This is a week for surprises. Power metal is leaving a real mark, and even the dark stuff isn’t all that depressive. Well… with one or two important exceptions. Definitely stick with it till the end.
Aptera – You Can’t Bury What Still Burns
Genre: Doom/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A mid-paced doom record that invokes images of dark forest ritual chanting. It’s been dirtied up by a sludgy vocal style, which works well, but also some really sour guitar solo parts that I feel clashes with the rest.
Ataraxy – The Last Mirror
Genre: Death/doom metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
The intention to make a full on death doom record is felt on this one, but seems like they pulled back along the way. This has left us with something that is absolutely slow and gloomy for long stretches, but also can’t help but let loose some devilish mayhem every now and then. The vocal style certainly would fit a pure death metal sound better.
Atramentum – Through Fire, Everything Is Renewed
Genre: Black/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This record has the whiff of genius to it, but this unfortunately dissipates throughout the listening experience. There’s a touch of dark madness to the tone which lends itself really well to the black/progressive blend. Unfortunately it’s not backed up by anything really coherent, and seems to be reaching all over the place, refusing to grasp a solid melody or rhythm.
Blasphemous Creation – Beyond The Grave (EP)
Genre: Death/black/speed metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
These guys stretch the death metal sound in really fun direction. It’s fast, with straightforward riffs, a good dose of playfulness and a layer of dry black metal ash coated on top. It’s really entertaining, so you can forgive it for being fairly sloppily composed.
Brutta – Brutta
Genre: Death/black metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Not the most successful attempt at a blackened death metal record you’ll hear this week. It fails to really extract any of the highlights of the two subgenres, and so the two end up diluting each other.
Caravellus – Inter Mundos
Genre: Symphonic/progressive/power metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
For all their obvious instrumental talent, it’s remarkable how unsuccessful they’ve been at locking down any decent melody lines. Which makes pairing fairly simple lyrics with on-the-heavy-side prog riffs and big effects a bit of a miss in my book. But they do try a few interesting things on here.
Chaos Magic – Emerge
Genre: Symphonic metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Symphonic metal with a hard-rock streak to the rhythms and slight aggression to the riffs, topped by some insistent synth mashing.
Civil War – Invaders
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
An album that reminds you that power metal can be great. While not every song on this album exhibits the same energy or grandeur, there are plenty which fire on all cylinders and give you exactly what you crave. It’s big and bold, with soaring melodies, but also enough heft to it to harken back to the classics, before the genre started choking on its on clichés. I hear Dio in the vocals, and that in itself goes a very long way. Check out “Invaders” and “Warrior Soul”.
Denouncement Pyre – Forever Burning
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Gotta love it when black metal gets too pissed not to rip out some hot-headed riffs. And when it’s as well produced as this, you know you’re in for a treat. The guitars are raw, the vocals crisp, and the tone suitably diabolical throughout. They dare to get into enough dark melody that each song stands out, and offer decent variation in tempo. Some death metal red mist rage and squealy shredding takes it up another notch. Try “Hung Like Swine” and “The Opposer of Light”.
Elektric Mistress – Chapter 99
Genre: Doom/heavy/stoner metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Get into a groove with this one. This is cheeky stoner hard rock with added heavy metal heft. It’s alive with a tongue-in-cheek desire to corrupt your innocence. While they could do with tightening up their production and performances, they show a lot of promise and are already crafting great vibes.
Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
How about some death metal with all the aggression and speed of tech, with a strong injection of melodic prog along the lines of the Devin Townsend Project? Sounds like a great recipe, and the result lives up to the hype. This album assaults you in waves of staggering riff complexity and intensity, then transition into sections of grandiose and spirited melody in between. The production allows for a detailed appreciation of everything that’s going on, while still securing an awesome fullness to really boost the tidal wave of brutality. While they’re still a few steps away from truly standing out as something unique among their peers, this is about as stellar as it gets. Let “The Hybrid Suns” and “End of Time” wash over you.
Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
There isn’t many metal styles I’d consider describing as magical without in the same breath of air throwing in words like whimsical, bloated or about as substantial as a bag of fairy dust. This one belongs among the exceptions. It’s adventurous and mystical in a kind of impatient way, bolstered by the will to top off its constant bursts of creativity with forcefulness and aggression. It glitters and shines, but it also rips. If you’re ready for a bit of a journey, you’re in for a full spectrum experience on this one. Get a taste with “Arctic Cemetery” and “Dead in the Water”.
High Castle Teleorkestra – The Egg That Never Hatched
Genre: Experimental metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Talking about going on an adventure – this one takes you to all the strange corners. It’s like the album has a mood of its own, and it’s wildly bipolar, ramping up and down in the blink of an eye and having no interest in its bearings as it speeds and stumbles off in random directions. If that sounds like fun to you, then it will be.
Inexorum – Equinox Vigil
Genre: Melodic death/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Here’s some melodeath that takes me back to the classic stuff of the likes of In Flames. It’s fast and angry, but steadfast in its structure and brimming with folk-tinged melody. There’s also a definite black metal infusion, but mostly in vocal style and some instrumental choices. The tone is, for the most part, fairly upbeat. If you’re feeling nostalgic, this will hit you right in the sweet spot. If you’re just looking for some good, slightly blackened melodeath, this will equally scratch that itch. Give it a shot with “Until There’s Nothing Left” and “Such Impossible Sights”.
Infanteria – Patriarch
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 2,5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A dose of thrash for you. Bit of aggression, bit of melody, bit of groove. It has moments where it all comes together, usually in the faster, angrier bits, but fails to impress overall.
Jorn – Over The Horizon Radar
Genre: Hard rock/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
I’ll give it this – it sounds good. The vocal work is great and the tone conjures up a particular kind of laid-back-party-in-space kind of atmosphere. The rhythms, however, are mind-numbingly dull.
Nova Twins – Supernova
Genre: Nu metal/electronic rock/hip-hop
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is a vibrant mix of a bunch of different things. You’ve got the bass-y, beat driven riffing of nu metal with rapping and electro-distorted singing, along with some industrial groove and shock rock flair in the vain of Rob Zombie. Sound like too much? It isn’t, really, and I actually wish they leaned even harder into their different musical influences. What bothers me is that their best melodies are reserved for their more pop-oriented tunes, and they never really take off with the energy. But flavorful, for sure.
Oni – Loathing Light
Genre: Groove/progressive metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Up for something melodic, angry and modern with some actual integrity? You got it here. You’ve got plenty of cool riffs, clean and harsh vocals serving each their part of the intensity scale and a bit of playfulness in the rhythm section. For me though, the production lets them down, with both guitars and drums sounding flat and slightly muted – almost… out of breath. And they fail to find the big grooves that really leave an impact – inducing nodding but not so much banging.
Seven Kingdoms – Zenith
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Who knew power metal could be this gutsy? All it took was some amazing vocal talent filled to the brim with conviction, instrumental performances radiating enthusiasm and a healthy dose of heavy- and thrash metal heft and aggression. Yes, so not something you just happen upon. This is excellently crafted and serving the subgenre to its fullest by matching its high-flying theater with some actual fire and flames. They do dip into the ballad pool every now and then, which Is hardly necessary when the rest is so melodic. But it luckily doesn’t get to dominate the listening experience. Check out “Diamond Handed” and “Chasing the Mirage”.
Tungsten – Bliss
Genre: Power/folk metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
If you only heard the first song on this, you might be forgiven to mistake it for some unholy mix of power metal and deathcore. Alas, they calm down significantly after this and revert to a much more traditional power/folk path with some heavy riffs and a bit of growling every now and then. And and that point, there’s not more more you should expect from this.
Vatican – Ultra
Genre: Hardcore/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Ever wondered what Hatebreed might sound like with a swarm of wasps up their collective behind? Yeah, this is metalcore of that old school, hardcore variant, added an extra layer of umph and unable to resist the temptation to let the rhythm erratically veer off into other realms. It’s well executed, but the album ends without leaving all that much of an impact.
Vexes – Imagine What We Could Destroy (If Only Given Time)
Genre: Alternative/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
An absolute mammoth of a 24-track album delivering melodic and slightly moody material that varies between a hard, progressive direction and a much softer, cleaner parts dominated by electronic ambience. For a passive listening experience it matters less that it’s nearly two hours long, but for active listening you will more than likely end up feeling saturated about halfway through. It’s a shame, cause a selection of the best songs on here could make up a pretty great album.
Vypera – Eat Your Heart Out
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Some straight out of the eighties melodic hard rock, ballads and anthems included. If you want to get into that mood though, it’s really not bad at all.
White Ward – False Light
Genre: Experimental black/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Get ready for that saaaaax. Yes, the metal saxophone renaissance is very real and absolutely prominent on here. Some might say overly prominent, but that’s a matter of taste. And in any case, don’t let it distract you from experiencing one of the best sounding records this year. Aside from the fact that each song appears infused with netherworldly life, like a collection of spirits each fluxing and surging as they see fit according to their individual nature, every sound is fine tuned to serve a specific part in the sonic landscape. They’re all as clear as they need to be (the drums sound particularly fantastic) to sublimely contrast and complement each other. And the contrasts on here are indeed striking – shifting from dark, jazzy and atmospheric folk to thundering, blackened death metal and several other states in between. My biggest problem with it is that there’s not more of it. Get a taste with “False Light” and “Silence Circles”.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band or need to give an album another shot, do feel free to express yourself in the comments section below.
The Metal Dispatch 