Swedish melodic death metal masters return ever triumphant with their eleventh album ‘Deceivers’, which marks some of their finest, most ambitious and explosive material to date.
The colossal opener ‘Handshake With Hell’ asserts Alissa White-Gluz’s versatile capabilities displaying incredible clean melodic vocals paired with her fierce ones, making for a crushing combination, and the excellent fiery rapid guitar work makes it unyielding. An exhilarating and impressive one to kick off with.
The intro guitars remind a bit of old HIM distortion, but then silence comes and Lauri’s voices is accompanied but strings…. and aside from being reminiscent of all the collaborations with Apocalyptica, my mind went straight to one of my all time favorite songs of theirs dating back to the album Into, “Last Waltz”. But as the song flows on, there are also heavy vibes from their album Black Roses and those words, “black roses” are even entwined in the lyrics. The song is a bit fragmented in my opinion, stops and starts, heavy distorted guitars that fall off abruptly into the delicate gothic victorian strings. I like all the elements and am really happy to hear the whole band again (after the last few albums that seemed to drag Lauri’s solo electronic pop album out and out). That dark gothy vibe that drew many of us in and held fast through at least three albums (not to mention the similarity of the music video to the US verison of In The Shadows video…. the one that personally started me on this journey)… but also this newish raw, heavy, almost metal sound that you can hear in fits and start (also here and therein their Eurovision single “Jezebel”). I feel like the band has new life blown into them, and I am very eager to see what else is coming!
IANAI is a mysterious multi-instrumentalist project from Jaani Peuhu (Swallow The Sun), which includes collaborations from members of HIM, Massive Attack, Sisters of Mercy and The Rasmus. Through Jaani’s vision and the impressive array of guests, it is no surprise this debut album ‘Sunir’ embodies many sounds and influences, taking you on a beautiful, transcendent journey. ‘Sunir’will take listeners through the instrumentation of Scandinavia, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America and beyond.
Yorkshire metalcore heavyweights InVisions return with their most explosive and ambitious offering yet with third album ‘Deadlock’. This record with created and self-recorded by the band during the lockdownand mixed again by producer Joe Graves (Asking Alexandria, Deaf Havana, Glamour Of The Kill). ‘Deadlock’ asserts how the band is ready to take things to the next level.
Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash is back with his new solo album titled ‘4’. This release is his fifth solo album and fourth with Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators. This year marks ten years since the band’s debut ‘Apocalyptic Love’. The new album will mark the first-ever release on the new Gibson Records label and is out on February 11th 2022. The band got to lay down the tracks live for this album, a first for the band and Slash. Recording live the way they did, was something Slash had always wanted to do, and producer Dave Cobb finally made this a reality at the famous RCA Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee. These factors add to the anticipation and excitement of ‘4’, a pivotal album for the band and the label.
The creative force that is Auri features Finnish singer Johanna Kurkela and Nightwish’s keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley. Although they formed in 2011, it wasn’t until 2018 that they unveiled their debut self-titled album, which showcased their ethereal sound. Now with their sophomore release, ‘Auri: II – Those We Don’t Speak Of’, they are back to enamour us once more with their unique and wondrous music.
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