The TMO team pick some choice cuts from this month’s offerings.
Welcome to the historically-inclined, power-or-otherwise-super-brutal-metal-dominated, inaugural edition of TMO’s Album of the Month, for January 2015!
The concept is simple enough: each month, members of the TMO crew will be nominate ONE album released that month they think outshone all the others, providing you, the reader, with some choice recommendations you might have overlooked, or otherwise affirmation of your already impeccable taste. Anyway, on with the show:
Archgoat – The Apocalyptic Triumphator
by Shawn Miller
Finland’s Archgoat returned this month with their first full-length in six years and it was definitely worth the wait. The Apocalyptic Triumphator features twelve tracks of old-school, primal, black/death metal, that proves why Archgoat are still among “war” metal’s elite. Archgoat helped to pioneer that savage and barbarous sound alongside Beherit, Blasphemy and Black Witchery and they haven’t changed a bit since, and perhaps that’s what makes this album so potent. With The Apocalyptic Triumphator Archgoat continue their black crusade against the religion of the weak.
Orden Ogan – Ravenhead
By Joshua Bulleid
2014 was rife with its share of outstanding power metal albums, but 2015 has eclipsed them all in one fell swoop. Ravenhead not only towers over Orden Ogan’s previous output but completely destroys its competition, especially Blind Guardian’s newest, which – for all its ambition – was honestly pretty average. Here, Orden Ogan find the perfect balance of new- and old-school, which is to say Ravenhead is one of the heaviest albums the power metal genre has produces but at no expense to the style’s classic cheese. Crushing thrash riffs abound, punctuated by soaring melodic and folk-inspired sections, with the whole experience being heightened by the record’s perfectly crisp and balanced production. Ravenhead is not just an early contender for album of the year but, quite simply, one of the finest power metal albums ever crafted.
Death Karma – The History Of Death & Burial Rituals part I
By Ailo Ravna
A concept album dealing with death rituals around the globe, featuring two out of three Cult Of Fire-members. The mere thought is immediately enticing, and Death Karma more than rise up to the challenge. The History Of Death & Burial Rituals part I is nothing short of a magnificent piece of melodic blackened death metal; boiling over with larger than life crescendos, ethnically-flavored subtleties, and magnificent songwriting. From the bloody ceremonies of the Chichen Itza, to the hanging coffins of China, this journey is as splendid as it is macabre. Although it never directly surpasses the raw brilliance of Ascetic Meditation Of Death, the implicit promise of more to come is a mouth-watering prospect.
Jupiter – The History of Genesis
By Siavash Nezhad
Jupiter’s sophomore album is a Japanese power metal album that almost transcends the common notions of J-Power to incorporate a heavy presence of melodic death metal in their music. The band continues to distance themselves further from their previous iteration as Versailles with a different singer and what is easily their heaviest and most varied album to date. The History of Genesis comes complete with Jupiter’s trademark, ferocious, neoclassical shredding – standing toe-to-toe with fellow countrymen Galneryus. If you’re looking for a fresh breath of air from some of the stagnant Europower of the past year, Jupiter has the perfect revitalization available.
Forevers’ Fallen Grace – Ascending The Monolith
By Julius Chan
Active since 1999 and only having one album released on a label, Massachusetts’s Forevers’ Fallen Grace have developed a very particular and somewhat unusual take on progressive power metal. On their latest album, they are paradoxically dark and aggressive yet not particularly riffy. Unusual as it sounds, it works surprisingly well. In the place of the speed/thrash inspired rhythms one might expect from Manticora and Helstar are instead dark, minor key, lead-focused runs that give Ascending The Monolith a solemn and austere mood as Forevers’ Fallen Grace run through diversions and detours, letting these sinister melodies wrap their songs in an almost doomy, brooding melancholy. The “melodic shout” vocals will certainly be difficult to adapt to for more traditional progressive and power metal fans but I find they add to the often-spiteful mood perfectly. While it might not be as flashy and Hollywood blockbuster big as new Blind Guardian or as riffy as Scanner, Ascending The Monolith is the most interesting power metal release I’ve heard so far this year. Pick it up for $5 over at their bandcamp page.
Obscure Infinity – Perpetual Descending Into Nothingness
by Nathan Hare
German death metal band Obscure Infinity’s third album, Perpetual Descending Into Nothingness, is a refinement and improvement of past albums. Taking their name from a Grave song, there is a definite old school death metal vibe but this time around Obscure Infinity adds some tweaks; including a better production, an emphasized melodic touch and some black metal influences. These influences are apparent in some of the riffs and also appear in the form of odd chants in one of the album’s standout tracks, “A Forlorn Wanderer.” The guitar work also takes cues from the classics of German thrash, in addition to the black metal influences. Although some of the tracks do start to sound alike, for fans of old school death metal Perpetual Descending Into Nothingness starts the year off nicely.
Jørn Lande and Trond Holter – Dracula: Swing Of Death
by Alex Melzer
Rock operas can be an iffy and often overly pretentious affair, but what jack-of-many-bands Jørn Lande and former Dream Police guitarist Trond Holter created with their take on the story of Dracula, blows the vast majority of them plainly out of the water. Refusing to give in to the rock opera paradigms, the Norwegians unleash a formidable heavy rock barrage that shows emotions, a flair for drama, outstanding vocal performances and blistering fretwork and unites it all into a cohesive whole that still manages to have surprises lurking around many corners. An early highlight of the year and one that will definitely rank high on many year end lists!
And as an added bonus, here is a look at some stuff you might have been jamming around this time last year:
