Metal Blade

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Early Graves – Goner (2010)

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    While we are not huge fans of Crust releases, we find Early Graves “Goner” to contain all the right elements to be a standard release to this genre. We usually trash most bands the genre because their lack of inspiration behind a very uninspired genre (at least for us), however, Early Graves does a pretty solid job in creating 10 crusty songs that have the right amount of quality elements to them.

    The band balances Grindcore, Hardcore, Crust and some Death Metal elements in their well crafted sound that is both crushing and well paced. Some Crust bands bore us to death because of the extreme punk influences (most notably on drums), but Early Graves has managed to avoid this by varying their drumming influences and recurring to the punk-ish elements only when needed.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Lightning Swords of Death - The Extra Dimensional Wound (2010)

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    “There is a turd in the punch bowl, I repeat there is a turd in the punch bowl.” Is exactly the first thing we thought when listening to “The Extra Dimensional Wound”. After a mostly decentstack of albums we have reviewed in the last few weeks we had to get a turd of an album. Playing harsh Black Metal in the way of Bathory, Venom, etc. Lightning Swords of Death has failed to capture the feeling and inspiration behind these legendary bands.

    With a wide variety of uninspired riffs, an overly loud bass guitar line, and sub-par vocal “The Extra Dimensional Wound” will create and actual wound in your ears from listening to this release. We are not always completely negative, and we can say that the drumming in this album is probably the best thing going for it, besides the song titles and the super cool band name.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Whitechapel – A New Era of Corruption (2010)

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    With all the shit-core bands out these days we are very skeptical about reviewing anything that comes with the Metalcore and Deathcore tags. We usually trash most of these bands because of their lack of creativity and musical maturity, using a bunch of random riffs before the ‘traditional’ breakdown is not a formula for success (some might differ with this opinion).

    When we first started listening to Whitechapel’s 3rd album “A New Era of Corruption”, the first thing that came to our minds was: “Oh shit, another Black Dahlia Murder clone”. However, after the first few songs we actually discovered that Whitechapel is much more than a ‘straight forward’ Deathcore band. Their sound over the years (yes, we had check them out since their first releases) has changed from an uninspired copy-cat Deathcore, into their own brutal combination of Death Metal with some modern core-ish influences.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aeon – Path of Fire (2010)

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    Hailing from Sweden we have today yet another Death Metal band that wants to be ‘brutal’ and technical at the same time. Aeon is not a very (or at all) original band, but what they do, they do perfectly. With a very groovy sound, the band reminds us of the likes of Jungle Rot, Six Feet Under, etc.

    Combining chugging riffs and meaty hooks, the band does a great job in creating a very brutal DM backdrop, with the addition of some brilliant solos and bestial drumming (courtesy of Nils Fjellstrom, from Dark Funeral) the band creates very solid tracks that will have people moshing in no time. While Aeon is an extremely formulaic band, they do have good song writing chops to keep you entertained for over 40 minutes.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Istapp – Blekinge (2010)

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    With a particular beef with the sun (read their bio) and a very interesting overall concept behind the band, we get today Istapp and their blend of Black Metal with Viking/Folk Metal elements. The band’s first full-length release “Blekinge” set to be release on June 8th on Metal Blade records is one of the most complete Black Metal albums of 2010.

    Hailing from Sweden, a place where pretty much every band seems to have the skills to craft great music, it’s hard to find young and promising talent such as Istapp. The band’s music is very straight forward and aggressive, but has mystical clean passages that create unparalleled atmospheres fully enriching the listening experience.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Diabulus In Musica – Secrets (2010)

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    Forming from the ashes of Dragon Lord, today we have Diabulus In Musica and their first full-length: “Secrets”. Hailing from the Basque region of Spain, this newcomer to the Gothic Metal scene has what it takes to surprise the world. The band combines a bombastic Symphonic Gothic Metal foundation with beautiful female vocals that sound as powerful as Simone from Epica or even Floor from ReVamp.

    While the band is not re-inventing the genre in anyway, they are pretty darn good at making great songs. For over 55 minutes the bands brings us some fresh Gothic Metal that like we said is not super original, but at least it sounds different than all the bands we are currently used to.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Brain Drill – Quantum Catastrophe (2010)

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    We usually stay away from Grindcore bands, but Brain Drill was definitely one of the most interesting bands of that genre that we have reviewed in quite a while. With a very impressive mixture of Technical skills and traditional Death/Grindcore, they managed to grab our attention since the first track of this awesome release.

    With a very chaotic feeling to “Quantum Catastrophe” the band showcases their abilities to blend genius with brutality. Taking the genre into new heights (at least for us), the 8 songs in this album can be both appreciated by the technical wiz people and the brutality inspired fans. The album might not have any particular order, but it does a great job into reconciling two genres that have never merged well.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Skyforger – Kurbads (2010)

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    After listening to Skyforger’s new album “Kurbads” the first thing that comes to mind is: WTF. The band started out Pagan/Folk Metal with Black Metal influences, and now it’s reduced to a semi-inspired mixture of Trash/Heavy Metal with some Folk influences. “Kurbads” is far far away from what we are expected from Skyforger.

    Hailing from Latvia, it’s been seven years since the all-folk “Zobena Dziesma” album, and all these years have been wasted since “Kurbads” is downright terrible in our opinion. There are some good moments here and there, but mostly it’s just re-hashed Trash riffs with horrible vocals. The folk sections are ok, but during the band’s absence there have been great Pagan/Folk Metal releases that completely obscure this release.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Arma Gathas – Dead To This World (2010)

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    After all the countless Trash Metal releases we have reviewed in 2010, we finally get a break with a band that incorporates other elements to this genre, and makes it sound very different and fresh. Arma Gathas hails from Switzerland and their combination of Trash, Groove and some Hardcore elements makes them sound both powerful and fresh.

    If we had to guess where this band is from without doing research, we would have guess that they came from France, since Arma Gathas sounds like a Trashier version of Hacride, Gojira, etc. The riffing in “Dead To This World” is very Trash Metal oriented but with more aggressive vocals and different rhythms thrown into the mix.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    As I Lay Dying – The Powerless Rise (2010)

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    We try to stay away from as much Metalcore crap that we can, but sometimes we get some releases that are worth listening to and giving them a solid review. “The Powerless Rise” is one of those, it features an As I Lay Dying that has been refining their sound with every release and now, they are good enough for us to enjoy (somewhat).

    The band is as brutal as ever and features the traditional breakdowns that most people love to death, however, we enjoy this album because of the brilliant melodic parts that some songs have in this release. The band might have 80% of the elements that makes us despise Metalcore, but objectively and musically, they can also compose brilliant songs.

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