Funeral Winds - "Sinister Creed" (Avantgarde Music, 2018)

Band: Funeral Winds
Title: Sinister Creed
Genre: Brutal Black Metal
Year: 29th January 2018
Time: 35 min
Rating: 88/100













Funeral Winds+Avantgarde Music: a sacrilegious alliance between two historic entities of the European extreme metal scene. On a side, Funeral Winds is a black metal band from the Netherlands guided, with extreme dedication to this music as well to the Satanic arts, by the only remaining founder member Hellchrist Xul since 1991. On the other side, Avantgarde Music is a well-known Italian label founded in 1994 that released albums of relevant bands like Carpathian Forest, Abigor, Behemoth and so on, but without forgetting its first incarnation under the name of Obscure Plasma Records, responsible to publishing in 1993 nothing else than the infamous "Live in Leipzig" (with Dead at the vokills!) by Mayhem! Well, this alliance gave recently dark life to "Sinister Creed", the 4th album of Funeral Winds after 11 fukken years from the previous one.

Zifir - "Kingdom of Nothingness" (Duplicate Records, 2017)

Band: Zifir
Title: Kingdom of Nothingness
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 22th September 2017
Time: 50 min
Rating: 84/100












In according to Metal-Archives, ˂˂ Zifir is the Persian-originated word for "tar", which finds its use in "zifiri karanlık", an idiom corresponding to "utter darkness ˃˃. In other words, Zifir is a moniker very fit for a Turkish duo that released in 2017 an outstanding third album through the small Norwegian label Duplicate Records. Prepare to be deathly embraced by a surprising little black metal gem!

Sombre Croisade - "Balancier des âmes" (Pest Records, 2017)

Band: Sombre Croisade
Title: Balancier des âmes
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 29th September 2017
Time: 41 min
Rating: 70/100













Sometimes, there is a black metal circle that I didn't know before. As many circles of this kind, also Molasar's Dreams (its name is an homage to Molasar, a musician died at the beginning of 2011 that played in bands like P.H.T.O.) is formed by many acts leaded, more or less, by the same people. Some of the bands that belongs to this French circle are called Sombre Croisade, Suicidal Madness, Blukovla, Loup Noir and others. It's incredible the fact that the unstoppable Alrinack is behind many of the aforementioned entities. One of these ones is, indeed, Sombre Croisade (French for "Dark Crusade"), whose 2013 debut album "Litanie au mal" was a 77-minute monolith (!) of total evil while their second opus "Balancier des âmes" lasts "only" 41 minutes.

Raw Power/Rake-Off/Motosega/No More Lies (Rome, 26th May 2018)

Bands: Raw Power/Rake-Off/Motosega/No More Lies
Date: 26th May 2018
Location: Trecentosessanta Gradi, Rome (Italy)















I confess: ok, I am a metalhead but, said frankly, I largely prefer since a lot of time the hardcore punk live gigs! Why? Simple: because the HC shows are so intense, chaotic and funny! An excellent example of this is given by the concert that I attended on 26th May 2018 at Trecentosessanta Gradi (or, simply put, 360), a fantastic and small punk pub located in a very vital area of Rome called San Lorenzo, which is full of various pubs, clubs and similar places where the good live music is daily. Additionally, San Lorenzo, very close not only to the famous "La Sapienza" University but also to the center of Rome, is a working class area with a long antifascist tradition, so it's totally perfect for the HC punk music. This time, the show was unmissable for the fans because they had to be smashed very well by the Italian HC legend Raw Power with supporting acts such as No More Lies, Motosega and Rake-Off! LET'S START THE MASSACRE!

REVIEWS' ATTACK #4: Misrule/Cult of Extinction (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Hey brutal metalheads,
this article is about two bands whose debut productions were both released by Sentient Ruin Laboratories, a US label always ready to annihilate the fans with terrific and terrifying slabs of terror metal sometimes characterized by a sick experimentalism. In fact, today I'll present you very different ways to conceive the bestial black/death metal by two demented one-man bands.
Enjoy these reviews and don't try to escape from this BESTIAL ONSLAUGHT!

REVIEWS' ATTACK #3: Juggernaut/Hybridized/Hellavista Asocial Club

Hey everyone.
today there is a series of groove/thrash metal reviews to read! So, I'll present to you two albums released by the great and still young Spanish label Art Gates Records, and a self-released debut EP professionally manufactured by a promising band coming from my city, Rome Caput Mundi.

ENJOY THIS GROOVE/THRASH METAL SERIES!