Release: September 2009
Label: Bleak Art Records
Genre: Black/death
Country: Greece
Website: www.myspace.com/aenaonband

1. Et In Arcadia Ego
2. Perdition: A New Era
3. The Virus Code
4. And Chaos… Enthroned
5. Navel
6. Extradimensional Wall

Next on the list: Aenaon. A blackened death metal group hailing from Hellas, Greece. They were formed in 2005 and recorded their debut EP Phenomenon two years later after a seemingly endless search for a full line-up. Aenaon was picked up by Bleak Art Records and the EP was released in September of 2009.

Phenomenon opens with “Et In Arcadia Ego”, a mystifying atmosphereic track utilizing keyboards and industrial elements bearing no resemblance to the rest of the album – it merely provides the prelude to chaos as “Perdition: A New Era” unleashes Aenaon’s true purpose. The band’s talents are clear in the onslaught which follows, a technical attack coupled with melodic guitar riffs and merciless drumming.

It’s heavily influenced by Emperor and Zyklon (fans of either should take notice) and while this leaves me with the feeling I’ve heard this before, it’s still interesting and dynamic enough I haven’t turned it off after more than a few listens. They’ve already got a solid sound to work with and clear songwriting (with chaos/cosmos-inspired lyrics fuelling their music), now all they need is a solid production and they’re well on their way.

7/10

Release: August 31, 2009
Label: Bleak Art Records
Genre: Black metal
Country: Italy
Website: www.myspace.com/bandsokrovenno
Tracklist:

1. Brina
2. Ineunte Hieme
3. I
4. Flammantia Moenia Mundi
5. II
6. Fragore
7. III
8. Sulla Mortalità Dell’Anima
9. IV
10. Vestigia Pressa Bisulcis
11. In Ricordo

Sokrovenno’s debut album De Rerum Natura (About the Nature of Things) takes its name and lyrical inspiration from the poem by Roman philosopher Lucretius of first century BC. Since formation of the band in 2005 classic literature and nature have been a continuous influence on Sokrovenno’s music. Signed to the Canadian label Bleak Art Records, the album was released to the public in 2009, two years after completion.

Sokrovenno is labelled as black metal, but this isn’t the usual chaotic and aggressive style you’d expect from a band labelled as such. They’ve got a more atmospheric feel to their music with guitar melodies and some acoustic parts; you won’t hear blastbeats and this certainly isn’t another band trying to be the most brutal thing out there. What you have here is basic black metal with a more personal touch, a deviation from the norm, perhaps nodding in the direction of Agalloch at times in terms of the gloomy atmosphere the music tends to take on, or a solitary acoustic guitar playing some desolate tune while keeping those black metal elements ever-present. The only bit that’s bugging me (and this is a personal thing, no fault against the album) are the lyrics – they’re written in Italian and Latin, and being based on the works of a famous philosopher, I’m afraid I’ve missed out on a deeper connection with the music.

The production of the album is fine, nothing to really marvel at or complain about. Overall, De Rerum Natura was far better than I expected even through multiple listens. Being an Agalloch fan myself, I’d recommend them to fans of the same, or if you have a taste for both doom and black metal you may find Sokrovenno very listenable.

7/10

Release date: January 2010
Recorded at 16th Cellar Studio of Rome, by Stefano Morabito
Country: Italy
Website: www.myspace.com/mydarkestsideband

1. My Sixth Sense
2. Spawning Blood
3. Altar of Star’s Light
4. Terror of Reality

My Darkest Side was formed in 2008 by drummer Demian and guitarist Umberto, and after the additon of Dario on guitars, Valerio on vocals and Alessandro on bass, the band was ready to record their first demo at the end of 2009. Playing a Black Dahlia Murder-style deathcore with a little Lamb of God thrown in for good measure, the band released Death Begins in January 2010.

What struck me right away was the level of professionalism that went into this release, with regards to the presentation of the album itself, including artwork. A lot of work clearly went into producing this 4-track promo and I was rather impressed with what arrived in the mail.

Death Begins may only be four tracks but these songs pack a hard punch. Each song delivers one brutal onslaught after the other characterized by unearthly growls and intensely fast guitar and drum work that is truly earthshaking. The style is one we’ve heard before, taking a page from The Black Dahlia Murder’s book, but we aren’t talking about a mere copycat here. If this promo is a taste of what’s to come from this young band, I think they can expect a lot of success, even more so if they find something that sets them apart from the others in the pack.

The overall production is clean and professionally done, once again it’s clear a lot of effort went into this release, and I’m sure we can expect great things from the full album.

For fans of the aforementioned bands, I think you’ll find something you like in My Darkest Side, they’re worth checking out!

7.5/10

Produced by WDNFRA & Pierre Rémillard
Year: 2009
Genre: Heavy metal/thrash
Label: None
Country: Canada
Website: www.wdnfra.com

1. The Breakout (5:05)
2. Now What (5:42)
3. Chaotic Madness (5:01)
4. Wicked World (5:24)
5. Inner Pain (9:09)
6. Joyful Fails (6:42)
7. Freak (5:08)
8. Lynstru (4:19)
9. Sleazy (5:02)

 
In a scene overrun with death metal bands, it’s refreshing to hear a new sound emerging from the Montreal area. That sound is 80’s thrash, and WDNFRA is the band to watch out for. WDNFRA (pronounced Woodenfra) is comprised of Mat (vocals, guitar), his brother Fred (drums), Jo (bass), and Boud (lead guitar) – four very motivated guys hoping to prove that metal is still alive with debut full-length album Break Out.

Break Out carries a high energy from start to finish with intense heavy riffs and aggressive style vocals synonymous with 80’s thrash metal. Impressive solos are written into nearly every song, and as an added modern touch, heavy breakdowns and blast beats can be heard at times. “Wicked World” and “Inner Pain” are highlights of the album, “Inner Pain” being the longest track showcasing a bit of the band’s melodic side and diverse song-writing. Break Out is a pure, heavy metal album with a professional production and for these guys is a solid starting point for their career.

For anyone who’s looking for a new band with a classic heavy metal sound, keep an eye on WDNFRA, you can be sure 2010 is the year to watch them really emerge. WDNFRA will be touring the western U.S with Savage Machiine this February, so check them out if you get the chance!

8.5/10

[Read more - Interview with Mat]

Reviewed by Leanne

Tonight I had the chance to speak with Mat from Montreal heavy metal band WDNFRA, a young and talented group who have just released their first album titled “Break Out”.

First off, congratulations on releasing your first full-length album! How are people reacting to your music so far?

Thank you very much! People are reacting great because it’s the first time we are releasing something with a professional sound. Thanks to Pierre for that! I’ve been receiving lots of email from people I didn’t know since we released the songs and it’s very positive.

That’s awesome! For those who have never heard WDNFRA, how would you describe your music?

I would describe my music as a little return to the 80’s Heavy Metal, but with a modern touch as well. We don’t limit ourselves when we write music, in some songs you can hear blast beats and heavy breakdowns while some other songs can simply go with a nice smooth melody, just like in “Inner Pain” or “Joyful Fails”. So yeah, overall I’d say we play Heavy Metal with a bunch of things added, haha.

I’ve been wondering about this for a while, does WDNFRA stand for something?

It stands for Why Does Nobody Fuckin Rocks Anymore, referring to the fact that legends aren’t being made anymore, but we sure plan on changing that! And I think it’s an original name, when you type it on Google, everything that comes out refers to us!

So how does the song writing process go for you guys? Who’s writing the lyrics, solo’s, etc?

Well when WDNFRA started we were only 3. Me, my brother Fred on drums, and Jo on base and I use to write 95% of everything, including the lyrics. Since Boud joined the band, a year after the beginning, we started writing more together, but there are several songs on the album that are still 100% by me but Boud helped a lot for the structures, putting the riffs at the right place and all, and he did write all the solos for all the songs, except that small part in ”Freak” haha.

So yeah, you can expect that on the 2nd album, Boud will collaborate even more and it will help define our sound. He’s the one who wrote entirely (but the lyrics) “Joyful Fails”, and I think this kind of song really adds to the whole WDNFRA. He also helped a lot for the middle parts in ”Inner Pain”.

Lyrically speaking, do you write from personal experience? Is there a song on the album that has the most personal meaning to you?

Well honestly, French being my first language, I like to write in English as if I was someone else, so I travel through random ideas and come up with the WDNFRA lyrics, but the fact that they are mostly ”negative” does reflects a part of my life, especially when I was younger, of being this kid with almost no friends who used to change school and country every 6 months, but that’s another story, haha!

Well, strangely enough… a tough life does make for good lyrical content…

Yeah it does, and that’s part of Heavy Metal I guess, I choose music instead of drugs or shit like that!

So growing up, were there any bands that sort of influenced you to pick up a guitar and learn to play?

Metallica, just like 90% of the bands out there I think haha! It’s them who ”told me” to took that guitar, and being left-handed I was influence by Kurt Cobain too, felt exciting to be part of the left-handed group just like him, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney and stuff… it motivated me in a way , it made me felt special, cause you don’t choose to be a left-handed player.

So yeah, besides that many bands later on influenced me when I started a band. Stuff like Sepultura, Pantera, (two bands with two brothers, just like us haha) and many other things, like Alice In Chains. So much love and respect for Layne Staley, really motivated me to became a singer even if I’m not nearly good as he was.

Being a new band in Montreal, do you find it very competitive for bands just starting out? What is the metal scene like there?

Well we’ve been really apart from the scene when we started, we were a thrash metal band trying to make something in a scene that was 90% death metal, hardcore, and things like that. What I do appreciate is that there are a few thrash metal bands making their way along with us and it makes it easier for all of us, we really like to support each other, we don’t like the competitive things like so many out there do. We were at the beginning, but then realised it wasn’t worth it to try to beat another band or something. We have a race only against ourselves. We don’t have to be better than other bands to go far, we have to be better than ourselves everyday I think. Eternal Judgment, Venomenon, Protocol, these are all thrash bands from Montreal and its Area that are heading the same direction and I’m really glad to be ahead of that new thrash metal wave that is coming. I do think that in a couple of years they’ll be way many and that it’ll make a comeback. Deathcore and shit like that is due to finish you know!

Yeah, totally! I think it’s refreshing to hear new bands playing thrash metal… it’s what metal is supposed to be!

Yeah exactly! Straight to the point metal! Doesn’t have to be extremely violent to be extremely good, put a bunch of everything and it’ll make a good, new song, that won’t sound the same as the band next door cause it’ll come from you, from your everyday feeling. I think too many bands limits themselves to be ”the most brutal band out there” it pisses me off. What’s next? A real pig squealing on stage? Come on!

But that of course doesn’t go to all bands haha, a lot won’t recognize themselves in this so I’m not worrying!

Haha! Well, we can only hope this is the beginning of something really beneficial for the metal genre. As far as promotion goes, do you find Myspace is a useful tool to get people to notice you?

I think it is, without Myspace we would never have our USA tour, it’s how I met my friends from Red Castle Army, and then Savage Machiine and because of that we have a 25 gigs tour coming, all by the magic of internet. I think it’s why we’ll go further than any Quebec metal bands of the 90’s. They had way less resources than we do nowadays, and because of them, the door is big open, and we’ll take our chance!

To add to this, I would also like to say that what I like about Myspace is the fact you can actually get in touch with your fans, in a quick easy way. Back in the days you had to write letters and stuff, which probably was exciting, but it would take way more time to get your music heard.

Definitely. (In fact, I wouldn’t have found out about you if it wasn’t for Myspace.)

Are you considering a record label, or find the independent way is working well as is?

It is working well, but we are very at the limit right now, with that album release, the tour coming up, having to take care of our website, the merch, the sales, our CD release gig, it gives us less time to practice and write music so as soon as we’ll have the CD in our hands, (around Christmas) I’ll consider looking for a manager at least, and I will send press kits to the big industries and see what happens!

I think we are a very motivated band, we’re young, talented, and most of all it’s what we want to do so I think we’ll be able to work something out for 2010, it’s a great year to come for WDNFRA!

Any plans for a Canadian tour after the U.S. one? ;)

We thought about it yeah, but one thing at a time, especially right now haha, I mean financially talking we are in a ”hole” even if the pre-sale is doing great, the album costed a good amount of money so we need to pay back before thinking of a second tour!

I think it’ll depend on how the USA one goes, but I’m pretty confident it’s gonna be great, Savage Machiine are nice guys and they work really hard on that tour just as we are.

Well, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you on tour one day. I hope everything works out great for you guys in the future! That pretty much wraps it up… is there anything else you’d like to add?

Hey thanks a lot Leanne, only my 2nd interview so far, but lots more to come in the next few weeks! It was fun spending time talking to you, and I’m sure I’ll be a little less nervous in the next ones haha!

And I’d like to say thanks to all our fans that are supporting us since the beginning, and I’m looking forward to see you on tour! Please visit our www.WDNFRA.com for more info about everything! Keep rockin, thx again!

Thanks so much for doing this interview! I really appreciate it!

[Read more - Review of Break Out]

Interview by Leanne

Release date: 11/23/2009
Label: Sumerian Records
Country: United States
Website: www.myspace.com/enfolddarkness

1. The Rise of the Greatest Fornicator
2. In the Galleries of the Utmost Evil
3. The Benefits of Your Demise
4. Our Cursed Rapture
5. Dead in the Brine
6. Exaltations (Part I: The Entrance of Hecate)
7. Exaltations (Part II: The Epitome of Grief)
8. Altars of Perdition (Instrumental Interlude)
9. The Sanctuaries

Remember how I said Sumerian Records never disappoints me? Well here we go again with another freshly signed band with an amazing sound! Enfold Darkness captures all the elements of modern and older death metal with a hint of black metal and progression to create their own brand of face melting technical death metal!

You may have heard of their Spector sponsored bassist, A.J Lewandowski from various Youtube videos of metal covers such as Brain Drill and Necrophagist, among others. A fantastic musician indeed with a sponsorship from one of my personal favourite bass companies.

All the members of Enfold Darkness are very talented in their own areas. Sweeping, melodic, and calm guitars, blasting groovy drums and a shredding rumble of the bass, all make this a classic tech/death record. The vocals are impressive as well. Mainly Black Dahlia-esque shrieking, but vocalist Justin Corser can also hit the deep growls that send a shiver down your spine.

I will be keeping a close eye on these fellas as they have the potential to become one of death metal’s next big bands. They recently hit the road on the Planetary Duality Tour with label mates The Faceless as well as Dying Fetus, Canada’s own Beneath the Massacre, Vital Remains and Suffokate.

Check them out when they come to a city near you and I’m sure you will not be disappointed!

If you like bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder, The Faceless, or Decrepit Birth then you will definitely dig these guys!

Brutal!

8/10

Reviewed by Will

Release date: 11/23/2009
Genre: Progressive/deathcore
Label: Sumerian Records
Country: Finland
Website: www.myspace.com/circleofcontempt

1. Color Lines
2. Nothing Imminent
3. Artifacts In Motion
4. Concealed
5. Remnants Left
6. C.O.C.
7. Prelude For The Implication
8. The Pendulum Swing
9. A Day For Night
10. Zerohour
11. Scour The Sharpside

A Finnish band that’s NOT folk/pagan? Who knew!

While I do enjoy that stuff it’s good to see that other places around the world have just as much an expansive metal scene and we are used to in North America. This progressive band is best described as “chaotic deathcore”. They take the almost stale deathcore genre and spice it up with off-pattern drumming and breakdowns layered underneath smooth guitar riffs and well placed ambience. Another refreshing release from the always trustworthy Sumerian Records… I don’t think there’s a band on that label that I don’t like.

One downside, at least for me anyways, is some of the songs that made it onto this album from their Colour Lines EP have been rerecorded and they sound much better however tracks like “Nothing Imminent” and “Scour the Sharpside” had very well placed clean backing vocal parts on the EP that are not on the new versions, save a small bit in “Scour the Sharpside”. I still find myself singing along to the clean parts even when they aren’t there, but this may not be too terrible as it does make the band sound more heavy and less watered down. Perhaps it was a wise decision.

One more thing is that I can easily compare this album to fellow Sumerians Born Of Osiris and their newest “A Higher Place”, but where BOO have lost a lot of their complexity in the new album, C.O.C keep it going strong.

All in all though, this is definitely an album I will be enjoying for years to come. Catch Circle Of Contempt on the “California Love Tour” with Oceano, Sleeping Giant, Stick to Your Guns and headliners, Winds Of Plague November 20th – December 19th.

Overall album rating: 8.5/10

Reviewed by Will

Release date:  11/10/2009 (US)
Genre: Doom metal
Label: Spinefarm
Country: Finland
Website: www.swallowthesun.net

1. These Woods Breathe Evil – 6:43
2. Falling World – 5:08
3. Sleepless Swans – 7:23
4. And Heavens Cried Blood – 6:17
5. Lights on the Lake (Horror pt. III) – 7:45
6. New Moon – 5:00
7. Servant of Sorrow – 6:25
8. Weight of the Dead – 9:04

New Moon is the fourth full-length album by Finnish doom metal band Swallow The Sun and is every bit as gloomy, dark, and beautiful as the last three albums. These guys tend not to stray very far from their signature down-tempo, depressive melodies and growls, however New Moon is possibly their most progressive and diverse album to date.

The opening track “These Woods Breathe Evil” is a ferocious start with surprising black metal influences and a faster pace than what we’re used to from Swallow The Sun. “Falling World” has a refreshing upbeat tune with clean vocals and a beautiful melody that haunts me well after listening to it. Mikko Kotamäki not only delivers harsh growls and screams but is a brilliant singer as well, and it’s nice to hear this for a change.

What makes this album such a pleasure to listen to is the perfect combination of heaviness and beauty, and few bands do it better than Swallow The Sun. Each element fits together flawlessly, from eerie melodies to full blown aggression. New Moon keeps up the traditional doom/death sound of the band while being rather diverse and engaging, making it easily their best album yet in my opinion.

9/10

Reviewed by Leanne

Release date: 08/07/2009
Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Country: Poland
Website: www.behemoth.pl

1. Daimonos
2. Shemhamforash
3. Ov Fire And The Void
4. Transmigrating Beyond Realms Ov Amenti
5. He Who Breeds Pestilence
6. The Seed Ov I
7. Alas, Lord Is Upon Me
8. Defiling Morality Ov Black God
9. Lucifer

Over the years Behemoth, while sticking to a core sound, have experimented with the progress of their music. Evangelion is no different. Right off the bat with their opening track “Daimonos”, Behemoth’s epic blackened death sound erupts into an earthquake of heaviness. And it keeps on going, taking notes from past albums such as The Apostasy and Demigod, they fuse the two together in the best possible way.

Aside from the nine epic tracks, there comes a special booklet with extended liner notes and a studio based DVD that leaves you guessing as only some parts are subtitled. It seems you’re missing out on what they are talking about at times but it is still a very good watch to see how this epic album was even a thought in the first place.

Behemoth never fails to impress me.

The liner notes are very cool. Other than track lyrics, and photos of the band in full armor, there are explanations of song meanings and such from Nergal. This was actually almost as a good a read as the music was to listen to. Not that I necessarily agree with all of Nergal’s views and ideals, I do respect them and it’s cool to read. It is written very well, touching on theory, philosophy and direct meaning along with every song except the last track “Lucifer”, which is a poem in Polish by an author I’m unfamiliar with.

All in all this is a perfect album from Behemoth and fans new and old will not be disappointed in the least with this. I 100% recommend it to any metal fan!

10/10!

Reviewed by Will

Release date: 2009
Genre: Grindcore
Country: United States
Website: http://sayyestoflavor.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/sayyestoflavor

Part 1: The Dreams Manifest
1. The Tape
2. Losing Grip
3. Process The Generation
4. Introductions Please
5. Subtle Movements Towards Extremes
6. False Adverse
7. Fray

Part 2: And The Sleeper Awakes
8. Reduced To Double
9. Asleeping
10. Pulse
11. Rolling is Falling Sideways
12. But You Already Knew That
13. Drinking At A Funeral
14. Piece of Mind
15. The Realization

Say Yes To Flavor’s full length release is best described as groovy chaotic grindcore. I have never heard this, well, flavourful approach to grindcore before and I must say I enjoy it very much.

Straight from the opening track “The Tape”, the album follows a flow and feel as if it’s one lengthy track which keeps the brutality flowing non stop.

And the kicker is… it’s just one dude! Writing, programming, performing, he does it all and does it well!
But it’s not always brutality; every now and then a calmness comes over the music, unexpected yet well placed.

Definitely an act to see live if you haven’t already! Groovy crushing guitar riffs, mountainous blasting drums and catchy hooks make this album a must have for grind fans and death fans alike.

Recommended for fans of: Genghis Tron, Despised Icon

Overall rating: 7/10

Reviewed by Will