CD

Everything I, Voidhanger Records (an independent division of Aeternitas Tenebrarum Music Foundation aka ATMF Records) do is of a superior quality. This wonderful label releases nothing but excellent stuff, and this time it is not different. With Converge, Rivers Of Hell, this Italian label compiles material from three solo-projects by an Australian guy who calls himself Dis Pater (I have no idea who the person behind those projects is, but actually it does not matter, does it).

There are many bands that are called Abyssal, but this review deals with the second album by the so-called band from the United Kingdom, recorded shortly after the release of 2012’s Denouement.

Those among you interested in this German Hardcore Punk act's history (which started at the beginning of 2005) might wanna check the review (posted somewhere in May 2011) I did for the band's previous album Menticide which, much to my personal surprise, got some very nice reviews from the likes of Rock Hard (gave the thing a 7,5/10 rating and a positive “Thumbs Up” - well, I also gave it that rating, for effort, and a definite “thumbs down”, you know!) and EMP!

Those having read the review I did for the re-issue of this band's debut album The Fire Awaits You, will remember that rhythm guitarist Kevin Lewis (whom would later spend time with Cryptameria) left just prior to that album's recordings? Well...guess what? He actually gave a new attempt at the permanent position of rhythm guitarist in the band, returning to the fold when they had just started the writing/ recording sessions for their 1998 EP Visions Of End.

Oh my, yet another re-issue, sayeth thou? Ach well, occasionally those dó bring out some of the hidden gems of Metal history, don't they? And so things turn out to be quite interesting with this here re-issue, because it gathers more than just the album by the same title...hum, I should really say re-issues (as in plural), because this band's second album is also re-issued with extras. I therefore decided to split up my usual historical bit of the review in according parts!

This American Alternative Rock trio from upstate New York was founded in 2011 by brothers Kevin (guitar & vocals) and Greg Gadani (drums), alongside bassist Mark McCarty, whom was replaced in 2013 by Peter Monaco, whom also brings a second voice to the vocal department of the band.

Amongst the (many) bands that do not really need an introduction for being a kind of ‘legend’: Deicide! More than two and a half decades of experience, ten studio releases (some very good, some shitty, and some in between), and an enormous live reputation (though often contested), this are but a limited view on the glorious existence of these American sweethearts, once coming to Earth to make blasphemy a religion on its own. Hail!

Having come across this Swedish Post Metal act at a relatively early stage in their career (namely at the occasion of their second album, 2003's The Beyond, which I reviewed at the time), I have been able to witness this band's progression (after having reviewed the band's 5^th album Somewhere Along The Highway, posted 22/04/2006 and still available for your scrutiny in this site's “Archive” section, I even went out to buy the band's compete back catalog, and later even got 2008's Eternal Kingdom, even though we at Concrete Web

The first time history heard of the guitar player Bruce Bouillet (whom, in deference of his French sounding name was born in Memphis, Tennessee), is when he became a member of supergroup Racer X in 1986. He left that band in 1989, contributing to the 1987 Second Heat album, and could also be found on the live albums Extreme Volume Live (1988) and Extreme Volume II Live (1992), which were all released through cult label Shrapnel Records.

On Shelter, Alcest for the first time drops all connections with its Black Metal origins, and concentrates purely on the Atmospheric Shoegaze part of its music! You see, when singer/ multi-instrumentalist Neige started Alcest in 2000 as a solo project in Bagnols-sur-Cèze (southern France, more precisely the Languedoc-Rousillon area – Neige later relocating to Paris), he'd envisioned it as an outlet to create a cold and raw Black Metal.