Zonaria

Record(s) o’ the Month – July 2012

Record(s) o’ the Month – July 2012

July has actually been a bit of a strange month. While every other month of the year has had some really amazing releases and it’s been difficult to choose, the competition was a little weirder this month. There wasn’t really anything that destroyed anything else—instead, the highest score that we gave out during July was a 4.0. It was also weird, because we reviewed up-and-coming vest metal rockstars Castle who, at least Steel Druhm and I, agreed deserved recognition. But since the record was not released in July, it was not eligible.

Zonaria – Arrival of the Red Sun Review

Zonaria – Arrival of the Red Sun Review

Zonaria has always been a bit of a footnote to the Umeå legacy. By the time they released their first record Infamy & the Breed in 2007, the Swedish metal scene was a thing of the past and melodic death metal—Zonaria’s stock in trade—was pretty much the red-headed step kid of the metal scene. That didn’t stop the band’s debut from making a splash and getting the band signed to Century Media—where they released Cancer Empire in 2008 to rave reviews and… were promptly never heard from again. Until now, that is.

Gloria Morti – Anthems of Annihilation Review

Gloria Morti – Anthems of Annihilation Review

One of the best parts about being a reviewer, honestly, is getting a hold of records that you’d’ve never thought to buy on your own and really enjoying them. 2010 hasn’t actually had a lot of those for me. The year has gone pretty much as expected (and a little worse for certain bands, unfortunately). But one of the big disappointments has been the number of bands that I’ve gotten who I’d never heard of that just never pan out to anything. Because obviously it’s newer bands that keep things going and some of my favorite records of the last few years have been from bands that I didn’t even know existed until I got the record to review (Istapp for example, or In Mourning). Gloria Morti is one of those bands that I’d sorta gotten wind of, but never really heard before. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I received Anthems of Annihilation but I was pleasantly surprised.