When I attended a concert of groove metal quintet Hellyeah a few years ago, some people commented that the band was trash and that it would be a waste of time going to their show. The band played a great concert and had an excellent communication with the crowd and those who were making stupid comments back then now regret not having seen drummer and founder Vinnie Paul on stage one last time before his untimely demise. UndenIable is the record the band promoted during the concert and the band's fifth studio record is also the last released while Vinnie Paul was still alive.

This record finds the right balance between more aggressive groove metal tunes and more melodic and surprisingly catchy tracks that would deserve more attention. In the first category, one has to cite the extremely fast ''X'' with its diversified vocals, powerful rhythms and energizing gang shouts. The powerful title track ''Be Undeniable'' represents the band's raw side accurately as well and convinces with pressured spoken word passages and sinister bass guitar sounds.''Startariot'' does its title justice with distorted guitar solos and angrily overlapping vocal lines.

In the second category, a first highlight is the sinister ''Leap of Faith'' that plays with grunge references and convinces with melancholic guitar leads and steady drum play. ''Love Falls'' features interesting vintage keyboard samples and overall elaborates upon a somewhat melancholic atmosphere with surprisingly melodic vocals. A very unusual and courageous song is the cover version of Phil Collins' ''I Don't Care Anymore'' that features guitar parts by the late Dimebag Darrel and I prefer this atmospheric rendition over the overrated original tune.

In the end, Hellyeah's UndenIable is a great record of you like alternative metal, groove metal and occasional grunge reminiscences. The record finds the perfect balance between aggressive and melodic passages and is surprisingly diversified and entertaining from start to finish. That type of music usually isn't my cup of tea but I have come to the conclusion that the band is actually much better than its negative reputation.

Final rating: 80%

Bethlehem is one of the most experimental black metal bands you will ever come across. The band's ninth studio record in twenty-eight years represents the quartet's unusual soundscapes rather well.

Depressive, nihilistic and suicidal black metal outbursts with blistering rhythm section, distorted guitars and haunting vocals reminding of a squeaking pig meet elegiac ambient passages, female narrative sections and smooth folk transitions.

On the positive side, this eclectic mixture of genres is entertaining, surprising and quite unique. You never know what to expect and this release invites you to fully focus on it and rediscover it over and over again. ''Niemals mehr leben'' which successfully transitions between thunderous black metal parts and atmospheric darkwave tones is an example for one of the most efficient songs.

On the negative side, the different soundscapes don't gel well. Sometimes, one is at a loss and wondering what the band is aiming for. The fact that the experimental elements aren't just short passages but sometimes extended over several minutes or even entire songs doesn't make this record any easier to digest. A more streamlined, energetic and focused songwriting would certainly improve the sound. One of the worst offenders certainly is bonus track ''Laune der Natur'', an electronic ambient tune with narrative passages that plods on for four and a half painful minutes.

In the end, Bethlehem's Lebe dich leer will please to fans of experimental black metal and those who search beauty in darkness with the band's quite negative lyrics. Black metal purists on the other side will have their share of problems with this at times challenging output.

Final rating: 70%

Les Ékorchés play a very unique and interesting mixture of sludge metal with some hardcore roots that is mixed with the sounds of some acoustic guitars and especially an electric cello which gives some dark and dramatic vibes to the music. Those instruments get more and more integrated in the straight metal sound and the mixture sounds surprisingly homogeneous. The vocals are still very rough and sound as if the singer had a rope tied around his throat and wants to scream out his emotions, fears and angers in the last seconds of his life. He harmonizes surprisingly well with the music and sounds quite unique even if he could vary a little bit more and accord some more liberty to the other musicians. The band creates a more and more unique metal brand and prefers to create catchy mid tempo metal tracks instead of fast paced hardcore songs. Nevertheless, you should not expect any big experimentation such as ballads, orchestral tracks or fully acoustic pieces as the band focuses on a very precise and unique sound.

The songs of the band are all as short and straight as the lyrics which talk about everyday problems in our society like complicated relationships, egoism, liars, thieves, loss of control, midlife crisis, anger about high gas prices or thoughts about being parents, feeling empty or approaching death. The band chose to write their songs in French but one should rather call it "Québécois" because the Canadian French isn't quite comparable to the original language from France. The band uses many swear words but beneath the very direct and emotional language are many hidden philosophical thoughts. The album is an authentic piece of Quebec's culture and worth to be purchased by anyone that would like to have something exotic and unique in his collection.

The music varies from very dark tracks like "L'diable au corps" or the amazingly discording and at the same time harmonious "La grande faucheuse" which is one of my favourite tracks that makes me think of some straighter Apocalyptica tracks to short and fast killer songs like "Zodiac" that reveal the thrash metal and hardcore roots of the band. Many songs are very catchy and easily memorable. "Possédé" is a quite diversified but straight opener that should take no prisoners during the upcoming energizing live shows of the band and is surely one of the best tracks on the record. "Sortir ca tête" has some exotic Asian folk vibes and is the most outstanding track with "La grande faucheuse". A video has been made for the track "Burn out" that is another catchy track and reminds of the style of the last video "Juste assez sharp" from the band's second album.

After the first two albums, the band parted ways with drummer Michel "Away" Langevin as Voivod began to continue its journey and he decided to focus on his main band. But even though a very talented musician parted this change helped the band to get the status of a regular band and not only a side project. He got replaced by a very diversified and talented new drummer and all members are now fully integrated in the band and into the new style they have created which is a big step forward for them.

What we have here is a really unique and homogenous piece of straight metal music with electric cello, acoustic guitars and rough French vocals as well as highly interesting critical and philosophical lyrics. The album seems to be rather short but it almost has the perfect length for this kind of straight music and the most important thing is that there is no single filler on this record. The songs sound all rather similar but each song has something special and catchy that makes it stand out like a great chorus, a stunning riff, calm and epic cello passage, a little drum solo or a fast paced thrash metal part. There really isn’t much to criticize here as this record simply never gets boring. Be sure to check this very particular music out and broaden your horizons.

Final rating: 85%