Album Reviews

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    Opera IX – Strix - Maledictae in Aeternum (2012)

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    Eight years have passed since the band’s last release “Anphisbena”, and with “Strix - Maledictae in Aeternum” Opera XI intends of regaining their momentum and status in the Metal scene that they acquired with excellent releases before the year 2000. “Strix - Maledictae in Aeternum” delivers a heavy dosage of Black Metal tracks infused with Dark Metal elements but fails to fully capture the listener’s attention and quickly gets old.

    After opening with a very typical atmospheric prologue, the band fully jumps into action with “1313”. In this track the atmosphere is very dense and chaotic (perfectly crafted) but the singing and the guitars feel a bit outdated. The crazy guitar leads are nice, but we’ve heard them many years ago in other Black Metal acts, the vocals are deranged and very powerful but they are also something that band’s have already done in the past (circa early 2000).

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    Cairn – Raise the Cairn (2011)

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    Hailing from the USA, today we have a one-man band named Cairn and their debut album “Raise the Cairn”. With a heavy vibe of Primordial meets Forest of Shadows, this short but sweet EP will be enough to rattle your cage and make you want more. Featuring five tracks and around 23 minutes of music, this solo self-exploratory release is one of the most interesting and less vanilla sounding we have received in 2011.

    Opening with an acoustic section, “Magnapinna Rex, Pt I: Solstiseraph” enshrouds the listener in a mysterious cloud of powerful riffing and nice calm sections. Like we mentioned before, this particular song reminded us of Primordial instantly with this nice folk-ish and aggressive approach to music. The shrieks are very powerful and nicely accompany the guitar work. The bass guitar line is pretty active and melodic, somewhat contrasting with the rest and making it more evident. The song is nicely followed by the acoustic track “Far Passage”.

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    Majestic Downfall – The Blood Dance (2012)

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    With seven pummeling hymns of Death/Doom at its finest, today we have Mexico’s Majestic Downfall and their latest release “The Blood Dance”. This one-man band fronted by Jacobo Córdova (ex Antiqua) packs some serious punch and delivers mournful compositions filled with heavy guitars and brutal growls. If you are a fan from older Death/Doom Metal bands, you should definitely check this one out.

    Quickly deceiving with an acoustic guitar intro to “The Blood Dance”, Majestic Downfall quickly delivers the first brutal blow with some deep growls and pummeling guitar riffs. The riffing is very traditional of the genre but the variations through the song is what makes it very appealing and different from other Death/Doom releases that bore the listener after the 40th iteration of a particular riff. The same applies to the well balanced “From Black to Dead”, a song where the tempo changes make it dynamic and not feel like 11 minutes have passed.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Dies Irae – Secret Veils of Passion (2012)

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    As one of the first band’s that got me into more ‘melodic’ and ‘different’ sounding music back in 1998 with their excellent album “Etherial”, Dies Irae returns after a 10 year hiatus with “Secret Veils of Passion”. In this very interesting release the band goes all over the place with so many musical influences that seem a bit disconnected at times, but that in fact create a very solid release with a wide palette of textures and very high-creativity.

    While many band’s in Mexico are clones from European ones, Dies Irae crafted two of the most interesting releases of Mexican metal in the late 90’s and the disappeared. With a hint of an European sound, “Etherial” was a landmark release with its hefty Jazz/Fusion influences that puzzled many. With “Secret Veils of Passion” they continue through their exploratory musical journey and have produces 10 unique tracks that have some memorable moments.

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    Al-Namrood – Estorat Taghoot (2010)

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    With a huge improvement in the band’s sound and skill-level, today we have Al-Namrood and their second full-length release “Estorat Taghoot”. In this album the band nicely capitalizes on their ethnical sound and delivers a crushing Black Metal album with nice atmospheric elements. Greatly improving over “Astfhl Al Tha'r”, the band produces 11 aural attacks that are merciless and very devastating with nice brushstrokes of Ethical elements here and there.

    After the opener atmospheric track “Arousal at Nebuchadnezzar Fortress”, the sound get’s dark and hellish with “Junood Al Amajaad”. The vocals are demonic and the production is a bit fuzzy letting the Metal sections be more raw and effective. The drumming is considerably better than in their previous release and the guitar work is more hectic and raw. The crazy atmospheric keyboards are back and on tracks like “Estorat Taghoot” they add a certain level of chaos to the already chaotic guitars and drumming.

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    Kalki Avatara - Mantra for the End of Times (2009)

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    With a truly unique sound that borders around chaotic or plain genius, Klaki Avatara delivers four tracks of very solid Folk/Symphonic Metal. Multi-instrumentalist Hell:I0:Kabbalus from Aborym fame manages to craft very interesting tracks in this fine EP titled “Mantra for the End of Times”. During this album the mood changes from ethereal choirs to crazy aggressive parts and deranged vocals.

    Seemingly random, the music in this release is executed to perfection in order to create a very chaotic feeling that many bands fail miserably at, but Kalki Avatara pulls-off graciously. Opening with “Mankind Collapses”, this door serves as a perfect introduction to the crazy world of the band. The over the top keyboards paired with the insane vocals and the aggressive riffs make this song very similar to creations of such bands like Transcending Bizarre? and such.

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    Al-Namrood - Astfhl Al Tha'r (2009)

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    Playing very basic and raw Black Metal, today we have all the way from Saudi Arabia Al-Namrood and their debut album “Astfhl Al Tha’r”. While anybody would agree that the band’s Black Metal is very basic, the cool thing about it is the Middle Eastern influences on it reflected in the keyboards and atmosphere generated through this release.

    Opening with “A’hd al Jahiliyah”, the band’s hellish vocals take the spotlight and then the keyboards start to seep into your brain. The music is raw and simple, the percussions are very basic but the atmosphere is just completely different to what we are used to. This does get a bit annoying at times due to the high-repetition of sections in this trac, but it is also very cool indeed. The
    Doom-ier approach in “Ebadt al Basahr” and the considerably better drums make this song a big improvement from the first one. The Middle Eastern influences are also very evident in this track.

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    Abbey ov Thelema – A Fragment ov the Great Work (2011)

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    Making its way from Slovakia, today we have a very interesting release in the realm of Avant-garde/experimental Black Metal. “A Fragment ov the Great Work” marks the debut of Abbey ov Thelema a two person project that leaves no stone unturned and delivers a very promising album. Taking from the greats Arcturus and Blut as Nord, the band pummels through eight tracks of pure madness and aural aggression.

    Opening with organs on the intro “Left Hand Path”, the band quickly escalates things on “The One Who Walks the Left-Hand Path”. Mixing perfectly balanced atmospheric passages with aggressive Black Metal shrieks and commanding riffs, Abbey ov Thelema makes a strong impression immediately. The psychedelic synths are pretty deranged but great sounding and make the band’s songs be very appealing. There are plenty of melodic passages and crazy atmospheric interludes, like on “Unearthly Theophagia ov a Nonexistent Deity”, “Black Absinth Drunk While Analyzing the Writings ov Nietzsche” and “The Hidden Wisdom & Clandestine Legacy ov the Black Arts”, enough to satisfy the most demanding listeners.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Vesperian Sorrow – Stormwinds of Ages (2012)

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    Five years have passed since the release of “Regenesis Creation”, and finally Vesperian Sorrow is back with another monumental album of aggressive Symphonic Black Metal that will put all other band’s to shame. In “Stormwinds of Ages” the band delivers around 60 minutes of excellently crafted songs and a superb production that will blow you away and incite you to play it as loud as you can (we did). Having enough time to craft the 11 tracks of this release has helped the band achieve a near perfect album that features plenty of guest appearances and the hectic sound that the band is very characteristic for.

    While every band in the USA is running to the next big trends like Deathcore, Metalcore, Cascadian Hipster Black Metal, Vesperian Sorrow continues perfecting unaffected by all the trendy crap in this country. Having toured all over the world, the band’s sound speaks for itself and with more tweaking since “Regenesis Creation” this album showcases the maturity of the band’s sound and musical abilities.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mouth of the Serpent – Manifest (2011)

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    Making its way out of our very crowded promo queue, today we have Mouth of the Serpent’s latest release “Manifest”. Playing Deathcore, this band from California provides six high-octane tracks that will surely have you moshing for hours. The band delivers pretty solid riffs and interesting tempo changes, but ultimately ends up sounding a lot like The Black Dahlia Murder, etc, etc. While there is nothing wrong with that if you are a fan of the genre, this release does get a bit cyclical and ends up sounding very similar.

    After the typical atmospheric opener “Caraven”, the band delivers the powerful “Cisterna”. In this track, the band makes use of their excellent guitar skills and massive drumming to achieve a very brutal sound, the growls are excellent but the screams get a bit annoying sometimes. The brutality continues with “Entheogen”, a track that could easily pass as Technical/Progressive Death Metal if it wasn’t for the very typical Deathcore structure.

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