CURSED BY THE FALLEN
'When The Sun Turns Red'

Once in a while you come across a band that crosses two subgenres together and matches them with perfection, such is the band Cursed By The Fallen, the Austrian four-piece criss-cross Melodic Death Metal with the pummelling of Metalcore to devise an explosive sound of insane proportions. In the same musical veins as The Dead Lay Waiting and Sacred Mother Tongue, this Austrian quartet are by far very promising and are sure to end up with a record label, European-wide recognition and a fistful of greater sounds. 'When The Sun Turns Red' is in fact their debut EP.... what a corker, brutal enough to cause unexpected avalanches in the Alps.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

THEUDHO
'When Ice Crowns The Earth'
AURORA AUSTRALIS RECORDS

In the band's 10th anniversary year, the fourth album from Theudho is released. 'When Ice Crowns The Earth' see's Belgian Pagan Black Metal take full flight and deliver an evil and eerie Norse sound. Within this record is the sounds of an almighty battle, fought on the plains of East Flanders with swords high and axes low, riffing out a majestic production and composing the marching tune to the tune of a darkened atmosphere. Taking a pinch of influence from bands such as Arkona, Ancient Rites and Rabenwolf, Theudho will remain as an underground Belgian legend, even 'When Ice Crowns The Earth'.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

HARVESTA
'Harvesta'
TERRORZONE RECORDS

Hailing from Austria, comes a storm that was undetectable by satellites, well, it's actually a blizzard called Harvesta, who snow the listener in with an avalanche of hailstorm-like-Heavy Thrash Metal. The self-titled debut album by the quartet is quite simply sensational, with clear influences from bands like The Morning After, Metallica and Iron Maiden all mixed into one musical cooking pot, the outcome is a buffet of speed, heaviness and 100% face-melting riffs. With each song a health warning should be issued, because before long listener's will get hooked, guaranteed. Want some advice? Buy this album, 'cause this is going straight to the Emmy's.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

STRANGE FACTS IN THE SCALPEL CASE
'Unearthed'

Not conventionally like the over-produced Death Metal bands of today, well the debut EP from Belgian Death Metal merchants Strange Facts In a Scalpel Case go back to the original sounds of Death Metal. Immersed in a raw at'mosh'phere and darkened bleak production, the raw death metal sound is inevitably revitalising. The West Flanders duo coalesce to deliver a gloomy stance on music and with this EP in their roster, it can only get darker. Whilst not fast like Unleashed or thick like Morbid Angel, SFITSC is not like Napalm Death. 'Unearthed' is for those fans of 80's Death Metal and not for the modern day metal fan who thinks 'core music' is godly.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

LELAHELL
'Al Inithar'

The debut EP 'Al Inithar' from Algerian Death Metallers Lelahell comes without mercy, strapping together the vocalist of Litham and two talented musicians from Black Metal band Barbaros, this is the moment the Algerian Metal scene has been waiting for, the total onslaught of true North African Metal. Singing in both Arabic and English, the trio from Algiers summon up from the desert the darkest and most gruesome ever presented in this part of the world, a collection of six tracks spewing out guttural vocals so rotten, your body starts to decompose. The riffs and drum patterns only add more anguish and so fans of bands like Suffocation, Unleashed and Death/grind may find this to their liking. Lelahell has spoken, the torch is lit, Lelahell are flying the flag for Algeria.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

LAHANNYA
'Dystopia'
KABUKI

A bit of a reprisal comes into play with Lahannya's latest offering 'Dystopia', the multi-national quartet deliver a Gothic-twisted emphasis on the whole Alternative Metal division, with joyous melodies and erotic vocals coalescing together to shed new light on the sounds of modern music. Long gone are the days of London being a reputed Gothic area but the music continues to flourish and rule the night and with Lahannya firmly now set in stone and on the road to achieve much more, nothing will stop this foursome from reviving the old roots of Gothic/Alternative music. 'Dystopia' is for fans of Evanescence, The Cyan Velvet Project, Velcra and Domina Noctis.

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

BELLIGERENT INTENT
'Seven Are They'

Perhaps this could be a signature soundtrack to a world war two film, or it could be something dark that's lurking in Australia's backyard; a dead body perhaps? But whatever fans can make of Belligerent Intent's debut album 'Seven Are They', it is guaranteed a smacking of rough and grizzly Black / Death Metal. Blistering drums are perhaps the best section of the band's debut, but as an overall production it can be easily linked to other bands such as The Furor or Behemoth. Next thing we will know is that there is a sharp rise of hearing loss in the Melbourne area, or it could be the screeching of the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix (we think).

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

KLYNT
'Of Klynt & Man'

Hard to make anything of this one, well technically that's a lie, this is Austrian quintet Klynt and their debut release 'Of Klynt & Man', now when claiming to be Power / Thrash Metal, it would be assumed to be fast, with melodic vocals and heavy vocals in tandem, however what Klynt have done have gone the opposite, heavy vocals, melodic music and medium pace. Like the fable of Midas, Klynt are on that path but are a fair distance away from making any epic sounds as-of-yet, but with this release under their belt, it can only get better for the lads, one band to keep an eye out for.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

WHITECHAPEL
'Whitechapel'
METAL BLADE

Within the myriad and factory-processed Deathcore bands that seem to have come out of nowhere, lies a diamond amongst the fakes and it is this diamond that is in fact Whitechapel. The American juggernauts assault the fourth outing in sensational style, with a breakdown after blastbeat smack-in-the-face reception, the self-titled album by the heavy-weight titans is a clear sign of how Deathcore 'should be done'. This without a doubt has to be the best album they have ever released and will prove a real hard act to follow on from. For fans of Resist The Thought and The Black Dahlia Murder amongst many other elite Deathcore acts.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

CATACOMBS
'Catacombs'

Somewhat easy to compare when speaking of Catacombs, the closest you can pinhole them to is Wintersun, minus the chill factor. However, Australia's Catacombs and their debut self-titled EP is not without any deviations; subtle breakdowns emerge here and there whilst retaining the melodic overture found on 'The Fallen'. Sure it's not a 100% production and generally no first release is, but the Melbourne lads do have a sense of musical direction and with this EP under wraps, they could break into the international scene, with hints of Amon Amarth and the slow Melodic doom-feel in the shadows, Catacombs are a decent band with a decent release.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

WEDDING IN HADES
'Misbehaviour'
BAD MOOD MAN MUSIC

French Death Doomsters Wedding In Hades make their awaited return with their sophomore full-length album 'Misbehaviour', fully of melancholy and sorrowful depression, this record is enough to make anyone weep unintentionally because it carries the darkness in one package. Such an improvement has happened since their debut album 'Elements of Disorder' gloomed out the surroundings in 2010, the songs are darker and more slower and yet they capture a real misery side to release, just a shame the first song is far too long.

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

GRAVEFLOWER
'Returning To The Primary Source'
SOLITUDE PRODS

Let's face it, Russia know how to conjure up the right method of playing Doom / Death Metal. With the most depressing and cold bitter atmosphere drilled into one's head, Graveflower who hail from
Yekaterinburg ignite a murky and ugly feel to their music, making it really atmospheric and sensationally shadow-like, 'Returning To The Primary Source' is their debut album and this is a great way to start it on, with vocals delivering a mellow yet frost-bitten feel and the guitars and drums working in sync to give a dank feel to the audio, this could be the turning point in Doom / Death Metal.

[6] RHYS STEVENSON

_ EVADNE
'The Shortest Way'
SOLITUDE PRODS

Apt music to justify the mood felt in the Spanish economy, but hey-ho Evadne's sophomore album delivers the goods in eccentric form, mixing melodic metal with the depressive Doom / Death Metal which in itself is a plethora of different styles and stance. The five-piece who hail from the autonomous region of the Valencian Community bring out the darkness in their land and curse the listener with a sensational outcry. Bringing together a collection of different elements, the five-some are sure to go onto greater things and achieve higher recognition as what is billed as potentially Spanish Metal album of the year.

[6.5] RHYS STEVENSON

HELL LIGHT
'Funeral Doom / The Light That Brough Darkness'
SOLITUDE PRODS

Here is a dual-release; one 2008 album and one 2011 EP - both making up on a 2 CD release and a delightful listen, even with the epic cover of Queen's 'the show must go on'. This is the Brazilian Funeral Doom/Death Metal trio Hell Light and they mean business. With at least two hours worth of music to devour, this dual-release could be most essential one of the band's career, sure they have been going since 1996 and within a 3 year period, two releases coalesced and come together to deliver an almighty musical explosion.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

HEART OF A COWARD
'Hope & Hindrance'

It's not very often that you come across a Metal band that nails two genres perfectly at once, well at least in the Groove Metal and Metalcore genres respectively, unless your of course Heart Of A Coward, the Milton Keynes quintet with ex-Sylosis vocalist Jamie Graham on the reins unleash their latest brutal offering 'Hope & Hindrance'. Splintered with sharp riffs and covered by some of the grittiest vocals ever known to man, Heart Of A Coward put the 'pedal to the metal' on this release and go out on full throttle, now if they don't win any awards in the future, I'll eat my speakers.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

SANGRE ETERNA
'Asphyxia'
MAPLE METAL

One would come to a just conclusion that Serbian quintet Sangre Eterna are stuck within a musical time warp, transgressing between Symphonic Black and Melodic Death Metal, as their 2012 album 'Asphyxia' justifies, bringing a harmonic feel to the Melodic Death Metal whilst firmly edging towards a unique sound, perhaps it would be best for them to implement the symphonic sounds with the Melodic Death Metal as the two seem to work without any problem. Ideally sounding somewhat similar to that of Wintersun, Sangre Eterna is perhaps the newer face of Serbian Metal.

RHYS STEVENSON [7]

INVASIVE
'Extended Pain'

Suffolk Metallers Invasive unleash their EP 'Extended Pain' to the masses with a warning attached, there is no genre to sum up the sound, the best way to categorize it is to say it has a Heavy Metal backbone but a load of classic metal riffs in Thrash style. In fact Hardcore also makes an apparent way to describe the music, however it is well recorded and well timed, but the element that lacks is the stiffness in the sound, there seems to be no fluidity about the release, no matter how heavy it sounds and this sadly drags them down in 'Extended Pain'. Not a bad start from the Ipswich quartet but there is room for improvement.

[5.5] RHYS STEVENSON

EDENIAN
'Winter Shades'
BAD MOOD MAN MUSIC

There is something that is exceptionally spectacular about Eastern European Gothic Doom Metal bands, they all seem to have heavenly vocals, atmospheric compositions and spine-chilling riffs. Edenian from Kharkov in The Ukraine are no exception, coming out with their debut album 'Winter Shades', the sextet immerse the listener in a blanket of shadows and cold, bitter atmospherics emitted from the harmonies of the keyboard and the soothing vocals from Samantha Sinclair, all in all summing up to what could be Ukrainian Metal album of the year.

ZGARD
'Reclusion'
BAD MOOD MAN MUSIC

It's one of those albums for those who enjoy epic length songs, with the songs around 7 minutes on average per song, it is indeed an endurance test, but one with sensational sounds and icy cold deliverance, this is of course Zgard from The Ukraine, a project focusing on the cold-heartedness of Pagan Black Metal. It is fast on the drums, rapid on the keyboards but most importantly it delivers an atmosphere of sheer fear; in that the eeriness is paramount. Whilst 'Reclusion' is the second album to be released in 2012, the product does not sell past any date, nor does it disappoint.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

_ WHEN NOTHING REMAINS
'As All Torn Asunder'
SOLITUDE PRODUCTIONS

So much for the respite of the Doom/Death Metal cult following, it would seem apparent that it is far from finished, considering Sweden's When Nothing Remains issues a really depressing and soul-destroying debut album entitled 'As All Torn Asunder'; the latter expressing its relation to the inaugural emotions left on the listeners mind. This is a release for the murky and sorrowful Metal fan, who castrates the eroded soul with the bluntness of an icy-biting wind. Ironically the phrase 'death do us part' would seem too much of a definite pun to accentuate the everlasting autocracy on this release.

RHYS STEVENSON [7.5]

[T.3.R]
'Романтика 21 века'
GRAVITATOR

Russia is usually dogged by the mass-populated Slavic and Pagan Metal bands. But below the depths of the darkness are bands that are far darker than one can conceive. Enter [T.3.R.] and their sophomore album 'Романтика 21 века'; this eclectic mix of electronic music and Industrial Gothic Metal in the styles of Deathstars, Rammstein and Gothminister enable the Russian quintet to deliver an almighty blow in extreme proportions. Exclusively sung in their native language, this is a prime example of what is being missed in the main arena. Give due their low external popularity; this is perhaps the album to swing the pendulum the other way and without a doubt one band to keep an eye on.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

https://www.facebook.com/pages/T3R/356705331031612

BURNING DOWN PARIS
'Burning Down Paris'

Somewhat inadvertently trying to avoid the escapade of being cornered as a typical Deathcore band is beyond anything easy as Burning Down Paris try to prove, however the general style of the genre is evidently there, now how can one segregate their self-titled EP from the myriad of groups in the wilderness of the Deathcore dungeons is one question too many. In accordance to absolution in perfection, they would full more under the Death Metal/Hardcore (with add-ons) category, sure the release is not nothing new but the credit remains imminent, they stick to the norms and don't follow the wrong path, closest comparison would be the likes of Whitechapel and Ease of Disgust.

[6.5] RHYS STEVENSON

MYRA
'Godspeed'
EUROPEAN LABEL GROUP

Melodic Death Metal generally needs three factors: melodic music, deep vocals and precise pace changing, however Germany's Myra have found a fourth element, that being speed. 2010 saw the release of their second effort 'Godspeed', a truly remarkable piece of musical engineering, so powerful it makes Rammstein weak on the knees. Futuristic electronics combine with eccentric riffing and elementary melodies to conceive what could be billed as the next band to smash through the barriers of the generic Melodic Death Metal curse and into higher levels, with comparisons drawn from the likes of Scar Symmetry, Soilwork and Sonic Syndicate, Myra are a tyrant in disguise.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

SHAKE WELL BEFORE
'Goliath'

Italian Metalcore/Hardcore quintet Shake Well Before ignite the fire with their blood-thirsty EP 'Goliath', chock-full of vocals and music brutal enough to make anyone nauseous and cause them to soil their pants. Heavy and furious are two words that can barely describe it, sounding not unlike Parkway Drive or Lamb Of God, Shake Well Before setup a sound that will blast walls apart with no effort whatsoever. The letdown is the repetitious riffs, somewhat a little basic at times, but overall this is an effort many should not turn away from checking out.

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

AENYGMIST
'Creation Born of Trauma'

As raw as cold meat found in the northern most parts of Canada, Quebec's quintet Aenygmist unleashed an absolute belter in the Melodic Black Metal vein back in 2010 with their debut album 'Creation Born of Trauma'. Best fitting to that of Cradle of Filth, the release cultivates a dark and bleak atmosphere within the blackened corners of the listener's mind, meaning it is one of those releases that takes you away from your senses, this is the sort of output that has been missing from this land and with the beauty residing in this release, Aenygmist could well be the next big Black Metal act from Canada.

[9] RHYS STEVENSON

_ CORPSE FAUNA
'Gore Gallery'

Arising from the pits of Essex is Death Metal / Grindcore quintet Corpse Fauna, this five-piece simmer out the gravel from the grit and repeatedly smash the listener into brick walls with their debut demo 'Gore Gallery'. Whilst the production isn’t the most wonderful and at times sounds completely non-existent, the demo is a fair attempt at kick-starting the band's career, of course all bands don’t sound their best on their first demo, but Corpse Fauna are sure to make an impression as time goes on, with the double bass and guitars adding a raw atmosphere to it, the only way is forward, the only way is Essex.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

BULL-RIFF STAMPEDE
'Scatter The Ground'

If not for the ad-hoc riffing and the occasional cymbal thumping, this could be a rather decent Death/Thrash album, instead it just falls short of the full works, yet it holds a rather interesting sound, fast and shrieking, a unique combo found in the Italian Death / Thrash scene, added to the affray is some bombastic English solo's, all of which combine together to produce a decent effort for Bull-Riff Stampede, however the Bristolians need to stop learning how to 'Scatter The Ground' and learn how to stand their ground.

[6.5] RHYS STEVENSON

_ CENSURA
'The Island'
BIELER BROS RECORDS

American Franco-Irish quartet Censura blast themselves into the Irish Metal scene with an apocalyptic boom, mixing an eclectic style of Electronic Power Metal and embodied with Metalcore and Industrial influences, Censura are in the new style of Modern Metal. Their five-track EP 'The Island' from start to finish is a non-stop rollercoaster of mesmerising trance-style beats, furious vocals and some of the most sickening riffs known to man, let alone being drawn to comparisons with Dead By April and Asking Alexandria, Censura are the new face of Irish Metal, watch out, this is just the beginning.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON