So Many albums to review any only me .... 8 new reviews
Musket Hawk- Desolate-CD/Digital ( Unholy Anarchy)
Oh look another in a long line of Crusty Sludge metal bands that love Cavity, Assuck, Spazz and Melvins. Has it finally happened where they are good at what they do but it's just too much of the same. With Musket Hawk I really feel it's all been heard before. Ok this is not going to be a long review if you love Hardcore/ Crusty with a good dose of Noisy Doom then get this . It's not going to change the world but it's a fun listen.
http://www.muskethawk.bandcamp.com/
Darkend- The Canticle of Shadows-CD/ Digital ( Non Serviam )
Symphonic Black/ Death done extremely well. Epic and Melodic with some really vicious riffs and drumming is what I get from the 1st few tracks. This is something that a cut above in production and talent. I hear elements of Rotting Christ, Old Mans Child, Samael and Dimmu Borgir and can really stand with any of them. This is not what I would call modern this has a very late 90's early 00's Orchestral Black metal feel in the way the band is structuring the album. There are some very Bal Sagoth and Sigh moments going on through out this as well. Check it out I will say you will be coloured impressed ..
http://www.non-serviam-records.com/
Wóddréa Mylenstede- Créda Beaducwealm-CD/Digital ( Altare)
To be honest this sounds terrible I know it's being cult like an early 90's black metal demo. But it just sounds like a wall of noises and screaming. If that was the goal then your have hit excellent. I normally live noisy raw reverb filled black metal but this just is being extreme for hype points it feels like. I never understand why you want your band to sound like the mic's were set up in another room and then the band played and there is a wall between you. I'm normally not this upset but this band could be really ass kicking if this horrible production was not here..
Cauchemar- Chapelle arbente- CD/ Digital ( Nuclear War Now!)
This has a very late 80's Doom vibe about it and I can not tell if I love or hate it as I very picky on this sound as this is where that retro/stoner style came from . Cauchemar has elements of bands like St Vitus and Trouble and Count raven.. This band love's the Hellhound label stuff it's very clear. What I don't like is when they get into that Messiah / Candlemass style in vocals. I'm really on the fence on this band. I really have to be in the mood. I think the Mercyful Fate side of the band s what is winning me over as musically they very much have that tone about the band. This super retro though and that doesn't make it bad just makes it sketchy for me.
http://www.nwnprod.com/
Stortregn- Singularity-CD/ Digital ( Non Serviam )
This album had a total kick as classic viking metal intro and then within 10 seconds became At the Gates meets Hypocrisy... I know this is going to be odd because there is a huge Prog element to the band as well is the guitars and way it's arranged. I head elements of bands like Borknagar, Dawn and Ophthalamia.. This is one very interesting band to say the least. You don't often hear these four styles in one band and done well that is another trick that is not easy to pull off. Congrats on both fronts Stortregn. Singularity is a very power sounding record to say the least . As the root of it all though this is a Black/Death album with lots of twists and turns and for that I will be coming back more then a few times to listen.
http://www.non-serviam-records.com/
true Black Dawn- Come the Colorless Dawn- CD/ Digital ( W.T.C Productions)
Finnish Black metal is always extreme, experimental and over the top and why would this album be any different it's not. Are you a fan of stuff that was released on Moonfog, Candlelight, Woodcut and Code666 this is going to be an album you do not want to pass up. There is full on Industrial avant element mix in with nightmarish Black metal as brutal and epic in sound and resound. late 90's Scandinavia is the style of Post Black metal that is being created here. You can hear the fractured mind of the singer in each and every vocal torment out of his month. There is a powerful melody to this over all as well and a war cry at the same time. Check them out as this band does a brilliant job of sucking you into their demonic webs..
Drought-Rudra Bhakti- CD/ Digital ( Avantgarde)
There are bands still in 2016 that from time to time really unsettle my brain with the way the present the music to the listener and when I hear it most times it just gives me the chills in a very good way. Drought is doing that mixing elements of Ritualistic Ambient drones and noises with a love of Occult Black metal. It's not an unknown formula but when done well damn it's takes my breath away. The raw brutality of this band is so amazing I just can not tell you how blown away I am by this band. Drought's style of Black/ Doom is a labor of love. This is not easy to do or create getting that balance of Noise, Harmonies, Nightmares and Bliss all into a riff or track most fail at over and over again. What else can I say other then beyond impressive .
http://avantgardemusic.com/
ASTRAKHAN- Reward in Purpose- CD/ Digital ( War on Music/ Sunmask )
So there are moments you hear bands that check the way you think about music and it just makes you know that people are still out there make music no one has done and this will feed new creative madman for decades to come. Bands/ Artists like Voivod, Porcupine Tree, Arcturus, Devin Townsend, Mike Patton, Ihsahn, Dan swano. You get it. Astrakhan is Post Metal for a world that no longer wants weird and just wants massive, exciting and sounds that will echo through out the galaxy for years to come. The artists above are just a tip of the iceberg where this band is heading. I have a new found respect for heavy music and know that someone has brought us a new sound and flavor that many will copy if they get to hear it and we need as many to hear it as possible so get this album and just be brought into hypnotic spacial sound of hope, the unknown, challenges and the dream of what there is to come one thousand years from now. One of the top 5 albums of 2016 right now for sure..
http://astrakhanofficial.bandcamp.com/
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