Chronicles of Chaos

Album Review: 3 - Revision

Jackie Smit — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I'm still convinced that whoever signed these New York-based alt-merchants to Metal Blade must almost certainly have intended it as an April fool's prank on Brian Slagel. (0 out of 10)

Album Review: Arsis - Starve for the Devil

Aly Hassab El Naby — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Arsis has proved its reliability and consistency as a band that can continuously deliver this balanced hybrid of technicality and melody. This forty minute record is all what you would expect from them, which infers a lack of surprises. (5.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect

Aly Hassab El Naby — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Between the Buried and Me have developed a lot from their self-titled debut, which had prominent metalcore influences, all the way to their fifth studio album _The Great Misdirect_, which will have you marveling at its calm beauty and within the same minute, running for shelter from its brutality. (9 out of 10)

Album Review: Borknagar - Universal

Mark Dolson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I was really hoping that after the release of _Origin_ in 2006, Borknagar would release something truly different, yet still in the unique Borknagar style. (7.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Dark Fortress - Ylem

Jackie Smit — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

You will go a long to finding a group who have managed to cross-breed the vaguely accessible with the downright anti-social with quite the same level of class as Germanic grimsters Dark Fortress. (9 out of 10)

Album Review: Ensiferum - From Afar

Colleen Burton — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

With only a handful of albums, Ensiferum have managed to express themselves quite variously as they play around with their medley of folk-influenced power metal and death vocals, and they surely cannot be said to grow stale between releases. (4 out of 10)

Album Review: Hyadningar - The Weak Creation

Quentin Kalis — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Totalrust is not a label I would associate with black metal, and such a combination is analogous to No Colours releasing power metal -- but if they had to stray from their roster of dirty and slow-as-molasses doom, this is as good a choice as any. (8.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Ihsahn - After

Jackie Smit — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

"Abstract" -- an ironic word, which the Emperor frontman himself has used to describe his third solo outing in recent interviews. And indeed, if ever there was an antithesis to his previous full-length, 2008's sublime _angL_, then this would be it. (6.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Immolation - Majesty & Decay

Jackie Smit — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So, while _Shadows in the Light_ was certainly captivating in its own right, as an Immolation devotee I longed for the coal-black ambience that had pumped like tar through the veins of their classics -- _Close to a World Below_ especially. (9.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Paganizer - Scandinavian Warmachine

Colleen Burton — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Most of us are cognizant of the no-name revivalist bands who take up the banner of old-school death metal, and I personally tend to lose interest straightaway when I receive the album of any newer band with this particular disposition. That being said, Paganizer are assuredly not newcomers to this movement. (5.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Secrets of the Moon - Privilegivm

Colleen Burton — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Secrets of the Moon raised the bar ever higher for themselves as their cold, blighted work steadily improved. _Privilegivm_ sees the group playing vanguard, black-inspired metal at a speed that doom fans could easily stomach. (7 out of 10)

Album Review: Six Feet Under - Graveyard Classics 3

Jackie Smit — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

To wit, _Graveyard Classics 3_ comprises a roll-call of the typical, oft-covered suspects (Metallica, Slayer et al), which virtually to a song are left stripped of their dignity. (1 out of 10)

Album Review: Troll - Neo-Satanic Supremacy

Nikola Shahpazov — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

With festival appearances of The Kovenant planned for this summer and a new Troll album, it's obvious that in 2010 Nagash is thinking resurrection and world domination once again. (6.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade

Kostas Sarampalis — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It is not that their music is so brilliantly conceived and executed (which it is). It is not even that they separate the art from the artist to let it breathe its own life (which they do). It is that, for me at least, their music touches the very core of my senses. (9.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Zillah - Substitute for a Catastrophe

Aly Hassab El Naby — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Technicality is never easy to incorporate properly into metal. Bands going for an overtly technical sound somehow give me the impression that I'm wasting my time, but that is not the case with Zillah. (7 out of 10)

Album Review: Aquila - Imperium

Quentin Kalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

After the unimaginatively titled demos _I_ and _II_, Aquila have foregone the possibility of recording _III_ in favour of a full-length. (7 out of 10)

Album Review: Arthemesia - a.O.a

Mark Dolson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

While still playing atmospheric black metal, Arthemesia decided to slow things down considerably on _a.O.a_ -- almost doing away entirely with ferocious tremolo-picking and blast-beats (except for the last song), and opting for a more mid-paced, measured approach. (9 out of 10)

Album Review: Baliset - A Time for Rust

Quentin Kalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Greg Massi, perhaps best known as a founding member of maudlin of the Well, and its later incarnation, Kayo Dot, has left behind the increasingly avantgarde tendencies of the latter for a more accessible form of audio expression. (6.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Code - Resplendent Grotesque

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

_Nouveau Gloaming_, the debut of this UK-based avantgarde black metal act, was one of my most played albums of the last few years. No pressure then, _Resplendent Grotesque_. (9 out of 10)

Album Review: Count Raven - Mammoms War

Quentin Kalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Readers Digest version of Count Raven's history is that they formed in the mid-Eighties, released a their debut in 1989, issued a few more classics, split up in 1996, reformed in 2003, two thirds left, and six years later, the sole surviving member gathered together a few buddies and recorded this, their first album for the 21st century. (8 out of 10)

Album Review: Deströyer 666 - Defiance

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It's been a fair few years since Deströyer 666's last couple of albums -- _Phoenix Rising_ (2000) and _Cold Steel... for an Iron Age_ (2002) -- and they waste no time before unleashing their black/thrash attack on _Defiance_. (9 out of 10)

Album Review: Dio - Evil or Divine: Live in New York City

Quentin Kalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

"Live album by a Metal God. Buy now." Those eight words should suffice as a review, right? After all, what more need be said? Sadly, quite a lot.

Album Review: F.K.Ü. - Where Moshers Dwell

Mark Dolson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For those who don't know, F.K.Ü. ("Freddy Krueger's Underwear") play an amazing brand of humour / horror-soaked retro-thrash. Before rolling your eyes, and moving onto another review, let me just tell you that this is retro-thrash the way it was meant to be played. (9 out of 10)

Album Review: Fen - The Malediction Fields

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

In those endearing frailties and rawness _The Malediction Fields_ finds extra character, which is often the mark of the truly chosen -- the likes of Katatonia's _Dance of December Souls_ or In the Woods'... _HEart of the Ages_, for instance. (8.5 out of 10)

Album Review: For Ruin - Last Light

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Having released several demos over the last few years since starting up as a solo project, For Ruin grew into a full band and finally distilled their accumulated experience, skill and creativity into their debut _December_ -- to which _Last Light_ is the successor. (7.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Goatsnake - Flower of Disease

Alexandra Erickson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Birthed from the likes of Sunn O))), Thorr's Hammer and Burning Witch, Goatsnake summon the swamp without so much as a hint of west coast attitude. Groovy from the first chords to the closing hum, the guitars are the essence of _Flower of Disease_ (originally released in 2000). (8 out of 10)

Album Review: Insomnium - Across the Dark

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

So do you prefer your favourite bands to remain steady and reliable, or demand that they try and win you over with something different every time? With Insomnium's fourth album, the former are assured of another cracking album, while the latter should probably look elsewhere. (8.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Jesu - Infinity / Opiate Sun

Jeremy Ulrey — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

While the rest of the post-metal kingdom is off flirting with brighter, more accessible textures, genre godfather Justin K. Broadrick recedes back into the shadows of melancholy and experimental abrasion with a pair of recent releases.

Album Review: Katatonia - Night Is the New Day

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The latest Katatonia full-length, _Night Is the New Day_, is by no means a difficult album to like if you're a Katatonia fan -- especially if you don't mind some Opeth either, which is hardly an unlikely set of circumstances. (8.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Neige et Noirceur - L'Abime des Jours, l'Ecume des Nuits

Yulon Zhu — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

_L'Abime des Jours, l'Ecume des Nuits_ was originally released in 2007 through Dungeons Deep Records, containing only two tracks, but almost 40 minutes of music, with one track surpassing 25 minutes in length. (8 out of 10)

Album Review: Nokturnal Mortum - The Voice of Steel

Kostas Sarampalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Not to meander with my words too much, _The Voice of Steel_ is a stunning piece of folk -inspired- black metal, which does not stay within the defined (and confined) boundaries of the style and more often than not ventures into psychedelic rock territories in the vein of Pink Floyd. (9.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Portal - Swarth

Simon Martin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Portal didn't release _Swarth_ to please anyone; their constant dissonance and sporadic compositions, their abstract themes and avantgarde attires all play a role in conjuring up the evil, malignant image Portal have become. (9.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Savage Messiah - Insurrection Rising

Aly Hassab El Naby — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Let's make one thing clear here: I don't care how many bands are coming from the UK lugging the 'retro-thrash' banner anymore. I can confidently say that I've heard their best and from the current standpoint, and none of them seem to have what it takes to top Savage Messiah's second album _Insurrection Rising_. (8.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Scarab - Blinding the Masses

Aly Hassab El Naby — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

As Egyptians, we are internationally known for our monumental pyramids and age old civilization; but today I bring you a new cultural export, a musical export that differs from all other music (popular and unpopular) in Egypt. It's a death metal band by the name Scarab. (6 out of 10)

Album Review: Sectioned - Purulent Reality

Mark Dolson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Formerly from the UK and Hungary, but now relocated to New York, Sectioned play a very familiar form of "old-school" death metal many of us have come to know quite well. (6 out of 10)

Album Review: Synestesia - Feeniks

Mark Dolson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I'll tone down the use of superlatives here, and just say that this is really, really well played melodic death metal. Each of the ten tracks is a gem unto itself, and leaves you with a feeling of wanting more and more. (10 out of 10)

Album Review: While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose

Kostas Sarampalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

At just three full-lengths in their fifteen years of existence, no one can accuse While Heaven Wept of being prolific; yet their 2003 release _Of Empires Forlorn_ was a very decent stab at Candlemass inspired epic doom metal, punctuated by leader Tom Phillips's distinct vocals and guitar style. (8.5 out of 10)

Demo Review: Allmacht - In Namelosen Tiefen

Quentin Kalis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Black metal demos all too often follow the same motif; a hermit or like-minded group of frowning weekend Satanists record five songs of badly performed, badly produced generic rip-off of Darkthrone, Burzum or Mayhem. This is not one of those. (4 out of 5)

Demo Review: Ill Grande Scisma D'Oriente - Synesthesia

Mark Dolson — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ill Grande Scisma D'Oriente's new promo, entitled _Synestheisa_, features twenty-three minutes (over five tracks) of very interesting and progressive death metal. (2.5 out of 5)

Gig: Busking for Blood - Ramesses at The Borderline, 7th November 2009

Amun Breaker — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The triple apparition of Ramasses that lurks in the Borderline, nestling deep in the grave of the Astoria, raises the question: is there a market niche for buskers in the corridors of Hell? And is it filled? If it isn't, these guys have the afterlife sewn -right- up.

Rant: Best Albums of 2009

Pedro Azevedo — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It's a tight inter-genre race to the finish line this year; who will win the 2009 CoC Album of the Year award?

Album Review: Cerebrum - Spectral Extravagance

Aly Hassab El Naby — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Though not an official band member, Greek god of drumming George Kollias lent his drumming prowess to his fellow Greeks Cerebrum for the recording of their debut album _Spectral Extravagance_, and his name is written all over it. (7 out of 10)

Album Review: Green Carnation - Alive and Well... in Krakow

Quentin Kalis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Once again, Metal Mind has inexplicably re-released a DVD as a CD. If the DVD is sold out (as it should damn well be!) then why not just reprint it?

Album Review: Grimlord - Dolce Vita Sath-anas

Quentin Kalis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Grimlord's previous full-length was plagued by inadequate clean vocals, a problem that has now been resolved through the use of a more extreme vocal style. But a further problem has surfaced, that of inchoateness, as this album has all the hallmarks of a rushed release. (5 out of 10)

Album Review: Morphia - One Last Embrace

Quentin Kalis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

After a trio of albums, Dutch romantic doom-mongers Morphia disintegrated in 2008, but not before performing a swansong gig.

Album Review: Pressure Points - Remorses to Remember

Mark Dolson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Now with Pressure Points, I feel that they are a very capable band indeed, displaying some excellent musicianship, and some fairly interesting ideas; however, there's just something missing here. Maybe it's just plain feeling or emotion? (6 out of 10)

Album Review: The M.E.M.O.R.Y. Lab - The M.E.M.O.R.Y. Lab

Quentin Kalis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

With a too-cute acronym standing for the unwieldy "Modern Expressing Machines of Revolutionary Youth", this possesses all the hallmarks of youthful fervour and creativity. (7.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Amorphead - Psychotic

Aly Hassab El Naby — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Amorphead's music has a hint of the traditional heavy metal sound, which is evident in their plentiful use of steady chugging riffs, and it also has a more apparent melodic death sound. (5 out of 10)

Album Review: Hearse - Single Ticket to Paradise

Mark Dolson — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Hearse are plying their wares again; and so they continue to bring us that highly unique brand of death 'n' roll that is somewhat similar to, but still quite different from related acts such as Convulse and later-era Carcass. (9.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Root - Zjeveni

Quentin Kalis — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This is their debut album originally released in 1990, although many of the songs were present in demo form before then. (8.5 out of 10)

Album Review: Russian Circles - Geneva

Aly Hassab El Naby — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Russian Circles are back with _Geneva_, their third album, and it is yet another transcendental musical experience. If you think that instrumental music played by only a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer can be boring, then I pity you for never having listened to this band. (8 out of 10)

Album Review: Sólstafir - Köld

Kostas Sarampalis — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

If there is a recent album one can draw parallels with Sólstafir's _Köld_, that would be _Vertebrae_ -- but less psychedelic and much more rocking. (10 out of 10)