Unleashed "As Yggdrasil Trembles" Nuclear Blast Records I just don´t get it! I have lost count of how many times I´ve listened to this one, found myself enjoying quite a few of the songs, and then comes the pathetic guitar solo. Often the type of solo that belongs in a Hard Rock or Heavy Metal band, and while Unleashed have still a lot in common with Death Metal I just think that shit ruins the entire album. And the solos are all very similar, and of course, one in each and every song on this album! WHY? I just don´t get it! Take the title track, cool pace and nice riffs and the vocals work very well in the song. It has a rather dark touch, while still being very melodic. And check out the guitar solo that pop up 2:54 into the song. Hahaha! I give up! Scum

Axis Powers "Marching Towards Destruction" Pulverised Records There´s really nothing wrong with this Swedish band, except for the fact that music like this comes in numbers. We´ve heard this fast, veeery typical Swedish sound and style so many times, it´s just plain boring. And the guys in Axis Powers are not interested in adding anything unusual to make it a little more interesting than just average. The cheesy guitar solos are more Heavy Metal than Death Metal, and I see no point in playing Death Metal with lame guitar solos. Luckily, there´s just a couple of them. And luckily, there´s plenty of better CDs around. Andre P.

Battalion "Underdogs" Silverwolf Productions Power/Heavy Metal with a touch of Thrash from this Swiss band. No masterpiece, but it does rock, there's a few good riffs here and there. The songs are basic and predictable. Quite soon you know what you're going to get, and apart from some nice interludes there was absolutely nothing innovative on this album either. Still, the songs manage to stand on their feet. There is punch enough in the music, the riffs are occasionally pretty good and rarely below average. The songs are further spiced with some fairly good melodies, so this album is good enough even though it does feel anachronistic and washed out at times. ThomasF

Behemoth "Evangelion" Nuclear Blast Records Behemoth are like a massive train with no breaks, persistently touring and recording; out bursting releases with short gaps in-between - albums and EPs every second time. One can´t blame a Metalhead for getting a bit heavy-breathed. "Evangelion" is Behemoth´s 9th full-length and there´s no sign of settling down or running out of fuel, and they´re not even tempted to try new ways. It´s full force Death Metal. In other words; no big surprises on this album either. Behemoth could face the risk of stagnation if it wasn´t for the fact that the music is damn good. Their choice of putting out a video for "Ov Fire and the Void" is very understandable. What an amazing track, full of powerful and great aggressive riffing. It's one of Behemoth´s best ones. Further out on the record there are a lot of equally good tracks, and it strikes me that the amount is considerably higher than before. Behemoth´s records do always have two or three really good ones, and then the rest tend to become a bit anonymous. On this album the scale tips heavily towards the good ones. Another track that slides in at the top 5 of Behemoth´s best ever, is the mid-paced monster "Alas, The Lord is Upon Me". One can´t get any heavier than that. I would also like to mention the last song on this album, "Lucifer", which has a very cruel atmosphere. It's so cold and dark with its simple, but very effective, repetitive riffing. It shows Behemoth at their most epic and proves the Polish to be more than a band with good playing skills; they're also a band that put true feelings into their music. This album stands out like the tower of Isengard in a junkyard of twisted and rusty metal scrap. Without a doubt, Behemoth´s best album to date. Luna

Cathedral "The Guessing Game" Nuclear Blast Records This British band celebrates two decades of existence with a double album, their first release in five years. The music is, according to the label, a mix of doom, rock, prog and psychedelia. Musical chaos and complete lack of structures is an excellent and time-tested way for crappy bands to hide the fact that their music stinks. No matter how negative reviews they get they can always pretend that "listeners don't understand our complexity". Unfortunately, Cathedral is competent enough to structure their music in a way that is both complex and accessible. So there is nothing to hide the boring and provokingly optimistic music. An album with this pile of dog shit would have been bad enough, but with a double album the closest comparison must be a mix of excrements and cat puke. I can't find any kind of doom on either disc, instead listeners are offended with, among other things, 70s rock at its most idiotic and naive. Good music should create pictures in the minds of the listeners. Bad music usually does not. But sometimes an album reeks of so much shit that pictures in the mind pop up whether one wants or not. Listening to this musical abortion I can't help but imagining naked hippies with flowers in the hair dancing in the forest while chanting "Meat is murder", and "Let us all hold our hands and have a group discussion about peace, love and how to save the world". This music might be a lot of things, but Metal is not one of them and this sewer rat soundtrack has nothing to do on a Metal site. It belongs on hippierevival.com or something, where some 60 year old flower power fucker blather on about "How we stopped a war and saved the world and stopped murdering animals for food". It's not only the music, but the whole feel of the album which is so soft, naive and save the world-like it should be hanged, shot, and guillotined in a gas chamber. The album starts rather interesting, but after half a minute it changes into a sound (I refuse to call it music) which is so utterly idiotic and naive it makes one think of a bucket of puke spiced with cat shit. And that is just the first of several absolutely revolting interludes that has nothing to with metal and sounds like lullabies for six year olds! And when I read the press release my suspicions were confirmed: "Requiem for the Voiceless" is "The first animal rights song in doom metal history!" Well, the song is an insult to every animal above carrot gnawing rabbit! And "The Guessing Game" is, guess what, the musical equivalent of horse shit and half digested vegetables. ThomasF

Code "Resplendent Grotesque" TABU Recordings Finally another album from these strange creatures of the obscure. The debut from four years back had something you could separate from the masses and cherish. Their groovy, sophisticated, stylish Metal with black edges was beyond the bowl of corpse-painted followers. With this follow up, Code manifest their position and mark their expression thoroughly. The style is fairly intact. Basically, the biggest changes lie in the vocals. Occasionally, it´s surprisingly high - often mixed with the raspy ones which in fact reinforces the schizophrenic sound. The vocals are melodic but not necessarily harmonic. It's often very monotonous and disharmonic, which is good. The opener, "Smother The Grones", is a raw track with a nice vocal-hook, a refrain, if you like. The second one, "In The Privacy Of Your Own Bones", takes the band in all directions. From aggressive Metal to more ambient drifting parts and in-between it´s spiced with Beyond Dawn-ish vocal harmonies. This is an album that demands a lot of you as a listener, bearing with both soft and raw parts and accepting it. Given time, "Resplendent Grotesque" can, and will, grow on you. In my opinion, the band has proven its ways of going in unexpected directions, especially when it comes to the more melodic side. I feel that Code, having in mind that the members have long experience within the Norwegian Black Metal scene, would´ve succeeded more if they´d brought forth more of that fierce and aggressive side out in the open. Either way, Code has developed their own specific sound, which is very important today. Luna

Deathspell Omega "Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon" Norma Evangelium Diaboli They still manage to impress me, even after the buzz has calmed down around this mystery of a band. Having taken a major step away from uninspiring Black Metal, they recruited a new horde of followers with the second chapter in their musical history, including me. This continues on the dark journey through impeccable guitar parts and unpredictable musical corners. One song clocking in at over 22 minutes - not one moment is dull. It´s like many songs have been fused together as one. The variation is excellent and the whole composition great. Take your time and experience the guitars that emerge from nowhere 14 minutes into the song...uhhh. Unholy

Hellvetic Frost "Misanthropic Devotion" Art of Propaganda Incredibly dull Black Metal! This is the debut album from this Swiss band, and fuck, it´s lame! It´s as if they don´t believe in their own material. The compositional aspects are pretty bad, the songs aren´t written with optimal precision. There´s nothing evil about this, the riffs are uninteresting, some even pathetic, and the music has a curtain written average all over it. Hellvetic Frost base their music around an obvious lack of good material. It doesn´t sound interesting, and really, even I would have managed to come up with better riffs. Patronizer

Ignis Uranium "Azimuth Nuctemeron Frequency" Nykta Records This German band tune their frequency onto something that is both interesting and not. They dare experiment, which has it´s ups and downs. But at least this add a spice to their rather hectic blackened Metal. Musically I feel they shift shape within different genres, and it´s their experimental sides that are of interest here. As the title of this album is kind of weird, so are elements of the music to this trio. Much of it is uninteresting, as it feels just too normal and it´s fast music we´ve heard plenty of times before. But they have these odd and nice attempts at sounding unique and charismatic. Much of it doesn´t work that well; as it isn´t shaped to perfection yet. But the core is there, and if it is crafted well this band might have something for the future. This album isn´t particularly good, but it has plenty of nice parts that with a more precise composition could have turned into a great album for the seekers of unique Metal. Unholy

Immortal "All Shall Fall" Nuclear Blast Records After having kept this band on hold for many years, it´s actually pretty nice to have Immortal back. And, needless to say; this album has been greatly anticipated by the hordes of fans they´ve mesmerized with their excellent and very unique Black Metal ever since the early 90s. With higher hopes than ever before, when this album was given the first spin, the inevitable disappointment was overwhelming. Even after dozens of non-stop listening sessions, I just couldn´t find the excellent Immortal guitars, or Abbath´s great vocals. It´s like they´ve reduced their own trademark. A trademark sound that has made Immortal the band they are today, given them a well deserved reputation and, not to forget, their own style. The frozen winds of these Norsemen have melted, and, apparently, it has been going on for a very long time, too, as there´s hardly any cold left in the core of their music. The guitars are warm and friendly and Abbath´s voice is only a sunny shadow of itself. And even though "Norden on Fire" is a great track, I am not interested in Immortal sounding like Bathory. I see absolutely no reason for that. Abbath´s voice taking on the shape of Quorthon´s or Immortal replacing their fantastic killer guitar riffs with riffs that are taken from the awesome book of Bathory. Tradition is important, but there's no need to replace your own sound with something that you can easily access if you invest in a couple of essential Bathory albums. I do not see this as a wise move from Immortal. I greatly miss the frostbitten sound and music they so magnificently have come up with on previous albums. This is as if the sun has risen, and they´ve forgotten to seek shelter. J. Loon

Irrbloss "Bloodline" Twilight Vertrieb A new band from Sweden, at least to my knowledge, and they combine Black Metal with Folk tendencies on this debut album. To claim that Irrbloss have found a style of their own is easily an exaggeration, to say that this album is particularly good is equally as exaggerated as claiming it is original. I personally cannot stand this album, the screamy vocals that seems to have no direction, the music that I have heard so many times the last 15 years I almost puke only thinking about it, and the emptiness of the material itself. The melodies are basic, the vocals bad, the song writing skills ultra average and the music over the top boring. Scum

I Shalt Become "The Pendle Witch Trials" No Colours Records The fourth album from S. Holliman, the single human unit behind this atmospheric and slow moving Black Metal band from the US, offers more of the same. I Shalt Become have found its style, and the style is defined further on this album. If you easily loose focus or have a hard time listening to slow music, this is not for you. The music circles around feeling and simple melodies. The vocals are haunting and distant, carefully adding to the bleak and grey musical colours that are transmitted. The monotonous and repetitive elements are not filled with energy, rather sneaking through the musical layers are balance and calmness. Weird and simple at the same time. Worthless

Kill "No Catharsis" Worship Him Records Kill offer more of the same, but with delightful and delicate details enough to make this album pretty…killer. They base their tunes on the primitive and ugly, provoking those who cheerish a clean sound and triggered drums. This is filthy and with a wonderful bizarre touch. Some of the guitar work is phenomenal, adding dimensions to an album that could have been just another primitive Black Metal album. Kill have outdone themselves on this album, a feast for all you who enjoy your Black Metal with a sick aura. Unholy

Kladovest "Escape in Melancholy" No Colours Records Of all possible names one can use on a band, is it possible to come up with something more and utter idiotic than Kladovest? Yes, I know it got something to do with "ancient Slavonic beliefs", but if one wants a band name in a strange language it shouldn't sound like a clown in a fucking circus! The music deserves better than that. This band is Ukrainian. Eastern Europe should have the perfect environment for hateful and hopeless music, but so far I've heard no great bands east of Poland. But this trio have created music with a clear identity, something which most definitely sounds different. The music is well made and fascinating with a numbing and hypnotising feel. It's Black Metal of a different kind. Thorns have much of the same sound, Dodsferd even more so, albeit Kladovest is a bit faster and more melodic. Half an hour is divided into four songs. The music is repetitive in the extreme. A handful of mechanical riffs are repeated over and over again creating a sterile and machinelike sound. This album piles darkness upon coldness, the songs are without as much as a shadow of hope. An album of twisted metal, rotting corpses and raging rats. Few listeners will find the robotic beat attractive, but those who do can explore a universe of hopeless, silent darkness. A nice touch on "Tead of Silk" where Kladovest creates a guitar sound which sounds a lot like "The Internal", one of the last songs Godflesh ever made. ThomasF

Liturgy "Renihilation" 20 Buck Spin These New York Blackmetallers are not to be confused with the Chicago Deathmetallers of the same name. Liturgy performs simple and minimalistic metal which is hard to compare, though their label considers them similar to the early albums of Ulver. This album, their debut, is stripped of about everything. No variation, not the slightest hint of any melodies. The production has removed most punch and groove. Some bands use a drum machine, but Liturgy sound like they use guitar machines too. The dissonant dual guitars are the anchor of the music. The riffs sounds like they´ve been made in a factory, buzzing and mechanical. They go on and on with the vocals buried far beneath in the production. Strange, unreal music in a strange and utter minimalistic production. There are some vocal interludes scattered between the songs, but they're just as bizarre as the rest of the music. There is a guitar solo here too which was kinda nice. The zumming bzzz-sounding guitars creates a special feeling, and the band have most definitely created their own sound and identity. This is not really recommended, it's not on a great or classic level. But neither is it without value, the band have a strange, but clear identity. If you're gonna be lobotomised this is the soundtrack. ThomasF

Malfeitor "Incubus" Agonia Records Malfeitor continue their musical saga where they left off with their 2007 debut; high speed and intensity. But the high speed and the solid dose of intensity the music express is in itself not enough to secure it recognition, and it clearly suffer from this. The material is pretty plain and we´ve all heard this type of music too many times during the last 15 years to really lift an eye brow. The riffs are not really good, and we have to wait untill the eighth track, "Void of Voids", where they slow down and add some interesting feeling to the guitars, until Malfeitor show some signs of character. Very fast and intense Black Metal without originality, unfortunately. Worthless

Mr. Death "Detached from Life" Agonia Records This band should have the ingredients it takes to come up with something really cool. First; the name of the band could indicate something unique and special. The logo of the band is traditional, surely giving room for some old school killer Death Metal. The members have their background from Treblinka, Expulsion and Tiamat. I would believe that taking this into consideration, this band would come up with something based in tradition but with a little creativity going on. Surely, the old guys with a lot of experience behind them can´t be satisfied with releasing just another ordinary Death Metal album? Well…this album is ordinary. It´s so safe and stereotypical, I am utterly bored when I listen to it. It feels empty, there´s no cool riffs or weird parts, it´s just plain and safe Death Metal, like we´ve heard millions of times before. Tradition can be important if it´s used the right way, but it could also be dead boring. Cool that they recorded it in good old Sunlight Studios, but apart from that this one is easy to forget. J. Loon

Nocturnal Fear "Metal of Honor" Moribund Records Old Kreator. I repeat; old Kreator. The majority of this album remind me of old Kreator. The guitars are pretty similar, the vocals very much in the old way Mille sang when Kreator recorded their old albums. The feeling in the songs and the production, it all goes hand in hand with the German band. Not original, not too good, but the retro fetish seems to please many, and this isn´t the worst example. Scum

The Retaliation Process "Downfall" Silverwolf Productions Downfall is the debut from this German band, and they're clearly inspired by Machine Head and Pantera. Like fucking one thousand bands have been before them! One minute into the album and you just know what the rest will sound like. Nothing unexpected, no nothing. Just second rate riff upon second rate riff, occasionally with some bottom of the barrel third rate riffs for variation. Brutal music yes, but it's brutality without identity or purpose. There are some good parts scattered around, so I know I've heard worse. But where? ThomasF

Slagmaur "Von Rov Shelter" Osmose Productions It's good to know that there are people (artists) in Norway that still do things their own way. Too often do we see experienced musicians that seem to have lost track of what music is essentially about: individuality, creativity, enthusiasm and pride in what you release. I'm certain that General Gribbsphiiser, the headmaster of Slagmaur, fulfils these measures. I will come back to the music, but first I will make a point of Slagmaur´s understanding of the concept Black Metal. The genre has three strong sides: the musical, the lyrical and, almost as important, the visual. When it comes to the visual presentation of the band, one can easily say that there´s an original concept. The shenanigans of da Vinci´s "The Last Supper" is just brilliant. Black Metal is a serious and a very strong expression that contains anger, spiritualism and a strong message. Playing fast with a buzzing guitar sound and (if you bother) paint your face black and white simply doesn´t hold. Slagmaur proved their quality with the album "Skrekk Lich Kunstler", an album that shakes the foundation of any churchyard. The destructive sound and the industrial atmosphere lifted quite a few eyebrows. On the downside, I believe the songs in themselves weren´t that memorable. It was more the cruel expression itself. On "Von Rov Shelter", Slagmaur have taken a good step forward to improve just that; it holds more of the good sound and visions. After the introduction the bombastic sound straight from hell meets you, it crawls slowly in repetitive movements, and eventually gets under your skin. In a way there´s a Burzum link here. Kind of a contemporary interpretation of what Varg did over a decade ago. During these 33, 3 minutes there are a lot of things happening, and one can´t really describe what with labels and resemblances. Slagmaur is definitely something special, although I still feel that the band can experiment further, and I´m confident that future releases will just exceed in quality. Luna

The Stone "Umro" Folter Records It´s actually their fourth album, but as they really have nothing to add to an overcrowded Metal scene, I am kind of puzzled why they aren´t trying harder to come up with something killer. This album is dead boring, they seem to have no direction with the music they play, and the material is so plain and average I do not think this is appealing for many people. Black Metal without feeling, without character and definitely an album that is drowning among too many other uninteresting albums. Worthless

Unspoken/Vomitous "Cataclysm Architects" Musikk & Mystikk Records A split CD between Unspoken from Norway and Vomitous from Northern Ireland. Unspoken released their debut album in 2006, on their own label, and are currently writing up some new tunes for what will be their second album. The first song "Dogs of War" kicks off nicely with a good and catchy riff and some excellent groove. Had all their material been like this I would have smiled. But while they manage to maintain a great pace and cool Death Metal with the opener, the two next songs feels rather grey in comparison. The material is not original, and doesn´t really manage to go anywhere. Vomitous play it safe, expressing some Deicide inspirations here and there, and placing themselves safely within the middle core of Death Metal. Not original, not good and not bad. Death Metal like this comes in numbers. And tons. Patronizer

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