Month: April 2016

Sacrilegium – Anima Lucifera

SacrilegiumSacrilegium are a Polish Black Metal band and this is their second album.

This is sophisticated Black Metal that shrouds itself in occult auras and mystical vibes.

Sacrilegium have produced an album that has a very modern feel, but nonetheless knows where it came from and pays its dues accordingly. With elements of the atmospheric and progressive styles entwined in its dark embrace, Anima Lucifera blasts and pummels its way through its playing time with style and panache. Continue reading “Sacrilegium – Anima Lucifera”

Winterhorde – Maestro (Review)

WinterhordeThis is the third album from Israeli melodic/progressive Black Metallers Winterhorde.

Winterhorde use melodic Black Metal as a base to launch their epic brand of music from. On this base, they build firm structures of progressive Metal and symphonic/orchestral enhancements, all of which work together to produce Maestro, an Extreme Metal extravaganza.

If you combine elements of Black Metal with bands like Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, Vintersorg, Arcturus and Nevermore, you’ll have a good idea of where Winterhorde are coming from. Continue reading “Winterhorde – Maestro (Review)”

Images at Twilight – Kings (Review)

Images at TwilightImages at Twilight are an orchestral Black Metal band from Norway. This is their début album.

Featuring the same orchestral mastermind behind the stunning symphonic Death/Doom début by Abyssic, Images at Twilight is essentially a Black Metal version of this, (or the other way around, actually, as this album came first), with rich, sumptuous orchestration and classical grandness.

Continue reading “Images at Twilight – Kings (Review)”

Grimner – Frost Mot Eld (Review)

GrimnerGrimner are a Swedish Viking/Folk Metal band and this is their second album.

Grimner play upbeat and melodic Metal that uses folk instruments such as flutes, mandola and Swedish bagpipes, as well as keyboards to add a rich layer of feeling and atmosphere to their aggressive Metal.

Continue reading “Grimner – Frost Mot Eld (Review)”

Interview with Imperium

Imperium Logo

Imperium’s second album is the ferocious Titanomachy; fast-paced, brutal, savage and memorable. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable album and I can’t imagine anyone into Death Metal failing to like it. I interrogated vocalist Doug Anderson as to the current state of the war machine that is Imperium…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

We are Imperium, a two piece, death metal studio band from the UK. The next one…

Give us a bit of background to Imperium Continue reading “Interview with Imperium”

Interview with Beseech

Beseech Logo

With their latest album, My Darkness, Darkness, Beseech have made a triumphant return to the music scene after an absence of over a decade. Well, I’m certainly glad they’ve returned, as in many ways their new album is their strongest yet. I caught up with singer/songwriter Klas Bohlin who brought me up to speed with all things Beseech…

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

Beseech is an gothic metal band from Sweden, or perhaps a melancholic rock band is a better description these days. We are back after ten years in silence with our brand new and 6th album ”My Darkness, Darkness”, which probably is our most gloomy album ever. So if you are into dark music, not only metal but melancholic music in general, you should probably consider to continue reading…

But the history of Beseech goes way back. We are one of those bands, that from the beginning started as a death/doom metal band in the early 90s, that later on transformed into the gothic genre after some musical experiments using classical instruments like violin, cello and flute, lots of keyboards, but most important, we started to use the characteristic beauty and the beast contrast between the male and female vocals. Even if our musical direction has changed over the years it feels great to be back with an album that we really like ourselves. This time we have managed to find a way back to our roots and the sound on our early albums “Black Emotions” and “Souls Highway”, but with adding a little twist of vintage rock. Continue reading “Interview with Beseech”

Solifvgae – Avenoir (Review)

SolifvgaeThis is the début album from Brazilian Post-Black Metal band Solifvgae.

Solifvgae take the harshness of the core of Black Metal and wrap it up in Post-Metal reflection and exploration, making for an album that spreads itself across two worlds, taking in both aspects in equal measure. It’s almost a band of two parts, as the heavy bits are sharp and concise, while the more progressive/exploratory sections are wandering and expansive.

Continue reading “Solifvgae – Avenoir (Review)”

Tenth Amendment – Conviction (Review)

Tenth AmendmentThis is the second album from this US Metal band.

Tenth Amendment play modern Metal with groove and aggression. Back in the 90s when this kind of thing was just called either Metal or Hardcore rather than groove Metal or Metalcore, (usually due to how the band looked more than anything else), bands like Pantera, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Merauder, Skinlab and Pro-Pain we all staples of my CD collection, and Tenth Amendment very much remind me of that time.

Coming across as a combination of the aforementioned bands, we get song-based aggression with an industrial undercurrent that leans towards the heavier end of the spectrum. The album is very riff-based and there’s a purity of intent inherent in this kind of approach.

Continue reading “Tenth Amendment – Conviction (Review)”

Interview with Echoes of the Moon

Echoes of the Moon

Entropy is a bit of a monster of an album. Featuring 72 minutes of atmospheric Post-Black Metal that seems to take the listener on a journey, it’s a release that keeps getting better the more time you spend with it. I got in touch with the brains behind the music to get a bit of background information; music like this should not be overlooked, so if you’ve chanced upon this article at all, make sure you check out the album.

For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!

My name is Brock. I do all of the writing, recording, and producing for Echoes of the Moon. I am currently 21 and living in a small town in Indiana. Continue reading “Interview with Echoes of the Moon”