Album Reviews

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    Epica – The Quantum Enigma (2014)

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    As one of the most anticipated Nuclear Blast releases of 2014, Epica returns with their sixth studio album titled “The Quantum Enigma”. Led by the charismatic Simone Simmons and the very active Mark Jansen, the band delivers another outstanding release filled with bombastic and explosive tracks that takes the band to new musical heights. With over 69 minutes of music, this is one release that no fan of the genre will want to miss.

    Opening with the lush arrangements of “Originem”, the album slowly transitions in to the very heavy “The Second Stone”. In this song we have the traditional catchy vocal melodies, but the band added an extra level of aggression with more powerful guitars and blistering solos, elements that greatly complement the band’s signature sound. The band’s excellent choir arrangements are perfectly complemented in tracks that have more teeth and will surely take fans by surprise, like the groovy “The Essence of Silence”.

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    Savn – Savn (2014)

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    Featuring Carmen Elise Espenæs (Midnattsol) and the ex-The Sins of Thy Beloved duo Stig Johansen and Anders Thue, Savn is a new comer band to the Gothic Metal/Rock scene that delivers a very imposing debut self-titled released. With a sound based on ‘older’ Gothic Metal/Rock from the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the band has a very familiar vibe to Theatre of Tragedy, Tristania, and The Sins of Thy Beloved. Packed with guest appearances, this is one release you don’t want to miss in 2014.

    The album instantly opens with a stunner: “Musical Silence”. In this song we have a very upbeat vibe with a certain Folkish atmosphere to it that quickly changes as the very prominent keyboards make their way. This is the first impression one gets of Savn, and it is a majestic one, reminding us of TSOTB and Theatre of Tragedy in their Liv Kristine days. The music is quite upbeat but with a certain melancholic edge, something that retains the darkness of TSOTB but with a certainly different context, like we can see on “Hang On”.

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    Throne of Molok – Beat of Apocalypse (2014)

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    Spreading their aural sickness all the way from Italy, today we have Throne of Molok and their latest offering: “Beat of Apocalypse”. Featuring an hearty combination of incisive Death Metal riffs with Industrial beats, this release is very aggressive and in your face. Move over bands like Pain, Kovenant, etc., Throne of Molok exchanges catchiness for brutality and delivers one of the most crushing Industrial Metal releases of 2014.

    As the release opens with the punishing “Beat of the Apocalypse” and “Something Black”, the band focuses more on having devastating riffs accompany powerful drum samples than having the catchiest beats like other bands do. Things start to get more traditionally ‘Industrial’ in the intoxicating “Atm:ind:inferno” and the ravaging “Tuned by Holocaust”, a song that has some fierce riffs.

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    Tethra - Drown Into the Sea of Life (2013)

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    With a very traditional Death/Doom Metal sound, today we have Italy’s Tethra and their debut full-length release “Drown Into the Sea of Life”. Featuring nine tracks of engaging tracks that bring back memories of the genre’s heyday we have some serious My Dying Bride worship on our hands with this one.

    After the intro track, “Sense of The Night” brings forth the goods with some solid clean vocals as the track transforms with some Doom riffs and tight drumming. The song structure is quite typical, and while not revolutionary is quite sufficient. The band’s melancholic presence is felt in the trio of songs “Drifting Islands”, “Vortex Of Void” and “Drown Into the Sea of Life”, featuring a wide variety of catchy riffs, memorable guitar leads, and a very well structured core.

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    Mystons – Black Matter (2014)

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    Enigmatic Finish Dark Rockers Mystons return this 2014 with another onslaught of catchy tunes in their latest release “Black Matter”. Featuring ten tracks of their unique mixture of Gothic/Stoner Rock with Sludge elements, we have been praising this band since the beginning and we continue to do so, thanks to their excellent evolution. If you like a new twist on the overplayed Gothic Rock genre, you will love Mystons.

    The band’s catchiness and heaviness is immediately felt with their opener “Coal Soul Woman”. As the main staple sound of the band, M Myston’s vocals are deep and engaging, the kind of vocals that get a hold of you and never let go. The Doomy and Sludgy riffing on songs like “People of the Dark” and “Let the Darkness Rest in Peace” is perfectly balanced with the bands craving for catchy vocal melodies and the overall melancholic vibe of the music.

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    Oblyvion – Oblyvion (2013)

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    Arriving from Italy, today we have one of the most diverse and exciting self-released albums we have received in the last few months. Oblyvion delivers 13 tracks of very diverse and well executed Melodic/Gothic Death Metal with a great deal of headbanging passages. With a knack for dramatic guitar leads and atmospheric keyboards, this self-titled release is a great one to enjoy.

    After the typical intro, the band digs deep into their musical range with the captivating “Oblivion”. In this song we have a very Dark Tranquility-esque chorus section that is complemented by some brilliant shredding acrobatics. This unique blend of skill and melody works wonders for the band’s sound. Perfectly pacing their music, “Buried Angel” keeps the same level of creativity but with a more mellow and melancholic vibe.

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    Trollfest – Kaptein Kaos (2014)

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    With crazy bands creating their own genres like Alestorm’s Pirate Metal, and others just mixing completely random music into brilliant mash-ups Ruskaja and the Leningrad Cowboys, Trollfest comes to occupy the niche of Troll-based Folk Metal with their extremely catchy, but ultimately bizarre music. With Kaptein Kaos, the band brings their music to new heights with 13 crazy songs that while very chaotic and totally mad; they seem to be quite catchy and enjoyable.

    Using their own language for the lyrics (trollspråk), they create short short songs filled with odd instruments (banjo, accordion, and sax). The madness starts slowly in the album’s intro “Trolltramp” and keeps escalating as we go through songs like “Kaptain Kaos”, “Vulkan”, “Ave Maria”, and “Filzlaus Verkundiger”. The band’s theatrical sound is quite intense and their instrumentation makes their music quite catchy an enjoyable. They remind us of a less serious version of the Leningrad Cowboys.

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    Monarque / Forteresse / Csejthe / Chasse-Galerie – Légendes (2014)

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    Arriving today from Sepulchral Productions we have a four-way split release that provides a nice introduction to four very solid Black Metal bands from Canada. Divided in two discs with each featuring a song on each side, this Canadian label does a great job in matching similar bands with sense for the more melodic and atmospheric side of BM.

    Opening with Fortresse, we have a punishing Atmospheric/Depressive BM sound filled with intense riffs and demoralizing vocals. While the song is quite engaging, it gets to be a bit repetitive, but this is not a total deal breaker. Side B of this disc has Chasse-Galerie and their well-developed track “Les Bois des Belles”. This song has a better structure to it, merging incisive riffs, a pulsating Bass guitar line and traditional vocals.

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    Delain – The Human Contradiction (2014)

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    In a year filled with exciting new Gothic/Symphonic Metal releases from bands like Within Temptation, Epica, Stream of Passion, Diabulus In Musica, etc., Delain delivers their best effort (to date) with “The Human Contradiction”. Led by the charismatic vocals of Charlotte Wessels, this release is the whole package in terms of excellent songwriting, a perfect balance of aggressive and melodic tracks, and an overall intensity that only the best bands of the genre can deliver.

    Opening with the engaging “Here Come the Vultures”, we are immediately immersed in the band’s melancholic melodic vibe. The songs are quite well structured around powerful guitars and expertly crafted vocal melodies that make for a very intense and exciting album. With guest vocals from Marco Hietala, a staple in the band’s best songs in their previous releases, “Your Body Is a Battleground” and “Sing To Me”, the band keeps the intensity to the max.

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    Sargeist - Feeding the Crawling Shadows (2014)

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    After blowing away the Black Metal scene with their 2010 masterpiece “Let the Devil In”, Sargeist finally returns with an even more visceral and punishing release with “Feeding The Crawling Shadows”. Led by Shatraug, of Horna fame, this album combines the raw and decadent feeling of early 90’s Black Metal releases with the current progression of the genre in a 10-track package that will leave your ears buzzing for days.

    Blasting the listener since the first riff of “Feeding The Crawling Shadows”, the opener track, the band delivers a raw and unfiltered look into the depths of hell with their crushing sound. Being very raw and aggressive, the band delivers punishing music without giving the listener that feeling of trying too hard that most BM reek of these days. This is easily seen in the demoralizing “In Charnel Dreams” and “Unto The Undead Temple”.

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