Cult of Luna-Salvation
(Earache Records, 2004)

It might seem at first that the song lengths may be a little bit daunting with tracks being upward of 12 minutes, but Cult of Luna is one of the few bands that makes songs much more then just a collection of notes. These songs are all about creating atmosphere and taking the listener for a journey. The riffs may be heavy at times, and the vocals are throaty, but there really isn’t anything aggressive about this band at all. There is an almost airy quality creating by the droning guitar riff and the lack of full on distortion.

The easiest comparison is Neurosis who pretty much got the ball rolling for this style of music. I somewhat feel that Cult of Luna is a bit more accessible then Neurosis though. By no means do I mean that this would be digestible to a mainstream audience because that’s just preposterous. I mean that the structuring flows very well and the actual parts that make up the songs are quite memorable.

You’ll get caught up in the atmosphere, but there definitely will be parts that stand out. You might assume it would be the heavy parts that stand out, but actually the quiet clean guitars do a great deal to break up the long songs. If it was 12 minutes of constant droning and screaming then this album would become boring very quickly. Thankfully there is a great deal of dynamics at work here, and the band does an excellent job at building up to parts within the songs. There will be quiet lulls that build back up into a heavier moment when the vocals kick back in.

This is definitely what you would call an album that you need to put a lot of time into. The first three songs are longer then most albums these day, but trust me this album flows incredibly well and you’ll forget about the song lengths in no time. This is emotional, heavy music that could appeal to a wide range of people. For those unfamiliar with the style, go into this with open ears and you’ll be pleasantly rewarded.

Bars-Introducing ...
(Equal Vision Records, 2004)

A lot of Boston bands these days seem to be going for a much more rock n’ roll fused style of hardcore punk, and I have to tell you, I can’t get enough of it. Along with SOS, and Draw Blood, Bars is easily one of the best bands playing this style. They have the urgency of hardcore, but the guitars are straight forward power chord driven rock riffs, with flairs of blues influenced guitar leads.

The style possibly isn’t as instantly memorable as one might think. The songs are definitely catchy, but the album flies by so fast it’s almost more about the complete picture then the sum of it’s parts. There definitely will be stand out tracks, but this is a solid album from beginning to end. You should have no trouble just pressing play and listening until the disc is over.

The vocals are what I would consider a harsh yell. They aren’t quite extreme enough to call harsh screaming. It fits the musical style perfectly and aside from the odd riff here and there this is mainly where the hardcore influence comes into play. Don’t expect this to be very fast, it is definitely energetic and upbeat, but it’s not what you would consider a fast album.

There are definitely a lot of creative moments here. They slow things down from time to time and the band gets more experimental as the album wears on. It’s still all very much in the rock genre, but they get a bit slower, heavier, and noisier with time, especially on the closing song.

This could easily be summed up as a kick ass rock record, but there is so much more at work here. Any fan of hardcore could easily get into this. It has a sense of urgency that directly links it to the hardcore genre. This one is a keeper. I hope these guys stay around for many albums to come.

Aura Noir-The Merciless
(Tyrant Syndicate/PHD Canada, 2004)

Now this is what I like to hear. Aura Noir could have easily been around in 1985, because there is honestly not a single thing about this album that is modern. The bands sound is pretty much based around what Hellhammer was doing during their short existence. The music is heavy, and dark, yet has an almost stripped down punky approach. It’s simple and to the point with no use for technicality or useless modern black metal cliches.

A few riffs here and there have a more thrashy feel to them. They have a bit of a vintage Destruction or Kreater feel during these moments, but for the most part this is simple power chord riffs that have a very cold and sinister vibe. Oddly enough I even hear a bit of vintage Metallica at times. The song Sordid especially has an early Metallica feel. I also hear a bit of Carnivore from time to time as well.

This band definitely isn’t a speed oriented band either. There are definitely some faster moments, and certain songs have that vintage Hellhammer tempo, but it never gets into blast beat territory. I wouldn’t necessarily say it wouldn’t fit, but it definitely would take away from the vintage sound that the band is going for.

The production here as you could possibly imagine is fairly stripped down, but it by no means is a bad sounding album. The sound is actually fairly thick, and despite the vocals being a bit out front I really can’t complain about the mix. It pretty much fits what the band is trying to do perfectly. These guys don’t need studio sheen, and the very analog sounding recorded is exactly what they need.

They may wear their influences on their sleeves, but damn if they don’t steal from the best their was. This isn’t a band that is about being original. It’s a band that is all about playing metal the way it was meant to be played.

Wynjara-Human Plague
(Nocturnal Arts Productions/PHD Canada, 2004)

This band has actually been together for quite sometime now, but this is my first time even hearing the name, let alone hearing what they have to offer. What they do have to offer is intense death metal with more then just a nod to the classic Florida sound, mixed with a more modern style of death metal and even just a bit of thrash.

There are some fairly surprising dynamics at work here. The first song begins blazing with blasting and thrash styled tempos before breaking into a tremendously melodic guitar lead followed by a very surprising clean guitar section. Some of the more thrash style riffs are almost along the lines of what you’d expect from The Haunted. They are surprisingly melodic, yet still have a technical feel to them. A few riffs from time to time almost have an almost metalcore feel as well, which is emphasized by vocals that are more of a yell then the standard growl that the band uses most of the time. You can pretty much say that this is an extremely varied album that really keeps you on your toes. They’ll be bulldozing one second, and then head into new territory with almost every song.

I was fairly surprised to read that this band uses a drum machine. If you listen closely you can tell, but they managed to get a very natural sounding kit. It sounds more like drums then most triggered kits I’d say. It might sound a bit mechanical at times, but it definitely doesn’t take away from the music at all.

The easiest way to describe the band would be a cross between Divine Rapture, The Haunted, and possibly Strapping Young Lad. That is somewhat selling them short, because this is what I would call a fairly original sounding album. They definitely do take elements that have been used before, but the way everything comes together and their lack of fear when it comes to experimenting really makes this stand out amongst most death metal albums these days.

Nostradameus-Hellbound
(AFM Records/PHD Canada, 2004)

I was expecting this to be pretty much standard fare power metal, but there is actually quite a bit of thrash running through the bands sound. The main core of the band is definitely a power metal like style that actually reminds me quite a bit of Primal Fear. They have the incredibly catchy guitar riffs, and memorable choruses, but this is far more aggressive. Thrash riffs come out of nowhere, and the band isn’t afraid to let loose with blood curdling screams. Without the more aggressive side, this would be average power metal, but with the aggressive streak, this ends up being quite an amazing album.

Like most power metal bands, the members playing abilities are definitely not questionable. The music is extremely tight, with numerous guitar leads, drum flurries and vocal operatic. The guitar playing actually brings in a bit of Swedish death metal style melody, which isn’t much of a surprise considering this band is from Gothenburg. It’s not an incredibly obvious thing, but you can definitely hear the influence during the speedier thrash influenced parts.

So basically to sell the band short you could say that they play a combination of power metal, and thrash with just a hint of Swedish death melody showing from time to time. I was actually expecting this to be fairly uneventful, but I am definitely impressed, This is a band that manages to avoid most of the power metal cliches and have written what seems like a very honest and solid metal album.

Eternal Flight-Positive Rage
(Cruz Del Sur Music, 2004)

The bands that this label usually releases are all cutting edge and really breaking down walls within the metal genre. It’s fairly surprising that they have signed a band like Eternal Flight, but in the end, it’s definitely not a bad thing. While they may not be pushing the genre very much, this is a high quality power metal album with subtle progressive hints and very cool guitar playing.

You pretty much know what to expect when someone says power metal. You can expect melodic guitar riffs, chunky rhythms at times, and of course soaring vocals. All of these are present within the Eternal Flight sound., but it would be a tough call to say that these guys are an average power metal band. Let me explain further. Most bands are more then content just ripping off Iron Maiden, but these guys have many moments that wouldn’t be out of place on say a Joe Satriani cd. They have the metal side, yet there is a lot of feel to the guitar leads. They aren’t just 10,000 note flurries. There is a lot of passion being put into each instrument, and this translates well through the speakers. It’s easy to hear that these guys stand 100% behind what they have created.

While it’s not really of any relevance, I have to say that I really find the cover art to be a bit cheesy. The big muscle head eagle warrior is something that seems a bit too cliche, it’s something that you’d expect to find on a power metal cover. It’s a pretty cool piece of art in itself, but it just seems to be a really safe choice for a band that really doesn’t play by the rules of power metal.

They aren’t as groundbreaking as most bands on the label, but they are of the highest quality none the less. Fans of a more mid-tempo and passionate power metal approach will definitely be able to get into what this band is doing. I could almost see fans of Dream Theater being able to get into this as well.

The Chasm-The Spell of Retribution
(Earache Records, 2004)

The Chasm have always been one of the best kept secrets of the metal underground, and hopefully with the band now being signed to Earache the band will get the exposure that they have been deserving for quite sometime now. Fans of the last few albums need to worry. The Chasm are back with what could easily be considered their strongest album yet.

I’ve always myself considered this band to be what you would call an old school death metal band. They are undeniably heavy, but there really isn’t anything very modern about their sound. The guitar riffing is pure thrash, just played at incredibly fast tempos, with a bit of sinister melody added from time to time. The drumming is incredibly aggressive and favors the classic thrash beat. The blast beat doesn’t show up very much, but it really fits into the bands style when it does.. The Chasm are pretty much classic Sepultura thrash mixed with a more classic German thrash sound but played with a much darker feel. Hints of black metal are definitely also evident from time to time. There’s no denying where their sound comes from, yet at the same time, it would be hard to call this band anything other then original.

One amazing feat that the band manages is to put a ton of riffs into one song. There are literally too many riffs to count in these songs. They are lengthy songs too, so they could have went the easy route and just repeated riffs, but they didn’t do that. Each song is filled with incredibly catchy and heavy riffs. With this many riffs you might expect to find some filler, but that’s not the case. Each riff works within the context of the song and without any of them the songs just wouldn’t work. Each section is an integral piece of the final song.

The band managed to get an incredibly live sound on this album. There is something very human about the album. You can hear every ounce of energy being put into the music. And there might be some fluctuations in tempo from time to time, but damn this is a monstrous sounding album. Metal albums aren’t supposed to be pretty. All classic metal albums had quirky productions. This might not have anything wrong with it, but it’s definitely a classic styled metal production, albeit a lot heavier then many of the older albums.

If any of you were worried about The Chasm changing due to being on Earache one listen will crush any thoughts like that. This is the strongest album yet from the band, and if they continue in this vein many a metal fan will have whiplash from head banging to this masterpiece.