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Grayceon
Grayceon |
9.0 |
Can a cello, a guitar and some drums create some “revolutionary” progressive metal that will stand the test of the hungriest fan for inventive, yet appealing music? Grayceon is the answer to that question, and the answer is yes!
This debut is strip of any super complicated production sound layers, extensive guitar solos, drum solos or cello ... Read all
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Striborg
Nefaria / Tragic Journey Towards The Light |
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A couple of good ideas, an incredible amount of dark atmospheres and why not a well accomplished depressive black metal running through the veins of Striborg; still these one hour and 19 minutes mammoth is just too much for me to listen more than twice, and twice because I had to review the record so it deserved a second spin ... Read all |
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Bloodthirst
Let Him Die |
7.0 |
For those of us that aren’t tired of “retro” thrash metal, here is the new opus from Polish metallers Bloodthirst, a real trip to what thrash metal was when it represented the most brutal genre in metal.
Let Him Die has all of those familiar riffs you loved from bands like, Metallica, Exodus and why not Dark Angel, they are just… a bit faster this time around... Read all
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Ministry
The Last Sucker |
10 |
It seems as if the hard partying days have finally caught up to Ministry’s front man and leader Al Jourgensen. The man has decided to make “The Last Sucker” Ministry’s swan song, and if that is the case, he has done so on a very high note. With two albums that bashed and criticized the shit out of the Bush administration; 2005’s “Houses of the Molé” and 2006’s ... Read all |
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Stillborn
Manifiesto de Blasfemia |
6.0 |
One of the most horrible intro ideas that I have ever heard, “the silence has been broken” that’s what Stillborn went for as their intro vocals, and the problem is not what that tiny phrase means is the voice that says it, I mean this is suppose to be death/black metal, and yet they put this boring not scary or even mysterious at all voice…. Oh well I guess I have to get over it and ... Read all |
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V:28
VioLution |
7.3 |
Apparently this third album from the Norwegian band V:28, is the final chapter of a “grand strategy” to develop and tell a story during three albums about the demise of mankind; well just by reading that in some press releases and other reviews, I was a little turn off, because I hate missing parts of a trilogy, but then again this is not a movie so the music will have to ... Read all |
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Om
Pilgrimage |
8.5 |
After the tragic break up of Sleep the doom world was at a loss. Sleep being a tremendous influence in the conception of stoner doom as well as drone and sludge metal. Once one is able to digest the tragedy of Sleep’s split it is easy to see it generated two of the most important bands in modern doom, High on Fire and Om. Matt Pike with High on Fire quickly rose to fame due to his ... Read all
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Those Who Bring the Torture
Those Who Bring The Torture |
7.0 |
Plain and simple, good Swedish death metal, this is not complicated, progressive or groundbreaking, is straight up death metal with gore titles and gore art… and yes from time to time bits and pieces of what could be consider grindcore.
Those Who Bring the Torture is one of those records that after first listen they leave this sort of “curiosity” lingering ... Read all |
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Nox
Ixaxaar |
8.5 |
Lets get brutal, satanic, fast and why not a bit technical! Yes all that and more is well condensed, packaged and delivered in Ixaxaar, a true example of just how insane death metal can get when a couple of talented guys get together to write the most brutal metal that comes to mind.
Nox brings forward a typhoon of riffs, blastbeats and death screams ... Read all |
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Stinking Lizaveta
Scream of the Iron Iconoclast |
8.1 |
Like most things in live, Scream of the Iron Iconoclast needs time, time in your part to sit and enjoy, to sit and let yourself be carried by the elaborate yet understandable tunes performed by this Philadelphia trio, so if you don’t have time and you’re looking for a quick fix, you are not going to get it here.
Stinking Lizaveta is described as metal/jazz, Doom/Stone ... Read all |
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Audiopain
The Switch To Turn Off Mankind |
8.6 |
It is official (even when the main stream magazines don’t really acknowledge it) THRASH IS BACK!!! This undying style that pretty much helped spawned all other extreme metal genres is back in full force; and is not like it ever went away or that it was brought back thanks to the early founders (who are actually the ones that almost killed it… just listen to ... Read all |
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Echoes of Eternity
The Forgotten Goddess |
7.3 |
Very few bands can triumphantly handle two completely different layers of sound, and despite a good effort from this Californian band they don’t seem to make their technical sound fit Francine Boucher gothic vocals.
The Forgotten Goddess is not an easy album to listen or understand, and that’s good, it challenges you to go beyond the superficial attention span that ... Read all |
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My Own Grave
Unholy |
10 |
Old school death metal, played at warp speed with anti-Christian God hating messages never sounded so incredibly exhilarating. Sweden’s My Own Grave play death metal fused with modern complexity and finesse becoming one of the bands to watch in the extreme metal world ... Read all
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Paths of Possession
The End Of The Hour |
5.0 |
Paths of Possession is a more melodic affair than most death metal but is hard to be considered melodic death metal given the nature of their songwriting. Many of the song structures are very reminiscent of the early Bay Area Thrash days and sway away from spastic death metal. “The End of the Hour” is Paths of Possession’s second album to feature George Fisher ... Read all |
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Kimaera
Ebony Veiled |
7.5 |
A good balance of death metal and doom atmospheres; mellow songs with sorrow, beauty and anger make “Ebony Veiled” a good record but not a surprising one.
Perhaps the whole idea of blending doom metal and death growls have never been to create something shocking, surprising or “new” but they do tend to look for an “angry melancholy” a sort ... Read all
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Blood Red Throne
Come Death |
7.0 |
“Come Death” promises so many things, but ends up failing to accomplish even the most basic ones; the songs have a certain groove that almost, almost made them memorable, a technical approach that does elevate the general sound but that doesn’t play well as a whole, and a death style that lacks either of speed or aggressiveness; maybe on their next release these ... Read all |
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Dew Scented
Incinerate |
9.4 |
Talk about aggression, as this seems to be the creed by which Dew Scented write their music. “Incinerate” is a modern day thrash album with a wide array of riffs that vary from old school thrash ala Slayer and Exodus to more complex death metal chugging. The album starts off with the intro “Exordium” and gives a gentle pass to “Vanish Away”. This song basically sets the ... Read all |
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The Black Dahlia Murder
Nocturnal |
8.0 |
Talk about a band with a sound as tough as nails. The Black Dahlia Murder are among some of the most extremes bands out there. Fusing different influences such as Carcass and In Flames, this band has a great ability to switch things up in a way that not many bands can do. Very seldom can a band move from black metal type vocals, to death metal riffs and later on to ... Read all |
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Wolves in the Throne Room
Two Hunters |
9.5 |
With last year’s Diadem of 12 Starts, Wolves in the Throne Room have reinvented the powerful folk-heavy core of black metal originally explored by the likes of Borknagar and early Ulver. Yet they have approached it in a different way, rather than packing their music with obvious folk overtones (like Borknagar) they chose to follow a more organic and natural sound ... Read all |
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Nightwish
Dark Passion Play |
9.3 |
After a much talked about split with their lead singer Tarja Turunen, every Nightwish fan was wondering if the band could go on without Turunen’s trademark operatic vocals. And after a search that included more than two thousand demo tapes and a lot of secrecy, the band announced Anette Olzon as their new front woman, one day before the release of “Eva”, ... Read all |
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Hermh
Eden’s Fire |
7.3 |
If you find yourself tired of the now well known Dimmu Borgir formula of symphonic black, then Hermh may perhaps help you view the genre with new eyes. Is not like this Polish band re-invents the symphonic/melodic black movement, but they manage to make it interesting again; using with accuracy and plain good taste a nice keyboard line that extracts some ... Read all |
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Akercocke
Antichrist |
9.0 |
The term “Avant-garde” applied in metal music has always left me confused and unsatisfied; for some reason I always expected orchestras and symphonic overtones in the music for me to recognize or at least try to identified an Avant-garde band; well within my ignorance I found a band that help me define what this “label” could mean and when it ... Read all |
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Genocide
Apocalyptic Visions |
6.5 |
Genocide are a recently formed German Black Metal trio from Kleve. There first full length Apocalyptic Visions is impressive. The use a slightly cleaner-than-usual production style, which, coupled with bombastic orchestral samples, gives the album a very epic feel. Eleven tracks, 44 minutes of unrelenting mid-paced black metal. The instrumentation could be categorized under ... Read all |
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Alastor
Noble North |
8.0 |
Noble North has a nice surprise within its 43 minutes of playing time, melodic rhythms that enhance the coldness of their black metal.
Alastor a band which appears to have a long and solid history in the underground scene, (at least that’s what they and their new label No Colors records claim) has deployed in this their second full length one of the best “lectures” in how to blend cold ... Read all |
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Soilwork
Sworn to a Great Divide |
6.9 |
Soilwork, one of the front runners in melodic death metal, bring us their latest effort “Sworn to a Great Divide”. After a couple of weak albums with “Stabbing the Drama” and the mediocre “Figure Number Five” the band is starting to pull the strings in the right direction. Even thought their new album isn’t “The Chainheart Machine” Part II or even reminiscent of ... Read all
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Exodus
The Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A |
9.8 |
After years of silence, Exodus returned to the metal scene with 2004’s highly acclaimed “Tempo of the Damned”. Near the completion of Tempo’s touring cycle Steve Souza, who provided vocals for the album, decided to part ways with the rest of the band. After plunging into the uncomfortable hell of leaderless bands, Rob Dukes ... Read all |
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The Berzerker
Animosity |
5.0 |
If there is something that I love about metal is the idea that it allows musicians to expand the idea of creating something more brutal, or faster, or meaner than anything else out there; the problem is that sometimes many sacrifice good riffs in order to achieve “brutality”, and even thou Animosity has a couple of pretty cool riffs here and there (the song Retribution comes ... Read all |
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Azarath
Diabolic Impious Evil |
8.0 |
Perhaps there is nothing original or surprising in the way Azarath delivers its death blacked metal, but sometimes simplicity and pure fury can save an album even when the riffs are recycled many times.
Is not as if this polish band lacks on talent, as their line up can be envy by many, with Behemoth’s drum tank Inferno or Damnation’s Bruno spewing hatred ... Read all |
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Havoc Unit
H.I.V. |
7.1 |
Picture this, a futuristic iron factory, something taken out of those documentaries about the industrial revolution and then mixed with a movie like I-Robot… can you see it? Well if not let me paint you a much clearer picture; industrial metal with modernized black vocals and a frenetic pace that makes your nose bleed after a couple of tracks… can you heard it now? ... Read all
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Demiricous
Two (Poverty) |
8.5 |
After an impressive debut album, Demiricous has not wasted any time following the successful “One (Hellbound)”. The band has served up a very pounding and thrashing effort in “Two (Poverty)”. An album that has many political and anger charged tunes following thrash metal tradition. A great mix of Slayer-ism and death metal speed, Demiricous has a simple ... Read all |
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Marduk
Rom 5:12 |
7.5 |
Stepping into a new direction Marduk delivers a mature and conscious black album that may lack on aggression as did previous records, but focuses on melodies and riffs that go beyond the mayhem created by their previous and void release “Plague Angel”.
You have to be careful thou because Rom 5:12 brings back some of the characteristics that made the band in ... Read all
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Dragobrath
Scripture of the woods |
8.2 |
For some reason a couple of the bands that have acquired the label melodic black metal have really strayed it, including un-proportional amounts of keyboards, way too many Goth influences and a exaggerated use of female vocals (nothing against the ladies!); and that’s why I was sort of “worried” when I read a couple of reviews about “Scripture of the Woods” before ... Read all |
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Ektomorf
Outcast |
1.0 |
The only real problem with Ektomorf is the existence of Max Cavalera, if it wasn’t for the Brazilian and his solo project Soulfly (lets face it Soulfly is a solo project, with Max changing musicians very album) this Hungarians will be receiving way more attention and maybe touring the world! The problem is that they sound, play and even look in some of their pictures at every single ... Read all |
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Evile
Enter the Grave |
8.7 |
While some Metallica fans are still expecting their aging and legendary band to wake up from a slumber that have taken them more than 16 years and a couple of disappointments on the way (and that’s an overstatement!!!); others are grabbing guitars and laying down to rest the dream that Metallica could ever be what they were before fame, money and ... Read all |
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Arch Enemy
Rise of the Tyrant |
8.0 |
Arch Enemy is a band that has shown consistency throughout their career ever since the early days with Johan Liiva. Now many moons after the release of Angela Gossow’s debut “Wages of Sin”, the band showcases great performances with each album they release. “Rise of the Tyrant” is another strong album that boasts great melodies and heaviness ... Read all |
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Tears of Mankind
Without Ray of Hope |
6.4 |
A one man project, with lost of talent, lost of ideas but few “reasonable” tactics on how to put them all together and make them fit (it sounds extremely familiar… I think I had the same opinion or “analysis” about the Light? album last week).
Tears of Mankind is Phillip Skobelin solo project, he plays ... Read all |
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As I Lay Dying
An Ocean Between Us |
8.8 |
Metalcore is a genre very criticized by pretty much everyone who’s into some other type of metal. Many believe that its just music for Hot Topic kids or posers. Now, most detractors don’t look beyond the surface of the genre and so we have crap like Avenged Sevenfold called “heavy metal”. There are bands that actually have lots of good things going on for them and As I Lay Dying ... Read all |
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Sound of Silence
La Casa de los Lamentos |
7.1 |
There is some appealing “intensity” in the flat, monotonous way of laying down the vocals on this album. The way Nefta goes in and out of every track is similar, approaching every single song with the same out of control death squeal and carrying the same tempo no matter what the guitars are doing in the background, and to me that is not good, it disturbs and hides some ... Read all |
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Silencer
Death - Pierce Me |
10 |
Suicide, misanthropy, terror and desperation are all words that come to mind when you first pop in Silencer’s “Death-Pierce Me” As far as terrifying music goes you can’t ask for a much better team than the ex-guitarist from Shining (Swe) and a mental patient, Nattramn.
A torrent of chilling melodies ... Read all
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The Hidden Hand
Resurrection of Whiskey Foote |
7.5 |
Mid tempo, stoner metal with huge reminiscent sounds to the early Black Sabbath doom rock of the 70’s; well I guess saying mid tempo is a redundancy, since stoner metal has that slow heavy pace that earn it it’s genre name.
Apparently and by reading other ... Read all
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