Igors Metal Blog

Band: Future Now Album: Utopia Awaits Release Date: June 24th, 2019 Record Label: Self released Genre: Progressive Metal From: Cambridge UK Future Now is the project of guitarist Jaz Hunter and drummer Charlie Mckenzie Stewart, where they invited vocalist Riko Burrows for the first studio album. The project has no been turned into a band with a touring lineup, featuring Richard Nejjy Nejman on keys and synthesizers, Joe Feighan on vocals and Tom Drake on bass guitar. The music is melody focused with emphasis on both vocal and guitar melodies. They would do well both with audiences that favour AOR, progressive rock or melodic metal. Most songs visit several themes or convey different moods in different parts of the song, which makes for great storytelling on the album. The band seems to be inspired by a lot of 80s prog metal bands like Queensryche, Savatage and Saracen, as well as more modern bands like Symohony X, Circus Maximus and Ayreon. There is also so

Many bands ask for reviews. Which is cool. It's a great way for me, as the reviewer, to discover new music. However, I'm often surprised over how little effort the band is willing to put in presenting their material afterwards. Often, the request for a review goes something like this: "please review our stuff. Here's a link to our spotify/youtube/whatever". That's not good enough. For one, while I don't care if your music has already been released, most other places, particularly magazines, will care, and will not review your music if it's already out. Secondly, while I don't need you to send me a physical disc (although I will admit that it's cool when bands do), you really should send me something I can download, and I should not have to use a medium I need to pay to not be interrupted by adds on to review your music. Remember to add track numbers to the tracks, so they load in the right order in my media player. Finally, you need to

Band: Deadwood Lake  Album: Immortalised In Death  Release Date: August 16th 2019  Record Label: UKEM Records  Genre: Melodic/Atmospheric Black Metal  From: Southwest UK  Reviewed by: Igor Jakobsen for Heaps of Metal This review I feel a bit guilty for, as it has taken far too long since I got the task until I actually had the time to sit properly down with the album and write the review.  The album is well produced, with the various instruments clear in the mix, something that is often an issue with black metal. They call themselves atmospheric black metal, however I would say they are closer to Norwegian progressive black metal and progressive extreme metal like Borknagar and Enslaved except there’s no keys. Instead they use clean guitars with various effects for the atmospheric intros and interludes. I would also want to compare them with the Irish dark metal band Primordial.  The album is a concept album, which is always cool. Here the band has chos

Originally posted on Heaps of Metal 02.03.20 Derade is a 4-piece from the Suffolk area (UK) consisting of Guy Radford (guitars), Mark Radford (guitars), Lisa Skinner (Vocals), Paul Skinner (drums) They describe the music as Baroque metal, being influenced by classical music. The songs are fast paced, and would appeal to fans of power metal and melodic metal. Like folk metal bands usually having folk instruments, most fans of symphonic metal would expect from a Baroque metal band to have keyboard or orchestral arrangements, however this band is strictly guitars, bass, vocals and drums, which shows again that it’s the melodies that make the style, not the instruments. The classic symphonic influence is clearest in the instrumental Amentra, but is present through the album. The album is overall well composed, often playing two melodies at the same time. The mix is very good, particularly at balancing the guitars and vocals. The drums of Paul Skinner fit the mus

Originally posted on Heaps of Metal 26.01.20 Band: Damaged Album: 1914 Released: October 18, 2019 Track list: 1 - 1914 2 - Time to Kill 3 - Fallujah 4 - Invisible Battle Scars 5 - In the Killing Fields 6 - Death from Above 7 - The Endless War 8 - Terror Alert Damaged is a Puerto Rican thrash metal band that was initially formed in 1989 but split up in 1991. They reformed again in 2015 with original members Jose Oscar Torres (guitars, lead vocals) and Hector Luis Colon (drums) and new bass player Charlie Force. The album 1914 unsurprisingly has many songs about war, but isn’t a concept album concentrating only on WW1. Besides all the American thrash bands they cite as influences, I’m reminded of Celtic Frost, particularly on “In the Killing Fields”, as well as old Iced Earth and Satan. The solos vary between very melodic ones and more Slayer inspired ones. I like the melodic leads and the clean parts. The songs are more complex than what one would expect of ma

Originally posted on Heaps of Metal 05.11.19  Archer Nations “Beneath the Dream” is the bands 2 nd album, the first, “Culling the Weak” having been released in 2015. The album has nice melodies, and I’m happy to find that there are guitar melodies also on the parts where there are vocals. The album is overall well arranged and well produced, which is not surprising as they used a rather well known producer, Mike Clink, who did many big heavy rock and metal bands in the 80s. The band describe themselves hard rock. I hear both heavy rock and heavy metal here, as well as some power metal and technical metal elements here as well. While the band is a trio with guitar/vocals, bass and drums, there is also some background keyboards that add a bit atmosphere here and there. I like that the album starts with a melodic riff that sets the stage for the band, making me expect a melodic band and making me think of Angra, the Brazilian progressive power metal band. The voca

Originally posted on Heaps of Metal 10.10.19 Blood Beneath Us Starts as a typical melodic death metal song, with dark growling vocals, mid tempo riffs and some melodies, that makes me think of Amon Amarth, possibly some Black Label Society as well. Brings in a well sung, somewhat operatic, but not over the top female vocal that lifts the song. The songs are well produced. I in particular like the drum sound, which is really full. The guitar and vocals are also well placed in the mix. While the bass guitar is mixed typically for the subgenre, I would have preferred a more articulate bass guitar, with more treble. Fall of thine Eyes The second song is faster, and have some brighter growling vocals, more in the direction of black metal, in addition to the darker vocals. Now, I’m guessing all male vocals are handled by the same singer, and if so, it’s an impressive variation in growls. I like how this song changes between several riff tempos and the cymbal work by

Originally posted on Heaps of Metal 04.06.19 Son of Boar is a 5 piece band from Bradford. They describe their music as Stoner / Doom, which emphasizes the focus on slower parts and inspiration from Doom metal, which again is of course inspired by the pre-NWBHM metal bands. The riffs on «A Tongueless Tale» seem however to me to more blues rock inspired than inspired by Black Sabbath or Doom metal band riffs. (I’m here thinking of “traditional” doom metal rather than the extreme metal influenced doom one often encounters in the Scandinavian scene). The EP “A Tongueless Tale” was released in march 2019 by the band themselves. It contains 3 songs, with a running time just over 17 minutes. The mix focuses strongly on the vocals, while the guitars could for my taste have been mixed louder. There are particularly some melodic guitar parts that I would want to hear more off (yes, this review is written by a guitarist). The bass guitar sits well in the mix, and I like the f

Review originally posted on Heaps of Metal 20.05.19 Beyond Salvation is a Manchester based metal band founded in 2014. The bands current lineup is Jon Pedley - Vocals and Guitar, Karl Stone - Bass, Simeon Moore - Drums and Arun Kamath - Guitar. The bands sound focuses on thrash metal, but draws also inspiration from hardcore, particularly in the vocals, and also has, to my ears, some metalcore and Goethenburg melodic death metal inspiration, reminding me of bands like In Flames and Soilwork. My thoughts also go to newer Testament and the thrashier songs of Iced Earth The lyrical theme of the songs is described by the band to focus on the concept of finding a positive from a neagative, sorrow out of despair. “Scarbearer” was released 3 rd of May 2019. It is Beyond Salvations 3 rd offering, the first two being t he EP “Ascension”, which was released in May 2016, and then the single “Betrayer” in May 2017. Being just short of 27 minutes, and containing 5 songs, I would say