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    Dystrophic – Dystrophic (2010)

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    Delivering five crushing blows of chaotic Technical Death Metal with Grindcore elements, today we have Dystrophic and their self-titled debut EP. For a new band, the members behind Dystrophic are pretty good at the trade and create very brutal and technical songs that will make your speakers bleed.

    Starting with the traditional intro crap, the band fully explodes to full pace with “Total Existence Failure”. The drumming is very well crafted and keeps the pace of this song super hectic and brutal. The guitar riffing is pretty decent and some parts are blazing fast making it very interesting to listen. On “Withering at the Roots” the band kicks-off with a more traditional DM approach and suddenly the pace gets insane.

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    Ackros – Promo 2010 (2010)

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    Today we have here with us a very promising Progressive Death Metal band from Belgium names Ackros, and their short but sweet Promo 2010 four song demo. Boosting powerful and yet intricate guitar work, Ackros is one of the few bands that have submitted promo/demo releases and really have impressed us with the quality of their work.

    Opening with “Drop Trip”, at first the band gives you the impression that you are set to review ‘just another’ Death Metal release, but suddenly the guitar work gets interesting and hooks you immediately. While doing nothing completely revolutionary, Ackros does manage to craft pretty nifty guitar sections that keep the songs very engaging and different from each other. “Axis Antiseptia” immediately starts with the progressive influences with some brilliant guitar work paired with nicely timed drumming. The vocals are typical DM growls, and fit very well the mixture of chugging traditional DM section and the progressive elements of the music.

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    REVIEW: Lapis Lazuli – A Loss Made Forever (2011)

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    Arriving all the way from Sweden, today out of our stack of band-submitted promos, we have Lapis Lazuli and their second full-length album “A Loss Made Forever”. Our first impression was that there was no way this band was not signed. For over 30 minutes, these Swedes treat us to seven very professional songs of emotionally charged Symphonic/Gothic Metal.

    Opening with the traditional introduction “Ascension”, we get some glimpses of the powerful keyboards behind this band as soon as the song starts. With the super catchy “A Loss Made Forever” we finally get to hear the band’s enchanting female vocals, courtesy of Frida Eurenius. While there are hundreds of female vocals emerging every day, Frida’s pipes are very unique in the sense that they mix sweetness with power in a very balanced way. The song also features very nice keyboard arrangements crafting a very emotive atmosphere nicely contrasted by powerful guitars.

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    Progenie Terrestre Pura - Promo 2011 (2011)

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    Hailing from Italy, today we have a short-but-sweet promo release that will grant this band some momentum before the release of their full-length album. Having never met, Eon[0] and Nex[1] (computer nerds maybe?) formed Progenie Terrestre Pura and have been working digitally over the last few years.

    With the two tracks presented in this promo, the band nicely mixes Black Metal with a hefty dose of trippy atmospheric and electronic elements. We wouldn’t go as afar as calling this Post-Black Metal (the guitar work does not indicate this), but they are surely creative enough to clearly stray away from the ‘traditional’ side of things.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Einvera – In Your Image (2011)

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    With the hundreds of self-released albums we have these days; it is very hard to find one that we actually want to keep listening to for more than 2 hours. Einvera’s “In Your Image” is one of those albums that has commanded more play time in order to fully digest what the band is proposing with their very unique sound.

    Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Einvera is the real deal when it comes to musicianship and interesting combination of genres. The band goes from Melodic Death/Black Metal to weirder Folk/Progressive/Avant-garde influences that will have you scratching your head in moments, but will make you impatiently wait to hear what they come up with next.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Euphoreon – Euphoreon (2011)

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    After their very impressive demo “Before the Blackened Sky”, Euphoreon returns with their crushing self-released and self-titled debut album. All fans of (old) Children of Bodom, Moonsorrow, Turisas, and similar should be keeping an eye out for this very well produced album.

    Featuring re-vamped versions of the three songs presented in the demo, this new release adds five more tracks of brilliant musicianship and excellent combination of elements that have made the previously mentioned bands very successful. The song “Before the Blackened Sky” shows the wide palette of influences the band has and it also gives a very nice intro of what is to come in this release.

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    Oyabun – Gods and Dogs (2010)

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    Hailing from France, today we have Oyabun and their very entertaining release “Gods and Dogs”. The band’s sound is a mixture of 70’s Rock with some psychedelic elements, Stoner Rock influences, and some Blues. All of these influences are nicely packaged into seven songs that while not extremely original, they are very catchy and well crafted.

    Opening with “Brontosaurus Blues”, the band gives a full view of what it is to come in this release: catchy and groovy guitar riffs, some Stoner/Sludge influences and very retro-sounding vocals. While many bands try to emulate the Psychedelic Rock influences, Onyabun sounds very naturally at it, and does not care too much about focusing on the ‘occult’ side of things.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Syrynx – EP 2011 (2011)

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    Hailing from the Northern lands of Canada, today we have Syrynx and their debut EP. The band features the talents of female vocalist Mikki Straatsma (VIVEYNNE) and mixes many musical influences creating a very diverse sounding release.

    Featuring six tracks, this EP ranges from instrumental pieces to very catchy Nu Metal sounding tunes with some Progressive elements. There is a clear indication that the band is still developing their own style since some sections of the songs seem very confusing and not cohesive enough. While the talent is there, we believe that some more polishing to these tracks would have made for a better EP.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Approach & the Execution – The Blood March (2011)

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    With all the new ‘modern’ Metal coming out these days, it is really hard to find bands that are actually doing something to improve things rather than copy everybody else. The Approach & the Execution (TA&TE from now on) does a great job in mixing a bit of everything and somewhat creating a familiar sound that will appeal fans from all areas of Metal and can be commercialized in the current ‘trendy’ Metal markets and maybe in some underground ones as well.  

    With a very diverse approach to Metal the band combines fast paced guitar work and melodic sections of Melodic Death Metal. They also mix several styles of vocals ranging from female clean vocals, growls, semi-shrieks and clean male vocals creating very interesting vocal sections. If this wasn’t enough, there are some clear indications of traditional Heavy Metal elements in the supper catchy and powerful chorus sections in the last songs of the album. All of these elements sound like the perfect recipe for disaster, but the band somehow manages to pulls it off graciously.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Tasha-Yar – Tasha-Yar (2011)

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    In the same vein of U.S.Christmas, Hawkwind, and other Psychedelic Space Rockers, today we have Tasha-Yar and their very impressive self-released self-titled album. In this release we are treated to 8 tracks of pure atmospheric brilliance that will transport the listener to lands far far away.

    Featuring ex-members of U.S. Christmas and Chad Davis of Hour of 13, this band creates a very unique and hypnotic atmosphere infused with Psychedelic elements that will blow you away. Each of the songs in this album nicely flows after each other and before you know it, you will find yourself hitting the play button again.

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