2-Screams of Death

3-The Devil´s Son

4-Evil inside

5-Grind

Last rites is a band whose music we have reviewed before and whose combination of death metal and thrash metal I really enjoy. This guys are pure violence and hatred unleashed in the vein of bands like Destruction or Kreator and they manage to create moments of pure aggression that hits the listener like a brick in the teeth. The guitar riffs are fast and furious and they have no mercy. There are some guitar solos and melodies here and there that add good moments to the compositions. The vocals are really extreme with a thrash voice and also a more growling deathly one. The compositions are carefully constructed and each note is delivered with pure intensity that is soon felt by the listener. The sound is raw and really loud making your speakers shake while listening to it at a loud volume. Lovers of classic thrash with killer sound should check Last Rites.

Recorded at Nadir Studios

Produced by Last rites

LETATLIN - LA SEPOLTURA DELLE FARFALLE

Line Up:

Marco de Piaggi - guiars, vocals, programming

Federico Caputo - guitars, vocals, programming

Sandro Lezziero - bass, vocals, synths

Music by Letatlin

Lyrics by Letatlin

Tracks:

1-Carcasse

2-Arp (La Sepoltura Delle Farfalle)

3-Taiwan

4-Cerulex

5-Affoga l´Asino

6-Falene

7-Digestione di un Metabolismo Medio

8-Plastic Shape

9-4 Corvi

10-Mancanza di Calre

11-Mechanical Flower

12- Naissance du Robot

13- Antigas (La Nausea)

14- (31)

This is a band that is really original with a sound that is not similar to any other band. With heavy use of electronics and atmospheric elements and also of some industrial parts the band manages to construct amazing passages that takes the listener to sonic landscapes that have never been explored before. There is plenty of experimentation with atmospheres, with dissonances and with electronic elements in order to achieve extremely original compositions. It is amazing how the vocals contrast heavily with the rest of the music adding a more aggressive approach and contrasting with the more atmospheric parts. I must say: this guys are extremely original, they are really avant garde and they are not afraid of exploring new musical ideas. Thumbs up for them.

Produced by Letatlin

LOKURAH - LOKURAH

Line Up:

Die - drums

Natha - vocals

Kaos - bass

PJ - guitars, b. vocals

Music by Lokurah

Lyrics by Lokurah

Tracks:

1-Guilty

2-Crash

3-Sore Throat

Lokurah opens with no mercy with “Guilty” showing that their main goal is to achieve utter aggression through rhythmic guitar riffs, crushing bass lines. With a sound reminiscent of the most brutal Machine Head combined with more brutal styles like death metal the band delivers here three tunes of pure violence unleashed where the main thing here are the fast riffs that are the core of the music. The vocals are brutal fitting really well the music and also adding some extra aggression to the music. I have to remark the solid rhythm section that delivers powerful patterns through the three tunes and also the good sound that this recording has which is essential in order to achieve the intensity level that Lokurah has.

Produced by Lokurah

LUNATICS ON PAROLE - RISE

Line Up:

Kenny the Gardener - vocals

Mike Brickman- bass

Jorge Iacobellis - drums

Bryce Waring - guitars

Music by Lunatics on Parole

Lyrics by Kenny the Gardener

Tracks:

1-Intro

2-Spirit of Truth

3-This is

4-Open your Eyes

5-Not My Leader

6-War Mongers

7-Lord of the Flies

8-Dumbing Down America

9-Corporate Goosestep

10-We are the People

11-NWO 3

12- Arminius

This album opens up with a climatic intro with some guitars processed with effects and a deep spoken voice that soon lead us into the aggressive “Spirit of Truth”. The first thing that got my attention is how compact the band sounds and how the keyboards contrast heavily with the aggressive guitar and with the extreme vocals. This is the type of bands that you can imagine blasting in a live show with good rhythms designed for headbanging. Kenny the Gardener´s voice is guttural sometimes and sometimes is extreme but more of the agonic type. And it fits really well the overall brutal feeling of the music. The drumming is intense and leaves plenty of space for the guitars and keyboards to deliver rhythms and arrangements. The sound here is direct and loud and that gives the impression of having an idea of how this guys may sound live. Pure aggression with some innovative ideas.

Recorded at Donner Blitzen Studios

Produced by Kenny the Gardener

MAG - PROJECT

Line Up:

Marc-André Gingras - guitars

Denis Cantin - drums

Daniel perron - bass on 2,5,6,7,11

Philippe Labréche - bass on 3,4,9,10

Alexander Blais - bass on 1

Christian Pacaud - bass on 8

Music by MArc-André Gingras

Tracks:

1-Cosmic Disturbance

2-A Drop in the Sea

3-Nowhere in Sight

4-More or Less

5-open up

6-Eternity

7-Looking Up

8-Storm

9-No one Like You

10-Highway 80

11-Coma

This is Marc-André Gingras project, full of good guitar riffs and guitar virtuosism. Names like Tony Macalpine, Greg Howe and Vinnie Moore come to my mind showing that Gingras can shred his guitar with full technical skills and good taste. The combination of heavy sound, neoclassical parts and jazzier phrases combined give a lot of identity to this virtuoso´s music. And there is good taste here in note placement and in the melodies that he delivers through all this album, full of melodies and feeling. And he does not forget that he is a heavy musician and that is shown on the main riffs that are powerful and that contrast with the more melodic parts. The sound is clear, perfect, as this style of music must have. Pure virtuosism.

Recorded at MAG Home Studio

Produced by Marc-André Gingras

MALIGNANT INCEPTION - PATH TO REPRESSION

Line Up:

Tyler Harvey - guitars, bass

Dave Jeisma - keyboards

Todd Weir - percussion

Ed Price - guitars, bass

Zakk Muffett - vocals

Music by Malignant Inception

Lyrics by Ed Price

Tracks:

- Induced Placement (Intro)
- Mirror - The Darkened Masses
- Compelling Forces
- The Soldier
- A Collage Creation
- Obligatory Stir of Tangibility
- My Before, As I Was Less
- The End Of The Beginning Prt. I - Conceiled Silence

Pure brutality and aggression is what this band shows here, but at the same time they manage to add good melodies that set them apart from the bands of the style. This album is an improvement respect to the "Black Death" one that we reviewed before. If you like ultra fast rhythms and riffs here you have plenty of them, but also you have more mid paced rhythms that show good musicianship and killer ideas. There are multiple changes in tempo and rhythm and that makes things even better. The keyboards orchestrate the tunes really well and combined with some clean guitars here and there show a more introspective feeling that contrasts heavily with the brutality that the riffs and the agonic and guttural voices deliver. If you want a release that combines cleverly aggression with good ideas then you must check this one.

Recorded at Bobo Digitalia Studios

Produced by nMalignant Inception

MANNING - ANSER´S TREE

Line Up:

Guy Manning - vocals, guitars, bass, mandolin, keyboards, drums, percussion

Laura Fowles - Sax, vocals

Stephen Dundon - lead guitar

Ian Fairbairn - fiddles

Music by Guy Manning

Lyrics by Guy Manning

Tracks:

1-MArgaret Montgomery (1581 - ?)

2-Jack Roberts (1699-1734)

3-William Barnes (1803-1835)

4-Diana Horden (1900-1922)

5-Joshua Logan (1990-2048)

6-Professor Adam Logan (2001-2094)

7-Dr. Jonathan Anser (2089-?)

Guy Manning is an amazing composer as we saw in his previous album.  With influences of seventies progressive rocks Manning explicitly shows the importance of melodies in any context to achieve all the multiple musical passage that he creates here. And the use of multiple instruments as flutes, fiddles and mandolines is essential here to transmit Manning´s limitless imagination. There is a lot of virtuosism here but that is not reflexed in shredding or using a million notes a minute but in the good construction of the compositions and in the multiple arrangements that each composition has. In fact the solos are short and they are not the main parts of the compositions.  Here we have influences of bands like Jethro Tull, Yes and other bands of the style but all cleverly mixed into Manning´s own style. A great composer that always delivers superb musical pieces.

Recorded at Burnside Studios

Produced by Guy Manning

MAYA 29 - BELOVODIA

Line Up:

Karen Bradford - vocals

Jon Price - bass

Mark of the Beast - drums

Ste(ph) - bass

Music by Maya 29

Lyrics by Karen Bradford

Tracks:

1-Belovodia

2-Head

3-Monkeys

This is a previous recording from this band and here you can listen to all the elements that are characteristic of Maya 29. Kae´s sensual and powerful voice delivers the main melodies with her privileged throat. Here we have also the combination of climatic moments with more aggressive moments created mainly by the guitars that change from clean to heavy riffs within the same composition. The drumming here is intense and that is another essential feature here since it drives the main spirit of the songs. The good thing about this band is that they experiment within a song context that soon sticks in the mind of the listener. This recording has three tracks that leaves you wanting more from this band. I hope they get their full length recording soon.

Recorded at

Produced by Maya 29

MAYA 29 - THIS IS NOT FOR YOU

Line Up:

Nicholas Paul - guitars

Karen Bradford - vocals

Mark Mather - drums, percussion

Jon Price - bass, b.vocals

Music by Maya 29

Lyrics by Karen Bradford

Tracks:

1-House of Leaves

2-Tonali

3-The Journey of Gods

This is a band whose music is really difficult to describe. They are aggressive but at the same time they use a lot of introspective atmospheres creating moments of pure contrast. The guitars are one of the main elements using clean guitars that deliver arpeggios in the calmer parts and then adding weird distorted riffs when the music turns more aggressive. The other main thing here are the vocals, delivered by Kae, a woman that has a voice that can sound really sweet in some parts and really aggressive in others creating a lot of textures while delivering her vocal lines. And this vocals are essential in order to achieve the feeling of melancholy and power that Maya 29 transmits. The recording is really powerful and at the same time experimental showing interesting ideas through the compositions.

Produced by Maya 29

MENDOZZA  - HMCS UGANDA

Line Up:

Deuce - guitars, vocals

Bina - drums

Hank Solo - bass

Music by Mendozza

Lyrics by Mendozza

Tracks:

1-Uganda

2-Swarm

3-Old Sparky

4-Inhaler

5-Ground

6-S.D.F.

7-Song 1

Kicking off with the powerful “Uganda” tune the band shows that they can be direct, raw and powerful. The band plays sort of a mix between metal, thrash and stoner having their own personality. The vocals are deep and powerful, with a whisky feeling that fits really well the music. And the good thing is that the tunes get stuck in your mind through repetitive guitar riffs and through the hypnotic rhythms that they use. There is some early Black Sabbath influence here but taken to their own style cleverly. The sound of the recording is raw and direct and it fits well the overall feeling of the music. The album is dedicated to the crew of the HMCS Uganda, the only Canadian ship that fought against the japans in the Second World War.

Recorded in a basement in Abbotsford

Produced by Mendozza

MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE - OUT OF THE DARKNESS

Line Up:

Edward Douglas

Gavin Goszka

Music by Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka

Tracks:

1-Realm of Shadows

2-Darkness Descends

3-Born of the Night

4-Return of the Apparition

5-Legions of the Night

6-Eye of the Storm

7-Solemn Reflections

8-Nightstalker

9-Noctem Aeternus

10-Haunted Nursery

11-Sanctuary

12-Into the Abyss

13-The Night Beckons

14-Masque of Sorrow

15-Forbidden Crypts

16-Theme to "The Dead Matter". Vampire´s kiss

17-Darkfolk: Shadows

18-Soliloquy

19-Beyond the Gates

20-Eclipse

21-Scenes from "The Dead Matter"

22-Prisoner of Time

23-Theme to "Journey into Dementia"

24- Druids

This is a compilation of compositions from previous Midnight Syndicate´s albums plus some new tunes, so this is a good album for those who don´t know the band to start listening to it. And for lovers of the band this is a jewel because you have here tracks from the “The Dead Matter” soundtrack and also three bonus compositions that are collector´s item. As always the music is carefully constructed transporting the listener to the dark world that the band creates with their keyboards and making him feel like in a gothic dark horror movie. Again the melodies that were achieved in all the albums whose songs are featured here are superb and you can listen this whole recording over and over again and let your imagination fly along the music. A must have

Recorded at Metrosync Studios

Produced by Midnight Syndicate

MINDSIGHT - MINDSIGHT

Line Up:

Aaron - vocals

Tony - percussion and electronics

Brian - drums

Q - bass

Danni - guitars

Music by Mindsight

Lyrics by Mindsight

Tracks:

1-Back Alley Requiem

2-Effigy

3-Lost in Time

Mindsight is a band whose music is a combination of pure rock, metal and also including some pop elements. Here the main thing is the combination of melodies with heavy riffs and with ethereal parts. The vocals fit well the music because they are clean in the more atmospheric parts and of the screaming type in the more violent parts. There are influences of new metal bands here and there and the band feels comfortable in creating songs with killer direct riffs and with a lot of hooks that make the songs really accessible to the ears of people. There is not that much originality in here but the songs are memorable and climatic. The sound is good and that adds extra points to this release. Lovers of this style should check Mindsight.

Recorded by Manny Sanchez

Produced by Mindsight

MIRZADEH - THE CREATURES OF LOVIATAR

Line Up:

Exitus

Shagul

Mirox

Lues

Fafner

Music by Shagul (1,10) , Mirox / Shagul (2,3,4,7,8), Exitus/Shagul/Mirox (5), Inaj (6), Mirox / Anaj (9)

Lyrics by Mirox (2,4,9), Lues (3,5,7,8), Mirox /Lues (6)

Tracks:

1-Whispers from Filthy Womb

2-Precious Death

3-Viper of the Frozen Ground

4-Witness of Moonlight Mystery

5-Louhi´s Legacy

6-Fullmoon Dream

7-Kalman Kevat

8-Tuonelan Lasten Tanssi

9-Melancholy

10-Kalmisto

The calm intro deceived us cause the band kicks off violently in 2 with heavy guitars and crushing drumming. The guitars have a really good sound and that is essential to show that a black/death metal band like Mirzadeh can have a good sound and be extremely aggressive at the same time. Multiple arrangements, melodies and textures are created on each composition, showing the good musicianship that these guys have. The vocals are of the black metal type, that is agonic and extreme. The drumming is killer because there is really good double bass drumming here and the patterns combined with the huge guitars make this band sound more brutal than most of the band in this style. A crushing release.

Recorded at Studio Watercastle

Produced by Mirzadeh

MURK EXORBITANCE - DESECRATED REALITY

Line Up:

Undertaker - vocals

Exeqt - guitars

Morbus - bass

Moore - drums

Arhont - session guitars

Music by Murk Exorbitance

Lyrics by Exeqt and Undertaker

Tracks:

1-Fucking Nation

2-Military plays

3-Self Autopsy

4-Biography of a Corpse

5-Desecrated Reality

6-in Memory of...

7-Antipidra

8-As Gloomy this life

9-Woman? Reign?

10-Reflection

Pure bestiality, pure aggression, pure violence, pure carnage is what you will find in this crushing album from the bestial band known as Murk Exorbitance. If you like guttural vocals here you have an extremely guttural one that interacts cleverly with a voice more of the Carcass type. Complex riffs are the main thing here and they work really well along the multiple changes and breaks that the rhythm section deliver. There are some almost grindcore parts with blast beats in many parts and that remarks the level of aggression that the band delivers. There are good technical skills here and that is evident in the complex riffs and in the multiple breaks and changes that the music here has. The band has achieved a good sound and they have mixed well the album specially the guitars. Pure brutality coming directly from Ukraine.

Recorded at SPN Studio

Produced by Musica Productions

MY SHAMEFUL - THE RETURN TO NOTHING

Line Up:

Mario - guitars

Sami - guitars, vocals

Mark - drums, acoustic guitars

Twist - bass

Music by My Shameful

Lyrics by Sami

Tracks:

1. This same grey light
2. Days grow darker
3. No dawn
4. the Return to nothing
5. It cant get worse
6. Silent
7. Just one
8. Return

Opening darkly with “This same grey light” the band shows improvements from their previous recording, sounding this time darker and extremely sad and depressing. This is pure doom music full of slow riffs and crushing sound and with vocals that come from beyond the grave. The guitars are extremely distorted and they create a wall of distorted riffs that are the essence of this band´s music. Plus they have this heavy yet slow drumming that give an hypnotic quality to the music and sets the mood for the rest of the band. The vocals are inhuman like coming from a living corpse and fitting really well the rest of the music. The sound is much better than in their previous release but still keeping this full distorted sound that real doom band must have.

Produced by My Shameful

NIRNAETH - THROWN ATHWART THE DARKNESS

Line Up:

Yamaël - drums

Ziguille - vocals

Malaria - bass

Mutill - guitars

Music by Mutill, exc. 5 by Wojciech Kilar

Lyrics by

Tracks:

1-Nirnaeth Arnoediad

2-War

3-Et Nox Facta Est

4-Tenebres

5-Vampire Hunters

6-Black Metal Wrath

7-Pentagram of Flesh

8-Nothing But Ashes

9-We´ll be Victorious

Opening with no mercy with “Nirnaeth Arnoediad” the band delivers their black metal with elements of death metal at full speed. This is pure hatred unleashed with raw guitars that play fast and loud riffs and with blast beating drums that also deliver patterns closer to death metal and thrash metal. The good thing here is that the band sounds really compact and that is essential in order to reflect all their violence. The vocals are really agonic and fit perfectly the darkness of the music. There are plenty of changes within each composition but there is full coherence and clever song construction. The sound is loud and raw and that is essential in order to let you feel all the hatred unleashed by Nirnaeth. I have to remark the good sound that the bass drums have that gives also a thundering sound to the music.

Recorded at Midnight nad Arnoediad Studios

Produced by Nirnaeth

NOX ARCANA - CARNIVAL OF LOST SOULS

Line Up:

Joseph Vargo

William Piotrowski

Music by Vargo / Piotrowski

Lyrics by Joseph Vargo

Tracks:

1-Ghosts of the Midway

2-After Hours

3-Harlequin´s Lament

4-Calliope

5-Madame Endora

6-Nightmare Parade

7-Shadows Fall

8-Hall of Mirrors

9-Spellbound

10-Cries in the night

11-Soul Stealer

12-Haunted Carousel

13-Theatre of Sorrows

14-Living Dolls

15-Lost in the Darkness

16-Snake Charmer

17-Freaks

18-Circus Diabolique

19-Pandora´s Music Box

20-The Devil´s Dagger

21-Storm

This is the new Nox Arcana album and as always we find here compositions full of clever musicianship. This “Carnival of Lost Souls” finds the guys experimenting with different melodies that are haunting and dark, but I find in some places some sort of circus melodies with a sinister edge. The compositions are really well constructed and full of arrangements and they give the feeling to the listener of being in a cinema watching some sort of horror movie where carnival is a main theme. Multiple melodies are developed here surprising on each tune with new arrangements and atmospheres. As always Nox Arcana delivers the best.

Recorded at Phantom Zone Studios

Produced by Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski

QNTAL - V-SILVER SWAN

Line Up:

Syrah - vocals

Michael Popp - vocals, fidel, shalmai, Saz, Ud, Tar

Fil - keyboards, vocals, guitars, programming

Music by Qntal

Lyrics by Syrah

Tracks:

1-Monsieur´s Departure

2-Levis

3-Falling Star

4-Von Den Elben

5-Lingua Mendax

6-Altas Undaz

7-Winter

8-292

9-Amis Raynaut

10-THe Whyle

11-Silver Swan

Good melodies and clever arrangements are the essence here. If I had to describe this album with just one word I would say “beautiful”. And that is because the melodies enchant the listener with their ethereal nature and with a sort of magic. One of the main things here are Syrah´s vocals which are truly majestic and that are the heart and soul of the music here. There is unusual instrumentation here in the way of bands like Dead Can Dance but with the originality that Qntal gives to each of their compositions. There are multiple harmonies and eastern sounding parts on each composition and everything done with extremely careful musicianship. I totally recommend this band to lovers of good melodies, experimentation and atypical compositions.

Produced by Qntal

SARA LEE - DARKNESS BETWEEN

Line Up:

Joonas - vocals

Kimberly - guitars

Juha - guitars

Saurus - bass

Arzka - keyboards

Clansman - drums

Music by Joonas and SaraLee

Lyrics by Joonas

Tracks:

1-Everytime

2-Loneliness O.D.

3-Black and Hollow

4-Falling Star

5-Dance

6-Darkness Between

7-Destination Unknown

8-Prophecy

9-Cries a River

10-My Sweet Craving

11-Like Dreamers

Sara Lee opens up this album with all their power showing that their music is powerful but at the same time very climatic. Clean vocals are the essence here to reach the melodies that are needed on the compositions. The guitars deliver powerful riffs and also melodies that are another essential element here. And there are short rocking solos that give a pure rock attitude to the music. The keyboards embellish some parts but the main thing here are the guitars that give the power to the music. The songs are truly memorable and you will find yourself singing the choruses really soon. A melancholic yet powerful release with killer songs.

Recorded at Watercastle Studios

Produced by SaraLee and Arttu Sarvanne

SCID - FUCKED BEYOND RECOGNITION

Line Up:

David Rambeck - music, lyrics

Rainer Duesing - vocals

Music by Scid

Lyrics by Scid

Tracks:

1-Fucked Up beyond all recognition

2-Complicated

3-Staring inside the Womb

4-Internal Brain Atresia

5-Eternal

6-Queen for a Day, cunt for a lifetime

7- C.L.I.T.

8-Permanent Flatulence

9-Cunt Wait Until Tonight

10-The Awakening

11-Recocknize

SCID is pure brutality from beginning to end. Their music is fast and furious, full of intense drumming and huge guitar riffs. Here we have a drummer that goes at a thousand miles an hour and that delivers technical double bass drumming and also plenty of blast beats. There are multiple changes in rhythms and some of them are more rhythmic and heavier without using that much speed. The vocals here are extremely guttural and they add extra bestiality points here. The guitars are fast and have a huge sound, heavily downtuned and they also add short melodies and solos here and there to make each composition really unique. The sound of the recording is huge and that helps also to achieve the highest level of brutality.

Recorded at Soundlodge and Eastend Studios

Produced by Scid

SOS - A GUIDE TO BETTER LIVING

Line Up:

Adam Mastrosimone- vocals, bass

Mike Vittiglio - guitars, vocals

Mike SOS - guitars, vocals

Travis Harrison - drums, percussion

Music by SOS

Lyrics by SOS

Tracks:

1-Bumblefuck

2-Star Killers

3-Everything Must Go

4-Scenic Route

5-The Wedding Guy

6-Hopeless

7-Old No 7

8-No Miracle

9-Slut

10-Middle Ground

11-Killing Time

12-Venice

13-Counsel to the Crown

14-Dead Before Noon

15-Rub & Tug

16-Can´t Stop

17-Amputee

If you think the first seconds of “Bumblefuck” are calm then you will blown away by the storm that comes down just a few seconds later. This band delivers heavy rock but with an extremely heavy sound that makes their sound extremely powerful and at the same time original. The songs are aggressive and are cleverly constructed in order to be memorable and to be powerful at the same time. And then comes some keyboards/samples in some parts that turn things even more original. The good thing is that they use hard rock structures and they turn them into a much heavier composition and they keep rocking vocals with a powerful singer that adds extra points. The sound is loud and compact, adding even more heaviness to the music.

Recorded at Serious Business Studios

Produced by SOS and Serious Business Studios

STIGMA - THE FAILURE OF ME

Line Up:

Stig Rune Robertsen - guitars, vocals

Endre Hindhammer - bass, b. vocals

Marius Skaugen - drums

Music and lyrics by Stig Rune Robertsen, exc. 7 by King Diamond

Tracks:

1-The Failure of Me

2-Time

3-Echoes of Time

4-Hotel of Stigmas

5-Move on

6-I don´t know

7-Welcome Home

8-Changes

9-The failure f me (remix)

I have to confess that I was surprised. This is what happens when you start judging the album by the cover and then you listen to it and the style is completely different from what you expected. I expected sort of a hardcore album and this is something completely different. A short intro in “The failure of me” leads us into melodic metal with plenty of powerful riffs and strong ideas. The main thing here is the guitar that delivers the riffs and also the main melodies that soon get sticked into your mind. The vocals here are a litlle bit muddy doing well developed melodies but is a little bit in the back of the compositions. There is melancholy in tunes like “Changes” fitting well the spirit of the music that is a combination of epic and melancholic feelings. There is a King Diamond cover of the “Welcome Home” tune from the album “Them” that has the spirit of the original tune but with the original Stigma sound.  A good work from this guys from Trondheim.

Recorded at Buran Studios

Produced by Stig Rune Robertsen

TASTE OF DOOM - ALL QUIET IN THE WAR FRONT

Line Up:

Sven Weber - bass, vocals

Bjoern Weber - vocals

Johannes Rohrbach- lead guitar, b. vocals

Lars Haertel - drums

Martin Schaefer - guitar, b. vocals

Music by Taste of Doom

Lyrics by Taste of Doom

Tracks:

1-Alia of the Knives

2-All Quiet

3-Beast of Prey

4-Disciples of Doom

5-Eldarquest

This is a band that has elements of thrash metal and also some elements of death metal, especially in the most extreme voice that is used here. There use of good mid tempos that then get into faster thrash rhythms where the band shows aggression besides good riffs work. The music here has a definitive German feeling, in the vein of bands like Kreator, Destruction or Holy Moses but with different types of riffs. There is intense drumming her with a classic thrash feeling with heavy use of ride cymbal and snare. The guitar riffs are really aggressive and loud and they are the core of the band creating moments full of violence and hate. The sound of the recording is raw and direct with a certain old school feeling (I think that a better mix can do more justice for this band). Pure thrash metal the way it must be done.

Recorded at Rehearsal Chicken

Produced by Taste of Doom

TEARS OF MANKIND - WITHOUT RAY OF HOPE

Line Up:

Philipp Skobelin - all instruments, programming and vocals

Music by Philipp Skobelin

Lyrics by Philipp Skobelin

Tracks:

1-Without Hope

2-Eternal Sadness

3-Deep Inside the ilence

4-theme of Laura

5-Emotion Oblivion

6-From Dark to Light

7-The River

8-Never

9-Through the Storm

10-The Winter Dance

11-Sweet Harmony

Opening with a heavy rhythm and some heavy guitars that develop a heavy riff with a melancholic melody Tears of Mankind shows that the music here is about melancholy and aggression. Then enters a deep dark voice that creates some sad melodies over this rhythms and after that the more violent agonic voice that gives extra power to the music. The amazing thing is that every note played here comes from the mind of one man, Philipp Skobelin, who plays all instruments and does all vocals with extreme talent. The compositions are cleverly constructed along a main riff using plenty of arrangements that add a sad feeling and also powerful moments to the music showing that this guy has good musicianship besides the aggressive riffs. There is also a guttural voice used in tunes like “Eternal Sadness”, adding a beyond the grave feeling to this extremely hypnotic and sad composition. The sound of the recording is loud and climatic in the calmer moments fitting well the feeling of the music. An amazing release.

Recorded at home studio

Produced by Tears of Mankind

THE ETHEREAL - FROM FUNERAL SKIES

Line Up:

Music by THe Ethereal

Lyrics by The Ethereal

Tracks:

1-Beyond All Dreams

2-Your Creation

3-Wish

4-From Funeral Skies

Doom !!! Pure doom with slow rhythms and distorted slow riffs that crave into your brain filling it with sorrow and darkness. “From Funeral Skies” is an excellent title for this recording that has four compositions where the shortest one is ten minutes long. The combination of hyper distorted guitars with slow sad melodies and with some keyboards arrangements are the essence of The Ethereal´s music. And the vocals are coming from the underworld being extremely guttural and fitting the overall spirit of the compositions. The band has good ideas to reflect the sorrow and sadness that they want to deliver with their music and they have succeeded on this four tunes. And the sound is distorted and direct fitting the mood of the compositions really well. Pure depression is what you will find here and this four tunes can send you directly to suicide.

Produced by The Ethereal

THE RED KING - SOMNIFERUM

Line Up:

Tragic Magic from Johann BrÅn Cleereman - all instruments vocals

Music and lyrics by Johann Brån Cleereman

Tracks:

I expected more of an atmospheric band but this guys have the atmospheres and also have the guts that I needed to make a powerful album. Combining darkwave with more crushing guitars and with majestic keyboards The Red King has achieved here an album full of memorable and powerful tunes. The whispering vocals are a trademark here and they give the dark feeling to the music, while the rhythm section and the guitars add the power. There are more introspective parts like the beginning of "Someday" but the main idea is that combination of energy and darkness. The use of clean and distorted guitars also helps a lot to achieve the desired effect. An album full of interesting dark melodies but also with strong vocals and aggressive riffs.

Produced by The Red King

THESSERA - FOOLED EYES

Line Up:

Marcelo Mattos - bass

Raphael Lamin - guitars

Nando Costa - guitars

Fernando Cerutti - drums

Rodolfo Amaro - keyboards

Marcelo Quina - vocals

Music by Thessera

Lyrics by Thessera, Buda Soares and Claudio Calabria

Tracks:

1-Le Chf D´oeuvre

2-The Gallery

3-Broken Psyches

4-Candlefire

5-The Leading Roles

6-Party´s On

7-Inverse

8-Conflagration

9-Heaven´s Gate

Rodolfo Amaro´s keyboards and Fernando Cerutti´s drums set the pace in the beginning of “Le Chef D´oeuvre” before this whole showcase of pure progressive virtuosism enter. This is an epic tune where the guys show what they do the best. That is powerful progressive music full of melodies and arrangements. Here they show on each compositions how they can be really skilled and how they can create epic moments such as the ones in “The Gallery”. I have to remark the huge role that keyboards have here, creating the right atmosphere while the guitars develop heavy riffs or clean arpeggios. Marcelo Quina´s vocals is clean and he has a wide range as Fates Warning´s Ray Alder or Queensryche´s Geoff Tate but with his personal feeling. An album full of virtuosism that shows nine completely different compositions with a lot of feeling and musicianship.

Recorded at Nave studio

Produced by Thessera

THUNDERDOME - THUNDERDOME

Line Up:

Sando Manicone - keyboards

Daniele Flammini - drums

Marco Avallone - bass

Paolo Zinzi - lead guitar

Patrizio Izzo - vocals

Jad - rhythm guitar

Music by Thunderdome

Lyrics by Thunderdome

Tracks:

1-Born from the Dark

2-Sail Away

3-Just a Dream

4-Crawl to me

“Born from the Dark” opens up this MCD with a sad yet epic feeling and soon you get the idea: the main thing here are the guitars and keyboards that make this a full progressive power metal band full of epic ideas and memorable tunes. Here we have a lot of virtuosism where Sandro Manicone´s keyboards show a lot of amazing technical skills and  good taste in creating melodies and chord progressions. Influences here range from Stratovarius, Dream Theater, Helloween and Yngwie Malmsteen. The vocals are clean and epic fitting well the feeling of the tunes and the rhythm section is solid as hell. The guitars are essential here to give the power to the music with killer riffs and with good solos that interact cleverly with the keyboards. A majestic band with killer epic tunes.

Recorded at True Hearts Studios

Produced by Thunderdome

TOTAL DEVASTATION - WRECK

Line Up:

Lauri Pikka - vocals, programming

Saku Hakuli - guitars

Jarmo Pikka - drums

Jaakko Heinonen - vocals

Harri Pikka - guitars

Pasi Hakuli - bass

Music by Total Devastation

Lyrics by Total Devastation

Tracks:

1-Some Random

2-Aware

3-Collision Course

4-The Great Revelation

5-Surveillance

6-Twitcher

7-Unsung Hero

8-High Standard

9-Massiva Manmade Burning

10-Way to Better

11-Wreck

Total Devastation shows again their own particular style of pure aggressive music. Becoming more violent and sounding tighter on each recording the band delivers here eleven tracks of pure hatred, of pure sonic mayhem. The band has improved a lot from previous recordings reaching originality and showing how their own kind of death metal can be even more brutal than in the most well known band in the style. One remarkable thing here is the amazing sound and mix that this album has that makes the recording even more aggressive and violent making the guitars shine with brutality and the drums sound extremely aggressive and technical. The vocals are really deathly but the guitars deliver original riffs setting the band apart from the rest with full originality. A band that always surprises with new killer albums.

Recorded at Sound Supreme Studios

Produced by Total Devastation and Janne Saksa

TRISTWOOD - THE DELPHIC DOCTRINE

Line Up:

Axumis - lead vocals

Jegger - guitars, synths, b.vocals

Deimon - sampling, bass, drumming, programming

Neru - programming, synths, guitars

Music by Tristwood

Lyrics by Tristwood

Tracks:

1-Indoctriantion

2-The Delphic Doctrine

3-Chronos

4-By the Call of Seth - Invocation of the God of Blood and War

5-Anbeheh

6-Pandaemonic Paradoxon

7-Nemesis - The Cyberstorm

8-Through the Nineth Hall of Utukku

9-Deadae Taengri

10-Exdoctrination - The Blackest void

This band is really aggressive with fast rhythms and drumming and also with heavy use of electronics in some parts. We can describe the sound as a mix of brutal death metal, black metal with some modern metal and industrial elements. Ultra fast guitar riffs are played here with a huge sound delivering also plenty of changes in tempo and rhythm. The electronics and keyboards add an industrial feeling that fits really well Tristwood´s music giving sort of an apocalyptic feeling to the music. And the vocals are really extreme, closer to the growls in death metal but with a more processed sound. The sound of the recording is really loud and clear making the impact of the music bigger for the listener. Pure aggression with an innovative sound.

Recorded at Hellsound and Volcano Studios

Produced by Neru

WORMS OF SABNOCK - DARK HARMONIES

Line Up:

Lesion - lead guitar

Quintus - vocals, guitars

Nomis - bass, clean vocals

Moros - drums

Music by Worms of Sabnock

Lyrics by Worms of Sabnock

Tracks:

1-It Begins

2-Black Empire

3-Demons Walk Among Us

4-In the Shadow of A Genius

5-Uncertain Light

6-A Solemn Art

7-The Dark harmony

8-Shango´s Vengeance

A dark intro opens up this album with some spoken female vocals before the band enters with some dissonant riffs that are at the same time dark and heavy as hell. The band is pure black metal with ultra fast drumming that crushes your brain and with interesting and fast guitar riffs. The vocals are really extreme a this style must have and the band sounds much heavier than most of the bands in the style, specially due to their huge guitar sound and the direct and powerful mix. There is good keyboards work adding mystic arrangements here and there contrasting with the brutality and aggression of the rest of the band. Due to the good arrangements the tunes are memorable despite being hyperfast and bestial. The sound is loud and direct and the drums sound right in your face and the mix lets you feel the interaction between guitars and keyboards. A great combination of darkness and brutality.

Recorded at Leisure Lounge Studios

Produced by Iain Smith and Worms of Sabnock