Darkened is a newer Swedish death metal band featuring band members who have been around various bands for a long time. This is their first full-length release. Obviously Sweden has a storied tradition in death metal and Darkened definitely takes influence from the early 90's Entombed/Dismember/Grave sound, with a little bit of the grinding malice of Bolt Thrower thrown in for good measure. Darkened show some impressive ambition with this release, opting for a varied approach in songwriting, rather than following the tried and true formulas of their predecessors. There are some really dynamic moments on this release that keep things from delving into a rut. This is a truly impressive first outing for the band and I need to follow up with them to see where they have gone from here.
Pounder sounds like such an 80's metal band name. And they definitely sound like an 80's metal band with music steeped in the traditions of the NWOBHM and speed/power metal acts like Exciter and Anvil. The album cover even looks borrowed from the 80's. Pounder also boasts the singing talents of Matt Harvey (Exhumed, Gruesome, Dekapitator, etc.), so there is definitely some credibility there. There have been an influx of acts that have based their sound in traditional heavy metal, so a band has to really be special in order to stand out. Pounder have consistently powerful songs and a vocalist who does sound different enough from the rest of the bands out there that they manage to forge their own path. This is an absolutely fun release that scratches the itch for good old-fashioned pure heavy metal of the denim, leather and studded metal variety.
This is just an EP, but since it is such a big deal, I decided to include it in this series of posts. Scour is the black metal side project of Phil Anselmo who has enlisted some help with some other death/grindcore veterans. Anselmo has long been involved in various extreme metal projects beyond Pantera and Down, so this was not too surprising. This is actually the third EP Scour has released. The sound is very raw with very little melodic going on, other than short interlude "Microbes". The songs are all short bursts of energy without much in the way of a reprieve. It really sounds like grindcore artists playing black metal as the guitar tone is much more chaotic and noisy. Anselmo's vocals are fine, but again, would fit in more with death/grind. I really cannot recommend it if anyone is looking for black metal though. It just doesn't really FEEL like black metal, with the possible exception of closing track "Subprime".
I was really getting into this band on this release. Unfortunately they have since broken up, so this is the last release by Solothus. The band is a death/doom metal band from Finland and they have a dirty, grimy sound similar to Japan's Coffins. And like that band, the sound is basically Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, but slowed down to a crawl (though not quite as much as Coffins). The intriguing part of the album is that there are melodic passages here and there that could almost be described as beautiful. Then the album kicks back into the sludgy filth that makes up the majority of the release. Solothus has shown some real songwriting chops on this album. Hopefully the members stay involved in the metal scene.
Germany has a long and storied history in metal, dating back to the very early days of the genre with Scorpions and making a big name with Accept and then the German big three of thrash metal (Kreator, Destruction and Sodom). Helloween and Blind Guardian also came from the country. So I do find myself giving German bands a chance when I discover them and that's what led me to Vision of Choice. What we have here is just a solid heavy metal album. There is nothing mind-blowingly original about it, but all of the performances are impressive and the songs are relatively catchy. I can't jump up and down and shout that everyone should check this out, but it won't be a waste of time either.
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