4 roads crossing into a bleak and perplexing path enjoy...

RacheEngel -Ascheregen-CD/Digital  ( Self  Released )

One man  Extreme metal bands are not  anything out of ordinary these days  but with this  german project  Patrick Gajda is mixing gothic and Alt metal elements into the mix as well. This sounds more like a well done  Demo then a proper album . As if this was made to attract label attention. Though as I read this is  the 5th album in a 15 yr career . I would like the Bass line to be less in the front for one but over all the melodic  death and  doom metal mixed with some of the more  gothic elements really are  catchy and work rather well.  The vocals are rather clean and folky in the over all presentation.  The  Piano's really create an atmosphere where the band pulls from. This is at the core of it all a  Melodic Death metal band with Viking , Folk and Doom flares. The growled vocals really take this band to a better place. You can hear  that is is very much a German metal just in the way it's arranged as that very Dark Neoclassic with hits of  heavy power metal really shine  through. I would say if this a shot and see what you think .

http://www.rache-engel.net/

Green Druid- Ashen Blood- CD/ Digital ( Earache Records)

Maybe its me but I love female fronted Dirgy Sludge doom but the moment it gets that retro Sabbath, St Vitus and  Mid Period Cathedral sound all these band lose me . Why to they all need to sound like a late 70's fuzzed out doom rock unit . Even Electric Wizard knew it was time to add new elements and not live in the bong cloud of what will be just another band in a long line to copy and clone what was already done to death. Ok I'm really just done with a band like this .If it's your cup of tea then enjoy for me this is becoming more maddening by the second.

http://earacherecords.com/

Blood of the wolf - II: Campaign of Extermination- CD/ Digital ( Self Released )

Ok enough with all this  shit there is just something about  Black /Death Metal that does it for me. The cold  melodies, the brutal vocals and the over all Bombastic meets experimental movements that really just  get my blood moving . This is Marduk, Incantation and  Dissection all mix into one with some really heavy tech death moments. I love the way the songs build and crash all through out the album and make me hear some very Viking metal elements at times too. Blood of the wolf is really bad ass I would say the have some killer Immolation and early Satyricon sounds going on through out.  This is an album not to miss.

http://bloodofthewolf.bandcamp.com/

Agrimonia- Awaken-CD/ Digital/LP  ( Southern Lord)

Blackened Post Metal is really what sums up the parts of the whole what I hear . I really love the Tortured Vocal approach with a mix of Sludge, Hardcore, Doom and Black metal into something that is as mysterious as it is lush and beautiful . The haunting melodies and extreme darkness and pain one can feel from a band like this is what makes it so damn special. There is a power and fury going on here  that many bands will not even attempt to approach or reach for . I hear bands like Moonspell, Amorphis, Shining  and Septic Flesh in what is being created here. over all a stunning win of an album and a must listen for this reviewer.

http://southernlord.com/