Massacre Records

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    Nachtgeschrei – Ardeo (2010)

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    One of our favorite Folk Metal/Rock bands has returned with “Ardeo” and the only thing we can’t think is that 3 albums in 3 years definitely take a toll on a band’s creativity. In this release the band deliver 49 minutes of exactly the same as on “Am Rande der Welt” and “Hoffnungsschimmer”.

    We don’t really care if a band does the same album 5 different ways as long as it is appealing and engaging. “Ardeo” is half and half in both departments, the band’s sound is as appealing as ever, but it sounds exactly the same as on their previous release. In terms of the appeal, there are great moments for sure, but they are drowned by uninspired repetition.

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    Unherz – Uherzlich Willkommen (2010)

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    While we are not big German hard rock fans, we have to recognize that Unherz is a very good up-and-coming band that mixes traditional German hard rock elements with a Metal influences. Featuring catchy riffs and melodies, epic chorus sections, and raspy vocals entirely in German, “Uherzlich Willkommen” is a very effective debut release, and will surely gain a ton of followers for Unherz.

    While the similarities to bands like Die Toten Hosen, Unherz quickly crafts their own style by being a bit heavier on the guitars and never shy of breaking some of the ‘traditional’ guidelines of the genre. For over 40 minutes, the listener is treated to 10 catchy as hell songs that will be stuck in your head for days.

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    Unlight – Sulphurblooded (2010)

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    Hailing from Germany and on Massacre records, today we have the Black Metal warriors of Unlight, and their blasphemous fifth full-length release “Sulphurblooded”. With around 46 minutes of crushing evilness, the band does a pretty solid job in crafting a very powerful release that will please any fan of traditional Black Metal, with a Thrashy/Swedish vibe to it.

    As you can imagine, Unlight is nowhere close to being an innovative or revolutionary band, but they are great at what they do. Crafting 10 songs of refined Black Metal, Unlight is uncompromising and crushing when it comes to blast beats and riffing power. The band’s sound is both neat and effective, something that only comes with experience, creating a very effective vortex of elements that will blow your away since the first riff.

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    Burden of Grief – Follow the Flames (2010)

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    When we first got this promo album all tracks where garbled up with the bonus CD of the limited edition version that contains 8 cover tracks. While listening to this promo, we would get one song from the actual “Follow the Flames” album and the next one would be a totally random cover song, making this band seem bipolar or something like that. Now that we have arranged them correctly, we hear that Burden of Grief plays a very mean Melodic Death Metal, and that the cover CD is VERY different from what this band is actually capable off.

    There are countless of Melodic Death Metal bands these days and it’s hard to find good new bands that will stick together for the long run and make decent music in the process. This is where Burden of Grief comes in, the band has released 4 albums in a span of ten years and seem to be constant enough to not be going anywhere anytime soon.

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    Darkseed – Poison Awaits (2010)

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    Ever since their classic “Midnight Solemnly Dance”, Darkseed has been on a constant quest of evolving as a band and has matured musically a great deal into how they sound now, on their latest album “Poison Awaits”. The band’s long time vocalist Stefan Hertrich decided to leave the band in 2006, and from what it looks the band was idle for two years until 2008, when Thomas Herrmann, Tom Gilche, Maurizio Guolo, and Armin Dörfler decided to get the Darkseed ball rolling again.

    With ex-drummer Harald Winkler stepping up for singing duties, the band has managed to retain their traditional sound and we think that they actually improved over their previous releases. Harald’s vocals are very diverse and his deep clean sections are reminiscent of Lacrimas Profundere and similar Gothic Rock bands.

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    Doomshine – The Piper at the Gates of Doom (2010)

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    Epic Doom Metal is a genre that has been getting little to no attention in the last few years. With only sparse releases by While Heaven Wept, Candlemass, and others, we can count with two hands the albums that have been released in the last 2 years. Doomshine hailing from Sweden adds their contribution to the mix with a crushing release names “The Piper at the Gates of Doom”.

    As you can expect from any Epic Doom Metal release, chugging down-tempo riffing, epic singing and tight drumming is exactly what the doctor ordered. Doomshine pretty much excels in every single department and created 73 minutes of crushing music that will please even the pickiest fans of Candlemass and similar bands.

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    Iron Fate – Cast in Iron (2010)

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    All the way from Germany today we have Iron Fate and their debut album “Cast in Iron”. This relatively new band features an interesting ‘slower paced’ combination of Heavy/Power Metal with some Thrash elements, we say ‘slower paced’ since this band never goes to 200 mph’s and lacks a bit of the epicness that the genre calls for.

    The first thing you will notice about Iron Fate is their extremely versatile (and good) vocalist Denis Brosowski. This front-man can hit notes and resemble almost any Heavy/Power metal vocalist in the scene in a very impressive fashion. While the music behind this great singer is average, we feel that this is what brings Iron Fate down and (for now) stops them from being a great Heavy/Power Metal band.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    The Prophecy23 - …To The Pit (2010)

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    Recently we have been bombarded by tons and tons of new Thrash Metal bands and it’s getting close to impossible to find any bands worth listening to. The Prophecy23 is yet another one of those Thrash bands that is aiming for a little piece of the pie. We must say that from the countless submissions we get, there is a great deal of quality behind this German band that we can’t seem to find anywhere else.

    With a ‘traditional’ Thrash foundation, The Prophecy23 has pretty solid riffing and overall catchy songwriting that makes them quickly standout from all the uninspired cloned bands. The band does not get stuck in the whole ‘lets sound old-school’ approach and actually proposes some interesting changes in their music.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Enemy Of The Sun – Caedium (2010)

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    We are always complaining that we don’t get enough albums that feature band’s trying to push the envelope and develop something new and intriguing. Well, with Enemy Of The Sun we get a band that tries too many things at the same time, and around 85% of the time they are brilliant. “Caedium” continues along the lines of their first full-length album “Shadows”, creating a very chaotic combination of almost EVERY single genre of Metal (and closely related genres).

    “Caedium” will surely get trashed by plenty of people, and other will love it, there will be almost no middle ground when a band like Enemy Of The Sun comes along. We must say that we love many of the things, and other things are just downright awful (like the first 20 seconds of “Chasing The Dragon”). However, one thing we will grant to this band is that they have gigantic balls for releasing something like “Caedium”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Mammutant – Atomizer (2010)

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    With Mammutant’s Atomizer, today we have 44:44 minutes of pure lack of creativity and inspiration. The band’s second full-length release is a very dull album to have to sit through and listen. We usually listen to albums at least 3 times before writing a review and we had a hard time getting through this album even the first time.

    Playing Death Metal with Industrial influences the band looks as if Lordi and the cast of Starwars had a child. Playing on the whole creepy costumes/outfits is ok when your music is somewhat decent, but if it sucks, then we assume they just look like jackasses on stage.

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