Belgian quartet Bones (Stef Aertsen, Jeroen De Pauw, Viktor Walschaerts and Lukas Huybrechts) started in 2011, and in 2012 they released a first demo, which was released on vinyl too somewhat later. In mean time, the band was able to perform live on stage with the likes of Obituary, Necrowretch, Undergang, Morbus Chron, Master and many more.
I hadn’t heard of the Malaysian horde Blasphmachine before, but apparently this trio is pretty known in their home country and Singapore. With Exhumation, Savage Deity and Shambles, they released a live-split taken from a tour in both countries. Anyway, Blasphmachine did write and record a handful of tracks in their two-three years of existence, and two of them have now been compiled under the working title Oath.
Finally! The first release of Belgian horde Ars Veneficium! All together: joepie! Why such enthusiasm? Well, actually I need to do so, because this is one of the bands Immortal Frost Productions’ Surtur is involved with, so I cannot but be positive…
I am aware of a handful of (sometimes really interesting) acts from Kazakhstan, but I didn’t know Detention. However, apparently this project did release a first album in 2013, called Coma, via (mighty) No Remorse Records (British, but based in Gibraltar). But as said, this is my first acquaintance with Detention. It seems to be a project, a solo-outfit, by a guy called Yeldar Rakishev.
I have always appreciated two aspects of French label Distant Voices; the projects signed to their roster, and the physical aspect of each single release. When it comes to the first, the projects, well, I’d like to refer to the reviews I wrote for Arbre, Misery, Brouillard or Scars From A Dead Room. Without exception, all of them do please undersigned’s ear drums and mental state.
Well well well, I thought this Italian band did split up a couple of years ago, but apparently it wasn’t but a temporary break. That’s fantastic news, but the best thing is: Absentia Lunae return with a new full length studio recording!
It is not that unusual anymore that a (Black) Metal band uses violin or viola in its songs. But in this case it’s a violin player that formed a Black Metal project, i.e. a guy called Ecnerual. Under the Mourning Mist moniker, he recorded this self-titled six-track studio album, assisted by several colleagues amongst whom bass player Kvasir, known from e.g. Abhor, Spiritual, Profezia or Ancient Supremacy.
In June 2014, Dawn Of A Dark Age released their first chapter of a six-piece concept about the six elements. Six? Well, actually, this hexaptych will deal with five elements, i.e. earth, water, fire, air and spirit, each sonically defined in an own album, with the sixth part being some general conclusion.
Sometimes it’s a hard job to be a reviewer. Like in this case. I do not know, even after three listens, what to think about this album. Do I like it or not? Is it the masochistic part within me that makes me enjoy this material despite being extremely irritating, or is it a hidden temptation poisoning the listeners’ mind? Really, I have no idea…
One of Australia’s most notorious acts ever must have been Sadistik Exekution, I guess. Despite their bad reputation (or is it ‘because of’?), they reached some kind of kult-status. Undersigned could (can) appreciate about everything this band did in the past. Most of the members had or have their own solo-outfits too, and the very same goes for Sadistik Exekution’s bass player Dave Slave.
