NATTERGAL 'Singular Disasters' Even the most raw and atmospheric Black Metal bands have something extraordinary to offer and Nattergal is no exception, smothering the genre with cold, depressive and doom-laden feelings is just one difference, the fact being the project is performed by one female musician from Mexico is another, in fact her debut album 'Singular Disasters' has far more ambience on it than a session with the hippies. 'Singular Disasters' brings together a host of different styles of Black metal, moulds them together and delivers what one could perceive as one of the most rawest albums released to date, even so with the album designed for fans of evidently Raw Depressive Black Metal, it is one of a kind and should never be disregarded as a commoner. [7] RHYS STEVENSON MURDEROUS INSTINCT 'Manifestation Of Evil' Those uncanny Scotsmen, producing metal music to piss off the English because we tend to fail at Brutal Death Metal, well when you take into account Aberdeenshire's Murderous Instinct, you get the nostalgic feeling of the many battles between the nations, Culloden for example. But you tend to realise, hang on, this album has got more than angry musicians on it, this is a damn good masterpiece. So when the Scottish quartet shed out their debut album 'Manifestation Of Evil', the production is acceptable, but the music is godly and so without any doubt whatsoever, what we have here is an album that fans of Excrementory Grindfuckers, Cerebral Bore and The Atrocity Exhibit will love, now where's my cooking haggis. [9] RHYS STEVENSON SHEBREW 'Provenance' So apart from the fact the band's logo is similar to that of the iconic Star Wars logo, Brummie trio Shebrew come galloping out of the gates with their debut EP 'Provenance', putting together a juicy meal of Stoner Doom Metal to captivate the listener into a false sense of security, why? Well it's hardly Doom Metal at all, it's that sort of music you play when smoking weed at a campfire and hang out with the hippies, and it's mellow and delightful, if that's the best way to put it. But taking into account that this is a damn good starting point for the band, they may well get some major attention, or at least they deserve to, simply inspirational. [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON DEPRAVED PLAGUE 'Systemic' Well hospitals in Cambridgeshire must be overwhelmed with people suffering neck pains and other broken bones, the cause of the accidents can be blamed onto the infectious album release by Cambridge Death Metal mob Depraved Plague. This year the quartet unleash total chaos with their debut album 'Systemic', a futile sound of old school Cannibal Corpse and modern style techniques combined together to smash every skull who stands in their way, in fact scrap calling it Death Metal, the term 'Radioactive Metal' would befit them to the very cells from which they are made of, it's lethal, it's metal and it's 100% dangerous, Deprave Plague are on course to rival the world's biggest Death Metal titans, game on. [10] RHYS STEVENSON APPARITION 'For Vengeance... And For Love' METAL COMPASS Making their welcomed return is Staffordshire's Apparition with their sophomore album 'For Vengeance... And For Love' and their unique style of soul-soothing Gothic Metal. Two years have passed since their 2010 compilation and the wait has been worth it, delivering beautiful female vocals with an atmospheric backdrop, this is a album that creates a feeling of relaxation, a sort of stress-release entertainment, but however the listener perceives it, this is a band that deserves credit and recognition as bringing a new style of Gothic Metal to the forefront, sure they are not on the same par as bands similar to them like Within Temptation and Delain, no, in fact they are one whole level above them. [9] RHYS STEVENSON PRAYERS OF SANITY 'Confrontations' Simply put the best ever Thrash Metal band Portugal has ever seen, enter Prayers Of Sanity and their awaited return with their second offering entitled 'Confrontations'. The second album delivers break-neck Thrash Metal in the style of Slayer-cross-Holy Moses and so what you get is forty minutes worth of total brain-f*cking material. Pummelling drums ride the waves as the guitars provide tricky and technically demanding riffs and the vocals blast out at a thousand M.P.H., all in all this together provides the algorithm for what can be see as Portuguese Metal album of the year. Think you know Thrash? Think it's just how fast you can go? Until you know this band you know nothing of the kind. [10] RHYS STEVENSON SYNODIK 'Sequences For A New Matrix' The storm is oncoming, this is the new sound of modern Italian Metal. Synodik emerge out of the underground with a new style of music developed on their own accord, enter Cyber Death Metal. Mixing the delightful sounds of keyboards and lyrics regarding technology and everything on par with that, it won't be long before this Italian lot are signed, rest assured. Their debut album in question is a myriad of sounds and as such totally obliterates any pre-conceived ideas about the sound and well quite frankly, if they don't get any global attention, then it will shock the whole global community that this is without any doubt Italian Metal album of the year. [10] RHYS STEVENSON IN THE SILENCE 'A Fair Dream Gone Mad' If you're a fan of emotional and somewhat a little depressive music then you should not turn a blind eye to 'A Fair Dream Gone Mad', true its ideally Atmospheric Prog Metal, but even so the melancholy is enough to turn any priest demonic. 'A Fair Dream Gone Mad' is the debut album by Californian quartet In The Silence and it features eight tracks equating to forty-six minutes of ambience, rock and general misery. The composition is good granted but the overall release is a little bleak, its one of those albums that sits in the corner of the cupboard, gathering dust and yet fails to lose its lustre, although the irony is that it's meant to be dark, perhaps it is what it's stated as, 'A Fair Dream Gone Mad'. [5.5] RHYS STEVENSON DISARM GOLIATH 'Born To Rule' Instantly the whole Iron Maiden sound hits you like a raging bull high on illicit drugs, but when you dissect a band like Disarm Goliath, they do have some influences coming in from Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Metallica (especially the solo's) and intriguingly they tend to have that Brummie sound; the home of metal. So when their sophomore album 'Born To Rule' comes out to rock the countryside, what it does instead is captures the essence of Heavy Metal gone-by and adds some modern features; we'll leave the listener to detect them. None the less, 'Born To Rule' is an album for the fans of Classic Metal and also bands like Kobra & The Lotus, Kaine, Merciless Fail and Rage. [7] RHYS STEVENSON PLANET RAIN
'Antichthon' Of course anyone would be mistaken to dub every Swedish Melodic Death Metal band the same, in truth it's just not the case, every one of them has something unique to offer, especially bands like Planet Rain who make their long-awaited debut album 'Antichthon' take flight in spectacular form. Delivering a fist punching wall of sound in the heaviest obliteration to date, this is the sound to smack the clone bands into line. 'Antichthon' hosts a brutal onslaught of outrageous riffs, emotional vocals and classic drumming; this is just the beginning of something magical. [7] RHYS STEVENSON
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AVVEN 'Kastalija' 5 years passed and now Slovenian Folk Metallers Avven set sail again with their emphatic sound of traditional Slovenian music and language mixed with the highly intricate Folk Metal genre, their second album 'Kastalija' is a highly intricate piece of wizardry in musical terms, dramatic and highly emphatic in the veins of power, dominance and complete intellect. Mixing their native sounds with the global dominance of Metal, Avven are a treasured gem awaiting to be unleashed upon the world, 'Kastalija' is a release for those fans of traditional Folk Metal and bands like Aperion and Tyr. [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON GROG 'Scooping The Cranial Insides' MURDER Burgeoning Portuguese Brutal Deathgrind masters return with their third full-length album in their 20 year journey through highs and lows, with 'Scooping The Cranial Insides' it culminates a sound of funk riffs and insane vocals, so sickening and brutal it makes the civil wars seem almost like a communal gathering. Blood-thirsty drum beats aligned with a streak of atmosphere-slicing riffs and gut-rotting vocals, this is Portugal's sickest hour, a true collaboration of extreme metal music and extreme gore lyrics, whether these musicians are doctors in their main profession is a mystery, but by 'Scooping The Cranial Insides' out, Grog is a beast of immense dirt. [8] RHYS STEVENSON DAOR 'From The Bleeding River' Daor unleash a solid wave of sonic destruction with their latest release 'From The Bleeding River', the Gibraltarian quintet (now based in Nottingham) provide the most insane music coming from the big rock, as maddening as the monkeys on the rock and as brutal as the border control, Daor are causing an apocalyptic cataclysm of Industrial-infused Death / Thrash Metal, leaving a fuller sound of fury, balls and utmost sweat in all areas of the bodies orifices. Daor is flying the flag for the Gibraltarian Metal scene alongside fellow countrymen Breed 77. [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON THRASHERA 'Speed Sex 'N' Roll' METAL REUNION Fresh from the factory is Brazilian Thrashers Thrashera with their 2010 demo 'Speed Sex 'N' Roll', whilst the raw recordings add a sense of unique sound to it, the vocals lack clarity and so make the demo less appealing, but for a band from South America, this is the norm (albeit Sepultura), however don't be fooled, with a soul-splitting vocal range and sharp musical compositions, this is the next generation of the critically acclaimed Brazilian Thrash Metal scene. This is an early sign that something soon will happen, probably a wider recognition. [6.5] RHYS STEVENSON MUDWALL
'Omniscient Media' Belgian newcomers Mudwall do not hesitate in unleashing a sexual beastly combination of Death / Thrash Metal immersed in Groove Metal, to create a dynamic blast of danceable Heavy Metal. With their debut demo 'Omniscient Media' released this year, Mudwall are clearly one of the next Belgian band's to fall grace to the British Metal media, whilst only one year old, this is a band with promising potential, a band tipped to be the next big Belgian export, fruitful riffs and intricate vocals and drumming come together on this excellent first-run. [8] RHYS STEVENSON MODUS DELICTI 'Nobody' COMATOSE Promising Italian Brutal Death Grindsters Modus Delicti unleash a torrent of hell with their debut album 'Nobody' with a slice of extreme vocals and drums to compliment the near-gone guitars. Whilst the album itself offers a piece of bizarre music, the overall product is a mass combination of noisy vocals and furious musical compositions which together rival the very essence of musical creativity. 'Nobody' although nothing new is one of those albums that is still good however. [7] RHYS STEVENSON ANTROPOFAGUS / PUTRIDITY / PRION / INFECTED FLESH / MASS INFECTION 'Split Torso Trauma' COMATOSE Combining all forms of flesh from sickening Spain, icky Italy, aortic Argentina and gory Greece is some of the Brutal Death Metal underground storm-troopers, although it has a variety of bands on song, the general sound is there, so more so like a 5-band split compilation rather than a split, essentially a split for which caters for all various extreme tastes of Death Metal in its entirety. Full on mind-blowing sonic beats of pure drumming, outrageous riffs and vicious vocals, this is practically all that can be said about this release. [8 - across the board] FACE OF OBLIVION 'The Embers Of Man' COMATOSE Apocalyptic American Death Metal mob Face Of Oblivion unleash insanity and brutality in all demoralizing forms to cause unsightly chaos on all levels of extremity. With their debut full-length album 'The Embers Of Man' the motion of sickening vocals and down-tuned guitars electrify the barely noticed drumming compositions exerted by this quintet, overall this album is a mystifying array of mindless torture, cursing mass murdering and fearless anguish, 'The Embers Of Man' is seemingly apt to be dubbed the goriest album of 2011. [8] RHYS STEVENSON I CHAOS 'The Human Repellent' RITF Dutch Brutal Death Metal newcomers I Chaos quickly become a powerful force striving in the underground with their ear-shattering debut album 'The Human Repellent', whisking together a heavy punch of bone-crushing drumming and flesh-ripping riffs amongst gut-gurgling vocals, I Chaos is to become the next extreme act from the land of windmills and flowers, make no mistake this quartet mean violent business and should be taken with a pinch of precise warning, this music is not for soft metal listeners, I Chaos is 'The Human Repellent'. [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON ABINCHOVA
'Versteckte Pfade' Valiantly galloping over the Swiss Alps and around the beautiful Matterhorn is Swiss Melodic Death / Folk Metal septet Abinchova, whilst not as heavy or folk-orientated as fellow countrymen Eluveitie, Abinchova instead implement their native sound via the lovely sound of violins and so devise their own sound. Sort of traditional folk meets the modern sound of metal in this twisted debut album named 'Versteckte Pfade' (roughly translated as hidden path), but with this in their arsenal, Abinchova are a band just waiting to explode into the wider Metal scene. [8] RHYS STEVENSON GMN - Vol26 - Motör Militia, The Silent Rage, Smouldering In Forgotten, Abriosis, Analdicktion21/7/2011 MOTOR MILITIA 'Cloaked In Darkness' Within no doubt, the middle east's finest Thrash Metal band, Motör Militia return with their sophomore album 'Cloaked In Darkness' after seven years. The quintet from Bahrain take the music into their own stride, with sensational riffs encased with a Heavy Thrash Metal approach coming from the drums and whilst the vocals implement a slice of mental brutality, the overall album has a kick-ass spirit to it, so much to say for Slayer's monumental 'Reign In Blood' as being a classic, for Motor Militia have just redefined the meaning of 'classic', however situated in a country with only a few metal bands in current existence there lies no real competition, only from other Middle Eastern countries, even so Motor Militia are essentially flying the flag for the Bahraini Metal scene, 'Cloaked In Darkness' is an essential album for any Thrash or Global Metal fan, a true diamond-of-an-album found in one of the smallest Middle Eastern countries. Combining Arabic and English lyrics is just the beginning for Motor Militia, but for the Bahraini Metal scene, it is no longer 'Cloaked In Darkness'. [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON THE SILENT RAGE 'Harvester Of Souls' Greek Melodic Power Metal quintet The Silent Rage unleash their second EP 'Harvester Of Souls' with a Sonata Arctica tone to it, with highly pitched vocals and a percussive beat, The Silent Rage take their Greek atmosphere and channel it into something greater than the acropolis and Ancient Greece, with a rally of riffs to savour any untamed hearing and a beat to keep those heads banging, The Silent Rage are truly in another level of Greek Metal, whilst the lyrical content or topic is unclear, they certainly know how to bring a fantasy-like presence to their music, merely scraping the barrel of darkness to encourage a feasible level of composition, essentially a force waiting to escape the boundaries of Southern Europe. [8] RHYS STEVENSON SMOULDERING IN FORGOTTEN 'I Devourer' Another one of Bahrain's Metal titans, Smouldering In Forgotten unleashed the darker side to this island with their sophomore full-length album 'I Devourer' released last year, armed with a brutalizing slab of Black infused Death Metal this sextet are the natural Bahraini rivals to Polish veterans Behemoth. Earthquake-causing drumming enveloped by a torrential wave of flesh-shredding riffs and mind-crushing vocals all coalesce to deliver one of the Middle East's most brutal and evil releases to date, whilst the music provides the brutality, the atmosphere changes into a thunderous imagination of sand storms, camels and barren deserts and not just the haphazard mirage. Smouldering In Forgotten are truly the Middle East's heaviest Metal band, watch this country metal scene at all costs. [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON ABRIOSIS 'Tattered & Bound' SHIT KNIFE Canadian Technical Death Metal newcomers Abriosis fire up the sound-blasting cannons with their fearful debut album 'Tattered & Bound', covering an extreme level of brutality it comes with an introduction which coherently doubles up as a sound warning, this album is not for soft-hearing people or ones suspecting of a Disney-laden Death Metal release, far from it, Abriosis cultivate a sonic streak of hard-hitting blast-beats shrouding some of the sickest riffs that rivals the aftermath of downing bottles of syrup and lubricating the larynx for a powerful explosion of brutal growling. Whilst falling short of the complexity of mathcore, Abriosis make up for lost time signatures by crafting and shaping their own sound, one which defines them separate to all Canadian Tech Death bands, a sure band to keep an eye out for. [8] RHYS STEVENSON ANALDICKTION
'Sluts' SCROTUM JUS Well this release takes the biscuit, Brutal Death Grinders Analdicktion from Singapore unleash a bloody torrent of sickening gore and molesting audio rape with their debut album 'Sluts', whether the vocals were jammed in the tape recorder remains unclear, yet is relevance to noise is clear as daylight, however it does churn stomachs and gives a vomiting feeling of which eradicates all pleasantries. Similar to Vulgate Dogmas, in terms of brutality and heaviness, Analdicktion is a product of the globally successful saw film franchise, just don't plan to walk away from this album without being tested, oh yes there will be blood. [7] RHYS STEVENSON SCORNGRAIN 'Utopia.Paranoia.Perversions!' DYNAMIC ARTS Finnish Cyber Industrial / Thrash Metal veterans Scorngrain abseil the electronic scaling of the Cyberspace to deliver their third megabyte, essentially their latest album 'Utopia.Paranoia.Perversions!' released last year, with a foundation of synthetic synthesizers and trance music providing the backbone to Finland's answer to Norway's Black Comedy, Scorngrain are gathering momentum in the Cyber Metal category and with their latest effort do not likely to give up for one moment, a true work of the digital structure kind. [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON HARM 'Demonic Alliance' BATTLEGOD PRODS. Promising Norwegian Thrashers make their sophomore album the more the sweeter by included a supplementary DVD to make the album even more sick, with clear chunky bass lines and percussive drumming serving as a sumptuous basis for really heavy vocals and raging riffs, Harm maybe the next generation of the big four Thrashers. Pounding sound waves emanate from the speakers in true surround sound and with this as a second coming, Harm are on the way to become Thrash Metal favorites, watch this space. [10] RHYS STEVENSON MR.DEATH 'Death Suits You' AGONIA It just seems all the same, Swedish Death Metal has not deviated from it's classical structure and nor has Mr.Death, added to the fact the vocals are horrifically poor it makes hearing Justin Bieber sing much more musical, the music itself is a little conciliation, but overall the EP 'Death Suits You' released last year is one of those that should be given with a warning, be wary of it, for it is not one you would expect any day to reach Unleashed's standards, let alone magazine standard, it's a nice effort, but with more tuning they would make it better. [4] RHYS STEVENSON CEPHALIC IMPURITY 'Unique Brute Revival' SOULFLESH COLLECTOR Well essentially a brutal album with not much to say in the vocals, although it has it's own brutal tantalizing result, this is Russia's Brutal Death Grinders Cephalic Impurity with their second album 'Unique Brute Revival' released last year. Whilst not as clear as Finnish same-genre stalwarts Deathbound, this quartet from Izhevsk unleash a brain-smashing torrent of ravenous riffs and sick slick style drumming in conjunction with gut-rotting vocals, so for those who find music hard and heavy, be warned, this is a hell of a lot heavier. [8] RHYS STEVENSON DUSK CHAPEL
'A Passage To Forever' FONO Ukraine Black / Death Metal newcomers Dusk Chapel return with their second serving of early Behemoth style music with more gusto than the Ukrainian national football team, whilst not sounding really Black Metal in terms of drums, the latter excited enough dark matter to unleash hell in the most striking of manners, essentially a fair decent attempt but lacks that little something, not just musical composure either, but 'A Passage To Forever' is one of those releases that resides in the 'either you love it or hate it' category. [7] RHYS STEVENSON GRÁ 'Helfärd' UNEXPLODED Sifting through the mass production of Scandinavian Black Metal is Sweden's Grá with their raw BM debut EP 'Helfärd', now whilst the lyrics are in Swedish, there is a great deal of rawness here and especially with the raspy vocals surrounding the ferocious atmospheric fuzz of the down-tuned guitars and beat-perfect drumming - all in all a traditional raw black metal release worthy of recognition in anyone's books. [7] RHYS STEVENSON PULMONARY FIBROSIS 'Interstitial Lung Diseases' LAST HOUSE ON THE RIGHT Simply noise, no musical effort, a limitless torrent of noise, no vocals just gurgling and the only saviour being the drums and guitars, but that is not enough for France's 12 year old band Pulmonary Fibrosis and their second album 'Interstitial Lung Diseases', perhaps they should have just stuck to medical science and not musicianship. [2] RHYS STEVENSON ORPHEUS 'Bleed The Way' ROCKSTAR Fresh from the streets of Melbourne is Australian Melodic Death Metal surfers Orpheus with their highly-anticipated debut album 'Bleed The Way', caressing the melodic force that Swede's Scar Symmetry exhibit, Orpheus are the latest metal band to bore the brunt of the Melodic Death Metal vein and in doing so do it spot-on, essentially the melodies waft around the atmosphere as if dancing and so alarm all listening, Orpheus means business. [10] RHYS STEVENSON THE RUSTLING OF LEAVES
'Reverence & Meanness' SATANARSA The debut from Ukrainian one-man project The Rustling Of Leaves alleviates all misconception about the Ukrainian Black Metal aesthetics, especially as this is an instrumental - a bizarre one for Black Metal but essentially still has hard and evil as your average BM band. The debut album 'Reverence & Meanness' born in 2009 qualifies as one of those albums where the listener is left asking questions, whether that be a good things rests with the listener, just don't bank on this project doing anything spectacular. [6] RHYS STEVENSON |
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