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For about two decades and a half, Immolation can be considered one of the most important names when it comes to technical Death Metal. Throughout the years, these guys created a very specific sound, which did, and still does, influence the international (not only the American) scene. Even though the many albums do differ a little from each other, the band’s self-developed identity characterizes the essential importance of their existence, and with this new album they even step further to prove the undeniable importance of their raison d’être.

The septet, including two drummers, two guitarplayers, one vocalist, one famous Trouble-bass player Ron Holzner and one female violinist, Earthen Grave executes their music with much routine, you hear their experience, the compositions are flowing, the breaks well placed and the faster passages add nice dynamics.

It's been 3 years since this now Los Angeles based Alternative Rock trio's previous studio album Beat The Devil's Tattoo, and there's a good reason for that somewhat longer period of time between releases.

This up-and-coming CA band pounds out fairly lethal sludge metal in the sick and creepy style of bands like Valume Nob, Fleshpress and Fistula. The band sounds especially heavy plowing through some crushing grooves at mid and slower speeds. It's not all slow, though, and little bursts of speed often accompany chop changes.

It seems that the bands from the Eighties seem to awaken from their long slumber one after one to come back, Torch, Warlord, Picture, Ostrogoth, Vortex, Holocaust, endless list and right now Danish heavy metal band Witch Cross . And as next to nobody has ever heard of them, let me take a little look into the past of them, too.

Thy Symphony is another band coming to us from South America, in particular from Brazil.  They were formed in 2001 – already – but it took them ten years to  release their debut album ‘Harmonizing The World’ in 2010, or was that 2011 ?  How on earth these guys got a deal on the Greek Sleazy Rider album is a mystery to me, but whatever.

My Endless Wishes was formed in 2005, by Frida and Martin Viberg, who actually are married since 2006.  The themselves describe their music influences being bands like Nightwish, Evanescence, Within Temptation etc.

Freedoms Reign is the brainchild of ex-Fates Warning guitar player/singer Victor Arduini. The band was born out of Arduini's fervent desire to play melodic power/heavy metal again after 26 years of silence.

While the melodies presented on Desperate Souls aren't groundbreaking for the genre, they are quite good and will certainly appeal to fans of doom metal bands such as Solitude Aeturnus, Trouble, Candlemass, Desolation Angels and Wall Of Sleep.

Valient Thorr come from North Carolina and were founded in 2000. Although they had been very busy and Our Own Masters is already their sixth album, I wasn't familiar with their music so far. But listening to the twelve songs on the new record has been a positive experience. Valient Thorr are a punk'n'metal band that sounds like a crossbreed of Zen Guerilla, Baroness and Pennywise The melodic component plays an important role in most Thorr's songs.