Apparently, doom metal comes in a whole lot of different varieties. We’ve seen the progressive doom of AHAB, Draconian’s symphonic and here’s the stoner/doom metal band Conan, which makes “caveman battle doom”. Hailing from the mighty United Kingdom, from Liverpool to be precise, ‘Revengeance’ is their third full-length album and the second that comes blasting from Napalm Records’ vaults.
So, let me get this straight. While full time Serenity vocalist Georg Neuhauser was doing his musical business, Phantasma, with Delain’s Charlotte Wessels and Everon’s Oliver Philipps, he also managed to record a new Serenity album! That’s an absolutely wonderful performance, if ‘Codex Atlanticus’ proves to be at least as good as his side project, that is. But with his qualities, combined with those of his fellow band members, I’d reckon it won’t be far from it.
“Straight to your face, tougher than a Spartan, heavier than a bulldozer, louder than a chainsaw” that’s the way Bring On The Bloodshed describes their sound. From around the Dutch capital of Amsterdam, this face melting heaviness comes to destroy your speakers. But does ‘Amonst The Ruins’ also contain some music? Or did they record mostly noise?
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The German Varg is back again. The band who, with the ‘Rotkäppchen’ EP, released an appetizer for a new full length album. From the entertaining and funny 2015 single, to ‘Das Ende Alle Lügen’ is quite a big step. From the jolly folk metal that these “Wolves”, as they call themselves, have released, we dive deep into a heavier and more aggressive kind of music with which Varg attempts to end all the lying in the world.
Last time we discussed a record, we were talking about Phantasma, a trio of musicians which included a short novel on their album ‘The Deviant Hearts’. Including a book with the album turned out to be a fantastic choice, but also an interesting one. How could a band make a record so very special, that everyone should have to buy the physical copy and not just download one? The Belgian band Skeptical Minds got the idea to include a comic book with their latest effort ‘Omega-Thanatos’.
The Belgian metal scene is blooming like never before. I honestly don’t know why, but all of a sudden the Belgians decided to go and make some amazing heavy metal music. Following the releases of Temptations For The Weak and Guilty As Charged, who both partook in the Red Bull Bedroom Jam, is the independent release of Ython’s debut album ‘Titanomachy’. Let’s see if these Belgians have the potential to become titans.
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There’s something going on that I cannot wrap my head around. No, it’s not the bizarre name of this band, how strange Mammoth Storm may sound. But it has to do with the fact that I just, barely a week ago, reviewed the new album by Draconian. A doom album with a great amount of good tracks. And now I find the name of Draconian bass player Daniel Arvidsson on the Mammoth Storm line-up as well. The reason you play in two bands is clear to me, but releasing two albums at the same time? Why? And how good is this debut album called ‘Fornjot’?
Following the latest example of the American super group, Metal Alliance, is Melted Space. With no less than seventeen different musicians and vocalists their new album is a complete symphonic metal opera, assembled by the French mastermind Pierre La Pape. Together with some of the crème the la crème of the metal world and the entire Prague Philharmonic orchestra, La Pape has manage to create something pretty unique with ‘The Great Lie’.
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From the deep, dark, gloomy history comparable to Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and the old Anathema, the Swedish doom formation Draconian has built a foundation on dark and heavy music topped off by two top class vocalists. With this different, fresh approach, the band came to their fifth studio album called ‘Sovran’. We went deep into a gloomy, damp and dark state of mind to enjoy this new doom release.
