Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Resurrection Sorrow – Hour Of The Wolf (2009)

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    Hailing from New York, USA, The Resurrection Sorrow plays a mean mixture of Heavy and Stoner Metal, and while not the most original band, they do a pretty good job at getting people moving with their music.

    “Hour Of The Wolf” features 10 tracks for over 45 minutes of rocking music that will grab your attention since track one. I’m not a huge fan of Stoner Metal, but the ‘heaviness’ infused by TRS make this album not have a dull moment.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aquila – Imperium (2009)

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    Opening with an intro track by the same name of the album “Imperium”, Aquila starts showcasing their musical abilities since track one and never let go. This Canadian outfit plays Metalcore and is pretty good at it.

    While Metalcore is not one of my favorite genres, I have no problems in recognizing bands that have talent and do a good job at playing the music. The vocals is the part that for me kills this genre, but Aquila does a good job at sounding more like Trash/Death Metal the majority of the time while maintaining their Metalcore roots.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Coronatus – Fabula Magna (2009)

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    To say that Coronatus is one of the most underrated bands in the Gothic Metal genre is an understatement by it self. I don’t now why this band does not have as much recognition like Delain, Tristania, Leaves’ Eyes, Theatre Of Tragedy, etc. Coronatus is clearly a superior band that half of the ones mentioned and their musical sound is still Gothic Metal, no commercial bullshit here.

    Hailing from Germany Coronatus has been very productive band since they got their deal with Massacre Records producing one album a year since 2007. The band’s approach to Gothic Metal is very traditional: heavy distorted guitars, majestic keyboards and the most amazing female vocal duo.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Raise The Red Lantern – Raise The Red Lantern (2009)

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    I must say that releases that feature vocals like this never get good reviews from me; even after analyzing the music objectively the vocals ruin the album for me. This is not the case for Raise The Red Lantern, since their music is amazing and I was even able to zone out the vocals for the entire duration of this album.

    Raise The Red Lantern is an American band that plays a very peculiar supper salad of different styles ranging from Sludge to Progressive Metal to Hard Rock to Stoner Rock, and they do so with great ability. While the overall feeling of the album can get them labeled as Sludge, they are more than that since the band’s sound is very unique.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aetherius Obscuritas - Black Medicine / Fekete Orvossag (2009)

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    Aetherius Obscuritas presents us their second release of majestic Black Metal that will surely put the on the map. This Hungarian band show they are a force to be reckoned by displaying brutal, but yet melodic, Black Metal in 11 tracks of pure evil.

    The band shows a level of musical maturity that few young bands have. Mainly because Arkhorrl, the mastermind behind this evil entity, has been dissecting most major Black Metal bands and taking the best elements of each one of them, and improving over time (and 4 previous releases) has now achieved a brilliant sound that reminds you of all time greats like Marduk, Satyricon and Immortal, but has managed to make it his own adding his own twists and turns to the music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Faust – From Glory To Infinity (2009)

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    Faust is an Italian band that has been around since 1992, and this is made very clear based on the skills of most of the band members. The music is very well played, but lacks a bit on the composition department (more on that later).

    I’m a big fan of Melodic Death Metal, and it’s very rare in these days to find a good band that is not going all Metalcore on us. Alongside Ethereal Collapse, Faust is one of the best bands in the genre I’ve heard this year, since the melodic aspect is brilliant.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Semen Datura – Einsamkeit (2009)

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    Hailing from Germany, Semen Datura displays very promising qualities in a Black Metal band, they have a very (and I mean very) diverse style that ranges from old school Celtic Frost in some parts, to Satyricon, to Darkthrone, to Secrets Of The Moon, etc.

    “Einsamkeit” is the band’s 3rd full length album and has made me try to dig up their latest releases so I can see how their sound has evolved (no luck so far in finding their first albums). This album features 10 tracks of pure hellish black metal that will surely please any fans of the genre.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Siegfried – Nibelung (2009)

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    After their band’s last effort “Eisenwinter”, back in 2003, I was very skeptical about giving this album a few spins since that album was pretty dull and a total waste of anybody’s time. However, Siegfried have managed to give me the surprise of 2009, what I was expecting to be another uninspired release, has reached a top 10 spot in my favorite albums Gothic/Epic Metal albums from 2009.

    “Nibelung” features very intricate and symphonic compositions that have a very Epic feeling thanks to the wide variety of vocal styles. If I didn’t know that Sanda Schleret is on the female vocals, I would have never guessed it since her vocal range is put to the test with this release and she stands out magically.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Elis – Catharsis (2009)

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    Three years have passed since their last full length album “Griefshire” and the unexpected passing of Sabine Dünser, she was featured in that album and it took the band some time to decide if they wanted to continue or not. The band found Sandra Schleret (ex-Dreams Of Sanity) as the new vocalist and decided to continue, touring in 2007 and recording an EP on the same year.

    After not hearing much from Elis in 2008, they are back in full swing at the end of 2009 with their fourth album “Catharsis” featuring 11 tracks of their traditional sounding Gothic Metal. The band retains their musical identity intact, and with Sandra’s vocals they sound as good as ever.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    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.

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