Mörkt Moln - The Culling of a Great Flame (2019) / 83%

BURN IN HELL!

Mörkt Moln (dark clouds) from Gothenburg certainly don’t play melodic death metal and I’m relatively happy they don’t. The Swedish trio delves into proto black metal and inserts dynamic hardcore, goth and punk elements to their first wave black metal sound instead.

Inspired by both Amebix and Darkthrone (who were also influenced by Amebix in their own right), the eight songs record is a definite love letter to a time where metal and punk lines were blurred and where black metal was yet in its formative infancy. While I feel the lines are being quite blurry again nowadays with powerviolence, death metal and crust being thrown in a mixer together this is another type of affair.

Interlude: I’m a big snacks guy so this review was written while eating some carrot cake Oreos. While they were able to recreate the taste of a carrot cake, the white icing is a bit too sugary. It’s a welcome distraction from the normal black and white ones just like this band is a welcome change from your run of the mill Satanic black metal. The special Easter Oreo was a bit better though.

Back to our normal programming, their music is dark (see their name) and it’s composed of pretty mid-paced bangers with some longer tracks like opener “Air Burial”, the Conan themed “Cimmerian Heat” or the Mesopotamian historical eight minutes closer “Shar Kishati”. Their production is kept fairly natural and that’s certainly perfect for their sound. If you’re a fan of Darkthrone’s later efforts, it’s a similar approach. If you’re not, it’s time go hike in the Scandinavian forests and never come back! Mixing groovy, riff heavy black/punk with some doom metal (the end of that Conan song crushes) to great success, it reminds me of the hateful but tongue in cheek of The Cult is Alive but slowed down a notch. The vocals are raw, gravely and in a spot between harsh and clean, it fits their proto extreme metal vibe well. There’s also obvious black(er) moments such as “Corruptors of Youth” with its evil classic black metal church bell intro and heavy metal goodness such as the Lord of the Rings’ inspired “Dol Guldur”. It’s not technical music either, it’s even fairly loose and almost volontarily sloppy and that’s how I love it, to be honest.

All in all, Mörkt Moln are apt at mixing old school black metal with a DIY aesthetic and approach. They’re a less and more band but with a lot of ideas and big balls.

Bandcamp

Dwoom – Pale Mare Demo MMXVII (2017) / 85%

Swedish Rules Divine - Part 2

I always preferred the Finnish doom scene but the mighty Sweden always delivers the good. I’m not exactly crazy about their current crop of traditional doom (see Below or Anguish) but their stoner scene is pretty healthy with bands like Monolord (constant touring helps!) or Vokonis. Dwoom from Northern Sweden not only has the best name around but they got a renewed epic doom sound and their debut demo is a slab of insanely great pure hot iron.

The main feat of Dwoom is that they play doom metal with HM2 pedals. I’m not a gear expert or musician but I can easily recognize this sound and it did wonders for this band. It’s basically like Hooded Menace but without the horror inspired death metal of the Finnish band. The quartet injects an almost illegal dose of steroids to the epic doom sound of Candlemass and it’s a shame the demo is only seventeen minutes, give me more!!!

Gustav Lund has nothing to envy to both Johan Längquist or Messiah. The dude can sing! He has this operatic approach common to epic doom but he’s sometimes a bit rougher. There’s some rare harsh vocals too but it’s mostly a clean affair.

The subtle organ notes too and this gives a tenebrous feel to the crushing doom played by Dwoom. Their atmosphere is spot-on too, it’s groovy, entrancing and will make your neck move. The three songs are tight, mid-paced numbers with strong guitars and catchy vocal lines. Simply put, Dwoom are above-average and this demo is highly promising.

Bwancamp

Jordablod – Upon My Cremation Pyre (2017) / 93%

Sweden rules divine

This young three-piece from Malmö, Sweden possibly released the best black metal album of 2017 with their debut full length album (out on the always reliable Iron Bonehead.) It’s everything I like about the genre in one marvelous package full of riffs and killer atmospheric bits.

While clearly looking at the olde gods of the genre such as Bathory, there’s a definite will to keep things balanced between ancient and actual. That’s something you can find in contemporaries allies such as The Ruins of Beverast or Tribulation. Like those two bands, creating an occult atmosphere was one of the goals they gave themselves and they truly did that with this record. Jordablod do something new but in a subtle way, it’s all in the details. Their style is an amalgam of primal black metal and barbaric (in the best way possible) death metal. It can recall the earliest foundations of the genres where things weren’t written in stone. They play around with different slow-burning atmospheres, some of them can recall the cold feel of pre-Christianity Sweden where Viking rituals were common (“Hin Håle”) while some others are rooted in fast quasi-folky metal à la Melechesh (“A Sculptor of the Future”.). Those numerous perspectives gave this album an additional coating of quality.

Despite those influences, they’re never silly or sugary. It’s done with good taste and a profound understanding of how their music should sound. At times, Jordablod sounds like a more organic Negative Plane. They both took the first wave sound and made it contemporary. The guitars are vivid, in your face and even in the softer, slower moments, there’s stuff happening. There’s absolutely no filler on this record. The guitar tone has this complex otherworldly charm. The band shines on those epic moments (see the conclusion/solo of “Liberator of Eden”) and I think they’re up there with Primordial for this long-winded intense approach to metal. Just like its artwork, Upon My Cremation Pyre is a grandiose, colourful record full of twists and turns

Iron Bonehead - Bandcamp

Vokonis – Olde One Ascending (2016) / 90%

They do love their craft!

This is without a doubt one of the finest doom albums of 2016. Despite that fact, it took me a while to gather my thoughts and do a review. This challenge is a perfect opportunity to do just that. To me, this album is more satisfying than the entire Sleep discography. I know, this is perhaps hyperbolic but eh, this is great stuff, guys!

The power trio from Sweden sounds like a ton of brick on steroids. Those guys probably eat six to eight eggs a day to maintain their heaviness. I mean, to appeal to the ancient ones, you need to be convincing cultists or they will not answer your dark prayers. Vokonis' prayers are repetitive but highly effective. It’s perhaps their only weakness but they were wise enough to keep the album relatively short for doom/stoner standards. This is mostly the fault of Ohlsson’s vocals, they’re a bit redundant and samey but they do not lack power, no sir. I really love when he goes all in and screams the hell out of those bonkers lyrics (check out the huge closer “Hazmat the Ashen Rider”.) That said, this small default certainly adds another layer of psychedelic stoner to their sound.

Like Conan (the British band, not the character), their main appeal is the power of their sound. The production is an absolute gem and adds ten thousand pounds of pure steel on everything. The guitars, the clear highlight of the record, are Jabba-esque. The leads are also pretty good (like the one minute solo on “Olde One”) as they expand the sound towards proggy fields. Still, a good tone is nothing without good riffs and they deliver on that front too. The lush six to eight minutes songs are never boring and are constantly offering the olde gods something worthwhile.

They're not a slow band either, they maintain a steady mid-paced speed throughout the record as they alternate between groovy as fuck riffs and trance inducing leads. Their doom is simply fun and rewarding.

Sure, what Vokonis plays isn’t the most original style but they do it with verve and talent. Perhaps not as adventurous as a band like Elder, they’re nevertheless as talented and worth hearing.

Quicksand Dream – Beheading Tyrants (2016) / 87%

Atmospheric sword and sorcery metal

The elusive Swedish duo surprisingly decided to release a second album after the underrated and cult-classic to be “Aelin – A Story About Destiny” released a good sixteen years ago. While the album is short based on our arbitrary full length standards (to hell with ‘em, I say), it doesn’t disappoint at all.

While 2016 offered us a bunch of excellent traditional albums such as the unhinged weirdness of Demon Bitch or the Phil Swanson heavy metal love affair of Sumerlands, Quicksand Dream has nothing to be ashamed of in terms of both quality and vision. With this new opus, we’re served six mid-paced epic songs culminating with the fantastic and highlight “To Kill Beneath the Sun”. The thirty minutes record  has an appreciable balance between fast and slow elements and a track like “The Shadow That Bleeds” demonstrates how well the band masters both the quiet, soothing moments as well as the riffy rockier ones.

Their blend of doomy epic metal is certainly something a bit more common than it was back in 2000. Bands like Atlantean Kodex, Sons of Crom or even Visigoth released strong, timeless metal while Quicksand Dream were slumbering in the shadows. Fortunately, it’s great to hear that they didn’t lose their edge. The riffs and huge bass lines of Patrick Berlund are catchy as hell, alternating between sorrowful, powerful and heavily evocative. His leads are also super interesting and captivating (check out the introduction of “White Flames on Black Water”. Göran Jacobson is still a tremendous force with the microphone but the production on his vocals is a bit underwhelming as it’s full of echoes. Despite this technical issue,  he still delivers a truck load of emotional heroic and manly bardic moments.

Their take on the genre could be qualified as an intelligent and atmospheric sword and sorcery epic heavy metal. It’s crushing but offers soft, gentle blows instead of a full blown barbaric attack and prefers relying on escapism than straight off beheading tyrants with a great axe. Quicksand Dream is both for those who like their metal full of powerful hymns and for those who also like to drink tea and read some Robert E. Howard. That’s a very particular niche occupied by the late The Gates of Slumber but also the epic doom pretenders to the throne Lord Vicar.

Opeth – Sorceress (2016) / 92%

Make Opeth Metal Again?

Now one of the biggest metal/rock bands on the planet, Opeth’s career has taken an important detour with Heritage in 2011. Legions of fans and detractors alike are asking themselves what will be the sound explored on this new album. Let’s not burn the sorceress before hearing her plea, shall we?

The Swedish giant is a band in constant evolution and unlike their peer, In Flames, they managed to make the transition into softer territories in a good way. They were already showing signs of their evolution with their gorgeous 2003 opus Damnation but with Heritage, they went all in, and it displeased and divided their audience. While they will not win back the fans who wants them to be truly metal again with this new album, it might be viewed more favorably. Anyway, I don’t really care about what other people say about Opeth, I care only about what Mikael Åkerfeldt is doing since he’s been the leader of my favorite band since I discovered them in high school.

I will not let the suspense go on much longer, yes Sorceress is a good album but I do think Opeth never (and probably never will) released a bad album. I do have some reservations towards the album though. It’s clearly not as good as I wanted it to be. The band has always been somewhat disjointed as it’s usually the case with bands with long song structures. Nevertheless, it’s never been as apparent and obvious as it is here except for Heritage which is possibly their weakest album. Maybe it’s because of the eleven-tracks format (the most of any Opeth album) or the fact that the songs are a bit shorter and more self contained.


Opeth had the tendency to be meandering and includes a wide array of styles within the same songs. Sure, there’s exceptions found in their past career with songs like “Harvest” or “To Bid You Farewell”, but Sorceress feels much more like an amalgam of different styles than any other of their other albums (extreme metal excluded, no they’re not coming back to their death metal blend...). You have the folky Jethro Tull-influenced ballad “Will o the Wisp” or the heavy metal/hard rock of “Chrysalis” and the different elements are a bit less melded together than before. Furthermore, “The Seventh Sojourn” is even a track similar to the Fertile Crescent sound, and it works as a sort of smooth interlude similar to the non-metal tracks found on Melechesh’s excellent albums The Epigenesis and Enki. Oh man speaking of that, an Opeth/Melechesh tour would be killer. Make this happen, Nuclear Blast.

The final important negative point would be the abrupt end of the album. It ends with a short, one minute outro after the hard rocking “Era” and it was a bit like if the waiter removed your plate from the table while you’re eating it. It was a sudden and unexpected finale to an otherwise great album. The introduction right before the title track works though. It’s classical guitars with some ethereal female spoken word, and it sets the tone in a good way. It’s not unlike “Coil” from Watershed but it’s not a “complete” song.

Still, I reckon my criticisms are pretty small. I’ve learned to disregard those aspects after four or five spins and it remains a collection of great songs. Regardless, the album isn’t as condensed as their previous one. The cohesion is lacking and the flow isn’t perfect. Still, it’s not as incoherent as Heritage and doesn’t have as many disposable moments. I’d say that “Sorceress 2” is the only truly weak point found on this record. It’s a boring four-minute acoustic ballad with unremarkable vocal lines. It’s the total opposite of the aforementioned and super great folky “Wisp” and it has to be one of the weakest tracks Opeth ever composed.

While Pale Communion was pretty much Opeth without the extreme metal elements, Sorceress is less limited and feels it could be another transitional album. Nevertheless, I do think Opeth never did a real transitional album except Watershed. They’re just creating landscapes based on a large amalgam of approaches and themes, and it turned out their 2008 record was the last one with death metal components. Still, the tracks without Mikael’s harsh vocals like “Porcelain Heart” or “Burden” were signs of their future incarnation. I can’t help but think that Sorceress could be interpreted as a new watershed for the Swedes. It’s hard what to predict what they’ll do next, but based on the lyrics of “Era”, it could be the conclusion of their current manifestation. It’s the “end of an era, we’ll start a new...” so maybe they’ll go back to their prog death sound and tour with Amorphis like it’s 2002 all over again?!

As far as their evolution is concerned, Sorceress is still Opeth exploring progressive rock in their own way but it probably has their heavier moments since the album that gave us “Lotus Eater” and “Heir Apparent.” To answer my own Trump reference in the title, yes this is (probably??) a metal album ,and the heavy parts possess a new sense of perspective. They added some stoner flavors to their newfound metallic formula and it’s heavier than Pale Communion when it actually decides to be. The title track released as the first single is a good example of Sorceress’ metallic identity. While this is still Opeth, it’s a widely different album even if there’s their usual tropes.

Compared to the previous album, the jazz influence are gone and the combination of heavy metal, progressive rock and folk took their rightful place. We already had heavy rock parts on Heritage (“Slither”, a song dedicated to Dio) but those parts are boosted on this album. This side of the band’s identity took time to appear and knowing how much Mikael is a lover of 70s and 80s heavy metal and hard rock, it was simply a matter of time. He’s a massive Michael Schenker fan and it’s obvious that UFO, Uriah Heep and the NWOBHM scene were huge influences on the compositions. Those classic rock influences were included into the idiosyncratic sound of Opeth, they never were and never will be a cheap throwback or a “vintage rock” band. They’re innovative while looking at the rightful musical identities of the past.

Concerning the individual performances of this opus, Martín Méndez’ bass is a shining beacon. He’s been playing a role within the band’s sound recently and it’s a good thing; the dude is on fire and deserves more credit and praise. Another key element: The keys of Joakim Svalberg (his second album with the band) are thunderous and give Opeth their well-deserved rich sound. The chemistry between the keys and the guitars is certainly something to behold.

“There is a voice surrounding me...” -Mikael Åkerfeldt on “Strange Brew”

About the leader himself, he’s always been one of my favorite singers but he has been improving his clean vocals for a while now and probably offers his best performance ever as a clean singer on this 12^th album. He shines on the rougher moments, and he’s been expanding his pallet for the softer parts. While I’ll admit I do miss the growls at times, even if they wouldn’t fit here, he’s masterful on Sorceress. He’s soulful, charismatic and sensual on the heavy bits, and sensible and mystic during the calm instants. My favorite Mikael moment of the album has to be the memorable chorus of “The Wilde Flowers”.

Production-wise, I dig the guitar tones, they have this old school feel but with strong doom sensibilities. The riffs on tracks like “Chrysalis” or the truly sole epic they did “Strange Brew” (the most varied track of the album) are killer and absolutely well written. The acoustic guitars are back in full force too and their inclusion on tracks like “A Fleeting Glance” are pertinent. Fredrik Åkesson and Åkerfeldt are expert guitarists, this is known. Their guitar parts range from being subtle to over the top in a matter of instant (listen to the soloing of “The Wilde Flowers” or the Blackwater Park/Ghost Reveries-esque calm parts in some songs). Nonetheless, they’re a bit too mechanical during the “stoner” moments (such as the debut of “Era”) but overall, the two guitarists keep things interesting, uncomplicated and tidy. It’s yet another strong slab of strong and creative musicianship.

To conclude, the new influences ranging from stoner rock to heavy metal made this a fresh record without being overly modern or distasteful. That’s a feat in itself in this saturated musical age full of bands trying to mix everything together in the hopes of creating something unusual or redesigned. Twenty-one years after their debut album, the Swedish monolithic entity still has the upper hand.

It may be the most chaotic album they ever did and the direction they took isn’t quite clear to me. Are they coming back to a more metallic sound to please the fans? Anyhow, the mixture of elements is working. It almost sounds like the perfect marriage of Ghost Reveries, Watershed and Pale Communion into one potent magical spell but it has the main downfall of Heritage, the incoherence of its tracklist.

Make Opeth Great Again? They’ve always been great and they’ll always be the best band. Metal or not. Is this album even metal? Who cares? It’s Opeth, and they’re awesome.

Originally written for The Metal Observer.

Cardinals Folly / Church of Void / Acolytes of Moros - Coalition of the Anathematized split (2016) / 85%

The Forsberg/Selanne coalition

The members of the coalition and the tracklist are as followed:

Cardinals Folly

1) Hyperborean 4:53
2) A Slave of Karnstein 5:53

Church of Void

3) Night’s Watch 5:43
4) Moonstone 8:06

Acolytes of Moros

5) The World Belongs to Demons 14:22

Useful links:

Album released by American Lines Prods

Facebook links:
Cardinals Folly
Church of Void
Acolytes of Moros

The split album on Bandcamp

This coalition of Nordic bands truly hits the spot and shows how different traditional doom can be. I’m using “Nordic” and not “Scandinavian” since there’s some geographical and historical debates going on about whether Finland is truly part of this European region or not. As a social sciences teacher, I do think the home of Teemu Selanne is Scandinavian despite their unique language and their cultural ties to the now deceased Soviet union. Still, doom is an international affair and truly transcends the frontiers created by us mere mortals.

The two Finnish bands, Cardinals Folly (I wrote a review of their 2016 full length here: click me) from Helsinki and Church of Void from Jyväskylä (I love this language) are similar in their groove first and ask questions later approaches to trad doom. They’re both hard rocking bands but with different aesthetics. The two bands are both exploring fantasy themes but they have divergent approaches. The Cardinals have this bigger than life pulp/classic horror literature persona while the Church are A Song of Ice and Fire fans (see their track “Nights Watch” or “Winter Is Coming” from their debut album). While I wanted the Church song “Moonstone” to be about Clefairy but it’s probably about something much darker!

Cardinals Folly

The tracks of Cardinals Folly have a fairly disappointing guitar tone, the rhythms are off and it’s too overly fuzzy for my taste but the compositions are as good as on their latest album. The power trio offers two strong and catchy tracks, one in the purest hyperborean tradition but mixed with a contemporary viewpoint on how technology ruins everything (if I understood the lyrics correctly) and one about the book Carmilla (I guess I’ll have to ask Howie Bentley if their analysis is solid as I’ve never read it myself). The band cites Saint Vitus in their first track and yep, we’re not too far from the Americans but it’s cruder and probably less serious. They have this huge bass tone, loud and great vocals and an appreciation for Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols. Nevertheless, they’re not a groundbreaking nor essential doom band but they're enjoyable and their style has to be admired.

75%

Church of Void

Church of Void are super groovy but they’re more laid back and they often take their time to crush. Compared to Cardinals Folly, they’re perhaps more in line with the witchcraft-esque scene of today. They also have some slight stoner/doom tendencies but avoid the trite stereotypes of the genre there's some Cathedral influences here and there.

No gear worship here even if their sound is particularly solid and their two guitars gives them some leeway and perhaps more options. This split also made me revisit their debut and I liked it more than before, they’re a band playing an immediate sort of doom but it took me some time to appreciate their pretty distinctive approach. Magus Corvus’ vocals are a bit too buried but he’s a solid clean and gritty singer who brings an 80s goth rock flair to the songs (the introduction of “Night’s Watch”) and has the necessary charisma to be the frontman of this solid band.

The quintet has the right balance between slow, mid-paced and faster material. Fortunately they're excellent at whatever speed they choose to drive. 

86%

Acolytes of Moros

The Swedish band Acolytes of Moros delivered only one track but it’s a long one. Longer than the two songs from their latest fantastic and criminally overlooked and ignored demo released last year (review here: click again), “The World Belongs to Demons” (annoying demons?) is a fourteen minutes infernal dirge of tremendous quality. Christoffer’s vocals are haunting, tenebrous and often walks into poorly lit black metal avenues at times (he had a black solo project some years ago). The lyrics written by a common friend are, from what I gathered, are about the woes of depression. The lengthy numbers drags and drags in the best way possible, it’s repetitive and simple but that’s how I like it. The production is also better than on Herald of the Imminent, everything is clearer and heavier.

Thick bass lines, heavy slow riffs and “shit man you gotta go see the shrink” lyrics are what you’re getting here and I want you to love it. I'm happy that I managed not to compare them to Reverend Bizarre so far but I guess I have to. They're perhaps their best acolyte (yeah yeah!) alongside The Wandering Mid get and they hold the flame of sad operatic lengthened doom high.

92%

All in all, this is a quality split and it keeps getting better and better as it kept the best band to conclude the album. Long live Scandinavian (or Nordic or whatever!) doom metal.

The three bands are gonna play some dates together including this one in Finland. I'm posting it because the poster rules and I'd like to be there!

Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume 9

Brought to you by the Hound

Unru - Als Tier Ist Der Mensch Nichts (2016) / 80%

Oppressive incestuous post black

This German quartet's debut album (that we can translate to "As an animal, man is nothing") is a brief voyage into the oppressive minds of their songwriters. Rooted in both black metal and hardcore (crust, post hardcore...), the four songs managed to incorporate the pure hatred and violent conviction of all their influences. The drums are buried under the loud and atmospheric guitars but I liked the way they were recorded, it seems to be natural and fits the aggressive yet pensive identity of Unru.

I guess we could say that they're a post black metal band but there's nothing fancy, comforting or joyful about their music. The vocals are deep howls and combined with the instrumentation, it's like walking in an old post World War II disaffected military complex, it's cold and suffocating in the best way possible. If you like the numerous incestuous explorations of black metal and hardcore, this is a band to check out. The lengthy songs made this an exhausting but rewarding experience.

Dautha - Den förste (2016) / 83%

Sweden's new trad doom titanI do think that Griftegård only managing to release one full-length is a tragedy in itself but if we ignore this first world problem, I’m quite happy that Ola Blomkvist (guitars, lyrics, direction) is back with a new traditional doom project and it’s well worth the time for everyone who likes the style. While not reinventing the classic wheel of doom, the integration of some beautiful violins is refreshing in something else than melodic doom/death or goth metal à la My Dying Bride. After a brief intro (translated to “Adulterers should be killed”), we’re served two excellent mid-paced numbers with epic soaring clean vocals and terrific riffs. Definitely influenced by the medieval period and religions, Dautha’s music is classy, engaging and played by talented Swedish veterans. Let us rejoice when darkness thrive / Oh, this is Hell but we shall laugh This is a demo but the quality of the songs and the production made me wish it wasn’t. Unfortunately the handmade packaging limited to 78 copies is sold out but I’m sure we won’t have to wait too long before we get more material from these guys. Well, I hope so.

Nails – You Will Never Be One of Us (2016) / 97%
Nine Inch Cocks

Signing to Nuclear Blast definitely made Nails sellouts, right? Oh fuck no it didn’t. The Californian trio unleashed their longest album ever (still only 21 minutes) and it’s one of the perfect outlet for aggression and violence I’ve ever heard. The band got added to the Metal Archives due to this record and rightfully so, I could compare it to the movie Alien, a cinema classic classified as both horror and science fiction… Well, YWNBOOU borrows as much from hardcore as it does from metal. Nails puts classic grindcore, old Swedish death metal, powerviolence, crust, Slayer-ish thrash in a dirty blender and crush the mixture till it’s just perfectly bloody.

Just like “Unsilent Death” or Abandon All Life, most of the tracks are short motherfuckers who will slam your head and make you jump everywhere. They never forget to write compelling and truly awesome riffs such as in “Into Quietus” and end the album with a monstrous eight minutes track containing everything they ever been known for. Slow pummeling riffs, spiteful vocals and fast destruction. I was really happy when they played “They Come Crawling Back” live as it’s one hell of a track. The best extreme album of 2016.

"VIOLENCE IS FOREVER"

Pillars – Pyres and Gallows (2016) / 70%

The Baguette Doom Series pt. XVII: Nice

The quartet from Nice (not pronounced like you think) plays heavy as hell doom metal without turning into a stoner band. The vocals of Clément Flandrois are rough, sort of harsh and would fit a southern metal band. The dude has a lot of range though and shows how good he is on the 10 minutes title track.

Many French bands actually sound like they’re from the American south and I’m not totally sure why (check out Glorior Belli and their southern black metal sound) and Pillars are definitely one of them. I mean, it’s subtle, don’t expect to hear some classless Hellyeah worship here, it’s still trad doom with obese riffs and a sad lyrical approach. This debut extended play has no obvious problems, it’s honest, well written and even has this blackened feel not usually present in this style of metal. Nevertheless, they could streamline their compositions a little and there’s a certain lack of memorability on there.

Deathbringer - From Silence Was Born The Sound of Death (2016) / 75%
Unsilent death/black

Montréal’s Deathbringer plays a savage and natural sort of death/black metal. Their debut full length, a short affair sounds like a demented Immolation at times. There’s an obvious focus on riffs and the album is full of great catchy ones. The production job was kept willingly raw and when I first heard a track from the album, I wasn’t quite sure it was the right decision but now that I’ve heard the full thing, I do think it fits the atmosphere they were going for.

Vocal wise, there’s a mix of cavernous growls, high pitched screams (both apparent on the last track “Bone Weaver”) and also some cleans (“By the Will of God”). The singer is one of the best aspects of Deathbringer, it adds to the dual identity of the band and their fluid back and forth between death and black metal. Even if they’re Canadian, they’re not really war metal, their core is death metal and there’s even doomy influences at times. War metal for me must be black metal with additional elements coming from death and grind.

All in all, it’s a strong debut for Deathbringer, they understood that riffs are the primordial element to make your band worthwhile and even though they kept the mastering and mixing lo-fi and raw, it makes the songs shine in the darkness.

Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume Two

Khazaddum – In Dwarven Halls (2015) / 75%

By Gimli's beard!
The Wisconsin quintet plays a very cool sort of brutal death metal inspired by the likes of Nile and Suffocation but instead of writing about ancient Egypt or plain evil stuff, they decided to follow the Amon Amarth/Summoning path and accept J.R.R. Tolkien as their saviour. Their songs are slow for the style and they have the epic riffy as fuck approach of Bolt Thrower at times. The guitars are pretty legit and the soloing is quite decent, the drums are competent blastbeats as well and the production is solid as hell for a first independant release. The vocals are not your usual “breee breees”, they're more rooted in traditional death metal, deep manly growls are my favorite for this sort of metal! It would had been cool to get some Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit samples thrown in there for the sake of it though, it would add a fun cheesy side to the band that they already have anyway. Anyhow, that's a well done debut EP for these guys and I think the 15 minutes format works well for this style of primitive brutal death.

Bandcamp - Pay what you can

Pluie – d'Hochelaga (2014) / 78%

Wet dirty montreal black metal
The trio from the Hochelaga neigbourhood of Montréal plays a dirty kind of black metal inspired by their location. The production isn't that raw and it's quite richer than I thought it was at first, it's also highly interesting. It's not experimental or written to reinvent the genre but there's originality within the confines of their solid riffs and depressive vocals. The tempos are varied, ranging from aggressively fast (“La dèche des ruelles”) to mid-paced heaviness (“Sorcier des rats”). Their music is highly emotional and features vicious but still beautiful melodies played by these incisive guitar tremolos. The bass is also high in the mix for this kind of metal, it's pretty enjoyable and adds a lot to the mix. Formed by musicians coming from many different musical scenes and backgrounds (such as the awesome experimental grind of Expectorated Sequence), Pluie evolves in a different direction than most Quebecois black metal, it's not about winter or nationalism, it's about how disgusting how humanity is and that, my friends, is universal.

Pluie on Bandcamp

Angel Sword – Rebels Beyond the Pale (2016) / 84%

Enter the Court of Chaos

Finland is easily becoming one of my favorite niches for trad metal, their scene oozes badassery and pure 80s fashion flair. Alongside bands like Legionnaire or Lord Fist, Angel Sword really found their sound in old compilations full of German and American bands and they're freaking awesome. Many will argue that the vocals of this band are mediocre but I really love this sort of amateurish, bad good style of delivery, he really fits the heavy metal sound found here. Like most Finnish metal, there's a certain peculiarity even if it's without a doubt traditional metal with the vintage themes.

The songs are all pretty short, super melodic affairs with juicy riffs and the choruses are awesome and well written, they remind me of Accept or Running Wild (minus the pirate element) with they variety and appeal of Slough Feg (the last track “Witches Never Die” reminded me of the San Francisco band). It's efficient, meta metal of the highest quality with madman vocals. Highly recommended for true fans of true metal. Despite their name, they're far from generic.

Angel Sword on Bandcamp

Yetzer Hara – Demo 2014 / 76%

Dark obscured doom

This young Swedish mysterious unisex duo plays a vibrant form of doom/stoner while keeping only the necessary elements of the genre. Huge ass heavy guitars played by a small lady and loud slow drums played by her manly viking acolyte. The four instrumental songs are slow, thunderous dirges with a self assumed improvisational identity. It feels like they're in a dark smokey room and they're recording themselves play for half an hour before going out in the snowy climate of Norrköping. The theme of the band and their music is mostly related to Judaism but unlike fellow Swedes Meshuggah, they're subtle, introspective and smooth.
While I think some vocals could had been cool (think of High Priest of Saturn), the compositions are well thought out, repetitive but not overly so and the guitar tone is super good for such a recording. The inclusion of a short sample in “Ha” was thoughtful as well. I really like the ending of the demo, there's some sort of little bells resonating in the background and it's special. I'd really like to hear a full length from these guys, they're a bit elusive and slow to release stuff though but I'll be there waiting in the shadows!

Bandcamp - Pay what you can

Terminal – Heavy Metal Lokomativa (2014) / 90%

Locomotive Breath

A one-man band formed by Enforcer's bassist Tobias Lindqvist, Terminal also plays heavy metal but instead of the typical and classic influences of the former, Tobias explores old school metal from the Communist bloc. Bands like Pokolgep (Hungary) or Aria (Russia) are obvious influences here. Add Slovenian lyrics (even though this is a Swedish project) and you're in business. While this is can be interpreted as a gimmick, the quality is through the roof and I'd listen to this short demo all day.

Eastern bloc heavy metal could be described as a super melodic form of Iron Maiden influenced twin guitar acrobatics. Aria were known as a Maiden clone but they were even more melodic and had hard rock leanings compared to the Brits. I think the fact that Steve Harris and company were, alongside Judas Priest, the most popular European metal band of the 80s had a lot to do with the sound developed in these communist countries, mostly secluded from Western Europe. They were the biggest around (watch Behind the Iron Curtain) so it's logical that their influence was grand. It's fun to hear a band that's inspired by what these countries were doing, it's some sort of second hand influence, it's like if NWOBHM was filtered through a bunch of eastern European nations and thrown into a big pool full of vodka.

Heavy Metal Lokomativa is like a shot of vodka, it's only six minutes long but oh boy, it rips hard. The two songs are showcasing two different sides, the first one, the title track is a fast track with pummeling riffs and super solid leads of epic might. It definitely has this locomotive vibe like an old Russian train making its way through the snowy landscapes of Siberia. On the other hand, “Slovo” (farewell in English) is more subdued, slower and emotional with some slight AOR tendencies but still retains the wonderful melodic leads of its predecessor. Terminal doesn't have any speed metal influences like Enforcer and the execution, ambiance and feel are more fringe, obscure and enjoyable. The mix is tight and the instrumentation is quite well done. I assume Lindqvist did everything himself, he's a pretty talented fellow then!

Tobias' vocals are legit, the Slovenian lyrics are giving them an original vibe and I always liked trad metal sung in another language, it's fun and fresh. The lyrics are apparently located in cheese country but goddamn, who cares, the Metalucifer metal school is a highly respectable institution. His voice is not quite powerful but the vocal lines are very catchy, he's not too high pitched and doesn't kill the vibe with unnecessary screeching falsettos. Nevertheless, the real stars are the guitars, they're singing beautifully and you should listen to what they're saying.

A new single will be released this July but I can't wait for a full length! Impressive stuff, guys.

I believe both the tapes (2 pressings on Ljudkassett) and the 7 inches vinyl (Electric Assault) are sold out but you can download it for free or pay what you on Bandcamp.

Terminal on Electric Assault's Bandcamp