Acolyte - Alta
Aetherius Obscuritas - Ventus
Alley - Amphibious
Aratic - To the Early Grave
Bloodshed Walhalla - The Battle Will Never End
Chaos Invocation - Black Mirror Hours
Chemical Disaster - Third Wound
Christ Denied - Cancer Eradication
Circle Of Silence - The Rise of Resistance
Darkenhold - Echoes from the Stone Keeper
Darkfall - Road to Redemption
Darkmoon - Wounds
Eloa Vadaath - Dead End Proclama
Extirpation - Reverse the Reality
Foretold - In Rotting Memory
Forlorn Chambers - Unborn and Hollow
Furia - W melancholii
Halo of Flys - Death, Pain & Minds Insane
Insolitum - Infestus
King Bong - Space Shantie
Lychgate - Lychgate
Mesmerize - Paintropy
Miasmic Theory - Sound of Desperation
Mystical - Demo I
Nabaath - Central-A-Triangle
Nefastu - Versículo II - As Profecias do Caos
Neith - Then I
Nocturne - Nahash
Not Last Rise - Sfumato
Regarde Les Hommes Tomber - Regarde les hommes tomber
Sartegos - As Fontes do Negrume
Sectioned - Purulent Reality
Skinlepsy - Condemning the Empty Souls
Sodomophilia - Demo 2013
Sxuperion - Satanic Idol Whoreship
Terrortory - City of Ghosts
Tiran - Necrophiliac Dreams
Tyrant's Kall - Dagon
Walk Through Fire - Furthest from Heaven
Womb - The Rope in Our Hands Stretches for Miles
Band: ACOLYTE
Country: UK
Title: Alta
Label: Mordgrimm
Year: 2013
Style: Progressive Black Metal
Review:
Some interesting progressive Black Metal from this band. Unfortunately I am not the biggest fan of this style of music, but that doesn't take away from the potential these guys have. Acolyte isn't the typical raw style here. We have a newer style of metal added with almost the Viking sense in the music with tracks like "Vulture" and "Sunrise". The growl of the vocals mixed with the Thrashing side of Black Metal and progression of new school with an old school influence all in one with "Alta". Another aspect of this offering that enjoyed were the, almost, classic rock feel in each track I heard throughout the album. Some really good metal in all forms coming from Acolyte these days. 9 tracks total with almost a full hour to get into this breed of metal. Acolyte certainly gives a fresh appeal to a genre full of already played out styles of Black Metal. Check out "Alta" an offering well worth the time to get into.
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 8/10
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Band: AETHERIUS OBSCURITAS
Country: Hungary
Title: Ventus
Label: Paragon Records
Year: 2012
Style: Black Metal
Review:
What? Vin Diesel started playing Black Metal? One look inside this CD's booklet and you'll get what I'm saying. These 2 guys are looking more like wrestlers than Black Metallers, and one of them is 100% Vin Diesel looking; well, nice for the ladies. Musicwise Aetherius Obscuritas is fast, uncompromising Black Metal with occasional acoustic parts and minimal use of keyboards just to add depth to their atmosphere. Not bad at all but not groundbreaking either and one could expect more from a sixth album of a band. Melodic, fast paced, well recorded, this album may appeal to fans of Norwegian Black Metal (not first wave though), but although it's obvious the two Hungarians gave their best, there's nothing out of the ordinary that would attract other fans, and their Hungarian sung lyrics are not going to help in this aspect either.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Band: ALLEY
Country: Russia
Title: Amphibious
Label: BadMoodMan
Year: 2013
Style: Progressive Death Metal
Review:
It was a surprise to find such an aggressive and dark band hidden behind such a common, even shiny moniker, I wasn't certainly expecting Alley to play Progressive Death Metal. This one is their second full-length album and unfortunately I found myself loosing interest a few times during its audition. Yes, the band is very talented, the compositions are varied and you never know what to expect next, but somehow they lost me along the way, maybe because of the vast majority of rhythms being slow and closer to Alternative music rather than Death Metal. On the other hand I liked the fact the band is not trying to copy anything, they just go with the flow and don't care about labelling, that's the whole point of Progressive music. Fans of Opeth might like this better than I did though.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Band: ARATIC
Country: Finland
Title: To the Early Grave
Label: Violent Journey Records
Year: 2013
Style: Thrash Metal
Review:
Aratic comes to us from the land of some of the most evil metal to bode the metal world, Finland. This time we are to hear Thrash Metal in the newer form more so than old school metal. Aratic is fairly new on the scene getting together in 2012 and releasing "To The Early Grave" in 2013 as their first full length offering. When I play this disc I hear different influences from genres such as Black Metal, Death Metal, and of course Thrash Metal. All played well with the usual antics of brutal vocals, speedy riffs, and blasting beats. Aratic does their craft well on "To The Early Grave". Definitely a style a bit harder than Thrash, but still contained. I like that. Aratic keeps the evil vision throughout tracks like "Satan's Witnesses", "Ninth Gate", and "Shrooms". From Brutal Death to speedy Thrash Metal, Aratic takes the listener through different paths of style and beating! This release is a bit refreshing to get into and the nine tracks delivered won't disappoint the metal world at all. For a first full length release Aratic does pretty damn well and I am awaiting to see what comes next with these guys. Hopefully they will continue to mix it up and make some more brutal Thrash Metal.
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 7/10
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Band: BLOODSHED WALHALLA
Country: Italy
Title: The Battle Will Never End
Label: Fog Foundation
Year: 2012
Style: Viking Metal
Review:
Second full-length album from this one man band from Italy, "The Battle Will Never End" starts off with a 7 minutes intro and continues in the same manner, with long, a bit too repetitive, tracks so that 7 tracks are making this opus to last for almost an hour. Drakhen, the man behind Bloodshed Walhalla is heavily influenced by Bathory (the Epic Metal years) and that might make some listeners enjoy his efforts. Except the fact the riffs are too repetitive and the drums are programmed sounding a bit too synthetic, I'd say this is an enjoyable, easy to digest work complete with clean vocals, choirs, acoustic guitars, Heavy Metal guitar riffs and leads and a melodic, majestic overall atmosphere. Too bad this guy doesn't have a real band (full line-up) to back up his ideas, I think he would do real miracles in this scene, or at least if he could record real drums next time.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Band: CHAOS INVOCATION
Country: Germany
Title: Black Mirror Hours
Label: World Terror Committee
Year: 2013
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Germany doesn't seem to have a problem with delving out some interesting metal over the years. Death Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, and Thrash Metal amongst other things have found their way into the Pest pages of love for metal bands. This time we have Chaos Invocation, a Black Metal band with a ltrical sense of Satanism from beginning to end and that's okay. A blend of intersting evil cut with the blasting beats and deadly vocals of early style metal. The influence of earlier days come to mind when hear Black Mirror Hours. All the raw edge a band needs to keep the metal going, nothing fancy here, just the unruly feel of old school Black Metal the way it should be done. The melodic parts add well to this release, and shows a bit of progression since their first offering "In Bloodline With the Snake" came upon the world. What more can i say, tracks such as "The Mirror" and "The Beckoning Flame" give the listener a feel for the grim pieces of melody that Black Metal bands should be giving with offerings like this one. A great mix of evil structure and grim reality define what Black Mirror Hours is all about. 11 full tracks will certainly do right by any fan of the grimmest, but melody feeling metal fans around today.
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 7/10
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Band: CHEMICAL DISASTER
Country: Brazil
Title: Third Wound
Label: Violent Records / Murder Records / Hammer of Damnation Records
Year: 2011
Style: Thrash Death Metal
Review:
Third Wound = third studio album from this veteran Brazilian band founded back in 1990. Unfortunately neither the sound or the compoaitions convinced me the band will hit it big on the scene with this album. The sound is too muddy and causes the tracks to loose aggression, and the compositions, or better said the execution is too out of tune at times, you feel like the vocal is from a totally different movie although his timbre is perfect for this genre. Mostly fast paced, this album may attract some old-school Thrash Death Metal maniacs but in my opinion is not powerful enough to compete with what's on the scene nowadays. The guys are excellent musicians, I have especially enjoyed the bass lines and the guitar solos, but that won't be enough to make me spin this CD again, sorry, I've heard this too much in the '90's.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 6.5/10
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Band: CHRIST DENIED
Country: Spain
Title: Cancer Eradication
Label: Xtreem Music
Year: 2013
Style: Death Metal
Review:
Christ Denied is nothing to underestimate when it comes to full out sickness and brutal religious topic! "Cancer Eradication" is the latest offering and holy shit does it crush your fucking skull! I might be a bit biased being a fan of this band, and brutal Death Metal in general but Christ Denied is sick! From the start of the first track "Weak Lunatics" these guys take it to the extreme as always.. Sickening vocals of vomit, hard driving speed, and just a blasting riff and drum beat that doesn't quit. Pure psychotic metal throughout the nine tracks. "Weak Lunatics", "Christ is Gone", and "Limbless God" are just a few examples of the pure brutality spitting forth from this latest full length. All nine tracks deliver the sickest metal any hardcore fan could want from Christ Denied, obviously they have no plans on changing their style and that is okay today! Well worth the money for the most loyal fans of the band.
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 8/10
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Band: CIRCLE OF SILENCE
Country: Germany
Title: The Rise of Resistance
Label: Massacre Records
Year: 2013
Style: Power Metal
Review:
All the years I have had my ears planted on metal Germany has had to have released a million different bands and albums in so many styles I couldn't even count it! Circle of Silence is a Power Metal band that formed in 2005 and has since released 3 previous full length records before "The Rise of Resistance". Melodic, powerful, and sometimes a bit thrashy. Circle of Silence has come a long way since their humble beginnings and this latrest offering will hopefully add to the fan base. A lot of Thrashy riffs mixed in with some good power riffs and a vocalist that impressed me from the start. Tracks like "Eyes of Anarchy" give out that awesome Thrash Metal groove that kicks ass throughout the song, while other tracks such as "Mind Conspiracy" begin with the old school Power Metal sting that catches the attention of every Armored Saint or Manowar fan on the planet. The influences from the early days are definite on "The Rise of Resistance" but the newer style metal is obvious as well. Other tracks like "An Oncoming Storm" and "Reborn from Darkness" will certainly garner the attention they need from metal fans. All in all the album is pretty good and should do justice to the Power metal scene as well as the band.
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 7/10
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Band: DARKENHOLD
Country: France
Title: Echoes from the Stone Keeper
Label: Those Opposed Records
Year: 2012
Style: Black Metal
Review:
After a quite well received debut album out in 2010 on Ancestrale Prod., Darkenhold signed with Those Opposed Records for a followup. Made of 10 tracks, "Echoes from the Stone Keeper" manages to convince the listener of its potential and even though the general label one could cast on Darkenhold's music could be mid-paced Melodic Black Metal, these 3 guys have no restraints in diving into rawer and faster sides of this genre. It reminded me of the Finnish Black Metal although there are some Norwegian influences thrown in here and there and the epic atmospheres created by the keyboards reminded me of some other French and even Canadian (French part) bands from the beginnings of the 2000's. Well thought, varied, entertaining and easy to get into, that's how I'd define Darkenhold's music, and the organic, unpolished sound in this case is pure ace, both veteran and new Black Metal maniacs will find something to enjoy here.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10
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Band: DARKFALL
Country: Austria
Title: Road to Redemption
Label: Noisehead Records
Year: 2013
Style: Melodic Thrash Death Metal
Review:
1995 was the year that began the path of metal for Darkfall, but this is the first full-length release they have released in that time. The wait was well worth it being that all the elements of style are throughout the songs. 11 tracks totaling 52 minutes of hardened Thrash Metal mixed with a groove of influence from Death and Black Metal from the old school days. This is not an old school record though, which is refreshing for my ears. The production is a buzzsaw and the offering itself keeps things evil, fast, powerful, and interesting. Makes me wonder why they waited so long to put out a full length. "Misery of Peace", "Fading Away", and "Peacemaker" all throw down on fast and blasting starts that just keep crushing you from start to finish! All 11 tracks deliver something interesting and fresh in their own way and Darkfall will not disappoint when you check them out. For fans of all types and hopefully Darkfall won't wait so long before they come out with another release in the future. 52 minutes of good Thrash laden metal people!
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 8/10
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Band: DARKMOON
Country: Switzerland
Title: Wounds
Label: STF Records
Year: 2011
Style: Death Metal
Review:
It seems these guys started out as a Black Death Metal band but with this third full-length album they lost all Black Metal traces, Wounds being a full Death Metal release (well, except maybe the "Dead Cold World" fast guitar riffs). A melodic, semi-technical type of Death Metal that's easy to get and digest, nothing really fancy, nothing primitive, but actually a nice flowing "light" Death Metal that I'd describe as a combination of end '90's UK Doom Death bands with the second wave of Swedish Melodic Death Metal bands' sound complete with memorable choruses, excellent guitar leads and riffs, acoustic insertions and comprehensive hoarse vocals. Ranging from mid-tempo to fast rhythms, "Wounds" is quite a diverse and entertaining opus that won't probebly lead to any moments of boredom, and since its supported by a top-notch production I'd say Darkmoon have managed to release a successful new album that should establish the band's name. Go get it if you like your Metal aggressive and yet melodic.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10
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Band: ELOA VADAATH
Country: Italy
Title: Dead End Proclama
Label: Noisehead Records
Year: 2013
Style: Avantgarde Death Metal
Review:
Man, this was an absolute delight! I think I've spinned this album more than 10 times in the last couple of days, and that's not something I usually do or can do given the amount of promos I have to go through. This band really captured my interest and kept it high through their Avantgarde / Progressive type of Death Metal including Folkish elements and also some Theatrical, awesome, acoustic parts that emphasize the overall deep, conceptual atmospheres. The addition of violins (the violin player is a true virtuoso), acoustic guitars and percussions, plus the occasional, very expressive, clean vocals, on top of the clever compositions and atmosphere-building song structures, the complex technical execution and the excellent sound quality, everything makes this album a must have. I'm almost blown away, and I say almost only because I want more of this, the 56 minutes of "Dead End Proclama" are not enough to quench my thirst for this delicious Metal World created by Eloa Vadaath, I want more. Don't miss this!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9.5/10
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Band: EXTIRPATION
Country: Italy
Title: Reverse the Reality
Label: Grom Records
Year: 2013
Style: Thrash Black Metal
Review:
From Italy the evil keeps going strong with Extirpation and their latest offering with "Reverse the Reality" Nothing out of the ordinary here for the standard brutal Death/Black Metal fan. 8 tracks of pure evil metal with obvious Black Metal influence added with a touch of Death metal influence as well. It kind of reminds me of the old days when Dark Throne began the descent into Black Metal with "A Blaze in the Northern Sky". I am also reminded of old Beherit when the era of "Oath of Black Blood" came upon the metal world. This is for definite fans of the old school Black Metal era when metal still had a long way to go in this pathetic world of bullshit and betrayal!
Extirpation is simply a no bullshit darkened metal madness delivered for the hardest of Black Metal fans who want none of the keyboards, opera vocals, or added symphonies of the newer style that has come to dominate today's genre of metal in this vein. Tracks like the title track "Reverse the Reality" and others like "Claustrophobia" will make any old school fan happy with a bomb blowing up their head while playing this release! Only for the fanatics of olden days of Black Metal with a raw edge.
Reviewed by Lex Luther
Rating: 6/10
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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
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Band: FORETOLD
Country: Holland
Title: In Rotting Memory
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2010
Style: Death Metal
Review:
This is most probably the rawest and simplest Death Metal released I've listened to this year, it almost seems the 4 Dutch guys gathered in their garage and started recording. Yes, the recording clarity is excellent but it sounds so organic and close to you that it's almost unbelivable, it feels like they are right next to you. The first 2 tracks and the 4th are a bit sloppy, with lots of synchronization problems even though they are the slowest here, but when the bands speeds up its pace they become really interesting with the 3rd and 5th tracks being the highlights of this EP. Nothing to blow you away except for maybe the highly organic sound, so if you're into such a sound you should have this in your collection even only for the sake of feeling like the band is playing in your bedroom.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Artist: FURIA
Country: Poland
Title: W melancholii
Label: Pagan Records
Year: 2013
Style: Experimental Post Black Metal Psychedelic
Review:
Following "Marzannie, Krolowej Polski" (2012), Polish band FURIA return with their brand new mini-album, "W melancholii". It includes 2 new tracks, with nearly 18 minutes of playing time and this atmospheric and doomy release will take you in short but memorable journey. The first track "Z melancholika krew nie wyplywa" starts with a 3 minute synthesizer line with an obvious experimental touch in it, then the guitars takes off to a very catchy doomy yet melodic riffs, the last minute of this track was this album's highlight for me, the nice melody with the rythm guitar keeping that doom touch was very euphoric and depressing in same time. The second track "Napuchna mna drzewa" shows the same psychedelic sound effects in the beginning to set the mood then lead to a bass riff which was the bass shinning moment in the album , we find the same doomy rythms in this track with the melodic lead guitar but some breaks could have been tighter. In general the guitar sound was good specially the lead , the rythm could have been a little better, the bass guitar did some catchy riffs specially in the second track & the drums did a good work, the synthesizer sounds did a good job in paving the way to the rest of the instruments & made the music richer. Although being short this mini-album offers a very interesting psychedelic journey & this band have very good & fresh ideas just some of them could have a better execution & I can't wait to hear a new full album from these guys.
Reviewed by Tarek
Rating: 7/10
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Band: HALO OF FLYS
Country: USA
Title: Death, Pain & Minds Insane
Label: Metallic Media
Year: 2011
Style: Gothic Metal
Review:
Have a look at some of these guys' pics and then answer this question: What music genre do you think they are playing? Is the answer Gothic Metal? Of course not. They have nothing in common with a Gothic Metal band image, but if they think look is not important that's fine with me too, after all who cares? They won't stand a chance in Europe. I have already reviewed Halo Of Flys' second and latest album a few months ago and I wan't impressed at all, so naturally this debut album should be worse, and unfortunately it is. Except for the somehow interesting piano parts and the '70's Horror movie atmosphere there's nothing inhere I could ever find appealing. The recording quality is at the same level as the Romanian Metal bands used to have in the beginnings of the '90's, so that's not very confortable, of course. This album is way to amateurish to have any chance in Today's demanding Metal scene, sorry but it's a total fail from my point of view.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 3/10
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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
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Band: KING BONG
Country: Italy
Title: Space Shanties
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2012
Style: Psychedelic Sludge Doom Metal
Review:
Such a perfect band name for this kind of music, King Bong immediately makes you understand what and how you're about to listen. The band has been around since 2008 and this is their third full-length album, a 6 tracks opus lasting for a bit more than an hour of phychedelic, instrumental Sludge Doom Metal. Well, I can't say it's 100% Metal, there are lots of '60's-'70's Psychedelic Rock influences too and the very, very long guitar solos are certainly not something we're used to nowadays, but all in all the album has depth, it's quite nice flowing, diverse and all in all entertaining although it uses no vocals. The low-tuned, doomy bass lines and groovy drumming are supporting the guitars very well. Regarding the sound, although organic and almost rehearsal-sounding (don't get me wrong, it's crystal clear produced) might be another feature to attract old-school Psychedelic Metal fans to it.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: LYCHGATE
Country: UK
Title: Lychgate
Label: Mordgrimm
Year: 2013
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Founded as a one man band in 2001 under the Archaicus moniker, Lychgate changed its name and line-up in 2012 when it became a quartet. I don't know if there's any link with the now defunct Archaicus except for the founding member but Archaicus only released 2 demos in '03 and '04, I doubt the nowadays Lychgate style has anything to do with the past. Anyway, this is Lychgate's debut album, an impressive, extremely solid, complex, emotional and almost mesmerizing effort that will certainly challenge you to resist being drawn in its nets. It's not brutal to leave you breathless, it's not melodic enough to be considered soft, it's not complex to a point where you don't understand a thing, and it's not tormenting or desperate enough for being considered DSBM, but instead has the right amount of all these. Now I don't know if this is a good choice for them as some of you will require more speed and intensity all the time, some of you won't enjoy the slow, depressive parts, but if you're looking for something in the middle, with excellent compositions and execution Lychgate is the right choice, I'm impressed.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10
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