Weekly Round-Up (Jan 4th 2014)

The eagle-eyed among you - or those who remotely give a toss - might have noticed that there wasn't a weekly round up last week. The reason for that is...well, I forgot. Sorry. I sincerely hope that this week's edition makes up for my little oversight. These are the highlights of the last 2 weeks. Some of the stuff here is likely to be a few months old as I am currently working (trawling) through a backlog from last year.

Slegest

If you are familiar with Vreid and or ICS Vortex then you should find this of interest. The new project from former Vreid guitarist, Ese. The band is treading a path well worn by the aforementioned acts and the likes of Chrome Division and even to a certain degree, Entombed. A catchy, instantly accessible blend of Death, Black, Doom and good old Rock and Blues....Black 'n' Roll if you will (spoken in the style of Dusty Rhodes).

Katakylsm

Veteran Deathsters, Kataklsm return with a new album, chock full with a veritable feast of neck-breaking riffery and stomping grooves. It's very unlikely that you'll find anything here that you haven't heard before, even from Kataklysm themselves, but sometimes the old adage fits: If it ain't broke...

Oranssi Pazazu

An altogether stranger beast is Finland's Oranssi Pazazu. Experimental, Psychedelic Black Metal is their thing and I can all but guarantee that you've not heard anything quite like this before. Although they might sound like a lot of other "orthodox" Black Metal bands in places, with the hypnotic, cold, repetitive guitars, the keyboards add a whole new depth and help to elevate this to being something genuinely special. There is an 80's Goth vibe throughout, the vocals are grim and old school (a la Darkthrone and their ilk) and the keyboards have an element of Ozric Tentacles about them. Listen, take this in and love them.

The Polygon

If you can imagine a Modern Groove / Melodic Metal act with Death and Post-Hardcore flourishes, then you are somewhere close to describing the musical feel of Russia's, The Polygon. The new EP features the powerhouse vocals of Soilwork's Björn "Speed" Strid, which together with some excellent and interesting lead guitar work, only helps to elevate this above the rest of the Melodic Death Metal hordes. I've added a SoundCloud link below (Under the pic).

The Polygon

Senser

British Rap Metal Pioneers, Senser are back into the fray again with their new album "To The Capsules". Often overlooked, but always consistent, this is definitely worth a few minutes of your time if the likes of RATM or One Minute Silence are your pint of beer. Combining Punk, Thrash, Rap, Metal, Electronica and more, they are as interesting and unique as ever. Intelligent, politically-charged lyrics aren't for everyone, but if you like your music a little more cerebral then Senser could well be the band for you. Although the following snippets are taken from the official website, they are certainly accurate:

"the band sound more vital than ever...in an increasingly 'safe' world Senser are still playing with matches" - Kerrang!

"the world needs this band more than ever" - Metal Hammer

"riffs Metallica would eat their own arms off to reclaim" - Rocksound