This is the eighth album from Norwegian symphonic/Gothic metallers Sirenia.
After being around for a good 15 years now, Sirenia know a thing or two about the style they play. Largely held in high regard for their symphonic/Gothic metal, they’re back once more with what is, I think, one of their Continue reading “Sirenia – Dim Days of Dolor (Review)”
This is the debut album of Italian symphonic metal band Oniricide.
Oniricide ostensibly play Nightwish-inspired symphonic metal, but there’s more than just this going on here. The music here has a nice, earthy feel to it that reminds me of some doom metal bands as much as symphonic/melodic ones.
The Nightwish influence is only a starting point, as Continue reading “Oniricide – Revenge of Souls (Review)”
Karnak Seti are from Portugal and play melodic/groove metal. This is their third album.
The Distance That Made Us Cold is an album that bursts out of the speakers with a strong and confident sound, polished to perfection but not lacking in some underground grit when the songs need it. Continue reading “Karnak Seti – The Distance That Made Us Cold (Review)”
Grimner 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.
Synthetic are a Metal band from the UK and this is their début album.
This is modern melodic Metal that features a EuroMetal style with aspects of Scandinavian melodeth. There’s a bit more depth involved to these songs than you might expect from the description, however, as the band also incorporate elements of classic and progressive Metal, allowing them to stand out from the pack a bit more than the average proponent of this type of music. Continue reading “Synthetic – Here Lies the Truth (Review)”
This is the début album from Canadian Metal band Gottweist.
Gottweist’s music is somewhere between the classic Iron Maiden-influenced Metal style and a more modern one, as played by bands like Killswitch Engage, Bullet for My Valentine, As I Lay Dying, Atreyu and the like. The balance is weighted towards the latter, but the former has enough of a presence to give Future Is in Our Hands more impact than is normal for a band like this.
The album features a bright sparkly sound that might not be quite as polished as those aforementioned groups, but still works in concert with the songs themselves to present a band who clearly have a passion and energy for what they do.
The singer’s voice is melodic and smooth, backed by the odd shout or harsher vocal. The Heavy Metal influence counteracts the more modern Metalcore one in various ways, one of the more notable being the fact that the harsh vocals are very much in the minority here, whereas normally it’s the other way around, with cleans usually being restricted to radio-friendly choruses. Gottweist go the other, less-usual route; the majority of the vocals on this release are sung, and when harsher ones do appear they typically back up the cleans on the choruses.
Leads and solos are used well, adding much to the hearty songs and catchy melodies. Indeed, there’s so much enthusiasm here that it’s hard to feel jaded and dislike what the band are doing, (unless you’re just not into this kind of thing, of course).
All of the above results in an enjoyable and slightly different take on the more commercial side of melodic Metal/Metalcore. I have enjoyed their slightly-atypical spin on the modern Metalcore sound; with the traditional Heavy Metal aspects of their delivery lending a bit more depth and longevity to the music than is typical for a band of this ilk.
Given the right backing and exposure, as well as a bigger production and a slightly more adventurous songwriting outlook, Future Is in Our Hands might actually be potentially quite prophetic for their next album.
Check this out.
A Melodic Metal release with real bite and attitude? Enter Aktaion’s début album, Throne. It’s an album that makes a mark and will rightfully be giving the band some deserved exposure. It’s time to find out a bit more about the band…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Francis: We are four individuals from Halmstad, Sweden. A medium sized city in Halmstad, known for being the home of Roxette and Arch Enemy among other things. We are:
Me, Francis Larsson, on guitars and most of the writing and anything production-wise.
Jonas Snäckmark, vocals and some beautiful screaming!
Axel Croné, bass and anything that you need to blow into.
Jonatan Ney, guitars and backing vocals.
Give us a bit of background to Aktaion
Francis: Aktaion as it is today was together under another banner in 2010-2013 where a lot of the playing and writing for Throne took place. With the release of Throne in 2015 we wanted to reform as Aktaion, without much changing except the attitude towards the band and music! This is why you will find us referencing to the “early days” of us in the group playing together before Aktaion was formed.
Where did the name come from?
Francis: While recording vocals for Seven in the current home of Axel we were in the process of finding a name for the band. While warming up I picked up a big book which contained myths and symbols from different cultures and almost at the first page I came across Aktaion and we felt at home right away. Aktaion is the Swedish version of Actaeon, the ancient myth of a hunter who comes across Artemis in the woods, bathing naked. Actaeon is therefore to be turned into a stag by Artemis if he is to speak again. He speaks and is then devoured by his dogs.
What are your influences?
Francis: I find inspiration almost everywhere. I listen a lot to non-metal like Ulver, Swedish Bo Kaspers Orkester. But of course I also listen to some metal, lately a lot of Pantera and Soilwork, which I discovered a couple of months ago. Always in for some Machine Head or Baroness and some Arch Enemy, especially their older records.
Jonas: Zappa, Lamb of god, At the gates, Primus and Gojira.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Francis: Except all of our new songs, all the time, all day… I listen to the latest Bo Kaspers Orkester. And of course all the classic Christmas songs.
Jonas: Son of Mr. Green Genes – Zappa, great track with a great flow that suits every situation of the day. And Moral in Corrosion – Construcdead, great song with impeccable refrain!
Give us a bit of background to Throne – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?
Francis: As of a unified concept for all the songs on Throne, no! Those songs are truly “old” for us now. I started writing some of them as early as 2010 and the last one was finished by 2012-2013 and finally released in 2015. There is quite a span of time between that. In writing the lyrics I always have some kind of a vision ranging from destruction by nuclear war to critique towards faith in general.
This differs quite radically from our upcoming album where there is a strong concept behind the whole album and I strive to bring a strong connection not only in the music itself but also throughout the lyrics of the whole album.
How do you go about writing your songs?
Francis: Wow this really changed through the years. For Throne the songs were mainly written with the help of Guitar Pro 5. In the recording the guitars a lot of the parts and riffs changed and then with adding the vocals they could change yet again. Very few of the songs were played together as a band and written in the moment. Almost always I would bring complete songs into the rehearsals.
Nowadays I mostly write directly into Pro Tools through the Kemper. With the help of Addictive Drums the songs grow through the movement of the guitars which forms the base of all the songs. With us not doing any rehearsal now our first encounter with the songs are while recording them.
Was it important to you to keep a high-level of aggression on these songs?
Francis: Yes, and yes. In a lot of ways that is a must! Either there is a chorus, an aggressive build up or pure aggression. I always strive to make the riffs and music themselves stand alone in delivering aggression and power, and then the vocals just add to that base I tried to establish.
How did the recording process go?
The recording process of Throne was long. Years. Not because it needed it but because we did not know what we were doing in the beginning. In the early days Jonatan played keyboard in the band. So the first version of Throne (say 2011) was quite different from the finished product you hear now. Then came a long process of trying to make the record sound anything like a record and periods of not even thinking about it. For some reason (quality based) we re-recorded the guitars and bass in 2014 with Jonatan changing to guitar and therefore re-recording most of the keyboards parts with the guitar. I found that the sound the songs needed came through much better without the keyboards in between everything. It got a much rawer sound which the songs really thrive in. Then in the summer of 2015 I came to a point when I though we need to get out of this prison so I got the logo for the album, released it and felt freedom. Then my life opened up again and I and the band realized our music is fun! Which is very much the reason why we are working towards our new album right now!
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Francis: Hard to pick one, I have a real love/hate relationship with each and every one of them. Nothing really beats the chorus at the end of The Disease but that special song for me is M.A.D!
Jonas: Thousands, just because it gives everyone a chance to show off the skills and mindset of the band, although I love Prison Walls, Thousands gives so much with its complexity and nuance.
What does the future hold for Aktaion?
Francis: Right now we are deep into writing and recording our next album The Parade Of Nature. We just released our first single of it called ‘Seven’. It is quite a ripper and does not hold anything back, even in some ways go from the classic down-tempo-choruses-trend we heard on Throne. There will be more of that on the album as a whole but this song sets the bar for what Parade is all about.
The Parade Of Nature will be released early 2016 and then we are hitting the road in the last two weeks of March for several dates in Sweden and Finland, together with Finland’s own Coraxo. We are looking into mainland of Europe for June!
This is the second album from Finnish Progressive Metallers Standing Ovation.
At 62 minutes in length and featuring lofty concepts, this has Progressive Metal stamped all over it.
It’s a multifaceted release with plenty of variety of delivery throughout; everything from straight-ahead rockers to slower, more considered ballad-esque types to full-blown 18 minute Progressive workouts. It’s all wrapped up in the band’s own Metal framework, of course, but I like the fact that each song basically has its own character and personality.
There’s clearly a lot of talent and skill on this album; both the musicianship and songwriting are of a very high standard. With plenty of leads and solos, and not just by the guitars, this album has a lot to get your teeth into. This would be nothing without songs though, but thankfully there’s plenty of those.
The singer has a versatile voice that, like the music, is used in a great variety of ways throughout the album. He manages to sing in many different styles, including adding a theatrical or dramatic edge when needed.
The songs drip quite easily onto the palette, and despite the quality musicianship there’s little here to put off prospective listeners, (assuming they like the style in the first place). The mix of Melodic Metal and Progressive Metal is well-judged with the former supplying an immediate hit of catchiness and the latter allowing the band room to explore and add depth to the songs.
The album gives the impression of a vast melodic journey into far-flung worlds with these songs as the guides. It’s a very impressive and enjoyable release and I urge you to check it out.
Good songs, well played. Recommended.
This is the début album by Swedish Metal band Aktaion.
This is sharp Melodic Metal that combines high-energy aggressive Melodic Death Metal with more restrained and emotive choruses. Elements of Thrash and Progressive Metal also raise their heads, (only to bang them all the harder). Continue reading “Aktaion – Throne (Review)”
Crimson Sun are a Finnish Heavy Metal band and this is their début album.
This is Modern Melodic Metal with a nice heavy sound and added keyboards. An Electronica influence is included to add flavour to the sound, as well as a few Djent-isms here and there.
The songs are catchy and full of hooks and memorable melodies. A band like this is all about the songs and Crimson Sun have some good ones here. Psuedo-Classical and Electronica-tinged keyboards add another layer to the songs and there’s a lot of meat here to get your teeth into. There’s even the odd guitar solo, which I always appreciate.
In addition to these elements though the band also need a good singer to pull everything off. Thankfully they seem to have found one; her voice is a nice combination of the powerful and the melodic, adding a formidable presence to the songs.
I like that there’s actually a bit of bite and substance to the guitars, as frequently in these kind of bands they tend to play second fiddle to the vocals so much that they almost become afterthoughts. In this way, Crimson Sun remind me of Jaded Star; both bands have a decent guitar presence and both sound like real bands and not some commercially fabricated female-fronted hit machine, or something.
Having said that though, it’s not as if any number of these songs couldn’t be a hit. With the right exposure, the right video, etc.; Crimson Sun clearly have what it takes to succeed.
Melodic Metal played well, written well and performed well. Unless you’re allergic to the style then there’s nothing to not like. Towards the Light is a strong album full of strong songs.
Wonderbox Metal 