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    Creation’s End – A New Beginning (2010)

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    Coming from the minds of two North American musicians today we have “A New Beginning”, the debut full-length release of Creation’s End. Featuring musicians such as Mike Dimeo (Ex-Masterplan, Ex-Riot) and guitar wizard Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie band), this debut album will blow you away with its amazingly crafted Progressive Metal songs.

    Creation’s End features a wide variety of influences, making them not just another Progressive Metal band, but a force to be reckoned since they touch so many genres in the 8 impressive tracks of “A New Beginning”. The band has something in store for everybody, being soaring vocals, guitar acrobatics, and a nice dark atmosphere surrounding the album.

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    The Man-Eating Tree – Vine (2010)

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    We at Infernal Masquerade are usually very busy reviewing all the stuff we get from labels, bands, etc., that we rarely have free time to go out and discover something new. Few weeks ago we found ourselves at a friend’s house being serenaded by this great band that we had no idea who it was, turning out to be The Man-Eating Tree, and we had been listening to “Vine” for almost 3 hours non stop. Long story short, we immediately got a copy of this album and became almost obsessed by it.

    Featuring Vesa Ranta (ex-Sentenced) on drums, Janne Markus (Poisonblack) on guitars and Tuomas Tuominen (ex-Fall of the Leafe), The Man-Eating Tree boasts a very impressive line-up. The music in “Vine” can equate to the quality of musicians performing on it. The band plays a very Atmospheric brand of Gothic Metal that will surely grab you attention very quickly since it’s extremely good and appealing.

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    Neuronia - Follow the White Mouse (2010)

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    Presented in a lush digipack, today we have all the way from Poland Neuronia and their second full-length album “Follow the White Mouse”. With a very hard to describe style, the band manages to merge elements of Thrash, Heavy and Melodic Death Metal in a multi-textured release that is very enjoyable from start to end.

    With a very unique style, Neuronia’s music is very enjoyable since it features influences from tons of different genres and bands, keeping things fresh and unpredictable. The only thing we quickly noticed is that we are not big fans of the vocals since they tend to get on our nerves a bit, and even after a few listens. However, they are not bad at all is just a particular singing style that irritates us (the ‘main’ one from the several different ones presented in this album) from the past, but the band’s music is good enough for us to ignore this little detail.

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    Frailty – Silence is everything… (2010)

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    Lastly from the Frailty promo pack we got in the mail a few days ago we have “Silence is everything…” another EP released by this monumental Death/Doom band from Latvia. In the same vain as on their “EP” release from 2009, we get a glimpse of the band’s excellent songwriting skills and abilities to keep this genre alive and well.

    Starting of with “Wendigo” we get a solid dose of fast paced Death/Doom Metal with passages that reminded us of Anathema in their earlier days (“Pentecost” and “Crestfallen” albums). But with a heavier edge than on the band’s first full-length release and with some harsh almost Black Metal-like screams here and there.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Frailty - Lost Lifeless Lights (2008)

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    After listening to their 2007 promo, Frailty caught our ears with their crushing Death/Doom Metal in a way that no band since the early 2000’s and late 90’s had done it. Hailing from Latvia, this band keeps the Death/Doom Metal flame alive and delivers 9 crushing tracks in their first full-length “Lost Lifeless Lights”.

    Quickly after their Intro song, the band treats us to some crushing guitar riffs in the traditional vein of bands like Saturnus, Mourning Beloveth, Shape of Despair, etc. With the traditional tuning of Doom Metal music, the band’s riffing is very crushing in the sense that is simple, desolate and authoritative. The growls quickly make their presence and the traditional atmospheric passages soon follow. “I Know Your Pain” is the prefect song to create a depressing and monumental atmosphere to surround this release.

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    Coma – Excess (2010)

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    Hailing from Poland, today we have Coma, a band that has ‘dominated’ the scene in their home country and now it’s trying to make their way through the very crowded and highly competitive world-wide market. The band plays a perfect blend of rock with progressive elements and some hints of Metal. “Excess” is a re-recorded version (in English) of their best album, and you can clearly hear that with the quality of the songs presented in this release.

    In an emotional rollercoaster, “Excess” takes the listener through many different moods and a wide variety of different elements fused together to create a near perfect release that will surely put the band in the world wide map. Being formed in 1998, the band has had enough time to craft their sound and be comfortable with it, the musicianship of this release shows that Coma is here to stay and that people should take note of them.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Invasion – Orchestrated Kill Maneuver (2010)

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    Quality can usually be considered a matter of perspective, and when it comes to Invasion’s “Orchestrated Kill Manuever” perspective immediately comes in to play. If you compared them to old-school European bands that play (and have played) the whole war-inspired Thrash/Death Metal band, then they are just one more in the bunch. However, if you consider what US bands have done for the genre, then we have to agree that Invasion is not that bad.

    With chuggy distortion and catchy riffs, Invasion comes at us with a brutal attack of straight-forward in-your-face Thrash/Death Metal that will make it hard for anybody to deny their effectiveness. That being said, they don’t have much to offer when it comes to originality or diversity.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Jumalhämärä – Resignaatio (2010)

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    Hailing from Finland, today we get one of the weirdest yet thought provoking releases of 2010. Jumalhämärä and their first full-length release in 14 years “Resignaatio”, come baring gifts with their highly deranged and experimental approach to Black Metal. The band combines elements of post-rock/metal, progressive metal, jazz, and Black Metal in a fashion that is not been achieved up until today. This band makes Solefald and such bands look rather straight forward and dull in their approach to music in comparison to what we find in “Resignaatio”.

    As an underground band for 14 years, Jumalhämärä is ready to take the stage and what better introductory card than “Resignaatio”. Opening the album with “Ecstasy in Blood – A Ballad”, for the first few minutes you might think that you are in for another raw mind-fucking BM release, but once you start noticing the different distortion, you will hear that there is something weird here… little do you know that after 5 minutes this song will explode into a full-on Post-Rock/Metal piece that will make your head hurt.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Unsun – Clinic for Dolls (2010)

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    With a world-wide release of October 11th, today we get Unsun’s second Gothic Metal/Rock album “Clinic for Dolls”. Hailing from Poland, this band features on the country’s most renowned Metal guitarist Maurycy Stefanowicz (Mauser) from Vader, Christ Agony and Dies Irae fame. Rounding up the two-person permanent lineup from the band, we have Mauser’s wife Aya. In the album liner notes we have that ex-member’s Heinrich (bass guitar) and Vaaver (drums) still contributed to this album.

    Unsun, plays a very straight forward Gothic Metal that is easily identified by the powerful guitar riffs and sweet vocals from Aya. The band’s sound is nothing revolutionary and at some points gets a bit monotone, but by the standards of the genre, “Clinic for Dolls” is a very solid album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Noctis Imperium – Nihil (2010)

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    Out of the hundreds of bands we receive every month, we have three main categories for them: great, terrible, and average. Noctis Imperium is one of those that fit exactly in the average category, there is nothing really wrong with it, but there is also nothing impressive to this band. The songs are catchy and brutal, but asides from this you can fast forward in between songs and everything will sound the same.

    Hailing from Venezuela, the band does a solid job in creating energetic Death/Black Metal songs. The band’s guitar work is pretty solid and catchy, and the solos are very well placed in the songs, we venture to say that the guitars and drumming (courtesy of Nicholas Barker) are probably the strongest elements of this band, since the rest falls on the ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ category.

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