ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • DRAUGMAR – Ein Wintermärchen

    "Ein Wintermärchen" represents what I feel to be one of the most pointless forms of extreme music: ambient symphonic Black Metal. I really can’t see the appeal of three quarters of an hour of rising and falling keyboard chords, so maybe that means I’m not the most qualified to review this one. Perhaps if I…

  • HAVEN DENIED – Illusions

    Portuguese heavy metal band with a boatload of modern influences on this third album “Illusions”. When the vocalist sings clean, he has a sultry, bluesy overtone on “Of Illusions We Will Die” and then incorporates this with the Phil Anselmo sneer and savage screams on “You Are Really A Man”. Musically Haven Denied have more…

  • XORIGIN – State Of The Art

    The Scandinavian connection of Swedish guitarist Daniel Palmqvist and Norwegian vocalist/keyboardist Johannes Stole comes together for Xorigin and the debut album “State Of The Art”. Meeting in 1999 in Los Angeles where the duo studied together at the same musicians institute, they kept in touch through the years while recording various projects. Producer/drummer Daniel Flores…

  • ETERNAL GRAY – Your Gods, My Enemies

    An eight year break between full length albums can be a momentum killer, especially in the fiercely competitive death metal field. Israel’s Eternal Gray face this situation head on with “Your Gods, My Enemies”, and aren’t shy about their fast and furious riff/tempo onslaught with songs like “Desolate The Weak”, “Unlabeled” on through to the…

  • IRON LAMB – The Original Sin

    Swedish metal with a heavy dose of punk infused rock n roll on this debut full length “The Original Sin”. Members of Ghost, Dismember, and General Surgery among others came together for some raw, abrasive good time material – cranking their amps up to ten and going for the energy factor through songs like “Dubious…

  • MOON – Caduceus Chalice

    Atmospheric black metal from Australia. Generally slow to mid paced with heavily layered guitars and raw vocals that sound like screams from a distant dungeon. Subtle keyboards add to the forlorn vibe.This was originally an extremely limited release down under, now made available to all by the good folks at Moribund Cult. I’ve never been…

  • SEBASTIAN BACH – Kicking & Screaming

    The powerhouse voice of Sebastian Bach has little to prove to the hard rock/heavy metal community in terms of his commitment to the cause. When other musicians may have gone softer, he only returns stronger. “Kicking & Screaming” is the follow up to 2007’s “Angel Down”, and his latest guitar acquisition Nick Sterling is a…

  • A VANISHING SELF – Mirrors

    French post modern groove/grunge metal here on this 5 song EP. They love old Korn, Deftones, Faith No More and Soundgarden especially with the twisted quiet/screaming vocals and the prominent bass thump on songs like “Cold Mirrors” and “Eros Collapsed”. At 17 minutes and change this is a quick hitting affair – decent but nothing…

  • REECE KRONLUND – Solid

    Eighties arena rock here from Bangalore Choir singer David Reece and Gypsy Rose guitarist Martin Kronlund on this collaboration “Solid”. They’ve been playing together since 2007 on a series of other projects and solo efforts – so it makes sense to pull together some great songwriters and record 10 bluesy hard rock numbers. Straight ahead…

  • STORMWARRIOR – Heathen Warrior

    Dark Tranquillity “Void Tranquillity”, Depeche Mode “Work Mode”, Scar Symmetry “Perfect Symmetry”, Stormwarrior “Heathen Warrior”, anything in here that strikes you as odd-sounding, other than the obvious fact that the first three are made-up albums? How about the annoying and tacky naming of the album after the part of the band name? Maybe I am…

  • FJORDFADER – demo-11

    Norwegian Fjordfader was founded during the summer of 2010 and consists of mainman & writer Kristoffer, the guitarists Richard & Øystein, with Felix handling the drums. They are now recording the debut album which will be entiteled "Hyllest Til Hordaland", an album scheduled for release later this year, so this 3 track EP are in…

  • DEAD BY APRIL – Incomparable

    Swedish melodic rockers Dead By April move in a decidedly heavier fashion with their main riffs and harsher, metal-core verse vocals on this second album “Incomparable”. The techno keyboard aspect and clean melodic choruses float in and out of songs like “Real &True”, “More Than Yesterday” and “You Should Know” – as the band rely…

  • ABSU – Abzu

    "Abzu" is the second of a planned three album cycle by Texas titans Absu. Following on from 2009’s perhaps confusingly titled but nonetheless awesome "Absu", this release offers more of the same musically; speed/thrash that draws equally from black and death metal yet with progressive overtones. It is pretty much the same formula Absu have…

  • EVILE – Five Serpent’s Teeth

    Returning to their speed/hook classic form that made “Enter The Grave” very attractive, UK thrashers Evile have a powerhouse third album on their hands. Bay Area meets Sepultura on instant head bangers like “Xaraya”, “Descent Into Madness” and the title track. One of the natural leaders of the new thrash generation. www.evile.co.uk www.earache.com

  • REDEMPTION – This Mortal Coil

    Progressive metal isn’t for the faint of heart or the impatient of mind. To indoctrinate oneself in the movement, be prepared to consistently defend your stance for the blazing instrumentation, the constant tempo manipulations, the often long winded compositions and vocalists who rise to the challenge with their own multi-octave vocal impressiveness. Guitarist/keyboardist and leader…

  • DAWN OV HATE – Death d’Hivern

    "Death d’Hivern" – whatever the fuck that means. Epic keys reminiscent of World of Warcraft, "screaming" guitars (make me want to put on some Judas Priest for the real deal) serve as the terrifying intro, then: boring black metal. Here we have another band that doesn’t get it. Sounds like regurgitated early Dimmu Borgir. Not…

  • AVE MARIA – Chapter 1

    With a name like Ave Maria, you could be forgiven for expecting something with strong ritual and religious overtones. What you get instead is an album that owes more to modern post-hardcore than anything else. The end result is an unusual hybrid form of Black Metal that sounds like a mixture between Watain and Isis.…

  • PYRRHON – An Excellent Servant But A Terrible Master

    Four piece death metal act from New York City who aren’t altogether sane on this debut album. Expect dissonant feedback against blast beats, outer world screams against growls, and perspective that makes Pyrrhon love Gorguts, Immolation and Sonic Youth all the same. Songs like “Parasite” and “Flesh Isolation Chamber” aren’t touchy feely efforts that set…

  • ARCH/MATHEOS – Sympathetic Resonance

    While many years in progressive metal have one possible release to examine intently and devour, 2011 could be a highlight to document and reflect upon decades down the line. Mike Portnoy’s exit from Dream Theater hasn’t stopped this veteran act from releasing one of their best studio albums in over a decade. California’s Redemption stride…

  • TWISTED SISTER – Under The Blade (Special CD/DVD edition)

    Ah yes, the mighty Twisted Sister. Before “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” made this New York hard rock band MTV darlings and international superstars, there were years of slugging it out in the club scene and crawling their way to gain any sort of label attention. Remember during the late 70’s…

  • HARM – Demonic Alliance

    There’s nothing like three piece thrash metal ripping it up the way Norway’s Harm does on this second album “Demonic Alliance”. 5 years between albums can seem like an eternity to the underground, but songs like “Demon”, “New Brutal Vitality” and “Bleeding Rust” prove these gentlemen play like a well oiled machine. Steffan Schulze’s bass…

  • IPERYT – No State Of Grace

    These mad guys from the underground started in 2005. "No State Of Grace" is their second full length. The first thing I was thinking about when I heard this was the mighty thrash-band Nocturnal Breed. However, after I’ve been listening to it for a while I understand that this is not the same. Combining styles…

  • THE JEFFERY BROTHERS – Cuttin’ Loose

    Canadian act The Jeffery Brothers consists at the forefront of twin brothers Josh and Nick – the first on lead vocals and guitars, the second on drums and backup vocals. “Cuttin’ Loose” is their second album, hot on the heels of touring North America and England as well as establishing themselves with song appearances in…

  • WHITE WIZZARD – Flying Tigers

    Combining the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal spirit with the fun loving, good time Los Angeles/Sunset Strip hard rock scene, California’s White Wizzard reach out to their steady, developing following with their second 12 song album “Flying Tigers”. Singer Wyatt Anderson returns for the second time, and unfortunately has left again due to the…

  • EVOCATION – Apocalyptic

    Evocation were there back in the early 90’s when Entombed, Dismember and At the Gates were carving out a sound that was to distinguish Swedish Death Metal for the following two decades, and not just as spectators. If contemporary reports are to be believed, the two demos they released in 1992 spoke of a potential…

  • MINUSHUMAN – Bloodthrone

    Second album from this French five piece power thrash meets heavy rock act Minushuman. At times pulsating like Machine Head or latter Max-era Sepultura, other times Isis, the five piece have this uncompromising sound that even at mid-tempo pacing just sweeps your body into hypnotic, spasmodic movements. “The Architect” resounds with it’s repetitive guitar motions,…

  • KARG – Von den Winden der Sehnsucht #2

    Who would have believed such ambient/depressive Black Metal could come from the town behind "The Sound of Music"? Who would have believed the world needed another underachieving one man band putting out depressive, introspective black metal with a slight tinge of folk? Ok, to be honest, this album isn’t that bad. The tone and atmosphere…

  • TRIALS – Witness To The Downfall

    Every few years, certain bands just capture the imagination of the public and you can figure within a few years there will be a second generation expanding upon that sound with their own bands. Trials from Chicago appear to be one of those bands who’ve taken a shining to the Machine Head and Gojira catalogs…

  • MOSTLY AUTUMN – Go Well, Diamond Heart

    This British progressive rock seven piece have an airy, acoustic meets electric sound on this 8 song album. Although many of the influences appear 70’s based in riffing and melody structure, there’s an exciting spirit in the harmonies and dual male/female lead vocals of tracks like “Something Better” and “Hold The Sun”. Artists as diverse…

  • AS HELL RETREATS – Volition

    Tennessee may not be as well known for heavy music as it is for bluegrass and country, but the quartet As Hell Retreats release some serious progressive death with vocally metal-core overtures on this second album “Volition”. 12 songs and 39 minutes of strange turns, from bassist’s Taylor Jones bottom end churning on “Matriarch” through…