Mourning Of The Heretic "To The Shadows Bethrothed" Album Review

    Back around 2010 in the North East City of Derry would see the inception of the brilliant Gothic/Horror Inspired Black/Dark Metal outfit Mourning Of The Heretic two highly regarded EP's would follow in 2013 & 2016 after the band would go on extended hiatus until just over a year ago with the release of the excellent single Within The Night,fast forward to now and the band are on the cusp of releasing their highly anticipated debut album To The Shadows Bethrothed ,let's delve into the horrors and tales of terror within this phenomenal offering.

   

   The haunting and chilling atmosphere on the opening track The Ghost Who Loved Me combine melodic passages with a dark romanticism while the vocals have the effect of sending spine tingling fear through your thought passages likes some kind of nightmarish tale, the spooky atmosphere on A Heart so Black is both eerie and tense while the lo-fi melodic riffing push all these elements to the fore brilliantly, the piano intro on In My Arms creates a really melancholic and almost tragic atmopshere before launching into extrtmely dark and harrowing passages full of raw and heavy riffs while there's a sinister element running through the vocal delivery,this track offers something different from the previous tracks including at times some sort of burning embers is present in the background, Meridian has plenty of Gothic inspired tragicness running thoughout with a killer fast paced fully sounding melodic riffs that give the track a really majestic vibe.

   When you think you're settling into some sort of familarity we're treated to the absolutely phenomenal My Last Sunrise with has a supremely brilliant atmopshere and relentless riffing that at times reminds me of early Xasthur combined with subtle hints of Cradle Of Filth,this for me is possibly one of the standout offerings on this album,this is like some sort of tragic vampiric tale which adds to the whole horror inspired aura of proceedings, sticking to more atmospheric balck metal passages with the brilliant Possessed once again the guitar playing on this is  absolutely sublime which is further aided by the presence of the key arrangements which add a beautiful symphonic ochestration full of magnificence and bravado, that sort of symphonic majesticness is really prevelent on She Is Death ,the vocals are really pushed to the fore on this while we get even more sublime guitar wizardry,the further you go into this album the darker and more foreboding it becomes, the brilliant closing track Within The Night really implements the Gothic Rock influences within the band,once again that bravado sounding element is implemented to the full extent making this a really memorable and brilliant offering while also having that vampiric theme driving the atmopshere to another level,the lead near the end of the track is brilliantly executed ,possibly the best way to end this magnificent opus.

 

   Despite the seven year hiatus and numerous line up changes not only have Mourning Of The Heretic captured the essence present on the previous releases they've unleashed a really brilliant opus,this is a must listen if you enjoy Tales of tragedy,horror,vampires and a dark and gothic romanticism with subtle odes to Nosferatu, while combining elements of atmopsheric black metal,gothic rock and theatrical pasaages full of pomp and bravado that grabs your undivided attention.

RATING: 8.8/10

  

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Kraik "The Neon Piper" Single Review

   

  Hailing from the North West of The Emerald Isle the absolutely Mind Blowing Progressive Groove Metal act Kraik  have been brewing something special for the past few months,late last year they released their debut single Effigy which for all intense purposes was a phenomenal offering,some may know a few of their members were previously in the excellent Pursuit Of Ruin many years ago,so it will come as no surprsie they've got the pedigree and chops to unleash mind blowing epic tunes,as much as i enjyoed their debut single it's nowhere near the level of their sublime new single The Neon Piper,lets explore the finer details of this excellent track.

   Delving straight into a cacophony of mind bending riffmania backed with a crushing rhytmn section that pound like a sledgehammer,when the first vocal passgae enters the fray we treated to some almost Death Metal tinged powerfulness,one thing this bands implements really well is killer grooves full of hooks with severely crushing heaviness, an element that didn't exist on their debut single is some awe-inspiring clean vocal passages which add a really epic feeling to the overall structure of the song,then you throw some absolutely tasty lead guitar work the sequences are at times difficult to comprehend making this a song full of surprise which will leave you specchless.

  As i previously mentioned i was expecting something special with this new offering but to be brutally honest i wasn;t really prepared  for the sublime quality Kraik have to offer, if this is the sort of standard we can expect in the future all i can say is bring it  fucking on and plenty more please,absolutely phenomenal stuff,on a side note before i finish Metal is alive and well in The North West of Ireland ignore at your peril.

RATING: 9.5/10

 IG: https://www.instagram.com/kraik_band/

Asylum Road "The Fear" EP Review

 

  Derry is a City full of History and Tradition and has seen alot of bands/artists cut their trade throughout the years,although there has been a slight decline with regard to rock or Metal bands,the absolutely brilliant Asylum Road  are here to spearhead a revival of quality bands in the North West region of Ireland and are on the cusp of releasing their brilliant debut EP  The Fear.

 

    

 Straight away the heft is unleashed with the meaty riff infused Malignant, this ones a mid paced ultra heavy offering from start to finish, the vocal delivery is full of aggression and angst ridden vitriol. the best possible way to open up proceedings, Hyperfixated is full of technical riffing and is possibly the fastest track on the EP ,there's a lot more aggression in the vocal delivery .the rhytmn section of bass and drum are executed with razor sharp precision on this track.

  What was the launch single when the band started promoting the EP the absolutely brilliant The Fear touching on the theme of going out drinking for the night and getting nightmarish thoughts and anxiety from drinking too much; it's no secret the bands vocalist Darryn McCartney is a massive Pantera fan and that influence is extremely prevelent on this track(Dimebag would be proud) ,plenty of groove,riffs and heft going on here, Changing of The Tide is another groove laden monster full of extremely passionate vocal passages a nice new element which shows a more emotional element to their overall sound.

  The closing track Requiem is possibly the most emotional and heartfelt track on this phenomenal release.it's almost like a ballad with subtle hints and an ode to Cemetary Gates this track is an accumalation of everything touched upon in this release,emotion,quality musicianship,heaviness and aggression,i wouldn't usually say this about a release but the order of the songs are perfectly sequenced to the point that the band gradually build an atmosphere with each songs making it like a complete storyboard of emotions and real life scenarios.

  The Fear is a release worth your undivided attention and Asylum Road have struck gold with this one even if the band are in their infancy of their career.this needs mutiple listens before it really sinks in ,a proper slow burner of an EP, this may only be the beginning with these but it's a really fantastic offering and is a taste of things to come from a band ready to unleash some more memorable releases.

RATING:9/10

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