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  • Netra – Sørbyen (2012)

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    Delivering one of the weirdest, yet most exciting releases of 2012, today we have Netra and its (one man band) second full-length release “Sørbyen”. Mixing elements of Black Metal with some Trip-hop influences, we are immediately reminded of a mixture of older and newer Ulver, without totally breaking character and changing identity. Each track in this release sways you one way, but it suddenly changes direction into another one, very weird, but equally intriguing to listen to.

    Opening with “A Dance With the Asphalt”, Netra quickly delivers a very ‘normal’ section that is quickly over powered by furious Black Metal riffing and hellish harsh vocals. This is nicely offset by some spoken samples in French, reminding us of bands like Peste Noire. The whole hypnotic nature of this track is excellent since it manages to never really go all the way in either direction, and nicely shifts from the BM onslaught into different territories.

  • Valfreya – Path to Eternity (2012)

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    Canada’s answer to Arkona comes with the name of Valfreya, and their debut full-length release titled “Path to Eternity” showcases the band’s talents. Fronted by Crook, the band’s charismatic female vocalist, Valfreya delivers a good 50 minutes of an intense mixture of Melodic Black Metal with Folk Metal elements, perfectly balanced to create epic moments similar to the ones created by bands like Wintersun, Equilibrium and Turisas.

    With the intro track bleeding into “Deity's Grace”, the band quickly establishes a very regal sound with a crystal clear production. Gradually increasing its intensity, “Path to Eternity” is a very well-crafted album that showcases a promising band with a very rich sound. Alternating between angelic clean vocals and demonic harsh screams, Crook does an excellent job in carrying the band through the 10 tracks presented in this release.

  • Be’lakor – Of Breath and Bone (2012)

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    Rivaling the most impressive Melodic Death Metal releases of the last few years, today we have Be’lakor’s third full-length release titled “Of Breath and Bone”. This Aussie band has been making some pretty decent releases up until now, but with this one they take things to a whole new level. Delivering eight tracks of brilliantly crafted Melodic DM, this band is sent for world domination one riff at a time.

    Opening with the 8-minute opus “Abeyance”, the band wastes no time in delivering a full-on riffage assault with powerful growls and excellent drumming. The band’s melodic sound is just outstanding and nicely carving different moods into their songs. Nearing the 3-minute mark the band goes on melodic DM masturbation mode and we almost began headbaning for the first time in this release, brilliant section we might add.

  • Diablo Swing Orchestra – Pandora’s Box (2012)

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    The craziest band in Metal, Diablo Swing Orchestra, finally returns three years after their last album with “Pandora’s Box”, a true Pandora’s box of a release since you don’t really know what you are getting yourself into until you ‘open’ this release. Continuing with their chaotic brand of Avant-garde Metal with a splash of operatic elements, this release sets them further apart from the competition with 11 of the craziest songs we have ever listened to.

    Opening with the playful “Voodoo Mon Amour”, DSO is headed for another round of typical festive music, however, the band quickly expands on their sound by adding more authentic elements with the incorporation of both Daniel Hedin and Martin Isaksson, on trombone and trumpet respectively. With these additions, the band now hits seven full-time members, rivaling only Therion and Haggard, for the title of bands with most members. Regardless of the size of the band, DSO now feels a bit more complete with a richer sound, similar to the Leningrad Cowboys and their super rich sound.

  • Process of Guilt – FÆMIN (2012)

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    Hailing from Portugal today we have another entry into the Sludge/Doom Metal category with Process of Guilt and their latest opus “FÆMIN”. Featuring a few ex-members of Doomsters Before The Rain, we thought this band will move past the traditional Sludge/Doom approach, but they just manage to replicate what bands like Year of No Light, Bison B.C, etc. achieve with their heavy distorted guitars and mid-tempo spurts of anger.

    “Empire” starts with some nice feedback and then it goes into the endless repetitive loop of riffing and drums that most Sludge bands opt for, but the band never seems to really get out of this funk. While we understand the genre dictates for something like this, we can’t really see any value or different between the previously mentioned bands. “Blindfold” is a bit faster paced, but it also quickly drowns in repetitiveness and dulls the listener into submission. The band wrote 5-6 riffs and they just stick to them for the duration of this release.

  • Jess and the Ancient Ones – Jess and the Ancient Ones (2012)

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    With the current boom of Psychedelic Occult Rock/Metal bands like Ghost, Year of the Goat and The Devil’s Blood, it is not surprising that the next excellent band we listen to in this genre has to be from Finland. Jess and the Ancient Ones are finally delivering their debut full-length self-titled release this May and it features seven tracks spanning around 53 minutes of pure musical greatness.

    Jess and the Ancient Ones sound is timeless and it evokes countless greats like Merciful Fate, Black Sabbath, Yes, and the more contemporary Jex Thoth and Sabbath Assembly. Opening with the extra catchy “Prayer for Death and Fire”, this release is off to a great start thanks to the band’s playfulness and excellent abilities to craft old-school sounding music but not sounding like a re-hash of any other band.

  • Essenz – Mundus Numen (2012)

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    Making its way from Germany, today we have Essenz’s latest full-length released titled “Mundus Numen”. With a very healthy mix of traditional Doom Metal with some Black Metal and Sludge hints, this release takes you down to the bowels of hell and back with a very powerful and dark sound. For six tracks, “Mundus Numen” showcases the band’s tuned low guitars and raw power when it comes to speed things up.

    “Extinguish Shapes - Innermediate” opens this release with very powerful Sludgy riffs that nicely morph back and forth to painful Doom sections. The atmospheric elements make this track even more dense thanks to their unconventional nature, and the female vocals add a very nice extra touch. Before we know it, “Sea of Light – Pleroma” explodes in our face with some furious Black Metal in the vein of bands like Watain and Horna. The switch from Doom to BM is pretty rapid and very well engineered to deliver a powerful blow. This track again drones back between furious BM riffs and some deeper slower passages.

  • Burning Point – The Ignitor (2012)

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    Hailing from Finland, today we have Burning Point and their super catchy Melodic Power Metal released titled “The Ignitor”. With a very exciting mixture of modern Melodic Power Metal elements and a traditional Heavy Metal, Burning Point delivers a very well-crafted release full of powerful guitar sections, catchy chorus parts, and an overall epic feeling that only a handful of bands can pull off.

    Taking the listener back to the time when Power Metal was epic and felt like an adrenaline shock, “Eternal Flame” delivers a very apt opening for such a fun and engaging release. The band does a great job in establishing a basic core of guitar driven melodies where the keyboards and virtuoso-passages take a back seat and let the rest of the elements shine. Pete Ahonen vocals are spot on and have a powerful range, on tracks like “In The Fire’s of My Self” and “In the Night”, they carry the songs magically and seemingly effortless. “In the Night” has also that classic Heavy Metal vibe thanks to the chorus section that many newer bands seem to be forgetting about.

  • FluiD / John 3:16 – The Pursuit of Salvation (2012)

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    Arriving from Alrealon Musique, today we have a very interesting double release that while not entirely our main cup of tea, we actually enjoyed a lot. FluiD is an experimental electronic hip-hop musician that mixes elements from Ambient and Drone with some beats delivering a pretty interesting experience similar to Ulver’s trip-hop phase. We have previously reviewed John 3:16’s music and we were quite impressed with his interesting combination of Darkwave with a dose of Drone and some guitar driven sections.

    Opening this release we have the first three tracks belonging to FluiD. In “Angels Pt. II”, the song opens with a cavernous feeling and some nice minimalist touches that create an interesting atmosphere, some interesting Drone elements are thrown into the mix to create a very weird but intoxicating vibe. The organs in “Plague” give an extra creepy sound to the track and nicely culminate the build-up from the opening sections of the song. Driven by interesting beats, “Forewarning” nicely closes down the FluiD section of our promo leaving a very puzzling, but equally satisfying experience from this very interesting artist.

  • The Horn – Volume Ten (2012)

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    With a very interesting thematically concept revolving around setting the Egyptian book of the dead through some very disturbing music, the one man project The Horn delivers “Volume Ten”. Claiming to play “Pure Ancient Occult Egyptian Space Metal”, this musician delivers 14 tracks of brutal and weird music that are not for everybody, but some might enjoy due to its combination of Black Metal with Noise and Ambient/Drone elements.

    When it comes to originality we must say that we haven’t quite heard anything as disruptive as The Horn in this “Volume Ten” release. Unleashing a wall of sound in the intro “The Portal Opens”, the truly decadent reality of The Horn’s musical destruction is first felt on “Spell 165”. With a raw-as-fuck approach to Metal, this track is a beast when it comes to raw brutality and devastation. Some industrial elements are made present in the hypnotic “Spell 124”, making this band quite unpredictable at first glance.

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