GMA - Vol111 - (warning: extreme content) - Survael, Enshrouding, Hedfirst, Flame Of War, Dark Fury, Nihternnes, Fragment, Awaker, Misanthropia, Decibel Hammer

SURVAEL
'War Of The Wild'

They call it Epic Black / Folk Metal, we call it 'Cultural Metal', henceforth arise Survael, Spain's quintet immersing the listener in shrieking vocals and Ancient Rites-like composure, one could not permit that the five-piece entice bull-fighting even with this monstrous debut EP herewith playing. 'War Of The Wild' features intricate solo's and a whole load of ethnicity amongst the divine sounds produces here, coincidentally it could be seen as a cultural revival of Spain's rich history, but as the Madrid-based band start their career, it could be said that Survael are in a league of their own, sadly to say not a good league either.

[5.5] RHYS STEVENSON

ENSHROUDING
'Time To Kill The Beast'
BULLROSER

Well it's a hard one to pin down, both the album and band, claimed to be from Mongolia, but we prefer to state they are Finnish, because well with Finnish musicians, what else can they be? Again they are pinned down as Black / Death Metal, but truly they are plain Melodic Death Metal, even if 'Time To Kill The Beast' has enough gusto and power to blow holes in the upper stratosphere, the fact remains this is an album that never was, however what it is instead is a release chock full of twists and turns at ever corner, surprising the listener and driving them into a false sense of security. Smashing drums lead the way on this face-punching delivery and wrap it up with some snazzy guitar work; afterwards it truly is 'Time To Kill The Beast'.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

HEDFIRST
'Godforsaken' + '44'

Two releases, one each side of the band splitting up and coincidentally two different sounds, so when taking into account the 2007 full length 'Godforsaken' by Polish Post-Groove Thrashers Hedfirst, that being their third ever album, you can expect a full-on blast of Lamb Of God style Groove Metal and Evile style Thrash Metal, oozing out with riffs galore and delivering outrageous drumming to savour any passionate metal fan, it is clear to see why Hedfirst are still underground, the music however original it is lacks a great deal of eccentricity, yet ironically it seems to capture one's attention. Again this is one of those albums that just happen to be there, but there again it has a decent level of meaning.

After the reformation, their fourth album dropped, entitled '44' it depicts the heart of the band, a flowing river of blood-red music and powerful sounds, sure the lyrical shift reverts to Polish on this one, the brutality is maximised and the product is far more captivating than 'Godforsaken' . Consider 'Godforsaken' as a cardiac arrest and '44' as a healthy heart, Hedfirst have now found their ground and have utilised a far greater winning sound. Neck-snapping drumming supporting cutting-edge riffs and truly heavy vocals, this is the sound to carry Hedfirst forward. Prepare to mosh, for '44' is the soundtrack of the Polish Metal revolution and so the band from Warsaw is going into the revolution Hedfirst.

[4] + [7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

FLAME OF WAR
'Long Live Death!'
LOWER SILESIAN STRONGHOLD

Polish Black Metal duo Flame Of War make their welcomed return by releasing their fourth assault entitled 'Long Live Death!', the album takes in really raw sounds and old-school Black Metal, in the totalitarianism vein of course, mixing together traditionalism, paganism and war themes, it could easily be dubbed NSBM, even with its military style emphasis, but wouldn't that be a tad ironic for the hated to become supporters? Regardless 'Long Live Death!' delivers the old school style of Black Metal, in the veins of Mayhem, Gorgoroth and early Polish BM. For Flame of War, this is another chapter to be standing tall and saluting for, Black metal in Poland will never be the same again.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

DARK FURY
'W.A.R.'
LOWER SILESIAN STRONGHOLD

It comes to this, the seventh full length by Poland's Dark Fury in their fifteenth year of existence, the highly recognised NSBM trio truly step out of the darkness and ignite the area once more with the sounds of the far-right movement and attach it to some highly sophisticated Black Metal, from military style drumming to the atmosphere experienced at the tombs of Auschwitz, 'W.A.R.' brings back to life the dark times of the 20th century in musical expression and this time they have not failed to impress. Whether you like, hate or thrust neutral views against the NSBM genre, Dark Fury do more than just praise the bygone Nazi empire, in fact they teach it in historical form, making it a musical history lesson. 'W.A.R.' will impress those who love raw and dark Black Metal and also the far-right side of political music.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

NIHTERNNES
'The Dawning Of A New Era' + 'The Mouthless Dead' + 'Subterfuge'

English Symphonic Dark Metal project / band Nihternnes is one of the darkest to ever walk the British Isles, forging atmospheric symphonic black metal with the darkness of bitter political humanity, this is the plague that has been threatening both Northampton and now Cornwall. Kicking off with 'The Dawning Of A New Era, which is the debut album and was released back in 2007, it is clear that there is a lot of raw Symphonic Black metal going on, take a pinch of Dimmu Borgir and lace it with a smothering of Mayhem and Carpathian Forest, you get the idea. 'The Dawning Of A New Era' delivers a knockout punch of extreme music and was the beginning of an underground storm.

Forwarding towards 2009 and the first ever EP takes flight, 'The Mouthless Dead' instead drops the symphonic black metal sound of its predecessors and instead optimises a new depressive and ghoulish sound to kill of the listener's senses. Employing Progressive Dark Metal as the new sound, the EP 'The Mouthless Dead' delivers nearly 45 minutes worth of music in three tracks, so if you have time to kill, dinner is being cooked or something along those lines, you could just play this to cover the time wasting. It won't be everyone's cup of tea and sure fits the ambient music genre to a point, but the overall impression left is a bizarre and wordless one.

Finally coming into 2012 and once again the depressive music sinks in, there shows little sign of change in comparison to the 2009 EP and as such pretty much demands a similar response. Except this time round you may need a whole hour free, for the sophomore album 'Subterfuge' delivers seven tracks in just over an hour, and by the time it's over your exhausted, wondering what the hell this was all about, sure the composition is sublime, but compared to the symphonic black metal days, Nihternnes in fact has gone downhill dramatically.

[6] + [4] + [3] RHYS STEVENSON

FRAGMENT
'The Misotheist Portrayal'

Just when Oxfordshire was named the most tranquil county of 2012, that statement was soon interrupted by a mass noise of machine-like Black / Death Metal, enter the badboys Fragment and their soul crushing debut demo 'The Misotheist Portrayal', playing in the old school style of the music genre, this quartet drag up the deepest pits of hell to unleash a musical belter that would make Behemoth shake in their boots. Fuelled by their latest outing and a three year career to their name, Fragment may well just become that band that lifted the Oxfordshire Metal scene to new heights, make some room 'cause this is going to get crazy.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

AWAKER
'Control Lost'

In light of saddening news, that the drummer and co-founder of Awaker Marcin Kolinski passed away Monday 06/08/2012, we dedicate this review to him, gone but not forgotten, may his soul rock on.

Awaker emerge from the streets of Manchester with their atomic debut album 'Control Lost', wielding together delicate melodies and musical sounds, the quartet immerse the listener in a fountain of heavenly Progressive Metal. Sure this is an album that carries a certain atmosphere and with that in mind the listener has to be in the right mood, you could dub it a chill out album but in hindsight it is an album that totally acts as a multi-mood piece, fluctuating guitar riffs embezzled by straight-edge drumming and lush vocals, Awaker make the whole djent movement look weak as a piece of solder.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

MISANTHROPIA
'Everdark'

If this was meant to be an improvement from the debut album, only knows what the first album must have sounded like, sure here we have a decent slab of melodies but the drums at times sound a little sloppy for anything catchy and the riffs seem a little basic, that said 'Everdark' by German Melodic Power Thrashers Misanthropia does deliver emphatic vocals, mixing the high pitches of Dream Theater with the deep growling experienced with Opeth, but with that, it is imminent and evident that the two genres combined simply do not work, what you get is two sounds colliding, mixing a powerful and upbeat sound with a slow and deep sound, something that you would expect from a widow murdering her husband to gain the million euro heritage, dark thought sure but that coalesces with Misanthropia's dark music.

[5.5] RHYS STEVENSON

DECIBEL HAMMER
'Release The Havoc'

It just seems that when the Finnish go to create old-school Thrash Metal for the modern audience and atmosphere, they nail it perfectly. Such an example is Decibel Hammer, the three musketeers from Tampere indulge in the 80's Thrash Metal style and add some Black / Speed Metal style vocals to deliver a dark and abysmal release, abysmal in that you couldn't find anything more pathetically extraordinary anywhere else. 'Release The Havoc' blasts out Slayer-esque music at a rate of knots and totally overwhelms the listener with some really scary sounds, no wonder there has been a rise in casualties in Finland, the cause is of course Decibel Hammer shocking listeners into total paralysis, killing off their senses and as the band begin to 'Release The Havoc', the darkness bites once again.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON