Band: The Last Hangmen
Album: Servants Of Justice
Release: 2011
Label: Twilight
Genre: Melodic death metal [gallows metal]

Gimmicks in metal are hardly a novel concept, with famous topics ranging from Vikings to Egyptian mythology. However, I’m fairly certain the topic of gallows and hanging has thus far not been fully explored, at least until The Last Hangmen formed in 2010 in Germany. Filtering through a metric ton of melodic death metal bands, theirs is a sound that is recognizable but with a couple of novel elements to hold interest for longer than the first spin. They released their début album Servants Of Justice themselves, but were soon after picked up by Twilight-Vertrieb, who re-released it late last year.

After an over-extended intro (“The Gallow March”) that echoes the hanging scene in Pirates Of The Caribbean, all grand drum-beats and cinematic orchestration, the album kicks off properly with “Lupara Bianca”. The listener is greeted with a synthesis of Kalmah and early Bodom in the guitarwork from Konze and Beckert, who throw out many a cool lead and solo, which is enhanced by some very interesting drum patterns from Garz, who knows when to blast and when to branch out in creativity. Kube adds his bass to the rhythm section, although he isn’t full utilized until later, and Hantsche tops the mix off with Norther-esque hoarse scream.

The vocals are the least striking thing about the Servants Of Justice formula, but they still fit into the style fairly well, despite a lack of variety. The lyrics (from what I can decipher) vary a fair bit in quality, with “Crash Course Dying” suffering slightly, although the theatrical 10-minute epic “Knocking Tombstones Down” is on the higher end of the poetic scale. As a topic, death by hanging is a paradoxically a good complement to the mostly upbeat music, 5 people who clearly take pride in executing their profession.

Adding to the ‘epic’ tag, The Last Hangmen soon make it clear that the intro and outro are not the only times to add orchestration; it also figures in many of the full tracks. In some, like “The Hypocrite”, the synth and choirs work to their advantage in adding atmosphere, but it feels out of place in other tracks such as “Little Ease”. That said, the guitar parts take over in this case, and they themselves are a strong highlight of the album, from mid-paced stomp to breakneck black metal speed in “Knocking Tombstones Down”. The lack of a metronome in the recording process is a footnote not to be ignored, making the tightness of the music all the more impressive.

To sum up, The Last Hangmen are not entirely novel musically, but they certainly rise above the sea of mediocre melodeath. Invoking the spirit of Bodom and Blackguard, with a touch of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Servants Of Justice outlasts its initial spins to become an enjoyable slab of metal, one for both enthusiasts and novices to the genre. Remain thankful that the gimmick doesn’t get old.

Rating: 7.5/10

Song to try:

Check out The Last Hangmen on their official website, Facebook, or MySpace.

Acts: In Flames, Trivium, Veil of Maya, Kyng

Venue: The Sound Academy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Date: Tuesday, February 14, 2012

As everyone knows, yesterday was Valentine’s Day.  So naturally, I decided to spend my day at a heavy metal concert with a male friend to get in the “Anti-Valentine’s Day” spirit.  I’ve seen many shows at The Sound Academy in Toronto, but not very many have been like this.  As can be expected, there was an overwhelming amount of huge, sweaty, lonely guys spending their Valentine’s Day at a metal show.  Every once in a while I stumbled into the odd couple or the group of goth girls who couldn’t get a Valentine’s date.  The show featured heavy metal giants In Flames, metal core band Trivium, death core band Veil of Maya and rounding out the list was hard rock/borderline metal band Kyng.  First of all, the band list alone can tell anyone involved in the heavy metal scene the direction that In Flames is taking the band.

Throughout the bands history, In Flames has been known as a melodic death metal band influenced by acts like Megadeth and on par with someone like Children of Bodom.  In fact, the first time I saw In Flames was during Megadeth’s Gigantour in 2008 alongside Children of Bodom, High On Fire and Job For A Cowboy.  I clearly remember heavy metal diehards being enraged over the fact that Job For A Cowboy, a death core band, was there alongside melodic death metal bands, In Flames and Bodom and a heavy metal giant and pioneer in Megadeth.  Now keep in mind that Job For A Cowboy and Veil of Maya have something in common.  They are both death core bands.  For heavy metal purists, death core and metal core bands like Trivium are pretty much considered to blasphemous and a disgrace to the metal genre.  The insistent growling and “pig squeals” the singers make, the shortened guitar riffs, the lack of solos and constant double bass drumming to most intense metal heads is considered to be “sissy metal” and not on par with bands like Megadeth or Iron Maiden or Slayer.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but I happen to like Trivium quite a bit as they are one of the bands that got me into harder rock and metal.  Anyways, the fact that In Flames decided to tour with these two bands alongside Kyng, a lesser known band that is barely even considered to be metal and has more in common with the Foo Fighters than Megadeth, was disappointing to a lot of older fans.  To me, this was not surprising considering the direction that In Flames has taken in their last two albums, “A Sense of Purpose” and “Sounds of a Playground Fading.”  I would not classify these two albums as their old melodic death metal roots, but more as alternative metal, leaning towards the alternative rock, post-grunge sort of style reminiscent of Alice In Chains or Soundgarden.  This came as a shock to older In Flames fans who grew up listening to albums like “Colony” or Clayman” which are quite heavy albums.  Record sales have gone down for the band as they continue to lose some of their original fans.  This is why they brought a band like Trivium on tour with them.

Trivium is known for being aimed at the high school guy who is just getting into harder music.  Also, Trivium is famously headlined by a Japanese-American, Matt Heafy.  This doesn’t sound like a big deal but is actually quite significant.  As more and more Asians (such as myself) grow up in North America, the more likely they are to get involved with North American style music, metal being one of these genres.  Having an Asian frontman is huge as Asian kids will flock to the band, reminding them of classic J-Rock acts like Miyavi and also providing them with a role model and someone to look up to.  Culturally, it’s a pretty big deal.  So by bringing Trivium on board, In Flames is clearly trying to engage some Trivium fans and use them to replace their departing old fans.

Now, on to the actual concert itself.  The Sound Academy is a fairly small venue, with a capacity of a couple of thousand people and only standing room.  A little different than the standard Air Canada Centre rock show.  Now, with the venue being standing room only, things are naturally going to get crowded and a little rough.  I wasn’t around for Kyng, I didn’t like their sound so I spent my time at the merch booth and the bar trying to ignore their sound and I am not a fan of Veil of Maya due to the lead singer’s voice so I tried to ignore their set as well so I cannot fairly judge their music and the crowd since I am not a fan of them.  However, during Trivium, the younger, rougher fans of the band all decided to start mosh pits and crowd surf and push their way towards the front.  I’m all for moshing and crowd surfing and having a good time, I partake in it myself, but during Trivium things were getting a little out of hand.  There is a standard mosh etiquette, if someone falls pick them up, no kicking while crowd surfing, no elbows, no pushing or hitting people who don’t want to get involved and always leave some space for people who don’t want to partake in such activities.  These rules were all ignored during Trivium’s set.  I personally got kicked in the head three times, had two people dropped on me and got head butted in the face by one kid, about 17 years old.  People were getting trampled, the crowd was one big mosh pit, the people at the very front were getting crushed and there was no room for people to just stand and enjoy the show without getting pushed around or punched in the jaw.  It was complete mayhem, people were getting hurt and scared and I will give full credit to the band for trying to control the crowd. At least three times during the show, Trivium actually stopped the show and reminded the crowd to be safe, not to hurt people and to watch out for women, children and smaller members of the audience.  I admire those actions and I think it really spoke about the bands character and their want for all their fans to have a good time.  Once I escaped the massive pit, I managed to plop down on a bar stool and regain my breath while waiting for In Flames to hit the stage.

The crowd during In Flames was much tamer as the younger, more naturally violent teenage Trivium fans all went to the back, or to the bar, or outside to have a smoke and couldn’t get back to their previous spot.  In Flames opened with the title track from their new album, “Sounds of a Playground Fading,” and I must say, they are great perfumers, very active on stage, engaging the crowd, stopping to talk to the crowd and promote their struggling new album.  They seem like a great group of guys, very friendly to all the fans, but where clearly heavily pushing the new album, which I expected but still found disappointing.  I like the bands new content, but I am a big fan of their old albums particularly the album “Colony.”  Not a single song was played from that album, which I found to be heavily disappointing since my two favourite In Flames songs, “Embody The Invisible” and “Ordinary Story” are from that album and I was hoping to hear them.  I do understand why the band decided to play mostly new stuff though, they can’t play their old songs forever, they want to create new content, gain new fans, go in a different musical direction and promote their new albums.  I get that, and I respect that, but the inner old In Flames fan in me was still disappointed.  Overall though, the band really does put on a great show, very energetic, very enthusiastic, very engaging, and quite enjoyable.  The addition of Trivium I really enjoyed since I am a fan of them, but I can honestly say I was quite bored during Kyng and Veil of Maya.  Four bands is a lot for a show and I really thing only two or three were needed.  If they toured with less bands, In Flames could even play some of their older stuff for their original fans.  Regardless it was a good show, I would recommend seeing them, and if you are in the Toronto area check out Trivium on April 1st of this year.  They’re playing with Asking Alexandria, once again at the Sound Academy.  I know I’ll be there.

Review: 6.5/10 Stars

Tracklist:

1. Introducing The End

2. Angel Of Devastation

3. Ballad Of Fear

4. My Grotesque

5. Bitter Harmony

6. Awaken

Genre: Melodic Death Metal and Metalcore

Best track: Awaken

The track “Introducing The End” is a very good intro to this EP, like the calm before the storm, when the track thereafter begins devastating( ). That’s the thing I like, I mean with that albums should have a good intro track, making one comming into the album. Sure it works starting directly with a song, I’m not against that, but it’s something with intros that I like, and I’m not sure what it is. Lets come back to that some other time, I promise.

The cover is one of the reason I began to listen as soon as I got this EP, and that shows my opinion about that

I have not much more to tell, just that when I had listened through “Awaken” and the EP was ended. I then just standed there and almost thinking of getting it once more, just for that song.

First feeling: 9/10

Growl: 9/10

Vocals: 8/10

Lyrics: 7/10

Overall: 9/10

Funny task: Which song does have the best connection to the cover, by you judge?

I arrived at the venue a few hours early, and was doing my last minute check with equipment with my cameraman (and girlfriend) Alexa. We saw Chrigel Glanzmann, the singer of Eluveitie outside, so I went up and introduced myself to him and stated who I was with. Chrigel was very happy, and said the band was just talking about Der Metal Krieger and Nordic Metal. Eluveitie went to do their sound check, and about 20 minutes later I met back up with Chrigel. We found a spot outside and then begun the interview. Chrigel was very open about the questions, and of course joked around with me. After the interview, we talked and he said he loves the passion that DMK has, and hopes we keep up the good work. The other members of Eluveitie were also very kind, and hopes the best for us.

About an hour later, we went backstage to Children of Bodom‘s dressing room for the second interview. Janne Wirman,  the keyboardist for Bodom, came into the room, and we just talked about the 70,000 Tons of Metal tour. Their Drummer, Jaska Raatikainen, came in, and we got set up. The interview went smoothly, and we had some great laughs (joked about the economy, etc.). Then we just hung out for a few minutes, before we had to head out. On our way out, we ran into Threat Signal right before they went on.

Performance-wise, Eluveitie played a great set, including tracks from their new album Helvetios!  They played Meet the Enemy perfectly,  and for the first time ever, Havoc. Revocation had one of the most brutal pits I have ever experienced, when they played Dismantle the Dictator. They had the fans moshing for almost the whole set. And of cohildren of Bodom played a unique set. They played something from every album, showing the whole spectrum of albums. One of the best experiences I had that night was when Janne saw Alexa and I up front, and waved over to us every now and then. The bands were all great to hang out with, and I thank them for taking time out of their day to spend time with us.

This was a successful night for DMK, and hopefully one of many more to come.

-Talvi

Band: Kalmah

Location: Oulu (Finland)

Year of creation: 1998

Genre: melodic death metal

Track from album: Swampsong (2003)

Tracklist:

1. Cacophonous

2. Sentinel

3. Mariner’s Cutlass

4. Horus Rises

5. Discarnate By Design

6. Four Winds

7. Celestial Scourge

8. Ruin Of Gaia

9. Tomb Of The Thracians

10. Delphic Star

11. The Captive

12. Outro

Genre: Melodic Death Metal, Death Metal and Deathcore

Best track: Delphic Star

It took me really long time before I finally listened through this album, but as soon as I had done that, I really liked the band.

Sadly to say the band had breaked up, because this album is very well made, and I(and surely many more fans) wanted more from the band. On wikipedia it says that they tried to reunite, but it didn’t worked. Hopefully they’ll make it in the (near) future.

The cover is good, with the gravestones in the front, and a burning(?) church in the background.

First feeling: 5/10

Growl: 9/10

Screamo: 8/10

Lyrics: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Funny task: Name some Egyptian gods and goddesses to me(or for yourself), except for Horus of course.

With a will and energy as formidable as their crushing sound Karnak Seti release their new self-released album In Harmonic Entropy. The release is earnest and eager, a powerful collection of songs with an intent to give maximum damage and satisfaction, and overall it pretty much succeeds on both fronts. The album bursts with forceful riffs and intricate expressive melodic invention to keep the senses constantly on alert and intrigued. Muscular and intimidating it is equally caring and decisive in bringing well structured and crafted melodic extreme metal to your table. It would be fair to say it is not bursting out with anything startling in a new sound way but In Harmonic Entropy is still a superior and tasty feast to get ones teeth into.

The quintet from Portugal first made people notice with their debut album Scars of your Decay of 2009. Full of promise and solid sounds the band announced themselves as a band to keep an eye on and with this new release have confirmed that promise even if there is still a sense of much more to come. In Harmonic Entropy is a more mature album than the debut as one would expect with fuller sounds and structured with obvious concentrated care. They have not reduced their intensity, in fact notched it up somewhat but have brought their melodic invention even more to the fore. The blend is impressive, deeply pleasing and again portent of what surely will emerge from the band as they evolve further and hone their songwriting skills even more.

The album is the first release with new singer Luis Erre joining guitarists António Jesus and Renato Ramos, bassist Claudio Aguiar, and drummer Luis Barreto. Erre’s vocals are harsh and caustic, his growls scathing upon the ear and a good compliment to the raw power of the music and contrast to the impressive melodies and intricacies. He offers just enough diversity to his delivery to never allow his hoarse tones to grate, something a few bands lately should take note of.

The album opens with ‘Long Gone Shadow’, probably its most accessible song though none are a problem to get fully engaged with. Belligerent riffs, a glorious senses twisting groove, and excitable keys all infuse the track with keen energy and addictive sounds. It may not be the best or rather most creative track on the release but it probably will be understandably the favourite of many, its eagerness to please irresistible. Following track ‘Only Red Mist Descends’ ups the ante with more tempting riffs and razor sharp melodies, and a vocal harmony at times to lose fluids over. The track ripples with all the evidence as to why one can see Karnak Seti making deep marks ahead within metal, beautifully crafted its hard bordering on threatening intensity is in a perfect blend with the creative ingenuity of the band. Easily the best track on the album of what are nine extremely enjoyable tracks.

The album is not a brutal beast but certainly makes demands of and takes from the ear with strong force. The intricate technical precision and blistering melodies are a wonderful balance to the aggression and at times fierce and heavy emotional intent of lyrics and expression. Tracks such as the imposing and grief laden ‘Loss’, the emotive and mesmeric ‘Stranded By Existence’ with an exuberant picky keyboard niggling throughout, and the excellent ‘Figureless Icons’ which sees the band doing their best In Flames impression and pulling it off without making one shout ‘copycats’, all shine and please tremendously.

In Harmonic Entropy is for all fans of the likes of In Flames, Soilwork, and As I Lay Dying and that is where the only criticism that can be laid at the album’s feet stems. The Portuguese metalers have not yet found that distinct Karnak Seti sound to set themselves apart leading to fears that this outstanding album will be lost amongst many other similar genre releases, hopefully not as it deserves unlimited attention. It is a tremendous release bulging with stunning musicianship, impressive songwriting and intelligent creativity. It also suggests that one day the band will make your new favourite melodic death metal album.

RingMaster 10/02/2012

The best and easiest way to get your music on iTunes, Amazon and lots more. Click below for details.

Tracklist:

1. Inherit The Earth

2. Phoenix Down

3. Betrayer Of The Code

4. My Own Death

5. Serenade Of Guilt

6. Collapse My Dream

7. Green Eyed Demon

8. Iceheart Fragment

9. Pathfinder

10. Where The Frost Rose Withers

11. The Miracle Of Mind(Bonus track)

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Best Track: Betrayer Of The Code

With a price less than 500 swedish kronor(don’t remember how much euro it costed) I got this album with a bonus track, a t-shirt, an usb-memory on 1 GB and a poster. A good price, because I could back when I bought the package bought it for 100 more swedish kronor(aproximly 10 euros). Happy being one of the 616 lucky ones, I opened the package and the The Unguided-smell touched my nose, turning me into a droling fan.

Considered when they quited their earlier band, Sonic Syndicate, and started The Unguided, the Sjunnesson brothers* and Roland Johansson, I think the album was really quick made. Though it was made quick, it was launched with a bunch of great songs.

About the cover of the album I will only say one word: Awesome.

Though I think “Betreyer Of The Code” is the best track, “Green Eyed Demon” is the one with the heaviest sound, with much bass and stuff. Starting with “Inherit The Earth” was a good option, starting heavy and very much their style. “The Miracle Of Mind” is a good song, not awesome, but a very good ending of this special album.

The sad thing is that the songs that was released before the album is the best ones. Not that the other tracks is crap, but they’re just good tracks, not the really awesome ones, which make them not getting a full pot. On the other hand, they are more than average, all songs.

In the end, the album is totally worth what it costed, and one of the best albums by any band, by my judge.

First feeling: 10/10

Growl: 9/10

Clean vocal: 9/10

Lyrics: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Funny task: Did you find which song the sentence “You are running out of miracles” is within?

*Well, Roger is still a member of Sonic Syndicate, and the other brother, Richard, joined later, and also joined Faithful Darkness. All this told by a well informed man, who knows things better than I do, at least when it comes to music

This is the ideal of any art form, let alone metal: (probably) literally EVERY member of the crowd present knew EVERY Goddamn word of this song– I hate hyperbole, but I got goosebumps and felt the pure greatness of metal as an art form upon watching this (and this was years ago; its EPICness is so obvious as to beckon this post).

[Here's another angle, too.]

Poster: Summer Storm Festival 2012

Yesterday 5th Feb, it was a Sun-Heated Sunday  the second edition of Summer Storm Festival 2012, headlined by Swedish Progressive heavy metal band Opeth, Palace Ground, Bangalore! I was happy that I had a cap and sunglass to protect me from the sun. I was unhappy because of Overture, the organizer not allowed a personal digi-cam, the question is why? I still can’t understand the reason. It totally spoils the identical foot-steps into such great concert. I started my journey from Ramanjaneya Nagar at 1 PM, took a bus 210ZA, came to Majestic Bus terminal then I took another bus from platform number 23rd and finally came to Gayatri Vihar, Palace Ground.

First to visit the Box office to collect the original ticket instead of internet booking print-copy. Suddenly I found the ground is filled with metalhead bangers patiently waiting for the entry. It was 4 o’clock audience entered inside. There are three bands “Nothnegal”, “Suidakra” and finally headed by Swedish metal band Opeth.

Nothnegal is Maldivian heavy metal band from Malé, formed in 2006 is unknown to me. SuidAkrA is a melodic death metal band from Germany with Celtic folk influences. When they nicely added Scottish bag pipes in their new genre Celtic metal. People laughed when a guy shouts from the crowd to the lead singer that “you are a good guy” he first listen “good sky” and all laughed at! He repeated! I fell nothing new left in death metal music.

Ticket and Summer Storm Throwaway Card

It was 8 o’clock exact Opeth appears on the stage. A huge banner hanged at behind is a part of their latest album “Heritage”. Mikael Akerfeldt appears on the stage with complete dashing look. Devil’s Orchard was the opening song. I see my 5.4″ height is too bad to enjoy an open aired flat grounded live show. The taller giants are standing infront of the smaller guys that hardly make it possible to enjoy the show. I struggled half an hour and then do some moshing. Finally come out of the crowd and sit behind at the ground. In my opinion Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, Hamsadhwani open-air theatre is the best ground in India to enjoy live concerts. I still not satisfied because  that I missed to see the show properly. Hope in future I will see Opeth again.

Opeth Complete set-list:

“Through Pain to Heaven“

1. The Devil’s Orchard
2. I Feel the Dark
3. Face of Melinda
4. Slither
5. Credence
6. To Rid the Disease
7. Folklore
8. Heir Apparent
9. The Baying of the Hounds
10. The Drapery Falls
11. Deliverance

What an irony? Thanks Kingfisher and Overture for make this event alive! Thanks Mikael Akerfeldt that I was introduced with you first through Bloodbath line up, no question about your long 22 years of metal career. I don’t think you enjoyed the count “Fuck You Mikael” “for what”? I think you still remain “Horny” after enjoying the evening with us. Opeth will always be respected in metal-area. Long live Opeth. /m\

Band: Your Chance To Die
Album: Suscitatio Somnus
Release: 2011
Label: Red Cord Records
Genre: Christian melodeathcore (new genre name!)

Occasionally I’ll come across a band that seem stuck in a limbo when it comes to identity, caught between two styles but never striking upon common ground. Your Chance To Die, a Christian metal band out of South Carolina, seem in just that predicament. Swinging between deathcore to tech-melodeath, the only apparent constant is frontwoman Missy and her vociferous and relentless lyrical growls on their sophomore release, Suscitatio Somnus.

After the requisite creepy cinematic intro, the album gets off to a mediocre start with “Divine Pestilence”, more leaning towards deathcore chug. Well, at least until the halfway point when melody takes over, and a cool solo from Coca Avila recalls The Faceless, supplemented by Crouch on rhythm guitar. Crawley’s bass and drummer Todd make for a strong rhythmic duo, shifting easily between the faster death metal and slower deathcore parts. “Libations Of Blood” starts off better, also including some guitar noodling, coated with an oldschool feel, and “Annuit Coeptis” is where the momentum really gets going, sporting no less than 3 solos and some interesting lyrics to boot.

Neatly sidestepping any comparisons to Arch Enemy’s Gossow, growler Missy tends to stick to her lower range of demonic growls which, when juxtaposed with the Christian-inspired lyrics, ironically suit them. Some passages are very well-written, if awkwardly-phrased (“When an innocent child puts a gun to his head/There’s something wrong with both of you”), and have more in common with Light This City and Walls Of Jericho. The most disturbing track, “Measure Of Iniquity” is also one of the hardest-hitting, dealing with child prostitution and our culpability through inaction. However, there are some overwhelming moments with simultaneous soloing and lyrics which would have worked better instrumentally.

After multiple spins, Suscitatio Somnus does become a little dragging and turn into a “death metal sermon”, given there is little in terms of chorus structure. The breakdowns are a bit predictable, and the drum production would benefit from tightening. That said, the band have clearly spent time on integrating the various sections, and the solos in particular are great, culminating in a synth-drenched interlude entitled “Nigun Atardecer Es Igual” (No Sunset Is Equal) which sounds akin to a Satriani or Vai track, dividing the album neatly in half. The band’s first single, “Requiem For The Blessed Damned” also showcases experimenting in the form of keyboards and higher-pitched screams, and the closer “Verdict For The Gods” has a Spanish spoken word section before the strong finale.

As an insight a band’s history, Suscitatio Somnus is an interesting snapshot of the transitory period between deathcore roots and fully fledged death metal, and the Christian element puts on a different spin from the usual topics. Your Chance To Die’s intentions are fairly clear that they want to move on from these roots, but in terms of a merging between the two, they’ve done a satisfying job. The next album will certainly be one to watch when it emerges.

Rating: 6/10

N.B. The video features an intro and outro not present on the album.

I have to say, whatever i was expecting when i began listening to West London’s Devolver, it wasn’t this.
It wasn’t generic metalcore. It wasn’t djent. It wasn’t hardcore.
It was some kind of fucked up melodic death metal, with some clearly progressive influences, adding in a dash of Lamb of God. For those who know me, or even those who have read my previous articles, you will understand why i really enjoyed this bands music. The guitarists, Sam Tehrani and Sebastian Dymiter, are very reminiscent of Willie Adler and Mark Morton. It’s quite weird actually, how their style is so similar. But don’t think that they’re just a carbon copy of LOG – they clearly have plenty of influences that really carved the path of their songwriting. Some songs remind me of Mars to Sirius era Gojira ( like Aeons of Progression), while others remind me of Mors Principium Est (namely Vendetta). This band should be getting more attention than they have been so far.

I could sing the praises of these guitarists all day, but i’ll keep it brief. The riffs are 100% tight, the solos are well written and range from thrash style solos straight up to progressive fuckers, the breakdowns are far from repetative and overused and their technical skill is top notch, bro. All of this is packaged in by a barrage of rhythm provided by Lewis Tassell and Joel Scott, on Bass and Drums respectively. These guys provide an excellent undercurrent, holding the beat nicely and shining more than most bassists and drummers i’ve been hearing recently. On top of all this, like a dripping layer of sauce upon the ice cream that is this band (i bet you guys have never been compared to ice cream before, eh?), is the weird, interesting vocals of Sam Curran. I can’t quite put my finger on what is weird about them exactly, but i like them. It sounds like he has 3 windpipes, each with a different sounding voice – and they’re all molesting your ears at the same time. It’s pretty nasty man!

My favourite track on the release has to be Utopia, which has the most melodeathy sound in my opinion. The riffs are brutal and quick, which is kind of what we want in melodeath! The vocals add to the effect by providing an iron curtain of aggression that any metalhead can easily get behind.

Another highlight of their release is Aeons of Progression, which begins with a very Mark Morton-esque riff that breaks into a slow, crushing feel. Another guitar, hitting single notes combined with effects creates a distant sound, that adds to the size of this track – it sounds positively huge! This theme of crushing force returns throughout the song, sporadically broken by patches of speed metal and breakdowns. The structure of this song is incredible – the way it all flows really makes you appreciate the riffs. The use of split-second, almost discordant, chords in this track brings that Gojira feel i was talking about earlier. I fuckin love it!

And the bonus track, Death of a Traitor, has some outstanding riffage in it, completed with some all round epic vocals!

I expect great things of this band, and ill make sure to keep updated on their releases. Check out their facebook! Oh yeah, did i mention that all their tracks are free for download off facebook? Well it is! Get in there!

-FME