Oct 302015
 

Invoker-Aeon

 

Today is the official release date for Aeon, the second album by Germany’s Invoker, which will be brought to discerning metal lovers by Non Serviam Records. It is adorned by a wonderful album cover created by Misanthropic Art. It’s likely that you have seen this artwork at our site previously, because it has been our pleasure to bring you the premiere of three songs from the album. And now we bring you the premiere of a full album stream.

The music on the album encompasses a variety of moods, but it’s consistently intense, powerful, and dark. Produced in a way that provides both clarity and massive force, and featuring individual performances that really shine, Aeon’s greatest strength is nevertheless revealed in the songwriting. The song’s have individual character, each one marked by distinctive melodies that get their hooks in your head right away, and there is renewed pleasure when you come back to them. It’s the kind of album that can stay in your playlist a long time, without losing its interest. Continue reading »

Oct 222015
 

Invoker-Aeon

 

We’ve previously premiered two tracks from the new album by Germany’s Invoker — “Secrets of Seed” and the title track “Aeon”. Two is not enough. We have more, beginning today with the album’s seventh track, “Engulfed For Millions of Years”.

If you’ve been following the songs from Aeon that have appeared to date, you already know about Invoker’s talent for weaving dark melodic hooks into the majestic and multifaceted tapestry of their sound, and “Engulfed…” is another grant example of that skill at work. The song races and rips from the beginning, seizing the listener’s attention without delay, and then begins to move along a changing course that includes hard-jabbing riffs, a swirling melodic guitar melody that shimmers like streamers of light, and big, booming hammer blows of pile-driving power. Continue reading »

Sep 262015
 

Invoker-Aeon

 

One month ago we had the pleasure of premiering the title track to Aeon, the new second album by the German band Invoker, which will be released by Non Serviam Records next month. Today we bring you another song from the album: “Secrets of Seed”.

Beginning in the vein of a dark, mid-paced dirge, “Secrets of Seed” soon enough begins to roll like a juggernaut, combining elements of black metal and melodic death metal to deliver a song that’s both electrifying and very memorable. Continue reading »

Aug 252015
 

Invoker-Aeon

 

When I first laid eyes on the wonderful cover by Misanthropic Art for Invoker’s second album — Aeon — I immediately became eager to hear something from the album. That was five days ago, and all that was then available was just a brief excerpt of a song. It sounded both massive and mesmerizing — but it was painfully short. I wished (in print) that I could hear a complete song.

Well, sometimes wishes are granted, because now I’ve heard Aeon’s title track, and you’re about to hear it, too. It’s black as night and heavy as an avalanche, shifting between ominous booming hammer blows and racing, ravaging riff assaults laced with a grim but immediately memorable melody. Continue reading »

Aug 202015
 

Thy Catafalque- Sgùrr

I haven’t had time to compile a round-up of new music since Monday. I enjoy posting premieres and accompanying reviews when I like the music, and we’ve had a lot of those this week (more are coming later today), but they do tend to cut into the time available to search out other new songs worth recommending. When three or four days pass without a round-up, it’s not possible to cover everything I’d like to cover — too much good music comes out every day. So this is just an initial group of things I’d like to recommend for now; with luck I hope to prepare another round-up for tomorrow.

THY CATAFALQUE

There are few bands whose music I admire as much as Thy Catafalque. Thanks to praise about the band I first read at The Number of the Blog back in early 2011, I discovered the wonders of Thy Catafalque’s discography and began writing about the music, which in turn led me to make the acquaintance of the band’s remarkable mastermind Tamás Kátai. And then later that same year I was simply blown away by the band’s newest album, Rengeteg. I’m terrible at making narrowed lists of things I like, but if I were to attempt to make a list of my 10 favorite metal albums of all time, I know it would be a strong contender. Continue reading »