black metal

We stay in the scene of one-man black metal bands for a while.  This time we're going to Iceland where self-taught multi-instrumentalist Sigurboði Grétarsson roams.  He's also a member of folk band Hrafnagaldur.  Solo however, he seems to love adding some fierce blackened elements to his music, mainly influenced by the likes of Ensiferum, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor and Moonsorrow.  Yes, this is pagan black metal, very strong pagan black metal even.

The most impressive aspect of this whole thing is actually the fact that he played every single thing on this album himself, something you might not believe when you listen to the album at first.  It's even more stunning when you realize that the songs were written on an acoustic guitar and a cheap Casio keyboard because the artist couldn't afford more expensive equipment.  Work on this album lasted seven or eight years.

Yes, he's that much of a perfectionist.  There's little acoustic guitars left and if he still uses the Casio keyboard, there must have been a brilliant technician/producer in the studio.  It all makes me wonder how those first demos must have sounded.  The end result however is almost indistinguishable from the influences, both in musical quality as in songwriting an overall production.  If you told me that this was the Moonsorrow side-project, I would have believed you.

The concept album narrates a tragic love story about a man and a woman who die during Ragnarok and see their souls get separated from one another.  Musically, that story translates into a brilliant blend of symphonic passages, strong piano and fierce blasts of dark metal.  Especially the latter are aggressive and brutally intense.  You can almost feel the pain and suffering which the protagonist feels while searching for his loved one.

The story doesn't have a happy ending, as the protagonist eventually goes to Hel, the goddess of death, and asks her to freeze his heart so he can no longer feel the pain.  Somehow it reminds of of a Shakespeare story in a Nordic setting.  Yet, dear listener, for you this review does have a happy ending because this is one damn good album, versatile, intense, bombastic and symphonic. Everything you like about that particular genre is here.

I only hope he doesn't work on the follow-up for another eight years...


Serge

black metal / folk

By the end of the nineties and in the early years of this century, I was fascinated with the folk inspired black metal trend.  Like several other genres, I completely lost track once I was done with the entire metal genre.  Several major conflicts and problems made me turn my back to this kind of music for several years.  Merchants Of Air turned that around again, and now that the bad memories have become mere footnotes, I can fully enjoy extreme music again.

Selvans is an Italian blackened folk band, which in a way explains pretty much everything there is to this full-length album. This work, their second release after an ep in 2014, shows a well attuned band which perfectly combines folk music and black metal and present it with a lot of symphonic and bombastic elements.  In that aspect, 'Lupercalia' is an overwhelming experience, and I really dig overwhelming experiences.

The songs on this album are intense hymns, loaded with keyboards and traditional folk instruments, besides the equally traditional guitars, drums and screams of course.  They remind me most of the symphonic black metal of the nineties, something between In The Woods, Falkenback and Summoning perhaps.  Yet, if you're looking for the jolly alcohol loaded folk black metal of Finntroll and company, thing again.  This stuff is grim, obscure and haunting.

Which in my opinion means it's awe-inspiring and it reeks of ancient tribes, cults and pagan religions.  Mystery, spirituality and atmosphere are massively important factors in Selvans' music as they delve deeply into the ancient rituals of old Italic tribes.  These factors enhance the complex nature of the songs with a lot of immersive instrumental passages which are simply to awesome to ignore.

That being said, even though the band is clearly rooted in the symphonic black metal craze of the nineties, they perfectly fit in with today's post-black scene, certainly as far as atmosphere and epicness are concerned.  The folk passages will make Selvans one of the most original bands on the bill, and gain them a lot of respect I think.  I definitely want to experience this live, so I hope these guys get their gear packed up and tour Europe soon.


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progressive metal / power metal

We're still in Finland and of course we're still in good metal company.  What else would you expect, right?  This time however, we are going on a journey (isn't it always a journey?) though a futuristic sci-fi world, created by Simulacrum.  This is their second album, but since I'm not familiar with the debut, it feels like a first contact.  This concept album is a true group-effort, allowing no outside interference.  From writing the songs to (maybe) folding the booklets, they did everything themselves.

The album opens kinda industrially, continues progrocky, takes a jazzy turn sometimes and is loaded with thick riffs and overwhelming orchestral elements.  Yet, above all it's an attention-grabbing piece of work that surely has the power to stun the listener several times.  While most of the song remind me a lot of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X or Shadow Gallery, there sure is some place for old school German power metal.

'Behind The Belt Of Orion' and 'Embrace The Animal Within' are highly immersive piece of symphonic metal, perhaps a bit like Yes on distortion.  Yet, what surprised me most was the sudden saxophone solo in 'Broken'.  It suddenly turns the whole of the music towards decent jazz, proving the technical skills of the artists involved.  Because yes, this is not something that the musical amateur from down the road creates.  

The complex song structures, the flashing solos, the massive orchestral arrangements... They all show a well-attuned band, featuring some trained and experienced members.  They put a lot of effort and probably the proverbial blood, sweat and tears into this album and for that they surely deserve the attention of the progressive metal scene.  So check it out if you're a fan of metallic bombast, you won't be disappointed...


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symphonic metal

​When a band can claim that they have been selected to support Cradle Of Filth and Evergrey, you might think that they are well on their way to become a decent player in the present-day metal scene.  That certainly seems to be the case for Benighted Soul.  The band hail from France and have been around since 2007.  This band also proves that female fronted symphonic metal is far from dead and reaches for nothing less than the top of that scene.

With good reason too, it seems.  When I listen to this record, influences from bands like Nightwish, After Forever and Epica come shining through, accompanied by bands like Kamelot and even The Vision Bleak.  The latter doesn't show up until 'Si Se Non Noverit' starts playing but when it does, it's brilliant.  This is probably one of my favorite tracks, experimenting with carnival music, bombastic arrangements, blast-beats and some strange hooks.  That being said, 'Threshold Exceeded' could be a Therion song.

Most of the tracks are quite typical, but excellent, pieces of dark, symphonic metal, highlighting in opener 'Halcyon Days' and the strong thrasher 'Martingale'. There's plenty of variation on this album too.  Besides the odd arrangements in some songs, there's also room for slow, metal ballad like music.  'Only Make-Believe' or the piano-based 'Enlightenment' start out beautifully and gradually gain power and tempo, showing some decent songwriting abilities along the way.  

With an album like 'Kenotic' Benighted Soul are well on their way to the big stages at metal festivals around the world, or at least I hope so.  They have the skills and experience to make it happen.  'The Shallow And The Deep' could become a fan favorite on those gigs, causing headbangers everywhere.  If there truly is a revival of this scene coming, Benighted Souls deserve to be one of the bands on the foreground.  So check them out if you're into any of the bands I mentioned earlier.  Maybe you'll gain a new favorite band...


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symphonic death metal

​Symphonic death metal, that's something I don't hear everyday anymore.  Too bad actually, because there's some really good stuff in that sub genre.  Takes this ep for example, written and recorded by Montenegrin trio Abhoth (and some session memebers).  It effortlessly combines brutal, growling and hammering death metal with epic symphonic elements.  The often repetitive nature of these keys and synths has something hypnotic, which is simply awesome.

Abhoth only needs three songs to convince me of their might.  Opener 'Blood Of The Ancients' is a great track, intense, aggressive and immersive.  'The Enemy Of All That Lives' is probably my favorite one, so damn powerful it got me headbanging fiercely, which doesn't happen that much anymore.  Here the synths have a nice modern electronic sound, resulting in a massive song.  They really add a lot of atmosphere to the already brutal sound of the guitars and drums.

So this is quite an intense ep and certainly comes highly recommended if you're into melodic death metal, or just into brutal death metal but not weary of some trance-inducing synths.  It certainly is dark, haunting stuff, making me quite curious about life performances, if these guys do any.


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folk metal / symphonic metal

This is a coincidence.  A few days ago I was being nostalgic about the era where gothic metal became a success.  In my days as a DJ in a local metal bar, I often encountered young bands who were trying to make an impact.  One of these bands played a pretty basic but decent gothic metal set, including an ok cover of Within Temptation's mega hit 'Ice Queen'. 

At the exact same moment I was thinking about that, probably forgotten, band an email came in from Polish band Open Access who claim be a female fronted symphonic metal band.  So I decided to download and play the album and to my surprise it sounded exactly like I remembered that live performance decades ago, except for the Within Temptation cover.

Open Access is a band from Cracow that came into existence in 2013.  This first effort is the result of a year of rehearsing and playing concerts throughout Poland and should function as an foretaste for the full-length which they plan to record next year.  There's four songs on this e.p., each of them being a nice blend of folk, symphonic and power metal, complete with female vocals and violins.

The violins at times sound as if they come from old My Dying Bride songs, which give the whole a great atmosphere and are great to work with if you're a metal musician.  In opener 'Into The Storm' this actually results in a very decent song that truly reminds me of the old days of Orphanage and company.  This is classic folk metal, maybe a bit basic but still quite impressive.

'Kozak' lifts the tempo and seems to borrow heavily from power metal bands like Kamelot and Sonata Arctica.  Even in the vocals the gothic, fairy tale vocals are left behind to make place for strong an vigorous female voices.  Of course, here too some folk elements are placed, once again making it a well varied song.

Although this six piece is quite young and there's is still room to evolve, both as musicians and as a band, I must say I'm pleasantly surprised by this effort.  Title-track 'Over A Mountain Peak' even turns away further from the Nightwish-influenced metal and enters the realms of bands like Korpiklaani or Finntroll.  So does closer 'Vengeance', which is quite a fierce piece of metal.

What Open Access needs now, is a label who is willing to provide the necessary needs to record a well produced full-length album and some more experience on European soil.  Given time and effort I truly believe this Polish band can become a serious player in the current female fronted symphonic metal scene with their own sound and a, hopefully, stunning live performance.


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symphonic black / death metal

We'll keep on banging our heads today.  It's extreme friday at Merchants Of Air, and what better place to go to for some intense metal than Finland?  I'm even wearing my Amorphis '20 Years Tales Tour' t-shirt while I'm listening to some stunning symphonic death/black metal, named 'The Art Of Chaos' by youngsters Enthring.

'Youngsters' might not really be a correct word to describe this band.  Founded in 2006, completed three years later Enthring spawned a first demo in 2010 and a debut full-length the next year.  This led to a tour with Korplikaani in Brazil.  Their new e.p. has a very appropriate title, because this music is brilliantly ordered chaos.

There's three songs on this e.p., each of the being a symphonic anthem with fierce guitars, furious drums and haunted screams.  Above these typical blackened death metal elements, Enthring incorporates a huge amount of keyboards to enhance the bombastic atmosphere.  In that aspect, Enthring could indeed stand next to bands like Korpiklaani, Finntroll or Children Of Bodom, even though this is clearly not folk metal (well, maybe 'We Thrive on Chaos' is).  

Other bands that often come to mind are black metal pioneers like Dimmu Borgir or Limbonic Art.  My favorite track, 'And We Dream of Our Demise', is a perfect example of this combination while opener 'The Second Vengeance Orchestra' is an amain and intensely chaotic piece of extreme metal that's just to brilliant to resist.

This e.p. is very promising, to say the least.  It makes me hungry for more from this band and also for live performances.  If played decent, this music will stun and awe many audience members and make them run to the merchandise stand immediately after the gig, that's for sure...


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gothic / symphonic / doom metal

Classical music and metal, it has been a perfect wedding since as long as I can remember.  Several metal bands incorporated the dramatic sounds of opera into their oeuvre, with mixed successes.  It made bands like Within Temptation, Therion and Nightwish superstars, not only in the metal scene but all around.  Some of these bands even managed to write and record top hits and appear on (originally) non-metal festivals all around the world.

As far as I'm concerned, Lanthanein from Argentina may as well join that list.  This duo brings us a stunning blend of nineties doom and gothic metal with the bombast of opera.  Furthermore, Marilí Portorrico is a brilliant vocalist who brings a lot of power and emotion to the music.  The result is simply epic, perhaps a slower version of Therion but nonetheless with a lot of vigour.  On the other hand, there's lot of passages worth a fierce headbanging session.

What I like most about this e.p. is the fact that the band doesn't just play symphonic metal with soprano vocals.  The four songs are actually intense pieces of classical music and opera, complete with several kinds of strings and bells, fortified by distorted guitars and pounding drums.  Here and there some death growls are present as well, completing the whole concept of this great act.

I can't really say which of the four songs on Nocturnálgica is my favourite (although I have a slight preference for 'Lacrimosa Et Gementem'), mainly because I like the whole thing equally.  I love the bombastic nature and the crushing guitars as well as the melodic passages and overwhelming dark atmosphere.  All these elements are present in all of the songs, making them perfect for live performances.  I'm not sure if Lanthanein ever plays live but if they do, I want to see that...


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gothic metal - symphonic metal

I love how no genre ever dies.  I know, lots of people claim 'rock is dead', 'gothic is gone', 'stoner is deceased' and so on but it's just not true.  Sometimes a genre loses its place on the forefront of the music industry but dying? Never!  Gothic metal is a perfect example.  Several years ago the genre bloomed with bands like After Forever, The Gathering, Epica and Nightwish but in recent years many fans seem to have left the genre behind them in search of new sounds.  That doesn't mean there's no gothic metal anymore.   There is, and it's pretty damn good.

Evolvent hails from France and incorporates the typical Nightwish sound.  With tons of classical arrangements and opera vocals, this band inserts some fresh blood in the scene and I'm quite sure many young goth girls will embrace this (and the guys will try to embrace the girls, but that's a completely different story). The band has been around since 2001, starting out as a studio project for keyboard and piano player Sèbastien Latour.  Gradually, and with some line-up changes, the band took on a complete form and evolved into a doom metal band only to grow further into the gothic metal band they are today.

Despite the evolution towards ever heavier music, the piano remains a central instrument.  It's present in the bombastic intro and gets a prominent place throughout the entire album.  So are the keyboard arrangements.  It's these two instruments who make up most of the magical atmosphere while the guitars, bass and drums create a solid rocking backbone.  This combination results in some great songs, like 'Win Or Die' and 'Hurricane'.

Of course, the soprano voice of Emma adds a lot to the music, much like Tarja did in Nightwish.  It gives the whole an extra sense of drama and fits perfectly with the symphonic nature of the music itself.  On 'Love Doesn't Love Me' there's also some death growls present, which is a welcome variation.  'Our Fate', which opens with something that reminds me of a children's music box, is a beautiful ballad, driving on intimite piano and accompanied by clarinet and orchestral arrangements.  

All these different instruments and electronic elements are practically always a guarantee for a well-varied album and in that aspect 'Whatever Happens' is no exception.  Regular shifts in tempo, atmosphere and heaviness keep the album enjoyable for the entire duration. 'We Are' is another bombastic piece of symphonic metal which is followed by the epic 'Over Seasons And Time', one of the best songs on this album.  

I often encounter albums from genres I don't often listen anymore.  To be honest, I actually haven't listened to Nightwish in twelve years or so and I don't plan on starting it again.  As far as gothic or symphonic metal is concerned, I'll stick with bands like Evolvent who succeed in keeping the genre fresh.  I'm already curious about the next step of evolution for this band.  But most of all, I hope they will reach a wide audience with this, they truly deserve it...


Serge

A long time ago, I had a girlfriend who was really into bands like Hammerfall and Halloween.  She continuously listened to those bands until she decides to seek other musical paths, and other boyfriends.  When we broke up, I immediately stopped listening to these bands.  I completely ignored the later day power metal bands like Symphony X or Circus Maximus, not because they made me feel bad about the break-up, I just never really liked them.  So when I heard W. Angel's Conquest, I thought about her and wondered how she was doing, for a very short time by the way.  She would have loved this Ukranian band, that's for sure.

W. Angel's Conquest started in 1995 as a solo project for guitar player W. Angel.  At first he wanted to play songs in the vein of Def Leppard but gradually the band evolved into the a highly professional sounding power metal band.  So several albums and line-up changes later, W. Angel is back with a tremendous throw back into the nineties.  Using high speed songs with powerful vocals and a whole lot of melody, this album is a great addition to any collection where bands like Primal Fear, Edguy or Gamma Ray are represented.

For the main part, 'Taste Of Life' reminds me of the best of what Halloween gave us in the past. Opener 'Revolution' and the following songs 'Mirror of Truth' and 'Sunrise' delivers the exact same elements as the German gods of power metal used.  Uptempo drums, trechant guitar riffs and a solid heavy metal voice blast out of my speakers with a lot of intensity.  Somehow W. Angel's Conquest has succeeded in making this genre relevant again, at least to me.

'Spirit Of Freedom' takes things a bit slower and should be the mandatory ballad but unfortunately it misses the strength of the epic anthems their predecessors have written.  Not that this is a bad song, not at all, but for a power rock ballad this one sounds very modern-day alternative metal.  'Blooming Day' is a better example of a power metal ballad.  It even reminds me of The Scorpions.  Closer 'The Road' does it even better.

The use of keyboards and electronics on this album is excellent, almost methodical.  In 'Fellowship' they bring an almost psychedelic or trancy atmosphere by perfectly aligning themselves with the guitar riffs.  Like most of the songs, this one too drives on amain drums and the typical high pitched vocals.  The electronics are quite new to me, sometimes they're used in a way Rammstein does, which is just amazing.  They're a very nice addition to the music.

The songs are strong enough to be used on stage in a convincing way, even when many audience members will think this style of music is outdated.  I can imagine an entire audience going berzerk on this stuff, especially on the big metal festivals where all kinds of different subgenres are represented.  The levels of musicianship and songwriting are very high, but that's usually implied with a band that has been around since 1995.

The most striking element on this album is the immense level of professionalism.  Nothing is left to chance, every sound, riff, drum and vocal line has been written and recorded meticulously and the production is very solid.  The result is indeed a high quality power metal album that can absolutely compete with the big names in this genre. The bands I mentioned in this review are actually the only ones I know and so the only ones I can compare to but I'm quite sure 'Taste Of Life' easily reaches the same level as them.



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Are you ready for something odd and deviant?  Make sure you are because I wasn't when I listened to this album at first.  I have no idea what I was expecting but definitely not what I heard.  So at first I had my doubts about this band.  However, gradually, I started getting into it and now I'm  actually glad this has reach my mailbox.  I'm not going to say that this is my all-time favourite album but it's something that will reach my media player often from now on.

Ydogeh is a quartet from London, founded in 2009 by former Disease (Daugavpils, Latvia) member Pavel Stepanov (aka “Piton”).  Disease evolved from a punk rock band into a highly techical symphonic metal band and Ygodeh seems to expand that evolution.  The music on 'Inside The Womb Of Horizonless Dystopia' is extremely surprising death metal, reminiscent to bands like Samael and The Kovenant.  The band likes to use the term 'synthetic death metal' and that's quite correct.

The album opens with 'Callous' which drives on an electronic sequence and symphonic keyboard arrengements.  It immediately strikes me how hyperactive the drums sound, though there are almost no blast beats and few speedy passages.  It's exactly these drums which give the album a high level of energy.  With a less active drummer, some of these songs might turn into decent doom songs but here there's a lot more going on.

Besides the intense guitars and furious vocals, there's a lot of room for samples, soundscapes and electronics.  This way the album deviates from most death metal bands.  In 'Descension' I'm reminded of My Dying Bride.  A continuous guitar sequence and strings announce impending doom but then again the drummer speeds things up to the point where this becomes a stunning blackened rock song.  Yet, here too, the word 'stunning' only appeared the second time I heard it.  Like most of the songs, this one takes some getting used to but once it grabs you, you can't help but banging your head in a sense of euphoria.

Within the first minutes of 'Morbid', I wonder if Piton is either insane or ingenious.  This song moves even further away from symphonic death metal and towards industrial metal.  So does 'Rhythm Of The Beast', especially with those insane drums.  Often I think death metal fans will frown upon this but then again, music evolves.  Twenty years ago you were a moron when you used keyboards in metal but then came gothic and atmospheric metal where the instrument was embraced.  Ygodeh takes it a step further, experimenting with everything they can get their hands on.

By the way, Ygodeh knows a great deal about old-school death metal, so don't worry and listen to 'Take The Blue Pill', a crushing headbanger which perfectly combines the vintage sound with the industrial touch.  And there's even some more surprises on this album but I'm not going to get into all of these.  All I can say is this: check out this album if you're into metal and when you listened, try again.  You'll see that the album grows and surprises all the time.



Serge

inverse records

Symphonic metal, a subgenre with intense and elaborate use of keyboards and arrangements. According to some die-hard metal fans, symphonic metal is something for the beginners, the rookies who are just starting to listen to this style of music.  Real metalheads look for the distrurbed, wicked and immensly heavy stuff, at least that's what some of those die-hards say.  They should start listening to Whorion, a band that combines all of the above in a highly destructive way.

Whorion hails from Finland and have been working their way up the death metal ladder since 2009.  In 2014 they released an e.p., named 'Atlas'.  Since then they have been practicing, writing, improving and experimenting until they felt the time was right to record a beast that would surpass 'Atlas' in every way.  Now, I have never heard their previous work but judging from what I hear on 'The Reign Of The 7th Sector', this is one hell of a death metal band, ready to crush Europe.

When I read the biography, the first band I thought about was Dimmu Borgir.  Now, after listening to the album, I have to admit that Whorion has a lot more power and intensity.  Many of the extra
arrangements breathe an eerie atmosphere, complete with the creepy violin shrieks similar to those in the movie 'Psycho'. While other bands create a certain bombastic sound with these arrangements, Whorion uses them to emphasise the chaotic and frightening nature of their music.

The rest of the music is equally wicked.  With highly technical riffs, fierce drums and a deep
guttural voice Whorion seems to have found a niche between mathcore and death metal.  This is not an easy-listening album, not even for experienced death metal fans.  The experimental yet brutal approach is astounding and provides absolutely no rest for the wicked. This is an intense trip through an unsettling warzone where anything can happen at any given time.

So yes, Whorion seems to be one of the most innovative death metal bands I've encountered in a while.  With 'The Reign Of The 7th Sector', an album that's filled with highlights, they will release an absolute beast upon the world that will shock and awe the metal community.  This is symphonic death metal at its most crushing, most brutal and most idiomatic.  Whorion wanted to make this a more devastating album than the previous e.p.  Thinking about that, the follow-up to this album might just become unbearably wicked for mankind...


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