Gothic Metal

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    Helevorn – Forthcoming Displeasures (2010)

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    Having recently ‘discovered’ Helevorn at WGT 2011, we set out to find all their releases once we got back to the USA. Playing a mixture of Death/Doom Metal with some Gothic elements, Helevorn is one of the last remaining bands that keep the genre alive. With “Forthcoming Displeasures”, these Spaniards have cranked out 50+ minutes of crushing music that will surely impress any fan of the genre.

    Since the opener “From Our Glorious Days”, the mood is set to dark and desolate place that only keeps getting more and more depressing over the tracks presented in this release. The mixture of bleak clean vocals with the crushing (and proper) growls makes the band a double threat and truly delivers in all emotional ranges. Opening with some atmospheric keyboards we have “Descent”. Keyboards provide a nice backdrop through this release and never get on the way of the crushing riffs, mournful vocals and mid-tempo structures that we all love from Death/Doom Metal bands.

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    Stream of Passion – Darker Days (2011)

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    The super talented Marcela Bovio returns with another outstanding Stream of Passion release. “Darker Days” as the title mentions, has a darker and more bombastic feeling than the band’s previous effort. This release shows a much more compact and well integrated band than the previous release as all 13 tracks are beautifully composed.

    Never selling out, Stream of Passion has not dared to go into the more profitable (and popular) ‘Pop Metal’ realms, and with “Darker Days” they will surely establish themselves as one of the premiere Gothic Metal bands. With the emotional opener “Lost”, you quickly know this album will surely be a great trip. This song presents nice arrangements, hefty doses of powerful guitar riffs and (of course) beautiful vocals.

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    Draconian – A Rose for the Apokalypse (2011)

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    After a few years of the release of “Turning Season Within”, Draconian finally makes their return with another crushing release: “A Rose for the Apokalypse”. With a considerable increase in maturity, the band crafts 10 tracks of the best Gothic Doom Metal in the scene. It is highly un-likely that any other band will rival the quality of this release in 2011.

    Always characterized by the ‘beauty and the beast’-style vocal struggle between Anders Jacobsson and Lisa Johansson, the band builds up on their depressive sound and adds extra elements that make this release even more punishing and beautiful. With a powerful opening, “The Drowning Age” delivers the first blow of brilliance presented in this release. As the song progresses it nicely mellows to clean/harsh/female vocals and engaging guitar riffing.

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    Katanga – Moonchild (2011)

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    In the very weird shit category today we have Katanga and their album “Moonchild”. The band plays Gothic Metal with some Electronic/Industrial elements. The first thing to notice is the typical singing/spoken German vocals. The use of electronic elements is pretty cool through this release, making it very catchy.

    The opening track “Marquis De Sade”, crafts a very psycho-sexual atmosphere and it serves as a great appetizer for this very diverse and interesting release. “Gottlos” delivers catchiness with powerful guitar riffs and catchy electronics surrounded by strong German singing. The ultra catchy “Moerder Der Erinnerung” draws similarities to Letzte Instanz, and with the added female vocals achieves very nice contrasts between the singing parts.

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    To Cast a Shadow - In Memory of (2011)

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    In the slow and painfully good category today we have To Cast a Shadow and their Doom album “In Memory of”. It has been quite a while since a band has managed to capture the emptiness and bleakness of Death/Gothic Doom Metal, but luckily To Cast a Shadow has given us 10 tracks of emotional music.

    Hailing from Norway, this band delivers a very simple yet effective approach to the genre and with angelic female vocals creates a very powerful atmosphere. Traditional Doom Metal riffs open “Tormented” and all is good until you get the male vocals, to be brutally honest… they suck, but the female vocals greatly make up for this in the rest of the song.

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    Beto Vázquez Infinity – Existence (2011)

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    ”Existence” marks the ’bands’ 4th full-length album, and it is clearly their most impressive and ambitious release to date. With a vast array of guest musicians, this release is one of THE Melodic Metal/Rock albums of the year, even though it was released in 2010 elsewhere, we pick the North American dates for our top 10 lists.

    With this double album, Beto Vázquez has managed to put together a very eclectic mix of musicians and each of the 20 songs combines powerful melodies with outstanding vocals. While the guest musician list is huge, is not as impressive as the ones from bands/projects as Star One, Ayreon and Avantasia. Most of the guests in this album, with the exception of Timo Tolkki, might be considered from the ‘B list’ of Metal, but they are equally talented and are just a bit less known that the ones on the ‘A list’ of Metal. We particularly like this approach since it allows the listener to discover lesser known bands due to the performances of their vocalists.

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    My Inner Burning – Eleven Scars (2011)

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    Jumping into the female-fronted Gothic Metal arena, today we have My Inner Burning and their second full-length “Eleven Scars”. Led by the strong voice of Rebekka Gaber, this band has a golden opportunity to get noticed by being with the label SPV.

    Being nothing revolutionary and just adding another different sounding vocalist to genre, we believe that My Inner Burning might not really make a break in the scene and most people will call them out due to their shortcomings.

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    Amaranthe – Amaranthe (2011)

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    After being constantly bugged by people to checkout this new amazing Gothic Metal band from Sweden called Amaranthe, we finally caved in and got a copy of their 2009 demo. To our surprise this was not totally bad, except from the fact that it was very pop-ish, and nothing really to ‘write home about’.

    Fast forward to 2011 and the band finally releases their debut album “Amaranthe”. The first impression we had about this release is that a strong production can clearly improve things and that after a few years of working out the songs; the band has polished them to be highly effective pseudo-Gothic Metal anthems.  Before you go and close your browser and delete us from your favorites since you imagine we completely sold-out, bear with us and keep reading.

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    Leaves’ Eyes – Meredead (2011)

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    After their over-produced previous release “Njord”, I was hopping to see the band bouncing back with a more natural and real sound. To my surprise, Leaves’ Eyes did exactly this with “Meredead”. In this album we are treated to 12 tracks of beautiful sounding music (and no over production) that will surely remind you of a ‘modernized’ version of “Vinland Saga” (my favorite album of the band).

    Opening with the majestic “Spirit’s Masquerade”, the band will blow you away with lush choir arrangements and powerful guitars. Liv’s voice is as amazing as ever and in this song it’s very nicely surrounded by the choir and string instruments, this song alone made me forget about “Njord” instantly.  The chorus section of “Étaín” makes this song very enjoyable and a very typical Leaves’ Eyes styled song.

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    Midnattsol – The Metamorphosis Melody (2011)

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    Three years after the release of their sophomore album “Nordlys”, Midnattsol returns with their masterful Gothic Metal release “The Metamorphosis Melody”. Providing over 55 minutes of music, the band shows more signs of maturity and the abilitie to create very effective songs.

    Driven by the enchanting vocals of Carmen Elise Espenæs, the album opens with the album title track and you can quickly hear the massive guitar sound (for a Gothic Metal band) being surrounded by magical keyboards. Since the first song we can hear the excellent production behind this release and the raw power that the band tries to transmit with their sound.

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