Supporting the freedom of extreme sound since 1998!!! Review edition... 11 new reviews...
Subliminal Fear- Escape from Leviathan- CD/ Digital ( Inverse Records)
These Italians make a very familiar Melodic Death metal sound. If your a fan of that Gothenburg Sound meets some of the more Modern metal-core elements this is very much what you are going to get the mix of clean and growled vocals with a very electro metal and futurist feeling is coming out of the tracks here. I hear a lot if Scar Symmetry, Sonic Syndicate, Dark Tranquility and even Katatonia in this gentlemen. The electronic element is very heavy with sci fi themed synth lines. They do a very interesting " Talk Talk " cover so you know they like their Electro Pop music as well and you can hear it even the more extreme moments. Subliminal Fear are a very good band but they are starting to go the way of bands like Bring me the Horizon and Wovenwar moving away from the extreme to a more melodic experimental style. With being said it's still a very good album just be ready for less extremity. Just as head up as well Guillaume Bideau (Mnemic, One-Way Mirror)Jon Howard (Threat Signal, Arkaea) Lawrence Mackrory (Darkane) also guest on the album.
http://inverse.fi
Isolert- No Hope,No Light ... Only Death - CD/ Digital (Ogmios Underground)
Greek Black metal is nothing new Rotting Christ is a long time master of Greek Black metal and we had a label Unisound that defined a sound with Isolert that are going back to a very classic mix of Classic Thrash, Punk and Noisy lofi Black metal that you would have heard in the mid 90's and sent chills down the spines of those that had never heard the genre before. Isolert really makes me remember again waiting from my packages from Redstream and Osmose Productions and being the guy that was buying paper zine and reading Terrorizer to find out what new was coming. They have a very Swedish meets Greek Black metal sound . There is a strong love of Bathory and Marduk going on here.. The Melody is what weaves the web into not letting you every want to leave listening to this style. You can feel this music and know something inside you tell you this is what you were always looking for but didnt know till you hear it. Isolert keep it going the samples make it all the more wonderfully sinister.
http://www.ogmiosug.fr/
Rhin- Passenger- CD/ Digital ( Grimoire Records)
Noise Rock meets Punk/Hardcore.. Damn it Rhin you got me. If you like bands like Helmet, Fudge tunnel, Playing Enemey and Melvins then we have a band you will be listening to over and over again it's another band bringing back that Touch and go/ Amrep sound and I will never tell anyone to stop that as that sound has always ruled. Esp the Jesus Lizard, Tar, Cows sound... and this is where Rhin is coming from I don't hear the stoner elements unless that are talking about the catchy grooves that are going on through out but that is not unusual in Noise Rock ever. There are uneven elements of bands like Integrity and Deadguy going on.. What else can we say just keep on fucking with the volumes and make your chaos for those of us that need this music and there are many !!!!
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/
Akem Manah- Demons of the Sabbat- CD/ Digital ( Possession Productions)
What do you get when the Drummer of White Zombie and a bassist of Nile come together and release an album nothing like the two former bands they were in .. This is more of an Occult Dark metal band with some very symphonic elements and prog rock feelings. Epic Occult Black/ Death with elements of 70's Prog and Doom/Death if you could mix Skepticism, Incantation, Deinonychus and Aosoth in to one band the results would come to something very similar. There is such a killer slow doomy element to this ritual that could very well be from bands like Sabbath Assembly and Dolorian as well. I was not really ready for this album and is just works so well it's almost as shocking as the 1st time I heard Dissection and or Bolt Thrower and music changed forever for me. Akem Manah is genre and music thought breaking. So glad to have heard this and you need to as well.
https://possessionproductions.bandcamp.com/
Fister/ Teeth- Split- CD/ Digital ( Broken Limbs)
1st up is Fister and hell ya is all I have to say this is Blackened Sludge Doom in all the way I love it . Part Buzzoven, Damad, Noothgrush and Melvins all in a soup of sonic hatred and nightmarish tones that groove a bit at times and then just come to knock you the fuck out with a wall of guitars, bass rumbles, tormented vocals an arsenal of punk/hardcore drums moments. There is very much a Nola and Socal Crust and Doom thing going on with Fister just embrace it. Teeth come from much or of a Black Doom Death side of things.. They very much love bands like Incantation, Ceremonium , Womb and Disenbowlment.. There is a much more caustic feeling with Teeth. Where I would say the Noise and Hardcore not Sludge and Crust come into play and they like the much more black metal vocal approach to what is going on. I could hear Teeth on Southern lord or 20 buck spin. Where Fister is a Pessimister, Hydrahead, Magicbullet or Bacterica Sour kind of release. Both come from a common thread and then make the style very much their own.
http://www.brokenlimbsrecordings.net/
Invehertex- Hacia el Vortice- CD/ Digital ( Signal Rex)
Another band from Chile and this time out what I hear from Invehertex is some of the most experimental side of Black metal . If you were to just put a label on the music and be done with it I would say Atmospheric Post Black noise with a very avant / prog metal over tone as this album is 78 minutes long and two of the tracks are over 20 mins of just violence spewing from the speakers. The vocals are thoses of nightmarish dreams you can't escape the music is reverbing and looping into almost a full on ambient noise melt down the drumming is from controlled to just a wall of snares being hit as fast as possible. Invehertex is a mix of nonsense , beauty, pain and torment all at the same and different moments. You really can have all of these things going on at the same time on a track and then it can go to something much more minimalist and challenging. Signal Rex is one of those labels in 2016 that refuses to be pigeon holed to genre and style and that make we really want to listen to everything that put the seal of approval on. Invehertex you are the next important band on this label congrats.
http://signalrex.com/
Blood Ages- Godless Sandborn- CD/ Digital (Mighty Music)
Death metal with an ethnic flavor can be very hit or miss some do it very well like Salem, Orphaned land, Nile, Arkan etc and well Blood Ages are aligned with those forces as there is a very Oriental Death metal overtone gone here. They are a bit more grooved in sound and presentation. This band is very much what I feel is a mix of Nile meets Orphanage . Really liking what I'm hearing . The Blast beats and guttural vocals work well with the heavy riff-age in a death metal style. There are moments where Blood ages loves those Orphaned land intro and outro as well. Mighty music the biggest plus is the great full and think production where you can really hear all of the band nothing is buried or muddy. Though there is clearly a brutally that is full on with Blood ages and it works very very well. Even the artwork is stunning and plays off brilliantly with the bands sounds and ideals . This France band has a very bright future and we as metal fans need to spread the word about Blood ages...
http://mightymusic.dk
Lucifer's Hammer- Beyond the Omens- CD/ Digital ( Shadow Kingdom)
I know many are going love this classic Power metal meets Traditional thrash metal sound but it just is too much of that Iron Maiden meets Diamondhead vibe going on for me. I did love this sound in the late 80's and early 90's but now it's just like a lost Metallica or something bands like Feg Slough really do better. I know I'm pissing off many of you. The band is very tight and talented and can play the hell out of the songs but it's all been done so many times before even the bands that sounded like this have experimented and moved on to new directions. I'm just going to have to say enough is enough..
http://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com/
Ygfan-Kod- CD/Digital ( A Sad sadness song)
Just from the beginning moments of "Kod" I know where this thought provoking album is going to head down . This is Black gaze metal in the mighty of orders, For those new to that term that mix of Shoegazing, Black metal and Post Rock and know many of the bands that do this kind of thing, Alcest, Dornenreich, An Autumn for crippled children and Deafheaven etc.. The music is solem, heartfelt, dark in a gothic and indie rock way. The tones are very hollow with a lot of reverb and very grim and sung vocals overlaying through out the tracks. There is an endless feeling of loss and hopelessness to the music but a haunting melody that won't leave you. Some call this Suicide metal but I feel it's with a bit more introspection that Blackgaze bands come from. For some of us this music is very healing and theraputic and works to help us release this sorrow and madness from the minds where it's trapped. Ygfan is a uber impressive band and love the very coldwave elements that bands like Katatonia used mixed in as well to make this a very very special release.
http://www.atmf.net/
Iron Mountain- Unum- CD/ Digital ( Prophecy Production)
There will be times when words are just not going to paint the picture of a band and what the music does to you mentally and physically. Iron Mountain are about to take you on that journey if you take the time to listen. I know there are many Post Rock bands out there but very few mix elements of Celtic folk, Bluegrass and Delta Blues into a sound that is just about as inspiring as any album I've heard in the last 20 yrs. Yes it's instrumental and this what makes it's all the more satisfying is the fragile and dense nature of the music that comes an goes through out the album the strings and percussion are along close to perfection here. Most of the tracks are 9 plus minutes and at the end you feel they are too short and are longing for more. Iron Mountain truly creates anthems for a people that need to get back to the days of old and want these to be simpler and more tribal and family based. You can feel the forefathers ideals and spirits through out each and every track . Again words will just open the door for this band you need to walk in and explore these sounds..
http://prophecy.de/
Glorior Belli- The Flock that welcomes Sundown- CD/ Digital (Agonia)
Words again they are just emotional keys to unlock a feeling that a band gives you . As everyone will hear and feel something a bit different from the way it reacts to your aural intake. With Glorior Belli on the new " Sundown" album I hear the following Atmospheric Post Black Doom. Music like this is so very power and mystical that it will bring something to the minds of all tht listen to it wether it's the light or dark that is up to you as Glorior Belli travels in both spectrum all the time with the massive sounds they create. This is still always that dirty bluesy / dirge element in the music they create and it's not from a pact with the devil . This is something your soul is born with and you can not lose it once it's released. This is a huge release for Glorior as I really feel this is the album where all the styles you hear on earlier releases come together into something that is very much all their own and Glorior Belli have become the masters of their own destiny with this release. Can they keep this Fury, Passion and complexity who knows as I think Glorior Belli are about the moment and that is the sound they are projecting. Surrounding is the fuel to the creative force for them.
http://agoniarecords.com/
http://inverse.fi
Isolert- No Hope,No Light ... Only Death - CD/ Digital (Ogmios Underground)
Greek Black metal is nothing new Rotting Christ is a long time master of Greek Black metal and we had a label Unisound that defined a sound with Isolert that are going back to a very classic mix of Classic Thrash, Punk and Noisy lofi Black metal that you would have heard in the mid 90's and sent chills down the spines of those that had never heard the genre before. Isolert really makes me remember again waiting from my packages from Redstream and Osmose Productions and being the guy that was buying paper zine and reading Terrorizer to find out what new was coming. They have a very Swedish meets Greek Black metal sound . There is a strong love of Bathory and Marduk going on here.. The Melody is what weaves the web into not letting you every want to leave listening to this style. You can feel this music and know something inside you tell you this is what you were always looking for but didnt know till you hear it. Isolert keep it going the samples make it all the more wonderfully sinister.
http://www.ogmiosug.fr/
Rhin- Passenger- CD/ Digital ( Grimoire Records)
Noise Rock meets Punk/Hardcore.. Damn it Rhin you got me. If you like bands like Helmet, Fudge tunnel, Playing Enemey and Melvins then we have a band you will be listening to over and over again it's another band bringing back that Touch and go/ Amrep sound and I will never tell anyone to stop that as that sound has always ruled. Esp the Jesus Lizard, Tar, Cows sound... and this is where Rhin is coming from I don't hear the stoner elements unless that are talking about the catchy grooves that are going on through out but that is not unusual in Noise Rock ever. There are uneven elements of bands like Integrity and Deadguy going on.. What else can we say just keep on fucking with the volumes and make your chaos for those of us that need this music and there are many !!!!
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/
Akem Manah- Demons of the Sabbat- CD/ Digital ( Possession Productions)
What do you get when the Drummer of White Zombie and a bassist of Nile come together and release an album nothing like the two former bands they were in .. This is more of an Occult Dark metal band with some very symphonic elements and prog rock feelings. Epic Occult Black/ Death with elements of 70's Prog and Doom/Death if you could mix Skepticism, Incantation, Deinonychus and Aosoth in to one band the results would come to something very similar. There is such a killer slow doomy element to this ritual that could very well be from bands like Sabbath Assembly and Dolorian as well. I was not really ready for this album and is just works so well it's almost as shocking as the 1st time I heard Dissection and or Bolt Thrower and music changed forever for me. Akem Manah is genre and music thought breaking. So glad to have heard this and you need to as well.
https://possessionproductions.bandcamp.com/
Fister/ Teeth- Split- CD/ Digital ( Broken Limbs)
1st up is Fister and hell ya is all I have to say this is Blackened Sludge Doom in all the way I love it . Part Buzzoven, Damad, Noothgrush and Melvins all in a soup of sonic hatred and nightmarish tones that groove a bit at times and then just come to knock you the fuck out with a wall of guitars, bass rumbles, tormented vocals an arsenal of punk/hardcore drums moments. There is very much a Nola and Socal Crust and Doom thing going on with Fister just embrace it. Teeth come from much or of a Black Doom Death side of things.. They very much love bands like Incantation, Ceremonium , Womb and Disenbowlment.. There is a much more caustic feeling with Teeth. Where I would say the Noise and Hardcore not Sludge and Crust come into play and they like the much more black metal vocal approach to what is going on. I could hear Teeth on Southern lord or 20 buck spin. Where Fister is a Pessimister, Hydrahead, Magicbullet or Bacterica Sour kind of release. Both come from a common thread and then make the style very much their own.
http://www.brokenlimbsrecordings.net/
Invehertex- Hacia el Vortice- CD/ Digital ( Signal Rex)
Another band from Chile and this time out what I hear from Invehertex is some of the most experimental side of Black metal . If you were to just put a label on the music and be done with it I would say Atmospheric Post Black noise with a very avant / prog metal over tone as this album is 78 minutes long and two of the tracks are over 20 mins of just violence spewing from the speakers. The vocals are thoses of nightmarish dreams you can't escape the music is reverbing and looping into almost a full on ambient noise melt down the drumming is from controlled to just a wall of snares being hit as fast as possible. Invehertex is a mix of nonsense , beauty, pain and torment all at the same and different moments. You really can have all of these things going on at the same time on a track and then it can go to something much more minimalist and challenging. Signal Rex is one of those labels in 2016 that refuses to be pigeon holed to genre and style and that make we really want to listen to everything that put the seal of approval on. Invehertex you are the next important band on this label congrats.
http://signalrex.com/
Blood Ages- Godless Sandborn- CD/ Digital (Mighty Music)
Death metal with an ethnic flavor can be very hit or miss some do it very well like Salem, Orphaned land, Nile, Arkan etc and well Blood Ages are aligned with those forces as there is a very Oriental Death metal overtone gone here. They are a bit more grooved in sound and presentation. This band is very much what I feel is a mix of Nile meets Orphanage . Really liking what I'm hearing . The Blast beats and guttural vocals work well with the heavy riff-age in a death metal style. There are moments where Blood ages loves those Orphaned land intro and outro as well. Mighty music the biggest plus is the great full and think production where you can really hear all of the band nothing is buried or muddy. Though there is clearly a brutally that is full on with Blood ages and it works very very well. Even the artwork is stunning and plays off brilliantly with the bands sounds and ideals . This France band has a very bright future and we as metal fans need to spread the word about Blood ages...
http://mightymusic.dk
Lucifer's Hammer- Beyond the Omens- CD/ Digital ( Shadow Kingdom)
I know many are going love this classic Power metal meets Traditional thrash metal sound but it just is too much of that Iron Maiden meets Diamondhead vibe going on for me. I did love this sound in the late 80's and early 90's but now it's just like a lost Metallica or something bands like Feg Slough really do better. I know I'm pissing off many of you. The band is very tight and talented and can play the hell out of the songs but it's all been done so many times before even the bands that sounded like this have experimented and moved on to new directions. I'm just going to have to say enough is enough..
http://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com/
Ygfan-Kod- CD/Digital ( A Sad sadness song)
Just from the beginning moments of "Kod" I know where this thought provoking album is going to head down . This is Black gaze metal in the mighty of orders, For those new to that term that mix of Shoegazing, Black metal and Post Rock and know many of the bands that do this kind of thing, Alcest, Dornenreich, An Autumn for crippled children and Deafheaven etc.. The music is solem, heartfelt, dark in a gothic and indie rock way. The tones are very hollow with a lot of reverb and very grim and sung vocals overlaying through out the tracks. There is an endless feeling of loss and hopelessness to the music but a haunting melody that won't leave you. Some call this Suicide metal but I feel it's with a bit more introspection that Blackgaze bands come from. For some of us this music is very healing and theraputic and works to help us release this sorrow and madness from the minds where it's trapped. Ygfan is a uber impressive band and love the very coldwave elements that bands like Katatonia used mixed in as well to make this a very very special release.
http://www.atmf.net/
Iron Mountain- Unum- CD/ Digital ( Prophecy Production)
There will be times when words are just not going to paint the picture of a band and what the music does to you mentally and physically. Iron Mountain are about to take you on that journey if you take the time to listen. I know there are many Post Rock bands out there but very few mix elements of Celtic folk, Bluegrass and Delta Blues into a sound that is just about as inspiring as any album I've heard in the last 20 yrs. Yes it's instrumental and this what makes it's all the more satisfying is the fragile and dense nature of the music that comes an goes through out the album the strings and percussion are along close to perfection here. Most of the tracks are 9 plus minutes and at the end you feel they are too short and are longing for more. Iron Mountain truly creates anthems for a people that need to get back to the days of old and want these to be simpler and more tribal and family based. You can feel the forefathers ideals and spirits through out each and every track . Again words will just open the door for this band you need to walk in and explore these sounds..
http://prophecy.de/
Glorior Belli- The Flock that welcomes Sundown- CD/ Digital (Agonia)
Words again they are just emotional keys to unlock a feeling that a band gives you . As everyone will hear and feel something a bit different from the way it reacts to your aural intake. With Glorior Belli on the new " Sundown" album I hear the following Atmospheric Post Black Doom. Music like this is so very power and mystical that it will bring something to the minds of all tht listen to it wether it's the light or dark that is up to you as Glorior Belli travels in both spectrum all the time with the massive sounds they create. This is still always that dirty bluesy / dirge element in the music they create and it's not from a pact with the devil . This is something your soul is born with and you can not lose it once it's released. This is a huge release for Glorior as I really feel this is the album where all the styles you hear on earlier releases come together into something that is very much all their own and Glorior Belli have become the masters of their own destiny with this release. Can they keep this Fury, Passion and complexity who knows as I think Glorior Belli are about the moment and that is the sound they are projecting. Surrounding is the fuel to the creative force for them.
http://agoniarecords.com/
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