BOOZE CONTROL – The Lizard Rider review

 BOOZE CONTROL – The Lizard Rider

Inferno Records

http://www.boozecontrol.de/

BOOZE CONTROL was introduced to me with their sophomore album that had the simple and straight to the point title “Heavy Metal”. In times when someone tries to be or look complicate in order to impress the metal fans, BOOZE CONTROL dare say and play traditional heavy metal.

IDEAL PAIN – Mask review

 IDEAL PAIN – Mask

Independent

http://www.ideal-pain.com/index.php

Recently we had the Greek carnival festivities and masquerade plays an essential role to them. Also the mask played a great role in the ancient Greek dramas. Behind it the actor could hide his/her own characteristics and play someone else. The mask generally became a symbol which literally or symbolically is used from people in order to hide their emotions and thoughts or even reveal them. We can talk for hours about that subject which also inspired IDEAL PAIN and this way gave the title to their debut album.

RAMPART – Codex Metalum review

 RAMPART – Codex Metalum

Iron Shield Records

http://www.rampartmetal.com/home.php

Ah a band that comes from our Balkan neighborhood and I appreciate a lot. I had also the chance to see them live in Thessaloniki and these guys are really good on stage. RAMPART from Bulgaria is a band that has already released 3 studio albums and this is their fourth work. From their previous releases, which I have listened to all, except for the album in Bulgarian language, I recommend you listen to their debut which is a killer release and their EP published on tape under the title “A Tale to Cold”. Anyway, the new album finds the band under a new label and I was really anxious to listen to it.

SARISSA – Nemesis review

 SARISSA – Nemesis

Rock Of Angels Records

https://www.facebook.com/SarissaHellenicMetal

This is more for the foreigner readers of the webzine, since the Greek ones know this band well. SARISSA in 1987 released a demo with compositions that have nothing to envy in comparison with other compositions of well known bands of that era. Actually I believe that if they had the chance to release these songs properly then we would be talking about a classic release of the worldwide metal scene. There are some rumors that the band had an offer back then from a big metal label, but I can’t support this claim. Anyway, from 1987 up to now the status of the band was a bit weird since through the years, in a gap between 10 and 12 years they released some albums which though never managed to reach the quality of their first songs (they are not bad at all though). So, 12 years after their previous album SARISSA strike back with “Nemesis” and with a bet to prove to us they still have the talent to compose nice metal songs.

MEMORAIN – Duality of Man review

 MEMORAIN – Duality of Man

Rock Of Angels Records

https://www.facebook.com/memorain/

MEMORAIN in my mind is the well hidden secret of the Greek metal scene. I mean that although they release albums on a constant basis, nobody has emphasized on them as they do on other Greek metal releases. It is something that I can’t explain, since MEMORAIN through the years have released many good albums (I have them all) and have cooperated with some great musicians of the worldwide heavy metal scene. “Duality of Man” is their seventh official release which finds them again (I think after many years) in a Greek label.

HAVEN – Shut Up and Listen review

 HAVEN – Shut Up and Listen

Rock Of Angels Records

http://www.havensweden.com/

Sweden is a country that from the late 90’s up to now has played a major role in heavy metal music. It is a fact that it is the country that has set the trends both in the extreme metal sound (with the melodic death metal genre) and in the traditional metal sound (with all these retro metal bands). This is logical since the bands over there are technically skilled and most of the times very talented. So, HAVEN come from this musical background and their new effort is the full length album entitled “Shut Up and Listen”.

VERDICT DENIED - State to End All Terror review

 VERDICT DENIED - State to End All Terror

    Secret Port Records

http://www.verdictdenied.com/

Six years have passed from the release of their debut album “Condamned” and I have not even noticed it. It is a release that every time I listen to sounds fresh and has something new to offer me. The reasons for the delay are the usual ones that you can witness in every band around the world and of course in Greece (line up changes, etc). The question that rises though is how the band sounds after 6 years of absence?

DEVIL’S GUN - Dirty 'n' Damned review

 DEVIL’S GUN - Dirty 'n' Damned

Black Lodge Records

https://www.facebook.com/DEVILSGUNSWE/?fref=ts

There are times I really think that somehow we have returned back to the 80’s. You can see the 80’s feeling almost everywhere, in fashion, in movies and of course in the thing that interests us most here… heavy metal music.

CHILDREN OF BODOM - I Worship Chaos review

 CHILDREN OF BODOM - I Worship Chaos

Nuclear Blast Records

https://www.facebook.com/childrenofbodom

A continuation from "Halo of Blood", but the creativity lacking and songs seemed lumped together with no real vibe that makes it a valuable possession in their discography. With exceptions, they just seem to be tired of making any memorable music. Each album to me should be a progression from the past. COB should be making albums that are historic like they used to be. A spark and a joy to listen to. Not just riffs that go nowhere, monotonous vocals, symphonic keyboards which to me on here are annoying, but the goal should show more maturely than this one has to offer. They never were a band that weren't glorified because of their lyrics; they were more like guitars by Alexi mainly that were cutting edge. I'd say they did put out a bunch of crap albums though, "Blooddrunk" being one of them, but I think this one is if not equal to that one or worse. There's no real concept to this record, it's just something that wasn't thought out well. It was mere stagnation. Like "let's stay stuck, but don't let our fans know. Let them keep buying our albums." That might be Alexi's attitude, it just is portrayed in these albums he keeps making with these musicians that are cast in the line-up who care only about their royalties. That might sound cynical; it's just how I view them making mediocre albums. If you're a melodic metal band, at least write something that no one has ever thought of. Sure there's classical music influence on every one of theirs, this one is just ordinary. You might say "boring" or that it just lacks balls to it.

DECAPITATED - Blood Mantra review

 DECAPITATED - Blood Mantra

Nuclear Blast Records

https://www.facebook.com/decapitated

I've never really followed this band that closely, but here with "Blood Mantra", I'm a firm fan of their music now. I like the energy of this album, especially the intensity. The whole album isn't blisteringly fast, they vary it. What sets this apart from other newer releases is the diversifying that they do. They also etch deep into creativity modes of songwriting. A total balls out fury of riffs thrown at you and the vocals deep throat, just not too deep. It fits with the music. The message here I think is that "we're gonna strike with a vengeance here!" These guys lay thick toned axe-fury then some songs are a little toned down with merely a death metal groove to them. They cover a lot of different avenues here; the most ones to me that stuck out were the groove laden ones. The fast ferocious tunes I could follow, but they weren't as memorable as the groove ones. Towards the near ending tracks, it seems that they show some sort of SEPULTURA type riffing coming from "Chaos AD." Not sure if that's what their aim was, but the vibe was there and it surely reflected that.

EPICA - The Quantum Enigma review

 EPICA - The Quantum Enigma

Nuclear Blast Records

https://www.facebook.com/epica

When I recently heard this, it didn’t strike me as being that notoriously good. But the more I heard it, especially with Simone’s vocals, I grew to really like it. It’s really atmospheric and fillings with synthesizers plus other effects to make it sound more enchanting. To me, the keys were a bit loud and took over whereas when you could make out what the guitars were playing, it was awesome. Classic metal lines with leads that were ripping. The music to the album seemed glorifying and striking. It was simply breathtaking. If everything was mixed in properly though, I would’ve given this a better rating. I just felt that there should be more emphasis on the axes not the keys. The vocals were mainly clean female voice with some male growls/screams accompanied with it. That gave the album more diversity.

KRYSTHLA – A War of Souls and Desires review

 KRYSTHLA – A War of Souls and Desires

Plastic Head Distribution

https://www.facebook.com/krysthla?fref=nf

KRYSTHLA is a U.K. based newcoming band that released its debut album a few months ago. They may be new and “A War of Souls and Desires” may be their debut work, but the guys aren’t new to the scene since they were previously involved in the death metal band GUTWORM and the thrash metal band DEADEYE. So as you can understand the direction KRYSTHLA is following is extreme metal and more particularly it’s a death metal sub-genre enriched with other elements.

EGIDIO MAGGIO – Me review

 EGIDIO MAGGIO – Me

Independent

http://www.egidiomaggio.com/home.htm

Egidio was born in Taranto Italy in 1967, in a family full of musicians (his father was also a guitarist). In this environment at the age of 9 he discovered his love for the guitar and various musical genres like rock, pop, jazz, blues and many more. Egidio through the years dedicated his studies on guitar and started his career as a professional guitarist in 1989; he has managed to play with many known Italian artists ever since. Now, on my hands, I hold his new work under the simple title “Me” and what I have listened to here is the result of the whole life experiences and studies of the artist as mentioned above.

INTRINSIC – Nails review

 INTRINSIC – Nails

Divebomb Records

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Intrinsic/126847387382243

There is an interesting story surrounding this release. It is a story that if I had to put under a title then I’d choose this one: “The Past Strikes Back”. It is a story that will make you draw your own conclusion, so let me tell it to you in the following lines.

THUNDERSPELL – Battle Scream review

 THUNDERSPELL – Battle Scream

Independent

http://thunderspell.xpg.uol.com.br/

In the 80’s we had OMEN singing their “Battle Cry” and now in the same continent though in the south we have THUNDERSPELL from Brazil singing their “Battle Scream” in their debut release. It is not though the only similarity between THUNDERPSPELL and OMEN as you will find in the next lines presenting to you their first studio album.

ENZO AND THE GLORY ENSEMBLE - In the Name of the Father review

 ENZO AND THE GLORY ENSEMBLE - In the Name of the Father

    Underground Symphony

http://www.enzodonnarumma.com/intro/index.html

Due to recent events and of course throughout the human history modern people have created a bad image of religion and religious people. However this is one point of view and it is not fair at all. No matter what you think, believing in something is a very strong motivation for people and there are many times and examples through the human history that religion and God offered inspiration to artists in order to create great things.