Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Self ReleasedRating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Preamble/Intro –
Snew – We Do What We Want
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, IndependentRating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Rick Snew the fuck are you? That’s the question soon to be on the tongues of rock and metal fans the world over. With the popularity of new act Airbourne and the continued and never waning popularity of heavyweights AC/DC, Snew just…
BerserkerfoX – History.Altar.Ashes
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Ovis Records DARating: 3.0/5 Reviewer: Erich Not many melodic death metal bands hail from Australia, but Berserkerfox calls the land down under home. After releasing two EPs, in which 2009’s KING KONG ON CRACK created a positive buzz in the metal underground, the band has…
Spellblast – Battlecry
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Self ProducedRating: 3.0/5 Reviewer: Erich Bergen, Italy is home to Spellblast, a power/folk metal band formed in 1999. The band originally started as strictly a power metal band, but folk influences made their way on to the debut full length album HORNS OF SILENCE in…
Nidingr – Wolf Father
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Jester RecordsRating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Robert Williams Nidingr is a four-piece Norwegian black metal band comprised of an impressive line-up that includes current and former members of 1349, Gorgoroth, Dodheimsgard and Mayhem. With one previous full-length recording under their belt, SORROW INFINITE AND DARKNESS released back…
Brutai – S/T (EP)
Reviewed: June 2010Released: 2010, n/aRating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Metal-Rules.com UK Team Listening to Brutai’s EP fills me with hope for metal in the current climate. Hailing from my home town of Catford, I have seen these lads live once when they went under the name Motorbreath and they were amazing. Brutai…
Wrong Destiny – Imperial Entrance
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, IndependentRating: 2.0/5 Reviewer: Waspman Serbia-based Wrong Destiny and their debut EP is an interesting, difficult, proposition for a reviewer. See, although mastermind Sasha composed all the music himself, all of the songs are put together from samples and were not actually performed. As a reviewer,…
Celestiial – Where Life Springs Eternal
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Bindrune RecordingsRating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Waspman Funeral doom is a demanding genre; the long songs, lots of open spaces, and general drone are a lot for most people to take in (myself included). When done well it can be highly rewarding, but bad funeral doom is…
The Beast Of The Apocalypse – A Voice From The Four Horns Of The Golden Altar
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2009, Transcendental CreationsRating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Waspman After years of being the new underground sensation, black metal isn’t really the shocking force in 2010 that it used to be. It’s basically reached the point that death metal did a decade or more ago where you have two…
Triumph – Greatest Hits Remixed
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Frontiers RecordsRating: 3.0/5 Reviewer: Waspman Long-standing, mega-successful Canadian rock institution Triumph reformed in 2008 after an acrimonious break-up way back in the early ‘90s. When guitarist/vocalist Rik Emmett returned to the power-trio he helped make famous, fans were ecstatic and much touring has followed. For…
Black Sabbath – Mob Rules (Expanded Deluxe Edition)
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Sanctuary/Universal UKRating: 5.0/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Black Sabbath needs no introduction, and if they do, than you should be reading up on Miley Cyrus’ blog rather than perusing these pages. Each of the Dio-era releases with the band are classics in their own right, but…
Cynic – Re-Traced
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Season of MistRating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Cynic is probably one of the few bands within the metal genre that can get away with the idea of re-imagining their own material. The very nature of the band centers on the progressive and esoteric nature of…
Rotten Sound – Napalm
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Relapse RecordsRating: 4.0/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz What do you get when one phenomenal Grindcore band covers another phenomenal Grindcore band? You get Rotten Sound’s new EP, NAPALM. Following up 2008’s monumental CYCLES, the Finnish troupe have returned with 3 new grind-tastic tunes and 3 Napalm…
Maninfeast – How One Becomes What One Is
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2010, Self ReleasedRating: 2.0/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Maninfeast is a Portuguese quartet that blends genre lines, but resides somewhere in the realm of progressive/new age metal. Their debut EP HOW ONE BECOMES WHAT ONE IS does a good job of creating a uniquely mellow atmosphere, but…
Ophidian Forest – Redbad
Reviewed: June 2010 Released: 2008, Zeitke-NLRating: 1.0/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz Ophidian Forest is an interesting commodity. Specializing in their own self-described brand of “chaotic Pagan black metal,” the members of the band are spread across three countries and haven’t even physically met each other yet. Through such magical technologies as…