Hailing from Italy, Haate is a one-man project playing Dark Ambient music.
I must confess to being naturally suspicious of releases of this nature as so often they can be excuses for basically doing nothing for minutes on end and I just get bored. However, when done right such as with the latest by Wolves in the Throne Room it can be very good indeed.
Haate immediately impress by actually having changes and progression in the tracks. There are three long songs here, (34 minutes in total), and even a few minutes into the first song there’s a fair bit going on.
Haate specialises in dark atmospheres and gloomy introspection. It’s like someone has really paid attention to all of those musical proto-Classical interludes/intros on 90’s Black Metal albums and decided to create a full album out of it all. This is merely an observation, however, not a criticism, as the resulting work is surprisingly, (to me), good.
There’s a fair bit of substance here, and we even get some low-in-the-mix Black Metal vocals and blastbeats. This is most unexpected but most welcome.
In addition to the synths and keyboards there are other, quasi-industrial sounds and noises accompanying proceedings and these add a level of darkness to the textured music. It sometimes gives the impression of inorganic breathing, which is a vaguely unsettling sound and really enhances the songs.
I’m impressed with this. Cynically I didn’t think it would be very enjoyable and I’m very pleased that I’m wrong. And do you know what? The more I listen to it the more I like it. It’s shockingly good.
For Black Metal fans who don’t always need the Metal part.
This is a split between French Grindcore bands Miserable Failure and Atara.
Atara are up first and they give us 6 tracks of Punk and groove influenced Grind.
These are enjoyable short, sharp adrenaline shots of modern Grind with Punk attitude and a touch of Nasum added in.
The singer is particularly acerbic and he heads the tracks here like the focal point of devastation.
Scathing vocals and a rounded, heavy sound that’s not overproduced means that the band shine filthily and so do the songs. Top work by Atara.
We’ve met Miserable Failure before with their last EP Hope. They continue to impress here with 8 tracks of furious Grind that mix the best of the extreme nature of Grindcore with the violence of modern Hardcore.
The utterly demented vocals are present and the music sounds just as unhinged. Slabs of distortion that pass themselves off as riffs crash into your skull and before you know it you’re left wondering what the hell just happened. And then, without warning, Miserable Failure loom in suddenly for the killing blow.
There’s no reason at all you shouldn’t get this. None whatsoever.
Recently released; The Wolves of Avalon’s second album Boudicca’s Last Stand is an hour of interesting, captivating and unique Metal that everyone should ideally have the privilege of hearing. A strong contender for the album of the year slot, it uses history as its muse to create something powerful and compelling. I wanted to find out more about this special band, and got to ask Metatron a few pertinent questions…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
I am Metatron of UK band , The Meads of Asphodel, and also the pagan folk metal band, Wolves of Avalon. With the Wolves, new album, Boudicca’s Last Stand, I have attempted to create the last days of the great British war Queen. She is a proud image of my land’s ancient past, a lost symbol of freedom and hope before a great oppressive power.
Give us a bit of history to The Wolves of Avalon
The band was formed many moons ago with myself and James Marinos who is the master song-smith. The first album, Carrion Crows over Camlan, is about the Celtic Arthurian legends that tell of a Romano-Celtic war leader who fought against the onslaught of the Germanic Saxon invaders. On this album we had Rob Darken [Graveland] on guest vocals and this gave us some shit in Germany due to the NSBM label we were branded with. Just because we are proud of the past and speak of forsaken family values and cultural bonds, this does not make us racist. I get frustrated with ignorance in this scene.
What are your influences?
James tries not to aspire to any of the bands he likes to listen to but to enjoy what they do independently of anything creatively he works on. For my part, I have many from Bathory, Sabbat, Hawkwind, Venom and the list goes on and on.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
I just listen to all forms of black pagan metal and some good ones at the moment are: I am playing a polish band called, Wedrujacy Wiatr, which is very much like the great Russian bands, Walknut, and Forest. The new Finsterforst album is also one of the best Viking related albums I have ever heard.
James was recently listening to ‘Ceremonials’ by Florence and the Machine maybe some Alcest, Gary Numan or Killing Joke. Depends on his mood.
How would you compare your experience with The Wolves of Avalon to that of The Meads of Asphodel?
I find both bands similar in the way I work with the song-smiths J.D Tait [Meads] and James Marinos [Wolves]. Both bands exist in similar working mechanisms where guests appear and add their own dynamics to the basic structures of the songs. Lyrically the bands are different, as the Meads concentrates on world religious insanity and genocide, whereas the Wolves, is centralized on British ancient history.
For James Marinos, who writes the music for the Wolves, This time round he was extremely thorough and rather than just working on one song at a time, he wrote perhaps thirty tracks of varying stages. Some were just too weak and others ended up being split in half to become a whole. He wanted the album to be far more ethereal and yet more driving in its approach, while also not trying too hard to set a precedent.
What did you want to achieve with your new album?
An album that will be remembered and to sit alongside the great British pagan metal band, Sabbat. To have your music touch others in a positive way is all anyone who is in a band can hope for. We have strived to create something that cannot be made any better, so it is the best result we can achieve.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
I am very proud of this album, as is James. We spent many, many months crafting the music and the lyrics, and everything about the release is just how we wanted it to be. I hope others will enjoy the album.
What can you tell us about the themes/story of the album?
They are all woven around the British tribal quoin Boudicca who lived around 2000 years ago and this land was under Roman domination. It was a time when the great druid sanctuary of Anglesey was destroyed, and also when Boudicca fought back with other tribes of Britain by her side. This is a very tragic tale of a woman and her people who fought against the mighty war machine of Rome and was defeated completely, but not before burning to the ground many Roman settlements and slaughtering the inhabitants. Blood, violence and sorrow is what this album is all about.
Give us a bit of information on the song-writing process.
James spent over a year piecing together the music that would work within the confines of the lyrical themes.
It sounds like a lot of time, care and attention went into these songs – was that the case?
It most certainly was, James will appreciate you alluding to that. For James personally there wasn’t a point where he thought ‘That will do’, He really wanted the album to be what was conceived in his mind before he could move on. We are very happy with the album as a whole and can only hope that others enjoy it as much as we do.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
We wonder that too, but it’s too early to say but we will tailor the feel of the album to the core subject of the story at hand i.e. Boudicca, Arthur, next time… I don’t know!
What’s next for you?
To wait and see what happens with this release cast into the sea of uncertainty that is this new digital age that I loathe. If I could go back to the tape trading days I would, but we must walk with progress or be left in its merciless wake. I hope we will do another album, but only time will tell.
Slaughterday are a German Death Metal band and this is their latest EP.
After thoroughly enjoying their début album Nightmare Vortex I was looking forward to listening to this.
This EP is 4 tracks long and features 19 minutes of music; 3 originals and a cover of an Acheron song.
Slaughterday play Death Metal that’s brutal, heavy and has a firm Old-School influence to it.
The band are on fine form here with the music sounding as crushing as ever. The vocals also sound particularly savage when the guttural deep growls are twinned with the higher screams. Pulse-raising stuff.
When they slow the pace Slaughterday manage to foster a real air of menace with their crawling, oppressively heavy delivery.
The songs are well-written, memorable and played proficiently. Some nice solos make an appearance too. The riffs are nicely done and there are some choice cuts amongst these tracks.
One thing I like about Slaughterday is their ability to combine a good vocal rhythm with a perfectly matched mid-paced riff. In themselves each of these things is a desirable result, but combined together the effect is greater than the whole. They did this to great effect on their début album and judging by the tracks on Ravenous this is something that they are getting even better at doing.
A very strong EP that builds on the hard work done with their début album and promises good things for their next.
John Gallow is from the US and this is an album of Doom Metal.
This is a Doom Metal album that’s full of Doom and has lots of Doom Metal in it. The Doom is strong and the Doom is heavy, with lots of Doom Metal making an appearance and a liberal Doom sprinkling of Doom on the Doom side.
This Doom album is of the Traditional Doom variety with Classic Doom and Old-School Doom also being represented. Black Doom Sabbath are a good Doom starting point as well as other Doom members of the Doom pantheon used as Doom influences.
Doom. Doom. Doom.
Okay, enough of that. You get the idea.
There is just over an hour of music on this album and it’s a pleasure to listen to. The man has a powerful voice and the music has a good amount of variation and interest to it.
The riffs are good, the melodies bold and memorable and the production punchy and crisp. The songs are well-written and there are plenty of interludes, solos, leads, keys, effects and even bass shenanigans to keep the listener enthralled.
John Gallow has produced an album that manages to encapsulate all of what it means to be Traditional Doom Metal whilst managing to actually sound current and relevant at the same time. It may be resolutely Old-School in source material but this is an album that can stand proud in the 21st century as a exemplar of how this kind of music should sound.
This is the latest EP from German Technical Death Metal band Inexorable.
It starts with Doom. First track, Praeludium Mortis, is 2:39 of slow, agonising crawling through broken glass and razor shards. It sets the scene perfectly for Inexorable’s brand of impenetrable Black Metal-tinged assault.
This is no normal Death Metal. This is for fans of Gorguts, Portal, Mayhem, Axis of Perdition, etc. – bands that are interested in pushing the boundaries of traditional genre restrictions and will do so in their own way. If Mayhem went Death Metal, Inexorable might be what they sounded like.
The riffs congeal together to produce dark, murky feelings and the guitar lines almost seem alive with malignant presence.
Vocals are kind of an ethereal growl that reside half in our reality and half in some other, twisted dimension; or sometimes a plaintive semi-clean sung from the depths of a churning abyss. Either way they are not the standard for this kind of music, with the semi-cleans in particular coming across strongly.
The songs, and the EP in general, is a holistic experience; a nightmare reality to visit but hopefully to escape from at the end. Sometimes bands which attempt music like this can come across as unfocused or messy, but I’m pleased to say this is not the case with Inexorable.
Throughout all of the evil, grim sounds and communing with other realities is a firm foundation in, (atypical), Death Metal. This serves them well and keeps them grounded whereas they might otherwise carried away by the dark and lost to us forever.
This is not music for the weak hearted. If you can stomach it, however, there are some evil delights to be had here.
Collision are a Grindcore band from the Netherlands and The Rotted are a Crust-influenced Death Metal band from the UK.
This is a short split at just over 6 minutes in length that shows off what both bands can do, so let’s see what we have here.
Collision have two songs. The sound is raw and brutal, with serrated vocals screaming and shouting out over speedy Grind. Both tracks are a fast and furious blend of Hardcore-influenced Grind and angry outbursts.
Both are good songs that have plenty of blastbeats mixed with moments of heavier restraint. The riffs are solid and the band seem to be having a blast.
I’m sold. Bring on The Rotted!
After Collision’s barrage of ferocity The Rotted pound out Rotted Fucking Earth which is a d-beat Punk-esque song with a good sound.
It has a drunken swagger and an aggressive temperament; it’s probably not something you want to mess with.
Simple-but-effective songwriting is powered by decent riffs and pure attitude. As Metal songs go it’s a veritable anthem.
Short but oh so sweet, this is a worthy split to add to your collection.
A nice acoustic intro starts us off, shortly followed by the opening track Self-Infected. It’s immediately apparent that the band can play well, and also that the type of Death Metal they play is non-standard.
Azooma play Progressive Death Metal with Technical Death Metal clearly playing a role, but rather than the schizophrenic complex-for-the-sake-of-it route that a lot of Technical Death Metal goes down, Azooma have chosen the arguably more interesting Progressive Death Metal route. This means more coherent song structures and more emphasis on the song itself and its accompanying feelings and moods. With this in mind A Hymn Of The Vicious Monster is a roaring success.
Think old-Opeth if they were more Death Metal. Think Gorguts and Death mixed together in a Progressive Metal melange. Tasty.
As mentioned; the musicianship is top-notch, which even includes a noticeable bass. The band proficiently play Death Metal, Progressive Metal, acoustics, Jazz-style interludes, and essentially everything else with pure class.
The vocals are deep and satisfying and the band even find space in their expansive songs to include a couple of low-key cleans that enhance proceedings on a couple of occasions.
A strong sound and production rounds of the package and Azooma have a winner on their hands here.
This is a supremely impressive release and one that you should definitely get if you’re even remotely interesting in challenging, stand-out music.
Astral Winter are an Australian Black Metal band and this is their second album.
But not this time; normally Astral Winter is Melodic Black Metal, but for this album things have taken an ambient turn and this release is all about dark soundscapes and sombre melancholy.
These tracks are mournful, droning, slow and relaxed. Light guitars, effects, keyboards, piano, strings and all manner of other instruments and sounds make appearances on this impressive album.
The songs presented here are wonderfully emotive and filled with feelings of darkness and hope intermingled. This is not a miserable album, this is one of darkened allure and ambitious scope.
Although this is an album of 8 tracks it could just as easily have been one long song as the tracks flow into each other and the entire album is a night-time journey into the mysterious and sublime.
Normally when bands take left-tuns like this it’s usually a misstep, but this is the work of a talented musician. This is a quality release by someone who knows what Neo-Classical should sound like and how it must progress and remain interesting to not bore the listener.
The sky at night has been shaped into an album of reflective beauty.
Unisonic are from Germany and this is their second album. They play Power Metal.
Confident and mature Power Metal floods the speakers when you play this album. It’s the product of absolute veterans who know their genre and know their roles. Even more importantly, however, they also know how to write good songs.
This is the kind of Power Metal that’s distinctly European in flavour and is powered by upbeat drums and high vocals provided by Michael Kiske of Helloween/etc. fame, no less. Also featuring other past members of bands such as Helloween, Gamma Ray, Pink Cream 69 and Krokus; you can see the calibre of the people involved in this project.
The vocals, as would be expected, are typically professional and flawlessly delivered. The choruses soar. The musicianship, also as would be expected, is tight and proficient. The sound is professional and slick, and nothing is left to chance.
For the most part the songs are in the 5 minute mark, with each track feeling like an epic-in-miniature. These are rocking, catchy tunes with highly memorable sections and hooks aplenty. In their competent hands, even the dreaded “power ballads”, (Blood, You and I), are handled well.
This is an album of greater depth than some might credit it with; on first listen it’s obviously highly accomplished and very good, but the more you listen the more the melodies seep into your consciousness and the more you want to listen to it. It’s downright addictive! The vocals in particular are deceptive. Michael Kiske is known for his exceptional voice of course, and Light of Dawn is no different, but the impressive thing is that there’s no showboating or ostentation with his voice; his talent is born from simply being a great singer and having a voice that flows smoothly like the finest wine.
Light of Dawn is an exemplar of the European Power Metal style. There are no surprises here but if you’re a fan of European Power Metal then there’s a wealth of treasure contained in this album.
Hailing from Italy, Haate is a one-man project playing Dark Ambient music.
What are your influences?
What can you tell us about the themes/story of the album?
After Collision’s barrage of ferocity The Rotted pound out Rotted Fucking Earth which is a d-beat Punk-esque song with a good sound.
Wonderbox Metal 