Riding on the tailwinds of bands like Amaranthe that play catchy pseudo-pop-ish Melodic Metal, today we have The Passion of our Souls from Finland. This Finish duo deliver four tracks of catchy riffs, memorable melodic passages, and solid vocals that are quite engaging and will get stuck in your head.

Opening with “Give Me Your Soul”, the band instantly grabs your attention with some catchy hooks and very pleasing female vocals, courtesy of Julia Mattila. The male harsh vocals are a bit on the ‘too raspy’ side, but they seem to work with the music. While this release is catchy and mellow, it is also quite heavy as the opening of “Everything” will show you. The band is not just a convert to Metal, but rather one that has strong (and heavy) Metal foundations.

Hailing from Oakland, CA, today we have the Abstracter and their 2nd punishing aural assault titled “Wound Empire”. Featuring over 40 minutes of crushing Blackened Sludge/Crust/Doom music with some Post-Metal elements, this is one hell of a punishing release that will subdue the listener from start to finish.

The opener “Lightless” slowly builds up with pummeling riffs and a nice progression as the nearly 11-minutes of music go by. The vocals are quite strong and nicely fit the equally crushing guitar riffs. Abstracter goes into further exploration of their dark sound in the atmospheric “Open Veins”. This song provides us with some more typical Sludge/Doom riffs arranged in a very precise manner to fit their atmospheric passages and massive drumming.

After blowing us away with the first part of “The Initial Frontier” back in 2013, this German band comes back with part 2 with great style. Delivering over 45 minutes of expertly crafted Symphonic/Avant-garde Black Metal, the band further develops their unique sound with more atmospheric elements and great riffing onslaughts.

Opening with the superb “Naughtylus”, the band blasts away with some epic melodic riffs, crushing bursts of aggression and highly melancholic Cello passages. As the futuristic atmospheric keyboards and precise solos close the first track, the band quickly jumps into the intoxicating rhythms of “Diabolum Ex Machina”. This second song feature some quite interesting tempo changes and tribal-esque passages that make this song a magical listening experience.

On the days we are feeling nostalgic about the good old times of Dissection and similar bands that created and innovated with melodic riffs and epic songwriting, we turn to Thulcandra and their first two full-length releases. Unleashing “Ascension Lost” in 2015, the band continues to develop their old-school sound and make it their own, greatly improving on all the previous ‘borrowing’ they did from Dissection.

The album kicks off with the melancholic “The First Rebellion”, a fast-paced piece that is sonically pleasing and very technically proficient. The band’s proficient mixture of melodic riffs and old-school Black Metal is quite solid and songs like “Throne of Will” and “Deliverance in Sin and Death” are a testament to their abilities. Steffen Kummerer and Sebastian Ludwig are a highly skilled guitar duo that carries this release from start to finish with their intensity and creativity.

With a very engaging sense of experimentation and lush Post-Metal/Prog influences, today we have Ashen Waves and their debut album “Premonitions”. Being from the USA, the band brings some of that European ingenuity into their music with a very diverse blend of musical genres cohesively put together to deliver 10 tracks of solid music.

Opening with the Amorphis/Vintersorg influenced “Whispers”, we are treated to a very promising opener that perfectly blends multiple genres. We particularly enjoyed the upbeat keyboards and crafty mixture of clean and harsh vocals. The band’s next musical exploration is the surprising “Enmity” that delivers a healthy mix of Doom/Sludge riffs with dreamy Post-Metal/Proggy passages. While this style might sound odd, the band gracefully pulls it off.

Today we have the one-man battalion Vyrju and its debut EP release titled “Black”. Hailing from Norway, this outfit delivers four tracks and around 22 minutes of catchy and sludgy/doomy Black Metal. With a great emphasis on crushing riffs and demoralizing shrieks, this release is a short but sweet one for fans of the genre.

Opening with the catchiness of “The Constant Void”, we get a Satyricon-esque vibe with Sludge/Doom elements thrown into the mix. This song has good dosage of Black Metal influences thrown into the mix, making it quite engaging and entertaining.  As a personal favorite “There is no Grave Big Enough to take all my Sorrows”, this track is quite hypotonic and perfectly crafted with the graceful clean vocals of Tim Yatras who plays drums and clean vocals as a session member.

Nearly five years since the band’s last effort “At the Edge of Time”, Germany’s Blind Guardian return with another epic release with “Beyond the Red Mirror”. Featuring their signature soaring Power Metal filled with musical virtuosity and engaging chorus sections, this album delivers 64 minutes of warm hearted music that will bring back all the memories of the band’s highly praised discography.

Opening the release with great style, “The Ninth Wave” starts with album with 9 minutes of epic arrangements and soaring vocals. As the opener bleeds into “Twilights of The Gods”, the first mega-epic masterpiece of this release is revealed with an uber catchy chorus section. With “Prophecies” the band keeps a similar level of amazingness with Hansi Kürsch’s signature vocals and the excellent guitar work of André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen. The band’s sound is expertly crafted and perfectly balanced to deliver truly memorable songs.

After blowing us away with their weird and extremely experimental “Hyperblast Supercollider”, France’s Pryapisme returns with an even more chaotic “Futurologie”. Pushing sonic boundaries even further, the band greatly builds up on their crazy video-game/experimental music and delivers a crazy EP with one songs divided into 11 parts for around 25 minutes of music, and the orchestral version of said track is included as well.

The release kicks off with the very progressive and jazzy extravaganza of “Petit traité de futurologie sur l'Homo cretinus trampolinis (et son annexe sur les nageoires caudales)”. The first and second parts of this song feature a wide palette of video game music and some Japanese/Asian influenced orchestrations with a collection of odd tempo changes and jazzy Oboe. Things vary from Ska-like to pure head on madness through parts III to VII with some very fast paced sections (VI) and crazy catchy instrumental interludes (VII).

Hailing from Switzerland, today we have Arcturon and their latest EP titled “Expect Us”. With a first impression of this band looking like a Goth/Industrial outfit based on the picture of their cover art, we were pleasantly surprised that the band plays some solid Melodic Death Metal with some Industrial/Djent touches here and there.

Opening with the crushing riffs of “My Treasure”, the band makes a powerful statement on this first song. The guitars are heavy and the atmospheric elements nicely elevate this song to a good Melo Death piece that is greatly complemented by some clean vocals and solid guitar solos. The EP title track brings us some Djent infused grooviness that makes the band sound a bit mainstream/Modern Metal-like but with a clearly defined line when it comes to not being cheesy.