Svarthart/Emptiness Filling The Void/2016 CD Review

  Svarthart  are  a  band  from  Belgium  that  plays  a  mixture  doom  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "Emptiness  Filling  The  Void"  which  also  saw  some  distribution  through  Sepulchral  Silence  in  2017.

  Clean  guitars  start  off  the album  along  with  some  whispered  vocals  a  few  seconds  later and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  direction  while  also  adding  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  as  well  as  a  decent  amount  of  melodic  riffing  and  some  of t he  tracks  are  long  and  epic in  length.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while  the  music  is  also  very  heavily  influenced  by  the  90's  doom/death  metal  style  along  with  clean  guitars  also  being  utilized  on  some  of  the  later  tracks,  grim  screams  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow  musical  fashion.

  Svarthart  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  grief,  loneliness  and the  human  mind.

  In  my  opinion  Svarthart  are  a  very  great  sounding  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Fading  Image"  "Inside  The  Darkness"  and  "The  Awakening".  8  out  of  10.

Ruiny Vechnosti/Shopot Zabytykh Kholmov/Grimm Distribution/Murdher Records/2017 CD Review

  Ruiny  Vechnosti  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  doom,  goth  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Shopot Zabytykh Kholmov"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Grimm  Distribution  and  Murdher  Records.

  Tragic  sounding  keyboards  start  of  the  album  and  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  while  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  along  with  blast  beats  also  being  utilized  when  the  music  speeds  up  and  violins  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  When  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  some  tracks  also  adding  in  clean  playing  as  well  as  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  bringing  in  elements  of  doom  metal  and  when  screams  are  utilized  they  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal,  clean  vocals  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  when  female  vocals  are  utilized  they  also  add  in  a  touch  of  goth.

  Ruiny  Vechnosti  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  goth,  atmospheric  doom  and  melodic  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ruiny  Vechnosti  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  mixture  of  goth,  doom  and  melodic  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Brest"  "Pobeda  Dlya  Mortvykh"  and  "Naslediye".  8  out  of  10.  

Atlases Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band.?
    -Atlases started as a one man "band". I had written some songs for the next Oceanwake record, but those songs turned into this project. Little by little I gathered some local musicians around me, and Atlases was born.

    2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
    -We call ourselves Modern Post Metal. It's a bit of a cliche and joke, but that term fits the most. The word, atmospheric, is also very suitable for our music. We are within the Post Metal genre, but our overall sound is a bit more modern.

    3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?'
    -Distorted images of self. Stories about our surroundings in "I" form. Very dark and misty. Cold and hopeless.

    4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Atlases'?
    -There's no deeper meaning with the name. It just came to my mind, and I thought it would be a cool name for our band. Atlases suites to our music as a name the best. After we formed the band and decided the name, we found out that there is a band called Atlases in UK. They play more like djent-style of metal, and they haven't been active since 2013 or something. So I think we are going to keep our name in the future also.

    5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stag performance?
    -The band is quite new. So there's not so much to tell about it. We have done a couple shows now to promo our EP. I think the best shows are yet to come.

    6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
    -We are touring in Finland as we speak. Something like 5 shows to come at the end of the year. In February 2018 we are touring the Baltic region. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. After that we have more shows in Finland to do.

    7.The ep was released on 'Pest Records', are you happy with the support that they have given yo so far?
    -Yes we are.

    8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of post  metal?
    -Actually we are currently waiting for the reviews to come. The messages within our facebook inbox is slowly filling with positive feedback. We thank them for that.

    9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
    -We have loads of new material written already, and we are writing more all the time. The next release could be an EP or LP. I don't know when this is going to happen. We are planning something special for the Baltic tour, that I can say. Musically the new songs are a bit more sludgier, but still very ethereal.

    10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
    -Every bandmember has their own favorites. Some listens to Chelsea Wolfe and Mastodon, some listens to Riverside. My own favorites are bands like Cult Leader, Converge, Amenra, Everything In Slow Motion, If These Trees Could Talk...I think we get influences from our favorites, and try to make something new and own from it.

    11.What are some of your non musical interests?
    -Family life and work.

    12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
    -Buy our music from what ever platform you like. Only that way there's a continuum to what we do. Support the band by coming to the shows.

    V-V Laaksonen, Composer and Lyricist of Atlases.

Rabid Dogs/Italian Mysteries/Eclectic Productions/2017 CD Review

  Rabid  Dogs  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner  rock,  punk  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Italian  Mysteries"  which  will  be  released  on  November  20th  by  Eclectic  Productions.

  Distorted  amp  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  stoner  rock  direction  while  melodic  riffing  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  all  of t he  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  mixing  in  elements  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  at  times.

  Vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  mix  in  elements  of  grindcore  and  crust  punk  along  with  some  songs  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  samples,  angry  back  up  shouts  are  also  used  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  touches  of  blues  rock  can  also  be  heard  and  they  also  bring  in  an  instrumental  track.

  Rabid  Dogs  plays  a  musical  style  that  mixes  stoner,  punk  rock  and  grindcore  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  thrillers  and  exploitation  movie  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rabid  Dogs  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  stoner  rock,  punk  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "King  Midas"  "Total  Clan  War"  "The  Lodge"  and  "Flowers  Of Bad".  8  out  of  10.



  

Korpsesoturi/Self Titled/Death In Pieces Records/2017 EP Review

  Korpsesoturi  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  doom metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self  titled  2017  ep  which  will  be  released  on  November  21st  by  Death  In  Pieces  Records.

  Music  box  samples  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  bringing  in  elements  of  doom  metal.

  A  lot  of  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  while  high  pitched  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in    decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the ep  progresses  a  brief  use  of  synths  and  spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard.

  Korpsesoturi  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  metal  into  the slower  sections  of  the  songs,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Koprsesoturi  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  with  elements  of  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pohjoinen  Perkele"  "Kaivo"  and  "Kypara".  8  out  of  10.

  

Schwarzer Engel/Sinnflut/Massacre Records/2017 EP Review

  Germany's  solo project  Schwarzer  Engel  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  dark  symphonic  style  of  goth  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  ep  "Sinnflut"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Massacre  Records.

  Dark  gothic  horror  style  keyboards  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  industrial  style  vocals  which  also  bring  in  black  metal  screams  at  times  while  clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  goth  and  extreme  metal  together  as  well  as  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  80's  and  90's  influences.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  symphonic  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  when  they  are  utilized  along  with all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  most of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  solo  or  mid  tempo  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  a  piano  track  and  club  remix.

  Schwarzer  Engel  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  dark  and  symphonic  style  of  goth  metal  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics a re  written  in  German  and  cover  emotions,  suicide,  apocalypse,  nature  and  gothic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Schwarzer  Engel  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dark  and  symphonic  goth  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Sinnflut".  8 out  of  10.

Shadowpath/Rumours Of A Coming Dawn/2017 Full Length Review

  Shadowpath  are  a  band  from  Switzerland  that  plays  a  musical  style  which is  a  mixture    dark,  melodic  death,  progressive, symphonic  and  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Rumours  Of  A  Coming  Dawn".

  Rain  and  thunder  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  keyboards  and  female  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  they  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  along  with  the  slow  riffs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  doom  metal  as  well  as  the  music  also  getting  very  symphonic  at  times.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  while t he  music  also  gets  very  progressive  at  times  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  death  metal  growls  are  also  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful,  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording. 

  Shadowpath  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  dark,  melodic  death,  symphonic,  progressive  and  power  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  emotional  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Shadowpath  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  dark,  melodic  death,  doom,  progressive,  symphonic  and  power  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Chaos  Equation"  "Another  Inquisitor"  and  "Beta".  8  out  of  10.