E-Musikgruppe Lux-Ohr - Spiralo [Full length] (2014, Svart Records)

A journey to 70s Germany with a group of Finns as tour-guides

Some claim that the German music style known af Krautrock (and to an extent the various subgenres the Kraut movement spawned) never quite went out of style. Though Tangerine Dream's mastermind Edgar Froese passed away not too long ago, the group was active right until his death. Others like Klaus Schulze (of Ash Ra Tempel) and the band Faust are still going strong, as if they've forgotten about the passage of time. In addition newer groups are crawling forth from various scenes all over the world, inspired in some degree by the landmark German movement.

The Finnish group E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr have since 2010 bestowed upon the world musical minimalism in the form of synthetic melodies with ample headroom. The two previous releases form the band presented gloomy synths in an equally gloomy environment. Spiralo is in that regard not as such a mould breaker, but yet manages to add greater depth and a slightly more melodic tendency to the group's style.

In a musical genre where easily recognisable melodies or catchy choruses usually don't play a prominent role it can be quite difficult for a musician to stand out. Differences will often be minor and subtle. At a cursory glance two albums that are in fact vastly different can sound remarkably alike. This is the same problem the Finns stand before, and Spiralo can as a result easily appear to be an anonymous and forgettable outing which perhaps draws a little much from Klaus Schulze's new-agey tunes.

"The tempo is laborious in the nature of the genre, so it is definitely an album that you have to take your time to listen to..."

But then again it would be a great shame to write off the band's third release as boring background music, because it is so much more if you just let it sink in. The esoteric foundation is built with rolling synths and exhaustive effects that gets your fantasy going, and even if the composition can only scarcely be called innovative the Finns yet succeed in summoning forth an exciting musical landscape focused on simple but effective compositions. The tempo is laborious in the nature of the genre, so it is definitely an album that you have to take your time to listen to, but it is 40 minutes well spent.

The album seems almost tailored for the vinyl medium (and doesn't even come in CD form) and is split into six parts - Teile I-III on side A and Teile IV-VI on side B. The tracks on Spiralo kan be understood as individual compositions, but to a higher degree also as one continuous journey. As such it is in my opinion imperative tat you at least once take the time to listen to the entire album in one uninterrupted sitting.

Bonus fun-fact:

The group includes among others guitarist Kimi Kärki, who in some circles is best known as the guitarist in doom metal groups Reverend Bizarre and Lord Vicar. Kärki also released his first solo album, The Bone of My Bones, as an acoustic singer/songwriter in 2013 through Svart Records, inspired by musicians like Leonard Cohen and Simon & Garfunkel.

8/10 guitars

Tracklist:

1. Teile I

2. Teile II

3. Teile II

4. Teile IV

5. Teile V

6. Teile VI

E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr on Facebook

E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr on Bandcamp

Svart Records official site

Sammal - Myrskyvaroitus [Full length] (2015, Svart Records)

Finnish prog-rock usurpers return for a third strike

A part of the struggle of participating in trends is standing out from the lot, and those that achieve this are ironically often those that give the trend the most unusual twist. The vast majority will suffer from being unimaginative and ordinary, which when done well may be a strength on its own. Often the boundary between blindly following a trend and expanding into new territory becomes blurred; At which point exactly does music go from simply paying tribute and drawing inspiration from something to discovering new areas to colonize? The Finnish band Sammal, who are with the release of Myrskyvaroitus now three releases into their journey, seem to be an example of this question.

Having listened to the eponymous debut from 2013 and the subsequent EP from the following year Sammal stands out as a busy band that usually delivers a thrilling, on-point set of rock songs that feel uncommonly artisanal. And thusly the new album, "Myrskyvaroitus", feels as much like a natural musical development to the EP "No 2" as "No 2" did to the debut, even if there's no particular progression in terms of songwriting and skill involved. If there is any noticable difference between Sammal's releases, it would be that "Myrskyvaroitus" features, at times, darker tunes. "Kohtaus yön vyöllä" and "Muurahaisen päiväuni" especially tend more to these melancholy currents.

"Their bright and upbeat seventies sound, complete with crunchy guitars, juicy organs, funky bass and lively drums are what set them apart and take them beyond the planes of mere accolade and appreciation of days gone by."

Even so, the majority of the new album explores in depth the very same corner of seventies-based progressive rock that the predecessors did. Their bright and upbeat seventies sound, complete with crunchy guitars, juicy organs, funky bass and lively drums are what set them apart and take them beyond the planes of mere accolade and appreciation of days gone by. On "Myrskyvarioutus" the group toys more with playful and expansive quasi-improvisational psych sessions than previously attempted, as noticable especially on "Järjen ohimarssi". As such their latest effort comes across as being a more expansive piece in terms of overall composition.

Clever compositions aside, Sammal subscribe much to the same currents as bands like Horisont, but with a more substantial Deep Purple and November feel to them. The lead singer's powerful vibrato sings along playfully to the organism that the rest of the band composes. I mentioned earlier the overall composition and flow of the album, and every music fan will have a notion of what is coming next in the frame of an album. The Finnish band throws these anticipatory notions to the wind with a loving punch to the face of tradition. Though experimentation with a traditional sound has always been the way of Sammal, but by following the previously mentioned less cheerful tracks with a mockingly cheery and catchy tune like "Aika on alkamassa" the band plays in new ways with expectation and album-wise flow.

I've come to expect a great deal from Sammal, and indeed do they deliver. I find myself inadvertently humming along, and that impact is one of the main reasons why the band is so unique. As usual there are hard-hitting rock tunes as well as more dour or psychedelic tracks, but tied together to make "Myrskyvaroitus" this makes it one of the best and most different yet thrilling rock albums of 2015. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:

1. Stormvarning

2. Järjen ohimarssi

3. Samaan arkeen

4. Kohtaus yön vyöllä

5. Muurahaisen päiväuni

6. Aika on alkamassa

7. Sulle haavan tein

8. Kohti pintaa

9. Herätkää!

SAMMAL official facebook

SAMMAL official bandcamp

Svart Records official site

Eero Koivistoinen Quartet - Hati Hati [Full length] (2015, Svart Records)

Well-crafted jazz opus that speaks in colourful volumes of a great musical journey

Originally a student of music at both Sibelius Academy in Finland and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Eero Koivistoinen has remained a fixture in the Finnish jazz scene since the sixties, his first release being with the rock group Blues Section's first album of the same name in 1967. Since then the saxophonist has played with and composed for many musicians and band itterations. Already in 1972 did he enjoy international acclaim with his solo album "Wahoo!", but already as early as 1969 did his band at the time win the band competition at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. His extensive discography, over thirty albums at the time of writing, explores several different genres and subgenres, although jazz has always been his mainstay.

"The eight tracks found on the album elegantly but sternly speak of a lengthy career within the genre, both in terms of musicianship and composition."

Though Koivistoinen has shown a great interest in African music since the nineties, the clash between Scandinavian and African musical culture is absent on his latest record "Hati Hati", recorded with the Eero Koivistoinen Quartet. The eight tracks found on the album elegantly but sternly speak of a lengthy career within the genre, both in terms of musicianship and composition. Without drawing too many comparisons, the opening track in many ways mirror the sound of Miles Davis' modal masterpiece "So What", but this title track is among the more actively outgoing of the bunch. Later tracks like Moz or Relations are much more laid back and easy going, the latter in particular with its lengthy and voluminous bass section.

The organic fluctutations of the compositions seem entirely unpretentious and highly expressive. The deep felt expanses of the veteran's saxophone coupled with prominent piano playing provides an unusually pleasant and easy going atmosphere that brings to mind the many aspects of every day life, from the busy goings of a  metropolis to a sunny autumn afternoon. All these attributes come together to form a monumentally well-crafted and listenable jazz album. From the perspective of a selective jazz listener Eero Koivistoinen Quartet have committed a highly enjoyable and personal record, in this case presented on beautiful black vinyl. The group's warmth and the masterful interaction between the members are among the prime examples of what makes Hati Hati stand out. A solid 8/10 album.

Tracklist:
1. Hati Hati
2. Seaside
3. Relations
4. Times They Are a-Changing
5. Moz
6. Things
7. Far North
8. Helium

Eero Koivistoinen official site
Svart Records official site

Cosmo Cocktail - Cosmotronic Racing [Full length] (2015, 30th Floor Records)

Oversaturated neon-nostalgia

Cosmo Cocktail's album comes courtesy of 30th Floor Records, a label dedicated to the synthwave genre. Though not a veteran per se, they were definitely one of the early movers within the scene to organize and release synthwave albums from independent artists. Cosmo Cocktail, based in Italy, prides himself on his use of hardware synths, sequencers and drum machines, and with good reason. With a morass of new artists emerging from the scene every day there's more than a few who rely solely on standardized VSTs and digital sequencer software, often resulting in an amateurish feel to otherwise groovy synths in a rude and entitled celebration of the fact that nowadays "anyone can make music".

Should you somehow be in doubt of what sort of music an artist with a striking alias like Cosmo Cocktail and an album title such as Cosmotronic Racing would compose, you needn't look further than the cover artwork and the tracklist itself. Complete with neon racecars and titles like "Neon Tokyo Nights", "Sunrise at 180MPH" and "Speedlove", there really can be no doubt as to the intentions of the artist. Rolling neon synths, pounding plastic drums and dark, exotic ambience is all part of the game. And game may well be the right wording in this context, because Cosmotronic Racing - apart from the fact that the title itself feels like it - sounds daringly close to the soundtracks of late eighties to early nineties arcade racing games!

"Cosmotronic Racing seems not like a quick grab for attention or success, it is far too sincere for that."

The Italian races down the nighttime highway, but rather than doing so in a proverbial Testarossa, Cosmotronic Racing drives more like a nice, unasuming black Honda. The album cuts through the night at a brisk pace, hinting at times to previous decades through token gestures to Tangerine Dream and Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack in the company of dubious drum types. Cosmotronic Racing seems not like a quick grab for attention or success, it is far too sincere for that. Rather, while engaging in every concievable cliché of the genre, the half-hour tour through the colourful eighties grasps at straws and hangs on by the skin of its teeth to find a foothold. There's the insisting speedway track, the cruisin' down the road track, the darker track - The only thing missing is the power-pop ballad.

With accomplished songwriters such as Mitch Murder, Dynatron, Power Glove and Lazerhawk dominating the scene, there's little room for mistake if you want to join the big leagues. Synthwave needs drive in order to not fall victim to the dreary and samey nature of simple electronic drums. Mitch Murder gets around it by adding a funky groove, Power Glove are masters of creating and breaking flow, Dynatron has great buildup and hooks. Cosmo Cocktail loses ground in all these fields. The album opener, "Speedlove", has a combination of the above to some degree, but sincerity and nostalgia aside Cosmotronic Racing feels rushed to the point of being a slew of good ideas thrown into the trunk of a car together with a drum machine, whereupon being transported through a minefield. 5/10 guitars.

Tracklist:

1. Speedlove

2. Neon Tokyo Nights

3. Wangan Midnight Club

4. Cosmotronic Racing

5. Do Androids Dream of Electric Human Beings?

6. Sunrise at 180MPH

7. The Blackbird

8. The Bayshore Route

COSMO COCKTAIL on Facebook

COSMO COCKTAIL on Bandcamp

30th Floor Records official site

Hard Action - Sinister Vibes [Full length] (2015, Svart Records)

Leather-rocking biker music with everything it entails

Everything about this band screams "we're one of those seventies hard n' heavy clones from Sweden that land somewhere in the midst of a circlejerk consisting of early Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Girlschool". The promo shots feature sunglasses, denim, beards and a bandana. The cover presents wrecked guitar equipment and a stylish seventies design. Songtitles like Watch Me Burn, Cut to the Bone and Dead Dogs really do the trick. It's a sure thing, right? Well, no, not really.

These Finnish bad boys - a veritable super group to say the least, consisting of fine musicians from Speedtrap, Forced Kill and other prominent Finnish bands - may be sporting the mandatory seventies hard rockin' biker dresscode, but these motorcycles carry them to far punkier territories. When they're the punkiest they sound like a head-on collision between a flashier Ramones and Danzig-era Misfits on speed. When they're the heaviest, Airbourne and a slew of other hard rock bands come to mind.

"It's tough to compare Hard Action to any one band or scene because they borrow so much."

There's really no defining moment on Sinister Vibes, the band's debut album. With no real highs or lows to set the bar, the tracks come off as being nothing but a case of explosive nostalgiarrhea. It's tough to compare Hard Action to any one band or scene because they borrow so much. To put it bluntly, they sound like every aviator shade-wearing biker cop on Earth had an unlubricated orgy on top of a giant heap of Gibson guitars and Marshall stacks.

It's not that Sinister Vibes is a boring mess, it's just that this particular style has been done better by other bands, and it seems mostly like a group of already established musicians wanting to cash in on the recent resurgence of popularity in the genre. It's entertaining enough, and it's certainly listenable with its hookless chords and flashy shredding, but ultimately nothing really stands out. Hard Action is in many ways to hard rock what Speedtrap is to speed metal: A crash course in all the tropes and an entirely by-the-numbers experience going top speed through a wall of nostalgia. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Dead Dogs
2. Chosen Few
3. Cut to the Bone
4. Night Moves
5. Deadweight (Cut Me Loose)
6. Watch Me Burn
7. Hey You
8. Sinister Vibes
9. Gun Point
10. No Lesson Learned

HARD ACTION on Facebook
HARD ACTION on Bandcamp
SVART RECORDS official site

Death Hawks - Sun Future Moon [Full length] (2015, Svart Records)

Consistently ambitious and well-crafted nature-rock

The Finnish folk and rock scene has many gems hidden to the rest of the Western world. If you're not acquainted with the progressive grooves of Sammal, the ecclectic ramblings of Paavoharju or the laid back finesse of Riitaoja, all I've got to say is get going! One of the many surprising acts that the land of a thousand lakes has to offer is Death Hawks, a group which has been consistently releasing albums and touring Europe since 2010.

While the morbidly titled debut from 2012 hinted at sun-powered seventies-gone-modern psychedelia through compository valleys and mountains alike, and the self-titled follow-up from the year after flew among the stars on a hypnotically interstellar space rock trip, the Finnish group's third album - Sun Future Moon - opts for a greater scope than the preceding releases.

The dreamy ambience that Death Hawks has integrated into their sound on the previous album features strongly on Sun Future Moon, contributing with alluring synths, smooth bass and wistfully effective guitars and strings right from the start with the first offering of organic folk rock "Hey Ya Sun Ra".

"Sun Future Moon... ...elaborates on the sound and style they found on their two earlier efforts..."

No doubt about it, Sun Future Moon rings like a true Death Hawks album and showcases a band still going strong in terms of songwriting on their triennial album. While Sun Future Moon shows what we already know the band is capable of, it also elaborates on the sound and style they found on their two earlier efforts, and is - like nature - in an ongoing state of evolution. The A-side of Sun Future Moon provides a stern, traditional approach, while the B-side is a bit more on the daring side of things. As an example "Dream Life, Waking Life" comes off as a Riders On The Storm-esque psychedelic lounge piece, while the follow-up track "Heed the Calling" has late sixties earworm written all over it. And next, airy pop track "Wing Wah" takes over, followed by a fragile composition of spaceous guitar ambience akin to Black Sabbath's Planet Caravan.

The captivating bass play of Riku Pirttiniemi has, to my great pleasure, been promoted to a more prominent position, driving forth the lingering synths and gentle instrumentation with a sense of instinctual purpose. As usual Tenho Mattila's sax, synths and keys are juxtaposed against Teemu Markkula's more tenacious vocals, with the percussion provided by Miikka Heikkinen returning to a more traditional rock-setup, as opposed to the more tribal sounding rhythm section of the self-titled sophomore album. In many ways Sun Future Moon has succeeded in becoming a colourful amalgam of every essential element of Death Hawks. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Hey Ya Sun Ra
2. Ripe Fruits
3. Dream Machine
4. Behind Thyme
5. Seaweed
6. Dream Life, Waking Life
7. Heed the Calling
8. Wing Wah
9. Future Moon
10. Friend of Joy

DEATH HAWKS official site
DEATH HAWKS on Facebook
SVART RECORDS official site

Gouge - Beyond Death [Full length] (2015, Hells Headbangers)

Kolbotn, Norway, is perhaps best known for fathering Darkthrone. With Gouge, there's really no semblance to those legends, turning more towards an American style of thrashing, grinding, old schooling death metal in the dirtiest style imaginable.

Their album debut, released on respected label Hells Headbangers, is about as graceful as a car crashing at a hundred miles per hour against a flock of devoted christians. The count-in of the opening track 'Wretched Passion' is about as classic as it gets. In that way the demented Norwegian death metal duo portray their convictions rather vividly at an early stage. Paying tribute to the legends of early American extreme metal, Gouge represent a state of mind that's all about combining riffs designed to be played at insane speeds with equally fast drumming. Since this hasn't been tampered with to the point of musical regurgitation in ProTools, this means it sounds a bit sloppy. Just like it should.

When you aim for the legacy of the likes of Repulsion, Impetigo, Autopsy and Master, slowing down once in a while may not always seem to be part of the equation. But without the contrast between fast and slow, the faster, thrashier parts don't stand out as well. Tracks like 'Butcher Attack', 'Devil's Debt' and 'Morbid Curse' do this adequately, but they are the exception to the rule it would seem. The fist-fight riffs are forcefully captivating, but it all gets a bit much over the course of the half hour Beyond Death lasts without slower parts to mediate the sonic chaos that is Gouge.

While I enjoy grinding death metal as much as the next guy, I also like when neckbreaking speed is juxtaposed with slower, churning sections. Maintaining an evil atmosphere by speed alone is tough when the majority of the riffing is savagely simple, and the longer tracks - especially the title track, which also serves as the closing track - are easily the best on Beyond Death. Whether the band's debut is beyond anything but a respecting homage to the groups that started it all I'm not too sure, but it is a fun listen nonetheless, even if it doesn't quite soar to modern classic status. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Wretched Passion
2. Breath of the Reaper
3. I Smell of Rotten Death
4. Blood Feast
5. Putrefaction
6. Butcher Attack
7. Morbid Curse
8. Malady Macabre
9. Uncontrollable Madness
10. Chaos and Horror
11. Devil's Debt
12. Beyond Death

GOUGE offical facebook
Hells Headbangers official site

Symphony X - Underworld [Full length] (2015, Nuclear Blast Records)

Introducing Symphony X should almost be unnecessary. Symphony X have been a mainstay in both the progressive and the power metal scene for many years now, each album reaping heaps of great reviews and praise from critics and listeners alike. Their reach is far and wide, spanning neo-classical, progressive and groovy compositions. Fronted as always by the immensely talented Russell Allen, Underworld is an album that needs only a few listens to convince.

Disregarding the quality or lack of the same of Russel Allen's many collaborations and appearances, including Jørn Lande, Ayreon and Adrenaline Mob, Symphony X will always feel like the vocalist's true home. His variation between gruff Anselmo-ish vocals and higher melodic vocals are in focus on almost each and every track, leaving no doubt that he is as essential a part of Symphony X's music as guitarist and main songwriter Michael Romeo. Where 'Iconoclast', the band's previous album, dealt primarily with mankind's promethean relationship with modern technology, Underworld has returned to the more mythological subjects as the albums from earlier in the band's career.

Though not among the initial singles, the track 'Charon' feels like one of the strongest tracks on their ninth album. There are several strong tracks that I for one will be listening to for years to come, including 'Nevermore' and 'Kiss of Fire'. Symphony X are masters of the power ballad, and of course there is one on Underworld as well. 'Without You' is as strong a ballad as ever, but Underworld lacks the lengthy prog display of power that most have come to associate closely with the group. Almost every album up until now has had one of these tracks, but 'To Hell and Back' is the best we've got this time around. A mighty track, but not quite akin to the masterpieces like the Divine Wings of Tragedy and the Odyssey title tracks.

In many ways Underworld feels like a mix of the band's three previous albums, combining the neo-classical progressiveness of The Odyssey, the lofty compositions of Paradise Lost, and the heaviness and powerful groove of Iconoclast. You always hear talk of "the difficult second or third album" when talking about a band's career. Never the impossible ninth album. Most bands have lost their flair long before reaching that point, and in that way it's refreshing to hear Symphony X release such a powerful and well carried-out album more than twenty years into their endeavour. Their output has been incredibly consistent quality-wise, and while Underworld may not be in their top 3, it comes incredibly close. Closer than many bands could ever hope to achieve this late in their career. This is unmistakingly Symphony X as we know them. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Overture
2. Nevermore
3. Underworld
4. Without You
5. Kiss of Fire
6. Charon
7. To Hell and Back
8. In My Darkest Hour
9. Run with the Devil
10. Swan Song
11. Legend

Symphony X official site
Nuclear Blast official site

Rape on Mind - Downwards [Full length] (2013, Self-released)

Experimentation is the essence of progress. Some musicians take this to heart and always seek to push boundaries, and some are content to just fine tune what has been done before. What is worth remembering is that experimenting with no real goal or purpose probably won't yield any usable results.

My initial reaction to Downwards by Rape on Mind was something along the lines of "huh, I wonder where this is going". These notions of experimentalism were however quickly exchanged with a feeling of disappointment. Downwards starts out with some atmospheric saxophone, which I tought was pretty interesting, bringing to mind darkjazz groups like Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation. But I found that these fleeting moments of intrigue were few and brief. Before long the music of Rape on Mind degrades into mindless chugs with late-era Max Cavalera vocals, like a thugged-out Soulfly. To me, Downwards seems like a rancid misinterpretation of what death metal and grindcore are about, jazzed up with aweful groove-core elements.

It's not like chugging riffs are the bane of all that is holy. But chugs only work if they're used as interludes between more meaningful songwriting. Otherwise the music will just be an amorphous mass of start-stop pseudo-riffs with no real merrit. Deathcore bands usually take the heat for being too chuggy, using downtuned strums at irregular intervals at every possible climax, but at least most deathcore has climaxes, varying intensity and temper. Instead, Rape on Mind just jerks around on the floor in a half-hour seizure to the sound of a malfunctioning jackhammer, making even the simplest deathcore acts seem like gracious ballets.

Perhaps I'm being unfair. The second half of Downwards shows a more varied approach to songwriting, and bands like Portal (Which I quite like) have very little variation in intensity, and their music is exactly just an amorphous mass of riffs. But at least their music has wanderlust, purpose and atmosphere, which is something that can't be said of this Polish group. Keep in mind that I don't particularly care for this kind of music at all, so take that into consideration whilst reading this. But I think Downwards by Rape on Mind is complete rubbish. 4/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Downwards
2. Remorse
3. Steps
4. ......
5. Nothing
6. Lost
7. Memories Always Burn
8. Break or be Broken
9. Question

Rape On Mind on Bandcamp
Rape On Mind on Facebook

Defilementory - The Dismal Ascension [Full length] (2014, Torture Music Records)

After three long years it's time to revisit a prominent Danish death metal band. Finally, Defilementory have released their debut full length album, after having teased death metal fans with their 2-song EP "Infatuated with Deformity" from 2011. What made them stand out to me was the prominent bass work, and the fact that they so finely balanced elements from brutal, technical and "regular" death metal in a mix that was both impressive and extremely enjoyable. Needless to say, I've looked forward to this release.

Though the Danish band has always flirted with the more technical aspects of death metal, those elements have now become much more dominant on The Dismal Ascension, leaning closer to bands like Gorguts or even Deathspell Omega than ever before. In that regard their previous release, 2011's demo EP "Infatuated with Deformity", was more straightforward in its usage of technical passages. As an example, the track "Misanthropic Emancipation" features some fairly interesting use of sliding riffs and popping bass amidst ruthless slams. The Dismal Ascension has it all, and the four title-tracks that serve as the pièce de résistance more or less serve as a condensed presentation of everything the band is capable of. From raw quarries of primitive slams and structures that may at first sound like basic chug-a-chug diddley-diddley type affairs to sprawling deltas of blazing melodies and weirdly dishamornic themes, Defilementory's debut album is a release that both hails the greats of the genre and seeks new territory.

Where brutal death metal can often come off as clumsy and thuggish, Defilementory are deliberate and precise. Where technical death metal can become too intricate for its own good, the Danish band prove themselves as masters of flow. But - and there always is a "but" - there are a few scattered occurances where things tend to get a bit out of hand, with the usual groove and flow of the band being beaten down at the hands of overly atmospheric harmonies. The track "In Soullessness - Supremacy" is one such occurance. However, those brief moments are vastly outnumbered and outclassed by the much more memorable passages that make you wish for more. I'll be returning for more. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Misanthropic Emancipation
3. In Soullessness - Supremacy
4. The Mask of Anatomy
5. Endless Abjure
6. The Horrid Reflection
7. Abhorred Veracity
8. The Dismal Ascension - Vengeance
9. The Dismal Ascension - Despair
10. The Dismal Ascension - Sovereign
11. The Dismal Ascension - Departure

DEFILEMENTORY on Facebook
DEFILEMENTORY on Bandcamp
Torture Music Records official site

Uncoffined - Ritual Death and Funeral Rites [Full length] (2013, Memento Mori)

The mix of doom metal and death metal has arguably been around in some form since some time in the 80's and has since been perfected by notable and influential bands like Asphyx and Autopsy. The Finnish scene especially is known for it's gloomy ways in death metal, and much in the same way we find the British band Uncoffined, who've subscribed to the old ways of down-doomed metal of death.

Spanish label Memento Mori heeded their growling calls and released their debut album "Ritual Death and Funeral Rites" in the autumn of 2013. Treated to a few classic quotes from the British school of horror flicks, we're sent on a journey through heavily distorted and down-tuned guitar melodies and roaring, cavernous vocals. The whole thing is set at a murderously slow pace, showing no signs of ever halting its forward momentum.

The churning chugs mixed in with a few darkly melancholic melodies are adequately accentuated by a powerful bass. One can only guess whether the immensely simple yet compelling songwriting is the result of one man's effort or the orchestrated endeavor of the entire band, but the musicianship in itself speaks of a band seasoned in the arts of metal. Indeed, all the members of the heavy quartet have play in several bands of varying nature - Something that is highly evident on Ritual Death and Funeral Rites.

Were I to compare the accomplisment of Uncoffined to a more established act, it would be Finland's shooting stars Hooded Menace. However, this is also where the British band's shortcomings are revealed. Hooded Menace are a result of the international death/doom scene booming in these last few years, probably reaching its all time high in popularity. And by that standard, Uncoffined have joined the movement in the eleventh hour, almost completely missing the boat. Were it not for the great craftsmanship with which their material is presented, they would by now already feel very dated, like a band seeking to cash in on a trend.

What Ritual Death and Funeral Rites really lacks are more tempo changes. The distorted convulsions of guitar are of the essence in this manner, but without even slower or some faster passages to emphasize their meaning and effect it's hard to fully appreciate the crushing broadsides of sluggish overdrive and fuzz in the long run, which in this case of just above forty minutes of murky horror-worship. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Twisted Shape of Creeping Terror
2. Night of the Witch Childe
3. Ritual Death and Funeral Rites
4. Blasphemous Execration of Holy Ground
5. The Devil and the Old Cursed Tree
6. Frustrations

Visit Uncoffined on Facebook
Visit Memento Mori

Asilo - Comunión [Full length] (2014, Self-released)

Turmoil breeds frustration and anger, which in turn breeds outlets for that frustration. South America has had a rich history dating back to the early 80s of metal bands expressing their anger through their music and lyrics, and like those legendary and trendsetting bands from the days of yore, the four-man group Asilo from Argentina presents a lyrical universe revolving around themes such as politics and the suffering it can bring, set to a soundtrack of furious and often dangerously calm mix of doom-laden drones drenched in grimey sludge.

Pure aggression is one of the mainstays of Asilo's music, of that there can be no doubt. In a hardcoresque style, lead singer Manuel Platino practically screams his lungs out to the sounds of harshly distorted bass and thunderous percussion. Comunión's structure as an album is also one of the strengths that underline the band's style. The way it fluctuates between insane cacophonies and inky pools of fragile pianos - or even saxophone at one point - is what makes listening to Comunión as an album interesting.

However, aggression necessitates some kind of structure and form. Were it not for the disciplined interludes of classical piano set regularly throughout the album to provide some sort of contrast, Comunión would appear to be a harsh collection of discord. There are a multitude of examples of bands that do this unhinged, rambling musical lunacy all too well, but Asilo lack the intensity and groove that those bands utilize.

The vocals, though wholy authentic and honest, come off as a bit too immusical to me. In grindcore, the gratingly raw vocals are an essential part of the whole expression, complete with that intense wall of distortion. But in Asilo, the vocals take up a lot of space in the mix, and needlessly so. Coupled with that is a lifeless overall sound which so lacks that concentrated emission of sound. This isn't the first time I've had the (dis)pleasure of listening to guitarless music, using instead a fairly driven bass. But to be succesful in that endeavour, you better make damn sure the bass has drive and punch enough to take the guitar's place.

The main highpoint of Comunión was, to me, Miedo y Curiosidad from the latter part of the album. This track feels somewhat out of place, although not entirely. It features the same harshness as the rest of the album, but is graciously garnished with the haunting sounds of a well-played saxophone, adding a thick atmosphere of eerieness that the rest of the album sorely needs. Elaborating on what I mentioned earlier, Asilo's first actual album since their spawning in 2010 is an honest affair where they stay true to their own values - Something that many bands could learn a thing or two from. But that particular style does nothing to me, other than fill me with a wish of listening to something else. The saxophone melodies in Miedo y Curiosidad committed that last shred of reason to the insanity that made it a more easily digestible portion, but the rest of the album remains a bothersome clutter of confusion. 4/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Geografías
2. Pichiciega Fe
3. (epidemia mundial del desencanto)
4. La Paciencia del Cuchillo
5. Arquitectura del Silencio
6. (anti voz)
7. Dinámica del Cambio
8. Mideo y Curiosidad
9. (no a la vida)
10. La Ultima Voluntad

The music of ASILO is available on Bandcamp
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0 The Experiment - Simplifying A Demon [Full length] (2013, Self-released)

Whenever I see a band or project labeled as drone my warning bells start ringing. Much too often drone has been used as a cloak for lazy songwriting, blaspheming against great acts like Boris or Sunn O))).
Supposedly the idea behind 0 The Experient is seeing how far you can take music with just a bass. Apparently the answer to that conundrum is "not very far", because most of what Simplifying a Demon presents is a mimic of what you might as well do with a guitar in much the same manner. Disguised in a veil of treble distortion, sometimes accompanied by pseudo-jazzy bass fiddling, the bulk of the work presented might as well have been a regular bedroom black metal band. Add to that the weak nature of the vocals, and you've got yourself a long, boring album.

0 The Experiment affiliates itself with tags such as drone, black metal, minimalistic and experimental. Indeed, there are tracks that are veritable feasts of reverb and distortion delivered in an appropriate wall-of-noise manner. And black metal too has an obvious presence among the seven tracks the project's first album. It's all presented in a very minimalistic and simple manner. What I don't see is the experimental part - Experimental for the practitioner perhaps. But there's hardly anything progressive, avant-garde or otherwise experimental in nature about a guy rubbing out some mostly mediocre basslines to unengaging lyrics and unending wads of boring drone. Simplifying a Demon is really basic stuff, and "The Experiment" simply lacks the ritualistic ambience that makes black metal and drone great, without adding anything else to take its place.

Looks like the ol' warning bells were right. But then, in the midst of all this mediocrity comes the two last tracks, Demon and Ritual to Nothingness. The latter portrays a great entrancing feel of cosmic psychedelia while still maintaining an odious core of something a bit more sinister hidden away among the meldoes, while the former feels like a downright study in the bass' capabilities as a more analog counterpart to the synthesizer, bringing to mind some of Burzum's finer works in black metal and ambience in spirit. I don't particularly care for the lifeless black metal aspect of Demon, but there is still a bounty of quality to be found therein. And while the two works show great promise and showcase the diversity of the bass as a versatile instrument, the same cannot be said for the rest of the album. It baffles me that the rest of the album is such a mess of coma-inducing boredom.

Those two tracks that I have praised seem like they should be the main core of 0. With or without the help of computerized effects, the modern electric bass can provide astounding amounts of diversity... Something that is for the most part poorly expressed on Simplifying a Demon. 4/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Prophet In Blood
2. Black Elf
3. D.I.E. (Death Is Eclectic)
4. I, The River
5. Waiting for Something to Die to Eat
6. Demon
7. Ritual to Nothingness

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Licrest - Misery [Full length] (2014, Music for the Dead)

I've had my hands on a good portion of Armon Nicholson's material. For those not initiated in his cult and dogma, Nicholson is an American musician with quite an astounding body of work. In the last few years he's recorded and released six albums, seven EPs and an assortment of other releases under various monickers, exploring virtually every sub-genre in extreme metal, all without any significant lapse in quality. The guitar-wielding metalhead's trademark is immensely powerful compositions and top notch production, usually set to a crisp guitar groan.

Misery is the second album Nicholson has released under the name Licrest. While the first album, Devoid of Meaning from 2013, was pretty straight forward in its execution, the second album is less so, though still keeping close to the almost symbolic and iconic branches of immaculate doom that permeated the debut. Misery is a slow burner, never hurrying anywhere lest you miss the churning rhythms found within. The album in itself is constructed in just the same manner as the songs, with a few intermissions giving room and air around the lengthier main tracks, and it serves as a way of building tension for those songs.

I've found that most bands playing a mix of death and doom metal fall within one of two categories: One is laden with rot, relying heavily on death metal and Autopsy-inspired riffs set at the churning pace of doom metal. The other is the kind where almost gothic melodies and finer tunes play the leading role, with the doom parts resounding more heavily. Armon Nicholson's Licrest project falls outside this sentiment, and belongs to that minuscule quantile that is different from the rest of the bunch. It neatly balances the uncompromising nature of death metal with the sombre essence of doom metal, pertaining to the ominousity of both genres in equal amounts.

On Misery, Nicholson firmly establishes his rightful place among the big shots as an accomplished songwriter with flair for multiple genres. Other than the fact that the lyrics can sometimes come off as a bit whiny, there's really not much to complain about. And this is what makes a great album. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Into the Abyss
2. Regret
3. Forever Lost
4. Like a Flood of Anger
5. A Starless Sky
6. I Want to Watch You Die
7. Misery
8. Make Up
9. Fading Away Into Nothing
10. The Heart of Winter
11. Exhale

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Armagedon - Thanatology [Full length] (2013, Mystic Production)

Go digging around in Poland's heavy metal history and you'll come up with quite a few gems. Only a few Polish metal bands exist in the mind of the general populace, some of the more prominent ones being Behemoth, Vader, Dead Infection, Graveland and Kat, only a few of which have their roots in the 80's. Then there's Armagedon from Kwidzyn, Poland. Their carreer originally stretched from 1987 to 1994 where they released a few demos and the album "Invisible Circle". In 2006 the original members, the Maryniewski brothers, again picked up the mantle of Armagedon, going on to release the moderately appreciated "Death Then Nothing" album in 2009 and finally "Thanatology" in 2013.

Aside from an introductory section of the opening track, Helix, which sounds like something lifted from a Paul W.S. Anderson film, the new incarnation of the band offers brutally chiseled death metal, carved from the same material that gave us Vader, Sphere, Embrional, Empatic and Hate. The album reflects a certain respect for where death metal has come from, but also a desire to show where death metal should go. Through a presentation of highly kinetic songwriting and commendably immersive production the various fluctuations between grave melodies and simpler, more primal elements the Thanatology album achieves the fine balance between various subgenres to make the release an everflowing stream of interesting and modern angles on a genre that has already been thoroughly mapped and explored.

There is a certain duality to be found within the music of Armagedon. This schizophrenia comes mainly at the hands of the many different elements brought to use in their tracks. Where songs like Cemeteries focuses on eerie, drawn out aspects, a shorter opus like Self Destruction feels significantly more primitive and primordial in both its composition and its delivery. Slawomir's hollow growls neatly puts the finishing touches on the glorious monument to death metal created by the effective rhythms and gruesome riffs provided by the rest of the band, convincingly showing off the internal dynamics achieved between the band members. But - Because there's always a but - in the long run and the grand scheme of things Thanatology lacks hooks. The album deserves a few listenes from any death metal fanatic, but it never soars above being merely thoroughly enjoyable. The grueling song Altar of Death and Vultures both have the gist of classics in them, but common between all the tracks is that they arbitrarily shift between tremolos, chugs and various melodies set to blastbeats or double-pedal punishment at the drummer's discretion. The inaudibility of the lyrics makes it feel like the lyrical content doesn't matter at all, and when held to the incredibly high standard set by many of their peers, Armagedon just doesn't quite compare. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Helix
2. Vultures
3. Cemeteries
4. Self Destruction
5. Altar of Death
6. Black Seed
7. Corridor
8. Tragic Journey


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Deus Otiosus - Rise [Full length] (2014, Deepsend Records)

Deus Otiosus represent the comet-like carreers of some contemporary death metal acts. Since the release of their first album, Murderer, in 2010 - only 4 years ago - the seasoned Danish group have toured extensively in Denmark and have signed with Deepsend Records. For those unfamiliar with Deus Otiosus their mission statement has always been returning to the roots of thrashy death metal through a more modern sound and production. The members' involvement in various other prolific Danish metal bands has previously meant a generally high quality of songwriting, valuing tormentingly ruthless content.

Long-time fans of the group will be pleased to find that Rise continues in much the same style and quality of the prior albums, Murderer and Godless. Newcomers should likewise easily be able to appreciate the dauntless riffs, the punishment of the drumkit, the powerfully booming bass and the hoarsely growled vocals which all make up the signature sound of Deus Otiosus. And this is exactly what the band is all about; While they are highly derivative of classic death metal their material never quite comes off as a complete rip off. Listening to tracks like Breeding Maggots or Iron Rule feels like greeting an old friend you forgot you had, sounding familiar while still adding various musical chunks giving it that modern aftertaste.

Staying in the spiritual neighbourhood of old school death metal means there's only so much you can do to experiment while still finding yourself within the frame of mind set by those standards. As such the third album sometimes feels unadventurous, often depending on the same elements and build-ups over and over again. That recipe is effective in live settings, providing ridiculous amounts of head-banging circle-pitting material, but when you've got the music all to yourself at home it has a habbit of making the listening experience a bit tedious over time.

Having early on adopted a way of enticing listeners with get-the-job-done lyrics like "Don't fuck with the dead, or the dead will fuck with you" the by now well known Danish band aren't exactly focusing on virtuosity or groundbreaking musicianship, and in that lies the very appeal of Deus Otiosus. They're not trying to be something they're not and they stick to what they know: Effective ass-kicking death metal. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Rising War
2. Iron Rule
3. Don't Fuck With the Dead
4. Breeding Maggots
5. Vultures
6. Walk the Shadows
7. Stand Up and Fight
8. Will and Fear
9. Fall of the West

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Bone Fragments - Blood Spatter Bone Scatter [Full length] (2013, Self-released)

Through a carreer spanning eight years Bone Fragments from moonshine country Virginia have produced a demo and three albums of black metal with the theme of... Clowns and carnivals? I could scarcely believe what my eyes beheld in the promo material; A bunch of youngsters in varying degrees of clown-like get up, synth-based metal melodies washing ashore somewhere in the borderland between eerily cheery and creeping melancholy. My immediate thoughts were something along the lines of "you have got to be fucking kidding me".

But no, they are not kidding. While Bone Fragments at first glance keep a healthy ironic distance to their chosen themes, the amount of work put into their third album tells an entirely different story. Disturbing synthesized ragtimes take the helm while start-stop guitar grooves lazily hang back in search of something better to do, only to emerge on pseudo-virtuosic soli every once in while whenever the guitarist feels like it. Once or twice the Virginian band brings to mind the works of Emperor or perhaps Arcturus, but these moments are - regretably, I might add - few and far apart.

The project known af Bone Fragments is essentially a take on black metal that wants so hard to be boundary-pushing, different and modern that instead it comes off as comically bad, which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't seem like there had been so much work put into making it sound good. The production in itself is quite commendable with everything balancing out nicely, but why anyone would waste the sound's potential on music so wholeheartedly awful is beyond me. Their exploration of a silly gimmick does not seem to stem from musical wanderlust, but moreso like a vain attempt at being different in some way that their skills as songwriters does not permit.

This is especially evident in the fact that almost every track is incredibly long without needing to be. There are only two reasons for a track to be very long; Either you are experimenting and exploring vast vistas of instrumentation or melody, or you're building atmosphere. The songwriting on Blood Spatter Bone Scatter does neither. Most individual passages of instrumentation go on forever and ever for the sake of meandering through samey synthesizer melodies. I get it. You thought it'd be funny to make a melodic metal album rife with synths over a joking gimmick. You didn't have to make it an hour long.

Where do you go when you have no good ideas? Well, maybe you can come up with a terrible one that is at least original! That seems to be exactly what the ensemble known as Bone Fragments did. Maybe they were too hopped up on moonshine to realize there's a reason no one ever thought it was a good idea to make a clown black metal band. Either way, Blood Spatter Bone Scatter is an underground piece best left unattented. And for the record, no, I don't think I take music too seriously. I just think that gimmicks mostly serve as placeholders for actual talent. 3/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Laughing as You Get Sick and Die
2. The Weeds, the Reeds, and the Muck
3. Cryptosporadic
4. Kathleen
5. The Frail and the Demented
6. The Lure
7. Would You Like Some Candy?
8. Aliens and Clowns
9. The Clown with the Bleeding Eyes
10. Euphoric Delirium
11. Even More Deranged
12. Solstice
13. Island of the Dolls
14. The Boneyard

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Karonte - Paraíso Sin Fe [Full length] (2012, Self-released)

Since 1994 Karonte have unleashed a slow but steady stream of death metal upon the Spanish masses from their homebase in Cantabria. Except from one change of drummer back in their demo days, Karonte has had a highly stable lineup.

The quartet is most often labeled as melodic death metal, so it may come as a shock when you're met with a fat, simplistic and grooving guitar as opposed to the squeaky clean hyperactive wankery that has been made a custom by especially the Swedish scene. Karonte strive to meet the genre in the old school way, meaning exactly what it is: Death metal with a slightly more melodic tinge. As such they aren't as susceptible to the weaker elements of the genre, namely overly melodious solos and riffs that border on metalcore.

On Paraíso Sin Fe flashy melody comes second to groove-laden passages where guitars, bass and drums go hand in hand. But there are times on their second album where it only seems suitible to go a little more overboard on the whole spectrum. Even when the tide is high their grooves feel a bit too controlled and as such it seems like they're restraining themselves. I get that it's not all about speed and brutality, but Paraíso could stand to benefit from just a tad bit more in that department.

I wouldn't offend Karonte by putting them in a box neatly marked "melodic death metal", because they are much more than that. Tracks like Falaris and Carme show their affinity for the heavier aspects of the genre, while Mercado Infecto's marching pace brings back memories of certain death/doom groups.

Paraíso Sin Fe feels like the product of a band sure of what they wanted to do. It adequately mixes enough different elements to keep things interesting for the almost 40 minutes the album consists of. It seems sincere and doesn't follow modern trends. But even so, with the little variation in tempo evident on Paraíso does as times make it feel like a long journey. With the arguably fastest track starting things off, each songs is more or less a step down, culminating in the bluesy closing track, Gris. I found myself often tempted to take a break from the album because it felt like nothing exciting was going on anyway, and without the promise of a greater track later on the album, there's little reason to listen to the album in one sitting. There seems to be only little thought-process behind the tracklisting, because the flow feels uneven and weird. The title track serves nicely as an album closer as Gris (the actual album closer) is too unlike anything else heard on the album and therefore feels like more of a bonus track or intermission. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Carme
2. Mercado Infecto
3. La Piedad De Los Débiles
4. Falaris
5. Repta Humano
6. El Día De Las Alabanzas
7. Paraíso Sin Fe
8. Gris


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Drug Honkey - Ghost in the Fire [Full length] (2012, Transcending Obscurity)

Drug Honkey evolved from the 1997-project "Chronic Illogic" with Paul Gillis and Adam Smith at the helm, handling vocals and drums respectively. The band was designed to merge together several musical currents, most of which would be considered metal. Ever since the first album, the self-titled 2002 release, electronics in the form of excessive sampling and abrassive synths as well as an industrial, sludgy death metal sound have been the heart and soul of Drug Honkey. Through lineup changes and live performances the band from Chicago has endured to see the release of their fourth album in 2012, and have a new EP coming out in 2014.

When it comes to heaviness, bands like Triptykon, Conan, Hooded Menace, Sunn o))) or Coffins often come up as prime examples. But those that have witnessed the gospel of Ghost in the Fire know that Drug Honkey are giving all these acts a serious run for their money. The loathesome American quartet grudgingly strikes up an atmosphere of a psychedelic inclination, carved from a body of fuzz and reverb. More than once the speakers threatened to give in under the stress and booming rumble of the downtuned strings, the paranoia-inducing ambience adding reality-shattering depth to the otherwise lonesome drones of the bass and guitars.

Describing Drug Honkey's sound means reaching deep into a vocabulary that seems almost dried out of adequate adjectives. The cavernesque vocals sound at times like Asphyx's Martin Van Drunen being firmly pressed through a rusty grate. The drums eeriely accompany every track like the ever-present stalker haunting his victim. The album comes to a steadily paced halt on the second-to-last track "Twitcher", which is also where it is at its most far out stage. The stygian darkness of this psychedelic track builds up to the grand finale: Saturate/Annihilate, the culmination of everything shown thus far by Drug Honkey. The contrast between the two is where the mix becomes most volatile and seductively dangerous, being both the highest and lowest point of Ghost in the Fire. Every "song" is in itself a parody of life and a mockery of sentience, yet I couldn't imagine listening to Ghost in the Fire for the sake of a single track. The album works best as a whole, each track providing its own element to the final result. A fine specimen indeed. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Order of the Solar Temple
2. Ghost in the Fire
3. Weight of the World
4. This Time I Won't Hesitate
5. In Black Robe
6. Dead Days (Heroin III)
7. Five Years Up
8. Out of My Mind
9. Twitcher
10. Saturate/Annihilate

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Countess - Ancient Lies And Battle Cries [Full length] (2014, Barbarian Wrath]

Ancient Lies And Battle Cries presents a new chapter in the history of Countess, the 2013 EP "Sermons of the Infidel" serving as an adequate bridge between the "old" Countess and this newer incarnation. The Dutch band has for the most part been a one-man effort at the hands and throat of Orlok, with a select few exceptions mainly in the 90's, and last year's EP and the new album marks the time when Countess has once again expanded upon the lineup with the addition of Zagan on guitars. Zagan also played guitars on the 1997 EP "Hell's Rock and Roll". Ancient Lies And Battle Cries is an album that has been underway for many years with several versions being worked and expanded upon since 2004.

The Dutch band has been around since the 90's, and the many albums the band has produced over the years has revealed a decisively traditional heavy metal approach to black metal, a tendency which has only been made more apparent with each new release. This means keyboard synths aplenty, as well as a slower and more melodic pace than most contemporary black metal groups. The songwriting and composition in itself also speaks volumes of Orlok's love for tradition, only seldom expanding into full fledged black metal grandeur. Each track on Ancient Lies And Battle Cries is very lengthy, almost excessively so. Tracks like Battle Sky and By Hammer And Blood go through many changes, both stylistically and in disposition, before their end, meaning that each song can be different to discern in the grander scheme of things because there are relatively few hooks to remember them by. Beneath The Eye Of Wisdom is an exception to this and is arguably the album's strongest track in itself with its hate-fueled heaviness, catchier guitar section and more easily digestible song structure taking it a step further.

The addition of a guitarist has added substantial depth and heaviness to Countess' music, something that I had lamented in my review of their last album "On Wings of Defiance". I'm still not entirely sure why Countess so openly shuns layered guitars. An old school approach to recording an album with each instrument being recorded simultaneously might explain it, but this technique is more or less ancient and it is doubtful more than a handful of jam-based bands use this anymore. The addition of more layers of guitar would drastically change the drearily ongoing nature of Countess music, and while some may consider this to be how the band is supposed to sound, I personally think it would greatly add to the music's enjoyability.

Ancient Lies And Battle Cries, although greatly improving upon the formula used in the writing of On Wings Of Defiance from 2011, ultimately suffers from many of the same problems. Many tracks bar a few good ones merely meander around in an impressive abundance of tedious melodies without ever truly blossoming into the raw epicness they so obviously strive for. Burn The Throne, Cursed Seed Of Aten and Beneath The Eye Of Wisdom are definitely the three best tracks on Countess' newest album, with each of these cuts actively marking the fact that Orlok is a seasoned musician, and that he has it in him to produce some cool songs. But it seems to be too much of a hit-and-miss type of thing. 5/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Battle Sky
2. Call of the Ancient Pantheon
3. By Hammer and Blood
4. Vengeance of the Slain
5. Beneath the Eye of Wisdom
6. Confessions of a Polytheist
7. Pray for the Cult
8. Cursed Seed of Aten
9. Burn the Throne
10. The Last Temple

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