Heavy Metal New Blood EP Review : Witness the Fall - Self Titled

Witness The Fall - Self Titled
Rating : 4/5

Scottish metal band Witness the Fall are everything metal should be fast, loud and in your face with strong instrumental skills and crushing vocals. The energy of the EP is unrelenting throughout with what can only be described as absolutely brutal drumming underpinning the entire sound and keeping the momentum going.

Interjected at points with some excellent guitar solos particularly on “An End to Darkness” and “Darkest Hour (No Surrender)” and sections of spoken (or shouted) word. Overall the entire sound works really well together and is topped off by some brutal growling vocals.

The production of the EP is incredibly professional being able to hear all instruments at just the right level to deliver a high quality brutal assault on the ear drums.

My personal favourite track is the closer “Darkest Hour (No Surrender)” with it’s heavy on the distortion guitars, outstanding guitar solo supported as always by strong and brutal percussion. The chorus of “No, No Surrender” is sure to be a hit at live performances. Check out the video for this here 

So I am going to stop writing as right about now you should be hurtling over to one of the links below to check these guys out for yourselves, you won’t be disappointed!

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Track Listing

1. An End to Darkness

2. Victory

3. The Dying Art of Integrity

4. The Tragedy of Man

5. Righteous Kill

6. Darkest Hour (No Surrender)

Heavy Metal New Blood EP Review : Paean - Livium

Paean – Livium EP 2011 (Unsigned)

Rating : 3.5/5

Estonian progressive doom/death metal band Paean have just completed their debut EP following on from their 2010 demo “The Radiant Moon”

The character of the EP it set by a dark and shadowy undertone most evident in the intro sections of “Illusive Imprisonment” and “Impending Sacrifice/Fall of the False Lords” with their almost wraithlike atmospheric starts supported by the pulse of the drum, to keep the tempo going, as layers of music gradually build up before the crushing vocals kick in.

The EP contrasts these ethereal interludes with dark, menacing vocals and furious paced hard and heavy denser segments of sound.

My personal favourite is “Crimson Seas” with a slightly faster paced start and some excellent guitar sections with ominous riffs leading into more elaborate guitar work and also some very strong percussion sections. “Awakening” also has high-quality guitar parts.

The lyrics are dark with themes of death, revenge and justice being prominent and invoking Norse mythology throughout the EP.

The recording quality is good and the mixing of instruments is well done allowing vocals/instruments to be heard clearly and individually, yet still managing to interlace well together to provide the full on heavy backdrop at the right time.

The EP makes for impressive listening so head over to their facebook page to check them out.

Track Listing:

1. Illusive Imprisonment

2. Crimson Seas

3. Awakening

4. Impending Sacrifice/Fall of the False Lords

Heavy Metal Album Review : Acherontas - Vamachara

Acherontas  Vamachara (Agonia Records)

Rating : 4/5

The third full length album from Greek metallers Archerontas begins with a deceptively slow atmospheric opening track. Its spoken word section supported by ethereal backing vocals does nothing to prepare you for the brutal wall of sound that will hit you with the remaining tracks on the album.

Guitars and vocals (both spoken word and growling) are the prominent individual sounds on the album as a whole with sections of strong sounding percussion for example on “Blood Current Illumination”, however, these individual instruments are always surrounded by an all encompassing pure heavy sound with a lot of use made of distortion. This serves to give the whole album a unifying presence of full, heavy in your face noise. Having said this the tempo changes throughout the tracks provide enough distinction to avoid the album sounding like one continuous track

The title track “Vamachara” is one of the stand out tracks for me kicking straight in with the brutal heaviness I have come to expect and with some of the most passionate rough vocals on the album. Tempo changes and an excellent guitar solo towards the end. Also “Ohm Krim Kali” which from an ominous slow start heavy on percussion ebbs and flows as more layers and volume are added to the music and then stripped back down and the spoken word vocals fit well with this track.

Overall an album for lovers of the heavy sound which while being consistently good has enough diversity to hold the attention. It definitely has me reaching for the back catalogue.

1. Opening the eye of the storm

2.  Blood Current Illumination

3.  Abraxas

4. Ohm Krim Kali 

5.  Beyond the Mazeways to Ophidian Gnosis

6. Drakonian Womb