Band: SIGH

Country: Japan

Title: In Somniphobia

Label: Candlelight Records

Year: 2012

Style: Black Avantgarde Metal

Review:

Japaneese metallers kick ass !!! In Somniphobia” is a compilation of all elements which was created from the beginning of rock/metal to contemporary times. This album included, in black metal cage: rock’n’roll, jazz, electronic ambient, blackmetal, 70th symphony rock, folk and a lot of other things. 11 tracks, more than one hour of positive schizophrenic sounds with black metal box and a lot of surprises. Included a lot of humorous elements too. Great album, this is true avant-garde metal with old school influences.

Reviewed by Vilcin

Rating: 10/10

Band: SOMBERAEON

Country: Finland

Title: Broken

Label: Inverse Records

Year: 2011

Style: Black Metal

Review:

Debut album and actually debut release of this Finnish Black Metallers, "Broken" is made of 8 tracks totaling a bit more than 50 minutes, so quite some long tracks, indeed. this is not groundbreaking stuff, but it's certainly catchy and interesting, I would label it Melodic Black Metal because of its many melodic guitar leads spiced all over the whole release. Quite epic in atmosphere Somberaeon seems to be a good band, for the moment only made of 2 guys, and this being their first release doesn't disapoint, it lacks originality, but it compensates with feelings, thick atmosphere and display of potential. The sound could have been better, too.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10

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Band: STREFA MOCNYCH WIATROW

Country: Poland

Title: Verba Veritatis

Label: Fundacja Gniazdo Piratow 

Year: 2011

Style: Heavy Metal

Review:

Strefa Mocnych Wiatrow is a traditional hard rock and heavy metal band with shanties influences. The band is very popular among Polish shanties and marina rock fans – but bassman of Strefa Mocnych Wiatrow told me in interview, that SMW is rather heavy metal and hard rock band. That’s true. „Verba Veritatis” is typical heavy metal (similar to WASP, Judas Priest, Manowar and Iron Maiden) with a lot of melogic guitar sounds, all lyrics in Polish – about sailing, marine’s life and sth like this. One track „Wilhelm Gustloff” connect with historical epizode of the end of II World War, that was nazi-german ship, sunk by Russians on Baltic Sea in 1945 near Gdansk. „Verba Veritatis” is very good live material too, great for saturday with pub, beer and local heavy metal gig.

Reviewed by Vilcin

Rating: 8.5/10

Band: TERMINATE

Country: USA

Title: Demo

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2011

Style: Death Metal

Review:

Now this is a great demo! Containing members of Deadnight that I have just reviewed a few days ago, Terminate plays pure old-school Death Metal, the European, Scandinavian better said, way. This 3 tracks demo makes me think of Swedish Death Metal, namely Unleashed, Entomber or Dismember with some groovy parts as topping. Cool stuff, I'm only sorry there are only 10 minutes of playing time here. Low-tunned chugging guitars, aggressive hoarse vocals, and a groovy, brutal rhythm section, that's why Terminate serves us on this debut demo. Can't wait for a full-length!

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8.5/10

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Band: THE MORNINGSIDE

Country: Russia

Title: TreeLogia - The Album as it is Not

Label: BadMoodMan Music

Year: 2011

Style: Doom Death Metal

Review:

Why is this considered an EP since it's totaling more than The Morningside's previous two albums, the first album is about 40 minutes long and the second 46, but this is almost 48 minutes long... I don't get it, but still think it's because it is composed of only 3 tracks, very long tracks, of course, and maybe because the tracks are based on a tracks, "The Trees", from their debut album. Anyway, most part of this album is instrumental, calm, atmospheric and doomy Metal recommended only to those of you already familiarized with The Morningside's music, and maybe Metal would be a too strong label for this music. Although not setting up any new boundaries in this genre, The Morningside present us a good, relaxing CD supported by an excellent production, so if you're into this kind of music you should definitely check out this EP.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10

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Band: THE NOSEBLEEDERS CONNECTION

Country: Italy

Title: Nosebleeders

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2011

Style: Thrash Hardcore Metal

Review:

I guess this is the third album of this Italian band, but it's the first time I come across their music. 4 angry guys playing a very tasty combination of old-school Hardcore and Thrash Metal, very energetic, groovy and catchy. It reminds me of bands like Nailbomb, Soulfly or Anthrax. The Nosebleeders Connection (don't like their band name though) sounds very mature, curdled and brutal as hell, I would certainly not suggest anyone to get in the first rows at one of their gigs. Usually the Italian bands playing this style have a deep Italian accent to their English, but not here. Unfortunately I can't understand not even 10% of what the guy is singing about, but who cares, he has a cool voice and having the support of some good and inventive instrumentists they all deliver a straight to your face menacing Hardcore Thrash Metal. Good stuff!

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8.5/10

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Band: THE SULLEN ROUTE

Country: Russia

Title: Apocalyclinic

Label: BadMoodMan Music

Year: 2011

Style: Doom Death Metal

Review:

Second full-length album for these 4 Russian Doom Death metallers (they used to be 5 on their debut album as far as I remember, but got rid of the girls playing bass. Their music became less Death Metal influenced on this new album and more open to experimenting with Progressive elements within a Metal that could hardly be labelled as Doom as well, but rather a Dark Metal, a genre that's getting to rise up more and more nowadays, a genre that allows more experiments and avangardish ideas. Well The Sullen Route combines the old-school (beginning of the 2000s) Melodic Doomy Metal with Progressive Metal touches and still manages to keep a steady and catchy flow to the whole music. The only thing I don't like on this CD is the overuse of cymbals that become freakin' annoying at times, but the rest is quite enjoying, a good Amtospheric Prog. Metal album.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10

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Band: THY CATAFALQUE

Country: Hungary

Title: Rengeteg

Label: Season of Mist 

Year: 2011

Style: Avantgarde Metal

Review:

Thy Catafalque is one of the most interesting one man band in hungarian metal scene. Album „Reneteg” started as death/black album with electronic influences, but from the 3rd track this guys started total avantgarde conception to play metal... „Trilobita” track included some quasi-oriental sounds, next track’s flow is neofolk/metal/progressive rock in one. Full of 60 minutes of this album is a journey from death/black metal to neofolk/folk/breakbeat and electronic sounds. Respect from me for vocalist for singing in hungarian and for great voice. This is real avantgarde in metal – without NUcore/NUtown/grunge trashes. Great, great, great!!! 

Reviewed by Vilcin

Rating: 9.5/10

Band: UHRIRISTI

Country: Finland

Title: Petetty

Label: Mortis Humanae Productions

Year: 2012

Style: Black Metal

Review:

Mortis Humanae seems very productive so far and I only hope they will keep it that way for a long time. Uhriristi is an awesome discovery brought by this underground label from France. The band comes from Finland and they have only released one demo, this one I'm reviewing at the moment. In the short bio I've got from the label, they describe their music as being influenced by Horna, Ajattara, Darkwoods My Bethrothed and Old Man's Child, but from what I can hear on this release I can resemble them to Ajattara only, a much more aggressive version of Ajattara, and so far a less experienced one. Some parts of this demos sound pretty chaotic and with no clear horizon, so there is still a lot of work on compositions, but the potential this band displays on this release is incredible. Their pissed off vocalist deserves at least half of the merits for having such a good impact on me, but the instrumentists know very well what and how they have to perform in order to create this catchy music. There is a track, the second one "Ikiuni" which if re-recorded (the ending is not so intelligible with the actual sound) could become a major hit in the Extreme Metal scene. For some reason Uhriristi reminds me of Impaled Nazarene, don't know why... Anyway, I'm sorry there are only 4 tracks, only 15 minutes of playing here, can't wait for a new release from this band, I'm sure they will improve.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10

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Band: VRAG

Country: Hungary

Title: Avarkoporsó

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2011

Style: Black Metal

Review:

One man project of Roland who's also involved in Witcher, Vrag diferentiates from Witcher by relying only on traditional instruments (guitar and drums) and vocals, so no keyboards here. I guess the bass is also missing, or at least is not comprehensive, but that doesn't affect too much the compositions since they are mostly based on creating dark atmospheres with a somehow epic hint. The sound isn't the best around, but it's ok for an underground release. Nothing spectacular, nothing innovative, but certainly honest music played with passion. Much better than lots of similar projects, too bad the sound makes the music chaotic at times.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10

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Band: WISHMASTER

Country: Poland

Title: Hunting the Man

Label: Brewery Productions

Year: 2008

Style: Heavy Black Metal

Review:

By the time this debut album was released, Wishmaster (no, they have nothing to do with Nightwish) were a full line-up band, but at the time I'm writing this review it seems the band has become a duo, so I guess they are a studio project only at the moment. Hellish Metal, that's how they label their style, meaning a combination of Heavy Power Metal riffs and leads with Black Metal type of vocals, not very impressive or original, but catchy and quite enjoying. The rhythms are mostly mid-tempo, but there are also some fresh and fast rhythms here and there, and also there's plenty of melodic elements to make this CD a smooth flowing one. The guitar riffs are very catchy although not original, but I would have preffered them a bit faster, a bit more energetic. I think they can do better than this, but since it's their debut album maybe in the meantime they have fasten up the pace and their music sounds more mature now, and I hope they still continue on the same Hellish Metal thing.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10 

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Band: WITCHCURSE

Country: Greece

Title: I'm no Fool

Label: Inferno Records

Year: 2011

Style: Heavy Metal

Review:

New release for the Greek traditional metallers Witchcurse, "I'm no Fool" is actually a single because it's composed of only 2 new tracks and other 2 taken from their debut album also out on Inferno Records. If you don't know this band you should know they play a traditional form of Heavy Metal that reminds mostly of Iron Maiden because of the twin guitars, but that doesn't mean we're dealing here with a copycat. Catchy tunes, honest approach on music, organic sound, and above all a nowadays hard to find enthousiasm. The vocals are not top notch, but the guy really puts his mark on Witchcurse's music, it wouldn't be the same without him, it would only be another band amongst others. Fun, entertaining stuff here, old-school Heavy Metal followers will love this!

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10

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Band: WITCHER

Country: Hungary

Title: Úttalan utakon

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2010

Style: Black Metal

Review:

I've got both Witcher releases from Roland (the main individual behind this band) for reviewing, so I'll just start with this one which is their first demo out in 2010. There are only three tracks presented, and one of them, the first, is an intro, so we get two actual tracks, but they are more than 9 minutes long each and the total length of this demo is a bit more than 20 minutes. The music is a bit too repetitive (at least the guitar riffs are), but the keyboard backgrounds provided by Karola Gere adds a lot in atmosphere so after all Witcher displays an Atmospheric Black Metal like the one used to be so frequent in the end of the '90's. The vocals are mixed a bit in the background, but are quite comprehensive so the Hungarian speaking lads might enjoy it even better because the lyrics are written in mother tongue. A good release, I recommend it for the atmospheres.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10

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Band: WITCHER

Country: Hungary

Title: Boszorkánytánc

Label: Old Skull Productions

Year: 2011

Style: Black Metal

Review:

Witcher's second demo is released in tape format limited to 66 hand numbered copies by Old Skull Productions, a label I come across the first time, don't know if it's theirs or if it's owned by someone else. The sound on this one is a bit rawer than the previous effort, but the music remained unchanged, keyboard driven mid-tempo Black Metal a la '90's underground BM scene. This time the keyboard work is more prominent and takes up most of the space on this 53 minutes long demo. The melancholic atmospheres created by this band are its highlight, so if you like your Black Metal covered by a dreamy, surreal atmosphere Witcher might be a good choice. I'm curious how this Hungarian act will evolve, it's quite clear they are in for their passion and that might be a promise they won't broke up after a few releases.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7.5/10

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Band: WORMREICH

Country: USA

Title: Edictvm DCLXVI

Label: Idolatry Records

Year: 2011

Style: Black Metal

Review:

New band from the US underground, Wormreich was founded in 2009 and what I have here is their debut album, and also their first release. At first they were a duo and they have recorded this album as a duo although at the moment they are a full line-up band composed of 5 individuals. The sound is not the best around, and I'm quite annoyed of the drum programmings (too synthetic), but other than that I can't complain much about this release. The 8 tracks presented here totaling an hour, are very catchy, cold, atmospheric and sinister, exactly the kind of Black Metal tracks I like. Well, sinister might be the best definition of this band, starting with their music and ending with their looks (except for the lady on keyboards who's a bit too hot to be considered sinister). They bring nothing new to the scene, but the atmospheres they manage to create are spot on perfect for any Black Metaller in search for a bit more than fast forward riffs and rhythms. The keyboards play a major role in their music, but that doesn't mean this is some girly type of music, and I would challenge any metalhead saying the keys have no place in Black Metal to give this a listen. Definitely a CD that will visit my player again in the future.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8.5/10

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Band: WORVHALLAG

Country: Poland

Title: Worvhallag

Label: Moon Records / Dark Ritual

Year: 2008

Style: Black Metal

Review:

Worvhallag was a Polish band active between 2002 and 2004 I think, and they have only managed to release 3 demos in the meantime. This tape contains 2 of them, "An Eternity of Darkness" and "Aeons of Martyrdom", both of them recorded either live in their rehearsal spot or live at a gig somewhere, although there's no public sounds, so I'd go for the first one. The sound is quite bad, but not to a point where an underground maniac would have any problems following the music. There's a strange combination of fast, raw and violent Black Metal with occasional keyboards, but the overall music is dark, cold and intense, and the mix of Black Metal shrieks with guttural Death Metal type of vocals is great. Too bad this band called it a quit, they seemed to have enough potential at least to make it in the underground Black Metal scene. 

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10

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Band: XCIII / ABYSS CEREBRUM

Country: France / France

Title: Nocturnal Promenade

Label: Naturmacht Productions

Year: 2011

Style: Atmospheric Metal / Black Metal

Review:

Both bands here are new to me, so let's dive into the unknown world of this split together.

XCIII comes from Nice, France, and proposes two tracks of Atmospheric slow Metal with a few Black Metal hints here and there especially on the vocal parts. Their music is based on mesmerizing guitar leads supported by atmospheric keyboards and enchanting versatile vocals that range from whispers to Black Metal tones. Their music is so entertaining and involving that you have to be careful not to get dizzy from those whirlwinds of ambiental sounds that surround you. A deep, but unfortunately too short jurney through their natural, twisted world, that's what you'll get while listening to XCIII. I only wish I'll get to listen to more of this band's work in the near future. Ah, and only one complaint: the sound production could have been better, such music deserves perfect space to involve and evolve...

Don't think it was such a good idea adding Abyss Cerebrum as the other band on this split because the differences between the two bands are huge, starting from the music they play and ending with the sound production. Abyss Cerebrum is a raw, unpolished Black Metal band with rehearsal-like sound, so there isn't really anything to do with the atmospheres XCIII create on their side. Maybe in other conditions I would have appreciated their music better, but after a dose of XCIII I get annoyed by this primitive sound and execution. The only good thing I can see now on Abyss Cerebrum is the aggression they play their music with; if they keep it like that, so brutal and uncompromising we might have a good next release from them, but for now I'll skip their part, sorry.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9/10 6/10

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Band: ZWARTPLAAG / FAAGRIM

Country: Holland / Germany

Title: United Wolfish Hordes

Label: Thor's Hammer Productions

Year: 2011

Style: Black Metal / Black Metal

Review:

Zwartplaag is the epitome of darkness and cold.  this split with Faagrim really takes the fans to the underbelly of the human mind and the Black Metal Underground those minds dwell inside.  Lyrical content  talks about the loneliness of a mind in this shit world, as well as the religious aspect of life.  Either way, Zwartplaag does a wonderful job making the world dark, cold, and primitive.  Along with the vocals of a screaming hate, Zwartplaag has entered the phase of pure evil, I love it!  

Now Faagrim is not so far from the pack; Evil comes in many forms and these bands are it!  There is always a beautiful scenery with Black Metal when the woods turns black and the sky turns grey while a CD is playing in my player!  Faagrim delivers a brand of primitive metal and darkness as well as anybody.  Length of time can really make the brain depressed!  Unfortunately this disc is limited to 500 copies, but worth the effort because old school Black Metal is where these guys are at.  2009 was when they formed and since then it has been nothing but war, hatred, and raining evil.  Both bands put out 54 minutes in pure Blackness with Faagrim delivering an intro and 4 tracks, with Zwartplaag giving us three tracks.  All of it leads to the same path of never ending raw Metal from two Black Metal bands.

Reviewed by Lex Luther

Rating: 8/10

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