2010

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Frostfall – Dark Torments / Beyond The Dusk (2010)

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    Courtesy of Final Eartbeat productions we all the way from Italy we get Frostfall’s first two demos released on CD. We will be reviewing both demos separately in this space since they are huge differences between them. Hailing from France, Frostfall is a Black Metal band that is very raw and brutal in nature.

    The first demo “Dark Torments” was originally released in 1999 and you can really notice that by the way it sounds. Having very bad clicking and popping noises due to the low quality of the recording we almost thought our Home Theater’s speakers got damaged. However, there are some hints of quality in this recording.

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    Black River – Black’n’Roll (2010)

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    Featuring members from the almighty Behemoth, Vesania and Dimmu Borgir we have today Black River and their second full-length release “Black’n’Roll”. Playing Hard Rock/Stoner Rock, this band is something we would never have expected from members of primarily Black Metal bands. However, with “Black’n’Roll’ the band will surely turn more than one heads with their super catchy Rock music.

    Black River starts rocking since the funny titled song “Barf Bag” and continues to blast one catchy song after another one. There is not a single track on this release that is not full of traditional Hard Rock that will make you want to headbang since the opening riff until the last.

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    Enemy Of The Sun – Caedium (2010)

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    We are always complaining that we don’t get enough albums that feature band’s trying to push the envelope and develop something new and intriguing. Well, with Enemy Of The Sun we get a band that tries too many things at the same time, and around 85% of the time they are brilliant. “Caedium” continues along the lines of their first full-length album “Shadows”, creating a very chaotic combination of almost EVERY single genre of Metal (and closely related genres).

    “Caedium” will surely get trashed by plenty of people, and other will love it, there will be almost no middle ground when a band like Enemy Of The Sun comes along. We must say that we love many of the things, and other things are just downright awful (like the first 20 seconds of “Chasing The Dragon”). However, one thing we will grant to this band is that they have gigantic balls for releasing something like “Caedium”.

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    Disbelief – Heal (2010)

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    Disbelief is a German Death Metal band that has been around since the 90’s, and have always produced decent releases. Consistency is one the band’s best qualities, since their self-titled debut album they have been putting out very solid songs with lots of groove to them. “Heal” is the band’s 9th full-length release, and it features yet another 40 minutes of solid Death Metal with some Sludge and Trash Metal influences.

    Riffing away since track one, “The Eyes Of Horror”, the band does a great job at grabbing the listeners attention since the first song and never letting go. With brilliantly crafted riffs and aggressive vocals, the band blasts away through the album and before you know it you will find yourself playing it over and over again.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mammutant – Atomizer (2010)

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    With Mammutant’s Atomizer, today we have 44:44 minutes of pure lack of creativity and inspiration. The band’s second full-length release is a very dull album to have to sit through and listen. We usually listen to albums at least 3 times before writing a review and we had a hard time getting through this album even the first time.

    Playing Death Metal with Industrial influences the band looks as if Lordi and the cast of Starwars had a child. Playing on the whole creepy costumes/outfits is ok when your music is somewhat decent, but if it sucks, then we assume they just look like jackasses on stage.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Eisregen – Schlangensonne (2010)

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    Eisregen is one of our all-time favorite bands, and they totally continue to be amazing with “Schlangensonne”. Waiting for them to play at 5 AM on With Full Force 2009 was completely justified since we have wanted to see this band live in ages. With their deranged musical style, “Schlangensonne” is yet another brilliant release to add into their already impressive discography.

    The band receives a lot of shit from people that probably don’t understand what the band is all about. And there are always extremely mixed reviews when the band releases an album. Having 3 of their albums censored by the German ‘index’, you can see where this band gets their bad reputation.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Neverland – Ophidia (2010)

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    Hailing from Turkey today we have Neverland, a Power/Progressive Metal outfit that is here to kick-ass and take names. The band has such a bombastic sound that you would image you are listening to a side project by Jon Oliva, or Tobias Sammet. The band takes you through an 11 song journey or epic music that will surely be one of your favorites of 2010.

    Featuring guest appearances by Jon Oliva, Edu Falaschi, and Urban Breed, the band does a great job in composing intricate and powerful songs that will blow you away. The band never relies on the guest appearances to much, since their own vocalists: Iris Mavraki and Oganalp Canatan are very good themselves. And if you have been reading Infernal Masquerade for a while, you must know that we have a knack for being picky when it comes to Progressive/Power Metal vocalists.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Masterplan – Time To Be King (2010)

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    Power Metal’s super group (yes, another one) Masterplan is back after keeping us waiting for a follow-up to their acclaimed “MK II” album. With “Time To Be King” the band is poised into becoming one of the premier Power Metal bands, and they surely have the correct personnel to achieve this feat. We think the album is aptly titled for what Masterplan is set to do with this great release.

    With the return of Jørn Lande, the band again has a very strong and versatile vocalist. And featuring legends Roland Grapow and Mike Terrana, on guitars and drums, you can’t ask for a more experience and overall excellent musical foundation for Masterplan. After the hype created by their single “Far From The End Of The World”, the full-length release is even better than the small sample with got with this single.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Kissin’ Dynamite – Addicted To Metal (2010)

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    The current revival/rehashing of ‘traditional’ metal genres such as Trash Metal, old-school Black Metal, and old-school Heavy Metal, has been reaching the point of being extremely ridiculous. Every four out of ten releases we get have to do with some kind of new band playing old-school music. Now, it’s surprisingly shocking to us when we actually get a band trying to do something new and exciting.

    Kissin’ Dynamtie hails from Germany and they formed back in 2002 to play… ‘traditional’ Heavy Metal, what a shocker. The band actually is very good at what they do and they capture the old-school sound perfectly. Some people are calling this band the next-best thing after Edguy (for German Heavy Metal), and while we can agree that musically this band is pretty solid, they have no originality at all.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Big Ball – Hotter Than Hell (2010)

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    Who ordered and nicely cooked AC/DC clone?, apparently AFM records did with Big Ball. While the band never denies, and even encourages, the label of AC/DC clones, we find them to be good at capturing AC/DC’s sound and essence and providing a tiny-little-bit of their own into “Hotter Than Hell”, the band’s first full-length release.

    As the band states, if you hate AC/DC you will hate us, so if you do then stop reading and move on to the next review. Big Ball is a pretty decent clone/tribute band to AC/DC and even the vocals sound strikingly similar to earlier the earlier style of Brian Johnson, but sometimes get a bit raspier and sound more like Udo Dirkschneider, still not bad.

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