Armed with their instruments and totally adrenalized, these Finnish guys are here to provide us some awesome Melodic Death Metal with their brand new EP.
Fans of Melodic Death Metal bands such as Amon Amarth, Children Of Bodom and Wintersun, among many others, will surely enjoy this fresh new EP named The Abundance of a Sickened Mind, by Finnish Modern / Melodic Death Metal band Prayed and Betrayed. It’s a pretty short EP, with only 12 minutes of music spread in three unique tracks, but it’s a very good sample of what those guys from Finland can generate when armed with their instruments.
Formed in the cold city of Jyväskylä, Finland in 2012, and influenced by the aforementioned bands, Prayed and Betrayed already released an EP called Manifesting Reality in 2012 and a single called Wanderers in 2013. However, now in 2014 with a new bassist and a new lead singer, the band has changed their style a little, moving away from traditional Death Metal to a more modern and technical approach, which reinforces their refined talent as musicians and also extends their music boundaries to a whole new level.
The first track, Deafblind, offers the listener all the shredding and fast drumming that can be found in traditional Death Metal, but in this case with a more polished and melodic sonority. Even the guttural vocals are very tuneful, and the addition of elements from modern American metal (especially the bass lines) turns it into an excellent choice for mosh pits and stage diving.
World Surreal speeds up things a little thanks to drummer Juho Suomi, and don’t forget to pay close attention to the great guitar riffs and solos by Antti Lukkari and Panu Korhonen: they’re truly outstanding, leading the whole song. Not only that, the overall complexity of this track showcases how talented each band member is and how far they can go with their music.
Finally, we have the title-track The Abundance of a Sickened Mind, which is even more melodic than the other songs, sounding a lot like some of the more contemporary songs by Arch Enemy (I can even visualize this song in one of their most recent albums). It’s heavier atmosphere contributes to making it the darkest of all three songs, and I guess I don’t need to say how “lovely” the lyrics are.
The album art of The Abundance of a Sickened Mind is not only very professional, but it also represents the band’s musicality perfectly: the wolf can be seen as their ferocity, while the stunning girl portrays their more harmonious side. You can listen to all those tracks on the band’s ReverbNation page, check their Facebook page and Twitter, and of course, support this promising Finnish band by purchasing their music (available at their BandCamp page and on iTunes) and attending their concerts. It’s great music full of adrenaline, that will undoubtedly help us all in warming up this coming winter.
Best moments of the album:Deafblind.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1.Deafblind 3:43
2.World Surreal 3:08
3.The Abundance of a Sickened Mind 4:52
Band members Samuli Paananen – vocals
Antti Lukkari – guitar
Panu Korhonen – guitar
Otto Puusaari – bass, backing vocals
Juho Suomi – drums
These young British guys and their sharp instruments keep the fire of heavy music alive with huge doses of professionalism, brutality and progressiveness.
Like French chemist Antoine Lavoisier said once with his law of conservation of mass, “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.” That can be said about the music by Metalcore/Groove Metal band No Sin Evades His Gaze who, influenced by bands such as Pantera, Lamb Of God and Machine Head, blended elements from Metalcore, Death Metal and Groove Metal in a very professional way, sounding very contemporary and, above all, very technical, melodic and progressive.
It’s amazing how such young guys, all in their early or mid-twenties (and some not even in their twenties yet), were capable of crafting 100% cohesive and honest heavy music like if they have been together on the road for years in a row. This new five-piece metal band, founded in 2013 by vocalist James Denton and with members hailing from London, Blackpool and Scotland in the UK, has just released their debut album,Age Of Sedation, and let me tell you it’s an awesome mix of brutality and melody perfect for fans of modern metal music.
Right after the short but strong intro A Crack In The Looking Glass, where it’s noticeable the band is composed by young members (only young people can write, say or sing words such as “They’re gonna call you weird… They’re gonna call you eccentric…”), we already have one of the top moments of the album, the title-track Age Of Sedation. It’s polished and professional extreme metal, with its guitar lines conducting the song enhanced by its heavy drumming and all background effects, and of course the excellent guttural vocals by James. The following song, Motionless In Obedience, is a very good choice for fans of extreme music with an apocalyptic touch, getting very progressive halfway through it due to its technical instrumental, and providing the listener the first dosage of clean vocals by drummer Theo Harvey.
Filth is a much heavier tune than its predecessors, perfect for headbanging, with highlights to the great job done by both guitarists Kevin Pearson and Dan Thornton and to the Industrial Metal elements added to the song, similar to what Fear Factory usually do in their music, followed by the nice Metalcore vibe in Roll Up The Royalty, where its very cohesive instrumental gives it a truly badass atmosphere. Another one of my favorite moments in Age Of Sedation is the violent and apocalyptic Debris, with Theo smashing his drums while Matthew “Moat” Lowe shows no mercy for his bass (and you can actually listen to each note from it), while The Cycle Resets focuses on a more contemporary American Metalcore blended with Industrial Metal, with highlights to the awesome vocal performance by James and its totally melodic and catchy riffs.
The last part of the album begins with Biometric Alchemy, which could be portrayed as a darker version of what Slipknot do sometimes, mainly due to its deep guttural vocals, followed by The Guillotine Blade: as sharp as a real guillotine blade, the band offers us more atmospheric chaos full of solid riffs, rhythmic breaks and a melancholic ending. And to close the album the band chose their longest and most progressive song, Affinity, with elements from Metalcore, Melodic Death Metal and even Nu Metal, sounding pretty much like three or four songs in one for the delight of fans of complex heavy music.
As aforementioned, the excellent Age Of Sedation, which is available at the No Sin Evades His Gaze’s official BandCamp page, Amazon, iTunes and many other locations, might not be 100% original (what is today, anyway?), but it’s as fresh and creative as possible, thanks to an awesome job done by all band members with their refined techniques. Let’s say that they’re just adapting what Lavoisier discovered in a distant past, but instead of “mass” they’re supporting the conservation of good heavy music.
Best moments of the album:Age Of Sedation, Filth and Debris.
Worst moments of the album:Biometric Alchemy.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. A Crack In The Looking Glass 0:51
2. Age Of Sedation 2:49
3. Motionless In Obedience 3:39
4. Filth 4:06
5. Roll Up The Royalty 3:50
6. Debris 2:54
7. The Cycle Resets 3:52
8. Biometric Alchemy 4:38
9. The Guillotine Blade 3:40
10. Affinity 6:00
Band members James Denton – vocals
Kevin Pearson – guitars
Dan Thornton – guitars
Matthew “Moat” Lowe – bass
Theo Harvey – drums, clean vocals
This promising Canadian band is here to provide us all some good old Rock N’ Roll and Heavy Metal, crafted in the Great White North.
“O Canada! Our home and native land!”
And also a land with so many awesome indie metal bands I could spend hours and hours talking about each one of them. However, if there’s one new Canadian group that truly deserves a lot of our attention, it’s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band Laugh At The Fakes. Formed in 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, and after releasing their debut six-song EP One Night Only in 2011, this quartet is about to release their first full-length album, entitled Dethrone The Crown, a very honest and exciting celebration of the only music we love, our good old Rock N’ Roll.
Do not expect to listen to modern North American metal, electronic sound effects, infinite doses of virtuosity or anything like that in any of the songs from Dethrone The Crown. Laugh At The Fakes focus heavily on raw traditional rock music, influenced by the musicality of bands such as Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Alice In Chains, among many other classics, and dealing with contemporary topics like murder, corruption and war.
From the very first riff of the opening track, Not Like Me, you can enjoy their traditional Hard Rock with a huge Heavy Metal influence, something like a mix of Led Zeppelin and Alice In Chains, which is reinforced by the 70’s/80’s Rock N’ Roll vocals by singer/guitarist Everett Mason. It’s a nice song for headbanging, with the final part of it being totally awesome, especially the guitar solo and the accelerated drums. The second track, Death Awaits, is a more metallic tune (probably inspired by the NWOBHM) that gets a lot heavier and progressive halfway through the song, with highlights to its lyrics that couldn’t be more real than that (“The uniform buys you time, a luxury you’d never give / Pulling the trigger, it makes you feel bigger, for taking a life away, from our own”), followed by the superb Cut To The Chase, a soulful Hard Rock tune perfect for hitting the road, with its excellent guitar solo making it even more enjoyable.
Killing Time, the first single of the album (a perfect choice, by the way), is a very professional and pleasant music journey guided by its amazing riffs, with lots of elements from the beginnings of Heavy Metal and 70’s Rock N’ Roll, while Fighting Dirty focuses on more traditional Heavy Metal the likes of old school Deep Purple, with highlights to its nice chorus and all the progressive parts that flow until the end of it. Then we have Got No Regrets, which sounds like the stuff Maiden recorded in Piece Of Mind, especially its rhythmic drums, vocals and lyrics (“I don’t belong here, I got no reason left to stay / I’m getting lost dear, my mind is far far away”), and Harmonica Playing Man, a song that flirts with Pop Rock and maybe due to that it’s a little below the rest of the album in terms of quality.
Finally, closing the album on a high note we have And I, another good Hard Rock song with a huge influence from Rock N’ Roll from the 70’s, with its smooth vocals blended really well with the melodic bass lines, and the title-track, Dethrone The Crown, a more ferocious song with hints of Thrash/Death Metal, which despite being very technical, it doesn’t sound cheesy at all.
If you hadn’t had a chance to see those guys playing live, like I did when they opened for Blaze Bayley at the Metal Showcase on October 17 during Indie Week Canada, you can check their music at their official website or at their Facebook page, and stay tuned for the release of Dethrone The Crown pretty soon on their iTunes profile page, as well as in other online and physical stores. And do not miss their CD release party this November 14 (Friday) at Bovine Sex Club, in Toronto. Just like the Centennial Flame in Ottawa will never die, Laugh At The Fakes are making sure Canadian Rock N’ Roll won’t die either with their honest music crafted in the Great White North.
Best moments of the album:Cut To The Chase, Killing Time and Fighting Dirty.
Worst moments of the album:Harmonica Playing Man.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. Not Like Me 6:28
2. Death Awaits 4:52
3. Cut To The Chase 3:37
4. Killing Time 6:14
5. Fighting Dirty 5:38
6. Got No Regrets 4:03
7. Harmonica Playing Man 6:15
8. And I 6:56
9. Dethrone The Crown 5:14
Band members Everett Mason – guitar, vocals
Kevin Daliri – guitar
Galen Weir – bass
Chris Avalos – drums
This very talented band from the UK is offering us what they call “Saturnian Black Magic”. Are you going to accept the darkness inside you, eager for this type of music?
Some people will call it Occult Black Metal, others will prefer referring to it as Blackened Heavy Metal, but according to British band Inconcessus Lux Lucis themselves, the music they play is a mix of Black Metal with the aggressiveness of 80’s Heavy Metal and the grooves of 70’s Hard Rock, resulting in what the band beautifully named as “Saturnian Black Magic”. Thus, if you’re curious to actually know what Saturnian Black Magic sounds like, you must take a shot at the new EP by this Manchester-based band, entitled Crux Lupus Corona.
After releasing their debut album Disintegration: Psalms Of Veneration For The Nefarious Elite earlier this year, Inconcessus Lux Lucis (which I’m almost sure means something like “forbidden light”) is releasing this new EP inspired by the constellations Crux, Lupus and Corona (the Cross, the Wolf and the Crown, as per the 88 Modern Constellations) and all their occult significances. If that’s not weird or complex enough for you, well, just listen to their music and you will fulfill your inner desire for all things mystical.
Crux Lupus Corona kicks off with a 2-minute intro called Via Dolorosa, which already inspires the listener for more of the band’s modern music with a 70’s vibe, followed then by the first “constellation”, Crux, with its mesmerizing riffs, harsh vocals and very rhythmic drumming highly influenced by old school Heavy and Thrash Metal. It’s an amazing track, enhanced by its excellent eerie lyrics (“Now slowly undress / Sweet seed of life which you possess / And softly caress / The fruit from which I ate / A sword spins counter-deosil / Its hilt marked 358”).
The second “constellation”, Lupus, sounds like the dark side of Hard Rock clashing with demonic Black Metal, alternating slower and somber passages with faster 70’s Rock N’ Roll. Not only that, the excellent guitar solo at the end actually makes the whole song even more solid. And last but not least, we have Corona: the third “constellation” is a more melancholic tune with some outstanding instrumental, with its lyrics (“O hollow temptress, I call to thee – Fuck me! / Come, join the slow dance, with maggots, shit and entropy!”) making it easy to understand what the band wants to say with “Black Magic”, just like if they were a distant cousin of Black Sabbath with an even more bizarre attitude.
The freakish album art, created by English artist Bethany White, follows the same distinctive pattern established by the band’s music, complementing the EP in a very cohesive and interesting way. You can listen to the entire Crux Lupus Corona HERE, purchase the unique music by this very talented band from the UK, and accept the darkness inside you, eager for more devilish music.
Best moments of the album:Crux is my favorite song of the EP, although all others are pretty interesting and consistent as well.
Those villainous monsters raise their glasses to Heavy Metal once again with another solid and entertaining album.
It’s already November and Halloween (or Hallowe’en, if you want to be more traditional) might be “dead and gone” this year, but it surely left a monstrous legacy in the form of music with Scare Force One, the seventh studio album by Finnish Hard Rock band Lordi. So if you’re a fan of horror movies, blood, beer, partying and especially heavy music, do not put your costume away yet, because the party has just begun.
Mr. Lordi and his unnatural crew are always reinventing themselves from album to album, and this time it’s not different. Of course Scare Force One has elements from their previous album, the awesome To Beast or Not to Beast, as well as from classics such as The Arockalypse and Get Heavy, but this time due to the fact the same formation has been together for at least two years, there’s a much more consistent music flow. Moreover, it seems that Mr. Lordi decided to give his gorgeous and talented keyboardist Hella a lot more space in the band’s creative process, which is noticeable during the entire album.
SCG7: Arm Your Doors and Cross Check is that classic intro we always expect from Lordi, this time boosted by a nice choir, setting the tone for the title-track, Scare Force One, a great start with the band’s characteristic Hard Rock riffs and 80’s energy. In addition, as already mentioned, Hella’s keyboard notes are sounding a lot stronger, a really nice feminine touch to Lordi’s musicality. The following track is the best of the entire album in my opinion, and also the one with the best name: How to Slice a Whore was born to be a classic. It is as fast and raw as it should be, with an extremely catchy chorus and a very good balance between drums, guitars and keyboards. Did I mention Hella is on fire in this album?
The freak show goes on with Hell Sent in the Clowns, with its circus-ish intro, vibe and fun lyrics, especially for people who are afraid of clowns (and I know many), and I must say no other band could have written such a weird song like this; the old school House of Ghosts, which focus heavily on a more “phantasmagoric” atmosphere enhanced by its great backing vocals and keyboard notes; and the excellent Monster Is My Name, where Mr. Lordi has an outstanding vocal performance (You know Mr. Lordi, his name is MONSTER!) and Amen leads the Heavy Metal party with his inspired riffs and guitar solo. And once again I have to say Hella is stealing the show in this album with her spooky keyboard notes in Cadaver Lover, another melodic headbanging tune perfect for some air guitar while you sing its fun chorus.
Then it’s time for the “Mummified Pharaoh” Amen to provide us all a short and gentle heartwarming acoustic track named Amen’s Lament to Ra II, before Nailed by the Hammer of Frankenstein comes to remind us Heavy Metal and Rock N’ Roll don’t need to be so serious all the time: it has everything that’s needed for a heavy music party, including truly badass keyboards, goofy but entertaining lyrics (“Good girls get bad, get hammered / Party like Frankenstein / The place will be a wreck by sunrise / Franky needs a bride”), as well as a tribute to one of the greatest metal legends of the 80’s, the “German Tank” Mr. Udo Dirkschneider.
And there’s still time for a lot more, with Lordi offering us the slow heavy anthem The United Rocking Dead, with highlights to its “marching” lyrics (“We are here! / And what you see is what you get / Play my fear / We’re the united rocking dead”), and She’s a Demon, which despite being a good song, it lacks maybe a stronger or not-so-generic chorus to make it truly enjoyable. And finally, our beloved “Scarbie” comes up with some creepy notes in Hella’s Kitchen, followed by the last track in Scare Force One, the powerful Hard Rock tune Sir, Mr. Presideath, Sir!, which focuses on its excellent chorus and the sick guitar lines by Amen. By the way, all band members are kicking fuckin’ ass in this track, and I’m pretty sure it will be one of the new songs to be added to their future setlists so mighty it sounds.
While Mr. Lordi might be asking us to raise our glasses to the German tank in Scare Force One, we should not forget to also raise our glasses, fists and horns to Lordi for another great Hard Rock album, showing us again how good music is done (not to mention its amazing old school album art). I really hope those monsters come to North America (in special to the city of Toronto) for some kick-ass performances, playing songs from their old albums and, of course, from the excellent Scare Force One, a very solid album that will strengthen Lordi’s legacy in the world of heavy music without any doubt.
Best moments of the album:How to Slice a Whore, Monster Is My Name, Nailed by the Hammer of Frankenstein and Sir, Mr. Presideath, Sir!
Worst moments of the album:House of Ghosts and She’s a Demon.
Released in 2014 AFM Records
Track listing 1. SCG7: Arm Your Doors and Cross Check 1:35
2. Scare Force One 4:58
3. How to Slice a Whore 2:47
4. Hell Sent in the Clowns 4:20
5. House of Ghosts 4:12
6. Monster Is My Name 3:34
7. Cadaver Lover 3:51
8. Amen’s Lament to Ra II 1:10
9. Nailed by the Hammer of Frankenstein 3:20
10. The United Rocking Dead 5:46
11. She’s a Demon 5:37
12. Hella’s Kitchen 1:10
13. Sir, Mr. Presideath, Sir! 5:44
Band members Mr. Lordi – vocals
Amen – guitars
OX – bass
Hella – keyboards
Mana – drums
A grim mix of Black, Death and Progressive Metal, tailored for people who enjoy complex and intense music.
When you tell someone there’s a band that plays Progressive Melodic Death Black Metal, you’ll probably have to spend a lot of time explaining exactly what you mean by putting together so many different subgenres of heavy music, unless of course you’re talking to a fan of Gojira, Death, Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir and many other “complex” dark bands. That’s how Norwegian band Maahlas can be categorized based on their debut release, the heavy and eccentric concept album Nightmare Years.
Formed in 2013 in the beautiful city of Oslo, Norway by multi-instrumentalist Cuneyt Caglayan, also known as Cuno, Mahhlas seem to be one of those bands that enjoy surfing through different music styles (most of the time during the same song), relying heavily on their refined techniques to create a unique atmosphere and conduct the storyline behind Nightmare Years without being boring or arrogant. Quite the contrary, the way the band is capable of telling a story changing from smoother progressive music to violent Black Metal is really outstanding and one of the biggest strengths of this album.
And what a violent way to start with the very atmospheric and dark Sun of the Summerian, a Symphonic Black Metal tune similar to what’s played by bands such as Dimmu Borgir, but with more hardcore vocals and a very interesting progressive part right before reigniting the sonic massacre. Besides, despite being only a session musician working for Maahlas, drummer Łukasz Krzesiewicz is a fuckin’ beast and delivers an incredible performance with his set. A False World, a more obscure track with great vocals by Levent Ultanur, progressive synths and philosophical lyrics (“Doubt in your eyes, in your stances and your reasoning. / Weak in your seminal thoughts primed to misuse trust.”), and Morning Light, more progressive and melodic than the previous tracks, remind me of the Blackened Death Metal currently played by Behemoth plus all the progressiveness from Dream Theater; while An Ancestral Memory focus on dark Black Metal riffs, synths and drums to provide it a very symphonic atmosphere. Moreover, those guys truly enjoy adding some interesting breaks to the rhythm to freshen up their music, as you’ll notice not only in this song but in the entire album.
Then we have the excellent At the Edge of Life: this is dark progressive music at its finest, and although slower than most of the other songs, it’s a lot heavier thanks to some awesome guitar lines. After the acoustic eerie track Gliese 667 / Æra, Maahlas offer us the title-track Nightmare Years, which summarizes everything the band is, with vocals getting a little bit more demonic and huge doses of contemporary Black Metal, and The Great Divide, where Łukasz smashes his drums while Cuno delivers some great guitar riffs. I remember a few songs named “The Great Divide” that were all ballads and I was even ready for a smooth track, but this is not the case here, as the band once again promotes an infernal music feast.
The last part of Nightmare Years does not disappoint at all, maintaining the excellent level of the whole album: Birth of Sentience is another brutal assault focused on modern Black Metal, with its last part being more direct and traditional; while Of Hypocrisy, Hate and Fall, the longest track of all, starts with a beautiful intro before turning into a dark music extravaganza, with highlights to its very interesting lyrics (“Prowling agony, blinding day. I meditate yet have a terror attack. / I see Gliese, God! So alike. / I’m alone to act, a straw man, I’ve got to let go. / I´m controlled by time.”). It’s perhaps the most progressive of all tracks, with lots of elements from bands such as Tool and Insomnium, and if you’re a drummer I suggest you watch the drum tracking for this song. And finally, Simulacrum of Reality, another technical and detailed track, closes the album in a very complex and obscure way.
The album art by Turkish / German artist Aybars Altay, representing at once the fall of Home Sapiens and the evolution of the Homo Sentient, is a great complement to this mysterious music journey, which you can purchase on iTunes and many other locations. If you’re a fan of grim music with a strong technical and meaningful background, simply embrace Nightmare Years. You will love it.
Best moments of the album:Sun of the Summerian, At the Edge of Life and Nightmare Years.
Worst moments of the album:Morning Light and Birth of Sentience.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. Sun of the Summerian 4:31
2. A False World 5:10
3. Morning Light 4:11
4. An Ancestral Memory 5:01
5. At the Edge of Life 4:30
6. Gliese 667 / Æra 1:44
7. Nightmare Years 4:03
8. The Great Divide 3:41
9. Birth of Sentience 4:39
10. Of Hypocrisy, Hate and Fall 7:08
11. Simulacrum of Reality 4:23
Band members* Levent Ultanur – story, lyrics and vocals
Cuneyt Caglayan – music, guitars, bass, synth and all production
Robin Berg Pettersen – guitar
Christian Svendsen – drums
One of the most controversial heavy bands of all time strikes again with a very solid and aggressive tribute to their deceased bassist.
When American Alternative Metal band Slipknothelped put the city of Des Moines, Iowa, United States on the map in the end of the 90’s with their never-before-seen ruthless music, few people believed they would last longer than a couple of years due to several reasons, one of them being their too unorthodox approach, or in other words, they did not play “traditional” heavy music. Well, guess what? Even after all these years and all their countless internal issues, especially the painful death of bassist Paul Gray (R.I.P.) in 2010 and the departure of drummer Joey Jordison in the end of 2013, they’re still alive and more than capable of delivering some good heavy music, like what’s found in their brand new album .5: The Gray Chapter.
Although .5: The Gray Chapter, which by the way is the fifth studio album in the band’s career, the first in six long years and the first to not feature the two aforementioned members, is not as good as most of their previous releases, it’s still a very enjoyable and violent album that surpasses 75 minutes of music, with all those “special effects” only Slipknot can offer us. It sounds like a modern mix of the excellent Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), with all lyrics being even more wicked and controversial than before.
And there’s no better way to start a Slipknot album than with one of their trademarks, a dark and creepy intro this time named XIX, with beautiful words such as “This song is not for the living / This song is for the dead” setting up the tone for the ferocious Sarcastrophe, a song that begins as melancholic as the intro before turning into a mix of all Slipknot phases, sounding a lot like “Gematria (The Killing Name)”, especially the vocal lines and riffs (albeit a lot less complex), followed by the Thrash Metal riffs in AOV, which also follows the same musical pattern as in All Hope Is Gone.
I have no idea who the new/session drummer is, but he does a pretty decent job in songs like The Devil in I, where he provides the whole song an extra dose of violence even during its lighter parts, saving it from becoming too soft or too bland. The following track will generate lots of positive and negative reactions from the listeners: Killpop is one of those cases where Slipknot proves once again they know how to craft some cool semi-ballads, this time 100% focused on the vocal lines (both clean and harsh) by Corey Taylor, but many people will end up complaining it sounds too commercial. If you love it, simply enjoy this nice song, otherwise skip to Skeptic, a very old school Slipknot song, and everything you truly love in this band will be there for you, including riffs, drums and vocals, sounding a lot like their material from Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Besides, it seems to be one more explicit tribute to Paul Gray based on its sorrowful lyrics (“The world will never see another crazy motherfucker like you / The world will never know another man as amazing as you”).
Lech is one of those Slipknot songs you wait for during their performances to start jumping up and down like crazy when Corey gives the signal, with drums, percussion and guitar lines boosting its energy level, while Goodbye is just filler: I don’t know what they wanted to accomplish with this song, but it didn’t work at all, making it totally disposable. Then we have Nomadic, a good song with interesting breaks and chorus, nothing special but its Iowa-ish vibe keeps it far away from being boring, and The One That Kills the Least, which reminds me of some Stone Sour songs.
After all those highs and lows, it is the last part of the album what all diehard fans of Slipknot were truly waiting for, and it all begins with Custer, that type of sonic madness Slipknot feel really comfortable in playing. It’s a fuckin’ sick “party” full of weird electronic music effects, with a chorus that will drive fans crazy during their live performances (“Cut – Cut – Cut me up and Fuck – Fuck – Fuck me up / CUT – CUT – CUT ME UP AND FUCK – FUCK – FUCK ME UP!”). It’s the best song of the album, and it will sound absolutely amazing live, no doubt about that. The sinister intro Be Prepared for Hell works as an excellent warm-up for the “hell” that comes next, the disturbing The Negative One: it has that raw instrumental and direct sounding like their old classics, with highlights to the great job done by Sid Wilson and Craig “133” Jones in adding a lot of bizarreness to the song. Do I need to mention it’s another perfect option for some insane circle pits? The regular version of the album ends in a pretty weird way with If Rain Is What You Want, a song that’s a lot less metal and more alternative than any other track in .5 The Gray Chapter. And if you purchase the special edition of it you’ll also get two bonus songs that are relatively boring compared to the official album tracks: Override is just an average song, and The Burden focus too heavily on the atmosphere and forgets about the music itself.
You can take a listen to some or all of the tracks in .5 The Gray Chapter on Slipknot’s official YouTube channel, and also see them kicking ass live during their Knotfest dates. Love them or hate them, no matter how controversial they are, we all have to admit their music is unique and each member of the band deserves our recognition for being able to create such a solid, aggressive and entertaining album/tribute even after all the hell they have been through in recent years.
Best moments of the album:Skeptic, Custer and The Negative One.
Worst moments of the album:The Devil in I and Goodbye.
Released in 2014 Roadrunner Records
Track listing 1. XIX 3:10
2. Sarcastrophe 5:06
3. AOV 5:32
4. The Devil in I 5:42
5. Killpop 3:45
6. Skeptic 4:46
7. Lech 4:50
8. Goodbye 4:35
9. Nomadic 4:18
10. The One That Kills the Least 4:11
11. Custer 4:14
12. Be Prepared for Hell 1:57
13. The Negative One 5:25
14. If Rain Is What You Want 6:20
Special Edition bonus tracks 15. Override 5:37
16. The Burden 5:23
Band members* (#0) Sid Wilson – turntables
(#3) Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals
(#4) Jim Root – guitars, bass
(#5) Craig “133” Jones – sampling, keyboards
(#6) Shawn “Clown” Crahan – percussion, backing vocals
(#7) Mick Thomson – guitars, bass
(#8) Corey Taylor – vocals
*A new drummer is currently in the band but has not yet been named by the band, rumors circulate about his identity but so far no official statement has been made as to who it is.
A good option for fans of Melodic Death Metal who enjoy European harmony blended with North American violence.
Austrian Melodic Death Metal band Mandatory is one of those cases where harmony and brutality walk hand in hand with each other, creating an electrifying sound perfect for live performances, which by the way helped this Linz-based quintet win the International Live Award in 2011 in Austria. Now with Catharsis, the band’s second full-length album, those guys deliver a more melodic and technical Death Metal than their previous releases without sounding too commercial or generic.
Although Catharsis is quite different from the band’s 2009 debut album Carbon Black, it’s still very technical and heavy, recommended for both fans of Melodic Death Metal and the more modern heavy music from North America. Moreover, do not expect to listen to old school Death or Thrash Metal, as the sounding in the whole album is very polished and even progressive depending on the song, similar to what bands such as Arch Enemy are doing today. You can indeed expect lots of shredding, guttural and clean vocals mixed, and fast and technical blast beats.
The opening track, End of Watch, can be summarized as pure European Melodic Death Metal with hints of American Metalcore, with its double bass boosting the very melodic guttural vocals. Then we have Act I: Tragedy, the first of three “acts” (or whatever the band wanted those to be) where its excellent instrumental, clean vocals and motivational lyrics (“Embrace the Light within / Shatter the Sky / Your pain and misery / Will purify your mind”) give a good balance to the song; and the slower but heavier To the Streets, a modern Thrash Metal tune the likes of contemporary Metallica and A7X, with some intense riffs and an interesting guitar solo perfect for some headbanging.
Emperor has the most Metalcore rhythm of all songs, especially its guitar duos, with highlights to its very polished production (enhancing the sounding of all instruments) and the political message in its lyrics (“You aren’t machines / You are not chained / To these ambassadors / Of hatred fear and despise”); while the very enjoyable Act II: Catharsis begins with an intense low riff before turning into fast Melodic Death Metal. It even flirts with progressive metal due to all its breaks, variations and the excellent work done by both guitarists Chris Hörmann and Manuel “Mani” Rohrauer.
Shadowmaker is another good melodic and very progressive tune, albeit not as heavy as the rest of the album, with its guitar solos reminding me of some old stuff done by Dream Theater; followed by For the World to See, which gets back to Melodic Death Metal with its clean vocals being once again a nice touch to the overall musicality. Finally, we have Act III: Purification, the last of the three “acts”, another progressive/melodic heavy track with uprising lyrics (“Rise Up! / Liberate your wisdom / Rise Up! / Let the storm break loose”), and closing the album we have Blueprint, the most Thrash/Death Metal track of all with highlights to its technical and professional instrumental and the nice sound effects on the background. In addition, it might only be a coincidence, but the three “acts” (add also “End of Watch” to this list) are the best songs of the album by far in my opinion.
You can purchase Catharsis at Mandatory’s official BandCamp page, where the album comes as a special edition with lots of extra stuff, or also at Amazon, iTunes and other online stores. Go for it if you’re a fan of the most modern type of Melodic Death Metal available in the market, uniting melody, violence and fun in heavy music.
Best moments of the album:End of Watch, Act I: Tragedy, Act II: Catharsis and Act III: Purification.
Worst moments of the album:To the Streets and For the World to See.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. End of Watch 3:53
2. Act I: Tragedy 4:15
3. To the Streets 6:53
4. Emperor 5:08
5. Act II: Catharsis 6:53
6. Shadowmaker 4:36
7. For the World to See 5:45
8. Act III: Purification 5:18
9. Blueprint 3:51
Band members Markus Hundsberger – vocals
Chris Hörmann – guitars, backing vocals
Manuel “Mani” Rohrauer – guitars, backing vocals
Leo Wolfmayr – bass
Mike Pfaffenhuemer – drums, clean vocals
Are you hungry for some high-end old school Black Metal? These guys from the land of ice and snow are here to provide you all the apocalyptic madness and derangement you want to listen to.
Heavy music in Finland has become famous and respected worldwide due to the Melodic Power Metal by Stratovarius, Nightwish and Sonata Arctica, the Hard Rock by Lordi, the Melodic Death Metal by Children of Bodom, the Dark Rock by HIM, among other great bands and artists. However, If you want to listen to some really badass raw Black Metal, that’s not the best place to go according to what most people say. You should try your luck in other Scandinavian countries like Norway or Sweden, right? Well, let me tell you the beautiful land of ice and snow also has some high-quality extreme metal to offer you, a million light-years more brutal than any of the aforementioned bands.
Founded in 2012 in the city of Lahti, located around 100km from the capital Helsinki, Finnish Raw Apocalyptic Black Metal band Endzeit couldn’t sound more Black Metal than this, with absolutely no shenanigans or any type of soft stuff added to their musicality. Dealing with controversial subjects such as religion, the apocalypse and the absence of an optimistic future (triggered by the decay of the city of Detroit, where modern capitalism has failed), their debut EP entitled Years Of Hunger might be relatively short, but it’s a 100% ruthless metal feast that will leave you totally disoriented, which of course is a good thing in Black Metal.
And there’s no “calm before the storm” in Years Of Hunger: the intro Inception is already apocalyptic (were you expecting anything different than that?), setting the stage for the obscure Hunger, with its traditional Black Metal riffs and drums at the speed of light creating that characteristic somber and chaotic atmosphere found in extreme music, intensified by the excellent demonic vocals by singer Schwarz. In other words, it’s perfect for diehard black metallers searching for new bands but with an old school approach. Following that havoc, we have Godless, slightly heavier than the previous track due to its awesome disturbing riffs, and especially due to the insane drumming by Samuli.
The last original composition by Endzeit is the amazing song Life?, where a dark choir in the background “beautifully” complements the intense tremolo picking riffs, creating an even more frightening atmosphere. Besides, I guess I don’t need to say how pessimistic and acid the lyrics are, right? Anyway, an awesome thing about Endzeit is that they manage to play the most deranged type of extreme music you can imagine, but it’s so professional and melodic you actually feel good listening to it. That’s corroborated by their sick cover version of The Dawn No More Rises, originally recorded by Swedish Black Metal icons Dark Funeral in their classic debut album The Secrets of the Black Arts (1996). I personally find this track an awesome “bonus” Endzeit offer us in this EP, very honest to the original but with the band’s own modern and diabolic touch to make it unique.
In my humble opinion, if Enzeit release a full-length album as good as Years Of Hunger EP, available at their official BandCamp page, the “map” of Black Metal might suffer a few changes in a near future, even moving its “capital” to the city of Lahti. Years Of Hunger will surely satisfy your current hunger for high-quality old school Black Metal and, of course, leave you eager for more of Endzeit’s apocalyptic brutality directly from ice cold Finland.
Best moments of the album:Hunger and Life? are truly kick-ass songs.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2014 Independent
Track listing 1. Inception 1:08
2. Hunger 4:58
3. Godless 5:29
4. Life? 6:42
5. The Dawn No More Rises (Dark Funeral cover) 3:52
Band members Schwarz – guitars, vocals
Polaris – guitars
Pyry – bass
Samuli – drums
These Italian guys bring you some awesome Doom and Stoner Metal with a unique goth vibe. They’re the Witches of Doom, yeah!
There were so many brilliant Heavy Metal and Rock N’ Roll bands from the 80’s and part of the 90’s with a strong goth vibe it’s hard to name just a few, like for example The Cult, Paradise Lost and Sisters of Mercy. However, very few bands playing that type of music were created (and survived) in the past decade or so, which unfortunately ended up dragging such a rich genre down to the underground of music. Let’s say that this little “problem” is almost over with the blessed birth of Italian Goth-Stoner-Doom Metal band Witches Of Doom and their outstanding debut album Obey, released a couple of months ago.
Although they’re not reinventing goth, doom or anything else, the way this Rome-based band blends all the elements from those music genres, also adding hints of 70’s Hard Rock and elements of more contemporary heavy music, is beyond amazing. In other words, you’ll be able to easily identify the influence of bands such as Moonspell and Depeche Mode in their music, but it’s far from being just a “cover” band. Witches Of Doom have their own musicality, a modern and personalized goth heavy rock that will please all fans of good occult music.
The Betrayal begins with a Breaking Bad-ish intro before turning into a thrilling mix of Doom Metal and Southern Rock, with highlights to the great vocal performance by Danilo “Groova” Piludu. The last part of the song sounds a lot like American Sludge Metal supergroup Down, especially its raw riffs and soulful solo. Following that excellent beginning, we have Witches of Doom, a much heavier version of that goth music from the 80’s played by Sisters of Mercy and an excellent “business card” from the band (“We are the Witches of Doom, yeah!”), and To the Bone, a song that could be played in any radio station in the world: it’s 100% catchy with a really cool atmosphere. Besides, it’s easy to see how much guitarist Federico “Fed” Venditti loves 80’s rock music based on his guitar lines.
The next track, Needless Needle, is another interesting song full of guitar effects the likes of Paradise Lost and a nice old-fashioned keyboard solo at the end, but its main strength is how the band supports the chorus with their instruments, making it exciting and unique; while the piano ballad Crown of Thorns focus on a more melancholic feeling, especially its lyrics, getting heavier halfway through it.
The second half of the album starts with the awesome distorted guitar and bass lines of Dance of the Dead Flies, which can be considered the first of the two songs that sound like a tribute to the one and only Type O Negative. It’s Doom and Stoner Metal to the maximum heaviness, with kudos to singer Groova for his badass performance on vocals one more time. The second and most Type O Negative-ish song of the album is entitled Rotten to the Core: this is one of those songs tailored to be played during a strip-tease at the most underground Rock N’ Roll strip club in the world, something like From Dusk Till Dawn (and I can even imagine Salma Hayek, or I should say Santanico Pandemonium, doing her sexy dance). In addition, once again the guitar solo enhances the overall energy of the song.
Last but not least, we have It’s My Heart (Where I Feel the Cold), a heavier and a lot better ballad than “Crown of Thorns” with nice piano notes by Graziano “Eric” Corrado and some really dark low riffs, giving it an intense goth vibe; and the title-track Obey, with its tribal intro, powerful keyboards, poetic lyrics (“I was waiting for you in the sky”), and a mesmerizing rhythm. It even has some interesting sitar notes to boost its delicious eerie atmosphere. And just for your information, this song doesn’t actually have 14 minutes: it ends at around minute 8 or 9, “returning” at minute 12 as some kind of “hidden track” that contains only some weird distorted noises.
In summary, Witches Of Doom’s Obey, available at their Big Cartel page, on iTunes and other different places, brings back to you directly from Italy that awesome 80’s goth sonority, offering you everything you loved so much in that era but without sounding obsolete at all. Quite the contrary, those guys are looking to the future of music, supported by their technique, their influences and, more important than that, a lot of feeling and passion for Rock N’ Roll.
Best moments of the album:The Betrayal, Dance of the Dead Flies and Rotten to the Core.
Worst moments of the album:Crown of Thorns.
Released in 2014 Sliptrick Records
Track listing 1. The Betrayal 3:49
2. Witches of Doom 3:54
3. To the Bone 3:49
4. Needless Needle 5:01
5. Crown of Thorns 5:25
6. Dance of the Dead Flies 5:06
7. Rotten to the Core 4:10
8. It’s My Heart (Where I Feel the Cold) 4:17
9. Obey 14:45
Band members Danilo “Groova” Piludu – vocals
Federico “Fed” Venditti – guitar
Jacopo Cartelli – bass
Graziano “Eric” Corrado – keyboards
Andrea “Budi” Budicin – drums
Fans of Melodic Death Metal bands such as Amon Amarth, Children Of Bodom and Wintersun, among many others, will surely enjoy this fresh new EP named The Abundance of a Sickened Mind, by Finnish Modern / Melodic Death Metal band Prayed and Betrayed. It’s a pretty short EP, with only 12 minutes of music spread in three unique tracks, but it’s a very good sample of what those guys from Finland can generate when armed with their instruments.
Finally, we have the title-track The Abundance of a Sickened Mind, which is even more melodic than the other songs, sounding a lot like some of the more contemporary songs by Arch Enemy (I can even visualize this song in one of their most recent albums). It’s heavier atmosphere contributes to making it the darkest of all three songs, and I guess I don’t need to say how “lovely” the lyrics are.
