Reviews – Page 556 – Wonderbox Metal

Dying Out Flame – Shiva Rudrastakam (Review)

Dying Out Flame are from Nepal and play Death Metal.

This band are somewhat of a unique proposition as they combine the raw, brute force of Death Metal with traditional Nepalese music, instruments, female singing and influences. This lends the band a distinctly exotic edge.

What’s important here though is the sheer quality of the songs on this release. In the hands of a lesser band this combination of styles could easily sound mismatched and ill-judged, but Dying Out Flame have the talent to merge the two disparate worlds quite seamlessly. It sounds natural and it sounds good. Bloody good.

The traditional instrumentation enhances and adds to the ferocity and pure elemental force of the Death Metal parts. And boy when the Death Metal kicks in it sure does so hard.

The sound and fury of the band is first-rate and the deep growls of the singer are delivered at the perfect pitch. The Nepalese music doesn’t detract from the bite of the Metal at all; in fact it works exceptionally well with it to create atmospheres and moods quite in keeping with the epic and ferocious music.

If you’re a fan of Death/Extreme Metal that experiments with influences that are not typically found in the realm of Metal then this is for you. Think bands like Nile, Orphaned Land, Rudra, Therion, Markradonn, Panopticon, etc. – all quite different but all incorporating wider influences into their Metal sound. Dying Out Flame can safely be added to their ranks.

This is an innovative and creative release with lots of personality and high quality levels. Definitely make sure you check this out.

Onheil – Storm is Coming (Review)

Onheil are from the Netherlands and this is their second album.

Storm is Coming has a strong production with everything sounding crushing and the band easily wreak devastation like a natural disaster, which is partially what the concept of the album is based upon.

Onheil play Black Metal that’s fast and sharp but also surprisingly heavy as they have a bit of a Blackened Thrash/Heavy Metal influence to their sound.

The band I’m reminded of most is Hypocrisy as Onheil have a similar feel to both their style and sound – if you take Hypocrisy circa Into the Abyss and give it a bit more of a Black Metal sheen then you’ll have the right idea.

They’re certainly not Hypocrisy rip-off’s though, as I’m also reminded of bands like Amon Amarth and, (to a lesser extent), Dimmu Borgir, Kreator and Iron Maiden in places.

The vocalist is very accomplished and sounds great whether he’s screaming or growling. Powerful cleans are also used sparingly to add effect and provide good back up to the main shrieks.

The Blackened melodies are played fast and hard, with riffs and leads being in no short supply. Storm is Coming also features an enjoyably Heavy Metal aspect to their sound, mainly in the guitar department. Duelling guitars are prominent and many leads could be straight out of the Classic Heavy Metal rulebook.

This is a band who can play Melodic Black Metal without it sounding jolly or hopeful; this is dark music with an evil tinge to it that all centres around the band’s direct and cutting method of assault.

Overall this is an enjoyable and absorbing listen with good songs and melodies that capture the attention. Check them out and see what you think.

Falls of Rauros – Believe in No Coming Shore (Review)

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 – Exilium (Review)

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.

Watch them go.

Deathronation – Hallow the Dead (Review)

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.

Megaton Leviathan – Past 21: Beyond The Arctic Cell (Review)

Megaton Leviathan are from the US and play Doom.

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.

Ophis – Abhorrence in Opulence (Review)

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.

Check them out.

Ævangelist – Writhes in the Murk (Review)

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 – For The Journey (Review)

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.

Sons of Crom – Riddle of Steel (Review)

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)