Do you remember Planisphærium, released ten years ago? If so, you might know what to expect with this new full length by one of Spain’s most technical Grind / Death bands ever. But even if you think you know what to expect, you might be surprised by the enormous evolution these guys made in mean time, especially when it comes to the technically perfected side of the game.
Quintet Vikingore hail from Seville, Spain, and are now debuting with Wolves In The Battlefront (in 2010 there was a self-produced and self-called demo), which brings a fantastic mixture of somewhat early nineties-oriented Death Metal, Scandinavian-inspired Viking / Black Metal and a handful of modern experiments. The band varies a lot in between aggression and melody, in between energy and integrity, in between tradition and progression.
Necrowretch are a French combo with one goal only: METALLL! The band is proud to deny any trend or popularity conquest, so they are about to win my sympathy. One important thing left: doing good music (i.e. song writing + performance). Do they? Will they?
Essence’s history starts in 2005, when some very young friends from Denmark wanted to play Thrash in the Teutonic vein. They recorded an EP in 2007 (Art In Imperfection) and they officially debuted with the 2011-full length Lost In Violence in 2011. Indeed, when it comes to the choice of titles they still had / have to evolve, yet when it comes to the song writing and performance, well… Essence do sound as if they’re active for a decade!
The German trio (Kaelt-v,g; Harvest-v,b; and Naavl-d) Vargsheim returns with Erleuchtung, which lasts for about fifty minutes. The three current members play together in Vargsheim for many years, and a result is the perfect balance of each of them in their rather unique, unconventional Music.
October Falls were once formed as an acoustic Folk-project by Mikko Lehto. The first releases were rather traditional / classical in approach, but throughout the years the project did introduce elements from Metal in general, and Black Pagan Metal more specifically.
Since Unique Leader Records are known as one of the most important labels when it comes to ultra-brutal Death Metal releases, fans of this genre really need to check out the debut by Los Angeles-based act Euphoric Defilement!
Sweden’s Dead Awaken were formed in early 2002 as a quartet. Throughout the years, the band recorded and self-released a handful of demonstrational stuff (Death Before Dishonour, 2002; Instrument Of War, 2003; ..Tomorrow We Die.., 2004; Scar Graced Earth, 2006; and The Noble Art Of Agitation, 2008) and they were able to play at interesting local gigs, but the band’s popularity remained limited to their home country.
This is one of those bands with its lows and its heights. I am glad that the lows were situated in the band’s past, while the positive evolution, once initiated at the beginning of this century, did not shrink away.
Formed in 2008 in Denmark, Cerekloth recorded two fantastic EP’s, Pandemonium Prayers and Halo Of Syringes, respectively in 2008 and 2011, both of them released through Hells Headbangers. And like most Hells Headbangers stuff, I did really like this material.
