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?!

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.

You may remember that some time ago CroOZza wrote a little piece on a Canadian formation named Karkaos. They delivered this immensely intense piece of Melodic Death Metal, with elements of darkness, Folk and pirate atmospheres, as well as a bunch of other stuff. Stuff’s definitely cool!

Anyway, one thing led to another and before we knew it we got into contact with Veronica Rodriguez, lead singer in the band, who got some of her band mates to agree to do an interview with us. That’ll follow in a bit, but first let’s present you with a brief overview of the band’s history, to give you some perspective.

Thousand Year War. Nothing we think we’d would want of course, because we’re all friendly people at The Baboon and we don’t wish anyone dead. Except for pop music perhaps. But, because we’re talking about a band, who’d have thought, that is turning out precisely the type of music that tickles our fancy, we actually do want it.

The project was started at the end of 2008 / beginning of 2009 by Hiram Lohr from Alaska. He then got reinforcements in the form of Kellen Sharp and after hiring a session drummer they recorded their first EP, and self-titled it. Not long after, in the same year still, work was started on the group’s debut record. After proper mixing and mastering, and finding a lable, Tyrants and Men first saw the light of day last September. With help of more session musicians, Hiram, who’s currently the only official member again, has now started work on the next EP, which is to be titled Doom Rides These Mountains.

You could say we’re having two stragglers from 2011 today. Scartown and Deviant Syndrome have both released an album onto the market last year, on which we haven’t reported yet at all. We’re happy to fill that void today, because in terms of Melodeath, Russia has actually got some quality to offer.

[I'm just seeing I spend the last 15 minutes for nothing since the guys have been featured before. However, not with enough depth because they can do more than the song Sun of Ice. So, enjoy some more Uncreation!]

Since Niek made clear that he had been spoiled concerning Melodic Death Metal over the years, and that he was hard to impress, I decided to pull out some to see where I stood. Uncreation was one of the first bands I got into since they gave away their demo, which wasn’t bad at all, as a free download. Now, roughly six years since the release of that demo and some two years after I heard it they released their album Burning Blood, which is almost a year old now.

Burning Blood brings forth some really solid Melodeath, which, surprisingly, has some things in common with Immortal Souls. The melodies on this killer are very much in the same vain as those of our Finnish brothers, but this time they are drenched in some guttural vocals, and it’s all a tad heavier (and with that slower).

It’s been a lengthy day, so let me serve you a quicky and then hit the pillow. I came across this band from Western Kentucky some time ago, called Voyage of Slaves. Their Facebook page describes their music as ”Blackened Viking Zombie Thrash / Death Metal”, ”Death / Thrash Metal with a lemony, blackened twist” and “Old-school Death / Thrash Viking Zombie Metal”. I don’t claim to have listened to their full repertoire, but might I add that there’s a hint of Pirate Metal in there somewhere as well?

I’m fuckin’ about of course, but eventually the band does make a point: there are lots of styles and influences on display here. It’s Metal that’s both raw and unpolished, melodic, pounding and epic in the Folky sort of way. But there are also flat-out Black Metal patterns on occasion that scrape the skin of your back. All in all, nothing that the average Metalhead wouldn’t be appreciative off.

Sometimes you wish bands would just stop making demos. Like (Psychoparalysis) for example. This four-pieced group of Fins from a town called Uusimaa just aired its third demo since forming in 2009. All of them are lengthy buggers, chuckin’ in well over fifteen minutes of music in just three or four songs. I reviewed their second demo, titled Forest of Ignorance which they released in 2010, in August and totally dug it. I called it a ”cunning display of musical abilities”. That wasn’t because it’s technical or fast, but because it’s just so well bolted together.

Well, now there’s more from where that came from; that third demo. It’s called Escalation and contains three songs, together clocking in 17 odd more minutes of Progressive / Melodic Death Metal that’s built very fuckin’ well. Where Forest of Ignorance already gave me enough proof to think these guys should start work on an album, Escalation adds to that and now I’m just going to say it out loud: get started on an album guys!

As I was checking out some of Death’s work, I made a jump to Toxic Holocaust’s latest work. The two minute-long Judgement Awaits You didn’t really attract my attention, but as I clicked through to Revocation’s latest single No Funeral, my day got better. It was fresh, catchy, yet extreme and fast. This was something I needed more of.

Revocation was formed in 2006 and they have released three albums and one EP to date. In order to stay with today, I decided to dive into their latest album Chaos of Forms, released just about 4 months ago. Looking at lyrics, song length or anything, this is nothing special, but boy, this album just gets me banging from the first note.