Hailing from Lisbon – Portugal, Mourning Lenore peddles a solemn and grieving doom-metal that reminds me of the Holy Trinity of British Misery. That’d be Anathema before setting the controls for the heart of Pink Floyd, Paradise Lost before getting enamoured with all things Depeche Mode and My Dying Bride minus that experimental record called “34.788%...Complete”.
Though "Loosely Bounded Infinities" nods to the past works of the aforementioned acts, it’s far, far more than a mere nostalgia trip or a long lost-relic, their sound is authentic and refreshing enough to appease a whole new generation of lamenting souls that find comfort in the likes of Katatonia and Ghost Brigade.
Mourning Lenore reveals a remarkable knack for making their guitars weep in sorrow just like Anathema and Paradise Lost in their early days, and merge it with some poignant and elegant melodies reminiscent of Katatonia, that manages to both soothe and seethe the soul. “Reminiscent” is an impeccable song that perfectly encompasses such modus operandi, slow-driven, colossal and sorrowful riffs are intertwined with gentle and shimmering harmonies, while vocalist/guitarist João Galrito balances a grieving growl with a soothing singing.
The songs are long, which is typical of the genre, yet in no moment Mourning Lenore meander and lull us into sleep. Come to think of it, “Loosely Bounded Infinities” is indeed a relic considering that it’s hard to fill a well-crafted, genuine, listen-all-the-way-through doom record in this era. (7.8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/mourninglenoredoom
Label info: www.majorlabelindustries.com
For fans of: Anathema, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Saturnus

For years a good portion of British bands tend to look to other side of the Atlantic in search of inspiration and guidance, which is ironic really considering that if it wasn’t for Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Venom and Godflesh perhaps 90% of these North-American groups wouldn’t even exist.
London’s Imicus is another one of those bands taking cues from the US scene, treading an American-sounding alt-metal that often borders the mainstream radio-friendly fare.
Whether you’ll value their debut full-length album “Animal Factory” worthy of purchase really depends upon your ability to stomach bands like Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Trivium and so on.
Imicus are not bad when they sound wrathful and churn out heavy and driving guitar riffs coupled with a thunderous earth-shattering percussion, yet the problem is that they don’t get ireful enough. Most of the time their music sits in the middle of road, divided between pompous and anthemic chorus designed for radio-airplay and a more ferocious and impassioned backbone, all predictably balanced by a vocalist capable of delivering both soaring and pristine melodies and infuriated screams.
There’s promise here, “Animal Factory” sounds infinitely better than say 80% of the poop that stinks in radio stations these days, yet it's too predictable and emotionless for those seeking more challenging and stimulating music. (4.8/10)

Band info: www.imicusband.com
Label info: www.transcendmusicgroup.com
For fans of: Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Trivium

Stating that your music sounds like the illegitimate love child of Lisa Gerrard and Zack de la Rocha might be bold and exaggerated, yet I’m sure that Canada’s The Unravelling merely coined the phrase to illustrate the fact that their sound is exceptionally eclectic and displays a wide array of influences. There’re no elements of Dead Can Dance or Rage Against the Machine to be found within “13 Arcane Hymns”, yet the album encompasses various styles with great aplomb and expertise, which is something of an oddity in this superficial and numb era. As a result, this self-released debut is tough to categorise or pigeonhole, there’s a notable thrash influence in songs such as “Last Rights Protest” and “Where It Will End” that places them close to acts like Grip Inc. and Prong, while others themes sees them heaving massive and intriguing ideas charged with highly contagious melodies and complex rhythms slightly reminiscent from someone like Tool. Despite these obvious reference points, the duo comprised by singer Steve Moore and multi-instrumentalist Gustavo De Beauville are forging their own path and boast just enough characteristics and attributes to distinguish them from the pack of uninventive groups.
Then, there’s the tremendous vocal range of Moore, the man can bark with an intimidating enraged-fury and still carry out soaring vocal melodies whenever the songs demands it. Maybe Canadian musicians might consider giving Chris "The Heathen" Valagao a break and look at Moore for future collaborations.
Bottom line, “13 Arcane Hymns” is a great record that hopefully will gain The Unravelling a decent record deal. (7.4/10)

Band info: www.theunravellingmusic.com
For fans of: City of Fire, Tool, Grip Inc.

The opening theme from Humanfly’s third full-length record “Darker Later” sounds like a bastard offspring between Mastodon and Melvins and that’s an extremely good thing on my book. The oddly titled “This is Where Your Parents Fucked” boasts some gargantuan riffs that carry out the powerful intent and infectious groove of Mastodon coupled with a rather angular drum work archetypical of Melvins and a singing style that strangely enough remind me of two ‘Osbornes’, one named Buzz and the other one named Ozzy.
The following track “English And Proud And Stupid And Racist” steps in sans vocalizations and reveals a greater emphasis on the sludge riffery reminiscent of acts like High On Fire and the aforementioned Mastodon.
So far everything’s fine with this album, yet then steps in third song “Stew for the Murder Minded” which roughly sounds like a crossbreed between The Locust, Refused and High on Fire. Apparently these guys have a past in hardcore and punk, and those influences come to the fore on that particular song, where vocalist John Sutcliffe screams like he’s on the verge of mental collapse on top of an instrumental backbone that straddles between brute, explosive riffs, enraged cymbal tapping and a groovier-sludge-driven rhythm.
From here on, Humanfly throw in just as much ingredients as they can put their hands on in a mishmash of hardcore, metal, grind, sludge (The Enemy of my Enemy is Me), prog (Darker Later) and so on. The blending of styles isn’t always subtle, it gives the impression we’re listening to completely different bands so, by the time the album reaches the end, you’re left wondering who’s Humanfly? What’s their musical identity?
This could be a rather good work, the first two songs demonstrate just what a tour de force Humanfly can be when they get it right, but due to its lack of focus it’s unlikely to make a massive impact. (5.8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/humanfly
Label info: www.brewrecords.net
For fans of: Melvins, Mastodon, High on Fire, Pig Destroyer, Salome

Portugal’s Crushing Sun comes tagged as death-metal, yet exterior signs suggest that I’m not before a standard death-metal group. There’s no blasphemous title or a disgustingly repulsive album cover here, those typical attributes that almost everyone within the genre uses to gain credibility and a bad-ass image.
Naming your album “Tao”, which is a Chinese word based on a fundamental principle of Taoism that roughly means the road or path, and choosing a surrealist cover art that could’ve been drawn by someone like Salvador Dali are clear indicators that Crushing Sun have opted not to follow the overbeaten death-metal path.
Indeed, “Tao” is everything but a run-of-the-mill blast and growl, tremolo picked death-metal record, and that’s precisely one of the more refreshing things about it, the Portuguese act have gone against the grain, incorporating other nuances and textures into their song-writing, yet still maintaining the punch and razor-sharp delivery of archetypical death-metal.
There are moments amongst these eleven songs that remind me of a more organic and claustrophobic Gojira, as both bands dedicate themselves to write thoughtful and challenging music that still sounds oppressive and fearful.
Each song on the album is great, there’s zero filler and a few are even spectacular. “Rain” for instance erupts with a gargantuan force and a tremendous groove that’s capable of making the foundations of a solid building tremble. “Cantilever” is more of the same, balancing lethargic and dissonant chords with a palm muted crushing groove and pounding drums. It’s on the third theme “The End”, which spans for almost seven minutes that Crushing Sun take a surprising turn into the textural and absorbing universe of Neurosis, it starts with acoustic guitars in a gentle manner then abruptly develops into a dynamic wall of sound hovering between slow, crushing riffs and calmer, contemplative ambiences. “Jane’s Trail” is another excursion into the dark depths of Neurosis’ post-metal, boasting a remarkable dichotomy between crushing tones and soothing harmonies. “T’hatcher” is up next with a relentless fury that sends us back into a Gojira-styled framework.
Overall, although “Tao” requires repeated listens to fully unravel and appreciate, it’s a good, honest and cerebral first album from a band evidently capable of becoming one of most interesting musical propositions this old continent has to offer. (8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/crushingsun
Label info: www.majorlabelindustries.com
For fans of: Gojira, Neurosis, Hacride, Morbid Angel

The first thing that hits you with the first few songs from “Hail the Horde” is how close to The Haunted and At the Gates Denmark’s The Burning sound like these days.
That was clearly a surprise for me considering the Danes were always massively influenced by the work of Pantera, and although this newest record is still indebted to the US thrashers, just clap your ears to “The Nihilist Life” and tell if that doesn’t sound slightly like “Mouth for War”, there’s a Swedish influence reminiscent of Gothenburg’s finest overbearing these new songs.
Perhaps it was the new guitarist Alex Kjeldsen formerly of Dawn of Demise that brought in a whole new array of influences as the main riffs to songs like “Godless” and “Flames Be Your Friend” sound like they could’ve come from the creative minds of Patrik Jensen and Anders Björler. Even though The Burning have morphed into a slightly more interesting proposition, trading those linear, straightforward riffs and shout-along chorus for a more evolved and refined riffage, they still lack some substance and genius to warrant a privileged place in our stereos. (5/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/theburningdk
Label info: www.massacre-records.com
For fans of: The Haunted, At the Gates, Pantera

A maelstrom of blast beats, a pair of guitarists that churn out more arpeggios than Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen combined and vocals that switch between death metal bellows and high pitched screams can only mean one thing in this day and age: Deathcore.
With zero deviation from this formula, Quarter the Villain’s self-released EP reveals little other than an overbeaten deathcore sound that becomes tiresome after a while, but will probably impress fans of Veil of Maya and Born of Osiris.
There’re fifteen minutes of all kinds of chaotic and complex sounds that represent a hazard to neurons in the brain here, I mean not even if you take loads of Centrum you’ll be able to memorize two notes from the whirlwind of riffs and leads that makes “Regicide”. Final song "Sock Puppet Vendetta" is an exception though, mostly due to the waltz cadence at the end of the song, which is nicely complemented with the sounds of tubas and violins.
If you can withstand a tech-deathcore sound for more than fifteen minutes, maybe you should keep an eye on Quarter the Villain for future releases. (5.4/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/quarterthevillain
For fans of: Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris

No guessing for how Nekromantheon’s debut recording “Divinity of Death” sounds like, it’s pretty obvious. I mean what other bands other than an old-school thrash-metal one has song titles like “Gringo Death” and “Alcoholy Terror”.
Norway’s Nekromantheon is actually a project featuring members of other retro-thrashers like Obliteration and Audiopain and those already acquainted with these two acts will find out that the trio’s sound isn’t too far removed from their main bands.
When it comes to retro thrash, I believe there are two questions that need to be answered. How old-school are they? Are they any good?
Well first, they’re really old-school, way back to ‘89 when Sepultura released “Beneath the Remains” and second, they’re actually pretty good at what they do.
Save for the compact production, “Divinity of Death” could easily have passed for something recorded in the eighties, throughout thirty-plus minutes the trio deliver a sound that harkens back to the genre’s 80s heyday. The riffs are ragingly fast and lethal, occasionally intertwined with some catchy hooks that only Max Cavarela would know how to write, the drums incessantly pummel our eardrums, while vocals are furious and filled with that classic thrashy rawness.
In all, “Divinity of Death” is a strong record that although it doesn’t dazzle our senses it’s a good reminder of how cool and great retro thrash sounds like when it’s done properly. (7/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/nekromantheon
Label info: www.duplicate-records.com
For fans of: Sepultura, Possessed, Kreator

Writing that Pitch Black is one of the most underrated Portuguese acts would be a terrible cliché that probably manifests a compassion that these five fellows don’t need and never asked for.
Their debut full-length “Thrash Killing Machine” from 2005 might not have raised their name into the upper echelons of modern thrash-metal, despite all the glowing reviews, but that haven’t stopped Pitch Black from going back to studio and record a sophomore work that sounds meaner, fiercer and downright more intense than its predecessor.
With the current slew of thrash bands going back to the past for inspiration, making records that sound like we’ve travelled back in time, Pitch Black have forged their brand of aggressive thrash-metal with the consistency and wisdom of modern days without obliterating that raw savagery from their old-school roots.
Just like its name or the fearful panzer that adorns the front-cover, “Unleash the Hate” bursts in full power mode with a blatant disregard for clemency, guitarists Álvaro Fernandes and Ricardo Martins cast flesh-ripping riffs with surgical precision while fill-in vocalist Hugo Andrade from Switchtense distils pure vitriolic hate through his vocals chords. It’s only on the fourth track “Enemy Siege” that Pitch Black slows down the pace and gives listeners a pause for breath with a slow-driven riff that reminds me of Slayer’s “Seasons in the Abyss”, before breaking into the usual sonic pandemonium. “One of Them” is a real head-nodding groover, offering some bruising breakdowns and a mid-paced and beefy riffery.
Although “Hate Division” is still fairly confined to genre boundaries, it’s superbly executed and offers a tremendous amount of energy and passion. This is an album many would be proud of. (7.8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/pitchblackattack
Label info: www.myspace.com/recitalrecords

Imagine my surprise when this CD dropped in my mailbox, weren’t these guys jumping a nu-metal bandwagon a few years back with relative success I’ve wondered to myself.
After a brief research, thanks Wikipedia, I’ve found out that these are the indeed the same Nonpoint that used to be signed to Universal Records, reached the Billboard charts and toured with Disturbed, Papa Roach, Mudvayne, Sevendust and so on. Apparently these fellows have survived the nu-metal demise that thank god victimised various musical atrocities like Limp Bizkit. No? Damn, they were dead!
Anyway, Nonpoint has stuck to their guns, sustained various line-up problems and have miraculously (pun intended!) recorded a new record called “Miracle”.
So, the question that needs to be asked is if Nonpoint are still flogging a dead horse or if they’ve reinvented their sound and overhauled it to the present decade, to which I’ve to answer a bit of both. Their songs still straddle between crap-rock aimed for commercial radio airplay and a pretty solid slab of alt-metal that places them close to acts like Drowning Pool, Five Finger Death Punch and Mudvayne. Yep, the kind of metal that you’ll hear on WWE, UFC and Strike Force shows and only get you excited for a few moments before the real action begins.
Bottom line is that “Miracle” is an easily forgettable record for the standard metal enthusiast who seeks more substantial and demanding musical pieces, but could be a great gift for that girlfriend of yours who’s always complaining about the noise that comes out of your room and thinks Nickelback and Breaking Benjamin are the coolest rock bands around. (4/10)

Band info: www.nonpoint.com
Label info: www.poweragerecords.com

The sinister and orchestral instrumental intro “Rise of the Hunted” kind of forewarns listeners for the utter chaos that is about to be unleashed when the first and proper theme from Seven Stitches’ debut full-length erupts from the speakers. Sporting an enormous dose of brutality, “Room” kicks off with an orchestral atmosphere and some disturbing tremolo-picked wails before bursting into a frenzied turmoil of blast-beats, palm-muted riffs and deep guttural vocals. This is the sound of a band that’s utterly furious and on the verge of cracking I assure you.
This young Portuguese quintet have crafted a strong debut album that is consistently good from beginning to end, maintaining their blend of death and thrash-metal well balanced and well structured throughout. While it’s typical for young groups within the death and thrash scope to keep things as brutal and insanely fast as possible, Seven Stitches have already acquired the notion that dynamics are good and holds the interest of listeners, I mean it’s hard to find a well crafted death-thrash record that I’d listen all the way through these days, yet “When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted” successfully manages to do so.
Just don’t go expecting anything too groundbreaking either as Seven Stitches aren’t breaking the mould here, their music trails through familiar ground that fans of acts like Hate Eternal, Decapitated, Darkane and Carnal Forge might recognise.
Give it a listen, I’m sure that you’ll become a fan too. (7.8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/sevenstitchespt
Label info: www.myspace.com/ragingplanetrecordsportugal

Hailing from Nottingham-UK, The Engines of Armageddon is a rhythmically-powerful sludge-metal trio with one foot on a distortion pedal and the other one in your face. They remind me of a looser and less corrosive Exhorder on some occasions, and if you aren’t old enough to remember them, they were a sludge-driven thrash-metal act from New Orleans who released a couple of strong records before disbanding in 1992, though I’ve heard they’re back to the game now.
Just like the later period of Exhorder, these English fellows trudge thru the swampy fields of southern-soaked metal, occasionally veering off into a more violent and angrier path with some thrash-metal leanings. The gravel voice of drummer Bill Fisher also increases the similarities between the two groups as it shares some resemblances with the throaty whiskey-soaked style of Kyle Tomas. And I should also mention that both groups share a strong political and social message through their thought-provoking lyrics.
The “Obelisk” demo is just a small taste from their forthcoming second record which is due for release next year I believe, and from what I hear from these three tracks it sounds positively promising.
The first theme “Imbibe the Toxin” kicks off in a typically southern-rock vibe with plenty of soloing that often verges into a bluesy territory and it’s definitely the most immediate song of the whole three. Following next is “Obelisk”, which starts with gargantuan riffs played at crawling pace, yet as it progress further it detours to various tempo changes that are bit peculiar to say the least, peculiar in the same as some of Opeth’s complex and obscure time signatures. Finally there’s “The Mysterious Case of Wardenclyffe Tower” which sees TEA at their most aggressive and thrashy posture.
Although the production is a tad lacklustre, even for demo standards, TEA show some great skill and confidence in meshing together slow-mammoth-size riffs with some aggro-groove-heavy riffage and I’m rather curious to hear more from them. So roll on the new full-length album. (7.2/10)

Band info: www.enginesofarmageddon.com
Management: www.invisiblehippo.com

Although their moniker might led us to believe that we’re about to deal with gentle and soul-reaching music replete with atmospheric, orchestral ambiences and grandiose, angelical vocals, Divinity are actually a pretty damn fierce and technical death-metal act from Canada.
“The Singularity” is actually the group’s second album following a debut full-length for Nuclear Blast “Allegory” released in 2008 that regretfully had slipped under my radar unnoticed. Well, judging by some reviews that I’ve read about “Allegory” I’d say this new record follows the same lines as its predecessor, a powerful, technical and industrialized death-metal that echoes some influences from Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory, Gorguts and to some extent Nevermore.
The comparisons to SYL are inevitable and perfectly audible, partially due to their industrial and slightly mechanized approach to a technical and chaotic blend of thrash and death-metal sounds, and partially to the incredible vocal range of vocalist Sean Jenkins, who definitely possesses some vocal traits similar to Devin Townsend. It’s on tracks such as “Beg to Consume” and “Lay in the Bed You’ve Made” that those influences are really coming to the fore, with machine-gun beats furiously pummelling our eardrums along with a groove-heavy and technically fast riffing, and Jenkins alternating his vocal performance between rabid bellows and deep growls.
As the album progresses, it also becomes apparent that Divinity have a penchant for progressive-metal as the following songs straddle between brutal death-metal assaults like the Gorguts-influenced “Monsters are Real”, and more progressive-driven and exuberantly technical sounds like “Embrace the Uncertain”, where they sound like dudes who listened to Dream Theater way too much.
The production reeks of Pro-Tools, but that’s just minor quibble since Divinity are accomplished songwriters and musicians and have written a solid second full-length record that will surely please the needs of industrial and technical death-metal enthusiasts. (7/10)

Band info: www.divinity.ca
Label info: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

Gehtika! Now that’s a rather peculiar band name that will probably be misspelled a million times or so when people try to goggle it, not to mention that it’s the sort of moniker that just doesn’t stick. And that’s exactly the same thing that can be said about this British quartet muscular and aggro thrash-metal with audible leanings towards Lamb of God. It sounds okay for a spin or two, yet ultimately there aren’t that many attributes to be found in “This New World” that makes Gehtika stand out from the crowd.
Following an instrumental intro, “Gods of Death” sets things in motion with a potent and furious riffage and some gut-bursting screams that are slightly reminiscent of Randy Blythe, Lamb of God’s vocalist. It’s a nicely structured theme just like “In the Face of Weakness”, which is filled with just enough aggressiveness and powerful hooks to make it fairly interesting. Yet elsewhere, their posture becomes slightly less threatening, more predictable and truth be told, uninteresting.
Nevertheless, if Gehtika can craft a whole record filled with songs made of the same calibre as these two aforementioned themes, I’d say that they’re on the right track and should be appellative to fans of both Lamb of God and Chimaira. (4.8/10)

David Alexandre

Band info: www.gehtika.com

Under Sanford Parker’s supervision, Atlanta-based trio Zoroaster have finally come into its own as a full-fledged group with their latest and without any doubts greatest album to date called “Matador”.
The musical result from this studio collaboration between Zoroaster and Parker, who always confers a warm, organic and at the same time obscure tone to his productions, allows that the psychedelic influences and the narcotic somnolence of Pink Floyd that have in one way or another permeated Zoroaster’s past works in small stretches are now more audible and prominent in detriment of the band’s more corrosive and aggressive features. The opening theme “D.N.R.” is a good example of this unequivocal shift in direction towards a more psychedelic, hypnotic and less corrosive style. It presents the rhythmic section composed by bass player vocalist Brent Anderson and drummer Dan Scanlan playing at a languid pace along with the simple and seductive guitar of Will Fiore, who also adopts some changes to his singing style, embracing a deeper and cleaner tone that has a hypnotic feel and makes of “D.N.R.” one of the best tracks of the whole album.
The current proposal of Zoroaster is definitely better experienced in a calm and relaxed environment as it shows the trio’s spacey rock sound at their most laid-back and dynamic mood, yet nevertheless the songs never seem to loose their head-banging and groovy potential. Throughout “Matador”, there’s plenty of rock-out energy to counter-balance with their psychedelic extravaganza, like the jam-spirited “Odyssey” or the downright rocking “Trident” that emanates a MC5 meets Kyuss vibe. Not to mention “Black Hole” which borders on a black-metal style not too far removed from Nachtmystium.
“Matador” is an exciting and slightly new embodiment of Zoroaster’s sound, a landmark that hopefully portents sounds to come. (8/10)

David Alexandre

Band info: www.myspace.com/thezoroaster
Label info: www.kochentertainment.com