The first draft of this review was on the extremely positive side, biased I was by my long time attachment for SETHERIAL since they issued their first masterpiece ("Nord") ten years ago; along the years I have never missed a new SETHERIAL record, no matter what. But with hindsight, I was forced to erase the […]
This Austrian five piece has been around since July 1997 and recorded and released a demo CD entitled "Revenge On Mankind" shortly after which sold approximately 200 copies until now. "Hopeless Age" is their first full-length album, which they also financed on their own in early 2000 and that’s already all I can really tell […]
It’s hardly imaginable that this is basically the same band that released albums like "Down", "Frozen, "Crimson" or "The Funeral Album" (that all had a very melancholic Gothic Rock type feel to ’em) shortly before they called the quits… Well folks, in case you didn’t know or never really cared before, let me tell you […]
When "North From Here" originally came out way back in 1993 Finland’s "northernmost killers" SENTENCED mainly got compared to the Swedish invasion of melodic Death Metal, played by acts that almost exclusively popped up in the Gothenburg area at the time (thus established the term "Gothenburg style")… Well, of course there’s similarities in their writing […]
Sometimes less is more, but sadly SEMARGL did not have this in mind when they recorded their first full-length. At its best moments this album offers fast Death Metal like DEICIDE and Black Metal that reminds, especially the mid-tempo and slow parts, of GORGOROTH. But the tracks are repeatedly interrupted by enervating noises, something like […]
This act is really an odd choice for this American company, Deathgasm Records to reach all the way to the Ukraine to sign such an average horde and contemporary conscious Black Metal act like SEMARGL. On two fronts – the first being Deathgasm is more noted for their support of heavy American Death Metal and […]
It’s been quite a while since I heard any new material from SECRETS OF THE MOON. The freshest was actually their "Stronghold Of The Inviolables" album, which already dates back to the year 2000! But when they introduced a whole lot of new stuff at our 10th Anniversary Festival, I already knew that they musically […]
I have been listening to "Antithesis" numerous times. I have used headphones. I’ve been driving my car way too fast and I have played it at my stereo at home. As they say in the incredibly funny movie Top Secret (1984): "This is not Mel Tormé!". "Antithesis" is not "Now, Diabolical". It’s not even close, […]
This quite young three piece hails from Switzerland, got together in October 2000 and already released two demo CD’s ever since. Not only a rather unusual, but in their case also a very in-effective decision. It’s not that the members in the band are immature sounding musicians, certainly not. Their overall performance is quite solid […]
SAXORIOR (short for Saxon warrior) from Eastern Germany deliver Pagan Metal. They have been around for quite some time, so what we actually get is at least well executed. As far as I found out, the CD deals with the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in Europe. One of the topics you don’t get too often […]