Arktau Eos are a Finnish project, formed by A.I.H. and A.I.L. (respectively Anti Haapapuro of Halo Manash / Aeoga / I.Corax-fame (when it comes to same-minded material), and involved with several (Black) Metal bands, and Antti Litmanen, known from Babylon Whores).
Somewhere in 2011, when Death Metal act Bloody Sign from France went on hiatus, two members, the Uibo-brothers Kalevi and Ilmar (originating from Finland, if I’m not mistaken), decided to form a new band (both of them were / are active in several other bands and projects as well, like Chaos Echoes Duo Experience, which can be considered the creepy Apocalypse-Death-Ambient side-project of Chaos Echoes - FYI).
Five years later ... and the wait was well worth it. Cult of Luna is back with a new record deal (on Indie Recordings) and a new album, Vertikal, that shows there has been no loss of power or post metal attitude over the years. Vertikal is a CD that fits nicely in with all those previous Cult of Luna CDs.
The French horde Destinity celebrated its fifteenth anniversary last year, entre outre with the preparation of album # 8, Resolve In Crimson. This record was recorded again with Jacob Hansen (!) and it features guest vocals by Stéphane Buriez, whom you might know from another great French Extreme Metal act, Loudblast.
Resolve In Crimson (42:40) goes on in the vein of the last album, XI Reasons To See, with nothing less, yet nothing more either (at all, unfortunately), to add.
After more than a decade of existence (originally as Fvoco Fatvo), and two full lengths, Eversin return with Tears On The Face Of God, an eight tracker with a massive sound (recorded at MP Studio) and a performance much more mature than before (even though 2010’s Divina Estopia, the band’s My Kingdom Music debut, was a killer album as well).Tears On The Face Of God brings, again, a modern form of extremely technical and prophylactic Thrash Metal, the slightly progressive avant-garde way.
German Modern Death / Thrash act Fragments Of Unbecoming was formed in 2000 by (former) members of e.g. Veneral Disease and Mortified. Throughout the past decade, the band release four chapters, which all were, without any exception, rather positively reviewed through the international press. And even I was not that cynically or incorrectly critical about 2009’s The Everhaunting Past, the band’s debut for top-label Cyclone Empire.
(why still writing a review on a release that came out more than four months ago? First of all, because we did receive this material very recently, and secondly because this stuff is much too tasty not to take a bite…)
Australian three-piece Hellbringer was formed in 2007 as Forgery. To avoid confusion, and law issues, with Norway’s Forgery, the band decided to change its moniker into the current one in 2010.
In This Moment is an Californian metal band from Los angeles. The band was formed by vocalist Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth in 2005. Drummer Jeff Fabb joined the collaboration and they started a band under the name Dying Star. But unfortunately they had problems with maintaining a steady line up.
The Polish band Infernal Death recorded Gniew at Hellsaw Studio with Pawel Bogaczewicz, the band’s drummer, in 2010 and 2011. With this album, completely ‘sung’ in their home country’s native tongue, the quintet brings a form of very down-earthed, primal Death Metal with a splendid equilibrium in between blasting eruptions and totally decelerated parts, breathing a purest feeling of Old School, with, of course, a certain Polish oriented spirit.
This year, Nominon will celebrate their twentieth anniversary, so all together: hurray (20x)!
No thanks, my bold friends…
