Ostura - "Ashes of the Reborn" [2012]

Artist: Ostura

Title: Ashes of the Reborn

Genre: Power Metal

Country: Lebanon
Year: 2012

Track List:

1. A Warrior's Tale
2. Sword of Erus
3. King's Crowning
4. Hills of Glory
5. Tears of Paradise
6. The Gathering
7. Infernal Hymn
8. Ashes of the Reborn

Another rare discovery - a 7-piece (!) symphonic power metal from Lebanon. They're not even from Beirut, but from Jounieh, a majority Christian city 15km north of Beirut. Their music is typical fantasy power metal with the quality of production almost on the level of their Western inspirers (Nightwish, Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Avantasia, Kamelot, Symphony X). While I'm not very interested in this kind of music in general, it's a remarkable album for a band from a non-metal country. The 1st half of "Ashes of the Reborn" features only male vocals, while the 2nd half is more diverse, with more female vocals and balled-type songs.

I've downloaded this album from metal-tracker.com, but I have no idea if the band themselves are OK with their music being available for free on the net, or not. Anyway, if you're interested, there's a free preview of this album on Google Play, and several songs on the band's official youtube channel. For example:

Or this song, which is a non-metal ballad, but nevertheless one of the best songs on the whole album:

As you can see, they doesn't look like stereotypical metalheads (except maybe for the last photo):

Relicts - "12 on the Richter Scale" [2008]

Artist: Relicts

Title: 12 on the Richter Scale

Genre: Death/Black Metal

Country: Turkmenistan
Year: 2008

Track List:

1. Vendidad
2. Anthill
3. Desert
4. Haoma
5. Sacred Fire
6. Underside of Truth
7. Stratosphere
8. Asphyxy
9. End of Times
10. 12 on the Richter Scale

One more rarity from the former USSR. Relicts were formed in 1998 in Ashgabat and released one full-length album & a couple of demos so far. Judging from the names, all the musicians of Relicts are Russian, except for the guitarist Serdar Salihov. According to him, the music of Relicts should be labelled as  "Avestian death metal", because some of their songs (Vendidad, for example) are based on Zoroastrian texts (a/k/a Avesta). Personally I don't have much interest in Zoroastrianism, but "12 on the Richter Scale" is an interesting album, despite its reasonably low quality of production. It's old school black/death metal, but it doesn't sound as monotonous as many other early death metal bands.

To my knowledge, there are no metal bands in Turkmenistan except for Relicts and their side project KIM. There was a thrash metal band called Paramedics in the late 90's - early 2000's, but not much is known about them except they've split up after releasing only two demos.

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Ulytau - "Jumyr Kylysh" [2006]

Artist: Ұлытау

Title: Жұмыр қылыш

Genre: Folk-Rock/Metal

Country: Kazakhstan
Year: 2006

Track List:

1. Адай
2. Зима (Времена года)
3. Күрішшілер биі
4. Жұмыр-Қылыш
5. Токката и фуга
6. Ата Толғауы
7. Түрік маршы
8. Терісқақпай
9. Көкіл

One more Asian band which plays instrumental cover versions of folk songs as well as European classical compositions. While it has some metal riffs, in general it's hardly metal. Overall it's a pretty interesting work, even if it has some pop and electronic elements which doesn't really suit this kind of music.

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Offertorium - "Ohne Dich" [2005]

Artist: Offertorium

Title: Ohne Dich

Genre: Symphonic/Progressive Metal

Country: Moldova
Year: 2005

Track List:

1. Ohne Dich
2. Die Dornerkron
3. Der Sturm
4. Die Sterne
5. O Komme Tod

Like most fans of darkwave, industrial metal and NDH, I have a lot of love for German language in music (hence my nickname, which is also in German), but it seems to be not properly reflected in my blog yet. Here's a band from Moldova (!), whose members apparently were very much into German poetry and classical (romantic & baroque) music. They were formed in 1998 in Chisinau as a collective of mostly female musicians, many of whom had classical musical education. Judging from the names, they're mostly Russian/ Ukrainian:

• Anastasia - Bass
• Serghei Petrenco - Drums
• Anna - Flute
• Nikolai - Guitars (lead)
• Tatiana - Keyboards
• Alexandr - Keyboards, Vocals
• Anastasia - Violin
• Nadejda - Vocals

Unfortunately, they've split up in 2007 after releasing only one demo. The quality of recording on "Ohne Dich" unfortunately sucks, which is completely understandable, but still very unfortunate, because it doesn't do justice for such complex and well-played music. The vocals are mostly operatic (female and, at times, male), which often annoys me in bands like Nightwish, but definitely not on this demo. As a whole, it's a very interesting release from a country that's not known for having a prolific rock/metal scene, even despite the poor production. It's a pity that they never recorded a proper album...

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Red Planet - "Homeworld" [2013]

Artist: Red Planet

Title: Homeworld

Genre: Melodic Metal (very loose description, I know)

Country: Tajikistan
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Anima
2. Doomsday
3. Homeworld
4. Rift in the Lute

Progressive metal from Dushanbe? Now I can say I've heard everything... well, of course I'm joking, but it's not like there's a lot of Tajik metal around. So far I've heard only of Jinn (couldn't find their songs anywhere, but they look like an average Iron Maiden clone) and Spawn of the Matriarch (but they aren't really in Tajikistan).

This 4-song demo is actually quite interesting, all thing considered. The best track on it is certainly the title one - a catchy tune with proggy melodies and nice female vocals. "Doomsday" sounds similar, but not quite as good or catchy. "Anima" is kind of an instrumental intro, and "Rift in the Lute" is more heavier than the rest of the demo, sounding more like MDM/metalcore with male growls. As a whole, "Homeworld" doesn't sound like a consistent release, rather an attempt of musicians to showcase their skills. Well, it's understandable that they're only an young band from a poor country with a non-existent metal scene, so this debut is good enough to show their potential.

Band members:

• Olim Karimov - Guitars (2010-present)
• Umeda Fasilova - Guitars (lead) (2010-2011), Vocals (2011-present)
• Khursheda Fasilova - Drums (2011-present)
• Rustam Mirzoakhmedov - Guitars (2011-present)
• Yuri Stolov - Bass (2012-present)

Looks like their lineup consists of two Tajik girls (probably sisters), 1 Russian (bassist) and 2 members of uncertain ethnicity (may be Uzbek, Tajik or Tatar):

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Besthial - s/t EP [2011]

Artist: Besthial

Title: EP 2011

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Country: Croatia
Year: 2011

Track List:

1. Silent Proclamation
2. Until I Bleed
3. Ashes

Bestial started as a power metal band in 2006, but after 5 years of playing together their music has become more MDM-oriented. If this EP is a self-released demo (and I guess it is), then it's quite good. If I'm not mistaken, both growls and clean vocals on this EP were performed by the same girl, who has a pretty distinctive way of singing.

According to the band's interview, the metal scene in Croatia is very good (the average quality of sonwriting and musicianship is high), but when it comes to the professional opportunities to get ahead (concert opportunities, etc.) - it's total shit. I can only hope that posting their demo here will be helpful for them at least a little bit.

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Scanner - "Hypertrace" [1988]

Artist: Scanner

Title: Hypertrace

Genre: Heavy/Power Metal

Country: Germany
Year: 1988

Track List:

1. Warp 7
2. Terrion
3. Locked Out
4. Across the Universe
5. R.M.U. (Reticular Modular Unit)
6. Grapes of Fear
7. Retaliation Positive
8. Killing Fields
9. Wizard Force

Since I've started to post classic metal albums once again, why not to post this gem as well? As I've already said, it's very hard to find some good speed/power metal with science fiction-themed lyrics. This release is a prime example of what I'm looking for, along with "Skeptics Apocalypse" by Agent Steel and some other albums that I've posted here before under the "heavy metal" and "power metal" tags.

Musically, "Hypertrace" is very good 80's heavy/power metal, but what makes this album so special is its conceptual sci-fi storyline, with a very apparent anti-war message. The original pressing of "Hypertrace" consisted of 8 tracks ("Wizard Force" is a CD bonus, and there was also a bonus track named "Galactos" on the Japanese CD edition). However, the track sequence doesn't actually follow the story. The correct track order should be as follows:

1. Grapes of Fear
2. Locked Out
3. Across the Universe
4. Wizard Force
5. Retaliation Positive
6. Galactos
7. Warp 7
8. Killing Fields
9. R.M.U.
10. Terrion

Demilich - "Nespithe" [1993]

Artist: Demilich

Title: Nespithe

Genre: Technical Death Metal

Country: Finland
Year: 1993

Track List:

1. When the Sun Drank the Weight of Water
2. The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed)
3. Inherited Bowel Levitation (Reduced Without Any Effort)
4. The Echo (Replacement)
5. The Putrefying Road in the Nineteenth Extremity (...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...)
6. (Within) the Chamber of Whispering Eyes
7. And You'll Remain... (in Pieces in Nothingness)
8. Erecshyrinol
9. The Planet That Once Used to Absorb Flesh in Order to Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated to the Flesh That It Desired...)
10. The Cry
11. Raped Embalmed Beauty Sleep

And one more album from the 1st hald of 90's that didn't get much publicity in the time of its release, but became highly valued today. Demilich were one of the few early death metal bands that managed to play really outstanding music without being super technical. Surely, there are loads of much more technical and atonal DM bands all around the world, and the use of extremely guttural vocals isn't something unique either, but nothing can be compared with the completely otherworldly and bizarre atmosphere offered by "Nespithe". Just look at the song titles - like in case with Abu Lahab's "As Chastened Angels...", they're as weird as the music itself. And what's the best about all the releases from Demilich - they're all freely available off their official page in a variety of formats (mp3, ogg, flac):

Download

Winter Majesty - "Unholy Glory of Ancient Rossa" [1994]

Artist: Winter Majesty

Title: Unholy Glory of Ancient Rossa

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 1994

Track List:

1. Song of the Winds (Intro) 
2. Cold Winds of the North 
3. Storm - Child of Madness Winds 
4. The Cabalistic Sign 
5. In Evil We Are Human 
6. Unholy Glory of Ancient Rossa (Horses) 
7. Gods of Fire 
8. Freezing Moon (Mayhem cover)
9. Eternal Sadness 
10. Rising to the Satan (Outro)

One more rare release from the same time and pretty much the same region as Beerdigungs Lauten's "Slay the Close of Yours". Winter Majesty were one of the first (if not the very first) Russian black metal bands, formed in 1994 and disbanded in 1997 after releasing only one demo. It turned out to be quite good, given its place and time of release - surely not perfect, but much better than I expected. The demo is more than half an hour long, consisting of 7 original tracks (+ intro & outro), and a cover of Mayhem's "Freezing Moon" (how original!). It's interesting to note that Winter Majesty weren't from Moscow and St.Petersburg (as one might expect from the pioneers of Russian black metal), but from Stavropol, which is quite distant from the main hotbed of black metal (northern Europe).

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Beerdigungs Lauten - "Slay The Close Of Yours" [1994]

Artist: Beerdigungs Lauten

Title: Slay The Close Of Yours

Genre: Death Metal, Grindcore

Country: Armenia
Year: 1994

Track List:

1. Slay The Close Of Yours
2. Psychosis
3. With God's Help
4. Unchallenged Hate (Napalm Death)
5. Sabre Dance (Aram Khachaturian)

To my knowledge, Beerdigungs Lauten were the very first extreme metal band in Armenia. The band was formed in 1993 by two former members of Demon Spirit (Armenian clone of Slayer, with no known releases), after they started listening to such bands as Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Pungent Stench, Disharmonic Orchestra, Atrocity, Righteous Pigs, etc. and decided to play more brutal music. During the autumn of 1993 they held their first rehearsals at Armgiprodor (a scientific faculty outside of Yerevan).

The winter of 1993-1994 was very hard for them, as well for the citizens of Armenia as a whole: constant electricity outages, war in Nagorny Karabakh, economic blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan, etc. However, in spring of 1994 they got lucky: an Yerevan-based band called Dumbarton Oaks offered them a rehearsal base. They got all the needed equipment shortly thereafter, and recorded their first and only demo at Ardzagank studio after two months of rehearsal. After that, they were invited to the "Barev" TV show, which was their first appearance on TV. After 1995 the band was pretty inactive, but they finally split up only in 2004 after playing a final concert in Yerevan.

Unsurprisingly, "Slay The Close Of Yours" sounds quite raw. Back then there were only two recording studios in Yerevan - Ardzagank and Asparez - and BL had chosen the former (because they had some friends there), even though Asparez had better equipment. Anyway, the very fact of existence of brutal death metal in Armenia 20 years ago is quite interesting. To put it in short: if you liked Abscess' demo, you might like "Slay The Close Of Yours" as well. I also think BL were the only band in the world to make a death metal version of "Sabre Dance" :)

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The Peace Is There - "Depth" [2013]

Artist: The Peace Is There

Title: Depth

Genre: Post-Rock, Post-Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Creature
2. Depth

Post-metal/hardcore from my city. Nothing really outstanding, but not bad at all and certainly worth listening (although I think calling this "black metal", like they do on their bandcamp page, would be a way too big stretch).

2014

2013 was a pretty bad year for me and most people around me, so I'm happy it's finally over, and can only hope that the next year would be better. I also turned 27 y.o. a week ago; of course you can congratulate me with that too, if you want. As for this blog, I actually don't have much interest in continuing it, but I see I have some regular readers, so I'll try to post new reviews at least from time to time. Happy 2014 for everyone!

Képzelt Város - "Anatolij" [2013]

Artist: Képzelt Város

Title: Anatolij

Genre: Post-Rock, Post-Metal

Country: Hungary
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Kepler
2. Orion
3. Vörös óriás
4. Albireo B
5. Epszilon
6. Libra
7. Nóva
8. Theodor
9. Ég veled, Anatolij!

Képzelt Város (which means "Imaginary Town", if my knowledge of Hungarian doesn't deceive me) is a band started in 2005 by 4 architecture students from Budapest (but expanded to 6 members since then). Maybe "Anatolij" isn't an extraordinary release, but it has everything I love in Hungarian rock: "cosmic" atmosphere and the dominant role of the keyboards (+ cello):

Uran Bator - "Butsalgah" [2013]

Artist: Uran Bator

Title: Butsalgah

Genre: EBM, Ethno-Industrial, Breakbeat

Country: Russia
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Maadai Kara
2. Kargyraa
3. Khookhoo Namjil
4. Jelmeigen Sagal
5. Ooskus Uul
6. Valambay
7. Barbannadyr
8. Bool
9. Chokyr At

One more Asian-themed album, but this time it's not metal. Uran Bator is a new side project of IVAN[Ъ]MAN (also known for Стройбат), influenced by both industrial/EBM and Mongolian/Tuvan/Folk music. If I'm not mistaken, all the lyrics on "Butsalgah" are in Tuvan, and they tell a story set in the alternative universe where the ancient Mongol Empire is armed by nuclear weapons. The idea is very interesting, but "Butsalgah" isn't without its flaws: the cover art looks cheap, and I didn't particularly like the "industrial" component of Uran Bator's music. However, I still think it's one of the most original and innovative releases of 2013.

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Darkestrah - "Manas" [2013]

Artist: Darkestrah

Title: Manas

Genre: Black/Pagan Metal

Country: Germany/Kyrgyzstan
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Манас-мститель
2. Память (Старик)
3. Победа
4. Кыргызстан
5. Манас-батыр

Darkestrah are probably the one and only well-known Kyrgyz metal band, and here's their most recent release, titled "Manas". Personally I prefer their early stuff which they recorded before relocation to Germany - because as of now, their music seems to be more influenced by bands like Drudkh, and therefore lost much of its "exoticism". All the lyrics on "Manas" are in Russian (unlike their earlier albums with lyrics in English). Anyway, if you're interested in Asian black/pagan metal, this album is worth checking out - although Darkestrah aren't as "unorthodox" as Tengger Cavalry, for example.