Reviews
Insomnium - Shadows Of The Dying Sun
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With Insomnium no longer having the service of guitarist Ville Vänni and his replacement by Markus Vanhala, the lead guitarist of Omnium Gatherum, Shadows Of The Dying Sun presents the possibility of a merging of the titans, so to speak. However, their sixth full length studio effort is no less Insomnium in style and execution than what preceded it, which means we're granted yet another excellent album from this premier melodic death metal band.
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Reviews
Impetuous Ritual - Unholy Congregation Of Hypocritical Ambivalence
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For all seasoned members of our beloved death metal cult, shock value isn't a thing anymore. The walls of sound are hardly impenetrable and all the pieces fall into place with ease. Our attraction towards more extreme and intricate metal is fueled by our desire to go back to that time where chaos was the norm and order was our goal. Yes, my comrades, despite what others might say: there is order in this maelstrom of visceral riffs, disturbing drumming and monstrous vocals.
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Reviews
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
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We all know the story by now. Following the disbanding of Celtic Frost after the widely-hailed Monotheist, metal torchbearer Thomas Fischer announced the formation of Triptykon, a new project that would be dedicated towards continuing on in the vein of the final Celtic Frost album. The band's Eparistera Daimones debut showed a glimpse of Fischer's remaining committment to writing ominous, crushing music. Now, in 2014, Melana Chasmata cements it.
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Reviews
Cormorant - Earth Diver
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Few bands have taken melodic death metal so far along a progressive route as Cormorant. These guys are an entirely independent group and their style is adventurous, downright impressive and unparalleled in individuality. Earth Diver is their third effort in a discographical success story, each time they've committed themselves to a release on their own terms they've put out astonishingly creative melodic metal. That is a guarantee which they continually assure.
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Reviews
A Hill To Die Upon - Holy Despair
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This is a band who still know how to make their metal without resorting to keyboard overload. This is melodic, it's death in substance, it's black in presentation and it's A Hill To Die Upon's third successful studio effort, a combination of melodic extremes.
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Reviews
Skogen - I Döden
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It seems like yesterday (it wasn't) when Skogen released Svítjod and I sat at my computer desk typing up a review starting out with how much these guys have flown under the radar in spite of creating some excellent atmospheric/pagan black metal. Today I will start out doing the same.
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Reviews
To-Mera - Delusions
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I've been glad to follow To-Mera's evolution quite from the beginning and "Delusions" is a second treat that they release upon the world of expectant listeners. To-Mera gained popularity with their début - an album that was stirring the scene even before it was released. This new piece is no less anticipated. Read on, if you want to know more.
What To-Mera delivers is not something easily digested. If you don't know what challenge is, here's a thought - To-Mera is challenge. If you don't know what complexity is, here's another thought - To-Mera is complexity. Listening to To-Mera is a constant mind exercise. It's "like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick" (R.I.P. Douglas Adams). To-Mera is a blast when you reach Mach speed. In short, To-Mera is awesome.
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Reviews
Sargeist - Feeding The Crawling Shadows
Reviews
Menace - Impact Velocity
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For those familiar with Napalm Death, Mitch Harris is a man who needs no introduction for fans of the band or listeners of grindcore at large, however his new endeavour in project Menace does need some introducing. A catchy progressive metal with hard rock song structures is what you'll find in the debut album Impact Velocity, made up of twelve tracks with a captivating "cyber" thematic incentive.
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Reviews
Mayan - Antagonise
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Mark Jansen seemed keen to distance himself from his main band as much as possible with Antagonize. The symphonic arrangements in the new Mayan effort are closely guarded and controlled, which distinguishes the band's sound from Epica further than ever before. While the debut album certainly found its similarities to the mother band, Antagonize is, in theme and sound, much more of a straightforward melodic death metal album.
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Reviews
Jupiter Society - From Endangered To Extinct
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I don't know about you, but every now and again I take off my kvlt corpse paint, stop speaking in guttural growls and need my regular fix of melodic metal. Yet it's always an arduous task in finding the right album as the majority of melodic metal releases these days are either metal-light, brimming with cheese and choirs, clinically sterile me-too djent chugs, or use the same old formulas of melodic death metal. Even if they don't fit the above descriptions, the end product usually comes across as lacking in inspiration. Where's that musical kick that the aural sensors of my brain crave?
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Reviews
Horseback - Piedmont Apocrypha
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Horseback are a sneaky bunch; being the clever sound shifters that they are this new album is an interesting turn of events. Firstly, it's actually mostly just the one fellow behind all the fetchingly folky psychedelia this time around, secondly, Jenks Miller just made off with your wallet.
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Reviews
Edguy - Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown
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Oh right. You're kidding me. A macho man with a welder/gun in one hand and a Pokémon born bad and grown worse in the other is staring at me with a not-so-heterosexual fleer. Am I supposed to take it seriously?
Of course not, it's Edguy we're talking about.
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Reviews
Neige Et Noirceur - Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques
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Spiritus returns with a new Neige et Noirceur LP for the first time since 2011, having released a few splits and EPs in the meantime. But is it worth your time?
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Reviews
The Great Old Ones - Tekeli-Li
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Bands that choose to take literary works as the thematic inspiration behind their music can tend be pretty hit or miss. It's an interesting idea, this fusion of artistic mediums, but it's not always executed in a way that makes the music feel relevant to the writing. Fortunately, BM Frenchies The Great Old Ones are proving this year that they know very well how to do just that, and they're doing H.P. Lovecraft proud yet again.
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Reviews
Sinbreed - Shadows
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After a strong debut, Sinbreed have returned with an even better sophomore album. Shadows brings the same manner of speed-power, but with more energy and stronger songwriting to make Sinbreed a band on the rise.
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