Collapse Under the Empire - The Silent Cry (2013)

Originating from Hamburg Collapse Under the Empire fall into the post-rock category but this is not a band that should be dismissed and in fact stand above the general crowd.

All six songs are excellent but I would particularly highlight the opening track We Are Close As This (see the video below), a powerful track with a powerful rolling beat of drums and roaring guitars. The title track The Silent Cry, a perfectly crafted song that builds up with excellent arrangements and guitar work to end with an orchestral 'soundtracky' passage. And Ashfall which packs big drums, strings and a lot of power. 

In many ways this is straight forward post-rock but what sets Collapse Under the Empire apart is their incredibly cinematic sound. Their music really feels like the fitting accompaniment to a film. The band has achieved a great balance of quieter and harder moments with an ever present dark brooding tension. 

Excellent release from the band.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Ayria - Plastic Makes Perfect (2013)

Originating from Canada Ayria's music is a mix of future pop and EBM with hints of electro-industrial aggressiveness here and there. Plastic Makes Perfect is her fourth album and it's a pretty solid release.

The highlights of the album are, at least to me, her more aggressive tracks, particularly opener Hunger and Plastic Makes Perfect (see video below). On the lighter, more melodic side I'd highlight Three Months, Missed the Mark and the particularly danceable Big City Lullaby. 

The album has it's ups and downs but there's plenty to enjoy here and the mix of future pop, EBM and more aggressive moments is well balanced.   

Rating: Good Vibrations

Belako - Eurie (2013)

Originating from the Basque Country, Belako is a new and very young band. The band successfully mixes a classic indie sound (think Sonic Youth or The Pixies) with punk rock sensibilities and some lo-fi electronic touches. 

Eurie is their debut album, it's self produced and packed with energy, fuzzy, crunchy guitars and great songs. Opening track Sea of Confusion, Haunted House (see the video below) and Zaldi Baltza are my particular highlights but there are no fillers here. 

I can't say that this is a classic, Belako still have room to grow but it's a very impressive debut for these youngsters.

You can buy the album directly from their Bandcamp here

Rating: Good Vibrations

Sirenia - Perils of the Deep (2013)

Sirenia has been around for a long time. In fact, Sirenia main man Morten Veland was one of the founders of Tristania. The band has been too unstable in terms of band members and singers and this has affected their output, but this is the third album with singer Aylin and it's a killer. 

The album opens with a beautiful intro playing on classical music, opera and gothic sounds. The second track is Seven Widows Deep (see the video below), which is one of the highlights of the album and is a perfect example of all the best Sirenia has to offer. Brutal riffs, soaring vocals, strong harsh vocals, choral arrangements and symphonic flourishes. The song is heavy, dark and strong but also melodic and beautiful.

This is Sirenia's most varied album. It harks back to the sound of their older albums but also explores new ground. Ditt Endelikt fo instance is a surprisingly straight forward and uplifting rock song with catchy hooks and licks and Morten Veland singing clean. On the other hand Stille Kom Doden is a twelve minute long song with an assured doom tone that also delivers the most beautiful melodic passages of the album. 

Both Morten Veland and Aylin have obviously worked incredibly hard the last two years. The songs are top notch and Aylin's voice has grown enormously. This is a killer album that should make Sirenia fans happy but will also hopefully propel the band to the next level. They certainly deserve it. 

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Palms - Palms (2013)

Palms is a kind of superband with members of Isis and Deftones' Chino Moreno as frontman. Expectations were high for the album and the band delivers but perhaps not in a way that will satisfy everyone.

The album moves at a slow pace like a small boat sailing gently through a pristine calm ocean. This is a dreamy kind of post-rock concerned with mood and atmosphere rather than riffs and Chino Moreno's silky vocals suit the music perfectly. The songs are also quite long with progressive rock tendencies. 

Some may find the calm and quiet of these songs boring, there's no metal here, no big guitar bursts (well a few really well measured ones), but the album is so beautiful, soothing and uplifting that I personally would nominate the ten minute long Mission Sunset as my particular highlight. 

I love everything Deftones has done but I've always wanted Deftones to explore their more melodic and dreamy side in one album. Forget about metal, consider it a one time experiment and just go with it. I don't think that will ever happen but this album gives me a bit of an idea of what it could sound like.

Palms may not be for everyone, some will miss bigger guitar moments, but I'm captivated by the utter beauty of this debut album and I hope there's more to come. This debut album is a triumph in every possible way.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Tristania - The Darkest White (2013)

Tristania has been around for a long time and the band carries the heavy burden of creating two albums that blended perfectly, doom, death, black and gothic metal in a powerful and epic scale with a symphonic base. 

Unfortunately, fans compare their recent output to their early albums and complain but with so many band members leaving, the band is now a completely different beast. Darkest White is a great album that wavers between some brutal moments (as we would expect from the band) and more melodic gothic songs. 

My personal highlights include the powerful opener Number (see the video below), the gothic Himmelfall,  the anthemic Requiem, the surprisingly uplifting Diagnosis and the gentle, melodic Lavender. Overall, I find that the more melodic moments work better but as usual Tristania knows how to get the balance between heavy and powerful moments and quieter melodic passages right.

It's not their best album. I'm sure that many will still miss the old sound and moan the absence of Vibeke, but Tristania is not looking back and this album is packed with great songs.

Rating: Good Vibrations

A Pale Horse Named Death - Lay My Soul To Waste (2013)

The album's cover gives you a very good indication of what you will find here. The album is dark and gloomy, a good cross of the darker and harder shades of grunge music with doom metal. 

The riffs are strong and ominous, the vocals clean and mid-range (more in rock style than metal), the lyrical content deals with stories of love and deals with the devil and the use of sound effects, interludes and an organ give the album a great horror cinematic feel.


The album is deliberately dark and gloomy to great effect but it also has a couple of brighter moments with sleazy blues-rock Killer by Night and the playful Devil Came With a Smile. 

Overall this is a great dark rock/metal album.

Rating: Good Vibrations