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    Ophidian I – Solvet Saecium (2012)

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    Hailing from Iceland, today we have the latest entry into the newly popular (again) world of Technical Death Metal. With “Solvet Secium” as their debut release, this Icelandic band sure has a solid statement to make through crazy guitar sections, hyper-fast drumming, and thunderous growls. For all of us that are not fed up with the countless Obscura, Necrophagist, Spawn of Possession, etc. replica bands that have popped out in the last few years, Ophidian I is a highly respectable entry into the genre.

    Opening with a very Obscura-esque bass guitar wizardry on “Mark of an Obsidian”, the band’s musical journey begins with a very well balanced brutality-meets-technical-magic song. The growling is hellish and the furious drumming is just brutal as fuck. “Shedyet” keeps the magic rolling with an eerily familiar melodic section that any fan of Technical DM will recognize. This is one of the few problems with have with “Solvet Saecium”, while there are very cool and highly-technical section, there are also a lot of things that feel ripped off straight from Obscura and the previously mentioned bands, taking away from the band’s merit.

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    Spectral Lore – Sentinel (2012)

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    All the way from Greece, today we have the one-man beast Spectral Lore unleashing a relentless Black Metal release titled “Sentinel”. In this album, Ayloss, the man behind the band, delivers six crushing tracks with brutal Black Metal escapades filled with eerie ambient elements that create a very dense and cavernous feeling around the excellent music. Clocking in around 75 minutes of music, this album is a true gem since every second is perfectly used towards the band’s creative vision instead of wasted in mind-numbing repetition like most Ambient/Atmospheric Black Metals bands.

    Blasting things wide open with the brutal “All Devouring Earth”, the ‘band’ delivers pummeling riffs and intense drumming that will blow you away. As time progresses, the ambient/atmospheric side of things kicks in and allows the song to fully sink it while the inhuman vocals work their magic. Just around the corner “The Dejection of Arjuna” is waiting to slowly creep under your skin will more brutality and perfectly paced tremolo-picking magic.

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    Seremonia – Seremonia (2012)

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    With the current wave of old-school Psychedelic/Occult Rock bands popping out these days, it is interesting to see one that does not sing in English and that they seem to be doing their own thing and not playing the cookie cutter typical music that other bands are doing. Seremonia hails from Finland and with their debut self-titled release they are showing the world you can still do something ‘old-school’ and still sound different than the rest.

    With a huge (and very evident) Black Sabbath influence, the band still fuses some weird proto-Metal and even hints of Punk with a shit-ton of weird sounds that create a very unique and fuzzy sounding musical experience. Since the first licks of the opening track “Urhrjuhla”, the band truly carves their own unique and well defined style that will haunt your dreams for weeks. The guitars are very typical, but the distorted creepy vocals of Noora Federley are quite unique and weird since they sound very raw and natural.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Nocturnal Depression – Suicidal Thoughts (2011)

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    Filled with hate and self-destructive emotions, today we have Nocturnal Depression’s “Suicidal Thoughts” release. This release constitutes of a re-recording and re-arranging of their 2004 demo. Clocking in at 35 minutes, these four tracks deliver painful blows of nihilistic Black Metal that will surely please any fans of the genre due to their rawness and their slow tempo, reminding us a bit of Dodsferd and similar bands.

    After the mysterious intro track, “When Darkness Covers My Soul” delivers the first blow with painful screams and a very well-paced tempo that keeps the song very direct and engaging without blowing up into a full on blast-beat competition. This is one of the things we like the most about Depressive/Suicidal Black Metal bands, even though we think the message is retarded, the music is pretty solid sometimes. There simple combination of the riffing, the rhythmical drumming and the keyboard hints makes this track very catchy indeed.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sichelstein – Sichelstein (2012)

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    With an extremely unique sound, today we have Sichelstein and their self-titled EP. Presenting five tracks of very retro sounding music, this band manages to create a sick mixture of Shoegaze and Black Metal with Darkwave and Gothic Rock elements with very depressive vibe. Totally unexpected and raw, this release is one of the most interesting ones we have received from Valse Sinistre in the last few months.

    The opener builds up nicely with some very raw sounding guitars and some very new wave-ish keyboards, but it finally explodes with creepily distorted harsh vocals and some organs. “Das Leben” is the most Shoegaze-y track in thise release with a heavy dose of trippy guitars paired with more creepy keyboards and completely deranged vocals, a very interesting listening experience indeed.

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    Bauda – Euphoria…Of Flesh, Men and the Great Escape (2012)

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    Hailing from Chile, today we have the folk version of Alcest: Bauda. This three-piece ensemble creates a very majestic unique sound when combining brilliant Post-Rock/Metal structures with lush acoustic guitars. “Euphoria…Of Flesh, Men and the Great Escape” is one of those releases that catches your attention thanks to how well-crafted the music is and how the atmosphere draws you into the band’s sound.

    Opening with a very straight forward Post-Rock/Metal track titled “Ghosts of Phantalassa”, the band wastes no time and after the momentum is built, tracks like “Humanimals” and “Silhouettes” beautifully combine the aggressive Post-Metal sections with the lush Folk elements, something we haven’t quite heard before and Bauda deserves props for taking a daring risk and pull through successfully. With these two tracks clocking at around 20 minutes, the album really pulls all the stops since the opening songs featuring a little bit of everything neatly packed in cohesive songs.

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    Catuvolcus – Gergovia (2012)

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    Perfectly mixing aggression and melody, today we have Canada’s Catuvolcus and their amazing latest release “Gergovia”. In this exciting album the band perfectly blends elements of Pagan/Folk Metal with Black Metal and delivers nine tracks of pure melodic chaos. After setting a Folky mood with “Elaver”, the band quickly gets down to business with the crushing “Par monts et par vaux”.

    Filled with extremely aggressive vocals and blasting guitar riffs, this release has no shortage of epic moments that are just too many to mention. The drumming keeps things running smoothly, but it’s the sense of melody the band has that keeps the songs being different and extremely good. A clear example of this is the very uplifting “Le colline de Chanturge” and its lush intro followed by waves of powerful riffs. Reminding us of bands like Mythotin and Himinbjorg, Catuvolcus is one of the most intense and skilled bands we have listened to in a while.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Vorpal Nomad – Hyperborea (2012)

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    Delivering nine tracks of catchy Power Metal, today we have Colombia’s “Hyperborea” released through Canada’s Metalodic Records. With a well-crafted sound, this band goes beyond your average Power Metal band to create solid songs that while not featuring the best vocalist in the world, they make up for it in technical abilities.

    Setting the mood with “Skull Island” the band shows the riffing power with well-created melodic sections and a very heavy sound. The guitar sound indeed is a bit weird of this type of music, but the band actually pulls it off, giving them a different sound from your average Power Metal band. The vocals of Felipe Machado Franco not the best and reminds us of the guy we always see in karaoke night trying to do some Iron Maiden songs… not the best indeed. However, this is rescued by pretty decent guitar solos.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Darkest Grove – Coming of 2012 (2012)

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    Crushing and Hateful would be the perfect words to describe Darkest Grove’s sophomore release titled “Coming of 2012”. Conceptually dealing with the world of theories behind the supposed ‘changes’ coming in 2012, this release puts these interesting ideas in a very harsh and eerie Black Metal environment that pummels the message into your brain. This one-man band delivers in every single aspect producing nine tracks of killer US Black Metal that elevates Darkest Grove to the likes of Terratism and Nightbringer in terms of the ‘local’ US scene.

    Like a hard punch to the face, “Hatred Strives…” delivers powerful waves of hateful Black Metal riffs. The track is very straight-forward and in your face, creating a very direct and chaotic atmosphere, just perfect for these kinds of releases. As the track progresses it nicely changes into a more melodic and hypnotic pace. The tremolo-picking intensity is picked up in the killer tracks “Wallowing At The Face of Evil” and “Destiny”, creating a very sick twisted atmospheres that Darkest Grove seems to have knack for. 

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Wind Rose – Shadows Over Lothadruin (2012)

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    If you first read that this was produced by Cristiano Bertocchi (Labyrinth) and mastered by Goran Finnberg (Opeth) this Italian band, Wind Rose, will immediately have your attention and your criticism level would go up a few degrees. Luckily for everybody, the band delivers very well crafted melodies that dance around the area of bands like Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, etc, and their mixtures of fantasy/medieval elements with Power/Progressive Metal. With fifteen songs in “Shadows Over Lothadruin” this new band showcases their musical abilities with a very nicely flowing and epic feeling release.

    First thing that annoyed us a bit is that all SEVEN of the instrumental tracks are standalone songs rather than being incorporated into the previous or following track, we don’t really need a count of 15 songs when you really have eight. Peskiness aside, this does not really affect the release in any sense but it is a picky thing from our side (and some of our readers we have heard). “The Endless Prophecy” marks the album’s first real track and has a very playful feeling to it, while keeping all the requirements of an excellent Progressive/Power Metal song: killer vocal arrangements, solid drumming and crazy guitar work. “Siderion” follows in the same vibe, but the song does have a familiar ‘medieval’ feeling to it that feels like it was taken from somewhere else.

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