Aeonless - Underearth Horizons
Asmodey - Dark Spiritual Liberation
Baalberith - Beheaded Bastards
Chaos Conspiracy - Who the Fuck is Elvis
Dark Path - Forest of Eternal Darkness
Days of Loss - Our Frail Existence
Dead Becomes The Sun - The Last Eclipse
Dehydrated - Zone Beneath the Skin
Dimholt - Liberation Funeral
Epistheme - Descending Patterns
Excruciation - (G)hosts
Frozen Ocean - The Dyson Swarm
Funeral Moth - Dense Fog
I Miss My Death - In Memories
Imperial Savagery - Imperial Savagery
Incarnated - Try Before Die
Kevlar Skin - Transmigrator
Master's Hammer - Vagus Vetus
No Dawn - Dark Aura
Noctem Cursis - Nocturnal Frost
Old Pagan - MaledictusS
Order to Ruin - The Loss of Distress
Phobonoid - Orbita
Semargl - Love
Siege - Decay of Flesh
Spatial - Silence
Suruni - Ikuus
Tartharia - Flashback - X Years in Hell
The Nightstalker - The Chronicles of Natural City
WOM - Poems of an Empty Soul

Band: AEONLESS
Country: Bulgaria / Finland
Title: Underearth Horizons
Label: Vacula Productions
Year: 2014
Style: Doom Black Metal

Review:
Don't judge a book by its cover, I would have had to follow this saying... Looking at this CD's cover and booklet artwork and finding out that the band is actually a project of Georgi Georgiev, a well known individual in the Bulgarian Black Metal scene (hell, I've also read about him in an Italian book...), I actually thought I was going to listen to something interesting, but I was wrong again. Aeonless debuts here with a 17 (!!!) tracks album totaling almost 80 minutes of drum machine lead combination of Doom and Black Metal. The extremely generic guitar riffs, the weak production, the synthetic drum parts, the good toned but stifled vocals, and the occasional mistakes in execution make this album a below average release, too bad for the excellent artwork and professional looking CD/booklet, the musical material would have been worthy of a demo at most. Even the atmospheric keyboard backgrounds are way too generic to be interesting. Sorry, no go...
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 4/10

Contact:
www.aeonless.com
www.vacula.com.ua

Band: ASMODEY
Country: Russia
Title: Dark Spiritual Liberation
Label: Dark East Productions
Year: 2013
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Hailing from Russia Asmodey were founded in 1994 but as far as I know (from Metal Archives) they only released a demo in 2010 and this debut album in 2013, so either we're dealing with a lazy band or they had numerous line-up changes that made them record so few times. The band plays a fast and melodic Black Metal that reminded me of the excellent Swedish scene from the end of the '90's, but they are also adding a few Folk, acoustic elements here and there and that gives the album more flavor, it enriches the already rich compositional spectre. They seem to be all skilled musicians and they know how to build up cold and fierceful atmospheres through their Black Metal, I have enjoyed this album a lot, and after spinning it twice I'd say it's a shame they recorded so few during their career, they could have reached the top of this genre back in the end '90's - beginning of the '00's. The vocals are also extremely good, piercing through the thick instrumental avalanche. If you like your Black Metal fast and aggressive and at the same time melodic and quite polished, if you're into the '90's Swedish Black Metal, you should definitely check this band out, hopefully this album will boost their will and they'll become more active on a discographic level. The only thing I didn't like on this album was the opening track being too long and kind of tiring the listener; try to listen to more tracks, you'll love the album as a whole.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10

Contact:
www.vk.com/asmodey_zlatoust
www.darkeastproductions.weebly.com

Band: BAALBERITH
Country: Russia
Title: Beheaded Bastards
Label: Self-released
Year: 2014
Style: Black Death Metal

Review:
There are plenty of Baalberith bands out there, and even in Russia there are 2 of them, so here we're dealing with the one hailing from Yoshkar-Ola, a group founded back in 2007 and has already released 2 full-length albums, so not a newcomer, only to my ears. Labelling this promo CD as Black Death Metal is a bit of a stretched statement, but I'd say that's their biggest influence and probably aim, too, although these 3 tracks are quite modern and made me think the band's intention is to get closer to the Modern Metal instead of the Extreme Metal they probably followed so far. The brutality, except for the growls and screamed, but almost comprehensive vocals, lacks almost completely. The music would fit the Metal collection of a SOAD or Disturbed fan without problems and that's a good thing such bands still exist, it's not always about being the most brutal, or the fastest, or the most technical, and Baalberith prove (don't know if knowingly and willingly or not) they can deliver Metal without boundaries, a Metal that can be easily digested by various categories of fans. Still the band has lots of work until reaching a "memorable" or "original" status; yet that's not impossible.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
www.vk.com/deathbaalberith

Band: CHAOS CONSPIRACY
Country: Italy
Title: Who the Fuck is Elvis?
Label: Overdub Recordings
Year: 2013
Style: Instrumental Hardcore

Review:
Again not something that we usually feature inhere, but I'm getting used to receive material out of the Extreme Metal scene, so it's becoming less and less a problem. This is Chaos Conspiracy's third full-length album, and after the 2010 "Indie Rock Makes Me Sick" I'm sure fans and everyone who knew the band were wondering if they'd come up with a similar offensive album title; and they did. So the band is dedicated on raising eyebrows and provoking a stir and I fully appreciate that, that's what Punk and Hardcore should be about. Even without a vocal the band manages to impress, and their music is no less impressive, a blend of old-school Hardcore with Jazzy structures, dissonant elements, and progressive attitude, heavily influenced by the sounds and attitude of rage Against the Machine. All in all the band is really not far from what they say on the digipack cover statement: Our music is not entertainment, it's revolution! Good band!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: -/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/chaosconspiracyband
www.overdubrec.com

Band: DARK PATH
Country: Chile
Title: Forest of Eternal Darkness
Label: Cold Raw Records
Year: 2014
Style: Black Metal

Review:
After reviewing an awful release from Cold Raw Records I have to admit my expectations towards this CD were very low especially from a debut demo by a band founded last year. To my surprise these 5 tracks (17 minutes) brought quite some decent Black Metal with a hint of Pagan, a Bathory-like influence on the overall atmosphere. The compositions are simple and generic, but the spirit is there, the old-school Norwegian Black Metal rhythms and patterns completed by Swedish (read Bathory) atmospheres are quite catchy and entertaining. In the meantime, from a duo Dark Path became a quartet leaving only one of the founding members, Darkwolf, to continue carrying the flame. If you don't mind a rehearsal quality (but good nonetheless) recording and you're into old-school fast paced Black Metal with a hint of epic atmospheres, you might try this demo, who knows where the new line-up will take this band in the future.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/pages/Darkpath/549282091835551
www.coldrawrecords.com

Band: DAYS OF LOSS
Country: Austria
Title: Our Frail Existence
Label: Noisehead Records
Year: 2014
Style: Thrash Death Metal

Review:
Fresh is the first word that comes to my mind after listening to this second full-length album from Days of Loss, a band I haven't heard before even if they were formed in 1996. The guys play a modern and melodic type of Thrash Death Metal, quite easily digestible by a wider audience but at the same time still powerful and even aggressive at times. You'll be surprised to hear that the whole is built on old-school patterns, it's pretty straight forward Thrash Death Metal like it was forged back in the '90's, but Days of Loss managed to polish the whole thing and the result is surprisingly good. The CD comes in form of a digipack CD including a booklet with lyrics and the artwork is very good, too. As a conclusion Days of Loss are a band we should all know better, they deserve a bit more display and together with this new label deal with Noisehead I think and hope they'll get more exposure.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/daysofloss
www.noiseheadrecords.com

Band: DEAD BECOMES THE SUN
Country: France
Title: The Last Eclipse
Label: Immortal Frost Productions
Year: 2013
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Whenever I see a debut EP released by a label I'm thinking the label has to have a mighty trust in the band to release it and purely because of financial reasons; releasing an EP costs basically the same as releasing a full-length, and I'm talking here about CD format, in case of other formats the costs differ, but not here. That's on one hand, and on the other since it's an unknown act we're talking about it becomes pretty tricky to move all copies in a timely manner. Here Immortal Frost put their trust in Dead Becomes The Sun, a one man project from France started in 2012. The Last Eclipse is made of 6 tracks and clocks almost 20 minutes of quite fresh, Shoegaze influenced but still aggressive and very dark Black Metal music. Even if the drums are programmed, this didn't bother me at all, and usually it does, and that's a major plus in my books; then the general atmosphere of this EP is dark, gloomy, mysterious and somehow keeps the old-school expressivity intact while still adding loads of melodic touches. Good work, for a debut EP I think it does its job to the max, you should give it a try.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/deadbecomesthesun
www.immortalfrostproductions.com

Band: DEHYDRATED
Country: Russia
Title: Zone Beneath the Skin
Label: HeadXplode Records
Year: 2012
Style: Death Metal

Review:
Second full-length album from this quite active Russian band (at the moment they are touring Europe and actually Tomorrow will play in my city, Cluj, too), and that's a massive point in their favour as they should be exposed more to the public. It's my first encounter with their music but it's a very good one, the band plays a healthy and fresh combination of different types of Death Metal, from old-school straight-forward, to groove-infused, to highly technical, and even Gore Grind influenced at times, with the essential benefit of an excellent production. The band is highlighted by a very versatile, amazing female vocalist and although I'm not a fan of such unnatural, forced growls and pig squeals, I can definitely appreciate her availability to give it all her best, she's really impressive, so hat off. The instrumentists are also top-notch, and even if they seem young, they sound very skilled and calculated. To end this review I'd also like to mention their ability to mix in as much influences as they can and still sound curdled and mature, keeping the tracks interesting and even catchy. A really good discovery, I recommend this digipack CD to you, too.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/dehydratedband
www.headxplode.bigcartel.com

Band: DIMHOLT
Country: Bulgaria
Title: Liberation Funeral
Label: Self-released
Year: 2014
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Hailing from the naighbor country of Bulgaria, it's normal I've heard of Dimholt, but I've never had contact with their music so far. I've had very nice surprises from Bulgaria lately so I have to admit each new material I get from this country is an exciting new adventure. Liberation Funeral, the band's debut album, comes after 11 years of existence, so after quite a long wait, and it probably sums up the best of their material so far; 10 tracks totaling an hour of semi-technical, semi-melodical Black Metal that reminded me of the second wave of Scandinavian Black Metal, but the great thing about their music is they add a lot of originality to the whole and in the end you won't be able to pinpoint all their influences. Dimholt prove to have what it takes to a band to actually come up with a style of their own, a Black Metal twist of their own, and that's extremely rare nowadays. Overall the music is aggressive, mostly fast-paced, aired, catchy and follows a very intelligent structure that will hook up both fans of old-school, blasphemic Black Metal and fans of the new breed of this genre. An awesome debut album, I won't be surprised to see this band in the top of Black Metal in short time. Highly recommended!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9.5/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/dimholt.official

Band: EPISTHEME
Country: Italy
Title: Descending Patterns
Label: Self-released
Year: 2014
Style: Progressive Metal

Review:
Italians love Progressive Metal, that's a fact, and it seems Progressive Metal loves the Italians since every year more and more such bands make it to the final tops, and the best thing is they don't necessarily follow the already successful stories like the ones of Ephel Duath, Labyrinth or Vision Divine for example, they are all thrying their luck in bringing something new and original. Not all of them succeed, that's obvious, but their good technical skills allow them to keep trying and improving their abilities and craft. Epistheme presents us here their debut album, a 7 tracks effort totaling almost 40 minutes of Progressive Metal but I wouldn't know whom to compare their music with, I wouldn't also know if to tie this better with the Extreme Metal scene or with the Melodic Metal one, the Italian quintet is gathering influences from all over the place. It's good to see all these influences are channeled properly and this debut album actually sounds like a mature, curdled effort rather than a mix of styles, and that's mostly because of a solid rhythm sec tion that constitutes the backbone of their music, and the vocals (impressive, versatile enough to capture your attention) and guitars are doing their things experimenting and venturing through different territories. In my opinion they would need only a bit more hooks and catchy elements on their next release and I wouldn't be surprised to see this band in the tops, too. Anyway, a worthwhile debut album to present us a new promising name from the Italian scene.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10

Contact:
www.epistheme.it

Band: EXCRUCIATION
Country: Switzerland
Title: (G)hosts
Label: Auric Records
Year: 2014
Style: Doom Death Metal

Review:
This is a massive discovery for myself; I'm proud and happy to have discovered this 3 decades old band while selecting tracks for the 5th Slowly We Rot compilation. Excruciation were founded when Celtic Frost were but for some reason they never made it big, they never got out of the underground and they still kept it together. Well, I'd say normally, they also had a period of silence between 1992 and 2005, but after that they started recording and releasing stuff again. This is their third full-length album and it looks and sounds awesome if you're into British Doom Death Metal a la My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost or the likes. Excruciation's music is slow to mid-tempo Doom Death Metal with a weird vocal style that reminds me of a combination of Jan-Chris de Koeijer's style (Gorefest) and Alexander Krull's (Atrocity), that type of comprehensive, organic growl. The whole album is like a journey, to me it felt like it was 20 years ago, I just received a new Paradise Lost album and I was going through all the tracks over and over again finding all sorts of goodies all over. I'm still a fan of that UK scene, so I know where my enthousiasm comes from, but nonetheless I'd recommend you to check this band out, you'll discover a very mature, professional outfit that does what it does for the pure passion of it. Hats off and respect!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 10/10

Contact:
www.excruciation.net
www.auricrecords.bandcamp.com

Band: FROZEN OCEAN
Country: Russia
Title: The Dyson Swarm
Label: Kristallblut Records
Year: 2014
Style: Ambient Black Metal

Review:
Burzum and probably Ulver are names that first come to mind while listening to Frozen Ocean's eight (!!!) full-length album; yes, it's a one man band, probably that's why these such a high amount of released material (not mentioning the EPs and Splits) in such a short time (the bases of this project are in 2005). I think adding Black Metal in the style labelling of this album is a bit too far off as there are only a few short parts where something resembling to Black Metal is inserted. Frozen Ocean's Dark Ambient with a hint of Shoegaze and Electronica will successfully manage to take you through the outer World space as Vaarwel (the man behind this project) sees it, I have to give him full credit for this, the album is very expressive and hypnotic even though most of the time it's made of repetitive structures. There's a thin line between interesting repetitive and boring repetitive and although most of the time I'd say Frozen Ocean manages to offer the first, there are tracks that lost my interest in short time. Try it if you're looking for Space Rock / Metal.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
www.frozen-ocean.net
www.kristallblutrecords.com

Band: FUNERAL MOTH
Country: Japan
Title: Dense Fog
Label: Weird Truth Productions
Year: 2014
Style: Funeral Doom Metal

Review:
Funeral Moth is a perfect name for a band playing this type of music, it suits this Japanese combo to perfection. This is their debut album, a 4 tracks effort totaling almost 75 minutes of slow, tormenting and obscure Funeral Doom Metal designed to torture your patience, to bore the hell out of you. For my taste this is way too repetitive and uninteresting, but I do appreciate the heavy atmospheres these guys are creating, the semi-acoustic insertions, and the hopeless, ghoulish growling vocals at times and clean, almost whispered, vocals at other. Fans of this genre will have a lot to chew here, the crystal clear sound, good production and professional 6 panels digipack format are a bonus.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
www.weirdtruth.jp/funeralmoth
www.weirdtruth.jp

Band: I MISS MY DEATH
Country: Ukraine
Title: In Memories
Label: Metal Scrap Records
Year: 2014
Style: Gothic Doom Death

Review:
Debut album from this young Ukrainian sextet, In Memories is made of 12 tracks and lasts for more than 75 minutes of playing time. The band uses that beauty and the beast combination that was so populat at the end of the '90's and that's quite rare nowadays, at least I rarely review such a band lately. The lady has a powerful and enchanting operatic voice with few clean vocals here and there, supported by a growling (almost comprehensive) male vocalist that adds clean vocals too. The compositions are clearly influenced by the British Doom Death cult bands from the end of the '90's, and I wouldn't say I Miss My Death brings anything new or impressive to the genre but they are good and precise followers of that movement. The music is emotional, rich in atmospheres, and constitutes an easy listening for fans of the genre, but other metalheads I think would find it quite a boring release, these slow to mid-paced rhythms are not for anyone. Anyway, they are skilled musicians and for a debut album the result is more than acceptable.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10

Contact:
www.imissmydeath.at.ua
www.metalscraprecords.com

Band: IMPERIAL SAVAGERY
Country: USA
Title: Imperial Savagery
Label: Self-released
Year: 2014
Style: Death Metal

Review:
Such a perfect name for this band's music and such a perfect cover for this band's name. All things constitute excellent premises for a sick debut album, and that's exactly what we get here: 10 short and effective tracks with most of them being under 3 minutes and totaling even less than half an hour. The music is old-school, '90's type of American fast and brutal Death Metal with savage attitude and quite a lot of technical tricks to make you aware you're dealing with mature musicians here even without looking at their background and despite this being their debut; the band features current or ex members of bands like Lividity, Nachtmystium, Sons of Famine or CorpseVomit. These guys managed to deliver some serious shit through this album, perfectly fit for fans of '90's American Death Metal; the sound is crystal clear although as rough and organic as possible, the vocals are mostly comprehensive offering the possibility to learn the lyrics and sing-along (young fans will definitely enjoy this), the guitars offer tight and aggressive riffs with sharp leads supporting all the time and also adding some chaotic but very cool solos (I actually think they could have added more of these), and the rhythm section is both groovy and brutal. Excellent album, I'm pretty curious what will this album bring for the band in the near future.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/imperialsavagery

Band: INCARNATED
Country: Poland
Title: Try Before Die
Label: Selfmadegod Records
Year: 2014
Style: Brutal Death Metal

Review:
Respectable name of the Polish underground, Incarnated have been around since 1992 (!) and this is their third studio album, a 9 tracks effort totaling 35 minutes of unrelenting Death Metal. I like the Swedish-like heavy-ass guitar riffs, but I think the drums sound isn't that powerful as it should be, so the whole heaviness and brutallity relies on guitars (Dismember-like) and vocals (uncomprehensive growls with loads of effects), but that's only my opinion. There are no traces of melody and the music never gets softer, this is a full Death Metal assault from start too finish and if there weren't for those occasional guitar leads to break the monotony, this would have been pretty dull, brutal but dull. All in all it's a good release with a good production but recommended only to those of you who think they'd love a more brutal and faster Swedish Death Metal band without the acoustic or melodic insertions.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/INCARNATED.poland

Band: KEVLAR SKIN
Country: Spain
Title: Transmigrator
Label: Eclectic Productions
Year: 2014
Style: Death Grind

Review:
Right after the first spin of this third KevlarSkin album I had to check the total playing time as it seemed to me it was over too quickly, and I can assure you that rarely happens, and for my surprise it was 40 minutes, 40 minutes that went away like 10. That's impressive, it means these guys are doing something well. The band was founded back in 1998 and this is their third album as already mentioned, so normally it should offer a mature, deeply curdled mixture of Death and Grind and luckily it does, the 9 tracks featured here are not groundbreaking, they are actually following old-school patterns, but the diversity and the intelligent delivery makes them smooth and entertaining, I'm sure a lot of Grind and Brutal Death fans will enjoy it. Not overly technical but still demonstrating a fair amount of skills from its members, blending fast paced rhythms with some more mid-paced, and having the benefit of a good organic production, this album will get the band's name out there, for sure. Released by Eclectic Prod. in a nice digipack format with 8 pages booklet featuring the track lyrics.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/KevlarSkin
www.eclectic.net.ua

Band: MASTER’S HAMMER
Country: Czech Republic
Title: Vagus Vetus
Label: Jihosound Records
Year: 2014
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Master’s Hammer It did not disappoint! Czech metal veterans  follows  their path without looking at “music modes and fashions”. New album brings with it what I’m expected from Master’s Hammer.  A powerful dose of black metal at the highest level and at the same time characteristic for the Czechs. Good “Czech Spirit”, good symphonic  elements, great vocals, great riffs! If something is perfect, it does not make sense to improve it, isn’t it? That is why I like Master’s Hammer so much – black metal  without stretching,  with slavic spirit, with a piece of humour. Nice album without unnecessary combining. 
Reviewed by Vilcin
Rating: 8/10

Band: NO DAWN
Country: Norway
Title: Dark Aura
Label: WormHoleDeath Records
Year: 2014
Style: Melodic Thrash Death Metal

Review:
11 years after their foundation, No Dawn managed to finally secure a record deal and release their debut album; by now all of them are in their 30s so don't know if this means a new start for the band or if it's only a milestone that had to be reached, but honestly I hope it's the first. No Dawn, as you might guess it, are a mature act, a band that in recent years managed to secure important dates with Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under, Master and Illdisposed, and I guess consolidated their name in a Norwegian Death Metal scene that's still in the shadow of a much more developed Black Metal movement. This debut album is made of 10 tracks totaling 43 minutes of mid-tempo to fast Thrash Death Metal with plenty of hooks to keep your attention high during the audition. There's nothing new or particularly surprising on this album, but it flows quite smooth and if you're enjoying the 2 beforementioned genres you'll have a good time listening to it. I have enjoyed the subtle and occasional keyboard backgrounds giving the whole a mysterious, oppressive atmosphere, just what a brutal, punishing Death Metal album needs. Good effort, professional delivery, question marks for the future as this might turn into a solid name for the Norwegian scene, or turn to dust in no time.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10

Contact:
www.nodawn.com
www.wormholedeath.com

Band: NOCTEM CURSIS
Country: France
Title: Nocturnal Frost
Label: Mortis Humanae / Le Crepuscule du Soir
Year: 2014
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Two of the French underground labels that keep Black Metal alive have joined forces and released this debut album of the young band Noctem Cursis founded in 2010. 9 tracks, 45 minutes of playing time, very good production, professional approach, and an excellent cover artwork in perfect harmony with the album title. The music is heavily influenced by the second wave of Scandinavian Black Metal; melodic guitars, epic but cold atmospheres, abrasive (a bit dull) vocals supported by choirs here and there, good rhythm section and subtle but very important keyboard backgrounds, Noctem Cursis prove to be a name to watch out for even if they don't bring anything new to the table. The band managed to create a story and present it properly to the listener, now it's time for the listener to decide if he/she likes it or not, but the delivery is top-notch and should receive at least a chance.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/Noctem.Cursis
www.mortishumanae.com

Band: OLD PAGAN
Country: Germany
Title: MaledictusS
Label: Vacula Productions / Narbentage Produktionen
Year: 2014
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Now this is more like it, an album from Vacula that actually makes sense releasing! I have enjoyed every minute of these 8 tracks forged by Old Pagan, a band that has been around since 1996 being formed by an ex-member of Pagan Winter, probably many of you will remember this name that had quite an intensive promotion back in the '90's (well, at least I've seen all over the printed media back then). Old Pagan presents us here their third full-length album, a journey into the dark and cold territories of traditional Black Metal (second wave) a la Urgehal or Horna, but without being a copycat; insanely fast, brutal as fuck, blasphemic, organic (great live recorded drums!), demented, a flesh-ripping release that will leave you numb. The mind blowing catchy compositions and the Swiss-clock-like precise execution are backed up by an excellent organic production, so when it comes to unrelenting, uncompromising, traditional Black Metal I think this is my fave release of this year so far! I love it!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 10/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/groups/192978327379825
www.vacula.com.ua

Band: ORDER TO RUIN
Country: Germany
Title: The Loss of Distress
Label: Self-Released
Year: 2014
Style: Melodic Thrash Death Metal

Review:
This young band from Germany founded in 2011 just released their second full-length album by themselves and by how determined they look and sound I really hope the next one won't be self-released again. Ok, The Loss of Distress features 10 tracks in more than 35 minutes of mostly fast paced Melodic Thrash Death Metal. The two guitarists definitely have good skills and they manage to create some very catchy and fresh sounding tracks here although at times they are following some boring patterns. Luckily the album is not at all boring, it involves the listener and flows smoothly during the complete audition and is nice to hear the members trying to come up with something new or different all the time, no track is similar to the other. The vocalist has a good voice also, he's almost comprehensive in his harse vocals, fit for this music and fit for what the scene requires nowadays. The only thing I find annoying are the drum programs that I have to admit are well configured most of the album, but too synthetic at times and I can't stand that. All in all the album is entertaining, interesting, diverse, and fresh, recommended!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/OrderToRuin

Band: PHOBONOID
Country: Italy
Title: Orbita
Label: Dusktone
Year: 2013
Style: Industrial Doom Black Metal

Review:
Phobonoid, debut EP of this one man band from Italy that makes its first statement through it. The 7 tracks material totaling 20 minutes is labeled by Dusktone as Cinematic Black Metal, I'd say it's a combination of Ambient, Industrial, Doom, Funeral Doom, and Post Black Metal as the main genre, but indeed its very expressive, it manages to capture your attention and throw you into a state of standby while you're floating through post-apocalyptic worlds (or outer worlds?). Hammering, slow paced rhythms are often switched to some other fast, mathematicly precise but still warm and mesmerizing, and the occasional vocals, that are actually some very deep, and creepy background whispers, are making the whole atmosphere gloomier and more oppressive. It's impressive what this guy can create, in terms of both music and concept, so it will be a good thing to keep an eye on his future. 
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/pages/Phobonoid/423335031089047
www.dusktone.eu

Band: SEMARGL
Country: Ukraine
Title: Love
Label: Pop Metal Records
Year: 2014
Style: Dance Pop Metal

Review:
Last Semargl’s alum from 2012 called „Satanic Pop Metal” was really good mix and explosive mix of water and fire. Ukrainian ex-blackmetallers still continue this way. But… „Love”, In my opionion, included only one fun-fucking-tasting track „Discolove”. Other tracks are just only only the background, filling plastic. This idea could be pull better, girl who is singing is really, really good, I really catch this kind of dark humour (discopop, but not “I wanna love with you,  just “I wanna die with you”) but “Love” album is too boring and  devoid of predation. 
Reviewed by Vilcin
Rating: 4.5/10

Band: SIEGE
Country: Italy
Title: Decay of Flesh
Label: Self-released
Year: 2014
Style: Death Metal

Review:
The Italian trio Siege was founded back in 2008 as Thrash Metal act Numb, changing their name to the actual only 3 years later, in 2011. Once with the name change the band also changed direction from Thrash Metal to Death Metal and this is their debut album as a Death Metal outfit. Featuring 14 tracks into almost 45 minutes of playing, Decay of Flesh is a strange mixture of Technical with Brutal Death Metal, with obvious reminiscences from the band's Thrash period. Unfortunately the drums' awfully synthetic sound and way too "in front" mix, ruins it all for me. I found myself listening to this album only because I really liked the bass lines (the bass player makes 80% of this band) and some (few) guitar leads, but the rest is absolute chaos and I say this not in a good way. The mixing is horrible, there is no flow in their compositions, the guitar riffs are too generic and the vocals have nothing spectacular; I'll stick with only the bass lines, sorry. Not my type of recording, maybe the next one I'll understand better...
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 5/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/pages/Siege/132409263546218

Band: SPATIAL
Country: Poland
Title: Silence
Label: Metal Scrap Records
Year: 2014
Style: Melodic Death Metal

Review:
Not sure if only because I'm starting to be an old fart, or if this is the naked truth, but this Polish band, Spatial, with this album, their debut one, made my day Today. Their '90's type Doom-laden Melodic Death Metal based on all sorts of technical and melodic guitar leads and solos, a cruel and hoarse vocal often sequencing with an excellent clean vocal type, could sound boring to the new generation, although I'm not totally sure since Spatial is close-sounding to Amon Amarth too, and the Swedes are pretty much topping the final year results, but it will certainly capture the attention of 30+ years old Metal fans who were keen of the '90's UK Doom Death Metal and especially Paradise Lost I'd say, then on the Gothemburg styled Melodic Death Metal, Spatial is a mix of those and their debut album is a stong statement they are in for the glory. 11 tracks, 10 in English and the last one in Polish, almost 50 minutes in length, released in CD format containing a 12 pages booklet featuring all the lyrics. A nostalgic trip back in the '90's; if this would have been released on a major label 20 years back I guarantee we'd all know the lyrics of at least a song by heart.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/hordaspatial
www.metalscraprecords.com

Band: SURUNI
Country: Finland
Title: Ikuus
Label: Sun & Moon Records
Year: 2014
Style: Raw Experimental Black Metal

Review:
Sun & Moon is adventuring into untouched, experimental territories more and more lately and that's only healthy for a label if they can afford releasing stuff that they have no idea if will sell 5 or 500 copies of. Suruni is the new gamble of the local label, a one man band from Finland and its debut album, an 8 tracks effort released as digipack CD and totaling almost 40 minutes of the strangest experimental music I've heard lately. Basically Suruni is mixing lo-fi, raw Black Metal with soft touches from Jazz, Blues, Ambient, Drone and Doom, all served in a simple form and shape, with raw, rehearsal-type sound and I guess recorded all in one take. At first the whole seemed way too clumsy and unprofessional to even bother, but I have to admit it grew on me and I started to understand that's actually supposed to sound like that. Ikuus is a highly personal and emotional album, and even the cover artwork is made by Sakari Piisti, the man behind this project. Most of the atmospheres on this release are calm and soft, but the Black Metal touches are thereand well inserted in order to keep a certain flow to the whole. Probably you won't like it at first either, but give it a chance and spin this a few more times before deciding (if you're into traditional Black Metal only then avoid at all costs), 4 spins and I'm hooked.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10

Contact:
www.soundcloud.com/sakaripiisti
www.sunandmoonrecords.com

Band: TARTHARIA
Country: Russia
Title: Flashback - X Years in Hell
Label: Phantom Pain
Year: 2014
Style: Black Death Metal

Review:
Founded in 2002, Tartharia was pretty active on a discographic level so far, as proof standing the 4 full-length albums and a few demos, but after a somehow unsuccessful collaboration with a label, they decided to form their own label and release everything that would follow by themselves. This new release is out on Phantom Pain, their own company, again, and it's like an overview on their career as a band so far featuring tracks that were never previously released or versions of released tracks, that seem to be still representative for Tartharia. For the ones of you who are not familiar with the band I'd say Tartharia is a modern and melodic take on Black Death Metal, sometimes chaotic, sometimes experimental and sometimes traditional, but never boring. Their music is easy to follow, catchy and interesting, as a comparison I'd mention a combination of Czech melancholy and melody with Polish experimental tradition, or a mixture of Polish Lux Occulta and Slovak Lunatic Gods. Melodic, experimental and highly intaresting Black Death Metal, definitely worth an audition.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10

Contact:
www.vk.com/tartharia

Band: THE NIGHTSTALKER
Country: Belgium
Title: The Chronicles of Natural City
Label: Wolfshade Records
Year: 2014
Style: Dark Ambient Metal

Review:
This Belgian project has a pretty interesting storry behind its foundation; it's the side project of a Sercati member, Serpent, who thought he needed something different than Sercati to continue the story of a character, and this album is actually the second chapter of that story. Sounds and is very interesting and very artistic also, but all this interest ends abruptly when the music starts; if the instrumental part is ok if you're into '90's Dark Metal filled with cathedral organ-like backgrounds all over, the vocals are a disaster, it's the first time when I wasn't able to seriously listen to an album because of this Smeagol-like awful vocal tone. The occasional midi-like keyboard parts and the synthetic drum machine are not helping either... Too bad, there were some guitar and bass parts I liked, but the album in its whole is hillarious, how can someone take this seriously? Not sure what happens with Andry from Vacula (Wolfshade is a sub-label of Vacula) lately but to me it seems he's pissing on his hard-earned name by signing these joke bands.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 4/10

Contact:
www.facebook.com/Thenightstalkerofficial
www.facebook.com/wolfshaderecords

Band: WOM
Country: Cyprus
Title: Poems of an Empty Soul
Label: Cold Raw Records
Year: 2014
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Limited to only 66 copies, this EP features 5 tracks totaling 25 minutes of playing time, but unfortunately the audition was a huge waste of time. I'd like to meet one day Doctor, the guy behind Cold Raw Records and understand why is he signing all these amateurish bands; the label has some very good releases so far, but it also has some ridiculos releases like this one. WOM's music is nothing but simple programmed drum patterns, amateur guitar riffs (like the ones you play the same day you get your first guitar), awful guitar solos and childish lyrics (not the meaning behind them, but the actual lyrics). WOM is a one man band lead by A., but after this audition I'd suggest him to get a real line-up, he has to be banned from playing guitar again; on the other hand his vocals are pretty rad, maybe the only good thing about this EP, not maybe, definitely. Stay away, really!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 2/10

Contact:
www.windsofmayhemofficial.bandcamp.com
www.coldrawrecords.com