Innersight - Meandering (2002)

Yeah, Meandering is a good title for this. It's all over the map without any real regard to song flow. That said, despite its somewhat amateurish sound, the music is pretty good. In style, it's similar to Mytra, but not as high quality. The songs are basically heavy, largely instrumental prog metal, melodic but not hook-based and mostly guitar-driven with occasional use of keyboards. The guitar work isn't showy, but it is solid and handles a lot of different styles with ease. The drums seemed programmed, but are reasonably well done. The riffs don't really remind me of anyone in particular, though there aren't any riffs that I find excellent. The only real complaint I have is that the two songs have no organization. The shorter song, "Varazsceruza" is only five minutes long, but goes through three distinct unrelated sections, while the 25-minute title track goes through too many sections to count. That said, I'm looking forward to hearing their later efforts, as this is promising.

This is their third release, after Blue Shadow and I Have Seen the Future. All of their releases are available from their website.

Random Mullet - Lifeless (2005)

These guys are Finnish, and mix pop, tech metal, prog metal, and some other influences. I generally dislike bands that mix too many styles together, and this is no exception, even if the music is well-played. Focus, guys, focus! The music switches from happy sing-along choruses to dissonant tech metal back to melodic metal and then to Meshuggah-style amelodic, syncopated riffing. Even if you like all of the styles presented, the songs are so random that they have no flow to them. I could get over that if the riffs were exceptional, but there's nothing here that really impressed me, either in its execution or its originality. This is a quality product, and the band are skilled with their instruments, but their songwriting could use some work.

This demo is freely available from the band's website.

Abhorrence - Abhorrence (1990) and Vulgar Necrolatry (1990)

Abhorrence is of course the pre-Amorphis project of Tomi Koivusaari. And it sounds like really early Amorphis: brutal death metal with deep growls and crushing riffs, with a few melodic bits like on The Karelian Isthmus. But mostly it's just not that interesting. Actually, I found the 7" really boring, while Vulgar Necrolatry was decent. The best song was the title track from VN, which I didn't find surprising considering that Amorphis covered it for the CD release of TKI. Even still, this was mostly a curiosity for me at this point. I had some nostalgic fun listening to VN, but neither demo is really something that I'm going to listen to again.

Both demos (and some other recordings) are available from the band's website.

Turulver - Turulver (2003)

This is competent mid-paced black metal from Hungary. The bass work is pretty nice and the production is very good. Actually the songs are pretty good too, but this isn't really progressive or groundbreaking in any sense. Still, I found this somewhat enjoyable as it wore on. It's a quality product and has enough variability to keep it from the Marduk/Dark Funeral camp of complete drudgery. It also helps that the songs are short -- the longest is 4:39. And with an intro and an outro, this is only five songs lasting 23:15. It's still not a must-download, but fans of black metal could do much, much worse. Then again, if you're a fan of black metal, you have something like this already in your collection.

The band have made this EP and their follow-up full length freely available from their website.

Rosebourg - Deathly Silence (2002)

I figured this Bulgarian band would be bad when I saw the following description on their webpage: "The boys are creative and how wonderful - full of fantasy!". And I was right. This is cheesy "progressive"/power metal, mid-tempo with melodic vocals and weak guitars. It reminds me of a slower version of the mid-90's Italian bands (Labyrinth, e.g.). The focus is more on hooks and vocals than on instrumental prowess. As such, the playing is very restrained. It's solid but even the guitar solos are conservative. And neither the vocals nor the songs are really strong enough, so this just comes off as watered-down. I'll call it "power metal without the power".

This demo is freely available from the band's website.

Mordab - Darker Than Grave (2008)

This demo starts out promising, with some nice acoustic guitars that get layered with some distorted guitars and drums. Then it sort of degrades into generic melodic death metal -- competently played and reasonably good, but it doesn't really make an impression, aside from two exceptions. The first is the terrible "Psychotic Depression". This is a pop song, with acoustic guitars and melodic vocals. It's even worse than a hair metal "power ballad". Bad, bad, bad. The second is the closer, "Ascenssion" (sic) which is a melodic doom number, akin to Swallow the Sun, and my favorite track here. They do a good job of creating and maintaining an atmosphere. I do have to give them some credit though -- they're from Iran. I hope they can continue to release music, as there is some potential here.

This release and their previous demo are available from their website.

Innersight - Blue Shadow (1998) and I Have Seen the Future (1999)

Innersight is a strange band from Hungary whose sound has changed dramatically over the years. These are their first two demos, which are described as "post-rock". I'm not really sure what that's supposed to be, but to me they sound like Joe Satriani's "Midnight" (from SwtA) and "Day at the Beach" (from FiaBD): solo clean guitar (though clearly not acoustic) with heavy reverb and lots of delays. The guitarist uses a variety of strumming and picking techniques to provide a little variety, but it's not enough. There are no other instruments here: no drums, no bass, no keys, no singing. Now, I actually like the two Satriani songs, but they're only 2 minutes each. These two demos clock in at 71 minutes between the two of them. That's an awful long time for the same shtick. About the only bright spot after the first few minutes was the cover of "My Friend of Misery". It took me a while to figure out what song it was, since I haven't listened to the Black album in probably 18 years. Anyway, Innersight's next couple of releases are supposed to be progressive death metal. I'll review them in the near future.

This release and all of their releases are freely available from their website.

Laniena Mentis - Turn Into a Man (2003)

Decent death metal from the Czech Republic. It's moderately technical and they have some decent riffs. The production is top notch and the playing is solid. Vocals are standard guttural grunts, while the riffs tend to focus more on speed and dexterity than brutality, though this is certainly death metal more than thrash. There really isn't a standout song here, at least in a good way. The last two tracks are dance/industrial songs (are they remixes?) that are out of place and simply horrible. Other than that, the album is full of average songs played with better-than-average aplomb.

This album and all of their demos are available from their website.

Pitbulls in the Nursery - Impact (2001)

This is supposed to be technical/progressive death metal, and while it does have a semi-technical bent to it, I don't think it really qualifies for either the "technical" or "progressive" tags. That said, it isn't bad. It's pretty decent mid-paced death metal, with standard guttural vocals and brutal riffs performed with surgical precision. It doesn't really stand out to me as having a distinctive style, but then again it doesn't really sound like anyone either. They remind me a little of Canada's Augury (without the female vocals). Anyway, this is decent and shows some potential, but I'd like to see the songs a little more involved -- they seem some good riffs but seem to get bogged down repeating boring riffs more than they should. But the playing is solid and the production is excellent, so this is an enjoyable listen even as it is.

This demo is freely available from the band's website.

Gagas - All This World (2006)

Gagas hail from Slovakia and play a blend of rock, fusion, and metal. The closest comparison for me is an obscure Italian band called Ledel, who released a few demos and an EP in the late 90's. Encyclopedia Metallum says their style "is reminiscent of Gordian Knot", but this is really stretching it, in my opinion. Hematovore might be a better comparison point, but Gagas are much lighter and jazz-influenced. Their style really fuses jazz/fusion, rock, metal, and classical (they quote Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, for example), with a few other influences like techno thrown in at times. It's hard to classify as "metal", but then again it's not really rock or fusion either. The playing is unfortunately a little sloppy, especially the guitarist's pull-off technique. It would help them a lot if he could get that smooth and even. As it is, he's trying to play above his ability level and it shows. Ultimately, I enjoyed this, partly because I didn't know what was coming next. The band did a good job of mixing in a lot of different influences, but still keeping each song unique and relatively focused. Highlights for me included "The Oceans" (very much like Ledel), "Zooloo", and "The World of Kids" (the heavier tracks).

All of the songs are available free from the band's website.

Crionic - Different (1993)

This is some really good melodic/progressive thrash from the Czech Republic. At times they're pretty straightforward thrash/speed metal but they throw in a lot of melodic and progressive sections to keep it interesting. The production is excellent, with even the bass having a prominent part. The singing is of the atonal shouting style that was in vogue at the time. It's not great, but it doesn't detract that much from the music either. On the other hand, the guitar solos are a weak point -- they're not very well thought-out and are mostly blues-lick based and therefore not very appropriate for the music.

The best song is the instrumental "Irritating Inertia", but the whole thing is good. Why they heck didn't these get signed? For 1993, this would've been awesome. Heck, even now it's pretty cool. With some better guitar solos this could'a been a contender.

It's available as a free download from the band's website, along with most of the rest of their discography, which I will undoubtedly be reviewing in the future.

Experiment - The Edge of Within (1991)

I've been looking for this demo for close to 16 years, after reading a review in Metal Curse #7 that claimed they combined "the technical sides of such bands as DEATH, ATHEIST, CYNIC and OBLIVEON, with the brutality of the likes of GRAVE, DEICIDE and GOREFEST". So when doing my review of Experiment Fear, I did a search for them on Encyclopedia Metallum, which led me to their MySpace, where I finally found a link to download the whole demo.

So does it live up to Ray's hype? Not even close; but it's not bad. I don't hear Death, Atheist, or Cynic at all. The band I'm most reminded of is actually Metallica, circa RtL through AJFA, though there are some progressive touches and some nice guitar leads here and there, which remind me of Despair's Beyond All Reason. Experiment's sound certainly isn't exceptional for the time. It's not bad, and I probably would have enjoyed it back in the day, but its time has passed.

Year Zero - Timedemo (2006)

Time Zero are from Latvia, and play a kind of doom metal, mixed with progmetal, pop, psychadelic, and other influences. Musically, it's not too bad, though their numerous influences can be irritating. For example, they'll spend a few minutes creating an slow, depressive atmosphere and then speed it up and switch to a more progmetal sound. But the vocals are the weakest point for me. They fit the music okay, but I find them over-expressive and cheesy. Still, this is professionally done and original, and I could see where there would be a market for this. It's just not for me.

Available free from their website.

Experiment Fear - Choir Invisible (1991)

Experiment Fear is of course one of the early bands of Jeff Loomis from Nevermore. And it shows. Most of the music is semi-technical death metal with solid guitarwork and showy solos. The production isn't great, but it's adequate. The guitar work is clearly the most interesting aspect of the music. Some of the later songs move away from straight up death metal and incorporate some melody into the riffs, reminding me at times of Brutality's excellent Screams of Anguish. Of course, this is not as good as Brutality, but it's still a pretty decent listen, regardless of the fact that Loomis went on to Nevermore and the rest of the band put out a decent full-length album four years later.

By the way, all of the tracks here are available from Loomis' website.

Anagnorisis - Alpha and Omega (2009)

Anagnorisis play a fast brand of symphonic death/black metal. Not exactly what you'd expect from a band out of Kentucky. But they've studied the style and done a good job at fitting into it without sounding completely derivative. Their music is faster and tighter than I was expecting and it includes a more melody than I'm used to. Even the guitar solos are pretty well done (and I usually hate guitar solos in black metal). This isn't something that I'm probably going to feel like listening to a whole lot, but it's not bad. I hope the band can extend their sound into something more original in the future, since they certainly have the technical ability.

The band have made this release freely available from their website.

Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure (2008)

Ikuinen Kaamos are from Finland and play melodic death metal. This freely available EP has three tracks. The title track and "Your Gallows" are both very derivative of Opeth, though they are quite well done. The last track, the 12-minute "The Absence", is more original, reminding me a little of Novembre's Classica. Given that I like both Novembre and Opeth, it should come as no surprise that I like these guys too. The playing is very solid and the production is crystal clear -- this is a top-quality product all around. I'll have to check out their previous release, The Forlorn, and I'll eagerly wait their next recording. With a little more originality, they could be great.

T3h Shred Boiz - LOL (2006)

These guys have quite possibly the stupidest image ever. It's a mix of corpse-painted black metal, shred, and internet geekiness. So who's it supposed to appeal to? Well, people like me I guess. But I'm sure as hell not laughing. This 2006 demo contains three songs, each horrible in its own unique way. It starts off with "Grim Skiez" -- a three minute hyperblast noise fest. Any song that features references to the band playing it automatically sucks, and this one is no exception ("T3h Shred Boiz are in the house"?). Next is "Dead Sky Dawningz", the best track on here, which is a four minute melodic instrumental. It sounds like it would be the backing music for a shred piece, but there's not actually any shredding. Snore. Finally, we have the twelve minute "Grim and Frosbitten Necrophallus", which pointlessly switches between ambient black metal, raw black metal, and acoustic passages.

You can download this demo free from the band's MySpace, if for some reason you are feeling masochistic today.

SoulDaemon - Dead World (2006)

SoulDaemon's claim to fame is that they don't use any guitars -- just bass, vocals, and drum machine. Well, that's a nice gimmick, but are the songs any good? Nope. They're very straightforward, almost punk-simple, and although SD employ death growls, the music isn't aggressive at all. I don't really find much interesting here, and I could barely get through two songs on my way home before turning to something else.

But don't believe me -- hear it for yourself. They've put most of the album free on their website.

Recalcitrance - Fragmented Reality (1991) and Recalcitrance (1989)

Recalcitrance are a tech thrash band I'd never heard of before getting ahold of these two demos. And here I thought I knew them all. Anyway, this is tech thrash in the style of Hellwitch -- crazy, chaotic, and a little sloppy. Or at least most of it is, excepting the rather boring instrumental "Fragmented Origins" on Fragmented Reality. The earlier demo has more of a punk vibe, whereas the later demo focuses more on speed and craziness, but their styles aren't dramatically different. The songwriting is really not too bad, but the overly chaotic nature of the songs can be a little much sometimes (just like Psyopus can). Though I have to give them credit for including a drum solo at the end of "Unsure Reality". Unfortunately, the guitar solos aren't particularly good, focusing too much on the King/Hanneman school of whammy wankery for my tastes, though they do fit the chaotic style of the music. The production is decent, but I actually prefer the older demo, as on the newer one the vocals are too low in the mix.

Both demos are available from the band's website. If you're into tech thrash, you should check them out.

Mytra - Sagittarius (2009) and Ecotone (2007)

This band really surprised me. When I read that these guys play "progressive death metal", I wasn't expecting much, because a lot of bands claim that and then don't deliver. Well, these guys don't deliver "progressive death metal" either, but what they do deliver is some impressive instrumental progressive metal. Their style is a little heavier than what is usually called "progressive metal", but doesn't even come close to death metal. Their base sound includes elements of industrial and electronic mixed in with keyboard-heavy progressive metal featuring lots of guitar leads. A lot of the guitar parts remind me of early Tony MacAlpine, while some of the guitar riffs have the staccato feel of later period Cynic (Focus and Traced in Air). Instrumental bands often have troubles with song composition, as they don't have vocals as a focal point. But these guys really do a good job of constructing their songs and keeping them interesting without becoming show-off pieces. In fact, the guitar solos really aren't the strong point here; the band's songwriting and novel sound are the real draws.

Of the two, Sagittarius is the stronger demo, as it shows the band maturing and refining their style, whereas Ecotone has a few dull songs. Both are very worthy recordings, though. They are available free from the band's website, so if you like heavier instrumental progressive metal, be sure to check them out.