12 New Reviews Welcome to 2016 !!!!

NYX- Home- CD/Digtial ( Agonia)

So this  Duo of ladies from Germany are creating some massive  Black Death with a strong melodic and haunting darkness that almost comes into that Post metal realm of understanding. If Crisis were Black metal or if Julie Christmas put together a Black metal band it would sound something very similar to this. It has leanings of old Opera IX as well. I really think NYX has put together a band that is as pissed off as it's emotionally draining. There is a beauty to this that at times is very much just sucked away so you can see the pain and hopeless side of reality. The guitars have this very echoeing effect and the vocals go from Grim and Nightmarish to School girl and innocent sometimes in the same song. The drums are just a wall of war like sounds . This woman can play the drums folks let no one fool you.  What if Babes in toyland were black metal is maybe the best way I would explain this. Myrkur is another band heading in this direction but NYX is much more focused in the vision they are presenting. I know this came out in October but it needs more exposure as this album needs to get out to the world as it's that good. If your a fan of bands like Dawn and Dissection this is a must listen...

http://agoniarecords.com/

One year Delay- Deep Breath- CD/ Digital ( Pavement Records)

What the fuck is this emo punk hardcore metal like wanna be band. It's songs like all those hot topic bands that say they are metal  but really just want to be Alice in chain meets Distrubed??? After just two songs want find a way to erase this album from my mind for all times. The production, songs and ideas of this band must have come from a producer that thought hey Industrial, Hardcore and metal all sell if mixed and let make a 3rd rate Poweman 5000.. Ok I can take no more.....

http://pavementmusic.com/

Vehemence- Assiege- CD/Digital ( De Tenebarum Principio)

Viking and Black metal seem together like eggs and bacon and with Vehemence we has a band that in the mid 90's would have been in league with all the black metal around them from Northen Europe. Vehemence have a very demo recording sound and style and I think it's on purpose as it works well to give that midevial and primitive sound . It has that very No Fashions Records feeling about the whole release and Almost reminds me of bands like Ophthalamia ..  I can not tell if this is a drum machine or not but it works so well with the  vocals and guitar and bass tones. There is a ton of Bathory worship going on here as well. I really impressed with what the band is trying to create as this retro in ways of vocals and tones but they are making the songs very much something their own with  arrangements and how the make the melodics shine through all the raw and proggy movements. Vehemence very very impressive indeed.

http://atmf.net/

Kvltist- Catechesis- CD/ Digital ( W.T.C. Productions)

More Music out of Germany this time we have a suffocation and epic Black metal force that sounds like an army of Satanic nightmares that are coming to you with a message and if you follow them then you will be given eternal splendor in the darkness you have full accepted. I know what I said is way over the top but every thing about this band is just that over the top. If Nile or Incantation were full on Black metal they would be Kvlist there are elements of band like Kvist, Mayhem and D.H.G through out this amazing album . There is a harmony and wonderment about this band that drawns you in and will not let go. The vocals are melodic and gruff all at the same time. The guitars are really what shine for me . The go from clean chorused off key moments to a wall of  raw and blistering tones that sound like they have a dozen guitars layered on each track. This is way all Occult Post Black metal should sound. It truly is other worldly and I can not wait for another round from Kvltist !!!

https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/

Aosoth/ Order of Orias - MLP ( W.T.C Productions)

Aosoth are one of those bands that mere words are just not enough to explain the majesty and power that the band presents to music. The mix elements of Doom, Industrial, Occult, Rituals, Prog Rock and Black metal into something so special that most bands will never achieve that level of originality and this is all in one ten minute track. If Aosoth were a general you would follow them into certain destruction without fail as the music is that all powerful and life altering. You feel every emotion and sensation listening to them.  I think as I have said before they maybe the most complete metal band I've ever heard. So Order of Orias has a very hard lead to follow and I don't think I've ever heard them before but I can tell you this is starting out very promising. I hear musical decay and occult like tones from a band that loves Post Rock and Shoegazing in their Black metal very much. I can see why these two bands have been paired now as they are brother or sisters from the very same cloth a band like Aosoth was bred from. Order of Orias are much darker and sinister in approach as Aosoth come at you from every corner. This is much more punishing in tone and arrangement. Which makes them no less important. They both have that 80/90's Occult metal melody you know the one that bands like Slayer, Celtic Frost and Samael really shined at . This Split MLP is a must own for both artists as these two tracks are some of the best extreme metal I have heard in a while..

https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/

Antimatter- The Judas Table- CD/ Digital (Prophecy Productions)

I'm going to make this brief as by now you should all know who Antimatter is as they have had ex Anathema members in them on and off. Antimatter has gone the same way Anathema , Opeth and even Katatonia have the way of Spacial Prog music mix with Post rock and Metallic elements. This album is as massive and powerful as anything you can listen to. The delicate guitars with powerful solos, warm bass lines, fragile vocals mixed with chorus like moments. and strings and very thought out percussion. This is a concept album to end all concept albums.  There is a large incorperation of electronic and experimental musical sounds as well. If you like the three band I spoke about and are into Gothic elements into your music then The Judas Table maybe one of the albums of the Decades for you. There is so many amazing traits I hear on this album you really just need to submerge yourself into this album and listen to it six or seven times just to touch the surface of the magical journey that is  Antimatter.

http://prophecy.de/

Skindred- Volume-CD/ Digital ( Napalm Records)

I know this is not an album for every one but for my youth this album is a flash back to some bands I just  fucking loved. If you a fan of bands like  24-7 Spies, Orange 9mm, Bad Brains and The Hardcorps this is were all the really Reggae meets Hardcore meets Punk elements came from and SKINDRED has taken these elements and added a groove and power to it to make it fresh and excited for 21st century. This album is just catchy , fun and heavy that makes you want to slam dance on the floor and this can very much be a gateway band to get others into this music and show them the whole world of extreme music they are missing. I really love this album and will continue too. The Dance hall elements really mix amazing with heavy rock and Hardcore elements they create through out the album. So glad Napalm gave this band another home as they are not a major label band they are still too extreme for that world but there are tracks that will draw that world to them and infect them with tones and brutality needed to make some come to the extreme ...

http://napalmrecords.com/

Slomatics- Kalceanna-CD/Digital ( Black Bow Records)

So this is a reissue of earlier material before I can get a new dose of music in 2016. Slomatics are lovely Sludgy, Fuzzed out Doom/Crust music in the footsteps of bands like Eyehategod, Cavity, Buzzoven, Noothgrush and Neurosis. There isn't much more to say then Slomatics are a wall of sonic power , fury and a kick to the face that happens slowly over and over again in wave after wave of aggression and persuasion. This band will not let you go it's gives you moments to take a breath and then comes back at you twice as heavy and slow. The deep tones and relentless way the music is completed is just perfection. More Slomatics and make it as often as possible .

http://www.blackbowrecords.com/

Bastard Grave- What Lies Beyond- CD/ Digital ( Pulverised Records)

All Hail the Swedish Death metal tone . Bastard Grave are the Bastard Child of bands like Emtombed and Dismember and all I can say is amen to that. Love the buzz saw guitar tones, The massive melodies and huge sound of the over all band. This is the way Death metal is suppose to be mixing element of grindcore and doom metal all into something so much bigger then the band itself. Those amazing slow circle pits are created by bands like Bastard grave live.  This is another one of those  war machine Death metal bands. They have that Earache touch of bands like  Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death at times too. If you want a Death metal album that is just going to kick ass and take names look no further are you have it right in front of you. Yes they are worshiping at the altar of a genre of music but they are making it their own and horns up to them for that!!!

http://www.pulverised.net/

AWE-Providentia- CD/ Digital ( Pulveriser Records)

Ethereal Spacial Black metal with a very unsettling Progressive element through out the music. This is Post black metal gone very very avant in style and creation. There is a terrifying feeling that comes from bands like this as they sound like some kind of future where the world have gone very wrong and we may be at the very end of the human race. The vocals are deep and grim and ritualistic in every way. The time changes and complexity of this 3 song album lasting almost any hour is very much the some of the whole. If you are a fan of  Death spell omega or Inquisition then this is going to be a band high on the radar for you. There is a lot going on musically and stylistically . The bass and drums are very very complex in layers and how they are presented on this album. The guitars are more eerie then noisy and they are done in a very chilling manner almost more ambient in tone at times then full on metallic. The synths are filling in the places that need to keep the wall of sound going.  Stunning and Epic are words that fit this band. Check them out or you will be missing out.

http://www.pulverised.net/

Un- The Tomb of all things- CD/ Digital ( Black Bow Records)

Yes Yes Yes  Funeral Doom slow and lumbering and low end majestic sounds from members of Samothrace as well to top it all off. This trio now four piece is making music that brings me back to bands like Thergothon, Unholy, Disembowelment, Evoken, Mournful Congregation, Shape of Dispair and even the Mighty Esoteric. The Boy's in Un understand the power of slow and simple to make an album utterly dark, tormented and epic. The Hypnotic elements of the band are really something that makes it shine as well . Funeral Doom is something that you will always either love or hate there is no middle ground with this genre and for this reviewer I can never get enough good Funeral Doom . Please welcome Un to the roster of top level Funeral doom. Congrats Gentlemen you have truly made a music scene better with this album. By the way James Plotkin of the mighty Khanate and Old mastered this so there is why it sounds so amazingly powerful.

http://www.blackbowrecords.com/

Kauan-Sorni Nai- CD/ Digital ( Blood Music)

From what I have read this was suppose to be one long track and is intended to be listened to this way but was broken up for ease of listener to listen to on CD. Just from the early stages of the album we have something very unlike most. Neoclassic Post Doom music in a very orchestral way of being presented to the listener. If you are into bands like Anathema, Tenhi, Dead can Dance, Dolorian and Ishahn you will come across the just breath taking way this album comes across to the listener. I even hear elements of bands like Ulver, Katatonia, Mid Period Opeth and Dan Swano going on here. There is so many genres , styles , challenges ( Peak and valleys) going on each and every track. There is a band called KLMT 1918 they are very similar too as well. Kauan are equal parts Post rock , Doom, Neoclassical and Goth rock into some them that even reminds me of Mogwai, Caspian, This Empty flow and Canaan. I really can not stop listening to this album.  Sorni Nai is so heavy and powerful without ever really getting aggressive or heavy in the metallic way. Wow just wow. I feel uplifted after listening to this. A Mandatory own from this reviewer !!!

http://www.blood-music.com/