Based in Vienna but formed in the central Austrian city of Judenburg, CROWORD (often stylized as CroworD) is the brainchild of bassist Lukas Rappitsch who formed the band in 2012 after recruiting Martin Karner (vocals), Michael Karner (guitar), Florian Bogensberger (guitar) and Gabriel Cresnar on drums. They made somewhat of a splash with the debut EP “Manifest of Mortal Sickness” in 2016 and has been gaining momentum ever since but still doesn’t seem to be quite well known outside of its native Austria.

Inspired heavily by the Gothenburg scene of melodic death metal, this quintet has so far released two EPs and this sole full-length THE GREAT BEYOND which came out in 2017, features 12 tracks and adds up to just over 51 minutes of playing time. The album was produced in the band’s own studio with André Alvinzi who has worked with Insomnium and The Foresaken in the producer’s seat. The mastering was done by Jens Bogren of At The Gates, Opeth and Katatonia fame.

Sounding like a veritable mix of Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquility and perhaps a touch of Edge of Sanity, CROWORD delivers a convincing melo-death style that would make you swear they emerged from the southern lands of Sweden. The music features the typical melo-death characteristics of dueling guitar harmonies with distorted down-tuned riffing. The Amon Amarth comparison really ring true with lead singer’s Martin Karner’s deep guttural growling but the music isn’t quite as epic as that Swedish powerhouse.

While mostly an aggressive head banging journey from beginning to start, moments of clean guitar tones with slow melancholic moments do occur particularly on tracks like “Wall of Blackness (Part I) and (Part II).” Chunky riffs with blazing lead guitar solos underneath dominate the soundscape with a bouncy bass groove and diverse array of drumming styles. Generally speaking the band delivers the right mix of aggressive gnarly death metal with the typical melodic guitar sweeps in the vein of classic heavy metal. While as unintelligible as any guttural growly death metal, lyrics are inspired by medieval legends of the Alps and the works of Aldous Huxley, Michael Ende, Antoine Saint-Exupéry and Franz Kafka.

Overall this is a decent band that has absolutely nailed the classic Gothenburg melo-death sound but doesn’t quite add enough original imprints to make this stand out amongst the hoards of competition. Musically speaking these guys are incredibly talented and deliver this style of metal without flinching. It’s not exactly a clone of any particular band but sort of falls between the cracks of various Gothenburg metal bands thus sounding somewhat distinct but not instantly obvious that that’s the case. All in all this is certainly an entertaining listen and displays CROWORD as a veritable act that ready to hit the big time if only they could find some unique spin to break free from the somewhat generic approach they display here.

OBSOLENCE (also stylized as ObsolencE) is an obscure metal band that comes from the eastern Polish city of Siedlce and has been around since 2014 but although still officially active has so far only released one single and this one EP titled INNER VOICE which came out in 2017.

This EP features five tracks at over 32 minutes of playing time and the band’s style is a mix of post-metal and atmospheric sludge metal along with a few death metal elements such as growly vocals and death-doom riffing. Progressive elements are also scattered throughout the mix. The music is on the slower side with a groove sort of like Tool or Incubus only with a lot more dynamics. The death metal moments remind me of Opeth’s early works.

Although the EP flows by at a very relaxed pace the moods shift from dreamy post-rock type passages with clean vocals to heavier death-doomy post-metal. All the tracks are well played but seem to revolve around the same basic idea making the EP a tad on the monotonous side however the pros are that the various tones and dynamics offer variations that are interesting.

On the positive side OBSOLENCE sounds a bit unique even though it often reminds me of some of the alternative and prog death metal bands of the 90s and the occasional reference to the death-doom sounds of Katatonia or similar bands. The band is pretty good at the mellower atmospheric parts but doesn’t deliver to my satisfaction with the death metal tidbits.

Overall this is a decent release that is somewhat unique however the music itself doesn’t really rise above average. It sort of just drifts along with some clean moments here and then some heavier there without really developing any particular song structures. While the band has all the sound effects down and the clear talent to pull it off at this point it lacks any sort of strong songwriting skills. Decent if you like deathened post-metal but nothing too overly exciting. Also i don’t find the vocalist has enough range to breathe life into the project.

TITANIUM is a power metal band from Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland founded by Karol Mania in 2010 after he moved on from his previous band Abigail. Somewhat of an obscurity so far TITANIUM has released two albums and an EP first beginning with the “We Come To Rock!” EP in 2012 followed by the self-titled debut full-length in 2013. This second and so far final chapter of the TITANIUM saga, ATOMIC NUMBER 22 came out in 2016. The band is considered active but apparently on some sort of hiatus.

This is a typical by the books type of power metal band that consists of Ukrainian born Konstantin Naumenko (vocals), Karol Mania (guitar, keys, backing vocals), Jarek Bona (guitar), Paweł Gębka (bass) and Filip Gruca (drums) with the usual suspects of Helloween, Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian being the primarily influences. This album features nine original tracks plus the bonus Stratovarius cover “Eagleheart.” The album was released on the Japanese Avalon label which has many top dog metal bands including Pain of Salvation, Ark and Sonata Arctica.

While not dripping in originality, TITANIUM certainly displays a firm command of the demanding power metal genre. The band offers a crisp tight unit of thundering guitar riffs, pummeling bass and percussion and a more than competent vocalist with Konstantin Neumenko and the band delivers a high intensity style of power metal that is as heavy as the sturdy metallic element that the band is named after. TITANIUM delivers the expected power metal traits that include highly addictive melodies set to rampage mode in the instrumentation plus a few slower tender moments.

Naumenko’s vocal style is top notch and soars like an eagle with high octave performances that take your breath away. He got his feet wet in the Kyiv, Ukraine based power metal band Sunrise. Founder Karol Mania is the star of the show though with his excellent guitar work that doesn’t quite approach the neoclassical shredding of similar bands but is still way above average. He also handles all the keyboards, programming, orchestral elements and is the primarily songwriter and lyricist. While power metal can sound a bit generic, his songwriting strengths offer an interesting tweak on the limited power metal structure.

The album features 11 tracks that add up to 54 1/2 minutes with the usual power metal stylistic approach that has been the standard since Helloween’s classic “Keeper of the Seven Seas” masterworks however TITANIUM expresses its creativity in how it conveys these standard power metal sounds. Overall the production is excellent as well as the mixing and ATOMIC NUMBER 22 sounds like a true professional release. The tracks vary enough to keep the oft generic flow of power metal from creeping in and given that all the performers are at the top of their game, ATOMIC NUMBER 22 is a compelling release to experience.

True this won’t go down as one of the most cutting edge power metal albums out there but it more than makes up for it in its high quality instrumental interplay. Despite that the band has everything going for it and is actually one of the best power metal bands from Eastern Europe i’ve experienced so far with all the special ingredients that make power metal so dynamic. Scrumptious melodies, intricate solos, exquisite variations between tempos, dynamics and rhythmic cadences. With a bit more of creative infusion TITANIUM could actually soar into the top ranks of power metal. Highly recommended for fans of Scandinavian power metal such as Stratovarious or Lost Horizon.

As one of the pioneers of symphonic black metal with his innovative band Emperor, IHSAHN together with his buddy Samoth left the 90s as one of the most influential and popular black metal bands of the entire decade. While Emperor would stop making albums in 2001, IHSAHN focused on his side project Peccatum briefly but ultimately reemerged as a solo artist in 2006 with a shift to a more progressive avant-garde metal sound that still retained the core elements of black metal. It all began with “The Adversary” and some 18 years later IHSAHN is still cranking out quality experimental metal with his latest self-titled eighth album once again capturing the attention of the world of extreme metal.

Deviating significantly from 2018’s “Àmr” which saw IHSAHN approaching a more commercial sound at times, this eponymously titled release looks back to the Emperor years and rekindles the spirit of symphonic black metal only this time he replaces the synthesized embellishments with a fuller orchestral sound courtesy of advancements in sampling technologies. While orchestrated metal albums are hardly anything new, IHSAHN delivers a anew approach that eschews a mere symphonic backing and rather features two independent musical scores laid upon each other resulting in not only a more dynamic symphonic metal approach but also by spawning a secondary release that features the orchestral side of the equation exclusively.

Almost sounding like Emperor is playing over a Hollywood blockbuster soundtrack of some sort, IHSAHN crafts his usual mix of nerdy progressive metal replete with all the avant-garde elements that makes him exist in a world of his own along with the black metal raspy vocals, thundering guitar riffs and percussion to match. The album that features 11 tracks at nearly 49 minutes is reminiscent of some of Dimmu Borgir’s later releases that offer an equal playing field for the orchestral musical score that oft soars above the black metal mania. And while the album sounds like IHSAHN has been accompanied by an entire philharmonic orchestra at times, the guest musicians only add up to three additional percussionists and a violinist leaving IHSAHN the chore of handling vocals, guitar, bass and orchestral sampling.

IHSAHN is actually quite a diverse album (would you expect anything else?) with varying tracks that features clean vocal led prog metal as on “The Promethean Spark” to full out raging black metal on such tracks as “A Taste Of The Ambrosia” but scattered throughout are tidbits of pure classical orchestration as heard on the opening “Cervus Venator” and the middle intermission “Anima Extraneae.” Tempos vary, dynamics vary and stylistic approach may but the gist of this is a mix of crunchy black metal in tandem with classical orchestrations. Tracks like “Blood Trails To Love” feature a mix of the clean vocal prog metal with the raspy more extreme black. While hinting at Emperor’s past glories, the metal on this release isn’t nearly as full throttle as such magnus opuses as “In The Nightshade Eclipse.”

Overall IHSAHN is a decent album but it’s a bit uneven with no clear stylistic approach really dominating. While that can become a good thing if the sum of the parts add up to something more profound, this album seems a bit scattered which at times reveals both the metal aspects and the orchestral ones seem to cancel each other out a bit. The novelty of orchestral metal has long worn off and the execution of this seems less than satisfying. The addition of dreadfully long moments such as the album’s 9-minute version of a ballad - “At The Heart Of All Things Broken” is actually really cheesy and i seriously would love to cut that entire track from the playing list.

The album seems to lose steam too much with half-assed percussion and metal that doesn’t get up to full force. The orchestral parts just seem to dance around and don’t really offer a very memorable experience either in a meaningful way. All in all it’s a decent album but hardly one of IHSAHN’s best. All the rave reviews about this bely it’s downsides. I was somewhat impressed on the first listen but more attentive listening sessions reveal serious flaws that i can’t shake. The patchiness of the album ruins its flow but as on all IHSAHN albums there are more than enough moments of triumphant victory. As a true fan i couldn’t imagine not owning this but it certainly won’t rank as a top contender for favorite IHSAHN releases.

HELLVETTO is just one of the many projects of the one-man act Filip Mrowiński better known as L.O.N (Light of Night) who operates out of Ostrołęka, Poland. Although HELLVATTO is his most famous alter ego, L.O.N. single-handedly also releases music under the monikers Blakagir, Neoheresy, Sarkel and Winds of Garden. Trouble getting along with others perhaps? The HELLVETO world began in 1995 followed by several demos and a split with Herrgorn before this debut AUTUMNAL NIGHT was released in 2002 on the Sanguinae Maremagnum label.

One of the most prolific artists in black metal, as HELLVETTO, L.O.N. released sixteen albums from 2002 to 2012 before dropping the name and changing it to Neoheresy. AUTUMNAL NIGHT set the stage for HELVETTO’s dramatic sound that mixed classical symphonic / orchestral elements with Pagan black metal. This debut features 10 tracks that add up to 52 1/2 minutes of playing time. HELLVETO handles all instruments including guitars, bass, drums, synthesizers as well as the orchestral arrangements with both raspy growls and clean vocal styles.

In many ways HELVETTO sounds like Summoning where the black metal is not the dominant feature but rather on an equal playing field with other elements in this case being the dramatic opera singing that often sounds like HELLVETO is being joined by a liturgical choir. The raspy vocals also remind a lot of Summoning’s Silenius however the orchestral classical segments make it sound like a black metal band ambushed an opera and then joined in. Other similarities can be made with Norway’s Limbonic Art as well as moments that remind me of early Nokturnal Mortem especially with the overlong “Intro / Switez” that is right out of the “Goat Horns” playbook.

I have mixed feelings about AUTUMNAL NIGHT. On the one hand it’s a very unique album that takes the classical orchestral sounds to levels most black metal bands wouldn’t even consider but to the point where they often dominate the album for too long. The compositions are well thought out and the dynamic flow of the album is quite intriguing but on the other hand the production and mixing is crap. Sure lo-fi works well for the more raw and brutal forms of metal but on AUTUMNAL NIGHT the black metal parts are set too low in the mix while the oft cheesy keyboards are set too high. Overall it’s an interesting release with lots of choral vocal styles offering a beauty and the beast effect with the raspy outrage.

While Ihsahn is getting a lot of praise for his 2024 release that mixes orchestral elements with black metal, many are unaware that HELLVETO was doing the same thing long ago however AUTUMNAL NIGHT was pretty much finding L.O.N. lingering in demo mode and his mastery of production and mixing would improve as time goes on. Musically i love this but the production is so wrong it hurts. Still though L.O.N. has proven to be a musical mastermind of both black metal and dark ambient styles for several decades now and seems he is in no danger of burning out any time soon. Sometimes the drifting into opera can be a bit too much but overall the orchestral classical moments are pleasant.