Album Reviews

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    Lonely Kamel – Dust Devil (2011)

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    Is there something in the water? Or are too many people having drugs and Jim Beam infused benders and then decided to play Southern Rock music? We quite can’t point a finger at it, but tons of bands have decided to play this kind of music with some Metal elements. Lonely Kamel is the next entry in this list, and while hailing from Norway, they still manage to pull it off very nicely.

    Since the eloquently titled “Grim Reefer” opening track, the band delivers waves of Southern Rock/Sludge guitar riffs and very engaging vocals. The raspy vocals nicely fit the sound of the music perfectly and remind us of bands like The New Black, Black River, and Chrome Division. “Evil Man”, “Blues for the Dead”, and “Rotten Seed” all keep the same trend of punchy music and witty lyrics, allowing the album to nicely settle following a particular groove.

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    Visions of Atlantis – Maria Magdalena (2011)

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    With its latest incarnation, Visions of Atlantis delivered earlier this year one of their best albums to date with “Delta”. In “Maria Magdalena” follows the same path of showing off the amazing vocal chemistry of Maxi Nil and Mario Plank. Featuring six songs, this new MCD will keep fans satisfied after listening to “Delta” hundreds of times.

    The opening track of this release “Maria Magdalena” is a cover of 80’s synth-pop artist Sandra, and it is actually a pretty decent and listenable cover. The tempo of the song has been nicely increased and with added distorted guitars sounds like a million dollars. The duet between Mario and Maxi is very similar to the original song, but with that nice Metal edge we expect from this band. The catchy chorus section is also nicely transferred to the VoA sound.

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    Taake – Noregs Vaapen (2011)

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    As the saying goes: “if you want stuff done right, do it yourself”, Hoest delivers us the latest and finest Taake album to date: “Noregs Vaapen”. Featuring the traditional Norwegian Black Metal that we all love from the band plus a few surprises here and there, Hoest has greatly enhance the aural power of the band’s raw and aggressive sound.  Delivering waves of brutal Black Metal for over 46 minutes, Taake shows no signs of aging and continues to be one of the best Black Metal bands in the world.

    Opening with some traditional BM guitar work, “Fra Vadested Til Vaandesmed” delivers waves of BM pleasure. The brutal yet rhythmical drumming is one of the main trademarks of the old-school Norwegian BM sound, and on this track (and album) is one of the best elements. Hoest vocals are as hellish as usual and the speed-ups in this track are excellent. Keeping a similar atmosphere “Orkan” and “Nordbundet” keep the album flowing very effectively with some melodic sections that nicely blend into the brutality of this release.

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    Farsot – Insects (2011)

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    There are tons and tons of Black Metal bands these days, but it is very hard to find the ones that manage to deliver and original album that keeps you wanting for more. Farsot managed to achieve that with their previous release “IIII”, and now with “Insects” the band proves that they are not a one-album kind of band. Playing Black Metal with an edge of Doom and Post-Metal, “Insects” is by far one of the most interesting and different sounding albums this 2011.

    “Like Flakes of Rust” opens this release with an atmospheric section followed by heavy guitars and very desolate vocals. Here you can start noticing that while music is aggressive, there is just something that makes it different from the cookie cutter bands (like the subtle bass guitar in this track). “Empyrean” delivers a very effective atmospheric section with nicely distorted guitars and some amazing clean vocals in the same vein as Ulver and similar bands. The riffing is excellent and nicely creates a very powerful atmosphere without being completely on your face.

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    Cipher System – Communicate the Storms (2011)

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    Being huge fans of Melodic Death Metal, we are always excited when a good band finally returns with an impressive release. Cipher System’s last release was back in 2004 with “Central Tunnel 8”, and with “Communicate the Storms” they have returned with a very effective Melodic Death Metal sound that can easily position them among the best in 2011.

    Featuring ex-members of Anata and Nightrage, Cipher System delivers 10 tracks of unpretentious Melodic DM in a similar fashion to genre legends: Dark Tranquility. There are almost no fancy elements in this release, just a solid foundation of catchy riffing, atmospheric keyboards, tight drumming and very direct vocals. There is no need to re-invent the wheel, and Cipher system excels at creating a very traditional but effective sound that will appeal to any fan of the genre.

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    Threat Signal – Threat Signal (2011)

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    Two years have passed after releasing the excellent “Vigilance” and one of Canada’s finest returns with their new release “Threat Signal”. We are extremely divided when it comes to this release since the music is excellent, but some of the vocals are just WTF. So we kind of liked the album in the sense that Threat Signal has very nicely matured musically and all songs are just excellent, but when the Linkin Park style singing kicks in we just want to jump of the balcony.

    Opening very powerfully with “Uncensored”, the band delivers well crafted guitar riffs and tight drums, courtesy of two of the band’s newest members: Chris Feener and Alex Rudinger respectively. However, the band things really start showing when the clean ‘modern Metal/nu Metal’ clean vocals make their appearance. There are of course harsh screams to kind of balance things out but it is not enough to eliminate the bad taste. We can also listen to an edge of Gojira and Fear Factory in the sound of this release, and when paired with excellent solos, the music alone is truly entertaining and very good.

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    Lantlôs – Agape (2011)

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    After releasing the impressive “.Neon” last year, Lantlôs returns with an even better release with “Agape”. In this album, Herbst basically takes apart Post-Black Metal and infuses brilliant instrumental passages and a nihilistic raw energy that creates an even more crushing and beautiful sound than ever before. While at first glance “Agape” might catch you off guard, this release is truly worth your attention to detail and how all elements weave together in a big bleak dark atmospheric could unlike anything heard before from Lantlôs.

    The opener “Intrauterin” quickly exposes some Drone-like elements with some Doom influences in its first few minutes. Very similar to Funeral Doom, this makes a very harsh and quick statement about the intensity and rawness of some of the songs to follow. The guitars are heavy and crushing, but they very effectively switch when the instrumental passage kicks in. Having some minor Post-Black metal hints to it, it feels like being pulled out of the water after almost drowning. Just before you think that the song will end quietly, there is another onslaught of harsh vocals and pummeling guitars, very nicely arranged.

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    3 – The Ghost You Gave to Me (2011)

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    After four years since the band’s last release (“The End Is Begun”), 3 returns with a more consolidated but equally excellent release under the title “The Ghost You Gave to Me”. With a very eclectic mixture of styles in each of the band’s previous releases, it feels that they have now unified their style and deliver a very well crafted mixture of Progressive Rock elements with a modern alternative music edge, and a few surprises here and there.

    Before you go running out the door after reading ‘alternative music’, 3 delivers plenty of powerful guitar melodies and well crafted riffs to satisfy any Progressive music fan. The vocals are very well crafted into the overall structure of the songs, allowing “The Ghost You Gave to Me” to have a very rich sound and never get dull (like many prog releases tend to get).

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    Meden Agan – Erevos Aenaon (2011)

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    As one of the most professional sounding self-released album we have received in 2011, Meden Agan’s “Erevos Aenaon” can easily compete with any big-budget Gothic/Symphonic Metal album this year. With such a rich sound and excellent production, Meden Agan is ready to make a run at the spotlight and they sure have a good shot thanks to this excellent release.

    Opening with “Black Sky”, the band immediately establishes its bombastic sound thanks to heavy keyboard use, pounding guitars, and angelic female vocals. The band’s female vocalist, Iliana Tsakiraki, delivers a very emotional performance that is greatly (and sometimes annoyingly) enhanced by extreme vocal layering. Her voice is very good and has some hints of Amberian Dawn and similar bands, not too sweet and not overly done like many classically trained singers come across.

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    Mord'A'Stigmata – Antimatter (2011)

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    Hailing from Poland, today we have Mord’A’Stigmata and their monumental Avant-garde Black Metal release “Antimatter”. In this album the band delivers 52 minutes of pure chaotic Black Metal that will blow you away and make you scratch your head at the same time. We are huge fans of Avant-garde BM and “Antimatter” is one of the finest examples we have heard this 2011.

    Opening with a weird intro, the album fully kicks in with “Kinetic Dogma” and “De Magnum Opus Solis”, two very hellish and powerful straight-up Black Metal tracks that feature some interesting elements here and there, but mostly devastating vocals, dissonant guitars and a powerful and tornado-like atmosphere. The devastation continues with “Antimatter”, but here is where things start turning somewhat melodic leading up to the ‘weirder’ things in this release.

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