MADDER MORTEM – Old Eyes, New Heart

RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://maddermortem.bandcamp.com/album/old-eyes-new-heart Is there even any point in trying to categorize or label the unique sound conjured up by one of Norway’s most enticing musical outfits, namely Madder Mortem? Thirty years into their career and they still manage to amaze and excite me – how awesome is that?! Incorporating traits from doom…

FALSE MEMORIES – Hybrid Ego System

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/falsememoriesband The Italian dark metal quintet known as False Memories have been keeping busy these past couple of years, and it feels like only yesterday that I reviewed their last opus, the gloomy The Last Night of Fall. Hybrid Ego System, which is their third full-length record, pretty much picks up…

LUNARIAN – Burn the Beauty

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3YyILgRcUSxqmjStt8DZPg Symphonic goth-inspired metal from Italy courtesy of the quintet named LunariaN is what we have here, and this is a rather competent and solid piece of work where the vocals of Aylin (Trail of Tears, ex-Sirenia) serve as the highlight throughout. While all the usual ingredients such as symphonic keyboards,…

ARDOURS – Anatomy of a Moment

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ardoursband/ Anatomy of a Moment by the Italian outfit Ardours, which includes Mariangela Demurtas (Tristania) on vocals, is a weirdly anticlimactic experience. With its gothic rock overtones and prominent nods to alternative rock and experimental metal, there is a modern flair to this pristine-sounding output, and a number of good ideas…

HEMESATH – So Schön

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/hemesathband/ The German act named Hemesath is something quite different and hard to pigeonhole in terms of style and genre. Using such diffuse terms as alternative rock and alternative metal often blows ass simply because they tell you very little about the actual music, but in this case, I have no…

ASKARA – Lights of Night

RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/Askaraband/ This sophomore full-length album by Swiss dark metallers Askara is about to see the light of day via Fastball Music, and I must say that this one turned out to be a rather interesting musical encounter in that their brand of morose metal possesses a strangely romantic aura that I…

THANATEROS – On Fragile Wings

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://thanateros.bandcamp.com/ The German folk-inspired metal outfit known as Thanateros released this twelve-track effort of theirs just a few weeks ago via Echozone and despite not being what one would deem an immersive experience or an enthralling listen, it does have its merits and some rather interesting ideas to it. In truth,…