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    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Locrian – The Crystal World (2010)

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    Every once in a while we get a release that makes us listen to it more than normal since it’s so complex and different that we can’t really craft a solid opinion about it with only 3-4 spins. This month we have Locrian’s third full-length album “The Crystal World”, the band plays a very experimental mixture of ambient, drone, and some Black Metal and Post-Rock elements. This might sound like a handful, but it actually works very well for the flow of this release.

    “The Crystal World” is a very powerful emotional ride that spreads through 6 tracks. With the first track “Triumph of Elimination”, the band immediately sets the stage for this dark and minimalistic journey. In the traditional fashion of creating expectation, this track starts building up with samples and drones that seem to be gaining momentum but they also seem to never culminate. The ‘culmination’ section for us that need it, comes in the next track “At Night’s End”.

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    Gangrenator – Tales from a Thousand Graves (2010)

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    Hailing from Norway and featuring Kvohst (vocalist of Code and ex-DHG), today we have Gangrenator and their interesting sounding old-school Death/Grind Metal. This band feels like a tribute band to old-school Death/Grind and B movies, and they actually manage to pull of this feeling very successfully on the 13 tracks presented in this short but sweet release.

    During “Tales from a Thousand Graves”, we get a bunch of deranged tracks that last between 1 and 3 minutes of highly chaotic, but interestingly crafted music. Amoque Von Berlevaag does a very solid job in providing countless riffs that range from Grindcore to traditional Death Metal influences.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sarath – Siste Indre (2010)

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    Norway might suck at basketball, football, and countless other sports, however, they are number one in producing Black Metal bands that can release cold and grim releases that will hypnotize you from beginning to end. Sarath is yet another one of those Norwegian bands that can kill with their music and don’t even break a sweat while doing it.

    “Sistre Indre” is the band’s (one-man band) first ‘full-length’ release in almost a decade of existence, and we must say that it was well worth the wait. Featuring 4 songs and around 31 minutes of music we wouldn’t really can this a full-length album. However, due to the repetitive nature of the band’s music, “Siste Indre” feels much longer and completely crushing.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aenaon / Satanochio – A Parallel Zoetrope (2010)

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    All the way from Greece recently we got a very nice 7” split from Aenaon and Romanian Satanochio. In this short but sweet split we get to listen to another brilliant track from Aenaon and a different but equally intense song by Satanochio. Featuring one track per side, this 7” split is very nicely packaged and ready to become a collector’s item for fans of either band since it’s limited to 500 copies.

    Starting off on the Aenaon side, we get a Black Metal anthem with influences from Zyklon and other more experimental bands like Dodheimsgard and Ihshan. Aenaon since their mCD “Phenomenon” has immediately grabbed our attention and with “I, Tyrant” they show that they are masters at creating powerful riffs, interesting vocal melodies and blasting drum patterns that deserve the attention of any ‘refined’ Black Metal fan.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Maniac Butcher – Masakr (2010)

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    After a ten year hiatus Maniac Butcher returns with a powerful Black Metal release that will surely send a lot of crappy Black Metal bands crying to their garage wishing they could craft such hate filled anthems of destruction. The band’s original members Vlad Blasphemer and Barbarud Hrom are back in top form and ready to spread disease through the world of Black Metal.

    With six songs clocking around 30 minutes of hate filled raw Black Metal, it’s like the band never left the scene. Featuring a crystal clear production, the band sounds as raw as ever and their music crushes since the first riff. Haling from the Czech Republic, the band writes are their lyrics in Czech, so we can’t really know what they are singing about but all we care about is how brutal and chaotic their music is.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Broken Mirrors – Strong Enough (2010)

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    Hailing from France, today we have a very interesting EP from an unusual band that has a very fresh sound. Mixing some Thrash Metal influences with Melodic Death Metal elements and Children of Bodom like vocals “Strong Enough” is a short, yet effective release from a band that has great potential.

    The first thing that will pop out is the funky sounding keyboards, while they are very good, something just sounds weird about them. This alone will quickly grab you attention and make you interested in the band’s sound. They create nice a atmosphere that sounds very lush, but due to a low production budget they sound a bit too high in the mix. Not that we are complaining, but we just find it a bit odd.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Wolfshade – When Above… (2010)

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    Every few months we get an album that completely takes us by surprise and we end up loving it and adding it to our permanent ‘all-time favorites’ playlist. This month the “When Above…” by the Wolfshade has achieved a spot for eternity in said playlist, featuring seven compositions of majestic Atmospheric Black Metal/Dark Metal, this one-man band is probably one of the best we have heard in quite a while.

    Kadhaas is the sole member behind Wolfshade, a French ‘band’ that has released three full-length albums to date and if “When Above…” is only their third release, we can only imagine how amazing their future albums will be. The band features influences from Dark Metal masters Bethlehem (vocals particularly), a hefty influence of Atmospheric elements, some Post-rock/Post-Black Metal elements, and some more Doom/Gothic oriented guitar/keyboard structures that create an ethereal atmosphere that will send chills through your spine.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Empire Shall Fall – Awaken (2010)

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    Featuring ex-Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach, we were very weary about “Awaken” from The Empire Shall Fall. We never liked Jesse’s vocals on KSE and we also don’t like 95% of the Metalcore that bands put out these days, so we imaged that we would completely rip this album to shreds and call it a day. To our surprise we actually found and interesting sounding album with “Awaken”, an album that will put many of the current Metalcore shit to the ground and Tea-bag them all night long.

    Right of the bat, we still hate the vocals and we will not change our minds about them. The screams seem forced (like he has something up his ass), and the ‘growls’ seem weak in comparison to other dudes in the Deathcore/Metalcore circuit. Jesse’s clean vocals are as vanilla as they come, and there is nothing else to add about such a plain (and boring singer).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Angrepp – Warfare (2010)

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    Is nice to finally hear some Black/Thrash Metal that is not trying to sound too ‘oldschool’ or too brutal. Angrepp manages to perfectly Thrashy riffs, Punk-ish rhytms, and powerful vocals, creating a very thick sound that will surely please metal fans since the first couple of minutes of this CD.

    The opening song (after the Intro) “Five Horned Formation” wastes no time in establishing that the band’s riff machine is open for serious business. With a very powerful Thrashy opening riff, you will think that you are listening to the new Exodus, or something like that. After the initial impression settles, you will be quickly taken away by the surgically precise drumming that makes your head explode.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    M-16 – La Raiz De Todo Poder (2010)

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    While there is very good Metal music from bands south of the US border (Cenotaph, Mutum, Disgorge, Aglarond, Hacavitz, etc), it’s not too common to hear good Latin Metal in the USA, besides Brujeria. While most people in the USA’s Latin community are listening to Reggaeton, Shakira and similar bullshit, it’s great to hear bands like M-16 that are keeping their Latin identity and kicking ass.

    As a Hardcore/Metal band from New York, M-16 has great power in their musical aggression and they sing completely in Spanish so they say (even though some of their song names are in English, and some lyrics are definitely in English). The band’s aggressive Hardcore style has many Metal elements that makes it brutal at points, but without loosing track of the melodic aspect of Metal and Hardcore.

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