CD

Having reviewed other Impera albums in the past, I was surprised when I heard this album. It sounds a tad heavier than I’m used to with Impera.  This is their third album, and if you ask me their best so far.

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…

I first saw Ensiferum when they did a support gig for Children Of Bodom on 12^th May 2011 in Luxembourg's Rockhal and I was enthralled right from the start. Never before had I seen a support act,  that was so full of infectious energy. They blew me away as soon as they played their first notes. In the end I liked Ensiferum 1.000 times more than the actual headliner of that evening. After that show I immediately got their whole discography.

Most extreme bands from Chile pay tribute to the old school, and in Putrid Evocation’s case it is not different either. This young band released some demos and one EP (Blackness Enshroud, 2013, via Chilean Apocalyptic Productions), and now the trio comes up with their debut album, Echoes Of Death. It gets released via Spanish top-label Xtreem Music, of course, and lasts for forty two minutes.

The Dutch band Infinity was formed in 1995. Throughout the years, the band recorded a handful of great albums with a same-minded structure, yet with a slightly different final execution. After some changes in line-up, Infinity eventually signed to the roster of Dutch label New Era Productions in early 2012, and a first result of this collaboration was the compilation Back To The Source…, an album with re-recordings and cover songs.

The scene from Belarus might not be as ‘big’ as the one from neighbours like Russia, Poland and Ukraine (and even the Baltic states), but there are quite some impressive bands out there. One of the older ones is Infestum, which were formed fifteen years ago actually. This band consists of very experienced musicians, involved with other ‘notorious’ Belarussian bands, such as ID:Vision or Exist M.

Stu, the guy behind Aesthetic Death, knows how to make me happy. Just send me the second album of Russia’s trio Goatpsalm and I start smiling (the sardonic way, evidently)!

When it comes to ‘occult’ themes within the Black Metal scene, many countries might claim ‘courtesy’, but I guess Greece is one of those unnaturally-created eras (aka ‘country’) on Mater Terra that houses many ‘occult’ bands. And within quite an impressive list of bands worth mentioning (but I won’t enlist them, for it will distract from the essence, and since I am too lazy…), Acherontas cannot be denied / ignored at all.

Greek act Soulskinner was formed almost two decades ago under the Terra Tenebrae-moniker by members involved with e.g. Thou Art Lord and Necromantia (!). The band recorded and released several mini and full length albums (as Terra Tenebrae and as Soulskinner), showing their passion for the Old School. And still now they pay tribute to the early years, when our globe started being sonically infected by the nastiest sounds of the Underground.