gothic

New Heavy Music Report April 1st 2025

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This Spring has been nuts with amazing release after the next. I’m still catching up on albums released and compiling a list of my favorites so far, but it’s taking a lot more time than expected. It is also Women’s History month, which should absolutely include women in music! I am planning on writing an article about the history of women in heavy music, a topic I have never delved into sadly. So, a lot of writing yet to be completed. For now, here’s some new fresh bangers to fuel the rest of the week!

Berlin Emo Band Stuns With Paramore-esque Track

Southern Hard Rock Band Brings Some Soul

British Heavy Metal band Carries a Torch for Original Power Metal

Canadian Epic Death Metal band Premiers new video

Italian Symphonic Power Metal band release INCREDIBLE new ballad

Chicago Hard Rock band reignites with new bass chunky single

Evanescence Premiers New Track for Devil May Cry Netflix Series

All Girl Swiss Hard Rockers Drop new catchy single

Swedish Glam Rock Trio Nails it with Halestorm-like new track

My Favorite Song of this list; Darkgaze Kardasehev

Moonspell Release “Extinct” in March

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Dark metallers Moonspell are set to release a brand new record in March 2015.  Their new single “The Last of Us” has been getting a lot of buzz and mixed reviews.  The song has a Lacuna Coil and industrial sound to it, being compared to a lot of 69 Eyes songs.  It is however a fairly good track from the Portuguese Gothic Metal band.  “Extinct” is the band’s tenth album and is a testament to their staying power.  Come back for a full album review upon the release.

“Extinct” Track Listing

* “Until We Are No More (Breathe)”
* “Medusalem”
* “Funeral Bloom”
* “Domina”
* “La Baphomette”
* “The Last Of Us”
* “A Dying Breed”
* “Malignia”
* “Extinct”
* “The Future Is Dark”

Fall Death Metal Highlights

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Fall of 2014 has entailed an assault of highly anticipated Death Metal releases.  Compared to the whole of 2014, this fall has become extremely heavy with new pounding releases.  There’s anything from Black Metal, Gothenburg and Swedecore, to Theatrical Death metal, making for many tastes to choose from.  Below is some of the highlighted releases for Death Metal and simple reviews to give an insight of what to pick up at your record store.  I will include less mainstream releases in deeper reviews later.

 

Cavalera Conspiracy

 

The Thrash Metal band brought to fame by the talented and hardcore Cavalera brothers, is back in 2014 with Pandemonium.  The band is prized for taking Thrash Metal and making it even more extreme, fast, and technical.  With their albums you expect high intensity, demonized lyrics, and an assault of drums and guitars.  The brothers have created their own brand of metal that has become extremely popular in America.  Their previous albums Inflikted and Blunt Force Trauma were scorching with fast and grinding riffs and intense vocals, mixing energy and thrashing with technicality.  Their previous sound was excellent, but their new sound is a departure and even heavier than the previous albums.

 

Rather than being Modern Thrash Metal, the band has gone for a Grindcore sound that is certainly more popular in the 2010s.  The lyrics are less audible and more shouty on Pandemonium, making it a little more hardcore than previous albums.  The tracks have a raw sound, showing that their music is refreshingly not over produced.  The drums are even more highlighted by Igor on this album, with his technical and fast Thrash drumming.  The album sounds like a raw 80’s Thrash album, throwing back to the days of Slayer and Death Angel.  Overall, it’s a typical Grindcore and Thrash album that any fans of the genre will foam over and enjoy every track on it.  It is pure unedited, intense, assaulting, pounding noise, which is exactly what most Grindcore fans and bands strive for.  It is everything you expect in a typical Thrash Metal album, which is why I absolutely dislike this album.

 

Pandemonium is nothing special.  It is a poorly mixed and poorly arranged compilation of pure noise.  Yes the Cavalera brothers have made a big imprint on Metal, but this album does not live up to the expectations of the two.  Everything is uneven and distorted, making it difficult to pick out any good or catchy qualities in the music,  Thrash Metal continues to lack any changes or dynamics that make it desirable for me to listen to.  This album is not even close to the Thrash Metal that was recorded as demos in the late 70’s and 80’s, it is even worse quality than those original demos of Metallica and Slayer and Anthrax.  Pandemonium is a step backwards for metal.

Album Rating 4/10

 

Machine Head

 

Rob Flynn and Machine Head are back in 2014.  The American Thrash Metal pioneers release Bloodstone and Diamonds, a highly anticipated and talked about album that is currently blowing up Facebook dashboards and metal sites.  Of course the band has remained in the spotlight with their recently canceled North American tour with Epica and Rob Flynn criticizing other bands.  These controversial media centered stories have everyone in America talking about Machine Head, making them one of the top artists in rock of 2014.  Finally, the band has the new content to back up the outbursts of new and old fans with Bloodstone and Diamonds.

 

The new album is heavy, drilling, tight, and intense with every instrument in a devilish harmony.  The guitar work on this album is melodic and technical, like past albums, but even more refined.  Each song is different from the rest, some have more melodic undertones while others are just pure Thrash Metal.  The slow parts to the heavy and intense breakdowns show that the entire band put a lot of effort into this album.   It is a huge departure from Unto the Locust, but perhaps in a good way.  The new albums is back to their Thrash Metal roots, which certainly makes the older fans happier.  However, the band manages to preserve a more melodic sound with some clean vocals and dueling guitar parts, making the album more enjoyable to listen to than most Thrash Metal albums.

 

I am not a fan of Machine Head and Rob Flynn’s opinions, so I will admit the new album doesn’t excite me as much.  I have never been a huge Thrash Metal fan, because I find the music to be just pure noise without any true direction or talent.  The genre is full of garage bands who strive to pound instruments as loud and as fast as they can, but not all bands considered Thrash Metal are just noise.  That’s Machine Head’s redeeming quality in my eyes and is why I don’t entirely dislike Bloodstone and Diamonds.  The artistry of mixing heavy and fast playing with melodic and slow characteristics is an incredible quality to a metal band; Machine Head is certainly one of those bands who succeeds at this artistry and why they will keep having highly rated and proclaimed albums.  Bloodstone and Diamonds is much better than I thought it would be.

 

Overall Album Rating 7/10

 

Nachtblut

 

German Metal Band, Nachtblut, bring us a new dark and disturbing album in 2014 with Chimonas.  The band is known for making German Speed and Black Metal with heavy guitars rattling growling, and haunting synth parts to send shivers down your spine.  The band also infuses Folk themes into their blackened metal, like an extreme dark and twisted version of Eluveitie.  The band’s instrumentation is really tight, technical, and all over the place.  The changing tempos and waning rhythms keep the music interesting and far departed from being one dimensional.  While you may not speak full German, their music is honestly still enjoyable and fun to listen.  The well written quality in their music is actually quite surprising and desirable.

 

Nachtblut’s new album, Chimonas, is all of these qualities refined and boosted, proving Black Metal is very much alive.  With non stop heavy and dark tracks like “Gotteskrieger”, “Kalt wie Grab”, and “Schwarz”, the band appeals to the traditional Black Death Metal fans.  Then the band proves they’re anything but one dimensional with softer sorrow filled tracks like “Und immer wenn die Nacht anbricht” and folk metal anthem “Wien 1683”.  The tracks are all incredibly different from each other and while versed in different styles of European Metal.  Every song stands out from anything I’ve heard this year, in a good way.  As far as Black Metal albums go, Chimonas is one of  the best I’ve heard for quite some time and highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys European Death Metal.

 

Overall Album Rating 8/10

 

At The Gates

Renowned Melodic Death Metal and Gothenburg origin band, At The Gates has come to the ears of American listeners with new album At War With Reality.  The Swedish Death Metal band mixes extreme vocals, technical driving guitars, double bass power drumming, and true melodic sounds for an extremely unique form of metal.  Past albums and this latest one also have roots in American Thrash Metal, inspired by Slayer specifically.  At the Gates also differentiates from other Gothenburg bands as they have shrieking vocals as opposed to guttural growls.  The band also doesn’t include dueling soloing guitarists like In Flames and Omnium Gatherum.  They have their own take on Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal, proving the genre is full of unique and polished gems,

 

At War With Reality is an intense, blood curdling, spine grinding Death Metal with catchy melodic undertones from the guitars.  It is a typical At The Gates record with absolutely heavy breakdowns and creative offbeat shredding.  The vocals are typical from the band, hard to understand and sometimes abrasive, clashing with the downtuned shredding.  The vocals on this album sound pretty misplaced in my opinion and make the music sound emotionally flat, lacking any inspiration.  While the album is great jamming Death Metal, it lacks any dimension or meaning to keep you playing the record more than once.  The band may be legendary, but are not immune to becoming one dimensional or a rerun of a record.  Yes, At War With Reality is different from Terminal Spirit Disease and With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness, but it lacks any qualities that made those albums Death Metal classics.  It is certainly not the caliber I expected, especially after Slaughter of the Soul.  At War With Reality may be a highly purchased and loved album of 2014, but I can’t find any reason why it is so popular.  Everything is so subdued on this record and plain, lacking any strife or passion in the workmanship.  Either the band is tired and have gone for a mainstream sound, or the mastering of the record has turned everything good about the band down and one leveled.  This album could be a lot better with more time spent on the production and mastering.

 

Overall Album Rating: 4/10

 

Devilment

 

Devilment is a project created by guitarists Daniel Finch and Colin Parks, with the help from Cradle of Filth frontman Dani Filth.  Devilment is a Death Metal project, mixing macabre themes and heavy instrumentation.  The inspirations are typical; Witchcraft, Goth, Erotic themes, and whatever seems to amuse the writer.  The project aims to be a little more mainstream than typical Death Metal and be creative and interesting to see live.  Their new album The Great and Secret Show, is a mix of modern metal and underground metal sound.  It is definitely a unique release in 2014, but is getting mixed reviews from all different metal fans.

 

The Great and Secret Show is unique, but nothing new to music.  It is filled with Dani Filth’s typical grunting and howling vocals as well as his cheeky and creative lyrics.  The album sounds like a mix between “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and a remix of a Rammstein album.  It is definitely more theatrical than Dani Filth’s other projects, even more theatrical and dramatic than Cradle of Filth.  The album could definitely be a horror movie soundtrack, because of the darkness and simplicity to it.  It has an interesting mix Gothic Metal, Thrash Metal, Extreme Metal, and Symphonic Metal blended.  However, the album lacks anything impressive or surprising.  It is a very one dimensional album, lacking any dynamics or any catching sounds.  It’s simply just flat.  The theatrics and themes carry the actual musical content much farther than the music itself, meaning without the mood and Gothic feel the release would probably be a huge flop.

 

Overall Album Rating: 4/10

Ghost Brigade Release New Transcending Melodeath Album

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Finnish Melodic Death and Doom Metal band, Ghost Brigade, are one of the up and coming Death Metal bands as of now, even though they’ve written three absolute pounding albums since their birth in 2005.  The Finnish band melds hopeful and beautiful melodies with dark and heavy instrumentation, with absolutely incredible chest rattling growls.  The melded sound is unlike any metal out there, rivaling Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum in Melodic Death Metal, but remaining their own sound.  What sets them apart is their resonating and trendsetting melodic clean singing from lead vocalist Manne Ikonen.  The band is dark and moody, driving with subtleties and power, making for a sound that engulfs your senses from the first listen.  There is something ethereal, something unexplained, something inaudibly incredible about this band’s sound.  Which is why their new album IV-One With The Storm is one of my favorite albums of 2014.

 

Ghost Brigade’s new album IV-One With The Storm is everything I expected in a new release from them, but it exceeds so much more than my expectations.  The album is as beautifully crafted and melodic as Isolation Songs and as heavy as Until Fear No Longer Defines Us.  The instrumentation is melodic and gripping, with well executed fast playing and driving rhythm. It sounds like you’re the pallbearer in a mystic land, trudging your way through shin high grasses and wet stones, with this album playing as your soundtrack.  It paints so many distinct visions in your head as you listen through it.  Each song is an entirely different soundtrack.  Ghost Brigade nailed their classic Melodic Death Metal sound with this album, and enhanced it to the best possible level.

 

The epic album begins with “Wretched Blues”, a fast strumming track with deathly melodic tones, making a dark and ominous sound.  The over six minute long track has this darkness hanging over it, with light synth in the background.  The song is haunting, slowly morphing and building with infinite layers of guitars and passion.  The sound of this album slightly reminds me of what Type O Negative achieved in their music.  Slower track “Departures” is a different track for Ghost Brigade, featuring mostly clean vocals and a less depressing sound.  It’s a brilliantly written track, succeeding at being something new from Ghost Brigade without being a negative departure from the band.  “Aurora” is an emotionally heavy track, a quality the band polished so well through the years.  It builds up from Death Metal to a melodic verse, then keeps changing with different dynamics and a tempo change.  I loved this track from the moment the band released it and find it fits very well on this diverse album.  “Disembodied Voices” is an ominous and dark track, full of melody and emotion, keeping with the typical mood of Ghost Brigade.  The song sounds of healing and hope, proving the music is just as meaningful as power ballads.  The driving instrumentation of this song pulls you in with a catchy beat.  The lead guitar adds subtleties with mini solos throughout the last half of the song, adding that truly haunting melodic sound Ghost Brigade is famous for.  The outro also includes light synth and muted vocals, leading into the next track.

 

“Electra Complex” is  creepy, mysterious, elusive, soundtrack that takes your breath away with its effortless and drifting vocals and instrumentation.  This song almost sounds like a partner to “Soulcarvers”, with similar guitar work and slow headbanging feel.  It is absolutely brilliant in its delivery.  “Electra Complex” may be one of the best songs Ghost Brigade has ever put out.  Yet another song on this album has left me speechless and with a sore neck.  “Stones and Pillars” changes the mood up from the previous tracks, proving that this album has even heavier tracks than Isolation Songs.  This track is heavy all the way through with chest rattling extreme growls, taking a break from the swaying clean vocals.  Then once again the album changes with melodic beautiful track, “Anchored”, that builds back into a hardcore sound.  The melodic and Death influences sound like they’re in a very heated battle on this track, as the tone switches back and forth like an argument.  “The Knife” is a very rhythm driven track and heavy with all elements from Ghost Brigade.  The use of high, ear piercing synth adds a new eerie and Hallows Eve touch to it.  It is a very appropriate song for this time of year.  The change of style throughout the song is refreshing and captivating too, making a complete new sound for the band.

 

“Long Way to the Graves” is a self descriptive track.  It is a long dragging, influential, slow dark ballad that will move you, taking you away to a completely new state of mind.  This song is beautiful, haunting, and inspiring all at the same time.  Listening to this track is an indescribable experience.  It is deflating and depressing, yet uplifting and inspiring with beauty.  This track feels like a soundtrack for driving through the woodlands of Finland, back from a funeral and straight to a woman you love.  It is an incredible track to say the least.  “Elämä on tulta” is the perfect ending track for this exquisite Melodeath album.  It begins slow and ominous, building into a guitar driven instrumental part, then into resonating growls and synth, continuing to place haunting music in your mind.  This song is every characteristic about Ghost Brigade has ever showed on every album all put into one song.  It is full of energy, unlike any track I’ve heard from the band yet.  The title translates from Finnish to English “Life is a fire”, which is the absolute perfect title for such a powerful track. It leaves you satisfied, yet wanting more.  Ending the moral of the album on an aggressive note, but still filled with the hopeful melodies echoing in your head.

 

Ghost Brigade once again creates the most unique, heavy, melodic, emotive, transcending album of Melodic Death Metal.  They have raised every bar and have climbed to a new height with the flawlessness of this album.  It is resonating and soaring with pure passion, tangible with conviction.  They make you believe that you’re in a deep chasm of depression, but also lift you out with this beautiful sound of hope.  Somehow this band creates incredible emotion filled music, describing emotions or lack of emotions with only three struck chords.  Their music is unlike anything I’ve ever heard, regardless of genre.  The prominent use of clean vocals on this album also makes the music extremely dynamic compared to previous albums, setting them in the center of true Melodeath.  I really can’t say enough good things about this album.  It is rare, but sometimes an album is just so fantastic that it becomes indescribable.  I hope this very descriptive and emotion fueled review is enough to make you listen to this album, as well as check out Ghost Brigade’s entire catalog.  They are the future of Melodic Death Metal.

 

Rating 9.6/10 This album sets the quality bar high for metal at the end of 2014, and I don’t think any other new release will top it for quite some time.

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I Review Independent Symphonic Band Dawn of Eternity

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Dawn of Eternity and their new album Guilty has vastly.  After several listens to this new album, I found it to be one of the best Independent albums I’ve ever heard.  The German Gothic Symphonic band is everything I love about Symphonic Metal: heavy driving guitars, enchanting vocals, technical drums, and a dark theme throughout.  The vocals are dark, theatrical, and beautiful at the same time.  Their lead singer Sara Seubert delivers incredibly passionate and raw vocals on this album.  Her vocals tend to remind me of old After Forever and Leave’s Eyes mixed together.  Johannes Kittel is spot on with growls and heavy distorted guitars, making for a perfect contrast.  Their music is interesting and so much different than any Symphonic Metal band out there today.  They have created a really spectacular album that you just can’t hear anywhere else.

Ego, a slow building, haunting and dark track pulls you in with the mastery of Gothic sound.  The range of Sara is mesmerizing on this track; She goes from soaring Soprano vocals, to theatrical melodic vocals full of anger and regret.  Johannes has a chest rattling growl, keeping the track extremely heavy and dark.  The lyrics are well placed in the pocket on this song, making it catchy.  I find this track to be very addictive, yet raw and depressive.  If you’re going to get into Dawn of Eternity, this track is a perfect place to start.

 

Goodbye is a faster song than the opener, showing dynamic and technical ability that every modern band must have these days.  This track is more abstract than Ego, with more of a flowing melody that comes in and out rather than being conformed into the pocket of rhythm.  The two vocalists harmonize between growls and Symphonic vocals, much like Epica has achieved over the years.  Goodbye shows Dawn of Eternity can hold their own in Symphonic Metal.

 

Cut Me Loose is a hard driving track, more centered around heavy guitars and drums, keeping the vocals from being overpowering.  It is a well written song, full of grungy and angry tones.  I enjoy how much each track is different from the last on this album.  This track has more of a modern metal sound to it than a Symphonic style, proving Dawn of Eternity has many different sounds and qualities under their belt.  They surprised me more and more with each track on Guilty

Amorticure and Cut Me Loose are dueling tracks on the album, mirroring each other in a really cool way.  The tracks are similar sounding, but still unique and contrasting.  Amorticure keeps the band’s technicality in the forefront, containing a really cool jamming guitar riff throughout the song.  Although the guitar is almost constant on this track, it doesn’t become repetitive at all.  Johannes manages to throw bending and sliding nuances that I appreciate in this particular style of metal.  The vocals are especially spectacular on this song, not overpowering but incredibly powerful at the same time.  Amorticure is one of my favorite tracks I’ve heard in metal this year.

 

Sing For Me starts out with high energy Thrash style guitars and drums, with melodic Siren vocals over the top.  It is a perfect marriage of heavy and aggressive instrumentals, with sweet enchanting vocals.  At the bridge, the song breaks down into this rhythmic depressive sound that I’ve never heard from a female fronted band before.  Then Sara manages to steal the song back and hit this thrilling high note in true Soprano style.  This song is one of the best on the album, I highly recommend it for heavy metal fans.

Guilty, the title track off the album, is just an incredibly well written song.  The lyrics are what makes this band and this song in particular so great.  They are audible, relatable, and performed with great believability.  Believability is a difficult trait to achieve in their Gothic/Symphonic Metal genre, but Dawn of Eternity definitely does on this song.  This track makes me believe that they would be an awesome live band.

 

Blind My Eyes is a heavy track, keeping with that Alternative Thrash sound that Sing For Me accomplished so well.  I find this track putting Johannes in the forefront, making the album appeal to the Melodic Death Metal fans.  It sounds like both vocalists are fighting for control in the band, and the instruments communicate the tension perfectly.  This song keeps the album interesting.  It throws out any possibility of the album becoming bland.

 

No Emotions is truly a well crafted Gothic song.  The track starts out with slow haunting vocals and acoustics, on top of slow building rhythmic drums in the background.  No Emotions has this lonely, desperate, bottom of the barrell sound to it.  It capitalizes on the depressive sound so well, without having the cheesier side of Doom Metal.  The placement of this track on the album is perfect, keeping the album from becoming monotonous or boring.

 

You Suck is a rhythmic hate filled song, just like the title suggests.  The guitars are down tuned and melodic, perfectly sitting under the aggressive and haunting vocals.  I like how the song builds up faster and harder from beginning to end, a trait good Symphonic Bands usually carries.  This isn’t the best track on the album, but it still has some good qualities to it.  I found the vocals to be all over the place, not retaining a melody or style at all, so that’s why it isn’t the best track.

 

Oceans is one of my other favorite songs off of Guilty.  The atmospheric guitar part, growing into a heavier rhythm style part is drastically different.  This song reminds me a lot of Elegy by Leave’s Eyes because of the haunting and smooth vocal delivery.  I never thought I’d be reminded of Leave’s Eyes, but this band is honestly on their way to that masterful sound.  Although they remind me of other bands, they are still extremely unique. Oceans is a pure quality track off a truly well written album.

 

Fire closes Guilty out perfectly, with a dark, entrancing, ballad that builds up with a hopeful sound to it.  There’s something truly beautiful about this song.  The vocals are well placed atop a rhythmic acoustic guitar, without any effects or other instruments.  It is a barebones, emotional, ballad that is completely different from the rest of the album.  It ends the album on a slow note, but definitely a high note.  Fire is a must listen track.

 

Guilty overall is a well written Gothic Metal album.  It encompasses everything I expect with Symphonic and Gothic Metal, but adds unique sounds that I’ve never heard in either genre.  Like I said, the album surprised me with just how amazing it was.  I have listened to it over two weeks, trying to compose a in depth review of it.  I didn’t find many negative points, mostly positive points, which is a rare thing in today’s music.  For an independent Metal band, this record is a high quality release.  Dawn of Eternity is vastly talented and I expect more great albums to come from them in the future.

 

Quality Rating Overall; 8/10

 

Links:

 

https://www.facebook.com/officialdawnofeternity

 

https://twitter.com/DawnofEternity

 

http://www.reverbnation.com/dawnofeternity1

 

http://dawn-of-eternity.bandcamp.com/album/guilty

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I review the New Opeth Album, Pale Communion, A Gothic Tribute to the 70’s

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Opeth-Pale-Communion-album-art

 

Swedish mood setting Progressive Metal band, Opeth, are back in 2014 with Pale Communion.  Over the years the band has had many lineup changes, but somehow stays the same in its glory and brilliantly composed music.  Opeth is famous for their ability to mix Progressive music and Death Metal with a Gothic influence.  Their music is some of the most dynamic and interesting music ever written. Thanks to frontman Mikael Akerfeldt, who started the band in 1992, Opeth dares to be unique, powerful, and unmatchable.  Pale Communion is a good example of everything this band has to offer.  The whole album is a throwback to the 60’s and 70’s, with a slow melodic and psychedelic sound.  It is brilliantly composed and played, each song flowing to the next.  This album doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard in metal.

 

Pale Communion is another album from Opeth only featuring clean vocals, but they are as haunting and as beautiful as ever.  Eternal Rains Will Come is a perfect example of Opeth’s dark and Gothic side, with a chest piercing organ and brilliant drumming from Martin Axenrot.  The song twists and turns from a Gothic sound, to a late 60’s early 70’s sound  reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and The Doors.  I was pleasantly surprised with that song, but it does not set a tone for the whole album.  Each song differs in a virtuous sense, onto heavier songs like Cusp of Eternity and Moon Above, Sun Below.  Then it goes into a beautiful ballad, with a possible influence from Simon and Garfunkel, Elysian Woes.  Goblin is as enchanting as the tracks before it, with a slow building funky sound to it that is almost indescribable.

 

Pale Communion continues with a lighter hearted song, River, that breaks the album into a whole new tone and sound.  River is a perfectly crafted interlude to the album, with chilling and beautiful vocals.  It reminds you of the classic Free Bird by Lynard Skynard, but better than that even.  Voice of Treason has all kinds of different sounds and flavors; It’s a little symphonic, a little Gothic, and a little cinematic.  These past two tracks prove why Opeth is one of the best bands of all time, because of their ability to write anything and everything with such immense quality.  This fantastic album closes with the melodic ballad, Faith in Others, ending the album hopefully with goosebumps on your arms and hair standing on your neck.  The album is short, but it delivers a brilliant cinematic collection of tracks.

 

Pale Communion is a must buy for all Opeth and fans of rock and metal.