Album Reviews

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Nåstrond - Muspellz Synir (2008)

    Nåstrond gives us a pretty weird release in general. I have not heard this band before and after reading that their lyrics are Egyptian and Occultism related I was looking forward to listening to this release. But to my surprise it’s not up to par with other releases from Moribund records, while it’s ‘different’ it’s not the good type of different.

    The 2 man band plays a weird mixture of black metal, ambient and even some hints of doom metal. Don’t get me wrong I’m all about listening to new interesting mixtures of genres. But Nåstrond fails to deliver, since the album is not cohesive enough. All the tracks feel like they where put together in installments of 2-3 tracks intended for an EP.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Behexen - My Soul For His Glory (2008)

    I was waiting for a while since Behexen last’s release. And let me tell you my wait was in vain. While My Soul For His Glory is a pretty solid release for a band of the caliber of Behexen, it’s still missing one very important feature: the shiver inducing vocals of the previous 2 releases.

    The music sounds more mature than their previous 2 releases, marking a clear progression of the quality of musicianship that the members of Behexen have. After 13 years since the band’s conception, you can hear that each instrument complements each other in a perfect diabolical ‘harmony’.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Celestial Bloodshed – Cursed, Scarred And Forever Possessed (2008)

    This album is the first ‘full length’ by these Celestial Bloodshed hailing from Norway. I put full length in quotes because the album lasts only 35 minutes or so. And in my opinion this is one of the problems with the release and not because it sucks and it’s too long (like many other releases). But because it left me wanting more!!

    The band plays a traditional old school black metal that sounds very raw and brutal. No fancy things here, just the basic vocals, guitars, bass and drums combination.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mutum - Redemption (2007)

    After several vocalists and two demos Mutum released their first full length Redemption, under Asenath Records in 2007. Of all the bands from Mexico that I’ve listened over the years I must say that Mutum is currently one of the best ones in the country.

    The bands musical style could be defined as gothic metal with some power metal and doom metal influences, yeah I know this sounds weird, but let me elaborate.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Samael - Illumination (2009)

    After listening to this single, I have to say that Samael is preparing for a strong comeback with something more brutal than their most recent albums. The two tracks included in this single blew me away they showcase the intensity Samael was known for in the past. The music is more guitar driven and the vocals are as good as ever, while they don’t rely much on keyboards they are still present. The intensity of the guitars and the drumming are the focal points of these 2 songs.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sublagrimal - Mental Execution (2009)

    Well I have to say that I haven’t listened to many different Electro / Industrial bands, or stuff related, it’s just not my thing. This Colombian band provides us, from what I can say a very decent Electro/ Industrial album. All the tracks have the same feel and you can probably play the album with no skips and dance the night away.

    This is pretty much all I can say about this release, since I don’t know how to judge good electro music and stuff like that.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Cantata Sangui - On Rituals And Correspondence in Constructed Realities (2009)

    This is one of the most interesting bands I’ve found recently, apparently they have been around for a while releasing several demos in a span of several years, and just now released their debut album through Seasons Of Mist.

    This band hails from Finland and features members from Enochian Crescent, and their musical style is very unique I must say, they mix death/black and gothic metal in a very weird way.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    This Ending - Dead Harvest (2009)

    This band features the drummer from Amon Amarth and pretty much all the members from A Canorous Quintet / The Plague. This album features a mixture of old school death metal, and some more modern black/death metal style of music. And it’s not bad by any means, but it just feels like something put together over a weekend while having some beers.

    The music it self is of good quality, but it gets pretty old after a few songs. Also the vocals are not up to par to compared to other bands.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sculptor - Temny Oktyabr (2009)

    This release from a Russian one-man band is what I would call: a terrible one. I’m a big fan of doom metal, but when it’s done right here the music is uneventful and boring, not slow and depressing.

    The vocals are just plain bad since when he tries to whisper it sounds pretty bad the same for the clean voice and the growls.

    The only thing I can say positive about this album is that it’s not that badly recorded.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Domina Noctis - Second Rose (2008)

    I would assume that this Italian band is trying to follow their fellow Italian’s Lacuna Coil into international stardom, but they are doing it without selling out. This release in my opinion is 10 times better than anything Lacuna Coil has released in the last 5 years.

    Now that I got that out of my chest, Second Rose is a very solid sophomore release from Domina Noctis. While they clearly fit into the Gothic Metal genre, this album has small details that make it stand out from many other releases, and many other bands.

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