As My World Burns - Mistakes art Gallery Review

Metal bands from Spain are a rare breed, there are very few I can think off to name, now whether this is due to an enclosed musical climate, or them never breaking out of the local scene. Hopefully As My World Burns is one of the few to break out of their native country and break into the UK Scene.

Featuring both screamed and melodic vocals, As My World Burns features extracts from the metalcore scene as well as fusing it with the progressive genre to create a sonic implosion of sound that keeps the listener guessing. Throwing some djent style riffs down as well, this is a band that is always keeping the listener on their toes.

Featuring songs with names such as “Dali Carried A Melting Clock in His Pocket” and “Water Bears and Jellyfish” you can tell that this band is suitably insane which definitely fits in with their musical style.  They flow from brutal metal to extremely minimalist passages featuring barely any guitar and vocals only.

My one complaint is that the mix needs to be better to get the vocals higher, and that the clean vocals need to be worked on a little bit more, in some tracks they are great, whereas in some others it starts to become a little bit grating over long listening. 

Overall this this is a damn good attempt for an EP and is definitely the building blocks of something bigger. I definitely hope to see more of this band in the future.

7/10

7 Horns 7 Eyes- Throes of Absolution Review

Having featured a review of their EP Convalescence a few months ago (Found here) Metal Junkie were already big fans of 7 Horns 7 Eyes and we were expecting a lot from this debut album. Thankfully they didn’t let us down and released an absolute knockout of an album.

We previously stated on our review of their EP “If you throw Prog, Death Metal and a little bit of Black Metal all into a pot and stir, what you are left with is 7 Horns 7 Eyes” and Throes of Absolution really brings this into a reality. Mixing all the above into one brutal and terrifying monster and really bringing all the influences to the fore whilst simultaneously forging their own unforgettable sound.

Featuring two songs from the previously mentioned EP, “The Winnowing and Vindicator” throes of absolution features 7 new tracks for listeners to get their head around. Final track regeneration is an opus to the progressiveness of Opeth, whereas “Delusions” goes into the death metal and black metal territories. This is an album that is full off little surprises”

There is not a single bad thing I can say about this album, it is definitely one of the best new albums I have heard, and is a finely formed debut album that goes beyond their years.

I heartily recommend this album to anyone who loves metal as a whole.

10/10

KARYBDIS announce details for debut album - From The Depths

Listen to a preview track: http://karybdis.bandcamp.com/track/minotaur?permalink

Find out more about the band: http://holdtightpr.tumblr.com/post/22840082359/introducing-karybdis-melodic-death-metal-from

"The sound of metal’s past, present and future colliding in a shower of sparks, this band are constructing their own immortal mythology before our eyes and ears. Prepare yourselves: a new legend is rising from the depths!” - Dom Lawson, Metal Hammer

"An international maelstrom of metal coming at you from all four corners of the globe like a tag team fisting!" - Russ Russell, Producer

Rising from the UK metal underground scene, London based KARYBDIS are set to release their debut album 'From The Depths' on July 2nd 2012. Showcasing breathtaking flair and finesse, this is forward-thinking heavy music that marries the savage riffing and percussive precision of death metal, groove metal and brutal hardcore to the epic sweep of ancient Greek myths and legends. A potent new hybrid driven by passion, power and the tireless pursuit of progress, 'From The Depths' is as fresh and invigorating as any metal album in recent memory.


"We all have such different influences that we can’t be pinned down to a specific genre,” explains drummer Mitch McGugan. “The combination of all our ideas makes us unique. When we write we do it together and write what we want to hear. We never try to cater to a specific audience.”


Exemplified by a genre-blending versatility and a devastating degree of sonic depth and muscle, songs like imperious album opener 'Minotaur' and the monumental 'Demonstration' exhibit an otherworldly quality that belies KARYBDIS’ burgeoning reputation as new metalcore figureheads. Completed by guitarists Pierre Dujardin and Harsha Dusari, bassist Jay Gladwin and recently-recruited frontman Rich O’Donnell, this international wrecking crew have evolved at a breathless pace since forming in 2008 and have struck upon a fizzing, ferocious inter-band chemistry that has led to a debut album that bulges with jaw-dropping dynamics and moments of exhilarating intensity. Named after a mythical sea creature that appears in Homer’s Odyssey, KARYBDIS are as ageless and epic as the ancient tales they tell on 'From The Depths'.

“Karybdis created huge whirlpools from the depths of the ocean in order to engulf any passing sailors,” explains McGugan. “We want to exert that kind of power too. We wanted a link between the name of the band and album title, something that also represented the beginning of something new for us. The lyrics range from being about dreams and mythological creatures to notions of love, lust and grief. Rich is quite a recent addition to the band, but he really pulled out all the stops on this album, and surprised us all a few times during the recording process!”

The final piece of this compelling jigsaw slotted into place when KARYBDIS joined forces with legendary producer and sound wizard RUSS RUSSELL, recording 'From the Depths' with the great man at Parlour Studios in Northamptonshire. Famed for his work with Napalm Death, Evile, Dimmu Borgir and many more, Russell has brought the band’s music to life like never before.

“Russ was fantastic to work with,” states McGugan. “He was patient and helpful with things we found difficult and a real taskmaster when he felt we weren't doing the best we could! We had a huge amount to cram into the time we had and he worked incredibly hard to bring our dream to fruition: an album that sounds exactly as we wanted it to.”

Leading UK metal into inspiring and uncharted territory, pushing boundaries and pursuing a brave and noble path into the unknown, KARYBDIS will unleash 'From the Depths' on JULY 2nd, before embarking on their own epic quest to spread the dark magic of their music to the four corners of the globe. The sound of metal’s past, present and future colliding in a shower of sparks, this band are constructing their own immortal mythology before our eyes and ears.

‘From the Depths’ track-listing:

1) Minotaur

2) From the Depths

3) Without Wings

4) Arson Aesthetics

5) Worth It

6) I Say

7) Medusa

8) Maelstrom

9) The Hourglass

10) Deathtoll

Deprevate- Deprevate Review

South London based Deprevate go against the status quo of the fact that Metal does not necessarily have to go hand in hand with screamed undecipherable vocals. Featuring heavy riffs and breakdowns galore, it is also accompanied with soaring vocals that fly over the tracks and really hit home.

Melodic Metal is a genre that really divides public opinion and it is a genre that normally needs quite a lot of power to break through the hordes of wannabe acts that are out there at the moment. Deprevate is one of these acts that are gaining the momentum to break through, helped by none other than Matt Hyde who has worked with metal titans such as Trivium and Machine Head. This in itself is a glowing praise of recommendation, and the production really stands for it, everything on the mix is really clear cut and mixed perfectly.

The songwriting is what stands the band apart from all the other clones out there. Big catchy songs with lots of riffs. Just what the doctor ordered for the metal scene

This is a genre that does grow stale very quickly however and Deprevate will need to evolve in order to stay fresh but at the moment they are creating a lot of ground movement and are definitely a band to keep an eye out for in the future.

8/10

GORTAL reveals details of new album !!!

Polish death metallers GORTAL will enter the studio on 16th June 2012 to begin recording their second album entitled Deamonolith for a autumn of 2012 release by Pagan Records. The new CD has to consist of completely 9 new death metal anthems. All tracks will be laid down at Studio Progresja with Paweł Janos Grabowski at the helm.

GORTAL invited Michael, the bassist of polish legend PANDEMONIUM to record all bass guitar tracks. The cover artwork will be created again by Michał  Xaay Loranc, who has previously worked with bands such as Nile, Behemoth, Armagedon, Trauma and many more.

Line up:

Chryste - guitars, vox (Pyorrhoea)
Major - guitars (Conquest Icon)
Desecrate - drums (ex-Lost Soul, ex-Pyorrhoea)
Michael - session bass (Pandemonium)

More info:
http://www.facebook.com/GORTAL666
http://www.myspace.com/gortal
http://www.youtube.com/user/666gortal

PAGAN RECORDS:
http://www.paganrecords.com.pl

Neverstar- When Dreams Come True

Whenever someone mentions Symphonic Hard rock or metal, my mind immediately jumps to established acts such as Nightwish, or Within Temptation and I’ll admit I tend to forget about the smaller bands, but Neverstar are here to change that attitude.

With the voice of an angel, London symphonic metallers Neverstar are a breath of fresh air in a genre that can quickly grow stagnant and decay. They bring the heavier side of their influences to the game and don’t just rely on Vega’s vocals. They actually rock hard and Vega’s voice is just the cherry on top of the heavy cake.

What makes this band from all off the others that float around this genre? Well for one, they don’t rely on male vocals to back up the female vocals, they stand straight on their own, which while this may not be to different from the norm, if there were male vocals in, it would actually ruin the tracks. Vega’s voice is so strong it manages to seduce the listener into sitting there mesmerized and just focused on the music.

There is absolutely nothing to fault this band for, absolutely amazing and sonically beautiful music.They really live up to their album title, as for me, this really is a dream come true.

10/10

TesseracT- Perspective EP Review

When Tesseract replaced their old singer with Elliot Coleman, a lot of people were worried about the direction the band were going to take, or even if they were going to implode or fall away silently. However this is not the case whatsoever, with Elliot’s soaring vocals being the main centrepiece of this acoustic EP.

Featuring re-workings of some of their songs off of the album “One” this is a perfect way to show off the new style of the band, and also how diverse they are as instrumentalists as their acoustic reworkings, not just straight ahead metal versions with new vocals plastered over the top. Also showing off the bands varied influences, this also features a cover of “Dream Brother” originally done by Jeff Buckley.

All of these songs show a different side of the band, which with their music predominantly featuring heavy 7 string guitar passages, these songs are beautifully melodic and make good use of Elliot’s voice, which as mentioned before, is definitely the focal point of this E.P. Although that isn’t to understate the value of the other musicians in the band as the transition from metal to acoustic is seamless and it seems like the tracks were written for acoustic performances, not metal. This shows a high-class off song-writing from the band.

Clocking in at 23 minutes  in length, this is a piece of acoustic beauty that many don’t expect to come from the metal scene, and this will be an EP that will divide people heavily as some will want the metal side, whilst others will appreciate the beauty on offer here.

8/10