Gothic Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Elis – Catharsis (2009)

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    Three years have passed since their last full length album “Griefshire” and the unexpected passing of Sabine Dünser, she was featured in that album and it took the band some time to decide if they wanted to continue or not. The band found Sandra Schleret (ex-Dreams Of Sanity) as the new vocalist and decided to continue, touring in 2007 and recording an EP on the same year.

    After not hearing much from Elis in 2008, they are back in full swing at the end of 2009 with their fourth album “Catharsis” featuring 11 tracks of their traditional sounding Gothic Metal. The band retains their musical identity intact, and with Sandra’s vocals they sound as good as ever.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Elysion - Silent Scream (2009)

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    Hailing from Greece, Elysion is probably one of the next big things hit Gothic Rock scene, and they will surely take it by surprise since their debut album "Silent Scream" is very spectacular. Engineered by Ted Jensen (Evanescence, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Nickelback, Korn, Marilyn Manson) the album sounds amazing, showcasing every single detail of the band's music.

    Don't go making any conclusions yet, you are probably thinking that this band is all production and no substance, but you are very wrong to assume this since Elysion creates very good music that has enough depth by it self to get them respect from all their peers. I have to say that the band's sound is very commercial, but I don't see any problem with this since the band has never claimed to be anything else, or changed their style drastically in this direction. And as long the music is good an enjoyable I don't see any problem with commercial Gothic Rock music (i.e. H.I.M, The 69 Eyes, etc).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mandagora Scream - Volturna (2009)

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    Founded by Morgan Lacroix, Mandagora Scream is an Italian Gothic Metal/Rock band that has been around since 1997. The band's main characteristic is Morgan's unique voice, that once you hear it once, it's almost impossible to not recognize again.

    If you are thinking that Mandagora Scream only has to offer Morgan's vocals, you are deeeply mistaken. The band creates a very dark atmosphere in all their albums and "Volturna" is no different, the enthralling keyboard arangements mixed with electronic elements set the stage for a layering of different vocal tracks and very basic, but effective, distorted guitars.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Epica – Design Your Universe (2009)

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    “Design Your Universe” is probably one of the most expected albums of 2009 based on the momentum Epica has been building up since the release of “The Divine Conspiracy” two years ago. This momentum has been helped with endless touring and a live album released in the mean time.

    This album clearly shows that Epica’s success was not a matter of chance or anything and that the band is here to stay. “Design Your Universe” is a good improvement over “The Divine Conspiracy” and a worthy next step in their career, since this album is somewhat better than their previous releases. But here comes the ‘but’ in this last statement; the band does not offer much new in terms of ‘freshness’ to their sound.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Echoes Of Eternity – As Shadows Burn (2009)

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    While many people decided to trash Echoes Of Eternity debut album “The Forgotten Goddess”, I was very surprised why a band would get trashed by attempting a very interesting mixture of musical genres (Gothic and Progressive Metal) and achieving a very good debut album.

    The riffs on the band’s debut album were not the most original or complicated out there, also they were pretty repetitive but they still managed to get the job done in creating an original sound for a band that was breaking into the scene.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Echoes Of Eternity – As Shadows Burn (2009)

    cover

    While many people decided to trash Echoes Of Eternity debut album “The Forgotten Goddess”, I was very surprised why a band would get trashed by attempting a very interesting mixture of musical genres (Gothic and Progressive Metal) and achieving a very good debut album.

    The riffs on the band’s debut album were not the most original or complicated out there, also they were pretty repetitive but they still managed to get the job done in creating an original sound for a band that was breaking into the scene.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Theatre Of Tragedy – Forever If The World (2009)

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    After going back to a more Gothic Metal sound with “Storm”, Theatre Of Tragedy is back after three years with “Forever If The World”. The band’s latest release is a step up from “Storm”, but it still never compares to the band’s last great album “Aegis”.

    “Forever If The World” has a bit of a feeling like “Aegis” but it gets watered down with some weird parts featuring electronic elements, like in “Astray” and the feeling is over. However this album is still very solid and it has memorable tracks like “Frozen” and “Hollow” just to name a few.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Leaves’ Eyes – My Destiny (2009)

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    I was psyched when I received this CD on the mail, since I’ve been waiting for quite a while to get some new Leaves’ Eyes music. And let me tell you I was pretty shocked by the opening riff of the track “My Destiny” since I was not expecting it.

    The riff is very commercial hard-rock /Metal in nature and I had that whole déjà vu feeling when Lacuna Coil went very commercial, however the song got a bit better and the rest of the album continues in the traditional Leaves’ Eyes fashion.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ava Inferi – Blood Of Bacchus (2009)

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    Having formed in 2005 Ava Inferi presents us their 3rd full length album. The band shows great maturity and improvement in their already characteristic sound, with “Blood Of Bacchus”.

    Ava Inferi’s mixture of Doom Metal with Gothic elements is unparalleled, blending the traditional Doom riffs with mesmerizing female vocals provided by Carmen Simões, and the guitar work is provided by none other than Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen from Aura Noir (the self labeled ugliest band in the world) and Mayhem, which he left in order to fully concentrate on Ava Inferi.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Imperial Vengeance - At the Going Down of the Sun (2009)

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    Imperial Vengeance took me by surprise when I first started listening to this album, I honestly did not expect much from it since the only thing I knew about the band was that Charles Hedger, a live member of Cradle Of Filth plays in it.

    The band’s overall bombastic sound is what makes this release so interesting, since the 2nd track you are blown away by interesting orchestrations and deranged sounding vocals, a very original atmosphere that very few bands can pull off (like The Vision Bleak). I must say that this band is one of the weirdest and most original I’ve heard in quite a while, the band’s label for their sound is “Dark Aristocratic Metal" which sounds very accurate to me since they present a very rich Dark Metal sound.

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