Almost eight years back, Rome-based band Raving Season was formed by female vocalists Federica (raw grunts) and Judith (clean vocals), and guitarist Sergio. When another guitar player and music composer, Marco, joined the crew, Raving Season recorded and self-released their first EP, called The Brightness Of My Disaster (recorded May 2009).
Primitive Man are a new act from Denver, Colorado, debuting with this forty-minute long album Scorn. And I won’t spend too many words on this noisy grandeur. Just read this:
Heretic Cult Redeemer are not such a well-known entity yet, but the band consists of members that are or were involved with huge names, at least within ‘my genre’, like Embrace Of Thorns, Necrovorous or Acrimonious. This Greek act was formed in 2009 with the intention to bring another message of ancient Cult; indeed, courtesy of Greece, I guess??? (do I need to add a smiley right now?)…
As the attentive reader knows in meantime, Hells Headbangers do re-release much stuff from the vault that might need some new attention. I am not gonna list up the stuff I did in the past, but believe me when I say that this label is capable to focus on the right material (check out any of the formerly written reviews on the site, including different Hells Headbangers-specials).
I think it’s useless, and a waste of time, to make a full introduction on Satyricon. This Norwegian duo (Frost and Satyr Wongraven) is Elite in different aspects. I still consider their earliest works, and their debut full length Dark Medieval Times more specifically, as CULT, but since they turned into a rather Post-Black oriented form of Musical Extremism, they reached a wider audience; but still they deserve it.
Apparently this young Dallas-based act (as a matter of fact, they did exist a time ago but without anything important to add, and they did reform recently) consists of former or current members from e.g. Kill The Client, Baring Teeth and Tyrannosorceress, so you surely can imagine a specific angle of technically-oriented aggression for sure. And indeed, that’s what Cleric stand for. The band did record this debut full length studio album with Garry Brents, known from e.g.
The Miami-based band Orbweaver was formed in 2010 by e.g. ex-Hate Eternal / Gigan’s Randy Piro. There was a nameless demo before this release, and since then the line-up did change somewhat. But in mean time, vocalist / guitarist Randy started working with some experienced musicians, amongst whom Sally Gates, a colleague in Gigan, as lead guitar player, to have this five-tracker perfected for our ear drums’ pleasure.
Merkstave are a new Oregon-based act with experienced members (formerly or currently active in e.g. Velnias, Oak, Leech, Mania, Hell etc.). There were two demos in the recent past (which seemed to escape from my attention, and I am oh so sad about this), but this self-called debut full length will lift this band to the top of the Funeral-oriented Doom-scene. At least, I will help to do so, even though this review deals with a very limited vinyl-edition.
Actually, I have never been that enthusiastic with any of Coronatus’ previous releases. And to be honest, I will not after this album either. With Recreatio Carminis, this German so-called ‘female fronted’ Gothic Metal act brings forty eight minutes of slightly pathetic orchestrations. It’s a collection of bombastic and symphonic Metal-injected Opera-Gothic songs with classical skilled voices, predictable riffs and rhythms, über-catchy melodies and poppy-approachable structures.
Beyond hail from Bavaria, Germany, and were formed in 2008 under the moniker of Shapeless. As Shapeless, they released two demos, and under their current name, there was a demo in 2011 (from which two tracks have been redone for this debut full length) and an EP in 2012, which was called Enter Transcendence (also their Iron Bonehead-debut).
