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    Legion Warcry – The Way to Escape (2012)

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    Digitally making its way from Italy, today we have Legion Warcry’s debut full-length release “The Way to Escape”. With a very traditional combination of old-school Heavy Metal and Power Metal elements, this release is quite entertaining to hear. On the downside, the production is a bit funky sometimes it sounds a bit hollow and lacks some flair that other Power Metal releases have these days.

    The opener “God of Thunder” begins with powerful guitar work, but some very odd vocals that sound a bit distant from everything else. The vocals are not bad, but they just sound a bit weird in this track. Combining the catchiness of Heavy Metal with some of the guitar wizardry of Power Metal, “Across the Space” and “As You Preach” nicely set the mood for this solid release. The combination of subtle guitar/keyboard wizardry on “Across the Space” makes this track very entertaining.

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    Portfolio – Reason Outside Nature (2012)

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    With all the lines between Art Rock, Alternative Rock, Post-Rock and so on getting blurred, it is quite refreshing when we get releases that actually offer more than your average album. Portfolio’s release “Reason Outside Nature” is one of those albums that nicely blends many influences into a very well-crafted palette of sounds. Featuring six tracks, this EP will ease you into tranquility with its very relaxing music.

    Opening with the playful “Gringo, Portfolio are dead”, the band nicely establishes a Jazzy Post-Rock foundation that is very catchy and engaging. The trumpet nicely gives depth to this band’s sound and the way it’s carved into the music separates them from the rest. There are some heavy guitars in this track, but they are mostly used to speed things up. With even more class and determination, “Frassica” fills up the room with a sexy and intoxicating atmosphere.

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    Silent Carrion – Andras (2012)

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    Usually one-man bands are a big hit or miss, they can either be awesome because the person behind them is a musical virtuoso and can’t stand playing around with other retards, or they are just terrible because they are the public inner ramblings of a child that could not play music. Silent Carrion falls somewhat in the middle of these two categories. “Andras” delivers eight tracks of weird Ambient / Drone / Noise music that is interestingly creative and disturbing, but very often poorly executed (in our opinion).

    The opener “Mountain (An Invocation)” creates a very eerie and weird atmosphere that if it wasn’t for the bad sounding programmed drums, it would be an excellent song. With “Mist” things get a bit more intense and the creepy factor is still in play with some more ‘intense’ drums. We often wonder how can somebody thing this programmed drums sound good when they are not well polished. Take for example the legendary Diabolos Rising, their programmed drums sounded amazing.

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    Inside the Fall - …As Life Withers (2012)

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    Arriving all the way from Spain, today we have Inside the Fall’s debut EP titled “…As Life Withers”. Keeping the Death/Doom flame alive, Inside the Fall does an excellent job in crafting five emotional tracks that feature all the elements fans love about the genre. We are huge fans of Death/Doom and this release is one of the best we have received so far this year.

    Opening with the highly energetic “Highest Walls of Despair”, Inside the Fall shows their skill in creating a good riffing structure with emphasis on melody, but keeping the Doom characteristics that we all know and love. The growls are very powerful and nicely thrown into the mix, there are a few vocal layering elements that add extra depth to the song. Mixing clean and harsh vocals the ‘doom passage’ in this track is very well mixed into the track.

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    Winterburst – The Mind Cave (2012)

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    Making its way from France, today we have Winterburst and their very impressive debut release “The Mind Cave”. With a very bombastic Symphonic Black Metal sound, the band delivers nearly 70 minutes of high-octane music that resembles the greats of the genre: Dimmu Borgir. Focusing on delivering the catchiest and most effective songs, the band delivers intense riffing and drumming with a high dosage of orchestrations and choir arrangements.

    Opening with the highly dramatic “A Mirror’s Game”, this release immediately blows you away with the production quality behind it. The choirs are amazing and the immediate riffing intensity is excellent. The vocals sound a bit like Shagrath making them very fitting for the massive sound that Winterburst has. Changing between shrieks, growls and clean sections, the band’s vocalist Vorender is as versatile as they come. The power of Kyll’s guitars is felt immediately and on tracks like “The Mind Cave”, they pound away relentlessly. We particularly enjoy this track due to its intricate orchestrations as well.

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    Shattered Destiny – Fragments (2012)

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    With a very diverse and interesting sound, today we have newcomers Shattered Destiny and their very professional debut EP “Fragments”. In the time when almost every band is trying to sound like somebody else, it is very refreshing to see bands like this carving their own musical history with a fresh and interesting proposal.

    Recorded around the world in places like California, Moscow and Sweden, this release is a very good integration of several musicians into a cohesive and dynamic sounding band. Brought together by mastermind JJ, Shattered Destiny breaks musical barriers and combines a Progressive Metal foundation with some more traditional Heavy and Thrash Metal influences.

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    AK-11 – Legendary, Demonic & Invincible (2011)

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    Featuring six tracks of blistering Black Metal, today we have Australia’s AK-11 and their EP/Demo “Legendary, Demonic & Invincible”. In this release, the band delivers very powerful music that will surely please any BM fan due to the solid song writing and hellish vocals. The band’s originality level is not too high, but as a first release it shows great promise.

    Opening with the furiously paced “The Cleansing Stream”, the riffing starts off with a bang. The typical BM riffing is furious and it is nicely accompanied with hectic drumming. The vocals are pretty brutal, but sound a bit gargled thanks to the production. The song is fairly straightforward, but pretty intense for an opener. Switching to Russian language, “Vechnyi ogon’” and “Slava Rossii” deliver high-octane action with a few intricate melodic passages.

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    Edge of Paradise – Mask (2011)

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    Delivering one of the most diverse, chaotic, and yet very interesting albums we have received this year, today we have Edge of Paradise and their debut full-length “Mask”. In this release the band features influences from anywhere between Industrial, Heavy Metal, Gothic Metal, Shred Metal and tons of things in between. If you are not confused by now, then you can’t really be prepared to open the bag full of surprises that “Mask” is.

    Opening with some dub step/Static X intro, “Falling Down” delivers the first punch in a 9 track rollercoaster ride through almost all genres of Metal. This opening track does a great job to set the stage for a very weird and diverse release that is very catchy and strongly lead by the band’s charismatic vocalist: Margarita Monet. Her vocals are quite unique in Metal since she is all over the place and has a lot of raw power behind her. “Tall of the gun” steers you into a different direction with a more Modern/commercial Metal with very heavy guitars.

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    Shroud of Despondency – Pine (2012)

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    It was just a few months ago that we reviewed the excellent “Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion”, and now we have Shroud of Despondency back with another epic release titled “Pine”. Covering 11 tracks and over 58 minutes of music, we are amazed by how fast this band can crank out self-released albums that are actually pretty good and worth to listen to.

    With a very experimental edge to their sound, Shroud of Despondency mixes Black Metal with progressive and acoustic elements and creates a very aggressive sound that has excellent melodic and atmospheric passages. The first sample of these atmospheric elements is immediately found in the opener “Wander Lust (Winged Seed in the Breeze)”. Things get a bit more hectic and crazy with the deranged vocals of “Overshadow”, something we quite haven’t heard before.

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    The Human Condition – Modern Maze (2011)

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    Arriving from the UK, today we have The Human Condition’s debut demo EP titled “Modern Maze”. In this 21 minute three track effort, the band delivers very effective Doom Metal songs that have that old-school vibe thanks to the well-crafted guitars and commanding bass guitar line. With most of the band members having previous band experience in the Doom Metal genre, it makes sense that The Human Condition’s sound is very well defined and effectively crafted.

    Opening with the 7 minute “Modern Maze” song, this release kicks off with very typical Doom Metal sounding guitars and solid clean vocals. It usually takes us a while to get used to clean Doom vocals, but with Nathan Harrison, they sink in quickly. The riffing is very well crafted and it is properly mixed allowing everything else to shine the way it should. The pounding bass guitar line is nicely defined and the drums are pretty straight forward, but well-constructed.

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