Having formed around 20 years ago and never release a debut album is something that can be considered quite a feat and probably should be in Guinness book of World Records. For Anniversary Circle, this fact has only gained them more rep in the underground scene and made “Saturated Feathers” and even more special release.

With a mixture of influences ranging between Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division, Killing Joke and many others, Anniversary Circle sounds a bit dated but this is exactly what makes them very effective an appealing for us.

Today via Sonic Unyon we have the re-release of one of the best Progressive Death Metal releases to ever come from Canada. Augury’s “Concealed” debut album was highly acclaimed by critics and fans alike back in 2004 and with this re-release we get to enjoy this masterpiece with even better sound than before.

Augury is known for their very impressive Progressive Death Metal sound that easily rivals any big-name European band of the genre. In this re-release we have the original 10 tracks featured on the 2004 edition alongside with 2 tracks from their 2006 demo that landed them a deal with Nuclear Blast Records.

All the way from Poland today we have Deep Desolation and their crushing debut full-length release “Subliminal Visions”. Mixing Black, Death and Doom Metal the band manages to pull it off graciously with a monumental sound and very well crafted songs.

We have to admit that whenever we get something labeled Black/Doom metal, it usually sucks and it’s a pain in the ass to review since we have to listen to the full CD at least 3 times. With “Subliminal Visions” it was very relieving that we actually enjoyed the CD on the first spin and we ended up loving it the next few times. The band’s take on the genre mixing comes from an aggressive perspective rather than drowning the listener with slow Doom riffs and Black Metal snarls that will make you start snoring.

With the jaw-dropping line up of Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius), vocalist Andre Matos (ex-Angra), drummer Uli Kusch (ex-Helloween), bassist Jari Kainulainen (ex-Stratovarius) and keyboardist Mikko Harkin (ex-Sonata Artica), Symfonia is ready to awe people with their impressive debut full-length “In Paradisum”.

After having an orgasm just by reading the line-up of this band now it’s time for us to talk about what really matters: the music. With Mr. Tolkki on the lead, you know that all your Power Metal needs will be met and even exceeded if you are not too picky. After the premature demise of Revolution Renaissance we counted the days until the next Timo Tolkki project surfaced.

After a 4 year absence, today we have another very solid release by Vintersorg titled ”Jordpuls”. In this release we get 9 tracks of typical Vintersorg full with epic vocal arrangements and great musicianship, and the overall Vintersorg sound imprinted in every second of this release.

While fans of Vintersorg and Borknagar will rejoice with this release, we think is just more of the same with a few changes here and there. After the ‘experimentation’ phase that Vintersorg took in the last few albums, it is nice to her him coming back to the Progressive infused Viking Metal.

After a three year break between albums, band’s mastermind Steve Williams returns with a completely different line-up since the band’s last release “Master of Illusion”. With “Blood Alliance” the band will surely make a statement and show they are ready to kick ass with catchy songs and brilliant instrumentation.

Featuring 10 tracks and 60 minutes of very well crafted songs, “Blood Alliance” features all the traditional Power Metal elements that fans of the genre love. This release is packed with catchy guitar melodies, blistering guitar solos, powerful vocals and overall excellent song writing. Steve Williams is back in full swing and with this new line-up, Power Quest sounds better than ever.

Labeled as one of the most interesting Psychedelic/Occult Rock releases of the last few years “Opus Eponymous” is the first full-length release of Ghost. For over 30 minutes we are treated to a very interesting and nostalgic sound that the band presents with their satanic craft.

The album gets off to a great start with “Con Clavi Con Dio” thanks to solid riffs, great vocal arrangements and keyboards. However, the band’s sound is not as bombastic and effective as we expected and bands like The Devil’s Blood put them to shame when it comes to Psychedelic rock with occult elements.

After not liking any of Between the Buried and Me’s stuff, I was about to hurl when I got this promo in my review queue. However, something magical will happen to you when you listen to this album since you will end-up loving it for its originality and freshness.

I believe since I was expecting some crap like Between the Buried and Me I was less critical about this release, but many listens to this album you will still find yourself appreciating it and finding new details about the music. Thomas Giles crafts 11 songs that are very rich sounding and that have the perfect amounts of electronic elements, rock guitars, melancholic vocals and piano sections.

In a time when Pagan/Folk Metal releases are a dime a dozen, it is very hard to go find something truly original and worth listening to. “Call of the Black Winds” is an example of an album that is half-way there, meaning that it is nothing ‘revolutionary’ but it has its moments.

The band has been perfecting its formulaic approach to the genre and with “Call of the Black Winds” they show it. Every aspect of this release has been done by the band in the past, but this time around they get to do it a little bit better. For instance, the clean vocals are considerably better than last time and they actually fit the songs better in this release.

One of the most interesting (at least for us) German Black Metal bands has to be Todtgelichter and their near-Avant Garde Black Metal style that is not easy to fully digest. Making their highly anticipated return with “Angst”, the band dropped the kvlt BM logo for a modern ‘urban’ one and has an even weirder look than before (imagine blue man group but in full white outfits).

“Angst” takes the listener through 54 minutes of pure brilliance with perfectly interwoven influences of Post-Black Metal and Post-Rock elements alongside traditional Black Metal elements. From the first song in this release (“Café of Lost Dreams”) you can tell that this release will be special and different since it starts very Black Metal minded but the guitar work is heading in a separate direction.