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    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Canvas Solaris - Irradiance (2010)

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    Hailing from the USA today we have Progressive Metal wizards Canvas Solaris. “Irradiance” marks the band fifth full-length album, and a very impressive one we might add. For over 40 minutes we are taken through a brilliant exercise in execution and composition skills, “Irradiance” is one of the best Progressive Metal albums we have reviewed this 2010.

    With their heavy influences from Cynic, Yes and Dream Theater, we can quickly notice why Canvas Solaris has been around for a while and are serious about making brilliant Progressive songs. The songwriting quality behind “Irradiance” is top notch and will immerse you into the band’s powerful sound.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Delain – Lucidity (2010)

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    Four years have passed since this album’s original (and European only) release. During this years Delain, which started as a project of Martijn Westerholt, has gained worldwide acclaim and recognition. Martijn then decided to make this a full-time touring band and has since released “April Rain”, the band’s second full-length album. Going back in time when Delain only consisted as Martijn and Charlotte Wessels as the permanent members, they recorded “Lucidity”, a majestic Gothic Metal masterpiece.

    “Lucidity” features guest appearances from some of the most celebrated musicians in the Gothic Metal scene. We have Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot) on vocals and bass guitar, we also have the appearance of Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Liv Kristine (Leaves’ Eyes), and George Oosthoek on growling duties in some of the tracks. As you can expect from this impressive lineup, “Lucidity” is a pretty strong first-release for a band.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Low Twelve – Splatter Pattern (2010)

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    Today we have one of the shittiest albums we have reviewed in quite a while. Low Twelve patter is a Death Metal band hailing from Illinois that has been around for quite a while, but display an impressive lack of ideas and musical abilities in “Splatter Pattern”.

    Fro over one hour and 14 songs we have been subjected to a very painful Death Metal that sounds very bad might be the promo quality of just the recording facilities the band used, but in general the sound is very terrible. The vocals don’t help either, featuring a mixture of drowsy screams and some spoken sections; they have a metalcore-ish feeling to them that is downright terrible when combined with the Death Metal riffing of this release.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aluk Todolo – Finsternis (2010)

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    Aluk Todolo has been labeled (and use to be a Black Metal), but with “Finisternis” they open our minds into a darkly demented world that will surely be understood by a select few. The band’s latest effort explores minimalistic sounds that for the most part will leave you expecting some sort of climax that never occurs, making you hand by the edge, waiting patiently.

    Comprised of 5 songs merged into two side-a and side-b, “Finsternis” is truly an aural experience that even if it fails to fully deliver it’s full potential, should be hear by fans of the truly bizarre. On side-a we have a very monotonous drum rhythm that made me so anxious that I started biting my nails. It creates the perfect endless and dark corridor feeling that has you pondering if you will every reach the end. With it’s deranged guitar riffs creating peaks into our anticipation of something happening in this release.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Aun / Habsyll – Split (2010)

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    In the Aun / Habsyll split album we find a perfect example of why buying split releases is not always a good idea. Aun, hailing from Canada, crusher their listeners with their monumental Noise/Drone Doom music, and on the other side French Habysll bored us to death with their (luckly) single track in this release.

    Noise/Drone Doom is an acquired taste and it’s sometimes hard to differentiate the true genius from the plain terrible. In this release, you can easily do that since Aun propose more with their music and have enthralling passages that kept me engaged. On the other hand, Habsyll used one cord and some tribal drums to bore us to sleep.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Anathema – We’re Here Because We’re Here (2010)

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    We have been waiting for seven long years to get a new release from one of our favorite bands: Anathema. “We’re Here Because We’re Here” is the band’s latest album that will surely gain them a ton of mainstream fans, but will loose of the fans that have been expecting something completely different (and more inspired) from them.

    The band’s atmospheric rock has suffered a very drastic transformation since “A Natural Disaster” shifting into a more commercial-friendly sound. Even Vincet’s vocals sound different than in the previously mentioned release. With only three tracks that appealed to us, we must say that this album is a big disappointment (at least for us).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mouth Of The Architect – The Violence Beneath (2010)

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    American Sludge Metal monsters are back with “The Violence Beneath”, a four song EP that features two new songs, a live song and a cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”. While we feel that this EP does a good job to create anticipation for the band’s future full-length release, an anticipation that is currently burning inside us, since we really enjoy Mouth Of The Architect’s (MOTA) releases.

    Two years have passed since their crushing album “Quietly” and we were wondering what was going out with MOTA. With the two new tracks “The Violence Beneath” and “Buried Hopes” we get a nice continuation from where the band left off with “Quietly”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Sabbath Assembly - Restored to One (2010)

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    With a highly elaborate theological foundation we have Sabbath Assembly, a gathering of musicians featuring Jex Thoth. Following the ideologies of Process Church of the Final Judgment a cult from the 60’s and 70’s, Sabbath Assambly’s “Restored to One” is a ‘re-charging’ of this cult’s hymns and brought to the general audience in form of psychedelic rock songs.

    We love anything that has to do with theology, and especially stuff about cults so “Restored to One” is a very interest release for us. The whole idea of having three great gods of the universe in Jehovah, Lucifer and Satan, sound like a crack-pot theory that my friend would cook up during an acid trip. However, not all ideas behind the Process Church were as crazy as this one.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Enforcer – Diamonds (2010)

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    After a very well received “Into the Night”, Enforcer is back with their 80’s inspired Heavy Metal, and with “Diamonds” they manage to pick up where they left off two years ago. The band is clearly very influenced by the 80’s and they sound exactly if they traveled through time in order to show us how it was done back then.

    While some people might call them posers, we have to say that if the music is done correctly and it has the same feeling, then it does not matter that Enforcer is a flashback band, they kick ass and take names. Showcasing a perfect balance of Heavy/Trash Metal from the 80’s “Diamonds” is a pretty solid album that will make you want to dig out your favorite tapes and LP’s from those glory days.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Vektor – Black Future (2009)

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    With the logo calling for similarities from Voivod we were expecting a soulless clone of this band, but instead we found a very good Progressive Trash Metal American band that is set to make a name of their own. Hailing from Arizona, this quartet does a great job into mixing progressive elements with old-school Trash that will blow you away.

    While there are some Voivod influences, “Black Future” is an album that clearly stands out from all the ‘new’ Trash Metal releases these days. The riffing is the main driving force behind this release, but it’s perfectly crafted around complex song structures that are unlikely in many Trash releases.

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