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March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Obituary – Left to Die EP (Candlelight Records)

Rejuvenated after their signing with Candlelight for last year’s Xecutioner’s Return album, long-running Florida death metallers Obituary hit us with another slab of no-frills death metal in the form of the Left To Die EP. Consisting of two songs , a Celtic Frost cover and a holdover from Xecutioner’s Return, the EP is designed a little treat to fans for their 2008 North American tour. Starting with “Forces Realign,” it appears Obituary is conten…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Intronaut – Prehistoricisms (Century Media Records)

Considered by many to be the band that holds up the progressive end of the metalgaze spectrum, Intronaut are still hovering around that area of proficiency manned by Isis, Cult of Luna, and Mouth of the Architect. 2006’s Void was a thorough effort, as was last year’s The Challenger EP, but Prehistoricisms isn’t going to be the album to vault Intronaut into that group. The band certainly has more pop than its contemporaries, evidenced by the throt…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Cradle of Filth – Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder (Roadrunner Records)

It’s somewhat remarkable how Dani Filth has kept this training rolling amidst constant lineup changes and focus shifts. Seriously, the band has yet to have the same lineup from album to album, but here they are, still hard-charging, a tad overblown, but still engaging those on the fringe of black metal and Goth. The follow up to 2006’s relatively tepid Thornography, Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder is as close to a return to form for COF as we’re …

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Caina – Temporary Antennae (Profound Lore Records)

The brainchild of one Andrew Curtis-Brignell, Caina is an elusive, daringly complex combo of black metal, post-rock, and experimental that is another in a long line of bands that have come to define the Profound Lore label. An album that certainly makes you work, Temporary Antennae is a body of work meant to be digested as a whole, for the intense sonic nature and hopeless dynamics Brignell spews forth are not easily comprehended at first pass. G…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

October Falls – The Womb of Primordial Nature (Moribund Records)

The career path of October Falls (the one-man project of Mikko Lehto) has taken the band from basic, somewhat unremarkable acoustic-driven folk metal to the more aggro, dense exploitation of epic melodic folk metal. Quite the string of adjectives there, but when it comes to defining the new approach of the project, it’s all-encompassing. Much like Wolves in The Throne Room’s monumental Two Hunters, The Womb of Primordial Nature is divided into fo…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

The Haunted – Versus (Century Media Records)

These post-Marco Aro, Dolving reunion albums from The Haunted are a tricky bunch. Not thrash, not metalcore, not Swedish death metal, these albums are either sink or swim it seems, and when the songs are there (see 2006’s quite good The Dead Eye), things are suave and edgy, but when they aren’t (2004’s mediocre rEVOLVEr), The Haunted come across as just yer regular post-thrash band trying everything not to be thrash, teetering closely to the meta…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Brave – Monuments (Independent Release)

[8.5/10] A perfect example that you don’t have to be signed to be good, long-running American female-fronted symphonic metallers Brave have taken the ‘ole independent plunge, producing an album in the form of Monuments that is every bit as good as their contemporaries and possibly better. A savvy, charming album from a veteran band, Monuments fails to tire, even when thrown against the glut of similar sounding bands . Purveying an upbeat, but dec…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Gojira – The Way of All Flesh (Prosthetic Records)

Expectations…they’ll kill ya. After spending the last two years in support of their monstrous From Mars to Sirius effort, French modern metallers Gojria return with an album decidedly less forceful and compelling in the form ofThe Way of All Flesh. While not a dud by any means, what we have is an album (and band) that simply has too much to live up to and with those set expectations, they’re going to let some people down. From purely an approach …

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Serenity – Fallen Sanctuary (Napalm Records)

It’s hardly a secret who Serenity is trying emulate and that’s fine, to be honest. Knock-off bands can sometimes produce some pretty strong material and for the sake of comparison, Fallen Sanctuary is more enjoyable than Sonata Arctica’s Unia, which is the basis of our comparison. Parlaying the poppy, uppity symphonic metal template that Tony Kakko and co. have popularized, Serenity are cut from the same cloth, falling right in line with those dr…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Cynic – Traced In Air (Season of Mist Records)

Bucking the trend of legendary prog/tech bands releasing one solitary album (see: Watchtower, Spiral Architect, et al), Florida’s Cynic return after 15 years with Traced In Air. The longevity and influence of 1993’s Focusis not something to be underestimated, and even though the band broke up barely a year after its release, Focus remains the quintessential progressive death metal album of the 90’s. Cynic circa 2008 consists of singer /guitarist …

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Destruction – D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. (Candlelight Records)

A fitting title given the state of the world, D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. is the fifth post-reunion Destruction effort and succeeds where 2005’s Inventor of Evil fails. Naturally, the band’s razor-sharp, polished thrash attack is in place, as the crystal-clear tones and song-oriented nature that has come to define modern Destruction runs amok through this 10 song platter, each with a songtitle starting with a letter to coincide with the album title. Nea…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Rotten Sound – Cycles (Spinefarm Records)

Long-running Finnish death metallers Rotten Sound aren’t ones for brevity. Considering the 18-song tracklisting for Cycles, it’s like the band crammed two albums into one, or wrote nine songs and doubled them. Or wrote 36 songs and cut them in half. Eh, not sure where we’re going with this one, but Cycles resides in that vaunted early 90’s Swedish death metal area, a zone that is occupied by a chosen few and when it’s performed with a deranged se…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Suidakra – 13 Years of Celtic Wartunes (Wacken Records)

Quite the busy year for Arkadius and the boys, with their stint on this year’s Paganfest and now the domestic release for the CD/DVD compilation, 13 Years of Celtic Wartunes now hitting the shelves. This scribe has always had a soft spot for these Germans, primarily due to their distinctive blend of melodic death metal and folk metal, a recipe that has yet to be equaled save for up-and-comers Eluveitie, so it wasn’t too much of a reach to rank th…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Anathema – Hindsight (KScope Music)

Oh Anathema, where have thou been? Little has been heard from the Anathema camp since 2003’s striking A Natural Disaster, save for some odd EP’s and DVD’s, but the back-tail of 2008 figures to be active with Hindsight and the forthcoming Horizons slated to be released in October. The wait should be worth it – Anathema has yet to disappoint. Consisting of re-worked acoustic versions of some of the band’s classic numbers, Hindsight is pure brillian…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Swallow the Sun – Plague of Butterflies EP (Spinefarm Records)

Having finally touched down on North American shores last year with Katatonia, Swallow the Sun remain at the helm of Finnish gloom and doom metal. 2007’s Hope was a lateral move after ‘05’s killer Ghosts of Loss album, with the band merely building upon their massive melodic doom template. Plague of Butterflies on the other hand, is an avant-garde, callous and cold EP, hopefully shedding light on what the band has in store for the future. Consist…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Evergrey – Torn (SPV)

Couldn’t see this one coming. 2006’s Monday Morning Apocalypse was a commercial and critical bomb, as Evergrey tried to clutch the brass ring and distance themselves from their progressive dark metal past. Considering the band is much more high-profile in Europe than they are in North America, the move set the band back on domestic shores a good five years, with the rebuilding effort beginning with Torn. Like a dozen bands before them, Torn is th…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Wetnurse – Invisible City (Seventh Rule Recordings)

Amidst the potpourri of disparate sounds, elements, and little ditties that make Invisible City a next-to-impossible album to classify, is an underlying Voivod influence, one that instantly made this scribe stand up, put down the Cheetos, and take heed. The hurky-jurky thrash section of “Not Your Choice” is maddening, as is the dissonant churn of opener “Conversations With the Moon” which sees lead howler Gene Fowler screech like a hyena, only to…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Mouth of the Architect – Quietly (Translation Loss)

We’re really starting to get hazy with all of this metalgaze stuff. For what Neurosis started and Cult of Luna and Isis picked up on is now being beaten to death by Rosetta, Ghost Brigade, and the band in question, Mouth of the Architect. Come to think of it, this little sub-segment of metal has only a few standout albums, and two of ‘em belong to Isis. And perhaps that’s become the biggest problem with metalgaze – things have officially grown to…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Nefastus Dies – Urban Cancer (Candlelight Records)

A red flag on this one went up almost immediately after learning members of Ion Dissonance were involved. Not to say ID is a bad band per se, but man, if Urban Cancer were to be loaded with “bree-bree” vocals, this thing probably would have gone flying into the street, with hopes that a garbage truck would run it over. Luckily for Nefastus Dies and the plastic this CD was printed on, ‘tis not the case. A whirling, sorta hazy blend of furious blac…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Metal Church – This Present Wasteland (SPV)

Album #3 with singer Ronny Munroe, This Present Wasteland harkens more to the workmanlike, uninteresting era of Metal Church than its exploratory, challenging efforts of yore. While 2006’s A Light in the Dark was pleasantly strong, This Present Wasteland kinda drifts by, with Metal Church sounding like its fairly comfortable playing it safe. Munroe has proven to be a viable commodity, although he’s given very little to work with save for the stro…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Into Eternity – The Incurable Tragedy (Century Media Records)

The now very-ubiquitous Into Eternity continue to steadily climb the ladder, going against the grain with a brand of cerebral and uncanny metal that is this close to catching on. 2006’s The Scattering of Ashes got plenty of airtime all over the place, as did the band’s ugly mugs while on tour with everyone from Megadeth to The Haunted, so the ramp-up to The Incurable Tragedy is immense, suffice it to say. A concept album detailing the tragic deat…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Soulfly – Conquer (Roadrunner Records)

As a former card-carrying member of the Sepultura Fan Club, this scribe’s affinity for Soulfly lasted about a week in 1998, as Fred Durst’s impotent raps on “Bleed” wore thin about as quickly as the tattooed buffoon’s hairline. The self-titled debut wasn’t really all that; same goes for the dismalPrimitive and Prophecy, and Max (and Sepultura) were left in the dust. Fast-forward a couple of years and it seems like Max has turned things around, st…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Hammerfall – Rebels With A Cause DVD (Nuclear Blast Records)

Hearing a lot from the Hammerfall camp these days, which is both a good and bad thing. Good, in the sense Rebels With A Cause is a pretty fun watch; bad because the band must, must be taken in small doses and the twin attack of this DVD and their recently released Masterpieces covers album doesn’t exactly keep the band out of the public eye. Featuring footage, videos and a full band interview, Rebels With A Causecharters Hammerfall from 2002 to 2…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Therion – Live Gothic (Nuclear Blast Records)

Not on the scale of 2006’s massive Celebrators of Becoming 4-DVD, 2-CD set, Live Gothic is scaled down to two discs and a DVD of the live show. Shot during the band’s Gothic Kaballah tour in early 2007 in Warsaw, Poland,Live Gothic serves as a fitting reminder of how well-stocked the band’s repertoire is, but also is the last salvo from what is arguably Therion’s finest lineup in their 20 year-plus history. If anything, this could serve as a veri…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Gorgoroth – Live in Grieghallen (Regain Records)

The legal troubles continue to pile up for Gorgoroth, which only serves to further distract its audience from releases like this. Most recently, it was decided in Swedish courts that all distribution and promotion of Live in Grieghallen be ceased due to the legal grappling over the band’s trademark, which now currently belongs to bassist King ov Hell and singer Gaahl, not founding member guitarist Infernus. The band’s label (Regain Records) hasn’…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

The Gates of Slumber – Conqueror (Profound Lore Records)

Like most bands of the classic stoner doom ilk, Chicago’s The Gates of Slumber suffer their fair share of indignities throughout this 60 minute-plus marathon. There are no surprises, the riffs have been recycled time and time again, and at various points, the album just loses steam. Yet, Conqueror is a winner, oddly enough. For all of its negative aspects (which no one playing stoner doom seems willing to rectify), Conqueror emerges as one of tho…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Venom – Hell (Sanctuary Records)

Hell sounds like a mess, naturally. It’s Venom we’re talking about and if the band were to ever take a second to compose themselves on a musical level, it wouldn’t be Venom, right? The follow-up to 2006’s hardly impressiveAntechrist, Hell is surprisingly good in spots, with the band’s legendary overt, totally unpolished approach still holding strong after all of these years. Singer/bassist Cronos remains the only original member, with drummer Ant…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Children of Bodom – Hatecrew Deathroll Reissue (Spinefarm)

Originally released in 2003 and now getting a fresh lease of life through Spinefarm UK’s series of reissues comes Children Of Bodom’s Hate Crew Deathroll The album which took them to number one in their native Finland and brought them to the attention of the world at large. Hate Crew Deathroll was the record which started the Bodom boys (although in some photos you could find yourself questioning whether they’re all male) on the road to where the…

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Kalmah – For the Revolution (Spikefarm)

One of the true underrated gems of this decade has to be Kalmah’s 2002 effort, They Will Return, a delicious slab of hyper-Bodom melodic death metal, amplified with seismic hooks, scorching leads, and gorgeous guitar melodies that simply would not quit. For a brief time, the Finns were backed by Century Media domestically, only to have the union cease after 2003’s above-average Swampsong album. 2006’s The Black Waltz was slightly worse for wear, …

March 15th, 2013 Reviews

Motorhead – Motorizer (SPV Records)

Christ, album #24 for Lemmy and co. Pretty impressive on all fronts, especially in terms of quality, as there really isn’t a dud Motorhead album that everyone dislikes ala Turbo or Load. Their first proper release for SPV, Motorizer is a slab of purely enjoyable hard-rocking tunes that totally support the idea that Motorhead is showing no signs of slowing down with age. The band’s formula of quick, punchy numbers is once again in top form, as num…

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