Ouija - black metal from Spain

Ouija

Fathomless Hysteros

December 26th, 2022

Negra Nit Distro

The third album Fathomless Hysteros by Ouija (Spain; 1994 [as Levia]), 1995-1997, 2009-present) embodies the act’s tradition of headbanging black metal. Their 1997 debut full-length album Riding into the Funeral Paths established a foundation of raging, classic-style black metal. Times change and technology changes, and the music nowadays reflects the knowledge and experience acquired over the years. For example, that first album was prototypical, from the guitar work to the shrieking to the high-speed drumming, as close to ideal in this particular genre in those days. What is different nowadays? The vocals have become a lower, more brutal scowl (within a black metal context) and the guitar sound is thicker, fuller. Whereas the early material sounds more necro, melodic and not as heavy as today, the current sound is a more muscular speeding trucking sound, with some important midtempo contrasts; less atmosphere, more upfront energy. Regardless of the differences in production, Ouija represents with the same intentions seeking to start an immediate reaction in the audience. Is it possible to sit there and hear Ouija’s music and remain motionless? They are betting that the fans of the genre will not be able to avoid banging their heads in approval. Interestingly, on this recording, of the seven songs (40 minutes total), one song is from the 2013 sophomore album Ave Voluptatis Carnis and one from 1997’s Riding into the Funeral Paths. Decades later, headbanging black metal is still the number one priority.

FATHOMLESS HYSTEROS by OUIJA

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063462515530

Antitheus - death metal in Washington State, U.S.

Washington state extreme band Antitheus began 2023 with their debut album called The Faults of Our Kind. This death metal act has a recording from 2014 and a single from 2016, so it looks like it's been a while since they last released music. I only came across this new recording very recently. I am still listening to it. It is contemporary, energetic death, with lower, brutal vocals and blasting speeds, although there is a bit of melody here and there. Overall, big energy is the general vibe of the 41-minute album. Listen to it and let's give it some time for the mind to put the pieces together and see how it sounds some months from now. It does sound like an unrelenting wave of energy and harsh vocals. Death metal fanatics will be the target audience for this Seattle area entity.

The Faults of Our Kind by Antitheus

https://www.facebook.com/AntitheusBand/

Celestial Wizard - - Ice Realm (official video)

"Ice Realm" comes from the second album Winds of the Cosmos by U.S. band Celestial Wizard, a group that combines elements of melodic and extreme genres for a sound that is something like heavy metal melodeath. They are based in the state of Colorado, in the Denver area, and are signed to Scarlet Records (Italy). Their debut album is from 2018, but their origins seem to go back to 2011 when they were called Solarfall. If you like the sound of the video, consider checking out the album. Below is the link from Bandcamp, and the album should be available on the other platforms by now because it was released on the 20th of January, 2023. Fans of melodic and growling voices in the same songs with melodic guitar work may find that Celestial Wizard is doing the combination that they have been looking for. It is not a super crazy salad mix of genres, it's mostly two genres working together and providing something a bit new to audiences that have not heard this band before.

CELESTIAL WIZARD - Ice Realm (Official Video)

Winds Of The Cosmos by Celestial Wizard

https://www.facebook.com/CelestialWizardOfficial/

Tone Glass - Florida Man Delivers Instrumental Album; No Alligators Found

When the Sky Falls is the 2023 debut full-length album by instrumental guitarist Tone Glass (Florida, U.S.). This is a solo album done with the help of technology, as it says on Bandcamp, "My First Completely solo record. Drums, bass, and orchestra instruments are computer generated, but all guitars are me!!!" Bandcamp also says that the album was released on January 18, 2023. The music is instrumental melodic death metal and U.S. metalcore. Given that the album is rather new, I am still listening to all 54 minutes of it, but so far the guitar playing is certainly a good listen. The riffs are good and the soloing is fun. The compositions focus on songs, overall, and the shredding is there, but it is not music for musicians and even a no-skills, no-talent, average person like myself can easily understand the music as songs, not showoff meandering tracks. I am entertained, gladiator.

*No alligators were harmed in the making of this album.

When The Sky Falls by Tone Glass

https://www.facebook.com/people/Tone-Glass/100086555400612

Black 7 - Driven (official video)

The instrumental melodic project Black 7 (Germany) is ready to follow up 2021's 14-track album Look Inside with 2nd Chapter. The new song is called "Driven" and it is a song that is good for listening to music, and especially good, melodic guitar playing, without having any distractions like vocals and other things that take away from the listener's concentration away from guitar. In short, fans of guitar melodies and instrumental guitar albums should consider looking into what Black 7 has to offer. It's the type of music that allows you pretty much to do anything, from working out at the gym, doing homework, studying for exams, meditation or prayer, yoga, washing dishing, jogging, walking the dog, driving, riding the bus or practicing your dyn-o-mite lethal nunchuck skills for the upcoming tournament in Snohomish County.

I have not heard the new album, but the previous album is available below.

Black 7 - Driven (official video)

Look Inside by Black 7

https://www.facebook.com/Blacksevengermany/

Dreams of Gray - melodic death metal from Chicago, U.S.

Dreams of Gray

The World After

January 2nd, 2023

Chicago’s newest export is a three-song recording by vocalist/guitarist Luis Rivera, from the long-running band Abolisher. Some fans in the Chicagoland area may be acquainted with Abolisher from their gigs and their 2001 recording Lament the Season, which I enjoy coming back to from time to time. Word has it that Abolisher has been rehearsing again. We’ll have to wait and see what happens on that front. On the other hand, Dreams of Gray is already up and running. The vocals are growled for the most part, tending to go for a lower, brutal-tone style while retaining some intelligibility. It’s necessary to say “for the most part,” because there are melodic vocals in some spots, generally done in a supporting role to the growling, but sometimes the melodic vocals come up to the front alone or it might be a line/verse of melodic vocals. Musically, one can detect the thrash foundation of the guitar, tuned down a bit, for that headbanging style of melodic death metal. There are some cool moments of melodic riffing and hooks, and some nifty guitar soloing. Furthermore, some signs point to a desire to expand, like on the slower moments in the third song “The World After,” a track that follows its own path, going towards melancholy, a different side of the project’s sound. Besides Rivera on guitars and vocals, this recording features Phil DiCiccio on drums and Marcin Palider (Poland) on bass, while Maria Kosma (U.K.) took care of the bass on the song “Life in Gray.” Lastly, the lyrics are of a personal nature and open to interpretation, done in an intelligent way. Listeners will tell that grief and loss, as well as deception, play an important part in the perspectives on here. Overall, fans of classic-style melodic death metal might be pleasantly surprised by the quality of this entity’s contemporary interpretation of the genre.

The World After by Dreams of Gray

https://www.instagram.com/dreamsofgray/

https://www.youtube.com/@Dreamsofgray

Twilight Zone - heavy metal from Italy

Traditional hard-rocking heavy metal band Twilight Zone (Italy) began as far back as 1990, under a different name (Stigma), but by 1993 they adopted their current name. They did demos in the 1990s and 2000s and recorded a split in 2010. It was not until 2014 that their debut full-length album came out. In 2022 their second album called Visions of Freedom was released. This most recent album is the one with which I am familiar. Wearing proudly a Thin Lizzy t-shirt in their band photo, they are a band that looks for inspiration in the 1970s and 1980s. It's not really a Judas Priest/Iron Maiden/Scorpions type of heavy metal, but rather a somewhat more classic rock approach to their heavy rock while still sounding like a heavy metal band. Of course, they have rockers on the album, but they also work with other moods not just faster rocking tracks. For example, sometimes they slow things down for some more melodic moments and some bluesier segments. There is not a sense of band working with a strict formula; they are taking their influences and giving them their own interpretation. One thing is clear: they sound experienced in their blue-collar rocker heavy metal approach and they prefer to a more old-school sound, and not a super computerized style of sound. In fact, some of the members are or have been in thrash and speed metal bands, so they definitely can play other genres. For this band, they make speed less of a priority and let their older classic rock and heavy metal songwriting skills out in the open.

Recommend if you are curious to hear an Italian band go for a more traditional, less poppy, less robotized sound in their heavy rock.

Visions Of Freedom by TWILIGHT ZONE

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063679291697

Wintermorph - melodic black metal in Russia

Very recently the Russian black metal duo Wintermorph contacted me on Facebook to let me know about their three-song recording called Flames. The total duration time is a bit over 17 minutes. Alex Evensen (from the instrumetal black metal project Frostnatt) takes care of the instrumentation and lyrics while the vocals are done by N. Yesterday and today I have been listening to the three songs. Die-hard fans of tremolo-focused melodic black metal may find the recording to be in their field of preferences. In my opinion, the guitar work, and in particular the melodic black metal melodies (tremolo picking), is a highlight. Of course, the rest of the music, whether it's the prototypical black metal shrieking or the keyboards, has to work for the songwriting to be pleasing. There are some sad or morose feels in the background that sometimes come forward a bit more, making the music seem a bit more moody while still maintaining the overall general style of melodic black metal.

The lyrics are in Russian and seem to concern nature, land and history in a general way. Looking at the lyrics with an online translator does not reveal lyrics about the typical U.S. or Western European clichés with Venom-descended lyrics. Read for yourself a sample from the songs. This is a translated version, of course, because I do not know Russian.

Under the glow of sunset, through the lines of branches -

The forest is shrouded in a veil, the wind beats from the steppes.

My long trail is tangled - the path is hidden among the shadows,

Only the darkness on the horizon becomes blacker.

Under the summer heat and smoke of fires,

Under the tears of autumn and bird's play,

Through the needles of cold and blizzards, rage -

The hordes have overtaken my native land.

I left my house in deep sadness,

In one of the harsh winters for the motherland.

The rabble and the mob shouted at my back:

"Themselves did not live and we will not give you!"

Through the impenetrable darkness of the dense forest,

Voices lead us along the animal path.

And there will be no place for nobility -

While above us the bottom of the spit.

Under the summer heat and smoke of fires,

Under the tears of autumn and bird's play,

Through the needles of cold and blizzards, rage -

The hordes have overtaken my native land.

I left my house in deep sadness,

In one of the harsh winters for the motherland.

The rabble and the mob shouted at my back:

"Themselves did not live and we will not give you!"

A long time ago - we were one,

But the road to the east separated us.

He made many of us different,

The light of the heart that shone for the ancestors has faded.

Flames by Wintermorph

https://www.instagram.com/wintermorphofficial/

Expiatoria - gothic doom from Italy

Expiatoria

Shadows

Diamonds Prod.

November 4th, 2022

The Italian doom band Expiatoria's first recording, according to Metal Archives, was done in 1987. I cannot seem to find that first self-titled demo on YouTube, but their second demo (1991) Tribute to Death is on YouTube. The demo sound quality is not a problem for me because the songs are good. It's heavy, classic-style doom heavy metal. It's not super slow, it's just that it is not full-on heavy metal speed. Candlemass fans would understand Expiatoria. Their 1992 demo is also on YouTube. It is called Symphonies of Decomposed Human Flesh. In this case, the demo's low quality of the recording is just too low to hear the music. It's not the kind of recording that does any favors to the band and I would think it's good to have it documented as evidence of the band's work in the past, but I would not recommend the demo to anyone, not because the songs are bad but rather because the sound quality is lower than bad.

If that had been the band's last recording, it would have been a sad statement, a sad way to end. In 1996 the band ended, according to Metal Archives, only to return with an EP in 2010 and another EP in 2018.

In 2022 their newest album is called Shadows. I am not knowledgeable enough to express an opinion on the personnel. There have been lots of people in and out of the band, given that this entity began and was active in the 1980s. The band has told me that the Malachina brothers (see below) are the two founders and have been in the band since 1987.

Metal Archives shows this line-up:

Giambattista Malachina (bass)

Massimo Malachina (guitars)

Flux (keyboards)

David Krieg (vocals) [Hexenfaust, Loculo, Progeria, Soul of Enoch, Tony Tears, Neith, ex-The Lifeless, ex-Hastur, ex-Malignance, ex-Ignis Fatuus, ex-Kathekon, ex-Lux Obscuritatis]

Edoardo Napoli (guitars [2018-present]) [Flegias, ex-Edoardo Napoli, ex-Honourblast, ex-Sick Therapy Armageddon, ex-Damnation Gallery, ex-Vereor Nox]

Enrico Meloni drums (2022-present) [Ikitan, The Healing Process, ex-Save Energy!].

What about the music on this album?! Well, I would say that it is gothic doom heavy metal or music based on heavy metal, a doom type of heavy metal, a doom and horror type. Maybe it's an Italian thing. Some of these older Italian bands have a thing for horror heavy metal, and that's here, in some ways in the creepy vibes looming around the doom. However, before people get the wrong idea, let's clarify what this is not. It is not traditional, steel-and-leather hymns heavy metal. It is not horror metal, not goblins, witches and movie samples horror heavy metal. It is not even doom in the sense that fans here in the United States imagine: it's not sludge, not Sabbath-worship, not stoner-doom.

This has too many other things going on to be "pure" doom or "pure" anything. Those "other things" are probably the gothic elements. The old-wizard vocals and the overall creepy vibes throughout the album. It is plenty of midtempo and slower moods, and it is plenty of sad, melancholic feels, too. Come for the doom, stay for the funeral feeling. It's doom with dimensions of strange and weird tales.

Shadows by ExpiatoriA

https://www.facebook.com/ExpiatoriA

Leather - We Are The Chosen (official video)

Below is a video from the latest Leather album called We Are the Chosen. This is the follow-up to the 2018 album called II. Leather Leone is known to fans of traditional heavy metal for her work with Chastain, for which she has sung from 1984 to 1992 and then again from 2013 to the present. At this same time the band Leather has been more active. The latest album was released on November 25th, 2022.

Leather - We Are The Chosen (official video)

https://www.facebook.com/LeatherLeone

Izthmi - prog extreme metal in Washington state, U.S.

Izthmi is a prog extreme metal group in the state of Washington, U.S. Post-metal, prog metal and atmospheric metal are all important elements in their sound, including some influences from black metal that can be heard throughout their songwriting. While featuring mostly shrieking-style vocals, the music lends itself to long passages of proggy vibes, including extended segments of instrumental music that allows lots of guitar playing to shine through. Here and there, they launch into blasting speeds, but that is not their main point of operation. In comparison, mellow or sad segments are a more crucial trait for them.

Below is their 2022 album. Previously they issued their debut album in 2020.

Leaving This World, Leaving It All Behind by Izthmi

https://www.facebook.com/Izthmi/

Overthrust / Chovu split album "African Warriors"

Check out this new split album by Chovu (Kenya) and Overthrust (Botswana). It was released on November 29th, 2022. While Overthrust is characterized by a death metal crunch and brutality in their sound, Chovu is a bit stranger and ghostly in their twisted interpretation of black metal-inspired sound. It's an interest contrast of two different styles brought together. Overthrust is a long-running act since 2008 and Chovu began in 2018.

OVERTHRUST (BOTSWANA) / CHOVU (KENYA) - AFRICAN WARRIORS SPLIT ALBUM

https://www.facebook.com/Chovuband

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044718112440

Elisa C. Martin - No Fear (official music video)

The veteran singer of power metal Elisa C. Martín (Spain) recently published a new video called "No Fear" on YouTube. The track comes from the solo album Nothing Without Pain. She sings for the band Hamka. She is also known for her work with Dreamaker and Dark Moor, in addition to other bands and projects. The album Nothing Without Pain is out now and should be available on your favorite streaming services.

I missed the boat on this album and have not had a chance to listen to the entire recording until now. It came out on November 25th, 2022. I enjoy her strong singing voice and the melodic tones present on this new album. By the way, the new album is along the lines of contemporary melodic heavy metal, within the framework of adult contemporary heavy metal with more groove and midtempo/uptempo rocking energies.

⭐️ Elisa C. Martin - No Fear (official video clip)

https://www.facebook.com/elisacmartinsinger

Frostnatt (Russia) - instrumental melodic black metal

Frostnatt

Dette stedet kjenner bare kulden

November 25th, 2022

Alex Evenson recently contacted me to tell me about his instrumental melodic black metal project Frostnatt (Russia). Metal Archives shows 2019 as the starting year. According to the information on said site, there were two EPs in 2019, another two EPs in 2020, an album in 2021 and now in 2022 there is this newest EP of five songs in about 28 minutes. I have been listening to it as an entire recording, which is very pleasing to the ear, so much in fact that my child came into my office while this recording was playing and was quickly humming along to the guitar melodies. Of course, without the extreme metal shouting, the music takes on another life of its own. Certain listeners hear black metal, but it is just as likely that other people hear uptempo, melodic, pleasing guitar music. Whether a fast segment, a slower part or a sequence of blasting speed, the overall melodic feel of the songwriting takes over the listening experience and it is those melodies that catch the listener’s attention. Given that there are no vocals, the melodies have to be at the center and have to be good in order for this project to work. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well the songwriting and the melodies are communicated to the listener.

Dette Stedet Kjenner Bare Kulden by Frostnatt

https://www.facebook.com/frostnattofficial/

Die Entweihung - extreme metal in Israel

Die Entweihung is the solo project of Belarus native Denis Tereschenko who now resides in Israel. According to Metal Archives, the project began in 2007. The newest album is called Strict Regime Country, a commentary on the political situation in Belarus. Tereschenko is a hard-working musician devoted to the craft of do-it-yourself, mostly in the realm of melodic black/thrash/death in broad terms without necessarily staying squarely within the limits of a subgenre. Given the numerous albums and the experience gained, Tereschenko shows a certain confidence and skill in the way that the music allows room for melodies to roam free and for other smaller elements to make their presence felt, be it a bit of a prog vibe in some places or having some guests to add some other voices and a couple of guitar solos. For the sake of convenience, if I had to make a general statement on the overal sound, I would say that it is melodic, somewhat prog, midtempo black metal-influenced music.

It is the 11th album. That's not counting demos and EPs, of which there is a handful. As you can imagine, I am not familiar with all those previous recordings, of course. However, I have been listening to this latest album and that's the one I have been describing, which shows that it is not a beginner's recording but rather someone that has been at it for years.

Strict Regime Country by Die Entweihung

https://www.facebook.com/entweihung

Voidthrone - Washington state dissonance

In 2022 the Washington state, U.S. dissonantists Voidthrone have cleared all doubt. Just in case anyone was thinking that they were a flash in the pan, they have returned with their third album called Metaphysical Degradation. This whole troubadour enterprise arose in 2016 with Spiritual War Tactics, which was as entertaining as it was a clusterfrazzle of extremity and twisted zigzags. The second answer arrived in 2018 in the form of Kur. So here we are again trying to piece together the puzzle. Thankfully, some-one in this band has the horse sense to maintain the aural dysphoria in check. This is not a free-for-all. This is not a place for that jazz-from-area-51. There is a limit to how far this is taken. That limit would be right around the border of Immolation, but not the territory of Frank-Zappa-Swing-Diablo-Orchestra-Mr.-Bungle-Sleepy-Time-Gorilla-Museum-Clown-Clore.

Verdict: Expect plenty of headbanging black metal music throughout the recording, and then expect some sideways energies through winding, meandering, irritating guitar sounds to make their presence felt in a consistent way across the album. This combination is not equal, I would say. I would say that the extreme metal predominates while allowing room for the dissonance to coexist. Look it, at some point, this band may come to fist fights amongst the members as they figure out just how weird things will get in the future. Maybe by the time they get to the sixth album I will not be riding along because things may have gotten too experimentalist for my taste. So far, the band is doing a good job of keeping things interesting and challenging for themselves and the listeners, and I appreciate that. Once they get into Clown Core territory, that’s when I will be out.

If I can bang my head to it, then I am in. So far, I am in. Good news: You still do not need a calculator to enjoy the music of Voidthrone, but it is necessary to focus a bit.

Metaphysical Degradation by Voidthrone

https://www.facebook.com/voidthrone/

TYRANT - Pray for the Night (official music video)

Tyrant

The Lowest Level

Pavement Entertainment

30 September 2022

I was too slow to recognize how good this album is. For whatever reasons, it has taken me a bit longer to listen to the album in a real way. I kept playing it over and over, sensing that there may be something good here, but perhaps being too distracted to notice it. It's not that the songs need repeated listens. It's not that it is prog or complex or weird. It's not that there is something wrong. There is nothing wrong. It is not "an adquired taste," which is a nice to say that a band may have strange vocals or that something else that is too weird.

This is a band that plays thrashy heavy metal with singing. They are thrashy enough to play on the same stage as thrash bands and plenty traditional heavy metal to share the stage with those bands, too. There are also melodic death metal leanings found in the guitar and rhythms. There are many ways to understand it, as contemporary heavy metal, as melodic thrash, as power thrash, as classic Iced Earth/Metal Church "U.S. power metal" or even something like a contemporary interpretation of Anthrax's 1985 album Spreading the Disease, before Anthrax well all-out, all-cylinders nonstop thrash in 1987.

Anyway, my point is that quality songwriting is important to the band, and things like speed are secondary. They are not afraid to work with various moods. It's not retro heavy metal.

I understand now. I should have recognized the quality more quickly than I have. This is a very enjoyable album. Keep your eyes out for this band. They are young. I hope that you will give them a chance and take notice that they are playing heavy metal in a way that sounds young or fresh, and not like a tired style.

TYRANT - Pray for the Night (Official Music Video)

The Lowest Level by TYRANT

https://www.facebook.com/TyrantMetal/

Skelator - If you want Seattle metal you've got it

The Washington state, U.S. heavy metal tag team Skelator never stops. They only rest for a bit, and they return again and again with sole intention of bringing traditional true heavy metal. Their metal campaign began in 1998 in San Diego, California but then early on the action moved up north to the Seattle area, where Skelator has been running all over the place playing shows at every bar, backyard and abandoned bridge that they can find. All those chains and leather and swords need to be used for something. This year they have a new EP called Blood Empire. The guitar playing is perfect for air guitar, the rhythm section is heavy enough to shake freeway underpasses, and the screaming is the same way as it has always been: loud and high. Because why not!

Blood Empire by Skelator

Skelator - Blood Empire [EP] (2022)

https://www.facebook.com/TrueSkelator

Décembre Noir - Has the German band lost its mind?!

Known for their melodic death doom heaviness, the German band here has taken a very different route. It sounds more like a break or a vacation from death doom in order to do something more melancholic, mellow and certainly not metal, strictly speaking. The EP is the reimagining of four previous Décembre Noir songs.

1. A Swan Lake Full of Tears 05:01 featuring Mick Moss (Antimatter)

2. Barricades 08:52 featuring Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride)

3. Small.Town.Depression 06:25 featuring Michelle Darkness (End of Green)

4. The Forsaken Earth 07:45 featuring Matt Heafy (Trivium)

The band is hoping that listeners are willing to try out some piano, mellow or acoustic-oriented deep dive into melancholy and depression. Do not expect much in the way of headbanging or heavy sounds. If family or friends heard you listening to this EP they might wonder if you are doing ok or if you are depressed. Wait, there is more. The third song is the band expressing their love of 1980s electronic music, perhaps New Order, Pet Shop Boys or Erasure, but with a bit of the gothic, somewhat sinister feel. This song does sound like music for dancing, but don't dance too happy. Dance in a depressed way. You will have to wait until the fourth song to hear some heavy metal music. This song sounds a lot more comfortable because it's metal, while the previous three may make you a bit nervous as to what you are hearing. As Aaron Rodgers says, r-e-l-a-x. It's just an EP. The Germans wanted to take a vacation from all the growling death doom that they do.

Decembre Noir - Pale Serenades (Full EP) 2022

https://www.facebook.com/DecembreNoir

Savsatt - instrumental black of double jeopardy in Washington state, U.S.

In the epoch times of the future people will be asking what could be instrumetal black metal. At the moment the genie will emerge from the bottle and say, "Go forth to the past where the future is and there you will have found to be Savsatt." They will record this demo in 2021 with three songs. The music will be instrumental, of course. The almost-20 minute time will sound pretty different without a gremlin ripping the vocal chords apart through the screeching and the howling, all absent on this demo. It will be just the music, melodic and at times fast, but not all blasting all the time.

"This instrumental black metal is good for meditation."

"Alex, what is Washington state's Savsatt?"

"That is correct."

Demo by Savsatt

https://www.facebook.com/savsattband/

Vision Master - mountain wizard heavy metal in the state of Washington, U.S.

Vision Master is, according to Bandcamp, "ex-Funerot members Dan Munro (guitar & vocals) and Reuben Storey (drums & bass)." They say what they do is "Weird tales of mythic prophecy, futile victory and phantasmagorical anomaly manifested through heavy metal soliloquy." The music, as you can imagine, is mountain wizard heavy metal in which the sands of time flow horizontally or laterally. Obsessed with mythical time, Vision Master travels all over the place in the quest to make the vintage mystified heavy metal. These four songs of their debut recording called Orb take no time to be understood as a type of proto-timeless heavy metal of the olde made new once more.

Orb by Vision Master

Tethered to the Void - Washington state demo metal

I do not have much information about Tethered to the Void, a project in the state of Washington, U.S. On Metal Archives there is a list of singles: Shells (2014), Dust (2019), Shells (2019), Far Away (2019), and Mark of the Wolf (2020). One of those of singles is at Bandcamp, the one shown here below. This is a demo-type humble do-it-yourself recording by a person named Kyle Johnson. The vocals are semi-spoken, semi-growl and the music is galloping type of riffing. Of course, this is just one song to describe. Anyway, this is recommended for Washington die-hards interested in an encyclopedist or completist knowledge of Washington metal.

Dust by Tethered To The Void

https://www.facebook.com/tetheredtothevoid

Psionic Haze - heavy metal of Washington state, U.S.

Psionic Haze is mountain wizard heavy metal from the state of Washington, U.S. On Bandcamp they have a two-song demo that brings epic heavy metal to the mountain of doom inhabited by wizards and other types of psychedelic battle magicians of the fog lands. It's like the 1970s never wanted to stop the party and they just moved right into the 1980s's house and they all drove to 2022's residence and decided continue the celebration.

Lore (Demo 2022) by Psionic Haze

https://www.facebook.com/PsionicHaze

Dark Forest - melodies from the U.K.

Having long ago established their reputation for quality melodic traditional heavy metal, the long-running act Dark Forest (U.K.) nowadays delivers melancholic vibes in their melodies that make their songs rather difficult to turn down. This new EP is (five songs in 26 minutes) has such good singing, songwriting and melodies that perhaps anyone that listens to guitar-focused classic rock would find this music enjoyable at least. For instance, would Iron Maiden audiences not like this music? The strong guitar melodies suggest that fans of classic U.F.O. or Boston may get a kick out of these sweet guitar melodies. The good singing also helps! This band is not an iron-and-steel style of heavy metal. They have a certain melancholy in their sound that makes the songs soft and pleasant in the way of those previously mentioned greats. Anyway, I have heard this EP many times now and it’s such a fun, entertaining listen. It will make you feel good, but may give you some sad feelings, too, like Maiden, U.F.O or Boston do.

Ridge And Furrow by Dark Forest

https://www.facebook.com/splintered.throne

Splintered Throne comes to Everett, WA November 18

U.S. traditional heavy metal band Splintered Throne (Oregon state, U.S.) will be live in concert in Everett on the 18th of November, 2022. They will play at Tony's. Check out the information below. Also, below the concert information, there is a previously published commentary on the band's most recent album.

Splintered Throne

The Greater Good of Man

19 August 2022

The Portland, Oregon, U.S. classic-style band has been rolling out the albums since 2014: two studio works (2014, 2017) and a live one (2019). They are a veteran act and members have been doing music for decades in this and other entities. On this third studio album they have a new singer, Lisa Mann, replacing the original singer Brian Garrison. The new music provides rockers and anthems as the foundation, and some slower segments, everything that traditional, melodic heavy metal is supposed to deliver. The guitar playing is perfect for this style, with a solid, audible rhythm section; the soloing is very good, as is the singing. The recording sounds professional (not like a demo recording). The drum sound is not flaccid nor mechanical, which should please audiences tired of the pop rock drum sound in metal (I hope the band is actually using their human drummer’s real drum work!). The singing is a bit of a strange story, you see. Lisa Mann, a blues musician whose work I do not know enough to comment on intelligently, first came to my attention with White Crone, a cool project with which she manifested her love of metal in 2020, including a Venom cover. White Crone has also done a cover of Rainbow’s “Stargazer”. I mention these covers for a reason: Lisa Mann, according to Wikipedia, is a blues musician who has won a bunch of awards and has at least five studio albums. It turns out that her voice fits heavy metal splendidly. The singing voice has no annoying qualities. It is not nasal, not thin, and not showing off with irritating unnecessary high screams. It is strong but also melodic, a naturally pleasant, ear-friendly mature traditional heavy metal voice. When the voice goes higher, it does not peter out. Rather, it remains strong throughout. What a difference it makes when heavy metal is executed properly with strong singing.

Splintered Throne is professional-minded, serious heavy metal with melody, and good singing worth remembering.

The Greater Good of Man by Splintered Throne

https://www.facebook.com/splintered.throne

Live Burial - classic-style death metal from the U.K.

The British death metal band Live Burial's third album Curse of the Forlorn was released on the 23rd of September of 2022. I have found that their take on traditional death metal now has become substantially more memorable and the overall skill should be detectable by the genre's supporters. They have been a good band for years and have been active since 2012. Their interpretation of the genre has not changed because even their early recordings have the same style: a type of classic death metal that focuses on songwriting, and keeps things like speed, technicality and brutality as a secondary trait, not as their bread and butter. Even their 2013 demo and 2014 EP were based on the same interpretation of classic death metal. However, now with a lot more experience, their music has a reached a strong point that the die-hard supporters of the genre anywhere in the world would recognize as competent and skilled, enough to please those audiences willing to give the album a chance.

Curse of the Forlorn (Death Metal) by LIVE BURIAL

https://www.facebook.com/LiveBurial

Penance Stare - Raw Power Festival 2022

Sharing here a new video posted on YouTube of British post-black metal duo Penance Stare performing at "Raw Power Festival 2022." If you enjoy the video performance, maybe you'd like to hear the band's 2019 album Solanaceae that they have on Bandcamp.

Penance Stare - Raw Power Festival 2022

Solanaceae by Penance Stare

https://www.facebook.com/penancestaremusic/

Sisters of Suffocation - Buried in the Crowd (official music video)

This track is the opening song from the upcoming third album by Dutch death metal band Sisters of Suffocation. The name of the album is Eradication and it is scheduled for November 25th, 2022.

Sisters of Suffocation - Buried in the Crowd (Official Music Video)

https://www.facebook.com/sistersofsuffocation

Alyssa Day - Dread & Dream (official music video)

Metal Archives lists Ruinous as U.S. guitarist Alyssa Day's debut. It is an instrumental EP of the following four songs. If you enjoy guitar-oriented music, perhaps you might like to find out more about the EP. I have not found the EP on Bandcamp, but on YouTube there are songs posted. Of course, Facebook will have more information.

1. A Fever of Matter 04:23

2. Avarice 03:59

3. Marauder 03:10

4. Dread & Dream 05:25

total playing time 16:57

Alyssa Day - Dread & Dream (Official Music Video)

Alyssa Day - Avarice (Guitar Playthrough)

https://www.facebook.com/alyssadayguitar/