Reviews: Drama Noir, Ocean's Edge, Dødsferd, G.N.L.S (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Drama Noir - Nightfall Upon The Asylum (Floga Records)

Formed in Corinth in 2017, Nightfall Upon The Asylum is Drama Noir's thrid album, all three having come in quite rapid sucession, Tenevris added behind the mic in 2022 and Vampyrepriest coming in on guitar in 2021. Joining the core of Peisithanatos (Bass), Mephisto (guitars/orchestrations) and Yngve (drums), despite line up changes the style of Drama Noir hasn't altered since that debut album in 2018. They play a symphonic style of blackened death metal for fans of Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir and their own fellow Greeks Septicflesh. 

Ominously starting with Intro, which is an intro and features the brilliant strings that swells into 284 Green Street Avenue, the first track proper that has blasting death metal bottom end with black metal guitars and a occult atmosphere. From here it's into the more melodic Risen To Avenge which goes into black metal while the punishing Ghost Ship and Nightfall Upon Asylum are both pure death, the former with more orchestral swells while the latter has some deathcore breakdowns and outright battery. On this third album Drama Noir are atmospheric, bludgeoning and powerful, fans of any of the bands mentioned will seriously enjoy Nightfall Upon The Asylum. 8/10

Ocean's Edge - The Voyager (Self Released)

Well this is a bit good! I'm a sucker for prog metal so when I see influences such as Symphony X, Dream Theater, Ayreon and countrymen Need, I know that I'm probably going to enjoy the debut album from Greek band Ocean's Edge. Called The Voyage its an epic trip through some very fine prog metal, the keys and guitar union similar to this classic duos such as Rudess/Petrucci or Romeo/Pinnell, Panagiotis Haritidis' synths often used as an understated elements similar to the way Shadow Gallery use them, of course getting solos like on Fragile, while Consantinos Mavrogiannis is a guitar wizard creating interesting riffs and of course sublime solos throughout. 

Both working well on the expansive Waterfall and Stream Of Souls. I mentioned Fragile as it's the first track that is heavily influenced by Dream Theater though Manos Xanthakis has a deeper voice than James LaBrie but has great power and emotion on the faster cuts like Sacrifice which is built around Xristos Palamidas' galloping drumming while Manos Sideris' bass playing is complex below the bigger melodic flourishes on Supernatural which is a bit more melodic but still chunky as a Yorkie. 

On Waterfall they slow things down with some latter-day Maidenisms, as the song builds and builds into a Pink Floyd like guitar solo that soars. The last two tracks; Stream Of Souls and Atlas are the longest and best songs on the record, closing it out with gradiose style. The Voyager is a glorious debut album from this Athenian progressive metal band, I love it and if you love classic prog metla you will too. 9/10

Dødsferd - Asphyxiating Late Night Sessions: Collaboration With Sarvok (F.Y.C Records)

The black metal sound of Wrath and m.Savok has been screaming and wailing out of Greece for a number of years now, atmospheric, aggressive and biting; Dødsferd have managed to cultivate their own niche in the Greek metal world. Outside of the band and with his own label Wrath has moved into other genres and this more mellow take has come into the dark world of Dødsferd as after long discussions, drinking, jamming they created this album. I use the term crafted as that's what this record is, a project that has been used to fully display the other side of the band. 

Consisting of two new songs which are poems set to music along with reinterpretations of older songs, these late night sessions are hooked around a more acoustic style, with a flair for the Avant Garde, and a dark dramatic ambience that takes things back to the beginning of the band, and also probably how a lot of these songs start before the layers of dissonant electric guitars and anguished vocals are added. Asphyxiating Late Night Sessions is a counterpoint to the normal Dødsferd style but doesn't lose any of the pathos of their style, just gives it a new output. 7/10

G.N.L.S - Conspiracy Of Thoughts (F.Y.C Records)

Claustrophobic and oppressive G.N.L.S is the new project from Wrath (Dødsferd, Grab) and m.Sarvok (Sarvok), running parallel to their other project Asphyxiating Late Night Sessions, G.N.L.S (Geometric Nictation of Lament’s Space) is much heavier concept both musically, lyrically and atmospherically, Wrath's wide vocal range on top of the twisted instrumentation onf m.Sarvok, their "bastard creation" creating a disconcerting atmosphere where nothing is good or warm. 

From the whispers and piano opening of An Open Wound To Heal The Wreckage, we are taken into Flaming Treasures Of Knowledge a slow build black gaze record as The Youth Of Today, The Corpses Of Tomorrow is howling atmospheres like bands such as Ghost Bath, the distressed vocals on top of the downspirited, glacial music that terrifies in places. If you want music that is different to that of Dødsferd but with the same menace then G.N.L.S will intrigue you. 7/10