GMN - Vol39 - Ghost, Neuroma, Engraved Disillusion, Poisonwood, Slaves To Fashion

GHOST
'Opus Eponymous'
RISE ABOVE

Highly acclaimed Swedish Heavy Metal sextet Ghost make their paranormal purposes known with their debut album 'Opus Eponymous' released last year to sensational acclaim. For a band who focuses on Satanism as the core lyrical content and yet implores a Halloween stance to their music and dress code, the boys from Stockholm drag out the darkness from the graveyards and awaken the spirits surrounding the alter, cursing the main vicar of the band into eternal gloom and despair. Ghost may not be the Iron Maiden, but almost certainly a pioneer of 'Halloween Metal'. No wonder this band is known all over the place, this band has so much more to offer in time to come.

NEUROMA
'Extremophile'
GRIND SCENE

Nucleating their empowerment on the masses is the latest Liverpudlian scallywags Neuroma who detonate a brutally bone-crushing blast wave of mental Death Metal. It is fast, insane and charismatically brain-squishing, with each song comes half a baker's dozen of blast-beats, rigorous riffing and a vicarious atonement in the vocal department. Here is a quintet with enough balls in the music to overthrow any other band fighting in their field, namely Cerebral Bore. Scousers they may be, but by Metal and heart terms they are five men who have started the battle of the decade.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

ENGRAVED DISILLUSION
'Embers Of Existence'

Somerset Melodic Death Metal newcomers Engraved Disillusion make their move with their debut album 'Embers Of Existence' now unleashed, collecting such influences from bands like The Dead Lay Waiting, Sorrow of Batavia and Wintersun, the quintet from Taunton unleash a torrent of sick riffs, harmonious melodies and unquestionable intricate musicianship. 'Embers Of Existence' is a symbol to the Somerset Metal scene that it is bursting with petals of power and is ready to assail the nationwide Metal music following. Without a doubt Engraved Disillusion are one of the next English Metal hopefuls and with this effort clearly demonstrate they have what it takes to be a well known Metal band.

[9] RHYS STEVENSON

POISONWOOD
'Pseudo Utopia'

As majestic as the Indian Jones films and as brutal as an F5 tornado rampaging across Arkansas, American Melodic Death Metal sextet Poisonwood return with their savage slaughtering-of-an-album, in this instance their sophomore album 'Pseudo Utopia' (their second album in their two years existence). Fist-pumping a flurry of classic Melodic Death Metal tunes in the sound of the Gothenburg Metal style, but don't let that flounce you, organizing an unconformable assault of quick-paced music and a relentless ease of mass audio attacks, this is just the inaugural beginning for these bad boys.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

SLAVES TO FASHION
'Artistic Differences'
HANDS OF BLUE

Possibly the next big Progressive Metal band to emerge from Europe, essentially Slaves To Fashion make their feelings heard with their debut 2011 album 'Artistic Differences', with clear Queen and Kasabian influences on the rock side, the Norwegian quartet deliver a tasty outburst of soul-soothing music with a radio-friendly atmosphere riding on it, somewhat similar to A-Ha and their song 'the living daylights', even so Slaves To Fashion bring the beauty of chilling out to the masses on this release, this is probably the Norwegian album of the year 2011.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON