Gorath - Apokálypsis: Unveiling The Age That Is Not to Come (2011)

Band: Gorath
Country: Diepenbeek, Belgium
Style: Progressive Black Metal
Label: Twilight Vertrieb

Gorath is a group that I've been following for several years at this point, being probably one of fist Belgian groups I ever got into. After last years decent "MXCII," I was actually a little surprised to already have another album coming down the pipe. I'm hopeful that the band has gone for another shift in their sound for this one, but I'm not sure with only a year, or so, between releases.
Ok, lets get to the bare bones of this thing. Last year's "MXCII" was, in my opinion, a very solid album with a lot of good, but it was comparably a more traditional black metal record when you look at where their previous two releases had kind of been going. This new record feels more like the logical progression from 2009's "Misotheism." This is a record with a lot more detours into experimental and progressive territories, thus, in my opinion, it made it a much more interesting listen. Having said that, there are traces of what you could consider influences within here, namely Deathspell Omega, from the "Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice"-era of things, where it is bit more melodic, but there's just that vibe of something being more dissonant and chaotic. Though, that's only a vibe that I pick up every so often in some of these songs, I don't know if you could even call it an influence, but just a similar melodic sensibility.
But, what makes this album better than their other work, for me anyway, is the way in which songs are arranged, or structured. It's hard, for any band mind you, to make songs that top ten minutes interesting, and while only one song on here actually does that, none of the other tracks on here are all that short either, except the interludes, but none of these tracks feel all that long; all of them are interesting and entertaining enough to more than justify their length. Each of these songs feel like more than just another black metal song, there are shifts in atmosphere, tempo, riffing styles, vocals, in my opinion, it's all for the better. The use of more ambient sections, like in opener Before The Throne of The Demiurge, or more clean guitar parts, Beasts From The Earth and The Sea, definitely brings a better sense of contrast than in their past work. Having said that, there is a similar atmosphere between this album and it's predecessor, so it maintains a pretty heavy, dark ambiance in the background throughout. At it's most straightforward, Millennium (Thousand Years of Darkness), it's about as entertaining as anything they've done in the past, but at it's more progressive, the aforementioned Beasts From The Earth and The Sea, it really shows them in their realm of expertise and their most unique.
I am definitely impressed with this release, as it manages to top, in my opinion, all of their previous material. It's definitely got a little bit further to go when it comes to originality, but except for that, I loved every moment of this. Definitely check out this release if you like black metal that leans a bit more towards the experimental side.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Le Porteur De Lumière, Beasts From The Earth and The Sea

Smohalla - Resilience (2011)

Band: Smohalla
Country: Serranian, France
Style: Progressive/Symphonic Black Metal
Label: Arx Productions

I've been awaiting Smohalla's debut full-length for several years now, and the time has finally come. Ever since I stumbled across the trio's work about three or four years ago I have awaited any new material that would turn up. It's been in the works for about three years, but will it have all been worth it?
Smohalla, as a band, have gone through quite an evolution from when I found them to where they are now. The trio started off as something on a comparable plane to kind of what Emperor was doing on their last album with more progressive leaning structures and riffs, but melded with symphonic synthes and orchestrations that kind of took on a different shape than most bands that are in the whole symphonic black metal scene. In their more recent material, and even the covers they've done of groups like Emperor and Ulver, have shown them creating and cultivating something more original. The inclusion of more electronics and styles that at times ranged from lounge and jazz to industrial and ambient really moved them past being just another symphonic-ish band. By the time this album opens up, I kind of see them following a similar path to their elderly statesmen in Blut Aus Nord, making black metal that's more abstract and isn't to contained in being just "black metal."
Sonically, and thus the reason for the Blut Aus Nord comparison, there's a lot to find on here. As I said, it isn't solely black metal, you'll find the more symphonic elements of their past, more ambient and industrial stylings can be found throughout, as well as an almost progressive sense of composition and writing styles. There are moments on here where the music just hits this point and it just explodes into this grandiose and epic sounding peak, the middle of Oracle Rouge for example, and those are the moments that just push it past being just another avant-garde black metal record. The black metal moments are far more in the vein of their French co-hordes, making use of slower, and more mid-tempo, dissonant sort of riffs that tend to lean more into progressive territory as well. Even when this album goes into more black metal mode, it's far from any sort of kvlt or trve sort of riffing that you'd find in the likes of Darkthrone or Mayhem's early output. There's a lot going on, which is probably the record's one downfall, in my opinion anyway, it's not the sort of record that'll make you want to thrash around and rock out in the car, it's much denser and full of different soundscape. It's a tough nut to crack and it is a bit taxing at times, but if you're one of those people that this manages to click with you, congratulations, you've just found a great record on your hands.
I really love this sort of stuff and it's probably what I feel most comfortable talking about because I have a history with more avant-garde and progressive leaning black metal, so this is the sort of record that just gets my blood boiling. It's the type of record which, unfortunately, will probably resonate with you or it won't. I highly recommend this for anyone that likes forward thinking black metal because it clearly is pushing the genre into a different realm of abstraction.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Song Is A Highlight

Blut Aus Nord - 777 - The Desanctification (2011)

Band: Blut Aus Nord
Country: Mondeville, France
Style: Industrial/Black Metal
Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Blut Aus Nord is a band which, despite all it's exploration and experimentation, have remained a pretty closely guarded band in the black metal scene. Like many, Blus Aus Nord is a group which I hold very close to my heart and I anxiously await each release with baited breath. This, the second part of the 777 trilogy is finally being released and will surely turn some heads.
Several months ago, "777 - Sect(s)" was released to pretty much wide-spread acclaim, and to good reason. That record bridged the gap between the more dissonant tones that more recent progressive black metal acts have been treading into, IE. Deathspell Omega and The Axis of Perdition, with the more industrial tones of the band's past work. It was a record that took the chaotic nature of the black metal sound but reined it in using more industrial elements that stopped it from just going off the edge. Vindsval himself had said that this album was a return to similar elements from 2003's "The Work Which Transforms God," but that the next two parts of the trilogy would venture into new territory. If fans thought he was joking or that it wouldn't be done to a high degree, be prepared to be surprised by this. This is not the first album done over again, this is a pretty different beast entirely.
Sonically, this album picks off where the last album left off, but after the first two tracks, the band remove most of the "metal" elements and start to bridge "777 - Sect(s)" with "MOrT." The album moves from a slow going black metal-ish opening into just eerie industrial with noxious atmospheres. Perhaps it's not quite as dissonant or chaotic as it's predecessor, but this record proves to be more caustic and disorienting, the atmospheres on here just swirl and move around. Imagine having a bad acid trip while watching The Ninth Configuration and listening to Laibach or Nine Inch Nails, during their darkest phase. At times, it's almost claustrophobic in nature and can feel quite suffocating. By the time you get to Epitome XI, you'd almost question if you're even listening to the same band, guitars are used less as a main instrument and begin to fall farther and farther into the background. Vocals are almost non-existent on the entire album, appearing somewhat early on, but used in an almost whispered tone. As a whole, I'd say that it's a lot more disturbing than a lot of their previous work, but it's still very good and they still manage to sound like no one else out there.
Despite all of it's unfamiliarity, it's still an enjoyable album. At this point I'm still uncertain as to which of these two 777 albums I like more, but both do give quite different perspectives to the band. If you're a fan already, approach this with an open mind, and if you're not already a fan, do yourself a favor and get this and all of the band's back catalog so you can hear some of the best black metal out there.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Epitome VII, Epitome XI, Epitome XIII

Anubis Gate - Anubis Gate (2011)

Band: Anubis Gate
Country: Aalborg, Denmark
Style: Progressive/Power Metal
Label: Nightmare Records

In listening to prog-metal for about a decade or so now, very few records were as catchy or memorable as Anubis Gate's 2009 album, "The Detached." That record really epitomized the whole modern prog-power genre and made quite an impact on me. With my whole disillusion of the power metal genre, that record actually made me want to listen to power metal again.
So, what was it about their last album that made it such the powerful listen it was and did it transfer into this new one? Addressing the last album first, that album had the heaviness of modern metal, but was based more in progressive metal with traces of their power metal past coming through, and the songwriting was just fantastic. The sound was very polished but it wasn't overly cheesy or over-the-top as most bands in the genre usually tend to be; but what made the whole thing such a great album was vocalist, now ex-vocalist, Jacob Hansen's voice and the way he weaved it in and out of the music and just hit the right notes in terms of being a power metal vocalist. As for this new one, Hansen is now no longer a member of the group and bassist Henrik Fevre is stepping up to do vocals. Besides that, the band has stuck to a pretty similar formula as the last album, with perhaps a bit more electronics thrown in.
Now, as much as I'm an advocate for change and style shifting, I do think that focusing on songwriting can be just as important, and I think it's demonstrated on here pretty well. For as much as I loved the last album, the entire album was pretty lengthy, not that this one really rectifies that, and had a couple of songs that weren't stellar. This album, for the most part, does have songs that are more catchy and, perhaps, darker than other releases. This could go a bit into appealing to a younger crowd, as this is the band's heaviest material yet, but that's all subjective. I also think that Fevre's voice is not as high as a typical power metal vocalist and so he doesn't give off as much of that same vibe as their other vocalists have had. I've said in the past that I don't mind music being unoriginal or simplistic as long as it has a good chorus or melody, and this is an album that has several. I kind of wish the entire album, in terms of choruses, was as good as it is musically, cause it isn't as memorable as I kind of wished it was, cause I remember instrumental sections clearer than vocal ones, not that that's bad, just wish the vocals kind of had a bigger impact.
This didn't turn out to be better than it's predecessor, though it's a close second in their discography. Is this groundbreaking, no, but it's good material that is better than ninety percent of the other power metal I've heard in recent years. If you like this sort of prog-power metal stuff, definitely check it out, but if you're not a regular I don't see this winning you over.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: The Re-Formation Show, Golden Days, Circumcised

Redemption - This Mortal Coil (2011)

Band: Redemption
Country: Los Angeles, California
Style: Progressive Metal
Label: InsideOut

When it comes to the whole progressive metal genre, I'd like to think I'm pretty picky. Redemption is one of those bands that, while I think what they're doing is good, it was vocalist Ray Alder that kept me with them. As a fan of Fates Warning, finding him in this band, several years ago mind you, made me a fan.
The opening to this album really threw me for a loop, Path of The Whirlwind starts off sounding like something you might hear from a modern tech-death band, with crazy bass and guitar harmonies. After hearing that, the rest of the album is noticeably darker and more complex than any of their previous four full-lengths. The sound is a lot denser and solid sounding with a lot less room in the mix for atmosphere and soaring vocal lines. In the end, I don't think that this lives up to how much I enjoyed their 2009 album, "Snowfall On Judgment Day," which was much more melodic and had a lot more atmosphere on it. This thing, at some points, feels very crammed and doesn't feel all that appropriate for Alder's vocals. A lot of these songs feel like his vocals were added on at the very last moment, like every song was pretty much written instrumentally and then they remembered that they actually had a vocalist. A lot of these songs, to me, feel like they probably would have been just as effective as instrumentals as they are with Alder singing on them. That's not something I take pleasure in saying, because like I said above, I'm a fan of his voice, but I feel like a lot of these tracks just didn't need him.
I do feel like this is the band's most accomplished and aggressive record yet, but I also feel that this album is also one of their weakest. A lot of these songs didn't have those moments that made me want to return to the album over and over, like the last one or "The Fullness of Time" did for me. These guys obviously worked hard, and it sounds a lot more complex and in-your-face than any of their other albums, but the mix leaves a lot to be desired and ends up hurting the record a lot. This album will obviously turn a lot of more modern tech-metal/math metal kids onto these guys, if that's any indication of where this album's technicality lies. When the band actually try and do a song more in the vein of the previous material, or more traditional prog-metal, the likes of Let It Rain or Focus, it just winds up feeling so forced and unnatural. Tracks like Departure of The Pale Horse on the other hand sound very close to what the band has done before, a bit more technical maybe, but actually pulls it off with gusto.
By the end of it, I was pretty split down the middle for this. Some songs were pretty good while others were just painfully average and did nothing for me. Check it out if you already like the band, but I highly recommend you looking into this album if you like more of the math/tech metal stuff, because that's kind of where this album is closer to.
Overall Score: 6
Highlights: No Tickets to The Funeral, Perfect, Departure of The Pale Horse

Black Haven - Harmbringer (2011)

Band: Black Haven
Country: Ghent, Belgium
Style: Hardcore/Screamo
Label: Hypertension

When I see a cover like that, no matter what style turned out to be, I had to hear it. This is one of the many cases where I'm going solely based on cover artwork that I personally like rather than hearing any of a band's past material. As I've said in the past, I'm not a big hardcore guy, but even I'm willing to check something out if it looks cool enough.
What I like about the few hardcore acts I do actually enjoy is the passion and energy that the music conveys. It doesn't have to be super complex or long or really melodic, it just feels powerful and full of life, and that's what I love about it. Unfortunately, I didn't get that from this album, it feels very standard, which saddens me because I was hoping for a very up-tempo sort of punch to the face. Not to say this thing doesn't have energy, but it feels so by the numbers to me and so unenthusiastic compared to the groups I do like. As I was listening to this album, it just felt so uninspired and vanilla, with songs like Lucifer or Carvings sounding nowhere near intense enough to really capture those titles. The second half of the album does pick up steam and does get more interesting, both compared to the first half and in general. I kind of wish that the entire album was a bit more like the second half because it felt more vital. Personally, I also felt that even when the band were going full-bore, the vocalist just didn't match it, and that has more to do with me not being all that into his vocal style at all than him doing a bad job. I remember reading something that compared him to early Killing Joke and I don't really hear that at all.
When the band move at more sludge and doomy paces, the title-track, Harmbringer, I feel they're at their best. During those songs, the band seem to fully gel together and create some interesting moments. It seems like these tracks also tend to be the longest on the album, the songs that top three minutes, and actually feel interesting and creative. The shorter tracks don't seem to pick up as much steam as the longer ones, even though they might be faster in some cases, and they don't feel as developed as the tracks that top three minutes. The melodies and grooves are better, the vocals feel less like a loud drunk, and the pacing is a lot more complete, I hope these guys end up writing some more lengthier tracks in the future cause it seems like they have more talent in writing those sort of songs rather than short spurs.
I really wish I had enjoyed this a lot more because after actually looking into them and seeing all the good things people had to say about them, I just didn't get it. I hope others do get into this, because these guys obviously have talent, I just couldn't get into it. Check em' out if you like hardcore with a bit of screamo and thrash in there.
Overall Score: 6
Highlights: Harmbringer, A Town That Dreaded Sundown, Lazarus

Brutal Truth - End Time (2011)

Band: Brutal Truth
Country: Rochester, New York
Style: Grindcore
Label: Relapse

I don't think Brutal Truth needs any introduction at this point in their career. Legendary grindcore group that helped to mainstream the genre in America, their second full-length after reforming back in 2006, I think that sums things up pretty well. I wouldn't say they've ever been my favorite grind band, but they're certainly a good one.
While it may be a bit ignorant of me to say this, I don't think it's unwarranted, I often come into a grindcore album expecting something just to run me over from track one onwards. This record did not do that. Malice, which opens the album, is a dirge of a track that just sort of lumbers around with bass being the prominent leading instrument that kind of guides the track along. It's pretty slow and unnerving, in a sense, but begins in a way that doesn't punch you in the face right away, almost taunting you in a sense. For me, it was almost like they were saying, "After we say this, we're going to hit you," and then they hit you with the following tracks. Most of the other songs on here follow in the band's more traditional style of grindcore, if you could call it traditional.
Personally, and this might just be me but, I found this album to be weaker than their last one, "Evolution Through Revolution." This record just didn't feel as catchy or memorable as that one was, not to say there aren't tracks that didn't stick with me, the crazy d-beat Small Talk or the black metal-ish Addicted definitely remained in my head long after the album had ended. I won't lie, there are tracks on here that just sort of blend together and go nowhere and do nothing for me, but then there are others just are just some of the band's best material. It's all a case of some songs working for me more than others, because the production is on point, letting everyone shine in the mix clearly, but maintaining the crusty nature of the music. I'm also quite partial towards how the band often make it seem like everything is just barely being held together, the ending of some tracks just made it feel like if they had played any longer, the whole track would have become closer to noise than grind, which actually happens in closer Control Room.
I like the album, but unfortunately, I have heard quite a few other grindcore releases this year that I like more. Certainly not a bad album and definitely worthy of the band's legacy, but not a great album. Check it out if like grindcore and you don't already know the band, but otherwise go back in their back catalog first.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: End Time, Small Talk, Butcher, Sweet Dreams, Drink Up