Horror meets NWOBHM as Athenian classic heavy metal act Black Soul Horde, return with their fourth full length Symphony Of Chaos, following up their 2021 release Horrors From The Void with another record of re-imagined tales of horror in the modern day. Lyrically Jim Kotsis takes inspiration for fantasy, horror, and channels it all through his histrionic, heavy metal delivery, that's up there with Halford and Warrel Dane.
He founded the band alongside John Tsiakopoulos who plays guitars and more recently bass, driving the main rhythms of this band in a similar way to Jon Schaffer does in Iced Earth (yes I said the forbidden word). He moves between classic heavy metal, power metal and even thrash, his rhythm prowess giving The Creatures Of The Night the gallop of Malden. Lead guitar is taken by Kostas Papaspyrou, exploding with widdly abandon on the rapid What The Night Invokes and the bludgeoning In The Realm Of The Silver Light.
On their last album, there was a introspective, darker overall tone, here that's done away with, brighter, braver and more aggressive, it's still got the style of they started with, showcases all of the evolutions they have been through. With the current wave of NWOTHM showing no signs of stopping, Black Soul Horde are one of the stand outs in my opinion. Symphony Of Chaos is full of snarling riffs, melodic technical solos and those impressive vocals, telling stories of the supernatural, the fantastic and the wicked, through muscular heavy metal. 9/10
Flamecore - Flamecore (Wormholedeath Records)
Split between Athens and Chania, Flamecore play modern melodeath, the story begins with Plains Of Nameck, the first riff they wrote and now the first track on this debut album which was initially released in February but has now got larger distribution behind it through Wormholedeath. If you're a fan of electronically driven metalcore of Children Of Bodom or In Flames then Flamecore are going to excite you.
Lyrically the rasping growls deal with inner conflict and struggles, but musically they combine heavy breakdowns and thrashy riffs with melodic synths that interplay with the guitars on tracks such as Death Awaits or Only Waste Remains but they can also get aggressive on Projected Reality, From The Shadows and the technical Celebrate Yourself.
I'm pleased that this record is getting a broader release as it's a great melodeath record if you're fan of the technical side of it. 7/10
Tapeworm Electric - Moonshine (Pitch Black Records)
He founded the band alongside John Tsiakopoulos who plays guitars and more recently bass, driving the main rhythms of this band in a similar way to Jon Schaffer does in Iced Earth (yes I said the forbidden word). He moves between classic heavy metal, power metal and even thrash, his rhythm prowess giving The Creatures Of The Night the gallop of Malden. Lead guitar is taken by Kostas Papaspyrou, exploding with widdly abandon on the rapid What The Night Invokes and the bludgeoning In The Realm Of The Silver Light.
On their last album, there was a introspective, darker overall tone, here that's done away with, brighter, braver and more aggressive, it's still got the style of they started with, showcases all of the evolutions they have been through. With the current wave of NWOTHM showing no signs of stopping, Black Soul Horde are one of the stand outs in my opinion. Symphony Of Chaos is full of snarling riffs, melodic technical solos and those impressive vocals, telling stories of the supernatural, the fantastic and the wicked, through muscular heavy metal. 9/10
Flamecore - Flamecore (Wormholedeath Records)
Split between Athens and Chania, Flamecore play modern melodeath, the story begins with Plains Of Nameck, the first riff they wrote and now the first track on this debut album which was initially released in February but has now got larger distribution behind it through Wormholedeath. If you're a fan of electronically driven metalcore of Children Of Bodom or In Flames then Flamecore are going to excite you.
Lyrically the rasping growls deal with inner conflict and struggles, but musically they combine heavy breakdowns and thrashy riffs with melodic synths that interplay with the guitars on tracks such as Death Awaits or Only Waste Remains but they can also get aggressive on Projected Reality, From The Shadows and the technical Celebrate Yourself.
I'm pleased that this record is getting a broader release as it's a great melodeath record if you're fan of the technical side of it. 7/10
Tapeworm Electric - Moonshine (Pitch Black Records)
Some classic heavy rocking from Greece now with Tapeworm Electric, which is a horrible image of you've ever had serious stomach issues but the music here makes up for their band name. It's classic rock with influences from all over the place be it the smooth, bluesy duet Right Reasons which reminds me of Fleetwood Mac or the Deep Purple-like Butterfly, the band take inspiration from the big boys and girls of the classic rock genre.
Moonshine is their debut full length, having released and EP in 2018, this record expands on that keeping one foot in the blues at all times but shifting into swaggering hard rock on the title track where Panos Leontaritis and George Bizas crank out the riffs, Bizas adding the keys/organs on Butterfly and on Out Of Luck which has a Zeppelin groove locked in by the bass of George Kasapidis.
He's the muscle on these songs along with the drumbeats of Antonis Michalakopoulos who can balance defy bluesy delivery with a drive on Touch The Clouds which has the choppy, funky riffs of Hendrix and they even throw a bit of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) into a solo later on. The performances on this record are brilliant, capturing what the band do live on to a record, but resting that sense of power all good classic rock bands have.
If you have any doubts just check out the outstanding vocals of Argyro Igkilizian across the record but hit hard on Loosen Up and Hold On. She's the last piece of this heavy rock puzzle and brings blues and bluster to Moonshine as the perfect vocal foil for the band's muscular hard rock. Tapeworm Electric add a modern shine to classic rock and Moonshine is great bluesy rock record from these Athenians. 8/10
Crossover - Miserere (Sleaszy Rider Records)
Crossover return with their first album in 18 years, beginning with Ο άσπονδος νεκρός which is in Greek and features Wrath from Dodsferd it's used to build the tension and atmosphere before Black N Roll does exactly what it says it will be delivering buzzsaw riffs driven by HM-2 and Venom like vocals.
It's not what you'd expect from a Greek black metal band by then you could say that for a lot this album as Crossover's sound has shifted more to thrashy side of black metal on their recent releases. To Live In Truth has that thrash stomp to it while Missed Life unleashes hell. So it's black metal but there is death (Miserere) and plenty of thrash too.
It's also 14 tracks long so the band have been busy in 18 years, and while most of this album is pretty good, some of the tracks could have been cut, however the cover of Astarte's Ring Of Sorrow is very much a required track, especially as Sleaszy Rider will be releasing a completing to the band later this year.
Blackened thrash that's worth the wait, Crossover return with a vengeance. 7/10
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