The third album from German metal band The Night Eternal takes them further towards the dark, while also adding more authenticity to their sound by defining it with the use of analogue instruments to make sure they encapsulate the late 70's early 80's influences that are so important to them as a band.
I've always been a fan of the band but seeing them in Manchester supporting Blind Guardian made me realise that they were a band that understood the beginnings of heavy metal and with this new record they owe as much to The Mission as they do Iron Maiden, as much to Type O Negative as they do Tygers Of Pan Tang.
It's still packed with melodic riffs, clean vocals for big choruses and melancholic atmospheres but with an added drive and focus that has come from teaming up with producer Michael Zech. He's guitarist of Secrets Of The Moon and has produced acts such as Sulphur Aeon, Triptykon and The Ruins Of Beverast.
Working like a 'fifth Beatle' scenario he has had input into the record bringing his background in extreme metal to make sure The Night Eternal are tighter and more intense than before. Not a moment is wasted as they charge through tracks such as Eurydice (Don't Look Back) and Caught In A Spell, both evidence of the duality on Cold Velvet.
With a longer recording period than before, helped by a gap in the middle, these songs have been able to develop and evolve from their initial sketches into some of the most impressive yet, the concepts from previous records Fatale, expanded on here.
Cold Velvet is the culmination of what The Night Eternal have been reaching for on previous records. Come hear their final form. 9/10
Holissstik - Chapter 1: This Endless Solitude (Season Of Mist)
There is a huge guest list on this record and I mean huge. Sixteen different musicians join band leader and multi instrumentalist Tor-Helge Skei to create these thrilling dark electronic soundscapes from the depths of Trondheim, Norway.
Coming from the Greek word Hólos Holissstik means while "whole" and that is what drives the collaborative nature of the record, explaining why there's so many extra musicians adding their parts to Skei's musical sketches.
Skei has history with extreme metal acts such as Manes, Høstsol, Atrox, Manii, Syning and Lethe with Anna Murphy of Cellar Darling, appearing here on the atmospheric Scandi prog of Obsession Six, she joins a cavalcade of names that supply vocals, guitars, bass, drums and synths.
Tor-Helge has been tormented by these songs, some for a long time, some more recently, creating the initial versions that are both patchy and fully formed, drawn from his history on the dark side of music, to make enthralling, claustrophobic and foreboding pieces which highlight the contribution of the guests as well as the composition skills of this bands creator.
Handling recording, production and mixing Tor-Helge turned over the mastering to Knut Prytz (ex-Necrophagia), finishing off these eight tracks that straddle darkwave, electronica, industrial, shifting from the progressive grooves of The Rhythm Of Silence, to the haunting Projections, Reoccurring Dreams embraces synthwave and Would You Take This Heart is a lucid dreamscape.
With referrals to Depeche Mode and Apex Twin, Holissstik begins this three part release with a unavoidable darkness and electronic muscle. 8/10
Cemetery Echo - Civitas Lacrimarum (Seeing Red Records)
Some New York "Haunt 'n' Roll" now from Buffalo band Cemetery Echoes who welcome us to Civitas Lacrimarum (City Of Tears - Latin nerds) with some blackend deathrock meets gothic post punk, through thrashy buzzsaw riffs, jangly melodic cleans, moody atmospherics and vocals that snarl and croon in equal measure.
Snakeland's Pull or Dungeon Of Love for instance has gothic overtones from that whole post punk sound while Hell Night or Cannibalistic Underground Nihilist Teens are a savage black metal assault, but much of the album ably blends the both sides for some introspective, blackend goth metal.
There's a lot of inspiration from the original bands that spearheaded the gothic rock sound while also leaning towards the modern bands doing it such Unto Others, Grave Pleasures and Tribulation, the latter very prominent as Cemetery Echo rise from the grave with an interesting hybrid of genres. 7/10
Vordermann - Feeding On Fireworks (Self Released)
Stoke Vordermann pay tribute, in their own weird way, to Wales' foremost maths genius and social justice campaigner Carol Vorderman.
Classing themselves as post-rock/rainbow doom, they follow up their debut EP Feeding On Flowers, with the more dangerously titled Feeding On Fireworks which is a three track manages to create a wall of noise which combines doom, sludge, shoegaze, grunge and stoner.
While there are few direct links to everyone's favourite mathematician there is a lot of esoteric, space noodling that reminds me of Cybernetic Witch Cult as they cross the genre streams as often as possible through their multi-dimensional music.
Ego Shake sees them in space rock weirdness while The Salem Shake manages to bring the heavy riffs of Mastodon as Something Sacred, Something Terrible closes this second EP with a progressive, anthemic post-gaze eruption that gives us the promised fireworks.
So plenty of vowels and consonants along with time signatures you'd need a calculator for, Vordermann bring more rainbow doom with this new EP. 7/10
There is a huge guest list on this record and I mean huge. Sixteen different musicians join band leader and multi instrumentalist Tor-Helge Skei to create these thrilling dark electronic soundscapes from the depths of Trondheim, Norway.
Coming from the Greek word Hólos Holissstik means while "whole" and that is what drives the collaborative nature of the record, explaining why there's so many extra musicians adding their parts to Skei's musical sketches.
Skei has history with extreme metal acts such as Manes, Høstsol, Atrox, Manii, Syning and Lethe with Anna Murphy of Cellar Darling, appearing here on the atmospheric Scandi prog of Obsession Six, she joins a cavalcade of names that supply vocals, guitars, bass, drums and synths.
Tor-Helge has been tormented by these songs, some for a long time, some more recently, creating the initial versions that are both patchy and fully formed, drawn from his history on the dark side of music, to make enthralling, claustrophobic and foreboding pieces which highlight the contribution of the guests as well as the composition skills of this bands creator.
Handling recording, production and mixing Tor-Helge turned over the mastering to Knut Prytz (ex-Necrophagia), finishing off these eight tracks that straddle darkwave, electronica, industrial, shifting from the progressive grooves of The Rhythm Of Silence, to the haunting Projections, Reoccurring Dreams embraces synthwave and Would You Take This Heart is a lucid dreamscape.
With referrals to Depeche Mode and Apex Twin, Holissstik begins this three part release with a unavoidable darkness and electronic muscle. 8/10
Cemetery Echo - Civitas Lacrimarum (Seeing Red Records)
Some New York "Haunt 'n' Roll" now from Buffalo band Cemetery Echoes who welcome us to Civitas Lacrimarum (City Of Tears - Latin nerds) with some blackend deathrock meets gothic post punk, through thrashy buzzsaw riffs, jangly melodic cleans, moody atmospherics and vocals that snarl and croon in equal measure.
Snakeland's Pull or Dungeon Of Love for instance has gothic overtones from that whole post punk sound while Hell Night or Cannibalistic Underground Nihilist Teens are a savage black metal assault, but much of the album ably blends the both sides for some introspective, blackend goth metal.
There's a lot of inspiration from the original bands that spearheaded the gothic rock sound while also leaning towards the modern bands doing it such Unto Others, Grave Pleasures and Tribulation, the latter very prominent as Cemetery Echo rise from the grave with an interesting hybrid of genres. 7/10
Vordermann - Feeding On Fireworks (Self Released)
Stoke Vordermann pay tribute, in their own weird way, to Wales' foremost maths genius and social justice campaigner Carol Vorderman.
Classing themselves as post-rock/rainbow doom, they follow up their debut EP Feeding On Flowers, with the more dangerously titled Feeding On Fireworks which is a three track manages to create a wall of noise which combines doom, sludge, shoegaze, grunge and stoner.
While there are few direct links to everyone's favourite mathematician there is a lot of esoteric, space noodling that reminds me of Cybernetic Witch Cult as they cross the genre streams as often as possible through their multi-dimensional music.
Ego Shake sees them in space rock weirdness while The Salem Shake manages to bring the heavy riffs of Mastodon as Something Sacred, Something Terrible closes this second EP with a progressive, anthemic post-gaze eruption that gives us the promised fireworks.
So plenty of vowels and consonants along with time signatures you'd need a calculator for, Vordermann bring more rainbow doom with this new EP. 7/10
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