GMN - Vol65 - Conquest Of Steel, Raw In Sect, Japanische Kampfhörspiele, Souldrainer, All Falls Down / Reanima

CONQUEST OF STEEL
'Victorious In Defeat'
NO FACE

Bradford-based Power Metal quintet Conquest of Steel make their awaited return with their latest offering in the form of a four-track single (3 studio and 1 live), this being called 'Victorious In Defeat'. The only downside is, it does not sound anything like Power Metal, no high-pitch melodic vocals nor any gallioping speed on the drums / guitars, this is more like melodic heavy metal, for the West Yorkshire lads, this is a decent piece of musicianship, timed and excellent in beat and whilst the overall product is a good release, it should be noted that the riffs are a little repetitious.

[6.5] RHYS STEVENSON

RAW IN SECT
'Red Flows'
WORMHOLE DEATH

Musically representing the anger of the Greek nation and it's population, the Technical Death / Thrash Metal quartet Raw In Sect spit blood out with their debut album 'Red Flows', capturing and ensnaring the listener into sheer heavy brutality whilst murdering the human senses, rendering the human hearing ability obsolete. Here is a band with enough fury to overturn the faltering E.U, with a fistful of balls smashing against the skulls of the belligerent listener; the ultimate result is one of sheer decapitation and mental scarring, without a doubt Greek Metal album of the year.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

_JAPANISCHE KAMPFHORSPIELE
'Kaputte Nackte Affen'
UNUNDEUX

Sad to say that the German Grindcore band Japanische Kampfhörspiele split up this year, none the less their fifth full-length release will not go without being noticed as an interesting release, not only do they sing in their native language of German but there is hardly any continual riffs, this is perhaps the signature tune for Grindcore, short songs with enough bizarre music to keep the listener questioning whether it is music or not, eighteen tracks amounting to 45 minutes, that is enough to save a place for the band in German Metal history.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

SOULDRAINER
'Heaven's Gate'
VICISOLUM

Swedish Melodic Death Metal trio Souldrainer make their second return a real sweet one, returning to deliver their sophomore album 'Heaven's Gate' to the masses, the album features Scar Symmetry (old style) influences but with a lot more beat in it, somewhat funked up. Fist-slamming riffs pulverised by the mesmerising drumming of which are both fuelled and ignited by the fiery vocals that are emitted, this is pure modern metal at its finest, with each riff casting a new sound to each beat of the drum, Souldrainer is set to become the next best Melodic Death Metal export from Sweden.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

ALL FALLS DOWN / REANIMA
'All Falls Down / Reanima Split'
UNUNDEUX

Utterly a poor split, one would have thought both Austrian Death Metal bands would have taken the moment to shed spit and light up a path to absolute decapitation, but this nothing better than Justin Bieber, an utter disgrace to the music genre. The riffs are too choppy and the drums lack any enthusiasm whilst the vocals, well, imagine a bodybuilder being castrated, it's that painful to listen to, seriously without any sheer motivation on this split, it lacks a lot to be desired.

[1] / [1] RHYS STEVENSON