ADE Spartacus CD (Blast Head Records 2013) 9/10

Superb album of highly technical Death metal. Featuring George Kolias from NILE on drums, you are right to expect a super fast and extreme type of metal, but its a farcry from NILE, as ADE is about 7 trillion times better than what NILE gave us in well a decade... The first thing that comes to mind while listening to "Spartacus" is the supreme guitar works, I haven't heard anything that tight in years... its simply unbelievable. Musically I could put this band in the same wagon as bands such as HOUR OF PENANCE or even BEHEMOTH for the intensity of the entire album, but is, in any ways, never copying any of these bands. ADE is as far as i'm concerned, pretty unique. You will also hear, through out "Spartacus", traditional Roman instruments, making the whole thing very interesting, unique... This is highly impressive.

Support the label by buying their releases! They have plenty! www.blastheadrecords.com

SHORT BLASTS: CDN RECORDS

The Canadian label CDN has been a hit and miss for me but they are nevertheless still delivering extreme music when so many others are loosing faith in the whole thing, and just call it a day...so kudos to Craig Newman for still helping out starting bands making a name for themselves for well over a decade now.

The label have 3 new releases now... SLAUGHTER HOUSE IN THE PRAIRIE with"All ease in Death" is a solid modern thrash metal band that plays in the same style as MACHINE HEAD or LAMB OF GOD... Far from being at the same level as these bands, they are still delivering some pretty cool music, heavy and catchy enough for me to actually play this aninvestigate themband further (7/10)...

CALCULATE "Apotheosis" is another solid release that blends Deathcore and groovy death Metal. Repetitive, but so heavy its unreal! My probleme with this album is the lack of individuality from song to song... Just don't abuse of this album and it will be enjoyable

for sure (7/10)...

PRIMALFROST "Chapters of time" is not really my cup of tea but is still a cool debut album. This is Pagan/ Folk metal influenced by bands such as ENSIFERUM and EQUILIBRIUM...definitely not as gigantic sounding as these 2 bands, but PRIMAFROST is definitely inspired bythe big names of the genre. If you crave this type of bands, I suggest you investigate further (7.5/10).

Support the label by buying their releases at www.cdnrecords.com.

GUTTED Digital EP 2013 (PRC Music) 8.5/10

My god, how brutal this band can get??? I thought they did some pretty cool shit in the past but now its over the top brutal!  This Hungarian band recently signed to PRC MUSIC (www.prcmusic.com) and will be releasing its forth album in 2014, but to help you wait for the new opus, this digital EP was released for free... and its spreading around like the plague! If you like the most extreme of death metal brutality, say a la HATE ETERNAL, you definitely MUST get this. Technical riffage, hyper speed drumming, over the top brutal vocals rendition... all this played very tight and surprisingly very catchy! I just can't wait for the new album to come out... Kudos to the label for signing this killer band!

You can get a free download by joining the label's mailing list at www.prcmusic.com and then sending them a e-mail requesting this great EP!

DARKTHRONE The Underground Resistance CD (Peaceville 2013) 9/10

The cult is back with another album... so what is to be expected this time around?  The last few albums were awesome pieces of old school punk-infused thrash... But in 2013, DARKTHRONE is pure heavy metal! Everything is simple, riffs, beats, vocal lines... and its magical! The pure 1980's riffage and overall creepyness of the vocals are what makes it work for me. If you loved the "Circle the Wagons" album, You can still find some of it in here but in general its more tightly constructed, the band is at its peak technically. The holy DARKTHRONE  is sounding catchier than ever, they have grown a lot as song writers, just check out the killer epic "Valkyrie" to confirm theses lines... This album is a curve ball for me and in my top 3 so far this year! 

SUFFOCATION Pinnacle of Bedlam CD (Nuclear Blast 2013) 8/10

A new SUFFOCATION is always an event for me, I have been following them since day one, since their very first demo. The last few albums actually left me stiff and cold... Not bad but not overwhelming neither. This new record is somewhat in the same vein but is a little meaner, sharper, there are more hooks and the drums work is astonishing, (thank to Mr. Dave Culross). You can feel that "Bedlam" is probably the more focused album from the band to date. The production is definitely great, so is the artwork... There are amazing, incredible solos on this, which is always a plus for me. I will not bore you to death with 500 words just to describe how amazing the musicianship is... Everybody  should know how great these musicians are, but for the record, its over the top technical! This is another solid SUFFOCATION album. So what is wrong? Absolutely nothing... everything is as expected. SUFFOCATION Being SUFFOCATION, just bigger, faster and again, more focused. This is a very good album.