ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • OPERADYSE – Pandemonium

    What havoc Helloween has brought upon the world in terms of the power metal scene? Happy melodies, persistent double bass, dual guitar harmonies- and keyboardists laying down orchestration to fill in the sonic gaps. French quintet Operadyse have spent 7 years in the symphonic power metal scene, releasing an EP "Hope Era Dies" in 2009…

  • DARK FUNERAL – Attera Totus Sanctus (re-issue)

    I`ll be straight up right off the bat and tell you that I consider "Attera Totus Sanctus" somewhat boring and uninspired to listen to. The blasting and violent trademarks are all there and you can easily hear that Dark Funeral tried very hard to make this an appealing and interesting opus, but the songs generally…

  • RHAPSODY OF FIRE – Dark Wings of Steel

    Naturally when a major songwriting member splits from a group like Rhapsody Of Fire, worry sets in as to what the subsequent studio efforts will be like. No one doubts the professional vocal prowess of Fabio Lione, so I walk into "Dark Wings of Steel" with a fresh mind, knowing that Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody "Ascend…

  • DARK FUNERAL – Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus (re-issue)

    I dare say that most black metal listeners are somewhat aware of who Dark Funeral are and what they do. Century Media recently took it upon themselves to remaster and re-issue the first batch of Dark Funeral albums with added bonus songs, unseen photos/flyers, and other goodies. These re-issues are pretty cool and well-done overall,…

  • DARK FUNERAL – Diabolis Interium (re-issue)

    "Diabolis Interium" is one of the better outputs by Dark Funeral and still sounds quite fresh even though it came out more than ten years ago. As opposed to "Attera Totus Sanctus" and "Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus" the songs on "Diabolis Interium" have more substance and texture to them and there are plenty of icy…

  • MUTOID MAN – Helium Head

    ‘Helium Head’ is the debut release from Mutoid Man – a project featuring Cave-In vocalist/guitarist Stephen Brodsky and Converge drummer Ben Koller. From the names you might know what to expect already – frantic bursts of proggy energy, just about held together by a melodic underpinning that wrestles to control and channel the swirling rhythms…

  • SATAN’S HOST – Virgin Sails

    Fra første anslag setter disse amerikanske gutta standarden for noe de så fiffig har kalt for Power Black Metal. Denne skiva vandrer mellom Candlemass doom til King Diamond/Mercyful Fates sataniske stemninger, og den gjør med høy klasse og stil. Nettopp stemning er noe jeg ofte har savnet fra BM band de senere årene. Det har…

  • NEBELWERFER – The Aeon of Filth

    The previous album by Nebelwerfer, the one entitled "The Spirit of Violation", was a great slab of intense and violent black metal, so naturally I was looking forward to their follow-up, which is suitably named "The Aoen of Filth". Parallels to bands such as Marduk, Triumphator, Enthroned, Temple of Baal and the likes can be…

  • PYRE – Ravenous Decease

    Pyre is a damn good Russian band who spews forth a vile mixture of black, death and thrash metal. I read somewhere that they were a death metal band, but to me their music sounds like a mixture of the aforementioned three genres, although I have to agree that the emphasis is probably on death…

  • CHASTAIN – Surrender to No One

    Back in the mid 80’s when Dio was my God, I discovered Chastain. Between Leather Leone’s gutsy vocals, Dave’s guitar wizardry and the sci-fi/fantasy themes, there was more than enough to suck me in and I still return often to ‘Ruler of the Wasteland’, ‘7th of Never’ and ‘Voice of the Cult’ for a fix.…

  • FATE – If Not For the Devil

    Another Danish melodic hard rock/ AOR-oriented act still going strong in 2013 with this latest studio album "If Not for the Devil". In this style of music, powerful production + the right songwriting chemistry and performances = a home run. "Feel like Making Love", the mid-tempo hook heavy title cut, and neo-classical flair for the…

  • ARTILLERY – Legions

    Danish thrash band Artillery return with a new drummer and singer in the fold on their seventh studio album "Legions". Vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl and drummer Josua Madsen both came in last year, the latter following their last US/ South America tours in support of "My Blood". The melding of aggressive power riffing and semi-melodic…

  • ABYSSOUS – …Smouldering

    "…Smouldering", the debut release by Germany´s Abyssous is a massive piece of grim death metal slowly creeping up on you. It took me about four spins to get into their opus of smouldering (pun intended) but crushing form of death metal. Abyssous is a relativly fresh name in the genre (formed in 2011), but they…

  • DEEDS OF FLESH – Portals of Canaan

    Deeds of Flesh hører til den skikkelig gamle death metal gjengen fra California, USA. Dette er veteraner i bransjen med flust av erfaring fra haugevis med band og som også står bak plateselskapet Unique Leader Records. Bandet slapp sin debut for 17 år siden og har siden den gang sluppet ytterligere syv fullengdere. «Portals of…

  • GROND – Howling from the Deep

    The 11 songs that constitute "Howling from the Deep", one of which is an Obituary cover, are all firmly rooted in rotten old-school death metal. Grond was vomited forth back in 2002 and the guys in the band certainly handle their instruments as if they`ve been playing for a long time. Many of the riffs…

  • ANGELICA – Thrive

    First coming to prominence through her work in The Murder Of My Sweet, Swedish singer Angelica Rylin releases her first solo album "Thrive". Joining her in terms of musical help are fellow bandmate Daniel Flores on drums/keyboards, Smash Into Pieces guitarist Per Bergquist, bassist Johan Niemann and solo parts from Jesper Stromblad, Magnus Karlsson, and…

  • FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – Labyrinth

    Italienske Fleshgod Apocalypse har tatt metalverdenen med storm med sin symfoniske kjappe death metal. Med platekontrakt og to album på verdens største metallabel samt massiv turnering i Europa og Amerika, har italienerne fortjent fått seg en stor fanbase og er uten tvil Italias største extreme metal eksport. «Labyrinth» er bandets tredje fullengder. Det er veldig…

  • OUTRAGE – Brutal Human Bastard

    Normally emphasizing influences from AC/DC to Sepultura to Six Feet Under when describing your sound could signal a few red flags. Austria’s Outrage love 90’s death metal for sure, especially the mid-paced, groove oriented American style on this third full length "Brutal Human Bastard". Vocalist Markus Urstoger is much clearer with his growls that Chris…

  • CRYSTAL BALL – Dawnbreaker

    The seventh studio album from Swiss melodic metal band Crystal Ball, "Dawnbreaker" is their first effort since 2007. With two new members in the fold (vocalist Steven Mageney and bassist Cris Stone) the creative break the band took should give the fans some of their strongest songwriting to date. Opening with "Zarathustra", their metal take…

  • BEASTMILK – Climax

    I seem to recall that I once referred to the Finnish band named Beastmilk as something akin to "Misfits meets The Cure", and that probably didn`t make any sense to the guy I said it to, but the sad thing is that I haven`t been able to come up with a better or more fitting…

  • KICK – Memoirs

    Led by bassist/vocalist Mikey Jones and his guitarist brother Chris, UK melodic rock band Kick have an equal love for the 80’s scene as they do with slight modern splashes on this 11 song "Memoirs" album. A lot of the song structures and hooks possess a lot of Alice Cooper and Def Leppard meets Magnum…

  • POSSESSION – His Best Deceit

    Iron Bonehead Productions allways know a good death metal band when they hear one and this time is no exception. From Belgium hails an uknown entity named Possession and their demo (now officially released under IBP) called "His Best Deceit". A well played tribute to the old days of death metal. This release contains three…

  • DEAKON – Du Bist Mir Alles

    Deakon is a rather obscure black/death metal band who hails from Russia. "Du Bist Mir Alles" is a 3-track demo of sorts released through the ever-awesome Assault Records, and I must say that I like this output quite a lot. The sound is very raw and organic, and the music is somewhat stripped-down and basic,…

  • DEAD TROOPER – Erector

    Dead Trooper er i disse dager klare med sin andre fullengdere. Skiva har de kalt «Erector» og dette er en vidunderlig samling låter om beskriver bandet på en perfekt måte: litt skittent, en smule teknisk, bittelitt kaotisk og godt over gjennomsnittet tøft. Musikken er thrash blandet med death der thrashen helt klart står sterkest. Musikken…

  • NECROPHOBIC – Womb of Lillthu

    A more melodic and in lack of other terms, a more "acessable" release from one of  swedens´s ultimate blackened death metal pioneers Necrphobic. Drummer Joakim Sterner & Co started out back in 1990 and debuted with the fantastic "The Nocturnal Silence" three years later. Not interessted in following the death metal trend of the time,…

  • PRO-PAIN – The Final Revolution

    The fine line between creativity and consumption has always been a struggle in the music world. Especially once you establish a die-hard following, the difficulty lies in how much can you stretch outside the box without losing the original supporters? In the case of hardcore/metal act Pro-Pain on their 14th studio album "The Final Revolution",…

  • BENEDICTUM – Obey

    The fourth album from Phoenix, Arizona’s ‘traditional metal on steroids’ (an apt description courtesy of vocalist Veronica Freeman) Benedictum is another transitional affair in terms of a fresh rhythm section and new producer behind the boards. Jag Panzer drummer Rikard Stjernquist and Tynator bassist Aric Avina join with veteran guitarist Pete Wells and the aforementioned…

  • DEICIDE – In the Minds of Evil

    Every now and then I try and get into Deicide, but it never really works for me. I tried back in the early 90’s with ‘Legion’ and even as recently as ‘Til Death Do Us Part.’ While I like some of the records, I never really got into them as a band and they became…

  • DEICIDE – In the Minds of Evil

    Deicide deserves alot of credit. They have been around since the very beginning of the death metal era and they have allways keept the flame alive with consitency to the well proven formula. Even though the controversy around the band and particulary mainman Glen Benton has been more about anything but the music they still…

  • PESTILENCE – Obsideo

    Transformation seems to be an adequate description of Dutch band Pestilence through the years. Early on in their career they performed in the thrash genre, started incorporating death metal and progressive/ jazz elements by 1989, and these days appear to be straddling the lines of death metal and progressive/jazz/ fusion on their last couple of…