Last.fm RPS
Ok, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I think I may have just developed a new obsession! This album from Nefertum arrived on my doorstep with a bunch of other stuff for review. Unfortunately, from what I’ve listened to so far, the other stuff hasn’t really grabbed me… “Revered Lames”, however, definitely has! Nefertum [...]
Whenever bands send me press packs with their releases, I’m always tempted to write a brief history of the band. But, since the band have a website with all of the facts and figures that you could possibly need, I’ll just post a link instead (it’s at the end of this review). “Antinomian” is not [...]
The lovely guys in Hamerex have been kind enough to give us 3 copies of their new EP, “The Lycan”, to give away to 3 lucky Loucifer Speaks readers! Hamerex is a Heavy Metal band that formed on 14th August 2004 in Wakefield, UK. The band are an energetic and entertaining live band with a [...]
At the moment, the Internet is alive with discussions and blogs with people arguing over what is metal and what isn’t. While some bands divide opinion, Haiduk should not. Haiduk are Metal – there’s no getting around it. The CD starts off with “Grom”, an instrumental affair that sets up the tone for the whole [...]
Thru World Aggression are an awesome metal band from North Carolina. Check out the video below to find out more about them… and check out the video for “Catharsis” (also below) while you’re at it! Thru World Aggression from Lou Yardley on Vimeo. Thru World Aggression – “Catharsis” Video from Lou Yardley on Vimeo. myspace.com/thruworldaggression
July 27th, 2010 
Loucifer 
The 4th studio album from Black Metallers Artisian is now available. The album is titled “A Plague On All Your Houses” and a track from it, “Orion”, is available to listen to on the band’s MySpace.
Copies are extremely limited and are available for £6.50 (including postage) directly from the band. Payment is accepted through PayPal (please send any payments to iainmiro@hotmail.com). Please see Artisian’s MySpace for further details.
July 27th, 2010 Loucifer 
Debauchery have released an exclusive cover version of Alice Cooper’s classic “School’s Out”.
This digital single is only available online and can be purchased in all familiar download shops (Amazon etc.).
Thomas Gurrath has recently revealed quite why Debauchery has a decided to cover this particular track:
Thomas was recently given the ultimatum by his day-job, that of a teacher, to decide between the music of his two bands (Debauchery and Big Ball) and his teaching position. Thankfully, he chose music and “School’s Out” (available through all good, official download suppliers) is his last, departing comment on the subject!
Check out the band’s Myspace at: .myspace.com/debaucheryband
July 27th, 2010 Loucifer The folks at Damnation Fest are really spoiling us…
GOTHIC metallers PARADISE LOST head up the latest additions to Damnation Festival.
The genre-spanning Halifax quintet will bring their blend of atmospheric doom to the main Jagermeister Stage at Leeds University Union, on Saturday, November 6, 2010.
And they’ll be joined by German progressive metallers THE OCEAN, rising post-rock trio MAYBESHEWILL and the politically inspired industrial overtones of OCTOBER FILE.
With The Dillinger Escape Plan, Earthtone9, Anaal Nathrakh, Lawnmower Deth and Alcest among the names already confirmed for the sixth edition of Damnation Festival, the event is shaping up to be the most vital date on the metal calendar.
Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes last night revealed the band are looking forward to taking the stage in Leeds, if not negotiating the roads network.
He said:
It’s fantastic to be playing at the Damnation Festival, and we hope to see you all there.
I never got my head around the one way system in Leeds, thankfully someone else will be driving so we should arrive on time!
Festival Director Gavin McInally added:
Following the triumphant performances by My Dying Bride and Anathema in recent years, it’s fitting to have Paradise Lost complete the final piece of the Unholy Trinity at Damnation.
We are also delighted to announce The Ocean, Maybeshewill and October File for what will be another vital bill on our Rock Sound Stage this year.
Damnation Festival will take place on Saturday, November 6 at Leeds University Union.
Announced so far: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Paradise Lost, Earthtone9, Anaal Nathrakh, Lawnmower Deth, Rolo Tomassi, Alcest, The Ocean, SSS, Hecate Enthroned, Fen, Maybeshewill, October File and Fukpig.
Tickets are priced £27 and are available from:
See Tickets www.seetickets.com , Ticketline www.ticketline.co.uk and Leeds Tickets: www.leedstickets.com
For more information visit the official Damnation Festival sites
Web – http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/damnationfestival
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/damnationfestival
Twitter – http://twitter.com/damnationfest
July 26th, 2010 Loucifer 
Ok, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I think I may have just developed a new obsession! This album from Nefertum arrived on my doorstep with a bunch of other stuff for review. Unfortunately, from what I’ve listened to so far, the other stuff hasn’t really grabbed me… “Revered Lames”, however, definitely has! 
Nefertum are a Black / Death Metal band from Italy and cite their major influences as Emperor and Dimmu Borgir. When listening to the album, this influences are very clear, but Nefertum are definitely not a carbon copy of those bands. They’ve managed to pay homage to them, while still retaining their own sound.
The music on this album is insanely good – the songs extremely well written and the use of melody is superb. I was particularly impressed with the drumming. Admittedly, I’m not a drummer, but the sheer power of the drums in some of these tracks makes me want to be one. The vocals are, as you would expect, relatively grim, but the vocalist pronounces each word to great effect, so it’s quite easy to work out what is being said without needing to refer to much to the CD inlay.
The use of keys was a pleasant surprise. Usually I’m a little sceptical about keyboards in metal, but in some bands they do work well. Nefertum is one of those bands.
If you want to see/hear what I’m getting all excited about, head over to myspace.com/nefertum.
Rating: 94%
July 26th, 2010 Loucifer 
All I can tell you about Farcry is that they’re a Death/Thrash metal band from Hungary. Sadly I can’t give you a website address at this time… so, if you’re interested in picking up this demo, you may have to do a bit of Googling. If it helps, this 3 track demo CD was released through Alkemist Fanatix.
The music on the CD is pretty good, but there’s nothing to get overly excited about at this stage. “Farcry” is a straight up Death/Thrash track and does the job that it sets out to do – it drops you head first into the world of Farcry, but once you’re there, you’ll find that there’s not a whole lot to do. “Faceless” starts off with a really interesting atmospheric vibe and threatens to build into a beast of a track… However, it never quite reaches it’s full potential. “Black and White” is another pretty decent Death/Thrash track and is my favourite from the CD. I can easily imagine this being played live with very positive results.
All in all, “Carnivorous” is ok. Sadly not much more than that. There’s nothing here that gets me all hot under the collar, nothing that makes me want to scream from the rooftops about how good the band is. Perhaps it’ll grow on me?
With that said, it’s a good starting point for the band and “Black and White” shows great promise.
Rating: 50%
July 23rd, 2010 Loucifer Death Thrash Metallers HELLISH OUTCAST announced today that KEEP OF KALESSIN front man Thebon will replace the band’s former vocalist Sjalg Otto, who is leaving the band to pursue other interests. Thebon, whose new role will in no way affect his work with KEEP OF KALESSIN, is already rehearsing with HELLISH OUTCAST, and laying down the vocals for the band’s upcoming album. His first live appearance with the band will be at this year’s Hole in the Sky Festival in Bergen, Norway, where HELLISH OUTCAST is due to appear at the Hits for Kidz event on Saturday 28 August.
Formed in 2001 in Bergen by guitarist Martin Legreid, bassist Mads Mowinckel (BREED) and drummer Mads Lilletvedt (BYFROST), HELLISH OUTCAST quickly gained a reputation as one of the most extreme live bands in Bergen’s underground scene. The band’s first release was the controversial EP “Raping – Killing – Murder”, and the new album, which is titled “Your God Will Bleed”, will follow in the lyrical footsteps laid down in the EP, with its exploration of the violence and brutality in the world today, but, according to the band, the music promises to be even more aggressive.
More information about HELLISH OUTCAST can be found on the band’s MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/hellishoutcast
Below you can see a video of the original HELLISH OUTCAST line up performing live at the Garage, Bergen.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hellishoutcast
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HELLISHOUTCAST
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/hellishoutcast
July 20th, 2010 Loucifer 
Black Metallers EPISODE 13, one of the few Turkish bands to have gained acceptance in Europe, have debuted two tracks from their upcoming album “Death Reclaims The Earth” on the band’s MySpace page. “Death Reclaims The Earth” will be the band’s third full length album, and marks the return of founding member and front man Ozan Akyol on vocals, who, despite having taken a Sabbatical to complete his studies when the 2008 release “Pitch Black” was recorded, has remained heavily involved with the band. “Ars Moriendi” and “Physical, Comatose and Mental Overdose” can be heard at http://www.myspace.com/episode13
Since the release of “Pitch Black”, EPISODE 13 has worked hard to dispel the myth that Turkish bands can’t play Black Metal, and, following excellent reviews from their appearances at Norway’s prestigious Inferno Festival and the UK’s Infernal Damnation Festival, to name but two, as well as tours in Russia, Finland and Denmark, the band has gained a solid, and ever growing fan base outside their own country. So much so, in fact, that SHINING’s Niklas Kvarforth made a guest appearance on vocals during one of the band’s recent live appearances.
EPISODE 13 is currently looking for a label to release “Death Reclaims The Earth”. The band’s UK based manager, Patricia Thomas, who works with some of the scene’s legendary bands and artists, as well as with some of today’s upcoming bands, commented about the label search:
There would be no problem getting EPISODE 13 signed to a Turkish label, but the scene in Turkey is pretty desperate. The labels have little experience and even less will, and not even the first idea about promotion. The band members are all skilled and experienced musicians and Akyol is a terrifyingly compelling front man. Whenever EPISODE 13 has played live in Europe, the fans make it very clear to the band afterwards that EPISODE 13 has broken through the credibility and acceptance barriers with consummate ease. So now it’s definitely time to look for a good label.
More information about EPISODE 13 can be found at http://www.myspace.com/episode13
July 20th, 2010 Loucifer 
THE legendary LAWNMOWER DETH and rising crossover Scousers S.S.S. will bring the thrash to Damnation Festival 2010.
While representing the finest homegrown black metal at the sixth instalment of the Leeds-based event are HECTATE ENTHRONED and FEN.
Festival Director Gavin McInally said:
Anyone who witnessed Lawnmower Deth’s fantastic set at Download last month can look forward to a second helping of good-old thrash fun at Damnation while S.S.S. are sure to live up to their moniker and provide a short, sharp, shock for the thrash fans who’ve enjoyed sets by the likes of Onslaught, Kreator and Evile over the years.
And for those who prefer their music more grim, it’s a pleasure to be able to announce Hectate Enthroned and Fen who’ll deliver their distinctive takes on black metal this year.
The latest additions mark another diverse lineup for Damnation Festival, adding to stages already bursting with the best in extreme, progressive and alternative talent such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Anaal Nathrakh, Earthtone9 and Alcest.
Damnation Festival will take place on Saturday, November 6 at Leeds University Union.
Announced so far: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Earthtone9, Anaal Nathrakh, Lawnmower Death, Rolo Tomassi, SSS, Hecate Enthroned, Alcest, Fen and Fukpig.
Tickets are priced £27 and are available from:
See Tickets www.seetickets.com , Ticketline www.ticketline.co.uk and Leeds Tickets: www.leedstickets.com
For more information visit the official Damnation Festival sites
Web – http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/damnationfestival
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/damnationfestival
Twitter – http://twitter.com/damnationfest
About Damnation Festival:
Damnation Festival returns this year for its sixth instalment, promising to deliver the finest chapter in its proud reign as the UKs premier metal event.
Against all odds, the country’s most cutting-edge metal festival has continued to support emerging, home-grown talent while attracting the finest extreme bands from across the globe and was voted UK’s best metal event in 2008 by Terrorizer readers.
And with the dedicated support of thousands of forward thinking fans, not satisfied with the watered-down, ticket sales focussed bills being hosted across the UK, Leeds University Union will once again host the most vital day on the metal calendar on Saturday, November 6, 2010.
July 15th, 2010 Loucifer 
The legendary Entombed will headline this year’s Mammothfest on 18th September. This was confirmed on Mammothfest’s Twitter this morning.
Orange Goblin, Godsized, Beholder, Stone Circle and Breed 77 will also be appearing at the festival, which will have 27 acts in total across two stages.
Tickets are available from mammothfest.co.uk
July 14th, 2010 Loucifer 
Whenever bands send me press packs with their releases, I’m always tempted to write a brief history of the band. But, since the band have a website with all of the facts and figures that you could possibly need, I’ll just post a link instead 
(it’s at the end of this review).
“Antinomian” is not a grower. There’s something about it that hooked me in right away. I don’t know whether it was the slight similarity to Gorgoroth, the overall ‘catchiness’ of the record, the guitar tone or the vocals. Mhorgl do something that make them stand out from the rest of the crowd, and they do it superbly well.
“Antinomian” is an uncomprising Black Metal album – it’s often aggressive and has a certain organised chaos about it, but always retains a sense of melody and the musicianship is amazing. Is this album going onto my ‘best of 2010′ list? You can bet it is. While the album is an instant ‘hit’ (to my ears anyway), it also provides the listener with new little nuances each time they listen. It’s an album that grabs you from the get-go, but it also allows you to appreciate it over a longer period of time. I can easily picture myself listening to this again in 5 years time.
And the cover (or, should I say ‘re-worked version’) of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr Crowley” is a very pleasant surprise!
Rating: 93%
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