Dark Age: Acedia
A very solid mature release that should garner them some attention, Acedia is chock full of very well written songs that are smartly paced and demand repeat listens.
Reviews
Film Review: Laid to Rest
Robert Hall’s Laid to Rest is a slasher film that doesn’t waste any time on story in order to get to its blood-soaked kill sequences. A young woman (Bobbi Sue Luther) awakens to find herself with amnesia and locked in a casket in a funeral home. After breaking out, she is almost immediately confronted by “Chrome Skull” (Nick Drincipe), a serial killer who records his torturing and killing of young women via a video recorder attached to his shoulder.
Jonathan Smith reviews the recently released straight-to-video slasher horror film Laid To Rest, directed by Robert Hall.
Assjack: s/t
All in all, while it’s wonderful to finally hear how Assjack sounds on an album, this is more of a get-it-out-of-the-way effort.
Ava Inferi: Blood Of Bacchus
Blood Of Bacchus is haunting and mysterious. It is graceful and desolate. Picture pure doom, lying under soft, almost operatic vocals and heavy guitars. Though it is very easy to develop a strong sense of what Ava Inferi sound like through this description, you will never fully understand the brilliance of this band until you give them a fervent listen.
Savage Messiah: Insurrection Rising
The full-length debut from UK’s Savage Messiah, Insurrection Rising is a decent cut of thrash metal that ultimately doesn’t transcend its sub-genre.
Eloy: Visionary
Many times my friends would mention to me that Eloy is the Pink Floyd of Germany and I would have to somewhat agree with that comparison.
Weapon: Drakonian Paradigm
Musically, what makes Weapon unique is its intricate sense of composition, its sinuous melodic leads, and the subtle accents that it uses in order to conjure a distinctive atmosphere. Conceptually (and, by extension, atmospherically), Drakonian Paradigm is uniquely syncretic in its left-hand-pathos, in turn using its music to menace several doctrines from a common ground.
Tate Bengston reviews the debut full-length album by Edmonton, Alberta-based black metal quartet Weapon, recently released on CD and LP by the AJNA Offensive.
FACE VALUE: Rode Hard, Put Away Wet
Where the forward-thinking hardcore bands of the time embarked upon a course of combining ‘core with metal riffing and mosh tempos, Face Value spit-balling together punk/hardcore’s fury and speed with classic rock sensibilities, jacked up rhythms and guitar hero soloing.
Epica: Design Your Universe
Epica’s fourth full-length Design Your Universe was the perfect opportunity for the Dutch band to make some serious artistic and commercial strides, but what we’re stuck with is a record that tries so hard to impress that its blind ambition completely gets in the way of tasteful songwriting.
Mob Rules: Radical Peace
Now on album number seven, this is their heaviest release to date by far. They still retain a bit of a prog vibe but the way the riffs are written they just reek of full on power metal.