Abysmal Grief - Feretri

Alter Self - Seven Deadly Blessings

Arkhtinn - I

Cruelty Division - Cut of the Knife

Darktrance - Pessimum

Death Tyrant - Opus De Tyranis

Deathmoor - Salvo Honoris Morte

Decrepitaph / Humiliation - The Carnal Slumber / Enemy's Perimeter

Delirio Occulto - As I Die

Diversis - One  Unfurl

Fecund Betrayal - Depths That Buried the Sea

Fisherman's Death - Uncharted Waters

Forlorn Chambers - Unborn and Hollow

G.O.R.E. - Stand up sexy ladies, the Boogie Band is here

Gmork / Astarium / In Tenebriz - Misterious Winds from Ancient Past

Grave Desecrator - Unblessed Bootleg Live in Bressuire - France

Grog - Scooping the Cranial Insides

Grotesque Communion - Spawn of the Undivine

Insolitum - Infestus

Lady Beast - Lady Beast

Lash / Deathmoor - Nausea of Inner City

Mascot Parade - Cause & Effect

Medebor - A Taste of Insanity

Mental Torment - On the Verge...

Minutian - Repercussions

Okular - Sexforce

Pain Is - God Particle

Penance - Dawn of a New (sav)Age

Photophobia - The Seven States of Mourning

Pulvis Et Umbra - Reaching the End

Sectioned - Purulent Reality

Smohalla / Omega Centauri - Tellur / Epitome

SS-18 - Voices of Funeral

The Gardnerz - It All Fades

Tyrant's Kall - Dagon

Undersave - Now...Submit Your Flesh to the Master's Imagination

Veneror - Percussimus Foedus cum Morte

Zgard - Astral Glow

Band: ABYSMAL GRIEF

Country: Italy

Title: Feretri

Label: Terror from Hell Records

Year: 2013

Style: Doom Metal

Review:

One of the best exports of the Italian Doom Metal scene, Abysmal Grief, are back with their third full-length album and luckily for us this may be easily considered their best effort to date. Cold, horror filled, morbid atmospheres built on this new release are absolutely mesmerizing. Theatrical vocals, epic organ, apocalyptic guitar tones and a lot of catchy rhythms, that's what you'll get here; 6 tracks, 46 minutes, a step back in time to the old-school black/white horror movies. I have particularly enjoyed the mid-tempo parts, very catchy and expressive, and also the organic sound of this recording. An excellent album that should be on every Traditional Doom Metal fan's must have list.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9.5/10

Contact:

Band: ALTER SELF

Country: Greece

Title: Seven Deadly Blessings

Label: Noisehead Records

Year: 2013

Style: Thrash Death Metal

Review:

Founded in 2007, Alter Self released this debut album in 2013 after signing with Austria based Noisehead Records. 11 tracks, 45 minutes of Thrash Death Metal with lots of groove elements but don't think of the new wave of Groove bands, they are old-school oriented 100%. The biggest fault of this album, and the elements that will bring it down, is the sound, too dry and unimpressive although crystal clear, it gives you the impression of a home made (good) recording, and leaves lots of empty spaces on this album, so that the music is not brutal enough, not technical enough, not expressive enough, so it can easily fall into the mediocre pit. The compositions are tight, the execution is good (I especially liked the bass lines), the vocals are not something to be amazed by, and the overall atmosphere is almost nonexistent because of that dry sound, so try it yourselves and come up with your own conclusions. As for me, I don't think I'll give it another try, sorry.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 6/10

Contact:

Band: ARKHTINN

Country: ?

Title: I

Label: Atavism Records

Year: 2013

Style: Ambient Black Metal

Review:

There are no info on this band, they or he (probably this is a one man band) prefer to keep the identity of Arkhtinn hidden for some reason no one cares nowadays, there are too many such bands around. This debut demo is made of 2 long tracks, one into mid-tempo Black Metal with awful sound, almost impossible to follow each instrument, and one into Ambient Noise. The atmosphere is ok, quite horrifying, but the sound will keep many away from really tasting this demo. Except for the terrifying screams I see no value in this music, sorry. 

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 5/10

Contact:

Band: CRUELTY DIVISION

Country: Malaysia

Title: Cut of the Knife

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2012

Style: Death Metal

Review:

Straight from Malaysia, Cruelty Division attacks the scene with a semi-technical fast paced Death Metal, but this debut EP didn't convince me at all they are a good band. The two guitarists are indeed, very talented and in my opinion they could fit any modern Black Death Metal band out there, they have both excellent technical skills and great ability to create catchy, intricate riffs, leads and solos, so chapeau for them, but on the other hand the vocal tone is simply laughable, the guy doen't let his vocals loose and what comes out of him are only half growls/shrieks like the ones every teenager does after listening to his first Extreme Metal band and sings along while trying not to be heard by his parents, we've all done that, isn't it? The drums, although well played have an awful sound so that the result gives you the impression the drummer actually plays in the kitchen on every dishes and wooden tables he finds. My impression is that the other guys have a long, long way in trying to reach the guitarists' level. This EP is selfreleased as digipack format, so seeing their professionalism in this hopefully they'll get better as a band on the next release.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 6/10

Contact:

Band: DARKTRANCE

Country: Ukraine

Title: Pessimum

Label: BadMoodMan Music

Year: 2013

Style: Dark Metal

Review:

Ukraine dominates the one man bands scene nowadays, especially in Black Metal, and Darktrance is yet another proof of how prolific this country is in offering spectacular artists. Although Darktrance with its third full-length album left the Black Metal genre behind and started focusing more on avangarde, the atmosphere is there, the Black Metal patterns are still used and I'd say it would appeal to fans of this genre too. "Pessimum" is labelled as Dark Metal and that's probably the best description for it as one cannot fit it in a particular niche; it's melodic, atmospheric, depressive at times, involving, entertaining, catchy and it's one of those albums that won't go unnoticed for sure. Dmitry Gubsky, the guy behind this project is an awesome musician and composer, I still can't believe how far technology reached nowadays in order for a single man to come up with such a complete album. Recommended!

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9/10

Contact:

Band: DEATH TYRANT

Country: Sweden

Title: Opus De Tyranis

Label: Non Serviam Records

Year: 2013

Style: Black Death Metal

Review:

Swedish Extreme Metal scene lost a bit of pace lately leaving space for new thriving scenes like the Polish one, but that doesn't mean it's dead or even resting. Death Tyrant is a good response and signal that the Swedish scene can and is still providing new sensations even though its members are old schoolers of this scene (it was founded by 2 Lord Belial ex-members). The band was formed back in 2010 and this is their debut album made of 9 tracks totaling 45 minutes. Exactly how expected, Death Tyrant walks on the same path as Lord Belial once did, a quite melodic Black Death Metal with excellent catchy arrangements, melodic guitar leads and solos, dark atmospheres and prefect production. If you're into old-school Melodic Swedish Black Death Metal I'd suggest you don't miss this album because it's exactly what one would expect, a perfect combination of melody, aggressiveness, blasphemy and fine musicianship and I wouldn't be surprised if this album would reach cult status in this genre sometimes in the distant future. Lord Belial is dead, long live Death Tyrant!

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9.5/10

Contact:

Band: DEATHMOOR

Country: Russia

Title: Salvo Honoris Morte

Label: Wolfram Productions

Year: 2009

Style: Black Metal

Review:

I have just reviewed Deathmoor's split with Lash and was pretty impressed by the deep, dark atmospheres created by this Russian quartet. Now it's time to listen & review their second album, although an old release, as I have received its tape version from Wolfram, a tape limited to 99 hand-numbered copies. The music suffers again from a poor production, the keyboards and the drums are barely hearable (except for the snare) and the rest create a chaotic atmosphere hard to break into, but the compositions have a lot of value especially if you like your Black Metal mostly mid-tempo played, with cryptic atmospheres, vomiting vocals, repetitive guitar riffs, and occasional semi-acoustic insertions. Not bad at all, but not better than the 2011 split either, so it seems the band keeps improving their sound.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10

Contact:

Band: DECREPITAPH / HUMILIATION

Country: USA / Malaysia

Title: The Carnal Slumber / Enemy's Perimeter

Label: Eldritch Lunar Miasma Records / Dybbuk Records

Year: 2013

Style: Death Metal / Death Metal

Review:

Eldritch Lunar Miasma is slowly building a name for itself in the underground, this being the second vinyl release after the Neftaraka EP. Now it's time for a co-release with Dybbuk Records, a split between Decrepitaph and Humiliation featuring a single track from each of them, so this is a collectors' item only. Old-school Death Metal is the name of the game here with Decrepitaph blasting a fast paced with slow passages, low tuned Death Metal with obscure guttural vocals, and Humiliation, the Malaysia based Humiliation, with a mid-tempo, a bit lighter tuned but still heavy as fuck Death Metal with raspy vocals and catchy guitar riffs. I you're into collecting vinyl I'd say you should give a chance to this "7 Split limited to 500 copies (100 on gree and 400 on regular, black).

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10

Contact:

Band: DELIRIO OCCULTO

Country: Italy

Title: As I Die

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2011

Style: Black Metal 

Review:

For a debut album I think these Italians could have spent more effort on the CD artwork, this one looks like a hurried job, not better than a simple demo, and although selfreleased I think they should cherrish their work a bit more. Anyway, on the music part of things we're treated with a mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with some Black'n'Roll and Thrash Black parts so that you cannot really label their work as a whole. The drummer seems fond of experimenting a lot and his unusual groovy style of playing could become a highlight of this band, and observation that could apply easily to the bass player, too. The guitar riffs are quite generic but the guy keeps it interesting by continuously changing tempos. The vocals are all over the place ranging from vomiting shrieks to DSBM like vocals, to growls, so all in all a good job. The problem is with the sound of this album, quite raw and rehearsal-like although clear enough not to cause you any problems. as a conclusion I would label this as a new band's demo instead of their debut album, but it's not a boring material at all so you can give it a try.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7/10

Contact:

Band: DIVERSIS

Country: UK

Title: One : Unfurl

Label: Neftur

Year: 2012

Style: Black Metal

Review:

Possibly sold-out by now, this debut demo from Diversis was released in only 25 copies in hand-numbered tape format by Neftur. 2 Black Metal tracks and an Ambient, instrumental track on a white tape with b/w photocopied cover, so for sure this one reached only maniacs of this band... and me. Mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with desolating, almost claustrophobic atmospheres, acceptable sound although without much mastering, and more screams than actual sung lyrics, but the overall result is good and quite catchy. This is part 1 of 6, so 5 more releases will follow soon. If you're into Ambient Black Metal you should check at least one track from Diversis.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7.5/10

Contact:

Band: ENCORION

Country: Holland 

Title: Our Pagan Hearts Reborn

Label: Sleaszy Rider Records

Year: 2013

Style: Folk Metal

Review:

In 2011 Encorion from Holland released first album „Facing History and Ourselves”, that was typical „some mistakes at the beginning but we still try”. The second album „Our Pagan Hearts Reborn” is worst – bad version copy of Eluveitie and similar folkmetal bands from Western Europe who plays celtic folkmetal. Encorion is  only III league of it and if the next album will be the same – it will be degradation to IV league... A lot of stylised to celtic folk motifs between riffs, some folk elements like Eluveitie’s intros, nothing special in lyrics too, I listened to a lot similar lyrics in folkmetal bands. That’s pity...  

Reviewed by Vilcin

Rating: 6/10

Band: EXTERMINAS

Country: Italy

Title: Seventh Demoniacal Hierarchy

Label: Metallic Media

Year: 2012

Style: Black Metal

Review:

What an excellent surprise from Metallic Media! Although I've been quite harsh with some of their releases, about this one I can only have good words. Exterminas are active since 2009 and this is their debut album, a 10 tracks effort totalling 45 minutes of raw but at the same time a bit melodic Black Metal with great, great production, I mean you can listen to any and all instruments without any problems. The guys have chosen a path already opened by the Norwegian bands in the '90's, but they managed to mix catchy Black Metal patterns with the final result being as lethal any Black Metal could desire. I'm sure both old-school Black Metallers and the new wave of fanatics will enjoy this album, it has that "je ne sais quoi" that makes you devour each track over and over again. Nothing fancy, nothing innovative, but impressively well layered and flawlesly executed, "Seventh Demoniacal Hierarchy" is one of those "must have" releases. My one and only complaint is with the debut track, a poor choice, it makes you wonder if you're going to listen to a childish band, and definitely that's not the case here.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9/10

Contact:

Band: FECUND BETRAYAL

Country: USA

Title: Depths That Buried the Sea

Label: Metallic Media

Year: 2012

Style: Funeral Doom Metal

Review:

Sad to say it, but this is probably the most boring release I've had the "luck" on listening to this year. Except for the deep, cryptic vocals that could be better harnessed in different circumstances, and for some acoustic guitars that could have actually been a good addition to a good album, the rest is a mess, it almost feels like the whole instrumental part is just a jam session to bulid a background for the vocals: the riffs and keyboards are repetitive beyond boredom, the drums are almost non existent, and the bass... wait is there a bass? Once again I'm asking myself why is Metallic Media putting so much effort in releasing worthless materials like this one when they could spend their money on better, more promising bands... Sorry to be so harsh, but this is the truth, avoid this album.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 2/10

Contact:

Band: FISHERMAN'S DEATH

Country: Sweden

Title: Uncharted Waters

Label: Tamina Records

Year: 2013

Style: Melodic Death Metal

Review:

Coming from Sweden, the land of melodic death metal, Fisheman's Death don't fall far from the tree, they hit back with their new EP "Uncharted Waters" consisting of 4 tracks & 17 minutes of playtime. The EP shows all you can expect from a melodic death band, the fast riffs & double bass, the heavy ryhtms 

that will make you headbang, the harmonic guitar lines & solos that will catch your ears with the powerful vocal growls & the sailor theme that add a nice Scandinavian touch to the band. Straight from the begining you can tell the Influence of Amon Amarth in this band, the first track (Uncharted Waters) sets off with powerfull fast riffs leading to guitar harmony with nice guitar galloping in the middle that will make you bang, the second track (The Flying Dutchman) starts with short but nice bass riff before the guitars take off & offers one of the best guitar solos in the EP with very catchy guitar breaks. Then we go to (The Captains Chanson) which was without doubt my favourite track in this EP, very nice bass & drums riff in the begenning with very powerful guitar riffs & nice melodies, the clean break in the middle was a nice touch. The EP closes with (Darkwater Cape) which the bass break & the back-up vocals was a nice add & the waves sound will really bring you to the sailing expirement this band offers. In conclusion, if you like melodic death metal you will enjoy listening to this EP specially the rythms,the drums & the powerful growls .my only comment that the lead guitar was low in some parts & the drums recording could be better but with just better recording quality this band can really go places.

Reviewed by Tarek

Rating: 8/10

Contact:

Band: FORLORN CHAMBERS

Country: Finland

Title: Unborn and Hollow

Label: Selfreleased

Year: 2013

Style: Death Metal

Review:

Debut demo from a new (formed in 2012) Finnish band that prefers to keep its line-up hidden for some reason (probably it's a one-man-band). 3 tracks totaling 14 minutes of melodic yet heavy and brutal Death Metal with slight Doom and Black Metal touches. The guitar work is great and I'm sure it will be the band's highlight as time goes by. The vocals are somehow distorted to a point where they almost become boring, lacking of any organic feeling (close to Deathcore gurgling), but there are also some clean vocals here and there, an element that I think the band should exploit much more. The rhythm section is made of a probably programmed drum machine that sounds very good nonetheless, and an intense bass line, but unfortunately the sound quality is too raw to let you fully enjoy every minute of it. The compositions are complex and quite catchy, so all in all I'd rate this as a successful debut demo, can't wait for more stuff from this band.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 7.5/10

Contact:

Band: G.O.R.E.

Country: Czech Republic

Title: Stand up sexy ladies, the Boogie Band is here!

Label: Khaaranus Productions

Year: 2013

Style: Grind'n'Roll

Review:

After a 6 years wait G.O.R.E. are back with a new album, their third full-length to date, a 13 tracks effort totaling 27 minutes of funny Grind'n'Roll, or better said a combination of Death and Grindcore with strong groove all over the place. The production is excellent, the package as well (4 folders digipack) and the artwork mostly sexy, so from this point of view a perfect Grindcore release. Musicwise G.O.R.E. combines old-school Death Grind with a bit of nowadays Goregrind influences, the rhythms are mostly fast reaching nice mid-paced headbanging friendly tempos and also chaotic, ultra-fast rhythms. This is not one of those new 2 riffs - 2 growls simple Grind releases, G.O.R.E. show they spent quite some time in the studio creating all this and as a result nothing here feels overused or recycled, each track differs from the others, and above all there's a nice flow. Recommended!

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10

Contact:

Band: GMORK / ASTARIUM / IN TENEBRIZ

Country: Russia / Russia / Russia

Title: Misterious Winds from Ancient Past

Label: Hell Division Productions

Year: 2012

Style: Black Metal / Symphonic Black Metal / Ambient Doom Black Metal

Review:

Very nice release from this new label (at least new to me) offering 3 Black Metal representatives of the Russian underground. 

Gmork opens with 4 tracks of carefully orchestrated Ambient Black Metal with lots of Symphonic influences. A very interesting surprise for me, I have enjoyed every bit of their material, the majestic keyboards, the vocals' versatility, the melodic guitar leads, the spot on rhythm section, the excellent sound quality and the interesting blend between tracks. Definitely a band to follow closely if you're into Melodic Black Metal.

Astarium, although a one-man-band is already a well known name in the obscure underground. A mostly slow paced Doomy Black Metal with weird sounding keyboards and awkward synthetic guitar and drums sound. Honestly I don't like it at all but I can admit it's quite original. Sine releasing this split Astarium had 2 more full-length albums out and I can say that Wyrm of Melancholy from 2012 is way better than anything SiN (the man behind this moniker) did before.

In Tenebriz is all new to me, another one-man-band with 8 (!!!) full-length albums released until now. Not sure where the Doom influences are in this music, I'd rather label it as Melodic, Majestic Black Metal. The guy knows how to handle his instruments but after the audition I'd say he's not yet convinced if to follow the Black Metal path or switch to something more Heavy Metal inclined. I liked the keyboards parts reminding me of Evol, but in the end I wasn't convinced to give it another spin, sorry, maybe because of the rough rehearsal-like recording sound and the synthetic drums. 

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8/10  6/10  6/10

Contact:

Band: GRAVE DESECRATOR

Country: Brazil

Title: Unblessed Bootleg Live in Bressuire - France

Label: Sun & Moon Records

Year: 2012

Style: Black Death Metal

Review:

I've started reviewing this CD 5 or 6 times so far and never reached the point where I would actually write something about it but I still can't figure out why it had such a hypnotic effect on me. This is an official live album recorded during one of Grave Desecrator's gigs from the Desecrating Europe Tour 2012. The sound is good enough to understand each instrument and at the same time to offer a safe audition (nothing that will hurt your ears), the music is raw, fast and brutal old-school Thrash Black Death Metal excellent for drinking and headbanging. I don't usually like live albums especially from underground bands but this one is killer, I have nothing to complaing regarding the sound and at the same time I can still feel the energy Grave Desecrator's music transmits live, and I think those are the goals of such a release. Thumbs up.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:

Band: GROG

Country: Portugal

Title: Scooping the Cranial Insides

Label: Murder Records

Year: 2011

Style: Death Grind

Review:

By how it looks I'd say this 12"LP is well worth its money even if only for its cover and insert artowk. But of course there's much more about it and first is the band, Grog, a real veteran on the Portuguese scene, founded in 1991, so we're dealing here with a mature, consolidated name, musicwise it should be impossible to suck. And I was right, Grog's mix of Brutal Death Metal and Grindcore is exquisite, their third album is a brutal discharge of monstrosity, ugly and disgusting to the core and at the same time brilliantly concieved and executed. One of the best Death grind records I've heard lately, and the fact that it's on vinyl makes it even better for the ears, of course. Grotesque vocals supported by a ton of special guests that makes it all more versatile, energetic rhythm section, catchy guitar riffs and occasional solos, very good recording sound, and above all an excellent mix of old-school and modern sounds with just the right amount of irony and fun not to waive the overall minacing atmosphere. Get it! limited to only 350 copies, cumming in luxurious package containing all lyrics (sick lyrics) and band artwork.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9.5/10

Contact:

Band: GROTESQUE COMMUNION

Country: Brazil

Title: Spawn of the Undivine

Label: Goat Music Records

Year: 2010

Style: Black Metal

Review:

Although from 2010, this is the bands debut and only demo tape so far, and judging by the music on it, it's a real pity. Grotesque Communion is the band of the Revelacoes Abissais zine's editors, a zine I have recently discovered, too. It was clear after browsing the zine, that the band would play some sort of old-school Metal, and so they do, traditional, extremely brutal and fast Black Metal dedicated to the forces of Darkness. definitely one of the most blasphemous and brutal Black Metal releases I've heard this year but apart from that it is also catchy as hell, well crafted and organic sounding, with Satanic lyrics and sick, sick vocals. Love it! If you think you can handle pure chaos and venom in your Black Metal hurry up, this is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. I still hope the band will release some new shit soon.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:

Band: INFECTOR

Country: Brazil

Title: Anguish

Label: Violent Records

Year: 2011

Style: Death Metal

Review:

Second album from this Brazilian band founded in 2000, Anguish is made of 9 tracks of quite melodic Death Metal, don't let the rotten cover artwork fool you, you're not dealing with a raw, primitive band here. Released by no less than 5 labels (Violent, Tornhate, Underground Brasil and Exterminio) and officially distributed in Europe by Hellprod, this album give the impression of a highly anticipated release, but to tell you the truth I wasn't impressed too much by it. I mean it's well thought, there are some good guitar hooks thrown in here and there, the bass lines are impressive, but that's about it. "Anguish" fails to display the aggression needed to such a band, the mistakes in execution give the impression of a rushed recording (although it took them 5 months), and the drums could have really needed a few more takes. I don't know, I have expected more from this release.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 6/10

Contact:

www.violentrecs.yolasite.com 

Band: INQUISITOR

Country: Portugal

Title: Dark Ages of Witchery

Label: Helldprod

Year: 2012

Style: Speed Thrash Metal

Review:

Yes, I think it's time for Speed Thrash Metal bands to start climbing the Underground steps after the revival of Death Metal and Thrash Black Metal, it's only natural. Inquisitor are four guys combining '80's European (better said German) like Thrash Metal with North American Speed Metal with a twist of NWOBHM. The vocals are evil and hoarse, the riffs are very catchy, the guitar leads well thought, and the rhythm section is spot on energetic, so all in all this is an impressive band, too bad there are only 2 tracks on this release. The crystal clear but still organic and old fashioned is another plus, so don't miss this material, you'll discover a band with fantastic potential, the vinyl is limited to 300 copies including lyrics and band picture so act fast.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 9/10

Contact:

Band: INSOLITUM

Country: Brazil

Title: Infestus

Label: Murder Records

Year: 2013

Style: Death Metal

Review:

Debut demo from this Brazilian trio founded in 2009, "Infestus" is made of 3 tracks + intro totaling 15 minutes of quite simplistic, raw, mid-tempo Death Metal. Quite a few years for coming up with only 3 tracks I'd say. Their music is so primitive that it reminded me of the mid '80's when Death Metal wasn't yet fully distanced from Thrash Metal, and in fact the riffs lack of brutality and are sounding quite vapid. The vocals are nothing I could ever enjoy, too unnatural, too forced and tasteless. Unfortunately I found this demo quite boring and I'm sure it will never visit my player again. Anyway, check it out online, maybe you'll like it more and you'll be convinced to buy one of the 300 tapes released by Murder Records.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 5/10

Contact:

www.helldprod.com 

Band: LADY BEAST

Country: USA

Title: Lady Beast

Label: Inferno Records

Year: 2012

Style: Heavy Metal

Review:

New Heavy Metal beast released by Inferno Records, a lady beast this time. Lady Beast, the band, was formed back in 2009 and this is their debut EP, an 8 tracks effort totaling almost half an hour of traditional Heavy Metal strongly influenced by the NWOBHM movement, especially by Iron Maiden. The instrumental part is fucking catchy and faultless offering a great time for both headbanging and listening at home; proud, organic, memorable rhythms highlighted by an impressive bass line and top-notch guitar riffs and solos. The band is lead by a lady, Deborah Levine, whos style I'm not too fond of either bacause of melodic, almost Alternative-type of vocal tone or because of the long choruses lacking any hooks. She has a tremendous potential, her vocals are stable and powerful, but somehow I feel she is yet to give her best on a following material. Anyway, this is a breath of fresh air, a professional yet old-school Heavy Metal release that will make your day.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:

Band: LASH / DEATHMOOR

Country: Russia / Russia

Title: Nausea of Inner City

Label: Wolfram Productions

Year: 2011

Style: Avantgarde Black Metal / Black Metal

Review:

New tape from Wolfram Productions, a split between 2 Russian Black Metal bands professionally released in a limited edition of 99 hand-numbered copies with b/w booklet including lyrics in Russian.

The first band is Lash who changed their name afterwards in Lashblood. They featured 3 long track totaling 20 minutes of mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with repetitive but not boring guitar riffs, aggressive drumming with a weird cymbal sound, almost industial like vocals and an overall good sound. Still needs some more work to reach that Avantgarde Black Metal sound they long for, but the potential is there.

Deathmoor is a more well known name in the Russian scene being founded back in 1999 and having released 2 full-length albums before this split and 1 afterwards. The sound on their side is worse than on Lash's side making it difficult to follow everything happening inhere, but the music is better, more complex in both rhythms and composition, and the musicians seem much more experienced, or at least the drummer is showing real talent. A dark, twisted, heavy Black Metal with excellent semi-acoustic parts, a music that would have deserved a much better sound than this rehearsal-like recording featured here. Deathmoor seems to be a band to search for, really.

Reviewed by Adrian

Rating: 6/10  8/10

Contact: