Another one from Bridger’s pack. American again, from one of the various towns throughout that nation called Elizabethtown. No clue which.

Another similarity is that we’re dealing with ‘cory’ stuff again, though not quite as obviously this time. It’s crunchier, more brutal and will touch upon more progressive / technical forms of Metal, meaning it’s got a certain Djentiness to it, in addition to a strong focus on melody in the choruses. It’s good eating listening!

I got a couple of suggestions by Bridger some time ago. Like nearly three months or so. It’s just that I haven’t been able to look at these any sooner. Honestly, I’ve got so many bands to cover that I could turn this thing into a full-time job and still lack time.

Anyfuck, let’s focus on a band. This one’s called Steryle and they’re from North Carolina, USA. Despite that they’re listed as Metalcore, and also clearly are, they’re still featured on Encyclopaedia Metallum. Now the naïve reader could read that as if the band must be doing something right, but before we jump to conclusions, let’s note that Encyclopaedia Metallum doesn’t actually have a claim on the (Metallic) truth. That said, Steryle is doing something right.

So I’m getting involved in some top secret Metal blogging business that is about to unfold within the next two months or so. It will be landscape changing and all that shit, but right now I’ll keep you in the dark and laugh at you silently. Did I tell you ‘Asshole’ is my middle name? Anyfuck, one thing leads to another and for some not to be disclosed reason we end up at Brent Petrie. Who the hell is Brent Petrie?

He’s a musician. And no, I have no idea if that name of his is short for Brent petroleum. In fact, there’s much else I don’t know about him and for that reason I’ll limit myself to mentioning what I do know. Like that he’s Canadian – I think – and that he is the sole crewmember of his project…, named Brent Petrie. Simplicity can be refreshing, can’t it?!

UK Doom Metallers Conan have just uploaded a video of them performing a new song of their upcoming album, at the Buffalo Bar, Cardiff. The name Hawk as Weapon, already sounds cool to me, and the live recording sounds promising. I’ve always wondered what these guys would sound like live, and all I can say is that they sound louder and heavier than in the studio. Which is a good thing.

Then who are Conan? We wrote about them little over a month ago, and we were all quite positive. I wrote about their latest record Horseback Battle Hammer

their music feels like you’ve just had a massive blow with a war hammer, and now you lie on the ground, which is wet from the rain, while you can’t feel anything.

The Sacrificed is one of those bands with which I don’t know whether I like them or not. I picked some of their songs from different samplers, since their name seemed to be big in the Christian world. For some time I couldn’t be bothered with it, but when news came out of their upcoming album III, I picked out their song Offended and started to listen. Now, this song is supposed to be on that album, but apparently I had it already a year the before was out. Now a year later label Roxx Records released another song, called Fallen. Like Offended, this song actually surprised me, and makes III a very promising album.

The Sacrificed are an American Heavy Metal band from Florida, who have been around since 2005. With their album’s The DaVinci Hoax (2007), 2012 (2010) and now III, they seem to be taking their time in order to make an album. Style-wise they seem to be taking a Heavy Metal approach, with a very big splash of Modern sounds incorporated, which makes for a very nice, and enjoyable listening-experience.

The boundaries of Doom-Death Metal has been stretched again, this time by Greek act Hedon Cries. Their self-labeled “Atmospheric Doom-Death” is not quite as funereal or elegiac as expected, and adds a much faster tempo than the genre implies. After releasing two albums since 2001, the band underwent new changes in the form of bassist Stathis Karoutis and vocalist Christos Aidonis, and adding Thanos Lois on keyboard. The band, as a result, has shifted styles slightly into a gloomier Melodeath approach, akin to Novembre’s and Sentenced’s lovechild, with several other smaller influences hidden within The End of the Path is Nigh.

The record kicks off in style with a speedy number; the pounding drums from Papadoulas and Sentenced-like guitar-work of Boufas and Kopsaftopoulos keep the rhythm whilst injecting some melancholic melody in the chorus. The real center stage, and where the band excels, is in the guitar-work, combining a mixture of Tales…era Amorphis, Novembre and a touch of Agalloch circa Ashes… to create many a swirling melody within the songs.

More non-Black Metal from Norway. It’s like it’s just raining down on me! This time it’s an outfit called Zaed, consisting of four dudes that have been jamming together since late 2009. Two years later, Ragnar (vocals), John (drums), Thomas (bass) and Bjarne (guitars) released their first album together and they titled it simply ‘I’.

While looking at Revolver Magazine’s favourite album covers of 2011, as Mhorgl’s Heresiarch was in there, I saw the cover of ChthoniC’s album Takasago Army come by and the album description certainly caught my mind. The first band that sprung to mind were the Finnish Whispered, who have a similar Japan-related theme spun through their music, and they also use the same weird string instrument. But where Whispered incorporates some traditional Finnish Melodeath influences in their music, ChthoniC uses more Folky elements.

Takao as a song is really good. First it got me craving for some melody which I later got, in the form of a bridge sung in Taiwanese. The song is very dynamic and diverse, and even though I generally despise Asian Metal (especially those weird Japanese bands), I think this is just great.

Ok, I’m just quickly typing this up otherwise it will roam my desktop for half a year and then the magic and the news are gone. Minenwerfer are a surprise, surprise American band, from California to be exact, who play a form of semi-NS Black Metal. This is as they sing about World War One Germany and not about the Third Reich. Their album Nihilistischen is bound to come out, and the guys have one single roaming the web.

A Minenwerfer was a German short-range mortar mostly used in the First World War (so much for Middle School History). Pretty interesting name, and more German names pop-up when skimming through their discography, which also features an extensive use of black and white pictures from the Second Reich-era. Interesting.

Australia has once again proved to be a fertile ground for growing top-notch Metal. Brisbane’s own Vyrion have been harvested by The Baboon to be served up fresh today. These Blackened Progressive Metallers have been at it for a few years and released their first full-length in the late summer of 2011. An intro and nine tracks that I assure you are incredible.