ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • SVARTSYN – Wrath Upon the Earth

    Bands like Svartsyn need a bit of an introduction. Svartsyn has always been there, lurking in the shadows, releasing an album when we least expect it. Through the years there’s been the core of Ornias & Draugen but on "Wrath Upon the Earth" things are different. Draugen has left and Ornias has recruited two members…

  • CHELMNO – Hoizon of Events

    Some band’s rip off others and get away with it, some do not. Italian Chelmno is one of those who get away with it. Barely! This is the band’s second offer and my first encounter with them. After several spins I give them the benefit of the doubt. Why? I have no idea, guess their…

  • MINOTAUR – Power Of Darkness (re-issue)

    22 years later the debut album from this extreme German thrash band Minotaur resurfaces. Those who plummet into the underground know there was more to the Teutonic movement than Destruction, Kreator and Sodom – as acts like Darkness, Protector, and Poison (yes, the thrash band, not the glam act) carried their wares onto an audience…

  • TWINSPIRITS – Legacy

    When bands are able to keep steady, secure lineups in place, usually the quality of musicianship and final product rises many notches. Italy’s Twinspirits spent a fair amount of time on the road supporting their second album "The Forbidden City" and now the quintet remains in tact for the follow up "Legacy". This album contains…

  • FEN / DE ARMA – Towards the Shores of the End

    Fen: An UK act formed in 2006 which is 3/4th Skaldic Curse, 1/4th Wodensthrone. De Arma: A Swedish act fronted by A. One letter, one man. Fen start things out with a heavy Enslaved feeling in “Soilbound”. As things progress it’s a smörgåsbord of Black Metal, shoegaze & a hint of a lot more. De…

  • IN LINGUA MORTUA – Salon des Refusés

    Norway is the promised land of the so called avantgarde black metal movement. Nowadays it actually seems that it’s harder to find traditional black metal from Norway than some kind of a weird jazz-pop-electronic-you-name-it influenced stuff. In Lingua Mortua was formed in 1999 but "Salon des Refusés" is just their second full-lenght album. Even though…

  • ROTTEN SOUND – Cursed

    Rotten Sound certainly lives up to their bands name. Their grindcore is most interesting when they slow down and venture into sludge territory. At full speed their songs are hard to distinguish. After hearing through the album, I feel like I’ve heard the same song at least 5-6 times. It is all well executed though.…

  • ALIEN DEVIANT CIRCUS – En To Pan Omegas

    French druginfluenced industrial Black Metal anyone? This is an album I can guarantee will fall into liking for those into another french industrial Black Metal band, namely Blacklodge. This really reminds me of Blacklodge’s two albums, "Login:SataN" og "Solarkult". Harsh, cold, bleak and intensely twisted shit with loads of ambience! Don’t let the name fool…

  • LAVA ENGINE – In Limbo

    A Swedish four piece progressive rock band with metal tendencies, Lava Engine suffer from trying to be too diverse for a wide palate of tastes. At times the chord progressions and drumming on tracks like “Drain Your Soul” and “Common Ground” recall Stone Temple Pilots meeting Porcupine Tree, with a touch of Yes and Genesis…

  • AXENSTAR – Aftermath

    A welcome return to these ears, Vasteras Sweden’s Axenstar ends a studio silence of four and a half years with their fifth record "Aftermath". With new members Adam Lindberg on drums and Jens Klovegard on guitar, the quartet continue their fine brand of melodic power metal, focusing on stirring riffs, numerous musical and vocal hooks…

  • ARVAS – Blessed From Below… Ad Sathanas Noctum

    Even though the band was created in 1993 this is their first offering to the void. The core of the band is V. Rex on guitar, bass, vocals and keys and Fordervelse on drums. They play Black Metal, or T.S.B.N. as they put it themselves. Arvas has NOTHING new to contribute to Black Metal and…

  • BEFORE THE DAWN – Deathstar Rising

    One of the more consistent acts who’ve been ascending the ranks due to critical and fan acclaim, Finnish band Before The Dawn climb to a larger international stage with "Deathstar Rising", their sixth album. Guitarist/ vocalist Tuomas Saukkonen, bassist/ clean vocalist Lars Eikind, second guitarist Juho Raiha and drummer Atte Palokangas sit in an enviable…

  • GHOST – The Engraving

    The Norwegian band Ghost relive the 80’s hard rock / metal scene with their debut album "The Engraving". From the main riff in the title track you know you are going to get party music of the highest degree, as Øystein Wiik and Andre Berger seem to have an affinity for George Lynch and the…

  • HALO OF GUNFIRE – Conjuring The Damned

    If you check out Halo Of Gunfire at Encyclopaedia Metallum, the band are described as metalcore. Every single genre that ends with -core is on my personal hate list, so my enthusiasm was not exactly over the top before playing the debut album from these young Americans. Much of the reason I don’t like this kind…

  • VITSAUS – Sielunmessu

    Vitsaus’ black metal has a Finnish trademark sound. The band’s like a bit boring version of Horna, raw and simple black metal. The interesting lyrics and the great inhuman vocals make this album worth checking out, but I’ll still rather listen to Horna when I need to get my daily dose of genuine Finnish black…

  • OBSCURITY – Tenkterra

    Obscurity couldn’t have chosen a more perfect timing for the release of their new album. I was just about to collapse from my Amon Amarth abstinences when this album appeared out of the blue and for a short moment made me forget that AA even exists. I am not trying to say that Obscurity is…

  • NECROPHOBIC – The Third Antichrist (Reissue)

    Necrophobic’s third album is like a combination of their two first albums. The thin sound on their sophomore album is replaced with the chunky delight from the debut. Necrophobic still pursue the blackening of their death metal as on their second album, but this time around it works much better. This time, Necrophobic lives up…

  • NECROPHOBIC – Bloodhymns (Reissue)

    Regrettably, "Bloodhymns" is a step backwards for Necrophobic. A more black metal infused style is applied. The previous album had a chunkier feel and production which reminded of a blackened Entombed. It is evidently a question of balance between black and death for Necrophobic. This time around the nuances are not working as well for…

  • NIGHTMARE – One Night Of Insurrection

    Celebrating their 30 year anniversary as a group, "One Night Of Insurrection" is a live record from their October 30 2009 show in Grenoble, France. The separate DVD contains the full show, this is a 12 song abbreviation of that special gig. NWOBHM influenced power metal is what you get, a sharp snare sound, Jo…

  • FORGOTTEN SUNS – Revelations (EP)

    Progressive metal has always been a passion of mine since discovering metal in general. Don’t get me wrong – sometimes I prefer simpler structures and three chords to just release tension. It’s just my brain seems to be wired for musical compositions filled with texture, dynamics, and risk taking maneuvers. Upon first listen, Portugal’s Forgotten…

  • MALISON ROGUE – Malison Rogue

    The bio sheet describes this Swedish quartet as a mix between Iron Maiden, Fates Warning, and Queensryche. I hear a lot of the latter in songs like “The Pain You Cause” and “We’re All Born Sinners”, but very little of the former two artists. Great singing but for some reason the songwriting doesn’t have much…

  • ONE MAN ARMY & THE UNDEAD QUARTET – The Dark Epic

    The voice of Johan Lindstrand – former lead singer of Sweden thrash/death outfit The Crown – has established One Man Army & The Undead Quartet through the late 2000’s with three studio albums and great touring opportunities with Children Of Bodom, Soilwork, and Unleashed among others. Taking a couple of years to make some lineup…

  • DAYS OF ANGER – Death Path

    Forming in 2010, this Swedish thrash trio push out a debut album in a quick fashion. Vocally bassist Alex Jonsson spits out lyrics to “Damaged” and “Spit On Your Grave” like a madcap scientific crossbreed of Sam Kinison during his comedic scream rants meets Kirk Windstein from Crowbar. Musically "Days Of Anger" mix things up…

  • FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – Mafia (EP)

    As a technical death metal ensemble Fleshgod Apocalypse is right up there. The riffs sounds like orchestrated machineguns fired with surgical precision. The speed, technical proficiency and production are as good as the best technical death metal bands around today. Decapitated is still the undefeated gods of tech death metal, but Fleshgod Apocalypse is not…

  • ANNTHENNATH – States of Liberating Departure

    This French band includes members from such bands as Deathspell Omega (DsO’s ex-vocalist Shaxul) and Sael, so you can expect nothing but high-quality stuff from Annthennath. Unluckily the album isn’t too fascinating, it’s actually quite typical, melodic and fast black metal. Not bad at all, but just too typical. Hopefully the next album will be…

  • ABYSMAL DAWN – Leveling The Plane Of Existence

    California represents one of the metal Mecca states of the USA – since the early independent metal days of the 80’s through the rise and fall of conventional hard rock later in that same decade and early 1990’s. There has always been a fervent thrash and death scene as well – which is where Los…

  • MYLAND – Light Of A New Day

    Second album from this Italian melodic hard rock five piece, Myland prefer simplified arrangements, large harmonic choruses and guitar/ keyboard hooks in line with the 1980’s scene. Songs like “Love Hurts So Bad” and “Never Stop Screaming Rock” remind me of the late 80’s Danger Danger meets Starship sound, with a touch of Def Leppard…

  • THE HAUNTED – Unseen

     …do note that this is the second review of this album… Read the first one here… I must admit to never having been a big fan of The Haunted. Still, I have been aware of them enough to be surprised by the bands recent development. The hardcore style making these Swedes infamous, in Norway at…

  • NECROPHOBIC – Darkside (reissue)

    I recently discovered Necrophobic’s debut which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately I find the adaptation of more black metalized tendencies on their sophomore album to not suit the band particularly. Somehow the production has gotten worse this time around also. I clearly prefer Necrophobic’s debut over this one, but that is just me. “Darkside” has got…

  • THE ROYAL ARCH BLASPHEME – The Royal Arch Blaspheme

    Oh boy, another USBM-band with N. Imperial on vocals! What a surprise! Seriously speaking, what makes this album interesting is that John Gelso, the Profanatica/Abomination/Contrivisti-madman has wrote the music and played all the instruments for RAB, so it’s not a wonder that I have an album full of strong and primitive death-ish black metal in…