Across The Sun - Before The Night Takes Us (2011)

Band: Across The Sun
Country: Portland, Oregon
Style: Melodic Metalcore
Label: Metal Blade Records

When metalcore first came out, I think it was something that was accepted by the underground, with groups like Converge, Keelhaul, and Coalesce, but modern bands that take influence from melodic metalcore groups like As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, and Unearth, the genre has really gone to hell in a hand basket. Modern bands playing metalcore are more often than not, mocked, and for good reason, for them deciding to play a style that's been done to death. Across The Sun has drawn numerous comparisons to those groups as well, but apparently has something different that's making people take a second look at them.
The comparisons to Killswitch Engage are fairly obvious on here, with the clean vocals even being compared to a less gruff Howard Jones. Beyond that, you can hear plenty of modern sounding metalcore and melodic death metal sounds on here, you have the slick sounding production, the harsh/clean vocal switches, In Flames and Soilwork riffs, and forays into electronic music, you even have the Children of Bodom influenced keyboard solos, hear Song For The Hopeless. I actually found the growling/screaming vocals to come out better and more impressive than the cleans, which essentially ruined otherwise good tracks like Ghost of Grandeur and Blessing In Disguise for me. Though I'll give the soft instrumental A Moment of Clarity a bit of praise for doing just that, giving me a track that was actually decent.
Honestly, it's not that impressive, most of it could be found in other groups performing a similar style. For me anyway, it's hard to kind of distinguish this band, this album, apart from other bands playing a similar style, there really isn't anything that really stuck out as a definable factor to me. This might just be me, but I'm actually sick of all these new bands trying to sound epic and huge by adding a lame symphonic keyboard in under the guitars, hear the title-track, Before The Night Takes Us, it's something that I just can't stand, when it's done in a mediocre way anyway. In all honesty, the difference between this band and all the groups listed above, though I can't say I'm a huge fan of any of them, is that at least those band's could write a song that was either catchy or memorable, something I really didn't find on here. Though I wouldn't even say any of this is boring or bad, it's just incredibly dull and uninteresting.
Overall, this was a pretty boring release that really didn't do much of anything for me. From what I had read about this band and release, I really expected better. If you like modern melodic metalcore, you'll probably really like this, but otherwise, there's not a lot worth hearing on here that you haven't heard elsewhere.
Overall Score: 3
Highlights: Seasons, Ghost of Grandeur, Belay My Judgment

Returning We Hear The Larks - Proud England EP (2011)

Band: Returning We Hear The Larks
Country: Bristol, England
Style: Djent/Ambient Metal
Label: Independent

Last year I reviewed two releases from Jak Noble's solo project, Returning We Hear The Larks, each giving me something different. While I found the first fairly unoriginal and uninspired, his full-length was almost the exact opposite. This new EP is his first release of this year, and has drawn quite a bit of attention for being his first real album to include vocals.

The four tracks on here kind of mix the two styles of his full-length and his "Of Marduk" EP together, meaning you get a lot of clean ambiance than the EP, but more of a heavy and djenty guitar tone than the full-length. While I'd definitely say that the instrumental side of this release is really solid, the vocals don't really do that much for me, they fit along well enough, and I actually find most of the growls and screams to go along with the music quite well, the clean vocals are a bit off in my opinion; and the hardcore chants are just something I don't like in general. Vendetta, the second track, is actually the strongest track on here in my opinion, simply due to the fact that the ambiance on it feels so majestic and beautiful, before going metal. While opener Uprising is easily the most straightforward track on here, the last two tracks, Unrest and Conquest, both follow a more ambient metal sort of tone, which is where I truly believe Jak's strength is.

Overall, this is a solid release, and while I preferred his instrumental stuff to this, I wouldn't say that another release with vocals wouldn't be welcome. This is definitely another step in the right direction for Jak in finding his own sound. Definitely check this out if you're into djent/tech metal, though you probably have already anyway.
Overall Score: 7
Highlights: Vendetta, Conquest

Paul Wardingham - Assimilate Regenerate (2011)

Band: Paul Wardingham
Country: Brisbane, Australia
Style: Djent/Progressive Metal
Label: Enigmatic Records

In recent years, the concept of guitar oriented solo artists has become more and more prominent. Unlike the scene back in the 80s, artists like Yngwie Malmstein and Marty Friedman, newer artists take songwriting and production to a higher level than just technical proficiency. Paul Wardingham is a guitarist I had stumbled across when I was looking for Scar Symmetry guitar covers and he has gained quite a large following from them.
I think it's obvious from the sound that opens the title-track, Assimilate Regenerate, that Wardingham takes more than a little influence from Scar Symmetry. Fans of that band's 2008 album "Holographic Universe" will definitely welcome this into their collection with open arms, as most of what's on here could easily be considered a sibling to that album. Filled with melodic and catchy guitar playing, technical soloing, spacey keyboard effects, and polyrhythmic drumming it's not a shocker that this is also being lumped in with the whole djent/tech metal scene as well. As with every Scar Symmetry album, you also have the unnecessary, totally awesome, power ballad of Fields of Utopia.
Wardingham has mastered a lot of different playing styles, and besides the aforementioned and most obvious comparison to Scar Symmetry, influences from 80's hard rock can be heard in the main melody of Futureshock, Meshuggah's djenty groove on Mindwarp, early thrash metal for Cyber Warfare, and even a bit of synth-pop, or something along the lines of 80's keyboard worship, on Clones, and pretty much the intro to every track on here. His playing on here is impeccable, though that's really a matter of personal taste, seeing his ability to make melodies sound like solos in and of themselves really demonstrates how capable of player he is, as the melodies are still just as catchy as they are technical.
Overall, I think it's obvious that I enjoyed this record. I think the only thing that hurts it is the lack of a vocalist, though it's probably just the similarities to Scar Symmetry again that make me long for those soaring vocal hooks. If you like melodic, progressive, djenty instrumental metal, look no further.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Ghost In The Machine, Enter The Metaverse, Orbital Decay

Beyond Helvete - Self-Therapy (2011)

Band: Beyond Helvete
Country: Freudental, Germany
Style: Depressive Black Metal
Label: Dusktone

You'd think that at this point in the game, the whole "I'm going to kill myself picture" should have gone out of style, but I guess not. From experiences with other depressive acts, like the post accompanying this one, I don't come into records of this style with a lot of high expectations. I figure that this guy's from Germany, a country who's black metal scene is really thriving right now, and he's in a few other projects that are a bit more traditional, so why not see what this debut has to offer.

The first thing that becomes noticeably different about this project compared to so many others is the vocals, they are incredibly twisted and painful sounding, but in a good way. They're not the typical screams or howls in pain, instead they sound like someone going between a death growl and a horrified scream. It's incredibly unique sounding and unlike that of any other vocalist I've ever heard. Secondly, the music itself recalls more of a Shining (Swe) type of vibe, or a more traditional sort of black metal style rather than the typical monotonous droning of most groups, in other words, there are actual riffs on here. Come to think of it, Sven Krause's vocal style on here can also be drawn to Kvarforth's vocals somewhat as well.

The six songs on here move through somewhat progressive oriented black metal, still in the vein of Shining, but is perhaps still more rooted in a doomy sort of core and thus doesn't ultimately move into ripoff territory. Tracks like the title-track, Self-Therapy, definitely shows a more doomy influence that may or may not show hits to artists like Nortt or Bethlehem. This album also does have more than it's fair share of brutal parts, not like death metal, but parts that just groove and can make you want to headband, hear Confession. Even the instrumental track, A Nameless Desire, proves to outdo what most projects and bands in this genre do, make instrumental sections sound cool while keeping it dark.
Overall, this album definitely gave me what I want from this genre. It's not often that bands from this scene come out and do something original or uniquely their own, but this does it. If you're into depressive black metal that isn't cliched in the way of groups like I'm In A Coffin, than check this out.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Soul Reflection, The More I Know

Annorkoth - Silent Woods (2011)

Band: Annorkoth
Country: Podolsk, Russia
Style: Depressive Black Metal
Label: Independent

I think by now, the whole depressive black metal scene is something that's pretty much been explored and done to death. All these one man bands never seem to really go anywhere new, even bands that are starting up have little new territory to explore. What intrigued me about this one that was that it was an all instrumental project, so it might be a bit different.
Without the intrusion of howling/shrieking vocals, I can safely say that this is worth hearing if you're into this sort of stuff. It really has all the right elements, it's lo-fi, minimal and repetitive, features some more lengthy pieces, and it wears its influences on its sleeve, IE. the Xasthur and Darkthrone covers. It holds everything that would make a depressive person feel down in the dumps, but it takes more than that to make a good record, or band. The title-track, Silent Woods, even brings in more of a melodic approach that should definitely please all those post-punk fans that love depressive music.
Lo-fi music is often a hit-or-miss for me, as I'm sure it is for a lot of people, and unfortunately there were some production choices that really stop this from being good. The cymbals are probably my main beef with the album, as they are way too loud, and often sound blended together into a high-pitched crash that ultimately topples over everything else in the mix, hear In The Mist. Secondly, there isn't enough atmosphere on here, in my opinion, or maybe it's just the wrong atmosphere, because it doesn't ultimately feel as dark and morbid as it does noisy and cacophonous. In all honesty, and this one really goes for most band's in the genre, and I know I'll probably repeat this in other reviews, but the repetition on here most certainly could have been cut down, there's a difference between someone playing a riff for several minutes than moving onto another riff, and someone who plays two riffs for an entire song, as in intro riff and outro riff is one, and middle riff is two, hear Mystic Forest. Yet, it somehow seems fitting that the Darkthrone cover of Transilvanian Hunger is the most alive track of all ten on here.
Overall, this is a pretty dull album, it really doesn't do as much as I had hoped it would, but I guess those are the breaks. I couldn't break through the monotony of these tracks to find anything worth penetrating further for. If you're into this style, maybe check it out, but otherwise it's not really necessary for your collection.
Overall Score: 3
Highlights: Drowning Into Nothingness, Silent Woods, The Sun Sets Over The River

Hexvessel - Dawnbringer (2011)

Band: Hexvessel
Country: Helsinki, Finland
Style: Psychedelic Folk/Rock
Label: Svart Records

I'm a fan of Kvohst, in most of his various bands like Code and Decrepit Spectre, so when I heard that he would be creating a new project I was intrigued. While the first track I heard didn't really impress me, the more I heard from this project, the more I liked it. This is the debut record from this project and he has stated that it is his most personal record to date.

Unlike his previous more experimental, progressive, and avant-garde metal bands, Hexvessel takes things into a more melancholic and acoustic realm of instrumentation. Large influences coming from 60's and 70's folk and psychedelic music, but in this case, channeling a darker and more occult lyrical style into it. You'll hear elements of old-time blues, The Death Knell Tolls, and near krautrock elements, Wayward Confessor, throughout as well as a variety of instruments such as violin, mandolin, harp, and harmonium. But in the end, this is still very much a folk based album.

This is much more of a record than a lot of bands put out nowadays, as every song really contributes to the whole of the disc, it's not just a collection of songs. Tracks link together without sounding like a single track or epic and just end up creating a dynamic series of tracks that can all be conjoined without flowing into one another. There's also a real sense of light and darkness on here, beauty and ugliness, as a track like I Am The Ritual is quite dark and foreboding, other tracks like Heart of The Mind World or A Stranger's Grave are beautiful and somber feeling.

Overall, it might just be that I really like Kvohst's voice that much, but I really enjoyed this record. It has all the darkness I like in metal, but put into a much more quiet and melancholic style that channels the greats of 60's and 70's music. If you are at all into psychedelic rock or occult music, check this out, you won't be disappointed.
Overall Score: 9.5
Highlights: Every Track Is A Highlight

The Kilimanajro Darkjazz Ensemble - From The Stairway (2011)

Band: The Kilimanajro Darkjazz Ensemble
Country: Utrecht, Netherlands
Style: Dark Ambient/Smooth Jazz
Label: Parallel Corners/Denovali

This ensemble is something I've never really heard before, only recently have I heard of their exploits in the ambient and jazz realms. Apparently their last album "Here Be Dragons" gave them quite a boost in terms of popularity and acclaim. This new album is supposed to be equal to that one.
The idea of modern, industrial age sounding lounge jazz is something that intrigues me, and thus the opening track, All Is One, is something that really caught my attention. With its dark ambiance and sounds surrounding the piano, drums, vocals, and other instruments that come in and out of the track, it's really something that sounds up my alley. It's minimalistic and compelling at the same time, and this is just the intro track.
The rest of this album is a real journey through a downtown city late at night, and this city is one full of crime, prostitution, and murder, none of which bring this album to a cheesy level. It's all subtlety and seductively played with a healthy dose of melancholy and despair, giving it just the right amount of reality to make it a good listen. On the other hand though, a track like Giallo may sound straight and moody compared to the more psychedelic experience of Les Etoiles Mutantes, which only adds to the overall vibe of the record. While every track on here is a unique listen, and none of them ever feel as long as they actually are, it's the epics of Cocaine and Past Midnight that truly sway me, with the former's total bleak dark ambient approach instead of jazz just setting as a mood piece, and the latter is a much more stark and barren sounding track that still retains a more jazz oriented vibe.
Overall, I really enjoyed this album and it's really gotten me excited to hear what else these guys have done. While I personally like the more jazz oriented tracks more than the mood pieces, I don't think there's a bad piece on here. If you like dark ambient, smooth or lounge style jazz, or even more soundtrack sort of stuff, I'd highly recommend this to you.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: All Is One, White Eyes, Les Etoiles Mutantes