A whole bunch of news has been coming to us over the past few weeks, and in there is something interesting for everybody: we have new videos, album teasers and new release dates coming up!

This is a DMB exclusive and we’re very happy about that. And proud. And honored! And it makes our cock tickle.

Ever since I discovered Red Descending’s Fragile Nation music video I’ve been keeping a close eye on the band and in touch with front man and bassist Bernard Shaw. An interview I had with him back in early 2010 can be found here.

Skip to the summer of last year, when the band released their Kingdoms album, their second full-length since they started the band in 2003. I did an extensive review of the album and praised its alternating nature between darkness and light, a struggle that is omnipresent throughout the record’s compositions. Great record and one you should definitely check out if you haven’t already!

Not so very long ago DMB reviewed an album by an international Folk Metal collective called Folkodia. We scored the album, titled Battles and Myths, a 7 out of 10, liking the heroic/epic inclination of the songs. Over the past few days we’ve been in contact with Michaël, a.k.a. Saga, composer, guitarist, bassist and vocalist to the group. We talked about the band, how he joined it and how it works to write for a big musicians collective like Folkodia.

A good deal of time ago – we were writing October 2010 – I featured a band called Atrum Aequora in a little potpourri post. Atrum Aequora is a female fronted Melodeath outfit from Melbourne, Australia, and it hit the spot because of its contrast between female cleans and grinding, technical Metal.

Since that time the band has gone through a few line-up changes – guitarist-vocalist Adam Donnellan left the band for example – and worked on a new demo, simply titled 2012 Demo, on which Grinding the Remains, the song we included in our earlier post, is a recurring guest. Happy to give it a quick spin!

Sylosis, from Reading, close to London, UK, is most definitely my favorite band at the moment and most probably my favorite band of all time. Their optimal mix of technicality and ‘song-sense’ is like a supermodel licking my ear lobes.

I’ve played their 2011 full-length Edge of the Earth close to one billion times and it still manages to intrigue and entertain the hell out of me. The songs flow masterfully, choosing the path that works best, like a small stream flowing down a mountain. The result is generally as logical as it is unpredictable.

Anyfuck, huge was my happiness when I heard the Brits have a third album coming out this year. It’s called Monolith and it will be released worldwide on October 9^th. Ahead of that date, Sylosis has released two songs off the album yesterday. We’ve got these tracks, occupying positions 8 and 10 on the record, lined up for you past the jump.

When You Scream is a five-headed Melodeath outfit from Osnabrück, Germany. The band formed in 2010 and consists of Chris (guitar and backing vox), Daniel (guitar), Matwey (vox), Michael (drums) and Sven (bass). So much for the band facts we managed to collect.

WYS delivered an album called The Alchemist in June of this year. Though not 100% sure, it seems this is their debut. The game is Melodic Death Metal, that’s all it says. Anyway, we took it for a spin.

With my work pressures slowly decreasing, I can slowly but steadily start to think about writing again. I did a double dose yesterday, so why not repeat that for today?

This one’s been spamming my inbox for a while; must have had like 400 e-mails announcing the coming of this album. Ignored ‘em all for months: no time. However, I did really enjoy A Wanted Awakening’s previous effort, an EP called Rebirth that I reviewed well over a year ago. It had some initial flaws and was later remastered quite successfully. Now they’ve got a full-length up, Catharsis, released about a month ago.

I get loads of recommendations and requests through my YouTube account, but I’m not in the habit of responding to those. I get enough in my inbox, more than I can cover.

Through a lucky shot I did click on this band’s link and it immediately got me banging. The band mixes a heavy dose of groove with a mild melodies and a typical French originality, brought forward primarily through vocals.

The band, based somewhere near Paris, is a very young band, the oldest member being only 19. Trying to make a name for themselves, they’ve recently released a four-song demo which is available for free download (will link you to it after the jump).

Portugal is a country that seems to be underrepresented on the map of metal, where even countries like the United Arab Emirates are gaining territory. Shadowsphere are actually the first band I hear that comes from the land of… er… yeah, what is this country actually famous for? Anyways, they’re from Portugal.

The combination of Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal has been a tried and true formula and has failed to really catch my ear. Now that Inferno lies on my plate, I feel that this style can be quite appealing, as what Shadowsphere deliver, seems to be a solid bite. True, the album name is not too original, but I like the low-key album cover and the first few minutes sound very promising. The album’s starter Within the Serpent’s Grasp (leaving the intro for what it is), is a very good song; it has good, intense riffing and it’s quite catchy.
A thing that immediately comes out are the vocals. Singer Paulo Gonçalves sounds very much like Kreator’s Mille Petrozza, and in this case this isn’t a shame: he copies Petrozza well. On the other hand, his growls seem to come along as enforced, slightly blemishing his rasps.

Every once in a while you come across something that totally blows you away. Stuff that pushes all the right buttons and gives you a wankjob as a bonus. In this case I have no ferkin’ clue why it took me two years to discover The Powerless Rise. I used to listen a lot to As I Lay Dying, I saw them live last year (with Amon Amarth) and I tend to listen to their older shit on YouTube every once in a while. Maybe I did check out a song or two before, might just have been the wrong one.

I shouldn’t call this a full-fledged review. It’s too short, I’m not actually saying much about the album’s content and, moreover, I haven’t listened to the full album. Yet. I have, however, quickly ordered it, based on what I’ve heard. Still calling it a review though, just be aware of its limitations.