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    Monarch – Omens (2012)

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    Hailing from France, today we have an album that is so thick and monolithic that will rattle your speakers and make your neighbors call the cops on you. Monarch’s sixth full-length release “Omens” delivers 36 minutes of crushing Drone/Sludge Metal that is definitely not for the weak. With only three tracks in this release, the band delivers a very long and devastating compositions that will surely have any Drone/Sludge/Doom fan raving about for a very long time.

    Opening with the 13 minute behemoth “Blood Seeres”, the band’s distorted guitars will surely catch your attention (with feedback and everything). But it is probably the vocals, courtesy of Emilie Bresson, that will be the most disturbing element of this track. Emilie’s screams are just too raw and brutal to even begin to describe. The guitars are tune way low, just like the doctor ordered for a release in these genres, courtesy of Shiran Kaïdine of Year of No Light fame.

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    Opera Diabolicus - 1614 (2012)

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    With a very powerful and eerie atmosphere, Opera Diabolicus delivers a very powerful and theatrical Gothic Metal release that should not be taken lightly. “1614” features a wide variety of vocal appearances by Snowy Shaw and Mats Leven from Therion, Niklas Isfeldt  of Dream Evil, Jake E of the yucky Amaranthe, and Camilla Alisander-Ason. Focusing more on the theatrical aspect of things, the band (a two-person unit) crates very eerie moments that will haunt your dreams.

    After the creepy “Overture”, “The Gates” fully deliver a very familiar Therion-esque vibe minus the overly pretentious approach that Christofer Johnsson has decided to take in the last few years. The somber atmosphere is top notch and this song really made us picture a musical/play setting for this album. The over-the-top keyboards and choir sections are magical and the dramatic vocal performances make this song plain genius.

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    Nami – Fragile Alignments (2011)

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    Hailing from Andorra of all places, today we have a very interesting release with Nami’s “Fragile Alignments” album. Mixing everything from Cynic, Opeth to Meshuggah, this band delivers a lot of band for your buck. For almost 60 minutes the band delivers waves of powerful riffs perfectly arranged in a manner that only big name bands have been able to deliver after years of trying.

    Opening with the progressive instrumental “Awakening from Lethargy”, the band nicely generates some momentum before leveling your ears with the complex “The Inner Man: Materia”. In this track, the Meshuggah worship is evident, and Nami does a great job in graciously pulling off complicated segments. The guitar riffing is outstanding and the drumming is very precise, letting the vocals vent off with some heavy growls while the music is pummeling through.

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    Goldenseed - The War Is in My Mind (2012)

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    Featuring the talented multi-instrumentalist Gabriele Pala, today we have Goldenseed’s third full-length release “The War is in my Mind”. In this one-man solo-project, Gabriele delivers 11 songs clocking around 52 minutes of very interesting Progressive/Shred Metal that greatly highlight his musical skills. Each of the songs feature excellent guitar work and very solid composition skills, something that many multi-instrumentalists seem to lack and favor showing off their skills instead.

    With a very space-oriented nature, “The War Is in My Mind” kicks off with “The R38 Class”. This song features very lush keyboards and a very typical Progressive Metal. While sounding very similar to bands like Ayreon and such, Goldenseed chooses not to ruin things and does not use vocals in this release (except in the last song). Pala’s guitar skills are nicely introduced little by little and never go full on over the top, but instead they complement the music nicely.

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    Tramortiria – Wrath among the Dead (2012)

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    Arriving from Italy with their crunchy guitar sound and their crafty song writing abilities, today we have Tramortiria’s debut full-length release “Wrath among the Dead”. With so many Thrash Metal bands popping out these days, it is good to hear one that actually has decent music for a change. Featuring over 45 minutes of catchy music, “Wrath among the Dead” is one of those releases you can’t afford to miss if you are a Thrash Metal fan.

    Opening with the atmospheric intro “Dust”, the band fully settles in their own style with the crushing “1936”. This song features very powerful and crunchy guitars that are nicely complemented by a pulsating bass guitar line and very tight drumming. The vocals are strong and nicely put together to fit the overall power behind the music. The instrumental “Earth Attack” nicely continues the onslaught of catchy riffs with almost 3 minutes of very well crafted and groovy music. This song in turn bleeds into “World of Fashion”, a track that sounds just like something that Dark Angel, Kreator, or any other Thrash Metal great would have belted out back in the day.

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    Various Artists – Swine of Hades (2011)

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    Featuring a very diverse line-up, today we have a five-way split called “Swine of Hades”. Featuring tracks of Taake, Sigh, The Meads of Asphodel, Thus Defiles (with Sakis of Rotting Christ) and a track featuring Evo from Warfare and Algy Ward of Tank, this release is as diverse as they come, but all bands come together very well when played loudly over your speakers.

    With a very powerful dose of Metal with Punk elements and a pouncing Bass guitar line, Evo and Algy deliver a cover of Status Quo’s “Tune to the Music”. The cover is actually pretty good and the nasty and raw sound created is very suitable for this crushing release. Next up we have Taake’s cover of GG Alllin’s “Die when you Die”, in a very Punk-ish Black’n’roll fashion. Hoest’s vocals are as crazy as ever and the sound of the track is as raw as you can get.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Dope Flood – A Planet on Four Legs (2011)

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    Hailing from Greece, today we have the Hard Rockers of Dope Flood delivering their 3 song EP titled “A Planet on Four Legs”. With a very mainstream sound, this Greek newcomer has a very catchy sound and excellent tunes, but sounds exactly like any other Hard Rock album we get here at Infernal Masquerade. While we are not saying this is bad, the band faces a hard up-hill battle to get noticed an hopefully signed in the future.

    Immediately opening “Uncertain” with some powerful riffing the band’s sound becomes evidently mainstream, with the very familiar sounding vocal style. The production on the drums and guitars also sounds like most music we hear on the ‘alternative rock’ radio stations. The song itself is very well crafted and catchy, and if consider the band is from Greece, then they sound exactly like an American band taking a crack at this genre. But if you don’t consider that, they just sound like any other band playing in a club on Tuesday night.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Deschain - Sea of Trees Forest of Gallows (2011)

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    Usually when we get promos with two songs clocking over 30 minutes they are pretty bad. However, Deschain totally proved us wrong with their self-released Melodic Black Metal assault titled “Sea of Trees Forest of Gallows”. With minimal ‘cascadian hipster Black Metal’ influences in their sound, we are completely puzzled as how they have managed to fly under the radar with such a rich and diverse European BM sound.

    Hailing from Indiana, this very young band (formed in 2008), has already two self-produced releases under their belts and with this one they are looking to storming the scene by surprise. It is rare that a band can pull off 15+ minute songs that never get dull or repetitive, but Deschain seems to not have any problems doing this. In a time when most ‘average’ Black Metal bands shy away from songs over 6 minutes, it is very cool to hear that some folks can belt out these mammoth pieces and totally rock while doing so.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Foret D'Orient – Essedvm (2011)

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    With a very interesting combination of atmospheric and folk elements with brutal Black Metal, Foret D’Orient delivers us their first EP called “Essedvm”. In this release the band instantly reminded us of the early Dismal Euphony releases, a feat that no band has done to date. Featuring six brilliantly crafted tracks, this Italian band delivers just the right amount of melody and atmosphere to offset the Black Metal side of things and create very emotional and powerful songs.

    With a lush and epic opening track with “Campo Di Marte”, the band really generates expectation in the listener. The acoustic sections are very well introduced and nicely help in the build-up process. “Sagitta” wastes no time and delivers powerful riffing accompanied with hellish vocals, this song nicely evolves into a more melodic territories as the song progresses. The use of the harp in this song is very eerie and works wonderfully when paired with some whispers, just to fully explode into powerful riffs and harsh vocals. This hypnotic atmosphere is what we usually yearn for, and this band excels at it, too bad the song ends somewhat abruptly.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Empyrean Plague – Imprint Evidence Destiny (2011)

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    Hailing from Canada, today we have Empyrean Plague and their very well crafted Melodic Death/Black Metal that will surely grab your attention immediately. “Imprint Evidence Destiny” delivers seven aural assaults that very creatively combine Melodic Death/Black Metal with Folk and Viking Metal elements; this creates a very rich palette of sounds that even after a considerable amount of listens you will not be able to fully discover this release.

    With oozing melody, the band opens the album with the 7 minute epic “Deciphering The Norse Code”. The guitar work is excellent and has that semi-rough feeling that only young bands usually have. The vocals are powerful but never overly done giving that nice contrast to the music. The bass guitar is very present and nicely balanced in the mix as well. “Imprint Evidence Destiny” continues in a similar fashion with super catchy melodic sections and very effective ‘speed ups’. The drumming is also very good and both songs (and the rest) have a wide variety of different patterns.

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