I have always appreciated two aspects of French label Distant Voices; the projects signed to their roster, and the physical aspect of each single release. When it comes to the first, the projects, well, I’d like to refer to the reviews I wrote for Arbre, Misery, Brouillard or Scars From A Dead Room. Without exception, all of them do please undersigned’s ear drums and mental state.
Well well well, I thought this Italian band did split up a couple of years ago, but apparently it wasn’t but a temporary break. That’s fantastic news, but the best thing is: Absentia Lunae return with a new full length studio recording!
It is not that unusual anymore that a (Black) Metal band uses violin or viola in its songs. But in this case it’s a violin player that formed a Black Metal project, i.e. a guy called Ecnerual. Under the Mourning Mist moniker, he recorded this self-titled six-track studio album, assisted by several colleagues amongst whom bass player Kvasir, known from e.g. Abhor, Spiritual, Profezia or Ancient Supremacy.
In June 2014, Dawn Of A Dark Age released their first chapter of a six-piece concept about the six elements. Six? Well, actually, this hexaptych will deal with five elements, i.e. earth, water, fire, air and spirit, each sonically defined in an own album, with the sixth part being some general conclusion.
Sometimes it’s a hard job to be a reviewer. Like in this case. I do not know, even after three listens, what to think about this album. Do I like it or not? Is it the masochistic part within me that makes me enjoy this material despite being extremely irritating, or is it a hidden temptation poisoning the listeners’ mind? Really, I have no idea…
One of Australia’s most notorious acts ever must have been Sadistik Exekution, I guess. Despite their bad reputation (or is it ‘because of’?), they reached some kind of kult-status. Undersigned could (can) appreciate about everything this band did in the past. Most of the members had or have their own solo-outfits too, and the very same goes for Sadistik Exekution’s bass player Dave Slave.
Most extreme bands from Chile pay tribute to the old school, and in Putrid Evocation’s case it is not different either. This young band released some demos and one EP (Blackness Enshroud, 2013, via Chilean Apocalyptic Productions), and now the trio comes up with their debut album, Echoes Of Death. It gets released via Spanish top-label Xtreem Music, of course, and lasts for forty two minutes.
The Dutch band Infinity was formed in 1995. Throughout the years, the band recorded a handful of great albums with a same-minded structure, yet with a slightly different final execution. After some changes in line-up, Infinity eventually signed to the roster of Dutch label New Era Productions in early 2012, and a first result of this collaboration was the compilation Back To The Source…, an album with re-recordings and cover songs.
The scene from Belarus might not be as ‘big’ as the one from neighbours like Russia, Poland and Ukraine (and even the Baltic states), but there are quite some impressive bands out there. One of the older ones is Infestum, which were formed fifteen years ago actually. This band consists of very experienced musicians, involved with other ‘notorious’ Belarussian bands, such as ID:Vision or Exist M.
Stu, the guy behind Aesthetic Death, knows how to make me happy. Just send me the second album of Russia’s trio Goatpsalm and I start smiling (the sardonic way, evidently)!
