UMUR "Darkness Unveiled" is a 7" vinyl single release (limited to 1.000 copies) by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Infester. The single was released through Moribund Records in February 1993. The two tracks featured on the single ("Darkness Unveiled" and "Clouding of Consciousness") are both culled from the band´s 1992 demo also titled "Darkness Unveiled" (the demo features 4 tracks).

Stylistically this is some pretty basic old school death metal with both fast-paced, mid-paced, and slow parts. The growling vocals are effective but the lack of lead guitar parts make this a slightly one-dimensional listen. Upon conclusion you should of course find the full demo instead of listening to this single, as two tracks are missing. In those days it was different though, as it was always cool to have something released on vinyl instead of just having a demo cassette tape out. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Darkness Unveiled" is a demo release by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Infester. The demo was recorded in September 1992 and released on cassette tape later that year. The band formed in 1991 under the Threnodist monicker but changed to the current name in 1992. Two of the four tracks from the demo ("Darkness Unveiled" and "Clouding of Consciousness") were released in February 1993 as the "Darkness Unveiled" 7" vinyl single release.

Stylistically this is some pretty basic old school death metal with both fast-paced, mid-paced, and slow parts. The lack of lead guitar parts makes it a slightly one-dimensions listen. It´s a shame really, because the 1991 Threnodist demo these guys released featured some lead guitar parts which made that demo a relatively more varied release). It´s relatively well performed and the growling vocals are brutal and high in the mix. The sound production is decent considering that this is a demo recording and although "Darkness Unveiled" definitely isn´t the most unique sounding US death metal demo from the early 90s, there are enough good quality elements here to warrant a listen og two. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Vomitous Demo" is the first demo recording by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Threnodist. The demo was independently released in 1991 and it´s the band´s only demo after forming earlier the same year and changing their name to Infester in 1992.

Stylistically the material on the five tracks, 23:33 minutes long demo is predominantly mid- to fast-paced (not blasting fast) old school death metal. The band are audibly still amateurs at this point and the playing is at times a bit questionable. When that is said the growling vocals are pretty effective and the band also have some interesting songwriting ideas. So this may be a very immature first demo recording, but it´s obvious that Threnodist had some good ideas but just needed time to hone their skills. The sound production is decent considering that this is a demo recording. A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating is warranted.

Warthur Nektar's Recycled presents an absolutely electrifying first side joined at the hip with an extremely pedestrian second side. The first half of the album (from Recycle to Unendless Imagination?) is a demented thrill-ride through a nightmare future of "recycled energy" and runaway entropy, which I could listen to over and over again; the second side is a set of rather pedestrian songs about tourism which lack the dynamism, energy, aggression, or breakneck pace of the first side, and so rather squander the album's momentum. I'll give it a four star rating, but please note that it's a five star side A bolted to a three star side B.

siLLy puPPy 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.

UMUR "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is the first demeo recording by Danish death/doom/stoner metal act Reefer. The demo was released through Smokedd Productions in February 2013. Reefer was formed in 2010 by drummer Inhalator (real name Eik B. Sørensen) and lead vocalist/guitarist Grim Reefer (real name David Buch Mikkelsen). The latter is quite prolific on the Danish death metal scene and is also known for his work with death metal acts Undergang and Phrenelith (among other projects). Bassist Weed Wizard joined in 2013, completing the trio lineup who recorded "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs".

As expected from reading the title of demo this is some fuzzed out, crushingly heavy stoner doom metal but with brutal unintelligible growling vocals. It´s like listening to the bastard child of Electric Wizard and Mikkelsen´s Undergang. The latter influence is however only heard in the sleazy, gritty, and morbid sounding atmosphere and the vocals, as the instrumental part of the music is repetitive and slow stoner doom metal, of course with lyrics centered around Marijuana. It´s only a few times during the playing time that Reefer play some noisy fast parts, but they only last for a few seconds when they occur.

Featuring three tracks and a total playing time of 25:40 "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is a relatively long demo and all tracks are 7-9 minutes long, giving the band plenty of time to play their ultra heavy riffs and rhythms over and over again. The sound production is of a good quality considering that this is a demo recording, and upon conclusion "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is a decent quality release. There´s nothing here you haven´t heard before and Reefer won´t win any prices for innovation or for being the most intriguing stoner doom metal act on the scene, but they aren´t the worst either. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Søm til din ligkiste" ("Nails for your coffin") is an EP release by Danish death metal act Undergang. The EP was released through Me Saco un Ojo Records in August 2013. It bridges the gap between Undergang´s second- and third full-length studio albums "Til døden os skiller" (2012) and "Døden læger alle sår" (2015).

"Søm til din ligkiste" features three tracks and a total playing time of 12:23 minutes. All material on the EP is exclusive to this release. "Obduction" ("Autopsy") and "Afrevne lemmer" ("Torn limbs") show Undergang playing shorter more direct old school death metal with a Swedish death metal influence not heard that much on earlier releases. It´s still rotten, filthy, and gore drenched death metal with low in the mix unintelligible growling and sometimes higher pitched juicy screaming vocals, but just slightly different from what came before.

"Rædselsfuld" ("Terrible") concludes the EP and it´s a longer and slower death/doom oriented metal track which is crushingly heavy and slugish, but no less brutal and slimey than the first couple of tracks. "Søm til din ligkiste" is well produced featuring the right gloomy, raw, and gritty production values, which perfectly suits the material.

Upon conclusion "Rædselsfuld" is the highlight of the EP and the two slightly faster and shorter tracks aren´t quite as developed nor as intriguing and varied as the longer closing track, but they are still good quality old school death metal and they both bear the unmistakable mark of being Undergang songs. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Dead of Winter" is a split release featuring one track by US death metal act Funebrarum and one track by Danish death metal act Undergang. The split was released in February 2012 through Doomentia Records. Both tracks were upon release exclusive to this split. "The Dead of Winter" was released as a promotion item to promote the two band´s European tour in February 2012.

Both Funebrarum and Undergang represent the filthiest, most cavernous, and organic type of old school death metal you can get your hands on, and both bands deliver good quality material here. "Delusions in the Sheltered Tombs" won´t disappoint fans of Funebrarum with its predominantly death/doom pace and brilliant morbid lead guitar work, and "Kloakkens Afkom" is a crushingly heavy and brutal death metal track too. The latter was recorded during the fall of 2011, so it was not recorded during the sessions for "Til døden os skiller", which was released only a week before this split. If you´re familiar with "Til døden os skiller", the sound producction on "Kloakkens Afkom" will also give that away, as it´s quite different from the almost simoultaniously released studio album. Upon conclusion this is a high quality split featuring quality exclusive material from both artists and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy 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.

UMUR "At The Walls" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Virginia based thrash metal act Enforced. The album was released through War Records in July 2019. Enforced formed in 2016 and released two 2017 demos before being signed for the release of "At The Walls". While "At The Walls" is considered Enforced debut full-length studio album, it´s actually more a compilation album, as the album consists of remixed versions of the seven tracks from the two 2017 demos, and only two new original compositions. The tracklist opens with the two new tracks, then the three tracks from the second 2017 demo "Retaliation" and closing the album with the four tracks from the "Demo 2017" demo. The tracks are as a result presented in diverse order in terms of the time of recording.

Stylistically the material on "At The Walls" is aggressive, heavy, and punchy thrash metal with crossover influences. The crossover elements (hardcore tinged riffs and rhythms, brutal heavy breakdowns, riot gang backing vocals) are most prominent on the tracks from the "Demo 2017" demo, and less and less prominent on the more recently composed tracks. While the material are generally well composed and effectful, Enforced´s greatest strength is their aggressive and brutal delivery of the music. They are a well playing unit, handling both fast and heavy parts with equal conviction, delivering sharp riffs and screaming solos. The vocals are raw and shouting, and suits the instrumental part of the music well. I hear influences from artists like Slayer, late 80s/early 90s Sepultura, and various crossover/hardcore acts. A contemporary artists like Power Trip is a valid reference too.

While there is a difference in style between the most recent tracks and the earliest demo tracks, "At The Walls" is still a relatively consistent release, and the quality of the material is overall high. "At The Walls" is also well produced and upon conclusion it´s a promising debut album by Enforced. A few more hooks/memorable moments and a little more variation in the way the vocals are performed would have made "At The Walls" an even more interesting release, but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.

UMUR "Cattle Decapitation / Caninus" is a split release by US, California based deathgrind/death metal act Cattle Decapitation and US, New York based grindcore act Caninus. The split was released through War Torn Records in October 2005. Cattle Decapitation are known to most fans of extreme metal but Caninus are a bit more obscure...and rightly so, as their two lead singers are two pitbulls called Basil and Budgie (yes...their vocalists are two dogs...).

Cattle Decapitation takes us through six short and violent deathgrind tracks, which are pretty much in character with their other contemporary releases. So this is before they added more death metal elements to their music, the odd gnarly clean vocals, and became slighly more accessible. It´s good quality deathgrind, but that´s about it.

The Caninus tracks are downright bizarre. The instrumental part of the tracks are pretty standard grindcore, but it´s impossible not to crack a smile when the two dogs growl, snarl, and bark their way through the ten Caninus tracks featured on the split (they even perform a cover of Agnostic Front). A novelty act they may be, but this is damn funny and a crazy idea...I´m entertained.

This kind of split is a bit hard to rate as on one side you have some pretty standard quality material from Cattle Decapitation, and then you have this complete craziness from Caninus. I´ll go with a 3 star (60%) rating because of the entertainment level.

UMUR "Festering Flesh" is a reissue demo recording by German death metal act Fleshcrawl. The demo was released through Xtreem Music in July 2021. Fleshcrawl formed in 1987 as Morgöth, but changed their name to Suffocation and released a couple of demos under that monicker before changing their name one final time in 1991 to Fleshcrawl. "Festering Flesh" is a reissue of the second demo recording the band did in February 1991 while still called Suffocation, but now re-released under the Fleshcrawl monicker.

All four tracks from the 21:27 minutes long demo would be re-recorded and included on Fleshcrawl´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Descend into the Absurd", which of course provides this reissue under the Fleshcrawl monicker with a bit more credibility. These are actual demo versions of songs which would later be Fleshcrawl material.

The quality of the recordings is decent but pretty raw and rough around the edges, which of course isn´t unusual for a 1991 death metal demo. They probably even cleaned it up a little, so the original probably sounds even more raw and lo-fi. Stylistically Suffocation/early Fleshcrawl were pretty interesting as they played both fast-paced brutal death metal but often also took their music down the doomy depths. The versions of these tracks found on "Descend into the Absurd" are arguably better recorded and a little more mature, but these demo versions are still worth a listen simply because this is some really good quality old school death metal. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

siLLy puPPy 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.

UMUR "The Dreams You Dread" is the first demo recording by UK, Birmingham based death metal act Benediction. The demo was independently released in 1989. Benediction formed earlier that same year and "The Dreams You Dread" was their sole demo release before being signed by Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their 1990 debut full-length studio album "Subconscious Terror".

The demo features four tracks and a total playing time of 14:23 minutes. Three ouf of the four tracks would be re-recorded and included on "Subconscious Terror". Only "Bonesaw" is exclusive to this release. Well...that´s actually not entirely true as it was renamed "Grizzled Finale" and also re-recorded and included on "Subconscious Terror".

Stylistically Benediction had already found the relatively simple, raw, and brutal death metal style they would also pursue on the subsequent studio album releases. So they didn´t start out being grindcore or hardcore influenced like contemporaries such as Napalm Death, Carcass, and Bolt Thrower. Not other than the usual old school hardcore punk influenced drumming style which occurs once in a while.

The sound production is murky, raw, and lo-fi in style, but it´s one of those old school death metal demos where it doesn´t matter that much. It may even add to the authenticity and brutal nature of the demo. It´s of course one of the few recordings Mark "Barney" Greenway did with Benediction before he left to join Napalm Death, but it still needs to be mentioned how brutal a growler he was in his early days. For a 1989 release this is a very brutal growling vocal performance. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Demon Master" is the second full-length studio album by US, San Francisco based thrash metal/hard rock/heavy metal act Blind Illusion. The album was independently released in July 2010. Blind Illusion was formed in 1979 and although it took until 1988 before the band were able to release their debut full-length studio album "The Sane Asylum", they are widely recognised as an important and influential San Francisco thrash metal act. Blind Illusion weren´t able to secure a new label deal after the release of "The Sane Asylum", and after releasing the 1989 "Psychodelic Symphony" demo, they slowly faded away and finally disbanded in 1992.

It wasn´t completely over for lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Biedermann though, and after a long break he opted to reform Blind Illusion in 2009. On "Demon Master" he is joined by drummer Robert Nystrom and bassist Danny Harcourt, making Blind Illusion a trio on the album.

Stylistically "Demon Master" don´t exactly pick up where "The Sane Asylum" took off. There are zero thrash metal riffs and rhythms on "Demon Master" and instead it´s a bluesy hard rock/heavy metal album with Biedermann singing instead of shouting/snarling like he did on "The Sane Asylum". So this probably came as a big surprise to the original fans of the band, who had been waiting for a follow-up album for 22 years. But changes aren´t always bad new, and Blind Illusion actually pull off playing this new hard rock/heavy metal style pretty well. Biedermann is still an excellent guitarist and his new rhythm section keep things organic, energetic, and powerful. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Biedermann can actually sing too, so all in all "Demon Master" is a pretty good quality hard rock/heavy metal release and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.

Warthur Did you like Remember the Future? Because this is basically a rehash of the general sonic approach of that, with a shade less oomph. It's alright, but a lot of it doesn't come across as being very memorable, and it all feels like revisiting territory Nektar have already explored. The following Recycled would invigorate their sound - especially on the excellent first side - but here the band sound a little bogged down, though there's still some charming moments here and there, as well as Beatles-esque touches (particularly in some of the vocals) which would have given it a bit of a retro vibe even at the time of release.

Warthur Emerging from a long hiatus, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum make a triumphant comeback. With an orchestra backing them, absolutely pristine production, and themes as dark and foreboding as any they offered up on their original run of three albums, this is a purified and intensified take on their distinctive musical approach, a terrifying metal-in-opposition meditation on human extinction and other weighty topics which runs the full emotional gamut from ethereal beauty to apocalyptic terror.

Not only do the band sound like they've not missed a beat - and in fact, they never did with many of the members having continued to work with each other in Free Salamander Exhibit, perhaps nodded to in the opening track here. Moreover, they began working on much of this material in 2010-2011 (and SQPR, a This Heat cover, hails from as far back as 2004) and have been gently working on it ever since, meaning this album has been brewed, distilled, and refined over the span of a decade. The end result might be the best expression they've ever offered of their creative vision, a keystone which ties their body of work together and which in retrospect it feels like their earlier albums were building towards all along. With many of the band members equally adept at rock and classical instruments, and Nils Frykdahl giving Mike Patton a run for his money in terms of vocal acrobatics, the Museum deploys its full bag of tricks here expertly, everything used purposefully and thoughtfully to best effect.

For a group which started out resembling an avant-prog take on Mr. Bungle, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum have only forged ahead into yet stanger territory; here they make Mr. Bungle's most alienating moments seem outright smooth and approachable by comparison, but never become dryly technical, maintaining an impressive command of atmosphere and emotion for the whole 66 minute running time.

Warthur This was recorded at the same sessions that yielded Savatage's debut album, Sirens, which in practice means it's much of a piece with it (especially given the fairly tight schedule they were on). It's pretty engaging, but as with Sirens we don't really get that much of what would make Savatage truly stand out coming through here; they're still rooted in NWOBHM-ish trad metal, and the power metal and progressive elements that would eventually be hallmarks of their sound are mere whispers on the wind at this stage. Not bad, but anyone with a decent range of early 1980s metal in their collection has already heard plenty of stuff like this.

siLLy puPPy Emerging from the city of Łódź, Poland in 1991 first under the name Solitude and then Mesmerized with a demo each under both names, the band finally chose TENEBRIS and released its first album “The Odious Progress” in 1994. Adopting the sounds of old school death metal with cheesy keyboards, the early albums sounded like a poor man’s Nocturnus and ultimately the band ended in 2002 only to resurrect in 2006 like a Phoenix and emerge as a fully developed progressive metal band without jettisoning the death metal aspects.

“Catalfalque - Comet” was immediately released but recorded from 1997 - 2002 which served as a transition album between the two phases of the band however by the time the band released its 2009 album “Leavings of Distortion Soul,” TENEBRIS had mostly shed its death metal heritage and moved more into the world atmospheric sci-fi themed prog metal that adopted all kinds of various metal styles including a nod or two to its previous incarnation. ALPHA ORIONIS, named after a star cluster in Betelgeuse, followed in 2013 and took the band even further into the world of the avant-garde and experimental with a focus on psychedelic textures, jazz influences and even zeuhl based cyclical rhythms.

ALPHA ORIONIS is a strange album that really doesn’t sound like any other. It’s a veritable mix of the spacey atmospheric sounds of early Cynic especially when the few moments of death metal come in but through the run of 9 tracks that add up to 46 minutes of playing time, TENEBRIS really dishes out healthy doses of the entire metal universe with different stylistic approaches including totally distinct vocals appearing throughout the album’s run. While mostly set to clean vocals, the occasional death growls occur during the more aggressive contrasts but for the most part this is a very atmospheric metallic version of space rock with layers of synthesizers offering subtle backgrounds and even more upfront cases of spacey keyboard runs.

The music can range from somewhat familiar progressive metal in the vein of early 90s Pestilence to very strange groove metal based sounds reminiscent of Nevermore. In addition to the sung vocals are lots of spoken vocals appearing throughout. The music alternates between heavy extreme metal, more atmospheric prog metal not unlike Porcupine Tree’s heaviest to pacifying non-metal moments with clean guitars, heavy layers of synth and dreamy atmospheres. While all these styles come and go they usually play out for a lengthy period before changing the mood dial. ALPHA ORIONIS is a true progress metal album in that excels at crafting demanding time signature workouts despite the album’s overall flow feeling quite relaxed despite the business of the heavy drum, bass and guitar workouts.

This is definitely a unique album from this Polish band and for those seeking out some of the weirdest and unorthodox extreme metal out there then this album shouldn’t be missed. It features a really nice production and a strange procession of metal and space ambient sounds that somehow keep a nice flow with some zeuhl inspired rhythms. Possibly a bit claustrophobic sounding for some and admittedly a bit busy in the atmospheric department with the vocals often low in the mix but all of this guarantees a very strange album experience that won’t disappoint those looking for something different. Personally i think this is a great album that showcases as much extreme originality as it does extreme soundscapes. Definitely one for fans of the difficult music listening section.

siLLy puPPy The NWOBM heavy metal scene of the early 80s launched heavy metal music into the mainstream with bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard and Angel Witch becoming some of the most popular metal acts of all time however for every success story there was a case of broken dreams that never went anywhere. This band being the perfect example.

Coming from the city of Peterborough just north of London, MITHRANDIR existed for a mere three years from 1980 to 1983 and in that time only released one single “Dreamers of Fortune / After Tomorrow" and the MAGICK E.P. which may as well have been just another single as it only featured three tracks that didn’t even make it to the 13 minute mark.

This quartet of Graham Gargiulo (vocals), Paul Chester (guitar), Keith Billson (drums) and Dale Crue (bass) sounded a good ten years behind the scene on this short three track run. Sounding more like 70s hard rock than fully developed heavy metal, somehow this band got lumped into the NWOBHM scene for its time and place of existence but these guys were clearly not ready for primetime at this stage.

First of all this is a shoddy demo quality recording with lo-fi production that does not suit the NWOBHM style as it does the murky evil sounds of black metal. The musicians weren’t very skilled at all playing rather at rather mediocre hard rock speed however the compositions themselves do sound more like what was contemporary. The absolute worst part about this band was the awful vocalist who could not hit the notes at all.

The whole thing sounds very amateurish and not even close to the quality of the bands that were already hitting the big time. It’s no wonder this band called it a day and has been totally forgotten from the annals of history however it’s worth a spin if you are interested in digging up lesser known bands that sorta suck. The songs themselves aren’t bad but the execution sure is. Pretty much a collectors thing only as this was released only once on a vinyl 7” and will probably never be again

Warthur Although it enjoys an enviable reputation, I have to say that I don't think Remember the Future is in the top tier of Nektar's albums. Taking a leaf from Jethro Tull's book, the group try to stretch a song across an entire album, only for a lack of material to become evident - by the last couple of minutes the song descends into fairly pedestrian hard rock, and the rest of the album just doesn't have the richness or diversity of Thick as a Brick, or even A Passion Play. The band's symphonic masterpiece would come later in the form of the brilliant first side of Recycled, but Remember the Future finds them not quite there yet, and could have done with an editing pass to trim back the filler.

Warthur Deliberately made in a rougher, looser style in a bid to translate their live energy to the studio, Nektar's ...Sounds Like This may be jarring if you're coming to it from their more symphonically-inclined works like Remember the Future or Recycled, but makes perfect sense as a continuation of their early space rock/heavy psych-influenced sound. It's a style which may have felt a little dated in 1973 - an era when prog was largely pushing past its roots in psychedelic rock - but I think it's a perfectly solid entry in Nektar's discography and doesn't to be overlooked to the extent that it is.

Warthur Jacob Buczarski's one-man atmospheric black metal project takes off into deep space yet again. "Solar Paroxysm" as a title suggests intense heat, searing light, and violent fits, and those are all concepts which the sound of the album seems to fit. It's perhaps a few steps closer to the centre of gravity of the atmospheric black metal scene than, say, the output of Darkspace, but it's still a compelling set of long, sprawling soundscapes. I'm not as immediately gripped and thrilled by it as I was by Phobos Monolith, which I think is Buczarski's magnum opus, but I'm certainly keen to continue exploring its mysteries.

UMUR "Summon Thy Demons" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act Mezzrow. The album was released through Fireflash Records in April 2023. Mezzrow formed in 1985 under the Necromancy monicker but changed their name to the current one in 1988. They recorded two demos under the Mezzrow monicker before being signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Then Came the Killing", which was released by Active Records in 1990. "Then Came the Killing" ended up being Mezzrow´s sole album release in their original run, as they disbanded after recording a 1991 demo. They shortly reunited in 2005 which resulted in the release of the "...Then Came the Video" compilation video release, but it wasn´t until 2021 that Mezzrow opted for a more serious reformation. Only two members remain from the lineup who recorded "Then Came the Killing" but 33 years down the line that´s perfectly understandable. The members who remain from the debut album are lead vocalist Uffe Pettersson and bassist/backing vocalist Conny Welén. New in the lineup are Jon Skäre (drums), Magnus Söderman (lead guitars), and Ronnie Björnström (guitars).

To my ears "Then Came the Killing" was close to being a Testament worship release, and while "Summon Thy Demons" is arguably a more mature, meaty, and heavy release, featuring influences from other more melodic thrash metal artists like Forbidden and Heathen too, Testament is still a big influence on Mezzrow´s sound. So it is in the field of the more melodic (yet still aggressive and edgy) Bay Area thrash metal sound that Mezzrow deliver their sharp thrashy riffs and rhythms.

"Summon Thy Demons" features a heavy, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well and fans of latter day Forbidden and Heathen releases shouldn´t be disappointed at neither the songwriting style, the high level musicianship, or the sound production values of the album. There are many similarities to what artists like those produce these days. So upon conclusion "Summon Thy Demons" is a welcome comeback release from Mezzrow and fans of the genre should find lots to appreciate here, although it´s doutbful they´ll find anything here they haven´t heard before...but that´s not really the point with this type of release now is it? A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Warthur A swirling keyboard line introduces Panic Attack, the first song on Judas Priest's latest album, Invincible Shield - sounding nothing like any of the prior dabbling in synthesisers and more like they've been dipping a toe into the synthwave scene. No, it's not a radical shift in direction - just an atmospheric intro which gives way to metal fury once the song kicks into high gear, offering the most electrifying opening track on a Priest album since Painkiller.

And it never, ever lets up after that! After the excellent Firepower found Priest playing in a very direct, go-for-the-throat style which went back to basics, this one sees them elaborating the song structures a bit in a manner reminiscent of their 1970s material whilst still keeping the sound fresh, offering a sound with blends the fury and pace of Painkiller, the pristine production of their mid-1980s material, and the edge of transgression and defiance they've been offering up since the 1970s, encapsulating the best of all of their classic eras whilst still finding novel and exciting songs to play in this style.

A particular tip of the hat is needed for Glenn Tipton, who despite his Parkinson's still manages to contribute to the album, helping out with songwriting as he always has and putting in a few guitar solos here and there. Andy Sneap of Sabbat fame, who's served as Tipton's stand-in for the band's live shows ever since he stepped back from in-person performance, is credited with additional guitar, as well as fully taking on the producer's role (having co-produced Firepower), and he does a fine job of all these tasks, engineering the album to perfection as well as giving Glenn that essential backup. Given how key he's become to the band's activities these days, we should surely start thinking of Andy as Judas Priest's unofficial sixth member; he'd deserve it based on his contributions to this album alone, but combine that with his sterling work on Firepower and the grand job he does live filling in for Glenn he's surely become as crucial as any of the tenured band members.

Think of any other band who've been going as long as Priest, putting a new album out some 50 years after their debut; nine times out of ten, that new album's going to be a bit of a nostalgia exercise, a process of going through the motions which will appeal to ultra-fans but doesn't really offer much over their more compelling work they put out in their prime. Now look at Priest: it's easy enough to say that Invincible Shield beats the living daylights out of Rocka Rolla, that's a notably weak debut which more or less all of their albums bar for Demolition or Jugulator beat comfortably.

But for Invincible Shield to measure up credibly next to the likes of Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, or Painkiller? That's astonishing - and yet I really think it does. Judas Priest are an inspiration to all the rest of us: if these lads can keep the flame burning after half a century, if Glenn Tipton can keep contributing as he does here despite his Parkinson's, then that's a challenge to all of us to face whatever challenges life throws at us with equal determination. Perhaps that conviction and self-belief - and confidence that their listeners can discover that same fire within them - which is Priest's true Invincible Shield.

UMUR "Fatal Judgement" is an EP release by Canadian thrash metal act Strappado. The EP was independently released in 1992. It´s the successor to Strappado´s 1991 debut full-length studio album "Not Dead Yet".

"Fatal Judgement" is a bit of an odd EP release as it features a couple of new original compositions but also quite a few re-recorded slaughter and Strappado tracks. Stylistically Strappado have become heavier, darker, and even more well playing since "Not Dead Yet", but despite these changes to their music, they still sound like themselves, and unfortunately for them this style of music was completely out of fashion in 1992, which probably meant they received little or no attention when releasing this material. Back then slaughter wasn´t considered the cult band it is today, and few people had an interest in following what the former frontman of Slaughter was doing (unless he did something death metal related, which he didn´t).

The new compositions are quite long and structurally more complex than anything Slaughter/Strappado had released before but that doesn´t mean that the material on this EP is any more interesting than the simple and primitive sound of Slaughter. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Not Dead Yet" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian thrash metal act Strappado. The album was independently released in 1991. Strappado formed in 1990 after the demise of Slaughter. After releasing their 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado", Slaughter recorded a second album (titled "Paranormal"), now as a quartet after second guitarist Bobby Sadzak joined , but it ended up being released as a demo instead, because bassist/vocalist Terry Sadler jumped ship, and soon drummer Ron Sumners also left, so vocalist/guitaritst Dave Hewson and new guitarist Sadzak opted for a name change and a fresh start with Strappado.

Stylistically the material on "Not Dead Yet" features a more Bay Area influenced thrash metal style than the more primitive, raw, and aggressive hardcore tinged thrash metal of Slaughter´s releases, although the material on 1988 "Paranormal" demo did show progress towards a more technically well played and complex take on thrash metal...so in that respect the music style on "Not Dead Yet" isn´t a surprise at all.

Hewson have recruited some skilled musicians, so there´s nothing wrong with the musical performances on "Not Dead Yet". These guys can play. The songwriting is maybe a bit more pedestrian, although it´s certainly not bad. It´s just pretty ordinary for the genre. The sound production is of a good quality and while "Not Dead Yet" doesn´t exactly make my blood boil, it´s still a good quality thrash metal release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Sane Asylum" is the debut full-length studio album by US, San Francisco based thrash metal act Blind Illusion. The album was released through Combat Records in 1988. Blind Illusion was formed in 1979 and although it took until 1988 before the band were able to release their debut full-length studio album, they are widely recognised as an important and influential San Francisco thrash metal act. Blind Illusion released no less than six demo tapes in the years 1981-1986, the last one being "Slow Death" from 1986 (actually their second 1986 demo). "Slow Death" finally got them signed to Combat Records for the release of "The Sane Asylum".

Blind Illusion went through several lineup changes in their career, but the lineup who recorded "The Sane Asylum" are Marc Biederman (guitars/vocals), Les Claypool (bass), Larry Lalonde (guitars), and Mike Miner (drums). It´s a well known "secret" that Kirk Hammett of Metallica produced "The Sane Asylum", although he isn´t credited on the album (who knows...maybe he was afraid of how James and Lars would react to him working outside Metallica). Hammett is of course not the only interesting name mentioned above as Lalonde came from a stint with Possessed where he played on the legendary 1985 album "Seven Churches" and on the other Possessed releases until that band split-up on 1987. Both he and bassist Les Claypool would find considerable commercial and artistic success in the 90s with alternative rock/metal act Primus.

Stylistically the material on "The Sane Asylum" is thrash metal but with strong ties to traditional heavy metal. So this has more in common with the heavy/speed metal tinged and often melodic inclined material of Megadeth than it has to the brutality and aggression of the contemoporary material by artists like Dark Angel and Slayer. It´s obvious that Blind Illusion are a gifted bunch of guys. The vocals aren´t that exciting (being pretty standard shouting/snarling thrash metal vocals), but these guys can play and there are some pretty tight and adventurous sections on the album (for the latter take a listen to "Kamakazi") and some well played lead guitar work. Sometimes it even borders technical thrash metal because of the many rhythm changes and the complexity of some of the riffs (just take a listen to "Death Noise" for proof of that), but then again Blind Illusion aren´t exactly Watchtower.

Less will do though and as "The Sane Asylum" also features a (for the time) well sounding production, which suits the material well, it´s a good quality debut album from Blind Illusion. I wouldn´t call it something way out of the ordinary for the genre, but it´s certainly entertaining while it plays. 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

Warthur Helloween's debut EP is perhaps the strongest release of their speed metal years, enjoying a brash, rough about the edges style which gives it a touch more energy than the enjoyable but not exceptional Walls of Jericho, which was the only full-length studio album of their speed metal era before they undertook their career-defining shift into power metal.

There's few harbingers of their later style here, bar for a certain flair for the dramatic and borderline theatrical, such as in the whispered narration on Victim of Fate. Kai Hansen was still handling the vocals at this point in time - him passing the duties on to Michael Kiske would be a key aspect of the group's shift to power metal - and I think he acquits himself well here, establishing himself as a compelling and characterful vocalist. Mind you, if you don't get on with his vocals this will come across significantly worse to you - but for my money, I think this was his greatest moment as a lead singer.

siLLy puPPy Originally formed as a thrash metal band in Słupsk, Poland in 1989, BETRAYER quickly switched over to the world of death metal and released a couple demos before it’s 1994 debut CALAMITY came out. Probably best known amongst death metal junkies as the band that Piotr "Berial" Kuzioła (vocals, bass) continued after a brief stint in the more famous Vader, BETRAYER only released this one album in its original formation and soon disbanded shortly after when guitarist Ripper had grown tired of the band. BETRAYER reformed in 2012 and has released two albums since.

This is one of those band’s that should have made it to the big time due to all the publicity and opportunities yet somehow evaded any success stories. The band’s two demos were highly recorded by Thrash ‘Em All Magazine and “Necronomical Exmortis” even made it to #2 as album of the year. Add to that BETRAYER was placed at #4 for most promising Polish bands of 1991 and the band engaged in extensive touring and after the release of CALAMITY found itself invited to all kinds of metal festivals including Metalmania, Death Metal Festival, Dramma, Shark Attack, S’trash’ydło and Jarocin and played with many of the famous bands that went on to the big time including Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Therion, Tiamat, Dismember and many local Polish bands like Kat, Vader, Pandemonium etc.

CALAMITY is a typical old school death metal album that featured eight tracks and the short playing time of just under 33 minutes. The lineup at this stage was the foursome of Berial on vocals and bass, Ripper and Riji on twin guitar attacks and Molly on drums. Lyrics were performed in English and themes were the typical subject matter of death, blasphemy, suffering and in BETRAYER’s case anti-Christianity giving them a bit of a black metal attitude. For the most part BETRAYER was heavily influenced by the US scene with bands like Morbid Angel and Deicide being on the top of the list however it’s not a surprise that Vader also provided an inspirational exuberance on the band as well. While creativity was not the band’s strongest attribute a few moments like on the ending of “Before Long You Will Die,” the band deviates from the game plan and delivers a strange repetitive riffing style.

Despite every opportunity afford BETRAYER, what the band lacked was a clear vision of how to distinguish itself from the legions of death metal bands that had glutted the market by the time CALAMITY came out. Overall this is a very competent album that ticks off all the proper old school death metal requirements but at the end of the day the band wasn’t quite unique enough to stand out. At the time of release of CALAMITY the band had already had enough with various health problems, label mishaps and incessant touring. The band broke up a short time after this album’s release but would find new life in 2012. This is a decent enough album but basically sounds more like a second rate Morbid Angel than anything to get overly excited about. Mostly interesting for checking out early Polish death metal history. Definitely one of those close, but no cigar type of bands.

siLLy puPPy GONTYNA KRY is a Polish NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal aka Nazi) band that formed in the coastal city of Koszalin in 1993 by Bard Neur (vocals, guitar, keyboard) and Komes Lupul Kurhan (drums). This region of Poland was once the German state of Prussia from 1871 to 1932 and was basically the birthplace of the Nazi idealism that really took hold in the 1930s. Given the history of this region there’s no doubt that it has attracted followers of the NSBM ethos and GONTYNA KRY (Old Slavonic term meaning “Temple of Blood”) has joined the musical movement within the greater Pagan black metal scene to espouse its viewpoints.

This band released a few demos during the 1990s but didn’t unleash its official debut album KREW NASZYCH OJCÓW (Blood of our Fathers) until 2001. The style of GONTYNA KRY mixes raw lo-fi black metal with melancholic symphonic atmospheric backing along with tons of sound effects that depict going to war including the tedious 12-minute intro that features a lengthy marching procession and dungeon synth minimalism before finally getting to the black metal. The symphonic dungeon synth and percussive marching effects are recurring and reprise between tracks with overlong segments that quickly outstay their welcome.

While the subject matter is steeped in the idealism of the NSBM scene, luckily the lyrics are entirely in Polish and since my Polish language skills are minimal, i gratefully am oblivious to the actual lyrical content. The album features nine tracks with a 51 1/2 minute playing time. The album is designed to be epic in scope with the introductory battle preparations and mid-section ambience providing a context for the brutal black metal tracks in between. While noble in intent, the actual execution is fairly poor with a shoddy production that makes the synthesized parts sound rather cheesy and the black metal moments sound hollow and monotonic. Lo-fi is one thing but this sounds totally cheap as if it was recorded on some super primitive equipment.

Production and lyrical content aside, GONTYNA KRY aren’t exactly skilled musicians either as the composiitons are fairly generic and the lineup that features four members don’t really excel at any particular aspect of crafting unique black metal for the 21st century. There are no technical workouts to wow the listener and the atmospheric minimalism is just too cheesy to take seriously. At times the black metal and the symphonic parts play together and really don’t jive too well together. As far as the black metal itself goes, the vocal style is decent and the drummer delivers some nice blastbeating but usually fairly tame and the guitar parts are fairly uninspiring as they are generally set too low in the mix especially when the cheesy synthesizer parts are playing over them.

I’m certainly not against free speech and really don’t care about subject matter when rating music although i do not condone anything hateful in general however this album is just not that great mostly due to the fact the premise of the album makes you expect so much more than it delivers. There are many NSBM acts out there particularly and many in Eastern European nations such as Poland and Ukraine. I judge a band by its talent alone and the music without any reference to lyrical content and in this case KREW NASZYCH OJCÓW is simply not that good on many levels. Nokturnal Mortem who espoused the same NSBM tendencies in the past at least showcased a high level of musical competence. In this case this band only uses black metal as a means for espousing their viewpoints. A fairly generic and waste of time really this one.

siLLy puPPy SETHERIAL is a second wave black metal band formed in Sundsvall, Sweden in 1993 and has gone through numerous lineup changes over its existence but founded by Mysteriis (guitar), Devothan (bass), Cheeroth (vocals) and Zathanel (drums). Sweden was following in the footsteps of Norway in the world of black metal and SETHERAL was one of a handful of metal bands that chose to not follow the melo-death scene. Other bands included Marduk, Sacramentum, Vinterland and of course Dissection. While those bands have become fairly well known in the world of black metal, SETHERIAL still remains a bit on the unknown side despite delivering a competent second wave furor that captures the spirit of raging evil black metal from Scandinavia.

The band released the two track EP “För dem mitt blod” in 1995 and then followed in 1996 with its frenetic debut NORD… which captured all the essential ingredients of the 90s black metal scene including raspy possessed vocals, buzzsaw guitar sustain and thundering riffs, blurred bass galloping and of course all those excellent free radical blastbeats. While unintelligible, lyrics were delivered in both Swedish and English. The album featured six tracks at over 45 minutes with the opening “In the Still of a Northern Fullmoon” swallowing up 12 minutes of playing time. This introductory track pretty much sets the tone of what to expect for the entire album’s run with the expected crushing second wave black metal parts fortified with moments of acoustic guitar, folk melodies and constructs a frigid anguished atmospheric presence.

NORD delivers a style of melodic black metal in the vein of Dissection which is more on the brutal side of the spectrum with excellent musicianship delivered by the lineup of vocalist Kraath, bassist Thorn and guitarists Lord Mysterii and Devothan. Guest drummer Anders delivers the ferocity on percussion and Peter Tägtgren adds some additional vocal contributions. This is the raw and evil as fuck black metal that your mother warned you about and it has all the hallmarks of rotting your soul and turning you into a church burning Satanic war master if you don’t mind you p’s and q’s. While steeped in the familiarity of Scandinavian black metal of the 90s, the compositions are also a bit more complex than the average Darkthrone wannabe and careful listening will reveal a few atmospheric keyboards peeking through the incessant din of the rampaging procession throughout NORD.

Graced with a menacingly beautiful album cover, NORD delivers what the bleakness portends with an incessantly quickened even manic delivery of second wave black metal splendor. It took a few listens for this to sink in otherwise a single exposure may insinuate the album as a tad generic but attentiveness reveals tricks up these black metal masters’ sleeves and ultimately this does have all the hallmarks of a black metal classic unfortunately got buried down the heap due to a glut of talented artists vying for the rights to write Satan’s soundtrack. NORD delivers everything you could possibly want from a no nonsense second wave black metal album with an uncompromising thunderous roar of cacophonous excellence. The variations within tracks helps set this apart from the generic followers of the day so it’s just a matter of time before SETHERIAL finds its way into the upper echelons of black metal royalty.

siLLy puPPy When you think of all the extreme metal that emerged from Sweden during the 1990s and early 2000s it’s easy to assume that every act emerged from the Gothenburg melo-death scene or the world of progressive metal first started by Opeth. While Norway was dominating the black metal market, Sweden’s Bathory actually played a major role in starting it all while band’s like Candlemass were developing a new strain of epic doom metal but thrash metal? Well that seemed to be a metal style that passed Sweden by while the USA, Brazil and Germany were killin’ it.

Thrash metal wasn’t a complete stranger to Sweden with Bathory’s early black metal experiments basically being a thrash hybrid as well as Merciless getting in on the act during the initial thrash metal world domination. One band that doesn’t get much attention was the Växjö based HYPNOSIA that may have missed the initial thrash party but formed in 1995 as the second wave was getting underway. Inspired heavily by the old school thrash metal bands like Slayer, Dark Angel, Kreator, Sadus, early Death, Sodom and Sepultura, HYPNOSIA formed by Cab Castervall (guitars/vocals) and Mike Sjöstrand (drums) was determined to keep those sounds alive as the extreme metal world was splintering in a million different directions.

After the band released two successful demos, HYPNOSIA was featured in all the metal publications df the 90s and attracted the attention of the old school thrashers who craved a return to the “good old days” when thrash was brutal and pure. HYPNOSIA delivered exactly what they wanted and the interest led the band’s only album EXTREME HATRED which came out in the year 2000 and released on the Hammerheart label. Sounding more like it emerged from the fertile SF Bay Area scene in 1991 rather than 2000 Sweden, HYPNOSIA may have been late to the thrash party that waned in the mid-90s but displayed a commitment and ferocity that very few of the original thrash bands had retrained. Just think of what Metallica and Megadeath were releasing about this time!

EXTREME HATRED was a veritable mix of Teutonic thrash in the vein of Kreator with the technical thrash prowess of US bands like Sadus. While the band often gets associated with death metal i can’t really say i can detect anything from HYPNOSIA’s sound that really falls into the death metal category. The music is a brutal form of thrash metal all the way and as far as the vocals are concerned the band evokes a mix of Morbid Saint, Kreator, Demolition Hammer and bands like Dark Angel so death metal, no. Thrash metal all the way and despite the trend to merge extreme metal with progressive rock, the avant-garde or wildly experimental, HYPNOSIA delivered a very authentic slice of classic retro-thrash.

Given its staunch attachment to the past it’s not a surprise that EXTREME HATRED is not the most original thrash metal album of all time but it certainly is worthy of thrash metal fan’s attention for its uncanny attention to detail and it’s dedication to redrafting a veritable art form that had fallen from grace as the alternative 90s disrupted the flow of the mainstream metal movements that developed in the mid-80s on. Despite not exactly developing a unique style all their own, HYPNOSIA nevertheless dished out an authentic representation of pure thrash metal in an unadulterated form with higher than average competency level. As far as i’m concerned this is an excellent album as HYPNOSIA featured the perfect vocal style accompanied by energetic thrash guitar, bass and drum assaults. The melodic aspects are perfectly balanced with the aggressive brutality and the overall performance are quite effective. Brutality at its best. A second album was in the works but never emerged and the band split in 2002.

UMUR "Preach Eternal Gospels" is an EP release by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The EP was released through Malodorous Mangled Innards Records in the autumn of 1993. It´s the successor to the September 1992 "In Search of Tranquillity" EP. The "In Search of Tranquillity" EP didn´t feature any new material though as all material featured on the EP were culled from the March 1992 "Devoted To God" demo. So the material on "Preach Eternal Gospels" is the first new original compositions from Phlebotomized since the release of "Devoted To God". "Tragic Entanglement" and "Ataraxia" from "Devoted To God" have however been re-recorded and included here, so "Preach Eternal Gospels" actually only features three completely new tracks in "In Memory of Our Departured Ones (1914-1918)", "Mustardgas", and "Preach Eternal Gospels".

It´s Phlebotomized first professional studio recording and it means a lot as a listener to be able to hear their progressive inclined old school death/doom metal with better sounding production values than the ones found on their early demo recordings. This is a band with many interesting songwriting ideas and compostional details, which are now audible in the soundscape. In addition to heavy distorted guitar riffs and drumming, the music also features some gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards and a violinist has also been added to the ranks since the last release, which provides the band´s music with another layer. This would unfortunately be Barry Schuyer´s last release with Phlebotomized, because his ultra brutal deep growling vocals are both powerful and well performed.

If comparisons should be made to any contemporary artists I´d mention Pan.Thy.Monium as the band who Phlebotomized have most in common with. The unpreditability of the song structures, the use of gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards, and the adventurous approach to songwriting. This is a band who can go from sounding like a lot of other old school death metal artists from the early 90s (with both heavy mid-paced sections and faster-paced blasting), to playing melancholic/mournful doom/death metal parts, to playing some pretty interesting progressive ideas. All within the same song. Definitely worth a listen this one. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "In Search of Tranquillity" is an EP release by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The EP was released through Malodorous Mangled Innards Records in September 1992. It follows the release of the March 1992 "Devoted To God" demo and the three tracks on the EP are actually culled directly from the demo. It´s the three opening tracks from the demo. So there´s nothing new on this EP if you already own the demo.

Stylistically this is death/doom metal with faster death metal parts too (even blasting) and a brutal growling vocalist. What makes Phlebotomized stand out from the crowd is their use of gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards which provide their music with something a bit different from other contemporary artists. This is still pretty grim and brutal old school death metal though, but just with the occasionally added slightly progressive edge because of the addition of keyboards.

"In Search of Tranquillity" is an atmospheric instrumental intro track while both "Subtle Disbalanced Liquidity" and "Desecration of Alleged Christian History" are more regular death/doom metal tracks. The quality of the material is decent and these early recordings from Phlebotomized are certainly promising and also well performed and relatively well produced (considering that these recordings are culled from a demo). A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Highest Level" is the seventh full-length studio album by Japanese, Tokyo based death metal act Defiled. The album was released through Season of Mist in April 2023. It´s the successor to "Infinite Regress" from January 2020 and it features the exact same quartet lineup who recorded the predeceding album. Defiled are by now one of the most prolific and dare I say legendary death metal acts from Japan, and they´ve pushed the boundaries of the genre more than once.

Stylistically the material on "The Highest Level" is technical and quite brutal death metal. Suffocation is not the worst reference, but Defiled have always had...and still have their own take on the genre. They play an interesting combination of almost hardcore punked and simple death metal and quite brutal and technical death metal, occasionally spiced up with some Voivod influenced dissonance. One of their greatest strengths is the pairing of the savage, raw, and primitive, and the more sophisticated and complex technical parts of the compositions. I struggle to remember any other death metal artists who sound like Defiled...and then again "The Highest Level" is actually their most "regular" sounding release yet, and I was initially a little disappointed that they sounded this normal. But when you dig a little deeper, "The Highest Level" still features quite a few unconventional and challenging moments, so Defiled haven´t completely forgotten what makes them stand out.

After releasing a few albums which have featured what I would deem near experimental sound production values, Defiled have now opted for a more (again) normal/standard for the genre type sound production. To some ears that´s probably a relief and an opportunity to give Defiled a chance again, if your ears weren´t able to appreciate the production oddness of the last couple of releases, but to my ears it´s a bit of a shame, as all the weirdness in regards to both the actual music, the performances, and the odd sounding production jobs of the last couple of albums, were the elements which made Defiled stand out on the death metal scene. So while "The Highest Level" is arguably another high quality death metal release from Defiled, it´s unfortunately their least interesting release in years...please bring back the weirdness. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Paranormal" is the fourth demo recording (if you discount the "Live Karnage" demo tape) by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was independently released in 1988 and follows the release of the band´s 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado". The band have added second guitarist Bobby Sadzak to the ranks, making Slaughter a quartet on "Paranormal".

It´s a professionally recorded demo and it was actually meant to be released as Slaughter´s second full-length studio album, but as bassist/vocalist Terry Sadler left, the remaining members disbanded Slaughter and subsequently changed the band name to Strappado (by that point only Hewson and Sadzak remained), which meant they didn´t want to release the material they had recorded as a Slaughter album. Quite a few of the tracks from "Paranormal" would be re-recorded and included on Strappado´s 1991 debut full-length studio album "Not Dead Yet".

Stylistically this sounds very much like the natural successor to "Strappado". It features a similar raw, dark, and aggressive thrash metal style, but Slaughter have developed their style just enough not to stagnate which means that "Paranormal" features more riffs and a slightly more technical approach to playing, which to my ears becomes Slaughter well. Other than that fans of "Strappado" should of course get their hands on this demo. It´s both well produced, well performed, and features relatively memorable songwriting. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Strappado" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The album was released through Diabolic Force (on vinyl)/Fringe Product (on casette tape) in 1987. The material featured on "Strappado" was already recorded and mixed in February 1986, but it took a year for the album to get a release. "Strappado" is a bit of an underground "classic" in the more raw end of the thrash metal spectrum, but Slaughter have also received some retrospective attention as Chuck Schuldiner (Death, Control Denied) was shortly a member of the band. Schuldiner was not part of the lineup who recorded "Strappado" though. The trio lineup who recorded the album consists of: Dave Hewson (vocals, guitar), Terry Sadler (vocals, bass), and Ron Summers (drums).

"Strappado" is a raw, aggressive, and heavy hardcore tinged thrash metal release featuring angry shouting vocals. It´s pretty simple and primitive music and won´t appeal to those who crave a bit of technical playing in their music. This is straight forward and the tracks typically only feature two riffs which are repeated ad nauseam. I´d say Hellhammer and to a lesser extent early Venom (and there´s definitely an occasional Motörhead influence in there too) are Slaughter´s closest relatives and also influences (they´ve covered both on their early demos).

"Strappado" is a short album featuring only nine tracks and a total playing time of 23:34. At least two of their preceding demos featured longer playing times, but considering the primitive, repetitive, and simple nature of Slaughter´s music, a short playing time is probably wise to not wear the listener down. Upon conclusion "Strappado" is a decent quality debut album from Slaughter. Other than the brutal buzzing guitar tone I´m not sure why people refer to this album as proto-death metal because I hear little here which points in that direction, but to each his own. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Nocturnal Hell" is a single/EP release by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The single/EP was released through Fringe Product in 1986. All three tracks from the single/EP were recorded during the samme February 1986 sessions which spawned the material which ended up being Slaughter´s 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado". In fact all material from this single/EP appear on "Strappado" in exactly the same versions.

So in that respect "Nocturnal Hell" is a bit redundant these days, but back then the single/EP of course functioned as a teaser for the forthcoming full-length release and it should be evaluated on its own merits. If you´re familar with the preceding demo releases by Slaughter the raw, aggressive, and hardcore tinged thrash metal style found on "Nocturnal Hell" isn´t a surprise. It´s slightly more interesting material, heavier, and darker, but other than that this sounds a lot like Slaugther also did on the "Surrender or Die" demo from April 1985 (maybe with a few less heavy/speed metal influences). A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Devoted To God" is the second demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The demo was independently released in March 1992. It´s the follow-up release to the July 1991 "Live" demo. Three of the songs from the live demo have been re-recorded and included here ("Subtle Disbalanced Liquidity", "Devoted to God", and "Tragic Entanglement"). "Devoted To God" was an immensely succesful demo release for Phlebotomized, who after selling 1.000 copies of the demo tape, licensed the demo to Polish label Carnage Records, who then manufactured another 2.000 copies and sold them. Just think about it...3.000 copies of a demo tape.

The potential which was heard on the "Live" demo is fully realized here. The studio sound production is still raw and brutal, but you can hear all instruments and vocals in the mix. Stylistically the material is death/doom metal with gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards. There are still faster-paced death metal parts (even blasting) here, so their death metal/grindcore past under the Bacterial Disease monicker hasn´t been completely forgotten. The vocals are brutal death metal growling.

The demo features a couple of shorter intro/outro/breather tracks, so it´s only four out of the seven tracks featured on the 28:10 minutes long demo, which are "regular" death/doom metal songs. The tracks are relatively unconventionally structured and the addition of keyboards provide Phlebotomized with a progressive touch. They certainly ensure that "Devoted To God" isn´t like listening to any other death metal demo from that time. So this is definitely an interesting and quite adventurous death/doom metal release from the early 90s and it´s well worth investigating. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Live" is the first demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The demo was independently released in July 1991. It was recorded live on July 4th, 1991 at Hardrock Party in Demi-Sec, Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. The demo was not widely distributed but predominantly given away by the band members to friends and at live shows.

It´s a bit unusual for a band to release a live demo as their first release (mostly debut demos from that time were rehearsal demos or relatively lo-fi 4-track tape recorder demos). Phlebotomized have however managed to produce a decent sounding live demo which in terms of production values are a least on par with most contemporary rehearsal demos. It´s certainly both lo-fi, murky, and noisy, but you still get a good idea of what Phlebotomized are about. Although Phlebotomized are a bit more death metal oriented they tab into a lot of the same stylistic elements as their fellow contemporary countrymen in The Gathering. Doomy death metal with keyboards. Where The Gathering present a romantic and epic take on the genre Phlebotomized are a bit more brutal and gritty though. Early Paradise Lost is arguably a big influence on the sound here.

"Live" features four tracks and a total playing time of 27:24 minutes, so there is both quantity and time to get to know Phlebotomized. Although the band feature a permanent keyboard player in the lineup, the keyboards aren´t a dominant feature of Phlebotomized sound. at least not at this point, but when they are heard in the mix they add the right gloomy/eerie atmosphere to the music. Lead vocalist Barry Schuyer has a brutal growling vocal style and in terms of musicianship the band are solid. Nothing outstanding and nothing out of the ordinary for the time, but they are a well playing band. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Nighttime Birds" is the fourth full-length studio album by Dutch gothic metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through Century Media Records in May 1997. It´s the successor to "Mandylion" from August 1995, which was The Gathering´s big breakthrough album. "Nighttime Birds" marks the first time up until then that The Gathering recorded an album featuring the same lineup (and lead singer) as the album which came before it. They had searched for consistency and a sound they could call their own, and with the addition of lead vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen, they found that sound on "Mandylion".

So it´s only natural that "Nighttime Birds" is more or less a sibling release to "Mandylion". This was not the time to change a winning formula, but merely perfect it...and that The Gathering did. "Mandylion" is a great album in its own right, but when you listen to "Nighttime Birds", it feels like "Mandylion" was just an album where The Gathering were testing their new songwriting approach and then they went on to nail it 100% on this album.

Stylistically the material on "Nighttime Birds" is a melancholic and atmospheric type of gothic/doom metal with van Giersbergen´s strong voice and distinct sounding vocal style leading the show. She is thankfully not an operatic type female vocalist, although she can hit some pretty impressive notes, and she is generally very intense and has a personal singing style. To my ears all three previous album releases weren´t written with vocals being the priority in the songwriting process, although "Mandylion" certainly showed improvement in that department over the first two albums. "Nighttime Birds" is on the other hand obviously an album composed primarily to support the beautiful vocal lines. All instruments are composed to support and compliment the vocals and provide them with the best possible conditions to shine.

The keyboards which had been very much at the forefront of the band´s music up until then are much more tastefully applied here and often just add atmosphere or texture to the songs (as opposed to the lead instrument role they often played before), while the heavy distorted riffs and rhythms add doomy heaviness. There are however many sections without distorted guitars, which aren´t that heavy and add an atmospheric/dreamy rock element to the band´s sound. The simple melancholic melodic guitar leads deserve a mention too and the bass playing by Hugo Prinsen Geerligs is also an important element.

"Nighttime Birds" features a gorgeous sounding production. It´s dynamic, powerful, and perfectly suits the material. All details are heard in the music and the mix favors both mellow dreamy parts and massive epic heavy sections. I wasn´t surprised to learn that the album was recorded at Woodhouse Studio in Hagen, Germany with producer/engineer Siggi Bemm. That´s a name which is a guarantee for high quality sound productions.

So "Nighttime Birds" is everything a fan of "Mandylion" had hoped it would be. More dynamic, even stronger musicianship, superior sound production values, and vocal-centric songwriting which focus on The Gathering´s greatest asset, which in those days was arguably the voice and vocals of van Giersbergen. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Warthur Offering up a tasty feast of Candlemass-esque doom metal with a sense of the majestic, The Ruins of Fading Light builds wonderfully on the foundations that Crypt Sermon capably laid with their debut. The mystical Christian themes of the first album continue to be heard here, and tasteful doses of synthesiser are woven into the fabric of the band's sound to further enrich it, but the centre of gravity is still very much Nightfall-era Candlemass, so if that's something which floats your boat, they've got you covered. It might not be all that original when it comes to the fundamental parameters of its sound, but the compositional execution here is marvellous.

Warthur The Old Ways Remain! And it's good to know that, because for a while there it looked like Blood Ceremony had fallen off of the radar; after consistently putting out an album every 2-3 years, the long quiet from this doom-tinged heavy psych group was beginning to feel ominous. No need to worry: Alia O'Brien, Sean Kennedy, and the reliable rhythm section of Gadke and Carrillo are back. If Blood Ceremony have dialled back the quantity of releases lately, at least they are making sure the quality is top notch, with this occult rock tour de force as usual combining a solid heavy psych underpinning with O'Brien's distinctive presence on vocals, flute, and organ, delivering a defiant folk horror manifesto. Unless you are one of those for whom Blood Ceremony lost their charm when they dialled back the doom metal side of their sound in order to amp up the psych, there's plenty to love here for anyone who's already familiar, and if you're not it's a perfect statement of what thry are all about.

UMUR "Destructive Reality" is the debut full-length studio album by Swiss death metal act Sickening Gore. The album was released through Massacre Records in December 1993. Sickening Gore formed in 1991 under the Reactor monicker, and released "The Tribunal Above" demo in 1991, but changed their name to Sickening Gore in 1992.

The material on "Destructive Reality" is old school death metal with quite a few heavy thrashy riffs (and screaming chromatic solos) to compliment the tremolo death metal riffs and general brutality of the music. The band are well playing and lead vocalist/guitarist Matt Burr has a decent growling delivery. The quality of the material is decent enough, but not many tracks stand out or are memorable beyond the album´s playing time (which is actually rather short at 29:41 minutes). Sickening Gore don´t really sound like any other contemporary death metal act I can think of, but that doesn´t mean their music is particularly unique sounding either.

"Destructive Reality" is not what I´d call an outstanding release but it´s not half bad either and some of the elements mentioned above are nice traits which bring something special to the music. I for example like how Sickening Gore incorporate thrash metal riffs in their brand of death metal and the many (and sometimes unexpected) solos. What is less great about the album (other than the fact that the material aren´t that memorable), is the sound production. Again it´s not terrible, but the guitar tone isn´t that pleasant on the ears, and the guitars are also placed a bit too low in the mix, which means the notes become blurry and the riffs lack power and conviction. The bass drums also feature a slightly odd tone. So it´s an album with both some good quality elements and a couple which drag my rating down. A 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

Warthur The Theory of Molecular Inheritance is the first Arena album to feature Damian Wilson on vocals, a matchup which fits so elegantly that it feels obvious in retrospect that Wilson is the perfect man for the job. After all, even before his stints in British prog metal stalwarts Threshold and his guest spots in Arena solidified his prog metal credentials, Wilson was the lead vocalist for 1990s neo-proggers Landmarq. Since Arena are very much in a neo-prog vein, but work in the odd metal influence here and there, Wilson already has a well-established grounding in both aspects of their sound, and he's able to tackle the dramatic, theatrical style that Arena's concepts call for brilliantly.

The musical backing here is squarely in the metal-tinged neo-prog style the band have been offering up since Contagion, but it's Wilson's exceptional vocals which really push this over the finish line, making it perhaps the grandest album Arena have ever offered up. The sheer compatibility of the band's established approach and Wilson's well-honed talents shines through, and it's enough to make you want to hear Wilson's renditions of other Arena tracks as well, since I can't think of a single song in their back catalogue which would not become even more compelling with him on the mic.

UMUR "Surrender or Die" is the third demo recording (if you discount the "Live Karnage" demo tape) by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was released through Diabolic Force in April 1985. It´s the first demo from Slaughter which was recorded at a professional recording studio (Recorded at Accusonic Studio, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - April 1985).

Featuring thirteen tracks and a total playing time of 30 minutes this could just as well have been released as the band´s debut album, but instead it was marketing as a demo release, although it was released through a label. Some of the tracks from this demo were re-recorded during the February 1986 sessions which became Slaughter´s 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado".

Stylistically this is hardcore oriented heavy/speed/thrash metal. All the most primitive, raw, and savage elements from those genres are combined here by Slaughter and "Surrender or Die" is a pretty extreme and aggressive release considering the time of release. They´ve upped their game and have honed their skills since the early demos too, making "Surrender or Die" an actual listenable release. The sound production is raw, powerful, and perfectly suits the material, so upon conclusion Slaughter stepped up here and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Live Karnage" is a live demo recording by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was independently released in April 1985. It´s a live recording of Slaughter´s first ever live show from the 25th of March 1985. A show they played with Sacrifice.

This is a lo-fi recording, which sounds like someone in the audience recorded it on a portable tape-recorder, and although the aggression and energy of the show arguably come through and give this demo some sort of justification for existing, it´s otherwise a pretty much unlistanable release. Murky, noisy, and primitive hardcore tinged heavy/speed metal with little variation. A 1.5 star (30%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Almost a Dance" is the second full-length studio album by Dutch death/doom/gothic metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through the Foundation 2000 label in October 1993. It´s the successor to "Always..." from June 1992. The basic tracks were recorded live in the studio. Everything was recorded and mixed in September, 1993 at "Spitsbergen" Studio.

There have been a few lineup changes since the preceding album as lead vocalist Bart Smits has been replaced by Niels Duffhues and the band have also added Martine van Loon as a permanent female vocalist, making The Gathering a septet on "Almost a Dance". The departure of Smits has great impact on "Almost a Dance" as there are now no longer death metal growling but instead clean male vocals in the band´s music. Duffhues unfortunately has a pretty weak and unremarkable voice (he sounds like a strained Mike Patton with a cold...) and the melody lines he is given to perform aren´t particularly memorable. So the change on the male vocalist post is a definite step down in quality from "Always...". van Loon only performs vocals on four out of nine tracks on the 53:58 minutes long album, so she doesn´t have as much impact on the album as Duffhues does. When she does perform her ethereal atmospheric vocals it´s a welcome change from Duffhues tedious vocal style. The only time my ears are able to partially appreciate his performance is on the alternative acoustic rock ballad track "Nobody Cares" (which by the way interupts the flow of the album).

The instrumental part of the music is keyboard dominated doom metal and it´s generally atmospheric, melancholic, and epic music. The sound production is decent and slightly better balanced than the sound production of the preceding album, but when it comes to evaluating the album it´s impossible not to let the monotone and strained male clean vocals affect the rating. So upon conclusion "Almost a Dance" is an intriguing doom/goth metal album which is almost completely destroyed by the vocals. It´s not often a sophomore studio album is this much weaker than a band´s debut album, but that´s unfortunately the reality of things. Fortunately The Gathering would strike back with great force on their next album. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Always..." is the debut full-length studio album by Dutch death/doom metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through the Foundation 2000 label in June 1992. The Gathering formed in 1989 and are widely considered one of the seminal death/doom metal acts from The Netherlands, although they would later considerably change their music style. Before being signed by Foundation 2000 for the release of "Always...", The Gathering recorded and released the two demos "An Imaginary Symphony" (October 1990) and "Moonlight Archer" (April 1991). The tracks from the latter have been re-recorded and included on "Always..." ("Second Sunrise", "Subzero", and "In Sickness and Health").

Stylistically The Gathering play a relatively unique death/doom metal style, which have some similarities to artists like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, but because they use keyboards/piano as a dominant instrument in the music still sounds vastly different from the early releases from other contemporary death/doom metal artists. I´ll mention the articulate and brutal growling vocals from Bart Smits as one of the great assets of the this album. They are very well performed and provide the music with some death metal authenticity. The rare spoken word sections provide the music with a slight gothic edge. "Always..." also features the occasional female clean vocal part performed by Marike Groot. They are in no way a dominant part of the soundscape but primarely used to color the music and provide some variation and an epic atmosphere.

The whole thing reeks melancholy but also a strange romantic and epic atmosphere (in the case of "The Mirror Waters" there´s even a few nods towards middle eastern music). An atmosphere often created by the omnipresent keyboards/piano. The guitars play slow- to mid-paced doomy riffs and are complimented by the heavy drumming. The bass is quite audible which isn´t always the case on death metal oriented releases, but here it´s audible and makes a difference. There are lead guitar parts on the album but they are actually not a dominant element of The Gathering´s sound as most lead parts and atmosphere enhancing parts are created by the keyboards/piano. It´s quite unusual for the time, and definitely what makes The Gathering stand out on the early 90s death/doom metal scene.

The tracks are generally interesting and feature enough sections and ideas (other than regular vers/chorus parts) to keep the listener entertained and intrigued throughout. The sound production is decent but not great. There are some issues with the balance between the instruments with especially the guitars often being drowned in the soundscape and the keyboards being very loud. It´s not a major issue and "Always..." is still a listenable release, but it could arguably have been better sounding.

So that minor issue out of the way "Always..." is overall a good quality death/doom metal release and it´s quite unique too because of how dominant the keyboards/piano are. Not all artists are able to create such a unique sound on their first album. The Gathering were of course far from being finished developing their sound and style and the next many albums (including this one) can be viewed as transitional releases. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.