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    Malasangre – Lux Deerit Soli (2012)

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    Delivering a crushing 72 minute release divided in two songs, today we have Italy’s Malasangre and their thick mixture of Drone/Funeral Doom Metal with some hints of Black Metal screams. In such an ambitious release the band brings you down to a dark and cavernous world where light goes to die. This music is what I would take into a caving expedition and freak the shit out of everybody there.

    Opening with the hypnotic “Sa Ta”, the album’s first half delivers a slow and painful ride down the bowels of hell. The riffs are sparse but crushing, the screams are as demonic as you can get, and the overall atmosphere is very nicely constructed to create a feeling of despair. The Doom riffing is excellent and very well developed through this song, making it not as linear as many bands do when constructing a 30+ minute song.

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    Heimdalls Wacht – Nichtorte (2012)

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    Highly melodic and equally melancholic are the first words that come through our mind when thinking about Heimdalls Wacht’s latest release “Nichtorte”. With a heavy emphasis on the melodic side of things, Germany’s Heimdalls Wacht delivers a good dose of Pagan Black Metal in the 12 tracks presented on this release, good enough to be one of the best we’ve heard in quite a while.

    After the traditional intro, the riffing onslaught begins with “Maelstrom”, a very Black Metal oriented track with catchy sections. The drumming is very fast paced, but the ethereal atmospheric elements here and there are what makes this track standout. Things finally start to move into darker and more melancholic territories with songs like “Ignis fatuus” and “Die Einsamkeit des Gestaltenwandlers”. The melody achieve by the songs powerful riffs is amazing and completely destructive.

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    Malevolence Records – 2012 European Tour Sampler (2012)

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    In an action packed sampler, today we have Malevolence Records “2012 European Tour Sampler” featuring 4 different bands and two tracks each, a new one and an older one. With a nice spread of different musical genres (Thrash Metal and Melodic Death/Black Metal) this release is quite entertaining and shows promises for the upcoming releases of bands like KAOS and Septic Christ.

    Tracks one and five belong the American Thrash Metal act KAOS. Their brand of high-octane Thrash Metal was greatly received with their last release titled “Pits of Existence” from which “Let God Sort Them Out” comes from. The new track “Infernal Bleeding” continues where the band left off and delivers super guitar work and excellent drumming. The vocals are pretty standards and aggressive enough to keep fans of ‘more brutal’ genres interested. This track has a nice melodic edge to it and we can only hope their upcoming release “Validated in Blood” is as good as this song.

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    Et Moriemur – Cupio Disolvi (2011)

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    Keeping the quality Death/Doom Metal flag alive, today we have Et Moriemur and their debut full-length “Cupio Disolvi”. This Czech band delivers nine melancholic tracks that narrate nine different stories of people that took their own life. With the band’s highly melancholic and emotional sound, “Cupio Disolvi” not only transmits depressive feelings via the lyrics, but also with such beautifully crafted emotional music.

    “Deliverance” opens this release with a slight folk edge that feels a bit weird for the concept of the release, but the song soon starts warming up. The growls are great and the overall pace of this song is very well crafted to provide an interesting ride. With 2 minutes remaining on the track, the band goes into a passage that reminded us a bit of Lacrimosa but with manlier clean vocals and some excellent Doom weeping guitars.

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    Aura Noir – Out to Die (2012)

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    The self-titled ugliest band in Metal, Aura Noir, finally returns with a powerful new release titled “Out to Die”. Comprised of eight Black/Thrash Metal pieces, the band is ready to reclaim their throne and riff listeners into submission. With their signature down-and-dirty sound, the band delivers a very solid effort that will please all their fans and keep their legacy ugliness rolling.

    Lead by Apollyon (of Immortal fame), the band pummels through extremely catchy songs without any dull moments. Opening with the intense “Trenches”, the signature dirty Black/Thrash sound of Aura Noir is immediately present. Intense riffing and commanding drums beat the listener into submission with tracks like “Fed to the Flames”, “Abbadon”, and “The Grin from the Gallows”. The band ability to make simple yet very catchy songs is excellent, and with the vocals being strong and firm, we are more inclined to like this band more than Kreator and such.

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    Hour of Penance – Sedition (2012)

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    With a massive and destructive sound, today we have Hour of Penance and their latest release “Sedition”. Waiving the Technical Brutal Death Metal flag, Hour of Penance delivers high intensity brutal music with a nice technical edge that puts them over their closest competition. While not as technical as Obscura, Decrepit Birth, and similar band, this release compensates with intense drumming and a more brutal feel to the music.

    After the opening instrumental, the band delivers its first punch with “Enlightened Submission”, a very brutal and crushing opening song. The growls are as deep and brutal as you can get, but the massive drumming is what immediately sticks out. “Decimate the Ancestry of the Only God” and “Fall of the Servants” keep pummeling your ears with insane levels of brutality, thanks to the hellish vocals and powerful riffs that accompany the extreme drumming.

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    De Profundis – The Emptiness Within (2012)

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    With nine tracks of super catchy melodic Metal, De Profundis brings us their third full-length offering “The Emptiness Within”. Combining excellent Melodic passages with Progressive elements and a hefty dosage of powerful riffing, this release has a vibe similar to the Melodic DM wave that came out of Finland in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Don’t get us wrong, “The Emptiness Within” does feature a good amount of aggressiveness, but it is all surrounded by excellent melodic elements.

    “Delirum” opens the riffing marathon with very well defined and melodic guitars, a sound that reminded us of earlier Eternal Tears of Sorrow, and similar acts. The growls are spot on and the overall mixture of melodic guitars, pummeling drums and guitar solos is just outstanding. The guitar work courtesy of Soikot Sengupta and Roman Subbotin is very well crafted and entertaining, particularly in the dreamy ‘instrumental’ passages.

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    The Firstborn – Lions Among Men (2012)

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    Hailing from Portugal, today we have The Firstborn and their 4th full-length release “Lions Among Men”. With a very interesting and different sound, this album is surely complex enough that it takes more than a few listens to fully sink in. Featuring a mixture of Meshuggah-like influences (on the guitars mainly) with some middle-eastern elements and some occasional Avant-garde BM styling’s, this release is indeed very well crafted, but hard to fully enjoy at first.

    Opening with the commanding “Lions Among Men”, you immediately know this is going to be an interesting release due to its unusual structure and sound. The very low guitars make the atmosphere sound very thick and perverse, something that you usually get on Sludge releases. With some of those middle-eastern mystical sounds at the beginning “Without as Within” continues the heavy atmosphere and expands on the bands crushing sound with some more riffing assaults and perfectly crafted slowdowns.

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    Gory Blister – Earth-Sick (2012)

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    Making their contribution to the highly exciting Technical Death Metal scene, today we have Italy’s Gory Blister and their latest full-length release “Earth-Sick”. With a name more apt for a Grindcore band, this Italian band took us by surprise with their high energy songs and blistering drumming. Deliver 10 tracks of well executed music, this band will surely make some noise in this very crowded genre.

    Opening with the deceiving “The Breeding (intro)” track, we thought we will reviewing a Melodic Power Metal album instead. However, with “Earthsick” things get down and dirty with some heavy riffing and intense growls. The band style borders between Melodic DM and Technical DM with some very impressive speed ups, but never as intense and powerful as bands like Obscura and Spawn of Possession.

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    Murw – Kanker (2011)

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    After releasing a few demos and a split album in a span of 14 years, we finally have Murw stepping up to the full-length arena with “Kanker”. In this very interesting release, the band delivers 37 minutes of a highly melancholic combination of Doom Metal with some Death/Black Metal elements. Mostly driven by powerful guitar riffs, “Kanker” is a very well-crafted release that deserves attention.

    Opening with the crushing “Kanker”, this release sets sail with the heaviest and most ‘Black Metal’ track in the whole album. The raw power behind the riffs and crushing vocals is very dominating, reminding us of older Death/Doom bands from the 90’s. At around 7 minutes long, this song nicely evolves into some Doom-ish melodic passages with weeping guitars and a nice overall atmosphere. Keeping things in ‘Doom mode’, “Als Sneeuw Voor de Zon” sounds like something that Mournful Congregation or Shape of Despair could have crafted.

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