That is actually one I sampled and dismissed haha, probably due to the Relapse sound and screamier vocals.

Infernal hails, Louie! Will check out that Furor album soon.

Massive post from ghenghis and he delivered as usual.

As for me, only two albums have been worth listening to (on repeat mode):

Dead Congregation - Promulgation of the Fall
Portrait - Crossroads (Heavy metal influenced by Mercyful Fate and King Diamond)

Both albums were kinda slow to absorb and grow on me. But now, they're getting regular spins and both rule!

Question - Doomed Passages

Despite their unimaginative name, these guys have done a very good job with their debut. Dark tremolo riffs reminiscent of the classic Finnish Death bands but this isn't a clone band, they draw influences from other bands like Autopsy and The Chasm(to my ears at least) and the song writing is excellent. For me, vocals play a very important role and this guy does a very good job here with his growls.

That Halberd does sound pretty sick, actually. Will there be a CD version?

Has anyone listened to the new Svartidaudi EP? One song is available on the band's BC page but I was really curious about the rest of it. Since I'm talking about it, does anyone know what the hell happened to its CD version that was supposed to come out by the end of April? I can't seem to find it anywhere...

lord_ghengis:

If you caught Abysmal Torment's album I'm surprised not to see something on Soreption - Engineering the Void. Did you listen to it? Also missing that I might expect to see would be this year's albums from Pyrexia and Sinister. Thoughts on any of these?

Fuckin' A dude! This is awesome. I will review this in a few days, for sure!

A few labels have shown interest, so it's only a matter of time. Meanwhile, we plan on uploading the entire thing to bandcamp within the next few days, so keep your ears peeled. Thanks for the shout out, Ghengis.

:O I thought it was only a single track and ghenghis's post got me confused. Upload the entire album, Necro! Looking forward to it.

Ghengis has heard the full thing due to nepotism, of course! I'm glad he liked it that much though. The album will be out today! Many labels were interested but their schedule are so tight that they had places for us but we're still looking.

Edit: it has been released!

I'm listening to this Halberd as we speak, and I have to say, that Northern Bloodletting is pretty fuckin' awesome guys. Loving it so far.

Yeah, got held up by the printing press, there are another few bands in the same boat, no idea when or if it'll ever come.



Haven't heard Soreption I don't think, may have to give it a look, cover art has definitely crossed my path at some point. Pyrexia was last year, and Sinister never appealed to me for whatever reason.

I heard a bit of it just now. Will dig into this later.

Emptiness felt kinda half assed throughout the album. It had some cool ideas, but at points it just didn't pull off either the twisted sound, nor the melancholy I felt they were going for. Now maybe its the fact some of those riffs sound a lot like Monika era Atrox, but Howls of Ebb is sounding great so far, especially those frantic solos and "odd" riffs. And even with the clever playing those vocals are still primal and kind of caveman-ish. Great recommendation.

Domain's Sinister Ceremonies is getting a LOT of attention it seems. I really liked it, but it's around 85/100 for me, it's great, but with that kind of a sound Immolation do it just that bit better. While I enjoyed it, I think Hour of Penance have the best death metal album so far (not counting Behemoth as death metal due to their BM-isms)

I did this top 50 of the year so far last week, and I already know it's pretty wrong, as I've heard great stuff since, but make of it what you will, I think they're all great albums regardless:
http://swirlsofnoise.com/2014/06/30/top ... y-to-june/

Anyone heard the new Bongripper? It was released today for free on Bandcamp, check it out, it's obviously good.
Awesome art as well!

[/quote]

That Anholt album is a really cool listen. It's quite an interesting mix of styles, and is mesmerising and VERY dark in parts. Cheers!

Here's my favorite albums from this year at the midway point. All Japanese stuff (the shock). That new Anubis Gate I liked a lot, however.

1. MinstreliX [power metal] - Chronostrings
2. Albion [power metal] - Campanula
3. Aldious [heavy/power metal] - Dazed & Delight
4. Mahatma [progressive rock] - Re:generation
5. SoundWitch [J-rock/Industrial/Gothic]- Romanesque

Honorable mentions:


Singles/EPs:
1. Another Shrine [power metal] - Crimson Darkness
2. Adrastea [power metal] - Sleep of Insomnia
3. Alchemy Crystal [power metal] - 志鋼の扉
4. Rosario Ark [hard rock/heavy metal] - Guilty
5. 激情★めたりっちぇ [J-rock/power metal/melodeath] - 必殺！リバーシブル
6. Scars of Moment [heavy/power metal] - 氷の鳥籠 / Addio danza
7. 妖精帝國 (Yousei Teikoku) [J-rock] - 使徒覚醒
8. FullMooN [J-pop/J-rock] - Hikari
9. Blood Stain Child [electro/melodeath] - Last Stardust
10. A Drop of Joker [electro-melodeath/metalcore] - End Death

Apologies for lack of description - I'm finding describing stuff increasingly difficult these days. :/

Listening through this for the first time and it is sounding very good.

Apparently the band has it for free
http://slugdge.bandcamp.com/

Grave Digger - Return of the Reaper

Great, fun album!

This Halberd album fucking slays! Call me seriously impressed. I've listened to this several times already and I keep hearing different elements each time. Great job guys!!

thx for sharing this, great stuff !

Holy shit, I'm not a big death/doom fan but that Halberd album really has some great tracks.

Would you guys care to elaborate which MA members covered what on the album?

Regardless, really digging it guys, good stuff.

Necroticism is vocals, RageW is guitar solos and drum programming, Metantoine is lyrics... I don't know Chuck's handle here haha, He does all the rifts and songwriting.

Chuck is juicebitch.

And RageW is badass on those solos!! Fuck yeah!

Man, I was hesitant to check out the new Vintersorg since his stuff can be very hit or miss/samey but Naturbal is fucking great. Maybe his best album ever, his growl is at the top of its game.

Yeah it's really an amazing album. I'm a huge Vintersorg fan boy, though, so I'm glad someone else is saying that it's badass.

Exordium Mors - The Apotheosis of Death

This is a relentless barrage of Blackened Technical Thrash. Very good album

The new Goatwhore album "Constricting Rage of the Merciless" delivers some more good, new Goatwhore. Enjoying it so far. Such a tight band. Not a ton of expanded, diverse riffs, but straightforward, quality stuff.

Thanks for reminding me about this! This promotional video for FBS came out and blew me away haha.

I've never understood the popularity of Goatwhore. Aren't they just generic black/thrash 101? I've seen them live about 5 times and have never figured out their appeal.

+1 to the above post. The only song I ever enjoyed of theirs was 'Blood Guilt Eucharist', which I remember because of a music video they did back when I was exploring metal. Apart from that, I lost interest in the band very quickly. They're popular because they're on a big label and tour with mainstream metal bands. They're like the (current) Behemoth of black/thrash.

Their live show is how I became a fan. Saw em as an opener for Gwar after their first album came out and thought they tore it up so I bought their cd right there. Maybe not the most innovative band ever, but I love their whole catalog to varying degrees, and find them to be killer live..

I have, and yes, it is splendid. More doomier than anything they've done in the past, they certainly accomplished what they had in mind. As of this moment in time I'm not going to state it's their best work but there's no denying that it is some of their best work.

Under the belly of most music coming out this year, Skáphe comes out randomly into the fray and delivers some really schizophrenic black metal. Definitely a "Fallen Empire Records" band, but incredibly good.

Free download here:
http://bandcamp.fallenempirerecords.com/album/sk-phe

PS: The new Thantifaxath and Spectral Lore are ones constantly on my rotation, Thantifaxath especially.

Yeah over the past few years I've found Goatwhore's artworks and general aesthetic to be somewhat in my corner, not to mention they are often in line-ups with killer black/ death hordes I listen to a lot, but their actual music doesn't seem to get through to me. For me they're like the Legion of the Damned of black/ thrash... sound pretty awesome on paper but the execution is far subpar. Same goes for this new one. A couple of reviews for their earliest stuff indicate I might be better off investigating there though rather than the Metal Hammer-reviewed stuff of late, so you never know.

Yeah Fallen Empire Records just get stronger these days eh. I was also surprised and quite impressed by the Skáphe tracks. The label hasn't quite had a massive triumph in the underground yet but I feel like they're building to it.

I can honestly see Fallen Empire being the Go-To black metal label in the US in a few years. Right now I definitely see him as a prominent atmospheric/raw black metal go-to label from any part of the world. I'm really happy he liked one of my project's material enough to sign it, and the fact that I got on the roster early on before he got all huge and picky (More than he is now, anyway, heh.)

There's a few really notable releases coming out that I'm personally keeping an eye on. I know that the new Xothist is going to crush in particular.

am I cool for having roomed with Mike of FE at Maryland Deathfest, before he started the label? And helping him with a description or two early on? Do I get a little e-cred? Internet fame by proxy?

but yeah he's done so well it's awesome. Really small at the beginning, just a re-distro for a handful of releases.

That Thantifaxath album felt like a let down especially when I had high hopes going into it. Isn't it kinda, you know, weak? I spoke with a couple of guys who dig the band and they've said that the EP is better. I haven't heard the EP myself so I can't comment.

I never liked Goatwhore but I give them credit for being incredibly functional heroin addicts.