Making its way from France, today we have Sentence and their very crafty Progressive Death Metal. In their first full-length release “Everywhere”, the band delivers 13-tracks of brilliantly crafted technical music in the vein of Death and Cynic, but with a modern air to them. We are quite pleased with this release since it is not that often when you get a band that claims to play like Death or Cynic and they can actually pull it off graciously.

After a warm-up intro, “Birth” delivers intricate guitar structures and deep growls. This track reminds us a bit of Obscura, but with a higher emphasis on the melodic side of things rather than playing millions of notes per song. The nice pace of this song allows the band to fully explore their technical abilities while sounding interesting and not overdone, something that Cynic does to perfection. In the powerful “Solitude”, the band has really warmed up and delivers a faster paced track that will blow you away with its very unique ending. Featuring a surprise element that never expected to listen in a song of this type, the band really set the bar high on this one.

Arriving today from Puerto Rico we have Transgresión and their two-song crushing demo “.de sangre y repression”. With a very old-school vibe, this band delivers around 10 minutes of no-bullshit Thrash Metal with some Speed influences and social commentary behind their lyrical approach. We love releases that manage to capture the sounds of the past while not being copies of any other bands.

This demo opens with the crushing “Guerra Civil” and its heavy riffing surrounded by a very old-school Sepultura vibe from the “Arise” era. The vocals are very traditional and surprisingly delivered by a female vocalist named Estrella Sola. While sounding a bit flat at times, they actually fit very well the overall vibe of the music and are greatly enhanced by the additional vocals of some of the male members of the band.

Delivering a 63-minute Symphonic Power Metal epic, today we have France’s Kerion and their super bombastic release “Cloudriders – Part 1”. Borrowing from epic bands like Raphsody of Fire, this release is as lush and well-crafted as they come showing heaps of creativity and technical skills.

Opening with the epic “Riders Theme”, the band immediately makes their orchestrations be felt as well as their killer guitar work. The whole fantasy vibe is perfectly delivered in “The Map”, another excellent track with very dynamic vocal arrangements. In songs like “Bounty Hunter” and “Never More” the band really shows their Power Metal foundations with excellent musicianship and very solid male and female vocal sections.

With a very melancholic sound, today we have Finland’s 2 Wolves and their sophomore release “Men of Honour”. In this nine-track album, the band greatly reminds us of a mixtures between Eternal Tears of Sorrow, On Thorns I Lay, and Poema Arcanus. 2 Wolves sound is very unique in the sense that they use lush keyboards, heavy riffing, and a mixture of growls and clean vocals to perfection in this very exciting release.

The opener “Bygones” has the signatures Eternal Tears of Sorrow mixture of growls, powerful riffs and very proficient keyboards mixed with a super catchy clean chorus section. This track greatly sets the mood for an excellent release, and the atmosphere of “Unreal Conversations” immediately enhances it. The lush melodic sections contrasted by the crushing riffs and harsh vocals work wonders in this very engaging track.

Delivering one of those releases that makes you wonder why did you actually wasted time listening to it, today we have Opium Warlords and unbelievably their second release “We Meditate Under The Pussy In The Sky”. In this total shit-factory, we have Sami Albert Hynninen of Reverend Bizzare fame, taking a totally dump on music and concocting one of the worst releases ever since Botanist’s “I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose From The Dead”.

After the super dull ‘minimalist’ intro “Sxi-Meru” we have the totally aimless “Slippy”. We know this ‘style’ of music is supposed to be this way, but it is just a random collection of thoughts and a few very nasty riffs put together. Sounding like a low quality rehearsal of something having a seizure while holding a pick to a guitar, “Lament For The Builders Of Khara Khoto” keeps the nonsense going.

Dropping on November 23rd we have Kuolemanlaakso’s debut full-length “Uljas uusi maailma” on Svart Rcords. This Finish band with members of Swallow The Sun (on vocals), Chaosweaver (on guitar), delivers a very interesting mix of Doom Metal elements with dark and dirty atmospheres that sound very imposing. Written and delivered all in Finish, this eight tracks are very well shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, unlike anything the band members have ever done before.

Opening with the moody “Minä elän”, the band set the stage for a solid riffing onslaught that is quite heavy and engaging. Mikko Kotamäki’s vocals are his typical growl/shrieks from STS with some heavier sections like on Algazanth, nothing new here, but it does bring a certain level of familiarity to the music for fans of his bands. The sick atmospheric keyboards that the cake in this song since they are used very sporadically and to great effect. “Kuun Lapset” follows a similar pattern but with more keyboards and a very dominating bass guitar line.

Originally a solo-project of Teloch, this ‘all-star’ Black Metal band presents us with their latest opus of destruction titled “Greatest of Deceivers”. Being no strangers to Black Metal, all members of this band channel their collective efforts into one of the most savage and crushing Black Metal releases of 2012. With a no-bullshit approach, the band delivers ten anthems of sickness that will surely resonate in your ears for quite a long time.

The furious “Greatest of Deceivers” opens up this release on a very high note with perfectly layered guitar riffs and very intense drumming. The vocals are top notch courtesy of Cpt. Estrella Grasa, and greatly do justice to such well-crafted Black Metal. Leading the riffing onslaught we have Teloch and Blargh, in what seems a competition of who delivers the most awesome riff as the songs progress.

Finally a Black Metal band that delivers an old-school sound that does not totally suck or sounds exactly like all the other copy cats in the scene. Arcanum Inferi’s debut full-length “Ars Hermetica” delivers a nine-track opus that combines rawness with interesting melodic elements in a devastating manner. Hailing from Italy, this band reminded us of the beginnings of BM, but with a nice crisp rawness that is rare to find these days.

After a very fitting and creepy intro, the band delivers the crushing “Aeterna Damnatio”, a furious in your face song filled with hateful Black Metal riffs and hellish shrieks. The vocals might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but we think they fit the music very well and add that extra layer of brutality to it. The bass guitar line in this song (and release) is particularly excellent and very intense. The mellow into of “Furor Melancholicus” just makes this track even more brutal once the guitar onslaught is brought forth.

Delivering their sophomore release through Deathbound Records, today we have Denmark’s By The Patient and their brutal album “Premonitions”. With a very unique mixture of traditional European Death Metal and some melodic elements, this band does a great job in keeping things interesting and the listener engaged until the last second of this release. Through nine songs we have a journey of incisive guitar work, blasting drumming and very aggressive vocals, exactly what the doctor ordered for a Tuesday night of drinking.

Opening with the crushing “A Distorted Mirror Image”, the band’s traditional DM chops jump off immediately, but they gracefully progress to more melodic and catchy riffs. Very interesting in our opinion since they seem to switch the focus of the music and manage to create an engaging song structure, the same can be said for “Hours of Mist”. The almost Black Metal-esque riffs of “Veil of Depression” really give the track an even more aggressive edge, but it is ultimately the massive drumming that really stands out as the most aggressive element of the band. The particularly like the melodic passages of this very unique song.

After really hating on this band for their totally craptastic old singer in their last release “2012”, a few months back we got a message from the band saying they changed singers. Fast-forward a few months and now we have the band’s latest release “Dreamscapes From Dead Space”, showcasing their excellent mixture of Stoner Rock with Southern influences and now with an extremely capable singer in John Fadden.

Featuring eight tracks of very catchy and well-crafted music, “Dreamscapes From Dead Space” is by far our favorite Stoner/Southern Rock/Metal release of 2012. With a vibe similar to Chrome Division, The New Black, Down, and such bands, Ichabod exploits their excellent guitar riffing skills and creates powerful songs like “Huckleberry”, the album’s excellent opener. The band’s vibrant music is greatly appreciated through massive riffage, in tracks like “Looking Glass” and the very aggressive “Hollow God”.