Iceland is not only famous as a beautiful country with rich viking heritage, but this ravishing island have some great bands like Sólstafir, Svartidauði, Severed Crotch and last but not least a death metal quartet ANGIST. I've listened to ANGIST's music the first time on MySpace and I must say I was absolutely fascinated! Well, ANGIST horde was formed by two female (!!!) guitarists, Edda and Gyða in 2008. ANGIST's line-up was completed late 2009 and they recorded a promo CD (which contains two excellent old-school death metal tracks "Our ruin" and "Rotten mind") in 2010. I was lucky, because I've interviewed the band and thanks to Gyða I've got ANGIST's promo CD this summer. The material splendidly demonstrates the huge potential of ANGIST for death metal listeners: the wind-stormy riffs, distracting drum-parts masterly mixed with groovy elements and all these crowned by very strong and greatly harsh growls of Edda (!). ANGIST lyrics, by the members' words, are about the human misery, destructive behavior and overall degeneration of humanity, which totally fit into the musical massacre of this Icelandic horde. I would also mention that ANGIST released a new material, "Circle of Suffering" in October this year. I've only listened to a song "Godless" and for me this track is one of my favorites from death metal releases in 2011. Who likes old-school death metal inferno, strongly recommended the unique music of ANGIST! (Review written by Georgius)

The line-up of this young progressive Czech metal band combines well-known musicians from SCENERY and EDAIN, while the musical alloy they try to create is quite CORONER-like sounding as for me. Well, maybe heavier, but there's a definite influence of the Swiss guys there. You can expect a big dose of technicality with sophisticated riff-structures, skillful drum patterns and dodgy bass lines. Their musical formula is maximally technical and progressive and to all this you should add a hoarse vocalizing manner with futuristic lyrics. If I had to categorize their music I would say it's kind of tricky sci-fi metal with inflows coming mostly from Thrash and Death Metal genres. Sure they've got some other impacts as well, like groove and modern metal, but those aren't too attracting to me. The five songs of their debut material were quite well engineered and produced. Everything sounds balanced and just powerful there. The soloing works are remarkable and pretty thoughtful. I would heartily suggest listening to this 22-minute long promo for every fan of progressive and technical metal music. Looking forward to check any of their future releases, but until then just feel free to visit their bandcamp profile, to listen to the entire promo there and to support ARCHEONIC!

The debut material of this newcomer Thrash Metal band from Ukraine hides 2 special songs I would say. The first one is the bearer of the single itself and displays a pretty technical manner full of tricky riff-structures, mind-blowing guitar solos, abstract bass lines and some really catchy yet intriguing female vocals. Drums performed a little bit chaotically there, but still played with dedication and that counts to me. Moreover they sound totally analogues without any triggers or re-sampled bullshit. The overall sound is very raw and 100% live! The second tune is a MORBID SAINT cover, namely "Damien". It came out really different if I compare it to the original track, but on the other hand it is rather versatile too, mainly due to the female vocal solutions. These 2 songs were mixed, mastered & produced by Don Doty, former vocalist of DARK ANGEL. As for the musical influences I can say the Teutonic Thrash scene had a big impact on the band, just take a look at the band's name. Right, DESTRUCTION is one of those. So I am eagerly looking forward to hear some new stuff from BESTIAL INVASION, hopefully a full-length album will follow. Thrash 'til death!!!

Recently got this promo from a good friend of mine, Bogdan of CRIMSON SKY. BLOOD EXPECTORATION is a rather young but definitely promising band formed in the fall of 2006. This is their first full-length stuff consisting of 8 meaty Death Metal cuts. The band's music mainly accentuates on CANNIBAL CORPSE's early heritage, especially when it goes to those bulldozer-like mid-tempo riffs. Although the quartet – Bob (vocals), Roman (guitar), Ivan (bass) & Genry (drums) – displays a side which is full of great technical solutions and remarkable breaks. I would really advise to continue to explore those complex fields instead of having the so-called CC clichés. The sound of the material is pretty massive (guitars, bass & vocals are fine), but the synthetic drums, which are pretty sampled and plastic to me, killing in some ways the overall dynamism. This material would definitely sound better with properly-set live drums. Fans of old-school Brutal Death Metal will definitely price this 35 minutes long stuff. Preferred tracks are: "Isolated and Mutilated" (a bunch of killer groovy riffs performed there), "Hate Detonated" (in my opinion, this musical way should be followed in the future) & "Perfect Enemy" (love those twisted bass lines at the beginning).

This is the very first recording of the Calgary-based one-man band called HAIDUK. The eight songs of "Plagueswept" sound raw and dirty as hell, but the ideas are clear. Luka Milojica (all instruments, vocals) is pursuing to combine the grim atmospheres and melodies of Black Metal with the heaviness and dynamism of Death Metal. The resulting alloy is quite good, despite the bad sounding quality of the drum-machine and the over-distorted sound of the guitars. Both the riff-structures and the accompanying vocals are pretty reminiscent of BOLT THROWER's heritage. However, you should imagine them spiced up with a Nordic touch and a few acoustic passages. The half an hour long debut has its pluses and minuses, but in total we have a decent start. Moreover, the demo comes on a pro-done CD with quality booklet. Recommended for fans of melodic and blackened Death Metal!

Got this EP from the band's vocalist Iždo on some gig in Kosice. It includes 5 short pieces with a playing time a little bit over than 7 minutes! Musically it captures a bunch of cool, old-school grindcore riffs along with a strong fastcore influence and some really crazy vocal parts. The sound is raw and massive enough to blow your minds up. Somehow I felt a coincidence with the musical approach of such bands as LYCANTHROPHY and ATTACK OF RAGE, although it's just a fact I've noticed for myself, so don't take it seriously. The grind quartet on this EP was Iždo (vocals), Monte (guitars), 600 (bass & vocals) and Sedrik (drums). Would be great to listen to a full-length stuff from them, but as we know grindcore bands mostly prefer splits and 7" releases. Their cover artwork looks the old-school way too and it won't be a surprise if I say it reminded me NAPALM DEATH's early covers pretty much. If you wanna listen to some Slovakian grindcore insanity, feel free to contact the band at the addresses below! Grind on!!!

Hell yeah, the new material of Swedish JORMUNDGAND - "The Eleventh Path" - has arrived! This unique band recorded its satanic hymns in July this year with the following line-up: Tobias "Tobbe" Fongelius - guitar and vocals; Erika Hansson - guitar; Tobias Pettersson - bass; Ingemar Carlsson - drums. The single contains two impressive tracks, "The Eleventh Path" and "Raping Corpse" (by good old European death/thrash/black traditions), and a brilliant acoustic song, called "Jormundgand". Some parts of first and second infernal masterpieces reminded me one of my eternal favorite albums, KREATOR's "Pleasure to kill": raw and aggressive guitar riffs, fast drumparts larded with Tobbe's diabolical voice. After the excellent "Satanic Attack" demo JORMUNDGAND has proved again that Jon Nödtveidt's heritage never dies! Finally I would like to note that "The Eleventh Path" single (cover artwork by Tyrant of NIFELHEIM) will be released officially through Burning Eye Productions soon. Hail the Northern Dragon of Chaos! (Review written by Georgius)