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    Mandibula – Sacrificial Metal of Death (2012)

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    With a crushing and think as fuck sound, today we have one-man army Mandibula and the CD release of their 2010 demo “Sacrificial Metal of Death”. The band plays homage to the greats of the 80’s namely Celtic Frost, Venom, Bathory, etc. with a very retro and dirty sound that will wake the dead from their graves. Featuring nine eardrum crushing tracks, this release is as raw as you can get while still being able to distinguish everything that is going on.

    Opening with an intro similar to Mortician releases, the band sets a very dark and disturbing mood since the get go. Once the riffing comes through, you can hear that this is not your typical ‘pretty Metal’ release since everything is very raw and a bit garbled up, thanks to some cheap (or intentionally cheap) production. The raw vocals remind us of Hellhammer at times, and ultimately add a great deal of authenticity to the bands killer old-school music.

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    Dream Circus – Land of Make Believe (2012)

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    For fans of commercial alternative rock with some grunge influences, today we have Dream Circus and their debut full-length “Land of Make Believe”. Not being our main cup of tea, this release delivers 10 tracks of catchy music that we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s playing on the radio when we go to a supermarket or something like that. This Portuguese band does a solid job in creating effective guitar-driven tracks, but ultimately fails to grab our attention due to its very traditional nature.

    Rocking hard since the opener “Make Believe”, the band nicely sets a very enjoyable mood with soaring vocals and well-crafted guitars. Not challenging themselves too much, the band goes through tracks like “So Long”, “Crown”, “Going Down”, and “Poison” with a rather simple, but effective, musical structure. James Powell’s vocals are probably the best thing worth noticing since they are very good and similar to what mainstream bands sound like.

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    Via Sacra – The Road (2012)

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    Arriving all the way from Portugal in a very cool glossy packaging box, today we have Via Sacara’s “The Road”. In this release the band delivers ten tracks of excellently crafted Progressive Rock/Metal with very epic keyboards and anthemic tracks. Since the opening track of the release, the band does a very solid job in crafting catchy Rock melodies that at some points have a slight Heavy Metal vibe.

    With epic chorus lines, songs like “Lost World” have a very powerful sound and nicely bring together all the elements we love about Rock and Metal. The band also has a nice commercial edge to them making their songs very accessible and enjoyable, while still maintaining some heaviness in their sound. One of our favorite track is the constantly changing “Souls of Fire”, in particular the last few minutes when after some epic vocals the music gets a bit Post-Rockish, totally brilliant in our book.

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    Stagnant Waters – Stagnant Waters (2012)

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    With another thought provoking and totally weird release, Norway’s Advesum label brings us Stagnant Water’s self-titled debut release. In this album we have a total eight deranged musical Avant-Garde compositions that mix Industrial, Black Metal, Electronic, and Jazz elements in a very unsettling, but yet intoxicating way unlike anything you have heard before. The only band that can somewhat compared to Stagnant Waters might be the excellent Shining from Norway and their furious “Blackjazz” release.

    Opening with the Punk-ish Black Metal “Algae”, one might be steered towards thinking this release will be more like this… but one cannot be more wrong by thinking this way. There are a few furious Industrial and electronic elements in this track that immediately shift the focus of the song to a deeper (and weirder) direction. The band pretty much starts going ape-shit after the first 2 minutes with intricate expressions of weirdness and extreme brutality. “ССАЕР ЦНАПЯЛ ПНОИ ТАТ” brings some Diabolos Rising/Mysticum antics into the mix, but they are immediately outperformed by some weird/creepy clarinet and piano sections.

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    John 3:16 – Visions of The Hereafter – Visions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory (2012)

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    Delivering over 50 minutes of stylish music, today we have John 3:16 and his latest release “Visions of The Hereafter – Visions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory”. Competing for the longest album name ever, this one-man outfit that morphs between every release continues with his traditional cinematic approach to music delivering nine tracks of brilliant sound layers that evoke emotions and transport the listener to different realms.

    Opening with the atmospheric “The Ninth Circle”, this album sets a very somber and martial mood very early. This track is quite enigmatic and keeps the listener on edge to what’s coming next. Immediately after, we have another momentum builder with some minor Drone influences that keeps the atmosphere evolving. “Throne of God / Angel of The Lord” also features some nice Post-Rock stokes that help paint this song.

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    Yurei – Night Vision (2012)

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    In a similar vein to Ved Buens Ende, DHG, etc., but on crack and with a knack for jazz, today we have Yurei’s latest release “Night Vision”. This band is another musical outlet for the enigmatic Bjeima (Virus), and as you can expect is very strange and unusual. If you like traditional things, you should probably stop reading since this release is far from ordinary and standard.

    Opening with very random and at times absurd tracks like “Insomniac Bug Hunt”, “Reborn in Reveries”, and “3.00 a.m. Revolt”, it is not until “The Cognitive Crack” that we start getting some structure and something actually enjoyable. With very trippy proggy/jazzy sections stitched together, Yurei fails to convey a message, and while this might be the point it is just frustrating to follow random ramblings over the course of the songs with no aim.

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    God Seed – I Begin (2012)

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    Finally! After their crushing live performances in 2009, the band faded away with Gaahl’s retirement from the metal scene, but they are now back and stronger than ever. Presenting their debut full-length release titled “I Begin”, the era of God Seed finally begins. Moving past the whole Gorgoroth thing, King and Gaahl are ready to make a name for them and with a star studded cast they have crafted nine tracks that will surely puzzle some people, but that ultimately conquer the opposition.

    With members of Dimmu Borgir (live), Djerv, and Thorns, this new band has managed to deliver an album that goes beyond Black Metal with some very interesting influences that one wouldn’t have expected from King and Gaahl. Opening with the relentless “Awake”, this is more of what one would expect since they sound like Gorgoroth circa “Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam”, the last release were King and Gaahl worked with said band. The track features excellent riffing and very commanding vocals all surrounded by punishing drums.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Flagellated Seraph – Beyond Salvation (2012)

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    Mysterious Swedish outfit Flagellated Seraph delivers us their debut full-length release titled “Beyond Salvation”. With six tracks of fast-paced Melodic Black Metal, this band will surely surprise you with the quality of their music. Coming from Hellthrashers Productions, we expected something totally different from this release, and we are very glad it turned out this ways since some of the songs in this album are just killer.

    Opening with a warm-up track “Reminiscence of The Serpent”, the band fully unleashes its riffing power as “He Who Bears the Mark”. While at first this might seem like your average run of the mill BM band, the song suddenly shifts into excellent melodic territories. Reminding us of older Dark Funeral, Marduk, and the likes, Flagellated Seraph has the skills to deliver extreme intensity tracks that are very well crafted. The massive drumming is one example of the band’s mystery musician’s abilities.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Hell United – Aura Damage (2012)

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    Arriving on our latest promo pack from one the most brutal labels in the planet, Hellthrasher Productions, today we have Hell United and their sophomore release “Aura Damage”. Hailing from Poland, our first impression of this band was that they are as crushing as their fellow countrymen Behemoth. Delivering 35-minutes of high-octane Blackened Death Metal, this band is sure to turn a few heads and snap more than enough necks in the moshpit.

    Dominating since the opening track, “Aural Damage” is off to an excellent and very violent attack with “Red Limitations”. The riffing is hyper-intense, the drumming is super crushing, and the vocals are as demonic as Behemoth’s, so you know what you can expect from this relatively unknown outfit. The band does a great job in shuffling things around so the songs don’t sound like copies of each other, a problem that has blamed Behemoth in the last few years. The neck snapping action continues with the anthems of destruction: “Apostle of Plague”, “Deathlike Cold”, and “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Deception / Demonic Slaughter – Split (2012)

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    Perfectly packed in a glossy digipack, today we have Deception and Demonic Slaughter’s split release out on Hellthrasher Productions. With both bands hailing from Poland, this 20 minute split has the feeling of a 7” release, but on an upgraded presentation. With Deception delivering three tracks of foul Death Metal, and Demonic Slaughter providing some raw Black Metal into the mix, this split release has a little for everybody.

    With apparently everything being recorded in 2011, Deception does a great job at re-creating that lo-fi sound of the past and delivers some very crushing tracks that sound raw and old-school. Opening with “Zatracenie”, the band vibe similar to early Sepultura and such, this evolves a bit for the second track “Narodziny początkiem umierania” with a more ‘melodic’ sound and less aggressive vocals. The cover of Bathory’s “Rites of Darkness” is pretty standard and well executed, but also sounds very different from the first two songs, indicating that the band didn’t really make it their own.

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