Angelo - [Evolve] (11.11.2020) [★★★★★]

Already appeared with: Factor (2015),Resonance (2018)

The visual kei band Angelo has been quite prolific in the last years, releasing at least an album per year. This thing hasn’t changed with the twelfth album, which features an energetic and various sound, including catchy melodies, aggressive notes and charismatic vocals. Angelo may appear to be formulaic, but if their style works and always delivers, why not give it a chance?

REVIEWS:Rebirth of a Newborn Baby (18.04.2007),The Freak Show (21.12.2007),Design (06.10.2010),Faith (analysis),Resonance (14.11.2018)

TRACKLIST

1. Enter the NEOPHASE
2. Swallow
3. :evolve
4. Cell Division
5. Amon
6. An Endless Multiverse
7. Teardrop
8. Haru no kaze (Spring breeze)
9. Missing Link
10. All for you

Revival of the Era - Nephthys (04.11.2020) [★★★★★]

On 2017 a new band, named Revival of the Era, has quietly formed, but nobody could expect that their sound may have been so powerful and fascinating at the same time. Their first mini-album is made of energetic and virtuous metal sound, with strong orchestral shades and chilling vocals, creating suggestive and powerful tracks, which always surprise the listener. This band surely represents a new phase of the visual kei scene and we will surely follow them.

TRACKLIST

1. Nephthys (ft. Cazqui)
2. Outbloom
3. Prada
4. Desert
5. Division Point
6. Ayame (Iris)
7. Atom -Nephthys ver.-

Tears of Tragedy - Trinity (25.11.2020) [★★★★★]

Tears of Tragedy is one of the most appreciated metal bands in Japan and it’s always good to hear something new from them. After three years of absence, the band comes back with an album, made of compelling compositions, driven by an awesome guitar work, passionate vocals and a good keyboard work, which characterizes each track.

TRACKLIST

1. Trinity
2. Nonsite
3. Yuugen (Mystery)
4. Innocent gram
5. Anonymous
6. Outsider
7. After song
8. No.05
9. Frost flower
10. Toki ni kagami wa uso wo tsuku (Sometimes the mirror is lying)
11. Chronometry

Blindman - Expansion (11.11.2020) [★★★★★]

In a time when old bands decide to get back into the stage with something new, Blindman definitely fits the current musical scene. Their first album in two years tries to introduce their sound to whoever doesn’t know them and the final result is definitely awesome, with strong rhythms and energetic vocals domaining over the rest, bringing an atmosphere remindful of 90′s heavy metal.

TRACKLIST

1. Love Drifter
2. Angel Smile
3. Promise of Love
4. Tonight
5. Over There
6. Never Say Never
7. One Step Closer
8. Your Melody
9. In the Autumn Wind
10. Solitude
11. I’m Falling Down

Damian Hamada’s Creatures - Kyuyaku makai seisho dai I sho [The old testament of Hell -Chapter 1-] (25.11.2020) [★★★★]

Damian Hamada has been the main guitarist of the Japanese metal band Seikima-II for about three years, but afterwards he became quite popular as musician. Recently he came up with a brand-new project led by himself and composed by quite unknown musicians and released the first of two mini-albums for introducing their music to the audience. In this first work there are many promising elements, such as the refined instrumental work, an energetic guitar work, gothic shades and flowing vocals, making this project worth of interest.

TRACKLIST

1. Seiei (Holy poem)
2. Babel
3. Heaven to Hell
4. Running like a Tiger
5. San-mai no shoumakyou (Three sacred mirrors)
6. Lady into Devil
7. Sacrifice of Love -Omo yo, hito no yokubou no kanashimi yo- (Sacrifice of love -Lord, the sadness of human desires-)

-HONORABLE MENTIONS-

Rename - Instinct (04.11.2020)

Only the die-hard visual kei fans can remember the indie band Masked Rider System, which lasted about five years. Akira, the band’s singer, started a new project in the following year, whose first album came out only on 2020. The sound can be associated to many visual bands, but at the same time there’s something refreshing behind each note, accompained by a deep voice and an unpredictable approach, alternating fast themes with more romantic and jazzy ones.

TRACKLIST

1. erode
2. Loose
3. Gross
4. Fula
5. void
6. Inu no uta (Dog song)
7. elegy Elegy
8. Stigma
9. anemone
10. miserable

a crowd of rebellion - Zealot City (11.11.2020)

Already appeared with: Ill (2018)

The alternative metal band a crowd of rebellion is slowly becoming one of the most riveting acts of the moment. Their latest album is a confirmation of their always growing style, but also a link with the past (there are three re-recorded tracks), incorporating shocking colors, distinct vocal performances and an awesome technique, giving to each track an unique identity, going from aggressive to catchy in a single blow. This band should be kept an eye on.

TRACKLIST

1. Meteor
2. Muzaisha (Innocent)
3. Under the Split Tree
4. °OD。
5. SLANDER.
6. QED
7. Up to me
8. Bless by Blue
9. coelacanth
10. Alone//Dite
11. Keep the Day
12. Mania
13. Stick VS MADDOG
14. hAngedmAn_A
15. Interlude-(NOT FOUND)
16. 〔←REDO.〕
17. The Crow (Re-recorded)
18. Rebellious Behavior (Re-recorded)
19. A Malice of Rider (Re-recorded)

Hotei - Soul to Soul (25.11.2020)

It’s impossible to not have listened a song composed by Tomoyasu Hotei at least once and his style is pretty hard to forget. The seventeenth album is a set of collaborations with several artists from Japan but also from the West, each one bringing a different touch to Hotei’s majestical work, bringing on a mix of pop, rock, dance and ballad, worth of being experienced, especially if you love to listen to music without obligation.

TRACKLIST

1. Soul to Soul (ft. Kobukuro)
2. Dangerous (ft. Kazuya Yoshii)
3. Find a Way (ft. Incognito All Stars)
4. Lotus Flower (ft. Zucchero)
5. Great Messenger
6. BoomBoomBoom (ft. Yang Kun)
7. I Don’t Wanna Lie (ft. Kiyoshi Hikawa)
8. Battle Without Honor or Humanity -Solid Groove- (ft. Nate Smith)
9. Live on (ft. Marc LavoineandCalogero)
10. Savage Sun (ft. Glim Spanky)
11. Battle Without Honor or Humanity -Battle Samba- (ft. Carlinhos Brown) 

TO BE CONTINUED…

Dexcore - [Metempsychosis.] (30.09.2020) [★★★★★]*REVIEW*

Although they have formed only about four years ago, Dexcore have already estabilished their own status within the visual kei scene, thanks to a powerful and distinctive sound. Their first full album summarizes at best what they are able to do, with energetic themes, accompained by unique vocals and shades of experimentation, in seventeen tracks of pure metal energy.

TRACKLIST

1. [Metempsychosis.]
2. Dragout.
3. Replace our Souls
4. Collapse -2020-
5. Breath
6. the Ground
7. Scribble
8. Two-Dimensional
9. Don’t be Afraid -2020-
   
10. U.N.Know
11. 「T.c.b.t.s」 
12. Demise
13. Truth=Betrayal
14. Period
15. Cibus (ft. Ryo from Crystal Lake)
16. Needle in the Dust
17. Visitor

Buck-Tick - Abracadabra (21.09.2020) [★★★★★]

Already appeared with: Atom Miraiha no.9 (2016),No.0 (2018)

The veteran band Buck-Tick is back to shake off things after two years from their last album, heading back to their roots, such in a way. In their latest work, their sound maintains the gritty and enigmatic vibe which always characterized them, but there’s also a pleasant electronic vibe, distributed on each track according to the style, driven by Atsushi Sakurai’s sumptuous vocals and a really refined instrumental work. If you are looking for something different, but also belonging to Buck-Tick, this album is definitely your choice.

REVIEWS:Jupiter (analysis),Kurutta Taiyou (21.02.1991),Romance (analysis),13kai wa Gekkou (06.04.2005),Atom Miraiha no.9 (28.09.2016)

TRACKLIST

1. Peace
2. Que sera sera Elegy
3. Urahara-Juku
   
4. Sophia Dream
5. Tsuki no sabaku (Moon desert)
   
6. Villain
7. Kogoeru -Crystal Cube ver.- (Freezing)
8. Maimu maimu (Mime mime)
   
9. Dance Tengoku (Land of dance)
   
10. Kemonotachi no yoru -YOW-ROW ver.- (Night of the beasts)
    
11. Datenshi -YOW-ROW ver.- (Fallen angel)
    
12. Moonlight Escape
13. Eureka
14. Boukyaku (Oblivion)

Hazuki - Souen -Funeral- (16.09.2020) [★★★★★]

Everyone knows the energetic and compelling metal band named Lynch., but few people know that their singer, Hazuki, has also a solo project, which has recently seen a sparkle thanks to the first album. In this release he gives vent to his own creativity, managing from covers of known Japanese songs, including something of his band, to newer songs, all transformed into magnificient and deep ballads, each one with its own shade and well driven by Hazuki’s melting and touching vocals. Hazuki has definitely a softer side compared to what he does with Lynch. and we’d like to explore it more.

TRACKLIST

1. Eternity
2. Phoenix
3. D.A.R.K.
4. Keibetsu (Despise)
5. Misshitsu (Closed room) (Buck-Tickcover)
6. Mizukagami (Water mirror) (Coccocover)
7. Tsuki no shizuku (Moon droplets) (Shibasaki Koucover)
8. Ray (Luna Seacover)
9. Shijou no yurikago (Supreme cradle) (Kuroyumecover)
10. Another day comes (Pay money to my paincover)
11. Tamayura no hi (Short-time lantern)

Climbgrow - Culture (09.09.2020) [★★★★]

Climbgrow is a metal band formed on 2015, and since then they released some EP and two albums, both last year. The second one caught the attention thanks to a paced and energetic rock sound, well provided by a quite good instrumental work, along with Taisei’s piercing vocals, giving an unique spin to an already addicting sound. This band appears incredibly interesting and has all the cards for going even beyond.

TRACKLIST

1. Tight Rope
2. Door
3. Senkou (Fast)
4. Suiseimushi (Drunk life, dream death)
   
5. Bang Bang Bang
6. Mont Blanc
7. Hello Goodbye (Newrec ver.)
8. Mother
9. Fall Out
10. September (Newrec ver.)
11. Mado (Window)
12. Dress o kite (Wearing a dress)

Smany - Illuminate (26.09.2020) [★★★★]

Smany is a young Japanese electronic artist, active since 2013 and recognized more for her collaborations with other alternative projects, such as World’s End Girlfriend. In her second album since signing up with Virgin Babylon Records, she brings up an enigmatic sound, closer to dream pop, made of vibrant notes, shaded vocals and unpredictable changes of rhythm and atmosphere, leading up to an unusual and fascinating work of pop music.

TRACKLIST

1. Dye the darkness
2. Blurry moon
3. w
4. Usagi -ft. Go-qualia- (Rabbits)
5. Yume (Dream)
6. Fall
7. Hide me
8. Himitsu -ft. World’s End Girlfriend- (Secret)
9. Illuminate -ft. Matryoshka-
10. Over

-HONORABLE MENTIONS-

Aldious - Evoke II 2010-2020 (30.09.2020)

The first mention is for the Japanese all-female metal band Aldious, which has released the second chapter of their “back to the roots” project, started six months earlier. In this second disc, the band decides to reprise some of their recent hits, mixing up with the genres, going from thrash metal vibes to ballads and catchy hard rock notes. If this Evoke phase is a teaser of what Aldious has become, we can’t wait to experience what they have to offer.

TRACKLIST

1. Luft (Wing)
2. Re:fire
3. Believe Myself
4. Reincarnation
5. Kanashii otoko (Dear friend)
   
6. Confusion
7. White Crow
8. Step
9. Fragile

Meme - Kokuu wo mitasu ether [Ether filling the void](29.09.2020)

The second mention is for the newest project led by the visual kei singer L, already know for his work in the bands Amber Bullet,The 3rd BirthdayandBalalaika. This EP, exclusively in digital, shows off the band’s sound, made of creepy tones, piercing bass lines, pounding rhythms, energetic riffs and L’s compelling vocals, all filled into the seven tracks featured, bringing on an interesting variety. We can only hope that L’s latest gig will last even more than the other ones.

TRACKLIST

1. Goku (Prison)
2. Yokujou Shangri-la (Lust Shangri-la)
   
3. Anthem
4. Kokuhaku (Confession)
5. Twilight
6. Viola Stigma
7. Montage

Inoran - Libertine Dreams (30.09.2020)

Already appeared with: 2019 (2019)

Inoran, who most of you know as the guitarist of Luna Sea, came out with the eleventh album, made for celebrating his 50th birthday. The album is made of several genres, such as pop, rock and also ballad, mixing up energetic themes with more romantic ones, all of them working with a cohesive harmony. So Inoran is definitely a musician who makes well also outside the highlight of his band, ready to kick in with fresh and addicting music.

TRACKLIST

1. Don’t Bring Me Down
2. Soul Ain’t For Sale
3. Libertine Dreams
4. Purpose
5. Missing Piece
6. Soundscapes
7. 75
8. Kingdom Come
9. Shaking Trees
10. Dirty World

TO BE CONTINUED…

caniscorvidus:

I’ve listened to the Planet Rock “How’s the Heart” acoustic performance hundreds of times, but just stumbled across this concert recording and guys it’s DESTROYING ME

My 25 Favorite Metal Songs of 2020

There are always a lot of songs worth appreciating at the end of the year, way more than 25, and I have done like 90-song lists before, which is nuts. But I’m trying to not go utterly insane this year; it’s been insane enough on its own. I’m keeping this one kind of on the short side so that I can put more energy not the top albums I want to highlight. As with each list, the weird, picky compulsive side of me has a weird selection process that basically tries to exclude stand-alone singles that could be featured more fully as part of an album in the future, like Gojira’s “Another World”. It’s not perfect, but it feels weird to include songs like that here when they could make a future list as part of an album too. So here they are, my 25 favorite metal songs of the year:

25.An Autumn for Crippled Children - “Silver”

One of the most ethereal and human moments on an ambient black metal album this year, “Silver” in all its fuzzily produced glory captures the genre at its most vulnerable in a rather succinct package and I can only love and respect it.

24.Sylosis - “Arms Like a Noose”

Another standout among many, “Arms Like a Noose” finds the UK act bringing a metalcore influence to modern melodic thrash, and a retro-flavored breakdown that, in better times, would undoubtedly make the pit explode into a frenzy and the rest of the crowd headbang in full unified swing.

23.Carach Angren - “Frankensteina Strataemontanous”

Meshing a marching palm-muted chugging rhythm with unhinged, anxiety-inducing piano chords, the title track to the ever-theatrical Dutchmen’s sixth album is an much of a bop as a menacing symphonic black metal track can be.

22.The Acacia Strain - “Crippling Poison”

With a sick, stomp-dancing riff at its core, this song is a furious deathcore chugger that captures the hardcore ethos that makes The Acacia Strain such a powerful force in deathcore when they’re at their best the way they were on this past album.

21.Trivium - “The Defiant”

This one seemed to be the under-the-radar hit for the band this year, in a few of the same ways “Caustic Are the Ties That Bind” was on In Waves. Indeed the two sound kind of like sister songs in their emotive guitar-powered melodies (the harmonious solo here seemingly taking a bit of a cue from Khemmis) and anthemic catharsis. It ends on a pretty bright and hopeful note, that I was a little cold on at first, but have really come to appreciate now. It’s a bold, beautiful track that captures Trivium at their best.

20.Suicide Silence - “Two Steps”

After the embarrassment of their self-titled album in 2017, Suicide Silence came back hard with the lead single to this year’s redemptive Become the Hunter, which reinvested in the band’s knack for combining tasty grooves and scary breakdowns that made them such a force to be feared in the deathcore world.

19.Undeath - “Entranced by the Pendulum”

It was hard to pick a favorite from the uniformly filthy and delicious Lesions of a Different Kind, but I really liked the vocal hooks, the drum accents, and variety of riffs (especially the low-string-bending at the bridge) of “Entranced by the Pendulum”, which made a consistent standout as I came back to the album over and over again after it came out.

18.Alestorm - “Tortuga”

The way the true Scottish pirate metal outfit expanded their sound to involve trap, electronic music elements, and a rap feature on this absolute party of a song give me hope that there is plenty of treasure left in Alestorm’s chest and that the band will defy all the expectations of those who thought they would run out of ways to make music about the pirate’s life.

17.Lamb of God - “Resurrection Man”

Lamb of God’s self-titled effort this year was a pretty low-risk affair, but “Resurrection Man” was stark exception in the middle of the track list, its more scowling first half exploring a variety of unusual guitar styles for the band to build the tension that breaks into a more quick-paced headbang-fest and an absolutely slamming breakdown that makes it hands down the highlight of the album.

16.Carnation - “Iron Discipline”

The Belgians kicked off their practically illegally heavy sophomore release with an energetic, infectious, growl-along banger that certainly captures their emphatic no-bullshit approach to death metal at its most diplomatic, offering a chance to join in the vicious death metal attack before it blasts every in front of it to death.

15.Humavoid - “Aluminum Rain”

Stirring together off-kilter rhythms, jazzy piano chords, a tasty central Meshuggah-esque eight-string groove into a wicked, and a groovy synth-driven bridge into a dizzying prog banger maybe even too mad scientist for Devin Townsend, “Aluminum Rain” stands out as a bolstering highlight in the Finnish outfit’s breakout LP among several tracks of ambitious modern progressive metal.

14.Nearea - “Carriers”

Another solid cut on an album of gems, I found myself coming back to “Carriers” the most out of any track on Nearea’s self-titled album this year for how it kind of just has it all in terms of what made the band’s comeback album this year so exciting. Combining melodic death metal at its most furious with metalcore at its punchiest, it is a sharp, deadly ripper of a track.

13.Avatar - “A Secret Door”

The highlight anthem from the band’s most recent theatrical musical release, Avatar go big and high-soaring on “A Secret Door”, with a pretty palpable power metal influence that absolutely blows the house down.

12.Khemmis - “Down in a Hole”

The thriving Denver doom optimists released a little compilation EP this year whose lead single was a glorious and synthless cover of Dio’s iconic inspirational synth metal anthem, “Rainbow in the Dark”. But the band put out three cover versions this year, and that was not the cover that blew me away the most. Khemmis took part in a multi-artist tribute to Alice in Chains’ grunge cornerstone, Dirt, and they got to cover the albums depressive acoustic ballad, “Down in a Hole”. While Code Orange were getting props for going acoustic for their live cover of the song earlier this year and doing a pretty good job, Khemmis kept the amps on and the results were stunning. The band make the song come to them and the grungy depression that Alice in Chain poured into the writing of the song pairs so unbelievably with Khemmis’ solemn, but hopeful doom metal; it’s an utterly goosebumps-inducing cover, and I can’t urge everyone enough to check it out.

11.Oranssi Pazuzu - “Oikeamielisten sali”

After its lengthy, but warped string intro’s serving as a breather from all the psychedelic mayhem preceding it, “Oikeamielisten sali” plunges Oranssi Pazuzu’s psychedelic black metal magnum opus into a spinning, spiraling world of flashing lights and disorienting sounds that feel like an unreal, but vivid nightmare’s plunge into a tunnel to hell.

10.End - “Pariah”

The pit-karate-inducing highlight of what I think has to be the metallic hardcore album of the year, End show just why their no-bells-and-whistles approach to the sound is so potent on the fiery and crushing “Pariah”, whose concluding breakdown brings the already chaotic and technically impressive track to a deservedly violent climax.

9.Ulcerate - “Inversion”

Similarly to how the self-titled Nearea album was hard to choose from, picking a favorite off Stare into Death and Be Still was a wonderfully difficult task because the band hit the mark with each song in kind of the same way. The guitar playing across the album is incredibly creative and emotional for such thick, titanium-clad death metal, and the band indeed surrenders not a shred of what makes the genre so great to listen to in its more simplistic forms, which I think the particularly heart-wrenching guitar work on “Inversion” demonstrates the most. It’s a good taster for anyone who might be skeptical that death metal can manage to resonate with your innermost melancholic ponderings on death while still firing on all cylinders.

8.August Burns Red - “Three Fountains”

The grand, gorgeous, and heartfelt metalcore closer to the band’s ninth full-length builds up through already-emotional guitar melodies to a glorious sing-along climax that rounds the album off on such an inspiring note.

7.Emmure - “(F)inally (U)nderstanding (N)othing”

Frankie Palmeri and company went hard this year, and I think the opening track from Hindsight best captures the band’s singular directive of making concussion-inducing, furious bangers from front to back and making everything as aggressive and punchy as possible. There’s no one to push around here at home, but that central riff, that verse beat, and that groovy bridge rhythm all make me go fucking stupid wherever I am. Absolute unit of a song.

6.Oranssi Pazuzu - “Ilmestys”

The slow-building and spooky intro track to Oranssi Pazuzu’s masterpiece, “Ilmestys” captures the band’s impeccable form and creative evolution in its subtle, understated opening passage that ultimately opens up like a blooming kaleidoscopic flower into the colorful climax that sees the track out. It’s a stunning, hypnotizing track that manages to encapsulate everything that the Finnish visionaries have been working toward with their psychedelic black metal sound in one seven-minute bite. Crazy to think that that’s just the first song on the album too.

5.Red - “The War We Made”

2000’s alternative metal often gets a bit of a bad rep and is treated like it’s not welcome here anymore in the metal world, at least among the critic class. Well I’m not in that class so I get to enjoy the open-hearted catharsis of alternative metal anthems like “The War We Made”. And it really is one of the band’s best songs and a great example of the genre in general. I dare anyone to honestly stand in front of those strings, those power chords, and that soaring vocal delivery and not feel something resonating in the core of what makes them human. It’s a beautiful song in such simple ways that don’t really beckon much contemporary critical dissection, but that simple openness has been the style’s biggest strength, which Red show wholeheartedly on this song.

4.Code Orange - “Underneath”

The album it came from may have found the Pittsburgh metalcore visionaries in a bit of a phase of growing pains as they try to enhance the industrial aspect of their metallic hardcore sound, but the closing title track of Underneath showed none of it, finishing the album off on a confident, swaggering, and effectively heavy note that packs the hardcore punch they’ve built their reputation on into an infectious alt metal structure without losing any potency. They may not have nabbed album of the year again or even the metalcore album of the year this year, but Code Orange definitely come away with the year’s best standalone metalcore song.

3.Imperial Triumphant - “Atomic Age”

Capturing perhaps the best on the album the deliriously foreboding forest of towers of the big apple, “Atomic Age” spirals down and around through experimentally jazz-infused and nightmarish angular guitar leads in the back of terrifying screams and growls that only add to the psychosis. It feels like being dropped from the top of the Empire State Building over and over and over again and scrambling for safety as the windows of the countless stories rush by.

2.Oranssi Pazuzu - “Uusi teknokratia”

Not that any song on Mestarin Kynsi is particularly lacking for its length or anything, they’re all incredible acid trips of dizzying black metal, but the album’s longest and most dynamic song has to be the most freakish, deceptively welcoming, and other-worldly of the bunch. This song really does take you to another world and entangle your senses there.

1.Deadspace - “A Portrait of Sacrificial Scars” (parts 1 and 2)

Deadspace hit an incredible new high with their sole full-length this year, and the title track in its two phases perhaps best captures the shivering, transfixing power of their more unshackled depressive sound. Everything about it, the drawn-out screams and bellows; the somber clean guitar passages; the depressive distorted chords; the heavenly choir, all sounds like the chilling but undeniably compelling farewell of a long-suffering soul finally seeing the glimpse of peace and release in its welcoming of an afterlife. It’s a song that confronts the heavy concept that DSBM deals with in the kind of candid and forthright manner that makes it so compelling when done well. The song’s abstract lyrics deal with the general sorrow that has surrounded the band’s music and the way the band as a whole has made use of their scars for their art. Deadspace announced their disbandment with the release of this album back in March, and the lyrics portray this act as one of bowing out through suicide (as a band, by disbanding, not literal suicide) to represent the finality of what they have sung about so much throughout their career. While not pairing with a literal death, this album, and this song serve as part of the departing act the way Blackstar served as David Bowie’s farewell and the way Purple Mountains served as David Berman’s suicide note. A Portrait of Sacrificial Scars and its title track is Deadspace’s suicide note as an art project, and one that comes fittingly after a gradual refinement of their sound that mirrored the depressed mind’s spiral from melancholic sorrow to malignant despair, ending their career on a chillingly glorious high note. Being that I’m giving an incredibly dark, DSBM song my top spot, I’d just like to clarify that I’m not suicidal in any way right now, nor advocating it. My top song in 2018 was Andrew W.K.’s “Music Is Worth Living For”, and all the music this year, despite its crushing atmosphere on all of us, and as dark as much of that music is, still is. It’s just, 2020, you know.