Final Spell is the debut ep by the Salt Lake City, US band Visigoth who have been around since 2010. Nostalgic metal fans will like their mix of teutonic bombastic and US melodic power speed metal as it is also performed by Helloween, Twisted Tower Dire, Omen and Grim Reaper. Clear vocal lines, huge chorusses, an impressive rhythm section and lots of fast guitar solos are harmonizing perfectly.
This Swedish trio is yet another in a seemingly endless stream of vitage rock bands that come from Scandinavia that can play to a very high standard.
This Industrial Metal act was formed in 2007, after singer KVN (also known as Kevin) and bassist Wim of Antwerp based Groove Metal act Tud Russel decided they not only wanted to head in a more brutal and heavy direction with higher pace and aggression levels, but also in a more diverse one. With their then current band, such a thing turned out to be impossible, and in fact later that same year TR split up.
Although I have heard of the band, Norska, I had actually never heard any of their music. So assuming they are sort of a doom/sludge band with Yob bassslayer I took on the job to listen in and give a short verdict. Norska is highly hypnotic music with purpose and is full of cryptic lines that are truly inspiring. Sometimes growling vocals drag things down a bit, but after a few spins, you can't imagine them being any other way.
Unlike most of the metal albums I've listened to, this album seems to be a little more ambitious. There are few poor parts on the album and while I could find fault with most of the songs, they do seem to be able to stand on their own. The CD clocks in at just over 40 minutes, and every track is between 4-7 minutes long. This allows the band to expand on their ideas a liitle bit for each track. My favorite so far is “Tiphareth” which has impressive guitar work, and is just a well-crafted song.
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.
