Whitechapel - Live in the Valley

While the band is looking towards making a new album, they have "Live in the Valley" comprised of their 2019 and 2021 albums: "The Valley" and "Kin." On December 22, 2022 they played their 7th annual Christmas Benefit show in their hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. It's a good compilation of their most recent sound of brutal deathcore, fast extreme metal and some important slower, melodic moments or songs. Active since 2006 and with eight studio albums under their belt, the band is at this phase of their career capable of going from one mood to a different one altogether, showing a range beyond one category or subgenre. Having said that, this collection of songs lacks no heaviness or headbanging moments. It's good for physical movement or for doing some form of exercise.

Live in the Valley by Whitechapel

https://www.facebook.com/whitechapelband/

Skiltron - Celtic folk heavy metal

Skiltron

Bruadarach

Trollzorn Records

1. Dec. 2023

This is the sixth album by Skiltron (1997-2001 [as Century], 2004 [as Century], 2004-present), a band that originally started out in Argentina, but nowadays is based in var-ious countries in Europe. Skiltron plays melodic, midtempo songs while integrating "Celtic," "folk" or "bag pipe music" elements. On paper, if a listener has not heard it, it may seem like a weird or experimental idea. Or, to the more adventurous listener, it might seem intriguing, depending on one's personality. Whatever the case may be, it is necessary to point out that the music is remarkably good, and surprisingly not strange and certainly not experimental. It's rather catchy, melodic and done with elegance, not foolishness nor is it gimmicky. Recommendation: In fact, do not worry about the categorizations like "folk metal" or "Celtic metal," and just expect melodic, midtempo, ear-friendly heavy metal characterized by flute/bag pipe-like music, in a good, interesting way, not in a joker, drunk, clowning way. Perhaps this makes it the most interesting: It sounds like they are real musicians, not charlatans, respectfully incorporating elements that are not usually associated with heavy metal.

Bruadarach by Skiltron

https://www.facebook.com/skiltron

Eldritch - adult contemporary melodic metal from Italy

Eldritch

Innervoid

Scarlet Records

17 November 2023

The long-running band (1988-1991[as Zeus], 1991-present) returned in 2023 with a new singer, Alex Jarusso (2023-present), replacing the longtime singer Terence Holler [Mario Tarantola] (1991-2022) whose voice was synonymous with Eldritch, given that he sang on every single album before this new one Innervoid, their 13th. The name of the band goes hand in hand with quality, mature heavy metal music for grown-ups: personal or introspective lyrics, skilled musicianship, good singing, and good, melodic, prog songwriting. The album (eight songs in 49 minutes) keeps all the songs between 5:00 and 5:30, and with most of them closer to the five-minute mark, except for one song that lasts 6:48, and a short intro of 1:15. The reasonable song durations match the balanced approach between melody and prog, keeping the songs as the main focus. The Italian band should be of interest to fans of heavy and power metal, of classic prog metal, and of memorable songwriting and singing. While sometimes the band shows that they like headbanging metal, including some smooth thrash riffing in a few spots, they do not really attempt to do much in the way of extreme sounds, like growling, which they avoid. Lyrically, the songs are introspective, existential, personal or make general observations about life, relations and people, and avoid posturing, immature potty-mouth jackassery. It is adult contemporary melodic metal, if you will. Therefore, if you enjoy melodic metal, based on traditional genres, from classic to power prog, then it is very likely that this album is more than worth your time. One last thing: I did, in fact, have a bit of a difficult time accepting the new singer because I had never imagined the band with a different voice, especially since I, like other fans of the band, enjoy the personal, particular singing voice and stylings of Terence Holler. However, setting aside the possible reasons (I do not know) for the departure of Mr. Holler, the new voice of Mr. Jarusso (Shining Fury 2010-2014; Silver Pugnale 2017-present) is really competent, melodic and professional and fits the album very well and smoothly. I have enjoyed the album a lot.

Innervoid by Eldritch

https://www.facebook.com/Eldritchband/