Dawn Of Kaos

Album Title: Belus
Artist: Burzum
Record Label: Byelobog Productions
Release Date: March 8, 2010
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PLEASE NOTE: Translations from Norwegian for track titles can be found after the album review
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Synopsis: It has been fourteen long years since Burzum’s last black metal (bm) release, Filosofem. Belus is easily one of the most anticipated works in the last decade of the underground metal scene. Regardless of what you think about the man himself and his controversial, outspoken yet misunderstood worldly views, Varg Vikernes is a pioneer and has expressed distaste at the current state of affairs in a genre he helped create and put on the map. (continue reading…)

Album Title: Nifelvind
Artist: Finntroll
Record Label: Century Media (www.centurymedia.com)
Release Date: February 23, 2010
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Synopsis: This year looks to be an exciting year for bands releasing material, just as last year was. I have always been a sucker for Finntroll, so of course I was waiting for this album with anticipation (even though I was disappointed with their 2007 release, Ur Jordens Djup, mainly because of the downplayed Humppa element). (continue reading…)

Album Title: Mechanize
Artist: Fear Factory
Record Label: Candlelight Records (www.candlelighrecordsusa.com)

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Synopsis: This band is familiar to most people who have been a fan of the genre for the past 20 years or so, particularly in the ’90s. What would also be familiar to many people was the steady decline of their trademark sound and intensity after the release of their 3rd album, Obsolete, with many ensuing subpar offerings. Having greatly enjoyed their first three albums, I always retained the hope that Fear Factory would return to form, no matter how disillusioned I, as many others, were with their newer material. With all the drama surrounding the band, including recent legal disputes over the band’s name it seemed like the band would finally implode, tarnishing its initial brilliant legacy with disappointment (google “Fear Factory drama” to get up to speed). (continue reading…)

Album Title: After
Artist: Ihsahn
Record Label: Candlelight (www.candlelightrecordsusa.com)
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Synopsis: This album has set the bar very high for 2010.  Famous for fronting black metal powerhouse Emperor in it’s heyday, Vegard Sverre Tveitan aka Ihsahn has not failed to deliver after the highly successful angL, released in 2008.  The style of the album can be likened to blackened prog metal, a combination of blistering prog riffs steeped in black metal history.  The flow of the album is impeccable and conveys more of a storyline or journey, although people familiar with Ihsahn’s work will be well aware of his arranging and compositional prowess.  This album is his most unique and experimental as a solo act, without a shade of a doubt, leaving any preconceived notions of his current work being an “Emperor afterthought” in the dust (although make no mistake, the Emperor influence is there).  The opener, ‘The Barren Lands’, sets a less aggressive, sombre, atmospheric mood which is then shattered by the second offering, ‘A Grave Inversed’, a vicious, blackened bid with the use of a saxophone, which again makes reappearances on tracks ‘Undercurrent’ and  ’On The Shores’.  The saxophone on this album is masterful, and essential to the album’s musical integrity through it’s tasteful and unpretentious application, profoundly heightening the listening experience.  Unlike most metal releases in the past year, this album offers a rollercoaster ride of emotion expressed through the variety of its offerings.  The moody title track is then followed by the catchy, trash-tinged ‘Frozen Lakes On Mars’. 

Perhaps the most profound statement on the album is expressed in the tension that is ’Undercurrent’, with it’s slow build up to a tortured saxophone solo.  The drumming, although wonderful throughout the album, is impeccable on this offering.  One would think that this would be the culmination of After, yet it is not, with the haunting ‘Austere’ followed by the heavy yet majestic ‘Heaven Black Seas’, which has a fantastic guitar solo (and little bits of saxophone glory).  The last offering, ‘On The Shores’, reprises the saxophone melody and ties everything together masterfully.  One thing that definitely stands out in ‘On The Shores’ to me is the layered vocals, reminiscent of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.  The mix of harsh and clean vocals is very tasteful throughout, without lightning quick changes to and from both.  The only gripe there is with this album (as with other metal releases) is the level of the bass in the mix.  Although higher than past releases, it is still not prominent enough for an album of this caliber. 

  Most fans of metal enjoy the genre for its intensity, and make no mistake this album has plenty, although it is expressed through musical tension and progressive elements much more than the constant blastbeat and string camping practiced by most “heavy” bands.  If you are simply looking for an album to listen to while kicking down walls and making children cry, this is not the album for you.  It is not an album full of 3 to 4 minute, greatly intense “radio friendly” songs.  However, if you are a fan of Ihsahn’s work with Emperor, or Peccatum, or simply enjoy an excellent non-commercial interpretation of absolute quality metal, then I strongly urge the aquisition of After.  This release has added a breath of fresh air to a genre (metal in general) that has explored almost every avenue and subgenre there is to offer.  My tastes are wide and varying, yet I believe that this album could grow on any fan of metal, regardless of whether you like death metal, thrash metal, black metal, or any other sub-subgenre.  So far, the frontrunner for album of the year, no question.  As first stated, this has set the bar extremely high for 2010, and earns Dawn Of Kaos’ highest score for an album yet. 
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Standout Tracks: A Grave Inversed, Frozen Lakes On Mars, Undercurrent, Heavens Black Sea

Score: 9.75/10

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Album Title: Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt
Artist: Gorgoroth
Record Label: Regain Records (www.regainrecords.com)
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Synopsis: After all the drama surrounding Gaahl and Infernus, the band name, and personal lifestyle choices in the past couple of years (not dissimilar to drama one would find in the commercial pop music world), we are presented with the latest release, Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt.  I personally could have cared less about all the drama, and was (am) more interested if the legendary Norwegian band could live up to their name and past works and release an album worthy of its catalogue.  The line-up has changed drastically from days of old, with Gaahl being replaced by Pest, drummer Tomas Asklund (Dark Funeral, Dissection), guitarist Tormentor (Gaahlskagg, Orcustrus), and bassist Boddel (aka Frank Watkins of Obituary fame; being a longtime Obituary fan, I am still trying to figure out what Frank Watkins is doing in this band).  Arguably, Infernus has always been the mastermind behind the band, yet fails to add to the rich legacy of the band with a mediocre release at best. 

  Many people have rated this album very highly across the internet and other metal websites, but seems wholly uninspired to me.  By the end of the album, you will have trouble distinguishing the tracks from one another, they run together, and not in an agreeable or creative way whatsoever.  It is a listenable album, to be sure, but falls quite short for someone who has enjoyed the band’s past works.  The instruments are played well, the production is “good”, but there is something lacklustre about this album.  This comes down to personal taste, much the same as every other review written, but I have never been a fan of “high production” black metal releases, preferring the cold, grim, distorted sounds one would find on early Darkthrone releases, sounding as though it was recorded in a drafty Eastern European castle (this is paramount in my opinion as it gives a fantastic atmospheric feel to the music itself).  Second, if one has the time and patience to recruit a veritable supergroup of musicians (which Infernus managed to do quite nicely), one would assume that there would be a reflection of this in some element of the band, or  a showcase (however infintesimal it may be) of the individual talents at least to a minimal degree.  It seems as though Infernus has merely stroked his own ego with this release, and has simply fallen back on a formula (while successful in the past) which comes up short when compared with other bands and releases of the genre, or the bands own past work.  New Breed is the standout track in this album and definitely deserves a few spins, but if you are an ardent fan of black metal than you will inevitabely listen to this album and come to similar conclusions. 
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Standout Tracks: Human Sacrifice, New Breed

Score: 5.5/10
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Greetings! Alot of new metal is on the horizon. We will kick off the reviews today though with a “retro” review from 2008, followed by 2 other lesser known bands that, for lack of a better word, explode with intensity.

RETRO REVIEW!

Album Title: Dark Thrones & Black Flags
Artist: Darkthrone
Record Label: Peaceville www.peaceville.com
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Synopsis: Although this album was released in 2008, it is the latest offering from the Norwegian legends (an album has already been announced for a 2010 release, Circle The Wagon). Darkthrone have always danced to the beat of their own drummer, and this album merely reinforces that fact. Having started as a death metal band in 1988, then embracing black metal in 1992 with the release of A Blaze In The Northern Sky and becoming progenitors of the black metal scene, Darkthrone drastically shifted it’s style in 2006 with The Cult Is Alive. Whether this was a direct reaction to the “flooding of the market” with generic black metal bands, or was an homage to the progenitors of the genre (Venom, Bathory, Tormentor) is unknown. The band has always sought to remain outside of the musical mainstream yet still manage to influence many others who have found or sought (relative) commercial success. We are, of course, talking of metal standards here (basically, you won’t find any metal bands competing for top sales on billboard charts), but I digress.

This album’s style is a mish-mash of crust punk and rock, although the black metal roots are still quite evident not only in the droney guitarwork but also the lyrics. For those that are interested in their raw, black metal sound, this is not the album for you. This style is reminiscent of, and more than likely paying homage to the bands credited with starting the original black metal sound, Venom and Bathory, and does so quite brilliantly. For someone that has been bored with the black metal scene for quite some time, I find it refreshing that a band that has pioneered modern black metal such as Darkthrone redefine themselves while remaining true to the real roots of the genre. A highly enjoyable listen, with a few tracks featuring Nocturno’s clean vocals (Hiking Metal Punk, Hanging Out In Haiger) mixed with his trademark screams (Norway In September). The drumming to me is also a significant change, Fenriz having simply expanded his pallette with more rhythmnic changes. All in all a recommended album for those that appreciate the stylistic shift, and for those that enjoy hard hitting crust mixed with black metal influences.
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Standout tracks: Hiking Metal Punk, Blacksmith Of The North (Keep That Ancient Fire)

Score: an enjoyable 7/10

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Album Title: Fragmentary Evidence
Artist: Augury
Record Label: Nuclear Blast www.nuclearblastusa.com, www.nuclearblast.de
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Synopsis: Augury has risen to prominence through one of the most thriving scenes in North America that many hardcore metal enthusiasts will tell you is the capital of technical metal in Montreal, Quebec. Having taken four years to put together, this album simply put, is a treatise on progressive technical death metal, perhaps being one of the most underrated releases of 2009. This should appeal to every fan of hard hitting music, the core of their sound touches on and is influenced by death and black metal, but leans more towards the tech/prog than their 2004 debut, Concealed. What sticks out most for me are the combination of the mellow, melodic passages with sheer sonic assaults included in songs such as “Skyless” and “Jupiter To Ignite”, one of the many gems on this release. The technical proficiency and overall muscicianship is unparalleled, with perhaps one of the most astounding performances on bass in any subgenre of music involving electric instruments. The bass actually takes on the melody in quite a few passages, with some amazing and frantic fingerwork, reminiscent of Victor Wooten (that’s right, the virtuoso himself). There are many time changes and shifts in rhythmn, as is evidenced by the mid-tempo churn of opener, Aetheral. I cannot recommend this album highly enough, it is not only a departure from most run-of-the-mill “tech-death” releases but is also an album that gets infinitely better with each listen. This simply blows most other albums of the subgenre clear out of the water.
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Standout Tracks: Simian Cattle, Skyless, Jupiter To Ignite.

Score: 9/10

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Album Title: Everything Is Fire
Artist: Ulcerate
Record Label: Willowtip www.willowtip.com
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Synopsis: Ulcerate have sent a resounding wake-up call to its peers in the “brutal death metal” community with Everything Is Fire, much the same way Gorguts did while breaching long-held traditions in death metal with the release of Obscura over a decade ago. The riffing on this record centers largely around a variety of alternate-picked harmonics, frequently shifting back and forth between consonant and dissonant chord voicings and does not include the usual string camping (chugging) or melodic leads that have become staples of the genre. Make no mistake there is plenty of string bashing, but it is undertoned with a flurry of upper string chord play that separates them from run-of-the-mill bands in the genre. The New Zealand quartet’s influences are evident in their sound (Gorguts, Immolation). This album, like it’s predecessors, departs stylistically from the rest of the subgenre with it’s esoteric delivery and thematic differences. How is it different then? The song “The Earth At Its Knees” is a prime example, with a linear and dissonant wall of sound that most other bands of the genre would shy away from for fear of breaking the mold. The length of the songs (6 minutes or more) allows the band to explore the varying tempos, dissonance, and moods through multiple movements. Again this is a break-away album for the brutal death metal community, not only thematically (no lyrics about raping or pillaging) but musically. This album is not for the faint of heart. Superb album.
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Standout Tracks: Withered And Obsolete, The Earth At Its Knees

Score: 9.5/10
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Hey Everyone! 

  Time to kick off this year with the first round of music reviews of bands of interest on the Dawn Of Kaos radio show, which can be listened to here at www.wwuh.org on Monday nights/Tuesday mornings from midnight till 3am.  I do the reviews here for you so you can get a brief summary of music and information to further you interest in whichever band or sub-genre you choose to explore.  I’ve doubled the possible scores for the bands to easier distinguish what I personally like and believe is worth your time listening to.  Look for the next few months to be jam-packed with music, reviews, new articles, and much more! 
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Album Title: New Moon
Artist : Swallow The Sun
Record Label: Spinefarm Records www.spinefarm.fi
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Synopsis: This style of metal has grown on me.  Perhaps it is the cold weather and the time of year, or perhaps it is in the way the music is composed and delivered.  Either way, music is always affected by mood, and the mood set by New Moon is bleak to say the least.  Doom metal by definition has always dealt with bleak subjects: death, grief, dejection, coldness, and sorrow.  The droney, hypnotic tempo is agonizing, and conveys an atmosphere befitting the band, yes, but to label the band as doom metal does not do the Finnish quintet justice.  The clean vocals (Mikko Kotamaki) on “Falling World” and the title track are great and are magnified by the clever and catchy songwriting and harmonically rich melodic passages.  The keyboard (Aleksi Munter), as always, adds a dynamic element to songs such as “…And Heavens Cried Blood” and “Servent Of Sorrow”, which for me, surprisingly does not detract from the music at all.  To me this is the quintessence of tasteful harmonization with a keyboard in a metal band, which sadly exists only on rare occassion.  Too often do keyboardists assign symphonic chords to notes and play in that manner instead of actually playing the instrument as Munter does.  As usual there is something of the unexpected as well, with “Lights On The Lake (Horror Part III)”  beginning with clean female vocals and guitar, followed by a short burst of black metal, then an amalgam of both to finish the song.  New drummer Kai Hahto, known for his fast feet and technical prowess, has stepped in for original drummer Pasi Pasanen and filled the role well.  All in all, a fantastic album.  It might not sink in the first spin.  I was hooked straight away, and it only gets better each time I listen to it. 
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Standout tracks: Falling World, …And Heavens Cried Blood

Score: 8/10
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Album Title:  Addicted
Artist: Devin Townsend Project
Record Label: Hevydevy Recods, www.hevydevy.com
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Synopsis: Devin Townsend has always been a fountain of creativity, and has never really seemed to compromise it.  I was first introduced to his work through Strapping Young Lad, however, for those of you expecting a clone of that sound you will be sorely disappointed.  This album is the second of four in the Devin Townsend Project series, each featuring a different lineup and theme accoring to the musical styles presented in the songwriting.  This venture was started after Devin became sober and ended SYL for good, and decided to explore a new page in his songrwriting.  The music is still admittedly heavy on this album but explores many territories that modern metal bands would be afraid to tread.  Addicted is a wall of melodic guitar sound mixed with ambient, industrial, and dance grooves that compliment each other wonderfully.  Singing duty on the album is shared by Devin himself and Anneke van Giersbergen (Agua de Annique, formerly of The Gathering), and when I say shared, I mean a complete intertwinement of the two singers in almost every song.  The lyric substance is superb, as is the music.  Personally this album has grown most on me in the past month or so, there is just something refreshing not only about the album itself but the fact that Devin refuses to pigeonhole himself like so many other metal artists have done. 
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Standout tracks: Universe In A Ball!, The Way Home!,  Awake!!

Score: 9.5/10
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Retro Review: 2008
Album Title: Live The Storm
Artist: Disfear
Record Label: Relapse Records www.relapse.com
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Synopsis:  As if having acquired Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates, The Great Deceiver) wasn’t enough, Disfear brought guitarist Uffe Cederlund (of Entombed fame) into the fray to produce an absolutely awesome yet simple and to-the-point d-beat/hardcore album.  There is no beating around the bush with this album as each song rips into the chugging almost instantaneously, with a fist pumping chorus around every corner.  As such, Tomas Lindberg cites bands such as The Ramones, Motorhead, Discharge, Entombed, and Zeke (to name a few) as being musical influences.  The main difference from the previous release, Misanthropic Generation (produced by deceased grindcore legend Mieszko Talarczyk of Nasum fame), is definitely in the difference in style of production, with Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou at the helm.  He serves the new lineup well by underscoring the bands hardcore/d-beat roots without eclipsing the heavy sonic distortion so akin to their death metal roots.  It sticks to the d-beat formula fairly rigidly; hardcore drumming with breakneck riffing, screams and howls about anarchy and banding together and fighting.  An agressive, enjoyable album for fans of d-beat, hardcore, punk, and metal.
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Standout Tracks: Deadweight, In Exodus, Phantom

Score: 8/10
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Back again with our second week of reviews, including Nile, Rimfrost, Skitliv, and Dying Fetus.

Album title: Those Whom The Gods Detest

Artist: Nile www.nile-catacombs.net

Record Label: Nuclear Blast Records www.nuclearblast.de

Synopsis: Nile have returned to assault your eardrums with their sixth and latest studio offering, Those Whom The Gods Detest, maintaining their unique blend of ancient Egyptian themed death metal with jackhammer-like precision. Besides the blistering riffs, mid-paced chugging mixed with breakneck drumming (which is recorded by Erik Rutan – of Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal fame – on this album), what has always drawn me to Nile has been the concepts and detailed explanations behind each and every song. Although in the preceeding release, Ithyphallic, Karl Sanders did not include the usual liner notes, they have been included once again to further educate the listener about ancient Egyptian mythology, concepts, and rituals. The trio have managed to return to the form that brought them worldwide recognition through not only their unparalleled technical prowess but also through integrating dynamics into song and album structure more successfully than they ever have previously. Nile’s riffs seem like events in time whose moments pass too quickly to differentiate the space between them, creating a seamless fractal whole out of tiny flowing fragments of pure death metal glory. A must for any Nile fan, or fans of technical death metal.

Standout tracks: Kafir!, Permitting The Noble Dead To Ascend To The Underworld, Kem Khefa Kheshef, The Eye of Ra

Score: 4/5

Album title: Skandinavisk Misantropi

Artist: Skitliv www.myspace.com/skitliv777

Record label: Season Of Mist Records www.season-of-mist.com

Synopsis: Skitliv somehow manages to convey a sense of despair that is truely bleak and dark with Skandinavisk Misantropi. The band’s music is an incredible amalgam of doom and noise metal with roots firmly planted in black metal. It is very much a continual progression of Maniac’s (vocalist) earlier work. He has reached his musical potential and continues to grow exponentially and this album is very much a progression of his earlier work with Mayhem, a band in which he never seemed to fit although he was around from its inception. His artistic concepts as well as his vocals, idea and image seem to come into fruition with Skitliv as they never did with Mayhem, and he (as well as the band) seem to grow exponentially. Although this would not be categorized as black metal, it seems as a natural progression to the genre amidst all the black metal bands simply trying to reproduce the glory years (1990-1995) and the quintessential sound most metalheads have learned to associate with black metal (albums such as Darkthrone’s A Blaze In The Northern Sky, Emperor’s In The Nightside Eclipse, and Mayhem’s ). There is next to no break-neck drumming (exluding the last cut, Densetsu), no consant tremolo guitar picking, yet the rawness, shear despair, tortured vocals, and bleakness of Skandinavisk Misaontropi is a true testament to Maniac’s commitment to progression in extreme music and the band’s clarity, composure, and seriousness. In my personal opinion, a natural progression of what black metal should sound like. One of the sleeper albums of the year, a personal favorite, highly recommended for fans of black metal, noise, and doom.

Standout tracks: Hollow Devotion, Towards The Shores Of Loss/Vulture Face Kain, A Valley Below, Densetsu

Score: 5/5

Album title: Veraldar Nagli

Artist: Rimfrost http://rimfrost-official.com

Record label: Season Of Mist Records www.season-of-mist.com

Synopsis: I must confess to shy away from most modern black metal bands that don corpse paint, look like morbid circus clowns, and wear spikey chain mail accoutrements while trying to recreate a sound that is two decades past. I mean c’mon, Darkthrone stopped all the superficial imagery quite a while back, and they were the purveyors of the movement. Rimfrost should be but are not an exception to this rule. Shrouded by controversy, Rimfrost made the jump to Season Of Mist to broaden their appeal and escape unjust fascist/nazi labels (due to affiliation with old record label No Colours Records), so in that respect they garner my respect. However, Rimfrost manage to draw so heavily on their influences (Iced earth, Immortal, Metallica, et al) that there is really no redeeming quality that distinguishes this album from most other monotonous black metal bands.

Standout track: Veraldar Nagli

Score: 2/5

Album title: Descend Into Depravity

Artist: Dying Fetus www.dyingfetus.com

Record Label: Relapse Records www.relapse.com

Synopsis: Descend Into Depravity sees Dying Fetus slimming down to a trio, but losing none of the ferocity for which they are renowned. Although they are an established band and this is their sixth release, Dying Fetus finally seems as though they have hit the bullseye, with an impeccable level of production seeming to have lacked from previous albums. This is the album all Dying Fetus fans have been waiting for. Gallagher, Williams, and Beasley make this their finest offering without a shade of a doubt. Descend Into Depravity is replete full of the usual technical, frantic riffs, arpeggios, mid-paced chugging, blistering bursts of drumming speed, and equally frantic, blistering playing and thick sound from the bass, and goes to show what a huge difference the level of production can make on an album. Although clocking in at a disappointing 33 minutes, this is one album sure to floor every fan of death metal. One of the best metal albums of the year hands down.

Standout tracks: Your Treachery Will Die With You, Conceived Into Enslavement, Descend Into Depravity, Ethos Of Coercion

Score: 4.5/5

Be sure to tune into Dawn Of Kaos on WWUH 91.3FM (CT) www.wwuh.org on Monday nights, midnight – 3am EST to hear your favorite metal bands!

Hey Folks!

Time to kick off with our first music review, just in time for the frost, snow, and winter. Each week we’ll bring you 3-5 synopses of albums deemed worthy in the Dawn Of Kaos universe. Pertinent links and information about the bands and albums will be provided. Keep an ear out, because you’ll most likely hear them on the radio show!

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Album title: Existence Is Futile
Artist: Revocation www.myspace.com/revocation
Record label: Relapse Records www.relapse.com
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Synopsis: One mark of a good band and the music they play is whether or not it can stand the test of time, and Revocation has succeeded with this in Existence Is Futile. Listening to 30 second soundclips online simply does not do this album justice. Pre-release, the band was surrounded by a lot of hype as the “best metal band of the year” or the “best metal band you’ve never heard”, which is a tall order (and totally ludicrous, in my humble opinion) for any up-and-coming band. Most probably, however, the band doesn’t care, and neither do I. The album has elements of death metal, thrash, tech, and a tinge of “old school” but does not adhere specifically to any of the sub-genres. The most impressive element of this album is the songwriting. I would be remiss to not mention the fantastic guitar solos (a dying entity in heavy music), riffs, and the drumming. I know tasteful is not a word usually associated with heavy metal, but the drummer for Revocation manages to intensify the album greatly by punctuating passages with double kicks instead of laying down constant blast beats throughout the songs. This trio from Boston is definitely worth checking out.

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Standout Tracks: Across Forests and Fjords, Dismantle the Dictator, Anthem of the Betrayed, Leviathan Awaits

Score: 3.5/5

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Album Title: All Shal Fall

Artist: Immortal www.myspace.com/immortalofficial

Record Label: Nuclear Blast www.nuclearblast.de

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Synopsis: In a world full of metal bands pumping out garbage every six months as their record labels/contracts demand, “epic” is the only way to describe Immortal’s long awaited release All Shall Fall. After a seven-year hiatus we are treated to an album that is uncompromising in its depth, musicianship, and raw brutality. It reaches a level of atmospheric intensity without the cheesy synth and operatic elements many modern black metal bands adhere to.  Immortal defines what the genre is capable of and what great black metal sounds like (Conversely too many bands have tried and failed at reproducing a sound that used to be new and exciting, with copycats trying to reproduce Darkthrone’s groundbreaking album A Blaze In The Northern Sky).  Some say it is a continuation of their 2002 Sons Of Northern Darkness; in my opinion this album is an experience all of its own. While Sons Of Northern Darkness was an enjoyable album, it does not have the breadth and depth of this release. The songwriting is spectacular and is best enjoyed listening to the album in its entirety. The album’s title track of this opus starts us off with blistering ascending chords that will sink in like the icy cold that seaps through to your veins in the dead of winter. All the elements of this album combine to make for an outstanding listening experience: choosing a favorite song from this album is a difficult task. The subtle nuances of this album: industrial ambience, intricately laced melodic riffs, combining with elements of thrash, mid-paced sweeping chords make this one of the must-have metal albums of the year.

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Standout Tracks: All Shall Fall, The Rise Of Darkness, Hordes Of War, Arctic Swarm

Score: 4.5/5

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Album title: A Taste Of Extreme Divinity

Artist: Hypocrisy www.myspace.com/hypocrisy

Record Label: Nuclear Blast www.nuclearblast.de

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Synopsis: What better way to follow up Immortal than with their producer’s (Peter Tägtgren) band Hypocrisy and its latest release, A Taste Of Extreme Divinity. Tägtgren’s incomparable ear and knack for production shine through on the bands 11th release amidst a saturated and much copied sub-genre of metal (the “Gothenburg” sound). Hypocrisy is true to form, self, and genre, drawing as far back in its own repertoire as The Fourth Dimension while keeping the material moderately fresh. This album can be considered a mixture of different metal sounds and styles played through the Hypocrisy filter, including tinges of black metal and power metal, combined with their trademark Swedish death metal sound. Make no mistake, although this album has its catchy hooks and groove rhythmns, it is completely uncompromising in its intensity. With all the mass-produced garbage that has invaded the Swedish death metal scene and the metal music industry as a whole, A Taste Of Extreme Divinity acts as a defibulator for a dying sub-genre diluted with copycats and wannabes.

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Standout Tracks: Hang Him High, No Tomorrow, Alive, Tame, Sky Is Falling Down

Score: 4/5

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Album title: The Great Misdirect

Artist: Between The Buried And Me www.betweentheburiedandme.com

Record Label: Victory Records www.victoryrecords.com

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Synopsis: This album serves as a showcase for melody, natural and idiosyncratic tempo shifts, and a roller-coaster-like ride of emotion expressed the way only BWTBAM can. Although this album was released on the 31st of August, I had to mention it in our first edition of Sonic Onslaught purely because this band never ceases to amaze me, amalgamating divergent styles to come up with nothing short of a masterpiece. Make no mistake, however, if you are expecting a full frontal assault this is not the album, or band, for you. However if you enjoy musical adventures and keep an open mind, I highly recommend purchasing this album, or getting familiar with Between The Buried And Me’s body of work. Extended doses of death metal intensity peppered with bluesy lounge rock that lead into periods of Mr. Bungle-esque passages only to be followed by more doses of uncompromising heavy metal put this band on a different level than many of their contemporaries. The keyboard on the fourth cut off the album, Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountian, is tasteful and suits the mood quite well. The Great Misdirect seems like a natural progression from their previous releases, Alaska followed by Colors, only stretching each direction that much further than its predecessor(s). Trying to fit Between The Buried And Me into a subgenre is pointless, as they defy convention by incorporating elements of math metal, lounge rock, blues, death metal, and prog rock/metal. One could even go so far as to say that they sound like a mix of Radiohead, Dillinger Escape Plan, and something undefinably raw and brutal, yet that does not do it justice. Much the same as Immortal’s All Shall Fall yet to a much more intense degree, it is recommended to listen to the album in its entirety for maximum listening enjoyment. Highly recommended for the more serious, open-minded fans of heavy music.

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Standout Tracks: Obfuscation, Fossil Genera – A Feed From Cloud Mountian, Swim To The Moon

Score: 4.5/5

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All comments and thoughts appreciated, let us know what you think of the music! Till next week, keep the metal flowing through your veins!