• Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Helstar - Rising From The Grave (2010)

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Today we have the Metal Blade re-release of legendary Helstar’s albums: “A Distant Thunder”, “Nosferatu” and “Twas the Night of a Helish X-Mas” is a boxed set that also includes the DVD of “Twas the Night of a Helish X-Mas”. For those of you that don’t know Helstar is a Power/Speed Metal band from the USA that released some epic albums back in the 80’s before disappearing for a while.

All these three releases featured in the “Rising From The Gave” boxed set feature remastered versions of “A Distant Thunder” and “Nosferatu” and indeed these two great albums sound better than ever. We did not receive the 3rd and live CD for review, so we can’t really say much about this part of the boxed set.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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RAM – Lightbringer (2010)

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For a band that has been around over 10 years, RAM has only released two full-length albums of their brand of traditional Heavy Metal. Hailing from Sweden, if we didn’t have any information about RAM we would imagine that they released “Lightbringer” decades ago. This release features what every die-hard Heavy Metal fan dreams about: an epic old-school Heavy Metal assault that will keep you to the edge of your seat.

“Lightbringer” presents us with 10 tracks that are highly entertaining and super diverse. There is not a single dull moment in this album since each track has enough magic inside them to make them stand out individually, and when placed together we get a top notch release that will surely turn heads left and right.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Iron Fate – Cast in Iron (2010)

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All the way from Germany today we have Iron Fate and their debut album “Cast in Iron”. This relatively new band features an interesting ‘slower paced’ combination of Heavy/Power Metal with some Thrash elements, we say ‘slower paced’ since this band never goes to 200 mph’s and lacks a bit of the epicness that the genre calls for.

The first thing you will notice about Iron Fate is their extremely versatile (and good) vocalist Denis Brosowski. This front-man can hit notes and resemble almost any Heavy/Power metal vocalist in the scene in a very impressive fashion. While the music behind this great singer is average, we feel that this is what brings Iron Fate down and (for now) stops them from being a great Heavy/Power Metal band.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Primordial – Spirit The Earth Aflame (2010)

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Hailing from Ireland, Primordial is one of our top 50 bands from all times and “Spirit The Earth Aflame” is one of our all-time favorite albums. When we heard that Metal Blade was releasing this timeless classic we got psyched about the possibility of some great bonus material on this version of the album (we currently have 2 other versions).

If you know who Primordial is, you probably worship this album as much as any other fan of the band and can skip till the next paragraph of this review. If you don’t know who the band is, then we must tell you that this band was one of the first to successfully combine Celtic/Folk influences with aggressive Black Metal elements, giving them a very dark and powerful sound that was unheard off back in the late 90’s and early 00’s.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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The Prophecy23 - …To The Pit (2010)

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Recently we have been bombarded by tons and tons of new Thrash Metal bands and it’s getting close to impossible to find any bands worth listening to. The Prophecy23 is yet another one of those Thrash bands that is aiming for a little piece of the pie. We must say that from the countless submissions we get, there is a great deal of quality behind this German band that we can’t seem to find anywhere else.

With a ‘traditional’ Thrash foundation, The Prophecy23 has pretty solid riffing and overall catchy songwriting that makes them quickly standout from all the uninspired cloned bands. The band does not get stuck in the whole ‘lets sound old-school’ approach and actually proposes some interesting changes in their music.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Ramesses – Take the Curse (2010)

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All the way from the UK, today we get on our review queue Ramesses latest crushing releases “Take the Curse”. While we are huge Doom Metal fans, we tend to go for the Death-Doom bands rather than the Sludge/Psychedelic Metal bands. Ramesses falls on the second category and while not our favorite band in the world, they do a great job in creating 10 solid tracks for this new release.

The problem most people might have about Sludge/Doom Metal is the lack of ‘originality’ and diversity than most bands present. We rather look at Sludge/Doom Metal releases from a perspective of effectiveness rather than originality or diversity, and Ramesses is a very effective band in our opinion. The band creates a very bleak and sometimes trippy atmosphere that not everybody pulls off these days.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Now On Tap: KING GIANT's Ominous Southern Groove

Southern rock doomsters and bar-brawlers across the land, prepare to meet KING GIANT. This Northern Virginia/Washington DC-area quintet have been producing their infectious, soulful but nonetheless ultra-tough brew of gritty southern metal since 2006. After several years of honing their skills as a unit, the band have poured their blood and soul into their self-released debut full-length album Southern Darkness.
 
  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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FORGOTTEN TOMB sign to Agonia Records!!!

At the end of this summer, they will record the long-anticipated new full-length album Under Saturn Retrograde, a title which reflects the subtle, pessimistic self-irony of the band. If you still think Italy is all mandolin, sun and pizza, it means you haven’t heard of FORGOTTEN TOMB yet... You might find out an unpleasant world made of suburban misery, nihilism and utter negativity. You might find out why the band labelled its sound as Southern European Black Discomfort !

 

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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IMMORTAL: ARTWORK & TRACK LISTING TO LIVE DVD & CD REVEALED

Founding figures in the birth and construction of the black metal genre and important figures in the Norwegian scene that later became the topic of mainstream press and film documentaries, IMMORTAL remain one of thee most revered and esteemed black metal bands in all the world.  Many remember the shock in 2003 when - thirteen years into their existence and one year after the band was nominated for an Alarm award for

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