Genre: Black/Avant-garde Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Release date: March 12th, 2012
Reviewer: Karim Tarek
If you’re not familiar with the name Sigh, then you’re totally missing out on some out-of-the-ordinary Black Metal. The Japanese quintet delivers a highly peculiar and exotic blend of Black, Power, and Avant-Garde Metal. They have been around since 1990, and have managed to build up a strong discography since then. Courtesy from Candlelight Records, we recently got a grip on their upcoming album, entitled In Somniphobia, which is expected to be released on March, 12th.
“In Somniphobia” sounded so powerful, complex, unique, and melodic. Most of the openings of the tracks sounded Power Metal-ish, especially the first track, “Purgatotium.” Riffs too came very energetic and lively, which helped add a whole theme of vigorousness to the album. You could sense a great job done by the guitarist, Shinichi Ishikawa, from the very first moments on the album; riffing on “In Somniphobia” came all pretty diverse, swinging between speed, melodiousness, down-tempo breaks, and power shredding.
“In Somniphobia” greatly showed the experimental side of Sigh. I mean, Sigh are known for their eccentric and experimental tunes, however, it felt like “In Somniphobia” came to lay an emphasis on that aspect of the band. A song like “Somniphobia” is precisely what I would use as an example of proving my point; it starts off with an electronic drone line, moves on with a vast mixture of tunes, with xylophone, keyboards, soundbites, and saxophone all around, and ends up in a typical way of how a pure experimental song does. It really grew on me anyway and gave me a small picture of the whole record.
What Sigh really deserve kudos for is their musical cohesiveness; they managed to perfectly stay in accord and maintain the harmony throughout the whole one hour and four minutes of the album, which is not a very easy job taking in consideration the amount of instruments used and the very complexity of the music. I can safely say that their performance was flawless, which is natural for a veteran band, I guess. Guitars, drumming, bass, saxophone, vocals, electronics, and everything else was just tight.
All in all, “In Somniphobia” is a journey through the unknown; it’s dark, weird, exotic, unpredictable, and most importantly musically rich, and as expected from an experimental album, it never started to grow on me until a few listens later… Or in other words, I never felt I could grasp it before at least three listens and a lot of pauses and repeats. I believe that we all need such an album for a change; it’s a good refreshment for avid Metalheads. It’s something uncommon that lies in its own league in the Black Metal scene. I would recommend it for anyone who’s bored from typical music and who’s seeking something experimental and limitless to enjoy.
Recommended tracks: The Transfiguration Fear, Somniphobia
Genre: Symphonic/Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Released: 24th January
Reviewer: Monish Shringi
Originating from Phoenix, Arizona and now settled in Los Angeles, Abigail Williams have released their third full length album entitled ‘Becoming’. Vocalist/Guitarist Ken Sorceron has pretty much handled all production aspects of this album. I personally haven’t been a big fan of this band but the new album does have something in store for my liking. After their second full length, the band identifies black metal as their primary genre of music, breaking a shift from metalcore. After several comparisons with Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth, the new album may finally lead this band into having a sound of their very own.
“Ascension Sickness”, the first track of the album, begins with a nice atmospheric intro and heads in straight with shredded guitars and blast beats. In the first half, the vocals seemed to be slightly damped and unclear. They could have been raised to a better extent as compared to what the song has to offer. The latter half consists of a mix of clean and distorted guitars, demonic vocals and a more emphatic finishing.
The next two songs, “Radiance” and “Elestial” seem to have somewhat of a doom influence, and that mixture with black metal is something what the band has managed to pull off quite well. The vocals were better structured and sounded more to what one would expect.
“Infinite Fields of Mind” has a very enjoyable and delicate clean intro with a cool atmospheric background. The song had a good overall balance of clean and heavy and a solid traditional black metal outro. There’s a small interlude track which finally leads to the last last track in the album entitled, “Beyond the Veil”, which has to be my favourite. There were a lot of Nordic influences in the interlude and the final track, of which the band is also constantly recognised for. The melodic guitar licks along with the Nordic orchestrations, sounded warm, gentle and profound. They were once again mixed really well with the black metal components.
Overall, the band developed a more mature and concrete sound as compared to their previous efforts. I will definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of black, doom and symphonic metal. The intros and outros were well rounded off along with the primary black metal dominance. It has to be said that if the band continue in this manner, there are definitely greater aspects to look forward to.
Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Release-date: October 4th, 2011
Reviewer: Monish Shringi
Absu have been a prominent figure in the Black Metal scene since the early 90’s. Their sound is full of crunching black metal riffs, hardcore blast beats and shredding guitar solos, just what you need to expect of a veteran black metal band. Originating from Texas, their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and drummer Russley Randell Givens aka “Proscriptor McGovern”, bassist and second vocalist Paul “Ezezu” Williamson and guitarist Matt “Vis Crom” Moore.
After the release of their critically acclaimed 2009 self-titled album, Absu are back once again with their second part of a “planned trilogy of recordings” titled “Abzu”. The band has shown constant growth and development in their sound, varying from brutal black metal to classical acoustic and atmospheric breakdowns. I am beginning to enjoy their music even more.
The first track on the album, called “Earth Ripper” is a fast tempo, thrash influenced masterpiece. The vocals are significantly varied, ranging from low gutturals all the way to some Rob Halford-like falsettos. The guitars are fast, well-structured and easily catch the ear. It’s well worthy of being the intro track and will surely raise some eye brows.
The second song, entitled “Circles of the Oath” is by far one of the best songs I’ve heard by Absu. It sets the standard, as it shows what each member is capable of in their own individual aspects. The song begins with some hard hitting, heaving sounding blast beats with nasty tremolo picking, followed by nice melodic melodies and finally ending with some classical acoustic guitars, not to forget the brutality of the vocals. This song has it all: black metal fans' galore.
The last track on the album has been actually divided into six sub-tracks. Each sub-track delivers the aforementioned development and growth of this band.
In all honesty, it was hard for me to pick out criticisms despite being a black metal listener.”Abzu” has definitely lived up to all its hype. Insane guitar riffs, classic black metal vocals and earth pounding drums are all and well part of it. Black Metal fans cannot afford to miss this out!
"Abzu" drops October 4th via Candlelight Records. Pre-order the album via Amazon: CD | Mp3
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Release Date: May 23rd, 2011
Reviewer: Mark McGuire
Progressive Swede metallers Wolverine have a respectable back story as a band that have been doing just what their music suggests, progressing. Formed in 2005 Wolverine have passed hands from Elitist/Earache Records and are now promoting their melodies from the caring hands of Candlelight Records. This year's release "Communication Lost" offers an 11 track cache of thought provoking, lyrically moving prog rock/metal. Fours years in production, each track sets a mood and carries it throughout the music. Essentially Wolverine strikes me as a band not "in it for the glory". Their lyrical prowess is an impressive outwardly reaching auditory portrayal of the groups own experiences throughout their musical career to this point. The music and lyrics combine to encourage imagery quite effectively.
I would class this album as easy listening if it were not for the intense sensation suggesting that Wolverine are probably a very powerful group to experience live. And that they are. Co-headlining prog metal festivals and exploding out of their native Sweden with the release of a single album in 2005. Wolverine now maintain an international following and "Communication Lost" is another achievement not only for the band, but for progressive metal as a genre.
While "Communication Lost" is sure to satisfy any follower of Wolverine, it should entice any prog rock/metal fan as well...
Look out for - Pulse / Into The Great Nothing / Communication Lost
Genre: Extreme Metal
Label: Candlelight Records
Release Date: May 17th, 2011
Reviewer: Karim Tarek
Those of you who are familiar with Anaal Nathrakh can skip this paragraph and jump to the next one, but for others who are not; you first need to get introduced to the maddest, most insane and destructive band ever up to date.
Anaal Nathrakh is a Birmingham-based English two-member band, founded by Benediction’s vocalist, Dave Hunt, and the stark mastermind, Mick Kenney, in the year 1998. They play some kind of an extremely peculiar genre that is often abridged in the statement “Black Metal/Grindcore”, but to be a little articulate, I would call it “Experimental Nekro Hellish Wrenching Black Metal Grind.” Yep, Anaal Nathrakh’s music is that atrocious!
We all know what hell is, but none of us knows how it looks… Right, but we particularly know how it sounds; it simply sounds Anaal Nathrakh!
While Dave Hunt is responsible for vocal duties, we can simply hail Mick Kenny as a god for his efforts on guitars, bass, and programming. He, alongside people like Dave Suzuki and Galder, is sorted as an omnipotent musical deity, standing solely behind the most hellish tunes ever written by a terrestrial life form! If you’re not familiar with Anaal Nathrakh, you’d probably tell, from my parlance/tone, that I’m being somewhat exaggerating, but believe me, I’m not; Anaal Nathrakh is diametrically one of the wonders on earth.
On their brand new album, “Passion”, the British duo stay true to their original infernal, diabolic sound and don’t trend towards any futile changes, a point that deserves kudos from me. The evil on the album starts off incrementally; the opening track is a stand out with its clean intro, backed up with a distorted ambient sound – it gives you the feeling of safety and that this album is going to sound pretty mild, even the following couple of guitar riffs give you that same impression, and BOOM; at exactly 1:37, all meanings of the word “Hell” get emitted at your face, and the unhallowed noise of this whole world gets unleashed at your poor small mind for an entire 36-minute period. You can’t certainly do anything about it but raise the volume to the maximum and enjoy your senses being raped like a veteran masochist.
Moving to the musical aspects on “Passion”, I find that the album, though bears Anaal Nathrakh’s usual sound, has a lot of moments where you can clearly sense that the band’s sound is now more developed, sophisticated, and mature, which is quite a difficulty considering the kind of music that they play. I mean, they play the most complicated and chaotic music ever, but you can still observe a perfect sense of coherence and solidarity nonetheless.
What also keeps on bringing endless shivers down my spine, is the consolidation of epic clean vocals with the infernal, fast tremello riffing, the inhumane blast beats, the exquisite melodic solos, and the extremely eargasmic violent and slick breakthroughs. I know the word “epic” has been really overused/misused in an ignorant way that it has almost lost it’s meaning, but if there’s anything that is still epic in this world, it’s Jet Li’s double punch, and clean vocals on Anaal Nathrakh’s albums. It’s really amazing and astounding how Dave Hunt can perform those sick, masochist screams and shrieks, those deep growls, those tortured groans, in addition to those charming clean vocals. It seems like Mick Kenny is not the only mastermind in Anaal Nathrakh! Clean vocals on tracks like: “Volenti Non Fit Iniuria”, “Drug-Fucking Abomination”, and “Paragon Pariah” basically melted my whole body and got me endless seizures and shudders that I now feel that my whole body is tingling.
Surprisingly and contrary to Anaal Nathrakh’s trademarked sound, you find a lot of melodic and down-tempo moments on “Passion”, ones that clearly showcase the immense musical value that this album holds. They really have a magical effect being shoved in between the most destructive and abominable parts ever. “Drug-Fucking Abomination” for instance, is a track that is very groovy and sane on a lot of its moments compared to others; you can feel the relative lack of the usual Anaal Nathrakh subversive, mind-crushing sound on a lot of parts on it, but what really deserves a round of applause on the track in particular, is the fusion of some of the most brutal excerpts on the album into this groovy seven and a half-minute track like that of 3:03.
All in all, we can safely say that this album in particular, is a huge stride from Anaal Nathrakh towards reaching a notable global stature as one of the most technical, fast, insane, hellish, occult, scourging, and face-ripping bands ever. I speculate it’s going to be even more successful than its predecessor, “In The Constellation Of The Black Widow”. I can’t say anything about it other than it’s literally optimum on all conceivable aspects, and it even hits the notch and moves the deepest parts of me on numerous moments on it. I can keep on writing about this inhuman masterpiece forever, I’m telling you, but I can’t go any longer as the local police are now waiting for me to take me into custody after my neighbor called them and complained about me playing this album at full blast 24/7, but don’t you worry; we have a bail box here in Metality and either iRoar or Spiritcrusher is going to save me whenever they get the chance.
Highlights: Paragon Pariah, Le Diabolique Est L'ami Du Simplement Mal, Volenti Non Fit Iniuria.
[PRESS RELEASE]
The rad folks at Metalunderground.com premiered a brand new track, "Scumbag In Disguise," from Denver thrash collective HAVOK. The tune comes off the band's upcoming new full-length entitled Time Is Up, which is slated for a March 29th release via Candlelight Records. The follow-up to the ravaging Burn long-player was mastered by James Murphy and features ten tracks of flawlessly executed thrash anthems.
Check out " Scumbag In Disguise," the seventh track off this mammoth offering, HERE.
HAVOK formed in 2004. After two self-released albums, the band caught the attention of England’s Candlelight Records and by the Spring of 2009, the band unleashed Burn to the metal masses. The album peaked on CMJ’s Loud Rock chart at 15 and broke MediaGuide’s Top 10. Continued radio play came from KBPI/Denver, KUPD/Phoenix, WKLL/Waterville NY and WSOU/South Orange NJ. Music Choice and the syndicated metal program Full Metal Jackie also gave HAVOK repeated airtime.
HAVOK will kick off the first tour in support of Time Is Up next month as support for Florida death metallers Malevolent Creation. Stay tuned for further info.
