This is a debut album by one man project called Hguols and will be released by EEE Recordings in December. I'm fortunate to receive the promo copy from the guy behind this project.

I've heard of the project awhile ago and when I found out its 100% MIDI used, I was actually suspicious because normally when someone use MIDI to make music, it sounds terrible and cheap. I was blown away and surprised when I gave the song on his myspace a listen. Now, I finally have the album and gave it listen yesterday and all day today. It's definitely a GREAT album for a debut effort.

The music is definitely very raw black metal with a lot of ambiance for atmosphere. Obviously there is no real instruments since this is 100% MIDI but the composition is pretty much top notch. I absolutely love the guitar patterns and the distortion being used in many of the songs.
I think the drumming is the weakest point of the album because honestly...nothing beat the real drumming. Generally I'm not a fan of programmed drumming so that's why it's a minus for me. However, it doesn't ruin the album so it's still enjoyable.


Best Song: "...Of Blackened Skies"-love the ambiance in this song and guitar absolutely slays!

Worst Song:"...Of Threnodies Abided"-overal a decent song but bit boring to be honest. I already started to skip this song.

Score:7/10


www.myspace.com/hguols

Labels: black metal, christian, hguols, review

An Aussie thrash/death metal band, Malignant Monster, released this seven tracks EP, "Foul Play" in 2005. I got a copy from an Aussie friend and I've been really digging this album for a long time. I'm really glad to see this EP with SEVEN tracks. I always hate it when an EP have fewer than 4 tracks. I mean come on...give me a break!

When I heard the first track, "Old Corpus Delecti", for first time...the first thing to pop in my head is...FINALLY! some good modern thrash metal. The drums are very thrashy and fast. Good blastbeats and you can definitely pick up death influences. The guitar works are pure thrash while the vocals bring some variety with black metal style growls. They did a pretty good cover on Megadeath's song "Liar" as the last track on the EP. I've been noticing more and more quality metal coming out of Aussieland. Total props for the country!

Best song: "My Rage"-full of brutal force and solid instrument works. Lyrics is very catchy too.

Worst song: "Turrets of Blood"- the least thrashy song out of the album. Doesn't really do much for me. They better not expand on this song on next album. Stick with the first couple of songs.


Score: 7.5/10

www.myspace.com/malignantmonster

Labels: aussie metal, black metal, death metal, malignant monster, metal, review, thrash metal

Hailing from Netherlands, Dormant is an one man black metal project by Nain-User. He released this album on now defunct Son of Man records in 2006, limited to only 100 copies.

This is some great black metal! When I listened to it at work, I actually felt like I'm alone in my cubicle and it's all cold... almost like I'm imaging myself in one giant frozen barren lands. This is one of few black metal albums where a real drums is actually being used which is great. It's actually refreshing to hear that because I honestly am getting sick of programming drums. It simply is not the same.

I really love the variety of vocals being used in this album. There's screaming, clean singing, whispers, and I can really see that the guy behind this project really have a talent for vocals. I also dig the fact that some songs are in English and some are in Dutch. I always have a thing for bands singing in their native language. It just makes it more beautiful and emotional for me because I have to rely on the music to feel the emotions more deeply than I would've if I listened to English songs.

There is an album in the works for years. Let's hope it will be released soon because this is some quality black metal. Too bad this album is long out of print so good luck obtaining a copy folks!


Best Song: The Grevious Children- this is where the drumming part absolutely shines!

Worst Song: Dromant Souls-could use some more creativity in vocals and riffs. However it still is a good song.

Score: 8/10

http://www.myspace.com/dormantmetal

Labels: black metal, dormant, review, son of man records, unblack

I was recommended by a friend to check this band out. Got the album from the man behind this band and I gave it several listens in past week. All I can say is...wow what an intense listening experience I ever had in awhile. It's not exactly straight up doom metal...it's more of simplistic drone with tons of ambient and a dash of black metal influences. To be honest, I never heard anything like this and I'm really fascinated by this album. Its actually two CDs album packaged in beautiful wood-like CD holder being stored in a nice package. It has amazing photography all over and lyrics insert. The tracklist is 11 songs at almost 90 minutes which is very long for an album(a bonus!). I kind of feel like I will be a bipolar when listening to this album because I'm listening to melodies but at the same time some weird feedback or disortion kicked in. I actually tlaked with the man behind this project and he said that it was made almost completely on the spot and its not meant to be easily reproduced which is remarkable if you think about it.

This album is not for easy listening or listening for fun...this is meant to be taken seriously and sit in dark in the basement with candles on and listen intensely.

Best Song: "The Sun Glints Through The Dust With Risen From Their Hooves" has some weird metalliac riffs that is just awesome.

Worst Song: "Knives At My Brain In The Discordance Of Sleep" still a great song but bit too much for me. I guess I will need to give it more time and absorb the music over time..maybe my opinion will change.


Score: 9/10

www.myspace.com/adeathcinematic

Labels: a death cinematic, ambient, black metal, drone, review metal

An EP by Vociferor, a project by two members of Vanguard, called "Fall of Man" and released by Sullen Records last week. When I received the copy, I went straight to my bedroom and put it in my CD player. After several full throughout listens, I think this album is a decent black metal and a good start for Vociferor. The production is alright but that's typical in the black metal scene and I really dig the riffs. I like the fourth song a lot because it is very different than rest of the songs and honestly it is the most interesting one out of the five songs. Basically, there is nothing special about this album...its like they played the black metal pretty well but I don't really feel any strong emotions or anything like that.

I'm also disappointed that there is no lyrics insert in the booklet because I really like to read the lyrics so I know what the album is all about. I know the title should say it all but I want to know what the band really feel about the fall of mankind. Is it about fall of man as in Adam and Eve era? Or is it about the end times?


Best Song:Unworthy- this is the song I talked about earlier...unique and I really dig the atmosphere.

Worst Song: Preludium-nothing special at all...just typical stuff.


I think this is a decent album and if you are looking for something special or that has the "WOW" factor then you will be disappointed. However if you just want to listen to some good ol' typical black metal then get this.

I really hope they will improve on creating some more emotions in the music and hopefully add lyrics in net album.

5.5/10

http://www.myspace.com/vociferorblackmetal

Labels: black metal, metal, review, sullen records, vociferor

Holy cow! What an excellent album by Flaskavsae! Flaskavsae is an ambient black metal band founded in 2005. Flaskavsae has been experimenting with the black metal and ambient sounds to create something unique and more original than many other black metal bands. This album is actually supposed to be Flaskavsae's debut album but was held and another albums got released first. Finally, it got released in Summer, 2007 to the lucky 50 people who were aware of it.

Now, it is OOP and rare to find. I am very fortunate to acquire this album several months ago and I absolutely love it. Really dark atmosphere and excellent and fast drumming. I really dig the vocals a lot because it sounds absolutely beastly...definitely not human like!

The production is very lo-fi which really adds up to the atmosphere. The album really makes me feel like I'm in some kind of dark cave and I am going insane. The guy who's behind this band obviously knows what he's doing with the production which is great and rare in black metal scene. If you ever come up a copy then grab it before it disappears in thin air(....or bought by someone else who is faster than you).


Best Song: Tie between Celestial and Raised By Fire. Both are very brutal tracks and just perfectly composed of fast and complex drumming, heavily distorted guitar riffs, and beastly vocals to drive you crazy!

Worst Song:Without War. Still excellent track...just could use some more variety of drumming.

Score: 9.5/10

www.myspace.com/flaskavsae

Labels: black metal, flaskavsae, metal, review

Hailing from UK, Primitive Graven Imaged released this debut album on Open Grave Records back in 2006 and it is pretty great for a debut album. It's very obvious that they are heavily influenced by Darkthrone but it's definitely not a rip-off. I really dig the thrash influences on this album. Thrash metal happens to be one of my favorite metal subgenre so I really dig the sounds. I like the way they used a little of keyboards and focus more on the guitar riffs. I've noticed that many black metal bands focused mostly on keys which is getting boring for me. It's actually refreshing to listen to their album.

I definitely recommend the album to anyone who dig black metal and want to hear something different than typical black metal that went overboard with keys.

Best Song:Fear and Fire
Worst Song: Design

Score:7.5/10

www.myspace.com/primitivegravenimage

Labels: black metal, metal, primitive graven image, review

Fans of this band always cheer "HOOOOOOORRDDEE!"

If you are a christian metal fan and you don't know about this band then you must have been living under the rock your entire life. Horde is one of the most famous christian black metal band(one man band actually) and released the album, "Hellig Usvart", back in mid 90's. This is the most important release for the "unblack" scene due to it being released on Nuclear Blast.

Okay, enough about history...if you want to know more then research!

Generally, the music is pretty good but a little bit generic in my opinion. The vocals is alright but hey come on, its black metal so the vocals gotta sound brutal. What I really dig about this album is the drums...its excellent which is obvious due to who the man behind the band is....(if you don't know who then get out of the rock!). I always think the song titles are so cheesy that it's awesome!

Best song: Invert the Inverted Cross
Worst song: An Abandoned Grave Bathes Softly in the Falling Moonlight

This album is absolutely an essential for black metal collection. However, the quality is not top notched like Antestor's material. It is more valuable due to the history behind the album.

Score: 7/10

www.myspace.com/hellingusvart

Labels: black metal, horde, metal, review, unblack

This probably is one of the most interesting album I ever heard in a while. That doesn't mean its the best album ever...not that close to it. However, this band definitely have HUGE potential. I can see in their lyrics and music that they have tons of passion for music and experimenting with styles of music to see where they can push the boundary of black metal. They mix in grind and hardcore in black metal to create some good sound. The biggest problem with the album is production. It definitely need some good production and mixing so it doesn't sound all washed in. I would give this album 4 out 0f 10 mainly to production. They already are working on new album and I heard two songs they have up on myspace and it's WAY much better! I'm excited to see what they will do with next album because I knew they have huge potential and it's coming out now.

Labels: black metal, christian, experimental, majestic winter, o, review, sullen records

Hortor is a black metal band from Mexico and they released a demo, an EP, and a debut album. I am reviewing the EP, which have four songs. I don't really know what most of their lyrics means because they are in Spanish. However, I really dig the emotion and the keys in this EP. The major problem would be the mastering because it is really hard to listen through the bad production. I hope they would improve that aspect and put some money in mastering part. I can see that they have big potential to be a really good black metal band. The only thing that hold they back would be the production/mastering. Definitely give them a listen and try to ignore the production issues. 5/10

www.myspace.com/hortor

Labels: black metal, hortor, mexican metal, review, sullen records, unblack

Elgibbor is a one man project by Fire who originally is from Poland but lives in USA now. He has many previous albums in his belt so there is a high expectation for this release. This album definitely surpass my expectation and I was blown away with the progress he has made with the album compared to last one. The whole album is excellent black metal with no fillers at all. Each single track is very good. I especially love the two songs in Polish language. Maybe it is just me but I have a thing for singing in foreign language. My favorite track probably have to be Dark Valley due to the atmosphere Fire created in this song. The entire album is pretty much almost flawless. I am very excited to see what Fire will do with his new album, War, that is coming out soon. 9/10

www.myspace.com/elgibbor

Labels: black metal, christian, polish metal, review, sullen records, unblack

Frost Like Ashes is a band created by Sebat in 2001. They are mixed black/death metal and just released Born To Pieces EP last year. This happened to be one of my favorite release of 2008. The album is limited to 250 copies and is already sold out. The album is absolutely amazing... I listened to it for weeks when I first got it. First three tracks are totally solid and Born To Pieces track is my favorite track. It's so brutal and the lyrics is hauntingly straightforward about abortion. The EP have two covers, one of Saint's "Plan 2" and Johnny Cash's "When the Man Comes Around". Both covers are excellent done although I prefer the Cash over one a little better than the Saint one. They also did an acoustic version of their famous song, "A Nightfall's Cold Kiss", which is an interesting but good song. At first I was hesistant because I normally am not a fan of acoustic versions but they did this one very well. The last two tracks are rehearsal tracks which is nice to hear and see how they usually rehearse.

This is definitely a must for any death/black metal fans. Unfortunately its all sold out so you will have to search through ebay or see if anyone have it for sale/trade. 9/10


www.myspace.com/frostlikeashes

Labels: black metal, christian, frost like ashes, review, sullen records, unblack

I've been listening to Kekal's "1000 Thoughts of Violence" and I just have to say...wow. They kept delivering amazing album after another. I just bought this one few weeks ago after enjoying The Habit of Fire for past several months. I think I'll have to say I love this album better than Habit. My reasons are that it is a fusion of black metal and avant garde. It's the perfect balance between two "eras" of Kekal. I get to listen to the best of both eras in my opinion. I have to say my favorite song is Violent Society because it is just remarkable how they can somehow combine black metal with little bit of strange hip hop right in the middle. At first I was like what was that? Then I realized what they did and I have to give them props for having guts to go that far and it definitely work very very well. I definitely am planning to order more of their albums and see what else they have to offer. I also am looking forward to their new album coming out sometimes this month(i believe). If you are in mood for some avant garde or even some good black metal then I definitely recommend you to check them out. 8/10


myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kekalembracethedead

Labels: avant garde, black metal, christian, kekal, metal, review