After six years of not playing together one of the most classical European black metal bands is back. Abigor has returned with all their aggression and with all their unholy vocals and lyrics. Opening with sort of electronic sounds that will surprise the listener in “Warning”, then come some dissonants melodies over which some voices are spoken. And finally the black metal comes to the surface but in a different way than we were used o listen from this Austrian band with more experimentation but with the ultra fast guitar riffs and drumming that are a trademark of the band. The keyboards are used also in order to add some orchestration to the music, and the guitars deliver riffs, experimental solos and melodies all over the compositions. Breaks and changes are all over the place in tunes like “Project: Shadow” and aggressive black metallish vocals are another trademark here. The sound is much better than in previous albums showing that this six years were used to improve their sound and compositional skills. 

Clean guitars open darkly this recording which has two compositions of over 25 minutes each of them. And slowly but surely the rest of the band enters with a rocking feeling and at the same time with intense use of a mid tempo. The repetition of ideas is essential here in order to make things memorable and to make this ideas mutate a little bit on each repetition in order to transform the whole part of the composition. There is heavy experimentation here with changes, with rhythms, with melodies and also with atmospheres. The recording has a definitive seventies sound in the guitars and also on the vocals and that gives a psychedelic feeling to the music (there is also wah wah used in the bass guitar which gives a special sound to the music). Total experimentation.

After many years of waiting here we have the second Aghora album. With a new line-up that still has Sean Reinert (ex- Cynic, Death, Gordian Knot) on drums and virtuoso Santiago Dobles on guitars the band delivers incredibly technical compositions with plenty of solos, arrangements and crushing guitar riffs. New vocalist Diana Serra brings a lot of deep melodies here and makes huge contrasts with the more aggressive parts delivering eastern sounding melodies and melancholic parts. Each tune has plenty of breaks, tempo changes and arrangements that constantly surprises the listener. And here Reinert shines with all the different drumming patterns that he creates, interacting cleverly with the guitars and the bass. The use of heavy guitars and also clean ones is essential here to deliver the different atmospheres that each tune has. The sound achieved with Neil Kernon´s production is great, especially on the huge guitars.

Grinding from beginning to end Ahumado Granujo crushes brutally your mind with intense guitar riffs and bestial drumming full of blast beats and guttural vocals. The vocals are really putrid giving the grindcore feeling to the music and making the music sound even more extreme in most of the tunes. The guitars are fast and they are heavily downtuned creating a huge sound that is emphasized by the bass giving one of the most brutal sounds on Earth. There are also some electronic elements here and there showing an experimental side of Ahumado Granujo´s personality. There are also three covers here, one from Cock and Ball Torture, another from Krisiun and  a Disrupt one, all done in the Ahumado Granujo way, full of hatred and violence. The album has a multimedia section with interesting features such as pictures and many more stuff. This band has already become a classic in the most brutal of the metal scenes.

A spoken intro with some background sounds and electronic noises open up this album of brutal metal music. Here we have elements of thrash metal, hardcore and death metal all combined into the Aktiv Dödshjälp own musical personality. The guitars are fast and have that modern thrash feeling that distinguishes them for example from pure death metal bands. The drumming is intense and fast and at the same time leaves enough space for the guitars and the vocals to develop their ideas. The vocals are really extreme and it is like if someone is torturing this guy before he spits with all hate and anger the lyrics. The rhythm section is tight and interacts really well with the rest of the band. I have to remark the special sound that this recording has, where the guitars and drums are loud and at the same time have sort of an industrial feeling that makes sound machine-like fitting well the spirit of the music.

Starting at a lower volume and soon getting at full loud format the band shows that they are a grindcore brutal death machine where the main goal is to devastate the listener with sheer aggression and brutality. Blast beats are all over the place here and they are combined with fast guitar riffs and intense bass guitar in order to construct a fast wall of sound designed to crush the listeners brain. The vocals are really guttural and give a lot of grindcore feeling to the music. And they are usd like another instrument that adds more brutality to the music. The album has a multimedia bonus that shows lyrics, pictures, the studio and many more things from this crushing band.

This is a Spanish band that starts with an hypnotic intro with eastern sounding melodies called “Sephiroth” before Mara Segura´s Spanish voices full of feeling enter showing amazing vocal skills. The musicianship here is amazing and it mixes Spanish music with eastern melodies, with some jazz and also with flamenco. Each composition is full of melodies and constantly surprises with incredible vocal lines, with acoustic guitars, dulcimer, didgeridoos, flutes and many other instruments. And many of this is thanks to the musical genius of Robert Santamaria who is a skilled musicians and composer, playing many instruments here. One of the most innovative releases of the month.

We have reviewed Ataraxia´s music before and this release shows again the great quality that this Italian band. Climatic sounds open “The song of Axieros” with an italian speaking voice before the band continues with the medieval sounding “The Nine Rituals”. The acoustic guitar passages through all the album are amazing and full of beauty as always. The female voices done by Francesca Nicoli are deeper than ever and it sounds weird to listen the lyrics in English in her voice. Vittorio Vandelli´s instrumental work achieves moments of incredible melancholy in tunes like “Kremasta Nera”. As happens with almost all Ataraxia albums once it has begun you can not stop listening discovering all the multiple arrangements and feelings that are developed through all the album. Another great album in the career of this fantastic band.

 

“In Your Blood” is the new album of Italian extreme metal icon Cadaveria. This album has all the features that this band has shown in the previous albums but with a big strengthening in sound. The compositions sound memorable with the huge guitars riffs and with Cadaveria´s extremely agonic vocals. You just have to check the opener “100.000 faces” to see how huge the band can sound. The music is the combination of pure metal, death metal, thrash metal and many other styles. And trademarks here are the catchy choruses and the combination of huge heavy guitars with the keyboards that give a completely different atmosphere to the compositions. Cadaveria´s voice goes from screaming to delivering melodies constructing amazing passages through all the compositions. The band sounds extremely compact showing big improvement through the years. And the sound is one step forward in the right direction for the band making the extreme sound be crystal clear and direct.

Here is the new promo by this extremely brutal band whose previous release we reviewed some time ago. And this promo release shows again how big is the amount of brutality that this band can deliver. Three tracks are enough to make your ear bleeds with aggression and to let you feel all the bestiality created by the huge downtuned guitars riffs and the panzer division-like drumming. The growling vocals are essential to add even more brutality to the music. And this time this guys have a better sound where each instrument is shining and letting you feel their aggression like a razor through your skin. If you are into the most extreme type of death metal bands then you surely have to check Caedere.

Car Bomb has achieved here new levels of brutality within extremely aggressive song structures. Here the guys unleash eleven tunes full of extreme bestiality and experimentation. And that is one of the trademarks of this band´s sound: the fact that they go beyond the common structures used by bands in the death metal or grind or black metal style. Crushing guitars are essential here in order to create the amazing wall of sound that is a trademark of Car Bomb´s music. And here we have multiple changes in tempo and rhythm and multiple breaks and pattern combinations that are the extreme experimentation used here. And the vocals are really extreme giving even more aggression to the music. Pure brutality with truly original ideas.

Some feedback opens up this album before chaos and brutality takes over the stage. Catholicon is an extremely brutal band with influences of pure black metal and death metal that delivers here thirteen tunes of pure unholy aggression from beginning to end. Ultra fast guitar riffs are one of the trademarks here, along with the extreme aggressive and agonic vocals (sometimes really taken to the extreme of the possibilities). The drumming goes from fast tempos to blast beats without any mercy for the listener showing how brutal Catholicon´s rhythms are. The use of keyboards that contrast heavily with the raw guitars is another of the trademarks here and they are essential to create the dark atmosphere that all the tunes here have. The sound of the recording is raw and direct and sometimes it has the feeling of being in a Catholicon´s live show. And the band shows a lot of improvement in sound when compared to previous recordings that we reviewed before. Pure unholy extreme metal with extreme aggression.

The brutal masters from the Czech Republic Cerebral Turbulency come back again with their crushing music full of death metal combined with experimentation and multiple tempo changes and breaks. The raw guitar riffs are fast and furious and they are complex in many parts showing that these guys have a lot of musicianship besides aggression. There are some grinding parts with ultra fast parts like the ones in “Evil Machines” but most of the time the band goes beyond this rhythms creating passages full of technical skills and brutality. The recording has a loud sound that emphasizes the guitars and the drumming and adding extra brutality to the music (bands that think that they are more extreme having a bad mix should check this one).

 

Here we have the new release by Cryonik. Nad it starts really well with a catchy tune called “Second Journey”. For those who don´t know Cryonik, this is a powerful one man band that has an industrial feeling and that has constructed several interesting compositions on this release. Here we have plenty of electronics and distorted sounds and Daniel´s voice is deep and fits perfectly the rest of the music, being essential to achieve the Cryonik sound and delivering the essential melodies to make all the tunes really memorable. There is plenty of experimentation here and that is evident on each tune. Check for example the programmed drumming in “Vacuum” and see how well developed are the ideas here. Five tunes leave you wanting more from the imagination of Cryonik.

An atmospheric intro with dark keyboards and an epic feeling opens up before “We all shall all bleed” opens up with full violence with a shout of “Come on motherfuckers” before all the band blasts at full speed over the listener. Those who have listened the band before will surly love to listen again the Sabine and Johannes vocal contrast that arrives on this album to amazing climaxes. The guitars are as brutal as in their previous album but this time they are even better mixed shinning through all the recording. One of the best things here is also the drumming that sounds like a brutal machine that destroys everything on its path with intense double bass and fast snare drumming. As I said, the vocals here are wonderful, making things really brutal in the case of Johannes, who growls through all the album and also giving a beauty feeling in each composition when Sabine enters the recording. A great release from this band that deserves to be one of the best known names in metal.

A rhythmic riffs opens up this MCD showing in just few seconds all the aggression that the people from Death Mental can create. With influences of old school death metal and thrash metal the band manages to create here two tracks of pure violence and also a track with pure melancholy as “Escape”. Take the sound of bands like Venom and Celtic Frost and add them some old school band like Possessed and then add a really deathly voice in order to achieve the Death Mental sound. The guitars sound raw and fast showing pure aggression and brutality. And the voice is pure death. I would mix a little bit louder the guitars in order to make them sound more compact with the vocals that are mixed really loud. A crushing band with an extreme raw sound full of bestiality.

Debauchery has found its own sound here: that is a combination of pure brutal death metal with rocking riffs and rhythms. Growling vocals of the most pure death metal kind are delivered here against guitar riffs that brought to my mind some Entombed, for example, but with a more crushing sound. The drumming is really brutal, delivering fast double bass, speedy patterns and crushing cymbals hitting. I have to remark the huge sound that this recording has, specially on the guitars and drums that sound really big and right in your face.  There are covers here of tunes by Rammstein “Weisses Fleisch”, Genesis “I can´t dance” and more. And there is also a bonus cd with other covers like Manowar´s “Kings of Metal” and many others. A devastating release.

 

This is a band that comes directly from Costa Rica and that can blast you with just listening one of their tunes. Their music goes from black metal to death metal with crushing guitar riffs and ultra fast drumming with intense double bass patterns. One of the trademarks here is the heavy use of keyboards that contrast with the heavy guitars and with the brutality of the vocals. And the vocals are the ones that add extra brutality points to the music with their death metal feeling, making the tunes combine that death metal sound with the more blackish sound of the guitars and keyboards. That is an extremely dark yet brutal sound that constantly crushes the listener. The album has a huge sound and Steve Austin (Today is the Day, Lamb of God) has mixed the album achieving a huge sound, especially on guitars and drums.

Wc Fucker : Bass

Kolousek : Vocals

Burak : Drums

Pampeliska : Guitar

This Czech band shows no mercy and they show it from the beginning with “I have it in my eye” to the end with “Destructive Explosion of Anal Garland”. They have speed, they have aggression, they have gory lyrics and they have huge guitar sounds and hollow drumming sound that give a lot of identity to the grindcore that the band delivers. Blast beats are all over the place here and also the band uses death metal and thrash metal rhythms in some parts to add more variation to the music. The vocals are aggressive, growling and guttural giving that exact grindocre feeling that the music needs to fit perfectly this style. As I said before the sound of the recording is good, especially on the guitars that sound huge and brutal as hell.

Opening with full energy with “Invoking the Impact” Detonation shows how they have evolved into a crushing band that combines thrash metal, death metal and modern metal with classical metal influences in order to achieve their powerful sound. A band that combines perfectly crushing energy with interesting arrangements that give a lot of feeling to their music. The guitar riffs are really tight and technical and they combine speed with melodies and moods making each composition truly original. The vocals are extreme giving the deathly feeling to the music and they are combined with more melodic choruses that make the compositions instantly memorable. The rhythm section is extremely tight always leaving space for the guitars but showing at the same time good technical skills and power.

 

A release full of melodies and full of interesting climatic moments with acoustic guitars, such as the ones in “Sadness”. One of the essential things here are the piano passages, full of good taste and feeling, creating arrangements through all the recording. Songs like the powerful yet climatic “Jewel” are extremely memorable and the voice of Liselotte Hegt shines sending chills down your spine with all its melancholic feeling. And on tunes like this one the guitars by Rommert van der Meer are more aggressive showing distortion and fitting really well the overall mood. But the vocals are one of the best things here being original and extremely personal and technical. There is experimentation here with different moods and styles showing really good musicianship through all the recording.

A spoken intro opens up this gory and brutal release that contains all Disgorged Foetus tunes, unreleased demo tracks and other bonus features. The band delivers here pure brutality in the form of ultra fast drumming, hyper distorted bass and rhythms that go from thrashy or metal rhythms to ultra fast rhythms, emphasizing the rhythms that leave a lot of space for the bass o do its job. The vocals are ultra guttural with a definitive grindcore feeling in them which adds also the gore feeling in the music. The sound of the recording is raw and direct, fitting the grind feeling (even if I would add some guitar to give extra aggression to the music). Pure gore in 38 tunes.

Here we have the debut album from Down the Drain that features ex Malevolent Creation´s Bret Hoffmann, and, as you can imagine, here we have an album full of aggression and brutality from beginning to end. Hoffmann´s vocals are one of the main elements here, showing brutality beyond all limits. The guitars here are huge and perfectly mixed, sounding like atomic bombs being dropped over the listener. One extremely remarkable thing is the drumming that sounds like if he wants to destroy his drumkit hitting it extremely hard and giving the ideal basis for a brutal death/thrash band like this one. And the drummer interacts cleverly with the bass player creating extremely tight rhythms that are essential to achieve the extreme aggression that Down the Drain delivers here. The sound of the recording is amazing, especially on drums and guitars. And this good sound adds extra brutality to Down the Drain´s bestial music.

This guys have no mercy !!!!! From the first seconds of this album they deliver pure aggression and speed full of vocals that sound like if the vocalist is going to spit his lungs because of all the hatred that he is unleashing. Fast guitar riffs, sometimes played at the speed of light, drumming that delivers blast beats and ultra fast patterns are trademarks of Exhale´s music here. The guitars have a really big sound that makes them cut the listener´s brain like if they were razors. The vocals are really deathly and extreme adding some extra points of brutality to the music. I have to remark that the sound of the recording is really huge and that is essential to achieve the ultimate degree of brutality that Exhale creates here.

Farz : Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synth & Effetcs

Exultet is a one man band coming directly from Italy whose music can be described something like symphonic black metal. Here the mind behind all the music and the lyrics is called Farz and he plays all instruments: guitars, keyboards and drums programming, among others. And he also does the extreme vocals here that fit perfectly the dark mood created here. The rhythms are fast but the programmed drums leave plenty of space for the dark riffs and also for dark guitar melodies that are essential for the atmospheric feeling of the music. It seems that the tunes come from different releases created by Farz in the past and I have to say that each tune is fully coherent with the other ones. There is a lot of imagination and originality here, especially in the combination of aggressive moments and melodies. A release full of interesting arrangements and original ideas.

 

 

A band that delivers pure brutal death metal with some grindcore elements through all the recording. Huge guitar riffs are delivered here through a crushing drumming that is one of the key elements to achieve the huge brutality that the music here has. Here we have a band that is extremely brutal but at the same time sounds really tight and well rehearsed making the music sound compact besides brutal. The vocalist is really brutal being in the middle path between brutal death metal and grindcore and adding extra brutality to this recording. The cd also brings three video tracks that lovers of brutal death metal will surely enjoy.

 

Defined by themselves as “pagan metal” Grimm shows unholy black metal with blasphemic vocals and old school influences. Starting with a dark intro with piano in “Kapittel I: De Bitte Ruter” the band shows that their thing is the pure black metal full of raw guitars, fast rhythms and agonic vocals. The guitars sound raw and they construct old school sounding guitar riffs with a much more modern sound making Grimm´s music sound powerful and dark as hell. The drumming has a lot of black metal fast rhythms but at the same time also has some thrash patterns that gives more space for the guitars and vocals to develope their ideas. The album is carefully mixed, specially on the guitars and drums to make it sound powerful and really black metal sounding but not letting the instruments to get buried in the mix. Pure unholy metal !!

 

Opening with no mercy with the thrashing “Shadows of Vanity”, the band shows soon how they have become really comfortable with their combination of modern and old school thrash metal with some elements of death metal and metalcore. Showing many improvements when compared to their previous albums, this new one shows the band more compact than ever showing all their skills. And they show this on the guitars, not only through the riffs and rhythms but also in short solos and arrangements that make each tune completely memorable. The drumming is really tight as always and interacting cleverly with the guitars in order to give more aggression to Hell Within´s music (just check for example some double bass parts in “My Exit in Red”). One of the best things here are the vocals, really extreme but at the same time using melodies when the song needs some melodies and Matthew is now an expert on using this technique. Hell Within is a band that on each album shows improvement and evolution, always with great musical quality.

Starting with the “Legionnaries Oath” that gives the epic feeling of the album Holy Martyr shows that they have become masters of epic heavy metal centered in the Roman Empire story. Crushing riffs are the essence of tunes like “Vis et Honor” giving aggressive feeling to the music and creating the main environment of each compositions. The vocals are pure Italian heavy metal creating memorable melodies of the kind that you must sing with your fist in the air. And the rhythm section is really solid showing how they can construct clever rhythms that fit really well the overall feeling of the music. The guitars are precise and interact well with the rhythms. Each tune here is extremely memorable due to the choruses and melodies and you will find yourself singing them long after they have finished.

 

I expected pure progressive metal in the vein of Dream Theater but Invisigoth is a progressive band that uses much heavier guitars in some parts and also much heavier electronics in tunes like “Strip Search”. If you like experimental keyboards, then here you have keyboards that construct from atmospheres to melodies and arrangements. Here we have plenty of virtuosism by this amazing duo where Cage does all the instruments showing amazing classical lines and knowledge of the instruments and Viggo Domino offers clean vocals through all the album with a wide range that goes from a typical progressive rock tone to almost operistic parts.  And here we have also a cover of Led Zeppelin´s “No Quarter” done in the Invisigoth way, that is, full of keyboards and experimentation and with a much more modern sound than the original version.

If you like brutal music, here you have Jig-Ai´s brutality unleashed in eighteen tracks full of blast beats, huge guitar riffs and incredible fast rhythms. If you are a lover of ultra guttural and putrid vocals, here you have plenty of them spitting the lyrics through all the tunes functioning like another brutal instrument. Chainsaw-like guitars are essential here in order to achieve the ultra bestiality that the band creates. The recording has a loud and raw sound that fits perfectly the overall bestial sound of the music, making the instruments sound more brutal and right in your face.

Opening climatically with the clean arpeggios in “Prelude” and with a deep voice that delivers sad melodies, Lily´s Nuff shows fastly that their music is pure atmosphere and pure dark feelings. Keyboards are essential here in order to construct the dark background atmosphere over which the sad voices are delivered. There is plenty of experimentation, such as the one with dissonances and breathing in “Distant Walking” and I have to remark that each composition is completely different from the other one but always keeping that dark feeling that is the essence of Lily´s Nuff´s music. The voices here are deep and they have a lot of resonance and reverb that gives an even deeper feeling to them. One good thing is that the tunes are memorable and many of the melodies will be kept in your brain even when the album has finished. This is an album that constantly surprises with incredible arrangements.

Opening calmly for just a few seconds with a couple of arpeggios M-40 soon gets in their crust / hardcore full of extreme aggression and fast rhythms. Screams at the top of the possibilities of a human being are essential here. Guitar riffs that are fast and rhythmic are another trademark here. And there are also influences of classic hardcore bands that give an old school feeling to some parts. The songs are constructed in order to show the listener the ultimate aggression and melting the listeners brain with pure intensity. The sound of the recording is raw and very loud in all the tunes adding extra points of sheer violence to the music.

Opening with full aggression with a black metal riff in “Heart Bleeding” at full speed the band shows really fast that their music is pure brutality in a combination of death metal and black metal elements. Growling vocals are essential here in order to achieve the ultimate brutality and the huge guitar riffs played with a lot of speed and a really loud sound are also another essential element here. The rhythm section is really tight, constructing a wall of brutality over which the vocals are thrown with full rage. The band sounds much bigger than most power trios, mostly because they are really solvent with their instruments and because they have achieved a really big sound. Pure brutality.

We reviewed a previous release by this band some issues ago and here, on this "Creation in Reverse" we can see many improvements when comparing to that one. First of all, the recording has a much better sound that lets you appreciate better the guitars work and the intense vocals. Here we have pure blackened death metal with dark atmospheres combined with pure aggression. And this sound is Metamorphosis´trademark sound. Fast rhythms are essential here and there is intense drumming through all the album, making each tune purely aggression unleashed. The vocals are extreme and clear fitting well the overall feeling of the music. A band that gets better with each new release. 

We have already listened Michelle´s great voice in Nox Arcana´s  “Winter´s Knight” album, and now we have here a solo album from this great singer. The music on this album has been composed by the Nox Arcana guys so we know that here we have great quality assured. And also it is assured that we have a melancholic feeling in all the compositions. Contrasting with Nox Arcana´s music here we have more emphasis on Michelle´s beautiful voice that delivers on each tune sad melodies full of arcane feelings. It is amazing how good this woman´s voice fits the overall feeling of this enchanting compositions. Dead Can Dance, Loreena McKennitt, Kari Rueslatten come to mind showing that Michelle is an extremely talented singer. One of the most climatic albums of the year.

 

Muerte Villa is an extremely guttural death metal band where everything is pure violence unleashed at pure speed. Elements of the most brutal death metal and also grindcore are combined here in order to achieve the ultimate level of brutality. Ultra fast riffs played at the speed of sound are an essential element here and the downtuned guitars played at that speed create a huge wall of sound. Ultra guttural vocals are another essential element here, going from the guttural type of brutal death metal to the even most extreme kind of voices that grindcore has. The drumming is ultra fast also using blast beats and incredibly fast cymbals all over the compositions. The recording has a raw yet huge sound that makes things even more bestial. Pure brutality with an amazing Mexican flavor.

 

Needful Things has no mercy and they show it by starting dementialy with “life in Lie” that has a beginning at full speed with blast beats and ultra growling vocals. Ultra fast rhythms, where the rhythm section shows good rehearsal and extreme aggression, are the essence here. The guitar riffs are really downtuned and fast and they are combined with a crushing bass guitar that follows them closely adding a brutal bottom end to the six strings section. The tunes are constructed in order to achieve the ultimate brutality and as you can see here they have achieved a level of pure aggression and bestiality. A release full of crushing rhythms, riffs and total skull-crushing aggression.

This band from Belgium unleashes all their sheer violence from the first seconds of “Absorbed by Oscurity” where the band shows that they can be extremely brutal but at the same time have a lot of technical skills that set Neverlight Horizon´s music apart from any other in the style. Tempo and rhythm changes, breaks and change of patterns are an essential feature here, showing a lot of complexity besides aggression. The drumming is really amazing showing that this guy is a machine because he does not miss a bit of the complex patterns. And the vocals are really extreme being of type growling type most of the time and making things sound even more bestial. The sound of the recording is amazing, especially on the guitars that sound extremely brutal but at the same time crystal clear

Here is a band thata features former members of Argentina´s band Terrorist. Some melody that sounds kind of ethereal opens up this CD and then guitars enter with brutality giving a heavier feeling to the music. Death metal guitar riffs are then delivered against some brutal drumming with a Morbid Angelesque feeling in some parts and soon the band turns into a more black metal part with crushing hyper fast guitar riffs and rhythms. If you like bands that create plenty of changes and breaks on each composition you can check some parts of this compositions before the fastest parts enter. If you like blast beats and agonic vocals here you have plenty of them all over the place. The guitars are raw and they deliver constantly fast riffs that give also the black metal feeling to the music. And the overall sound is raw giving sort of an old school black metal feeling but at the same time giving evidence that the band goes beyond old school.

As every Nox Arcana album, this one is also a surprise and completely different from the other ones. This one has the usual keyboards but mixed this time with mandolins and plenty of acoustic guitars. This is one of the darkest Nox Arcana releases at the same time, fitting well the overall feeling of the concept, and also the artwork. Imagination without boundaries is what this duet shows here again creating a completely different conceptual album. Here we have also some traditional carrols, arranged by Nox Arcana in a much darker way and also some Gregorian chants that send the music back to the dark ages. Michelle Belanger´s vocals on “Past Time with Good Company” add beauty in darkness to the music. An album to listen with your eyes shut letting it transport you to the magic world of Nox Arcana.  

Some months after we reviewed their previous album” Carnival of Souls” here comes their latest “Blood of the dragon”, an album that finds the band really comfortable in constructing passages full of medieval feelings and incredible melodies that come from ancient times. Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski, the two minds behind Nox Arcana, constantly surpass themselves in creating amazing melodies and arrangements. And the good thing is that they always manage to transport the listener to that special environment that they construct on each conceptual release. Here the ravel is through imaginary medieval times with dragons, knight, sorcery and battle. And they achieve to make the listener imagine like a movie in his head while listening to the album. Different moods are explored here, depending on which part of the story this guys are telling us. The majestic feeling of the music here will surely take you to ancient lands, the ones imagined by this virtuoso duo.

Some old sounding jazzy melody starts this album before Nyctophobic enters crushing skulls with pure death metal with grinding bass and extreme growling vocals. Here we have different tunes coming from differente releases by this band from the nineties with  ultra grinding rhythms with full speed guitar riffs and including blast beats and brutal death metal drumming. The combination of brutal death metal influences with some grindcore gives as result one of the most brutal releases of the year. The vocals are really extreme fitting well the brutality of the music and adding also more aggression, emphasizing the rhythms. The sound is direct and loud but different in many of the tracks depending on which is the release that they are taken from, since this album has songs taken from different releases. Bestiality at its top level.

This is a jewel for any metal lover because this is a piece o metal history. Here we have eighteen tracks coming from late eighties and early nineties demos from this thrash metal classic band. Killer thrash metal the way it was done on those years is the main thing here. Clever guitar riffs are delivered over aggressive drumming and intense bass playing in order to create tight patterns. And the vocals are of the thrash metal type that are harsh, raw and aggressive, fitting really well the rest of the music. There are differences in sound and the newest demos have a more compact sound.  We hope that the band soon comes back with a new recording to see how they have evolved through all this years.

Outcast opens up violently this split cd with a burst of pure death metal called “Human Apocalypse”. Ultra huge guitars are unleashed against the listener like a hammer of one hundred tons. Growling vocals are all over the place here crushing the listener with sheer intensity. One of the most evident things in Outcast is the good quality of the drummer who delivers blast beats with solid rhythms and also incredible double bass patterns. The sound of this part of the split is direct and really loud making things even more brutal. Moker opens up more climatically with clean guitars and rain noises making some dissonances but soon the band delivers hyper aggression with good technical skills and multiple tempo and rhythm changes. The guitars have also a huge sound that makes things really bestial. The vocals are sometimes extremely guttural and sometimes more of the agonic type, but always really extreme. The band sounds really tight and they have been really succesful in playing the multiple breaks and changes in a really fluent way. An extremely brutal split.

 

Three years after their previous album comes this four compositions promo where the Polish band shows good improvements in sound but showing the same aggression that they have showed before but taken to the extreme. This time the guitars sound louder and they use more crushing riffs in tracks like “Lugol´s Liquid” instead of using faster riffs where speed is the main thing. The vocals are guttural but they are clearly mixed in order to keep it up in the front fitting the rest of the music. The drumming amazes with its brutality and with its perfection in timing. The sound of the recording is extremely loud and much clearer than before. Pure bestiality unleashed.

Patologicum delivers pure brutality here from beginning to end. Here we have pure brutal death metal with no mercy for the listener. Blast beats are all over the place, the guitars deliver guitar riffs at the speed of sound with an extremely huge sound where the guitars have been heavily downtuned. The vocals are extremely guttural and they fit perfectly the bestial death metal feeling that Patologicum´s music has. If you like drumming with double bass drums you will love this one. And if you like a band that has an extremely brutal sound but that at the same time it has influences from the old school of the style then you will surely like Patologicum. The sound of the recording is loud and direct, emphasizing the aggression delivered by the band.

 

Crushing sounds open up this album before the whole band enters at full speed unleashing all their brutality over the listener. This is an ideal album to play at loud volume to feel all then guitar riffs rip your flesh apart and the drums blast your brain like a horse stampede. The growling vocals combined with a more grindcore one give the feeling of the music but always keeping the level of extreme brutality. They have added here some more rhythmic riffs and patterns that give a different feeling to the music but soon they go back to the ultra fast rhythms. The recording is loud and clear specially on the guitars and the drums. Pure aggression at full speed.  

 

Premacy surprises with their own type of heavy rock mixed with metal influences and also including some hardcore elements. The main thing here is that despite being a rocking band this Norwegian guys have really huge guitars closer to bands that play more extreme styles. And they combine this huge guitars with a powerful singer that delivers interesting melodic lines with pure power over the crushing rhythms. The rhythmic section is powerful and really tight making the tunes more energetic. The sound of the recording is really good and I like specially the guitar sound that gives a lot of heavy feeling to the music.

Starting with no mercy with "Let there be revenge" the band soon shows their combinatiojn of old school death metal with some thrash elements and an approach to brutal death metal. The rhythms here are fast and furious with intense drumming that smashes the snare drums with sheer violence. The guitars deliver fast riffs with an extremely raw sound that gives a mid eighties feeling to the music, such as the one of classic bands like Possessed. The vocals are brutal being original and fitting really well the music of the rest of the band. The sound of the recording is raw yet powerful making the band sound brutal and aggressive. 

Starting with a heavy guitar riff combined with double bass drumming starts “I am decomposition”. Then a growling voice enters spitting putrid lyrics with complete violence and smashing the listener with its intensity and brutality. The guitars have a big sound and they are combined cleverly with the bass and interact with the drums in order to create a machine like sound that is essential to deliver all the bestiality that the band creates. The recording has a raw and direct sound with a really loud mix that makes that the band´s sound increases extra points in brutality.

The brutal norwegian band Red Harvest is back with this crushing “A greater darkness” and after a short intro in the beginning of “Antidote” the band delivers all their unlimited aggression. Ultra fast guitar riffs are developed here against crushing double bass drumming constructing a structure full of brutality. And the keyboards have an essential role here delivering dark atmospheres against this brutal patterns contrasting with the heavily distorted guitars. There are multiple changes in tempo and feeling on this album but always with a crushing sound that blasts the listener into ashes. And the vocals are extremely guttural giving the brutal deathly feeling to the voices and the compositions where the vocals are used like another instrument to add even more brutality. The sound of the recording is extremely compact and huge adding some extra points of aggression to this crushing band´s sound.

Brutality is unleashed from the first second to the last one of this MCD. Three tracks full of intense drumming and crushing riffs are what Revocation delivers here. Their music can be labeled something like thrash death metal with moments closer to the complex thrash rhythms and riffs and other ones that emphasize brutality. The vocals are another trademark and they are closer to death metal because they are really extreme, including also a more guttural voice. The band sounds really tight and they have managed to create three extremely aggressive tunes that leaves the listener who loves extreme metal asking more compositions from this band.

 The album opens up with clean guitars and bass that deliver melodic arpeggios in "Förbannelse" before sad and aggressive guitar riffs enter the stage. One of the essential features here are the vocals which are harmonized in many parts and despite being really extreme they add also a feeling of melancholy to the music. Tunes like "Köld" are more aggressive and there the band shows a different side of their musical personality getting closer to more traditional black metal but always keeping the originality and featuring a growling voice combined with a more balck metallish one. There is a definitive viking metal feeling in many of the choruses and epic parts that are all over the place here. The sound of the recording is raw and powerful making the listening really enjoyable.

Pure rocking guitar riffs are all over the place here. From beginning to end the ban shows how good they can rock with direct songs that soon stick into your mind with their seventies and eighties influences. The good thing is that the band makes memorable tunes but at the same time they have managed to make them really powerful. The guitar riffs are the main thing here and they are loud and clear and at the same time they leave enough space for the vocals to deliver their intense lyrics. The rhythm section is tight and direct creating the main structure of the songs and showing how this type of rocking tunes must be played. 

 

Opening with public sound S.M.E.S soon shows the putrid grinding vocals that are a trademark of the band´s sound. This one man project delivers here compositions in the grindcore style with incredible programmed drums that give sort of an industrial feeling to the music. As I said, the vocals are ultra distorted and they sound like another instrument that adds brutality to the music. I can not identify from where all the distortion comes from: if it is a distorted grinding bass or a downtuned guitar, but the truth is that everything here is really violent. The tunes are short and they have this guttural feeling in all of them showing brutality and gore through all the thirteen compositions.

Here we have the new album from this crushing Israeli band and they kick off with the bestial yet hypnotic “Blood”. The band founds them really comfortable delivering their crushing death metal combined with some modern thrash elements. The growling agonic vocals are essential here in order to achieve the brutality that the band wants to deliver. And the huge sounding guitars are another trademark element of this devastating band. The drumming is cleverly constructed with interesting double bass and cymbals patterns, adding also brutality with ultra fast crushing snare drums hitting. Tracks like “Amona” are instantly memorable due to the vocals arrangement and the eastern sounding guitar melodies. The sound of the recording is huge and that is essential to achieve the level of aggression that Salem desires.

Harmonized vocals open up this album full of melodies and interesting arrangements. Clean vocals with a deep tonality are one of the main elements here making interesting melodies through the six tunes included on this album. The keyboards create amazing etmospheres and melodies through all the album and they also deliver interesting chord progressions over which the vocal lines are developed. The guitars make some riffs and also add some rhythms interacting cleverly with the complex rhythm section. Each tune here surprise with multiple tempo and rhythm changes delivered really fluently by this amazing band. The sound of the recording is crystal clear and that lets you listen each of the beautiful arrangements.

Sauron is back unleashing all their blasphemy in black metal format showing that they are an extremely aggressive band with an ultra dark feeling in each of their compositions. For those who don´t know the band, this guys are black metal experts and they have played in bands like Satyr, Flesh Made Sin, Fluisterwoud and more.  Showing huge improvement in sound compared to their previous releases the band unleashes ultra fast black metal with crushing riffs played at the speed of sound and adding here and there some death metal influence that combined with their style turns things into more brutal shapes. The drumming is really intense going from old school black metal patterns to blast beast within the same tune. The vocals have found an exact point here where they combine black metal agonic screams with some death metal growling reaching an original feeling that can set the band apart from bands in the style. As I said before the band shows improvements in sound and that gives a lot of good results to Sauron´s brutality.

Kicking off with “Creatures that come alive in the dark” this band shows that their music is all about power and aggression with a great thrash death metal feeling. Great guitar riffs played at full speed are essential here and this guys know how to sound brutal and tight at the same time. The drumming here is really intense, going from thrash rhythms up to blast beats, depending on the brutal feeling that the band wants to have. The vocals are really thrash metal, reminding me sometimes to Paul Bostaph and sometimes to Dave Wayne from Metal Church an even to Kreator´s Mille. The sound of the recording is really good, especially on guitars and drums letting you feel all the power and aggression delivered by Scars.

“Severed” opens up this rocking album with a catchy guitar riff that shows that this band can deliver good hard rock with some metal elements. A good singer that delivers rocking vocal lines with sort of a grunge spirit is essential here to get the feeling that See red wants to transmit to the listener. The guitars sound distorted but with the type of distortion used in hard rock bands that allow them to do their special kid of riffs without sounding distorted. All the tunes here are really memorable due to the melodies and the guitar riffs and they will soon get stuck in your mind. A pure rocking album full of songs designed to shake your head.

An intro leads us directly into the pure metal of “Today´s promises are tomorrow´s lies”. And this first tunes let us appreciate crushing metal riffs delivered with a lot of intensity and the combination with a more brutal voice that add a more hardcore feeling in some parts and in other parts gets even more extreme with a growling type of voice that add a deathly feeling. The rhythm section is tight and the drummer is really intense with the double bass and also in the way in which he destroys with brutality the snare drum in many parts. There are many changes and arrangements on each song, and that is a guarantee that the band will surely surprise the listener. The sound of the recording is direct and loud letting you feel the total aggression that Shatterpint creates.

This is a band that surprises constantly, from the beginning with “Opening the Snuffshop” with their sort of electronic/ industrial grindcore. Yes, the music here is fast and brutal as hell but at the same time it has many electronic elements and sounds that give a special feeling to the music. The vocals are distorted beyond recognition, fitting the music like another instrument and adding an even stranger feeling to the music. The drumming is also one of the elements that give the industrial feeling to the music, being programmed in a really mechanical way. There is pure experimentation with sounds and textures here making this an album full of innovative aggression.

“All I wanted” opens up the album with a climatic feeling before the whole band enters adding power to the music with he rhythmic riffs and interesting drumming work. Here the rhythm section has an essential role where the drums create the main structure in the song and the bass creates rhythmic lines over which the guitar riffs are developed. The riffs are of the rhythmic type used in modern metal bands, interacting well with the rhythm section. The vocals here are clean and memorable and each song is carefully developed in order to get fast into the listeners brain. Here the choruses are also essential in order to achieve the same effect. One remarkable thing here is the great sound that has been achieved in the studio where each instrument is perfectly mixed making the music shine on each tune.

Opening with guitars that give a dark atmosphere to the beginning with “As the oracle slowly opens” Spell forest soon shows that they are pure black metal full of hate and violence. This band is really fast, going for blast beats in most of their compositions and showing that they can combine it with really dark atmospheres where the keyboards take an essential role. Here we have blast beats with crushing drumming and incredibly fast double bass. The guitars are like chainsaws, ripping the flesh of the face of the listeners with the brutality of the riffs. And the vocals are like coming from beyond the grave with that agonic feeling that black metal voices must have. This is a release full of hatred and darkness unleashed.

Pure crushing black metal with old school influences is what we have here. A band that knows how to deliver extreme speed and aggression on their tunes and also how to add a really dark atmosphere to each of their tunes. Raw guitars delivering fast guitar riffs are all over the place here combined with drumming that is intense and that sometimes use ultra fast patterns but that also has technical patterns that leave space for the guitars and the vocals to deliver their aggression. Bands like Marduk, Mayhem, Gorgoroth come to my mind while listening to this album: that is bands that have no mercy for the listener and that unleash their hate with sheer intensity. The sound of the recording is direct and raw giving that old school feeling to the music and at the same time letting you appreciate all the power unleashed.

Starting with some noises and screams Stench of Virginity soon shows all their brutality with influences of the most brutal death metal bands. The good thing is that despite being really fast and furious the band manages to keep everything under control all the time creating moments of really compact aggression. If you like brutal vocals here you have plenty of them in the most guttural way but with full clear sound that makes the sound of the voice really intelligible. The guitars are heavily downtuned and they create a wall of sound that is delivered at full speed against the listener. The drumming is done at the speed of sound with crushing blast beats and incredible double bass patterns. The sound of the recording is raw and direct and extremely loud which is essential to transmit all the brutality unleashed here.

An eerie intro called “In Trance” opens up this album in a clam mood before the brutality is unleashed with no mercy over the listener. Sudden Death is pure brutal death metal with ultra fast guitar riffs played with pure aggression and with extremely fast drumming full of blast beats, double bass and killer cymbals work. Extremely guttural voices are essential here to get the exact feeling that this music must have. That is a guttural voice that fits well the rhythms emphasizing them and twisting them into a more brutal form. The rhythm section is extremely tight and brutal and their role is essential here in order to achieve the maximum level of aggression. The sound is much better than in previous releases making the instruments sound clear and at the same time extremely brutal.

 

Keyboards and birds whistles and sounds of nature open up this album before getting into a beautiful piano piece in "Bequest of Tears". Here everything is about creating amazing melodies full of melancholy and creating atmospheric passages that surprise constantly with new textures. Here we have great vocals that fit perfectly the atmospheres created here and that also add clever lines to the music. There are also more dynamic tunes with rocking guitar riffs, like "In Chains", that interact with the keyboards arrangements creating Sylvan´s characteristic sound, full of influences of virtuoso bands like Yes, Dream Theater and even Queensryche. Each of the tunes here is completely memorable due to the amazing melodies that are the essence here.