GMN - Vol24 - AR, Recoil, Retaliatory Measures, Insain, Simulacrum

AR
'Chaffinch / The Trade single CD'

Cambridge monsters AR unleash uncanny havoc with this two song demo, essentially an A and B side, but what the hell, here is a band with more balls than a bull on testosterone pills, mixing Thrash Metal elements with Heavy Alternative Metal, the so called 'in-your-face' kind, armed with a variety of killer riffs, slick vocals and drums too cool enough to appear on MTV, AR is Cambridgeshire's latest hopefuls to break into the English Metal mainstream, just don't count them on being support for bands much longer.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

RECOIL
'The Will To Sin'
NEW JUSTICE

Pummelling the sandstorms around the desert is Australia's new fury fighters Recoil, a whammed up boy band with a guttural sense of brutality, essentially a Deathcore / Death Metal quartet who just released their mesmerising debut album 'The Will To Sin' last year. Whilst not as heavy as first thought, the true essence lies in the ravenous riffs of which cascade like no tomorrow. Part Parkway Drive, part Whitechapel, part Unleashed, this is Australian Metal as never heard before, if you have 'The Will To Sin', then Recoil is your band.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

RETALIATORY MEASURES
'MMX'

Hallows call by name when Retaliatory Measures come into the affray, essentially five Finns with enough whimsical empowerment to topple any non-metal fan, 'MMX' is their debut EP released last year and with it comes Death / Thrash Metal in the sincerest form, a beacon to the ever-diversifying Finnish Metal scene, but whilst this is nothing new in terms of genre developing, the sound itself is as new as can be, so whilst this is not a genre-defining EP nor a definite development, it is still a decent release.

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

INSAIN
'Spiritual Rebirth'

Screwing out the blood-sodden carpets of Paris is French Brutal Death Metal posse Insain, a rather aptly stated band name, for this music is Insain. Brutalizing blast-beats form amid outrageous vocal dilemmas and intrinsic riffs, all merging together to create a theatrical solidarity composition in the form of their debut 2010 album 'Spiritual Rebirth', this is French Metal on drugs, a cocktail of mental song structures and forensic vocals alleviating any sickness, the brute of Brutal Death Metal is here.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

SIMULACRUM
'Promo 2011'

Fast, unconventional and seemingly a near-perfect mess, the vocals are all over the place, the drums are totally not what they are meant to be, the guitars just do the trick, this is pretty much what sums up the 2011 promotional released by Finnish Progressive Metal quintet Simulacrum, this needs serious work done to it, the vocals are more so Power Metal and so it is highly unclear to what genre they want, but given credit for developing something bizarrely unique.

[5] RHYS STEVENSON