Album Reviews

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    Predatory Light – MMXIV (2015)

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    Hailing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, today we have Predatory Light and the re-release of their 2014 demo in a 10” vinyl format through Pesanta Urfolk. Featuring members and ex-members of bands like Ash Borer, Anhedonist and Drought, the band crafts a very intense and thick Black/Death Metal wall of sound with some Doomy elements thrown into the mix. This two track release is just a little taste of the band’s destructive powers and will surely leave you wanting more.

    Opening with the oppressive “Changing Skins”, we have deep raspy vocals greatly complementing the demolishing riffs. The incorporation of Black Metal elements and blast beats into the music nicely provides solid tempo changes that keep the listener always engaged. The band provides a craftier and more elaborate piece with “Spiritual Flesh”, a 10-minute song that is mostly mid-tempo and very hypnotic with some well incorporated bursts of violence thrown into the mix. The riffing is at the center of this song, being quite creative and diverse.

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    Nyseius – De Divinatione Daemonum (2015)

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    Five years in the making, today we have “De Divinatione Daemonum” from French Black Metal battalion Nyseius. With a dominating sound and a knack for creating oppressive aural soundscapes, this release is one that you will not see coming with its vicious 66 minutes of dense Black Metal.  

    Slowing introducing the listener to their dissonant world, “De Casu Diaboli” perfectly unravels this release. Instantly going for the throat, “Black God Ascension” and “Exitinction of the Seven Divine Spirits”, the band’s relentless spirit is admirable as they deliver their ruthless music. As they blast through high-intensity pieces like “Finis Terra Sancta” and the demoralizing “Possessor of the Key to all Mysteries”, we also love the creepy interludes like the disturbing “Lamentation Prayers”.

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    Arvas – Black Satanic Mysticism (2015)

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    Filled with hate and a raw intensity that many bands would envy, today we have Arvas and their devastating third full-length release “Black Satanic Mysticism”. While many bands focus in making pretty music, Arvas delivers brutality in high doses in this very ‘in-your-face’ destructive release.

    Slowly blasting away with the real opener “Flames of Black”, the band’s sound is completely raw, but not always in a good way as it seems to be an artifact of the crude production. We appreciate the extra brutality that this conveys, but sometimes the sound is a bit too much and it gets to sound like a live recording without. Pummeling through tracks like “Beholder of Demons” and its funky keyboards at the end, “Redemption Black”, and “Faith of Negatron”, this album shapes up to be a mixture of Immortal with Impiety. The band starts going in more creative directions with the solid “Follow the Raven”, which sounds more like your average Pagan Metal track.

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    Thurisaz – The Pulse of Mourning (2015)

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    When the core of a band stays together since the beginning, the quality and structure of their music stays greatly unchanged and constantly improves, this is the case for Belgium’s premier Atmospheric Death/Black/Doom outfit Thurisaz. Having caught our attention since their magnificent debut “Scent of a Dream” back in 2004, the band has been taking their time to release albums, but every time the wait is completely worth it. With “The Pulse of Mourning” the band further refines their signature sound and delivers nine brilliantly melancholic songs.

    After the instrumental opener, the band burst into action with the pummeling first few minutes of “…For A Change”. Thurisaz has always combined Death/Black Metal style onslaughts with lush atmospheric elements, and this song (and release) keeps the tradition. As the previous track winds down, the band continues with the more rhythmical and perfect for headbanging “Patterns of Life”. In this track we are treated to band’s signature melodic passages that are greatly enhanced by some moody clean male vocals. The band’s constant influx of creativity into the tempo changes of their songs is unique, and greatly exemplified in this song.

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    Nightwish – Endless forms Most Beautiful (2015)

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    As the most expected release from 2015, today we have Nightwish and their eight full-length release: “Endless forms Most Beautiful”. Armed with two new band members, this legendary Symphonic Metal band delivers nearly 80 minutes of music in their most ambitious album to date. The album is naturally filled with fast, catchy and heavy tracks that are perfectly combined with dramatic symphonic arrangements, all nicely tied together with a very powerful message.

    Opening with the bombastic “Shudder Before the Beautiful”, the band sets a very active tempo since the beginning. Floor Jansen’s vocals work very well for Nightwish and they greatly shine in this release. It was obvious that the band’s previous singer had considerably less range than Floor, and the band is now back into their lush and explosive musical days from their Tarja-era. The choir arrangements are extremely well delivered and greatly enhance the music. Marco Hietala has a reduced role, in terms of singing, in this release but it makes his moments count like on the epic “Weak Fantasy”.

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    Rise of Avernus - Dramatis Personæ (2015)

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    With the popularity of Gothic/Symphonic Metal, hundreds of bands appeared in the scene and flooded our inbox with tons of sub-par releases. Luckily for us, Rise of Avernus does not conform with the masses and on their latest EP “Dramatis Personæ”, the band manages to have their own unique interesting of Progressive Gothic/Doom Metal. Imagining Septic Flesh meets Epica, this band delivers both intricate heavy music and some nice orchestrations to adorn things.

    Opening with “In the Absence of Will”, we get the traditional symphonic orchestrations mixed with some interesting riffs and tempo changes. The drumming is quite solid and the overall feel of the track is heavier than symphonic… what a relief. Things get a bit more complex and engaging with the brilliant “Path to Shekinah”, a song that features some heavy passages and engaging vocal arrangements (both growls and male clean vocals).

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    Dynfari - Vegferð tímans (2015)

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    Hailing from Iceland, today we have yet another outstanding Atmospheric Black Metal band named Dynfari. In the band’s third full-length release we get eight melancholic tracks of mournful music with just the right amount of brutality and external influences to make them quite unique and enjoyable.

    Leading the album we have the Post-Metal /The Ocean-esque intro “Ljósið”. “Óreiða” paves the way for more melodic and depressive territories with the weeping guitars in this track. The vocals are your very traditional screams that don’t sound too aggressive to be typical BM or to mellow for the hyper fast drumming. The band is not afraid of experimenting enriching their sound with some hypnotic melodic passages and droning headbanging moments.

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    Saturnalia Temple – To the Other (2015)

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    Finally being released in North America by The Ajna Offensive, Saturnalia Temple’s sophomore full-length “To the Other” arrives on April 7th, 2015. Having seen the band live at Stella Natura, we started following their unique Pyschedelic/Stoner Doom Metal since then. In this release the band further strengthens their presence with seven/eight tracks of punishing riffs and a very rich wall of sound.

    Pouncing at the listener with their opening track (that got sandwiched with the intro in the version of this album we reviewed), the band delivers savagely distorted riffs and hellish vocals. It is not until the next track, “To the Other”, that the band changes its attack approach to a more Stoner vibe with the underlying crunchy riffage that characterizes their style. Falling in from one type of trance to the next one, “Snow of Reason” nicely changes the pace thanks to some more engaged drums and a less oppressive guitar distortion.

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    The Grammers – Journey (2015)

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    Instantly a top contender for the catchiest and most engaging release of 2015, today we have Finland’s The Grammers and their release “Journey”. Delivering 11 tracks of vibrant Hard Rock, this band has a very playful and engaging sound that instantly grabs your attention.

    Expertly selected to kick off this release, “Journey” has a superbly engaging chorus section that will stick in your head for days. The track is quite moody and very well crafted, similar to the approach that Crimson Tears used to take in their music. As the band pummels through the catchy “Brother” and the superbly executed “Hey Mama”, we instantly notice the band’s very positive energy and great deal of fun they seem to have when delivering such lively songs.

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    Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz (2015)

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    Comprised of 80% talent and 20% attitude, Finland’s Santa Cruz keep the Glam Metal flame alive with their superbly catchy music and intense stage presence. With the greats of the genre getting older and older and (finally) retiring from the scene, it is ups to bands like Steel Panther and Santa Cruz to keep this part of musical history alive and the Finns are doing a great job in keeping up with their part. In their self-titled sophomore release, the band takes their sound one step further with richer music that further develops their sound.

    Opening with the hyper catchy “Bonafide Heroes”, we get a certain Bon Jovi vibe from the singer/guitarist Archie. Of course there are killer guitar solos and excellent show-off parts in this song, but the kicker is that nothing sound extremely retro or copied, but rather the band has made it their own and further expanded it with current musical trends and styles. As the insane guitar leads keep appearing on tracks like “Velvet Rope” and “My Remedy”, the band quickly establishes a high-octane mood with their superb music. Johnny and Archie do a killer job in delivering amazing guitar sections in this release.

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