Gothic Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Luna Mortis - The Absence (2009)

    Luna Mortis is an American band formed in 2002 under the name of The Ottoman Empire, which they changed in 2008. They are traditionally labeled as progressive metal, but I think gothic/progressive metal is a better description of their music.

    This bands musical style is very interesting since they sometimes sound like Arch Enemy with clean female vocals, and the only weak point in my opinion is the  harsh vocals that sound a bit amateurish. Other than that this is a very good release both musically and production wise.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Battlelore - The Last Alliance (2008)

    The Last Alliance is Battlelore’s latest addition to their impressive musical catalog. This Finish band has been improving and refining their music since they where conceived almost achieving perfection in this last release.

    This album contains 11 carefully crafted battle hymns that will surely please any Battlelore fan. The album opens up with Third Immortal, an instant Battlelore classic of the caliber of House of Heroes, and it keeps this level all the way through the album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Lunatica - New Shores (2009)

    I’ve been following this Swiss band since their 2001 debut Atlantis, and while they have been taking almost 3 years in between releases, they are worth the wait. This band’s latest album is a new stepping stone in their musical evolution.

    New Shores marks the bands entrance into more commercial sound since most of the songs here are typical power metal ballads, while they are not bad musically they are just something that I would not imagine Lunatica doing in 2001.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Autumn - Altitude (2009)

    Autumn is one of my favorite bands coming from the Netherlands, Solar Wake from their Summer’s End album is in my top 30 songs of all time. After hearing that Nienke de Jong left the band in 2008 for health reasons, I was eagerly waiting to see how they sound with their new vocalist.

    While the new singers vocals are a great fit for Autumn’s gothic metal style, this album marks their progression into a more gothic rock style since their music has a more mainstream feeling and I would not be amazed if they reach the popularity levels that bands like Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation have.
    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sirenia - The 13th Floor (2009)

    After making us wait 2 years after their last full length release this Norwegian band comes back in full strength with The 13th Floor.

    Sirenia continues with their unique gothic metal style, and while this album sounds very similar to Nine Destinies and a Downfall, it improves on that album taking the band’s sound to a more mature level.

    The female vocals are top of great quality providing a different sound to other bands in the genre. The male grunts courtesy of Morten Veland are more rare than in previous releases but they are still present and well used.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    My Life's Despair - Love, Sorrow, and Suicide (2009)

    I will call this release a demo since it contains only 3 songs and it’s freely available on their myspace page. This is an American one man band that while not having the best production behind their demo, it clearly makes an impact.

    My Life’s Despair has their music style well defined to be a mixture of early My Dying Bride, Crematory and The Sins of Thy Beloved. And this release is a great stepping stone into hopefully a full length album with better production.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ironica - Dive (2009)

    This is a CD single that contains 3 versions of the same track, the single edit, the album version and the acoustic version. This band sounds like many other gothic metal bands with the difference that the singer vocal style is more power metal oriented. They also have some great guitar solos that mix very well with the song structure.

    This band has good potential and their sound is very refined. From what I can say about this single, I’ll be definitely waiting for their full length.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Entwine - Painstained (2009)

    Well…. we have here another release of Finnish gothic rock/metal. Entwine, in my opinion, is a very close contender to HIM’s gothic rock/metal supremacy crown. This band keeps getting better in every release they put out, however, in my opinion, their main downfall is that their vocalist sounds too plain and uninspired (compared to Ville Valo and others).

    This album is petty good in general with great catchy songs and everything, but it just does not move me anymore, and it feels like I’ve heard the same album/style/band when I listen to a new release or a new band in this tired genre.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Lacrimosa live June 25th 2008 St.Petersburg, Russia – Port Club

    I was visiting St. Petersburg, Russia on my way to Helsinki, Finland for Tuska 2008, and it was a great coincidence that Lacrimosa was playing live on the days I was there. So I could not let the opportunity of attending a show in Russia go away!!!

    The tickets to the event were 1300 rubles which came out to be 52 dollars around that time. I thought it was expensive for only 1 band, but then again I was there and I might not get this opportunity again. Let me tell you I’ve seen shows of different bands in many different places in the world and this one was a unique experience.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Within Temptation - Black Symphony (2008)

    This in my opinion was the live DVD of the year (2008), it was recorded at a concert at Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena sold out months in advance. The band performed for 10,000 or so fans with the full Metropole Orchestra a classical choir, and with Sharon changing into several costumes.

    I have previously watched the older Within Temptation live dvd’s and they don’t hold a candle to this one, production or content wise. The set list was as follows:

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