Kraaker - Musikk fra Vettenes Dom (2010)

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Whenever we get any album that says “Experimental” we are thrilled. Since we usually review tons of ‘regular’ stuff we are always interested in listening to something new and different. The music presented by Kraaker on “Musikk fra Vettenes Dom” cannot be considered an experimental band, but rather a ‘traditional’ Norwegian Black Metal band with different tuning at times and nothing else.

However, Kraaker’s music is not bad at all. The band actually excels in creating powerful guitar driven melodies that do not sound like the million Black Metal clone bands we have on the scene these days. “Musikk fra Vettenes Dom” is actually a very solid first full-length for a band that shows substantial promise.

Frostfall – Dark Torments / Beyond The Dusk (2010)

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Courtesy of Final Eartbeat productions we all the way from Italy we get Frostfall’s first two demos released on CD. We will be reviewing both demos separately in this space since they are huge differences between them. Hailing from France, Frostfall is a Black Metal band that is very raw and brutal in nature.

The first demo “Dark Torments” was originally released in 1999 and you can really notice that by the way it sounds. Having very bad clicking and popping noises due to the low quality of the recording we almost thought our Home Theater’s speakers got damaged. However, there are some hints of quality in this recording.

hYPNOTIC hYSTERIA – Feed On Me (2010)

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With a very interesting mixture of Alternative Metal/Rock with some Post-Metal/Rock influences we have hYPNOTIC hYSTERIA from Italy. The band does a great job at sounding like nobody else does by borrowing many influences from ‘commercially’ stable bands as well as the brilliant underground pool of Post-Metal/Rock bands.

One thing we immediately agree on is that the band creates very hypnotic atmospheres that are very well crafted. This shows great songwriting skills from the band and makes “Feed On Me” a very interesting release to have. We must say that this band can generate a following from both the ‘commercial’ world and the underground.

Black River – Black’n’Roll (2010)

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Featuring members from the almighty Behemoth, Vesania and Dimmu Borgir we have today Black River and their second full-length release “Black’n’Roll”. Playing Hard Rock/Stoner Rock, this band is something we would never have expected from members of primarily Black Metal bands. However, with “Black’n’Roll’ the band will surely turn more than one heads with their super catchy Rock music.

Black River starts rocking since the funny titled song “Barf Bag” and continues to blast one catchy song after another one. There is not a single track on this release that is not full of traditional Hard Rock that will make you want to headbang since the opening riff until the last.

Enemy Of The Sun – Caedium (2010)

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We are always complaining that we don’t get enough albums that feature band’s trying to push the envelope and develop something new and intriguing. Well, with Enemy Of The Sun we get a band that tries too many things at the same time, and around 85% of the time they are brilliant. “Caedium” continues along the lines of their first full-length album “Shadows”, creating a very chaotic combination of almost EVERY single genre of Metal (and closely related genres).

“Caedium” will surely get trashed by plenty of people, and other will love it, there will be almost no middle ground when a band like Enemy Of The Sun comes along. We must say that we love many of the things, and other things are just downright awful (like the first 20 seconds of “Chasing The Dragon”). However, one thing we will grant to this band is that they have gigantic balls for releasing something like “Caedium”.

Disbelief – Heal (2010)

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Disbelief is a German Death Metal band that has been around since the 90’s, and have always produced decent releases. Consistency is one the band’s best qualities, since their self-titled debut album they have been putting out very solid songs with lots of groove to them. “Heal” is the band’s 9th full-length release, and it features yet another 40 minutes of solid Death Metal with some Sludge and Trash Metal influences.

Riffing away since track one, “The Eyes Of Horror”, the band does a great job at grabbing the listeners attention since the first song and never letting go. With brilliantly crafted riffs and aggressive vocals, the band blasts away through the album and before you know it you will find yourself playing it over and over again.

Mammutant – Atomizer (2010)

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With Mammutant’s Atomizer, today we have 44:44 minutes of pure lack of creativity and inspiration. The band’s second full-length release is a very dull album to have to sit through and listen. We usually listen to albums at least 3 times before writing a review and we had a hard time getting through this album even the first time.

Playing Death Metal with Industrial influences the band looks as if Lordi and the cast of Starwars had a child. Playing on the whole creepy costumes/outfits is ok when your music is somewhat decent, but if it sucks, then we assume they just look like jackasses on stage.

Eisregen – Schlangensonne (2010)

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Eisregen is one of our all-time favorite bands, and they totally continue to be amazing with “Schlangensonne”. Waiting for them to play at 5 AM on With Full Force 2009 was completely justified since we have wanted to see this band live in ages. With their deranged musical style, “Schlangensonne” is yet another brilliant release to add into their already impressive discography.

The band receives a lot of shit from people that probably don’t understand what the band is all about. And there are always extremely mixed reviews when the band releases an album. Having 3 of their albums censored by the German ‘index’, you can see where this band gets their bad reputation.

DARK AGE Want YOU In Their New Video

German melodic death metallers DARK AGE are launching a special video contest and need your help.

The band's idea: "We are planning to do a video for the song '10 Steps To Nausea' from our current album Acedia (out now on AFM Records). We want to something different from the normal (and usually boring) performance clips you see all the time; we want our fans to be a part of the clip.

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