Perfectly mixing aggression and melody, today we have Canada’s Catuvolcus and their amazing latest release “Gergovia”. In this exciting album the band perfectly blends elements of Pagan/Folk Metal with Black Metal and delivers nine tracks of pure melodic chaos. After setting a Folky mood with “Elaver”, the band quickly gets down to business with the crushing “Par monts et par vaux”.

Filled with extremely aggressive vocals and blasting guitar riffs, this release has no shortage of epic moments that are just too many to mention. The drumming keeps things running smoothly, but it’s the sense of melody the band has that keeps the songs being different and extremely good. A clear example of this is the very uplifting “Le colline de Chanturge” and its lush intro followed by waves of powerful riffs. Reminding us of bands like Mythotin and Himinbjorg, Catuvolcus is one of the most intense and skilled bands we have listened to in a while.

Delivering nine tracks of catchy Power Metal, today we have Colombia’s “Hyperborea” released through Canada’s Metalodic Records. With a well-crafted sound, this band goes beyond your average Power Metal band to create solid songs that while not featuring the best vocalist in the world, they make up for it in technical abilities.

Setting the mood with “Skull Island” the band shows the riffing power with well-created melodic sections and a very heavy sound. The guitar sound indeed is a bit weird of this type of music, but the band actually pulls it off, giving them a different sound from your average Power Metal band. The vocals of Felipe Machado Franco not the best and reminds us of the guy we always see in karaoke night trying to do some Iron Maiden songs… not the best indeed. However, this is rescued by pretty decent guitar solos.

Crushing and Hateful would be the perfect words to describe Darkest Grove’s sophomore release titled “Coming of 2012”. Conceptually dealing with the world of theories behind the supposed ‘changes’ coming in 2012, this release puts these interesting ideas in a very harsh and eerie Black Metal environment that pummels the message into your brain. This one-man band delivers in every single aspect producing nine tracks of killer US Black Metal that elevates Darkest Grove to the likes of Terratism and Nightbringer in terms of the ‘local’ US scene.

Like a hard punch to the face, “Hatred Strives…” delivers powerful waves of hateful Black Metal riffs. The track is very straight-forward and in your face, creating a very direct and chaotic atmosphere, just perfect for these kinds of releases. As the track progresses it nicely changes into a more melodic and hypnotic pace. The tremolo-picking intensity is picked up in the killer tracks “Wallowing At The Face of Evil” and “Destiny”, creating a very sick twisted atmospheres that Darkest Grove seems to have knack for. 

Falling into the dreaded ‘what the fuck is this’ category, today we have Poland’s Echoes of Yul and their sophomore release “Cold Ground”. In this release we have a duo creating ‘very disturbing’ and dissonant music, but not in the right direction since this release point-blank: SUCKS. While there are tons of people wishing to get distribution of their music, it baffles us when bands like this one have a reputable label such as Avantgarde Music.

Starting with the dull atmospheric “Octagon”, this release has pretty much nothing really happening until you hit “Libra”, the ninth track out of thirteen. The band delivers short ramblings of incoherent sounds and some very sparse riffs with OK drumming (considering …. well, any other band). Making noise and stringing a few riffs together and having a creepy atmosphere does not really constitute making music in our book, but seems like this band has managed to make this even more annoying, kind of like having a monkey punching your balls every 10 seconds.

If you first read that this was produced by Cristiano Bertocchi (Labyrinth) and mastered by Goran Finnberg (Opeth) this Italian band, Wind Rose, will immediately have your attention and your criticism level would go up a few degrees. Luckily for everybody, the band delivers very well crafted melodies that dance around the area of bands like Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, etc, and their mixtures of fantasy/medieval elements with Power/Progressive Metal. With fifteen songs in “Shadows Over Lothadruin” this new band showcases their musical abilities with a very nicely flowing and epic feeling release.

First thing that annoyed us a bit is that all SEVEN of the instrumental tracks are standalone songs rather than being incorporated into the previous or following track, we don’t really need a count of 15 songs when you really have eight. Peskiness aside, this does not really affect the release in any sense but it is a picky thing from our side (and some of our readers we have heard). “The Endless Prophecy” marks the album’s first real track and has a very playful feeling to it, while keeping all the requirements of an excellent Progressive/Power Metal song: killer vocal arrangements, solid drumming and crazy guitar work. “Siderion” follows in the same vibe, but the song does have a familiar ‘medieval’ feeling to it that feels like it was taken from somewhere else.

Today we have Fabio Leone’s ‘side-band’ called Vision Divine and their killer seventh full-length released titled “Destination Set To Nowhere”. Already having released one of the most impressive albums with Rhapsody of Fire, Fabio delivers another excellent vocal performance in a thrilling Power/Progressive Metal release that is both extremely catchy and technically proficient. If you are a fan of Power/Progressive Metal, you don’t want to miss this majestic release.

Opening with the ethereal mood setter “S'io Fosse Foco” the band leave a certain feeling lingering in the air that what’s next to come will be: EPIC. The real opener “Dream Maker” kicks things off with excellent vocal sections and equally exciting melodic parts. The keyboards nicely set the atmosphere and the perfectly crafted piano/solo sections are pure magic, but the true winner here is the mega-catchy chorus section.

Cranking out their second release of 2012 through Neurot Recordings, Italy’s incomparable Ufomammut delivers another devastating five tracks of pure Psychedelic Doom destruction unlike any other band can produce. The band continues on their ORO trilogy with this second album titled “Opus After”, and from the looks of it, it will be another killer concept trilogy indeed. We quite enjoyed their first ORO release titled “Opus Primum” and this one just keeps getting better.

Opening with the very funky “Oroborus”, the band nicely sets a 60’s/70’s mood with psychedelic guitars before switching into more distorted Doom riffs. The track nicely progresses and works as a perfect lead-up to “Luxon”, the album’s first undisputed single. In this track we are treated to a more Ufomammut signature Doom with pounding riffs and disgruntled vocals. The weird atmospheric hints are dead on in creating an odd ambiance that nicely fits the band’s very dark and crushing sound. This track also reminded us of Year of No Light and their excellent “Ausserwelt”.

Running the birthday of one of our staff members, the Psychedelic Doom duo of Taurus has chosen July 5th to release their very weird and not quite cohesive debut release. “Life” presents us with two tracks that spawn 35 minutes into a downward spiral trip into total chaotic weirdness. Just picture two people getting high out of their mind and banging at some instruments trying to play Doom Metal, once you have that idea in your head, make it a bit worse and you have “Life”.

We are huge fans of experimental music and there are quite a few bands that are pushing the boundaries of Doom Metal (one of our favorite styles of Metal), but Taurus seems to set that back like 10 years with their childish and amateurish release. We are quite frankly shocked that they managed to tour with Agalloch, maybe they have some super awesome live show, because musically we can’t really hear why.

Today we have Septic Christ and their killer debut full-length release titled “Infected Existence”. Delivering an eight track dose of Bay Area sounding Thrash Metal, this Germany band manages to capture the essence of real old-school Thrash and brings it into a more modern and clean sounding stage. “Infected Existence” is one of those releases that feature brilliant riffing from beginning to end and every track should be heard at least one million times to be fully digested and enjoyed.

The album title track delivers the first dosage of killer riffs, reminding us a bit of old Metalica in the pre-“Black Album” era. For a two and a half minute long track, this is one hell of an opener. The tempo changing “W.D.W.F” mixes interesting ‘slow’ sections with the typical Thrash speed ups. The vocals of Bobby Shortleg are pretty solid, but the solos and riffs of JxNothing take the cake in this release. The bass guitar abuse on “Walk” make this sound very devastating and feature an excellent opening section before all hell breaks loose.