ALBUM REVIEW: Strigoi – Viscera


 

In 2010 following the death of his father, Paradise Lost’s founding guitar player and principle songwriter Gregor Mackintosh formed Vallenfyre with Hamish Glencross (ex-My Dying Bride). The aim was to provide an outlet for his grief by recording the heavier black / death metal-influenced music he had been writing, with Gregor also on vocal duties, a role he had never performed in Paradise Lost. In 2018 after three albums Gregor announced the project had come to a close, but from the ashes rose Strigoi, formed with Vallenfyre bassist Chris Casket (Devilment, ex Extreme Noise Terror), which would continue in a similar vein with 2019’s debut album Abandon All Faith.

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Myrkur – Juniper



As a capper to the end of the year, Myrkur gets set to hit the road for some Scandinavian tour dates. As this is a good time of year to have some new merch with you, she has chosen to release a new EP, Juniper (Relapse). Through constant change and challenging of herself, she reveals more and more about the artist inside.

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Hear Myrkur Reinterpret Danish Folk Song “Bonden og Kragen”, New EP Out This Week


 

Ahead of the release of her new EP, Juniper, this Friday, December 7th on Relapse Records, Myrkur has shared her recorded interpretation of Danish folk song ‘Bonden og Kragen’, a.k.a. ‘Kragevise’. This isn’t the first time Myrkur has taken on classic songs from her ancestral lore, each time making it uniquely her own. She will carry this concept deeper into 2019 with special “Folesange” concerts, at festivals like Roadburn. Check it out and catch Myrkur on her new Scandinavian tour dates kicking off tonight in Gothenburg, at the Pustervik club. Jo Quail will open most dates as direct support. Continue reading


Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back


I once opined on these humble pages that Motörhead didn’t do bad albums, merely good ones and great ones, and it has to be said that this proud epithet should also be bestowed upon the filthy and the few that make up Orange Goblin. It has been some twenty-one years since their debut, the still worthy Frequencies From Planet Ten (Rise Above), and for the ninth time the turbo effalunt has been charged up, the band are getting high on the bad times, and the red tide rises once more. Continue reading


Paradise Lost To Reissue “Believe In Nothing” Album, Release New Lyric Video


On the heels of a successful launch of an expanded and remastered version of Host, Paradise Lost will now reissue their Believe In Nothing Album, from 2000. Dissatisfied with the production of that album at the time, Believe In Nothing has been remixed and remastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano, and includes new artwork, to bring to bear the bands’ initial vision of the album. They have also dropped a new lyric video for the new version of their track ‘Mouth’.Continue reading


Earth Electric – Vol 1 : Solar


The latest project of former Mayhem guitarist Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen, Earth Electric finds the Norwegian musician in typically progressive and diverse form. Forming the band in 2014, and working alongside soprano vocalist Carmen Susana Simões, from Eriksen’s Gothic/Doom act Ava Inferi, the pair hired DragonForce drummer Luigi “Gee” Anzalone, and Doro‘s Luca Princiotta, and recorded a three track demo entitled 2014 the same year.Continue reading


Paradise Lost Is Recording Their New Album Right Now


Paradise Lost blew everyone away two years ago with the release of The Plague Within, and now they’ve officially started recording the highly anticipated follow up. Continue reading


Mirror – Mirror


Mirror - Mirror

Latest of the new wave of stoner/revival/heavy metal bands, Mirror have an impressive and diverse collective CV of work behind them. A Face on the Doom scene, bassist Tas Danazoglou (erstwhile of Electric Wizard and Great Coven) is the main driver behind this band, along with drummer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Blutvial and Septic Tank). The band is very upfront with what to expect from Mirror (Metal Blade), their debut album: “The recording boasts strong melodic ideas with classic, heavy riffs inspired by the sounds of Scorpions, UFO, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and the like.”

The album’s opener – ‘Mirror’ – is so ridiculously Maiden that it’s almost a surprise as the vocals start that it’s not Ol’ Foghorn himself making a guest appearance. Instead, Jimmy Mavromatis turns in a performance far more reminiscent of Blind Guardian‘s Hansi Kürsch. The song doesn’t suffer from it though – it’s the best of the bunch. ‘Curse of the Gypsy’ is a grandiose affair which reminds strongly of Ghost. The foot comes off the throttle for the stargazing ‘Year of the Red Moon’, where the inevitable Hammond organ makes its appearance and settles in for the remainder of the ride and ‘Heavy King’ is a fine track in the Deep Purple vein with a strong backbone and some lovely breaks from each band member. ‘Madness and Magic’ brings the (classic rock flavoured) doom and ‘Galleon’ brings us back to Killers-era Maiden, while ‘Cloak of a Thousand Secrets’ turns up the heat again for a boisterous hybrid of Blind Guardian and UFO. ‘Orion’s Sword’ servers an extended acoustic(y) intro to the closing track – ‘Elysian’ – which pretty much shoehorns everything from the rest of the album into one song.

As I’ve said before, revival bands often struggle to find their own sense of identity, but I don’t think this is true of Mirror. They’re honest about what they’re aiming for, they’ve delivered as promised and the end result does stand on its own whilst paying authentic homage to the giants of 70s metal. What lets Mirror down is the killer/filler track list (‘Mirror’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Heavy King’ and ‘Secrets’ being the killers), and the dry production. Now, I fully appreciate that this sound is a central part of the feel the band are going for with this album, but it detracts from almost all the tracks, robbing them of the punch and depth that a richer sound would yield.

Nevertheless, a decent debut, and if you’re into the likes of Purson, Ghost or The Sword, you’ll probably get on with Mirror.

 

6.5/10

PHILIP PAGE


Paradise Lost Releasing Cover Art For The Plague Within


paradise lost

Paradise Lost is releasing the fourteenth album The Plague Within, out June 1, 2015 in Europe and June 2, 2015 in North America via Century Media Records. The album was produced by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Ulver, Cathedral) at London’s Orgone Studios and cover artwork was created by the polish artist, illustrator and architect Zbigniew M. Bielak, best known in the musical realm for his record cover illustrations, which among others include meticulously handcrafted artworks of Watain, Ghost and Entombed A.D. albums.

paradise lost the plague within

The band has the following upcoming live dates:

May 29: Rockavaria – Munich (DE)
May 30: Der Ring – Nurburg (DE) (Grune Holle Rock)
July 18: Castle Party Festival – Bolkow (PL)
Aug 15: Summer Breeze – Dinkelsbuhl (DE)

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Solefald Streaming “The Germanic Entity”


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Solefald is streaming “The Germanic Entity” off their newly released album World Metal, out via Indie Recordings, here.

Sample “Bububu Bad Beuys” here.

Their first new studio full-length in over four years, the eight-track World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud was captured in Norway and Tanzania, mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Cathedral, Angelwitch, Grave Miasma) at Orgone Studio in London and features guest appearances from drummer Baard Kolstad (Borknagar, ICS Vortex), bassist Alexander Bøe (In Vain), guitarist Petter Hallaråker (Rendezvous Point) and keyboardist Sindre Nedland (In Vain, Funeral) as well as renowned world music player Anania Ngoliga of Zanzibar on the kalimba and guitar.

With World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud, Solefald returns to 1999’s postmodern offering, Neonism, both musically and thematically. At the center of World Metal lies the idea of the “Kosmopolis,” or the “World City.” In antiquity, Athens and then Rome were seen as the capitals of the world; in modern times, cities such as Paris, London and Berlin have all competed to be the “Kosmopolis.” Musically, the curious pair continues to challenge their listeners with a complex musical diversity that is at once stunning and startling, their unique compositions serving more as cerebral adventures than mere songs to listen to. Merging raw Norwegian metal and Dutch techno with Norse and African folk rhythms, Solefald has again manifested an out-of-the-ordinary sound. World music with blackened edges; a true celebration of global culture.

Indie Recordings on Merchnow