Soulfly - Omen

Here It Comes Again.

Soulfly is a Brazilian/California based groove/thrash metal band featuring metal legend Max Cavalera. This is their seventh full-length record and carries on where the last few have been, style wise. This is a record full of the groovy riffs and experimental tendencies.
As was mentioned above, this record kind of picks up where the last record left off. In this album you'll find both of the sides of Soulfly and Max's past sound, thrash and groove. While still carrying those roots, this album actually seems to move into an almost melodic death metal sound at times.
As stated above as well, this record approaches melodic death metal in terms of style. Guitar harmonies similar to that of bands like In Flames and Amon Amarth seem to be prominent throughout the album, hear Bloodbath & Beyond and Kingdom. Leads on this album also reflect that sentiment, using an almost Iron Maiden-esque approach to them.
On this album, you'll really get two types of songs, the short melodic trash ones or the longer and more melodic death metal songs. The first one, the short tracks like Jeffrey Dahmer are fast and get you moving, but also contain good solos that are also faster. The longer tracks are really just more drawn out versions of the shorter tracks, but those are probably the ones that have catchier parts, see Off With Their Heads and Vulture Culture. These two types of songs aren't that different from each other, but they differ enough for you to notice.
Like every other Soulfly record, this album features guest vocalists. On Rise of The Fallen, Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato performs and on Lethal Injection, Prong vocalist/guitarist Tommy Vicotor guests. These tracks have them performing the majority of vocals on them, and actually adding to the song.
This record contains a lot of consistency among tracks, not one track really breaks the overall mold, but each track is solid. The album itself is fairly short so you won't find songs that are too long, every song is under 5 minutes. This might piss off the experimentalist who like Soulfly when they go off on a weird tangent in a song, but you have to realize that this is actually one of Soulfly's more straightforward records.
Overall, this is a decent record from Soulfly, not that they've ever really put out a bad record. Songs maintain a good and solid sound that a lot of newer bands probably wish they had or that they even had the ability to write an album this consistent. Maybe not the most essential Soulfly record, but one fans of the band will check out none the less.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Rise of The Fallen, Jeffrey Dahmer, Off With Their Heads, Mega-Doom

Sehnsucht - Wüste

Warning! This Is Fucked Up.

Sehnsucht is an avant-garde/noise group featuring members of prominent underground groups. This album uses a lot of different sounds and soundscapes throughout it's 52 minute run. Moving from genre to genre, this covers a lot of ground, but can also feature an overall sound that is a bit annoying at times.
This group, as seen above, features Maniac (Skitliv, ex-Mayhem) on sound design, his wife Vivian Slaughter (Gallhammer) on bass and saxophone, Ingvar Magnusson (Skitliv) on guitars, and Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound, Current 93) on FX and electronics. This collaboration, of sorts, came together when Maniac went to the UK to have Liles master the Skitlive album. Manic showed and discussed this project's eventual mastering with Liles, and eventually Liles started adding things to the sound.
By no means is this an easy record to listen to, it is very hard to penetrate and determine what exactly you are hearing in any given song. While opener Sult, is very noisy and overall sounds like someone moving through many stations in a car radio. While South of Cincinnati is kind of like a rockabilly ballad. Each track is very different from another and is not easily categorized within a single genre. Tracks seem to move from one style, say folk, to trance with almost no categorization, and then into noise again, and this can test some one's patience for something that's actually makes sense.
Industrial noise and feedback are prominent within this album. In some form or another these aspects seem to come up, whether it's a large part of the track or not. It's sometimes hard to distinguish if it's really feedback noise or if it's just an effect of the sax or a guitar, like in Tarn of Guilt.
Another thing that seems to be prominent within a lot of the tracks on this record is spoken word. Spoken word is fairly common, whether it's being distorted or manipulated, like in Cunt Queen or Good Morning Great Moloch. Weird vocals sounds also come up quite often as well, but these you can tell are from Maniac's black metal rasp.
Actual instrumentation is sometimes hard to find within every song, by this I mean the guitar, bass, and sax, but they are there. For most of the songs, instrumentation is lower in the mix than the vocals and electronics, which may prove a bit tiring to some. At some points in the record guitars have actually been sampled into the sound and then redone to make it even harder to tell what they are, but they are there.
The one track that probably stands out, most notably due to it's length is Hanging In English Garden, which is over 10 minutes. Maniac's speech is very angry, yet controlled, and express an overall hatred towards the world, addressing sex, black metal, and evil within himself. This is probably the quietest and most ambient of all the tracks on this record, but still features the industrial sounds from previous tracks as well. While being the quietest track, it is also, by far, the darkest, bringing to mind the nonsensical ramblings of a crazy man who's recalling his life, that is really the thought that comes to mind here.
Overall, this is probably not the record a lot of people may have thought this would be, but it's probably more disturbing then they thought. This record goes through indescribable thoughts within Maniac's head and puts them to "music." This isn't something I'd really recommend, but if you want to check this out to experience it for yourself, go ahead.
Overall Score: 6
Highlights: South of Cincinnati, Tarn of Guilt, Hanging In English Garden

Worm Ouroboros - Worm Ouroboros

Silence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder.

Worm Ouroboros is an atmospheric doom/folk group from California. This three-piece use a darker atmosphere than most in the newer scene of doom really do. Members have come from quite well respected groups from the more atmospheric scene as well.
The trio includes Lorraine Rath on bass, flute, and vocals, Jessica Way on guitar and vocals, and Justin Green on drums. Rath has previously come from doom metal group The Gault and ambient post-rockers Amber Asylum. Some of the principles of those groups carry over to this one as well.
The music on here kind of melds the two principles sounds of The Gault and Amber Asylum together in a way. While this is very much, and conceptually is, a rock group, the music contains only a few moments of distortion, remaining for the most part, clean. Adding to the sound is the overall slowness and sombre nature that every song brings. Another point that has to be made is that with the very slow moments comes control, every player knows and realizes his or her place in the music and doesn't try to achieve more within this sound than the song needs.
The vocals on this album, or in this band rather, fit the music as one might expect. While the music is quiet, the vocals fit that and are put into a more whispered tone. The vocals are delivered in, also, a similar style to Amber Asylums, when they use vocals, and are semi-operatic sounding. When the two vocalists harmonize is when things really seem to get dreary and melancholy, but, that's to fit the music.
The bass on this album is actually really jazzy sounding compared to how the guitar and drums are played. What you will find on here is quite a bit of bass fills, and also a lot of faster bass playing compared to what the other instruments are doing anyway. But the bass is still slow and doomy when it needs to be, listen to Goldeneye.
The guitar, as previously stated, is, for the greater duration of the album, clean and quiet sounding. But the guitar also brings a sense of psychedelia to the album and it's songs. Due to the slow and clean sound of the guitar, as well as the echo effect used on it, the vibe of the album feels a little retro. Even when the guitars go distorted, the effect is still very entrancing and melodic, Riverbed, sorry if you were expecting to hear some speed metal riffs.
Overall, this is a great record, if only a bit monotonous at times. The slow and constantly interwoven webs of guitar and bass draw you into an almost dream/trance induced state while listening. Be warned that this album is a bit of a grower and takes a little more time to get into fully, but once you find the beauty in here, it will almost amaze you. Fans of modern psychedelia or doom rock, or even to a farther extent, Jefferson Airplane, would find this to be a rewarding experience of an album. Check this out.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Winter, Riverbed, Brittle Heart, Pearls

Torsense - Мир гармонии без тебя

If Therion Didn't Suck.

Torsense is a symphonic death metal band from Russia. This record contains the usual symphonic metal aspects as well as your more aggressive tendencies of death metal, but sound wise, these guys could be compared a bit to Hollenthon. This is their debut record, and actually does some fairly cool and different stuff.

Style wise, these guys manage to combine the orchestration of more modern sounding Therion with the melodic death metal style of a band like Dark Tranquillity or Hypocrisy. While the death metal sound is very chunky and thick, they are still very melodic and even hint a progressive at certain points, Дрожь земли. The band also manage to mix some elements of symphonic black metal, or just black metal in this case, check У подножия вулкана, in their sound as well. Guitar and bass aren't as prominent as they probably should be in the band's sound, but they are played well and support the overall sound that the band takes on this album.

The keyboards are really the main star of the sound on here though, with that taking lead role for melodies and atmospheres. Keyboard solos are just as prominent as guitar leads on this album, and they are performed well, if not at the same caliber as those solos. The keys also manage to mix it up from track to track, besides the use of piano, they usually tend to stay within the same realm, yet differ from one track to another. Besides that, in the mix, the keys are, at some points, Таяние льда, louder in the mix than the guitars.

The vocals on this record vary quite a bit, but stay within the context of the genre that they're in. Male grunts and screams pervade most of the record, but female vocals are just as prominent as well. These two styles intertwine in maybe not the best way, but sound different than one might think.

Overall, this might not be the best representation of symphonic metal in today's metal world, but this group manage to at least put their own spin on it. Fans of the aforementioned Therion and Hollenthon will probably find this just as intriguing and enjoyable. Not the greatest sounding, but decent songs.

Overall Score: 7.5

Highlights: Гроза, Иссушение, Царство лавин, Дрожь земли

The Ocean - Heliocentric

It Turns Out That The Johnny Depp Is Not The Center of The Universe.

The Ocean is a progressive/post-metal group from Germany. This is the first of the two records they are releasing this year and the follow-up to 2007's groundbreaking success "Precambrian." This new record is almost a completely new line-up, with only founding guitarist and composer Robin Staps.
This record, as previously stated above, features an almost completely new line-up apart from Staps. This new group's first attempt at recording an album came in the form of this and it's companion record, "Anthropocentric." This new record represents the more post-metal, post-rock, and progressive side of the band's sound and is demonstrated in forms that many might find a little off-putting after "Precambrian."
The concept of this album, like all The Ocean albums, features a concept, is about the evolution of heliocentric beliefs and it's effect on Christianity. This comes with lyrics that have been taken and adapted from famous poets, scientists, and even the Bible. A notable influence sited by Staps has been "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Each track moves through the gradual evolution of the process and theory progression in history, making an much more elaborate concept than most black metal bands nowadays.
As with previous releases from the band, orchestration is used, to it's full extent. Don't mistake this comment for saying that there is over orchestration, what is in these tracks fits perfectly with the context of what goes on within any given track. Depending on the track, you could either get a full on orchestrated track with vocals that crescendos or you could get a heavier track that mixes it up with orchestration used more for ambiance and atmosphere.
Unlike other The Ocean albums, this one has actually 2 ballads on it. These ballads are more piano and vocal based tracks that are probably what a lot of the fans of this band don't want to hear as these songs are very naked sounding compared to other tracks, and ever other albums. Ptolemy Was Wrong is the first of the two and builds a lot more into a more typical The Ocean type of song, while Epiphany stays within it's perimeters as a more ballad song throughout it's course.
Another change in this album is the more obvious use of clean vocals. New vocalist Loïc Rossetti uses a much more emotional and expressive style of singing than that of previous vocalists in the band have used. His scream is also much more comparable to that of a hardcore/metalcore singer than a death metal one. This may disappoint those thinking that this album would be a bit more grunt based with occasional singing, but his voice hits and misses within the context of the music.
While the music and the concept and even the overall sound of the record is good and entertaining, the overall vibe is a bit lacking. Listening to this record can allow one's mind to wander off due to the inconsistencies from one track to another, the first real track Firmament is strong and catchy track but the tracks that follow it feel a bit sluggish and uninspired in comparison next to it. This is not saying that these are terrible or even bad tracks, but they fail to keep the high mark set by this opener until the later half of the album with tracks like The Origin of Species and The Origin of God.
Overall, this is a decent record, but fails to live up to it's predecessor, understandably. Select tracks on here stand out and are actually worth repeated listens, and if you've never heard The Ocean before, this might be a good place to start. A good representation of their more post-progressive side, now we wait for the heavier record to follow.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Firmament, Swallowed By The Earth, Epiphany, The Origin of Species, The Origin of God

Mandatory - Carbon Black

Carbon Black Is Not A Carbon Copy.

Mandatory is a progressive thrash metal band from Austria. Their sound may not be completely new, but it does sound fresh. This is their debut full-length record expressing an interest within the progressive metal of old and new within their sound makes them a bit more intriguing than your newer prog band.
Like mentioned above, this band's sound is not completely new or groundbreaking, but their sound is fresh. Influences like Nevermore, Fates Warning, and even Into Eternity are all present within this album's sound. Technical song structures, great musicianship, and thrashy riffs make up the basic description of what you'll find on here.
Along with your regular progressive thrash, a comparison to melodic death metal, ala Soilwork and new In Flames, could also be drawn. Even when the riffs on here are fast and technical, they are still melodic and catchy, check Autumnized. A note to mention is that these guitarists can play their instruments well, many bands write progressive music, but fail to write anything memorable, that is where this band succeeds.
The guitars on this album are the highlight. These guys manage to make their songs catchy and melodic but also progressive enough to keep them interesting for a while. Another great thing on here is the solos, hear Architect and Seven for some great ones, they are different from the average thrash solo, and hark back to Fates Warning, Symphony X, and even Dream Theater guitar solos.
The songs on this album are all fairly short, most being under 5 minutes. For the average prog fan, this might seem odd, but these guys are actually, another Into Eternity comparison, fit a lot into their songs. The structures, as previously mentioned as well, go into different directions and are probably a bit less predictable then Into Eternity.
The only thing that could prove difficult is that the vocalist's screams are a bit less tolerable than others. His scream resembles more of a metalcore singer than a normal more operatic or melodic singer, but he does bust out into a death growl in a few songs. His clean singing on the other hand, while resembling the metalcore sound as well, stands out due to it not being used as the main hook within a song; within a track like Death Avenue, the cleans are emphasized within a certain section and don't become overused.
Overall, this album has a lot of good without a lot of bad. For a debut record from a band that isn't really doing anything new, they play what they are extremely well, so points to them for writing such great songs. If you're a fan of melodic progressive metal, or a fan of guitar solos, check this album out, you won't be disappointed.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Universus God, Mainstream Messiah, Seven, 1000 Words, Majestic 12

Neuromist - Move of Thought

Turn Up The Bass!

Neuromist is a technical death metal band from Moldova. Taking cues from modern technical metal as well as melodic metal have created a fairly unique sounding record. From a band that has only just released it's debut record, this album, they are on their way to being another well recognized group.
On here you will find technical death metal, in the vein of Meshuggah, real surprising right, but done a little differently. Yes, on this album you will find tempo shifts, and heavy grooves, but along with those, that's really all you can establish they got from that one band. Other groups that you could draw comparisons to are Spiral Architect, early Extol, and even a bit of Opeth's lead work. There is also a little Cynic reference throughout Reason Crusade.
The guitars on this album are played well enough to take notice of, not exceptional, but enough to make a listener turn and look, or listen in this case. While most of the playing on here is very groove based, it still has that death metal feel more than newer bands playing tech metal. The grooves are played with a bit more of a progressive leaning to them. These guys also have a better grasp of soloing than newer bands do as well. The solos on here have a lot of melody to them; and at times go into a blues-esque jazz feeling vibe.
One thing even the casual listener will notice about this album, or this band, is that the bass is mixed extremely high on this album. Hence the Spiral Architect reference, but the bass is put side by side, if not just above the guitars in the mix. The bass is extremely jazzy sounding and is used more to accompany the guitar a lot more than just going off on tangents, as one might expect from a high bass mix. The bass also has frequent solo parts, not in a guitar solo manner, but more in sections where the music stops and the bass remains, check Bizarre.
The vocals on this album are hit and miss. On opening track The Sixth Dawn, he sounds pathetically weak, like he's trying to scream or shout and he just can't. But by the second track that entire vibe is gone, and is replaced by a rabid sounding grunt. His cleans also are a bit odd sounding, not bad, but off compared to his growl. If you can get past the opening track, you should be fine for the rest of the album.
The song-writing aspect of the band is spot on. The mix of progressive and groove make for a great sound, but the songs actually manage to be filled with interesting parts. The riffs are technical and the bass is jazzy, check the instrumental Cortex Tectonics for both, but the structures bring to mind the more technical prog found on Spiral Architect and Twisted Into Form's debut records. Within this album, very few parts repeat, if any at all, and due to the technicality of all the parts, it's difficult to tell if the repeating parts have actually already been played.
Overall this is a very good representation of how technical death metal should be played. Except for the exceptionally high bass mix, this album is genre defining. Fans of prog, tech death, tech metal, and all the above should consider checking this album out to hear it for themselves.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Reason Crusade, Inner Voids, Rebuilt Babylon