 TBOPTPIAS 'Caucasian Flagellation' INDEPENDENT Potentially hailing from Barbados, Tboptpias are veiled in secrecy and there's very little information about who is in the band, whether they are from Barbados or indeed if it's a legit band (think Rhanawa vs. Oriksha Shakpana). Either way 'Caucasian Flagellation' is a very interesting release as it binds together influences from both the Black and Death Metal genres and thus somehow develops it's own sound for Tboptpias to experiment with. With the raw and low-fi production adding a crisp and underground feel to it, this debut EP is one for the ages and will surely appeal to those who indulge in extreme metal from exotic locations... that is if they are from Barbados; we know Conrad are. Download This: "Cholera" - Click to listen For Fans of: Cannibal Corpse, Vader, Impiety [7] RHYS STEVENSON  MEMORIAM 'Ravaged Approach' INDEPENDENT Cyprus does not exactly spring to mind when you think of metal music, yet this island nation in the Mediterranean has a bustling metal scene, full of hidden gems that will get your moshing before you book flights to this sunny and hot place. Memoriam so happens to be one of these gems, this ten-legged Melodic Death outfit certainly know how to deliver a cranial-crunching release, 'Ravaged Approach' is the bands debut EP and it gives generous nods to the whole modern style with Gothenburg elements in tow. 2017 could be Memoriam's year because this sort of sound will do well around Europe as Melodic Death Metal seems to be in demand of late, watch this band with vigorous interest. Download This: "Sated Bull" - Click here to listen For Fans of: Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth, Scar Symmetry [8] RHYS STEVENSON  CHEPANG 'Lathi Charge' INDEPENDENT Now based in the USA, Nepalese Grindcore merchants Chepang drop their self-titled EP with such force that you cannot just simply ignore it. Come on the band features two drummers for heaven's sake, and yet at times you can distinguish this easily from the forethought of them having just the one. Singing exclusively in their native Nepali, Chepang know their stuff as they bolt political and social lyrics with the grizzly sound of thunderous drums, tight riffs and vocals so thick that they're hard to understand - what more can you expect? Chepang take their name from the indigenous Tibeto-Burman tribe and the EP title comes from the Indian Media expression for 'baton charge'... yeah imagine being hit by a baton, that's what this EP will do to you. Download This: "Bidwa Ko Charam Sukha" - Click to listen For Fans of: Napalm Death, Tengkorak, Multinational Corporations [8] RHYS STEVENSON  SILENT TORTURE 'Your Creation' INDEPENDENT Revelling in the shadows of Old-School Death Metal, New Zealanders Silent Torture keep the style alive with their debut EP 'Your Creation'. With muffled growls at the helm, this ten-legged leviathan of bestiality slams down on the table an EP that spits vulgarity, hate and abhorrence. Whilst the core of the EP glimmers with the old-school sound, there's some parts which nick elements from the Modern Death Metal style and thus if you like, keeping both camps happy. 'Your Creation' might not be unique in any shape or form, but it's certainly a delightful blast to unleash upon your neighbours - unless their elderly and then in which case may the zimmer frame moshpit commence (joke). Download This: "Blasphemy" - Click to listen For Fans of: Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON  LUCIFUGE ROFOCALE 'Serpent Insurrection' BLACKENDEATH For the uneducated, Lucifuge Rofocale according to the Grand Grimoire, is the demon in charge of Hell's government by order of Lucifer. In the metal world they are a truly decent Black Metal outfit from the darkened pits of Nicaragua. This time round the trio come armed with their latest offering of demonic and bestial sermons in the form of their premier EP 'Serpent Insurrection'. Traditional Black Metal riffs course throughout whilst there's a delicate whiff of True Norwegian Black Metal in the atmospherics department, both aided by raucous vocals and riveting drumming. Overall a solid EP release that will definitely appeal to the Black Metal loyalists and those passionate about metal from exotic lands alike. Download This: "Luciferic Enslavement" - Click to listen For Fans of: Immortal, Carpathian Forest, Taake [8] RHYS STEVENSON  LUCID NIGHTMARE 'Lucid Nightmare' INDEPENDENT Northern Ireland is one of those metal scenes that despite having a wealth of talent, rarely sees any of it's offspring fledge outside of it's lands if only for a few bands, Gama Bomb for example. So when the attention turns towards the underground and bands like Lucid Nightmare deliver their first effort, eyebrows are raised, because when you listen to their debut self-titled effort, not only is it raw and delicious, it's true to the underground sound. 'Lucid Nightmare' is a release that whilst evidently lacks the ability to convince that the band is the real deal, it does come as a consolatory pleasant listen, one that borrows influences from Black Metal, Thrash Metal and Heavy Metal without straying into either one too far. 2017 should have high hopes for this quintet, they're clearly onto something. For Fans of: Toxic Holocaust, Slayer, Venom Download This: "Hidden Victims" - Click to listen [7] RHYS STEVENSON  COMMUNAL GRAVE 'Solace in Violencia' ENFORCER The members who make up the Pakistani Extreme Metal band Communal Grave have come out from their own communal grave (ha-ha... no), well the previous incarnation split back in 2011 before a new visage emerged just last year (2015) and with it they set on delivering a solid 'welcome back' release. The result? A powerful punch-in-the-face courtesy of their rather ironical debut album 'Solace in Violencia' which eventually came after 10 years since their inception. By throwing Melodic Death and Thrash Metal into the mixing pot, this Karachi-based horde have conjured up a release that is sure to draw some attention their way as its potency is second to none... it's sheer magnificence is untouchable. For Fans of: Scar Symmetry, Kreator, The Haunted Download This: "Pull The Trigger" - Click to listen [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON  RAGE MOB 'Unforeseen Disaster' INDEPENDENT Done in the traditional style of South American Thrash Metal, Rage Mob's first ever demo 'Unforeseen Disaster' is laden with chugging riffs, headbanging vocals and Teutonic drums, but even more impressive is the variety of style on this demo. From the fast to the slick, 'Unforeseen Disaster' is a demo that should be heralded by the Paraguayan Metal scene as one of the finest releases seen this year. By taking the Groove influence from Sepultura and adding the brutality of Slayer, this quartet are set to embark on something remarkable in the years-to-come. Sticking to true 80's Thrash lyrics, the band dives head-first into social issues, violent unrest and humanity's demise, how more fitting can this be? Download This: "Ritual Of Violence" - Click to listen For Fans of: Slayer, Sepultura, Evile [8] RHYS STEVENSON  APU RUMI 'Puka Yaku' INDEPENDENT The self-proclaimed 'Andean Folk Metal' sextet known as Apu Rumi have stamped their mark on the Peruvian Metal scene with their ethnic take on the Power / Folk Metal style. By releasing their debut album 'Puka Yaku', which is entirely in the Quechua language; thus becoming the first metal band to do so, they've effectively created a new style of Folk Metal. Quechua so happens to be the native language of the Incas and so thus making this album and band rather authentic to Peruvian culture. Immerse yourself in infectious melodies, thunderous drums and riffs, harmonious and Amazonian atmospherics but also traditional Inca folk music. 'Puka Yaku' is a truly unique and mesmerising release that will set the trend for Peruvian Folk Metal in years to come. Download This: "Tanta Qarwa" - Click to listen For fans of: Mägo de Oz, Skiltron, Angra [8] RHYS STEVENSON  EXITUS
'Rot 'Em All' INDEPENDENT Hailing from The Philippines, the Extreme Metal trio Exitus bind together elements from Black Metal, Death Metal and Thrash Metal to once again conjure up another demo, 'Rot 'Em All'. Yet whilst it's only taken a year to unleash this beast, it's 15 years since the band's inception and so it makes you question what on earth have they been doing all this time? Sleeping under rocks? No idea. But the demo itself is not bad, it's not great, but it does well to pass the time. None the less Exitus will have their fair share of attention across the South-East Asian Metal scenes, but for the wider world? Questionable but certainly not wishful thinking. Download This: "This Metal Lust" - Click to listen For Fans of: Toxic Holocaust, Carpathian Forest, Immortal [7] RHYS STEVENSON
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 PITBULLS IN THE NURSERY 'Equanimity' KLONOSPHERE France seems to have a love affair with the Progressive, Technical and Death Metal sub-genres as the latest installment in the genres metal history becomes real. 'Equanimity' is the second album by Pitbulls In The Nursery and it has enough bite to give you a severe case of 'headbangulitis'. Mixing sheer brutality and velocity with technical elements so precise, that even Einstein would not be able to figure them out. Taking the eccentric 'Insiders' and lengthy 'Your Dream's Not Mine', it is clear that the Pitbulls have got their vision for a refreshed Modern Metal well and truly recognized. If Gorod and Gojira were to produce offspring, Pitbulls In The Nursery would be the offspring you never saw coming, as they bring the apocalyptic, cataclysmic sound of full-on volatile metal to the forefront, you have been warned. Download This: "Insiders" - Click here to listen (link tba) For Fans of: Gorod, Gojira, The Faceless [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON  WINTERCOLD 'Paradise Is Not Here' SALUTE One of the latest releases by Wintercold is a single featuring two tracks, the first 'Paradise Is Not Here' is an instrumental and the second is a cover of Blitz's 'Razors In The Night'. Mastered once again by multi-instrumentalist Satanic Tony, this instrumental is loaded with enough doom and gloom to set the atmosphere straight, make the hairs on your neck stand up and position itself as a truly remarkable work of art. Standing at a whopping 14 minutes long, this instrumental will keep fans of Gothic Doom Metal entertained indefinitely whilst the cover offers a far more heavier and brutal side to the release; with of course Tony's infamous raspy, raw vocals. Limited to a run of 20 copies, this will be a sought-after single in the underground metal scene. 'Paradise Is Not Here' is without a doubt, a delightful listen. Get the single from the official Salute Records website here For Fans of: Demorian, Gothic Doom Metal [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON  CRUADALACH 'Rebel Against Me' METALGATE Arguably the Czech Republic's answer to Switzerland's Eluveitie, purveyors of Folk-laden Melodic Death Metal. Four years since their debut album, it was inevitable that Cruadalach would return to splatter a second offering across the Folk / Melodic Death Metal spectrum, by infusing Bohemian folk sounds (or wider Slavic) with bouncy aggressive beats, this octet set the bar high for fellow Czech folk metal bands to do better. Whilst perhaps leaning towards more of a Pagan Metal sound, this does not detract the music from becoming related to perhaps the Russian or Ukrainian approach, but rather setting itself up as standalone approach. For the seasoned metalhead who is indulgent in folk metal and melodic death metal in-tow, 'Rebel Against Me' guarantees to wet your whiskers. Cruadalach will certainly maintain a cult following whilst building upon the 'Bohemian Folk Metal' sound. Download This: "Life-Worshipping Bastards" - Click here to listen For Fans of: Eluveitie, Netherfell, Dalriada [8] RHYS STEVENSON  WINTERAGE 'The Harmonic Passage' INDEPENDENT As orchestrated as Fleshgod Apocalypse, symphonic as Rhapsody of Fire and elegant as Lacuna Coil, Winterage are the latest installment in the vibrant Italian Metal scene. Marching in with their debut album 'The Harmonic Passage', this inquisitive sextet utilize the majestic sounds of Power Metal with the gracefulness of Symphonic Metal to brood their own dramatic result. One that echoes the upper echelons of bygone operettas and modernizes the antiquarian nature of Italian renaissance masterpieces. In a nutshell 'The Harmonic Passage' is an honorable nod to the bygone years of classic opera, the already-veteran Italian Metal scene and lends itself as a path for new Symphonic Power Metal bands to follow. Lasting a sensational 70 minutes, this debut effort should draw attention from suited labels who would wish to take Winterage under their wings. Check out: "Winterage - The Harmonic Passage EP teaser" - click here to view. For Fans of: Rhapsody Of Fire, Therion, Avantasia [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON  FLAMEDROP 'Thoughts On Fire' INDEPENDENT Flamedrop are probably that one band you never thought you would see coming, well embrace it because this Hungarian horde are here to stay. Mustering up a cataclysmic of thunderous riffs, ground-shaking drums and vocals so vicious, venomous snakes are set to become obsolete. This quintet's debut album 'Thoughts On Fire' certainly ticks all of the boxes that guarantee it to be an instant hit across Europe if not the Hungarian Metal scene, it is brim-full of power, heaviness, brutality and technicality. There is no doubt that the following release will have to be extra-special to knock this one for six, because by this effort if Flamedrop are not snapped up by a major metal label, then clearly there is something wrong with this industry; 'Thoughts On Fire' is an easy contender for Hungarian Metal release of the year. For Fans of: The Haunted, Arch Enemy, Malefice Download This: "Cruel Intentions" - click here to listen [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON  BREZNO 'Kri' INDEPENDENT Four years on from their excellent debut EP, Slovenia's Brezno have shown no signs of stopping by delivering their debut album 'Kri' released last year. Maintaining their devotion to singing in the Slovene language, the sextet make no mistake at making their first effort a memorable one. Remaining true to their roots, Brezno once again prove themselves to be a key part in the 'New Wave of Slovenian Folk Metal' alongside the likes of Zaria and Avven, with 'Kri' providing Brezno a platform to build upon, we may very well see more of this tight-unit. Alongside their early Bloodstock appearance, it is inevitable that sometime in the future they will make their return, well with 'Kri' as decent as it is, it would be a high demand for their return. Download This: "V Nebo" - Click here to listen For Fans of: Avven, Zaria, Dalriada [8] RHYS STEVENSON  DREADED MORTUARY 'Vulgar Way To Die' INDEPENDENT To think that Indonesia is the only South-East Asian to produce quality Thrash Metal is a complete understatement, take for example Dreaded Mortuary's second album 'Vulgar Way To Die', it has enough Slayer in it to make Slayer retire early. This 30 minute adventure offers listeners a brutal onslaught of the classic 80's Thrash Metal sound, full on fast music with enough brutality to make you crack your head open. But whilst this is a solid album in it's own right, it is nothing new and therefore might just appear to be another Thrash Metal release to many, but despite this it still packs a punch and then some. 'Vulgar Way To Die' certainly gives Dreaded Mortuary the upper hand in staking their claim as a successful Filipino Metal export, watch them with interest. Watch this: "Vulgar Way To Die teaser" - click here to watch/listen For Fans of: Slayer, Megadeth, 80's Thrash Metal [8] RHYS STEVENSON  WATERLAND 'Our Nation' INDEPENDENT Be honest, Portugal is one of those countries that doesn't really get much attention when it comes to metal music with the exception of Moonspell. Take away the veil and you find a fired-up, pacey metal scene and it's bands like Waterland who keep it going. Take their third album 'Our Nation', it's sensational blend of Symphonic, Melodic and Power Metal gives it that so-called 'Epcot' feel, the sort of vibes experienced at the Disney park. Either that or the sort of sound that would give Portugal their long-awaited win at the Eurovision Song Contest. It is because of the contrasting sounds, that this album can be considered one of the best albums to emerge from the underground melodic / symphonic metal scene in years. 'Our Nation' can easily be considered a contender for Portuguese Metal release of the year, with it's emphatic transcending symphonies, bouncy melodies and majestic heaviness, there is no real room to argue against said statement. Download This: "Land Of Dreams" - Click here to listen For Fans of: Sonata Arctica, Dotma, Seraphim [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON  REZISTOR 'By Any Means Necessary' INDEPENDENT Despite the effort displayed on the second album by Romanian Groove Thrashers Rezistor, it lacks that wow factor. 'By Any Means Necessary' constitutes as your average Groove / Thrash Metal release and so with that in mind, don't expect anything special. That said the composition is still a worthy listen, it just does not carry the ability to convince that it is a label-signing release. Given the album is 30 minutes long, it is a rather short, if not unexpected disappointment. The drums deal justice, whilst the vocals and guitars lack any authentic stamping-power, leaving the album to revel in the 'what-could-have-been' category. If Rezistor want to gain a name for themselves across 'By Any Means Necessary', this album is almost certainly not going to do it. Download This: "Wake Up!" - Click here to listen For Fans of: late-Sepultura, Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy [7] RHYS STEVENSON  EVOLVENT
'Whatever Happens' BERNETT France's love affair with Symphonic Gothic Metal continues with Evolvent's second album 'Whatever Happens', following such a strong debut album (2011) and a below-par EP (2014) the anxiety of whether this album would be decent was on the table. Suffice to say, 'Whatever Happens' is a rampaging voyage across blackened symphony after blackened symphony, with tantalizingly erotic vocals and an electric atmosphere, it is clear that this album was built to cast away the band's demons. The result? Success. 'Whatever Happens' pays homage to the dramatic, the operatic and the atmospheric elements that form the foundation of the very Symphonic Gothic Metal sound, as for Evolvent this can be considered as their finest hour as they stand as one of France's unsung metal gems. Download This: "Love Doesn't Love Me" - click here to listen For Fans of: Within Temptation, Tarja-era Nightwish, The Hourglass (RO) [8.5] RHYS STEVENSON |
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