CD

Only having released their debut album ‘Mask Of Lies’ in 2013, Mind Maze from Pennsylvania are already there with a next album ‘Back From The Edge’. 

I have no idea what’s going on with Spanish label Xtreem Music. 2014 seems to be a highlight in many aspects, and those aspects are tens of superb releases by great bands, which I will come back to immediately. First a very limited history. David ‘Dave Rotten’ Sánchez González, whom you might know from notorious acts such as Christ Denied, Avulsed, Yskelgroth, Putrevore etc.

Out of Moscow – Russia, hails this band, that brings us a combination of what you’d call gothic rock mixed with progressive metal, but there is more into their music than just that.

“Stormborn” is the  new  (4th) album  from Swedisch  metal band Bloodbound.  Bloodbound  decribe  “Stormborn" as a bombastic well  produced  album bringing  us metal hyms of exceptional class”……  Is this correct I than think….  Well it is partially,  it’s bombastic and it’s well produced, in fact it’s so bombastic that after playing it a couple of times the overkill of choruses and choir singalongs  make Stormborn   sound rather childish  (Satanic Panic, Iron throne or  just about every other track) instead of epic and that can’t

As far as I know this is the first l release of this LA based sludge quartet, good for some 25 minutes of doom/sludge with  blackmetal’ish scream vocals.

The scene from Cyprus isn’t that impressive when it comes to the number of bands out there. With exception of Arrayan Path, I can’t remember having written a review (for Concreteweb) for a band or project from that Mediterranean island. Enter Vomitile, formed in 2007, and creators of two pieces before: the nameless 2010-7”EP and Igniting Chaos, their debut album from last year.

What a band-name this is… Burning Butthairs, do you smell it? And then, the lay-out of the booklet (full of pictures, some even worse than others), the cover painting, the song titles (Die Axt In Dein Gesicht, The Milwaukee Cannibal, Butchered Raped Tochter, The Vampire Of Hannover, The Meat Eater etc.), does it give you a clue? Pop Music? Electro-Rock? Nu Metal? Vega New Beat? Grind-f*cking-core? Indeed, we have a winner, haven’t we!

I have to admit that I have never been that crazy about Abysmal Dawn, but throughout the years the evolution wasn’t but in a positive direction. I made a review for all former albums (From Ashes, 2006 – actually it was the 2012’s re-release that I reviewed; posted within the second Relapse-special on July 23^rd 2012 / Programmed To Consume, 2008; apparently this review isn’t available anymore / Leveling The Plane Of Existence, 2011 – see update February 18^th 2011).

This Melodic Hardcore band from Seattle may be new to me personally, but it certainly is not new to the world, as it was founded back in 2008!

The Gathering is a band I vaguely knew by name, and I might have heard some songs of them in the past, but that’’s about  it.  So when I was given this triple CD to review, I didn’t really know what was coming towards me.  Hell, I didn’t even know this band had been around for 25 years already.