Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Brown Jenkins – Death Obsession (2009)

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    Following their acclaimed by some (and trashed by others) album “Angel Eyes”, Brown Jenkins releases their last opus “Death Obsession”. Like it or not, Brown Jenkins is one of those bands that you either praise or despise, I side with the later.

    If you are not aware of what kind of music Brown Jenkins plays, they try to mix Doom and Black Metal with heavy Drone influence and the result is, in my opinion, a half assed approach to either of the genres.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Dark Funeral - Angelus Exuro pro Eternus (2009)

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    Along time has passed since “The Secrets of the Black Arts” and the band seems to not be slowing down at all. Having waiting for four years to the release of “Angelus Exuro pro Eternus”, I must say that while I do like this album a lot and it’s one of the best of the year, I have a mixed opinion that Dark Funeral shows signs of going nowhere with their music, only following a straight line and releasing ‘more of the same’.

    While I think that releasing ‘more of the same’ is not bad if you have a good sound and a good band (like Epica, My Dying Bride, etc), but in the Black Metal world you get dethroned so easily if you do not adapt to the newer times and release something more dynamic (or an improvement of your ‘more of the same’ sound).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Deiphago - Filipino Antichrist (2009)

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    Deiphago has been around for over 20 years and they have only managed to release two full length albums (and all of the in the last 3 years). It makes you wonder why is that a band that has many years of experience has not released anymore albums, well you are about to find out: THEY SUCK.

    While I’m usually pretty lenient with all the music I get to review, and with music in general, I can’t find ANY redeeming qualities for this album at all. The music is terrible, if you can call that music, the vocals are just like a pig getting slaughtered and somebody with a bad case of diarrhea, the drumming sounds like somebody throwing rocks at a warehouse aluminum ceiling.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Destruktor – Nailed (2009)

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    It’s hard to find good bands these days, especially out of the ones trying to play old school style music. Since most people playing that music nowadays were not even born when Celtic Frost, Venom and Bathory had their moment to shine.

    Destruktor hailing from Australia does a great job in capturing the sound of those times and bringing it back to our ears for a lesson in ‘classical metal’ music. The band features a very interesting mix of old school Death and Black Metal that will never get old (if it’s well executed).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Hunters Moon – The Serpents Lust (2009)

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    As I’m finishing with this last album from Hells Headbangers, I’m noticing that the label has a very good eye for bands that have that old-school sound, but at the same time make it their own.

    Hunters Moon is an Aussie band that plays very good Black Metal a la Bathory, with some Morrigan and even early Immortal influences. This EP takes us back to those good old times when Black Metal was more than just a pose, and gives us 21 minutes of great music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Månegarm – Nattväsen (2009)

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    Hailing from Sweden, Månegarm is one of those bands that have been evolving their sound and in every album they keep getting better and better. “Nattväsen” is the band’s sixth full length album and while their Folk influences have taken mostly over, they have not conformed and kicked out their harsh vocals and heavier influences from the past.

    Starting with the traditional folk vocals followed by growls, “Nattväsen” will take you on a journey of great Folk and Metal music that you will surely be listening several times in a row. This album is very diverse when it comes to mixing Folk/Viking Metal and Death Metal.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Savage Messiah - Insurrection Rising (2009)

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    With this current new revival of Trash Metal hundreds of new bands have popped out of nowhere and just because they can play a couple of Trash riffs they think they are good at it. Thankfully Savage Messiah has more to their sound than many of the shitty bands out there.

    "Insurrection Rising" is this British outfit first full length album and while it's pretty solid it also gets a bit dull at some points since some of the riffs are very repetitive (especially within songs). The nine songs featured in this album all have their unique riffs, but like I mentioned before some of them get a bit too repetitive. But at least the dull riffs are pretty decent riffs, so it's all good, and if you are not too picky on this department then you will surely love Savage Messiah. The guitar solos are very scarce in this album, but when the band shows them off they sound pretty decent (like in Enemy Image)

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Elysion - Silent Scream (2009)

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    Hailing from Greece, Elysion is probably one of the next big things hit Gothic Rock scene, and they will surely take it by surprise since their debut album "Silent Scream" is very spectacular. Engineered by Ted Jensen (Evanescence, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Nickelback, Korn, Marilyn Manson) the album sounds amazing, showcasing every single detail of the band's music.

    Don't go making any conclusions yet, you are probably thinking that this band is all production and no substance, but you are very wrong to assume this since Elysion creates very good music that has enough depth by it self to get them respect from all their peers. I have to say that the band's sound is very commercial, but I don't see any problem with this since the band has never claimed to be anything else, or changed their style drastically in this direction. And as long the music is good an enjoyable I don't see any problem with commercial Gothic Rock music (i.e. H.I.M, The 69 Eyes, etc).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Mandagora Scream - Volturna (2009)

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    Founded by Morgan Lacroix, Mandagora Scream is an Italian Gothic Metal/Rock band that has been around since 1997. The band's main characteristic is Morgan's unique voice, that once you hear it once, it's almost impossible to not recognize again.

    If you are thinking that Mandagora Scream only has to offer Morgan's vocals, you are deeeply mistaken. The band creates a very dark atmosphere in all their albums and "Volturna" is no different, the enthralling keyboard arangements mixed with electronic elements set the stage for a layering of different vocal tracks and very basic, but effective, distorted guitars.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Anthropia - The Chain Reaction (2009)

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    After bouncing around the US postal service for a few months, this CD (And the band's earliest album) finally arrived in my hands last week. Having heard a few of their songs on their myspace I was very excited to give this album a few spins in order to write this review.

    Anthropia is a very good Progressive/Symphonic Metal band from France, and their music sounds a lot like Ayreon's and StarOne's music, but with its own identity. "The Chain Reaction" is a concept album with a futuristic theme and provides for a very interesting read once you go through the booklet while the music is playing.

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