This album is like a time machine back to the mid/late 1980s, mixing Slayer, Exodus, Whiplash, Destruction, and 666 more into something I didn’t think I’d hear in 2011: new Old School Thrash. There is no stupid Groove Metal influence here, no Metalcore, no Nu-Thrash, no Post-Thrash. No shit! Havok really impressed me. I had deliberately skipped their debut album, 2009’s Burn, because, honestly, I thought it would have to suck. I can admit when I’m wrong, and I’m going to track down a copy of Burn and check it out ASAP. In the meantime, though, there are a couple flaws to point out here. The songs, while supremely high-energy and amazingly well-played, could be more memorable. I’ve listened to Time Is Up many times now, and really enjoy it, but as I sit here in silence, I’m having some difficulty remembering how any of the songs go. And their songwriting influences are so transparent that this might as well be a tribute to 1986. David’s vocals are thankfully not of the high-pitched wailing variety (except for his kind of awesome “Angel of Death” homage scream in “D.O.A.”), and are what might be described as gruff, and where I get the Whiplash comparison even more than musically. He does, however, very occasionally get a little too close to sounding like the terrible modern Thrash squealers, or otherwise misstep. But, the only real problem here is what my associate Jack pointed out to me when I mentioned how good Havok is. He said, “I have Slayer to meet my Slayer needs.” In 2011, any new Thrash that’s worth two shits in a cup is rare indeed, and I’m glad that Havok exists, but the originators all had unique identities, which is the single thing that this band lacks.

Over the years, I have occasionally wished for a mythical “vocal eliminator” to save otherwise high-quality bands from their terrible singers. Upon first hearing of Russia’s all-instrumental Annorkoth, I thought that I might hope for just the opposite, but that turned out to not be the case at all. These simple, repetitive Black Metal structures have a doomy, depressing Dark Ambient quality to them that is almost hypnotic thanks to the (I think) deliberate decision to sometimes mix the sparse drums quietly into the background, and, of course, the lack of any vocals. Annorkoth is a one-man band, and its prolific mastermind B.M. has somehow already released three albums and an EP so far this year (and it’s only March!), with The Eternal Coldness being the first. Admittedly, the right mood would have to strike to want to hear this, and things could have been a bit more sonically ominous, but B.M. has created something unique with this album, and I’m looking forward to hearing his other work.

I’m happy to say that I haven’t heard The Haunted for over a decade, since I reviewed 2000’s The Haunted Made Me Do It, but as lame as this group has always been, I would have never guessed that they could fall this far (or have this far to fall). I didn’t even think that this was the same band at first, and was disgusted to discover that it is. I remember The Haunted as being at least a little aggressive, and some cut-rate form of Metal, if nothing else, but those qualities are utterly absent here. Honestly, I’m at a loss to even begin to describe how ridiculously terrible Unseen is. The horrible, whiny, cunty Alt Rock vocals seem as if they would have to be the worst thing I’ve ever heard, except there is also what the band calls “music” to go with them, which is often somehow even more lifeless and useless. It’s like a combination of the most homo-erotic fantasies of a Pantera cover band somehow filtered through Creed’s used ass tampons. Except nowhere near that heavy or interesting. Avoid this monument to weakness at all costs, as if your very life and sanity depended on never hearing it - because they do. I suffered through listening to this ridiculous testament to the pussification of the world so that no one else will ever have to. Kill anyone you see wearing a The Haunted shirt. BE CAREFUL TO NOT GET THEIR BLOOD ON YOU! Burn the corpses.

I’ve always enjoyed Dodsferd’s brand of dismal Black Metal, but considered Wrath’s vocal experimentations to all too often be the weak link. Nadiwrath is his new band, with a couple of the guys who were/are Dodsferd’s “session musicians,” so I’ve been waiting to see what the stylistic differences would be between the two groups. I assume that Wrath writes all the music himself for Dodsferd, but that with Nadiwrath the writing is more of a collaborative effort. That’s just a guess, though, but however it works, the end result is an entirely different kind of Black Metal. Dodsferd’s gloomy atmosphere is completely absent in Nadiwrath, usually replaced with what I guess I’ll call Punk Rock speed and songwriting. And not in the terrible new Darkthrone way, either. I rarely get to say this about a Black Metal album (although it is becoming more common), but the recording quality and overall sound are amazing, and I can clearly hear Maelstrom’s impressive basslines. If not for the corpse paint in their pictures and Wrath’s vocals (and presumably the lyrics, although I don’t have them to check), I don’t know if anyone would immediately think to call Nihilistic Stench Black Metal, as musically this is often more straightforward Thrash/Punk. That, however, is not a complaint, and the DNA of Black Metal is all over the place in the forms of speed and ferocity, and makes itself known very clearly every now and then. As with Dodsferd, Wrath’s schizophrenic vocals hold this back, but he seems a little more in sync with the music here, with somewhat fewer terrible ideas escaping his tortured throat. Parts of this album prove that these Grecian blasphemers have perfection within them (“There Is No Light” for example, even with the sometimes-goofy vox), and really make me wish that Wrath would just stick with maybe two or three vocal styles that actually do work and forget about the embarrassing, headache-inducing shit he tries, thus making Nadiwrath invulnerable.

Not exactly sure what to make of this new Fen album. My first brush with the UK gloomsters came in 2009 with the nearly flawless Malediction Fields record. I was so smitten by their brand of Agalloch worship, I backtracked and hunted down 2007’s Ancient Sorrow EP, a decent release but a little on the boring side. Perhaps that would be the best way to describe Epoch? Maybe it’s one of those albums you have to lock yourself in a room with for a year, but I’ve been listening to this non-stop for about a week now and absolutely nothing sticks, save for the haunting “Half-Light Eternal,” which powerfully showcases the lighter, more mellow side of Fen. It might just be the right direction for them to go in. The clean vocals are more than good enough. The Black Metal vocals, again very similar to Agalloch, work very well, but some of the extreme vocal experimentation on Epoch does not do the music justice. And these songs feel LONG! Lengthy tracks are nothing new to these guys, but The Malediction Fields material of equal length did not feel quite this long. I don’t know if it is the somewhat less-than-stunning production (that also plagues the new Agalloch, while I’m at it) that makes this so hard to digest, but there is something missing that was just there two years ago.

Dodsferd isn’t the first band I think of when Greek Black Metal is mentioned, nor is it even in the top 10. But repeated listens to the often melancholy, depressing Spitting with Hatred…, are convincing me that perhaps it’s time to re-examine the list. Although typically billed as a one-man band, singer/guitarist Wrath actually gets a little help on bass and drums from members of his other group, Nadiwrath, which I haven’t heard yet, but am looking forward to. Wrath’s screechy vocals are at best an acquired taste, but are generally tortured enough to fit the music. He occasionally tries styles (too-high-and-thin, clean-ish, “ooh,” etc…) that don’t really work in this context, which holds the album back from a higher rating.

I’ve always been of a fan Darkest Hour’s passion. Their power, delivery, live performance, and stick-to-your-guns mentality has kept them afloat for over a decade in a very fickle genre. But even their most diehard fan would have to agree that their last couple albums were somewhat of a blur of non-discernable songs. Just a constant blast beat, Gothenburg melodies and John Henry’s rangeless rasp. Well, with a new year and a new album on a new label, the DC natives have apparently found a new lease on songwriting, because they have crafted their most emotive record since 2000 debut, Mark of the Judas. Not that they have completely abandoned the Darkest Hour formula. Still plenty of blast beats, Gothenburg melodies and John Henry’s rangeless rasp, but the pain has returned. The sorrow is back in full force musically and lyrically. There’s more variation of tempo, more dynamics, and although I’m not the biggest fan of instrumentals (let alone 9-minute ones), “Terra Solaris” was a surprisingly interesting injection right before the album’s climactic closer. Consider the ante upped.

I have heard these Finns described as Melodic Death Metal, which is suppose is accurate, although they are certainly on the lightweight, Prog Rock side of that spectrum. “Prog Thrash/Rock with keyboards and a Death Metal-ish singer” might be closer to what’s actually going on here. My old friend Dan Swano lends a hand with intermittent (distracting) clean vocals, and also mixed and mastered this album. So, it does sound amazing, and these guys are tremendously talented musicians, but I just keep falling asleep while listening to this. Even at what passes for its most intense moments, New World Shadows is a lullaby, and the other 90% of the time is like popping Ambien with a Nyquil chaser. And that’s completely ignoring the occasional insane/terrible riffs. To be fair, there are some excellent moments on this album, such as the instrumental bits of the final song, “Deep Cold,” that are so good that I think I’m being waaaay too mean here - for a few seconds until something goofy happens or I pass out.

The last I heard from Aurora Borealis was Time, Unveiled, way back in 2002. Somehow I had my head completely up my ass and missed 2006’s Relinquish. I feel like an idiot about that, because not only is new AB mandatory listening and a cause for celebration, but main-man Ron Vento has always been one of the coolest guys in the entire Metal underground. So, I’m going to track down a copy of Relinquish immediately, and in the meantime I have already given Timeline about a dozen spins. This concept album (about nothing less than the entire history of the universe, from beginning to end and beyond, to the birth of the next one) is an intense, vicious, complex work of art, and the recording and production are absolutely flawless. Recording technology has improved so much over the years that when I first started Metal Curse zine (a jillion years ago, in late 1989) an album that sounded this amazing would have cost literally millions to record, if it would have even been possible. It’s difficult to review this because I want nothing more than to simply sit here and experience its majesty. Ron has always been a genius songwriter, so when I say that this is exactly what I was expecting from Aurora Borealis, please understand that it’s a compliment. These intricate Death Metal compositions feature a little Black Metal injection, partially due to Ron’s snarly vocals. New drummer Mark Green is amazing and apparently indefatigable, and with the addition of Jason Ian-Vaughn Eckert back on bass (last heard with AB on 1998’s Praise the Archaic Lights Embrace), this is the strongest lineup Ron’s ever assembled.