Circle II Circle is and was fronted by Zak Stevens, and since their beginnings some years ago, I guess it was 2001, they have always sounded a bit like Savatage, which may not sound as a wonder, as Mr. Stevens fronted this band between 1992 until 2000.
Four years after the release of their previous album ‘Iconoclast’, the Americans are finally back with a new album, their ninth studio album so far, and what’s more, still in the same line-up they had 20 years ago. Indeed the drummer Jason Rullo is finally back, after suffering heart failure in 2013.
The album was recorded in ‘the Dungeon’, Micheal Romeo’s own studio, who’s also the chief writer and guitarist of the band.
Nahum are an act from the Czech Republic, formed in 2004, and debuting one year later with the self-released demo Unhuman. Then things went silent, and it wasn’t until 2012 that the band returned with their debut full length (called The Gates Are Open), once again independently released in a rather limited edition. Then things turned into silence for another three years and a half, but now the band returns with the sophomore full length studio album, And The Chaos Has Begun, released under licence of Musick Attack.
Astrowind are a Latvian duo, consisting of Kirils Lomunovs (think: Oloolo, Echochorus, Bongo, Pasaki Onkuliem Ata etc.) and Maksims Borisovs (Mahi Bukimi).
Finally! After five years of silence, Italian combo Gôr Mörgûl return with their second full album, called Heresy. Okay, I am sort of exaggerating, for the band released an EP in 2014 (Ruins On The Icons Of God). This quartet from the isle of Sardinia was formed in 2007, and did record this new material in very early 2015.
One of the most productive guys from Ukraine is Sergiy Fjordsson, who’s the guy behind projects like Moloch, Silver Sphere Moon, Saturn From Essence and Psilocybe City Life. He’s involved as well with Deviator, thought rather as permanent guest.
Shades Of The Black Sky are a solo-outfit by Russian musician Dmitriy ‘Angel Of Sorrow’ Rastorguev, who started this project in 2013. After a full length and two EP’s, this guy returns with То, что нас поглотит (To, Chto Nas Pospotit), which consists of newer and older material. The album consists of four tracks that last in between sixteen and nineteen minutes (!) and it gets (got) released by Russia’s Frozen Light in an edition of 500 copies.
Mindvoid were formed during the second half of last decade in Kharkov, Ukraine, and they did some releases before via quite cool labels such as Kadaath, Cvlminis and Nihil Art. This newest piece, called Thundernoisespell, gets released via Russia’s Frozen Light, which actually is one of the most surprising labels from that country I came along recently. But let’s focus on Mindvoid.
Once again I have the honour to write a review for a band from Costa Rica, and once again it’s via Satanath Records (hey Aleksey, do you have connections out there?) that the audience can meet an act from that Middle-American country.
I wasn’t quite enthusiastic with 2013’s MCD Temнъiй Kopидop Owибok, released on Satanath Records (the parent label of Symbol Of Domination Productions, on which this new effort gets released), but probably it has to do with my personal, subjective preferences, likes and disgusts. I am not such a Hardcore-fan, you see. But despite my personal disliking of that scene, my objective part of the game as being a reviewer did try to focus on the essence rather than personal favoritism.
