Black Breath: Razor to Oblivion
Black Breath is the kind of metal that’s devoid of any pretension whatsoever, just five scruffy guys hunkering down and coming up with some of the most bracing, rewarding circa-1985 retro metal you’ll hear these days.
Reviews
Drudkh: Forgotten Legends
The first of several Drudkh reissues from Season of Mist, Forgotten Legends captures the band’s early rumblings – a small collection of long songs recorded in the summer of 2002 and released as the band’s official debut.
Album review by Laura Wiebe Taylor
Egypt: s/t
A lost classic no longer, this hidden gem deserves to be heard!
Priestess: Prior to The Fire
Prior to The Fire is earnest but it’s easy to like, solid and tight. Everything just falls into place for Priestess in a charmed way on Prior to The Fire; it’s the ideal introduction to the band, and a calling card release.
Leaves’ Eyes: Njord
The overall sound gives me an image of Viking Goths parading around in Scandinavia. On most of the songs they manage to sound well balanced between classical and metal without sounding too rock opera cheesy
The Sign of The Southern Cross: …Of Mountains And Moonshine
The biggest surprise in regards to mountain boys The Sign Of The Southern Cross (SOTSC) and latest effort …Of Mountains And Moonshine is probably its absolute absence of surprise.
Southern Cross: Down Below
They might be called Southern Cross, but don’t let the name fool you. This ain’t no southern rock band.
Shrinebuilder: Shrinebuilder
With a roster of talent that is hard to match, Shrinebuilder’s Shrinebuilder is an impressive debut.
Axxis: Utopia
Incredibly upbeat and dominant despite the overuse of operatics and keyboards—they still sound stuck somewhere between Diary Of A Madman and The Neverending Story soundtrack—Utopia is an indelibly catchy affair even if it refuses to advance the state of metal.
Rodrigo y Gabriela: 11:11
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s new album 11.11 challenges a lot of preconceptions of metal heads and metal music. While the instrumental, largely acoustic album cannot be traditionally considered as a ‘metal,’ the duo of Rodrigo Sánchez (lead guitar) and Gabriela Quintero, (rhythm) definitely has roots in classic and thrash metal. They started perfoming together after they both left a thrash metal band in Mexico, and while the music they do now is has a foundation of Spanish-influenced traditional folk, their faster and at times, gritter rhythms and rapid time changes serve as an homage to their metal foundation.