I never hided my passion for Sweden’s Svartsyn (why should I anyway?), and with this seventh full length, I am only more convinced of the superiority of this band. The new stuff was recorded in the Mortsella Studio and mixed and mastered in Clintworks Studio with Dennis Israel, whom you might know from his assistance with bands like Katatonia, Void Of Silence, Opeth, Paradise Lost or Amon Amarth.
Pretty young band Simulacro (formed in 2009), with members of e.g. Cold Empire, Ancient Skin and Vultur, and hailing from the isle of Sardinia, Italy, debut with Fall Of The Last Idol, a couple of years after their self-called demonstrational promo. The album brings almost forty minutes of melodic and rather fast Black Metal, with a certain Swedish-styled approach (i.e.
Accuser (vocals, guitars, bass) started Revelation’s Hammer (named after the Zyklon song?) a couple of years ago as a solo-outlet. After a while, he joined forces with percussionist Myrvoll of Nidingr-fame, who still acts as permanent session drum-monster. Accuser wrote some material, which he, and Myrvoll, started to register on master tape throughout the past years (due to different circumstances, it took quite a while before having the whole finished in its basic form).
Pretty Maids have been around for some thirty odd years now, I still remember their first album ‘Red, Hot and Heavy’ from way back in 1984, hey, I’ve recently even bought a copy of this album on CD.
And this new opus ‘Motherland’ once again shows what a great band they are. It’s heavy metal that should be revered. The songs are tight, not overcomplicated, but do just what good music should do to you, and that is bringing a smile on your face. The songs are very catchy, and after hearing them once or twice you can almost start to sing along.
Even though they might not be known that much, Ukrainian act Paganland was formed more than fifteen years ago. At the end of last century, the band released a demonstrational record (Gods Of Golden Circle, on tape) and except for some local shows, nothing of importance happened. Eventually Paganland split up, but not officially.
Does Rogga Johansson ever sleep? Or is he a five-piece entity? Five persons in one? For sure he must be one of the most active and creative musicians on Earth.
Their debut mini-album ‘Malva’, released in 2011 seems to have been a stoner album. This new, full record however has more than stoner to it. There’s also a dose of what I’d dare to call grunge mixed in, as well as some progressive metal.
It took quite a while before Wisconsin-based band Jex Thoth recorded some stuff again. The last thing this band did, was the EP Witness in 2010 (review: Concreteweb’s Archives section, posted on 29/09/2010). However, in mean time Jex Thoth toured the globe, performing on festivals such as Hammer Open Air, Tuska, Doom Shall Rise, Roadburn or Rock Hard. Finally the band found the time to write, and record new material.
Forlorn Path are a young act from New Jersey, formed in 2008 by Yuriy Garnaev, Ray Dib, Alex Fiore and Dave Imbriaco in New Brunswick, NJ, US of A. In 2010, the quartet recorded a first EP, called Being Towards Death, followed in 2012 by a second EP, Intifada.
Already the fifth studio album for this Norwegian band, but I admit never before having heard of them, I guess the stream of bands/albums etc. is just getting too big to be able to follow them all. I got a bit scared when I put this album on, and it started with some flamenco guitar and handclap, but that was just the intro.
