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.

myspace.com/artisianmetal

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%

“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%

myspace.com/mhorgl
mhorgl.com

I seem to be reviewing a few Italian bands at the moment! T’is unusual

Mechanical God Creation are a deathcore band from Milan and they’re fuckin’ awesome! “Cell XIII” isn’t just an aggressive album, it’s an insanely aggressive album. There is no room for a respite and the band just keep pummeling at you from start to finish.

Lucy’s vocals are venomous and unforgiving, and the riffs are fantastic throughout. I was especially impressed with the bass in “Process of Mental Killing”.

While the aggressive stance is appealing, the album could be improved by a few more changes in tempo. It would help the listener to be able to seperate each track. It’s a small criticism on an otherwise fantastic album. But, this is Mechanical God Creation’s first full length, so there is still time to improve in that respect.

I need to hear more from this band!

Rating: 70%

myspace.com/mechanicalgodcreation

I’ve been on a bit of a Black Metal kick recently (which is always nice), so I knew that reviewing this album from Italy’s Ater wasn’t going to be a chore.

For some bizarre reason, I never associate Italy with Black Metal (in spite of the fact that a number of decent Black Metal bands come from the country), so I’m always taken aback when I’m greeted with another great Italian Black Metal band

“Oltre La Vetta” is an album that takes you on a journey through vast untamed landscape. Melody is used to it’s optimum effect. It’s there to create an addiction, but you never feel overcome by it and it doesn’t take away from the overall harshness of the album.

Ater do not seem to be playing around with any necessarily new ideas. I wouldn’t say that they were the genres new innovators, but at the same time there is something fresh about their sound. It’s certainly familiar, but it’s not a carbon copy of anything that’s gone before.

Overall, this is a definitely an album that you need to check out.

Rating: 72%

myspace.com/aterblackmetal

The CD starts off with “Grom”, an instrumental affair that sets up the tone for the whole CD. You can’t help but get the feeling that Haiduk (or, rather the one man behind the music – Luka Milojica) feels that he has nothing to prove. “Grom” (nor any of the other tracks on this release) get up in your face. Nope, they’re much more subtle. Rather shouting the obvious, they prefer to sneak under your skin. It’s a far more organic process and one that provides you with an incredibly rewarding listening experience.

“Entering the Liar” and “Dark Forest Path” continue along the same path and are perfect Black Metal tracks… However, it was with “Siege” that I really started to become impressed. It’s irresistibly mesmerising from start to finish. After that, the quality of the tracks seem to improve ten-fold. It’s not that there was anything wrong with the start of the CD (far from it), it’s just that following “Siege” its as if the other tracks upped their game, knowing that they had a lot more to compete with in order to grab and keep the listener’s attention.

Lyrically, I understand that Haiduk draws a lot of inspiration from folklore and myth. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this is another of those ‘folk metal’ bands that appear to have infiltrated metal’s collective consciousness over the past few years. Haiduk is a Black Metal band that draws influence from nature and myth. No gimmicks, no fuss – just decent music.

Recommended for fans of Kampfar, Theudho. etc.

Rating: 89%

haiduk.ca

Just in case you’ve managed to go through life without ever listening to or reading about Obituary, I’ll give you a brief heads-up on who the Tardy Brothers are. The Tardy Brothers are John and Donald Tardy and they take care of the vocal and drums duties respectively in Obituary. “Bloodline” is their album and Tardy Brothers is their side project. If you’re still not up to speed, I recommend you head over to obituary.cc and do a little reading… and a little listening!

So, how the hell am I going to describe “Bloodline”?

“Bloodline” is a beast of an album. If you’ve ever listened to Obituary, you can kind of guess what expect. Straight-forward Death Metal with insane vocals and killer guitar solos. “Bloodline” could quite easily be another Obituary album, but – for me – there is one thing that separates it: the production. I don’t know if it’s just me, or my speakers and/or earphones, the production does seem to be cleaner on this album than any Obituary album (including their newest opus “Darkest Day”). On the whole, this works well for this album and does serve to distance it from the Obituary discography. My only gripe is that I love the dirty and raw feel of the Obituary albums! The production on this album doesn’t take anything away from the listening experience, I guess it was just a little bit unexpected. A huge plus is that the guitar solos really have their chance to shine (“I’m Alive” is a fantastic example of this).

The album kicks off with “Bring You Down”, a riff-heavy monster that allows John Tardy to growl like a madman. While it does remain brutal, it carries an infectious melody that will work its way into your brain (this is aided by some superb guitar work!).
The title track seems a little more savage than “Bring You Down” and it’s one of those songs where you have to bang your head. Definitely one of my favourites from the album.
“I’m Alive” is the kind of song that I want to learn on guitar – the groove is just so (for want of a better word) awesome! Very addictive and oozing with confidence – these guys know that they don’t have to rush through things and they’re happy to let this track have a near-laidback feel. It travels along at its own pace and seems entirely organic as a result. You can almost imagine this track being the result of a jam session with a few beers.
“Deep Down” turns the pace up again and it’s at this point that I want to enter another ‘headbang-a-thon’. This is heavier than a very heavy thing.
“Wired” is a beautiful instrumental piece. That’s a weird sentence to write here, but it describes the track perfectly. It is beautiful. Listen for yourself and see what you think… and feel free to comment via the comment box thing below.
If “Wired” lulls you into a sense of security, “Fate’s Call” rips you right back out of it. The band seem to be extra aggressive here and it results in an unbelievably good track. There’s nothing not to like here.
For some reason “Eternal Lies” didn’t grab me as fast as the other tracks on the album, but after a few listens it really grows on you.
“Scream Descendent” has some superb guitar work. I really can’t stress how good this is!
The album closes with “Fade Away” – a track that definitely doesn’t just fade away. Pace-wise it has more in common with “I’m Alive” rather than the other tracks on the album and it provides us with a great way to finish off.

It works as an album in its own right, as well as a continuation of the Obituary legacy.

Rating: 98%

tardybrothers.com

“What Makes You Human” is the official debut for Enema for Alkemist Fanatix Europe. Musically the band fall somewhere between Metal, Rock and Hardcore.

The vocal hooks are catchy (even though I can’t speak Italian) and the riffs are incredibly addictive. The only thing that works against the band and the album is that it took me a few listens before I really ‘got it’. But, by the third or forth listen, I found myself hooked into the album from the very first song. After that I developed an urge to hear more and, with 12 tracks, Enema have provided us with plenty to sink our teeth into.

Due to the range of styles on the album, the tracks all seem to be going in different directions. As separate entities the tracks work fine, but for some reason when they are put together they seem to be unlikely bed-fellows. There isn’t a seemless line from track to track. I can’t help but get the impression that these songs were put onto the album because the band had them and liked them, rather than because they worked well together. If this doesn’t bother you, then there’s a very good chance that you’ll enjoy this album (as I’ve said, the tracks are good), but if not, you may find the changes of direction quite distracting.

Rating: 64%

myspace.com/enemacore

On “Two Evils” Revenant Dead have taken everything they like from the Metal genre and thrown it together. I’ve witnessed many bands attempt similar things like this over the years, but it often leads to failure. However, on this album, Revenant Dead have pulled it off. Almost every possibly subgenre is blended together here with an expert touch!

This album is dark, moody and heavy and the combination of various vocal styles work impressively well. Revenant Dead’s use of melody is fantastic and you’ll find yourself humming some of these tracks long after you’ve stopped listening to the album (check out “Requiem” for a prime example).

All too often, we are subjected to bands who borrow to heavily from one inspiration or another. Revenant Dead don’t do that. They are their own entity and have a uniqueness that is incredibly difficult to find these days.

In conclusion, I need to listen to more of this band.

Rating: 93%

(definitely one of my favourite albums of this year so far)

revenantdead.com

First of all, I’m not sure if it should be Societys Plague or Society’s Plague. I don’t know why, but not knowing this upsets me. Sometimes I seriously do think that I should be talking to an overpaid head doctor! Anyway, spelling and grammar are not important in this instance… so I’ll forget about it. Well, not entirely – otherwise this review would be impossible to read and completely pointless!

“The Human, The Canvas” is Society’s Plague’s debut album (released through Stand and Deliver Records). There’s no two ways about it – Society’s Plague are metalcore… so, if you don’t like metalcore, turn away now. I can’t see that Society’s Plague will change your mind about the genre. That’s not to say that the album’s bad (it isn’t), it just isn’t going to change your mind about the genre.

This album is extremely well produced and gives you the opportunity to really pay attention to what’s going on, and enjoy the ride. The use of keyboards originally made me raise an eyebrow in a quizzical fashion, but as the album progresses, they really start to make sense. They add another dimension to the music and this helps to separate Society’s Plague separate themselves from the rest of the metalcore pack.

The clean vocals, on the other hand, took a little longer to get used to. I got the impression at times that they were just there to please certain members of the record buying (or MP3 downloading) public, rather than to fulfil a particular plan in a song. At times they also broke the flow of the songs, and I started to feel like I was in a car that was stopping and starting instead of speeding along smoothly. I’m not against clean vocals in metalcore, but I do feel it’s important that they’re there to bring something to the track, rather than just put there for the sake of being there.

“The Human, The Canvas” isn’t a bad album, but it’s a long way away from being perfect. But, hey, the band is young and this is their debut – they’ve got plenty of time to perfect their craft.

Stand out tracks: “Legions”, “Refuge in Silence”, “Mourning Sun” and “Lies of the Broken”

Rating: 52%

myspace.com/societysplague