Our initial impression of the latest ‘Rhapsody’ (Luca Turilli’s incarnation of it) is HOLY SHIT. The man has shown over the years that he is a brilliant musician and with the ridiculously over the top “Ascending to Infinity” he answers to all the skeptics a big: I am Rhapsody. Featuring nine brilliant tracks of Symphonic Metal, this is one of those albums that you need to hear at least 100 times to fully discover all the little details and brilliance behind it.

After the epic mood –setter “Quantum X”, things blow up with the playful “Ascending to Infinity”. In this track, the guitars are flowing, the orchestral arrangements are very classical sounding, but Alessandro Conti’s vocals steal the show. Coming from the relatively unknown band “Trick or Treat”, this new singer delivers every single line to perfection. The over the top feeling is not saturated as with other overly ambitious bands, and the tempo changes are very well crafted.

Delivering an excellent hard rocking release, today we have Sweden’s Crucified Barbara and their third full-length release “The Midnight Chase”. Featuring eleven songs of Hard Rock with some Metal elements, this release is very well written and extremely catchy. The band’s attitude since the opener “The Crucifier” is very determinate and quite effective in delivering powerful Thrashy riffs with more traditional drum structures.

Mia Coldheart’s vocals are raspy enough to have that early Motorhead vibe, giving the band’s sound that old-school vibe that other bands would kill for. The melodic aspect of the band’s music is also quite excellent, on tracks like “Shut Your Mouth”, and “Into the Fire” there are very cool melodic passages that add diversity to the band’s sound. The tempo changes like on “Rules and Bones” add depth to the band’s musical arsenal, but ultimately the killer guitars and catchy lyrics are what make the songs an excellent listening experience.

The everlasting Nile returns to us this 2012 with yeah another dose of extremely brutal Death Metal with hints of Middle Eastern influences. While we loved “Those Whom The Gods Detest”, this release feels too much like a continuation of that album and nothing else. The production of this release makes the guitars sound a bit weird (very thin in a way), the bass guitar is very hard to find, the drums are a bit drowned in the mix, and only highlights the vocals (both growls and clean ones), making for a unique but weird listening experience.

The hyper-fast “Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame” opens the musical onslaught with great brutality and crushing riffs (that sound a bit weird). The hellish different vocal layers are pretty demonic sounding, and the overall drumming is actually quite good, but it sometimes gets lost behind the growls. There is no doubt that there are some excellent technical sections in this track, but there is nothing new to show when compared to their previous release.

Finally we get a release that is a bit different than almost everybody else that tries to copy somebody. With Chaosweaver’s sophomore release “Enter the Realm of the Doppelganger”, we are treated to nine tracks of excellent Symphonic Metal with Black Metal and Industrial elements. Keeping the atmosphere above all things, the band nicely crafts excellent songs that are quite a musical experience.

The highly dramatic opener “A Read Dawn Rises” is a clear example of a beautifully crafted track that delivers emotions and a great sense of harmony. This is the perfect lead-up for the explosive “Wings of Chaos”. In this track the guitars open up a riffing onslaught while the atmospheric synths fill the atmosphere. Not sounding like Dimmu Borgir, or any other Symphonic Metal band, Chaosweaver has a bigger and more grandiose cinematic feeling. With a very classical feeling “Maelstrom of Black Light” nicely keeps the experience rolling with catchy riffing and an excellent tempo.

Making its way from Australia, today we have Empires Laid Waste second effort titled “With the Tide Comes Desctruction”. In this 6 song EP, this band shows great promise in their super catchy Melodic Death Metal music. Perfectly laid out to build up since the first song to the last, there are excellent melodic passages and great riffing ideas through this release, and while there are a few ‘rookie’ mistakes, this band has enough skill to be really good.

Starting with the mainly Death Metal song that bears the album’s title, the band quickly delivers heavy guitars and great drumming. This track has enough variation to be a bit more diverse than your average DM tune, but still not enough to be a full on Melodic DM epic. The growls are pretty standard for a release of this kind, and might seem linear to some, but it’s DM, not a singing competition. The short “Banished To The Wasteland” delivers more double-kick brutality, and a nice meaty hooks that keep the listener entertained.

Delivering high-intensity old-school Thrash Metal, today we have Canada’s latest export Mortillery and their debut album “Murder Death Kill”. As a full package that includes the typical Thrash Metal outfit, Mortillery is one of those bands that try to keep the past alive with some kickass songs featuring excellent musical abilities.

Reminding us of Kreator with the excellent opener “Murder Death Kill”, this Canadians start their release with a huge bang. It is ridiculous to think that this band formed in 2009 and they are this good already. The track delivers awesome guitar skills paired with very crunchy drums. The girl on bass guitar also does a great job in keeping things bounded together with the pulsating bass line. Filled with catchy riffs and even better solos, “Sacrifice”, “Evil Remains”, and “Fritzls Cellar” further cement the band’s old-school roots and provide great headbanging passages.

After a four year absence, now we get the second release in the same amount of years from Vintersorg. “Orkan” continues the same predictable and highly typical path that Vintersorg has taken, providing just very few flashes of brilliant, and a whole lot more of the same. If you are a die-hard Vintersorg fan this release will be sweet music to your ears, but if you have been annoyed by the lack of creativity of the last release, then you will surely not like this one either.

The traditional Vintersorg vocal melodies nicely adorn the opener “Istid”. Here, the combination of growls and clean vocals are very well layered at first, and then used to near perfection as we are all used to, in bands like Borknagar and everything else that Vintersorg has been involved in. The fancy synth work is very typical and the riffing is as powerful as always. The progressive elements in the music make it quite enjoyable to hear, particularly on tracks like “Polarnatten”, “Myren”, and “Orkan”. The playfulness of “Myren” is something that we had missed from the band in the last release. We have to say that this is our favorite song in this release, and the only one we really liked too.

What do you get when you mix Falkenbach with Moonsorrow and Candlemass? Ereb Altor is the answer. Mixing Viking Metal elements with some Doom, this Swedish band has been constantly releasing albums since 2008 with a few tweaks in-between but nothing really revolutionary. In “Gastrike”, the band delivers seven tracks of catchy guitar-driven tunes that ultimately feel a bit repetitive and quite dull in some points.

Leading with the atmospheric opening section to “The Gathering of Witches”, Ereb Altor nicely transitions into some power riffs and typical Viking Metal elements bordering on the Black Metal side of things. There is a rawness to the band’s sound that is quite nice, but sometimes makes the music feel a bit convoluted. “Dance of Darkness” moves a bit into Doom territory, but the guitars nicely shift back and forth between Black Metal and Doom Metal.

With very few bands coming out of the small country of Lithuania, it is to our great pleasure to witness the quality and excellent musicianship behind Mandagora’s “Carnal Cage”. Being the band’s first release in seven years, it kind of seems that it was stuck in Melodic Death Metal limbo, allowing this album to sound like the good old days of the genre. With this old-school vibe and a pristine production, this album is our favorite Melodic DM release of 2012 (so far).

Opening with some funky Middle-Eastern sounding riffs in “Masquerade”, the album sets of on a very well defined path of excellent melodic passages and riffing wizardry. Reminding us a bit of older Dark Tranquility and Dark Lunacy, the band nicely opens with an excellent riffing onslaught the song “In Doubt”. The tempo changes are very well introduced and the drumming is just right, the growls are your typical ‘manly’ melodic DM growls, allowing the music to sound both powerful and very melodic. There is a particularly awesome bass guitar section that made this song even more amazing for us.

Delivering one of the darkest and most evil sounding releases of 2012, today we have Necrovation and their self-titled sophomore release. With nine tracks and around 45 minutes of crushing brutality, each of the tracks in this release features a very dark and cavernous atmosphere that is rarely matched by anything we have heard this year and reminds us of the crazy atmospheres created by bands like Shinning (Sweden) and Bethlehem.

Delivering the first blast full of hate with “Necrovorous Insurrection”, this release opens with a bang. Featuring an old-school raw Death Metal vibe, the Swedish influences are extremely clear in this epic track. The quality riffing makes this song even more enjoyable, and the crystal clear production makes brings the full experience to your speakers. The intoxicating rhythms of “Dark Lead Dead” make this very weird song extremely intoxicating indeed.