Symphonic metal – Page 6 – Wonderbox Metal

Return To Innocence – The Ring of Moon (Review)

Return To Innocence are a Czech band that play a mix of Death, Heavy/Power and Symphonic Black Metal.

After a classical intro the band burst out of the speakers with blastbeats, aggression and epic keyboard backing. The orchestral accompaniment to the songs is cinematic and heavy, but not overbearing. They symphonic effects are wielded as an extra instrument and made full use of; rather than being mere additions to the songs they are an integral part.

The singer growls and rips his way through the songs, sparing time for the occasional high-pitched shriek. That’s when he’s not putting in a characterful performance with his semi-clean vocals which lend an air of European Metal to some of the songs; Tristan’s Dream is a perfect example of this. We are also treated to operatic vocals such as the ones on Blood Related and female vocals make an appearance too. A good variety of content is important, and the vocal contributions to the album certainly deliver this.

The music is based on a solid foundation of Death Metal, supercharged with Symphonic Black Metal and then infused with a good Heavy/Power Metal influence on some of the riffs and arrangements. The songs keep things interesting and the attention doesn’t wane for the 40 minutes that the album runs.

A solid release from a long serving band who have a clear vision of what they want to achieve and the talent and skill to realise it. I suggest you give this a go as it’s well worth the listen.

Endemise – Far From The Light (Review)

This is Canadian Death-infused Black Metal from Endemise and this is their second album.

The band combine the heaviness and brutality of Death Metal with the Blackened atmosphere and symphonics of a band like Dimmu Borgir. Alternatively; imagine a band like Behemoth; now tone down the Death Metal and increase the presence of keyboards – you’re now in the right area that Endemise inhabit. Bands like Alghazanth and Gloria Morti are also good examples.

The songs manage to weave in between these two genres with ease, although they stray mainly into Black Metal territory for most of the album. They might be blasting away full of fury before a keyboard flourish changes their tack and all of a sudden they’re going all grandiose and orchestrated.

True to the rest of the album the vocals fluctuate between high-pitched shrieks and lower growls.

Although a little rough around the edges in places this is an enjoyable album with a few really good moments that they can build on for the next release.

Markradonn – Final Dying Breath (Review)

US band Markradonn unleash Final Dying Breath on an unsuspecting public that may not be ready for them, unusual that they are. But that can only be a good thing. In an age where so many bands sound the same individuality is hard to come by.

So, how to classify this…? Elements of Black Metal, Death Metal and horns all mixed up together. Symphonic Extreme Metal, but probably not in quite the way you’d expect. Like an Extreme Metal Therion only without the theatrics and operatics. There’s no cheese here – think less symphonic Black Metal and think more the start of Rameses Bringer of War by Nile. This is the territory we’re treading. The band themselves term it Experimental Atmospheric Metal Musical Expression and I think that’s as good as anything else.

Each song has its own atmosphere and a feeling of grandeur is strong on this EP. Each track feels like it’s heralding in some mythic event, or some majestic victory. Music for a glorious Metal triumph where the legions of the False Metal Gods lie vanquished and only the True Metal Pantheon remains. These songs are resplendent in Wagnerian pomp and bluster, crystallised in a hard Metal exterior.

The recording on this EP is functional but with access to a more expansive and complete sound I can only imagine how this band can soar. I’m really interested in what a full album would bring for Markradonn, especially if given complete freedom and resources to create even longer and more epic tracks than what we already have here.

Get into this band now while no-one knows who they are. Then years from now you can legitimately boast how you’ve “always been into Markradonn”. I think they will be worth the investment.