Israel seems to be a cradle for impressive progressive metal bands. After Orphaned Land’s masterpiece All Is One, which was my favorite record last year, I went on to discover similar acts and found the band Amaseffer. This trio from Tel Avic has only released one record so far, but this album is an extremely impressive release. Exodus – Slaves For Life is a conceptual record about the history of the people of Israel as portrayed in the Old Testament, and it’s supposed to be the first part of a trilogy. Right now, the band is rather inactive because two of its members have been working in another symphonic progressive metal called Reign Of The Architect. This band released a more science-fiction influenced record entitled Rise in 2013.

Exodus – Slaves For Life is a bombastic and challenging seventy-eight minute long soundtrack of cinematic dimensions. The record may be difficult, but is satisfactory even upon first try. It’s worth many spins, as it is very detailed and sophisticated, inviting listeners to discover more and more details, to dig deeper and deeper into its epic atmosphere, and to let the ambitious lyrical concept unfold. The album features epic symphonic elements, radio play passages with narration and touching actors, many calm moments driven by enchanting Middle Eastern folklore and the use of flutes or tablas, and, of course, melodic mid-tempo metal with melodic vocals along with a few harsher and more vivid passages at the right moments. I can’t pick out any song individually, as this is a continuous listening experience, but let me tell you that the record has absolutely no filler and never gets dull.

The band invited fifteen session actors, musicians and singers that add a lot of diversity to the project. You should definitely know some of them. Above all, there are the charismatic vocals of Mats Levén (who has collaborated with bands such as Apocalyptica, Candlemass and Therion). Let’s also cite the guest appearance of Orphaned Land’s singer Kobi Farhi, and female vocalist Maya Avraham completes the clean vocal array. On the other side, we have screams performed by Yotam Avni from melodic death metal band Prey For Nothing, as well as Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy fame. Together, this strong line-up delivers a gripping experience for your ears and your mind.

If you are a fan of bands such as Melechesh, Myrath, Orphaned Land, Septicflesh, and Therion, and if you are ready to seriously spend some time on a gripping and mindblowing listening experience, you will be rewarded by discovering a true masterpiece of symphonic and progressive metal. If you think you have discovered everything that is possible in the metal scene, better think again and try out this release. I’m absolutely amazed, and can’t wait for a second part of the trilogy in the near future.

Originally written for Black Wind Metal

Arkan is a gothic metal band that utilizes Middle Eastern folk instrumentation such as the frame drum (bendir), the Latin American percussion instrument known as the cajón, the goblet drum (derbouka), the pear-shaped stringed instrument (oud), and the Indian hand drum (tabla). The quintet calls its home France, but four out of five members are actually from Algeria and Morocco. The band started as a more extreme metal-orientated group in 2005, with male singers only. However, its third album, Sofia, is dominated by hypnotizing sounds and enchanting female vocals somewhere between Katatonia, Lacuna Coil, and Orphaned Land.

The strong points of the album are its hypnotizing and slightly depressing atmosphere, the organic use of folk instruments, and the calming use of unique female vocals. The flow of the album is very coherent and organic, with many tracks harmoniously progressing into new ones without any breaks.

The enchanting “Leaving Us”, with its gloomy and slow riffs, dragging vocals, and mysterious folk passages toward the end is a track that represents the sound of the band very well. Conversely, the more rhythmic opener and album highlight, “Hayati”, sounds more dynamic thanks to a diverse vocal performance despite the dark instrumental atmosphere, and probably features the catchiest chorus on the entire album. Those who care for the extreme progressive metal roots of the band should try out “March Of Sorrow”, “Wingless Angels”, and “Scar Of Sadness”, all of which feature some short but really potent death metal growls. The other extreme is the longest song on the album, entitled “Deafening Silence”, which comes around as the calmest, featuring acoustic guitars, light vocal effects, and floating instrumental passages that could have been pulled from a contemporary Opeth record.

The second half of the record turns out to be less diverse and gripping than the first. A few tracks sound too much alike and feel like unnecessary filler. This is especially true of the slow closing songs “Cold Night’s Dream” and “Dark Epilogue”, which aren’t much more than dark ambient pieces that go nowhere. I also miss a truly outstanding and catchy song that might permanently stay on my mind, even though “Hayati” comes quite close.

In the end, this release is interesting for its consistently dark and mysterious approach. It’s the kind of album you have to listen to in one shot with your headphones on in order to get absorbed by its strong atmosphere and to discover all the small details that make most of the songs sound slightly different. It’s an album that requests some attention, and the band has somehow developed its own signature style by now. In the future, I would like the band to push its extreme and progressive boundaries even further, and to include maybe a few catchier and more addicting tracks as well.

Originally written for Black Wind Metal

Atrocity is a very unique band from Germany that never fails to surprise, but sometimes to deliver. The band started its career by playing grindcore in the mid and late eighties before they became very successful with their first technical death metal releases, Hallucinations and Todessehnsucht. Since then, the band has continued its journey with sudden genre (and even language) changes from album to album until today, and have invited diversified guest musicians and singers over the years. As any familiar with the band will understand, Atrocity is one of the most diverse and eclectic metal bands ever, and it’s very hard to follow them. Of course, there are also a lot of hits and misses among their releases depending on your personal taste.

Now, the band has returned with the album Okkult, three years after the folk rock driven After The Storm. This record is the first part of a trilogy dealing with lyrics inspired by mythic and mysterious topics. The band sings about conspiracy theories, Freemasonry prophecies, witchcraft, and much more. The band has also created a very special project. They’ve recorded an exclusive bonus track for each of the three records, traveled to mystic historical places on three different continents where they hid the tapes of one of the three songs. Back at home, they destroyed all master tapes, and now invite the fans to go on a treasure hunt. The album’s special edition includes several hints at the place where the band hides their first exclusive bonus track. Once a fan finds one of the three songs, he or she can decide on his own what he wants to do with it: keeping it or publishing it on the internet.

As you might realize, the lyrics, as well as the treasure hunt concept, are quite intriguing, and so is the music on Okkult. Note that the band joined forces with Leaves’ Eyes’ Liv Kristine for a few songs, as well as with the Lingua Mortis Orchestra (conducted by Rage’s Victor Smolski) on almost all songs. For the more conservative minds here, I would like to tell you on a side note that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, and that the band has nothing to do with satanism or right winged ideologies, but that they simply are expressive and imaginative artists and story tellers.

Many tracks go into a new symphonic extreme metal direction. Imagine a mixture of MaYan’s debut release, the last few albums from Dimmu Borgir, and maybe a touch of early Therion. Take this mixture and increase its quality, and what you get is Okkult. The majestic opener, “Pandaemonium”, already impresses with a dramatic cinematic overture that could have been placed on a release from Moonspell or The Vision Bleak, before a dynamic death metal song kicks off after two minutes that takes no prisoners. The mixture of beautiful orchestral melodies, powerful choirs, harsh vocals, hard guitar riffs, pumping bass guitar, and incredible powerhouse drumming perfectly unites the beauty and the beast. The band has many more songs of similar quality on the album. The almost gothic-comedy feeling of “March Of The Undying” reminds me of a Tim Burton movie that meets a contemporary Dimmu Borgir or Screaming Savior song, with maybe a touch of the genius of the Japanese avant-garde metal band Sigh. The dark and blistering “Necromancy Divine” hits a similar vein, but has a more grounded, old school feeling reminding me partially of Venom or Slayer. The epic and majestic album closer “La Voisine” is an atmospheric masterpiece that perfectly catalyzes the strengths of Atrocity and the Lingua Mortis Orchestra.

But Atrocity would not be Atrocity if they hadn’t prepared a couple of surprises for us. “Death By Metal” is a pitiless old school death metal track in the vein of Grave that goes back to the band’s roots. The German “Satans Braut” reminds me of the Neue Deutsche Härte genre, and sounds maybe like a mixture of Rammstein and Samsas Traum with epic orchestral passages and a great guitar solo. “When Empires Fall To Dust” sounds surprisingly catchy and modern, and almost makes me want to dance. This song could have come from the Deathstars or a harsher version of Doctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult.

The whole record is kept together by the mystical topics, the orchestral elements, and the consistent, diversified and gripping high quality song writing. In the past, Atrocity has released a few great, many mediocre, and a few really bad records – but this is their absolute masterpiece in my opinion. The record definitely grows with each spin. My favorites on here are “Pandaemonium”, “Satans Braut”, “When Empires Fall To Dust”, and the best song is probably the closing “La Voisine”. If you consider yourself an open-minded metal fan, you should definitely dig this critically acclaimed and surprisingly great record. It may be a welcome change of genre and bring you some fresh inspiration. Hands down, this is at least the best extreme metal release of the year 2013 for me.

Originally written for Black Wind Metal

The Barque Of Dante is not only a famous painting by Eugène Delacroix, but also the name of a rather good power metal band hailing from the city of Mianying in Sichuan Province of the People’s Republic of China. Founded back in 2005, the band’s first record, Final Victory, was delayed by a year because the finished tracks and some of the band’s equipment were destroyed during the Panzhihua earthquake in August of 2008, and the band needed to start all over again. Their first record turned out to be a solid, if quite short album inspired by European power metal. The four Chinese decided to get even more European by adding Swiss singer Thomas Winkler of Emerald and Gloryhammer fame to their line-up back in 2011. In addition to this, Greek singer Vicky Psarakis (who has also done additional vocals for the critically acclaimed sophomore record of progressive metal band Until Rain) is also on board for Barque Of Dante’s sophomore output.

Overall, the band’s sophomore record features a better developed atmosphere and more musical diversity, with many keyboard orchestrations, acoustic guitars, and piano ballads mixed male and female vocals. Extensive melodic keyboard and guitar solos can be found in almost all tracks. Winkler performs both the moderate but effective high pitched vocals, as in the powerful opener “Lasting Forever”, as well as the laid back and natural vocals heard in the more melancholic mid-tempo track “Walking Alone”. A few narrative passages in the classic genre anthem “Follow The King” and the band’s epic masterpiece in two parts entitled “Albert The Miner”, add majestic touches to these challenging and intellectual songs. The two instrumentals present us a more cinematic and orchestral side of the band, as well as incorporating some traditional Asian folk music influences, and are a laid back contrast to the rest of the powerful hymns. Lastly, the short ballad “The Way To Freedom” featuring a guest female vocalist is great way to close this very entertaining record.

Standout tracks are of course the two parts of the epic masterpiece “Albert The Miner”, which is really worth your attention and time, and probably the ballad “I Will Never Forget”, that features a dreamy and grounded duet of Thomas Winkler and Vicky Psarakis supported by catchy piano melodies, artificially flavored string sections, and acoustic guitars. I also like the feel-good atmosphere on tracks like “Way Of Your Life” that somehow feel appropriate for Christmas time. European power fans will really get what they want on this record, while haters of that genre will find this record cheesy, unoriginal, and claim that the album lacks some identity. However, if we consider all these European metal bands inspired by Middle Eastern or Chinese folk music and history, it’s completely normal to find four young Chinese musicians who simply adore power metal, culture, and arts from the exotic old continent’s culture.

The simple fact is that the band is, of course, far from being truly innovating or surprising. The songs are all well crafted but ultimately rather predictable. A few tracks also drag on a bit too long in my opinion, and lose some energy there. A song like the ballad “I Will Never Forget” would have sounded much better to my ears with a running time of only four minutes, and a true emotional highlight, instead of an overlong instrumental break plus another chorus repetition to extend the track to a length of six minutes and a half, for example.

European power metal fans will decidedly enjoy this. If you don’t like the European version of the genre, chances are good that you won’t care for a Chinese take on it either. From time to time, I still adore listening to this kind of music though. Merry Christmas!

Originally written for Black Wind Metal

There is no need to introduce the most awaited metal comeback release of the year, because everything has already been said. So let’s head straight to the music written and performed by Ozzy Obsourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and session drummer Brad Wilk (of Audioslave and Rage Against The Machine fame).

After only a few seconds, it’s as if you were back in 1980 and the band had never parted ways with Ozzy Osbourne. All early Black Sabbath trademarks are still there. Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals sound imperfectly perfect, and haven’t changed a bit during all these years, despite all the alcohol and drug abuse. Tony Iommi’s slow-motion signature riffs are depressive and heavy as always, and the bass guitar play by Geezer Butler is solid but somewhat overly conspicuous. In a few tracks, the bass guitar is too dominant. But that’s the only flaw of the production signed off on by Rick Rubin. In fact, the production sounds grounded and timeless, not too modern and loud as on Metallica’s Death Magnetic for example. Traditional Black Sabbath fans should feel relieved by now. The drum play by Brad Wilk is well-integrated into the band’s sound, but also sounds a little bit shy and slowed at some moments. A more dynamic and unique touch would have been an interesting addition, but the way it has turned out, his drumming performance is rather close to the skills of Bill Ward.

I feel that the album tries too venture too far back to the early days of the band. The riffs in the dragging and poorly-chosen opener “End Of The Beginning” immediately remind me of the legendary “Black Sabbath” song, and the closing moments of the last track “Dear Father”, with sounds of bells, rain, and thunder is also copied from the same track. Many of the new songs are too closely inspired by several classics of the band’s first ten years. There are a few too many déjà-vu (or better said, déjà-entendu) moments on this release.

Nevertheless, the overall impression of this record remains very positive. The shorter tracks are especially captivating and energizing. I would cite the fun ride that is “Loner” for example, and also the dynamic mid-tempo anthem “Live Forever”. A few bonus tracks like the strong “Methademic” hit the same vein. In my opinion, the band should have used the four bonus tracks for another regular record, along with four other new songs, rather than backloading this album.

The longer tracks definitely require a lot of patience. In the beginning I found “God Is Dead?” rather unspectacular, but eventually I found that the simplistic doom metal riffs, the haunting vocals, and the gripping signature lyrics work very well together, and this first single really grew on me. The bluesy touch in “Damaged Soul” where Ozzy Osbourne plays the harmonica is also a well-written grower.

The most outstanding song on the release is, without a doubt, “Zeitgeist”. It’s a psychedelic, slow, and wafting rock song with laid back acoustic guitars, smooth percussion work, and strange vocal effects. It sounds a little bit like a possible sequel to “Planet Caravan” to me, and is a welcome break amidst all the depressing riffs and lyrics. It lightens up this otherwise dark record.

What we have here in the end is a very solid record that goes back to the early days of the band – but it’s not a masterpiece. What I’m missing is a truly catchy track like the diversified “Bible Black” from Heaven And Hell, or a shorter potential hit single like “Let Me Hear You Scream” from the last Ozzy Osbourne solo release. This record doesn’t care about conformity, evolution, or modernity, and Black Sabbath simply plays what it does best. That’s probably why the final result doesn’t only sound familiar, but also quite sympathetic. 13 sounds coherent and relevant, despite its nostalgic touch. It’s a little miracle that this doom metal dinosaur is still alive and still celebrating a genre that has long since gone out of vogue. They deserve all of our respect. As long as these guys are still able to do so, I’m hoping for other records in the near future. Any fan of doom or heavy metal should of course call the limited edition with four bonus tracks his or her own.

Originally written for Black Wind Metal