Unburnt "Arcane Evolution" Review // Independent Release

Debuting from the great white north, Canada's Unburnt are rushing the scene with their fusion of Black and Death metals. Being formed by Bo Louther and Joe Mullen of Odium, John-Ryan Godfrey of We Are Human, and Eric Burnet of Samskaras. Bringing together some prime Canadian musicians who have worked to master their own styles can definitely cause a clash of sound, so the main question is, does it work? 

The EP kicks off with "A Reason To Live", an intense blend of more Melodic Death Metal and a touch of Black Metal, or Blackened Death at the very least. The dual vocal style present throughout the song is interesting and actually very similar to that of Sinsaenum, which blends the typical growl associated with that of Death Metal and the more froggy, early Attila/Mayhem-esque Black Metal. The album progresses nicely, each song flows exactly as it should and this 15 minute record makes pacing look simple as it shifts into "Superiority Through Wisdom". What is easily a stand out part of the album is Burnet's ability to enunciate each of the words. Even though the vocals are on the harsher side, each of the words are clear and will practically make the listener want to scream along with "preserving the confidence and knowing that magic has no influence". The album closes out with the title track, "Arcane Evolution", which takes everything the listener has heard thus far and injects a touch of Deathcore, as the instrumentals edge into breakdown territory in some parts and Burnet has a section with a half sing, half croak. All things considered though, this little influence and experiment doesn't take away from the song at all though and was touched in with the perfect amount of care to not be a turn off to anyone who may not be a fan of the style.

While Unburnt may blast through each song, the pacing is perfect for those looking to headbang to something more melodic, infusing something along the intensity of Dimmu Borgir or Mayhem with the melody of The Black Dahlia Murder. Now, there's one complaint to be made and it's prevalent in every song except "Arcane Evolution" and that is the mixing of the guitar solos. Each of the other three songs feature some impressive guitar work, but it's mixed in so low that as the listener, you'll have to really listen and try to not let it get drowned out by the rest of the instrumentals. Minus that small hiccup though, this debut Unburnt EP is an impressive Melodic Blackened Death Metal release (that just rolls right off the tongue doesn't it). Arcane Evolution's blasphemous words definitely aroused my judgement and would definitely deserve an absolutely perfect score if not for the odd mixing of the guitar solos that takes away from the experience ever so slightly.

9/10

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Raider "Urge to Kill" Review

          "Urge to Kill", the debut EP/Demo from KW Death Metal band Raider just dropped over this past weekend, this is a release we have been looking forward to so we had to dive right into it. The band is made up of a couple of relatively well known locals including Kyle Edissi (Aepoch, Invicta) and Brandon Sanders (The Wormwood Scrubs) as well as some new talent like vocalist Angelo Bonaccorso, so let's hop into it!

          "Urge to Kill" is a total of three tracks with what we will say is two separate "modes", the first of which is an oldschool style Melodic Death Metal and damn is it done well. "Phlebotomized" (the act of puncturing a vain, if anyone is curious) and the title track, "Urge to Kill" would both fall under this umbrella. While obviously the two songs are not exactly the same, "Phlebotomized" is a straight forward Melodic Death Metal song in the vein of Amon Amarth or Unleashed, while "Urge to Kill" takes on a bit more of a hectic approach, including straight speed in both the main instrumentals and solos much more like that of The Black Dahlia Murder or even a little more closely, Skeletonwitch.



          "Nebulous" is the only out of place track on this album. While the other two take on a much more Melodic Death Metal approach, this one seems to aim more for a Melodic Thrash style, which all in all isn't a bad thing. The song itself is good, although it seems to suffer from a bit of an identity crisis, trying to make the song too much like the other two while trying to take it in a different direction at the same time. The effect this has on the song is the fact that it does become a bit of a missmash which does hinder it a little bit and unfortunately made it a bit stale.

          All in all, "Urge to Kill" is a great first release from a band still trying to find their voice. Raider took chances with this release and honestly for the most part it paid off, my biggest suggestion to the guys in Raider would be lean more towards the Melodic Death Metal side as those tracks are killer pieces of music. Keep an eye out for these guys as if they find their stride, they'll be going far with their music!

          Raider will be playing their release show March 30th alongside Invicta, Rippr'd and Woofout at The Boathouse in Kitchener! also, CLICK HERE to be taken to the bands Bandcamp page and check out "Urge to Kill"

Interview with Shannon Lucas of Serpentine Dominion

        Although known for being the legendary drummer behind some of the best Death Metal albums, Shannon Lucas still took time out of his day to talk to us about his upcoming legendary band that years in the works. Serpentine Dominion's debut album will finally see the light of day this year, hear Shannon talk about the album, writing, how unsure he was it would even happen as well s plenty of other things you may want to know or may not have known you wanted to know!

Beware The Light's "The Light, The Hope, The Very End" EP Review

     5 Piece German Melodic Death Metal/Deathcore band Beware the Light have released their new EP "The Light, The Hope, The Very End" through Bandcamp on April 21st, 2014. The EP consists of 5 incredibly writen songs (4 new and one remastered) that keep you glued to the music from front to back. With different sounds from different bands all the way through the album like The Black Dahlia Murder, Job For A Cowboy and Cannibal Corpse it is near impossible for any Death Metal fan not to enjoy at least part of this album!

     "The Reaping" kicks off the album with a very "out at sea" sounding intro (seriously listen to the song to understand what the hell im talking about). Not to mention the incredible bas during the intro. As soon as the vocals and instrumentals begin you cant help but headbang after a perfectly timed "LET THE REAPING BEGIN." After vocal changes from low to high growls almost as often as Trevor from The Black Dahlia Muder, the band goes into an incredibly heavy "breakdown" part (I know what people thing of breakdowns but trust me, this is some Sepultura shit right here). After some incredibly heavy instrumentals and a bit of vocals the song finishs, fastest 3:30 minutes you'll sit through. Not a whole lot to say about this besides the fact that it's perfect for fronting this album.

     "Psychosis" jumps right into it, with blistering dual guitars that gradually get slower and heavier as the vocals kick in, just to jump back into the blistering part they started with. after about 40 seconds of the song the guitars jump into a sweet guitar part not many bands use, just to be followed by a soft melodic section with more cool bass (props for giving the bass attention). The bridge comes just soon enough for you to not get bored with the slow part followed by a "uhhaa" that many death metal bands use. The vocals go to a higher deathcore vocal style and drop back into a low growl, very Job For A Cowboy-ish. The song outs with a 5 second "breakdown" section that lead to a squeeling guitar and jump right into the next song.

     "Misanthropic Traits" prepare, Dying Fetus have entered the building with this awesome heavy squeely into, that surprisingly ends with a sweet 2 second bass solo before jumping back into the chaos. With incredible (incredible to someone who likes death metal) vocals over blistering guitar parts leading to a slower galopping part with more killer vocals then blends in one of the guitars doing alternatting high notes that are audioble but not the centre of attention really helps keep you glued to this song. The song leads to an insanely heavy breakdown section, but not before to long before jumping in and out from breakdown to their main riff of the song and back into breakdown thats just gonna make you wanna punch shit its so heavy! and with this the song closes out. I must add I love the title of the song.

     "Regret Nothing" is the remastered song of the album that was released originally back in July of 2013 through Bandcamp. the intro vocals show a very deathcore side to the vocalist while the instrumentals sound like their own version of Cannibal Corpse's "Evisceration Plague." This section slows down for the majority of the song but makes the riff itself feel so much heavier. At about 1:30 the band guitars go into a tapping "Death In Fire" riff before going into a small clean vocal section and jumping back into the earsplitting death metal vocals. With the vocals clear intention that you SHOULD BE MOSHING NOW by yelling "GO!" and some incredibly killer instrumentals that make you want to mosh anyways before jumping back into the tapping riff this song is clear it would be a killer song to be in the pit for! After some more clean vocals there is a "this is how we do.." and queue the Chris Barnes style pig squeel "...IIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!" to close out the song.

     "The Light, The Hope, The Very End" the title track is set to close out the album and with another slow introduction you start to question whats coming. With a clean tapping riff over a distorted rythem section the song gradually gets more and more heavy before the vocals kick in and both guitars end up being distorded again. If the album has held your attention this far you're gonna be here until the end because this song jumps around enough to keep you guessing but not so much that it gets annoying like some bands tend to do. Being a deathcore band this track clearly will have breakdowns still but they are so short that by the time they bug you (if you don't like them that is) they're over. jumping back into a standerd riff for a few bars prepare yourself for the killer drumming you may have been waiting for with vocals over top, followed by the vocalist growling "REPENT!" that drops into a section that i have no idea what to classify it as, is it a breakdown? Or is it just a normal section? I have no idea but it closes out the album pretty damn well nonetheless!

     overall 20 minues of pure death metal/deathcore ecstasy any true melo death or deathcore fan can benefit from listening to this. Absolutely killer overall 9/10 and i cant wait to see what else comes from this band!

P.S. Sorry for any mistake!! Plus i know i normall post on Thursdays but there has been so much this week with a new album that im reviewing tomorrow (Saturday April 26th) and brand new Slayer FINALLY! this is late but still its done so i hope you enjoyed it!

Acolytes "Benighted" EP Review

Acolytes, an American Melodic Death Metal band have released their new EP "Benighted" on March 31, 2014 through bandcamp (acolytes.bandcamp.com) and if you've never heard of Acolytes here's what you're in for. Imagine "Miasma" era The Black Dahlia Murder. That's it, this band sounds a ton like TBDM but its incredible because they still sound like something brand new. "Benighted" consists of 5 tracks and costs whatever you want to pay. From start to finish this album is a full on assault that'll break your neck and still have you come back for seconds. Lets get on with this.

"Madness From The Sea" opens this album with just over 3minutes of smash your head against a wall headbanging. With incredible riffs, crushing drums, face melting bass and the alternation between high and low vocals you'd expect from a band that sounds like they idolize The Black Dahlia Murder you're gonna go through this song a thousand times before you even realize it. Nothing left to say besides the fact that this is a killer opening track!

"A Morbid Rebirth" jumps back into the assault with a guitar only opening that comes back over and over through the song, that strangely (not really) reminds me of "What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse" by The Black Dahlia Murder. With more killer riffs and an absolute face melting solo as well as some very strong vocals prepare yourself for a song that'll knock you off your feet and kick you in the jaw.

"Prophetic Conquest" starting off my mentioning "the will of the gods" you know this can only go well from a death metal band. This song has one of the coolest guitar riffs you'll probably hear from any band this year. Insane riffs as well as a perfect tempo to headbang and not have it kill half way through the song is an incredible feat for any band, leading into an incredible dual onslaught guitar solo. Now what comes after all this? Think it through.. Yeah wicked bass solo that's right why not? Do a couple more verses then BAM bass solo to close out the song!

"Like Lambs" all about your stupidity in believing in religion. Now we are getting back into normal metal lyrics right? With the incredible dual guitars although the entire song not being quite as fast paced as the rest of the album for the most part is a nice breather right near the end of the album, but also shows some incredible skill from every member of the band on many occasions which is why I believe that this may be the strongest track on the album.

"Blinded By Fear" does this name sound familiar? If not you're missing out on the incredible band At The Gates or you're just missing out on their incredible 1995 album "Slaughter of the Soul" either way you fucked up. The band brings a great new feel to the song, showing they can really play their own style of music. Really there's nothing else to add besides the fact that this is a great cover and is an incredible way to close out the album.

All around "Benighted" is one tough son of a bitch and really shows that metal is far from death whether its the old bands that are still going strong or these new bands like Acolytes. If you enjoy Melodic Death Metal as a whole or if you just enjoy The Black Dahlia Murder it is required that you pick this up now! (acolytes.bandcamp.com) in my own opinion "Benighted" deserves a strong 9/10 and Acolytes deserve to be discovered! That's all, rock on \m/