Totengeflüster (whispers of the Dead) were formed in 2007 by Totleben, who wanted to create his own interpretation of grim Black Metal with classical-symphonic elements. Soon he joined forces with a same-minded guy, Narbengrund, who wrote lyrics that did fit well to the music and ideas of Totengeflüster. Narbengrund takes care of the vocals too, by the way. And the line-up gets finally completed by Schattendorn, who performs the session drums (live as well).
While the German guys in Storyteller are just about to blow out their very first birthday candle, they release there very first record, containing three songs, called Take Me Home.
For those who are new to the band, Pagan Altar is one of the best heavy metal/NWOBHM acts to date. The group was formed back in 1980 and quickly reached a cult-status for the fans of the genre. This is a re-release of their 2006 album and it is a solid proof of their underrated genius. Pagan Altar are a metal band I'm always looking forward too to listen to. There are only a few bands playing metal at such an original level as they do. Their music is very difficult to describe, anyway, there's not a second band sounding similar to them.
Nowadays, if you really want to discover some new bands, you really have to be open-minded. Lots of bands don't see the big deal when it comes to adding electronic elements to their music, such as keyboards. Madison Affair is no different and on their new 7", simply called MMXIII, they released four brand new songs which sound very brutal and bright at the same time. Just give the first song, Sound In My Head, a listen and you'll understand what I mean.
From the little info I was able to gather on the Internet (and from the info sheet that accompanied our promo copy of the new album), I was able to make out that Layla Milou was propelled upon the German music market as "The Next Rock Chick To Check Out" by the 7Hard label in Spring 2009.
King Dude is a nickname for Book Of Black Earth’s T.J. Cowgill, and under this moniker he’s active as Folk-artist.
Killswitch Engage is a metal-core band with melodic death metal influences, from Westfield, Massachusetts, USA and formed following the disbandment of the bands "Overcast" and "Aftershock" in 1999.
Intractable are a Swiss quartet (Benjamin Kottmann-v, d; guitar players Markus Hospenthal and Dominik Meier; Michael Schuler-b). The band was formed in 2006 and released a first demo (with the title First Eruption) about two and a half year ago.
Greek band In Utero Cannibalism was formed nine years ago and released two albums before, Psychotic Killing Lust and Frenzied, both via OBSE Productions. They were also able to perform along known acts like Napalm Death, Pungent Stench, Malevolent Creation, Massacre or Nile. During summer 2010, however, In Utero Cannibalism were put on rest, at least for a while.
The Dutch outfit Gingerpig totally awed me with their debut The Ways Of Gingerpig in 2011. Now they are back with its successor Hidden From View where they continue to play their mix of blues and hard prog rock full of variety. They often change the pace and are not afraid of more playful, jazzy or dramatic parts. My favourite songs are “Oceans” and “Pride” that even sport a certain psychedelic latin atmosphere.
