  BLOODLINE SERIES 1, 2 & 3 Compilation WHATEVER NEXT / ROCK MATRIX So unleashing the ultimate smackdown of Metal is the Bloodline Series, spanning from series 1 to 3 and delivering a feast-for-your-ears exhibition of some of the finest talent that's found in the Bandquest competition. Bands all over the country are found on this remarkable series as well as a rainbow-array of Music genres, from your breakneck Thrash Metal to spine-chilling Black Metal and from your gut-wrenching Death Metal to your soul-soothing Heavy Metal. But the bands on the compilations are not all unsigned, per se Sanctorum from Colchester are signed to Auburn Fox Records, but let's face it this is a grand vehicle for those unsigned to show what they can do and hope to gain a name for themselves, from Southend hopefuls Merciless Fail to ex-Essex University student band Dismanibus, let alone forgetting The Furious Horde are to play Metalcamp in Slovenia this year! What you hear here is not just a collection of songs, but a true monument to the beautiful side of the British Metal scene, nay the winner of the Bandquest competition gets to play at the Bloodstock Open Air festival this year. For all metal fans, getting these compilations will be money worth investing in as there is the likelihood you will be hearing bands who in years to come are going to be big, let alone huge in their local scenes. Summing up the three compilations without delving into insane lengths of paragraphs will be a tad tricky, however the best way to sum them up? Let the listener decide, let the rollercoaster begin and let Heavy Metal once again spew out fresh sounds. As Jimi Hendrix put it "Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music", so for the bands involved in the compilations and he Bandquest competition, they are not just producing music, they are making the changes to the British music scene and with this next wave of British Metal, nothing is going to stop them from re-establishing the United Kingdom as a major player in the Global Metal music scene. The compilations and t-shirts supporting Bandquest can be purchased from the Darkstore website individually (CDs and t-shirts priced accordingly), but can be bought altogether at any Bandquest event for £12 (3 CDs, 1 Bandquest t-shirt and 1 copy of the Altascope magazine), check out the Unified Sounds FB group for details on upcoming heats in London, Kent, Essex, Sussex, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. [10] + [10] + [10] RHYS STEVENSON  SCARRED BY BEAUTY 'Sutra' MIGHTY MUSIC Well it would seem almost imperfect not to call Scarred By Beauty a band of whom features ex-Hatesphere vocalist Jon Albrechtsen a threat to Danish Metal. Their debut 2011 album 'Sutra' carries enough gusto and whim to separate the virtuous from the down-right dirty. This is Hardcore-meets-Thrash metal = Thrashcore territory and should not be dismissed as another petty 'core' genre. With riffs as sharp as blades and drumming as hard-hitting as a knock-out migraine, Scarred By Beauty are set to take Europe by storm and set ablaze the roaming fields of Copenhagen. [8] RHYS STEVENSON  MORPHING INTO PRIMAL 'Principios De Autodestruccion' INDEPENDENT (RELEASED VIA XTREEM MUSIC) Certainly not what you would expect from a Melodic Death Metal, pummelling drums only equate to half of the miscategorising of Spain's Morphing Into Primal, with more emphasis on Death Metal being as clear as crystal, the quartet seem to know what they are doing, sure the language barrier may prove an issue for those non-Spanish speakers, but the music deals with that in sensational form. Or make the latter stages a brief moment, for the album does offer melodic death metal in the 'Gothenburg style'; nay they are not a cloned Dark Tranquillity, but a version of the Swedes. Sure there is nothing new exhibited from this group but don’t dismiss them that easily, they are due to bring something new to the Spanish Metal scene and with this effort, they can only excel. [7] RHYS STEVENSON  STALWART 'Manifest Of Refusal' PRC MUSIC There is something about Russian Metal that seems to have that spine-tingling effect and Stalwart's fourth outing is no exception. ''Manifest Of Refusal' conjures up the prolific sound of blazing drums and ear-shredding riffs, both brutal enough to leave listeners with hearing problems. If carnage was evident in music, this sums it right to the bone. A futile example of speed and intricate technicality posted on an apocalyptical sound echoing to the crossing of Behemoth-meets-Gojira style Death/Thrash. If you thought that the Russians were only good for Pagan or Slavic Folk Metal, you'd be mistaken, prepare to be disembowlled, as this is shortlisted for Russian Metal album of the year. [9] RHYS STEVENSON  MASS HYPNOSIS
'Sanctimonious' GEENGER RECORDS Carrying on from the well-received 'Dis4nimation' which was released back in 2010, Croatian Melodic Death quintet Mass Hypnosis return with their follow-up 'Sanctimonious', at first it seems like another cliché-loaded Melodic Death album, but the tides soon change into the sounds of Hail Of Bullets, In Flames and The Dead Lay Waiting; a culmination of Melodic death Metal, with breakdowns and thrashing drums here and there. There is a new sound with this band and although the lyric topics are on verge of controversy, the imminent result is a futile explosion of Modern Metal. Comparing to their debut album, there is more orchestration present here and this gives a greater brutal experience. 'Sanctimonious' is to take this Croatian bunch into further fields across Europe and are certainly ones to watch out for. [8] RHYS STEVENSON
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 OMEGA LITHIUM 'Dreams In Formaline' DRAKKER ENTERTAINMENT/SONY BMG Coming out with their debut full-length album is Croatia's Industrial Gothic Metallers Omega Lithium, full of dark beauty and infectious dance tracks, the quartet emerge out of the shadows. Mixing a delicate balance of Gothic elements with the heaviness of Metal to deliver a journey full of lust, love, power and extremity. Spine-shocking riffs collide with brutal drumming and a femme fatale vocal array to dissimilitude any current trends with Industrial Gothic bands. Omega Lithium exhibit a willful act of destruction amongst many variations of musical creation, an exemplar of true darkness. [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON  MARTYRIUM 'Awakening The Ancient' WITCHCRAFT Hailing from the tiny island of Malta, Melodic Black Metal group Martyrium certainly make up for the island's small geography position, with their 2010 album 'Awakening The Ancient' delivering a solid onslaught of Cradle Of Filth style compositions, a true testament to the English titans. With an array of dark melodies and Maltese ideologies, Martyrium wield a battle worthy of recognition on all fronts, a signal that the Maltese Metal scene is big as any other opposing nation's Metal scene. Martyrium are flying the flag for the Maltese Metal scene. [8] RHYS STEVENSON  METALITY COMPILATION 'Sounds Of The Middle East' http://www.metality.net/ Amassing a myriad of North African and Middle Eastern Metal bands, the website Metality unleash a torrent of exciting and underground metal bands into the wilds of the internet. With an army of bands from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, the website proves that these two regions of the world have a growing underground scene, wielding a variety of metal music from the likes of Oriental Folk Metal to Deathcore and from the hardness of Metalcore to the Melodic and Symphonic Metal kind. With a 50-track collection, this is certainly a digital release any Metal fan should endure in downloading, whilst it is in two downloadable parts, the 300 odd megabyte file is certainly worthwhile the download time it has to endure. No mistake about this compilation, Metality bring out the best of the promising and deepest underground bands in both regions, whilst not completely focusing on both regions, namely Libya (although no active bands exist) was not included, nor was Israel, Iraq or Azerbaijan. Failing that the true essence remains and it is undoubtedly the gateway for North African and Middle Eastern Metal to wreak havoc on the Global Metal scene. Forget the hookah, dress-down out of the traditional Arabic uniforms, as Metality unleashes the 'Sounds Of The Middle East'. [10] RHYS STEVENSON  EVOCATION
'Apocalypse' CYCLONE EMPIRE Returning with their third full-length album is Swedish Death Metal warlords Evocation, producing a seminal outburst of thrifty riffs, fifth-gear speed drumming and guttural incantations, the quintet from Borås implement a harder version of the Swedish Death Metal era and exhibit a different stance towards the common genre that has become. Certified for moshpits to begin and headbanging to become imminent, Evocation visualizes the new wave of Swedish Metal. [8] RHYS STEVENSON |
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