Friday, March 26, 2010

SEMARGL - ORDO BELLICTUM SATANAS (2010)

genre : melodic black
similar bands : Siebenburgen, Darzamat
origin : Ukraine
strong spot : performance, production
weak spot : lack of originality

Easy-to digest black metal combined with some interesting synths, loops and clean vocals here and there.

8 out of 10 goatheads


Sunday, March 21, 2010

DIRTY GRANNY TALES - DIDI'S SON (2010)



genre : avant-garde, dark cabaret, acoustic
similar bands : Tiger Lillies
origin : Greece
strong spot : songwriting, vocals (the singer sounds like he has 1000 different voices)
weak spot : -

Dirty Granny Tales is a stunning mixture of puppet theatre and acoustic experimental music in the vein of Tiger Lillies. This is their new album and if you are a lover of avant-garde music, you will be definitely charmed.

9 out of 10 goatheads


BARREN EARTH - CURSE OF THE RED RIVER (2010)

genre : melodic,progressive doom/death
similar bands : Amorphis, In Mourning, Moonsorrow
origin : Finland
strong spot : melodies, diversity
weak spot : -


All albums from Finland have a solid production and a very mature performance, so ''Curse of the Red River'' could not be an exception. Indeed, this album has all these ingredients but what makes it really enjoyable is its diversity. There is a huge variety of influences (progressive rock, psychedelic rock, doom metal, death metal, progressive metal etc) that are filtered in a very clever way and result in an abundance of impressions and moods. That's not a surprise since the line up consists of former members of bands like Kreator(!), Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Swallow the Sun and lots of others.

9,3 out of 10 goatheads


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

ANGST SKVADRON - SWEET POISON (2010)

genre : avant-garde/space/psychedelic post-black
similar bands : Dimension F3H, Whirling, Virus, Slagmaur
origin : Norway
strong spot : psychedelic atmosphere
weak spot : ''love it or hate it''

Angst Skvadron perform typical and raw post-black metal with psychedelic and space elements.

8 out of 10 goatheads


IKUINEN KAAMOS - FALL OF ICONS (2010)

genre : melodic, progressive black/death
similar bands : Opeth, In Mourning, In Vain, Gwynbleidd
origin : Finland
strong spot : melodic lines, solos
weak spot : I'd prefer a more solid production

Ikuinen Kaamos...I've been expecting this album for so long and here it is. The band gives an excellent performance and manages to sound fresh even though the similarities to Opeth are discretely unconcealed. The songwriting abilities of the band are more than obvious and especially the melodic solos are a brilliant and very original addition to the whole puzzle. A progressive black album with a melancholic twist. Exactly as it should be.

8,7 out of 10 goatheads