Album Releases: August 20 to August 23 - 2014

August 20 to August 23 - 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

Tell us about it in the comments section.

What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

August 20, 2014

Riot - Unleash the Fire
American - Coping with Loss

August 22, 2014

Machinae - Supremacy - Phantom Shadow
Elendira - Promise...

August 23, 2014

Devolving Messiah - Forsaken
Halcyon Way - Conquer

Album Releases: August 19, 2014

August 19, 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

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What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

Accept - Blind Rage (Nuclear Blast)
Ace Frehley - Space Invader (eOne)
Acrania - Totalitarian Dystopia (Unique Leader)
American - Coping With Loss (Sentient Ruin)
Cardinals Folly - Our Cult Continues! (Shadow Kingdom)
Children Of Technology - Future Decay (Hells Headbangers)
Cross Examination - The Dawn of the Dude EP (Organized Crime)
Deadlock - The Re-Arrival (Lifeforce)
Dictated - The Deceived (Metal Blade)
Dragonforce - Maximum Overload (Metal Blade)
Empire Auriga - Ascending The Solar Throne (Moribund)
Extinction A.D. - Plague Prophecy EP (Good Fight)
Funeral Circle - Funeral Circle
Grinder Blues - Grinder Blues (Megaforce)
Halcyon Way - Conquer (Nightmare)
He Is Legend - Heavy Fruit (Tragic Hero)
Hemina - Nebulae
Johnny Touch - Inner City Wolves (Shadow Kingdom)
Joy - Under the Spell of Joy (Tee Pee)
Karma To Burn - Arch Stanton (Deepdive)
Khtoniik Cerviiks - Heptaedrone (Iron Bonehead)
King 810 - Memoirs of a Murderer (Roadrunner)
Midnight - No Mercy For Mayhem (Hells Headbangers)
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden (Profound Lore)
Pillbuster - Brothel (Stonerkill)
Powerlord - The Awakening Re-Release (Shadow Kingdom)
Principality of Hell - Fire & Brimstone (WTC)
Provocator - Antikristus (Moribund)
Sacrocurse - Unholier Master (Hells Headbangers)
Sleeping Giant - Finished People (Century Media)
Trioscapes - Digital Dream Sequence (Metal Blade)

Album Releases: August 14, 2014

August 14, 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

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What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

Those Who Bring the Torture - Piling Up
Stormhold - The Lost World

Album Releases: August 13, 2014

August 13, 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

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What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

Art of Burning Water - Living Is for Giving, Dying Is for Getting

Album Releases: August 12, 2014

August 12, 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

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What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

Abysmal Lord - Storms Of Unholy Black Mass EP (Hells Headbangers)
Atara / Miserable Failure - Hang Them Split (Kaotoxin)
Evil United - Honored By Fire (MVD)
Grifter - Return Of The Bearded Brethren (Ripple)
John 5 - Careful With That Axe (60 Cycle Hum)
Prawn - Kingfisher
Rome - Get Free
Shaved Women - Just Death (Ektro)
Shayne Leighton - Invincible (Single)
Slaughterday - Ravenous (FDA Rekotz)
Steve Aoki - Neon Future
The Felix Culpa / Foreign Tongues - Split
The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
Upon a Burning Body - The World Is My Enemy Now (Sumerian)

Album Releases: August 5, 2014

August 5, 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

Tell us about it in the comments section.

What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

Alestorm - Sunset on the Golden Age (Napalm)
Arkells - High Noon
Avulsed - Carnivoracity Re-Release (Xtreem)
Belphegor - Conjuring The Dead (Nuclear Blast)
Black Trip - Goin' Under (Prosthetic)
Blues Pills - Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast)
Bolzer - Soma (Invictus)
Brimstone Coven - Brimstone Coven (Metal Blade)
Capture The Crown - Reign of Terror (Artery)
Cemetery Fog - Towards The Gates EP (Iron Bonehead)
Chaos Moon - Resurrection Extract (I, Voidhanger)
Columns - Please Explode (Relapse)
Counterpunch - Bruises
Darkest Hour - Darkest Hour
Dikembe - Mediumship
Eluveitie - Origins (Nuclear Blast)
Entombed A.D. - Back To the Front (Century Media)
Fractured Spine - Memoirs Of A Shattered Mind (Inverse)
Four Letter Lie - Like Structures (Artery)
Gnosis of the Witch - Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar EP (Iron Bonehead)
John Gallow - Violet Dreams (I, Voidhanger)
John Garcia - John Garcia (Napalm)
Holy Tongues - Weak People (Melotov)
Kix - Rock Your Face Off (Loud and Proud)
Mastodon - Remission Re-Release (Relapse)
Mutilated Veterans - Necro Crust Warhead EP (Hells Headbangers)
Nachtmystium - The World We Left Behind (Century Media)
Ommadon - V (Dry Cough/Domestic Genocide)
The Order Of The Solar Temple - The Order Of The Solar Temple (I, Voidhanger)
Panopticon - Roads To The North (Bindrune / Nordvis)
Pillage & Plunder - The Show Must Go Wrong
Saturn - Ascending (Live in Space) (Rise Above)
Skid Row - United World Rebellion: Part 2 EP (Megaforce)
Spoon - They Want My Soul
Star Insight - Messera (Inverse)
Swashbuckle - We Hate the Sea EP (Get This Right)
The Rosebuds - Sand + Silence
Those Who Bring The Torture - Piling Up (Selfmadegod)
To Set Ablaze - The Life We Lead (Autumn + Colour)
Trudger - Dormiveglia (COF / Sell Your Soul)
Twitching Tongues - World War Live (Closed Casket)
Vardan - Enjoy of Deep Sadness (Moribund)
Void Ritual - Holodomor EP (Tridroid)
V.R.P.I. - Vexilla Regis Prodeunt Inferi (Memento Mori)
With Shaking Hands - Manic
Wovenwar - Wovenwar (Metal Blade)

Album Review: PANYCHIDA - Grief For An Idol

PANYCHIDA - Grief For An Idol

(Paragon Records)

http://www.panychida.com

Reviewed by: Dave Wolff

(2014)

This is an amazing release. Eleven epic tracks of black/pagan metal from the Czech Republic, akin to Enslaved and Borknagar. You would swear Panychida were from Scandinavia if you’d just heard about them. This is the band’s fourth album after Woodland Journey (2011), Moon, Forest, Blinding Snow (2010) and Paganized (2007) and “amazing” is an understatement when describing it. You can research their Bandcamp profile for full information on this full length and to discover the work channeled into the recording of it. Listening to the finished product you’ll hear in no uncertain terms how well said effort paid off. The musicianship and delivery are almost flawless, the songwriting is tight and professional showcasing the talent it takes to play this genre of music, and the moods evoked transport you to distant faraway lands as quality black/pagan metal bands have consistently done for the last two decades. Panychida is the kind of band whose albums you have to hear more than once to get everything they bring to the table. You’re doing much more than listening to music when you put this on; you’re embarking on a journey the likes of which will remain with you for long afterward. I can’t believe I haven’t even listened to this all the way through and I’m already raving about it. Of course you have to decide for yourself whether it deserves the props but checking it out is highly recommended.

Album Review: DAY OF DOOM - The Gates Of Hell

DAY OF DOOM - The Gates Of Hell

(Lavadome Productions)

http://www.facebook.com/DAYOFDOOM666

Reviewed by: Dave Wolff

(2014)

Day Of Doom is comprised of three Long Island boys, Rich Hervey (drums/vocals), Doug Randazz (guitar/vocals) and Sam Lara (bass/vocals) who resolved to reestablish hometown death metal at a time when black metal and goregrind were growing in demand in their immediate area. It would be years before their material became available on full length albums and split CDs, but their latest effort The Gates Of Hell (besides their previous efforts) was worth the wait. While there are some hints of Morbid Angel here, their music is clearly Long Island Death Metal from the unexpected time changes, acoustical passages and primal overtones that were all instituted by the LIDM pioneers of the early 90s. I’m personally thankful the band stuck around this long, and equally thankful they arranged and developed the criterion of brutal music in a personalized way, as opposed to LI bands who simply copied their favorite artists during the same time period. The more somber acoustical passages I mentioned are a suitable touch in between the heavier parts of these songs, there are lengthy guitar solos enriching the material with undertones of mystery, and even piano interludes that elaborate on this sense of mystery further. Day Of Doom stick to the rules of brutal death while taking chances and doing something inventive and original, which is something I have always appreciated from bands of any genre.

Album Review: MERDARAHTA - Solar Pulse

MERDARAHTA - Solar Pulse

(Independent)

http://www.facebook.com/merd.rahta

Reviewed by: Dave Wolff

(2014)

You might have viewed my review of Merdarahta’s release Breathe Electric which was posted here some time ago. For those of you who haven’t, this project is the brainchild of Topon Das who was previously involved in the gore/grind band Fuck The Facts in the 90s and 2000s. Breathe Electric is an album of experimental electronic-ambient-drone music with some elements of goth and black metal. This release is a little more simplistically arranged but as effectively delivered alongside their last effort. Two tracks of cold ambient sounds, with distant vocal effects and other effects added. The first song “Dusk” is nine minutes of bleak, resounding notes and haunting sonic accoutrements. It’s the sort of track you should listen to at night with the lights turned off to experience fully. The overlapping noises permeating it are somewhat reminiscent of Aghast, Neptune Towers and perhaps even Abruptum in a few places. These are the closest points of reference I can think of but the approach is completely original. As the song plays on you feel the energy building to a sort of crescendo and then quickly fading out. The second track “Dawn” is much shorter, only two minutes or so, as if it’s an afterthought of what you experienced previously. The vocal effects are more atmospheric and unnerving, with a little more electronic influence. For a release consisting only of two tracks this is one you really need to check out.

Promo Review: POPPY SEED GRINDER Promo 2014

POPPY SEED GRINDER

Promo 2014

Independent

http://www.facebook.com/PoppySeedGrinder

Reviewed by: Dave Wolff

Quite a few of you may be familiar with this brutal death metal band from the Cxech Republic. They have been around since 1997 releasing a series of demos, two full length albums and a split with the German technical/brutal DM band Defeated Sanity. Their latest promo release is comprised of three tracks, “Dominant Class of Animals,” “Going Through” and “Variety X” which are certain not to disappoint longtime supporters or late-coming gore hounds. Judging by the sound of things, from the musicianship to the production, their love of skull crushing heaviness and pure breakneck velocity has not waned since they began releasing material in 1998, and they remain as determined as ever to gain a worldwide audience. Their 90s feel has not wavered or given way to a more modern approach either; as in the late 90s there is equal resolve to demonstrate the inherent musical ability established by the death metal bands that laid the foundation for others to expand upon in those days. Poppy Seed Grinder can appeal to fans of death metal as well as grindcore and goregrind with equal ease, owing as much to their honesty as to their talent as a band.

Zine Review: DIOVIM ZINE - Issue #7

DIOVIM ZINE - Issue #7

http://diovim.wordpress.com

http://www.facebook.com/diovima/info

diovim@mail.ru

Reviewed by: Dave Wolff

(2014)

The seventh issue of Diovim zine (Lithuania) is a marked improvement from the previous issue I covered. The front and back cover, having already shown a sense of sophistication for a print zine, are in full color. The layout and printing have tightened significantly and there seems to be an increase in material; a greater amount of articles, columns, music reviews and zine reviews with longer, more detailed interviews and more photos. Bands interviewed in this issue: Hypnos, Fatal Cliché, 1000 Bombs, Avitas, Twisted Autocracy, Esoteric, Fallen Order, Godless, Darva, Mist, Beyond The Structure and Arx Atrata. There is an additional interview with artist Tim Wetherell, a spotlight in Asphyx, an article on horror novels, an article on motorcycling, a Goth page, a newcomers' page and more material with which to feed your brain. Still no editorial but the range of topics more than make up for it. The copy I was mailed came with a CD of the band Achelous; I don’t know if the CD’s inclusion is standard release fare so you’ll have to ask the editor and staff. This zine is one you’ll want to acquire if you appreciate quality publication.

Demo Review: DRACARIS - Winter 2014 Demo

DRACARIS - Winter 2014 Demo

(Senseless Life)

http://www.dracaris.com

Reviewed by: Dave Wolff

2014

With Dracaris, New York death metal remains alive and well and the brutality will continue, unstoppable. This Brooklyn band intends to obliterate everything in their path while displaying a certain amount of sophistication. Their approach to death metal involves blackened undertones evinced by the occasional occult themes as well as lyrics concerning history, religion and even astrophysics. This all conspires to make them unique in the brutal music field. Only five tracks to be heard here, but these are more than sufficient to convince you of their sincerity as musicians and lyricists. Their blackened aspects are apparent in the ancient feel accompanying their traditional death metal sound. This almost seems to assume a life of its own, recaptured in the studio without much effort other than making their imagination clear to the listener as they deliver the soundtrack to their inventive lyric writing. From the sound of things you can’t really compare them to any other local DM band, much less any DM band hailing from the States. “The Calling,” “Hexagon Sun” and “Dodecahedron” need no further explanation in this regard when it comes to relating their vision through their music, Most of the members of this band have been involved in a number of other bands and as such their experience shows as effectively as what they are creating together. Yet another promising band from NY that deserves to be noticed.

Album Releases: August 1, 2014

August 1, 2014

Which of these new albums will you be checking out and purchasing?  

Tell us about it in the comments section.

What are your thoughts about the album you have purchased? 

Prisms - Whale Fall