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Faithful Darkness
If your band is going to walk a well-trodden musical path, you'd better make sure that you have the songs to pull it off...and that's where Sweden's Faithful Darkness come in. Although the musical style and song structures will sound a little over-familiar, the band has attempted to put their own stamp on the sub-genre with some interesting guitar and keyboard melodies. MeloDeath has been around the block a couple of hundred times, but that doesn't mean it can't be done well, and Faithful Darkness have succeeded in releasing an respectable, if unchallenging, album. If I'm honest, it's doubtful that this album will get many repeat plays, but if you're a fan of the genre, I'd recommend at least giving it a listen.
Napalm Death
With a career spanning more than 30 years you might well expect Napalm Death to be starting to mellow...even just a little. Not a chance! New album "Apex Predator" is as intense, angry and in your face as anything the band has ever put out. On saying that, never content with being complacent, they continue to push the boundaries of musical experimentation (listen to album opener "Apex Predator" or "Dear Slum Landlord") while never forgetting who they are or losing track of the brutality which makes them so special in the first place ("Cesspits"). The studio polished sound of previous album, 2012's "Ulititarian", has been stripped back to a more raw, "live" sound and the songs actually benefit from this more basic "punk" approach. Seemingly incapable of releasing a bad album, once again this is classic Napalm Death. You can listen to a new song at the band's Soundcloud page (click the like below).
Bog Oak
This Californian trio have come out of nowhere to make a claim for the Sludge / Doom crown. There is no shortage of monstrous riffery on this debut EP - the fuzzed out Sludge riffs go head to head with a glacial Blackened Doom groove and vocalist Julie Seymour has a unique delivery - a blend of bellowing roars, throaty rasps and etheral clean vocals - that helps the band stand almost effortlessly out from their peers.
The Outside
German Thrashers, The Outside, unleash their sophomore album and to be frank, it isn't going to change anybody's world. What you get is a decent, but pretty bog-standard German Thrash Metal release, so if you are looking for musical experimentation move along. If you are a fan of bands such as Kreator and Destruction, then this should definitely be worth half an hour of your time. The only real gripe I have (musical banality aside) is that production is a bit sub-standard, but who ever said that music should be perfect?
Shadowbane
Another German band, this time in the shape of Shadowbane, whose debut album borrows heavily from the Trad / Power Metal stylings of bands such as Iced Earth, Nevermore and Agent Steel. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this. I mean, pretty much every Metal band out started off by playing covers of their favourite bands at rehersals and it often takes a few years of gigging and maybe even a few line-up changes for a band to find their own style, if they even want to. Maybe Shadowbane are happy to be "just another" Metal band, but I think we could be in for a pleasant surprise when (if) they drop their second album.
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