2013

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    Desolator – Unearthly Monument (2013)

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    Arriving today from Poland’s Hellthrasher Productions we have Desolator and their pummeling old-school Death Metal debut full-length “Unearthly Monument”. Featuring 48 minutes of neck-snapping music, this release caters to all nostalgic fans of the good old days of Death Metal filled with chugging riffs, insane solos, and soul stealing vocals. With a heavy emphasis on catchiness and headbanging moments, this release is quite entertaining for any fan of the genre.

    The band immediately steamrolls the listener with crushing tracks like “Thy Flesh Consumed”, “Desolated”, and “Gravefeast”, all of them filled with powerful guitars and tight drumming. If you could mix Grave with Suffocation, Desolator is exactly what would result. The violence keeps rolling with “Mass Human Pyre” and “Infernal Gathering”, two songs that with the combination of vocals provided by three of the band’s members keep things fresh and with different levels of aggression.

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    Sons of Hippies – Griffons at the Gates of Heaven (2013)

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    Groovy, spacey, psychedelic are a few words that come to mind when listening to Sons of Hippies and their latest full-length release titled “Griffons at the Gates of Heaven”. Mixing Psychedelic/Space Rock influences with Post Shoegaze and a very catchy Alternative Rock foundation, this three piece band delivers 12 superb tracks that take the listener through a trippy journey. With authentic retro instruments like a mellotron and moog paired with a sitar and some weird audio oscillations, the band has a wide spectrum of appeal for fans of any of the previously mentioned genres.

    Setting a very unique mood in the trippy opening “Forward”, we are immediately intoxicated by the catchy guitars and Katherine Kelly’s signature vocals. The band’s auditive exploration continues with the hypnotic “Mirrorball”, one of our favorite tracks of this release. The atmosphere of this track is magical thanks to the ethereal backing vocals and shoegaze-ish vibe. The guitar driven “Dark Daisies” shows more of the band’s versatile songwriting skills, in a very unique and oddly constructed song.

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    Moonbow – The End of Time (2013)

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    With a huge Southern influence, today we have Moonbow and their extremely catchy release “The End of Time”. Featuring seven tracks of whiskey infused Hard Rock/Metal, this odd group of characters manage to craft one of the most complete and engaging releases of 2013. With a Survivor participant on vocals and members of Hank 3’s and Hermano, this odd mismatch works wonderfully when it comes to producing excellent melodies.

    The album opens with a very Southern vibe on “End of Time”, all down to the riffs we get that awesome feeling to immediately start drinking. The gracious vocals of Matt Bischoff are a true perfect fit to the band’s sound, perfectly complementing the Stoner Metal infused guitars. David McElfresh does a great job in handling the guitar duties to create a very lively and authentic atmosphere. While “Journey Of Their Iron Horse” is a superb and catchy tune, we found that the distorted vocals sounded a bit odd, taking some of the magic away.

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    Fanthrash - Apocalypse Cyanide (2013)

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    Is it Thrash? is it Groove Metal? is it modern Death Metal? Those are the first things that come to mind when we started listening to Fanthrash’s crushing EP “Apocalypse Cyanide”. Featuring three songs filled with killer riffs, punishing vocals, and massive drums, this EP is one of the most dynamic and entertaining albums we have received in the last few years from an unsigned band.

    The release opens with the powerful riffing of “Apocalypse Cyanide”, a track that gives a slight Death (the band) edge with some more modern elements of bands like Gojira and Hacride. The riffing is quite heavy, but the song structures are Thrash-esque in nature, making it quite interesting to listen to. The vocals are quite varied and very aggressive, perfectly fitting the devastating nature of the band’s sound.

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    Unified Past – Spots (2013)

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    Being huge fans of Progressive Rock/Metal, we were very excited when we got Unified Past’s latest release “Spots”. Featuring eleven-tracks of very well crafted and skilled Progressive music, “Spots” is one of those very ambitious releases that delivers in every single department, thanks to the excellent musical skills of the band’s three members. Ranging from extremely technical to just catchy and simple, this release has something for every fan of the genre.

    Opening with the lush “Blank”, we get a first glance at the band’s very dynamic and futuristic sound. The soaring keyboards nicely complement Stephen Speelman’s very fitting vocals. We get a slight Ayreon / Hawkwind vibe in this well-constructed track. Wasting no time “Deep” opens up with an excellent guitar/keyboard combo that sets a very melodic tone for the track. In this track we particularly enjoyed the playful guitars paired with some cool percussions, making it quite engaging and a delight to enjoy.

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    The Vision Bleak – Witching Hour (2013)

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    Born from the imagination of Schwadorf and Konstanz, this Horror Metal outfit has been terrorizing Metalheads since its conception back in 2000. Presenting their fifth full-length release titled “Witching Hour”, the band has managed to further refine their deranged sound that combines creepy atmospheric elements, powerful guitars, and very diverse vocals. Clocking in around 40 minutes, the eight tracks of this release will put you to the edge of your seat thanks to their inventive ways of creating unique musical journeys.

    Opening with the album title track, the mood is set to a mysterious and dark old-school horror movie tone. The incisive guitars of Schwadorf quickly fill the soundscape on “A Witch Is Born”, a very catchy track that is filled with weird keyboards, crazy vocals, and very solid drumming. The band has a knack for making very catchy songs that are filled with powerful guitars and odd vocal melodies that give the songs that extra creepy vibe. Other times, the atmosphere created by the keyboards (handled by both Schwadorf and Konstanz) is what crawls under your skin, like on the opening of “The Blocksberg Rite”.

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    LowCityRain – LowCityRain (2013)

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    Spawning from the ingenious mind of Markus Siegenhort (Lantlôs), today we have the very unique and retro sounding LowCityRain and their equally named debut full-length release. Featuring over eight tracks of melancholic Post-Punk/New Wave/Electro music, this is one album that you can expect to hear in a gloomy lounge on a cold and rainy night. We are quite thankful that Markus didn’t decide to switch Lantlôs direction to release this music, and he instead made this 80’s sounding project that is quite emotional and catchy.

    Opening with the superb “You Are Everyone, You Are Everywhere”, we immediately get a very gloomy vibe thanks to its dramatic atmosphere. Fans of Amesoeurs will rejoice with this track (and release), thanks to the excellent vocals and carefully crafted retro vibe. The electro elements are quite intoxicating on tracks like “Grey Views”, nicely contrasting the somber vocals. The guitar work is quite solid, creating a very 80’s vibe of bands like The Cure.

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    Destractive – Gospel of Warheads (2013)

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    Delivering their fourth demo release, today we have Finland’s Destractive and their very unique and cohesive combination of Death/Thrash/Black Metal. Featuring four destructive tunes, this demo release shows the band’s maturity and how well they manage to blend all their influences in a very solid and powerful way. With a traditional line-up of two guitars, a bass guitar, drums and vocals, the band focuses more on effective musical structures than any gimmicks, making this release quite solid from beginning to end.

    The demo title track delivers the first wave of aural assaults with some Thrashy riffs and pummeling drums. The band nicely changes the temp into a more run-and-gun situation with excellent catchy sections and brutal speedups. This track has both Death and Thrash elements with some Black Metal-esque vocals, making a very solid combination and delivering sheer brutality to the listener. “Blood on the Soil” changes the pace a bit with incisive drumming and a slower tempo, giving more of a Black/Death Metal vibe at first, reminding us of Inquisition and even Watain at certain moments.

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    Germ – Grief (2013)

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    The multi-talented Tim Yatras returns with another crazy release from his latest project: Germ. In “Grief” we get 69 more minutes of the deranged world that Germ creates with their truly unique and very extreme musical style. Arriving just in time for Halloween (in North America), this is one hell of a release that if you liked the band’s previous albums, it will push you to further limits thanks to a bigger assortment of diverse influences.

    After a space-ish intro, the album really starts with the very catchy and unsettling “Butterfly”. Featuring Audrey Sylvain (Peste Noire) on this track, we definitely got an instant Amesoeurs vibe from the track until Tim laid his chaotic screams. Besides the catchy song structure, the piano section is quite cool and unique sounding in this track. In true Germ fashion, “The Stain of Past Regrets” immediately blows in your face with powerful screams. The catchy mixture of electronic elements is a staple of the band and it elevates this track to further levels of awesomeness when paired with the clean vocals.

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    Armaroth – False Vision (2013)

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    Making its way from Slovenia, today we have Armaroth and their crushing EP “False Vision”. Delivering five tracks of relentless Death Metal, this band makes a huge impact with their devastating sound and catchy tunes. With countless Death Metal and Deathcore albums being released these days, it is quite refreshing to listen to something as well-crafted and powerful as this EP.

    Opening with the traditional intro, the band fully explodes into action with the pounding guitars of “Modern Man”. In this track we get that chugging feeling of bands like Suffocation and Six Feet Under (older), all topped off with inhuman growls and cool tempo changes. The knack for crushing melodic sections is quite enjoyable and makes the band’s sound be more diverse than your average DM outfit. The drumming shifts gears into hyper-blast with the pummeling “High”, the shortest, but sweetest track in this album.

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