Thy Infernal does a very good job on this release. Filled with aggression, intensity and well-written material. A lot of black metal bands these days throw together highly unmemorable material, sometimes to the point that you can't even tell the songs apart. That's not the case here. And while it contains nothing too ground breaking, it's a fierce slab of relentless black metal, worthy of your attention.

      This 4 song CD does nothing for me... it sounds quite carbon-copied from many other bands, offering absolutely nothing new. Void of any feeling or real intensity which they attempted to capture, I found this very boring, and you most likely shall too. Musically it's not bad, everything sounds well put together, but there are just so many other better bands out there.

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Barathrum

Saatana
[Spinefarm Records]

      After the mighty Legions of Perkele release, I was really anticipating something more from this. So in a way, I was disappointed. This isn't saying it's a bad release, it isn't, in fact, it's better than a lot of other bands these days. The song Boundless Arts caught my attention, as it's quite good. Demonos has always managed to create some of the most unique music in the genre. He certainly has a knack for creating very traditionally evil sounding atmospheres. As a whole, all of the releases are very memorable, a sort of thrashy sounding black metal. It's just that this is probably the least memorable. I highly recommend the past CD's Legions of Perkele, Infernal and Eerie. And if you appreciate those like I do, you will probably appreciate this one too. A great band, but perhaps my expectations were too high.

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Dismal Euphony

Lady Ablaze
[Napalm Records]

     If you enjoyed the first releases of Dismal Euphony-Self titled, Soria Moria Slott or even Autumn Leaves, you probably will not like this MCD-Lady Ablaze, I sure didn't. Song one has some of the most annoying female vocals I have ever heard, and her vocals in the following songs are nearly as horrible. This MCD has new songs and re-recorded early material... "Although the band are still under contract with Nuclear Blast, a special arrangement has been made for Dismal Euphony to release a new MCD on Napalm Records." Musically, it's not entirely too bad, but the negative aspects of this bands new style surely override anything else. This is NOT black metal.

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Deinonychus

Self titled
[Ars Metalli Records]

      Deinonychus' new self titled release contains all of the violent intensity of the past. A slightly less well-known band, but certainly deserving recognition. Some of you might know the vocalist/lead guitarist/bassist, Marco Kehren from his vocal work with Bethlehem. Speaking of which, Marco's vocals are amongst the most tortured sounding in black metal today. Musically, this release is also interesting, with many changing intensities. Those that value originality should definitely give this a listen. It's far from the seeming majority of clone bands nowadays. Recommended!

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Source of Tide

Ruins of Beauty
[Candlelight Records]

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     From Candlelight records comes Source of Tide, which features 'Lord PZ' from Peccatum on vocals. Personally I thought Peccatum was horrible, and I can't really say I like this either. The clean vocals butcher this recording, sounding awful. Musically this doesn't sound too bad, although it's relatively boring, but the vocals ruin any chance of enjoyment here.

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