ATARAXIS

'Demo 2010'

Hailing from Neufchâteau, France, the Death Metal quintet Ataraxis emerge on the French Metal scene with a handful of onions and snails to purposely pulverize your appetite whilst minimizing your hearing capabilities. French Death Metal is not widely known, but Ataraxis are ready to change that, for their first ever release their 2010 demo, they characterize Death Metal with ever-changing speed and some of the most scariest vocals coming from the Lorraine region, for fear that France will arise and will explicitly blaspheme against the EU with Ataraxis leading the attack, oh how vengeance is sweet. For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Unleashed and Nile.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/ataraxisgroup

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HORROR GOD

'Cold Shine'

MORE HATE PRODS.

Moscow once awoke to total silence, but on the 20th March 2009 they awoke to a blast of imminent darkened fury, come forth Russia's Blackened Death Metal quartet Horror God, a sophisticated collection of four musicians with a passion to play in, please and purge your ears. 38 minutes of Behemoth-esque charged tracks are deemed to create havoc with your speakers. Albeit the Germans, the Russians have a very distinct guttural sound and are probably the best nationality to master this genre and so with Horror God on the horizon, Russia emits a very 'Cold Shine' towards Europe, Horror God plan to stay.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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WSCHOD

'O Dumie, Sile I Ogniu'

TRUE UNDERGROUND PRODS.

Polish one-man Black Metal project Wschód makes their debut release 'O Dumie, Sile I Ogniu' come to light in 2010 with a full blitz in audio terms, controversially the project may be dubbed as NSBM, but this is unlikely to be true having lyrical content based around anti-communism and individualism but negatively having 'white pride' there, maybe there is something the Polish language-based band is not telling us, it goes down to the individual who listens to it, whether they see it as Nazi-related or not, whether true or not this is one Polish BM act that fans of Mayhem, Gorgoroth and Darkthrone will like, assume battle positions!

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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RESISTANCE

'Lords Of Torment'

GSR MUSIC

Belgian Deathcore outfit Resistance return with their third full length well equipped with more skull-smashing tracks and enough balls to make the pitiful emo's weep. Deathcore as we know it has become a massive hit, and for Resistance this means twisting it into their own image and sound, riffs exactly halfway between cymbal smashes make the music seem impregnable, oh how sweaty this album will leave anyone jamming to it is enough to make the gym's nearby lose popularity, it is that brutal, fast and exhilarating. If Resistance made metal gigs, it would probably be the best metal gig in the world and as we know it, Resistance are now entitled as the 'Lords Of Torment'.

[9.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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SOUTHERN EXTREMITY

'Hymns Of Darkness & Hate'

SMOULDERING EARTH

Italian Blackened Death newcomers Southern Extremity probably have the band name right in that Italy theoretically has the most southerly point in Southern Europe but also because the heat during the summers is immense, and so is their music. Designed to f**k your brain internally, Southern Extremity waste no time in developing heavy blastbeats and some of the rawest guitars and screechiest vocals within the Italian Blackened Death Metal vein. This release is quite good in that every track has a different musical composition and so we could be seeing Italy's answer to Behemoth arise when we hear the 'Hymns Of Darkness & Hate'.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

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TEMPORY

'My Dark Passenger'

Amazing the Swedish race is so subtle, laid back people and yet the Swedish Metal scene is probably one of the best in the world and with Tempory on the horizon, this may as well be Sweden's next generation of Melodeath Metallers. Tempory the Swedish Melodeath quintet offload their debut EP in their own way of doing so, via terrorizing the unsuspected stereo set with the epic talent exhibited on 'My Dark Passenger'. You got to give the Swede's credit for Melodeath, there are many bands of this stature: Marionette, Scar Symmetry, Sonic Syndicate to name a few and Tempory are the next band to join that line-up, lined up as Sweden's best debut EP of the year.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/tempory

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STENCH

'In Putrescence'

SOULSELLER

Next on the agenda of Sweden is it's mass of Death Metal groups, we just cant keep count and amongst the gold and trash lies the 'Stench' of rotten food, bad pun. Stench are one of Sweden's latest generations of Death Metal, sounding similar to Unleashed's early years, the Swedish trio (note no bassist) release their debut full length 'In Putrescence' with a slight controversial point, namely why is there no bassist mentioned yet you can distinctly hear the bass in the background, goes much to say 'who are you' but when the truth is uncovered, it will be post-'In Putrescence', oh and the album is your bog standard Swedish Death Metal, so in fact it is for fans of... Swedish Death Metal.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

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WEAPON

'From The Devil's Tomb'

AJNA / AGONIA

Canadian Blackened Death Metal veterans Weapon return to the frontline with their sophomore full length entitled 'From The Devil's Tomb'. Having played alongside giants Behemoth and Septic Death, the Canadian quartet sought the time was right for another Satanic chronicle to be made, due to be released 1st November 2010, fans can enjoy a momentum of sheer extreme composition, with nine tracks containing the classic sounds of Blackened Death Metal to their full extent, witness unholy prayers, Luciferian musicals and a Satanic atmosphere unfold directly 'From The Devil's Tomb'.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

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DUSH

'Ancient Cities'

Canadian Powerpop/Industrial Goth Metal trio Dush come on the alternative music scene with their much awaited debut EP 'Ancient Cities', combining high-pitched female vocals with alternative industrial metal and a gothic imagery. But the musicians are not Canadian, the vocalist Mira Solo is Israeli, the keyboardist and guitarist is both Russian. So we see here a group of two men and one woman (Mira brings the beauty and sexiness into the music) come together to bring out the 'Ancient Cities'.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/templeofdush

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ANGELICAL TEARS

'Angelical Tears'

Hailing from Oklahoma, bang in the middle of the infamous Tornado Alley, Angelical Tears features two females and four males with the vocalist of Russian origin. Sounding similar to Evanescence, Vanguard and Within Temptation, the Gothic Metal sextet wrote their debut EP amongst the tornadoes circulating the studio, dragging in the darkest of atmospheres and fury from nature's beauty. How daring is it that the band should perform in front of an audience with a tornado on the horizon, it is as if this EP would be the best soundtrack for such an occurence. Such sheer beauty is brought by Julia on vocals and Jennifer on keyboard duties, but with that sheer darkness and sublime metal is brought by Steve (also male vocals), Derek, Glenn and John and together the American sextet deliver potentially one of the best Gothic Metal debut's seen this year, so much so I cry 'Angelical Tears'.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/angelicaltears

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