Gothic Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    69 Chambers – Torque (2012)

    cover

    Making its way from Switzerland, today we have the 69 Chambers and their sophomore full-length release “Torque”. With almost 65 minutes of catchy and well-crafted Gothic Rock with an emphasis of the rock side of things, this band delivers a quite enjoyable release that will surely grab the attention of fans of female-fronted bands.

    Led by the multi-talented (and super-hot) Nina Treml, 69 Chambers does a great job in combining catchiness with groovy guitars and a very healthy sense of melody, something that bands with longer careers struggle with. The opener “Cause and Effect” features none other than Chrigel Glanzmann of Eluveitie on backing vocals, making this song very aggressive and well rounded. Nina’s vocals are quite enchanting and straight forwards, no need for any soprano crap here.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Moonspell – Alpha Noir (2012)

    cover

    Coming back after an intense four years of touring since their last release back in 2008, today we have Moonspell and their most ambitious release yet: Alpha Noir / Omega White. In this double CD release, the band delivers one complete CD with the aggressive side of the band, and another with… we don’t really know since we didn’t get that part of the album, but Fernando Ribeiro says is more mellow, dark, and deep.

    Opening with the powerful yet enigmatic “Axis Mundi” the band shows no signs of slowing down and delivers a typical catchy Moonspell track. With a very ritualistic feeling, the vocals are very commanding and the guitar riffing is excellent. With no need for excessive guitar layering or studio trickery, the band delivers crystal-clear sounding rawness in a very Moonspell fashion.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Lullacry – Where Angels Fear (2012)

    cover

    Finally after a seven year wait, Lullacry is set to release their 5th full-length release titled “Where Angels Fear”. In this latest release, the band sounds very mature and avoids the cliché Gothic Metal or Pop-Metal release and favors a heavier and darker Melodic Heavy Metal release with just a few Gothic Metal hints. Featuring 11 hard-hitting tracks, “Where Angels Fear” is by far the best release of the band since “Crucify My Heart”.

    Being huge fans of the band’s previous releases, we are just realizing that we are old since the last album we liked from the band was almost 10 years ago. Aside from this, the band has also managed to stay pretty much intact and features the same lineup since 2002 when Tanja Lainio joined the band. This has clearly allowed them to fully develop a sound of their own and be able to produce such a mature release with “Where Angels Fear”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Your Tomorrow Alone – Ordinary Lives (2012)

    cover

    Rounding out our most recent promo package from My Kingdom Records, today we have Your Tomorrow Alone debut full-length release “Ordinary Lives”. Mixing Gothic Metal with Doom influences, this is one of those releases that is full of emotional songs that are also very catchy and approachable by the listeners. For over 50 minutes this Italian band will surely entertain you with their well written tracks and melancholic music.

    Opening with “Renaissance”, the first riffs reminded us of EvenSong’s “Path of the Angels” release since they have a similar sound to them. Combining clear vocals with growls, the band nicely creates a very solid atmosphere and keeps things standard, without needing to go to the overly abused usage of female vocals. The atmosphere keeps getting more dramatic and emotional with the powerful “Praise for nothing”. In this track, the band uses some classical elements to add more depth to their sound and this works perfectly.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Gothminister – Anima Inferna (2011)

    cover

    Rounding off our promo package from End of Light records, today we have Gothminister and their fourth full-length release “Anima Inferna”. Presenting 11 tracks of a very engaging and catchy mixture of Gothic and Industrial Metal paired with plenty of electronic elements. Drawing similarities to Combichrist and Rammstein, this band shows a great deal of maturity in their latest release.

    Opening with the very catchy “Stonhenge”, the band quickly shows their skills in crafting simple-yet-effective guitar riffs and a very atmospheric song structure. The combination of the clean vocals with the female choir is just outstanding and gives a very eerie and ethereal feeling, especially when the song is coming to a close. “Liar” delivers super catchy electronic beats and very intoxicating vocal melodies, we are not huge fans of this type of music but Gothminister makes it very hard for us not to like this song.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Evenoire – Vitriol (2012)

    cover

    Making its way from Italy, today we have Evenoire’s debut full-length release titled “Vitriol”. Featuring a Gothic Metal sound with some Folk elements, Evenoire manages to sound a little bit different than ‘traditional bands’ giving them a small edge over the competition. With 9 tracks of music, “Vitriol” is a very solid debut effort that while having some minor issues, shows that the band is ready to be heard.

    With a very ethereal opening track titled “Vitriol”, the band sets a very lush fantasy-like atmosphere that generates high expectations for this release. This is nicely continued with the very classically inspired “Days of the Blackbird”. The band’s singer Elisa "Lisy" Stefanoni has a very sweet voice that has that natural retro sound at times, when bands had regular singers on not extremely trained ones, but she can also do all the classical stuff very graciously.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Epica – Requiem for the Indifferent (2012)

    cover

    As one of the band’s most elaborate and grandiose albums, today we have Epica’s highly awaited “Requiem for the Indifferent”.  Packing in around 71 minutes of music in 13 tracks, this release is by far the band’s most musically ambitious release to date. While marinating their traditional Gothic/Symphonic Metal approach, Epica manages to incorporate Progressive elements into their already excellent sound, and end up with a release that is as complex as it is long.

    In a similar fashion to MaYaN’s “Quarterpast”, this release requires more than a few spins before it really starts to sink in and you will start to enjoy it. While we think it is great that a band is making an effort in growing as musicians and making their sound a bit more complex, this might also alienate some fans that just like plain bombastic songs they can cheer/headbang to. “Requiem for the Indifferent” is not all very complex, but it feels like much more of an effort has to be put to it to be really enjoyed.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Diabulus In Musica – The Wanderer (2012)

    cover

    As one of the very few internationally recognized Gothic Metal bands from Spain, today we have Diabulus In Musica and their Napalm Records debut release “The Wanderer”. Greatly improving on their debut full-length “’Secrets”, the band consolidates their sound and delivers 12 tracks of brilliantly crafted Gothic/Symphonic Metal that will bring comparisons to Epica, Nightwish, etc.

    Revolving around the heavenly vocals of Zuberoa Aznárez (we challenge you to say the name 5 times straight), “The Wanderer” feels a lot more mature than their previous effort in the sense that all tracks are more concise and everything shines at its own pace. After the bombastic intro, “Ex Nihilo” shines with heavy guitars, intricate drumming and very enchanting choir sections. This song indeed sounds a lot like Epica but when Zuberoa’s vocals kick in, it takes a whole new dimension. Very sweet and commanding, her voice is one of the signatures of the band and sounds like none other.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Xandria – Neverworld’s End (2012)

    cover

    Many people (including us) thought that Xandria was finished when their iconic vocalist Lisa Schaphaus-Middelhauve left the band back in 2009, but with their latest album “Neverworld’s End” the band sounds better than ever and are turning heads and convincing non-believer. Taking on a more bombastic sound, the band fully uses Manuela Kraller soprano vocals to song like a real Gothic/Symphonic Metal band should and blow listeners away with a very rich and diverse sound.

    One thing that came immediately to us after the first few spins of this release is that “Neverworld’s End” actually sounds a lot like early Nightwish when Tarja was in charge of the vocals. Before all haters go and complain about this we must say that while playing similar music, Xandria feels very refreshing since most of the good Gothic/Symphonic bands are not trying to sound pop-ish and commercial friendly. This leaves the field completely open to bands that stick to was good a few years ago and still manage to sound Metal enough.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Lacrimosa – Lichtgestalt (2005)

    cover

    Rounding up the Lacrimosa re-releases brought to North America by End of Light records, today we have “Lichtgestalt”. As a perfect trip down in memory lane, this release is one of our favorite ones of the band and it was a pleasure to see it released in North America with a bonus CD. Featuring a bit of a mixture of older Lacrimosa with the “Echoes” album, this release is very powerful and well-crafted with fragile Orchestral elements and powerful guitars.

    Tilo Wolff and Anne Nurmi do an excellent job in bringing back (after “Echoes”) the distorted guitar to its rightful place and pair it with beautiful instrumentation and highly emotional atmospheres. Since 11-minute opener the band creates a very emotional and dark atmosphere, but it also employs some aggression in terms of harsh vocals, commanding guitars, and a pummeling bass guitar line. The typical Lacrimosa-like songs “Kelch der Liebe” and “Lichtgestalt” are reminders of their “Stille” era and had us remembering those good old-days.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries