Ivan Tibos.

Golem are a pretty ‘old’ band from Germany, formed in 1989 as a Grind-combo, and despite limited activities, they never broken up officially (so, still active???).

Being part of the Concreteweb-team is both a blessing and a curse. At the one hand, I have the opportunity to listen to tens of excellent recordings each week (imagine, I’m still working fulltime too, and have a family to take care of), but sometimes our chief editor f*cks me by giving me stuff that is way beneath my intelligence. Brings me to this album, done by a label I always am careful with. Buil2Kill released some stuff I could appreciate a little, but most of their roster is not really my cup of poisonous tea.

Swiss act Exit was formed in 1995 by the Haller-brothers Martin and Stefan, Marcus Frei, Beni Sax and Thomas Kunz. In the earliest years, Exit did perform live a lot, but it took until 2001 before they finally released a first album (Bis Ans Ende Aller Tage); which, by the way, was received very positively in the Alpine countries.

Crown Of Asteria are a solo-outfit by Meghan Wood, who formed this project in 2011. There seem to be some releases before, like a first full length in 2013 (called North), as well as a split with another excellent solo-project, Twilight Fauna, and after listening to this album a couple of times, I will certainly search for etc. etc. etc.

I can, and will, be very short about this newest Axegressor-album. I was not that enthusiastic with their former albums (Command and Next, both released via Dethrone). These Finns won’t convince me either this time, even though this third full length (they did have a self-released mini-album as well in the past) sounds slightly more professional than before.

Wormreich, hailing from the East of the United American States of Milk and Honey and stuff (???), were formed in 2009. The band (at that moment a duo: Chris ‘Obsidiam Vulk’ Pyle and Ian ‘Nazgul Vathron’ McKinney) self-released the album Edictum DCLXVI in 2011.

The Dutch band Winter Of Sin (hailing from the city of Groningen) was formed at the end of last century by Ricardo ‘Schmerz’ Gelok (also active in Gheestenland and previously in bands like Krematorium IV, Finsternis, Windsmear or Hagel; Ricardo also owns the small yet highly interesting Dutch Death / Black-label Non Serviam Records) and Dirk ‘Schrat’ Barelds (ex-Katafalk / Cantara

With the 2012’s debut The Dragon Lineage Of Satan, this band’s first official studio recording on Moribund (KULT!), this American trio did surprise me enormously, if only because of the richness of their inherent poverty (richness and poverty in one shell…). Check out the review on this album, still available on the Archive-section, update July 6^th 2012, sardonically done by undersigned.

Note: Fuoco Fatuo was the moniker for Eversin until 2008; this is a Prog / Thrash / Heavy / Power / Epic Metal act from Sicily. This review, however, deals with the young act from Lombardy with the very same name, and it has nothing to do with the Sicilian band (and I praise my personal gods and goddesses for that – salve and slava and stuff…!).

Despite an enormous discography (a handful of EP’s, even more full lengths, and a couple of splits) built up in less than a decade of existence, I hadn’t heard any of Frozen Ocean’s stuff before, I think. This Russian solo-project by a guy called Vaarwel (which actually is Dutch (!) for ‘goodbye’ or ‘farewell’) recently signed to Kristallblut Records (one of those underestimated yet superior labels, hailing from Germania).