Jumalhämärä "Resignaatio" Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions You might bring your skiis to Lahti, head down the slope, but finding these guys where the other skiers are going is not likely to happen. They´ve gone off piste, down a hill where there´s no slope, to the left where everyone else goes right. Musical free thinkers, and what a debut album indeed! Soft snow mixed in with hard snow, two parts mixed into one with impressive precision. This band set their own standards, dominating this album with experimental awareness and unexpected solutions. On the one hand you have the raw nature and harsh Metal that will appeal to many Black Metal fans, on the other hand they refuse to go for the obvious melodies and instead they create something that might be challenging for the ear, but definitely worth the extra effort it takes to get into. Sure, we all like an album that we can just put on and have as background music, and sure, this would be ideal for that as well. But if you want something out of it, make sure to give it a listen. Pay attention, and if you´re as lucky as me, you´ll end up being deeply fascinated and seriously into this. Black Metal with a weird twist of surreal, catchy and harsh Metal. J. Loon

Astriaal "Anatomy of the Infinite" Obsidian Records It took seven years for the follow up to their debut to emerge, Astriaal out of Australia are going head on with a diverse and varied album, defined in the Black Metal genre. This is a two sided affair. On the one side they have quite a few cool ideas and a sound of their own that give this album something extra. On the other hand, they too often fall into musical nothingness, bringing forth music that we´ve heard too many times before. Music with little value apart from being fillers and ideas that are original but not really working. To illustrate this, which I find to be a problem with the album, is the interesting opening of their sixth track. The guitars and drums are building up something that sounds interesting and nice, the vocals build further on this feeling, and then, all of a sudden, they decide to go full scale average Black Metal, totally ruining the great potential this song started off with. Towards the end of this track, they again return to something that is much more interesting than just hammering drums, dull riffs and vocals that aren´t good Black Metal vocals, but small portions of good music won´t survive a majority of uninteresting music. Scum

Bloodwritten "Thrashin´Fury" Witching Hour Productions The love for retro seems endless, and I am bored by it. Bloodwritten is nothing more than just another band you won´t take notice of. The music, like with most bands, is nice, but not interesting. The riffs are played and composed without inspiration. Nope, it might be Thrashin and there might be Fury in here, but it´s plain, average and uninteresting. Scum

Children of Technology "It´s Time to Face the Doomsday" Hells Headbangers Records WI´ve heard my share of retro Thrash albums that does nothing more than just rehash old ideas and basically copy without adding even a slight touch of an own identity to their potentially cool material. This Italian act are heading down the retro highway with Punk incorporated into their Thrash Metal, but with just enough of their own identity to make this a nice album. The music is up-tempo, kick-ass Metal with a dirty Rock N´Roll edge, the vocals awesome and giving this band an uppercut other bands so desperately need. "No Man´s Land" is damn cool and an instant favourite on this album. Andre P.

Cognition "Omnipotent" Self-release This debut album from the Norwegian musician Jon H. Orten is not your typical Metal album. Cognition looks at possibilities rather than limitations when their music is composed. Often, the result is fresh and cool, though there´s just a little too much fillers on the album to really make it good. Interesting indeed, the production is a little different, the Metal is Metal and there´s plenty of Industrial parts that make this original and out of the ordinary. The potential is obvious, the talent and good parts numerous, but it doesn´t hit bulls eye. It´s as if the good and catchy parts aren´t followed through, as if "almost great" is good enough, but that little extra isn´t added and this album ends up sounding interesting with plenty of good parts, but as a whole album it´s just "almost good". J. Loon

Cold Northern Vengeance "Trial by Ice 2002-2010" Ashen Productions The amount of mediocre musical solutions are flourishing on this album. Based in the US, this compilation is only for those who aren´t really interested in good music, because this is at times really bad! The lack of talent combined with the really low quality of the material that is performed is embarrassing. The attempt at creating a "feeling" in the music comes to a hault before it even starts. The vocals are bad, there´s an impressive lack of good guitar parts, the drums have no effect on the music. There are parts here that are untight, compositional solutions that only an amateur would allow into the music, and basically, this is among the worst crap I´ve heard. The riffs are stupid, and as far from Black Metal you can come. As you see from the title of this album, it spans almost a decade of music, and the first little part of this album has some nice parts, but who cares for quantity anyway? Unholy

Darkestrah "The Great Silk Road" Paragon Records Originally from Kyrgyzstan, now based in Germany, Darkestrah know how to compose harmonic Black Metal with unorthodox instruments accompanying their music. It sounds very nice, even though admittedly they are not pioneers. The atmosphere is nice and the Folk inspired parts done well, even though I feel they are a bit too traditional and end up among many other bands, rather than being fully on their own. They play it safe, the harmonies are followed through, but not offering unexpected twists or catching you off guard with a brilliant musical surprise. This is not cheerful Folk Black Metal, they manage to keep a fine balance between the grim nature of their Black Metal and the atmosphere produced by their traditional instruments like the Kylkyjak, Komuz and Sygyt. Lilly

Gravewurm "Blood of the Pentagram" Hells Headbangers Records I´ve had a hard time finding the pulse on this album. Gravewurm are playing their withdrawn Metal with very little energy, and with a straight line in front of you it´s not likely it will draw a lot of interest. I suppose that is what my impression is of this album; a straight line. Not a lot seems to happen, the Metal is grey and the riffs average, though they follow a strict musical rule to the end. But, by the end, I´ve lost interest and pretty much feel the pentagram has been drained of all blood by the end of the second track. Old school Metal without pulse. Unholy

Harkonin "Detest" Battlegod Productions It´s very difficult to keep focused on the music, as Harkonin are doing their best to make your mind drift off to trivial thoughts that has nothing to do with music. As a matter of fact, they do have about ten percent interesting and good material, but the need to be average is too intense and they´ve just filled the rest of this album with irrelevant music that has no direction. The hybrid Death/Thrash/Black Metal attempt isn´t cute, it´s just bound to end up among a number of other irrelevant albums. Patronizer

Heretic "Praising Satan - 15 Years of Ultimate Satanic Sleaze" Soulseller Records If Venom is too straight edge for you, look no further! Heretic bring us Satanic Sleaze, Rock N´Roll and Punk in a primitive and catchy way. Just straight forward, with delightful lyrics that are both amusing and humorous, depending on your mood, I guess. But these guys "breathe the air of Lucifer", and damn, what a great party album this is. A party where you won´t discuss serious matters like politics or equal rights, this will bring Satan, beer and lust into your mind. Lilly

Malhkebre "Prostration" Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions This one was originally released back in 2006, and since then this intense French act have released a split with Aosoth. Not the most productive band in the world, but on the other hand this mini-album here should inject enough intensity and madness into your veins to last for quite a long time. Pretty much straight forward Black Metal, insane vocals bringing the music further towards climax. The riffs are primitive and direct, the drums hammer their way through the songs and the presence of something human is constantly interferred by animalistic instincts. Patronizer

Noctem "Divinity" Noisehead Records Noctem goes at it with no fear, "conquer them all" seems to be their attitude! This is hyper-active extreme Metal, with growling vocals, no limits to their tempo-changes and plenty of cool riffs. A hybrid band really, mixing Grind, Thrash, Death Metal and what have you of extremities, into one expression. This is creative, structured, wild and pretty much intense. It´s as if you get five albums into one. Andre P.

Pest "Tenebris Obortis" Ketzer Records Straight forward Black Metal, this album rely more on intensity than details, and with a sound and feeling that is perfect for their music, Pest have come up with a good album of grim Black Metal. The vocals are harsh and brilliant at adding the necessary weirdness to their music. Now and then a break, a touch of unexpected madness or something ritualistic could have spiced upthis album a little, but they stay true to their straight forward Black Metal. Not your cup of music if you´re fed up with tradition and want to be brought out of this world through music, but nice for the worshippers of underground Black Metal. Unholy

Procession "Destroyers of the Faith" Doomentia Records Just a solid Doom Metal record from this band out of Chile! They are not out to re-invent a genre or take it one step further, this is tradition combined with a good amount of slowriffs, a heavy sound and vocals that sing like they do in Doom Metal. Not extremely talented, not brilliant at creating a new wave of Doom Metal fanatics, the music moves slowly like it should withing this genre, but where is the fresh inspiration, the joy of playing music that will be remembered for decades? I don´t think this one will. The music is good but quickly becomes worn out and repetitive. There´s nothing here that stir things up, and at the end of the day this album ends up sounding much more grey than what is necessary. Andre P.

Quintessence Mystica "The 5th Harmonic of Death" Schwarzdorn Production Blending Black Metal with symphonic synth might not be a new invention, but this band is not only new, they also know how to make an album that sounds fresh and intense. There´s always something happening in the Metal parts, and the synth just add a delightful dimension staying clear of the clichés. Quite impressive, as coming up with something new within the dimension of Black Metal + synth seems hard for most bands. This duo from Ukraine is not inventing something new, but they add their musical skills to a genre that seems thirsty for more Black Metal with harmonies and synth. Now and then the vocals adda feeling of an old theatre performance, or a black and white movie made back in the 1920s, now accompanied with music. An excellent debut album from a band with lots of ideas of their own! Lilly

Windbruch "Collision of the Worlds" Sun & Moon Records There are times during this album that I feel the closest comparison I can make is to Lifelover. The drum machine, the tender and depressive emotions that seep through the music, the melodies, though the comparison to Lifelover is only valied in a small portion. Where Lifelover push musical boundaries, this band play it safe. Often this safe way of playing music result in an irrelevant product, which I think this album is. The harmonies are not only harmonic, they are hyper harmonic, draining even the smallest scale of curiosity. The riffs and melodies are over the top nice, almost the opposite of some of the depressive factors that make up this album. I never got into it, I found it too sweet and without challenges. Lilly

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