This is the debut album from dark rock band Cemetery Skyline.
Boasting current/ex-members of bands such as Amorphis, Grand Cadaver, Dark Tranquillity, Entombed A.D., The Halo Effect, Insomnium, Malpractice, Sentenced, and Witchery, a lot of experience and skill has gone into the making of Nordic Gothic. Cemetery Skyline use their experience well, forging a 49-minute album the combines dark and melodic rock with Gothic flair. Continue reading “Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic (Review)”
The Crawling are a death/doom band from Northern Ireland and this is their third album.
The promo blurb for this album recommends it for fans of Paradise Lost, Officium Triste, Evoken, and Sentenced, which gives a decent starting point for what sort of style The Crawling play. To this I’d also add touches of My Dying Bride and, from a Continue reading “The Crawling – All of This for Nothing (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Italian doom metal band Shores of Null.
I thoroughly enjoyed 2020’s single track album Beyond the Shores (on Death and Dying), so knew that I wanted to catch up with The Loss of Beauty when it appeared. Unlike its predecessor, this new album is divided into individual tracks, and delivers 55 minutes of material, (or 49 minutes without the bonus tracks). Continue reading “Shores of Null – The Loss of Beauty (Review)”
Kuolemanlaakso are a Gothic metal band from Finland and this is their latest EP.
I thoroughly enjoyed Kuusumu from earlier in the year, so it’s pleasing – yet surprising – to have a new EP so soon. Apparently these songs were recorded at the same time as Kuusumu though, and in the words of the band, “We knew already when entering the studio that we’re going to record more than an album, as we had plenty of material to work on. Continue reading “Kuolemanlaakso – Kuolleiden Laulu (Review)”
Kuolemanlaakso are a Gothic metal band from Finland and this is their third album.
Featuring the singer of Swallow the Sun, Kuusumu contains 47 minutes of polished, professional material. For a starting reference point think of a band like Paradise Lost, and then add in elements of acts such as My Dying Bride, Sentenced, Barren Earth, Amorphis, and Orphaned Land; this will give you a rough idea of where Kuolemanlaakso’s talents lie. Continue reading “Kuolemanlaakso – Kuusumu (Review)”
This is the second album from Drift into Black, a solo, (with guest musicians), death/doom metal act from the US.
Anthems from the Darkest Winter contains 56 minutes of material, (including a Pink Floyd cover). The music mixes death, doom, and Gothic metal together into songs that have a good balance between all three strains of heaviness. Continue reading “Drift into Black – Anthems from the Darkest Winter (Review)”
This is the debut EP from Gothic metallers Vetrar Draugurinn, who are from the Netherlands.
Featuring current and ex-members of bands such as Stream of Passion, The Saturnine, and Autumn, this new band brings a wealth of experience to the table, showing a maturity and professionalism that you’d expect from such accomplished artists. Continue reading “Vetrar Draugurinn – I (Review)”
Maloic are an Indian death metal band and this is their debut album.
This is melodic death metal with folk elements. Featuring influences from traditional Indian music, Maloic are reminiscent of the early/mid 90s death metal era, where bands were experimenting with the core genre to include wider styles. Continue reading “Maloic – Death (Review)”
This is the second album from Nightfall, a US Death/Doom Metal band.
This is the follow up to their 2014 début album The Living Ever Mourn, which was a very enjoyable album of Death/Doom. Darkness Evermore continues their brand of Old-School Death Metal that has a large Doom influence, this time resulting in songs that are longer and more mournful than their first release.
The darkened atmosphere from their début has been expanded upon and fleshed out with more ambition in Darkness Evermore. The essential style of the band is the same, but the melodies are bolder, the emotions heightened, the Doom deeper and the darkness more palpable. This is The Living Ever Mourn 2.0, in the sense that they have improved upon and refined their original formula, which was already pretty damn good to begin with.
The riffs are highly emotive and continue to draw on the wellspring of fertile inspiration that bands such as Dismember, Sentenced, Paradise Lost, Amon Amarth, My Dying Bride, etc. have all drawn from for their powerful guitars and melodies.
These tracks are involving and paint a heady picture of a strange, underworld landscape for the listener to become entranced with.
The Death Metal base is complemented extremely well by the Doom influence, reminding me of the amazing début by Temple of Void; both bands know how to create emotive Metal atmospheres without losing their Death Metal core.
It’s not all slow dirges either, as there’s enough upbeat material here to provide good variety. These parts are still done in a gloomy way though, and they even have a Blackened feel on occasion; there’s a noticeably larger Black Metal influence in general on Darkness Evermore in fact.
Nightfell have successfully followed up their strong début album with an ever stronger second one. Check this out.
The 69 Eyes are from Finland and play Gothic Rock.
This is a pretty epic Best Of album, spanning 28 tracks across 25 years. Most bands will never be that prolific.
I haven’t actually heard The 69 Eyes before but they’re certainly a band I’ve been aware of.
As is the case with Best Of albums like this it’s essentially a greatest hits package, and the quality of the songs reflect this.
It shows a remarkable consistency over the band’s long career. Times, style and fortunes may shift and change, but a good song is a good song regardless.
These are catchy, memorable, Gothic-infused Rock songs with personality and choruses aplenty.
The singer has that kind of deep, charismatic voice that is essential for this kind of music and it’s easy to see why he has captivated so many hearts over the decades with his vocal performance.
There is a lot of music on this release, almost 2 hours in total. But even given the constraints of the genre there’s a decent amount of variety here, with everything from up-tempo rockers, moody slower songs and outright ballads getting a chance to shine. The band have suffered no shortage of inspiration over the years, that’s apparent.
From my own point of reference, they combine elements of HIM, Ashbury Heights, Mono Inc., Paradise Lost, Tiamat, Type O Negative, Moonspell and Sentenced; although I’m well aware that it’s probably the other way around in reality.
With such a wealth of riches in one package, if this is your kind of music then it’s hard to go wrong with The Best of Helsinki Vampires.
I’m sold. Sign me up.
Wonderbox Metal 