ABSOLUTION

'The Beginning' + '1887'

Coming out of the vaults of the Sydney opera house is Australia's freshest Deathcore quintet Absolution, shifting mesmerising instrumentals with the... WTF! There are no vocals!?! Delving into Deathcore in the shallow end of the pool may have been painful, but after all who said that wasn't legitimate? Absolution has to start somewhere, and not in the Great Barrier Reef either (mind you the sharks would shit themselves). So generally instrumental Deathcore has been born, not to worry because for Absolution, who will f**k your brain over, this is just 'The Beginning'. Somehow making a shift in perspective of 'total ear-obliteration' is their next release, namely '1887', where the vocalist has finally found the studio and brought with him the typical Australian thunderstorm, heavy, beautiful and powerful, this is total Absolution.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/absolutionmetal

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ESCHERS KNOT

'Tessellations'

India's next Metal outfit comes in the form of Progressive Death Metal quartet Eschers Knot (formed with band members from Ston'd, IIIrd Sovereign, Theorized and Blood & Iron - all current and former members of bands named). Expecting something along the lines of France's Gojira, Eschers Knot deal with it the same way but with added spices and curry sauce - alliteration meaning it is fiery and extreme music. It is imminently clear that India is having a big impact on Metal music as we know it and with Eschers Knot's debut EP 'Tessellations' being born, the Indian Metal scene will deal with the poppadoms and deliver the ultimate curry vindaloo, enough Indian puns, 'for those about to rock we salute you'

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/eschersknot

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PNEUMA

'Anomaly'

Wallowing in the depths of Costa Rica is Pneuma, the latest Progressive Metal act to come out of the Central American country and into the wilds of global metal. With some metalcore influences on the vocals and thrash on the drums, the Costa Rican quartet return with their second offering in the form of their sophomore full length 'Anomaly', penetrating guitar solos, sonic drums and ever-shifting vocals make Pneuma a band on their own, the only downside is the song sizes are insane, but a definite album for those prog metal fans, just sit back with a cup of coffee and relax.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/pneumacr

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VALE OF AMONITION

'Curtain Of Doom & The Broken Shield'

Metal, we know its going global... but, hold on, UGANDA?!? Yes, Vale Of Amonition officially are the first ever metal band from Uganda, the Ugandan trio fuse Progressive Metal onto Doom Metal and bring forth the Ugandan Metal scene with their unforeseen debut demo 'Curtain Of Doom & The Broken Shield', which for the record is one demo every Doom and Prog Metal fan should own, the extravagancy of this release is only backed by the traditional singing of Ugandan people, it is Vale Of Amonition who will fly the flag for Ugandan metal and this is there to be enjoyed by many metal fans, watch this space, Africa is awakening from it's slumber. Who said metal was just for white people? Vale of Amonition are just as good as Black Sabbath when they started off as newbie's.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/valeofamonition

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GRAVE FORSAKEN

'Fight To The Death'

SOUNDMASS

Australia's veteran Death/Thrash Metallers Grave Forsaken return with their fourth full-length with a vengeance, 'Fight To The Death' employs old school style Thrash with strangely limited Death Metal, so whether the genre was completely misread god knows, but forget that because Grave Forsaken are not your average aussie piss-uppers nor are they Sydney surfers, contrary to belief the quartet reside in Perth and instead play host to the ashes in cricket, should it be seen that Australia's cricket team should adopt the song 'Fight To The Death'? Even when Pontin has gone (in years to come)?

[7.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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ANTIM GRAHAN

'Putrefaction Eternity'

KTM ROCKS

Melodic Black Metal is generally linked to Suffolk's Cradle Of Filth, but never has anyone thought of Nepal having a metal scene until the 21st century and Antim Grahan, one of only two Nepalese band's still active released their fourth full-length entitled 'Putrefaction Eternity' and taking slow melodies with some of Asia's darkest Black Metal, so much so it rivals the Ghurka wars and what a result this album is, a definite album for those meloblack metal fans and an album to allow Antim Grahan to carry the flag for Nepal.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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JACK KETCH

'Bringers Of The Dawn'

TRANSMEDIA

Seems very common these days for Deathcore bands to be emerging out of the USA in particular and they all seem to sound the same, apart from Jack Ketch that is, the Californian quartet return with their sophomore full-length entitled 'Bringers Of The Dawn', a blend of straight-edge Death Metal and the Deathcore that when mixed sounds too extreme, just how it is meant to sound. Blastbeats firing out till the machineguns round's are used up and a soprano of the heaviest proportions, it's like this, Whitechapel are corporate Deathcore, Jack Ketch are underground Deathcore, major difference is Jack Ketch are the 'Bringers Of The Dawn'.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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MERCILESS FAIL

'Forged In Black'

Sounding out of Southend's uprising metal scene, Merciless Fail are a Heavy Thrash Metal quartet with extra pounds on the side in the form of Southend extremity, somewhat unrealistic for Essex's coastal town resort, but highly apt for the quintet's debut demo 'Forged In Black', whilst the Essex metal scene remains steadfast, the underground scene is buzzing, with Merciless Fail firmly in the Southend arcades, racking up gigs and fans, the essence of their somewhat early success resides within the intricate compositions, the timing, beat, etc is what one would expect from major metal groups, but if we all remember, metal music initially was 'Forged In Black'. All that can be said in conclusion is that Merciless Fail are Essex's best debuting band of the year and can be seen as one of England's next generation of highly acclaimed bands, we had Iron Maiden, My Dying Bride, Cradle Of Filth, Bring Me The Horizon, now it's Merciless Fail's turn, watch this space.

[9] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/mercilessfailthrash

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METAL ORIZON

'Myopic... Enslavement' + 'Ancestral Blessings' + 'Metal Orizon'

Ah the sounds of True African Heavy Metal coming from Botswana, it would seem almost unrealistic not to exclude Botswana's new metal scene, a scene with only a few bands but a land full of vibrant energy that makes Botswana a hotspot for fresh metal, amongst other emerging African metal scenes, with their charismatic and ideal individual approach to metal music, we could be instantly seeing Botswana's answer to the globally known Iron Maiden, hold on to your hats folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride towards the 'Metal Orizon', so your going to need some 'Ancestral Blessings'.

[8] + [8] + [10]

http://metalorizon.com/

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HELL:ON

'DVD Promo'

COMP/EMI

Now although not an official release per se, more over one that is somewhat specially available, features a mixture of live and music videos circulating the Ukrainian Deathrashers Hell:On. The Ukraine metal scene is by far versatile and mixed but did it see this quintet uprising? No. Instead it fostered a bunch of soul destroyers, wrecking the listeners mind  into total destruction, if your looking for brutality, speed and extreme fury, look no further, Hell:On pack more explosive than Chernobyl (RIP those unfortunate), but in alliterative terms the band fuel a nuclear strike.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON