Gothic Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Epica – Design Your Universe (2009)

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    “Design Your Universe” is probably one of the most expected albums of 2009 based on the momentum Epica has been building up since the release of “The Divine Conspiracy” two years ago. This momentum has been helped with endless touring and a live album released in the mean time.

    This album clearly shows that Epica’s success was not a matter of chance or anything and that the band is here to stay. “Design Your Universe” is a good improvement over “The Divine Conspiracy” and a worthy next step in their career, since this album is somewhat better than their previous releases. But here comes the ‘but’ in this last statement; the band does not offer much new in terms of ‘freshness’ to their sound.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Echoes Of Eternity – As Shadows Burn (2009)

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    While many people decided to trash Echoes Of Eternity debut album “The Forgotten Goddess”, I was very surprised why a band would get trashed by attempting a very interesting mixture of musical genres (Gothic and Progressive Metal) and achieving a very good debut album.

    The riffs on the band’s debut album were not the most original or complicated out there, also they were pretty repetitive but they still managed to get the job done in creating an original sound for a band that was breaking into the scene.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Echoes Of Eternity – As Shadows Burn (2009)

    cover

    While many people decided to trash Echoes Of Eternity debut album “The Forgotten Goddess”, I was very surprised why a band would get trashed by attempting a very interesting mixture of musical genres (Gothic and Progressive Metal) and achieving a very good debut album.

    The riffs on the band’s debut album were not the most original or complicated out there, also they were pretty repetitive but they still managed to get the job done in creating an original sound for a band that was breaking into the scene.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Theatre Of Tragedy – Forever If The World (2009)

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    After going back to a more Gothic Metal sound with “Storm”, Theatre Of Tragedy is back after three years with “Forever If The World”. The band’s latest release is a step up from “Storm”, but it still never compares to the band’s last great album “Aegis”.

    “Forever If The World” has a bit of a feeling like “Aegis” but it gets watered down with some weird parts featuring electronic elements, like in “Astray” and the feeling is over. However this album is still very solid and it has memorable tracks like “Frozen” and “Hollow” just to name a few.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Leaves’ Eyes – My Destiny (2009)

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    I was psyched when I received this CD on the mail, since I’ve been waiting for quite a while to get some new Leaves’ Eyes music. And let me tell you I was pretty shocked by the opening riff of the track “My Destiny” since I was not expecting it.

    The riff is very commercial hard-rock /Metal in nature and I had that whole déjà vu feeling when Lacuna Coil went very commercial, however the song got a bit better and the rest of the album continues in the traditional Leaves’ Eyes fashion.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ava Inferi – Blood Of Bacchus (2009)

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    Having formed in 2005 Ava Inferi presents us their 3rd full length album. The band shows great maturity and improvement in their already characteristic sound, with “Blood Of Bacchus”.

    Ava Inferi’s mixture of Doom Metal with Gothic elements is unparalleled, blending the traditional Doom riffs with mesmerizing female vocals provided by Carmen Simões, and the guitar work is provided by none other than Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen from Aura Noir (the self labeled ugliest band in the world) and Mayhem, which he left in order to fully concentrate on Ava Inferi.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Imperial Vengeance - At the Going Down of the Sun (2009)

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    Imperial Vengeance took me by surprise when I first started listening to this album, I honestly did not expect much from it since the only thing I knew about the band was that Charles Hedger, a live member of Cradle Of Filth plays in it.

    The band’s overall bombastic sound is what makes this release so interesting, since the 2nd track you are blown away by interesting orchestrations and deranged sounding vocals, a very original atmosphere that very few bands can pull off (like The Vision Bleak). I must say that this band is one of the weirdest and most original I’ve heard in quite a while, the band’s label for their sound is “Dark Aristocratic Metal" which sounds very accurate to me since they present a very rich Dark Metal sound.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Celestial Maze – Ashes Of Lost Seasons (2009)

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    Celestial Maze is a one man band Gothic Rock / Shoegaze from Germany. Their newest album “Ashes Of Lost Seasons” is a very good example of how the previously mentioned genres can blend to create a very solid release.

    Featuring over 45 minutes of music in 11 tracks this album showcases Marko’s talent in creating beautifully haunting music. His characteristic voice is one of the trademark features of this album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Velvet Seal – Lend Me Your Wings (2009)

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    “Lend Me Your Wings” is the bombastic debut of Velvet Seal, a very good Gothic metal band from Hungary.  This album features 9 tracks providing 35 minutes of top notch Gothic metal that will definitely help this band get noticed and win them a great deal of fans.

    Velvet Seal’s sound is very well defined and perfectly executed, having clear influences of After Forever (riffs in “Torn Within”), as well as other established metal bands in the genre.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Viveynne – Becoming Jane Doe (2009)

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    I must say that since I stumbled with Viveynne’s myspace page, I have been very impressed with the bands vocalist talent, and the even most impressive thing is that she is 14 years old. While I usually don’t go raving about a band’s vocalist unless she is very good, I have found a new female vocalist to rave about for now in the Gothic Metal genre.

    Once I received “Becoming Jane Doe” I was very eager to put in on my stereo and take a good listen to this new EP. And from beginning to end I was very pleased with what I was hearing. Viveynne is a Canadian act that is fronted by its young vocalist Mikki, she is also main composer and songwriter for the band. If this is not impressive enough, she wrote all songs for this album when she was 13 years old.

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