July 2012 - Preview

The Sound of the Underworld blog is evolving all the time.  By far the most enjoyable aspect of the past month has been taking focus to the lesser-known and unsigned bands, and, after the success of the Adeia album review and interview, there’s plans to delve into these relatively undiscovered pools of talent once again.  July will also see the start of a new commentary feature on the blog, which will investigate different themes in metal.  Unfortunately, all this will be cut short by a trip abroad from the last week of July until the end of August.  That means five weeks without any updates (how will the world cope?!).  Barring any complications, the blog will resume in September…

Epica, Requiem for the Indifferent (2012)

Tracklist:

1. Karma
2. Monopoly on Truth
3. Storm the Sorrow
4. Delirium
5. Internal Warfare
6. Requiem for the Indifferent
7. Anima
8. Guilty Demeanor
9. Deep Water Horizon
10. Stay the Course
11. Deter the Tyrant
12. Avalanche
13. Serenade of Self-Destruction
14. Twin Flames (bonus track)

Another week, another Dutch band.  But this time, the band is far from an undiscovered talent.  Since bursting onto the metal scene around a decade ago, Epica have made giant strides towards the pinnacle of the symphonic metal genre.  This is their third album in around five years, yet, due to perceived musical differences, it is the first of theirs I have properly listened through since their 2003 debut, The Phantom Agony.

INTERVIEW: Adeia

Fresh from reviewing their debut album, Hourglass, I was lucky enough to catch up with Adeia’s violin player, Laura, and cellist, Ruben.  Over a highly enjoyable evening, we talk conservatories, Dutch metal, and the future…

Adeia, Hourglass (2012)

Tracklist:

1.      Cordyceps

2.      Providence

3.      Hourglass

4.      Filling the Void

5.      Inheritance

So, what would you think if I mentioned Dutch arthouse prog?  Nothing?  Well, maybe this is where it starts.  Adeia are a 7 piece – yes, that’s right, seven – outfit from the port city of Rotterdam.  And this is their self-produced, full length debut, out exclusively online, in mp3 format.  It’s big, it’s bold, and it’s massively ambitious.

Eventide, Diaries from the Gallows (2006)

Tracklist:

1. Into Illusion
2. Killing what Can’t be Handled
3. My Closest Demon
4. This Curse
5. No Darker Place
6. Standards of Rebellion
7. Indifferent
8. The Skeleton who Sold its Skin
9. Vargavidderna (instrumental)
10. I, Enemy
11. Confinement

There are some albums which leave so little to the imagination that I’d be prepared to bet my soul on how they’ll sound before the disk even enters the tray.  Written six years ago, this little number was the full-length debut of a little-known Swedish death metal band called Eventide, who have recently gone into hiatus.  And it’s fair to say they seem to have been trying to make an impression.  Entitled Diaries from the Gallows, the album artwork features a battered etching in which an even more battered-looking victim is being dragged by his neck to a scaffold in the background.  First impressions are hardly dispelled by the first lines of music: the ten-second long, electronically distorted scream of what sounds like a choking sinner sinking eternally into six feet of satanic sewage.  Another hour of shouty-shouty, death-themed noise.  Just what we’ve all been waiting for.

Sonata Arctica, Stones Grow Her Name (2012)

Tracklist:

1. Only the Broken Hearts (Make you Beautiful)
2. Shitload O’ Money
3. Losing My Insanity
4. Somewhere Close to You
5. I Have a Right
6. Alone in Heaven
7. The Day
8. Cinderblox
9. Don’t Be Mean
10. Wildfire, Part II: One with the Mountain
11. Wildfire, Part III: Wildfire Town, Population: 0
12. Tonight I Dance Alone (Bonus Track)

Sonata Arctica are the sort of band that you might expect find making coffee in your kitchen the morning after a heavy night.  Since their formation in the mid-90s, they have released a hatful of albums, establishing their own distinct sound through a blend of power metal, operatic, and synth pop influences.  And, having grown into metal alongside their music, it’s fair to say that the band are one of the few whose next album I always eagerly await.  If you’re familiar with their work, you’ll know what to expect: rich synths, heavy guitars, constant interchanges between fast, intricate and slow, plodding harmonies, and, above all, wild melodies in all departments.

June 2012 – Preview

So much to hear, so little time!  Today is the release date for Australian death metallers, Be’lakor’s new album, Of Breath and Bone, while a few albums I had been planning to cover in May are still outstanding.  All this will be an ongoing project over the coming month.  In general, though, I’m planning to use June to explore some more obscure bands, signed and unsigned, across a range of genres.  Expect some new names and sounds!