• Posted By: Dark Emperor
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October Falls – A Collapse of Faith (2010)

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October Falls is one of our favorite bands of all time and they have returned with their 3rd full-length album “A Collapse of Faith”. The band plays a mean mixture of Black/Dark Metal with Folk elements unlike anybody else these days, just imagine if early Ulver, Empyrium and Tehni had a genetically engineered of spring.

As in the same vein of “The Womb of Primordial Nature”, the band crafts epic songs that will transport you to a dark world filled with nature, helplessness and pain. All through a hefty dosage of distorted guitars, surgically precise drumming and majestic acoustic passages that will haunt you till the rest of your life. The atmosphere created for “A Collapse of Faith” is very haunting and unique, and when paired with M. Lehto’s shivering vocal performance you will surrender your soul to this majestic aural experience.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Wolfshade – When Above… (2010)

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Every few months we get an album that completely takes us by surprise and we end up loving it and adding it to our permanent ‘all-time favorites’ playlist. This month the “When Above…” by the Wolfshade has achieved a spot for eternity in said playlist, featuring seven compositions of majestic Atmospheric Black Metal/Dark Metal, this one-man band is probably one of the best we have heard in quite a while.

Kadhaas is the sole member behind Wolfshade, a French ‘band’ that has released three full-length albums to date and if “When Above…” is only their third release, we can only imagine how amazing their future albums will be. The band features influences from Dark Metal masters Bethlehem (vocals particularly), a hefty influence of Atmospheric elements, some Post-rock/Post-Black Metal elements, and some more Doom/Gothic oriented guitar/keyboard structures that create an ethereal atmosphere that will send chills through your spine.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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The Empire Shall Fall – Awaken (2010)

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Featuring ex-Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach, we were very weary about “Awaken” from The Empire Shall Fall. We never liked Jesse’s vocals on KSE and we also don’t like 95% of the Metalcore that bands put out these days, so we imaged that we would completely rip this album to shreds and call it a day. To our surprise we actually found and interesting sounding album with “Awaken”, an album that will put many of the current Metalcore shit to the ground and Tea-bag them all night long.

Right of the bat, we still hate the vocals and we will not change our minds about them. The screams seem forced (like he has something up his ass), and the ‘growls’ seem weak in comparison to other dudes in the Deathcore/Metalcore circuit. Jesse’s clean vocals are as vanilla as they come, and there is nothing else to add about such a plain (and boring singer).

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Angrepp – Warfare (2010)

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Is nice to finally hear some Black/Thrash Metal that is not trying to sound too ‘oldschool’ or too brutal. Angrepp manages to perfectly Thrashy riffs, Punk-ish rhytms, and powerful vocals, creating a very thick sound that will surely please metal fans since the first couple of minutes of this CD.

The opening song (after the Intro) “Five Horned Formation” wastes no time in establishing that the band’s riff machine is open for serious business. With a very powerful Thrashy opening riff, you will think that you are listening to the new Exodus, or something like that. After the initial impression settles, you will be quickly taken away by the surgically precise drumming that makes your head explode.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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WAN – Wolves of the North (2010)

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All the way from Sweden today we get WAN, a band that features a sound that will take you back to the ‘early’ days of Black Metal with their Bathory/Hellhammer influenced music. With a lo-fi production that will make some sound snobs cry, and fans of the ‘poor’ sounding music cheer. We think that there is a fine line between sounding ‘old-school’ and just ‘plain shitty’, and for “Wolves of the North” we have to lean on the ‘plain shitty’ category.

The band takes us in a 13 tracks and 35 minutes long ride of dull sounding old-school Black Metal. After a few songs you will start wondering why they are signed and releasing such an unimaginative album. There are some ‘ok’ moments, but they quickly get dulled by the monotonous drum machine, random riffs, and reverbed vocals. There is not much to be rescued from this album besides a few riffs and some decent songs like “Ulvhall”, but the drumming makes them less than bearable.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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DEATH ANGEL: Learn How To Play Riffs From "Relentless Retribution"!

PlayThisRiff.com is proud to announce that they will be featuring NEW guitar and bass lessons from DEATH ANGEL with riffs from their upcoming Relentless Retribution album. Following the schedule below, you will get to hear an audio sample of the new DEATH ANGEL record, and then one of the members will teach you the new riff you just heard. Check out these dates for new sounds from DEATH ANGEL:

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