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    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Stille Volk - Nueit De Sabbat (2009)

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    I've been listening to Stille Volk since the 1997, and they have most of the time releases good albums (except [Ex-uvies]). They are very consistent with their Medieval Folk style, and they don’t have any traces of Metal anymore, but still makes for a nice and different thing to listen.

    This two man band provides a great variety of wind and string instruments that are perfectly complemented with Patrick's vocals and several bagpipes. All songs are very consistent of the style of Stille Volk and will surely please all their fans. All instruments from what I can tell are very well played and they mix together perfectly.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Kekal - Audible Minority (2008)

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    I've been listening to Kekal since their early Black Metal origins to their transformation into Avant-Garde Metal. I've never been a big fan of their newer releases, however you can see some brilliance behind their music. "Audible Minority" was released on-line for free, and an official label release came to light in December 2008. I'm not an expert in Avangarde Music, but I can still find releases that I like and ones that I don’t.

    Kekal's latest release is one that after listening for several times, I'm not able to get into it. There are many elements floating around that do not fit well as a whole. Many of the samples are just annoying in my opinion, and the vocals just make them worse. While there are some nice jazzy parts, they just suddenly transform into a drone noises and the magic is lost. The only song I liked was "Against", all the rest have nice parts but nothing else.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Black Sun Aeon - Darkness Walks Besides Me (2009)

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    I first heard of this band when I got a CD sampler from Stay Heavy Records during Tuska 2008. Black Sun Aeon is one of many projects from Tuomas Saukkonen, and like all of this projects, it's brilliant. Having 'formed' just in 2008 this album showcases the musical creativity of Tuomas. The release is dark and heavy, a perfect combination of Death and Doom Metal.

    This album also features an array of guest vocalists that give different dimensions to this album. It was great to hear Tomi Koivusaari from Amorphis growling again (in Chapter 4), Ville from Moonsorrow (Chapters 5 and 7) and Mynni from Sotajumala in 3 songs. The guest vocalists provide their powerful vocals to an already great combination of clean and harsh vocals provided by Tuomas and Mikko.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Tracedawn - Tracedawn (2008)

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    I was blown away by this band's first release. Their sound is so well defined and technically amazing. Every track of this album has been greatly constructed and shows a high level of musicianship. And amazingly enough most band members are under 21 years old!

    The band's sound has some resemblance to Into Eternity, but it has a more symphonic sound to it. The vocals are a very well balanced mix of clean and harsh vocals that don't get too annoying or sound bad at all.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Turmion Katilot – U.S.C.H (2008)

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    I've never heard of this band before I walked inside of Tavastia during the first night of the club shows that occured during Tuska 2008. And after their set was done, I was one more fan of this band.

    While their stage costumes made me believe they where going to play some type of grind/gore music, it was the opposite. Suddenly some beats started going on the background and I was in for quite an experience.

    Turmion Katilot's musical style is industrial metal, and in this release they feature some of the catchiest beats they have made until now.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    The Sorrow – Origin Of The Storm (2009)

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    I have to say that I was quite impressed with The Sorrow’s performance in Tuska 2008, so I was curious about listening to this album. And I was completely disappointed, while you can clearly see their old Gothenburg influenced Melodic Death metal style, they completely kill it with the terrible Metalcore/emo style vocals. The album kicks of powerfully and I was thinking, this will be a great release, but noooooo the vocals switched to the annoying clean vocals, and the typical emo’ish choirs.

    I was about the stop listening to this album, but I remembered that I have to communicate my finding with other metal heads, so they decide for themselves if they want to take the plunge this way. I must say that the music is excellent since they still play a killer melodic death, but they ruin every single good riff with terrible vocal changes.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Suidakra – Crógacht (2009)

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    This releases is the 9th full length album of Suidakra, and like it’s predecessors it’s very good and different. In this release the Celtic influences are predominant in most of the songs, but the traditional aggressiveness of their musical style is always present. All songs feature a higher technical quality than most of the bands previous work.

    “Crógacht” features nine tracks that will leave you begging for more. The intro track will give you a very good idea of what to expect through out the rest of the album. And then “Conaloch” hits with a combined aggressive and melodic aspect to it that will enthrall any listener. In this release the keyboards mark the overall Celtic atmosphere of the whole album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Wyrd - Kalivägi (2009)

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    Wyrd has been shaping their music over the course of its existence, and now “Kalivägi” marks their newest release with a more refined mix of Pagan Black metal with doom metal. If you are expecting the old heavier sounding Wyrd, you’ll be in for a surprise since while their music is slower they still have some of the rawness of their first releases mixed in with their slower newer stuff.

    This release features a majestic combination of acoustic passages, harsh vocals, clean vocals and distorted guitars that create a depressive atmosphere like no other band has done. While the clear vocals are not the best they clearly fit into the music. Imagine listening to Tenhi with some distorted guitars and harsh vocals.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Eternal Tears Of Sorrow – Tears Of Autumn Rain (2009)

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    This single from this band just adds to my anxiety of waiting for their new full length album. It features 2 tracks, one from the new album, and a remake of Vilda Mannu. This all-star band from Finland create a very interesting blend of music. While they maintain the aggressiveness of the older stuff, they add a more symphonic layer to their latest releases. And this is just great, the sound is very melodic and powerful.

    This single opens up with the title track and it blows you away. Featuring nice melodic keyboards complementing the guitar riffs, harsh vocals, precise drumming and a great chorus that will have everybody head banging, the only bad thing is that it’s only 4 minutes long!.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Nachtreich – Sturmgang (2009)

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    After releasing six demos (only two available to the public) this two man band blew my expectations away after just looking at the cover. I imaged it would be another shitty Ambient / black metal demo that was just going to make my ears bleed. And I was totally wrong.

    This demo features amazing neoclassical compositions using a variety of instruments, and of course, some distorted guitar riffs. The length of the demo is 55 minutes, but it felt like it was only 10 minutes. I was so immersed in the music trying to identify all the instruments used, and enjoying how each song is very well composed and executed. I must say I’m a sucker for good neoclassical music, but when it has distorted guitars perfectly blended, I’m even more enthralled with the music.

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