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Huh...weird name for a “band”...but then, why would a person nót call his project after a cryptocrystalline form of silica (composed of very fine intergrowths of the silica minerals quartz and maganite)? With its waxy luster, semi-transparant aspect, and assuming a wide range of colours (although usually white to grey, greying blue, or a shade of brown ranging from pale to almost black), I can certainly understand why the mineral may have spoken to the artist's imagination! (P.S.: mineral description taken from Wikipedia)

Athens based Sleaze/ Glam Metal act Cyanide 4 have been at it for quite a while now, having been founded in 2008, same year as in which G.A. Sinn (lead vocals & rhythm guitar), Johxnyy Slut (lead guitar), Nasty George (bass) and Alex Rated (drums) released their debut demo Complex.

Australia’s Denouncement Pyre gave me another aural orgasm in 2010 with their debut full length World Cremation, released through Hells Headbangers (review posted on 07/07/2010 and still available on Concreteweb’s archives section).

Pffhhhh... If some disappointment in The Art Of Loving (the 9^th album under the Eloah monicker, by the now in Holland residing Austrian Elmer C. Fuchs) rang through in that sigh, then I've accomplished my goal (alternately, you know know what was meant, uh?).

Katalepsy hail from Russia, and in their home country, they seem to be one of the most active and one of the most appreciated Death acts nowadays. With their international debut full length Autopsychosis, these guys will try to convince the rest of the dead worlds as well. I wonder if they will succeed. For sure they deserve to succeed!

There he is again, with another new project.

Brooklyn based Psychedelic Rock band Naam can call themselves lucky! Having formed in 2008 as a trio of John Preston Bundy (bass & vocals, but also piano and synthesizer), Ryan Lee Lugar (guitar & vocals, and also tambura) and Eli Pizzuto (drums), they soon struck a deal with New York based specialist label Tee Pee Records, and as a result saw their debut 3-track EP Kingdom released in April of 2009.

Ritual Killing are a German Thrash-combo, formed in 2008 in Cobourg and rather inspired by the American scene than the European in general, or the German one more specifically. And with ‘American’ I’m referring to both the North and South American scene.

Schysma is the creation of keyboardist Martina Bellini, with the help of bassist Giorgio Di Paola, both originally members of a band called Purpleknights. In September of 2009, after years of live performance in rock and metal clubs across Northern Italy, the two began working together to compose original songs.

Two years after their debut album Dead Memories (review posted 25/04/2010), Belgian “Melodic Hard Rock” band (who actually play songs alternating between Grunge and more baladesque leanings) Shellcase returns with its sophomore album. I daresay that frontman and main composer Dave Varlet has seen another bit of bad luck, this time with the loss of long-time drummer and soulmate Filip Vinck, whom is now replaced by one Jan Charlier.