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    Kalmankantaja - Musta Lampi (2014)

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    One man battalion Kalmankantaja is running for the most productive band of 2014 by releasing four full-length releases in the same year. This time, this prolific Finish outfit presents us with the two-track 41-minute crushing release titled “Musta Lampi”. With a heavy emphasis on a bleak atmosphere, the band’s Black Metal sound is but punishing and demoralizing.

    Opening with “Hiljaisessa Syvänteessä”, the band nicely builds up momentum with several minutes of ethereal instrumental passages before the first distorted guitars appear. The guitar sound is quite metallic and fuzzy, fitting very nicely the bleakness of the atmosphere. As the hellish screams appear, the music elevates to a new level since all elements are perfectly delivered to punish the listener.

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    Grimoire – L'aorasie des spectres rêveurs (2015)

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    Arriving from Canada, today we have the frosty Grimoire and their EP titled “L'aorasie des spectres rêveurs”. Featuring around 25 minutes of melancholic Atmospheric Black Metal, this is a very solid offering from Eisenwald to start 2015.

    From the mastermind behind Csejthe and Forteresse, this one man band delivers four tracks of excellent atmospheric music filled with harsh vocals and traditional Black Metal onslaughts. “Tragédie des ombres” opens the release with superb melodic riffs and extremely melancholic keyboards. Just after a few seconds we immediately feel the oppressive and lush atmosphere created by Grimorie.

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    Triumvir foul – An Oath of Blood and Fire (2015)

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    Crushing rawness are the first few words that come to mind when listening to Triumvir foul’s first offering, the “An Oath of Blood and Fire”. Originally released in cassette as their demo, Godz Ov War and Third Eye Temple took upon themselves to unleash this gem in a 7” format. Featuring members of Ash Borer, this band delivers one of the most decadent old-school Death Metal sound.

    Blowing things wide open with the punishing “The Vacuum of Knots”, the band spews their nasty sound immediately. Featuring fierce vocals and oppressive riffs, we are taken aback on how raw and old-school this release is. “Abhorrent Depths” keeps things dark with another dissonant onslaught to close this side.

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    Omit – Medusa Truth, Pt. 1 (2014)

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    Going out of our way to review something we didn’t get as an official promo is something that seldomly happens these days, and we are glad that we took the time to listen to Omit’s masterpiece “Medusa Truth, Pt. 1”. Recommended by one of our fellow Metal writers, this is one hell of an Atmospheric Gothic Doom Metal that will drive you to clinical depression. Masterfully crafted, three songs clock in at almost 49 minutes of depressive brilliance.

    Opening with “Distrust”, we are treated to a lush orchestral opening that is not overly pretentious or exaggerated. Cecilie Langlie’s vocals are just the right amount of sad to solemnly adorn the already very bleak music. There are some clear old-school The 3rd and the Mortal influences and we love them. Perfectly balancing the classical instruments with piercing riffs, the band creates a unique 16 minute masterpiece. The short but sweet (6:37 minutes), “Denial” is one hell of a ride with jazzy passages that are very pleasing.

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    The Gathering – TG25: Diving Into the Unknown (2014)

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    As one of the most influential bands in the last 20 years, The Gathering changed many people’s idea of how music should evolved and have been delivering high-quality releases since their early days. After going on hiatus earlier this year, we were nothing but jealous to hear they would be doing a couple of celebratory shows in honor of their 25 years of existence with musicians that played with them over the years… including Anneke.

    Unfortunately, this massive three CD compilation does not include any live recordings of the band’s landmark shows but it does feature enough material to keep any fan of the band entertained for quite a while. The other little issue we have against this release is that it only features two unreleased tracks out of a total of 39, giving occasional The Gathering fans and collectors little incentives to buy this release.

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    Witches of Doom – Obey (2014)

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    Extreme catchiness arrives today under the name of Witches of Doom and their debut release “Obey”. Expertly mixing Doom/Sludge elements with Gothic Rock and infusing them with an extra dosage of grooviness, this Italian band delivers nine superb tracks that are extremely melodic and totally awesome.

    The album opens with the Southern/Twangy “The Betrayal”, a song that instantly showcases the band’s talented singer Fed Venditti. With a very deep alternative rock/gothic vocals, this is the signature element that bands need these days to stand out from the pack. As the band goes through tracks like “Witches of Doom”, “Needless Needle” and “To The Bone”, we notice influences of bands like H.I.M, Lacrimas Profundere, and other Gothic Metal/Rock bands, but with a slight Sludgy twist.

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    Lotus Thief – Rervm (2014)

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    As soon as we received this release with the association of featuring members of Botanist, we braced ourselves for the worst. In return, we actually are quite surprised and pleased on how Lotus Thief’s “Rervm” has turned out, featuring a truly unique and engaging sound that is very structured and free-flowing, unlike Botanist. Delivering six very solid tracks, this is probably at the top of our “Best surprises of 2014” list.

    The album kicks off with the heavy riffing of “Aeternvm” creating a very hypnotic passage that is later complemented with brilliant atmospheric elements and female vocals. The drumming still has that Botanist edge to it, but it is far less chaotic and fits the music perfectly. There are some trippy atmospheric sounds here and there that nicely complement the atmosphere of this track. Things pick up with “Miseras” and its Sludge/Alt-Rock vibe, showing a different side of the band while retaining its atmospheric uniqueness.

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    Fen – Carrion Skies (2014)

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    Ever since their debut full-length “The Malediction Fields” Fen has always had a very clear and unique sound that has nicely transformed over the years. With “Carrion Skies”, the further elevate their musical magic in six brilliantly composed tracks. Perfectly blending atmosphere with aggression and desolate instrumental passages, this UK trio continues to blow everybody out of the water in terms of Atmospheric Black Metal.

    Opening with the tour-de-force tow-part track “Our Names Written in Embers”, the band delivers 18 minutes of their signature atmospheric music paired with a few Post-Rock/Jazzy passages that nicely complement the aggressive vocals and furious riffing onslaughts. On part two, the band nicely crafts playful guitar melodies that are perfect for some melodic headbanging.

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    Saille – Eldritch (2014)

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    Hailing from Belgium, today we have one of the best Symphonic Black Metal bands in the planet, delivering their 3rd full-length release titled “Eldritch”. Greatly improving over time, this band delivers nine intense tracks of melodic brilliance that only a handful of bands are capable of. With other bands being stuck in using over the top orchestrations as gimmicks, Saille focuses on the underlying brutality of their music and throws in melodic and atmospheric passages to round things up.

    Skipping the typical intro, Saille quickly delivers the first blow of intensity with the blistering “Emerald”. The band perfectly blends traditional melodic BM riffs with creepy atmospheric elements and intense vocals. As we move into “Walpurgis”, this album is already reminding us of the crushing “Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia” by Dimmu Borgir, as Saille is really on top of their game firing in all cylinders and crafting some intense music.

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    Incipient Chaos – Sulphur (2014)

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    Today in our mail box we found French Black Metal horde Incipient Chaos presenting us with their debut EP titled “Sulphur”. Featuring five tracks of savage Black Metal, this new French band packs a heavy punch with their crushing guitars and harsh vocals crafting intense tunes of crusty and cavernous music.

    Blasting things wide open with the blistering “We Live”, the band delivers the line “Chaos Reigns” and brutality ensues. With pummeling drums, demoralizing vocals and intense riffs, the band instantly makes an impact with their wicked sound. Invoking genre greats like Gorgoroth, Merrimack, and Vorkreist, the band perfectly crafts savagery into their chaotic and massive tunes as we can appreciate on “Redemption by Lie” and the short but punishing “War – Blood – Flesh”.

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