Even in Darkness there is light Edition of Reviews from your Friends at Absolute Zero Media...

In The Woods- Pure- CD/ Digital ( D.M.P )

Going on two decades since " Strange and stereo" an album that was  very much an Avant  Heavy Prog record and now a new front man but the core song writing team of the  Botteri Brothers and  drummer Anders Kobro .. With Pure the band  has returned to a Darker more  Doom meets Post  metal vibe . There are those haunting melodies but much heavier and aggressive again like Heart of Ages Meets Omnio . Don't be mistaken for a second that spacey prog rock element is gone is just mixed into the deeper and sinister sounds that are coming from the album as whole. The Death vocals that are back in the mix really to make the album feel more like a Journey in to Norway's  Doom and Death metal past. Any if you have not heard In the Woods before you can listen to any one of the full length albums and  clearly know it's the  and your listening they have a defined sound.  Now 21 yrs since In the heart of the ages the  Botteri Brothers have really incorporated all the albums into something familiar and yet oddly different enough to wonder where the band will head next.  I think it's the doomy moment that really stand out it reminds me of bands like My Dying Bride, Katatonia , Paradise Lost and Anathema in that Peaceville vibe and truly lays the foundation for this very challenging undertaking in 2016..

http://www.debemur-morti.com/

All Your Sisters- Uncomfortable Skin- CD/ Digital ( The Flenser )

The album as it starts has a very dark industrial opening and then as we move to the next track we going into a very Coldwave/ Goth/ Indie Rock moment almost something that is a cross between Sebadoh , Sonic youth and Joy Division. The dissonance that this album is creating is like a tension that even the sharpest knife could not fully cut through. The off kilter guitars, electro drums and warm pulsing bass lines really have that 80's  Goth rock vibe in full effect. If you like  bands like  Six Finger Satellites, Green Magnet School , Band of Susan's and  Head of  David .. This album is really stunningly well done and grabs your attention with is out of center style and tones. There is a Dark and Heavy element to this that will draw in Industrial rockers as well as Goths and  Art rock fans. I didnt know what to expect with  All your sisters but at the end of the day I'm much better after then before..

http://theflenser.com/

In Slaughter Natives- Ventre- CD/ Digital ( Cyclic Law)

Industrial music can be many things Voyeuristic , Occult, Painful , Haunting, Visionary , Oppressive, Expansive and just Avant at times . With Ventre you are going into the darker less clear side of the militaristic and occult side of this world. An album like this not just a simple journey into the realms of a fractured mind. It's a case study of what solitude, sinister thoughts and the understanding that we are not the only creatures occupying the same space at the same time. The point being this is some heavy out there type of shit.  I will call this epic and bombastic as well. Industrial music like this is to be explored and experienced never to be left to whimsy or chance. Stellar album from a label that impresses far more then fails.. We need more like this and of this quality.

http://www.cycliclaw.com/

Korgonthurus- Vuohen Siunaus- CD/ Digital ( Woodcut )

Are you fans of the  Black metal horde known as Horna . Then you should know this is the 2nd album by ex front man Corvus . What do you think your getting here as you maybe a bit surprised and This is Raw and  Dirty and Grim as it has Doomy , Prog and Post Metallic element as well. The one thing no one will fight over is this is one pissed off sounding release the vocals are so filled with hate and madness you would swear he is being tortured while recording the very album were are listening too. Just musically at times there is a folksy and hopeful feeling to it's over all sound. This is a black metal album coming from two very opposite sides of the spectrum to meet and meld into something rather interesting..

http://www.woodcutrecords.com/

Blood Incantation- Starspawn- CD/ Digital ( Dark Descent )

There is something going on within Death metal and it's two very different camps . One is reliving the 90's with a very retro and brutal sound album . Then we come to were bands like Blood Incantation are they are mixing  Prog and Tech metal with Doom metal tone to make a Futuristic and almost a Voivod of  Death metal as its has a very Sci fi over tone yet mixing all the tone and riffage you want from a Death Doom Metal band. This album is massive in sound and presentation and you can hear even the more primitive and raw elements mixed in with such care to make this an album of grandiose proportions . Time's in one life you will remember when you heard a band that broke stylistic and genre boundaries to make something all their own and Blood Incantation have truly just doing that with " Starspawn"...

http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/

Warfather- The Grey Eminence- CD/ Digital ( Greyhaze )

Steve Tucker a name any Death metal fan should know as he fronted Morbid Angel for several years when David Vincent left and now is fronting Morbid Angel again. Well Warfather is the output we have gotten from Steve while he was out of Morbid angel .. Oh and surprise Steve mixes all the best parts of  Morbid Angel, Brutality, Deicide,  Bolt thrower and Incantation into a blender and smacks us with a Catchy, Heavy, Dark and Technical Death metal album that sounds just like you want great death metal to sound. Its not blistering fast and that is what adds to the fury and power to the production of the album. It's the mid tempo Death metal that has always drawn me to it.  This could sit next to any one of the top tier Death bands or the labels they released it on and match it for talent and just greatness. I hope Warfather continues even though Steve is back in Morbid angel as it that different that both can survive and make the fans around it better for it .

 Oh and  Hate Eternal mastermind  Erik Rutan Produced and played on the album.

http://www.greyhazerecords.com/