This mysterious Japanese death metal band has released three demos in the past three years and Pustules is Demon’s first release consisting of three short tracks. This extended play might only appeal to particularly faithful fans of brutal underground death metal. The band’s style fails to stand out and manages to sound nerve-firing and irritating in only seven minutes. 

The guitar riffs are loud but performed without any technical skills. The bass guitar play is quite vibrant but sadly buried by the noisy guitars and canny drum sound. The latter is truly annoying and sounds as if the musician hit some cans and pots in a kitchen instead of a drum kit in a recording studio. The deep growls are as stereotypical as it gets and the lyrics are very hard to understand. There are a few rough but not horrendous background shouts that can be heard here and there that one would rather expect from a hardcore thrash metal band that at least attempt to add some diversity and identity. 

In the end, Demon’s Pustules doesn’t have many redeeming values and is a quite irritating affair. Only fans of brutal death metal and grindcore from the underground should check out this release at all. If you feel like destroying something, hit your head against the wall or terrorize your neighbours, you might give it a spin.

Final rating: 30%

Two and a half years after its promising debut full length release Into the Romaunt, Taiwanese symphonic power metal quintet Nocturne Moonrise comes around with its self-titled effort that offers more of the same on a very good level. 

The band’s song writing is ambitious, epic and long but its songs never overstay their welcome. The neoclassical guitar solos are perfectly executed and remind of the best parts of European power metal in the key of Stratovarius in the nineties. The elegant keyboards add the cinematic, emotional and symphonic touch that makes the band stand out and recall bands like Rhapsody throughout the late nineties and early years of the new millennium. The high-pitched male vocals are among the most skillful you will hear in the symphonic power metal genre. Occasional female backing vocals keep the diversity elevated and ‘’Crime and Punishment’’ as well as ‘’Lie’’ even include some scarcely but efficiently employed black metal shrieks. In its best moments, the band even recalls symphonic metal heavyweights like Therion in the late nineties and early years of the new millennium. 

On the other side, the band hasn’t really progressed its song writing and ends up sounding somewhat repetitive, predictable and exchangeable. Especially the second half of the record is losing steam and slowly dragging over the finish line. The rhythm section and especially the bass guitar can’t compete with the excellent guitar and keyboard work and would have benefited from some more occasions to shine. 

Among the record’s highlights, one should cite the diversified dark romantic title track ‘’Nocturne Moonrise’’, the more mysterious and very diversified ‘’Crime and Punishment’’ that invites for multiple spins and especially the complex, intellectual and majestic masterpiece ‘’When the Holy War Has Begun’’ that would fit on any soundtrack of a move revolving around medieval battles. 

In the end, Nocturne Moonrise offers emotional, epic and intellectual symphonic metal on its self-titled release that is a logical successor to the promising Into the Romaunt two and a half years earlier. Especially the neoclassical guitar play, symphonic and at times medieval keyboard sounds and high-pitched male lead vocals stand out. The rhythm section could be more domineering and the song writing could be more surprising at times. Genre fans should definitely check this band and this album out. Nocturne Moonrise sounds hungrier than many genre veterans right now and one should keep an eye on this promising band that is currently working on its third output. 

Final rating: 75%

Legendary thrash metal band Sacred Reich has released its first new studio recording in more than two decades on this short split with energetic crossover thrash metal group Iron Reagan. The vinyl release is a collector's item limited to only one thousand copies. While the two tracks are great, this release certainly doesn't offer value for money.

Sacred Reich's song might not please to all fans of old date. The song has a strong punk vibe and not much to do with the band's thrash metal roots. It's the kind of song one would rather expect from The Exploited. The lyrics of ''Don't Do It Donnie'' are actually much more interesting than the musicianship. The band gives the middle finger to the current state of politics and particularly speaks out against Donald Trump's shenanigans. There just can't be enough songs that rightfully criticize what's going on in that country these days and Sacred Reich's take is very welcome in my opinion.

Iron Reagan's new song ''They Scream'' is less outstanding lyrically but much better musically. The song starts slowly and menacingly before it evolves into an angry thrash metal track with proud punk roots. The melodic guitar solo is the highlight of the track. It always amazes me how many ideas this band manages to integrate coherently in songs below the two-minute mark.

In the end, this untitled split offers two very good new songs that should please to hardcore punk fans in particular. Play it hard, play it loud, play it proud. The price for purchasing this gem might be somewhat elevated but you should definitely check the two tunes out if you sympathize with punk spirit.

Final rating: 80%