For goth metal fans, at least you can buy the aforementioned highlights on iTunes. As far as splurging for the complete album, you’re better off waiting for the new Within Temptation album.

“I have no bone to pick with VOLBEAT at all. Their heavy metal/rockabilly/early rock’n'roll gangster aesthetic is fantastic. They’re greasy, twangy and a hell of a lot of fun to see live. Michael Poulsen embodies their sound: lean, punchy muscles, the lines of his brow and cheekbone just a little haggard from hard living, slicked back, dark hair and covered in old-school tattoos. His voice is surprisingly clean. Volbeat’s set was idiosyncratic and playful.”

Natalie Zed reviews the August 17th Toronto performance by VOLBEAT, THE SLEEPING and DOMMIN at the Mod Club. VOLBEAT live photos by Adam Wills.

All in all, I’m not overly impressed by this release. Only by purposefully listening for something positive did I find anything worth more than one listen. The musicians on this record do a great job but they don’t mesh with Floor Jansen’s voice at all. The song writing on this just didn’t seem to be as much of a focus as the keyboard and vocal flourishes were.

France’s Alcest have weaved a memorable album that manages to straddle the fence between black metal catharsis and ambient relaxation.

The answer to whether or not a listener is satisfied by We Are The Void will boil down to individual taste; some will find it phenomenal and some will find the offering paltry and mawkish.

We may have lost Petrus T. Ratajczyk due to heart failure, but his legacy with or without the band will live on for eternity. The heart is strongly, if not always associated with love, admiration and passion which leaves me wondering: did Peter Steele die to health related heart failure, or did he lucidly love to death?

Ola Mazzuca revisits the 1996 Type O Negative album “October Rust” in tribute of the late Peter Steele, who passed away on April 14th due to heart failure.

Like a ghost ship emerging from a heavy fog, Germany’s gothic duo have returned with an album that, despite some occasional flat attempts towards invoking a playfully dark atmosphere, is a fun record well worth a listen.

By Melissa Andrews
Elis hails from the tiny country of Liechtenstein. Catharsis is their first release with new vocalist Sandra Schleret singing. Schleret is the replacement for the band’s original singer, who died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage in 2006. Schleret’s vocals are adequate but her voice doesn’t have that character of the beautiful innocence that gives some gothic bands that mesmerizing ethereal sound.
“Core of Life” is the most disappointing song on the album, so I can’t figure out why it was placed as the first track. At least once that …