Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Noctiferia – Death Culture (2010)

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    If you ever wondered what would happen if Fear Factory, Meshuggah and Gojira had a genetically engineered son, then it would sound just like Noctiferia does. The band has spent plenty of years trying to find their own sound, and on their earlier days they focused more on Melodic Black/Death Metal. On this 2010, they deliver “Death Culture” an album so rich in both style and content that will have you listening to it for quite a while in order to fully digest it.

    The band features the chugging riffing of Fear Factory, combined with the surgically precise (and impressive) drumming of Meshuggah. On top of these elements they offer aggressive vocals like Gojira, Hacride, etc, making their sound very dynamic and brutal. The band has surely outdone themselves with “Death Culture” since it’s their best effort to date.

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    I Shalt Become – Poison (2010)

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    I Shalt Become is one of the pioneering bands behind the USBM movement of the last years, and while not as recognized as Leviathan and Judas Iscariot, the band has released some fine pieces of USBM history like “Wandering” and “In The Falling Snow”. “Poison” features an overly orchestral trip down to the depths of hell.

    The first things that came to mind when listening to “Poison” are the quick similarities it draws to Elend’s work. And while the musical composition skills of S. Holliman are not as good as the ones behind Elend, this album does create a very dramatic atmosphere that is not to be taken lightly. Also, “Poison” features has a down temp feeling, similar to what some doom and funeral doom bands have been doing for years, providing an extra dimension to this fine release.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Hacavitz – Metzli Obscura (2010)

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    Hacavitz is a Mexican two man apocalyptic outfit that creates very raw and brutal Black/Death Metal. Unlike many bands of this genre, we don’t hate them. The band is pretty good at creating rudimentary and harsh music that will make your spine chill. Using English, Spanish, and Aztec (or something like that) the band will haunt your dreams since the start of “Metzli Obscura”.

    We usually bitch and moan about the shitty quality that similar releases have, but we cannot complain about this with Hacavitz. The band’s sound is very dense and dirty, but it works wonders in creating a raw and thick atmosphere. With the chaotic feeling that “Metzli Obscura” creates, we have found the perfect soundtrack for a journey through hell.

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    Diabulus In Musica – Secrets (2010)

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    Forming from the ashes of Dragon Lord, today we have Diabulus In Musica and their first full-length: “Secrets”. Hailing from the Basque region of Spain, this newcomer to the Gothic Metal scene has what it takes to surprise the world. The band combines a bombastic Symphonic Gothic Metal foundation with beautiful female vocals that sound as powerful as Simone from Epica or even Floor from ReVamp.

    While the band is not re-inventing the genre in anyway, they are pretty darn good at making great songs. For over 55 minutes the bands brings us some fresh Gothic Metal that like we said is not super original, but at least it sounds different than all the bands we are currently used to.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Godless Rising – Trumpet Of Triumph (2010)

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    Hailing from the USA, Godless Rising delivers one of the most brutal and technically brilliant albums of 2010 with “Trumpet Of Triumph”. With Toby Knapp on guitars, the band manages to be on the same caliber as Obscura, when it comes to brutal and technical Death Metal.

    Featuring a plethora of catchy hooks and complex solos, the guitar work makes up for almost 90% of the quality behind Godless Rising impressive sound. While we love our traditional Death Metal, we tend to favor bands like this one that go beyond the brutal growls, furious drumming and groovy riffing.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Comparative Anatomy – Mammalia (2010)

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    Our category of WTF releases has gotten its most recent entry: Comparative Anatomy’s “Mammalia”. A brilliant release that is disturbed, deranged, and plain fucked up, but we love it and can’t stop listening to this album. The animal samples will freak you out at the beginning, but once you get used to them, they are like the chant of a siren in our ears.

    The masterminds behind Comparative Anatomy are two dudes named Sir Puffers Rabbinald the Third and Ron Chickenbaby, dressing up like a rabbit and a chicken you can start to imagine how bizarre this band really is. Featuring two bass guitars a whole lot of samples, a drum machine (we think), and a wide variety of screams, Comparative Anatomy has managed to create something we haven’t heard before.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Kraaker - Musikk fra Vettenes Dom (2010)

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    Whenever we get any album that says “Experimental” we are thrilled. Since we usually review tons of ‘regular’ stuff we are always interested in listening to something new and different. The music presented by Kraaker on “Musikk fra Vettenes Dom” cannot be considered an experimental band, but rather a ‘traditional’ Norwegian Black Metal band with different tuning at times and nothing else.

    However, Kraaker’s music is not bad at all. The band actually excels in creating powerful guitar driven melodies that do not sound like the million Black Metal clone bands we have on the scene these days. “Musikk fra Vettenes Dom” is actually a very solid first full-length for a band that shows substantial promise.

    • 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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    hYPNOTIC hYSTERIA – Feed On Me (2010)

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    With a very interesting mixture of Alternative Metal/Rock with some Post-Metal/Rock influences we have hYPNOTIC hYSTERIA from Italy. The band does a great job at sounding like nobody else does by borrowing many influences from ‘commercially’ stable bands as well as the brilliant underground pool of Post-Metal/Rock bands.

    One thing we immediately agree on is that the band creates very hypnotic atmospheres that are very well crafted. This shows great songwriting skills from the band and makes “Feed On Me” a very interesting release to have. We must say that this band can generate a following from both the ‘commercial’ world and the underground.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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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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