Let the Progressive Power and Thrash Metal by this Denmark-based unity mesmerize you during the 63 minutes of music found in the second part of their horror novel-inspired concept album.
Hvidovre, Denmark’s own Progressive Power/Thrash Metal unity Manticora is back in action in 2020 with their ninth full-length opus, entitled To Live to Kill to Live, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed To Kill to Live to Kill, released in 2018. This is the second part of a grandiose concept based on their 334-page horror novel (which by the way can be purchased HERE), mixed by Jacob Hansen (Primal Fear, U.D.O., Destruction) and featuring guest musicians form bands like Allegiance Reign, Defacing God and Withering Surface, all embraced by a comic book-inspired artwork by Danish artist David Troest. To Live to Kill to Live offers the listener 63 minutes of undisputed metal music, showcasing not only all the dexterity by frontman Lars F. Larsen, gutarists Kristian Larsen and Stefan Johansson, bassist Kasper Gram and drummer Lawrence Dinamarca, but also their creativity and precision in uniting Heavy Metal with a thrilling storytelling. “It all started out as a crazy and almost impossible idea… A book and two albums… I mean… come on? Today I’m so proud of the final result and I still can’t understand that we actually did it,” commented Kristian about the band’s newborn spawn, inviting us all to join them in this breathtaking adventure in the “Land of the Rising Sun”.
A cinematic intro ignites the 14-minute aria entitled Katana – The Moths and the Dragonflies/Katana – Mud, quickly exploding into modern and electrifying Heavy Metal where Lawrence is absolutely bestial on drums, sounding like a hybrid between the music by Trivium and Stratovarius, and with Kristian and Stefan delivering sheer stamina from their riffs and solos. Furthermore, the storyline progresses flawlessly together with the massive wall of sounds and all breaks and variations blasted by Manticora, building an instant connection with the Japanese-inspired bridge To Nanjing, bringing peace to our minds and soothing our souls before those Danish metallers explode our senses with the imposing The Farmer’s Tale, Pt. 3 – Eaten by the Beasts, where Kasper and Lawrence bring tons of groove and intricacy to the music while Lars keeps declaiming the song’s dark words in great fashion, not to mention the guitar duo’s wicked solos. Then it’s time for a Groove and Heavy Metal feast entitled Slaughter in the Desert Room, where both guitars and Kasper’s bass jabs generate a rumbling atmosphere perfect for Lars to fire more of his trademark vocals. In other words, this amazing song couldn’t have sounded bolder nor more epic than what it already is.
Following such insane composition, phantasmagorical keys give an extra touch of evil and darkness to Through the Eyes of the Killer – Filing Teeth, a true Metal Opera where Kristian and Stefan take the lead with their sinister guitars while Lawrence blasts sluggish, Doom Metal-inspired beats; followed by Katana – Death of the Meaning of Life, leaning towards classic Scandinavian Melodic Death and Power Metal and at the same time sounding as thunderous as it can be, with Lars giving a lesson in passion and feeling while his bandmates don’t stop crushing their instruments not even for a single second for our total delectation. And Tasered/Ice Cage is another explosion of modern-day Melodic Death Metal with both Kristian and Stefan kicking some serious ass with their strident, piercing guitar lines, always in absolute sync with Lawrence’s intricate beats.
Then serene, acoustic guitars intertwined with crisp riffs in a Dream Theater-ish style ignite the pleasant Goodbye Tina, keeping the album at a high level of adrenaline and with tons of harmony flowing from Lars’ vocal lines, before Manticora come ripping once again with Tasered/Removal, a heavy and rumbling tune where Kasper does a superb job with his metallic bass, being perfect for cracking your neck headbanging to their solid fusion of Groove and Power Metal; whereas the atmospheric instrumental bridge Stalin Strikes will expand your senses and gently flow into a Japanese-spoken narrative titled Ten Thousand Cold Nights, advancing the storyline into the closing tune Katana – Beheaded, sounding and feeling imposing and vibrant form the very first second, therefore putting a climatic end to the album with all band members being on fire, in special the band’s unstoppable guitar duo and the talented Lawrence, while Lars continues to give life to the story through his soaring vocals.
If you haven’t got in touch with the music by Manticora yet, go check what those Danish metallers are up to on Facebook and on Instagram, listen to more of their music (including the first part of the story released in 2018) on Spotify, and grab a copy of To Live to Kill to Live from their own BandCamp page, from the Sound Pollution webstore, from the ViciSolum Productions’ BandCamp page, from Apple Music or from Amazon. In summary, we must all admit Manticore have definitely outdone themselves in their new album, sounding tighter and even more melodic and incendiary than in their previous album, and concluding their epic Japanese saga on a high and utterly metallic note. After setting the bar so high with To Live to Kill to Live, what’s next for Manticora? Well, that’s something only time will tell, but until then we have a lot of high-end metal music to enjoy thanks to one of the best bands hailing from the Danish scene.
Best moments of the album: Katana – The Moths and the Dragonflies/Katana – Mud, Slaughter in the Desert Room and Katana – Death of the Meaning of Life.
Worst moments of the album:Goodbye Tina.
Released in 2020 ViciSolum Productions
Track listing 1. Katana – The Moths and the Dragonflies/Katana – Mud 14:40
2. To Nanjing 1:57
3. The Farmer’s Tale, Pt. 3 – Eaten by the Beasts 4:23
4. Slaughter in the Desert Room 6:11
5. Through the Eyes of the Killer – Filing Teeth 4:59
6. Katana – Death of the Meaning of Life 5:25
7. Tasered/Ice Cage 5:45
8. Goodbye Tina 5:54
9. Tasered/Removal 3:16
10. Stalin Strikes 2:36
11. Ten Thousand Cold Nights 0:51
12. Katana – Beheaded 7:26
Band members Lars F. Larsen – vocals
Kristian Larsen – guitars
Stefan Johansson – guitars
Kasper Gram – bass
Lawrence Dinamarca – drums
A violent and primeval feast of Death and Thrash Metal by one of the most promising names of the Brazilian Northeastern metal scene.
Transitioning between the realms of Death and Thrash Metal just like several Brazilian bands from the 2000’s, Recife, Pernambuco-based act Pandemmy have recently released their third full-length album, titled Subversive Need, recommended for fans of the aggressive and primeval sound blasted by renowned bands like Kreator, Sepultura, Carcass and Hypocrisy. Produced by the band’s own vocalist and guitarist Guilherme Silva and guitarist Pedro Valença, and featuring a classic artwork by Deafbird Design Lab, Subversive Need showcases an evolution in the sound of Pandemmy since their inception in 2009, offering the listener the same level of violence and heaviness while exhibiting a much more polished and professional overall production when compared to the previous efforts by Guilherme and Pedro together with their bandmates Marcelo Santa Fé on bass and Vitor Alves on drums, therefore positioning Pandemmy as one of the most promising names of the Brazilian Northeastern metal scene.
Raw and putrid from the very first second, the opening track Deforestation is an old school Death Metal tune led by the deep guttural roars by Guilherme, while Vitor alternates between doomed and visceral beats, setting the stage for the vicious Neohate and its in-your-face lyrics (“New legions ignore words of insanity / Blind hordes of prejudice and hypocrisy / Christians are enemies of their own god / Rotten rich and stupid elite who hates the poor / Your vote repeats the past / Your choice are lies that hurt / Neohate, old hate! / Generations alienate / Neohate, old hate! / We will fight, you shall fall”) while the band delivers sheer violence from their sonic weapons, with Guilherme and Pedro being on fire with their dirty Thrash Metal riffage. And they keep smashing our heads with their old school sonority in Free Mumia (A Panther In The Cage), where Guilherme, Pedro and guest Danilo Coimbra bring forth berserk riffs and solos while Vitor doesn’t stop crushing his drums in a solid fusion of Death and Thrash Metal.
Then eerie guitars are boosted by the rumbling bass by Marcelo in the heavy-as-hell Webchaos, a great option for slamming into the circle pit while the band generates a menacing atmosphere, also featuring the gruesome roars by guest Lohy Fabiano, whereas investing in a more frantic, thrashing sound the quartet pulverizes our ears in Xenophobia, showcasing an excellent job done by both guitarists while at the same time reminding me of some of the creations by bands like Slayer, Testament and Exodus. After such demented song, a somber intro morphs into the melodic, mid-tempo I Choose My Blood, where the guitars by Guilherme and Pedro sound truly lancinating, always supported by Marcelo and his menacing bass punches, and getting closer to the Melodic Death Metal played by Arch Enemy but with the band’s own Brazilian twist.
Terror Paranoia offers our avid ears another blast of their straightforward Death and Thrash Metal, with Vitor taking the lead with his vicious beats while Guilherme’s deep roars are nicely supported by his bandmates’ classic backing vocals. On the other hand, I’m not sure what their intention was in The Illusion Of Suffering, as they undoubtedly failed in their experiment to mix harsh vocals with acoustic passages, sounding like a big mess in the end despite the fact their guitar lines are quite decent. Fortunately for all of us, Pandemmy get back to their boisterous mode in Charlottesville, bringing forward a demented sonority showcasing venomous growls, slashing riffs and pounding beats, clearly inspired by the horrible neo-Nazi movement that sadly put the city in the worldwide map of racism, with a final sinister and progressive jamming putting an end to such meaningful composition.
You can enjoy this feast of Thrash and Death Metal made in Brazil in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify, but of course in order to show your true support to the underground scene you can purchase Subversive Need from Pandemmy’s own BandCamp page, from Apple Music or from Amazon, and also follow the band on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube. Guilherme, Pedro, Marcelo and Vitor still have a long road ahead of them to reach stardom in the world of heavy music, but we must admit they’re working hard and developing their own sound with each one of their releases, with Subversive Need giving us all a very good idea of what to expect from those Brazilian metallers from now on.
Best moments of the album: Free Mumia (A Panther In The Cage), Webchaos and I Choose My Blood.
Worst moments of the album:The Illusion Of Suffering.
Released in 2020 Independent
Track listing 1. Deforestation 2:19
2. Neohate 4:00
3. Free Mumia (A Panther In The Cage) 3:15
4. Webchaos 4:16
5. Xenophobia 5:17
6. I Choose My Blood 4:11
7. Terror Paranoia 3:20
8. The Illusion Of Suffering 1:40
9. Charlottesville 7:19
Band members Guilherme Silva – vocals, guitars
Pedro Valença – guitars
Marcelo Santa Fé – bass
Vitor Alves – drums
Guest musicians Danilo Coimbra – guitars on “Free Mumia (A Panther In The Cage)”
Lohy Fabiano – vocals on “Webchaos”
Raise your swords and enjoy this epic album of Melodic Death Metal that will make you want to bang your head while beating the living shit out of magical creatures.
Hailing from Ghorusalem (it’s actually Pittsburgh, a city in western Pennsylvania, in the United States, but please bear with us), the warriors of Dethlehem have traveled through time and space to fight against dragons, wizards, warlocks, leviathans, shape-shifters and a shit ton of other things that needed to die since their inception in 2008. Despite the gimmick, it would be a big mistake to think that Dethlehem’s sound is no more than a witless joke. Truth be told, once you enter their realm you’ll face some good and epic Melodic Death Metal, as the fourth full-length opus from this four-piece army formed by Brutalitus the BloodBeard on vocals, Paladin Bovice on the guitars, Ranger Grimshaw Longfellow on bass and Overlord Brom on drums, entitled Maelstrom of the Emerald Dragon, harnesses the spirit of old whilst drawing from the power of modern Death Metal, creating a multi-layered sound that becomes even more compelling if you go full Dungeons & Dragons with the “Story Mode” edition of the album. Featuring an original artwork by American artist Joe Mruk (Red Buffalo Illustration), Maelstrom of the Emerald Dragon presents a band that has truly stepped up their game, sounding tighter and more technical than ever, showcasing a more progressive take on Death Metal and covering a lot of ground on an album that will make you want to bang your head while beating the living shit out of magical creatures.
And the story begins with Prelude – As Fate Would Have It, where acoustic guitars permeate the air before all hell breaks loose in A Tale That Time Forgot, with all band members blasting ass-kicking Melodic Death Metal sounds led by the raspy roars by Brutalitus, also bringing forward some good breaks and variations, a considerable amount of progressiveness and endless epicness. Although I understand Interlude I – Cloud Megalopolis is the explanation to the beginning of the adventure, it’s way too lengthy for people like me who prefer music rather than talking, sounding like one of those frustrated Manowar interludes from their latest albums; however, back to what really matters, which is metal music, the quartet fires another berserk, groovy and heavy-as-hell tune titled Return to the Halls of Madness, where Overlord Brom does an amazing job pounding his drums with strength and fury accompanied by the scorching riffs by Paladin Bovice, and they keep smashing their instruments in Mind Flayer, where Paladin Bovice’s guitar lines walk hand in hand with the rumbling and groovy bass by Ranger Grimshaw Longfellow, also bringing an Iron Maiden-ish vibe to make things even more vibrant.
Interlude II – Task for the Bog Witch is another interlude to advance the storyline, shorter and more entertaining with a lot of special “characters”, setting the stage for Escape From Wolf Mountain, a lot heavier and also more metallic than its predecessors, with Brutalitus growling manically and, consequently, injecting more adrenaline to the story being told, while Overlord Brom fires classic, furious beats nonstop, followed by the also frantic Beware the Mimic, showcasing a flammable fusion of classic Death Metal with Epic and Melodic Death Metal where once again Paladin Bovice shreds his strings in great fashion, all spiced up by the song’s old school lyrics (“Terrorize / In the rivets and wood lives teeth and eyes / Biding time / Ready to strike and dissolve your insides / This quagmire in plain sight / The treasure it holds is…”). After another decent bridge titled Interlude III – A Ravenous Storm where the heroes interact with a couple of funny giants, it’s time for a brutal extravaganza titled On the Backs of Giants, with sheer epicness flowing from its lyrics (“We rode on the backs of giants through the snow / Making our way through fractured ice / This journey lumbers on”) while all band members craft another vibrant and dark ambience with their respective instruments.
Gelatinous Cube Labyrinth is perhaps the most modernized tune of the album, with its guitars and bass at the same time piercing your mind and punching you in the stomach, flirting with Progressive Death Metal while Paladin Bovice adds a touch of awesomeness to the overall result with his sick guitar solos, whereas Interlude IV – Welcome to Your Doom is obviously another interlude preparing the listener for the final chapter of the story, with our heroes facing a witch and a dragon in The Emerald Dragon, bringing to our avid ears over seven minutes of melodic passages, clean and harsh vocals, thunderous bass punches and crisp guitars, while Overlord Brom sounds absolutely mental on drums from start to finish, flowing smoothly until its epic conclusion and setting the tone for the outro Interlude V – Cyclical Past, putting an interesting conclusion to the album while making the heroes “aware” of “the listeners”, leaving us all eager for more of their fantasy stories. Well, as it’s mentioned during the outro, the story is “to be continued”, which means we’ll hear a lot more from those dauntless metal warriors in a not-so-distant future.
There are actually two versions of the album available, one with no theatrical interludes for those who just want the music, and the full experience presented in the form of the semi-cohesive story that intertwines with the musical tracks, as reviewed above. You can stream the simpler version with no interludes in full on Spotify or purchase it from the band’s own BandCamp page, from Apple Music or from Amazon, or you can prove yourself a true metalhead, grab your sword and shield, and buy the full Story Mode version of Maelstrom of the Emerald Dragon also from their BandCamp page. In addition, don’t forget to join Dethlehem in their quest for metal by following them on Facebook, on Instagram, and by subscribing to their YouTube channel, staying up to date with all things Dethlehem, knowing where their next battles (or live concerts, if you prefer) will happen, and getting useful tips on how to ride giants while fighting witches and dragons at the same time you listen to their crushing and modern extreme music.
Best moments of the album: A Tale That Time Forgot, Escape From Wolf Mountain and On the Backs of Giants.
Worst moments of the album:Interlude I – Cloud Megalopolis.
Released in 2020 Independent
Track listing 1. Prelude – As Fate Would Have It 1:53
2. A Tale That Time Forgot 6:00
3. Interlude I – Cloud Megalopolis 4:20
4. Return to the Halls of Madness 5:01
5. Mind Flayer 5:04
6. Interlude II – Task for the Bog Witch 1:53
7. Escape From Wolf Mountain 4:00
8. Beware the Mimic 5:52
9. Interlude III – A Ravenous Storm 1:56
10. On the Backs of Giants 4:54
11. Gelatinous Cube Labyrinth 5:06
12. Interlude IV – Welcome to Your Doom 3:39
13. The Emerald Dragon 7:36
14. Interlude V – Cyclical Past 1:36
Band members Brutalitus the BloodBeard – vocals
Paladin Bovice – guitars
Ranger Grimshaw Longfellow – bass
Overlord Brom – drums
Guest musicians Lord Bonecrush – narrator, boisterous witch, Overlord Brom, backing vocals
Dan Behrens – Magic Man Dan
Bridget Yeager – Veldras
Dan Gold – giant 1, giant 2
Leighann Calamera – valley girl witch
Doyle M. Daigle II – Nildorph
Jack – himself
Waging war on mankind, this all-female Melodic Death Metal unity from Serbia will pulverize your senses with their astonishing debut album.
If you’re a fan of female-fronted Melodic Death Metal and old school Death Metal bands the likes of Arch Enemy, The Agonist, Nervosa and Abnormality, you’ll undoubtedly have an absolute blast with Belgrade, Serbia-based all-female Melodic Death Metal unity Nemesis, who has recently released their debut full-length installment entitled The War Is On. Mixed, mastered and produced by Luka Matković at Citadela Sound Production, and featuring a modern artwork and a sharp design by Serbian artists Vladimir Milovanović and Branislav Crvenkovic, The War Is On offers us all a superb balance between sheer brutality and melodious passages, captivating our senses from start to finish and presenting all the ability and passion for heavy music by frontwoman Sanja Drča, guitarists Aleksandra Petrović and Tijana Milivojević, bassist Biljana Sovilj and drummer Selena Simić, therefore proving it might have taken a while for those unrelenting women to release their first album since their inception in 2013, but the final result is grandiose, vibrant and absolutely honest and fresh.
The quintet doesn’t waste a single second and begin their feast of extreme and melodic sounds in Wake Up, led by the razor-edge, heavy-as-hell riffs by Aleksandra and Tijana while Selena smashes her drum set with tons of rage and power, followed by Uprising, bringing forward thrashing lyrics growled by the talented she-wolf Sanja (“Do you see the fire that burns in our eyes / Give us the truth, stop feeding us with your lies / Time is for persecution / No more this mass confusion!”) supported by the Arch Enemy-inspired sounds form her bandmates in an awesome fusion of harmony and violence. And a dense and imposing ambience will put you to bang your head nonstop in Oppression, a Melodic Death Metal tune infused with the more visceral elements from Thrash and Death Metal with Sanja and Selena kicking some serious ass with their respective roars and thunderous beats, not to mention the beautiful groove brought forth by Biljana’s bass punches.
Once again showcasing the band’s unstoppable guitar duo firing their Michael Amott-inspired riffs and solos, the band brings forth Divine Retribution, with the additional vocals by guests Stefan Tomić and Milica Jovanov providing a phantasmagorical support to Sanja’s demonic screams, whereas in Living Dead People we’re treated to almost six minutes of ass-kicking Melodic Death Metal tailored for pulverizing our ears and minds with an insane amount of electricity and rebelliousness. Moreover, Biljana and Selena will shake the foundations of the earth with their rumbling bass and drums, making it impossible to stand still to such thrilling composition. And it’s time for more of their adrenaline-fueled metal music in the form of Savages, where Aleksandra and Tijana display all their skills and addiction to heavy music with their refined riffage, keeping the album at a humongous level of savagery for our vulgar delectation.
In Dead End we face grim, poetic lyrics darkly gnarled by Sanja (“I cannot hold it, I’ve had enough / Watching the world becoming rough / Headless beasts, stripped of the skin / New generation, new king!”), while Selena offers her heavy artillery on drums, being therefore perfect for cracking your neck headbanging, and less infernal and more melodious than the previous songs, Pandemonium has an obscure vibe that’s beautifully complemented by the stunning solos by Aleksandra, resulting in the epitome of modern-day Melodic Death Metal. Back to their trademark berserk mode, the girls pulverize everything and everyone with their endless groove, aggressiveness and dexterity in Born Worthless, with Selena dictating the pace with her vicious beats while the guitars sound truly venomous and piercing. And last but not least, the title-track The War Is On will fuel the listener with the utmost depiction of the band’s hellish musicality, sounding and feeling bold, dense and austere from start to finish, with Sanja providing our ears a lesson in female harsh growls.
This precious gem of contemporary extreme music made in Serbia can be streamed in its entirety on Spotify, but as usual you should obviously grab a copy of the album from the Grom Records website, from Amazon or from Discogs to show those skillful Serbian women your true respect and appreciation for their music. In addition, don’t forget to follow them on Facebook and on Instagram to keep up to date with all things Nemesis, including their tour dates, and to subscribe to their YouTube channel for more of their crushing music and apocalyptic videos. I honestly hope Nemesis can continue to pave their path of destruction with their Melodic Death Metal for the following years and even decades, going against all odds and crushing all the barriers and hassles they might find on their way due to the fact they’re a pure underground band. And if they succeed in their quest for metal, I’m sure we metalheads will all have some awesome reasons to smile and bang our heads to the sound of their sensational creations, just like what we can find in one of the best underground albums of the year, the breathtaking The War Is On.
Best moments of the album: Uprising, Oppression, Living Dead People and The War Is On.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2020 Grom Records
Track listing
1. Wake Up 3:07
2. Uprising 3:22
3. Oppression 3:28
4. Divine Retribution 3:55
5. Living Dead People 5:37
6. Savages 3:36
7. Dead End 3:51
8. Pandemonium 3:26
9. Born Worthless 3:52
10. The War Is On 4:06
Band members Sanja Drča – vocals
Aleksandra Petrović – lead guitar
Tijana Milivojević – rhythm guitar
Biljana Sovilj – bass
Selena Simić – drums
Guest musicians Stefan Tomić – additional vocals on “Divine Retribution”
Milica Jovanov – additional vocals on “Divine Retribution”
A beastly album of Symphonic Death and Black Metal from Australia that proves death can be comforting when enfolded by first-class extreme music.
What started in 2013 in Melbourne, Australia as a solo project by guitarist Andrew Shiells with the help from Chris Meyer (from Australian Black Metal act Aberration Nexus), who recorded some drums and synths for the project’s first demo tracks, has evolved to a much bolder and multi-layered beast in recent years, blasting a crushing hybrid of Symphonic Death and Black Metal with other extreme styles such as Melodic Death Metal and old school Black Metal. I’m talking about Mazikeen (based on the Hebrew word “mazzikim”, meaning “harmful spirits”), an infernal horde comprised of the aforementioned Andrew Shiells and his henchmen James Edmeades (Claret Ash) on vocals, Kris Marchant on the guitars, Aretstikapha (Plasmodium, Klavierkrieger) on piano and synths, and Marco Pitrruzzella (Six Feet Under, Sleep Terror) on drums, who are unleashing upon us their first full-length opus titled The Solace of Death, featuring eight original songs and four insane cover tracks throughout impressive 67 minutes of music, all embraced by the stylish and sinister artwork by Australian artist Jamie Ludbrooke.
An eerie, phantasmagorical intro evolves into a feast of symphonic and dark sounds in the opening track The Solace Of Death, where Marco is absolutely infernal with his blast beats while James delivers his Dani Filth/Shagrath-inspired roars and gnarls, supported by the imposing synths by Andrew and Aretstikapha, whereas in Apostate it’s time for ten minutes of Symphonic Black Metal infused with Doom and Melodic Death Metal nuances where the guitars by Kris and Andrew sound sharp and very harmonious just the way we like it in extreme music. Brutal and enthralling form start to finish, this great composition lives up to the legacy of bands like Emperor, Dimmu Borgir and Carpathian Forest, which can also be said about Vexation Through The Golden Sun, even more obscure, violent and epic than its predecessors, spearheaded by the insane drums by Marco while his bandmates make sure every empty space in the air is filled with darkness and evil, resulting in a lecture in modern-day Symphonic Black Metal full of breaks and variations, Stygian passages and even some serene, acoustic moments for our total delight. And featuring guest vocals by Josh Young (Astral Winter, Atra Vetosus), Mazikeen go full Scandinavian Black Metal in Fractricide, inspired by the trailblazers of the genre such as Mayhem and Emperor, blasting a demolishing sonority that will make your head tremble nonstop.
Josh returns with his wicked gnarls in the melancholic and somber Psychotic Reign, starting in a Gothic Metal-ish vibe while also presenting elements from Atmospheric Black Metal in its core essence. Moreover, I personally love the paradox created between Marco’s stone crushing beats and all background keys and symphonic elements, giving the whole song and extra touch of eccentricity, flowing into the cryptic and atmospheric instrumental bridge Harrowing Cessation, which also develops into a romantic instrumental ballad entitled MORS VINCIT OMNIA, or “death conquers all” from Latin, where the strength and depth of the piano notes take the lead and guide the music until its inevitable and grim ending. And in the last original song from the album, Cerulean Last Night, Mazikeen get back to a more ferocious and visceral mode, uniting the most piercing elements from old school Black Metal and contemporary Symphonic Black Metal spiced up by the visceral guest vocals by Ian McLean (The Maledict).
The last batch of songs in The Solace of Death is the band’s own tribute to their biggest idols and influences, starting with Mayhem’s Freezing Moon, originally released in the 1994 cult album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (check the original version HERE), with Mazikeen’s version featuring the vicious vocals by guest Ashahalasin (Inhuman Remnants, Somnium Nox) infernally complemented by the pulverizing drums by Marco, followed by Disection’s Night’s Blood, from the 1995 album Storm of the Light’s Bane, as bestial as the original song with Kris and Andrew delivering sheer electricity and rage through their scorching riffs. Then we have a cover for Dimmu Borgir’s Mourning Palace, from the 1997 album Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (you can listen to the original one HERE), where James does a fantastic job on vocals accompanied by the whimsical keys and synths by Andrew and Aretstikapha. And finally, Ashahalasin returns for their cover song for Darkthrone’s Transilvanian Hunger, from the 1994 album Transilvanian Hunger, as raw and malevolent as the original tune, with Marco once again taking the lead firing endless dementia and wrath from his blast beats.
You can enjoy this precious gem of Australian Black Metal in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify, and also grab your copy of the album from the Satanath Records’ BandCamp page, from the Iron, Blood & Death Corporation’s BandCamp page, from Apple Music, or click HERE for all options where you can buy or stream the album. Mazikeen can also be found on Facebook, where you can know more about the band, their tour dates, their music and plans for the future, proudly carrying the flag of Black Metal wherever they go. In a nutshell, Andrew and his horde from Mazikeen nailed it in The Solace of Death, showing us all that death can be indeed comforting, especially if enfolded by a good amount of first-class Black Metal like the sonic devastation blasted by such distinct band hailing from the always inspiring Australia.
Best moments of the album: Vexation Through The Golden Sun, Fractricide and Night’s Blood.
Worst moments of the album:Harrowing Cessation.
Released in 2020 Satanath Records/Iron, Blood & Death Corporation
Track listing 1. The Solace Of Death 6:57
2. Apostate 10:05
3. Vexation Through The Golden Sun 10:46
4. Fractricide 4:54
5. Psychotic Reign 7:00
6. Harrowing Cessation 2:30
7. MORS VINCIT OMNIA 2:59
8. Cerulean Last Night 7:34
9. Freezing Moon (Mayhem cover) 6:36
10. Night’s Blood (Dissection cover) 7:10
11. Mourning Palace (Dimmu Borgir cover) 5:36
12. Transilvanian Hunger (Darkthrone cover) 5:36
Band members James Edmeades – vocals
Kris Marchant – guitars
Andrew Shiells – guitars, synths
Aretstikapha – piano, synths
Marco Pitrruzzella – drums
Guest musicians Josh Young – vocals on “Fractricide” and “Psychotic Reign”
Ian McLean – vocals on “Cerulean Last Night”
Ashahalasin – vocals on “Freezing Moon” and “Transilvanian Hunger”
A modern, melodic and entertaining album of heavy music about positivity, about constant change and seeing life as it is in every level, directly from Finland into your heart and soul.
Mixing their trademark Melodic Death Metal with classic Death and Thrash Metal and symphonic influences in order to bring to the scene a more vibrant and modern sound, Kerava, Finland-based unity Re-Armed has been on a constant evolution since their inception in 2001, moving from what’s usually known as the Gothenburg sound to their current shape and form, culminating with the release of their brand new album Ignis Aeternum, the fourth full-length opus in their solid career. Produced and recorded at Studio UG and mixed at ShedStudios in Kerava, mastered at Audiamond in Niinikoski, Finland, and featuring a caustic and grim artwork by Brazilian artist Romulo Dias, Ignis Aeternum is about positivity, about constant change and seeing life as it is in every level. It is a trip, a breathtaking view about life’s diversity, and an ode to life, all embraced by the slashing metal music blasted by frontman Jouni Matilainen, guitarists Allan Välimaa and Oskari Niekka, bassist Juhana Heinonen and drummer Iiro Karjalainen with tons of precision, dexterity and feeling, just the way we like it in Melodic Death Metal.
It’s time to put the pedal to the metal together with the guys from Re-Armed in the epic and insurgent Dive Within, with Iiro sounding absolutely bestial on drums, providing his bandmates all they need to kick some serious ass with their respective sonic weapons, spiced up by a beautiful ending featuring a stanza taken from Eino Leino’s poem “Hymni Tulelle”. Then we’re treated to more of the melodic and electrifying sounds crafted by the quintet in Beyond the Horizon, sounding futuristic and extremely sharp while Allan and Oskari fire some Arch Enemy-inspired riffs accompanied by the whimsical keys by guest Sami Tiittanen; and the rumbling bass jabs by Juhana kick off the vibrant Melodic Death Metal extravaganza titled Ode to Life, featuring guest guitarist Euge Valovirta (CyHra, Godsplague), a song perfect for breaking your neck headbanging where their razor-edged guitars are nicely complemented by all epic background elements.
Gentle piano notes quickly explode into violent and atmospheric Melodic Metal in Eager to Collapse, with Iiro and Juhana bringing thunder and groove to the music while Jouni keeps vociferating rabidly, whereas Resistance is even darker and more epic than its predecessors, led by the vile riffage by Allan and Oskari while their bandmates add an extra touch of progressiveness, rage and heaviness to the overall result, inspiring us all to slam into the circle pit. Spiced up by futuristic background keys and tones, the band offers the thrilling The Hollow Lights, blending their trademark Melodic Death Metal with the most venomous elements from Death and Thrash Metal, flowing majestically until its climatic ending, while in Remain Unbounded the band’s guitar duo shreds their strings mercilessly until Iiro comes crushing with his Black Metal-inspired beats, keeping the song at a high level of violence and alternating between vicious, high-speed moments and more intricate, mid-tempo passages.
Get ready to bang your heads like there’s no tomorrow with Re-Armed in Words Left Unsaid, where the bass punches by Juhana will make your skull tremble while Jouni’s growls and roars sound as heavy as hell from start to finish. Following this vicious onrush of sounds the band brings forward Voyager, another solid composition showcasing all their talent and passion for Scandinavian metal, with Jouni and guest vocalist Micko Hell (Denigrate, Gloomy Grim) making a thrilling metallic duet on vocals while Iiro once again shines with his spot-on drumming. Lastly, Re-Armed conclude such great album of heavy music with another sample of their endless energy and firepower in the form of Built to Last, where Allan and Oskari are in absolute sync with Sami’s keys, therefore building the perfect setting for Jouni to thrive with his wicked gnarls until the song end’s in sheer melancholy.
In order to show your utmost support to those talented metallers from the land of ice and snow, simply follow them on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel and search for them on Spotify for more of their music, and above all that, purchase your favorite version of Ignis Aeternum from several locations such as the Black Lion Records’ BandCamp page and Big Cartel, from Record Shop X, from the EMP store, from IndieMerchstore or from Apple Music. The title of the album translates from Latin as “eternal fire”, and there’s nothing better to represent life as a fire that never ceases to exist no matter what, giving the entire album an even stronger meaning and purpose and, consequently, keeping Re-Armed’s inner fire also burning for many years to come in their homeland and anywhere else where modern and captivating metal music is truly appreciated.
Best moments of the album: Dive Within, Ode to Life and The Hollow Lights.
Worst moments of the album:Eager to Collapse.
Released in 2020 Black Lion Productions
Track listing 1. Dive Within 4:31
2. Beyond the Horizon 5:12
3. Ode to Life 4:10
4. Eager to Collapse 3:47
5. Resistance 4:34
6. The Hollow Lights 4:27
7. Remain Unbounded 5:17
8. Words Left Unsaid 4:37
9. Voyager 5:22
10. Built to Last 4:57
Band members Jouni Matilainen – lead vocals
Allan Välimaa – guitars
Oskari Niekka – guitars, backing vocals
Juhana Heinonen – bass, backing vocals
Iiro Karjalainen – drums
Guest musicians Euge Valovirta – guitars on “Ode to Life”
Micko Hell – additional vocals on “Voyager”
Sami Tiittanen – keyboards
Aapo Salo – orchestra, symphonic arrangements
As summer is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere, let’s take a trip to a place known not for its hot and warm weather, but for its wet and cool climate, which by the way has led to the growth of extensive forests featuring some of the largest trees in the world. I’m talking about the region known as the Pacific Northwest, in the United States, more specifically the city of Corvallis, located in central western Oregon and around 120km from the state’s largest city Portland, where our metal chick of the month, the unrelenting Malaysian-born vocalist Avienne Low, frontwoman for Progressive/Melodic Death/Black Metal unity Vintersea, has been embellishing the Pacific Northwestern airwaves with her powerful voice since moving from Penang, a state in northwest Malaysia, to pursue her studies in American soil. As you’ll be able to see, you’ll be absolutely stunned by Avienne with both her clean, delicate vocals and her infernal roars, showcasing all her vocal range and talent as the lead singer for Vintersea.
Married to a guy called Nick Kiuttu in Keizer, a city located in Marion County, Oregon, in 2016, which led her to use the name Avienne Kiuttu for a while (and because she switched back to Avienne Low I have absolutely no idea if she’s still married), Avienne started her life and career in music when she found an acoustic guitar in a box under her parents’ bed when she was 11 years old, and after having the guitar dusted and tuned, she discovered her passion for singing and performing while playing covers and originals for her family and friends. During her college years, her love for performing grew bigger as she joined an all-ladies a capella group named Divine, a small group of singers hand-picked from Oregon State University’s Bella Voce that began in 2003, with whom she stayed for about a year and a half before fully directing her focus on being the vocalist for Vintersea. Avienne also stated that “I absolutely love fronting the band, and my past experiences have cultivated my ongoing passion for singing, screaming, and performing.”
Regarding her career with Vintersea, as you might already know they are a female-fronted metal band from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, from the aforementioned city of Corvallis, born in 2016 from the ashes of a previous incarnation of the band itself when it was called Asterion, combining the essential elements of metal’s most revered sub-genres with memorable and anthemic song-writing sensibility, therefore crafting a unique brand of crushing Blackened Progressive Metal inspired by the dark skies of the Pacific Northwest and leading the band to share the stage with renowned acts the likes of Jinjer, Ne Obliviscaris and Arkona, among others.
Shortly after entering the United States, Avienne found her home with Vintersea, with guitarists Riley Nix and Jorma Spaziano, drummer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Karl Whinnery rounding out their current lineup. The band was actually born in the summer of 2014 under its previous moniker Asterion when high school friends Riley and Jeremy put out an ad on Craigslist searching for the right musicians to form a new metal act, with Avienne and Jorma (who had moved to Oregon from the east coast, not even sure he was going to be in a band anymore) responding to their ad based on a few early demos. They quickly got together and started jamming out, and it felt like a really good fit right away, which led them to start working on music and playing a few shows as Asterion, which by the way was based on stars and constellations, leaning towards a modern and progressive side of music, almost to a Djent vibe, releasing that same year a five-track EP titled Constellations, which you can enjoy in its entirety HERE or HERE.
However, despite the high-quality of the music found in their debut EP, Riley, Avienne & Co. figured out pretty quick that the music by Asterion wasn’t exactly what they wanted to do. Heavily inspired by European Black Metal, Atmospheric Metal and Post-Metal, the band started playing a hybrid of Progressive and Melodic Metal types, making the collective decision to delve headfirst into that and develop their own sound and later changing their name to Vintersea, with “Vinter” being winter and “sea” because they are from the Pacific Northwest, as grey ocean waves are a heavy asthetic. After such significant changes, they released two official full-length albums, The Gravity of Fall, in 2017, and more recently Illuminated, in 2019, and you can enjoy several top-notch music videos for some of the best songs from both albums on YouTube, such as Illuminated, The Host, Skies Set Ablaze, Old Ones and Entities, as well as their official tour video for the song The Gravity of Fall, and you can also go to Spotify or BandCamp for more of their stylish creations. Furthermore, there are some great interviews with Avienne on YouTube where you can get to know more about her role with Vintersea, such as this one given to Metal Shop Steve where she talks about their 2019 album Illuminated and their music videos, and this one to Dani Zed Reviews where they talk about several topics including their albums, the feedback received on them and their live performances.
Avienne has already made it pretty clear in several interviews that she wants to be a great metal vocalist, not just ‘great for a female’ metal vocalist, as almost all of her main influences are male vocalists or bands with male vocalists, including Ghost Iris, Disentomb, Unprocessed, Logic, Devin Townsend, Ne Obliviscaris, Enslaved, Ihsahn, Between the Buried and Me, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, TesseracT and Skyharbor, to name a few, with her vocal idol being Chris Barretto, from bands such as Ever Forthright, Monuments, Periphery and Haunted Shores. In addition, when Avianne was asked about how she discovered metal music and which artists and bands caught her attention while she was growing up in Malaysia, our talented vocalist answered by saying that because she didn’t have access to online platforms like BandCamp almost all the music she listened to as a child was either from the radio or MTV, mentioning Linkin Park from their Hybrid Theory days as a huge influence when she was only around seven years old. During the following decade, she got obsessed with discovering new metal bands after listening to the 2010 album Long Live, by American Metalcore act The Chariot, with bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between the Buried and Me and Converge fueling her obsession. As she didn’t play any sports nor go to the beach at that time, she spent hours and hours developing her taste for metal and finding lesser-known bands online. Also, when questioned about which song by any artist she wishes she could have written, Avienne mentioned Celestial Violence, from the 2016 album Arktis. by Norway’s own Ihsahn, as Vintersea were all listening to Arktis. a lot during the recording of The Gravity of Fall, and that song in particular spoke to all band members with its severe changes in dynamics and epic conclusion.
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Regarding her vocal style, Avienne said that learning how to do harsh vocals and finding the perfect formula to combine them with her clean singing wasn’t an easy task at first. She complemented by saying that she started doing harsh vocals because she wanted to scream along to her favorite bands at that time, and there was a lot of trial and error while she was developing her style, also saying that one of her main techniques was to record herself, study those recordings, and look for areas of improvement, becoming familiar and comfortable with her own screams and playing around with different tones and styles to see what worked best. She also said that it is not only important to be aware of how your body feels when learning to scream, but to be patient throughout the process, complementing by mentioning that she takes care of her voice by doing vocal warm-ups and relaxing a little before hitting the stage, and avoiding spicy food prior to any concert because it’s not a good feeling to jump around the stage with a “ball of fire” burning inside her stomach.
Her view of the music industry is also quite interesting, as she said that in many ways she thinks the music industry has never been healthier, with the power being concentrated in the hands of the fans, the small labels, writers and so on, with the big, faceless corporations having lost most of the power they once had, letting truly innovative and independent bands to reach a much broader audience due to the evolution and changes to internet distribution. As long as fans keep listening to Vintersea’s music, buying their merchandise and supporting them at their live performances, Avienne said she’ll continue to write beautiful and meaningful music together with her bandmates, which is exactly what we all desire, don’t you agree? And talking about touring and live concerts, Avienne said one of Vintersea’s most memorable shows was when they shared the stage with the talented female-fronted Graveshadow, Mindmaze, Sirenia and Arkona at the Bossanova Ballroom downtown Portland in 2017, also saying that there are countless other bands they would love to play shows with or tour with, but as they’re all hugely fond of the guys in Ne Obliviscaris, she thinks it would be simply fantastic to have the opportunity to spend time on the road with that level of talent.
As it happens with pretty much all women who decide to venture through the realms of metal music, Avienne has also been asked countless times about how she sees the importance and influence of women in a music genre that’s still considered sexist by many, and her answers couldn’t have been more spot-on. “My advice is to acknowledge that misogynists and sexists are there, but don’t give them any fuel to their hateful fire. Don’t turn their hate into your hate. Focus on what makes you happy. If you focus on yourself, not only you will be happier in the long run, but your happiness and success will annoy the haters. It’s a win-win situation,” said our stunning vocalist, also saying that in her opinion the metal scene has never had so many badass, powerful and brutal women like nowadays, with more and more metal bands with women fronting them or slaying an instrument coming to light, which is a very inspiring situation for her personally. The metal scene has been exclusionary of women in metal for years, which is why she believes it’s important that there is more women in metal not only because they represents a significant portion of the listeners, but mainly because there is an endless amount of skill and talent that women in metal bring that should definitely be recognized. Moreover, when asked about who she considers the most influential women in metal today, Avienne cited the unstoppable Tatiana Shmaylyuk from Jinjer and Alissa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy, saying it’s impressive what they can do with their vocals, and that they both have showed many people for the first time that women can bring endless energy and fire through harsh vocals.
When asked about her writing process (and of the entire band), Avienne said that before starting it they discuss as a band what the theme of the album should be, followed by determining each song’s theme and message, writing the music prior to the vocal parts and making sure each of their songs can be interpreted on multiple levels, from deeply personal to globally conceptual, all within the same framework. There are songs that can come together in a matter of days, but most of them take shape over a period of months with a lot of intense work, consideration and debate, with their collective vision usually coming together after a couple of weeks. There’s a lot of trust among the band members, and they have found that this dynamic and exciting process helps them produce their best results. Avienne also said that since the band’s inception she has developed and grown in both skill and style, helping her explore different facets of her voice and making the band’s songwriting more cohesive, mentioning the moment they started receiving messages from fans saying they were inspired by Vintersea or that their music helped them through tough times was a breakthrough moment for the band, making they proud of what they’ve accomplished so far. In addition, as an up-and-coming metal artist, Avienne said that the best advice she can give to new bands and musicians is that they shouldn’t be afraid to be who they are, saying people should find their own voice to be able to craft timeless music, instead of being a “one-hit wonder” molded by the industry, also saying we should never stop learning and never close our minds to new ideas. Well, I guess we couldn’t agree more with Avienne, wishing her and her bandmates from Vintersea a bright and healthy future in the world of heavy music, taking the band to new and unexplored lands in the coming years for our total delight.
“I love singing about things that can make a person think about things differently, and I love exposing things that are poignant yet not talked about or thought of enough. I view music as another mode about storytelling, and I know I’m on the right path if I can feel the emotions rising from deep within my body.” – Avienne Low
Focusing on struggling with the pain of loss, the new album by this Maryland-based metal band reflects all the dynamism and difficulties faced during all stages of grief.
Originally formed as an instrumental and acoustic solo project by vocalist and guitarist Alden Bradstock (Seventh Seal) in 2014, Westminster, Maryland-based Melodic Death Metal act Senescere grew into a full band with the addition of three new members in 2016, Nathan Heavel on bass, Andy Stark on drums and Josh Clark on additional vocals (all from bands such as Seventh Seal and Vestascension), allowing Alden to expand the band’s musical reach to a more aggressive and abrasive sound in their brand new opus Alive But Somewhere Else. Produced by Alden and Josh themselves, engineered and mixed by Josh at Dark Hollow Studio, mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studio, and featuring a stylish cover photograph by Mandy Martz Chappell, the album focuses on struggling with grief, turning to unhealthy sources of comfort and creating a false sense of happiness to deal with a loss. As stated by Alden himself, “loss and aging have been the central theme of this project since the beginning. I think I’ll always find some inspiration there, and new ways of looking at the pain and struggles it can bring. There are all kinds of faces and stages of grief. It’s dynamic, it isn’t always dark and miserable. It’s deceptive and difficult to categorize. I wanted the music to reflect this somehow, and I think that’s why I enjoy mixing multiple styles and varying intensity in the songwriting. It’s allowed to be extra melodic and catchy at times, just as it’s allowed to dive into blasting drums and tremolo picking if the song calls for it.”
And the smooth guitar lines by Alden ignite the atmospheric intro Freezing Of The Hillside, setting the stage for the band to stun us all in Lost In The Cold, where Alden’s deep guttural roars walk hand in hand with the classic beats by Andy, blending elements from Groove and Progressive Metal with their trademark Melodic Death Metal. Then speeding things up and enhancing their rage the quartet blasts the thrilling The Low Clouds, bringing forward dark and pensive lyrics (“Here I, as a loner / Do feel the texture of the edge / Tracing paths for days on end / A crisp and jagged line / So easy to step over / So welcoming to fall from”) and the usual strength and fury from Scandinavian metal, followed by Alive, clearly inspired by the modern and melodic metal music played by bands like Insomnium and Amorphis, with Alden growling with tons of anguish while Nathan and Andy give a lesson in groove and intricacy with their respective instruments, not to mention Josh’s spot on backing vocals.
After such powerful display of metal music, simply sit down, relax and let the enfolding lines from the instrumental piece Melted penetrate deep inside your mind before a wall of sounds smashes your senses in the fantastic Resonate, where Alden’s crisp riffs are beautifully complemented by the low-tuned bass by Nathan, exhaling progressiveness and feeling and all spiced by Alden’s piercing guitar solo; whereas Alden and Josh make a fantastic vocal duet in Aging Affinity, blending the visceral and violent sounds of classic Death Metal with the harmony and complexity of more modern styles, ending in a cryptic and atmospheric way. Heartspace is perfect for slamming into the circle pit while at the same time enjoying the sharp and intricate beats by Andy and the thunderous bass lines by Nathan, resulting in another ode to contemporary Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal that ends up warming up our senses for almost ten minutes of Senescere’s wicked music in Moon And Sun, where the band’s razor-edged riffs, pounding drums and obscure vocals invite the listener to an exciting metal voyage in what’s by far the most progressive and detailed of all songs, even bringing hints of Black Metal and putting an introspective and climatic ending to the album.
Highly recommended for fans of the melodic and pensive heavy music played by renowned acts the likes of Dark Tranquillity, Amorphis, Opeth, Katatonia and Insomnium, among several others, Alive But Somewhere Else can be appreciated in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify, but of course in order to show your true support to Alden and his henchmen you should definitely purchase a copy of the album from their own BandCamp page, as well as from Apple Music and Amazon. Also, don’t forget to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for news, tour dates and more of their classy music, helping you cope with loss and pain to the sound of our beloved Heavy Metal and, therefore, keeping Alden and his Senescere beyond inspired to create more of their multi-layered and meaningful music for many years to come.
Best moments of the album: Lost In The Cold, The Low Clouds and Resonate.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2020 Independent
Track listing 1. Freezing Of The Hillside 2:54
2. Lost In The Cold 4:12
3. The Low Clouds 5:36
4. Alive 3:36
5. Melted 2:13
6. Resonate 3:54
7. Aging Affinity 4:26
8. Heartspace 3:55
9. Moon And Sun 9:34
Band members Alden Bradstock – guitars, vocals
Nathan Heavel – bass
Andy Stark – drums
Josh Clark – additional vocals
Playing dark, angry, philosophical and downright nihilistic Groove Metal, this UK-based outfit is ready to discuss everything that’s wrong in our society with their brand new EP.
Playing a dark, angry, philosophical and downright nihilistic fusion of Groove Metal, Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal since their inception in 2013, reflecting on some of the worst parts of today’s status quo and always targeting key political figures, nuclear annihilation and conscious degradation, Merseyside, England-based outfit Deified is unleashing upon humanity their third EP and fourth official album (taking into account their 2015 full-length opus Ascension), entitled Anthrobscene, following up on their critically acclaimed 2018 EP Inhuman Manifesto. A time capsule discussing modern times, Anthrobscene doesn’t hold back with its commentary on social media, the digital revolution, mental health, climate change, politics and more, showcasing all the talent and rage from frontman Jamie Hughes, guitarists Matthew Pike (who also produced, mixed and mastered the album) and Alistair Blackhall, bassist Tom Simm and drummer Jordan Stanley-Jones and, therefore, being highly recommended for admirers of the caustic metal blasted by renowned bands like Lamb Of God and Sylosis.
The cinematic intro Prelude heightens our senses for the acid Dark Desires, a visceral Lamb Of God-inspired tune where Jamie roars demonically accompanied by the razor-edged riffs by Matthew and Alistair, resulting in a high-speed dirty extravaganza overflowing madness and wrath, not to mention how Tom and Jordan give a lesson in groove with their respective bass and drums. Then it’s time to bang our heads to the strident and melodic Broken Matrix, a modern-day Melodic Death and Groove Metal for the masses showcasing an ass-kicking shredding and classic beats, providing Jamie all he needs to bark like a beast, whereas sounding like a stone crusher on drums Jordan dictates the rhythm in Enemies Within, while Jamie declaims the song’s austere lyrics and Matthew and Alistair once again demolish our minds with their unrelenting guitars, all spiced up by Tom’s rumbling bass lines.
Following such electrifying display of modern metal music, a brief, futuristic Intermission sets the stage for Deified to kill once again in the frantic and sharper-than-a-knife Apotheosis/Rebirth, where the entire band sounds furious and vile from start to finish, with Jamie taking the lead with his maniacal vocals while Tom and Jordan make the earth tremble with their avalanche of low-tuned and thunderous sounds. The second to last blast of Deified’s well-balanced music comes in the form of Blood Under the Bridge, where the band’s stringed trio is on absolute fire with their riffage and thunderous bass jabs, sounding absolutely perfect for headbanging nonstop or crushing your skull into the pit, consequently keeping the album at a high level of adrenaline, before the closing song An Ode to Armageddon comes ripping with its epic start and its explosion of fulminating Groove Metal, or in other words, it’s an instrumental outro showcasing crisp riffs, piercing solos and endless stamina flowing from its bass and drums for our total delight.
In a nutshell, it’s impressive how dynamic, versatile and meaningful Deified were able to sound in only 28 minutes of music in Anthrobscene, proving how skillful the band is and why they’ve been on a roll since they started back in 2013, having already being crowned the winners of Bloodstock M2TM in 2015 and having already toured with iconic bands the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Exodus, Incite and Krysthla. Hence, don’t forget to show the guys from Deified your support by following them on Facebook and on Instagram, to subscribe to their YouTube channel and, above all, to grab your copy of their brand new EP from their own BandCamp page or from Apple Music. Anthrobscene is about everything we fear the most, and at the same time about everything we can’t live without, showing how rotten our minds are and, of course, how heavy music is yet again one of the best ways to represent all that’s wrong with the society we live in, and we must thank the guys from Deified for offering us metalheads such high quality and honest music with each and every single one of their albums.
Best moments of the album: Dark Desires and Apotheosis/Rebirth.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2020 Independent
Track listing 1. Prelude 1:01
2. Dark Desires 4:33
3. Broken Matrix 4:05
4. Enemies Within 3:49
5. Intermission 0:48
6. Apotheosis/Rebirth 5:18
7. Blood Under the Bridge 5:40
8. An Ode to Armageddon 3:04
Band members Jamie Hughes – vocals
Matthew Pike – guitars
Alistair Blackhall – guitars
Tom Simm – bass
Jordan Stanley-Jones – drums
It’s time to self-destruct, survive and thrive together with the most dynamic, hardworking and promising unity of the Latvian metal scene.
If you’ve never heard of any metal bands hailing from the Republic of Latvia, a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, you should definitely take a shot at Riga-based Death, Thrash and Groove Metal unity MĀRA, who has just unleashed upon humanity the excellent EP entitled Self-Destruct. Survive. Thrive!, the follow-up to their highly-acclaimed 2018 debut EP Therapy For An Empath. Formed in 2018, the group spearheaded by the ravishing Māra Lisenko together with her bandmates Denis Melnik on the guitars, Dmitry Lisenko on bass and Alberts Mednis on drums has been making a name for themselves since their inception, having already played in several summer festivals and toured all across Europe, also supporting renowned metal acts the likes of Sepultura, Krisiun and Satyricon. In their newborn spawn Self-Destruct. Survive. Thrive!, the quartet offers more of their trademark metallic and industrialized sounds, with each one of the album’s songs bringing a true and self-experienced storyline, therefore inviting us all to find out more about the band and, above all, about ourselves, all embraced by the stylish artwork by Latvian artist Gundega Bārzdaine (Mad Meow Art).
As we face the intro titled Mīļā Māra, or “Dear Māra” in English (as if she was going to start writing a letter to herself), a shamanic and enfolding atmosphere sets the stage for Leaking Guilt, starting in a serene manner guided by gentle piano notes before morphing into visceral and futuristic Melodic Death Metal. Furthermore, Denis is infernal with his riffs, accompanied by the thunderous beats by Alberts and of course by Māra’s sharp fusion of clean vocals and demented roars; followed by Beauty Of Humanity, featuring the iconic Björn Strid (Soilwork) as a guest vocalist and presenting lyrics about the decay of mankind (“Brutal truth / Smashes your face against the wall / Cut enough wounds open / To feast on your blood / You’re dragged behind a car / Barely alive / Still asked to smile and hide all your pain”). It’s indeed an electrifying hybrid of Death and Groove Metal, with Dmitry extracting sheer savagery from his rumbling bass.
Then putting the pedal to the metal the quartet pierces our minds with their Arch Enemy-inspired extravaganza titled Religionipulation, by far my favorite track of the EP where Māra is on fire with her enraged growls and gnarls while Denis and Dmitry smash their stringed weapons in great fashion. And an eerie atmosphere ignites the dark and heavy Life Kills (Fear), bringing forward psychological words blasted by Māra (“Eternity passes / Me, blood and the ground / Thoughts of the existence / Rhetoric questions echo / Silence suppresses / Voices in the head scream / Begging for a help / Voice never follows”) while Dmitry adds endless groove and energy to the music with his bass punches. Lastly, featuring guest bassist Jeff Hughell from Six Feet Under, Don’t Look Back In Grief sounds perfect for breaking your neck headbanging, with Māra’s she-demon vocals being once again captivating from start to finish in their fast, furious and modern Death Metal feast.
MĀRA have already been rated #1 for “Brutal Female Fronted Metal” and have scored in the top 6 best EP releases of 2018 with their debut album, which also won the “Album of the Year” award at the 2018 Latvian Metal Music Awards, not to mention that their relentless frontwoman has topped many “Best Female Metal Vocalists” polls in the past couple of years as well as won the “Best Vocalist” award at that same 2018 ceremony. Having said that, it’s more than obvious that the band will continue to pave their path to stardom with Self-Destruct. Survive. Thrive!, which you can stream in full on Spotify and purchase from the band’s own BandCamp page or from Apple Music, an album that might be short in duration with only 21 minutes of music, but that carries an endless amount of energy, feeling and groove spiced up by meaningful and clever lyrics. Hence, don’t forget to follow MĀRA on Facebook, on Instagram and on YouTube, proving you have what it takes to self-destruct, survive and thrive together with Māra and the boys.
Best moments of the album: Religionipulation and Life Kills (Fear).
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2020 Independent
Track listing 1. Intro (Mīļā Māra) 1:01
2. Leaking Guilt 3:44
3. Beauty Of Humanity 4:06
4. Religionipulation 3:44
5. Life Kills (Fear) 4:30
6. Don’t Look Back In Grief 4:14
Band members Māra Lisenko – vocals
Denis Melnik – guitars
Dmitry Lisenko – bass
Alberts Mednis – drums
Guest musicians Björn Strid – additional vocals on “Beauty Of Humanity”
Jeff Hughell – additional bass on “Don’t Look Back In Grief”
Artur Georgadze – synths and audio effects
Hvidovre, Denmark’s own Progressive Power/Thrash Metal unity Manticora is back in action in 2020 with their ninth full-length opus, entitled To Live to Kill to Live, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed To Kill to Live to Kill, released in 2018. This is the second part of a grandiose concept based on their 334-page horror novel (which by the way can be purchased HERE), mixed by Jacob Hansen (Primal Fear, U.D.O., Destruction) and featuring guest musicians form bands like Allegiance Reign, Defacing God and Withering Surface, all embraced by a comic book-inspired artwork by Danish artist David Troest. To Live to Kill to Live offers the listener 63 minutes of undisputed metal music, showcasing not only all the dexterity by frontman Lars F. Larsen, gutarists Kristian Larsen and Stefan Johansson, bassist Kasper Gram and drummer Lawrence Dinamarca, but also their creativity and precision in uniting Heavy Metal with a thrilling storytelling. “It all started out as a crazy and almost impossible idea… A book and two albums… I mean… come on? Today I’m so proud of the final result and I still can’t understand that we actually did it,” commented Kristian about the band’s newborn spawn, inviting us all to join them in this breathtaking adventure in the “Land of the Rising Sun”.
Then serene, acoustic guitars intertwined with crisp riffs in a Dream Theater-ish style ignite the pleasant Goodbye Tina, keeping the album at a high level of adrenaline and with tons of harmony flowing from Lars’ vocal lines, before Manticora come ripping once again with Tasered/Removal, a heavy and rumbling tune where Kasper does a superb job with his metallic bass, being perfect for cracking your neck headbanging to their solid fusion of Groove and Power Metal; whereas the atmospheric instrumental bridge Stalin Strikes will expand your senses and gently flow into a Japanese-spoken narrative titled Ten Thousand Cold Nights, advancing the storyline into the closing tune Katana – Beheaded, sounding and feeling imposing and vibrant form the very first second, therefore putting a climatic end to the album with all band members being on fire, in special the band’s unstoppable guitar duo and the talented Lawrence, while Lars continues to give life to the story through his soaring vocals.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 