CD

This '70s-styled Hard Rock act from Oslo, Norway, was founded in 2005 as a trio, and immediately made its mark in the USA, where their single “44” (part o their demo EP 44 Collection) won the Make A Star music contest that same year.

Arroganz are a pretty young German band (trio) with two highly respected releases before (Burning Souls, EP 2010, and Dark And Deathless, 2011). Besides, the band performed on different festivals with bands like Demonical and Dark Funeral, and especially in their (chauvinistic) home country, they reached a status of high-acceptance.

I have to admit that although the name Vreid was familiar to me, I have never even heard one song from this Norwegian black metal band and thus Welcome Farewell is my first venture into their world.

Veneror are a project from Italy that debuts with Percussimus Foedus Cum Morte via Dutch label New Era Productions. The trio brings, with this studio release, a personal and timeless form of melodic Underground Black Metal with a grim, occult atmosphere and an eerie, freezing sound. An Italian band indeed… (I cannot, and will not, ignore my passion for the Italian scene). First the artwork: what a great cover design!

Out of Chicago rolls on Stone Magnum and executes this slab of dark yet melodic doom metal of the finest order. I can hear traces of Trouble, C.O.C., Candlemass, St Vitus and ofcourse, the mighty Dio-era Sabbath, especially in the Iommi-ish riffwork.

This CD is from the mastertape recorded in 1972/1974 which seemed to be lost. This quartet are clearly influenced by hard rock’s illustrious past, cuz there are faint echoes of Led Zeppelin, Cactus, Grand Funk, Leafhound and Bloodrock. Although Stepson are, at least on the surface, an easily familiar commonplace hard rock band, there is something absolutely intriguing and hypnotizing about their stab at bluesy hard rock music.

As you might know, it wasn’t only Germany, Sweden and the U.S. that were ‘big’ during the earliest era of the Death Metal scene. Without any doubt, the Netherlands were of undeniable importance back then, and without the Dutch scene, the current Death Metal scene wouldn’t have developed the way it finally did.

This wonderful album is my favorite of the past couple of weeks, if the amount of time I've spent listening to it is any indication. Everything that made Orchid’s Capricorn so magical, has returned in spades on Mouths of Madness. Orchid, a US hard rock band with more range than almost anyone out there, have released their second offering, following on the heels of their “Wizard of war” single.

Italian five-piece Nude were formed by two Metal artists, former Undertakers bass player Antonio Pucciarelli and guitarist Fabio Calluori (of Electrocution / From Depths and Heimdall-fame), and (unknown to me) vocalist Tom Capuano (aka Tommy Box) in order to express their passion for something completely different from Rock or Metal: Electro / Goth Rock / New Wave stuff.

Necrocurse were originally formed in 2004, but it took until 2009 before they really became a serious entity, when the line-up was sort of perfected. One might call Necrocurse a super-band for the members are or were active in a couple of highly acclaimed bands: vocalist Per ‘Hellbutcher’ Gustavsson of Nifelheim-fame, drummer Nicklas ‘Terror’ Rudolfsson, the guy behind Runemagick and The Funeral Orchestra (and formerly involved with e.g.