The Interbeing - Edge of The Obscure (2011)

Band: The Interbeing
Country: Copenhagen, Denmark
Style: Industrial/Groove Metal
Label: Mighty Music/Target Distribution

How I long for the days when Mnemic released their debut album and blew me away with their blend of poly rhythmic grooves and catchy vocal lines. Sadly, that band slowly degraded with each album, so I have been on the search for a band to really take that spot for me. Hence, The Interbeing was introduced into my musical library by hearing their EP and finding exactly what I wanted.
That debut EP contained four songs that are all on this full-length, but showed the ability to make use of great choruses, nice grooves, and a nice flair of modern electronic music. In a sense, it's similar to how Mnemic sounded on their sophomore album, still having great songs, but not as progressive or experimental, not that I'm gonna fault this band for not being too experimental. Choruses, for the most part, are done cleanly with screamed vocals, so it's not going to win any awards for originality, but to me, the strength is in those songs, hear tracks like Face Deletion or Fields of Grey. In a time where groove metal, and djent, is becoming popular, writing a good song is slowly fading away in favor of writing something that's ment to sound more technical than it is, this band knows how to write a memorable chorus.
The use of electronics on here is tone quite tastefully, as they don't rely solely on the more dance techno and dubstep that a lot of newer industrial, or electronic, metal groups are now relying on, but it is used; but instead make use of more atmospheric textures throughout most of the album, hear Shadow Drift. Personally, I prefer this sort of electronic influence on metal, as it tends to really leave it up to the band to write good songs without the use of synthe first, a good song without synthe can only be enhanced by adding ambiance, at least in my opinion. The sort of ambiance found on this album also helps give the album a very mechanical kind of vibe where the riffs, by themselves are very hard-hitting and groovy, or djenty if you will, but the synthe gives it this Fear Factory kind of vibe.
Overall, it's a solid debut album with some great songs that just stand out as some of the best I've heard all year. I'm hopeful that this band won't follow down the same path of mediocrity that Mnemic did, once again in my opinion, cause they're off to a promising start. If you don't already know about this band, check them out if you're into that sort of industrial groove or djent metal.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: Tongue of The Soiled, Fields of Grey, Rhesus Artificial

Dødkvlt - II (2011)

Band: Dødkvlt
Country: Helsinki, Finland
Style: Progressive/Experimental Black Metal
Label: Ewiges Eis

Over the past few months I've actually been communicating off and on with Lord Theynian, the founder of Dødkvlt. His debut record really came off as one of the better debuts from last 2009. This new album definitely progresses his sound further into a more identifiable sound.
Immediately from opener Children of A Failed God, it's apparent that the intention of this album is no longer trying to meld black metal to more progressive and symphonic ideas, instead the three ideas are seamlessly blended together into one. Where the sound of the debut was pretty separated in terms of the different sounds, you had your black metal parts, your symphonic parts, and some proggy playing, and you could easily pull it apart, on here, symphonic parts are used much more sparingly and to a greater effect, while the riffing retains a progressive thrash sort of vibe. Now, I think I've said before that I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to the genre of thrash, but I love thrash riffs, and this has plenty of them.
Besides the stylistic growth that is showcased on here, I found the songwriting to have improved just as much as well. Tracks like Blinding The Eyes of The Bastard Christ and Verenhimo have not only catchy riffs, but choruses that stick in your head immediately. It's an extremely memorable album that can be a bit of a challenge to put down, once you start listening to it, at least for me anyways, I had a hard time wanting to stop it before I had heard the entire album. Now while the whole album is well crafted, the crown jewel on here definitely has to be Taste My Sweet Revenge, which sounds like a mix of sounds that could be heard from Shining, Opeth, and Dream Theater, at times, but done in Theynian's own style.
Overall, this is a great achievement and a major leap forward for Lord Theynian, and an album he should definitely be proud of. There aren't a whole lot of weak spots on here, almost every track on here is fantastic, by his next record, I think we can expect something that's genre-breaking, or defining if you will. There's no doubt that if you like progressive, forward thinking black metal, you should check this out for sure.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Verenhimo, Taste My Sweet Revenge, Taival Vailla Valoa

Anaal Nathrakh - Passion (2011)

Band: Anaal Nathrakh
Country: Birmingham, England
Style: Industrial Black Metal/Grindcore
Label: Candlelight Records

Anaal Nathrakh is a band that I've grown to be quite fond of since I first started listening to them a few years ago. I remember reading about them in various forums, magazines, and blogs and how unique they sounded and being really blown away by their stuff once I did listen. Since my initial discovery, they've grown into a favorite of mine, being one of the few bands I can say actually manage to make me want to mosh.
This album gets things off to a solid start with opener Volenti Non Fit Iniuria bringing in a similar vibe of the melodic blackened grind sound the band has pioneered on their last few albums. In all honesty, it's not as great as tracks from the last few albums have been, but it opens the album nicely and definitely has some killer vocals, I still believe that Dave Hunt is one of the most underrated vocalists in extreme metal. However, I have to say that things really get interesting on the second track, Drug-Fucking Abomination. It's been said that Mories of Gnaw Their Tongues, among other projects, has guested on this album, and if there's any track that has his mark on it, it's this one, with a definite atmospheric touch that is unlike any other song the band has ever produced. Rainer Landfermann, who used to sing in Bethlehem, also performs some crazy vocals on Tod Huetet Uebel, to the point that I think some will be turned off simply by them and Alan Dubin of Khanate performs some vocals on Ashes Screaming Silence as well.
Despite having some of the band's most melodic moments on it, Paragon Pariah, this album also contains some of the band's shortest and most grinding material to date, hear tracks like Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria or Locus of Damnation. These more grinding tracks don't even hit the two minute mark, with two of them being just over a minute. But probably the thing I have the hardest time getting over with this record is the production, other albums have had a more definite crust sort of vibe to them, where it was very visceral; but this album takes a more atmospheric take on the production, which, for my ears makes it sound a bit too polished.
Overall, I'd say it's a really solid album with some of the duo's strongest and most experimental material to date, but it's not really their catchiest. Like I said, my only real buff is with the production, the songs themselves are all very strong. If you're into an aggressive, more atmospheric sounding, blackened grind record, this is the best place to listen to it.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Drug-Fucking Abomination, Who Thinks of The Executioner?, Ashes Screaming Silence

(Feel free to correct me on the guest vocalists, I'm really only guessing when it comes to Mories and Adam Dubin)

Pestilence - Doctrine (2011)

Band: Pestilence
Country: Enschede, Netherlands
Style: Groove/Death Metal
Label: Mascot

How I long for the days of old, where the European death metal scene was fresh and original, every band was doing their own thing. Nowadays all we have are old bands doing, pretty much, the style they pioneered and little more, newer bands trying to either reclaim the grit and grind sound or more polished takes on the old sound. Pestilence, as well as a few other groups that made comeback records recently, seem to have gone with the latter, which seems less like they want to actually sound heavy as much as they want to sound modernized.
I'll say first of all that Pestilence never was one of my favorite death metal bands from the 90s, I always thought they were decent, but never one of my favorites. I remember listening to their comeback album, 2009's "Resurrection Macabre," and thinking that it was alright, but nothing special. I can't say that the experience I had with that album really made me want to hear that album, but once I heard that bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling was coming back to the band, I did want to hear what direction they would go into. What I got when listening to this album was not what I imagined I'd hear, and not really want I wished I would hear from this album.
Instead of hearing some sort of technical or brutal death metal, what the band have chosen to do is a sort of weird amalgamation of Meshuggah-esque 8-string worship mixed with the occasional technical riff thrown in, hear the title-track, Doctrine. Now while that, in itself, isn't the worst thing the band could have done musically, Patrick Mameli's vocals just don't fit with the music, they retain this very, what I would call sloppy, quality to them that just don't mesh with what they're playing and they wind up really hurting the album, tracks like Dissolve and Divinity just don't work in my opinion. But, like I said, the music itself isn't bad, the rhythm section is really strong, with Thesseling and drummer Yuma Van Eekelen really standing out on here as the strongest performances, hear tracks like Absolution and Sinister. I also have to say that what guitar solos played on here are done well, as they have a very jazz-fusion kind of vibe to them that really stand out and make the song, in my opinion.
Overall, it's not a bad album, musically, but the vocals just topple over the entire thing in a very sloppy sort of fashion, really ruining it in my opinion. I really think that the band might have had a stronger album if they worked a bit more on the vocals, or tried to include more of a traditional death metal sound into the album. If you're into Meshuggah influenced music, check this out, if you're into death metal, you might like this.
Overall Score: 6
Highlights: Salvation, Sinister, Malignant

Primordial - Redemption At The Puritan's Hand (2011)

Band: Primordial
Country: Dublin, Ireland
Style: Pagan/Black Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

I have to admit, I haven't really been a loyal follower of Primordial as I probably should have been. I still remember fist hearing them on a compilation CD and really getting into that song which wound up being off of "The Gathering Wilderness" album. Since then I've kind of fallen off the wagon and only recently have I gotten back on board, after watching their live DVD and hearing the Blood Revolt record last year.
Something that has always stuck out in Primordial's music was their ability to use folk melodies without being cheesy or sacrificing any brutality. It's easy to follow without being simplistic or dumbed down in any sense, it's progressive and forward-thinking while recalling elements we've all heard before. This is a hard record to really describe because it, and the band really, don't sound like any other out there, and so it's hard to kind of find any real term or description that perfectly captures their sound. When you compare a track like Bloodied Yet Unbowed to The Black Hundred, it could almost be mistaken as two different bands, as the latter is very aggressive and has a more black metal sound while the former takes more time to build and climax.
In my mind A.A. Nemtheanga is really one of the most uniquely polarizing vocalists out there. At times, his style recalls elements of the band's black metal past, Gods Old Snake, but what you'll hear for the most part on here is a very dramatic style of yelling/singing that is unlike any other vocalist, hear Lain With The Wolf for example, I wish more vocalists would be willing to explore a style similar to his. In my opinion, I also find him to be one of the most passionate and informative vocalists, as well as original, out there right now. I also find his lyrics to have a similar tone that the band has, it recalls an older time, but the situations are all very relatable and graspable.
Overall, this is a fantastic record that makes me regret not being with these guys all along, like I said, I fell off the wagon for a little while. This new album has plenty of variety, yet is centered enough to still retain the sound the band have crafted for themselves. I highly suggest you look into this record if you want to hear some highly original metal that explores both light and darkness.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Lain With The Wolf, The Mouth of Judas, Death of The Gods

Forgotten Tomb - Under Saturn Retrograde (2011)

Band: Forgotten Tomb
Country: Piacenza, Italy
Style: Progressive Black Metal/Depressive Rock
Label: Agonia Records

Seems like over the years, Forgotten Tomb's fanbase has kind of turned against them. With their last full-length, 2007's "Negative Megalomania," the band went so far as to include a more rock influenced sound and making use of clean vocals. Since then, the band also released a compilation which included covers from bands like Black Flag and Nirvana as well as Black Sabbath, showing just how diverse their influences actually are.
Despite the fact that the band has undoubtedly gained a larger fanbase thanks to their more adventurous side, moving out of the depressive black metal realm of their early work, it's hard to deny the rock riffs that open up the album. In a similar way to how Entombed slowly evolved from being a death metal band into what's now known as death'n'roll, I believe a similar progression can be seen with Forgotten Tomb. I totally understand why people can criticize these guys for "selling out," but in terms of songwriting, it's improved tenfold to what it was when they began. I can fully appreciate catchy riffs and choruses, as this album has quite a few, but I can see how older fans might long for the colder, more melancholic touch that their first few albums had. In terms of sounding cold, I have to say that compared to even their last record, this album sounds nowhere near as dark and grim, instead being quite a bit more upbeat sounding on tracks like Downlift and Joyless.
Now, I'm all for having different influences and embracing them, but I'm not sure I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges really belongs on here, it's a cool cover, but I don't know if it was the best choice to put it on a full-length. The rest of the album doesn't go into territory anywhere as straightforward or punk sounding as on that track but they definitely move into a very melodic sound with the two-part title-track, Under Saturn Retrograde. I can't say whether or not older fans will accept the latter half of the record due to how melodic it actually is, but I'm sure it will please some, as well as get some newer fans as well.
I can't see this album topping their last one for me, but that's just my personal favorite album from them, but I still think it's very solid. Definitely an album that takes them into a more melodic and rock based sound, time will only tell how they work within this space they've made for themselves. Check this out if you're searching for something along the lines of black'n'roll.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Shutter, Under Saturn Retrograde II, You Can't Kill Who's Already Dead

Altar of Plagues - Mammal (2011)

Band: Altar of Plagues
Country: Cork, Ireland
Style: Post-Rock/Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Candlelight Records

As one of black metal's fastest rising stars, Altar of Plagues has been on the up since their debut "White Tomb" came out in 2009. Last year the band released the "Tides" EP that was well received and boosted them another level. This new release comes as highly anticipated by many, including myself, as the samples that have been released thus far have been of the highest quality.
In a similar fashion to their last full-length, this album too has four songs that all sort of flow together into a single piece, though maybe not as intentional as that one was. While starting off with a drone, Neptune Is Dead soon bursts into a more aggressive sound where the band do show off some of their more black metal side, not that you would expect them to play like that for the whole eighteen minutes of this track. I think it would be fair to say that this and the closer, All Life Converges to Some Center, are the only points on the album where you'll hear the band playing a more black metal oriented form, as the rest of the album definitely disintegrates into a more melancholic realm.
The band definitely has a style that is unlike that of any other group out there right now, despite having characteristics of other bands, or sounding a bit familiar at times. Like previous material, this track, and really the whole album, ebbs and flows, moving from heavy to soft, brutal to melodic, melancholic to almost uplifting at times, it's not an original dynamic, but it's one that the band definitely know how to use to their advantage. A track like Feather and Bone amazes me with how it's able to move from a very atmospheric and texture section into a very barren and almost desolate sounding section that just sounds so bleak.
This is high quality stuff without a doubt and an album that has so much to offer a listener. This record could appeal to so many people due to it's broad range of influences that shine through, from the post-rock to the black metal. If you like "progressive" black metal, or a band that definitely takes you on a journey while you listen, definitely look out for this album.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Feather and Bone, All Life Converges to Some Center