This is Iron Fire’s eighth album. They are a power/heavy metal band from Denmark.
If 90s heavy/power metal is your thing, then you need to check out Among the Dead right away. Also – zombie-themed metal? Sign me up!
Iron Fire deal in song-oriented tunes that revel in catchy melodies with substantial guitars. I like Continue reading “Iron Fire – Among the Dead (Review)”
Grond are a Russian death metal band and this is their second album.
Grond play death metal that’s influenced by the old-school, with a more modern sheen then added to it all in the delivery.
The singer has a voice that sounds like colossal stones being dragged across the ocean floor. Despite this, he’s actually more legible than some similar singers too, but retains a monstrous presence regardless of this. Continue reading “Grond – Worship the Kraken (Review)”
Sadhus “The Smoking Community” are a sludge/doom band and Agnes Vein are a blackened sludge band. Both are from Greece.
Sadhus “The Smoking Community” start us of with their track, Abduction, which is almost six minutes of heaviosity.
This is slow, lazy and heavy, just as sludgy doom should be. It gives a strong impression of the band on stage, heads down, peeling off heavy riffs with stoned concentration and Continue reading “Sadhus “The Smoking Community”/Agnes Vein – Split (Review)”
Svlfvr are an Italian blackened doom metal band. This is their latest album.
What we have here is essentially a doom metal band that have fallen to darkness and embraced black metal as a secondary influence. There are some other influences detectable in their sound too, (old Anathema), and they all converge together quite nicely over these 56 minutes.
The songs on Shamanic Lvnar Cvlt have muscular guitars and plenty of dark presence. The old-school black metal influences make for a darker sound than most doom metal bands, but the traditional doom metal aspect of their sound means that they don’t wander too Continue reading “Svlfvr – Shamanic Lvnar Cvlt (Review)”
Dead Ficus are a Metal band from France and this is their debut album.
Dead Ficus play a form of melodic metal/rock that features harsh vocals and some nice keyboard accompaniment.
The singer has quite a nasty bark to him, which juxtaposes nicely against the music which is melodic and atmospheric. I was actually expecting clean vocals from this band, for some reason, so I like his voice all the more for Continue reading “Dead Ficus – Rise or Fall (Review)”
This is the sixth album from Carnifex, a US death metal band.
Carnifex play modern/melodic death metal with elements of deathcore and added orchestration.
I’m not overly familiar with Carnifex, having only listened to one of their previous albums – their 2008 release The Diseased and the Poisoned; this was an okay album, but nothing particularly special, so I was not prepared at all for how far they’ve come in the last 8 years. Slow Death is light years ahead of that release, so much so it’s almost like listening to Continue reading “Carnifex – Slow Death (Review)”
Inter Arma are a US post-metal band and this is their third album.
Well, here we have something that has a massive amount of expectation attached to it, at least from me. Their 2014 release The Cavern was a single 45 minute track that came close to attaining perfection. It was, quite simply, the best thing I heard that year, which is why it was my album of the year for 2014.
So, it’s with no pressure, (hehe), that I pressed play on their latest release, and let the band’s involved soundscapes take me away. Continue reading “Inter Arma – Paradise Gallows (Review)”
Eradikal Insane are a French death metal band and this is their debut album.
Eradikal Insane play modern death metal that’s high-impact and straight to the point.
The band vary the speeds that they operate in, but always go full-on regardless of what they do. The fast parts are very fast, the mid-paced grooves are generously dense and the breakdown-styled sections are heavy and crushing. Continue reading “Eradikal Insane – Mithra (Review)”
This is the début album by Shodan, a death metal band from Poland.
Shodan play modern death metal for the most part, but also incorporate a myriad of other influences and ideas into this atypical release.
The interesting thing about this band is how they develop their style for each song; it all revolves around a modern core of solid death metal, but each track uses this in its own way and incorporates different elements from Continue reading “Shodan – Protocol of Dying (Review)”
Great Reversals are a US hardcore band and this is their debut album.
After an impressively striking EP, Natural Burial, I was pleased that Great Reversals had returned with their first full-length.
Great Reversals play heavyweight hardcore that has a distinct 90s feel. This is blended with a touch of metal and a few post-hardcore elements here and there. Continue reading “Great Reversals – Mere Mortals (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 