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Album Review – Gaerea / Gaerea EP (2016)

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This five-piece faceless and nameless horde from Italy will blast your ears and minds with the darkened, dissonant and furious extreme music flowing from their debut self-titled album.

Rating5

front_coverPlaying darkened, dissonant and furious Black Metal without displaying any hints of mercy for mankind in the demonic 27 minutes of their self-titled debut EP Gaerea, Italian Black Metal quintet Gaerea will please fans of controversial groups such as Mgła, Secrets Of The Moon, Celeste and Behemoth, among others, bringing an infinite amount of obscurity and consternation to our ears and souls. Hailing from the cities of Rome and Lazio, this five-piece faceless and nameless act is one of the biggest promises in the Italian underground scene, and after listening to this professional and multi-layered album I’m sure the beautiful name of this phantasmagoric horde will stick inside your mind forever.

“Let’s make one thing clear. We need to stress the fact that our era is lost in a huge void of numbness. We are here to bring and present you what your system could not solve by itself. We’ll cover the daylight with ashes and smash the massive skull that’s blocking your brain and will to evolve. We’re Gaerea.” Those interesting words spilled by the band itself are precise in describing their musicality, a dense mix of different extreme styles such as Blackened Death Metal and Funeral Doom, which obviously leads to tenebrous lyrics and a total lack of happiness or hope in each one of the five tracks of the album.

An ominous intro with eerie background noises grows until guitars and deep guttural vocals join the musicality in Santificato, a demonic display of Black and Doom Metal that sounds disturbing from start to finish, setting the tone for the next tune, titled Final Call. Boisterous bass and guitar sounds open the gates to the underworld in this darkened chant blending Atmospheric Black Metal with elements from Funeral Doom and traditional Doom Metal, with its lyrics dealing with our personal struggles and all issues our society faces in this rotting world (“Why we all fight if the end is the same? / Six feet under is deep enough to make us equal like an unborn child / Black or white we want to be someone / We are all made of choices so why do we choose the wrong one? / War is not the answer to stop this carnage / So stand up and face it”).

img_0429Crisp guitar lines ignite the blackened tune Pray To Your False God, where drums come crushing like a steamroller. Moreover, desperate growls and an obscure vibe are the main ingredients in the most menacing of all songs, with its second half getting more sluggish with Black and Doom Metal flawlessly merging into one forbidding organism; followed by the sinister Through Time, a song fans of Behemoth and Triptykon will enjoy for sure due to its flammable Black Metal guitar riffs, anguished screams and a rhythmic and fierce drumming. And singing about death (“You scream for silence / You yell for pain / You just want to be quiet / On this pleasant dream / It burns you must feel / Your flesh going to ashes”), Void Of Numbness is Blackened Death Metal at its finest with a great performance by all band members, closing the EP in a more-than-fantastic and somber way. Furthermore, its drums sound amazingly powerful and heavy, making a precise duo with the satanic gnarls blasted by the band’s phantom vocalist.

Gaerea can be found (but not unmasked) at their official Facebook page, with their devilish EP being available for purchase at their BandCamp page and at the Everlasting Spew Records’ BandCamp page or webstore, but if you want to put your perverse hands on an awesome bundle containing the album and an exclusive, stylish T-shirt, simply visit the Everlasting Spew Records’ webstore for that very special offer. In short, Gaenea might be faceless and nameless, but they’re undoubtedly a solid evil identity that will reach the darkest depths of your mind with their unrelenting music.

Best moments of the album: Pray To Your False God and Void Of Numbness.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2016 Everlasting Spew Records

Track listing
1. Santificato 3:32
2. Final Call 6:25
3. Pray To Your False God 5:50
4. Through Time 6:31
5. Void Of Numbness 5:09

Band members
*Information not available*

Album Review – Gespenst / Forfald (2016)

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Four lengthy, atmospheric and lugubrious tracks not recommended for the lighthearted, thoroughly crafted by a brand new Danish Black Metal act that will mercilessly disturb your peace of mind.

Rating5

gespenst-forfald-cover-artHailing from Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark located around 190 kilometers northwest of the capital Copenhagen, Black Metal act Gespenst (translated to English as “phantom”) is a fresh and uproarious new project featuring former members of Glorior Belli, Woebegone Obscured and Horned Almighty, among other bands, who together bring forth an atmospheric and ominous fusion of Scandinavian Black Metal with Funeral Doom, adding touches of Dark Ambient to their already eccentric extreme music. And the result of that devilish amalgamation, their debut full-length album entitled Forfald, will definitely disturb your peace of mind.

Forfald is the Danish word for “decay”, and that’s quite the sensation you’ll feel while listening to the album’s four lengthy and disturbing tracks. Listening to Forfald is like witnessing the ruin of mankind, descending into an abyss of anguish and darkness to the sound of the lugubrious music engendered by Gespenst. In its almost 40 minutes of duration, Forfald doesn’t provide any single second of tranquility or happiness, always extracting the deepest fears and most obscure thoughts from the listener. Another important piece of the music by Gespenst is the fact that some of their songs are entirely sung in Danish, a bold move that adds an extra layer of mystery and rawness to their music, enhancing the experience of listening to such somber album.

The blackened guitar lines by guitarist and keyboardist Genfærd kick off the demonic hymn Sorgens Taage, which would translate as “sorrow fog” in English, bursting agony and hatred while lead singer and bassist Galskab fires his devilish growls, increasing the obscurity of such an atmospheric and epic composition. This 9-minute aria brings forward somber Atmospheric Black Metal with hints of Funeral Doom and a sensational darkened vibe, with all the changes in rhythm, ferocity and melody adding an extra taste to it, with the doomed ending led by the sluggish beats by guest drummer Andreas Joen piercing your heart mercilessly. Even slower and more tenebrous, Revelation of Maggots offers the listener old school disquieting Funeral Doom, with highlights to the disturbing lyrics grasped by Galskab (“A sea of worms, in crawling pace / All over me, consumes my face / But I still see, without my eyes / As maggots feast, and hatch to flies”). Furthermore, Genfærd makes sure his guitar emanates grief and harasses the listener’s mind, and despite a few breaks a melancholic rhythm is maintained throughout this damned creation by Gespenst, with yet again a sepulchral ending, this time enhanced by a somber narration and anguished screams in the background.

gespenst-photoMin Sjæl Raadner (Danish for “my rotten soul” or “my soul rots”), the shortest of all tracks, presents an atmospheric and sinister beginning before the band attacks us with their dynamic blend of Black and Doom Metal, where the guitar riffs once again sound dark and harmonious, consequently dragging us to the Stygian world of Gespenst. Put differently, this is a song that can easily become a funeral hymn for lovers of extreme music. And in Life Drained to the Black Abyss we’re treated to 12 minutes of sheer darkness, with a horror movie-inspired intro progressively growing into beautiful Funeral Doom with the beats by Andreas getting sharper than before, feeling like a storm is about to begin in the background while Galskab spews the song’s lyrics about the derangement of the human mind (“My eyes have been eternally fixed / At the spectrum of darkness / A blackened stream of despair / It seems I have always been here”). In addition, when the musicality gets heavier, leaning towards classic Black Metal, it’s time for Genfærd to take the lead and guide the band’s demonic performance, haunting our perverted souls until the song’s obscure conclusion.

In summary, this is another of those albums not recommended for the average listener due to its disturbing level of agony and pain, but if you love that extremely dark side of music I can guarantee Forfald has a lot to offer you. You can take a listen at the entire album HERE, and go check Gespenst’s Facebook page for more details on the band’s current and future plans. And if you want to purchase Forfald, you can do so by visiting the band’s BandCamp page, the Hellthrasher Productions’ webstore and BandCamp page, or the Duplicate Records’ webstore and BandCamp page. This Danish Black Metal group has all it takes to take the underworld of extreme music by storm, with Forfald representing exactly what they are capable of with their instruments in their hands and a lot of darkness in their hearts.

Best moments of the album: Min Sjæl Raadner.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2016 Hellthrasher Productions / Duplicate Records

Track listing
1. Sorgens Taage 9:04
2. Revelation of Maggots 10:54
3. Min Sjæl Raadner 7:17
4. Life Drained to the Black Abyss 12:14

Band members
Galskab – vocals, bass
Genfærd – guitar, synths

Guest musician
Andreas Joen – drums 

Live musicians
Christian Søgaard – guitar
Andreas Tagmose – bass
Mads Mortensen – drums

Album Review – These Winds Are Not Hope / Yesterday’s Ghosts MCD (2016)

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The five stages of grief, as proposed by the Kübler-Ross model, converted into five dark and emotive compositions by a promising Melodic Post-Metal project from Macedonia.

Rating5

TWANH_Yesterdays GhostsFormed in 2006 in the city of Kumanovo, Macedonia as a studio project by multi-instrumentalist Boban Despotovski (guitarist for Macedonian Heavy/Power Metal band Timesand) together with bassist Miroslav Denkovski (Holocaust, Timesand) and Canadian singer Marc Durkee (Lead Mule, Rain Over St. Ambrose, The Chronicles of Israfel), Melodic Post-Metal band These Winds Are Not Hope is an excellent alternative for fans of mid-tempo heavy music with Melodic Doom and Gothic Metal elements. Forget about those high-pitched screams and drums at the speed of light from other types of heavy music, as the atmospheric music by These Winds Are Not Hope is meant to touch your heart and make you feel more aware of your deepest emotions.

As their first endeavor to invite all headbangers in the world to get in touch with their soulful music, These Winds Are Not Hope have recently released their debut MCD entitled Yesterday’s Ghosts, a five-track concept album about the Kübler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief (a series of emotions experienced by survivors of an intimate’s death). Featuring a cinereous artwork by VeronikaT Photography (Czech Republic) and having each one of its songs representing one of the five stages of grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance), Yesterday’s Ghosts presents a smooth pace and a strong and enfolding ambiance in its entirety, helping the listener to cope with the indescribable pain caused by the loss of a loved one.

In the first track of the MCD, titled Desolate Chambers, slow and steady beats commonly found in Funeral Doom are nicely complemented by the melancholic vocals by Marc, while at the same time Boban delivers traditional Doom Metal lines through his guitar, building up the perfect doomed atmosphere for the concept proposed by the band. And hopelessness keeps permeating the air in Yesterday’s Ghosts, a very melodic blend of old school Doom Metal and more modern Gothic Metal, where the mourning guitar riffs by Boban and the low-tuned bass by Miroslav blacken the musicality even more, with its last part getting heavier and more complex.

TWANHAlthough the pensive and sluggish tune The Endless Disconnect showcases lighter-than-usual vocals by Marc, they end up being extremely heavy in regards to words and emotions, enhanced by the yet again melodious guitar lines by Boban; whereas pure melancholy sets the tone in Beyond Repair, the slowest and most sorrowful of all five tracks. Not only Marc has another amazing performance on vocals, but drums sound truly organic despite being programmed, harmonizing the musicality in an effective way. And Boban and Miroslav unite their strings to ignite the fifth stage of grief, which comes in the form of The Death of Hope, a feast of doomed and Gothic soundings with some folk elements added to it to keep the music fresh and vibrant until its beautiful but dark ending.

If you want to know more about These Winds Are Not Hope and how they managed to represent the five stages of grief through their Melodic Post-Metal music, you can go check their Facebook page and YouTube channel, and you can show your support to this interesting project by purchasing Yesterday’s Ghosts (available for a full listen HERE) at the band’s BandCamp page, on iTunes or on Amazon. And on one final side note, every physical copy of Yesterday’s Ghosts includes a razor blade, a symbolic representation of the music by These Winds Are Not Hope and a unique add-on I don’t recall seeing in any combo or special edition released by any renowned band from any type of heavy music lately. Put differently, a peculiar gift from the band to remind you how sharp and cutting the loss of a loved one can be.

Best moments of the album: Yesterday’s Ghosts.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2016 Kran Records/Sepulchral Silence Records

Track listing
1. Desolate Chambers 5:56
2. Yesterday’s Ghosts 5:45
3. The Endless Disconnect 4:37
4. Beyond Repair 4:51
5. The Death of Hope 4:37

Band members
Marc Durkee – vocals
Boban Despotovski – guitars, keyboards, drum programming
Miroslav Denkovski – bass

Album Review – Aethyr / Corpus (2015)

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A “lecture” in Occultism crafted by a very competent band from Russia that will satisfy your craving for freakish heavy music.

Rating4

AETHYR - Corpus cover artAethyr, a reference for the fifth element (or spirit) in various forms of Metaphysics and Occultism, is already a magnificent name for any heavy music band simply due to its meaning and pronunciation. However, it gets even more suitable when the band is capable of transferring all those mystical principles to their music, which is the case with Russian Doom Metal band Aethyr and their brand new album, the dense and ominous Corpus.

On their first full-length since their 2010 album Messio, this talented quartet from Moscow goes beyond the boundaries of darkness, with exceptional doses of heaviness loaded with a spine-chilling ambience not recommended for the faint-hearted. Just take a look at the album art, designed by Rotten Fantom, and you can have a very good idea of the level of despair Aethyr offer us all in this excellent release.

The obscure sonority found in the opening track, Nihil Grail, with its slow and somber riffs and drums, epitomizes the dark side of Doom Metal. In addition, the demonic vocals by Mr. D give this “polished wickedness” a touch of Black Metal, with its last part being at the same time mesmerizing and disturbing. I’m pretty sure Tom G. Warrior, the mastermind behind Triptykon, would love this song. Following this amazing tune, it’s impossible not to bang your head to the heavy riffs found in Sanctus Satanicus: whatever Mr. D is singing he sounds possessed by an evil entity, and when the band speeds up the music it becomes almost pure raw Black Metal so harsh it sounds.

AETHYR band photoThe epic 10-minute eerie track ATU showcases deeper guttural vocals maximized by cryptic riffs in the background, with a melancholic break at around four minutes. There’s a lot of progressiveness, tempo changes and mysterious passages skillfully played by all band members which are definitely worth our attention. Then we have the awesome CVLT, a song that’s Doom Metal at its finest, with sludgy riffs, strong beats and, more important than that, a depressive feeling that’s essential for good dark music.

But the maleficent aura created by Aethyr gets even stronger in The Gnostic Mass, which is not exactly a song but just weird sounds from what seems to be a black mass; and then in the title-track CORPUS, another 10-minute badass song that kind of continues with the weirdness from the previous track for over a minute, before the low-tuned guitars by Mr. D and Mr. W evoke all the hopelessness and sorrow of Funeral Doom while drummer Mr. S and bassist Mr. Y dictate the song’s wonderfully wretched rhythm. You can get a sense of how lugubrious this track is just by the fact that there are very few vocals lines in it, only after six minutes of music and not for too long. Finally, in order to darken your mind and your heart even more, Aethyr offer us lots of traditional Doom Metal elements in Templum, where the band gets “infuriated” halfway through it, generating chaos and havoc to close the album on a high note.

Take a shot at the album trailer HERE and at the band’s official BandCamp page for a taste of Aethyr’s music, and of course visit their Facebook page for more details about the release of Corpus and the band’s upcoming concerts. More than just a Doom Metal album, Corpus is a “lecture” in Occultism that will satisfy your thirst for creepy and deranged heavy music, and you will get addicted to it without a shadow of a doubt.

Best moments of the album: Nihil Grail, CVLT and CORPUS.

Worst moments of the album: The Gnostic Mass, but only because it’s not an actual song.

Released in 2015 Cimmerian Shade Recordings

Track listing
1. Nihil Grail 7:03
2. Sanctus Satanicus 4:28
3. ATU 10:21
4. CVLT 5:23
5. The Gnostic Mass 6:11
6. CORPUS 10:05
7. Templum 6:29

Band members
Mr. D (Denis Dubovik) – vocals, lead guitar
Mr. W (Vladimir Snegotsky) – rhythm guitar
Mr. Y (George Meshkov) – bass
Mr. S (Anton Sidorov) – drums