Alright, guys, it’s time for us to talk about the importance of Cult of Luna. Yeah, that underappreciated Swedish unit that has delivered a consistent series of music both brutal and majestic since 2001’s self-titled effort. Okay, so maybe you arrived late to the party and missed the early portion, but you did catch their mindfuck crossover with Julie Christmas, Mariner, right? No? Well, A Dawn to Fear (Metal Blade) is as good as an entry point as you’re going to get.Continue reading
The Horse and Sparrow Theory (Relapse Records) really wants to let you know that Victims is about that Hardcore and D-beat life. Like every song on this bad boy is pre-loaded with that classic drum pattern. Every word is delivered with snarl and song with names like ‘There’s Blood on the Streets’ lets you know that these Swedes mean business. The only problem with all that is the in the pursuit of Punk rock fury, Victims forgot to write any memorable riffs. Continue reading
When your primary musical focus consists of playing in At The Gates, Skitsystem, or Martyrdöd, any and all accompanying projects are going to be subjected to some level of scrutiny. “Yeah, but it’s not Slaughter Of The Soul, is it?” you may hark, but Sweden’s Agrimonia have never been ones to rely on paying lip service to their associated Death Metal and Crust Punk outfits. Five years removed from their last record Rites Of Separation, Agrimonia have presented us with their most ambitious, thematic and musically realised record, Awaken (both Southern Lord).Continue reading
Watain have strongly denied allegations of Nazism after their live guitarist Set “Davide Totaro” Teitan was seen doing what looked similar to a “Sieg Heil” salute at their recent show at the Kraken in Stockholm, Sweden. Continue reading
Sweden’s Shining will be unleashing their forthcoming album, X – Varg Utan Flock, on January 5th via Season Of Mist. What can fans expect? The press release states, “X – Varg Utan Flock is a musical masterpiece far beyond simple genre limitations, and a shining tribute to the achievement that a troubled mind is capable of when driven by a passionate will to excel and overcome.”
Shining‘s mastermind Niklas Kvarforth has already shared the ‘Jag Är Din Fiende’ and ‘Gyllene Portanas Bro’ singles with the world, and today another new track has made its way online.Continue reading
With the band wrapping up the “Meliora“/”Popestar” touring cycle, Ghost decided that it was time for another change. Continue reading
After finishing up another successful run in support of Metallica here in the States, Volbeat is heading back to Europe. The Danish rockers will be headlining multiple dates in the coming weeks, and to get fans more excited for those shows, they’ve unveiled a new live video. Continue reading
Mayhem will be heading out on the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas North American Tour next month, and to get fans ready for those dates, they’ve made their new live album available to stream online. Continue reading
You can say what you like about Niklas Kvarforth, and many quite justifiably and quite rightly do, and his Shining project, now on their ninth release IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends (Season Of Mist), but he has managed to keep his music from sounding like everyone else, and actually doing something with his darkened black metal act that few others do, creating a sound and atmosphere that doesn’t just ape his predecessor, and that varies from album to album while still being identifiable. The actual success rate in terms of quality of output is a bit more hit and miss (with the common reasoning being that it is the odd numbered albums that are worth bothering with, while the even numbered releases can fail to deliver).
With the intent of Shining to cause discomfort and pain to others, and with IX being described as an album to inspire feelings and reflections of revenge and retribution, the music to hand is surprisingly (disappointingly?) safe; there are certainly no challenging moments that the likes of Deathspell Omega or Blut Aus Nord inspire, or horrific atmospheres akin to a Pyrrhon or Portal in full flow (accepting they are megalodons swimming in a very different pool).
With most of the compositions uncurling to around 7 minutes in length, the blueprint here is one that steps outside traditional Black Metal trappings and away from the cold, depressive harshness of their previous works. Opener ‘Vilja & Dröm’ kicks off with a belligerent chugging groove, and the album flits from modern aggressive Black Metal, like Dimmu Borgir minus the symphonics and theatrics, to cleaner, more Gothic moments as, much like Watain did on The Wild Hunt (Century Media), IX brings a Fields of the Nephilim swathe to the proceedings and a cowboy Western kiss to ‘Inga Broar Kvar Att Bränna’ in particular.
In terms of where IX sits in the Kvarforth canon, it’s fair to say it doesn’t rival V: Halmstad as the go to and defining release of his career, but is more of a worthwhile investment of your time than the limp Klagospalmer (both Osmose). Much like a lot of the music on display, though, it sits comfortably in the middle. If its intention is to unnerve and distress, the protagonist does much more of that away from the music, than he does with it.
6.5/10
STEVE TOVEY
Swedish death metal veterans Unleashed are 25 years into their career. Dawn of the Nine (Nuclear Blast), the group’s 12th album, is a quality 45 minute slab of brutal yet enjoyable old school death metal. Generally seen as one of the earliest extreme metal bands to delve into the world of Norse mythology, Dawn of the Nine sees Unleashed continue with tales of longboats, Midgard and Thor, picking up the story where 2012’s Odalheim (also Nuclear Blast)left off. There may be no shortage of other bands doing this sort of thing nowadays, but Unleashed still stand out in terms of quality.
The band – led by vocalist/bassist Johnny Hedlund and joined by Tomas Olsson & Fredrik Folkare on guitars and Anders Schultz on drums – might be long in the tooth but have crafted an album that still sounds fresh without compromising on their sound. From the opening salvo of ‘A New Day Will Rise’, the relentless shred of ‘Defenders of Midgard’ to the screaming lead single ‘Where is Your God Now?’, Dawn of the Nine is chock full of demonic bellowing , blast beats, chainsaw riffs and endless solos. It’s more heavy thrash than grinding, and you know you’re in 90s old school death metal territory, but is catchy and accessible at the same time.
Hedlund’s hellish vocals manage to somehow be guttural yet completely understandable – meaning the dense story isn’t lost behind incomprehensible grunts. There’s plenty of melodic riffing and addictively intricate solos – fans of Amon Amarth will find a lot to appreciate in the likes of ‘Where Churches Once Burned’ or ‘They Came to Die.” It’s not all blast beats however as Unleashed can varies the tempo without compromising on the heaviness; ‘Bolt Thrower’ is slow yet relentlessly brutal march, while the title track crushes at a snail’s pace before enjoying some Black Sabbath-style galloping.
‘Dawn of the Nine’ is massively heavy, surprisingly melodic, and a perfect update of classic 90s death metal. Despite being a dozen albums and a quarter decade into their career, Unleashed have still managed to concoct a quality album that’s unrelenting yet engaging and enjoyable. Fetch the mead.
8.0/10
DAN SWINHOE