FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Iceland’s Sólstafir have reemerged this year with Köld, a strong follow-up to 2005’s Master of Bitterness. It’s an eclectic album to say the least, bringing to mind everything from shoegazer black metal to ambient goth with a little alternative rock thrown in for good measure.
Ektomorf is a thrash metal band from Hungary started way back in 1994 by the brothers Zoltan (vocals, guitar) and Csaba Farkas (bass). Two years later in 1996 they released their debut album Hangok . They have remained a consistently busy band, ever since having just recently released their tenth CD What Doesn’t Kill Me…
With the use of traditional Nordic folk instruments such as the bouzouki, Swedish bagpipe, Jew’s harp, hurdy-gurdie, keyed fiddle, willow-pipe, the recorder and the cow antler, Storm is a cultured listen.
Until The Light Takes Us is the upcoming documentary examining the Norwegian Black Metal scene including the church burnings and the murder of Oystein Aarseth/Euronymous.
For The Lions slams out 18 tracks of covers that Hatebreed consider influential to their form of music. There are some obvious hardcore selections that won’t come as a surprise to most. Bands like Sick Of It All, Madball, Black Flag, Agnostic Front and Cro Mags are staples of the scene . It’s some of the left field choices that really
make this album interesting.
Swiss band Eluveitie have reappeared with a new offering that is being billed as “an acoustic album” that is the first of a two-part concept series. Despite the use of the term “acoustic,” Evocation 1 is far from having a minimalist folk sound.
Although this is the fifth full length album from this polish death metal/ grindcore band, this is their first CD I have had the opportunity to listen to and I have to say it’s a killer.
The first of a planned series of five seven-inches dedicated to the amalgamation of crusty punk and thrash metal, this installment features bands from opposite sides of the USA
Hailing from Los Angeles, Dreaming Dead’s Within One is a memorable and catchy debut album from the band. The music is a blackened mixture of death metal and thrash, and for the most part the combination works here.
The five piece Swedish band Hammerfall started in the late 90s as a power metal side project of members from bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquility. No Sacrifice, No Victory is now the band’s seventh full-length studio album