Sunday, December 20, 2009

GHOST BRIGADE - ISOLATION SONGS (2009)

genre : melodic doom/death
similar bands : Katatonia, Opeth, My Dying Bride
origin : Finland
strong spot : nice and discrete use of strings (contrabass, cello etc)
weak spot : not recommended for people that go for originality

Ghost Brigade play more or less typical melodic and melancholic doom/death in the vein of Katatonia or Opeth. Ghost Brigade are not that technical, in fact their music is very simple(minimalist, if you want me to put it more intellectually) and is reminiscent of post-rock bands. Imagine a scream of despair transformed into a piece of art.


8 out of 10 goatheads


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Saturday, December 19, 2009

BORN OF THORNS - MMIX EP (2009)

genre : symphonic black
similar bands : Dimmu Borgir, Hermh, Abigail Williams
origin : Finland
strong spot : no obvious strong spot
weak spot : ''I've heard it before''

Typical symphonic black metal from Finland accompanied with a very clean and heavy production and professional perfomance. If you like the above mentioned bands, you may find it interesting.


8 out of 10 goatheads


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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

DAYLIGHT DIES - LOST TO THE LIVING (2008)

genre : melodic doom/death/black
similar bands : Swallow the Sun, Katatonia, Noumena, In the Woods
origin : USA
strong spot : despair and melancholy successfully depicted
weak spot : ''I've heard it before''

For some reasons I cannot actually determine, melodic doom/death is very trendy the last 1-2 years. Daylight dies are definitely amongst the best bands of the scene. You know what to expect: death and black vocals, depressive melodies, lots of guitar leads and Opeth-ish riffs, lyrics that speak of despair, all packed in an almost perfect and heavy production. A nice and beautiful album.


8 out of 10 goatheads


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CHAOSTAR - CHAOSTAR (2000)

genre : symphonic, black metal, avant-garde, experimental, industrial, classical
similar bands : Septicflesh
origin : Greece
strong spot : everything
weak spot : nothing is weak here

What can I say about one of the most dark and atmospheric concept albums in the history of extreme music? Chaostar are something like an acoustic version of Septicflesh. The main conductor here is the mighty composer Christos Antoniou, the guitarist and one of the founding members of Septicflesh, that has written several scores and recently composed the music for the ''Wardevil'' video game (Playstation 3). Huge choirs, grandiose samples and loops, horror atmosphere, black metal screams and death metal growls, female vocals and complex orchestrations that are 100% original and 200% innovative. Just a last warning: there are no guitars here or real drums.

10 out of 10 goatheads

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

SOULFALLEN - GRAVE NEW WORLD (2009)

genre : melodic, symphonic black/death
similar bands : Thurisaz, Agathodaimon, Septicflesh
origin : Finland
strong spot : combination between death metal growls and black screams
weak spot : no obvious weak spot

Soulfallen's sophomore album is as grandiose and dark as it gets. Very nice synth parts and symphonic samples, mature guitar riffs, fiendish lyrics and atmosphere. You can find diversity in this album and all kinds of emotions: fear, hate, horror, melancholy.

8 out of 10 goatheads


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WELICORUSS - APEIRON EP (2009)

genre : symphonic black
similar bands : Tvangeste, Arkona, Dimension F3H, Lyfthrasyr
origin : Russia
strong spot : songwriting, orchestrations
weak spot :short duration

This is an EP from a band that I recently discovered. By singing in Russian and adopting some folk elements they have added their country's signature to symphonic black metal. I'll definitely check their next full-length album out.

8 out of 10 goatheads


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Thursday, December 10, 2009

CRYPTIC WINTERMOON - FEAR (2009)

genre : melodic black
similar bands : Dissection, Enslavement of Beauty
origin : Germany
strong spot : cult atmosphere
weak spot : production

Typical melodic black.

7 out of 10 goatheads


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INDUKTI - IDMEN (2009)

genre : avant-garde, psychedelic, progressive, symphonic
similar bands : Arcturus, Tool, Unexpect
origin : Poland
strong spot : originality
weak spot : I'd prefer some more vocals

This is more or less an instrumental album. The band mentions King Crimson, Tool, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Mussorgsky and others as the main influences. Thus, this is one of these bands you can not exactly describe their style, you can just give some hints about their sound. There are metalcore riffs, melodies from violins, clean and black vocals (sadly,very few) and lots of other elements that designate an area around this album where a label stands and warns you ''Don't touch unless you are open-minded enough''.

8 out of 10 goatheads


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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

BORNHOLM - MARCH FOR GLORY AND REVENGE (2009)

genre : pagan, epic, melodic black
similar bands : Cor Scorpii, Windir, Kampfar, Iskald, Sear Bliss
origin : Hungary
strong spot : -
weak spot : lacks originality

Bornholm are a typical pagan black metal band. There is almost nothing out of the ordinary here, just good black metal.

7 out of 10 goatheads


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DEPRESY - NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES (2009)

genre : symphonic,melodic black/death
similar bands : Dimmu Borgir, Septicflesh
origin : Slovakia
strong spot : performance
weak spot : -

This is the best album for Depresy so far. There are sparks of experimentation here and there but the band doesn't deviate from typical atmospheric black metal. The result is quite satisfying but certainly not groundbreaking.

8 out of 10 goatheads

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NOUMENA - ANATOMY OF LIFE (2006)

genre : melodic death/black
similar bands : Omnium Gatherum, Swallow the Sun, In Flames
origin : Finland
strong spot : clever songwriting
weak spot : awful cover

Noumena seem to know the secrets of musical composition. The album is almost flawless, all melodies seem to blend with each other and each part of every track seems to have a purpose. ''Anatomy of Life'' doesn't get boring after many repeated listens even though it is mostly based on mid tempo tracks. A HIGHLY recommended album.

9 out of 10 goatheads


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DISMAL EUPHONY - ALL LITTLE DEVILS (1999) - PYTHON ZERO (2001)


genre : melodic black
similar bands : Siebenburgen, Darzamat
origin : Norway
strong spot : clever songwriting, briiliant vocal lines
weak spot : -

What can I say about this amazing band? Their whole discography consists of unique albums that transfer the listener to wonderful aural destinations. These two albums are their last ones, ''All Little Devils'' is a bit more melancholic while ''Python Zero'' is somehow more modern and aggressive. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

9,5 out of 10 goatheads for ''All Little Devils''
8,5 out of 10 goatheads for ''Python Zero''


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EVEMASTER - WITHER (2003)

genre : melodic black
similar bands : Noumena, Thurisaz, Omnium Gatherum
origin : Poland
strong spot : melodic guitar lines
weak spot : songs follow more or less the same recipe

Here we have a very enjoyable listen from another Polish band. Nice guitar melodic lines that bring power metal bands to mind, typical black vocals, discrete presence of synths, an overall melancholic atmosphere.

8 out of 10 goatheads


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Thursday, December 3, 2009

ORPHANAGE - BY TIME ALONE (1996) + DRIVEN (2004)


genre : symphonic death
similar bands : Septicflesh, Theatre of Tragedy, After Forever
origin : Netherlands
strong spot : songwriting, originality
weak spot : terrible covers

Orphanage is a band very close to Within temptation and After Forever, they have toured together and they have shared the same members in the past. Within Temptation and After Forever have become big names in the metal scene whereas Orphanage, for some reasons I never really understood, remained almost unknown. You can listen to these albums and judge for yourself. Symphonic death at its best, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

10 out of 10 goatheads for ''By Time Alone''
9 out of 10 goatheads for ''Driven''


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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

WINDS - PROMINENCE AND DEMISE (2007)

genre : progressive, symhonic , avant-garde metal
similar bands : Katatonia, Arcturus, Opeth, Anathema, Leprous
origin : Norway
strong spot : performance, songwriting
weak spot : -

Winds is one of the side projects of Hellhammer (Mayhem). They have released a series of original and inspired avant-garde metal albums that oddly enough never made them famous in the metal scene. Melancholic melodies, distorted and acoustic guitars, a small string orchestra and a really expressive vocalist are the ingredients of an album that is perfect company for rainy moody days. I believe that this one is their most complete album.

9 out of 10 goatheads


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NETHESCERIAL - QVORUM (2009)

genre : atmospheric, symphonic black
similar bands : Dimmu Borgir, Sothis
origin : Greece
strong spot : performance
weak spot : too complicated songwriting

Another Greek black metal band. Here the style is typical symphonic black metal where speed and chaotic atmosphere are emphasized. Their performance and their songwriting is sometimes too complicated and progressive ending up being occasionally boring.

7,5 out of 10 goatheads


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AENAON- PHENOMENON EP (2009)

genre : atmospheric black metal
similar bands : Emperor, Limbonic Art
origin : Greece
strong spot : no obvious strong spot
weak spot : weak production, ''I've heard it before'' category

The Greek guys here play typical extra speedy atmospheric black metal. Even though the performance of the band is good, the production is neither clean nor raw(or cult) and the result is a mediocre sound that keeps the band from presenting an even better and more coherent album.

7 out of 10 goatheads


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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

OLD CROWN NEW SPAWN - VOL I (TRIBUTE TO EMPEROR) and II (TRIBUTE TO ARCTURUS) (2009)

genre : melodic, symphonic black

Here we have a very descent compilation where bands cover songs from Emperor and Arcturus. Most of the covers are awesome and the listener enjoys some old songs from a new perspective. A MUST have album for fans of Emperor and Arcturus.

9 out of 10 goatheads
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ARTEFACT - FAILURE single (2009)

genre : symphonic black
similar bands : Dimmu Borgir, Carach Angren
origin : Slovenia

Artefact, one of my favourite French black metal bands, present a single with two versions of the same song called ''Failure''. Their sound is now purely symphonic. If you want to download their previous album click here

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