Sonic Rendezvous

Hailing from Hildesheim in Germany, Kalamata is a relatively young instrumental band founded in 2013.

Huh...I could've sworn that I had come across this Dutch Alternative/ Prog Rock band before, or at least that the band's debut album had come through the ConcreteWeb headquarters, because somehow the album's cover art looks so familiar to me. But a little research learned me that this was not so. Ach well, let's look into the band history then, shall we?

Line-up:

Mia Coldheart – Vocals/Guitar

Klara Force - Guitar

Ida Evileye - Bass

Nicky Wicked - Drums

The Swedish ladies from ‘Crucified Barbara’ are together since 1998. Until 2003 they were with 5 band members, but after they began to play with 4 instead of 5 the ball began to roll with their 4^th album ‘In The Red’.

Villainy are a Dutch act that were born to pay tribute to the origins of Extreme Metal. The trio recorded this debut, ingeniously titled I (just joking; there’s nothing wrong with such a title, of course) at Perimeter Audio with Marc van Duivenvoorde (Entrapment, Acid Deathtrip, F.U.B.A.R. etc.) and it lasts for forty minutes.

Line up :

Philip Swanson – Vocals

Simon Tuozzoli – Bass, Guitar, Organ, Additional Voice

Michael Petrucci - Drums

With a history goin' back to 1983 and more line-up changes than one can count on the digits of hands and feet together, it would take me too long to go into this Los Angeles, California based Progressive Power Metal band's career with any degree of detail...so I'll keep things short and synthesized to the strict minimum, this time around. Suffice it, to start proceedings, that Omniscient is the first studio album the band releases in 10 years!

Adramelech are (were) a far-underestimated band from Finland, with members also known from their co-operation with, for example, Demigod, Torture Killer and Impious Havoc, a. o. The album Psychostasia was some kind of ‘break-though’ within the (European / international) Death Metal scene, if only it were because of the eccentric, characterising approach courtesy of bands from the Land of a Thousand Lakes. It originally saw the light in 1996 via major Extreme Metal label Relapse Records.

The Dear Hunter is a progressive rock band consisting of singer/writer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Crescenzo and drummer Nick Crescenzo. The band already released 2 full length albums and one EP on Triple Crown Records over the past 4 years. Their latest release entitled “Migrant Reprise” (which has been out since last month) just found it’s way to my desk.

Sweden and desert rock a match made in heaven……  Dozer, Greenleaf, Spiritual Beggers, to name a few besides Truckfighters..   “UNIVERSE” is the 4 th full length of these dudes, and what an album this is……  I dare say that calling “Universe”  a stonerrock  release  is a actually  labelling the band which something they have at least partially  outgrown…. Outgrown in a positive manner that is.

The music takes the time to get the musical message across and while there aren't many show-off passages there is a huge amount of detail in the numerous instruments and vocals that will show themselves on repeated listens. Zappa, King Crimson and even Motorpsycho fans will be able to mine Carpet’s rich seams of passionate, beautifully crafted songs till their minds are buried in Elysian Fields.