Tag Archives: cd reviews

Ensiferum – One Man Army

Finnish melodic folk-death metal band Ensiferum has released their sixth studio album through Metal Blade Records, titled One Man Army. The band, which takes it’s name from a Latin word translating to “Sword bearing,” has included 15 aggressive tracks, counting the four bonus tracks, for eager fan consumption. Overall, One Man …

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Mojave Lords – Unfuckwithable

With a cast of infamous characters that reads like a short who’s who of the California desert rock scene, Mojave Lords are a lake of fire indeed. Featuring core members David Catching, Kevin Richey, Brian O’Connor, and Joey Castillo, the band has released an aggressive ten song debut, neologically dubbed …

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Johansson & Speckmann – Mask of the Treacherous

For extreme metal, anno 2015 is off to a good start, with Johansson & Speckmann‘s second studio effort, Mask of the Treacherous, being released through Vic Records. This nine-song album features Ribspreader‘s Rogga Johansson, teamed up with Master‘s Paul Speckmann. The studio-only collaboration showcases the musical and songwriting acumen of …

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Periphery – Juggernaut: Alpha & Omega [2 album set]

Periphery - Juggernaut Omega album cover art

This band’s fans, humorously dubbed Peripherals, are going to adore this set by Washington, D.C’s Periphery. Titled Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega, the dual-disc ‘concept album’ set serves to redefine the band for anno 2015. Seventeen songs of djenty, modern progressive metal glory will tickle the earholes of an eager …

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Obituary – Inked In Blood

Veteran death metallers Obituary, from Florida, have returned with their latest studio album, titled Inked In Blood. The disc was crowd-funded by Kickstarter (later picked up by Relapse Records), so it should come as no surprise that these songs have been honed to a razor’s edge with demands from the …

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Carl Verheyen – Mustang Run

And now for something different, and decidedly non-metal, in metal-land! Guitarist Carl Verheyen, of Supertramp fame, released his fantastic solo album, Mustang Run, on August 1. Verheyen has a short tour of the UK lined up to support the release. The 11 tracks (ten instrumental) presented here are a wonderful …

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Abigor – Leytmotif Luzifer

Dissonant, fast, unsettling, and brutal, Austrian veteran black metal band Abigor‘s 2014 disc, Leytmotif Luzifer, is everything a purist black metal fan should want. Leytmotif Luzifer contains seven original songs, with no excesses, no poor recording or bad sound, just pure Satanic splendor and bleakness. Focusing on the seven “temptations …

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Paul Gilbert – Stone Pushing Uphill Man

Los Angeles-based guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert released his 13th and latest studio album, Stone Pushing Uphill Man, on August 5th, 2014. The 11-track disc features instrumental adaptations of eight famous “oldies” tunes, along with three of Gilbert’s original songs. The result is something like being at the mercy of his …

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Kilmara – Love Songs and Other Nightmares

Barcelona’s Kilmara have released their third full-length disc, Love Songs And Other Nightmares, an 11-song sojourn into melodic metal. Very nicely recorded, mixed and mastered, the album doesn’t have a raw “demo” sound that many acts seem to foster lately. Pleasant and paced well, the disc’s tunes don’t seem to …

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Falconer – Black Moon Rising

Swedish metallers Falconer have returned with 2014’s full-length disc, Black Moon Rising. This is the band’s eighth studio effort, a nice blend of melodic, power, and folk metal elements. This 11-track disc is packed with classic heavy metal, power metal, and folk metal in spades. Top-tier musicianship only helps to …

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Dust Bolt – Awake The Riot

Young Bavarian eighties thrash ‘revival’ band Dust Bolt have dialed in some classic tones, with their new, 12+ track full-length Awake The Riot ready for enjoyment by anyone who appreciates solid, well-played thrash metal. The band wear their influences as players and as a band on their sleeves, harnessing the …

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The Devil Wears Prada – 8:18

Dayton, Ohio’s The Devil Wears Prada released their fifth studio album, 8:18, on Roadrunner Records. Featuring 43 minutes of modern melodic metalcore, the 13 song disc is titled after a passage from The Bible, Romans 8:18. Fear not, the album won’t alienate a secular audience: it’s too heavy to be lumped …

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Vallenfyre – Splinters

UK death-mongers Vallenfyre have returned with 2014’s Splinters. Have you yearned for old-school death metal done right? This 11-song disc, released on Century Media Records, is a full-length album of pummeling buzzsaw riffy goodness. It has been tailor-made just for you. Try convincing someone that this didn’t come out of …

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Finntroll – Natten Med De Levande Finntroll

If there’s one band that conjures up the image of “folk metal”, it’s Helsinki, Finland natives and genre pillars Finntroll. Finntroll has a new release out: Natten Med De Levande Finntroll, a toothy 19-tune live album showcasing the band in full glory, performing at Amsterdam’s prestigious Melkweg Concert Hall on …

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Haerken – …Of Warriors and Kings

Haerken are a new European band, and their ten-song debut album, …Of Warriors and Kings, released in 2014, is a fresh face on the monolith that is extreme music. (At least for Latin, the ‘ae’ is pronounced “i”.) Modern, technical, crunchy, and fairly dry, the band’s sound could be described …

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Osian – Rhizome

Osian is an alternative metal band from southern Italy, formed during the birth of the genre in the mid 90s. The band’s latest offering, Rhizome, is a six song disc that pays obvious homage to popular alternative music of that era: bands like Depeche Mode, Type O Negative, Ministry, The …

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Scream Maker – Livin’ In The Past

Appropriately titled, Livin’ In The Past by Poland’s Scream Maker is the band’s war cry and answer to the genre of power metal. With the help of star producer Alessandro Del Vecchio, they’ve nailed it: versatile, nicely ranged, fairly operatic, and genre-appropriate vocals matched to staccato archetypal guitar riffs, supported …

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Avelion – Liquid Breathing

Industrial music influenced Italian metallers Avelion released a three-song EP, titled Liquid Breathing, in November 2013. Highly focused on electronic or digital sounding instrumentation, the band incorporates a lot of different keyboard sounds, mixed with digital “djenty” guitar. Avelion, who revamped their lineup in 2013, describes themselves as melodic progressive …

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Aventus – Valley Of The Kings

Another contender in the overcrowded, glutted digital music revolution, Scotland’s Aventus put their spin on rock and roll with their latest disc, called Valley of the Kings. The recording has a warm, analog feel to it, and is nicely balanced and enjoyable. The band mix doomy, sludgy riffs with more …

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Colma Wolves – Orphaned

Edinburgh’s Colma Wolves have released a three-song EP, Orphaned. Songs begin slowly with distorted bass guitar, almost drone-like. The quality of Orphaned is best described as “basement practice room on an old four-track”, demo or hardcore-collector quality “only”. The recording is fairly muddy, and lacks the depth that would benefit …

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