Falls of Rauros are from the US and play Black Metal with strong Folk elements. This is their third album.
This band specialise in Black/Folk Metal that takes its time to build a slowly developing picture that the band loving craft from the instruments to give the listener a true feeling of the beauty of nature.
Falls of Rauros have a vibrant sound that recalls elements of Shoegaze and Post-Black Metal mixed with more traditional Black Metal and Folk Metal influences to create a collection of songs that have depth and interest.
Somewhat fragile, gentle riffing accompanies faster drumming and passionately harsh screaming. Their expansive sound shows off the full capabilities of all of the instruments and it’s good to hear the oft-neglected bass being quite audible.
The songs twist and curl their way around the central exploratory Black Metal sound and the tracks boast a longevity about them that’s refreshing to hear.
This is a heavily atmospheric album that evokes its feelings from the core instruments rather than from ostentatious keyboards or orchestras. The band keep it simple yet have everything they need to produce involving and engaging music.
This is a quality album. Have a listen and let the music enter your internal landscape.
Noctem are from Spain and this is their third album.
The band play Blackened Death Metal with a bit of pomp and plenty of bite.
After a symphonic intro the first track proper Apsu Dethroned wastes no time introducing you to the band’s particular brand of blasting and heaviness. What is not quite as expected, however, is the orchestral accompaniment that forms a nice link to the intro.
It’s a great touch that precedes the actual singer who belches out occult growls with the fervour of the possessed. His is an unrelenting, uncompromising style that gives no quarter and knows no mercy.
The rest of the album continues the theme of a Death Metal band with Blackened influences that incorporates plenty of interesting ideas and sounds into their Extreme Metal repertoire.
The brutality and blast beats of their core Death Metal sound share space with more melodic riffs and a healthy dose of Black Metal influences. The orchestral sounds/choirs/keyboards add a deeper layer to Noctem’s identity and are embedded well rather than just sounding tacked on.
The musicianship is first rate, with the drumming being a precision assault and guitar solos and leads flashing by like lightning. It’s all wrapped up in a stellar production job that allows everything to shine and just sounds crushing.
None of this would have any longevity of course if it wasn’t for the songs themselves. The band show quite capably that they can write a good tune and Exilium is full of them.
If you take elements of bands like Behemoth, Nile, Atrocity and Septic Flesh, mix them in a blender and make a tasty hate-filled frothy shake then Noctem would be the cream.
A high quality, ambitious release; Noctem have proven they have what it takes to become forerunners in the Extreme Metal world.
Deathronation are from Germany and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.
This is morbid Old-School Death Metal with dark malevolent feelings rubbing shoulders with some nice graveyard tunes.
Their brand of Death Metal has a few influences from the Doom, Black and Thrash Metal genres mixed in with their Deathly attack, which makes for a nice, well rounded album that has good pace and variety.
Doom? Some of the riffs are superbly downbeat, slow and mournful. These sections typically don’t last long but they’re there and they sound good.
Black? A slight Blackened tinge to some of the guitar licks and leads lends a slightly Old-School Blackened feel to the songs on occasion. It’s not overly blatant but it gives the band an extra depth than just employing pure Death Metal influences.
Thrash? This part is apparent in some of the riffs; sometimes they just Thrash out and an older, crusty vibe is brought to the fore.
All of these are worked around an Old-School Death Metal base that places songs, heavy riffs and horror-fuelled melodies firmly in the limelight.
Hallow the Dead is an impressive collection of tracks that remind the listener that it’s not all about the hyper-blast or the Slamming grooves; the most important thing about Death Metal is the songs themselves and the feelings they invoke.
It seems Deathronation have made a great start to their career. It’s definitely worth checking this out.
This is slow Psychedelic Doom with a hazy atmosphere and resplendent aura.
The songs slowly unwind like a tapestry and the band’s rich, textured sound unveils itself like a gradual sunrise. The bass provides a grounding foundation whilst laid back drums work with snaking guitars to form these slow-burning pieces of musical art. Additional instrumentation and effects enhance the songs and facilitate the creation of Doom that is expressive and lazily articulate.
Vocals are merely shadows of expressions and are used like any other instrument to create subtle highlights along the aural journey.
The tracks move with a glacial pace and each of these 4 tracks is a Doom-laden joy to listen to. This is music to become absorbed in and get carried away by.
The songs are emotive and feel less like they have been written and more like they are being channelled, fully formed, into this plane of existence from some entirely other place in space/time. This allows an entirely transcendent listening experience for the listener if engaged with in the right way.
Megaton Leviathan, (a name that instantly conjures images of heaviness), have created an exemplar of psychedelic Doom with this album. It’s a thing of wondrous beauty and awe inspiring talent.
If you like Doom then this is a must; have a listen to this superb band and get lost in their creations.
This is the third album from Germany’s Ophis. They play Funeral Doom Metal.
For the most part this colossal album is a slow-moving beast of depression and negativity, encapsulated in morbid Doom Metal.
Ophis do have a Death Metal influence, however, which rears its ugly head now and again, most noticeably on the final track Resurrectum.
The songs are long and the mood bleak. There is no light in the world of Ophis, only varying shades of grey and pain.
For reference points think bands such as Monolithe, Eye of Solitude, (old) Anathema, (old) My Dying Bride, etc.
The band boast a crushing production that allows the slowness to unveil at its own pace. The strong drum sound underpins everything whilst the guitars chug and wail. Plaintive melodies and downbeat auras pervade everything, with these being overlain by the deep growls of the vocalist.
This is a long and involving album that lasts the course and doesn’t get boring. The added Death Metal influences mean it doesn’t become stale or one dimensional and the songs have enough top riffs and melodies to satisfy fans of this style.
Ophis have produced an album that may be rooted in everything miserable and depressing but that I, for one, find really enjoyable and worthy.
Ævangelist are from the US and this is their third album. They play Death/Black Metal, of sorts…
Following on from their horrifically terrifying second album Omen Ex Simulacra, Ævangelist waste no time with the first track Hosanna establishing and that this new album follows on from the first in a suitably Hellish and hideous manner.
As I stated about their previous album; Ævangelist are not for the weak of stomach. This is music that tests the limits of what the human mind can endure.
Writhes in the Murk is a suitable title for this collection of horrors as the songs seem wrapped in the murk and writhe as if alive.
Everything seems lower in the mix this time with the exception of the dark noises and sinister effects that blanket everything like a deathly fog. The growling vocals are almost unrecognisable from the ambient levels of darkened atmospherics, although they’re now joined by cleaner vocals as well more akin to Black than Death Metal.
There’s more of a Black Metal influence on this release in general. The atmospheres that Ævangelist create have always had more in common with Black than Death Metal, but this time the guitars, vocal experimentation and overall vibe seems Blacker than ever.
The riffs, when they raise their heads above the sea of nightmares, are sinuous and evil, recalling the dark practices of Axis of Perdition and Blut Aus Nord at their most sinister. The entire thing feels alive and squirming, like something is struggling to be born in the darkest reaches of a pitch-black pit of suffering and desolation.
The band don’t write songs, they create experiences of tormented soundscapes; environments of pure terror, dread and disgust seep out of the speakers as if made flesh.
Holy crap. This album is almost a full hour of punishing music but if feels almost ten times that; time seems to lose all meaning as the music pulls you into its dark, sickeningly warm embrace to lose yourself in the cloying smell of a million forgotten corpses condemned to suffer for all eternity…
This is not for the casual listener. However, if you think you have the fortitude then delve right in. Ævangelist have such sights to show you…
Threshold are from the UK and play Progressive Metal. This is their 10th album.
The latest Threshold album, eh? Always a pleasure to listen to this band. They have put out some great music over the years so this was an album I was looking forward to listening to.
Although undeniably still Progressive Metal, they’ve added a little more Hard Rock in their sound, which shows up in some of the harder riffs they use from time to time. This is a subtle alteration however, as they’ve always had this aspect to their sound in varying amounts and For The Journey is still Threshold through-and-through.
Straight away the classic Threshold sound blares out of the speakers as soon as you press play. Threshold are remarkable in this style of music in that you can instantly recognise them; they don’t particularly sound like anyone else and yet even though it’s instantly familiar they still manage to avoid overtly repeating themselves. This speaks of a band with a lot of talent, which has always been apparent.
The songs on For The Journey are a well-crafted collection of strong tracks that showcase the considerable songwriting ability of the band. They walk the fine line between technical ability and emotive songwriting and manage to strike the perfect balance between the two.
Threshold have always, to me, sounded very easy listening in the sense that their music appears to effortlessly sink into the brain and it’s like listening to liquefied Metal that tastes as good as the finest of wines.
The musicianship is, of course, exemplary. Whether this is the powerfully understated drumming, the driving riffs, the exquisite solos and leads, the subtle bass or the mood enhancing keyboards; Threshold know what they’re doing and they do it extremely well.
Vocally as well, the band are onto a winner. A compelling and powerful voice provides clean vocals that are wide in range and incredibly self-assured and powerful. Some of the vocal melodies are enough to send shivers down the spine, especially when they merge perfectly with the accompanying music. The astoundingly good chorus to Unforgiven is one example of many.
Well, what an album. For their tenth full-length Threshold have once again created a masterpiece of Progressive Metal that raises the bar for any other band who are even vaguely playing this style.
This is essential listening from an exemplary band. Get this.
Neverworld’s debut album Visions of Another World is a talented and energetic display of Metal prowess. I wanted to find out a bit more about them, so I quizzed lead guitarist/vocalist Ben Colton about their impressive début and the universe of Neverworld…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Hello! I’d describe us as an epic/traditional/progressive metal band. We try to take all the best elements of the old school styles and put a fresh twist on it. Come and check us out!
Give us a bit of history to Neverworld
Well we were born in late 2009 forming from the demise of a couple of bands. Basically I was trying to put my old band Sentinel back together but when I couldn’t get everyone on board, those of us that were formed Neverworld. It’s been a busy and brilliant 5 years. We’ve worked very hard behind the scenes and it’s slowly starting to pay off. We’ve been very lucky with gigs, reviews and our fantastic fanbase right from the start. In 2010 we released our début EP ‘Welcome To…’, hit the road for a couple of years and back in March finally released our début full length album ‘Visions Of Another World’!
Tell us about your band name – where did it come from?
Picking a band name in this day and age is incredibly hard! Everything’s been done before so choosing a suitable name was difficult. We wanted a name that reflected our vision. Something with huge scope for song writing ideas and imagery. Right from the off we’ve considered ourselves to be an audio visual band and Neverworld just fitted that perfectly. It’s the place where we all go to when we go to sleep. The dream world if you will, where anything can happen!
What are your influences?
Personally I have loads. My taste is generally metal but quite diverse. I just love great well played well written music. I really admire bands who do something different every album but retain their signature sound. Bands like Fates Warning and Winger deserve a special mention for that. I’m also a huge fan of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, King Diamond, Manowar, Crimson Glory, Redemption, Mr Big, Thin Lizzy, Slaughter, Kings X right through to stuff like Alice In Chains, Dan Reed Network, Blue Oyster Cult etc. It’s a huge list and I could quite easily be here all night! I have a massive CD collection and I’ve probably been influenced by most of it at some point in my life!
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
I’m about to release an album with my side project All Seeing Eyes so that’s getting a lot of my attention atm! The new Winger and Fates Warning albums are great. I’ve also been listening to Dan Reed Network and The Mob quite a bit but in terms of new bands or music I’ve just been introduced to I’d have to say go and check out my buddies Avenging Benji, Elm Street, Neuronspoiler and Wardrum. Insanely talented musicians and song writers and there’s a fantastic prog band from Italy called Astra. Amazing stuff
What did you want to achieve with your new album?
As much as possible really. We aren’t silly and we aren’t on a major label. There’s only so much we can do but what’s important is reaction and the reaction has blown us away. We’ve been blessed with great fans and glowing reviews. Something I’m very proud of. Sales wise it’s done quite well too. All in all we are happy with what it’s done. It’s paid for itself and our CV looks a lot better now than it did before its release!
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Absolutely. Mainly because of what other people have said about it. I think there comes a point when you’ve heard it too many times and your own judgement becomes clouded. All you can do then is turn it over to the people that matter and cross your fingers which is exactly what we did. It was a very hard and long process making this album so in the end we were happy it was finally done!
What can you tell us about the lyrics and any themes/stories the songs have?
The themes of the album are quite diverse. We have a duet about a vampire and a girl falling in love. Sounds like Twilight right?! Not so, never even seen it. Very much influenced by Let The Right One In and Bram Stoker’s Dracula that one. We have a track about the movie They Live which is one of my favourites, there’s a song all about revenge, one about being haunted by spirits. There’s kinda something for everyone I think on the album. The track This Fire is all about having a desire so strong the flame will never go out. We’ll be experimenting more with themes on the next album and exploring Neverworld a bit more.
Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process
Well a lot of the first album was written a few years back. When we started out we needed 5 songs so we could go out and play live so I sat in my room and wrote some riffs quite quickly, took them to the studio where the others could have a say about it and laid them down. We were just a 4 piece then. Our original keyboard player left before we’d played a single show! So it was quite a straight forward process. Tracks like Ghosts and Eminent Reprisal came about a bit later and had more band involvement. We’ve started writing the second album already and it’s a completely different process now. Everyone’s involved. We are all sitting there in the studio laying stuff down, changing each others ideas slightly and stuff like that. The next album will very much be a complete team effort and I’m loving it. This band has some brilliant musicians and they all have their own influences so it’s going to be interesting to see what we come up with!
How did the duet with Christina Gajny come about?
I’m quite an impulsive fellow. I literally woke up one day and thought wouldn’t it be awesome if we did a male/female duet. I went on my laptop and started looking for a good lady singer. The first one I came across was the amazing Christina Gajny! I thought wow she’s the one. I messaged her but didn’t hear anything back for about a month! I figured she didn’t wanna know! Luckily she did reply and we wrote Blood And Romance. The rest is history! She’s a very talented young lady so I consider her involvement an honour. It was also a masterstroke because of her we had people actually turn up to see us when we started playing in London! Haha! She’s a great girl and if we do ever need a female vocalist again she will be it.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
As I said earlier the song writing process is already under way. We are trying to write the ‘perfect’ album. Visions got a lot of great reviews but we have to better it. It’ll be tough but a task we are all up for. As far as music goes I believe in progression. I think that’s a really important part of being a musician. No part of us wants to make the same album again. The next album will have a lot of depth and variety. There will be out and out rockers, a couple of epics and hopefully some more prog style tracks. It’s early days yet but we have 6 ideas on the go at the moment and all are sounding like they could make the album. I’m excited and I think Neverworld fans should be too! Like I said we are on a mission to better Visions and we won’t stop until we have!
What’s next for Neverworld?
We play our final show of the year on September the 20th in our local club. Looking forward to that one. We are playing with Desolation Angels, The Deep and Death Valley Knights. All great bands so should be an epic night. Then we are concentrating on the follow up album. With our début we were recording and playing shows all over at the same time which didn’t really work. The album got delayed massively because of that and we don’t want to do that again. So we plan to hit the studio in a big way and get about 15 tracks done. The best 10 will make the album. We will also be making a video soon for a track off the new album. Really hoping we can get this all recorded this year and then spend next year back on the road. That’s the plan anyway! Wish us luck?!
Sons of Crom are from Sweden and this is their début album. They play epic Viking-influenced Heavy/Black/Folk Metal.
This is thundering music with an interesting sound; it’s somewhere between Old-School and New and gives the band an interesting sheen.
We’ve heard this style before, of course, but this is a veritable exemplar of the sub-genre as it’s done exceedingly well.
Taking elements of bands such as Enslaved, Arcturus and, notably, Bathory, this is an impressive distillation of the quintessence of those bands, birthed anew in the form of Riddle of Steel.
The music and vocals are epic beyond all reason and you just can’t help but get carried away by the obvious passion and enthusiasm here. It’s hard to credit that this is a début album really as the level of maturity displayed on these songs is staggering. Each track is fully realised and boasts more features than many bands manage in a full album.
Epic melodies abound and the guitars really do draw out every last tiny bit of emotion possible from the instrument. This is Metal through and through in the best possible way. It’s Bathory updated for 2014 whilst remaining faithful and true to the original.
The vocals are varied and accomplished; they span everything from darker, rougher shouts, to higher screams, to a mid-ground semi-clean, to choral overlays. The delivery is masterful.
The music is richly textured and almost suffers from stimulation overload at points as there’s a lot going on and it’s all so damned grandiose!
This will likely be snapped up eagerly by fans of the Bathory/epic Viking Metal scene who are still hungry for all things of this nature. Unless you think Bathory are the be-all and end-all of this style then you should find more than enough to feast on here.
Turn it on, turn it up and get swept away in the huge nature of the band.
(Sample is from their Conqueror EP which is a taster of two tracks from the album)
Lago are a Death Metal band from the US and Tyranny is their début album.
Lago play a mixture of Old-School and New-School Death Metal and manage to reach a comfortable medium between the two. Think Morbid Angel and Immolation meeting Behemoth and Wormed.
Dark melodies and rampant brutality hold sway here, although the band allow themselves room to experiment a bit with some longer songs and nice touches here and there, (Reckoned features an almost, gasp, Folk section!).
The songs are well-written and feature a good recording that gives the band a wonderfully heavy sound. All of the instruments sound really good. The drums, guitars, bass and even the vocals; they all stand out which effectively means that everything stands out. As I listen to this the old “everything louder than everything else” phrase comes to mind. It’s a class production all round and lends the songs the power they need to make their mark.
The drums pound away nicely and there are a bucketfuls of tasty riffs to get stuck into. They play the heavy, brutal riffs well but also mix things up with darker melodic riffs, some of which have a nice Blackened edge to them.
Tyranny has some good solos on it which stick out against the pitch black rhythm guitars and spice things up a bit.
I keep coming back to the rhythm guitar riffs though as they feature the kind of darkly melodic brutality that makes Immolation so compelling and individual. The wonderful thing is that it may be reminiscent of Immolation but it doesn’t actually sound like them; in other words Lago share a similar stylistic space with the masters rather than ripping them off, which is brilliant as I love Immolation and now I love Lago also.
The vocals are so deep it almost hurts and seem to dominate everything else with their presence. Higher screams are also used for a bit of variety.
Lago have impressed me no end with this release. It’s a strong collection of Death Metal tracks that showcase a powerful new band who have arrived on the scene with the force of a meteor strike.
Falls of Rauros are from the US and play Black Metal with strong Folk elements. This is their third album.
Wonderbox Metal 