The Way of Purity are four masked guys and one unmasked hot chick from Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and Italy, all of which have chosen to remain anonymous and given the music on this disc I can see why. Described as, get this, Blackened Metalcore, TWoP plays fairly standard metalcore with occasional synth flourishes and raspy half growled vocals, which I think are performed by the gal. There's a sense of melody within the bands work that makes it slightly appealing, as well as some interesting time signatures, shifts in speed, mood and even some technical guitar parts. Generally though I find the main vocals to be tedious since they just sound like a hardcore vocalist trying to be black metal (I guess), although another gal by the name of Giulia Stefani performs some clearly sung soprano-ish style vocals, which remind me of the chick from Lacuna Coil. TWoP are big time supporters of the Animal Liberation Front and Peta and this may be reflected in the lyrics. In the end I ask myself, 'Where's the Blackened parts?' I don't know, they simply are not there. If metalcore with a little extra zest is your thing, then by all means, write me an email and I will personally come to your house and shove this fucking album up your ass! Off to the used bin with you!
Bahahahaha! Oh man, this is great. I mean seriously at least take a look at the damn 'zine before sending me stuff like this. My Hidden Phobia is an Italian screamo band, yes, everyone we've got screamo on Lunar Hypnosis, FINALLY! So, in case you you've never heard this genre before its basically metalcore with cleanly sung yet wanky ass clear vocals mixed with these utterly hilarious pig squeal-ish screams. I'd assume this genre was created by some sexually confused high school kids in some attempt to rebel and look bad ass, yet dudes in these bands always have really stupid hair cuts, wear make-up and are severely under weight to boot. I honestly don't find anything appealing about this record and why people are so dedicated to this genre is beyond me. Off to the used bin with you!
Somewhere along the way the Björler twins, Anders and Jonas, lost their minds and started making really, really bad metal with their band, The Haunted. More recently they dropped the metal entirely in favor of some sort of alternative rock mess that was just abominable. This Greek four piece kind of reminds me of The Haunted around the, 'One Kill Wonder' & 'rEVOLVEr' era of The Haunted when the band started adding core-ish elements and became less melodic (or at least that's how I remember it). So, essentially what we've got here is semi melodic death metal with a little thrash and hardcore. The vocals are half growled yet retain a hardcore character most of the time, which is hit or miss with me, I guess mostly a miss this time around. The records got drive, energy, life, a good production and some technical parts and all that. Perhaps if I was drinking with friends or was just really hyper and someone threw this one I'd dig it, but ultimately I find it to be just another overall boring entry in this already over crowded and tired genre. Oh, and off to the used bin with you!
Back in the 90's there were a lot of really great melodic death metal bands; In Flames, At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, Sacrilege, Dacameron and even Soilwork was decent at one point. By the the time the new millennium had rolled around most of these bands had either changed their sound drastically or had already broken up years earlier. Yet, the genre continued onward, somewhere along the way influencing metalcore too, yet bands in this genre sound absolutely nothing like the releases from the old days, even Bleeding Utopia who happen to be Swedish. 'Demons to Some, Gods To Others' is absolutely typical of the genre as it has plenty of energy, speed, some catchy riffs, plenty of groove, some minor thrash characteristics and even a few cool solos mixed with raspy growled vocals. Sound familiar, you betcha! I've heard it, you've heard it, they've heard, everyone's heard it! Its been done to death, nothing more can be done and its just boring. I'm sorry, but off to the used bin with you!
I kid you not when searching this band and album on google it gave me the following message: Showing results for black baby feeding it, hahaha! I should probably stop there while on a high point, but I guess that wouldn't be entirely fair. As for their style of music, well go back to the previous two reviews for that answer since its basically the same thing. More modern day boring melodic death metal with hardcore and groove influences plus some occasional technical wankery that's not impressing me at all. The vocals range from barely interested shouts to some cleanly sung passages. For some reason this reminds me of Meshuggah too. This is mostly awful, but I can see why people would like this music and some of the other bands I've reviewed here. Off to the... Awww, fuck! Its in a cardboard sleeve! You can't re-sell those!
The good news is that this record is not melodic death metal. The bad news is that its melodic Gothic beauty and the beast metal. Back in the 90's the alleged beauty and the beast metal genre was a pretty big thing. Mostly perpetrated by Napalm Records from Austria, the beauty and the beast metal genre typically consisted of a low guttural male singer paired with a heavenly angelic female voice and mixed with lots of synth and doomy sounding metal. This Italian band is a little more active and not as depressing as some of those bands from the 90's, but its still largely the same thing. I get the impression that they are partially power metal influenced as well, perhaps Rhapsody fans, since they've got lots of narration as well as cleanly sung male vocals, which are just amusing. Basically he sounds like some sort of bard or Hobbit (or something) reciting poetry and he does it in pretty much the gayest manner imaginable. The most audible instrument is the synths, which really dominate everything while female singer Ligeia howls away alongside them growls. Regrettably there isn't any titties anywhere on this record, which is just not fair, I mean come on, Levania at least do something like Tristania's, 'Beyond the Veil.' Man, that cover was total wank off fodder back in the day! Anyway, this sucks, and off to the used bin with you!
I can do this! I remain steadfast! I've been reviewing awful music for over a decade now! Up next from Umeå, Sweden is 6th Awakening with... OH FUCK YOU! More melodic death metal?! Okay, everything from the reviews above, although the angry growly lead chicky sings melodically too. And she's pretty hot. They even do a cover of Type O Negative's, 'My Girlfriend's Girlfriend,' which is so disgusting sounding that I wish Peter Steele's dead rotted corpse would reanimate, hunt these five Swedes down, snap each of their necks one at a time, rip off their limbs, drink their blood and then vomit dead maggots and soil all over their lifeless bodies. There's nothing else to say. This is utterly generic and by the numbers melodic death metal. A genre that died a long, long time ago and... ugh, ya know what, whatever. I just don't care anymore. Off to the incinerator with you!
Seven awful albums in a row and I'm about ready to rip my goddamned hair out of my freakin' head. Please excuse me while I listen to Sarcófago's, 'I.N.R.I.' about sixteen times in a row to cleanse my brain of this filth. Also for future reference to other labels. If the bands on your roster don't look or sound like the freaks below then you probably shouldn't send me your promos.
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