Feature: Five bands to watch

There are certainly hundreds of bands bands which are worth keeping an eye on, which, while sill relatively young, and in many cases quite obscure, are already set to make waves. Lamentably, I wish I knew them all, but sadly, I can only keep my eye on some of them. I can tell you, however, that I expect great things from this collection of young bands, and for each and every one of the five on this list to be well known names among metal fans within the next decade, and it is already apparent that some of them are already embarking on this process. Since thinking of this feature this morning, I've thought up a couple of bands who very snugly fit the criteria, so here they are, highlighted in no particular order.

Ketzer: From Germany, Ketzer play a explosive and ferocious style of black-thrash which is already going down a storm with many metal fans who keep their eye on the emergent underground bands. "Satan's Boundaries Unchained" (right) is the bands well received début album, which I anticipate reviewing shortly, and, at some point this year, will hopefully be accompanied by a follow-up album. I consider Ketzer a band to watch on account of the sheer raw, ripping quality of their début, and with the promise of an follow up, hopefully of the same calibre, I firmly have my eye on them.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ketzer/57499

Skull Fist: Skull Fist's brand of cheeky, retro speed-metal seems to have gathered them a very large cult following, and with only one full length album out; "Head of the Pack", this is impressive indeed. Very much a love-hate band, the waves Skull Fist have made in the metal scene are felt by most, and enjoyed by many. The band deliver a fairly unique sounding, musically talented Canadian punch to the face with the intensity, virtuosity and over the top vocals which are impossible to ignore. Skull Fist are like Ketzer, in the sense that if they continue to release material of their current quality, they will become renowned indeed.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Skull_Fist/79718

Vektor: Vektor really need no introduction. Their two "proper" full length albums; "Black Future" and "Outer Isolation" are already propelling the band into significant renown. Many hail the band as one of the bast things to happen to thrash-metal in a long time, and certainly, the band's alarmingly technical, fast, all-encompassing and distinct playing-style doubtless has the potential to go down in the metal history-books. Vektor are among the furthest down the path to classic-status on this particular list, and the band, while younger than a lot of the "modern" thrash bands out there, definitely possesses the potential to overtake many of them.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Vektor/87803

Wodensthrone: Many bands now-a-days combine post-rock with black metal, but Wodensthrone happen to do it quite exceptionally well. With one album released, and another heralded to be on the way, the band don't have the largest discography among it's peers, but "Loss" the bands début full-length, certainly makes up for it in haunting beauty, brought together by harsh but melancholic vocals and guitar, combined with astoundingly beautiful, ancient sounding synth. I can only proclaim that if the bands second album doesn't propel them to great renown, then there is no justice in the world, that is, assuming, that the album is good, which, judging by "Loss", it should be.

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Wodensthrone/Loss/241841

Thrall: I mention Thrall quite a lot on this blog. I refuse to take any blame for this, as the band insist on making some of the most fantastically desolate, eerie and altogether epic and complete-sounding black metal I've heard. On the right is their second album "Vermin to the Earth" which continues the band's anti-human, extinction crazed brand of music in pleasingly consistent and improving fashion. While perhaps one of the more obscure bands on the list just now, I cannot imagine the gem remaining undiscovered forever, and I'll certainly be keeping an eye on the band, as I expect them to shoot to renown in the near future.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Thrall/3540308158

Of course there are a great many bands of a similar status, poised on the edge of becoming greatly revered, and I can safely say I'm ever searching for them. These five immediately come to mind, but there are without a doubt others, which, perhaps, I shall write about another day.

#124 Archgoat - The Light Devouring Darkness

And now, to bring the trilogy of bestial black/death metal bands, which, retrospectively, are fairly tenuously linked, to a close, I'm going to review Archgoat. I heard of Archgoat long after I heard of Von and Blasphemy, but they, like the other bands were busy doing things at around the same times; the very early nineties, and as such, seemed a natural accompaniment to two. 

 The similarities of the three bands are definitely notable, and I wondered how this fact would affect my ability to review their music. Fortunately, differences are very much present, in excess of my expectations. "The Light Devouring Darkness" was released in the very not-nineties time of 2009, just going to show that unlike, so far, Von and Blasphemy, Archgoat are still doing things - sure, the other two bands manage the occasional EP or DVD, but Archgoat have brought out at least an equal discography, and that's before counting the two full-lengths the band have made since reforming in 2004. The relative freshness of the album is very much apparent, especially in terms of the production quality, which is much, much, MUCH higher, almost to the point of being above a lot of today's black-metal, let alone war metal, as many would herald Archgoat's style to be. Nonetheless, this relative crispness does nothing to hinder the Juggernaut of evil which vomits forth from my speakers upon playing the music. I certainly enjoy it a lot more than Von or indeed Blasphemy, just for the fact that is sounds so much more complete and clear, and while this may contradict the music's aesthetical code, in the eyes of some, I'm certainly embracing it.

I admire the way that the band bring a different kind of evil into their music when compared to "standard" black metal. I may well have said the same for Blasphemy, but I feel that it's even more true of Archgoat - they bring, as opposed to an eeriness, a wild, blasphemous fucking thunder of cloven-hoofed misanthropy to the party, something which before, I'd heard only in the entirely different musical context of bands like Abigail, from Japan. I may sound very naive to say that it's a relatively new style to me, but... well... it is. I certainly appreciate it though - It's got all of the evil of black metal, but keeps the pounding, memorable nature, and attitude of the other forms of metal which influence it.

I've found reviewing three albums of a similar style to be as educating as it was taxing, and I certainly might not have looked at any of the bands in as much detail if I hadn't decided to make myself do this. In the end, it was definitely worth it. Archgoat may well be my favourite of the three. This album has been the first of theirs that I've listened to fully, and I'm impressed and excited.

This is 9/10. In my opinion, a cut above the rest.

Links:
Archgoat official site
Archgoat on Myspace
Archgoat on Metal Archives

#123 Von - Satanic Blood

Von are the second in my somewhat arbitrary trio of bands which are widely held as being among the cult artists of the low-fi black/death/war metal world. If I could put a better phrase on it, I would, but my knowledge of the particular school of extreme metal which such bands come from is sadly limited. But that's by the by. To get to the point, Von released the "Satanic Blood" demo back in 1992, and many would herald it some of the first "true" black-metal from the United States.

As a record, Satanic Blood takes a while to get started. The first two songs, "Devil Pig" and "Veinen" really showcase the bands horrific drum sound. It's a given that the style of music which Von represent are meant to sound a low-fi, but sometimes it seems to go a little far - The first two songs, in addition to blending into each other, also sound like the percussion is provided by a man hitting a plastic biscuit-tin with a spoon. This fact had often deterred me from listening to the band much, and when I put in the effort to listen to the whole thing, I was very pleasantly surprised that after the initial misfire, the remaining songs are actually quite enjoyable, not only does the sound get better, but the songs become memorable, for example "Satanic Blood" and "Veadtuck" are well-executed creepy black-metal in style, and have a sinister sound not quite replicated outside of Von.

The vocals, like those of Blasphemy, aren't really those of a stereotypical black-metal band, and existing before black-metal had any conventions in terms of style, this is no suprise. Interestingly, the vocals Von do utilitsestill possess an atmospheric, as opposed to brutal, harshness. One reason, for this, no doubt, is their near heroic levels of reverb, which give the band a very unnatural sound, boosting, as opposed to hindering their eerie, satanic sound. The bands whole aesthetic, both in terms of sound and appearence seems to have this quality; scary not so much in the sense of the devil himself rising from the pit in a fit of misanthropy, as is invoked by some black-metal, but more subtle than that; An ancient, unexplained tablet depicting such an event, with a dark, evil aura. Von's demo is definitely the sort of thing that will greatly alarm someone searching through an old box of music in an attic in about a centuries time.

I've come to admire Von for managing to be scary through different channels to black-metal's typical approach. While the album is heavy, by anyones standards, it's not that which makes it sinister, even to the hardened extreme-metal listener. It's how very arcane, and almost supernatural it's prescence feels, the sheer kvltness eminating from it perhaps. Whatever the answer is, it's a damn fine piece of work.

I'm going to give "Satanic Blood" 8/10, drawing it level with "Fallen Angel of Doom"

Links:
Von on Myspace
Von on Facebook
Von on Metal Archives

#122 Blasphemy - Fallen Angel of Doom

 This review is the first in what I've decided to be a trio of reviews focusing on bestial, low-fi death/black metal - Expect reviews of Von and Archgoat in the coming days.

Many a kvlt gentleman have I encountered who responds to the name "Blasphemy" with great approval, and they're definitely high on, pardon the pun, extreme metal's "cult classics" list. Being one of those bands, like Von, who do an interesting style of lo-fi death-metal, almost approaching black-metal, the "Fallen Angel of Doom" album wasn't a crystal clear listen, but it was nonetheless satisfying.

I'd not listened to much Blasphemy before this, but the low-fi and minimalist production came as no surprise at all - The aesthetic, of red and black, which, in this context, as far as I can tell, was essentially spawned by bands of this persuasion, certainly hints of it, and that's before their musical context makes their style all too clear. Unlike just about everything I usually listen to, this album is very much driven both by the drums and guitar, which seem to be given more standing in the mix compared to the guitar and bass sound, which immediately reminded me of Von, who go down a similar path. If anything, however this stuff is a bit better produced, and certainly benefits from it. The vocals are very much on the death-metal end of the slider, but nonetheless sound quite eerie, like some hideous resurrected lich, which definitely makes the sound more evil and occult. The guiars follow on with this theme - the solos are chaotic, but come with a dark, spine-tingling edge of discord and evil, and the rhythm-work has the slightly repetitive edge which black-metal is so often equipped with.

Despite being released a while before black-metal became a true subgenre, you can definitely hear it in a proto-state in a lot of the songs on the record - especially "Goddess of Perversity" which immediately made my black-metal sense wake up a bit. The devilish sounding intro, coupled with the general evil riffing and vocals on the track certainly are situated in a no man's land, which, at the time, few bands had ventured into. I don't know how aware Blasphemy and Von were of the Norwegian scene which began a few years later, and indeed vice-versa, but I'd certainly venture that the north-American bands have as much right to the claim to be among the originators of the style as the European bands do. Fathering a different school of the style, of course, one which is much more bestial and dessicated than conventional black metal, Blasphemy certainly took extreme music to a new level, and it's still unparallelled in a certain kind of heaviness, which I can't quite put my finger on. Suffice to say, Blasphemy impress me with their unrefined brutality, which manages nicely not to be cliche, or indeed foolishly over-the-top.

I tried to listen to Blasphemy maybe a year or so ago, and I couldn't get into them at all. However, there are certainly bands which I hear in that way, and somehow know that a time will come when I will get into them. Blasphemy are one such band, and no doubt, in light of this strategic expansion of taste, more of a similar vein shall follow.

I'm giving this an 8/10.

Links:
Blasphemy on Myspace
Blasphemy on Metal Archives

#121 Korpiklaani - Karkelo

When it comes to folk metal, I generally listen to the kind which is laced with black-metal, or something of that persuasion. However, the opening song of Korpiklaani's "Karkelo" album - "Vodka" came on the other day, and I realised that I've never really given much attention to the band, and to bands of that style. Lamentably ignorant as I am to Finnish folk-culture, I can certainly feel and enjoy the music.

I generally assumed, probably based on songs like the aforementioned "Vodka" that Korpiklaani went down a road much akin to Alestorm, dispersing a lot of humour within their music. Upon actually examining an album, as far as I can tell, not speaking Finnish, the majority of the songs seem vaguely serious. They're upbeat, undeniably, but don't seem to be limited to humorous themes, and manage to have a sense of epicness along with their cheerful energy. It always confuses me when people have a problem with folk-metal seeming to be "party-music", when folk itself has always possessed this kind of  attribute, in so many instances, and as such, folk-metal isn't really "belittling" folk music. But I digress. It does seem a little odd to me that a largely serious album would be scattered with cheesy, humorous drinking songs, but neither does it feel unwelcome - through the course of my listen, I definitely enjoyed both, and while I find that folk metal of this style feels a little too "clean" in terms of production to carry deep emotions, I definitely felt plenty of emotional puppet-strings being pulled by the songs.

The folk and non-folk elements in the music are very discrete from one another, with the metal parts seemingly not going very far to sound very folk-like in their own right, instead sounding akin to power-metal, with the folk-sound chucked in on top, in the form of the folk instruments, which interract with the Guitar and drums variably well from song to song. "Vodka" for instance, blends the two quite well, while on others it sounds a little odd, or atleast, less effective. Trying to listen to it and aim your ear at the folk seems less rewarding, a few songs aside, than simply listening to it as if it was power-metal, enjoying the songs for what they are, and not for the relative "novelty" of the folk to the ears. Perhaps I'm wrong to assume that there is such a thing as more than one "way" to listen to things, but I certainly found myself appreciating the music more. When the folk sits well with the song, it's damn pleasing, though, and I'm glad that the mix was just-right occasionally.

An interesting, and fairly arbitrary album to have come to my mind, I must confess, but Karkelo is also an album that I've discovered that I enjoy to more of an extent than I perhaps imagined. I'm glad that I'm able to enjoy the fun songs as well as the more down-to-earth ones, and both are quite well done, in places, and while the metal-elements seem to clash a little with the folk, it's still a good listen.

I'm going to give the album a 7/10. 

Links
Korpiklaani on Myspace
Korpiklaani on Facebook
Korpiklaani on Metal Archives

#120 Slayer - Show No Mercy

I spoke in my Exodus review about inadvertently not reviewing some of the most influential and important thrash bands. If neglecting exodus was criminal, then I can safely say the neglecting Slayer has been somewhat akin to treason. To amend this travesty, I now shall proceed to take a good look at the elephant in the room, that nobody noticed.

I don't actually listen to a terrific amount of Slayer, despite enjoying them when I do. "Show No Mercy" is probably one of my favourite albums by the band, and certainly one of the few I've lent my ear to, to any extent. I always enjoyed the NWOBHM influence on the band's early sound, and on this album it's very apparent in the song style. In this respect Slayer go down the path of sounding like a somewhat more thrash, slightly more technical version of Venom, combined with, of course, their own unique character. When I discovered that Slayer opened for Venom, in the early days, I was not surprised, and it was this that first lead me to compare the two bands. Of course, this isn't to say that Slayer don't have their distinct charm, with the unmistakable tone and style which would later come into it's own, and change the world of thrash forever. However, the "proto-Slayer" sound in this album is laden with charm; The more traditional style rhythms and drumbeats give it a much more jumpy impact, and the album doesn't bludgeon in quite the way that behemoths like "Reign in Blood" do, but the songs are still equipped with that signature sinister dark tone, which is what makes the band stand out, even today.

It interests me to imagine just how refreshingly new Slayer must have sounded around this time - Thrash wasn't really born in 1983, but here they were, playing a thrash of which almost no other 1983 thrash album matched, and while heavily influenced by more traditional metal styles, the album is, undeniably, a true thrash album, albeit not as intense as what was yet to come. Nonetheless, I find "Show No Mercy" to possess a very amiable collection of attributes - On top of being a monumentally significant début, I love the production, right down to the artwork - in terms of sound, the album is produced in nice, clunky fashion, but has a well-rounded edge. I'd go as far as to say that aside from the vocals often being mixed a bit low, the production is almost exactly as thrash-metal should be, and certainly, in my opinion, is one of the styles which showcases thrash the best.

This overall iconic album certainly lives up to it's legacy - while Slayer, of course, went on to heavier things, this album still has something, to me at least, that the others don't hold in such profusion. I certainly like most of Slayers discography, in one way or another, but this album is certainly the one which I love.

I think maybe an 8/10.

Links:
Slayer Official site
Slayer on Myspace
Slayer on Metal Archives

#119 Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation of the Black Widow

Anaal Nathrakh have a reputation for being popularly accepted as one of the heaviest extreme-metal bands to be known to more people than simply a single person in a far-flung bedroom. I've leant my ear to a couple of songs in the past, and decided that it was very probably time to listen to a full album, to get a more earnest impression of the band. It turns out, as I had expected, that the bands general style in general is as rabid, brutal and quirky as the first song I listened to; "More Fire than Blood"

It's safe to say that the band combine black-metal with grindcore very effectively, and certainly make the most of both styles, but there is undeniably a lot more going on in the bands sound than merely that - The vocals are ridiculously diverse, with unrefined screaming, screeching, roaring, and the occasional clean-vocal, done in the recognisable black-metal "almost operatic but not quite" way. In many places the vocals are many-layered, and altered well beyond the human voices capability with effects. The vocals, through this, are rendered a true, multi-directional onslaught, as opposed to a single voice, and a lot of the rest of the music reflects this, with unabashed usage of plenty of alteration which detract from the raw aesthetic of black-metal, but create a pleasingly unpredictable monstrosity, with plenty of originality. The programmed drums used add some essential tightness to the mix. Unexpectedly, I must admit, I did find that the band had a human drummer live. Having to replicate the relentlessly pounding drums on the studio work, no doubt successfully, is a testament to his talents. Oddly, for someone who usually stands against drum programming, I found that the sterility of the drums actually added to the bands sound on this album, with the bleak and dark atmosphere complemented by them.

the grindcore side of things is reflected in the breakneck speed and briefness of many of the songs, but unlike a lot of the grindcore I've listened to, Anaal Nathrakh's material sticks in my head very well. A lot of the songs have very well placed choruses, which lower the tempo a little, and are often the time at which the clean vocals are introduced. The choruses from "More Fire than Blood" and "So Be It" are good examples of how the band produce choruses of gargantuan memorability. Atmosphere permeates these, and indeed the whole songs. Crazed, beautiful and at times melancholy, the atmosphere is conjured with a mixture of raw musicianship, and a veritable ton of fuck-knows what else. All of this insanity is encapsulated nicely by the production, which is tight, and fits happily at "adequate", as opposed to going too far. Needless to say, it manages to represent everything quite nicely, as opposed to losing bits of the mix in a tempest of low-fi.

Combining all of the elements held within their colossally bleak, savage sound has definitely been a rewarding activity, and the excitement that I felt at the album was most enjoyable - something I've not quite felt since I was first getting into black-metal, and it felt like the heaviest thing in the world. Needless to say, Anaal Nathrakh are a band which will make their way into my regular listening.

This is a 9/10, no doubt about it.

Links:
Anaal Nathrakh on Myspace
Anaal Nathrakh on Facebook
Anaal Nathrakh on Metal Archives

#118 Katana - Heads Will Roll

Of late, the metal scene, internationally, has been supplied with a great number of young, energetic traditional metal bands, Lead by bands like White Wizzard, the "movement" seems to have spawned bands all across the world. Hailing from Gothenburg, Katana are one of Sweden's contributions.

Traditional metal, nowadays, seems to have attained a certain plateau of style, and as such, it's always interesting to see what new bands bring to the table. Katana deliver a tight, memorable and relatively neat performance, with a good degree of catchiness, especially in terms of good, relatively original sounding vocal hooks from the band's more-than-competent vocalist. One of the distinctive aspects in the bands style is the very noticeable power-metal undertone to their sound, and the album certainly has a greater number of frills and musical flourishes than a "vanilla" traditional metal album, which is definitely an enjoyable factor, and sets the band apart a bit. Certainly, the mix of styles has been done before, but it's very fitting and sounds very well deployed in this album, adding a lot to it musically, in terms of depth, diversity and complexity. As with a lot of "new wave of..." traditional metal, there are definitely modern twists to the song writing - double-kick drumming is used much more liberally, and the production definitely has a modern shine. It could be ventured that these things, and those like them, which I am less able to name with certainty, are what sets the "new" traditional metal apart from the old. Katana are definitely not trying to be "retro" - they're playing the style which comes naturally to them.

The distinctly Asian theme of the band is definitely interesting, and makes for an album with quite a noticeable direction, but on the other hand, the balance seems to be there, and well implemented at that - There are no shortages of diversity in terms of subject matter. The album in general, for that matter, is well rounded to quite a high degree - some tracks definitely stand out more than others, but there's quite a high minimum standard, which is definitely a bit of good news. Katana take traditional heavy-metal down a rather melodic path, and consistently through the album, they do a good job of it.

I'm probably safe in thinking that Katana take their influence from the usual suspects; Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, among a few others. Pleasingly though, they've added to their sound enough for it not to be simply a "clone" of either of the aforementioned band. Frankly, I find Katana to be quite a promising young band.

I'm going to give "Heads Will Roll" 7/10.

Links:
Katana on Myspace
Katana on Facebook
Katana on Metal Archives

#117 English Dogs - Forward Into Battle

Punk isn't a genre I've delved anything like deeply enough into, which is odd, because when combined with metal - and often when it's not - I thoroughly enjoy it. "Forward into Battle" is definitely of the former school, and combines punk rock with thrashy, speedy influences. I'd not heard the band before, but I can safely say I'll be hearing more of them now.

My description of the band, perhaps a testament to my limited knowledge, is that of a band which sounds like an older, wiser Toxic Holocaust, and sounds a damn-sight more punk. Released back in 1985, this album was a very thrashy affair for a time in which thrash was only a juvenile style of metal, and the band seem to reflect the injection of punk with which thrash was boosted to uniqueness. The style which English Dogs seem to have brewed is outstanding - It's got a strong punk and speed metal prescience, which mixes with the thrash to make it snotty, catchy and altogether interesting - something shared by bands like Venom, albeit less technically and tightly, compared to this band, who carry-off plenty of lead, diverse song structures and a generally noteworthy level of technicality, impressively breaking the stereotype of punk musicianship. I know that metal and punk are mixed together with great frequency, but I've not often heard it mixed at the ratios which English Dogs do - It's not quite thrash enough to be crossover, perhaps, and not punk enough to be punk-rock, but somewhere in the middle, and a rather excellent sounding middle it is too - It's almost impossible to put on a two directional spectrum, perhaps if one was to smash together Iron Maiden, Venom and very early thrash, then spun them in a centrifuge for quite some time, you could get something similar, but there is really no way of putting it properly - listen for yourselves.

The production pleases me a lot too - It's mixed to the point that everything is audible, and the levels are about right, but it's got a wonderful clunkiness to it. There's a lot of organic feel to it, and it's certainly not enhanced excessively post-recording, which, when done well - like this - is something that I seldom fail to enjoy. The production compliments the albums sound nicely, and really sets a "scene" for their neish in metal.

I have a vague instinct when it comes to finding bands which I've not heard before. I can usually tell which ones will grab my vague interest, and above that, I can tell which ones will become highly incorporated into my every-day listening. I can happily say that this band is definitely one of the latter.

This is an 8/10. 

Links:
English Dogs on Myspace
English Dogs on Metal Archives

#116 Exodus - Fabulous Disaster

Well, there was definitely something of a lull in my output of reviews over the drinki... I mean... festive season, but hopefully now I can get back to writing them every couple of days. Yestarday, I sat, and noticed "Damn, I've never reviewed an Exodus album!" Remain calm, this shall now be ammended.

There is no deep, profound reason for me not to have reviewed the band in the past, I merely forgot. But this cornerstone of Bay-area thrash cannot be forgotten forever. I've not listened to enough Exodus, I feel, but I admire most of what they've done for thrash - For being an album released in the misty eons of slightly muddy production in thrash as a whole, the album sounds damn tight, and has a nice sharpness which many of it's peers lacked, Master of Puppets, for instance, is almost unlistenable to me at the moment on account of it's sheer murky sound, in which everything is slightly too lost to enjoy. Musically, Fabulous Disaster is a sturdy metal steed, with thrash of  the quintessentially 80's, harsh, but also catchy style. Toxic Waltz is a prime example of this - the song is not going to leave my head for a long time, and when it does, I can guarantee that there will be an "instant replay" button present. The overall lesson that the album teaches with songs like this is that thrash, damn, heavy metal in general, is perfectly allowed to be fun.

Another observation is that you simply don't get thrash which is quite as catchy as this now-a-days. Although a change from the comparatively more intense attack of earlier material like "Bonded by Blood", this album makes up for it with the aforementioned catchiness. On almost all levels, the album is exactly what the doctor ordered - It's a good medium. Most of the songs, it is safe to say, won't evoke strong feelings of wonder, inspiration or the like, but they're quite exceptionally fun to listen to, and that's what thrash is actually about, in it's pure state. The album seems to be a peak album, with any filler having been thrown in a sack and thrown in the San Francisco bay. Each song is strong on it's own merits, and they merge together to forge a deeply enjoyable, memorable and  quirky album.

Old albums, which have stood the test of time, often sound high quality. This, of course, is often due to the fact that they've been around for quite some time, and a lot of the opposition has faded into obscurity. I'd like to think, however, that Fabulous Disaster is the kind of album which I would enjoy whatever it's age. I'd not listened to it often before now, but I'm pretty certain that's going to change.

I can't give this anything less than 9/10.

 Links:
Exodus Official site
Exodus on Myspace
Exodus on Facebook
Exodus on Metal Archives

Feature: Album of the year result

I have to say that I'm quite pleased that I managed to bug almost fifty people into voting for an album of the year, especially considering that the selection which I presented them with was not exactly inclusive of everyone's taste, and of course, left out some of the interesting albums of the year, but alas, I can't listen to everthing. After a little over a fortnight of leaving it up for anyone who happened to be on the page to decide, a winner, by a margin of one vote, has come to be decided;

Albums which are a significant and genuine return to form are always marvellous to behold, and few I have heard have quite matched Iced Earth's Dystopia in this aspect. In many, many ways, the album seems to be worthy of such recognition. The band seem to have been rekindled and revitalised by a new frontman, and a seemingly regained quality of songwriting. The whole album has somewhat taken over my listening to an extent that few albums do, and judging by the way everyone voted in the poll, they agree.

Dystopia is the Heavy Metal Spotlight album of the year.