Dantesco at myspace

Dantesco, Puerto Rico’s premier metal band play a form of epic doom metal not a million miles from Doomsword, Solstice and Solitude Aeturnus. The first thing you will notice is they are all in Spanish and that vocalist Erico La Bestia sings for a good portion of the time in a cod-operatic style that somewhat distracts from the music. It’s hard to get into any sort of metal with someone sounding like Pavarotti singing over the top of it. The performance and composing of the music is top notch, but it’s impossible to get past a vocalist who by rights should be singing in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and it’s not coincidence that the bonus track on this album is actually taken from one!

The guitarwork is immensely soulful and provocative and with another vocalist I could probably get into this a lot more, but La Bestia’s vocals which when they aren’t operatic, sound like a parrot attempting falsetto, simply don’t work in Metal. Operatic vocals are for opera and nothing else really by the evidence of this record.

Rosetta at Myspace

Rosetta’s particular strand of Post Metal takes the ethereal melodies present within Katatonia’s “Brave Murder Days” and The Angelic Process’s “Weighing souls with Sand” and merges them with the that staple of the Genre, the mid period Isis sound. The quiet/loud/quiet/loud dynamics are infused with a gradually increasing sense of urgency that many post metal bands try and fail to achieve. There is a sense of nearly but not quite linear progression in the song writing which adds a progressive and epic feel to the compositions.

“Wake/Lift” is a hauntingly beautiful yet exquisitely savage record and one that proves that Rosetta might be able to one day make the leap and join Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna, and Neurosis as the accepted leaders of the genre. It is a measured and expertly crafted release which throws up new discoveries with each listen. If you like Post Metal you will probably like this!

Runemagick at myspace

“Dawn of the End” known as “Voyage of Desolation/Dawn of the end” by some is just one in a long line of stellar releases from the Swedish underground veterans. Runemagick’s approach on this album like on all their releases differ from other Doom/Death bands such as Coffins and Disembowelment in that there are no fast Death Metal segments. Every minute of music on this album is at a snails pace yet still retains a definite death metal sound. “Dawn of the End” evokes a sense of hopeless and endless depression. It is a musical mire of brutal despair and unrelenting ugliness.

The first Paradise Lost album, Autopsy, Dream Death, Hellhammer, Eyehategod and Immolation are all certifiable influences on this dark and soul sapping piece of downbeat metal. Whilst the popularity of traditional doom/death in the underground metal scene has fallen and risen over the years, Runemagick have been creating masterpieces in the sub-genre no matter what. This is yet another one of those masterpieces.

Capricorns at myspace

London supergroup Capricorns featuring members and ex members of Iron Monkey, Orange Goblin and Bridge and Tunnel play a form of instrumental stoner/post metal that takes significant influence from post rock yet is not another band that follows in the footsteps of Neurosis and Isis. There is a slight influence drawn from those two bands yes, but the music on display has a sinister foreboding edge to counter the usual spacey thoughtfulness of the genre, Pelican would be another obvious comparison but there is far too much aggression both naked and under the surface in Capricorns music for that to suffice. This is not to say there aren’t moments of calm yet eerie tension as exhibited on “A savage race by shipwrecks fed”.

For fans of stoner and post-metal who want something that isn’t the same old Oceanic/through silver in blood worship but don’t want something too out of the box, “river, bear your bones might be just what you are looking for.

Saviours at myspace

Mixing the old school classic rock of Thin Lizzy with the raging fast tempo stoner of High on Fire with the progressive experimentation of Baroness, Saviours are quite an intriguing proposition for Stoner Metal fans. Duelling lead guitars in a traditional heavy metal fashion are fused into a rhythm of resin soaked groove and a galloping rhythm section featuring the understated but powerful percussion of Scott Batiste.

Although this release can come under the banner of stoner metal it can be seen as basically a slightly diluted form of heavy metal itself. It’s as pure as any form of heavy metal that remains true to the greats of the genre whilst keeping the subsequent generations of thrash and those which came before it in reference. With one eye on the past and one on the future, Saviours are just one in a long line of bands creating metal that is both forward thinking but yet keeps the old traditions alive.