Tourniquet - Gazing At Meduza (CD Review)

01. Sinister Scherzo
02. Longing for Gondwanaland
03. Memento Mori
04. All Good Things Died Here
05. The Crushing Weight of Eternity
06. The Peaceful Beauty of Brutal Justice
07. Can’t Make Me Hate You
08. One Foot in Forever
09. Gazing at Medusa

Tim Ripper Owens (Vocals)
Chris Poland (Lead Guitar)
Aaron Guerra (Guitar/Vocals)
Ted Kirkpatrick (Drums/Bass)

Guest:
Deen Castronovo (Lead Vocals on title track)

Tourniquet was formed in Los Angeles in 1990. Nine full length studio albums later, (plus EP's, live album, acoustic release) the members of Tourniquet remain committed to creating intense music.
Co-founder, drummer, main songwriter, and mastermind Ted Kirkpatrick’s passion for classical music and technical metal lead to the music described as “Beethoven Meets Frankenstein”.

Many musicians have graced Tourniquet albums – including guitarists Marty Friedman, Frank Marino, Pat Travers, Chris Poland, Karl Sanders (Nile), Scotti Hill (Skid Row), and Bruce Franklin (Trouble).
Vocalists include Chris Jericho (Fozzy), Tim Ripper Owens (ex-Judas Priest), Michael Sweet (Stryper, ex Boston), Dug Pinnick (King's X), and Corey Glover (Living Colour).
Due to the classical nature of the music, members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra have made contributions.

The latest album, which was successfully funded by the band’s ultra-loyal fan base, features vocals by Tim Ripper Owens (ex- Judas Priest, ex-Iced Earth) and lead guitar by Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth, OHM). The title track has guest vocals by Deen Castronovo (ex-Journey, GZR).

I confess to not being aware of this band before, when it arrived from the PR people, I was a little bit put off by the lengthy biography and was of the opinion that I was about to listen to some technical power metal album loaded with Christian themes, something which I have very little time for.

I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the kind of overblown twaddle that has been killed by over production and endless bloody technical guitar work.

No, in fact this is a full on heavy metal assault, almost retro in sound, though with a superb and crisp modern production.
Very much driven by numerous timing changes and stunning drumming that retains perfect rhythm and brutality in equal measure.

To the vocals, well lets face it Ripper Owens can scream out with the best of them and here his vocal prowess is utilised to perfection, some great multi tracking and backing vocals also add to the overall majesty of the performance.

Guitar playing, a bit technical in places, but at least this has “Soul” it is not that cold and flash “look at me aren’t I clever” but more we are here to play and we mean business.

The songs are at times anthemic, symphonic and progressive but most of all it’s a superb heavy metal album, something which is getting harder to find these days.

Rating 9/10
For fans of: Iced Earth, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Queensryche, EdGuy

EHFAR - Everything Happens For A Reason (CD Review)

EHFAR – Everything Happens For A Reason

01. Shout My Name
02. Night After Night
03. A Man Behind The Mask
04. Dead End Track
05. Once Upon A Time
06. Someone Save Me
07. Victims
08. Masters Of Hypocrisy
09. Losing You


Titta Tani (Vocals)
Emiliano Tessitore (Guitars)
Matteo Dondi (Bass)
Andrea Gianangeli (Drums)

With conflicting information as to who exactly is playing on this album and a lack of any detailed information in the press release I am just going to assume that the given band members (as listed above) were also on the album.
I say that because from the brief press release it implies a different set of musicians.

Formed as a solo project for song writer, drummer and singer Titta at the beginning of the year in Italy.
He wanted to create his personal project as a way of bringing you in a journey into his deep thoughts.
Titta decide to invite guitarist Emiliano Tessitore to lay down “stunning solos and amazing rhythms”.
Acoustic guitar was provided by Alex "Lex" Tricarico.
Bass was recorded by Alberto Rigoni and drums recorded by Denis "Denzi" Novello.
Oliver Hartmann of ‘Avantasia’ joined Titta on the song ‘A Man Behind The Mask’.

Now the only reason I accepted this promo from their record company was because the words Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin were very much at the top of the information, at least they got that bit right, though they could have mentioned that Titta also played in ‘Daemonia’.

Anyway enough of my grumbling about poor press releases and let me hit the play button.

Quiet a mix of styles, the opening track is fairly standard ‘Power Metal’ plenty of technical stuff going on and harmonic vocals.
Track number two ‘Night After Night’ is altogether a much darker affair, near industrial/gothic metal in fact, growling vocals and heavy drums really drive this one.

After this we seem to return to this melodic power/progressive metal meets bon jovi sound, plenty of quality playing and very rich in production, but honestly not my kinda music.

I am disappointed I was hoping for something a bit darker, an albums worth of ‘Night After Night’, would have been just perfect.

Rating 5/10
For Fans Of:  Avantasia, Ashent, Kamelot, Mob Rules, Symphony X

The Day Of Locusts - From The Gutter To The Gods (CD Review)

01.MMXV
02.Beyond The Zero
03.Misery Swallowed Whole
04.Through The Eyes Of Daedalus
05.Apokalypsis
06.And The Wages Of Sin Is Death
07.War Nam Nihadan
08.Damnation Of Memory

Simon Neill (Guitar/Vocals)
Leon Heinimann (Bass)
Dave Guy (Drums)

Hailing from London and loaded with Molten sludge riffs, neurotic time signatures and layers of heaviness.
The band back first came tgether in 2008 when Dave from 'Kopperhed' joined with Simon and Leon from 'Living with Disfigurement', after initial sessions and gigs they went into the studios in June 2010.

Metal and mania crafting entailed and early in 2011 'Ascent, Fire, Failure & Blood' was released to an unsuspecting public and recieved a 10/10 review from me (day-of-locusts-ascent-fire-failure).

Since then they have gone from strength to strength playing all over europe with their amazing mix of Prog and Doom/Sludge described as a mixture of Pink Floyd and Crowbar.

What initally sounds like a soundtrack from a movie quikly turns into something much darker, has to be said that 'MMXV' with its infectious drum pattern starts to build into this brooding and raw song, no vocals however, just a very cold spoken passage about the "intoxication of power".

Up next is the raw and powerful 'Beyond The Zero' a twelve minute sludge/doom monster with tortured vocals and never ending punchy guitar chords, each matched by a huge drum hit and flowing basslines. Then just as it seems to build we are treated to some beautiful acoustic guitar and laid back melodic music comes in waves through the speakers, only to be interrupted by a powerchord that kills speakers and a return to the sludge/doom, which at times borders on early death metal rhythms as well.

'Misery Swallowed Whole' offers a different sound, almost symphonic to start with with more excellent acoustic guitar this starts to have a progressive feel and at fourteen minutes long and just two minutes into it we have had a timing change and now some pretty agressive guitar riffs and vocal.
As the song progresses the rhythms change whilst retaining that solid guitar sound, the dual effect creating this amazing "big" sound, until it changes again and goes quiet.
Melodic almost jazz timing with the drums and punchy basswork melt into this almost proto thrash sound and then finally a relaxing and laid back finale.

Stunning mix of folk and prog kick off 'Through The Eyes Of Daedalus', such harmony on the vocals i am lulled into this laid back sound, then the noisey buggers go and get all heavy and agressive!
But the superb folk/prog harmony and music returns, they seriously do this style very well and towards the end manage to cleverly blend it all together.

'Apokalypsis' is more folk/prog, this one is just an instrumental, nothing short of superb, brilliant production brings the guitars to this near etherial level, but as i have now come to expect they never keep you relaxed for long and totally blast the braincells with 'And The Wages Of Sin Is Death' the nearest they have come to a proto thrash/death metal song, full on riffs and screaming vocals and some interesting effects with backing vocals as well.

'War Nam Nihadan' is a weird little piece, not sure if the sounds are made by a synth or guitar pedals, very trippy and un-nerving and goes straight into the final fourteen minutes with 'Damnation Of Memory'.
This one has everything in it, starting with amazing pink floyd style guitarwork over laid back drum patterns, just perfect, then comes the agression complete with elements of almost every sub genre of heavy metal from doom to black and beyond, all the time keeping this progressive background, harmony backing vocals and near orchestration. Then kicks in a new drum rhythm and powerchords and a blackend death monster appears, this then flows so well into another floydish guitar riff, which in turn gives way once more to heavy powerchords and crunching rhythms.
We end the song as we began with another cold spoken piece, bringing to a close one of the most accomplished albums i have heard this year.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Melvins, Cathedral, Reverend Bizzare, Triptykon, Mastodon, Crowbar, Eyehategod

Simulacrum - Sky Divided (CD Review)

01.Timelapse
02.Behind The Belt Of Orion
03.Broken
04.Embrace The Animal Within
05.Deep In The Trenches
06.The Abomination
07.Sky Divided
08.Enter Hyperion
09.A New Beginning


Niklas (Vocals)
Chrism (Keyboards)
Solomon (Guitar)
Petri (Guitar)
Olli (Bass)
Henri (Drums)

Progressive metal band formed in 2000 from Finland.
Their latest album has the story and visual style of the interests of composer/keyboardist Chrism and lyricist/singer Niklas.

The band say "We have grown-up in a world of Sci-Fi literature, computer games and movies and we wanted to create a package that pays homage to these childhood influences. Mad Max, War of the Worlds, Fahrenheit 451, the Fallout game series and Alien are all titles that are concidered classics and have influenced the album's thematics."

It may have a symphonic almost movie sountrack intro but 'Timelapse' builds up the agression with some soild technical drum patterns which continue into 'Behind The Belt Of Orion'. This has some superb keyboard work blended with the post industrial metal sounds of bands like Fear Factory. As this song progresses it manages to blend speed metal with neo-prog and classic power metal riffs, all this is rounded by a huge vocal presence.


Slow pounding riffs on 'Broken' create a menacing backing to a dark vocal performance.
What you dont expect, but works really well is the saxaphone that appears during the song giving this a great jazzy edge.

'Embrace The Animal Within' is pretty straight forward, except for the keyboards which remain the star once again.

Some of those thrash/speed metal moments on 'Deep In The Trenches', also some outstanding orchestration on the synth.

Up next a ten minute epic called 'The Abomination', this one has everything in it, some clever timing and mood changes. Again, sorry but it has to be said, the keyboard playing is just amazing.

This time it's the guitarwork and drumming that takes centre stage on 'Sky Divided'. Endless technical riffs, but with passion and some very heavy and agressive drumming.

'Enter Hyperion' is another full on prog monster that edges towards speed metal at times, some great effects on the production and on this one the bass playing plays havoc with the speakers.
Some great technical interaction between keyboards and drums and another soaring vocal performance.

As if all that wasn't enough we get 'A New Beginning' coming in at fourteen minutes.
Some old school keyboards that ahrken back to 1970's prog and the band match the vibe to perfection, its only the drum style that lets you know this is not 1975!

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Pyogenesis, Yes, Asia, Solstice Coil, TesseracT, Fear Factory

Antagonist Zero - No Tears (CD Review)

01.No Tears
02.Profound Oblivion
03.Suru
04.Missä Muruseni On
05.The Lachrymal Sleep


Ben Pakarinen (Guitar/Vocals)
Juho Suokas (Guitar)
Jussi Ruokolainen (Drums)
Fredde Sjöblom (Bass)
Ville Siikamäki (Vocals)

No Tears consists of five songs: three originals and two covers. The originals are a harbinger of an upcoming full-length album, demonstrating new elements in Antagonist Zero's music - such as the title track’s this-will-get-stuck-in-your-head riffs, Profound Oblivion’s wrecking ball groove and Suru, which is sung completely in Finnish. The two cover songs are familiar to listeners from the band's live shows: Doom:VS's melodic doom suits the band like a glove in the form of 'The Lachrymal Sleep', while 'Missä muruseni on'is by Finnish pop queen Jenni Vartiainen.


'No Tears' is a nine minute melodic doom influenced song, full of melody and some nice tempo changes. to start with the vocals are a harsh growl and slightly off putting, but the style changes to clean vocal as the song progresses and sounds much better.

Now 'Profound Oblivian' is a slightly heavier song, driven by punchy chords and rhythmic drumming, very ,elodic and well produced but again for me the harsh vocal style does not fit.

The next song 'Suru' however is just right, sweeping melodic and well sung vocals, beautiful layers created with the music. Slow, brooding with a gothic tinge.

Very catchy riff on 'Missa Muruseni On', the vocal style reminds me of a folk/metal style, i suppose if i knew the original i would know just how much they have changed the song to suit them, but whatever it is good.

Finally 'The Lachrymal Sleep' and again a descent cover, well sung and produced.

Rating 8/10
For fans of: Katatonia, Opeth, Draconian, Tiamat, (early) Anathema

Vidian - Transgressing the Horizon (CD Review)

01.Control
02.Overdose
03.A Sad Place For Hopeless People
04.Breathe Out
05.It's Like It Cannot Be Broken
06.Temporary Life
07.Transgressing
08.The Horizon



Szymon Brazkiewicz (Vocals)
Adam Borys (Guitar)
Maciej Brzezinski (Drums)
Arkadiusz Orlowski (Guitar)
Aleksander Ziólkowski (Bass)

Polish metal band formed in 2008.
Cant tell you anymore as the bio supplied was in polish and there is no information on their facebook page.

Okay err, right. So we start with 'Control' a song of seven minutes that starts with near silence and the some strange distorted effects, then it blasts into some death metal meets metalcore riffs and screams and then goes "Lounge" with what sounds like trumpets and piano! I kid you not this is strange shit, then goes back to heavy and then some more piano.
No mention as to who is playing these instruments or if they are sampled from some early 1970's MOR collection.

'Overdose' seems to be a very rhythmic alsmost jazz/metal hybrid with agressive vocals and the next song after a slow start is fairly standard metalcore.

Up next is 'Breathe Out', what seems another standard song soon displays other influences, again you can detect some jazz rhythms and then comes some backing vocals that creates the kind of epic chorus' from the like of Turisas.

Mixing up everything from Doom to Nu-Metal, great backing vocals and delivered with measured anger.

'Temporary Life' has a laid back and melodic introduction, goes on for a while and just when you think they are throwing in another curve ball the metal is unleashed!

'Transgressing' and 'The Horizon' although they are laid down as two seperate songs they are essentially one song and this creates a massive and superb seventeen minute epic.
Starting with a slow and ambient intro and then launching into a very heavy piece, it then starts to build and create different sounds, ideas and layers, from the slow punchy powerchord style to neo-prog guitar workouts.
Towards the end of the first song there is some spoken word over guitar f/x and then a very quiet near classical ending. This carries through to the final song which then adds some, i suppose they call it "Post-Metal" stylings, personally i dont care what they call it as long as they keep making music this interesting and clever.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: System Of A Down, Mastodon, Hatebreed

Pyogenesis - A Century In The Curse Of Time (CD Review)

01.Steam Paves Its Way (The Machine)
02.A Love Once New Has Now Grown Old
03.This Won't Last Forever
04.The Best Is Yet to Come
05.Lifeless
06.The Swan King
07.Flesh And Hair
08.A Century In The Curse Of Time


Flo Schwarz (Guitar/Vocals/Keyboards)
Malte Brauer (Bass)
Olman Viper (Drums)
Tim 'Asmodeus' Eiermann (Guitar/Vocals)

From Germany, often listed as one of the early originators of gothic/doom rock.
Originally the band was a trio of Tim Eiermann, Joe Proell and Pit Muley, called Immortal Hate. They did a four track demo in 1990 called "Pyoginesis on a Festered Corpse".

A very complicated history that has seen them release some high quality albums and EP's, yet various band members kept doing other bands/side project such the Death/Grind band G.U.T.
Also alt rock and punk, the alt rock band 'Liquido' becoming quite successful.
After a long period of inactivity, the band announced an anniversery comeback in 2014.

Now taking an intresting idea of steampunk themes and creating a concept album is about the change of 19th century's society under the influence of industrialization, steam-engine, emerging bourgeoisie and science fiction literature such as Jules Verne.

Have to say the opening track 'Steam Paves Its Way (The Machine)' which has also been used as the first "single" from the album, complete with video, is far from the best track, its fairly generic mix of metalcore/melodic death metal, though the chorus does shine through.

Moving into a different sound comes 'A Love Once New Has Now Grown Old', a technical/speed metal workout with a very agressive vocal. Totally drum driven this song powers along and they throw in so much in the way of guitar playing and melody, forever changing tempo to create a much fuller song.

You can really start to get the measure of how this album is building up (to something big?) as 'This Won't Last Forever' is a six minute near prog metal exercise in precision playing, clever lyrics clearly sung and a very easy on the ear style.


Great symphonic intro to 'The Best Is Yet to Come', another anthemic/ neo prog piece.
Slow pounding rhythms with a fantastic backing chorus, again great vocals and the concept has now come to life and the music just gets better and better.
Love the slow bassline breakdown with acoustic guitar and sound f/x, really well put together song.

stunning keyboard intro into some epic guitar palying and 'Lifeless' is far from what the title suggests. This is another melodic neo prog monster, the quality of the music is at the top of its game, great vocals and some nice effects as well.

This song 'The Swan King' somewhat mirrors the sound of the first track, fairly generic again, however do i detect a riff from 'Message in a Bottle' in this one?
More anthemic prog with 'Flesh And Hair', has a very early 80's keyboard sound like "Asia", great sing a long backing vocal, also detected a female vocal on this one, but have no idea who it is, as no mention in promo stuff from record company.

Finally, now remember a few songs back i felt that this album was building up to something, well 'A Century In The Curse Of Time' is that "Something".
No less than 14 epic minutes, starting with violin and acoustic guitar and more stunning harmony vocals, this turns into a melodic neo prog masterpiece, it never veers into the heavy metal genre, staying true to its start it remains a clever mainstream symphony of harmony.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Asia, Yes, Solstice Coil, Valerian Swing, Marillion

Armageddon - Eternal Mystery Rediscovered (CD Review)

01.Appearing
02.No Advice
03.Curse of Black Swan
04.Black Swan Rider
05.Magic Star
06.Sarabanda
07.Heavy Metal Symphony
08.No Advice  (Short Version)
09.Funeral March (Sarabanda 2015)
10.Heavy Metal Symphony (Short Version)
11.Mordor (Live)

Milos Krsmanovic (Lead Vocal)
Vanda Marijanski (Mecosopran)
Marko Skendzic (Tenor)
Zeljko Andric (Bass-Bariton)
Vladimir Zorijan (Bass Vocal)
Djordje Letic (Guitars/Keyboards/Vocals/Narration)
Zoran Drazic (Electric & Acoustic Guitar)
Nebojsa Bjeletic (Bass)
Milos Marceta (keyboards)
Tara Kerac (Drums/Growls)

ARMAGEDDON is a band from Novi Sad and are among the veterans of the local Heavy Metal scene in Serbia. The band was formed in 1987, and it is the creation of the solo artist Djordje Letich, who is also active in other bands on the scene, with the band Tornado being the most significant among them. ARMAGEDDON has existed for many years as a one-man band, while Djordje Letich, in the manner of true virtuoso, was combining elements of Heavy Metal sound with other similar and not so similar musical streams, examining the possibilities of complex styles and incorporating them together.
In its long history, until recently, ARMAGEDDON never set foot on the concert stage! Their performance at Exit 2012 was the exclusive live appearance of the band. Later, in December2012, the band held its "Doomsday Concert" which live recordings are the backbone for this new, currently issued album.

"Eternal Mystery - Rediscovered" is truly a "Heavy Metal Symphony" featuring Opera singers from the Serbian National Theatre of Novi Sad and a full string quartet that guide the listener through a musical journey, about the Secret of Life and Death. A highlight of the album is the live bonus track "Mordor" with which displays the full power of this now 11 musician outfit called ARMAGEDDON.
ARMAGEDDON's "Eternal Mystery" was originally recorded 25 years ago and this upgraded album entitled "Eternal Mystery - Rediscovered" is a special anniversary edition. ARMAGEDDON are considered to be one of the first Sympho Power/Prog Metal groups in the region of Europe. The original album was recorded in very poor conditions, on only 8 channels, by analog equipment. This new modern "Rediscovered" version of the album was rerecorded and remixed with additional recordings on 128 channels!

After the spoken introduction we move into the melodic almost iron maiden-esque style of power metal with 'No Advice' and just a single male vocal.

'Curse Of Black swan' is just another spoken piece, but with added f/x, this goes into 'Black Swan Rider' which turns out to be a rather good 70's sounding pomp rock song, a sort of proto power metal.

If the last one was 70's then this one seems to be late 60's, 'Magic Star' has the right vibe for classic hard rock, good vocal backing and some great guitarwork are only slightly spolied by a pretty poor drum sound.

'Sarabanda' is a full on classical symphonic piece and then comes 'Heavy Metal Symphony' a totally stunning 27 minutes of pure rock opera.
From the spoken intro into its speed metal riffs it just soars through the speakers, then come the numerous timing changes, seemingly throwing in every style of rock and metal it can, even some dark and doomy parts. Later we get some folk and pure classical as well.Fantastic!

After the edits and other extra tracks we finally get 'Mordor' another stunning and all too short symphonic rock masterpiece.

Rating 9/10
For fans of: Rainbow, Therion, Dream Theater, Lucifer, Saturn

Bearstorm - Americanus (CD Review)

01.Glacial Relic - Riparian Forest
02.De Soto
03.Little Portals To The Greater Sadness
04.Why We Can't Have Nice Things
05.Glacial Relic II


Michael Edwards (Vocals)
Jay Lindsey (Bass/Midi/Synth)
Patrick DeRoche(Drums)
Kelsey Miller (Guitar/Fiddle)
Greg Bates (Guitar)

Bearstorm formed in 2008 in Richmond, USA by metalheads with backgrounds in classical and jazz performance as well as country and old time music. The goal has always been to push outwards on the normal limits of writing, performing, and storytelling.

Haunting, swirling, minimalist and progressive at the same time, retains the oft-mocked "grim and frostbitten" vibe while simultaneously expanding into infinite horizons. An hypnotic and harshly beautiful, tantalizing, mesmerizing progressive Black Death Metal swirl.


'Glacial Relic-Riparian Forest' kind of reminds me of eddie van halen guitar work over a mid paced rhythmic rock backing, the vocals however are very rough and more suited to death/black metal, yet there are no black/death metal elements to the music.
A strange mix with this epic jazz/prog/stoner/technical music and growls for vocals, really does not do anything to make this easy to listen too.

Yeh this just dont fit with me, such amazing music, technical brilliance, highly melodic very well structured, beautiful elements blend with stylish guitar and bass work, each song has so much in it, very very good, but the vocals are wrong, too harsh and needed some variety to break the endless growls.

Could have been a 10 out of 10!

Rating 7/10
For fans of: Coffinfish, Mastodon, Words Of farewll, Vermord, Pure Negative

Moanaa - Descent (CD Review)

01.Sunset Growing Old
02.Repulsive
03.Lit
04.Zero
05.Lost In The Noise
06.Ion ...
07.... Mill
08.Away                          

Lukasz 'cHooDy' Kursa (Guitar)
Michal Pilik (Guitar)
Damian 'Cichy' Olearczyk (Bass)
Marcel Lekawa (Drums)
Maciej Proficz (Vocals)
K-vass (Vocals)

Polish post metal/doom styled band, formed around 2008.

If 'Sunset Growing Old' is going to set the standard, then this is going to be one helluva album.Nice acoustic start then moves into prog/jazz style, laid back and rhythmic almost hypnotic, then turns into a screaming death metal monster, did not expect that and yes there is a hint of doom metal as well before almost sounding like an old Pink Floyd track and then some neo prog to end with, all that in just 7 minutes!

Next track 'Repulsive' sticks to doom inspired slow and sludgy death metal, 'Lit' almost does the same until that jazz/prog guitar and rhythmic drum pattern comes back in for a while before taking the volume down with a simple guitar riff, as this builds towards the end some great vocals and backing vocals mix with more agressive instrumentation.

'Zero' returns to the neo-prog style with melodic vocals, but as i have come to expect with this, the pace and style changes bringing in that death metal vocal over near metalcore riffs.

'Lost In The Noize' at 9 minutes is a fairly straight forward doomish death metal piece, not much in the way of style variations, though does have a few intresting little breaks here and there.

'Ion' and 'Mill' is one song broken into two seperate tracks, why im not sure the first serves as the intro and continues right through to the next piece, which is another great mix of death metal followed by neo-prog rhythms.

Finally 'Away' starts with lots of echo guitar effects soon joined by a basic drum beat and downbeat vocals, while the guitar brings a little power to the piece this is a borderline gothic/doom song and its 4 seconds shy of an amazing 10 minutes!

Rating 9/10
For fans Of: Valerian Swing, Words Of Farewell, Marillion, King Crimson

Bhayanak Maut - Man (CD review)

01.I Am Man
02.All Glory To The Beard
03.Genosis
04.Stage 1 - Trema
05.Perfecting The Suture
06.It Knows
07.Bhayanak Maut
08.Stage 2 - Apophany
09.Now, Creation. Forever, Destruction.
10.Stage 3 - Anastrophy
11.XOXOXO
12.For Science
13.Princest
14.Stage 4 - Consolidation
15.Iku
16.Light Shall Conquer
17.Stage 5 - Residumm


Aditya Nair (Guitar)
R. Venkatraman (Guitar/Samples/Keyboards)
Ishaan Krishna (Bass/Guitar)
Rahul Hariharan (Drums)
Sunneith Revankar (Vocals)
Vinay Venkatesh (Vocals)

Guests:

Abhishek Kamdar, Kuber Sharma, Ishaan Krishna, R. Venkatraman and Rahul Hariharan (Additional Voices on ‘All Glory to the Beard’)
K. Venkatesh (Spoken Word on ‘Genosis’)
Eshwari Pandit (Spoken Word on ‘Perfecting the Suture’ & ‘Princest’)
Shalaka Pai, Eshwari Pandit & Anisha Singhi (Cheerleader shouts in ‘XOXOXO’)
Abhishek Kamdar, Kuber Sharma, Ishaan Krishna, R. Venkatraman, Rahul Hariharan, Sahil Makhija, Eshwari Pandit & Anisha Singhi (Additional Voices on ‘Iku’)

From Bombay, India "Bhayanak Maut" (Hindi for 'Terrible Death') formed in 2003.
They have produced 2 albums so far, 'Malignant' and 'Metastasis', this new album'Man' is the last piece of their "life-cycle of cancer" trilogy, with, and i quote; "Man is the biggest cancer to have ever existed."

This album comes complete with a 118 page story book.

Starting with some sound effects and samples as an intro (but forming part of the first song, hooray!!), 'I Am Man' becomes a heavy death metal influenced workout and that is the main sound you get from the majority of the songs, heavy, agressive, elements of technical guitar and drum playing and growl vocals.

So each piece titled "Stage" are short melodic instrumentals, this divides up the story into chapters as per the book.

Finally we get to 'Stage 5 - Residumm' one song and its 31 minutes long! except taht there are huge chunks of silence and then short bursts f music and finally at the end its like a song being played backwards and forwards at the same time, its weird, but intresting, if not a bit annoying when it keeps going quiet.

This is one helluva monster of a concept album, you will wait a long time to hear something this good for a long time, why? because music tends not to be made this complex with that amount of thought behind it.

Rating 10/10
For Fans Of: DevilDriver, Cradle Of Filth, Mastodon, Fragarek, Xenochord

Oktor - Another Dimension Of Pain (CD Review)

01.Another
02.Conscious Somatoform Paradise
03.Dimension
04.Mental Paralysis
05.Of
06.Hemiparesis Of The Soul
07.Pain
08.Undone


Piotr Kucharek (Vocals/Bass)
Jan Rajkow-Krzywicki (Vocals/Bass/Guitar)
Jerzy Rajkow-Krzywicki (Vocals/Bass/Guitar/Keyboards/Drums)

The Polish doom death metal band formed way back in 2003 and are now finally ready to present a full-length album after the years of artistic activity, several successful mini albums, compilations and participation in A Tribute to Skepticism! The long tracks alternate with exquisite piano preludes, as if inspired by Frederic Chopin, demonstrate the diversity of ideas: classical dense riffs and low-tempo interludes, a variety of vocals (from clean to growl), alterations of mood and rhythm … Clean sound of all instruments underlines the high quality of musicians many-years-long searching for their own style.

Well starts with a bloody piano intro as a seperate track and then gets going with the 12 minute piece 'Conscious Somatoform Paradise' and it's pretty good, nice mix of doom, melody and funeral doom like the different vocal styles from growls to clean, works well as does the beautiful slow and melancolic breakdowns with gentle classical precision.

My joy at this first proper song is knocked slightly when track 3 is another short piano filler, which as it acts as an intro to the next song, could (and should) have been at the beginning of the damn song, but anyway lets move to 'Mental Paralysis' (in more ways than one if its followed by another filler).
Now this is a  beast of a track at nearly 18 minutes, starts with this almost prog rock sound of guitar and keyboard, then the dark vocals come in and the song begins to move towards some quite epic almost symphonic doom as it goes on some stunning backing vocals are added and then it all comes to a close with some simple and atmospheric piano.

Next track, yep you guessed it: Filler, i can see a pattern here this is a four track album divided into 8 parts!
So to 'Hemiparesis Of The Soul' another slow and quite symphonic intro with great clean vocal, its when the dark vocals come in that this song gets heavy and nasty, well for a while we then gets some quite jazzy basswork and drums in the middle and a mix of styles and samples at the end.

The last 2; 'Pain' (yep filler come intro) and 'Undone' really are an odd way to end, just very very quiet piano and a near whispered vocal.

Rating 8/10
For Fans Of: Sorrows Path, My Dying Bride, Anathema, De Profundis

Albatross - Fear From The Skies (CD Review)

Story 1: Children Of The Cloud
01.Intro - Advance
02.The Raptorsville Fair
03.Jugglehead The Clown
04.Children Of The Cloud
05.Outro - Fold

Story 2: The Assassin's Flight
06.In The Lair Of Dr.Hex
07.A Tale Of Two Tyrants
08.The Empire Of Albatross

Dr. Hex (Bass)
Biprorshee Das (Vocals)
Vigneshkumar Venkatraman (Guitar)
Nishith Hegde (Guitar)
Varun Singh (Guitar)
Jay Thacker (Drums)

Mumbai-based traditional heavy metal quintet Albatross formed in 2009 and are a band that combines bone-chilling stories with bone-crushing metal. The band started out as the solo project of bassist Riju Dasgupta (Workshop, Old Monks) who wanted to marry his love of literature with his other love: metal.

Later on, a lineup of like-minded musicians was standardized and Albatross was born. The band released the critically acclaimed 'Dinner is You', a concept EP about cannibalism and the Kuru disease, which was mastered by Grammy nominated Swedish producer Andy LaRocque from King Diamond, in September 2010.

In 2012, Albatross released ‘The Kissing Flies’ EP as part of a split CD with American doom metal band Vestal Claret to critical acclaim. This EP features contributions from famed luminaries such as Niklas 'Viper' Stalvind (Wolf), The Demonstealer (Demonic Resurrection) and Murari Vasudevan (Rat King).

Albatross has supported legendary bands like Kreator and Wolf in the recent past and besides being a regular in the Indian live circuit did a successful three-city tour of Australia in 2013.
Since then they have been working on their debut album.

Are you sitting comfortably? then lets begin with our first story, and yes the intro starts us off with a spoken story and then 'The Raptorsville Fair' starts and it sounds like something from Nightmare Before Xmas, a very theatrical vocal over some silly fairground style rock music, then a more technical progressive metal sound kicks in, but it returns to that strange but quite awesome other style.

'Jugglehead The Clown' is more traditional heavy metal, pounding drums and maidenesque guitarwork and a more "serious" vocal, very rhythmic and catchy.

Next up is 'Children Of The Cloud' this one throws everything in from prog, death and thrash metal, lots of intresting timing changes and a fantastic vocal performance that ranges from Bruce Dickinson to Dani Filth!

The story ends on the outro with some church bells and a bit more story telling.

So from what appeared to be a light hearted first story the next one seems to be a bit darker, 'In The Lair Of Dr Hex' has this slow powerchord driven rhythm and more vocal gymnastics, the quality of the guitar solos matches anything any euro power metal player can offer, very very impressive.

The pace picks up with 'A Tale Of Two Tyrants' and once again it is the vocalist that takes centre stage here, another stunning and diverse performace from dark bass to near soprano, all over solid heavy power metal.

Opening with some beautiful acoustic guitar comes our final piece 'The Empire Of Albatross', this one is very much influenced by Iron Maiden, but this has some very good modern elements in the mix, as ever the vocalist does what he does best and also tells us a little bit of a story as well.

Rating 10/10
For fans Of: King Diamond, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Dream Evil, Iced Earth

Sacred Blood - Argonautica (CD Review)

01.Legends Of The Sea/The Epic Of Apollonius
02.Hellenic Steel
03.Hail The Heroes
04.Legacy Of The Lyre
05.To Lands No Man Hath Seen
06.Call Of Blood
07.O'er The Tomb (Beyond The Pillars Of Heracles)
08.Friend Or Foe
09.Enchantress Of The East
10.The Golden Fleece Pt1
11.The Golden Fleece Pt2


Epeios Phocaeus (Vocals)
Polydeykis (Guitars/Keyboards/Flute/Accordion)
George Karahalios (Drums)

Greek band formed originally under the band name "Sacred" in December 2003.

The following year they record their first self financed demo cd titled “Clash of The Titans”. The demo included four tracks in the music direction of heavy/power/epic metal and got some very encouraging reviews from the underground heavy metal scene.

The band started working on some ideas and they composed 10 tracks that musically drew on some folk elements from the Hellenic and Celtic music heritage and lyrically they refer to the heroic sacrifice of 300 Spartan and 700 Thespian warriors, eventually released in 2008 'The Battle Of Thermopylae:The Chronicle' under the new band name Sacred Blood.
In 2012 the band released a concept album about the deeds of Alexander the Great, called 'Alexandros' and was hailed as one of the best albums of the year.

Played this one through, it is an epic piece of work, cannot fault it's production and musicanship one bit.
That this is a trio is something to be admired, they have created an album that bands with seven or eight members couldn't compete with.

So what can I say, stunning mixture of symphonic and power metal, elements of folk and good old heavy metal, hell even some progressive rock in the mix.

Got to pick a couple out, because they are a little different, firstly 'O'er The Tomb (Beyond The Pillars Of Heracles)' a brilliant celtic folk song, traditional instruments used to perfection, stunning vocal delivery, simple almost understated yet this song just has that special something, not an electric instrument in sight, then when the backing vocals come in complete with feamle voices, oh just wow!

At the other end of the musical spectrum comes 'Enchantress Of The East' a full on speed metal piece, extreme drum patterns, Dio (esque) vocals, clever orchestration, brilliant backing vocals, scathing guitarwork.

Then to wrap this up a two parter with 'The Golden Fleece' starts off with full orchestration, then some normal vocals, but its when the drum starts that the atmosphere begins to build, a female voice speaks (not sure what as its in greek) but it really adds something till the full chorus harmonys come in, this is then topped off with 6 minutes of epic power metal, riff loaded and more clever timing changes that flow into folk rock and mini ballads and full blown metal.


Rating 10/10
For fans of: Dream Evil, Achilla, Elvenking, Northland, Lyriel

Midhaven - Spellbound (CD Review)

01.Lunar Blessing
02.Seeking The Divine
03.Spellbound
04.Tales From The Tide
05.Ascension
06.Fall Of Olympus
07.Third Eye
08.Whitewash
09.Death Row


Karan Seven Kaul (Guitar/Vocals)
Shreyas Rane (Guitar)
Abhishek Sawant (Bass/Vocals)
Viraj Saxena (Drums)
Aviraj Kumar (Drums)

Guest:
Jordan Veigas (Vocals on Death Row)

The band met outside HR and KC college back in early 2011, where they started a project called 'Temple Smoke' where they had a lighter sound.
By 2012, They had played gigs around the city of Mumbai, and started venturing out to other cities such as Pune and Bangalore. By early 2012, the band dropped the name 'Temple Smoke' and went with the name 'Midhaven'.
Karan, Abhishek and Shreyas dropped out of college in the same month to be full time musicians.

By May 2013, they launched their EP 'Tales From The Tide' with much acclaim to fans, which was a mixture of what they used to play with 'Temple Smoke' as well as the heavier side of music which then led to metal.
After a couple of festivals in Pune and Mumbai, Midhaven went back into the studio for a full length album entitled 'Spellbound'.
They went back to the studio to work with their long time producer and friend Jordan Veigas (Jordan Veigas Music Productions).
While in the studio, the band has ideas for at least 14 tracks, some near completion, while some were going to be in the final album.
A tough decision based on their new sound made them cancel 5 tracks including 'Maelstrom' and 'Altaïr', both of which have been played live before.
Their new album consisted of 9 tracks, 6 of which were completely new and written in the studio itself.
The song 'Death Row' has guest vocals by their producer and long time friend 'Jordan Veigas'
During album recording, there was a new face in the studio, Viraaj Saxena.
He, along with Jason D'souza, was a sound engineer for Jordan Veigas Music Productions.
Once the album was over, Viraaj Saxena moved to being a session drummer for Midhaven by replacing Aviraj Kumar, the band's previous drummer who drummed on 'Spellbound' as well as 'Tales From The Tide'.

Usually I hate intros with a passion, but have to say 'Lunar Blessing' is a really great little instrumental with some amazing keyboard work and prog guitar, this then goes into 'Seeking The Divine' (which still kinda proves my point that intros are not needed), its a strange song amazing dual vocals one clean and one death style, the music has a definate modern neo-prog feel.

The next few seem to stick with this sound, but at times does lean towards that metalcore crap, then 'Ascension' comes in at 59 seconds of pointless filler which could have just been tacked on at the beginning of the next track 'Fall Of Olympus' which is stunning slab of brutal (dare I say) Nu-Metal is the vein of Mushroomhead but blended with some prog elements of Mastodon.

Then what a turn around for 'Third Eye' a weird song yet again blending so many different styles I'm not sure where to begin, starts out like Placebo, then gets this melodic death metal thing going before entering into eastern style prog, towards the end it borders on thrash metal!

'Death Row' again mixes it up with modern neo-prog and death metal.

All in all a great mix of styles (except the metalcore bits!) a very intresting and well thought out album.

Rating 9/10
For fans Of: Opeth, Mastodon, At The Gates, Mushroomhead

Kilmara - Love Songs & Other Nightmares (CD Review)

01.Fantasy
02.Devils Eye
03.The Break Up
04.Cold Rain
05.Believe
06.Nothing To Me
07.usual Strangers
08.Alpha
09.Insomnia
10.Play To Win
11.Time Flies

Christian Wolfgang Kohl (Vocals)
Jonathan Portilo (Guitar)
Kike Torres (Guitar)
Raúl Ruiz (Bass)
Javi Morillo (Drums)

Guests:
Pilar Villatovas (Vocals on 'Fantasy')
Dave Imbernon (Keyboards)
Kaleb (Violin)
Roland Grapow (Backing Vocals)

Formed in Barcelona, Spain in 2003 as 'Jadde'.After releasing their first demo, they recruited vocalist Christian “Wolf” Kohl and then changed their musical direction and name.

Their influences range from the DiAnno-era Iron Maiden to Savatage as well as power and prog rock/metal.
Kilmara’s debut release 'Hunting Dreams' was a strong performance despite having a few obvious flaws like any new metal band would. However, overall it was a strong, respectable and honest effort that was enough to leave some anticipation and curiosity for the next release 'Dont fear The Wolf'.

In November of 2010, Kilmara signed with U.K. label Rising Records who then re-released ‘Don’t fear the wolf’ worldwide in early 2011.
This release was followed by numerous tours and also some line up changes, then work began on this latest release

First off - Hooray! no intro, just straight into the music.Its a drum driven rocker as well, nice vocals and a guest death metal style vocal from Villatovs, put me in mind of 3 Inches Of Blood, it has that classic euro metal feel but with edge.

'Devils Eye' keeps the pace going, plenty of punchy riffs with a solid vocal performance and again very much driven by the drum rhythm, throw in a screaming guitar solo and so we are 2 out of 2.

Now before power metal got all technical and full of overblown guitar and keyboard rubbish, it was a genre that took elements of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and was good to listen to, now this song 'The Break Up' has all the hallmarks of proto power metal circa 1984, it has the melody and hooks and vocal style down to perfection.No surprise that this is released as the first single.

Rain effects and a slow moody riff greets 'Cold Rain' add to that some near spoken vocals and this one is creating quite an atmosphere, the chorus breaks it up well and adds another well produced layer.

Oh no acoustic style guitar playing and some gentle tapping of the cymbals, please dont be a ballad!
Well have to say 'Believe' is a borderline power ballad and yes, okay, its well played with nice backing vocals and the solo towards the end does lift the song, but no not really my thing.

The horror of the previous track is laid to rest with 'Nothing To Me' a real mid 80's sounding heavy metal song, pounding drums and superb riffs with a powerful vocal from "Wolf" who manages to blend agression, menace and harmony in the space of a four minute song.

The opening to 'Usual Strangers' does slightly remind me of something by Armoured Saint, they soon nail their own style on this though.

'Alpha' has an almost folk metal riff and drum pattern running throughout, blended with mainstream power metal and some high pitched vocal screams.

Some technical elements of the drum/guitar give this a real punch, reminiscent of Fear Factory at times 'Insomnia' a balanced song between harmony and agression.

'Play To Win' runs along at a solid pace for a few minutes then changes the timing for the guitar solo and the second half of the song moves dangerously close to that power ballad again!

The final song 'Time Flies' starts with some great piano playing, but the song doesn't seem to go anywhere until a couple of minutes in when the guitars kick in and the keyboards start to get symphonic.
Some clever multi-tracking on the vocals and another great solo bring the song and the album to a close.

Rating 8/10
For fans Of: Helloween, Dream Theatre, Savatage, Evergrey, Helstar, EdGuy, Edens Curse

Cenotaph - Riding Our Black Oceans (CD Review)

01.The Solitudes
02.Severance
03.Grief To Obscuro
04.Macabre Locust Celesta
05.Among The Abrupt
06.Infinitum Valet
07.The Silence Of Our Black Oceans
08.Soul Profundis
09.Ectasia Tenebrae


Edgardo González (Vocals)
Julio Viterbo (Guitar)
Fernando Garcilazo (Bass)
Oscar Clorio (Drums)
Cesar Sanchez (Guitar)

Originally released way back in 1994 and now reissued by Chaos Records.
Cenotaph was one of the first and widely acknowledged to be the best Mexican Death Metal band in the '90s. The band released a powerful debut but it was on this album that it started taking the sound forward. This album is melodic and technical, but not in the way you'd assume. This is reminiscent of At The Gates circa 'The Red in the Sky is Ours', Sentenced's 'North from Here', Dissection, Unanimated and Necrophobic, all Swedish bands indeed but the Mexican band uses the influences in a unique way - the song structures are complicated and hard to decipher. Even after a couple of decades, the music remains interesting and challenging.

It was probably this album that influenced the country mates like Under Moonlight Sadness, The Chasm, The Forensic, Sol Negro (originally), Majestic Downfall and others where it came to infusing melodies into Death Metal particularly.
They disbanded in 2002 though i suspect that a new line up of the band may appear at some point.

While the album seems to start in a traditional manner with 'The Solitudes' the six minute 'Severance' starts to throw in a lot more, melodic guitars played at hyper speed, clever timings and some nice spken parts alongside the growls.

Next stand out song is 'Among The Abrupt' with its near Black Metal sound then for a complete change comes the acoustic/ambient title track with its simple heavy metal ending.
Acoustic elements are then used in 'Soul Profundis' breaking up the general brutal onslaught, finally 'Ectasia Tenebrae' could these days be described as 'progressive death metal' with some excellent guitar playing throughout.

I can see why this album was considered so 'Important' 20 years ago and it has aged well, sounding fresh and exciting as it did back then.

Rating 9/10
For fans Of: At The Gates, Dissection, Death, Cynic, Opeth