2013

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    Carcass – Surgical Steel (2013)

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    Having waited since 1996 for this, we are quite impressed on how Carcass manages to bring back their best sound from the “Heartwork” and “Necroticism” and give it a certain modern kick. While fans of the band’s early material (“Reek of Putrefaction” and “Symphonies of Sickness”) will keep on hating for the band’s more ‘mellow’ music, anybody that got over this on the course of the last 20 years should definitely enjoy “Surgical Steel”. Jeff Walker and Billy Steer manage to keep the Carcass legacy intact with this excellent album.

    The opener “1985” gives us a 70 second window into the riffing onslaught that this release will unleash upon the listeners. As “Thrasher’s Abattoir” blasts away, we are immediately immersed into the Carcass sound that we all love: Melodic/Thrash-y Death Metal at its finest. With the band being a huge catalyst for bands back in the 90’s to try new things and re-define the genre, they manage to capture that timeless sound and packaged with an up-to-date production and mixing.

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    Unshine – Dark Half Rising (2013)

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    The underrated Unshine finally returns in 2013 with “Dark Half Rising”, the band’s latest full-length release. Featuring a very traditional and polished Gothic Metal sound, this band delivers 11 tracks filled with lush female vocals and excellent melodic arrangements. Always focusing on a commanding guitar-driven sound, this band reminds us of the Gothic Metal wave of the early 90’s when the songs sounded natural and never overburdened with extreme orchestrations.

    The Finnish band opens this album with a very mellow and medieval sounding track titled “Nadja's Wailing About Coming Of The Frost”. After setting the mood with the opener, “The Oath To Wilderness Of Unredeemed Nature” brings the first wave of catchy riffs surrounded by lush keyboards with a very organic and compact feeling to them. Led by Susanna Vesilahti’s vocals, tracks like “Arduinna” and “Spellbinder” are very engaging and feature tons of expertly crafted vocal melodies, reminiscent of early days of After Forever and Amberian Dawn.

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    Dichotomy – Paradigms (2013)

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    Hailing from Ireland, today we have a killer Melodic/Technical Death Metal band that leaves aside (most) of the Core influences and manages to sound more like Death and Carcass than all the other Technical DM bands these days. Delivering eight pummeling tracks, “Paradigms” is a very impressive debut full-length than if it wasn’t for the subpar vocals, it would be one of the best Tech-DM releases of 2013.

    Opening with the mellow instrumental track “Empyrean”, the band immediately gets down to business with the hectic “The Sentient Oppressed”. The guitar work is fast and precise with a crushing melodic vibe that nicely picks up the pace and complements the vocals. While not the best combination of growls and screams, the band does a decent job in delivering fast and brutal sections like on the devastating “All – Seeing Eye”.

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    Throne of Heresy – Realms of Desecration (2013)

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    With a killer Swedish Death Metal sound, today we have Sweden’s (duh) Throne of Heresy and their 2013 EP titled “Realms of Desecration”. With most of today’s bands playing Death Metal with Metalcore or Groove influences, it is quite refreshing to get this release that features a timeless sound bringing back memories of the greats of the genre like Grave, early Entombed and some elements of Unleashed.

    The release opens with the commanding “Morning Star”. Since the first riff you get that Swedish DM vibe that will make you start headbanging almost immediately. The melodic closing for this track is a nice change of things and will surely leave you a bit puzzled but it is excellently crafted. “Spawn of Atrocity” delivers more sheer riffing power, paired with precise drumming and quite typical growls, a very Grave-esque track if we had to put a tag on it.

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    ReVamp – Wild Card (2013)

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    After a long year of fronting Nighwish, today we have Floor Jansen’s band ReVamp and their sophomore release “Wild Card”. Being the charismatic and unique vocalist she is, Floor manages to make this album very special and quite engaging from beginning to end. Coming back after being sick for a while, inspiration was drawn from this period of her life, thus making this release very emotional and personal.

    Opening with the first part of the trilogy “The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown” – “On the Sideline”, ReVamp starts in very high spirits with powerful guitars and the incomparable vocal leads of Floor. There are some growls thrown here and there, giving the song that extra aggressive kick. The trilogy continues with the more modern sounding “Lymbic System”, a track that has some of that Groove Metal vibe mixed with the lush keyboards and well-crafted drums.

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    Fallen Tyrant – No World to Win, a Life to Lose (2013)

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    Delivering pummeling waves of punishing Black Metal, today we have Germany’s Fallen Tyrant and their debut full-length “No World to Win, a Life to Lose”. With eight tracks and over 35-minutes of crushing music, this release is one of the most devastating BM albums of the year, paired with Watain’s latest opus.

    The album opens with a very traditional and at moments Black’n’roll-ish “Fallen Tyrant Rising”. This track immediately unleashes the powers of the band and showcases their killer riffing and powerful vocals. Reminding us of newer Gorgoroth and other bands like Lord Belial, the punishment continues with the killer “Exaltation” and “Bortrykkelsen”. The band also has a melodic aspect to their BM and you can how crafty they can get with tracks like “To Finnmarken”.

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    Tarja – Colours in the Dark (2013)

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    Three years after “What Lies Beneath”, iconic singer Tarja finally returns with another bombastic release titled “Colours in the Dark”. Ever since her departure from Nightwish, Tarja has constantly been delivering amazing releases filled with her characteristic vocal style and expertly crafted with world class musicians to produce some of the most exciting and lush Symphonic Rock/Metal releases of the last few years.

    Opening with the engaging “Victim of Ritual”, we get an excellent balance between catchiness, operatic singing, and explosive musical arrangements. Surrounding herself with musicians of the caliber of Mike Terrana and Max Lilja (ex-Apocalytica), Tarja manages to create very elaborate songs that fit her vocal skills perfectly and allows them to shine to the max. This release is filled with very energetic tracks such as the melancholic “Lucid Dreamer” and the engaging “Never Enough”. Other songs take darker and more classical approach like the excellent “Mystique Voyage”.

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    Merkstave – Merkstave (2013)

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    Undeground Funeral Doom legends from the US Northwest finally see the ‘proper’ release of their demo materials with this monumental self-titled LP release. With three songs clocking in at a total of 44 minutes of gut-wrenching Doom, this release has that raw and analog vibe of bands like Thergothon. As the songs were originally released on tape, we are unsure if these versions are newer recordings or just re-mastered originals, but what we are sure is that they are as crushing as you can get.

    Opening with the behemoth “Lament for Lost Gods Pt.1”, the band starts on a very tranquil and slow paced stage. Their sound is very consistent to bands like Shape of Despair and such, but it differs with the usage of mournful clean vocals and some Black Metal-esque screams. “Lament for Lost Gods Pt.2” nicely continues the flow of the release with sparse guitars at the beginning, slowly leading up to some very harsh and brutal sections. The band does a great job in creating very well timed speedups that nicely contrast the passivity of the general flow of things.

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    Scout Paré-Phillips – Fields of Ash (2013)

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    Being very far from your average Infernal Masquerade release, today we have Scout Paré-Phillips and her 7” release “Fields of Ash”. Featuring two haunting tracks, this very short but effective release will grab you attention since the first minute and will never let go. Being a member of The Sterling Sisters, Scout Paré-Phillips manages to craft two very unique songs that cannot be missed by any fan of Neo-folk music with mesmerizing female vocals.

    The opener track is “Fields of Ash”, a nearly three minute tune that starts with beautiful acoustic percussions and ethereal vocals. The simplicity behind this mesmerizing track is perfect for the excellent vocal melodies and basic instrumentation. The second song, “In the End”, takes a more dramatic twist and enables Scout’s vocals to shine through the melancholic acoustic guitars. This track has a considerably darker edge and a very relaxed soothing vibe.

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    Fleshgod Apocalypse – Labyrinth (2013)

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    Bigger, better, quicker, and more grandiose seems to be the objective of Fleshgod Apocalypse and their monumental release “Labyrinth”. Having blown people away with the combination of dramatic orchestrations and extreme technical abilities in “Agony”, the band is ready to deliver an even more impressive and monumental release with this album.

    The album kicks off with dramatic operatic vocal arrangements and over the top orchestrations on “Kingborn”. This single opening makes the last Dimmu Borgir album sound like a bunch of kids playing with Protools. In this track the band also delivers their signature Technical Death Metal with hyper fast riffs and killer drumming. “Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon)” eases into the picture with a more standard approach featuring killer growls mixed into the rich sound of the band. Don’t be fooled since there are also plenty of memorable melodic passages mixed in between all the brutal sections and lush arrangements.

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