• Posted By: Dark Emperor
  • Comments: 0

Astarium – Invasion to Forbidden (2011)

cover

As we all know most one-man bands suck, with a very few exceptions they are just outlets for untalented people to produce what they call ‘music’. Going with this notion, I was gladly surprised by the quality of Astarium’s music, a one-man band from Novosibirsk, Russia. Getting strange looking envelopes from far away places in the world is one of the thrills of working for Infernal Masquerade and this time, the envelope also delivers good music (something that is not the case at least 50% of the time).

“Invasion to Forbidden” is the latest EP from this Symphonic/Atmospheric Black Metal band that while not having the best sound quality or musical equipment, it can surely create a eerie atmosphere and deliver 16 minutes of creepy as shit Black Metal.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
  • Comments: 0

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

cover

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.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
  • Comments: 0

Helevorn – Forthcoming Displeasures (2010)

cover

Having recently ‘discovered’ Helevorn at WGT 2011, we set out to find all their releases once we got back to the USA. Playing a mixture of Death/Doom Metal with some Gothic elements, Helevorn is one of the last remaining bands that keep the genre alive. With “Forthcoming Displeasures”, these Spaniards have cranked out 50+ minutes of crushing music that will surely impress any fan of the genre.

Since the opener “From Our Glorious Days”, the mood is set to dark and desolate place that only keeps getting more and more depressing over the tracks presented in this release. The mixture of bleak clean vocals with the crushing (and proper) growls makes the band a double threat and truly delivers in all emotional ranges. Opening with some atmospheric keyboards we have “Descent”. Keyboards provide a nice backdrop through this release and never get on the way of the crushing riffs, mournful vocals and mid-tempo structures that we all love from Death/Doom Metal bands.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
  • Comments: 0

World Under Blood – Tactical (2011)

cover

Formed by CKY’s front-man/guitarist Deron Miller and super drummer Tim Yeung, today we have Wonder Under Blood and their debut full-length release “Tactical”. As you can tell, this seems like an odd combination but it actually works wonders and this debut release is a fine example of different sounding Melodic Death Metal. As we mentioned, World Under Blood does not sound like your typical Swedish Melodic DM or your commercial Melo-Death bands you have in North America these days. The band has their own different sound and nicely mixes brutality with brilliant melodic sections.

As you can tell from the opening track “A God Among the Waste”, the band is not f’ing around and delivers powerful riffing with very well crafted drumming. The clean/growl vocal approach sounds a bit odd at the beginning, but it quickly grows on you. The music reminds us of the band Godless Rising, but with a bit less brutality. The quality of the solos never decreases through this release and on tracks like “Into the Arms of Cruetly”, “Dead and Still in Pain” and “Purgatory Dormitory”, they nicely highlight sections of very well crafted songs.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
  • Comments: 0

Progenie Terrestre Pura - Promo 2011 (2011)

cover

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.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries