This is the second album from Russian Doom band Aethyr.
This is dark and evil music with a Blackened aura to it that accompanies the Doom core like a shroud of malignancy.
The band utilise emotive riffs that play on the negative feelings of the listener and tease them out, bare and vulnerable for all to see. They then take these exposed emotions and weave them into guitar parts that embody them.
In this respect there’s a Post-Metal quality to the guitars as they’re often transcendent and expressive whilst being dragged down into the gloom of Doom.
Mournful hatred and despondent anger seem to simmer just below the surface. If the music is the main receptacle for the miserable aspect of their sound then the vocals are the vehicle for the anger and rage.
The singer alternates between Blackened screams and dark growls. Both are performed well and neither sound entirely human.
Faster sections are included too and the band have a grasp of elegant dynamics. Corpus is a well-paced album with lots of well-written tracks that easily hold attention.
Overall this is an involving and complete listen. Aethyr remind me of a cross between Red Harvest, Zatokrev and some form of primordial Doom Metal.
Aethyr have clear direction in their sound and use the 50 minutes of music here to showcase their abilities with great effect.
Corpus is an impressive album by a talented band. Give them a listen.
Code are from the UK and this is their fourth album.
It seems that Code have undergone somewhat of a transformation since 2013’s Augur Nox; gone is the Avant-Garde Black Metal, instead being replaced with Progressive Post-Rock.
Their new incarnation is akin to a cross between Red Sparowes, Anathema, Autumnblaze, Green Carnation and Radiohead to my ears. It’s a change in style that seems to suit the band as it sounds like a natural fit.
The music is stripped back but expressive and emotive nonetheless. The relatively short songs contain a lot of content in a short space of time; one would almost expect music of this nature to be double the length but most of the tracks here are about 3-4 minutes in duration.
The vocals are similar in style to their past versions, albeit less extravagant and with greater fragility. His voice has an internal power to it though that again reminds of the singers of Anathema and Autumnblaze.
The songs seem to tell a story and pull the listener into their world. The soundscapes Code create are involving and forbidding; they’ve managed to create a sense of carnival-esque awe and wonder for the listener to explore through Post-Rock textures and Progressive Rock workouts.
I applaud the band for their willingness to update their sound, and although I will miss their past style they’ve amply proven to me with Mut that they continue to create rich and engaging music.
Sarpanitum are a UK Death Metal band and this is their second album.
Sarpanitum take a three-pronged approach to their Death Metal that combines traditional Death Metal, melodic atmospheres and a touch of Black Metal’s heart of darkness.
The band’s melodic edge is a sharp one and it’s incorporated directly into their heaviness rather than seeming like an addition to it as is frequently the case with other bands that combine brutality and melodics.
Added keyboard sounds subtly enhance this already keen melodic sensibility they have and I really like the sense of atmospheric brutality that they create. There’s a Middle Eastern feel to a lot of the melodies that adds an exotic touch to the songs, as well as no small amount of epic grandeur.
The vocals are as dark as night; thick, deep, malevolent growls that are so low as to be akin to rumbling thunder.
Blessed Be My Brothers… has a thick, dense sound that’s uncompromising and combined with the band’s complicated riffing is impenetrable to the casual listener. This is Death Metal for real Death Metal fans who want something a bit more interesting than the standard generic fare.
This is the fourth album from Natanas, a one-man Black Metal band from the US.
Another month, another Natanas album…
Okay so I exaggerate, but the man is Hellishly productive. And it’s good stuff too. He may have manufactured some form of Black Metal assembly line but his Quality Control department are clearly paying attention to the goods that are produced.
Having said that of course, this is clearly not for everyone, which is something I’ve mentioned before about the last two Natanas releases All Is Permitted and Treachery; the casual listener, the casual Black Metal listener, even, will probably find this a tad challenging.
If you like your Black Metal dark, challenging, atypical and in the vein of bands like Xasthur, Portal, Mitochondrion, Enbilulugugal, Ævangelist, etc. then Natanas is worth checking out.
Also, I’m sure his screeching vocals have gotten higher, raspier and wetter this time. It sounds like he’s rupturing himself every time he opens his mouth. This is not a complaint of course, rather the opposite. He takes time out from trying to turn himself inside out though, as other vocals are included from spoken word to deeper screams that almost remind of Neurosis/Crowbar in style.
смертность has a good amount of variety within its self-imposed framework, with the album retaining the tribal, hypnotic, pseudo-Industrial feel that Treachery did so well. As such this is a very holistic album; listening to a song in isolation is all well and good, but for the full effect it’s best to put on the entire album and just get lost in the murk.
Every time I listen to Natanas by the time I get to the second or third song I’m totally absorbed in the dark, unfriendly, bleak, rotten, urban sprawl that seems to be described. The low-key, lo-fi, production actually adds to the feeling of the album rather than detracting from it.
Natanas has always been a band that goes against the odds for me. If I had just flicked through one of these albums I’d probably think, “No, I don’t think so”, but against all expectations and prejudices смертность, and the previous albums…well, they just work. The various disparate elements and the raw, uncompromisingly lo-fi sound gel into something that just does it; it hits that hidden spot that you didn’t even know you had.
As such, I’m a big supporter of Natanas and heartily recommend that you give смертность a try. It may not do it for you, but who knows, maybe it really, really will…
Atoj are from Italy. This is their latest EP and they play Hardcore.
Atoj’s music is a combination of abrasive Hardcore and 90’s Mathcore. It’s a gritty and dirty EP that showcases a band who have found a sound they’re comfortable with.
The songs are dynamic and interesting, never allowing the listener to slink into complacency, assuming that they know what the next bit will sound like.
This self-titled EP is well-recorded and even on the rare occasions when the band calm down there’s still a palpable intensity to the tracks.
They remind me of a compendium of the heavy parts of older Poison the Well, the aggressive, angular chaos of some of Zao’s work, the Hardcore know-how of Nora, a smidgen of some older bits of The Dillinger Escape Plan and the angry, non-singing parts of Letlive.
This is the second album by this German Death Metal band.
Ingurgitating Oblivion is for lovers of dissonant, Doom-infected Death Metal replete with dark atmosphere and malevolent sounds. This is for fans of Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Immolation and other purveyors of interesting and atypical Death Metal.
That the band have talent and can play is apparent straight away. Add to this a production that settles nicely around the band like a foggy miasma and songwriting skills that have clearly been honed over time and you have an album that has all of the necessary ingredients for something truly special.
On first listen this is an album that gels together instantly and on repeated spins it merely settles deep into your conscious even more, like a welcome indoctrination. This, of course, assumes that this style of Death Metal is one that you can take; if not then there’s no hope for you really, and you’d be better off with something simpler and easier to absorb.
This is Progressive Death Metal without any trace of pretension. The songs exist not to satisfy the musings of the musicians but to satisfy themselves. They operate purely in their own right and owe nothing to anyone other than their own sense of internal aesthetics.
This really is a first-rate release. The songs have longevity and depth oozing out of them and you know this is going to be an album that you’ll keep returning to in the years to come.
I love music that is a bit different, has something extra to offer; Continuum of Absence definitely has this.
Fans of challenging and interesting Death Metal take note.
Dysnomia are a Spanish Melodic Death Metal band and this is their début album.
Featuring a strong sound and an unexpected level of aggressiveness, Dysnomia quickly make their presence felt.
Their sound has plenty of melodic leads and solos as well as a hearty keyboard accompaniment that adds another layer to their infectious sound.
All too frequently Melodic Death Metal simply means a watered down version of Death Metal, essentially a weakened version of the original. This is not the case with Dysnomia. It’s like they’ve taken the melodic aspect of the genre, wrapped it in some keyboards and catchy songs and somehow managed to retain the savagery of the original style. This gives their sound a very fresh, energetic sheen and I’ve really enjoyed listening to this.
There is also a Black Metal influence to their sound, with the keyboards essentially meaning that they have somewhat of a Symphonic Black Metal slant sometimes. It’s more of an enhancement to their core sound though than a true Blackened Death Metal merging of the two and it plays its part in what I like about the band.
This is a top quality listen. If high octane Melodic Death Metal is your thing then Dysnomia will definitely hit the spot for you.
This is the début album from Technical Death Metal band Ara.
This is Technical Death Metal with plenty of brutality. They may have the required complexity of a band playing this style but they’re not above just lashing out and shredding either.
A good sound means that everything is clear and you can appreciate the tightness of the band. The musicianship is a pleasure to listen to, especially when it’s wrapped up in such a destructive Death Metal package.
The singer has an expressive roar that reminds me of a mix of the singers of Malevolent Creation and Vader. He provides a charismatic focal point for the glistening, polished music.
Complicated riffs seem to lurk just behind the omnipresent drums, winding and striking with impunity. This might not be music that you can easily hum along to but it gets inside your skull regardless. Who knows what damage it’s doing in there?
Even when they take their collective feet off the accelerator they still write interesting riffs that refuse to sit still.
If you yearn for the kind of Technical Death Metal that the likes of Iniquity used to churn out then Ara will be right up your street.
Cold Snap’s latest album World War 3 has rekindled my interest in Nu-Metal in a way that I would have thought impossible in 2015. But here they are nonetheless, playing music that they believe in passionately and making a Hell of a racket in the process….
What’s your name and what do you do in Cold Snap?
My name is Jan and I am singer, lyrics writer, frontman, booking agent, video director and actor 🙂
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
I am a theatre, movie and TV actor in Croatia, and I have been singing for Cold Snap from the beginning, in 2003. I oversee the day-to-day management aspects of Cold Snap as well. Cold Snap is something I care about most in my life, and that`s why I want to give my best.
Give us a bit of history to Cold Snap
In 12 years we played more than 300 shows and 3 European tours. We have performed with Suicide Silence, Soulfly, Disturbed, Blind Guardian, Dead By April, Limp Bizkit, Pro-Pain, Ektomorf and many more on many festivals including Wacken Open Air in Germany. We have 3 LP albums and more than 10 high production videos. After 12 years we can finally say that we have a good label backing our band – Eclipse Records!
What are your influences?
Pantera, Machine Head, Korn, Rage Against The Machine, Tool, Slipknot and many more.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Maximum the Hormone from Japan, Hactivist from UK, and In This Moment from the USA!
What did you want to achieve with your new album?
We want to share our music with everybody, in essence we are a “live show” band, however it’s also important to get our studio album out to the public. We want to have a bigger fanbase, play bigger festivals, and we want to progress. However, we will play the music that we love, not something that is popular right now. That’s not music, that’s “licking someone’s ass”.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Yes, we are sure that Eclipse Records is the right label for us and for World War 3. We believe if we continue to cooperate in this way with them, that soon we will have some big news to talk about.
What can you tell us about the lyrics?
My lyrics are about everything that I am living through, all I can think about, all that strikes me, and all that concerns me. All these (mostly negative emotions), I put on paper and together with the other band members, we turn it into music. Topics I enjoy writing about are social, family, political, about the rights of all living beings.
Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.
We do most of the work together in our rehearsal room. Leo (the guitar player) is the most creative one, he does all the crazy riffs and he brings all of that to rehearsal so we can make it even better. We also share our ideas via e-mail between our rehearsals, inspiring or “provoking” each other so we can be creative when we see each other in person at rehearsal, in other words, practice continues for us even while we are not at practice.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
We have 3 new songs that we can’t wait to play live. In our new songs we are putting some weird electro sounds and samples that Leo is working on. We have new and faster circle pit moments with breakdowns that will break your neck. Soon we will share some new stuff from our rehearsal room on our You Tube channel…
What’s next for Cold Snap?
This year we will play more than 30 shows in Europe, mostly festivals, we will film a new video for a song “Monster”, so in 2016, we hope that our fans will be able to see us on tour in the United States of America as well!
Solanum and Epi-Demic are both from Canada and both play Crossover Thrash Metal.
Solanum start us off with just under 18 minutes of aggressive Thrash.
Their contribution is underground and sharp, with a sound that wastes no time in ramming home their aesthetic.
This is Old-School, genuine and really rather good. I have a low threshold sometimes for Crossover Thrash, especially when done in a Retro style and I think this is one of the saving graces of Solanum; there’s no Retro nonsense here, just good, old-fashioned Thrashing out.
The other thing which earns them big marks is the fact that they can actually pen a decent song. The riffs are enjoyable rip-fests that tear along the road with the hungry appetite of the biggest gas-guzzler.
Oh, and the singer has a very satisfying bark to him as well.
Solanum have won me over.
Up next are Epi-Demic, with a shorter total duration of 13 minutes.
Epi-Demic are just as raw and intense as Solanum, and like Solanum they too dispense with any of the Retro nonsense and just concentrate on some lovely Old-School Crossover.
If anything, Epi-Demic’s sound is even more underground and aggressive than Solanum. Their riffs have more of a Hardcore feel to them in places too, although they still know how to Thrash it out with the best of them. Indeed, some of the guitar rhythms here are very tasty indeed.
You could pretty much land at any point in any of these songs and hit something good, but I think overall my favourite is Famine, with its combination of sharp, tight riffs and frenetic leads…or maybe Nuclear Dream with its swirly, twisting guitars…there’s a lot of good stuff on these four songs.
The singer has a higher voice than that of Solanum although it’s still aggressively based and hits the right Crossover tone.
So, Epi-Demic have also won me over.
If you’re looking for a quality Crossover release without any of the novelty bollocks then snap this up quickly.
This is the second album from Russian Doom band Aethyr.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Wonderbox Metal 