This Cardiff-based and strangely monikered act delivers an ambitious and eclectic debut album, throwing elements of death, industrial, thrash and even nu-metal into a framework that for the most part fits the deathcore standards, however the end result seems a bit more confused than it does inventive.

The effort to make their growls and screams heard above all the countless others in the current metal scene is admirable, yet throughout 10 tracks, the Welsh seven-piece (yes there’s seven of them) don’t seem to do much more than blend in a couple of quirky and sometimes obnoxious arrangements with some deathcore that cross the border into banality.

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After almost three years in torpor, Swedes One Man Army & The Undead Quartet emerge with a new album that sees them going back to the more feral and full-frontal assault of their early works. It’s a formula that has proven to be very successful for them in the past, but on their fourth full-length starts to suffer from the “been there done that” syndrome. That’s not to say that “The Dark Epic” is a dull record, it’s far from that, the band’s brand of groovy and thunderous Swedish death-metal continues to be hard-hitting and testosterone-charged as evidenced on songs like “Stitch”, “Inside the Head of God” and “Devil’s Harlot”. Yet, there are moments here that emanate a feeling of déjà vu and somewhat kills a bit the momentum and impact of the whole album.

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Blatantly abrasive and in your face, the third album from London’s Pariso seethes with the same brutal anguish of acts like Converge and Botch just in a scant 12 minutes.

Throughout a short seven tracks, Pariso batter their instruments with demented intensity as if they were just a few seconds away from cracking and setting the studio aflame, offering a blend of caustic and discordant riffs, grinding rhythms and vocals that spout real and suffering desperation.

“Sooner Insignificant Better” opens with a sludgy intro that sets a trail for the raging “Solitude” to burst forth, which despite having a mournful title offers a caustic sound that bridges the gap between Converge and Daughters.

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If you know Bruce Lamont’s work, you never quite know what you’re in for. One thing is certain though, it will never be an easy listening musical experience that you could randomly play on your IPod on the way to work or school.

The Chicago-based musician has been pushing the boundaries of music and in particular metal during the last ten years with his main act Yakuza and with multiple collaborations with other artists like Minsk and Circle of Animals.

Bloodiest is Lamont’s most recent collaborative effort where he is joined by current and former members of 90 Day Men, Follows and Atombombpocketknife, and to a certain extent the overall atmosphere is not too dissimilar from his recent solo project, a progressive rock sonority that dodges easy categorization and forays into quirky experimentalism on several occasions.

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Not to be mistaken with the Swedish band that once featured Marco Aro, who spent some time with thrashers The Haunted, this Face Down comes from Paris, France and has elected Pantera as their ultimate source of inspiration.

Honestly, the Pantera influence is so outrageously obvious that I almost felt tempted to turn this off after opening song “One Last Walk” ends and slag them off as mere Pantera clones. That bridge riff sounds like it was nicked from “Fucking Hostile” so for the French’s sake let’s just hope that Vinnie Paul never gets the chance to listen to it, otherwise they should be saving every euro they earn for the lawsuit that will be filled against them.

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If you ever wondered how Burzum sounded like if crossed with some gothic music in the vein of Bauhaus or Fields Of The Nephilim then the first real theme “Bleak” from Srodek’s second album “Förfall” could be a pretty reliable illustration. It blends that minimal and anguished black-metal of the Norse act with some gothic melancholy a la Bauhaus, a direction that is stretched out through the entire album.

Srodek is essential a one-man project conceived by Swedish-based Jon Bäcklund (or Necrofucker, as he goes by here) and although the core of his compositions might have some ties with black-metal, the outcome sounds pretty harmless and inoffensive.

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When I first saw the sci-fi cover of Graviton’s “Massless”, I immediately thought it was a bit Voivodian. Although I cannot say that both acts sound alike, the differences between the two are immeasurable, the philosophy and approach to song-writing is pretty much the same, to twist and bend the limits and rules of music to create songs that defy easy categorization and really stand out from a myriad of generic releases.

Graviton is a new side project from Sacha Dunable, guitarist and vocalist of prog metallers Intronaut, along with Darin Tambascio and Derek Donley, members of National Sunday Law and musically it is not a total departure from the innovative prog-metal he pens for Intronaut.

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At the beginning of 2009, Portugal’s We Are the Damned looked like they were facing lean times. Just when the band was preparing to enter the recording studio to tape their sophomore work, charismatic and powerful vocalist Sofia Loureiro left the group due to professional reasons, prompting a sudden line-up change with guitarist Ricardo Correia assuming the vocalizations and recruiting Ricardo Cabrita from Satan’s Revolver for the guitar duties.

Though I was completely enthralled by the savage intent of their first record “The Shape of Hell to Come” and the fearsome growls of that tiny little vocalist, I cannot say that this record “Holy Beast” suffers from the loss of Sofia Loureiro.

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Although Angelus Apatrida live right across the border in Spain, I must confesses that I had never heard of them before receiving this record “Clockwork”, which is actually their third full-length album in a career that spans over ten years now.

Throughout 13 tracks, including a cover of Iron Maiden’s “Be Quick or Be Dead”, the Spanish quartet delivers a high-octane and tasty thrash-metal that sounds straight out of 90’s vault. I know that retro-obsessed thrashers have saturated the music scene in recent years, but trust me when I say that “Clockwork” is not a mundane imitation of classic thrash records, though their influences are immediately identifiable.

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Speed/Kill/Hate - seems that these are the principles of this New-York quartet, not necessarily in that order. “Out for Blood” marks the end of a seven-year hiatus imposed by several line-up problems and it really shows a reinvigorated group with an atrocious hunger for blood, determined to inflict as much aural damage as possible.

Band leader and guitarist David Linsk, also of old-thrashers Overkill, despite all the adversities didn’t throw the towel to the floor and recruited some extremely competent musicians to execute an admirable thrash metal record that manages to sound vital and modern in the current metal scene, without ever betraying the most defining and essential traits of the style.

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The name kind of suggests something along the line of retro-rock or 80’s rock-glam, doesn't it? Well this Swedish-based trio does possess a retro obsession, but it’s directed at a punk-charged thrash-metal in the vein of Motorhead and Celtic Frost. The policy of Turbocharged is a simple one, to churn out some direct and raw riffs with a fierce intent and no frills attitude, shout some words against organised religion and zip up a few beers along the way. It’s retro all the way to the bone and Turbocharged really feel proud of wearing their influences on the sleeves as “Antixtian” is nothing more than a rehash of some the minor accomplishments of Slayer, Motorhead and Celtic Frost between others.

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Remember the speech William Wallace gave to his warriors before going into the legendary battle of Stirling on “Braveheart”? Well, it could as well be Turisas “Stand Up and Fight” theme playing and the reactions would be just as enthusiastic and motivated as the ones portrayed on Mel Gibson’s directed movie. I know it may sound a bit silly for a grown adult to behave like a Dungeons and Dragons-like nerd, but this new album from Pagan and folk metallers Turisas really made me want to grab a gigantic sword, put on a steel-armour and slay a few throats.

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Finland’s NORTHER recently released their first album with new singer Aleksi Sihvonen in the form of Circle Regenerated. For me personally, I always felt NORTHER and KALMAH are two bands that picked up the torch where CHILDREN OF BODOM left off around the time of Hate Crew Deathroll. No disrespect to COB, but I felt they strayed a bit from their original sound and I have always been happy to pop in a NORTHER disc to appease my Scandinavian metal appetite. With the release of Circle Regenerated, I was eager to hear what Sihvonen brought to the table and how the band has progressed. Well, to be honest I gave the album one full listen and I couldn’t bring myself to write a review right away. I was shocked – good or bad – see below for that answer.

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DARKEST HOUR has just released their latest album, The Human Romance. I’ll be honest- I was into DARKEST HOUR years ago, but then they kind of fell off my radar for whatever reason. I was anxious to give the new album a listen and what I can say is that they are back on my radar and are here to stay for some time.

The album starts off with a real solemn and sober sounding piece by the name of “Terra Nocturnus”. It has very ambient and atmospheric sounds with slight guitar feedback that very smoothly feeds into the first musical track, “The World Engulfed in Flames”. After about 15 seconds of a slower paced, yet heavy, intro to this song, they kick it up a notch aggressive screams and heavy riffing.

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Hi Jan! Your new album is out on the streets right now and it’s open to public scrutiny, and from what I’ve been reading it’s overly getting some great reviews. Which is harder in your opinion, writing and recording an album, or releasing it out into the world for everyone to hear and judge?

“Well it's both part of the game. The first part (writing and recording) is the active part, the release is the passive part for the band. The writing process of the new album was very easy this time and we are happy to get all this good reviews.”

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