Album Reviews

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    Burning Point – The Ignitor (2012)

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    Hailing from Finland, today we have Burning Point and their super catchy Melodic Power Metal released titled “The Ignitor”. With a very exciting mixture of modern Melodic Power Metal elements and a traditional Heavy Metal, Burning Point delivers a very well-crafted release full of powerful guitar sections, catchy chorus parts, and an overall epic feeling that only a handful of bands can pull off.

    Taking the listener back to the time when Power Metal was epic and felt like an adrenaline shock, “Eternal Flame” delivers a very apt opening for such a fun and engaging release. The band does a great job in establishing a basic core of guitar driven melodies where the keyboards and virtuoso-passages take a back seat and let the rest of the elements shine. Pete Ahonen vocals are spot on and have a powerful range, on tracks like “In The Fire’s of My Self” and “In the Night”, they carry the songs magically and seemingly effortless. “In the Night” has also that classic Heavy Metal vibe thanks to the chorus section that many newer bands seem to be forgetting about.

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    FluiD / John 3:16 – The Pursuit of Salvation (2012)

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    Arriving from Alrealon Musique, today we have a very interesting double release that while not entirely our main cup of tea, we actually enjoyed a lot. FluiD is an experimental electronic hip-hop musician that mixes elements from Ambient and Drone with some beats delivering a pretty interesting experience similar to Ulver’s trip-hop phase. We have previously reviewed John 3:16’s music and we were quite impressed with his interesting combination of Darkwave with a dose of Drone and some guitar driven sections.

    Opening this release we have the first three tracks belonging to FluiD. In “Angels Pt. II”, the song opens with a cavernous feeling and some nice minimalist touches that create an interesting atmosphere, some interesting Drone elements are thrown into the mix to create a very weird but intoxicating vibe. The organs in “Plague” give an extra creepy sound to the track and nicely culminate the build-up from the opening sections of the song. Driven by interesting beats, “Forewarning” nicely closes down the FluiD section of our promo leaving a very puzzling, but equally satisfying experience from this very interesting artist.

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    The Horn – Volume Ten (2012)

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    With a very interesting thematically concept revolving around setting the Egyptian book of the dead through some very disturbing music, the one man project The Horn delivers “Volume Ten”. Claiming to play “Pure Ancient Occult Egyptian Space Metal”, this musician delivers 14 tracks of brutal and weird music that are not for everybody, but some might enjoy due to its combination of Black Metal with Noise and Ambient/Drone elements.

    When it comes to originality we must say that we haven’t quite heard anything as disruptive as The Horn in this “Volume Ten” release. Unleashing a wall of sound in the intro “The Portal Opens”, the truly decadent reality of The Horn’s musical destruction is first felt on “Spell 165”. With a raw-as-fuck approach to Metal, this track is a beast when it comes to raw brutality and devastation. Some industrial elements are made present in the hypnotic “Spell 124”, making this band quite unpredictable at first glance.

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    Al-Namrood – Kitab Al Awthan (2012)

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    Saudi Arabia’s most interesting ‘ethnic’ Black Metal band is back with another release that features intriguing middle-eastern atmospheres and crushing Black Metal merged to near perfection. With “Kitab Al Awthan”, Al-Namrood pushes forward in their musical exploration delivering over 47-minutes of intelligently written music that is both captivating and very brutal.

    Opening with the lush “Mirath Al Shar”, the album instantly transports you to a somber and mysterious place thanks to the excellent atmosphere created. The production this time is considerably better and you can really hear the richness of the band’s percussions and epicness of their middle-eastern influences. The rawness of their Black Metal foundations is first unleashed on “Min Trab Al Jahel”, and we again noticed considerable improvement in the production values when compared to their previous release. The fusion of atmospheric keyboards and the raw distorted guitars is majestic, giving that creepy feeling of being trapped in a maze similar to the ones in the Prince of Persia games.

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    Vertigo Steps – Surface / Light (2012)

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    Thanks to the Internet and the current advances in technology, releases like “Surface / Light” from Vertigo Steps are now possible with collaborating parts from two different countries. This two man project from Portugal and Finland deliver what is probably one the best Atmospheric Rock / Post-Rock releases of 2012. Combining elements of bands like Katatonia, Anathema (newer stuff), Porcupine Tree with some more ‘mainstream’ Post-Rock/Atmospheric Rock influences, Vertigo Steps manages to create a lush and ethereal sounding tracks unlike any other band we’ve heard recently.

    Opening with the atmospheric “Vertigo Dawn”, you can really feel the overall peacefulness and calmness that the album’s atmosphere is going to bring to your hectic day. With very firm guitar work and a nice Rock-ish vibe, “The Hollow” delivers the first introduction into the band’s combination of mainstream rock elements with brilliant atmospheres. The clean vocals of Niko Mankinen are outstanding and very soothing. There are some very nice female backing vocals in this track that nicely add to the atmosphere of this song. The guitar work is quite catchy and keeps things running smooth and heavy without overpowering the atmospheric content of the track.

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    Legacy of Brutality – Ad Bellum (2012)

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    Our favorite Spanish Death Metal band returns with their latest release titled “Ad Bellum”. Being a double CD release, the first CD contains four brand new tracks, a cover of Gorefest’s “The Glorious Dead” and a video track. The second CD contains a crushing 46 minute live show they recorded last year. Nicely illustrated and well presented, this release continues the crushing path the band set in their previous release “Path of Forgotten Souls”.

    Opening with crushing riffs, “Masacrado” delivers waves of punishing guitars, massive drumming, and very powerful growls. The band’s ability to craft catchiness into brutality is as good as always, making this song very entertaining. On then four minute chug fest “Para la das paredes do cliseu”, the band crafts very meaty hooks and a nice older DM vibe with a few upgrades in the guitar department. If you like traditional Death Metal, but also enjoy the clarity and guitar work of modern bands, this will surely catch your attention.

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    Trioscapes – Separate Realities (2012)

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    In the category of musical porn, today we have Trioscapes and their ridiculously technical (and equally intoxicating) debut release “Separate Realities”. The band formed by Dan Briggs (of Between the Buried and Me), Walter Fancourt on tenor saxophone/flute, and Matt Lynch on drums, is out to conquer audiences with their intoxicating mixture of Prog Rock, Fussion, and Psychedelic Rock, all packed into a funky sexy package that will get you laid guaranteed.

    Open with the Yes-esque “Blast Off”, the trio delivers a pretty impressive dance between instruments since the first second. The percussions are outstanding and they are very precise to offset the sexy saxophone lines. The bass line is nothing short of extraordinary, making us wonder with is Dan playing with Between the Buried and Me, and not a better band ($$$).

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    Winter Haze – Silent Deception (2011)

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    Today we have Italy’s Winter Haze delivering an exciting Symphonic Metal EP release titled “Silent Deception”. Featuring four tracks, this EP showcases a very mature and interesting band that can write and execute superbly melodic songs. The band’s biggest asset besides their musical skills is the sweet and unique voice of Giorgia Marra and its powerful range, making them immediately a force to be reckoned in this very crowded genre.

    Opening with a jazzy sax intro to the track “Cross the Sea”, this release sets the mood very effectively. The guitar work is pretty standard and very catchy, allowing Giorgia’s vocals to shine very nicely. Mixing clean male vocals and grunts with the classically trained female vocals is far from revolutionary, but when done right (like here) it is very effective and powerful. This track also has some nice vocal layering that gives it a very professional and dramatic edge.

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    Antigama – Stop the Chaos (2012)

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    Featuring one of the nastiest and most chaotic sounds we have ever heard (in a good way), today we have Antigama and their latest EP titled “Stop the Chaos”. Going over 15 minutes of music in six tracks, this Death Metal/Grindcore will blow you away with their super rich and equally devastating sound.

    Immediately blasting away with “E Conspectu”, Antigama reminds us of a Death Metal version of Anaal Nathrakh. The sheer brutality behind this track, and all the others in this album, is just outstanding if you are looking for a ‘quick and brutal’ kind of release. The riffing is super hectic and deranged, the drumming is super intense and sometimes it even sounds too random to be true. The growls are just the icing on top of this already excellent cake.

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    Moonreich – Curse Them (2012)

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    After Moonreich’s impressive debut “Loi Martiale” in 2011, we have them returning with even more devastating Black Metal in their digital-only EP titled “Curse Them”. Featuring three new tracks and a cover of Christian Death’s “Deathwish”, this short but sweet EP continues where the band left off and delivers a pummeling 20 minute aural assault that showcases how strong and brutal Moonreich is.

    Blowing up since the first track (“Slay the Prophet”), the band’s high-octane Black Metal riffing onslaught immediately delivers waves of brutality. Similar to bands like Watain and older Behemoth, Moonreich does not fuck around and delivers tons of blistering riffs in a very short amount of time. The drumming is pretty brutal and this track embodies the full range of the band’s aggressiveness.

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