Album Reviews

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    Dead to a Dying World – Litany (2015)

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    With plenty of high profile releases in 2015, Dead to a Dying World’s sophomore release “Litany” almost past by us unnoticed. Luckily, we gave it a few spins and were instantly blown away by the level of melancholy and musicianship found in this little gem. Featuring six tracks and over 70 minutes of Atmospheric Death-Doom/Black Metal /Post-Rock, this is one heck of a release from beginning to end.

    Hailing from Texas and featuring guest appearances by members of Pallbearer and Sabbath Assembly, this release kicks off with the 16-minute “The Hunt Eternal”. Opening with some somber strings and rapidly progressing into Black Metal territory, this track suddenly changes into all-out melancholic Doom riffing and lush clean vocals. The band perfectly captures the catharsis of such an intense opening with brilliantly painful mellow soundscapes and female vocals. This sounds like Ash Borer-meets-Elend-meets-My Dying Bride and we love it.

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    Abigail Williams – The Accuser (2015)

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    The on-again off-again Abigail Williams return after announcing their last break up, with yet another crushing release with “The Accuser”. Led by Ken Sorceron, this outfit is redefining US Black Metal with every release and they present their current case with eight intriguing songs filled with aggression and experimentation.

    Opening with their brutal “Path of Broken Glass”, the band delivers a huge wall of sound in the first few minutes before going into some weird experimentation with multiple vocal styles and some super cool melodic passages. Not sounding like any other band from the USA, this track is a testament to the band’s creativity. Things continue somewhat normal with “The Cold Lines” and the first few minutes of “Of The Outer Darkness”, just before the mood gets dark and doomier, the perfect precursor a great rest of the song.

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    Entwine – Chaotic Nation (2015)

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    Pleasantly surprising us when we received this album on our inbox, today we have Entwine and their first release in 6 years titled “Chaotic Nation”. As the whole Gothic Rock craze made popular by him has died down over the years, most of the solid bands in the genre moved to greener pastures. With the return of To/Die/For earlier this year and this new album, there seems there might be some sort of revival going for this scene.

    Opening with the very Finish Metal sounding “End of Silence”, the bands makes a splash with a very dynamic and engaging song, setting a very good standard for this release. Mika Tauriainen’s vocals are as good as ever and nicely carry the band’s character as they grace songs like “Saint of Sorrow” and “Fortune Falls”. Unlike the latest To/Die/For album that was pretty bad, Entwine has adapted with the times and sounds fresh while still maintaining their signature style.

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    Perihelion – Zeng (2015)

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    Hailing from Hungary, today we have a very energetic outfit named Perihelion. Seamlessly blending Post-Rock and Progressive Metal elements with soaring vocals, this band delivers a very melancholic release with “Zeng”. All sung in Hungarian, this release is quite unique as it constantly changes between styles at the exact moment you think you have figured them out.

    Opening with the dreamy “Tündöklés”, the band nicely moves around from a very atmospheric and Post-Rock-ish pace to a faster and more aggressive stance at the end of the song, which seamlessly blends into the second track “Vég se hozza el”. You can clearly hear some Alcest/Post-Black Metal worship here in the guitars, but they are interestingly contrasted by the soaring clean vocals of Gyula Vasvári. Things even get a bit folky in “Felemészt a tér”, a track that reminds us of another Hungarian band Dalriada, but with a male vocalist.

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    Erdh – Sidermesis (2015)

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    Arriving from Apathia Records, today we have a very weird Ambient / Trip-hop / Electronic release titled “Sidermesis”. Hailing from Paris, France, Erdh is a pretty unique outfit with a good ear for crafting intoxicating atmospheres and very diverse soundscapes. If you like their weird side of The 3rd and the Mortal, Ulver, and even Depeche Mode, this is right up your alley.

    Opening with the slowly building atmospheric title track, we get a moody piece that nicely introduces the listener to the band’s world. The vocals provided by Emmanuel Lévy fit the music nicely giving it a certain ethereal and gothic vibe. Nicolas Pingnelain’s music is pretty intense and creates a certain sense of urgency as we can hear from the very solid “Backup 1011”.

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    Children of Bodom – I Worship Chaos (2015)

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    After releasing a couple of lukewarm releases, Children of Bodom are back in fully force with the brilliant “I Worship Chaos”. The band mixes their early days intensity and naivety with their more modern elements to deliver a high-octane release that is full of memorable songs and brilliant musicianship.

    Opening with the intense “I Hurt”, we get a killer pace set by blistering guitars and very hectic drumming. This track is both fun and precise, keeping the listener headbanging since the first minute. The festive mood continues with the pummeling “My Bodom”, a track that increases in tempo and creativity as it progresses, leading to some signature solo face-off sections near the end. Perfectly blending the band’s “Something Wild”-era antics with their cleaner and more direct recent sound, “Morrigan” is the first track in this release that gets stuff in your head. The melody is quite intoxicating and the atmosphere is just magical, a typical older CoB track but with an edge.

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    Ulysses Siren – Justifiable Homicide (2015)

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    As one of the most underrated Bay Area Thrash Metal band in the scene, today we have Ulysses Siren and their EP “Justifiable Homicide”. Featuring some songs of their 2011 demo and three live songs, this release was slated for a couple of years back but the loss of Jon Torres derailed all the band’s plans. A few line-up changes and a couple of years later, we are finally able to get our hands on a few songs from the demo and some live goodies.

    Opening with the title track, the band delivers an intense punch of old-school Thrash brilliance. The guitars are quite vicious and the drumming delivers the perfect tempo for this great piece of period music. The band’s experience allows them to deliver their timeless sound with an unspoken authenticity that only the real Bay Area Thrash bands have. “Bludgeoned Mass” keeps things nice and heavy with some killer guitar acrobatics and very tight drums. Paired with a very upbeat tempo, this track is quite enjoyable.

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    Mord'A'Stigmata - Our Hearts Slow Down (2015)

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    After being quite intrigued by the band’s 2011 release “Antimatter”, this band released the lukewarm “Ansia” back in 2013. Fast forward two years, now we have their latest EP “Our Hearts Slow Down” which features three songs and around 30 minutes of Post-Metal/Post-Black Metal songs. Not too much better than their 2013 release, this album sees the band move away almost entirely from their Avant-garde influences into the fertile Post-Metal/Post-Black Metal realm with three so-so songs.

    Opening with the hypnotic “The Mantra of Anguish”, we are presented with very powerful riffs and a bleak landscape. The band keeps things simple by attacking the listener with ravaging guitars and spacey drum. There are some brilliant melodic passages that make the track more interesting, but still fails to fully impress. Things get a bit more hectic and enjoyable with the chaotic “Those Above” and its high-intensity drums. The riffing in parts is more on the traditional Black Metal side, making this track quite crushing and powerful.

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    Huntress – Static (2015)

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    Heavy Metal amazon Jill Janus and crew returns with yet another solid and superbly catchy release with “Static”. Featuring a more mature sound, Huntress has clearly evolved over their meteoric rise in the last 5 years and with this release they aim to solidify their status as one of the premier modern Heavy Metal bands. Pleasing fans and luring bystanders into their sound, this release is one fin example of Huntress and their power.

    Quickly blasting away with superbly catchy and energetic tracks like “Sorrow”, “Flesh” and the soaring “Brian”, Jill Janus is again the most iconic feature of the band, but the riffing also entices the listener. The band specializes in crafting catchy and simple tracks that are full of melodic guitars and a very upbeat tempo that makes you want to start headbanging. The uber catchy “I Want to Wanna Wake Up” has that old-school Heavy Metal vibe that some of the NWOBHM band brought to the scene back in the day.

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    Poois – Soul Spook Collector (2014)

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    With a larger than life attitude, today we have Poois and their latest release “Soul Spook Collector”. Featuring 10 songs of very diverse and crafty music, this album has tons of influences mixed into a very cohesive and party-like sound that you rarely hear these days. By further enriching their sound, this American band manages to provide a very unique and energetic album that people will greatly enjoy.

    The album opens with very unique and engaging tracks like the hectic “Fuckin’ Job” and the superbly catchy “Love Gun”. This clearly shows that the listener is in for a treat thanks to the wide variety of sounds and styles they will hear. The song lyrics are quite quirky with songs like “$19.95” and the funky effects of “Crack the Whip”, this gives that extra dimension to the music, and makes up for quite a hilarious time when trying to follow them.

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