Hibria is a Brazilian Metal band that was founded in Porto Alegre, Brazil somewhere during 1996. The band has been growing in Brazil and in the world due to several successful releases recognized both by the media and the audience. Well I have to say I was rather surprised. Because like everyone, when you think about Brazil and metal, you automatically will think “Sepultura”. But the difference between these two bands couldn’t be bigger.
When two, or more, bands decide to release a split with new material, written especially for that specific release, and in case it is about bands or projects I do appreciate whatsoever, I am always getting aurally horny. Two or more acts all at once, and with stuff that probably won’t appear on another recording, hmmm… Of course I was glad to receive this Fragments - A Mythological Excavation split-album.
Grime started its mission in Italy somewhere during summer 2010. Their goal was bringing destruction to a town near yours with their doom like metal music. They themselves describe their sound as rooted into rotten burial grounds and their songs are the sound of a decaying swamp filled with trash. Now that is a statement they actually live up to. Their slow and heavy groove is filthy and vicious, guitar riffs are sharp but somehow maintain that muddy feeling that doom metal has.
The smaller D.I.Y. label P2 releases the debut full length (which clocks just over half an hour, by the way) of young act Extinction Protocol, a Pennsylvania-based combo that was formed in 2010. This quartet was an unknown entity to me, but they do put their mark on the American Death Metal landscapes with this extremely brutal, technical and firm album.
Power metal band Civil War, with four out of six members being ex-Sabaton, released their debut album, The Killer Angels. It should come as no surprise that the sound is very similar to the one of Sabaton, although Civil War sounds a bit more aggressive.
Power metallers Arrayan Path have released their fourth album, IV: Stigmata. After their highly acclaimed previous albums they are back with a darker concept album which contains a lyrically aligned story based on Christian thaumatology.
Our dearest Concreteweb’s headquarters did recently receive a cd-r / mp3 with seven Folk-oriented albums. As a matter of fact, Strawberry Oracle Promotions will give some renewed attention to seven bands / projects within the Folk scene by having this material put on the foreground again. It deals with both recent as well as pretty old recordings, and in order to give this stuff a boost, I will be so kind to have it reviewed.
The roots of Agathodaimon are originated in Romania, and go back to half of the nineties. In the earliest years, this band performed a dark and slightly gothified form of Black Metal (Blacken The Angel …, Higher Art Of Rebellion), but they went into a catchier Dark Metal approach as from the beginning of this century. This evolution not quite continues with the newest full length, In Darkness, because this currently-in-Germany-residing act reinvents the most obscured elements from Old again.
A few years ago, a brand new band popped up amongst so many other acts who sounded just the same. Very quickly, one band really stood out and that was the American metalcore band We Came As Romans.
As you probably guessed, you smart-ass, 1) Bloodbrothers II is the second Bloodbrothers-compilation and 2) Bloodbrothers II consists of tracks from Rock and Metal bands from, indeed, the island of Cyprus. Cyprus isn’t the most known country when it comes to heavier outfits, but apparently there is a vivid local scene, which includes a handful of bands that have international fame too in mean time.
