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’.

Where my prejudice about Norwegian Metal makes me expect all Metal from Norway is Black Metal, I’ve got a similar – and equally fucked-up – rule of thumb about Sweden. It’s either Old-school Death Metal type of stuff or Melodeath that they produce there. Absolute rubbish of course and the examples are numerous. Still, it’s a bit of a default thing to expect I guess.

Today we add another entry to our list of examples that counter that coarse generalization: Humanity’s Last Breath. They’re a five-piece from the city of Helsingborg, where I know also Soilwork is from. A typical line-up of two guitars, a bass, some bongos and a voice, these guys produce something undeniably brutal and aggressive, often a shit storm of blasts and chugs, but also often melodic and harmonious. That is what I pulled from the band’s latest release, which was sent out into the world in early 2011 as their second EP since forming in 2009.

My naïve self always held Norway responsible for the world’s main supply of Black Metal. The same brain responsible for that belief thought up that then also pretty much every Norwegian Metal band would be a Black Metal band. But lately I’ve been proven wrong in my generalization quite a few times. Like by Aspherium and Okular rather recently.

But I have noticed that Progressive Death Metal outfits like these two often do add in a thick and acid splash of Black Metal darkness here and there. The same is the case for The Fallen Divine as Toreignimmortal has already commented when he pointed you towards the free streaming album these guys have released in late November. Following in his footsteps, I’ve been listening to this highly promising debut release a bit as well.

These guys are good! Phase Reverse. I had never heard of these guys before, but I’m glad I did now, despite that they are ”not quite Metal, not quite Rock, but the best of both”. I guess that’ll depend on your point of reference. If you look back in music history and think about bands like Sabbath, this will definitely fall within your definition of Metal. If by Metal the first think you think of is gutturals, it won’t. In any case that band itself says ”our music is just Rock… Heavy Rock”.

In the end I don’t care much, this stuff has struck a chord in me and that’s all that matters. Out of Athens, Greece, these three boys don’t come from where their music would make you expect them to be from. That’s because they have intertwined their Retal / Mock with a thick, juicy, Bourbon-lovin’ Southern influence. How that becomes apparent? Well, music-technically I have no fuckin’ idea. It’s just an atmosphere they breathe and a feeling you get as a listener.

Sidestepping their Brutal Death Metal roots, Dutch quintet Toxocara have embraced a slightly different angle on their third album AtmosFear. Understandable, given the significant line-up change they underwent, but at least there are some remnants of the older style, now mixed in with some industrial and Tech-Death touches. Their main aims seem to be intensity and speed, both of which they achieve with much aplomb, and display a maturity that can only be gained from each of the members having his own respective bands on the side.

Ignoring the frankly strange title-track intro of children singing, the first proper track Black Widow kicks off nicely with a blazing fury of Technical Death Metal, powered by human drum-machine William Vlierman, who dominates much of the album. An echo of The Monolith Deathcult is present (logically given they share Martijn Moes as guitarist), but they also incorporate elements of Obscura in the solos from Moes and Vince Zwarts, and some tasteful melodic lines.

Servants of Justice was released back in December and is this German five-piece’s first full-length release. Still, the band defines itself as ”a true live-band” and to prove this, they’ve refrained from using a metronome in the recording process of the record. Not sure if that means they also recorded all the songs in one go, so all instruments at once, or not, but in the end I doubt it matters.

What does matter is that it all sounds fine and more importantly that the band has found its own weird-ass theme for the music. This is gallows-themed Melodic Death Metal and it’s apparent primarily in the song titles and lyrics – a couple of examples: The Gallow March, Crash Course Dying, Hang ‘em High, Withdraw the Hangmen – and the album cover featuring an executioner in the process of beheading some dude.

A couple of months ago we covered a song by a German band named Vaulting. I characterized the song as having ”plenty of fast-paced leads, hooks and sharp edges”. A few weeks later the band released its debut record Nucleus, containing thirteen brand new songs of pretty much the same general inclination. If it wasn’t for a bunch of them being rather different.

So Nucleus is a debut according to drummer Sebastian Gathof, so it’s kinda strange how Encyclopaedia Metallum lists 2008’s Epilog as a full-length too. Because taking a closer look at it, it seems more like an EP, with only 18 odd minutes of playing time. Yet there are eight songs which is more than you’d expect on a normal EP. The key is in the Grindcorian length of songs: one of them is only four seconds.

In August, a Canadian band named Krokmitën released a 46-minute album they had worked on since 2005. Though a long time to cover just one record, it isn’t abnormal and wouldn’t have dropped my jaw. What did is the fact that this album is really just one ”song” and actually more than that. Because in addition to 46 minutes of Old-school-type Experimental Death Metal, the album features professionally made but freaky-as-fuck animations alongside.

Alpha-Beta is like an experience, I found, similar to a movie or play, even so when just listening to the music without the animations. In fact, that’s how I listened to the release the first four or five times and I can tell you that it’ll still achieve that effect that way.

We’ve got the full 46-minute bloodsucker streaming down below – in four pieces, because it’s too lengthy for YouTube – but you can also go to the band’s home page to download the full thing freely and legally.

Metal out of Sweden today, by a four-piece named Asylium. An Architecture of Human Desolation is their first full-length accomplishment and it was released into the world in June of this year. I’ve been on it for a couple of days now and I can tell you it’s loud. Grinding. Heavy. Hard. Raw. Crude. And not for fuckin’ pussies.

An Architecture of Human Desolation is a bit like Grindcore for people with extra big balls. It has the same integral crudeness and hardness, just played at extra brutal amp settings and with an overload of sharp hooks and leads. A concept that should be familiar. But does it really work?