GREED & RAPACITY

'Ergreifer'

Buried in the sewers of downtown Sydney comes Australia's latest two-man Blackened Death Metal band Greed & Rapacity. Whilst the music itself comprises of a raw foundation and sophisticated stance on the genre, the vocals are raw at the same time but offer little return in the way of understanding what's being said. If this is the future of Australian Metal, the Aussie's may just revert back to their bbq's and cricket. Whilst not a bad demo release in 2010, it could have easily seen a better method of production or at least more effort enabled.

[5] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/greedrapacity

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ASTORVOLTAIRES

'Katan Nagantü'

ENDLESS WINTER

Wading through the mountains comes Chile's latest offering, the one-man project Astorvoltaires playing Melodic Doom Metal in native Spanish. Dark atmospheric scenes and depressing, thick guitars emanate the protruding spike of Extreme Metal whilst the enchanting and mysterious vocals of this Chilean musician is almost powerful as the country itself. A strong band in a developing Metal scene, one that sure is to bring many more along. For fans of Black Sabbath, Sun O)))) and Sadael.

[7] RHYS STEVENSON

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BURIAL CHAMBER

'Left To Decay'

Fresh from Sydney harbour is Australia's next Death Metal band Burial Chamber with their debut full-length album 'Left To Decay' released in 2010. Pulsating beats with riffs to cover up the blastbeats and vocals on the strangest scale, namely they are more grunts than spoken words and so the lyrics become evidently beneficial. Musically sound this is a decent slab of Death Metal but as far as the vocals go, the overall album is less effective due to the poor vocals, but for their first album it is not a good attempt, put it like this, Australia have more probability of winning the FIFA World Cup than this trio have making a decent debut full-length.

[4.5] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/burialchambermetal

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IMMORTAL THREAT

'A.D.'

THIS SICK PRODS.

Hailing from Adelaide in Australia, Melodic Deathcore mob Immortal Threat summoned up the outback danger and brutality in insane form, with their debut EP 'A.D.' being released in 2010, this was a moment in time for the Australian Metal scene, not only because actually its Melodic Death/Metalcore, but this is just as heavy as fellow countrymen The Berzerker. Filling in the gaps and dotting the tees, Immortal Threat is an underground band with a force that's waiting to explode.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

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AKANAME

'Akaname'

Now this is something out of the ordinary, a whole new definition of the genre Technical Deathgrind, because New Zealanders Akaname only do instrumentals and no vocals, so whether this is a new score for a horror film or an action film one couldn't tell, none the less their debut self-titled full-length is one without disappointment, just mere confusion. It certainly has its own unique perspective on Extreme Metal and whilst it allows the music to do the talking, this is probably one of New Zealand's most bizarre releases, but that's what makes Akaname different.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/akanameband

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EXILED FROM LIGHT

'There Is No Beauty Left Here...'

HYPNOTIC DIRGE

This was to be Exiled From Light's last release before splitting up, the New Zealand Depressive Black Metal one-man project by Mort was to finalise it's 3 years in existence with a compilation 'There Is No Beauty Left Here...', whilst the vocals are hardly heard, the music itself captivates and takes the listener to a dark place, a valley in the mountains, a sort of Lord Of The Rings feeling where Frodo and Smeagol epically battle it out for the ring in Mount Doom. This is by far, the New Zealand Metal scene's best Black Metal release to date. As for New Zealand itself 'There Is No Beauty Left Here...' as it is Exiled From Light.

[10] RHYS STEVENSON

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CANGAÇO

'Parabelo'

Brazilian Death Folk Metallers Cangaço took a different view on their Brazilian heritage with a mix of traditional Brazilian Folk Metal (somewhat similar to Sepultura's 'Roots Bloody Roots' album) and the brutality of Death Metal. With their 2010 demo 'Parabelo', riffs are endlessly backed up by masochistic blastbeats and insane vocals, no wonder the trio managed to become the winner of the 2010 W.O.A Metal Battle Brazil competition and went on to the finals of the Wacken Open Air Festival. Cangaço are certainly the next big Brazilian band and are flying the flag for the Brazilian Metal scene.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

http://www.myspace.com/cangacometal

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TORTURE SQUAD

'Æquilibrium'

WACKEN

Brazilian Deathrashers Torture Squad brutalised São Paulo with their sixth full-length release 'Æquilibrium', a fast, rhythmetic album with Sepultura style riffs but with clean blastbeats and a bizarre solo, the Brazilian quartet are another promising band for the Brazilian Metal scene. With all the rules and guidelines smashed by this mob, the only result is in their sixth album 'Æquilibrium' becoming the heaviest the band has ever done. It is certified that Torture Squad come with a warning of severe moshing, headbanging and headaches, a brutal testament to Brazil.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

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LAPSUS DEI

'In Our Sacred Places'

ENDLESS WINTER

2010 saw Chilean Melodic Doomed Death Metallers unleash a beast of an EP, namely 'In Our Sacred Places' features a range of scary and spine-chilling vocals, beats and riffs. All of the songs (except the intro) are longer than six minutes, so a massive amount of time for death and religion (lyric wise) and naturally a slab of Doomy Melodic Death Metal. On this release the pace is somewhat mid-tempo, but with that the vocals sound a little stretched and so diminish the quality of this album, still a decent effort.

[6.5] RHYS STEVENSON

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CRYPTIC

'Like Undead, You Will Burn'

SICKBANGERS DISTRO

2010 in Chile saw Death Metallers Cryptic unleash might and extreme brutality with their debut EP 'Like Undead, You Will Burn', featuring fast and furious blastbeats with mid-vocal death vocals and fanatical riffs, this is another example of how heavy the Chilean Metal scene is becoming, who said the Chilean's weren't good at Death Metal? For the quintet from Temuco, this is more than sheer extreme music, but a valid example of pure musician craftsmanship, in that timing is perfect, recording is accurate and brutality is heavy. Welcome, to the world of Cryptic, Chile's latest metal export.

[8] RHYS STEVENSON

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