New reviews 1/08/2011


ElvenKing- Red Silent Tides-CD (AFM Records)

Holy brilliant Power metal Batman... ElvenKing are catchy, melodic, metallic and harmonious on level that very few Power Metal bands can ever achieve. The orchestral elements just made it all the more special to listen to. This reminds me so much of Rhapsody meets Blind Guardian with heavy dose of  King X thrown in for good measure. The vocalist of ElvenKing as such an amazing voice good god. Damna is his name and he sound like a cross between a Young Sebastian Back mixed with Zack Stevens (Ex Satavage) now Circle to Circle. Who this band reminds me a lot of. ElvenKing I want to see you live has you maybe the best Hardrock/ Power Metal force I've heard in a good long time. Love live bands like this ...




PALE CHALICE-Afflicting the Dichotomy of Trepid Creation-CD (The Flenser)
Blackened Post Metal with a heavy Avant theme going on here the vocals are tortured and slightly mad but it works with the chaos, cold melodies and nightmarish overtones that are going on all at once here. If you like old school Black metal mixed with bands like Code and Borknagar then you have something very close to where Pale Chalice have come to. The manic drumming and the thin and crisp guitar tones almost be the early Burzum or even Satyricon feel. The Black ambiance that surrounds the tracks is what makes it all the more engaging of a listen. I know very little about this band or the label they are on. As each track comes through I just want to hear more and that all I need to know that I want more . Though is only four tracks they are all longer and make it a long EP but still Ep... I can not wait for more but please take you time to craft is as well as this one....
theflenser.com



Evergrey- Glorious Collision-CD (SPV Records)

If you have even breathed metal for a moment you must know who Evergrey are as the are classic example of  Epic Dark Power Metal with majestic vocals , soaring guitars, lush and delicate  Synth/Pianos movements and the harmonies and complexities that make Power Metal one of the best forms of classic metal still out there today. Listen to those guitar solos  they made me think of Steve Vai and Slash in they way they are so tastefully presented in each track. I sometimes miss they days of arena metal or hard rock and this is just what the doctor has ordered. Evergrey remind me a lot of bands like  Metal Church or Badlands in they way the structure the metal they create its more a theatre of the mind and ebb and flow of whats going on. SPV you have a huge winner here for me.




Necronoclast-Ashes-CD (Moribund Cult)

Scotlands Black Industrial Doom force is back with the vengeance that one could have only hoped for. There love of Dolorian, Ancient Wisdom and Deinonychus is all one really needs to make an album of Blackened Molasses like perfection then around the next corner bludgeons you with speed and harsh wall of hateful noise. I will say Ashes has a bit of a more dark metal element this time out where bands like Shining (Sweden) and Bethlehem come into play with the over all tone of the music. There is a Sickness and Bleak tone to  Ashes that makes Suicide almost like a lesser way to take yourself out of this mortal coil.  The Atmosphere on Ashes is second to none and love the slow and lumbering synths that envelope the the production in a fog of hypnotic aural combat. This one man force just get better and more interesting as he mature and has found the base of where Nerconoclast needs no where he has to be.. 


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