![Ezkaton/Solitude.m – Campfire of None [Split] Review](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ezkaton-solitude-m-campfire-of-none-768x701.jpg)
“From the dense, dark fog of Eastern Europe rises the unknowable Ezkaton, emerging from their slumber of… has it really only been a year? Alright, then. But this time, they aren’t alone. No, this time they emerge from the mists accompanied by… Solitude.m? Who are they? Hang on. I have some research to do. One second… no, can’t find anything. Solitude.m is about as mysterious as Ezkaton themselves.” SMOOOAAR blackness!
“It’s all about the journey, so the saying goes. For me, the journey from album discovery to album listening to album review is often the highlight of my week, regardless of the ultimate destination (read: rating). For Luca Mazzotta, the one man behind the one-man Helfir project, The Journey is his third release, and one that takes its title very seriously. Taking the helm on every instrument, real and programmed, Mazzotta’s ambitions and inspirations, including such names as Katatonia and Porcupine Tree, are unleashed over fifty minutes of honest, dark, and remarkably flexible music.” Safe travels.
“Leaves’ Eyes is a band I hear about plenty, but whose music I seldom actually hear. A few samples here and there, a sliver of news-worthy drama over there, a conversation once in a while — that’s it. So it’s a bit odd that I wound up with the responsibility of reviewing their latest output, The Last Viking, but then, sometimes not knowing about band-land drama is good for the weary reviewer.” Eyes Fatigue.
“Pop metal. Sure. Why not. Sorry, hang on, I missed a crucial detail there. Finnish pop metal. Sure! Why not? Frankly, as much as I may have misgivings about the style, pop is generally meant to be a cheery style and right now I could use some cheer, because this month has seriously sucked on just about every level and, frankly, I’m getting tired of catharsis. So I’m turning away from doom for a second, turning up the speakers, loading up The Cost of Greatness, and am ready for my self-prescribed dose of artificial happiness (non-drug category). So bring it on, Memoremains. Bring. It. On.” The price of happiness.
“It was a warm day in June when I first came across the Chilean one-man doom project that is Rise to the Sky. In the Grave of a Forgotten Soul piqued my interest enough that when I learned that they’d been signed to GS Productions and had a full-length coming out later this year, I immediately set up a fiendish trap in the Promo Pit to ensure that I would be the only one to reach that record alive. At last, here it is.” Rise to die.
“Sacred Outcry formed in 1998, and are now releasing their debut album, Damned for All Time in—pardon? Yes, this is their debut album, twenty-two years later. You’ve got to hand it to these guys, that is some dedication to the dream.” Time capsule ov steel.
“I love albums that make me feel cold. Hamferð’s Tamsins likam has that effect; regardless of environment or actual temperature, listening makes me feel as though I’m wrapped in darkness, walking through the dead of winter. October Falls’s The Plague of a Coming Age has a similar effect. These albums are prized in my library. In a non-menacing way, they conjure darkness in the most comforting way possible. Always I’m on the lookout for more, and today, I have found some. Hailing from Denmark, Sunken release their second album, Livslede, which roughly translates into “a profound and lasting discomfort with existence.” To summarize: it is dark, it is emotional, and it is fantastic.” Sunken woe-nuts.
“Were I to begin giving the weeks of my life names like some sort of week-naming goon, “When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out” would be a top-level contender for this past week. As a title, it’s perfect; overly lengthy, blunt, and definitely different. In a slight deviation from the metallic usual, the American group En Minor, headed by one Philip Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals), has let loose their debut album, When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out, to unsuspecting masses. Given my earlier week-naming sentiments, this probably should be a match made by destiny – but is it?” Cold and miserable.
“It was with slight trepidation that I fished out The Ballad of James Tig from the promo pit some weeks ago. There was just something about the cover that I didn’t trust. Not to mention that a power metal band writing a concept album about a mythical Viking-esque adventure isn’t the most original pitch I’ve ever heard. But there’s something endearing about Winter’s Verge that has me investigating anyway.” Tigonometry.
“It was some time ago now that the mighty Steel Druhm wandered into the Angry Metal Break room, bewildered and dazed, a single page of text — the promo sheet for Aleynmord’s debut The Blinding Light _– stuck to his paw. He read it out to us. It claimed such things as “a range of vocals from a shrill cry, yells, cleans, and even Americana-esque whistles enshrouded by a fog of thick guitars and a walking bass, The Blinding Light is a concise collection of tracks which convey this powerful emotion that can only be attempted to describe.” What was noteworthy about this strange text was that it never actually told us what genre the music was. There was debate; there was intrigue.” Blind no more.
