Within Darkness

HammerFall – Infected Review

By Within Darkness on May 6, 2011 in 2.0, 2.5, 2011, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Blast, Power Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 16 comments

Radiation clouds, torn limbs, zombies on the loose, Armageddon closing in, Aaah! In other words, heaven on Earth for horror maniacs such as myself. Just the perfect cliche plot to fit your favorite movie in the genre or some random Left4Dead-ish first-person zombie shooter which despite all plot holes always provides a lot of fun and action. And I really wish I was reviewing something of this sort, but well, life’s a bitch. What I’m actually whining about is the mere fact that we’re talking about HammerFall’s newly born record, Infected, which will not entertain you even nearly as much.

Demonaz – March of the Norse Review

By Within Darkness on April 3, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, Black Metal, Death Metal, Epic Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Viking Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 8 comments

Hard to believe it, but it’s finally here! The long-awaited solo debut of Demonaz. Some of you may still remember Perfect Visions, the low bitrate demo and its problematic sound that was circulated years ago. I doubt that fans who heard it didn’t fall for the four songs immediately because despite the bad production the coldly distant, mysterious epic mood was something to worship, remember and hope for in terms of a future full-time debut. In due time an announcement was made and the record was given the title March of the Norse as well as record label home in Nuclear Blast, also responsible for Demonaz’s other obligations in Immortal. The only question is, was it really worth the wait?

Within Temptation – The Unforgiving Review

By Within Darkness on March 20, 2011 in 2011, 4.5, Dutch Metal, Gothic Metal, Not Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Roadrunner, Gothic Metal, Not Metal, 16 comments

As one of the elevated culprits who took guilty pleasure in bringing the so-called “female fronted” symphonic metal genre to fame, Within Temptation has often been right next to the milestone names of Tristania, Theatre of Tragedy, Nightwish, After Forever and the like from this infamous subgenre [Also known as “Chick Metal” by this member of The Patriarchy – AMG]. This is often accompanied by blunt comparisons, senseless “expert” statements and, of course, rabid hate from people who just can’t appreciate chicks in metal [Example: my earlier comment. – AMG]. But hey, life goes on and so does the music industry. Whatever the case, unlike their colleagues who have gone through hard time line-up changes that have proven catastrophic at times, Within Temptation has continued to add new chapters to their own story. Through times of war between legions of Tarja and Anette die-hards, crazy Vibeke rumors in the air, Floor & Sander drama break-ups, the flame of Within Temptation continued to burn ever brighter, offering fascinating music with each release.

Sylosis – Edge of the Earth Review

By Within Darkness on March 10, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, English Metal, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 0 comments

So here you have it, the follow-up to one of the better debuts of the past few years. If you consider yourself a fan of the current melodic thrash/death scene, you ought to be familiar with their name for Sylosis sure stirred up some waters with Conclusion of an Age. Either way, the excitement was well justified – their first full-length record is still the talk of the day with good reason, buried under the sound of powerful, nah, figuratively chop-your-head-off guitar riffs, melodious sections and vocals that steered clear of the excitement-killing metalcore crowd, despite being a little bit closer than would otherwise be comfortable for metal folk.

Suidakra – Book of Dowth Review

By Within Darkness on March 6, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, AFM Records, Death Metal, Folk Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Folk Metal, 4 comments

There will always be examples of bands that fate hasn’t been kind to despite their hard work and professional approach. Suidakra is unfortunately one of those bands, but regardless of the size of his fanbase, the name of Arkadius has been linked to fecundity, quality music and progress. Having started the band as a black metal project with folklore elements, he has continued to develop this sound further in order to forge out one of the most musically successful, yet not so widely-consumed folk melodeath bands out there. That being said, Suidakra is not an exception from the painful “quantity vs. quality” issue which resulted in the bittersweet aftertaste that Cragacht left us with. Now, however, they have a chance to compensate that downfall and strike back with a solid piece of work called Book of Dowth.