2012

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    Kaos – Validated in Blood (2012)

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    Kaos, the Bay Area’s most underrated Thrash Metal band is finally back with five high-octane tracks that deliver the powerful message that the band needs a shot at the big leagues: ASAP. In “Validated in Blood” the band maintains their top notch form from their previous release “The Pits of Existence”, and delivers a very intense and powerful release.

    Opening with the pummeling “United We Kill”, the riff machine immediately starts and keeps things soaring high for the remainder of this release. Besides the killer riffing, Jason Darnell’s vocals are top notch, perfectly blending with the band’s aggressive music. The percussions in this song are excellent and the individual guitar work in the solos is top notch, something that many bands fail to put attention to, showcasing the abilities of Stacey Murray and Steve Brumbaugh.

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    Inside the Fall - …As Life Withers (2012)

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    Arriving all the way from Spain, today we have Inside the Fall’s debut EP titled “…As Life Withers”. Keeping the Death/Doom flame alive, Inside the Fall does an excellent job in crafting five emotional tracks that feature all the elements fans love about the genre. We are huge fans of Death/Doom and this release is one of the best we have received so far this year.

    Opening with the highly energetic “Highest Walls of Despair”, Inside the Fall shows their skill in creating a good riffing structure with emphasis on melody, but keeping the Doom characteristics that we all know and love. The growls are very powerful and nicely thrown into the mix, there are a few vocal layering elements that add extra depth to the song. Mixing clean and harsh vocals the ‘doom passage’ in this track is very well mixed into the track.

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    Teramaze – AnhedoniA (2012)

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    Delivering some of the most uninspired music we have heard in quite a while, today we have Australia’s Teramaze and their latest full-length “AnhedoniA”. Mixing Progressive elements with a Modern Metal foundation, this band fails to evoke any emotions or sympathy for this release due to the blandness and repetitive nature of their music.

    With 11 tracks, “AnhedoniA” is one of those releases that no matter how many times you play it, it always blends in the background due to its unexciting nature. The band indeed has musical skills since the guitar work and the drumming are well executed, but the linearity of the music and vocals totally kills this release for us.

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    Hemina – Synthetic (2012)

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    After getting and reviewing a ton of Black and Thrash Metal albums, it is quite refreshing to hear some Progressive Metal. Australia’s Hemina delivers their debut full-length release “Synthetic” through Nightmare Records. While the band wins almost no points for originality, this release is quite pleasing to hear for fans of Dream Theater, Ayreon, Pain of Salvation and such bands.

    Opening with warm-up and traditional intro track, the album gets in full swing with “To Conceive a Plan”. Featuring lush keyboards and excellent guitar work, this song is very mellow and nicely sets the mood for the musical experience that lies ahead. Clocking around 11 minutes, this song nicely showcases the band’s musical abilities and their excellent songwriting skills. The guitars are very well crafted and emotional, the drums are tights and well placed, and the vocals are pretty standard for such a release.

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    Ides of Gemini – Constantinople (2012)

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    While we wait for ages for Jex Thoth to finally record a new album, now we have a suitable complement to her particular brand of Psychedelic Doom Metal that we all crave: Ides of Gemini and their latest release “Constantinople”. Out in late May 2012 via Neurot Recordings, “Constantinople” is a very dark release that will haunt your dreams with the mysterious vocals of Sera Timms and Kelly Johnston.

    At a first glance, the opening of this release with “The Vessel & The Stake” gives you a Cascadian Black Metal impression, but this is nicely shaped into a minimalist droning Doom Metal sound that will hook you immediately. The simplicity of the music and the reverb on the guitars is just enough to provide a dark atmosphere that surrounds Sera and Kelly’s vocals. The similarities to Jex Thoth are undeniable, but Ides of Gemini keeps things more simple and tight.

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    69 Chambers – Torque (2012)

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    Making its way from Switzerland, today we have the 69 Chambers and their sophomore full-length release “Torque”. With almost 65 minutes of catchy and well-crafted Gothic Rock with an emphasis of the rock side of things, this band delivers a quite enjoyable release that will surely grab the attention of fans of female-fronted bands.

    Led by the multi-talented (and super-hot) Nina Treml, 69 Chambers does a great job in combining catchiness with groovy guitars and a very healthy sense of melody, something that bands with longer careers struggle with. The opener “Cause and Effect” features none other than Chrigel Glanzmann of Eluveitie on backing vocals, making this song very aggressive and well rounded. Nina’s vocals are quite enchanting and straight forwards, no need for any soprano crap here.

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    Vorkreist - Sigil Whore Christ (2012)

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    Exploiting a sick and twisted approach to Black Metal, today we have France’s Vorkreist and their latest opus “Sigil Whore Christ”. In this release the band delivers over 45 minutes of deranged Black Metal in the vein of fellow countrymen Peste Noire minus the extreme use Avant-garde elements.

    The album opens with the punishing riffing of “De Imitatione Christi” a piece that sounds very similar to a track on the latest Peste Noire release. With such a commanding guitar work and demonic vocals, the release quickly follows with the massive “Maledicte” and its brutal combination of shrieks and growls and deranged mourns, something that Shinning or similar BM bands would do.

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    Winters Verge – Beyond Vengeance (2012)

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    Today we have Cyprus very own Winters Verge delivering one of the most impressive Power Metal releases of 2012 with “Beyond Vengeance”. The band nicely provides a worthy follower to their very well crafted 2010 release “Tales of Tragedy”, with more intricate and more bombastic songs that nicely explore the band’s rich sound and dramatic take on the genre.

    Since the opening piece “Cunning Lullabies”, Winters Verge delivers intelligently crafted music that is both catchy and powerful: the perfect combination in Power Metal. The keyboards are very dramatic and the overall riffing of this track is very dynamic, making it a truly delightful listening experience. With the very traditional “Paper is Blank”, the band shows that they can make old-school sounding songs with their modern and fresh edge. The vocals of George Charalambous are just outstanding and make this song even more magical.

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    Catamenia – The Rewritten Chapters (2012)

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    In the current age of remakes and rehashes of anything from TV shows, Movies, and comics, it was about time to have a re-recording of some sort. Catamenia delivers 15 re-recordings of many of their hits, and having nine full-length releases under their belt makes it a daunting task to pick the songs that are worthy of the band’s newer Blackened Heavy/Melodic Metal sound.

    With a few new band members as well, the band rips open this release with the powerful “Hollow Out – ChaosBorn” from their 2003 “Chaos Born” album. Immediately showing their strength, this song is very riff intensive and with a brutal combination of growls and shrieks, it just sounds amazing. The signature Catamenia sound is ever present, but the more clean and modern edge to their recent releases also seeps into the older songs in a very effective way. “Blackmension” from “Eternal Winter's Prophecy” follows and keeps the intensity of this release very high, the keyboards particularly shine in this great song.

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    Vowels - Hooves, Leaves & the Death/As December Nightingales (2012)

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    Dark, cavernous and emotionally intense are the first few words that come to mind when describing the first full-length release of Italy’s Vowels titled “Hooves, Leaves & the Death/As December Nightingales”. In this six track release the band expand on their Avant-Garde Black Metal sound with some experimentation with Post-Black Metal and Ambient elements and in turn deliver one of the darkest and most depressing releases we have heard in quite a while.

    Opening with “Wolves Eating the Sun”, the band combines the uniqueness of Arcturus with the crushing Doom elements of bands like Ufomammut. After the Post-Rock-ish opening, the wall of distorted guitars makes it was and combines harsh screams with some well-placed clean vocals. The riffing is your traditional BM style, but with a muffled distortion that makes it more crushing. This is truly the first time we hear all of these elements nicely combined into one devastating track.

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