Album Reviews

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    Aureole – Alunar (2015)

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    One man American outfit Aureole is finally releasing their demo on CD and Avantgarde Music has taken to the task to do so. With a very bleak and hypnotic sound, “Alunar” delivers five songs and around 40 minutes of Atmospheric Black Metal that nicely entertains and relaxes the listeners.

    Stating with “Citadel Alunar”, M.S. creates a very bleak atmosphere that is suddenly ravaged by low-fi distorted riffs and hellish vocals. The tension is perfectly introduced and developed in the first track and some tension is relieved on the faster harsher parts. “The voice of Nebular Flame” provides a very bleak backdrop with minimalistic atmospheric elements solid riffs, very contrasting to the mostly atmospheric “The Serenity of the Hourglass”. Luckily, the raw Black Metal harshness is back with the 12-minute behemoth “Crusade of NGC 5128”, a very trippy and engaging track.

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    Cold Cell – Lowlife (2015)

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    With a certain familiarity to old-school Bethlehem, today we have Swiss outfit Cold Cell and their powerful sophomore release “Lowlife”. Featuring a very dark and sinister sound that mixes Black Metal elements with more restrained melodic passages and some sprinkles of ambient elements, this release is quite obscure and enjoyable. Clocking in at 53 minutes, this is one release that breaks the mold and nicely sets itself apart from your cookie-cutter BM albums.

    Opening with a atmospheric intro, the band’s sinister sound first creeps on you with the Black’n’roll-ish opening of “Lifestyle Lunacy”. In this very moody track we get to hear the band’s full aural spectrum with a very rich and diverse piece. Other tracks feature brilliant melodic/atmospheric passages like “Scum Eradication” and “Dogma”. With the individual named S providing the vocals, we are reminded of the deranged style of Rainer Landfermann in Bethlehem’s “Dictius Te Necare”, but with enough restraint and focus to not draw all the attention to them.

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    Six Feet Under – Crypt of the Devil (2015)

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    Leaving us wanting more after their last release, Six Feet Under returns with another opus of catchy and grooviness inspired Death Metal with “Crypt of the Devil”. Led by Chris Barnes and Steve Swanson, this band has been refining their sound over the last 10 years and is far from sounding like any other Death Metal band in the scene. Dividing 37 minutes of music through 10 tracks, this release has enough catchiness to send you to the hospital from a neck injury after a day of extreme head banging.

    Kicking off with the traditional sounding “Gruesome”, the band gradually increases their effectiveness through tracks like the hyper catchy “Open Coffin Orgy” and the brutally titled (and crushing) “Broken Bottle Rape”. The Six Feet Under signature sound is always present in the tracks in this release as Chris Barnes iconic vocals shine through. There are killer guitar solos and funky riffs in all tracks, but we particularly love the insane solos on “Broken Bottle Rape”. The band can switch up the tempo quite effectively with the chugging “Break the Cross in Half”.

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    Satyricon – Live At The Opera (2015)

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    As one of the most refined bands of the early wave of Norwegian Black Metal, Satyricon has kept pushing their sound over the years. In “Live at The Opera”, we get to hear some of their earlier works and their most recent pieces play seamlessly together in a 94 minute concert that incorporates a 55-person choral arrangements into their music. Allowing the band’s sound to be more sinister than ever, this is one hell of a live release…. And we have only heard the audio portion of it.

    Slowly starting with an extra creepy version of “Voice of Shadows”, the band sets the mood quite effectively with the second track “Now Diabolical”. With a very subtle usage of the choir arrangements to create very oppressive moods, the band greatly improves on songs like the previously mentioned one and other classics like “Repined Bastard Nation”. The band’s newest songs “Nocturnal Flare” and “Our World it Rumbles Tonight” feature very effective arrangements to make already catchy songs even more dynamic and engaging.

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    Biopsy – Fractals of Derangement (2015)

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    Hailing from India, today we have Death/Grind outfit Biopsy and their short but sweet EP titled “Fractals of Derangement”. With a very quiet scene until the last few years, India is delivering some very solid band and getting attention from Metalheads as a source for quality music. Biopsy is one of their stronger exponents with their oppressive sound and superbly crafted tracks.

    Opening with “Hemolytic Crisis”, you are instantly treated to a high-octane piece with surgical precision drums and crunchy riffs. The mixture of growls and shrieks is quite solid and works very well for the level of brutality the music presents. With very traditional Death Metal song structures, “Anatomical Reconstruction” and “Genesis” have that old-school vibe nicely mixed in with some faster and Grind-ier moments that are perfect for headbanging en masse.

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    Kamelot – Haven (2015)

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    As one of the most anticipated releases of 2015, today we have Kamelot and their 11th full-length release “Haven”. Featuring a more explosive and theatrical sound, the band delivers around 54 minutes of brilliant music that shows a very well integrated Tommy Karevik with the rest of the band, making their music more cohesive and extra melancholic.

    In a very lively and dynamic opening, “Fallen Star” sets a very emotional mood for this release. As the first super catchy song of this release appears with “Insomnia”, featuring a great chorus section, it is very evident that Karevik is now perfectly integrated into the dramatic atmospheric keyboards and the playful guitar works of Thomas Youngblood. Moving into more lush and symphonic territories, “Citizen Zero” features a very Symphonic Metal-centric approach with excellent vocal arrangements and modern sounding guitars.

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    Emerged – Letting Go of Certainties (2015)

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    Formed by Tom Palms of Phlebotomized fame, this Dutch outfit delivers a nice five-song EP bridging genres between Progressive Metal, Heavy Metal, Stoner Rock, and some Doom. It is hard to standout these days, but the band’s music makes this quite effortless for Emerged. With a knack for epic melodies and super catchy song structures with a certain 90’s Metal feeling to them, this band is set to take the scene by surprise.

    With every song being quite different and a thing to individually explore, the band leads off with the melancholic “Dark Corner of my Mind”. In this track the band delivers a mid-tempo Proggy track with heavy riffs and some quite retro speedups. As we head into “Don’t Speak”, we have a livelier atmosphere with some chugging riffs and a certain old-school Psychedelic/Stoner vibe. Heavy Metal meets Prog Rock is the theme for the super catchy “Get a Life”, a song we can picture having vocals both by Dio and James LaBrie.

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    Ether – Hymns of Failure (2015)

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    Is Canada the new Black Metal cradle? Seems like it based on the fact that some of the best Black Metal releases of 2015 have all been from this country. Adding to the count of amazing BM albums, today we have one-man behemoth Ether and its sophomore release “Hymns of Failure”. Clocking in at 90 minutes, this double CD perfectly blends melancholy, depressiveness, and brutality in a crushing manner.

    Opening with the intense “Failure”, we had to instantly check if the drums are real… and oh yes they are. This 10-minute piece is piercing and brutal, feels like Mysticum on crack. Scythrawl masterfully manages tempo changes and mood swings in this release from insane blast beats to ambient passages as “Enmity” clearly shows. Slowly morphing into more melancholic blistering music, the album starts quite intense and it transforms brilliantly as time passes by, clearly showcased by our favorite “Coldness” and its eerie vocal arrangements.

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    Luciferian Rites – When the Light Dies (2015)

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    Just when you think that Horna and more specifically Shatraug, has the market corned for raw and demoralizing Black Metal, we get a band like Luciferian Rites and their soul crushing sophomore release “When the Light Dies”. Featuring total savagery from start to finish, this Mexican band deliver one of those raw and punishing Black Metal releases that instantly standout from the rest.

    The album opens with the fulminating violence of “Eternal Misanthropy of the Black Cosmos”, a crushing track that sets a very intense mood with pummeling riffs and eerie vocals. The music is by no means innovative, but it is so flawlessly executed that it sends chills through our skin. Ravaging through songs like “Incinerated Cross” and “Infernal Manifestation”, we are still blown away by the raw brutality behind the band’s sound and the crisp quality of the production behind this release.

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    Ereb Altor – Nattramn (2015)

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    Featuring Crister Olsson and Daniel Bryntse of Isole, Ereb Altor delivers a Viking infused Epic Doom Metal that is very distinctive and enjoyable in nature. As the band’s fifth full-length release, “Nattram” shows great maturity for the band and clearly showcases the well-polished chops this group of musicians has developed over the years.

    After a warm-up instrumental, the band brings forth their best Epic Doom Metal skills with the intoxicating “Midsommarblot”. Just imagine Tyr-meets-Candlemass and this is something similar to what you will get with this highly atmospheric and melodic piece. In terms of headbanging, “Nattramn” is the perfect piece to do this with its crushing harsh vocals and killer drumming. We greatly enjoy that the band moves from a heavy song into a more melodic and Epic one in a nearly seamless fashion as we can see with the transition to another epic anthem titled “The Dance of Elves”.

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