Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Skyfire – Esoteric (2009)

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    Five years have passed after their acclaimed album “Spectral” was released and with a re-vamped lineup the band is back to blow everybody away with “Esoteric”. This Swedish band has managed to live up to the hype, and even surpass expectations with their new album.

    Simply put “Esoteric” is a brilliant album that features a very fresh mix of Melodic Death Metal and Progressive Metal that will put most bands that fuse these genres to shame. I’m a sucker for anything that is melodic in nature and this album is close to my dreams of the best combination of melody and aggressiveness with tons of more elements thrown in between.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Immundus – Haunted Memories (2009)

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    Immundus is a one man project hailing from Portugal, the project’s musical style could be defined as Dark Ambient music and it’s very eerie in nature, and it could very well be the soundtrack of a horror/thriller movie.

    Featuring ten tracks of eerie sounds with very minimalistic passages that will send chills to some people’s spines, or they will put others to sleep. If you are into Dark Ambient music, then you will be very pleased by this release, however if you do not like releases like this, then avoid the album since it will bore you to death.

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    Vulvark – Vulvark (2009)

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    When it comes to rawness Vulvark would get the highest marks, however the whole raw concept of the album gets a bit tired after a while and then you are left with a disconnected array of several elements that would have made for a better album under the hands of somebody more creative.

    The ten minute epic opening track and the next two made me very optimistic about how this album was going to turn out, but as the next tracks made their appearance this illusion quickly faded. Clocking at 1 hour and 6 minutes, I think this album should have been cut at track 3 and this would make a great EP. However the last 5 songs just destroyed the whole momentum the band built on the opening tracks.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Griftegård – Solemn.Sacred.Severe (2009)

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    When I first saw the name of the band I assumed they played Black Metal or something related to BM, but to my surprise this relatively new Swedish band plays Doom Metal in the vein of Candlemass and While Heaven Wept.

    “Solemn.Sacred.Sever” is the debut full length album from this band, and to be their debut release is pretty solid, but it does not have a single gram of originality in it. And while their particular style is not 100% to my liking, they still manage to pull of an album that I would not mind listening from start to finish.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Ruins Of Beverast – Foul Semen Of A Sheltered Elite (2009)

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    The Ruins Of Beverast is a one man project from the drummer of the defunct band Nagelfar. The ‘band’ brings us a very dense sounding and highly enjoyable Black Metal album that features a wide variety of elements that make this release a very different one from the piles of BM albums that are released every month.

    “Foul Semen Of A Sheltered Elite” features 10 tracks of sickness that will keep the listeners on the edge of their seats. The music ranges from ambient-like passages to blast-beat sections in a very well arranged manner. It never becomes dull or boring for the whole duration of this journey into darkness.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Bleeding Fist – Bestial Kruzifiz666ion (2009)

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    With the moniker of “True Slovenian Black Metal” stamped on the CD I figured this band would play something a little more… organized. While the brutality and speed is undeniable in this release, sometimes it just feels that they are just banging at their instruments with no coherence behind them.

    That being said, there are plenty of ‘trashy’ sounding BM riffs here and the intensity of the guitars is pretty good. The drumming is very bestial and sounds like a demon with 4 arms and 4 legs is playing the drums at some points, it’s also sometimes very random sounding and it makes me wonder if they can play the same song twice without making a mistake.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Azaghal – Teraphim (2009)

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    If I’m ever looking for a brutal and raw Black Metal album, I always turn back to my Azaghal and Horna albums, since they are the true embodiment of this genre. Azaghal returns after one year of releasing “Omega” and the still bring their A game to the table.

    The only change that Azaghal has suffered is the very light use of synth in their last two albums, and in “Teraphim” this element makes me like this album even better. This being said, do not expect Dimmu Borgir style synths or anything like that, just small hints to complement a song.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Marduk – Wormwood (2009)

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    “Wormwood” is probably one of the most expected Black Metal releases of 2009 and it fully delivers what is expected from Marduk. The album features Black Metal at its most refined state, blasting away since the first song and never letting go.

    Marduk’s status as BM legends has been earned by constantly releasing quality albums since their debut album “Dark Endless” back in 92, the band has constantly been evolving refining their style to its current state.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Dethklok – The Dethalbum II (2009)

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    With the release of the “The Dethalbum” the fictional band Dethklok managed to sell 34,000 copies of this album on the first week, making the album the highest charting Death Metal album in history (in the USA). After selling over 300,000 copies of that album Dethklok has the mission of trying to surpass that feat, and I think it can be done, since “The Dethalbum II” is even better than the first one.

    While most people that watch the TV show Metalocalypse have listened to a most of the songs for brief minutes, you still need to hear the entire song to fully enjoy the brilliance behind them. Technically Brendon Small has managed to create another brilliant album that features witty and catchy tunes.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Merrimack – Grey Rigorism (2009)

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    Merrimack is a French Black Metal band that while not extremely ‘known in the scene’, they manage to create a good album with “Grey Rigorism”. After 3 years of releasing their best album to date “Of Entropy And Life Denial” the band is here trying to recapture their momentum, but they just achieve other album just like “Of Entropy And Life Denial” and nothing more.

    The quality of “Grey Rigorism” is unquestionable and the band is very good at writing songs and creating a very malevolent atmosphere. If this is the first album you have heard of the band it will surely blow you away. The band creates a very balanced mix of BM that includes fast tremolo picked parts and some less intense more rhythmic parts, like many BM bands are doing these days, particularly Marduk.

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