Now I’ve gone and thrown what little credibility I had away, and only 3 sixteen year old kids are still reading this I’ll further embarrass myself. First, the ultra crunchy guitar tone on The Volume of Self is really fucking stout. When they do their expected kick in for tracks like “Flawless,” “Defeated,” “Stare Through Me” and “Reality Check,” involuntary head bobbing might occur. Of course, the vocals of Jason Carter Potticary and Yan Lamberti clone Chad Gray’s (Mudvayne) mix of angry shouts and clean croons, but there’s nothing too stomach churning or sappy. Then there’s plenty of Fear Factory-ish electronic, programmed beeps and whirrs amid the riffs (“… And Yet Inside I’m Screaming,” “Twelve,” “Lost Signal,” “Fake,” “Live Smile and Obey”) that make the 12 interchangeable songs pretty much blend together into one album of 5 year old sounding, angsty teen age anthems.

Though about 5 years too late, Twin Method is an acceptable entry for the genre though the genre doesn’t seem to carry as much weight as it once did. However, if you are a closet Nu Metal fan, and don’t care for cookie cutter delivery of a dead genre, Twin Method may actually entertain you. Surprisingly, for a short period (when no one else was around), they did entertain me, despite my gag reflex.

Focused on melody in tandem with aggressive undertones, Twin Method makes an excellent first impression with “The Abrasive,” a powerful cut that’s highlighted by excellent production, smart arrangement and a decidedly headbanging rhythm.

As a “B-side,” “Lost Signal” incorporates a bit more of the aforesaid Linkin Park influence, replacing the rap metal vox with vocals that frankly, sound very much like Chad Gray.

If that sounds like your musical cup of tea, you’re sure to enjoy the band’s debut when it hits the shelves in mid-June.

And speaking of the singer, she has an irritating way of singing. It’s as if she’d stutter and take a breath in the middle of a word. While Mr. Danzig can pull similar stunts flawlessly, here it begins to hammer your nerves after the first song. Ms. Vesilahti has a nice, calming voice, but I hope she hones her pipes for the band’s next album, so that she can let all the air through smoothly, rather than make fun of asthma patients.

“Ooh boy” said Hank Hill and I have to agree. Sometimes it amazes me how some bands have received a record label and even more so, get their stuff licensed for world wide distribution. Now, I don’t hold it against the bands and I think it’s great that the youth (and the not so young) are doing something creative rather than stuffing tons of cocaine filled condoms far up in their asses, but like drug plants in Afghanistan, it becomes a problem when the issues invite themselves to your front door.

Indeed, I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t have to write reviews (they’re holding my daughter hostage), but just like I’m getting tired of crack whores licking the subway walls, I’m also getting tired of sub par releases. And unfortunately for me, Earth Magick falls neatly into this category.

Begone thou foul pagans!

One part gritty Entombed, one part At The Gates and one part grimy leather and spikes retro black thrash a la Bestial Mockery, Pyuria deliver a blood in your urine causing assault of basic but entertaining proportions.
Forsaking the usual Finnish polish and gleam, Pyuria sounds like a classic unmastered Sunlight album with a hefty buzz and overly distorted guitar. Initially, the album sounds like a chaotic, randomly squealing and chugging ‘braking train’ affair due to the production and the superficially messy riffs, but further listening reveals a tight and intentionally raucous, nasty sound that’s contains some superb riffing from a plethora of namable influences that are not from Finland (Carcass, Deicide, Dismember, Deranged, Witchery, Vorkriest).

Pyuria’s “salt in the wound” atonal sound disguises many surprisingly melodic flourishes (“In Rotten Remains Forgotten Names Lie”, “Murder Metaframe”), but also bolsters some already acidic, blunt force trauma moments (“Douleur Mortelle”, “Field Court Marshall”), but in truth, this album really needs to be heard to truly appreciate for all its brutal subtleties. The groove that starts the savagely rocking “Ghoulish” is just hard to put into words, but the thin sliver of blood trickling out of your ear demonstrates its biting effect. Growler Oskari Mäki has a pretty average but multi toned growl/scream that isn’t quite as forceful as the music, but it does the job and truthfully, the music is often so eviscerating, the vocals are almost non effectual. There is so much going on musically, that to the casual listener, the material often sounds lost and patched together, but in truth, is a well crafted musical stew of all things extreme. Just check out start and end of closer “Flaunting Moldering Metrics”, with its eloquent solo overlaying the vicious riffing; such a mirror opposite of sounds that they have no right together, but Pyuria pull it off. The mix of styles Pyuria injects into their ballistic sound is hard to explain, but it’s safe to say all fans of everything extreme will find something to like here. The only confusing thing about this release is the insistence of the use “Metalcore” on the press release/PR material. Why? If your typical Hot Topic metalcore fan got their dainty hands on this, they would need diapers and a binky within seconds.

Calliphora Vomitoria Introitus is a filthy, wound infecting, scab picking effort of high intensity and sonic ferocity that’s often subtly textured with some underhanded moments of harmony that I highly recommend to anyone seeking a no-name but vicious album.

While some US black metal such as Forest of Impaled, Fall of the Bastards and Veneficum simply rely on mimicking a particular sound and just giving it their own sense of vitriol, Throcult seem torn between paying homage to a classic sound and trying to sound unique. Throcult try to inject some character into their blatantly European sound by way of making their take on blackened war metal full of death metal-ish complexities and convoluted staccato riffing, but instead, it comes across as frayed and fragmented rather than rousing and scathing. It’s actually a shame because the skill level of the band members, particularly drummer David Csicsely, are worth noting, but their collective output doesn’t do the skill justice as the entire album squeals by at hyper sonic speed, and despite the injection of a few death metal rumbles, does not hold your attention.

The band also seem torn between displaying a unique, technical take on black metal extremity and implementing tried and true black metal cliches; song titles (“On Demon Wings,” “Unholy Perversions”), typical samples (“Blood of Thy Enemy”), atmospheric interludes, muted harmonies and expected vocal paradigms. There are a few moments of pulse pounding acidity such as the openings of “Order of the Lunar Temple” and “Through the Fog of War,” but just as quickly as they deliver a ravaging salvo of notes, Throcult play themselves right back out it and into needless riff indulgence that saps the songs of their initial energy.

Former Serberus singer/guitarist Ivan Alcala does nothing to distinguish the vocals, and bassist Dave Borush is virtually non-existent amid the swirling, over produced guitars. As a result, the drawn out 43 minutes ends up as an incessant buzz fest with a few piecemeal death metal rumbles thrown in for good measure and not one of the tracks stands out on its own. The album isn’t truly “bad” per se, it’s just a heavily reliant on structures that are influenced by classic ballistic black metal then flocked with needless complexities that make the songs sound unnecessarily disjointed, and while Council of The Fallen and Unholy Ghost seem the have the mix down perfectly, Throcult just don’t have the levels right as the twiddly blast beats become grating.

I get the feeling if Throcult just reared back and spewed forth a simpler, stripped down black metal sound rather than try to over complicate things they might be into a far more devastating territory that’s a purer, more satisfying black visage. As it stands though, this album is really rather redundant and far from being a need to own, as it’s simply an uninspiring delivery of high end fret abuse that lacks any defining moments.

Not bereft of flaws (shoddy drumming, some sloppy guitars, virtually no bass), The Mandrake still manage to deliver some damn cool riffs in fine Scandinavian fashion, but gloss it with a slightly heavier sheen, especially the deep guttural vocals of James Ryan Taron who gives the band its US aura. While certainly not quite on par skillwise with their European peers (Arch Enemy, In Flames, At the Gates), The Mandrake should be commended for giving a damn good showing and at least trying to bring a little character and guts to the genre.

Less black metal than their synth laced debut Dying Sentiment, the Mandrake are now infused with the expected twin guitar harmonies, and the tracks that fill this album are all rock solid numbers with plenty of depth and layers that require several listens (I might add, listens that also expose the bands flaws also). The production is average, it could use more polish to expose the guitars of Ron Ardilla and Kelley Tussey, but as it stands, its slightly edgier sound adds to their character, rather than lump them in with mere Dissection clones.

Starting with the cliched but suitably mood building piano opening of “Disharmonize the Heavens,” a track which initially starts of with slightly shaky off-key harmonies but soon picks up the quality, as the band seem to find themselves with a pretty impressive slower segment and solo to flesh out the song’s galloping pace. Granted, The Mandrake do tend to lock into a couple of riffs and hammer them into the ground for tracks duration (“Renounce the Sun,” “At The End of Dawn”), but generally the riffs they do use are pretty impressive and never seem redundant or mundan. With fairly long, deep songs The Mandrake sometimes fall into a few cliche traps with acoustics and forced atmospherics (“The Horizon,” “Bringer of Dreams: A Fallen Angel”), but still a manage to kick out rip roaring riffs that should satisfy all melodic black/death metal fans.

“Deadside of Eden” is the albums flagship tune that delivers six-minutes of competent, melody infused savagery, while keeping some individual and varied character for its duration. The album closing trifecta of “At The End of Dawn,” “Sentence of Three” and “Inherit” all tread solid if uninspiring material, that’s awash with Scandinavian influence and glazed with a US sensibility and vernacular that’s not quite as polished as their European peers but when you consider that Enforsaken is the only recognizable band carrying the US flag for melodic death metal, you feel The Mandrake might make a little noise given the right circumstances and continued improvement. Still, they do need to tighten up and refine their overall delivery to even sniff the sheer elegance of the European scene, but songwriting wise there’s potential.

I’m not sure why the piecemeal bonus track “Night of Day” is advertised as a bonus track as it flows directly with the rest of the album with the same production and aesthetic the rest of the album does, it doesn’t appear to be rare a demo and isn’t a cover-so why says it’s a bonus track? The Mandrake have some work to do, but there’s tons of potential here, especially for a US Band playing a pretty non US sounding style with such confidence. I’ll be keeping my eye on this lot.

So enter Illinois’ Veneficum, with a cosmic take on symphonic black metal worthy of Norway itself. Despite the star ward leanings and song titles, the album rarely fully indulges a full on space metal atmosphere, instead brief samples and snippets of celestial grandeur grace the generally traditional symphonic black metal visage. The synths/programming is the force of the music, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say Enthrone Darkness Triumphant era Dimmu Borgir didn’t come across as a major influence, just listen to the opening of “Existential Stellar Palette,” for an example of true Norwegian atmospherics. On the whole though, Emperor, Sirius, Arcturus, and Covenant all fight for time as major influences, but Veneficum, don’t ever come across as a pure clone, with the spatial tones and fairly individual songwriting, they carry themselves as slightly more ambitious than Dimmu wannabes.

What I enjoyed about the album is the restraint of the cosmic elements, rather than endless beeps/whirrs and buzzing samples, the themes is carried lyrically with only minimal spacey injections, without a lyric sheet, you will be hard pressed to fathom the extraterrestrial concepts, as Jason’s synth work is often grounded in familiar epic orchestration rather than sample/programming overload. Sure, the grandiose overtures convey a vast atmosphere, but it is never mechanical or robotic, rather wondrous and infinite. The guitar riffs are the expected mix of Norwegian blastbeats and controlled sections all rendered in suitably pristine fashion from the Finnvox production. The songs are generally lengthier than usual, most clocking in around between the five and eight minute mark, and there’s the expected intro (“Odd Weather”), and predictable mid album instrumental, atmospheric break (“Tired Aeons”), but the long songs do tend to drag on somewhat as the album draws to a close.

True album opener starts the album with a big bang, as “Psychological Orb Unrest,” contains all the key components for a superb epic song: whirling blast beats, grand piano work, and surprisingly admirable solos. The following songs all retain a high degree of skill and competence, but often wane due to their length. Sometimes the Dimmu influences rise to the surface a little to thickly as shown at the three minute mark of “Oblivion Sektor” and the vocals of G.Reymond reverting to the distorted, robotic growl a little too often. Although of a high quality, the songs don’t have too much different character from each other, instead all consisting of equally competent amounts of hyperspeed and slower synth laden moments of astral introspection (noticeably “A New Consciousness”). Apart from the second track, its kind of one of those albums you listen in its entirety rather than pick out particulars songs.

To Veneficum’s credit, I could actually listen to this on headphones laying out in the yard looking at the night sky. The band definitely has a solid grasp of their peer’s delivery, but drummer/vocalist G.Reymond, is sloppy in his fills. A new drummer has since been added to the lineup. The album definitely peaks early and levels out, though it is never dull, but 15 minute instrumental closer “Reflections Collapse” never got finished upon anything past the first listen. Still, Veneficum give their European peers a run for their money, with their overall high standard and solid delivery The production, songwriting and obvious influences ultimately add up to a distinctly professional, European sounding and very pleasing black metal album. A very promising band and debut album.

Each part of TO’s sound is a part of a toddler’s rudimentary 5 piece puzzle that fits together with little thought; raspy black metal vocals? Epic orchestration? Satanic/Sinister imagery? Clean galloping riffs? The occasional clean vocal interlude? Got them all, and in the puzzle they go, with little challenge at all. For a veteran band (members include denizens from Soulgrind and Gloomy Grim) with two albums under their bullet belt already (Shadows Embrace the Dark, 1998 and Midnight Horror, 2001 Cacophonous), I’d expect a little more development. From the haunting opening passage of “Chaosworm,” to the sobering closure of “The Paragon of Pregnant Night,” the album is purely and superficially all too familiar.

That’s not to say there’s not a few enjoyable moments as TO do have some artistic skill, even if it’s more tracing over an existing image skillfully rather than creating their own piece of work. The opening salvo of “Trapped in Husk of a White Crow” has some rousing synths, but still, they reek of Dimmu Borgir. Some solid clean power metal vocals surface (“The End of Halcyon Age,” “Pseudogods,” “Leperthrone”) and they do add some Finnish sounding spice to the more Norwegian sounding proceedings, but otherwise, vocalist Mikko Hakkinen has a standard evil rasp with an occasional lower register growl, totally expected. Also expected are the frequent majestic slowdowns and breaks that litter the songs, the best of which arise during “Pseudogods” and “Leperthrone,” in no small part to the distinguished clean vocals. The loquaciously named “Gothic Prelude of Capricious Equanimity,” “Cruciferous Lunacy” and “Paragon of Pregnant Night” round out the album with little or no real effect on my being other than being adeptly played and produced.

I understand metal lost its originality eons ago, but Twilight Ophera are about eight years too late to be garnering praise for an album that by today’s standards sounds incredibly tired despite its overall polish. If you’re a fan still basking in the nostalgic glory of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant or think Old Man’s Child are varied and unique, this may be for you, but personally I think the genre has long peaked, and TO only come across as a shadow of the genre’s classics no matter how hard they try.

Flipping through the CD booklet, one might think that England’s Throne Of Nails are a black metal group with names like Pazuzu, Cthon, and the ridiculous Nyralathotep, not to mention Cthon’s Halloween monster makeup bought at his neighborhood five-and-dime. But the group has reportedly played headlining gigs all over Britain to capacity crowds, and hundreds of fans can’t possibly be wrong!

Truth be told, Acts Of War is full-on death metal, clocking in at just under 27 minutes like all good death-metal albums have/should, plus it’s a concept album of sorts: demons retaking the world in the name of evil, broken up into two suites, Act I: Oppression and Act II: Annihilation. The atmospheric intro “Invasion” sets the mood with a military-like march before “Spoils Of War” starts the shredding. But it’s not until the third track, “Minions,” that the band’s main influences dawn on the listener: Morbid Angel and Vader.

Not only does the gruffly throated Matt Henderson (aka Pazuzu Two Headed Death) sound like Morbid’s David Vincent/Steve Tucker, but he also mimics the technical virtuosity of the Eddie Van Halen of death metal, Trey Azagthoth, throughout the record. The blinding speed of Morbid’s Pete Sandoval is replicated jaw-droppingly in drummer Mark Smith (aka Nyralathotep Crawling Chaos), especially evident in “I Command.” The excellent “So The World May Be Dark” contains slower passages and heavier chords that can be compared to similar moments from Morbid Angel’s Covenant. Another dark ambient intro, “Apocalypse,” kicks off Act II, and “Cast The War” eats its way through Morbid’s Domination. “Scar Of Creation” and “Souls To Be Crushed” (the latter’s lyrics featuring the same type of “foreign” language used by Morbid and Nile) bleed together in a Vader/Cannibal Corpse/Immolation puddle, while “Bled By Infinity” reprises the band’s more deliberate Morbid Angel leanings.

Ultimately, Throne Of Nails do justice to Morbid Angel and Vader (live favorites include covers of Morbid’s “Rapture” and Vader’s “Sothis”), and boldly do these guys wear their influences on their sleeves as well as having the chops to back them up.