After their critically acclaimed and totally excellent release “Elysium”, one could wonder how Stratovarius will top such a great release. Two years later, “Nemesis” arrives with a darker edge, but an equally impressive assortment of songs. In this release the band delivers 11 tracks of their signature Melodic Power Metal with a more serious tone to things. Another answer provided in this release is that the loss of long-time drummer Jörg Michael was greatly alleviated by newcomer Rolf Pilve.

As in Stratovarius tradition, the band kicks off with an epic track titled “Abandon”. In this song we can instantly appreciate the band’s killer songwriting kills and excellent placement of epic vocal sections. This upbeat tempo is kept in the highly addictive “Unbreakable”, a track that features very catchy keyboards and a superb chorus section. Interestingly enough, this track sounds a bit more ‘mainstream’ than one would expect, but it is also super catchy and very well crafted.

Making its way from Australia, today we have Sanguinary Misanthropia and their traditional Black Metal debut full-length “Loathe Over Will”. Featuring 68 minutes of punishing Black Metal in the old-school way, this Australian band has a bit of that old Scandinavian BM vibe that has slowly been dying in the last few years.

Opening with the ritualistic “Revelations 16:4-6”, the band sets a very dark and mystical mood for this release, reminding us a bit of bands like Weapon and such that take carefully craft their Satanic message. Immediately making an impact with crushing old-school riffs in “Devil Everlasting”, the band sounds like the good old BM from the late 90’s before it all got ‘cool’. The distortion on the guitars creates this massive wall of sound that is very typical of older BM releases.

We receive many press kits at Infernal Masquerade every week, but when you get one with a bunch of pictures of dudes doing a photo shoot in the beach, one immediately wonders what kind of sick stuff the band is into. After the initial shock, the band’s name (Of Men and Angel’s Flesh) pretty much gives it away that we are in for a rollercoaster ride of brutality and weirdness.

Delivering seven tracks of Brutal Death Metal with some Grindcore and Deathcore influences, OMAAF’s debut EP “Ethnospheric Decay” is one hell of a rookie release. Blasting away since the opener “Satellite (DyingThroughts)” the band immediately shows their riffing power and intricate songwriting skills. Filled with crushing Deathcore style growls and less-growly screams, the band’s sound is brutal and very well crafted at the same time.

Arriving to our office in a beautiful gatefold slipcase, today we have Dystrophic latest opus of destruction titled “Cancer Constellation”. In this five song EP the band continues to deliver sonically abusive music that reminds us of Anaal Nathrakh and similar ear-defiling acts. If you thought that their previous self-titled release was brutal, wait until you get your hands on this one!

Warming up the engines with the Noise intro “Ascension to Absurdity”, the band quickly generates high expectations for this release. The brutality finally kicks in with some crushing riffs and massive drumming in “Cancer Constellation”. The band’s ability to create whacky guitar lines and hellish growls makes their music even more brutal. The band treats us with more sonic abuse with the crazy transitional track “Endless Portals to Uninhabitable Galaxies”.

Featuring 13-tracks of traditional and uplifting Power Metal, today we have France’s Galderia and their third full-length release “The Universality”. In their first release through Metalodic Records, the band delivers a much needed dosage of traditional sounding Power Metal that is not marred by an over the top production or an extreme obsession for being super-fast or overly bombastic.

Immediately after the intro track, “Children of the Earth” showcases the maturity of Galderia and their ability to craft such an epic track with warm sounding guitars and killer vocal melodies. The overall melodic nature of this track is superb and the guitar work really helps elevate such a monumental song to Power Metal excellence. The same epic feeling is transmitted to tracks like “Universality”, “Raise the World” and “Sundancers” making this release a blast to listen to, especially if you enjoy old school Power Metal that was more about soaring vocals and blasting guitar riffs

Delivering the first real stinker of the year, today we have Spektr and their latest release “Cypher”. In this nine track waste of time, the band attempts to be very experimental and avant-garde with some shitty Black Metal lined up with Drone and Industrial elements and a production that will make you want to pierce your ear drums, making effectively the most extreme POS we have heard in quite a while.

The album opens with a boring Drone-like piece titled “Hermetism”, then they deliver the first ‘BM’ dose of the night with the totally horrible sounding “Teratology”. In this track and the next (“The Singularity”), we get to ‘enjoy’ craptastic BM riffing with even more horrible drumming all distorted by some weird studio magic effects that make it sound more kvlt and evil according to the band. While some people might enjoy getting their ears raped by some horrible sounds, we are not too keen to make our pets convulse by listening to this.

After their triumphant return in 2010 with “Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants”, today we have Nightfall and their less inspired latest release “Cassiopeia”. Just when one thinks a band is back in full swing, they release an album that feels more forced that natural. Don’t get us wrong, “Cassiopeia” is a solid album but it feels like the band had it on the closet for 6-7 years and sounds a bit outdated for today’s standards.

Opening with “Phaethon”, the band delivers solid riffing that reminded us of Gothic/Doom/Death Metal albums from the mid 90’s, the period when Nightfall was at their prime. Paired with subtle keyboard hints and solid growls, the band sounds pretty powerful but after a few tracks it just gets old. The speedups of “Oberon & Titania” and other songs take away a bit from the linearity of this release, but ultimately are not enough to keep us interested on the songs as we were for the band’s previous release.

As the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Michael Kushner, today we have Born of the Stars and their/his self-titled EP. Mixing elements of Progressive Metal, Alternative Rock and Post-Rock, the ‘band’ manages to craft very emotional and melancholic songs that are actually very appealing and engaging.

Opening with powerful Groove Metal-style guitar riffs, “One Day” immediately morphs into a more melodic and diverse track. Michael delivers a solid vocal performance, but we are more surprise on the quality of the instrumentation behind the song. Particularly the drums are quite good, which are usually the pitfall of one-man bands, and most of the time sound like very evidently programmed ‘robotic’ track.

Delivering nine tracks of exquisite and playful instrumental Rock, today we have France’s Lovely Girls Are Blind and their third full-length release “Brésil”. Combining elements from Instrumental Rock, Post-Rock, and Progressive Rock, this French quartet manages create their own unique sound while reminding us of bands like Mogwai, God Is An Astronaut, and the more refined parts of Russian Circles.

Opening with the very eerie “Catatonie”, the band sets the mood with dreamy guitars and very well paced percussions. The band does a great job in crafting beautiful passages in this song (and the rest) that allow the song to fully develop in a natural fashion. With a shorter duration and a more direct approach, “Robotnik” shows a heavier side to the band that nicely changes the pace of the release very quickly, just before going back to more dreaminess courtesy of “Cochise”.