Album Reviews

British death metal supergroup Memoriam returns with the fifth album “Rise To Power” released on February 3rd via Reaper Entertainment. Over the past six years Karl Willetts (vocals), Scott Fairfax (guitars), Frank Healy (bass), and Spikey T. Smith (drums) had laid the groundwork for becoming the true heirs of Bolt Thrower. “Rise To Power” delivers the utmost precision from these veterans who have continued to maintain the signature sound quality by fortifying their place amongst the best death metal acts today.
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Ohio-based death metal act Sanguisugabogg is back with the sophomore release “Homicidal Ecstasy” out via Century Media on February 3rd, 2023. Only two years after delivering their first full-length album “Tortured Whole” the quartet evolved as a cohesive unit. The 12 tracks reek of aural filth and gore-infested vocals and despite what critics may think of the band for sounding mediocre or generic the songs prove otherwise but don’t let the album cover fool you.
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In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a surge of U.S. black metal bands that play a conventional style of melodic black metal. Much like atmospheric bands like Chaos Moon, Ringarë, and Skáphe, Häxanu is a fine example of the brilliant talent of the multi-instrumentalist Alex Poole. Returning after three years of relative silence, “Totenpass” is the band’s second album which also features vocalist L.C. Musically the newest effort seamlessly tackles the Scandinavian modality. Even though “Totenpass” is a continuation of the same musical concept as the debut album “Snare of All Salvation”, the seven tracks are more fluid. And this is probably because the rhythm guitars and the furious drums deliver an emotional intensity.
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Having gone through innovative changes, the Greek black metal outfit Thy Darkened Shade has set the bar high for its third studio album 'Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya' released via World Terror Committee on January 10th, 2023. Consequently, the duo Semjaza (guitars, vocals, bass) and The A (vocals) along with session musicians HG (drums) and Herc (Choirs) offers an outstanding mélange of modern and avant-garde black metal. The new album was mixed and mastered by V. Santura with Semjaza at Woodshed Studio, Thy Darkened Shade proves that their groundbreaking performance formulates the nature of their craft.

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Ten56. is a france metalcore band that releases their second EP called Downer Part.2, the follow-up of the earlier released EP called Downer Part.1. Putting those two together you get enough material worth one big release, so I was curious about the difference between the two.
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Pittsburgh punk rockers Anti Flag have released their 13th album 'Lies They Tell Our Children.
The unusual aspect of this release is that it is a “conceptual” album concerned about the state of the world that we currently live in and that 7 out of the 11 tracks feature guest artists.
The band, who are no strangers to railing against corporate greed, governmental authority, war and social injustices said;
“This is an important moment in history and demands an urgent response, but we thought it was also important that we retrace our footsteps to the beginning of these issues. In order to better understand how to eradicate climate devastation, imperialism, war-based economics, systems predicated upon racism, and the increasing belief that these things do not even exist."
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I’m going to start the first review of 2023 with an album of 2022. Why? Because The New Roses create the nicest feel good Rock 'n Roll. The previous album' Nothing But Wild' that was released in 2019, was one that made you feel like you were driving a car with the sun on your face and the wind through your hair. Let’s see what 'Sweet Poison' has to offer us.
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Finland’s melodic black metal act Moonlight Sorcery emerged out of nowhere in 2022 with their debut EP release 'Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity'. The trio Loitsumestari Taikakallo (lead guitar, bass), Haaska (rhythm guitar) and Ruttomieli (vocals) have garnered inspiration outside the black metal genre, focusing on shimmering melodies and technicality that somehow evoke the melodic death metal. It didn’t take long for the Finnish trio to release their second output aptly named 'Nightwind: The Conqueror From The Stars' released via Avantgarde music on January 13th, 2023.
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Transcending Obscurity Records presents the debut full-length album of the international band Leper Colony released on January 13th, 2023. The lineup is fronted by vocalist Marc Grewe (ex-Morgoth, Insidious Disease), guitarist and bassist Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Massacre, Putrevore, etc…), and drummer Jon Säkre. The self-titled album “Leper Colony” showcases great chemistry between the veterans who have brought raw simplicity that is reminiscent of the old school death metal.
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Muse has been and always will be a bit part of my musical journey. Back when 'New Born' was unleashed upon the world, it blew my mind at a time I was still very much discovering myself musically. And while their more recent albums haven’t been maybe as impressive for me personally, they’ve always done things their way and delivered successful album after successful album not shunning away from crazy concepts and projects that usually aren’t the easiest to sell to a mainstream crowd. But when they shared the first singles of this new album, I couldn’t help but feel a very similar kind of excitement as I had when I just discovered them. Anticipation was big and I could hardly wait to dive into 'Will of the People'.
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