Rock

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    DOOL - The Shape of Fluidity (2024)

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    After taking the scene by storm with “Summerland”, DOOL had set an impossibly high bar for their follow-up release. Fast-forward four years and the band is ready to unleash “The Shape of Fluidity” to the world, featuring nine tracks and nearly 50 minutes of their signature Dark Rock. Further improving their energy level and songwriting abilities, this release more than delivers on the potential and promise of this excellent outfit.

    From the opening single, “Venus in Flames”, Raven Van Dorst’s presence is immediately felt thanks to her signature vocals and guitar playing chops. The album starts with a bang, thanks to a very well crafted and energetic song with some epic passages and dreamy interludes. The band’s music is very melodic and guitar driven, with pieces like “Self-Dissect”, the album title track, and “Evil in You” delivering highly intoxicating riffs and perfectly crafted tempo changes. While other songs like “Currents” serve to create atmospheric pauses and brace the listener for what follows.

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    Lucifer - Lucifer V (2024)

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    Keeping the Psychedelic/Occult Rock/Metal revival going, today we have Lucifer and their fifth full-length release. Featuring a very accomplished line-up of members like Nicke Andersson (Entombed, The Hellacopters) and Johanna Claudia Sadonis (ex-The Oath), this release delivers nine tracks and nearly 40 minutes of catchy retro doomy heavy music.

    Opening with the high-octane “Fallen Angel”, we get a nice dose of traditional Heavy Metal riffs with engaging vocals and a catchy chorus section. The band’s music is designed to be crafty, and guitar driven, making for some very interesting and memorable pieces like “At The Mortuary”, “Slow Dance in a Crypt”, and “Riding Reaper”. The mixture of Doom, Heavy Metal with Psychedelic/Occult rock elements is quite well crafted and makes for some very entertaining songs.

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    Sleep of Monsters - ΓΓΓ (2023)

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    In the last few years we have increasingly gotten into Psychedelic/Occult Rock/Folk bands as the music is quite engaging and different to our regular dose of distorted guitars and harsh vocals. Sleep of Monsters falls in this category, with a very unique and intoxicating sound. Hailing from Finland, the band is ready to drop “ΓΓΓ”, featuring ten tracks and nearly 50 minutes of enigmatic music. For fans of bands like Sabbath Assembly, Årabrot, Hexvessel, King Dude, etc., this outfit will certainly haunt you with its gloomy moodiness.

    Getting down to business with the sultry “Black Blacker Than Black”, the band sets a very mysterious and yet lively mood. With a multi-pronged vocal approach, the overlay of female and male clean vocals works wonders, adding depth to the band’s sound and creating some lush moments on songs like the gloomy “Language of the Birds”, or the more upbeat “Alexandia” and “Melinoe”. Aside from the band’s crafty vocal melodies, the instrumentation in this release is quite warm and fuzzy, creating very unique soundscapes, captivating the listener as hits like “Language of the Birds”, “The Singer”, and the mystical “Nyktophoros” roll around.

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    Grave Pleasures - Plagueboys (2023)

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    Unleashing somber waves of catchiness and a very engaging vibe, today we have Grave Pleasures and their latest opus “Plagueboys”. Featuring a very unique mixture of Post-Punk with some darkness to it, and even some elements of Surf/Indie Rock, this band has been captivating audiences for nearly a decade now (with this name), and they just keep getting better and better. If you are looking for something ‘slow’, dark, mysterious, and non-Metal, this release will be to your liking.

    Starting strong with the memorable “Disintegration Girl”, we get that gloomy signature vibe from the band, particularly when Mat McNerney’s signature vocals come out. The playful interplay between Juho Vanhanen lead guitars and Valtteri Arino dominant bass guitar line is another strength from this band, making sounds like “Heart Like A Slaughterhouse”, “When The Shooting's Done”, and “High On Annihilation”, just extremely catchy and very diverse.

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    Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars (2023)

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    This 2023 is starting with a bang with tons of new releases from well established bands, luckily for us, Katatonia was also one of them. Being huge fans of the band, “Sky Void of Stars” is just your typical excellent release, filled with crafty vocal arrangements and sorrowful melodies. Featuring ten tracks and 45 minutes of magic, this release will please any fan of the band’s more modern Alternative Rock/Metal side.

    Opening with the epic “Austerity”, Jonas Renkse belts out his signature vocal melodies alongside crafty guitar work from Anders Nyström and Roger Öjersson. The band’s moody tunes like “Colossal Shade”, “Opaline”, and “Birds” are filled with excellent melodic passages alongside well-timed tempo changes and brilliant drumming. The band is a well-oiled machine when it comes to perfectly mixing melancholy with heavy guitars and catchiness.

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    Vile Valo - Neon Noir (2023)

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    Just in time to kick off 2023, Vile Valo (ex-H.I.M) is ready to drop his debut solo release titled “Neon Noir”. This unique singer is ready to get back on the Heartagram train and delivers twelve extremely characteristic tracks filled with soaring vocal arrangements and unrivaled melancholy. If you are a fan of HIM you will certainly love this release as it is full of superbly catchy and intoxicating songs that will leave you listening to it on repeat for days on end.

    The release starts with the dreamy “Echolocate Your Love” and its playful synths flanking Vile’s gifted vocals. The song has his signature dark and yet lively mood, with a catchy chorus and nice distorted guitars. Quickly, the power ballad “Run Away from the Sun” leads to soaring vocal arrangements and a very intoxicating serenading mood. With a nice Amorphis-esque acoustic guitar intro, “Neon Noir” is yet another excellent track in this release with lush arrangements and well crafted tempo changes.

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    Årabrot - Heart (2022)

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    Hailing from Norway, Kjetil Nernes and Karin Park are the duo known as Årabrot, a very eclectic and quite interesting Noise-Rock band. Usually a bit far from our regular cup of tea, we didn’t really get into the band until their intense set at L'Homme Sauvage 2022 in France earlier this year. The show’s intensity was palpable and both Kjetil and Karin are so charismatic that their music really clicked when seeing them deliver it live, luckily we also were able to capture it on our camera lens in this gallery.

    In “Heart” the band delivers four very unique and atmospheric covers of well known tracks but with the band’s unique spin and vibrance added to the mix. After a funky intro, the cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “Lightning Girl” comes around and the band immediately does their own thing perfectly blending funky arrangements, distorted guitars and Karin’s talented vocals. Our favorite cover has to be the band’s version of Miklós Rózsa suite for Green Fire, as the original is an instrumental piece, but here we get some hypnotic vocals and a creepy Sabbath Assembly like vibe from it.

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    Ardours - Anatomy of a Moment (2022)

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    Led by the talented Mariangela Demurtas of Tristania fame, and multi-instrumentalist/producer Kris Laurent, Ardours is one of those rare unique bands that manages to perfectly blend all kinds of cool elements from Gothic Rock to Metal to 80’s new wave. With “Anatomy of a Moment” they hone in on the strengths of their debut album and unleash nearly 45 minutes of superbly catchy music filled with soaring vocal melodies, lush atmospheric arrangements and a hefty dose of funky beats.

    Opening with the magical futuristic atmospherics of “Epitaph For A Spark”, one could immediately think the band turned into another Amaranthe, but as soon as the soothing guitars and Mariangela’s vocals come on, the whole vibe changes into a completely different beast. The band’s ability to create different moods, some darker or more playful than others, is their biggest strength as they deliver songs like “Insomniac”, “Identified”, and “Secret Worlds”, which range in styles but still feature a cohesive core of solid guitar work, crafty drumming and soaring vocal leads.

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    Me and that Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol.2 (2021)

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    After unleashing one of the weirdest and yet totally awesome unconventional releases of 2020, Nergal and company, Me and that Man, are back to one-up their previous release with an even wilder follow-up. Featuring more over the top guest, more catchiness, and the same occult and kick-ass attitude, “New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol.2” is one hell of a ride that everybody that liked the first one, should not miss out on.

    The release opens up with the somber “Black Hearse Cadillac”, an awesome bluessy opener that features Hank Von Hell (RIP) and Anders Odden as guests. Keeping the mood high Tobias Forge guests on the superbly catchy western-like “Under the Spell”. While we could name drop this whole review as tracks like “All Hope Has Gone” feature Metal luminaries like Blaze Bailey and Gary Holt, or pieces like “Losing My Blues” deliver an all-out party mood with people like Olve Abbath Eikemo, Frank The Baptist and Chris Holmes involved, we particularly like the odd songs like “Witches Don't Fall in Love” featuring Garm of Ulver fame.

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    Two Hundred Wolves - The Hold (2021)

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    One of the best parts of the gig of reviewing music for this site is that I get to enjoy countless amounts of music, particularly the submissions from up-and-coming bands. Today we have one killer gem that made its way into my inbox: Two Hundred Wolves and their release “The Hold”. With a style similar to Jess and the Ancient Ones and Madder Mortem but with a fuzzier and jazzier side, this release delivers 44 minutes of captivating music led by the sultry vocals of Anna Matveinen.

    Opening with the jazzy/proggy “Visceral Redemption”, the first impression the band makes is one of a highly original sound perfectly fronted by a versatile singer. We like all kinds of music, and this band certainly has a bit of everything, from post rock to occult rock/metal influences, creating tracks like “Oblivion”, the dynamic “Absolute Bearing”, and the highly emotive “Event Horizon”. We are huge fans of deep and unique female voices, and the band’s vocalist definitely stands out from the rest.

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