GMA - Vol80 - Sangre Eterna, Invasive, Edenian, Zgard, When Nothing Remains

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]