Blood of the Black Owl are an atmospheric doom metal band. They don't try to crush and overwhelm like funeral doom does (although they music is crushing), there are no growls, no lyrics of loneliness and depression as gothic doom metal has, and they don't have that monotonous, gravelly vocal tone that stoner doom has. The music is mostly instrument...

17/05/2010

Low Twelve have been around since 1998, with three <span class="yshortcuts">studio albums</span> under their belt and several tours of musical duty completed. At first listen, the band may just sound like another crunching, average hardcore band bellowing out their anger into a microphone. However, Low Twelve is apt at creating a sense for 'war met...

17/05/2010

Bifrost are an extreme folk metal band that blend harsh black metal riffs and vocals with more harmonized folk melodies. Hailing from Austria, the music on their latest output is very similar to their debut album from 2006: cold and brutal yet eerily cheerful. The keyboards do a great job at creating the folk inspired atmosphere, making it sound li...

17/05/2010

In The Depth Of Night sported a very short career, forming in 1996 and to split afte 1998. They seemed so full of energy with the fact they could crank out a promising demo each year, but with no Myspace or band website, it is clear that the band's musical origins will remain a mystery. Whatever happened between the two band members, Woytas and Mar...

17/05/2010

After being on the Crimes Against Humanity label for some time, Desolatevoid decided to release a three way split compiliation with fellow bands The Last Van Zant and The Parish. As a result, Desolatevoid got the first five tracks, Van Zant the next six, and The Parish the final two. While it seems like a heavily uneven distribution of play time, o...

17/05/2010

The industrial hard metal kings are back! After a five year hiatus since the 2005 album, <em>Transgression</em>, Fear Factory have hit the metal masses with their eighth studio album, <em>Mechanize</em>. And it is a perfect come back. Once again at the guitar helm is Dino Cazares of Divine Heresy fame after patching things up with vocalist Burton C...

11/05/2010

<em>Reptilian</em> is Keep of Kalessin's fifth studio album, and continues to show the ever evolving side of the band. Ever since the raw<em> Through Times of War</em>, Kalessin has always stepped up their game, either in intensity, production, or symphonic elements. With<em> Reptilian</em>, the band still maintains the intensity heard on the last...

11/05/2010

While Netherlands Starve call themselves doom metal, their style certainly has plenty of black metal in the mix as well. While the tempo of their four track demo is raw, distorted, and slow, the snarling is certainly black metal tinged. What listeners can expect from this demo is dirty, sometimes rock n' roll doom. "Stuck" is a great slow, plodding...

09/05/2010

Yes, yes, upon first listen Winter's Verge just sounds like any other power metal band with a story to tell, but fortunately the story here on their concept album, Tales of Tragedy, it's a little more than focusing around the fairytales and mythology. Following their wake of Italian bred metal, each release has a story to tell, with Tales of Traged...

09/05/2010

Finland is known for lots of great atmospheric death doom metal acts, from Shape of Despair to Skepticism. So it is no surprise that Black Sun Aeon, also from Finland, has a lot to live up to. Forming in 2008 and consisting of two main members sharing vocal duties, with a session member in between, the band has already released one album in 2009 an...

08/05/2010

Formed in 2004, Breathin God released this demo in 2008, showing a brief display of what they could accomplish. Combining the wildly electric riffs of Pantera with meaty metalcore chugs and a blend of harsh and clean vocals, this four track demo certainly shows promise. "This Way" offers some melodic metal in the vein of Killswitch Engage with hars...

08/05/2010

Ever wondered if a band could sound weirdly depressing? Enter Endless Journey! Very little is known about the band except that they are from Russia and the members are part of the project, Mehafelon. Their debut album is a grim, cold example of what blackened doom metal can be. Sporting distorted guitars, harsh, tortured snarls, and slow, plodding...

08/05/2010