Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Inferno – Black Devotion (2009)

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    Inferno is one of those bands that sadly enough only the hardcore Black Metal fans know about, they have been around since 1996 and have released 4 full-length albums and countless of splits. EP’s and live albums. Now on Agonia records I hope Inferno gets the recognition they deserve.

    “Black Devotion” as its press sheet states, is a crushing album that will eat all fake Black Metal fans for breakfast. It’s fast, it’s brutal and it’s basically a full-on aural assault that will make your speakers cry blood.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aosoth – Ashes Of Angels (2009)

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    Hailing from France and making its way on to my sounds system today I find Aosoth, one of the latest signings from cult Polish based Agonia Records. This band features MkM from the legendary Antaeus and BST ex-member of Aborted. This two headed monster plays as you can expect: Black Metal.

    The band’s style is somewhat old school and the music is very basic, taking a lot of elements of early 90’s Death Metal, combined with Black Metal overtones, creating a very dense and diabolical sound.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sacred Steel – Carnage Of Victory (2009)

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    Not being a big fan of Power Metal, I find it hard reviewing albums of this genre, because most of them sound exactly like each other. Sacred Steel’s “Carnage Of Victory” is one of them, while the music and vocals are not bad, but it’s just something I’ve listened to before.

    “Carnage Of Victory” provides us with 11 tracks of very decent Power Metal, I must say that not every Power Metal band I’ve reviewed has the quality that Sacred Steel has. The band on their 7th studio album delivers a very solid recording and should not be ignored by fans of the genre, for non-believers of Power Metal it’s just another album that sounds the same.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Kittie – In The Black (2009)

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    Several years have passed since Kittie reached their highest point around 1999-2001, two albums later and plenty of lineup changes they are back with “In The Black”, released on their own vocalists label, and distributed in Europe by Massacre Records.

    I have to agree that “In The Black” is the band’s most mature record to date, since the music is better defined that before, and the album is very cohesive. But the whole gimmick of the female growling and the all-female band has gotten old. The band’s 5th release is just another decent Metal album, but nothing to write home about.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mnemic – Sons Of The System (2010)

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    Opening the year 2010, we already have one album that immediately was written down in our album of the year list. This is something that has not happened quite often, but with Mnemic’s “Sons Of The System” we are astonished in terms of the quality of this release.

    Having heard Mnemic’s transformation over the years, this album took us by surprise, since it’s more melodic and straight forward. While the band maintains some of their signature trademarks they are opening up to a whole new world thanks to the vocal abilities of Guillaume Bideau.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    In Mourning – Monolith (2010)

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    Hailing from Sweden, In Mourning returns after their highly acclaimed debut album “Shrouded Divine”. The new album “Monolith” marks a very big step in the right direction from the band since they have greatly improved their sound and show great promise for the future.

    While “Monolith” features more experimentation than the band’s previous album, it still features a well crafted Melodic/Progressive Death Metal sound that makes this band standout from the rest. Some of the experimentation in this album is not 100% to my liking, like the screamed vocals, but the growls and overall structure of the songs make up for this.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ihsahn – After (2010)

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    “After” is one of the first albums of 2010 that I had the pleasure of listening to, and it blew my mind from start to end. Ihsahn is clearly one of the few musicians that are true visionaries and are not afraid of bending the boundaries of music in order to share their vision with the world.

    With each album topping the previous one, Ihsahn has constantly been evolving and incorporating different elements to his music until “After” where he blended the use of the saxophone in a highly impressive way that had me listening over and over to make sure my ears were not deceiving me. This paired with brilliant musical composition skills make this album one of the most complex and intricate I’ve reviewed in years.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Troll – Neo-Satanic Supremacy (2010)

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    After almost 10 years of creeping in the dark woods of Norway, Troll is back with a new symphonic Black Metal opus that restores the momentum the band had after the release of “Universal” back in 2001.

    Featuring one remaining member of the original band, Nagash (a.k.a Stian Arnesen) the band is back with a full lineup and the purpose of kicking some major ass. “Neo-Satanic Supremacy” is less Industrial Metal than “Universal” but it sill sounds better than anything that the band released before.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Chaos Invocation - In Bloodline With the Snake (2009)

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    Chaos Invocation is a German horde that are here to make a breakthrough in the Black Metal scene. With their debut album “In Bloodline With the Snake” the band leaps over thousands of bands when it comes to the quality of their music.

    Featuring 11 tracks of total occult destruction, this German band blows all the weaklings on the scene and positions themselves with the likes of Watain, Gorgoroth and similar bands.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Accüsed - The Curse of Martha Splatterhead (2009)

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    With Tommy Niemeyer as the only original member to remain in The Accüsed, the band is back with their characteristic Crossover sound. While “The Curse of Martha Splatterhead” is not one of their finest albums, it’s good enough to keep the fans of the band happy.

    “The Curse of Martha Splatterhead” features 14 relentless tracks that showcase Tommy’s skills at creating riffs that transform across Trash, Punk and Harcore. A feat that not many guitarist can do, but Tommy has years of experience under his belt.

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