EVENT HORIZON APRIL 2020
4 min read
Well March was ridiculous! So much Metal, so little Money! So how did March do for you? That new Graceless owned all comers in my world, but you’d be remiss if you didn’t consider other gems from Perdition Temple, Angerot, Nerve Saw, Scars of Sodom and Earth Rot. Yeah, I know we are a week late but whatever your predilection last month, the flow of metal in April won’t be slowing up any time soon! In fact, April could be even better. Here’s EIGHT that I thought worthy of highlighting for this month’s Event Horizon. Again, believe they barely scratch the surface of what is to come.
WARTOOTH – Programmed Dichotomy
Released: 09 April 2020
Style: Thrash Metal
Label: Independent
Link: YouTube
Out of Brisbane, WARTOOTH are a high-energy, high-impact Aussie THRASH ATTACK and are ready to strike at a moment’s notice! WARTOOTH fiercely wield a unique melodic, yet the ferocious style of thrash metal, taking influences from old school bands like the Big 4, Overkill, Testament, Iced Earth, Nuclear Assault and Exodus, combined with a number of other various music styles & bands. Programmed Dichotomy is their debut full length album. It Rips!
Cirith Ungol – Forever Black
Released: 24 April 2020
Style: Heavy Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Link: Bandcamp
29 years after their last album, LA Heavy Metal veterans return with their 5th album. Old school battle jacket piss heads will rejoice! Me included. This band is older than time – Formed in 1969, the name Cirith Ungol was arrived at for the same reason band members Rob Garven and Greg Lindstrom had initially become friends. Both Rob and Greg were fans of British fantasist J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which they were reading in literature class when they first met in 1969. In Tolkien’s manufactured language of Middle Earth, CIRITH UNGOL translates out as “pass of the spider”. CIRITH UNGOL is the bleak place where Frodo and Samwise fight the giant spider Shelob in Tolkien’s second installment in the trilogy, The Two Towers.
WOLFHEART – Wolves of Karelia
Released: 10 April 2020
Style: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Link: Bandamp
Emerging from dusky woods, the untamed and forlorn nature of Finnish quartet WOLFHEART leads them to one of the most picturesque regions of their home country, Karelia. Just as wildlife itself maintains harmony through a violent clash of the beautiful and unpredictable, “Wolves of Karelia” explores the previously coined genre of Winter metal. With the noted complexity of their fifth album, WOLFHEART master the art of sonic storytelling through eight multi-faceted stylistic eposes with a virtuosity of riffs, guitar solos, and abrupt tempo-changes. Above all, however, “Wolves of Karelia” attack with complex arrangements and melodically-grasped melancholy, creating a release as bewitching and intense as it is atmospherically resonant. (From WH Bio)
Symbolik – Emergence
Released: 10 April 2020
Style: Symphonic Technical Death Metal
Label: The Artisan Era
Link: Bandcamp
Formed in 2010, SYMBOLIK‘s debut release was a 6-track EP entitled “Pathogenesis” released 2011. 9 Years later we get their debut!A unique blend of melodic, symphonic, and classical elements combined with the extreme styles of black and death metal. Forged from the pits of despair within the heart of the Central Valley in California.
Ripped to Shreds – 亂(Luan)
Released: 17 April 2020
Style: Death Metal
Label: Pulverised Records
Link: Bandcamp
One-maN Bay Area death machine Andrew Lee returns with RIPPED TO SHREDS sophomore effort, Luan! One look at that album cover and you get the idea. Run for your life! I can’t wait to wrap my ears around this one!
Traveler- Termination
Released: 24 April 2020
Style: Heavy Metal
Label: Gates of Hell
Link: Bandcamp
Only some 14 months after dropping the surprise metal feast that was their self titted debut, Canadian Heavy Metallers return with the follow up “Termination Shock”. Having run through the promo for the last few week, the evidence is clear that this band know how to write a tune. Killer old school riffage, searing leads and the distinctive clean vocal of frontman Jean-Pierre Abboud. Mark your calendars!
Solicitor – Spectral Devastation
Released: 27 April 2020
Style: Heavy/Speed Metal
Label: Gates of Hell
Link: Bandcamp
Seattle’s SOLICITOR have been threatening to unleash fire since their formation in 2018. Following the 4 track EP debut from last year, Gates of Hell release the bands debut “Spectral Devastation”. Speed Metal throwback attack that had me reaching for Agent Steel, Leige Lord, Exciter and Hellion albums! This rules!
Ulcerate – Stare into Death and Be Still (Debur Morti
Released: 24 April 2020
Style: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Link: Bandcamp
The unmistakeable sound of ULCERATE finds its emotional apex on 6th album “Stare Into Death and Be Still”, as the band emerge from the claustrophobia and dissonance of their recent past to present a next-level exploration of melody, harmony and power.
Auckland, New Zealand-based unorthodox death metal act ULCERATE was formed by guitarist Michael Hoggard & drummer Jamie Saint Merat in 2000, with the aim of creating, dark oppressive death metal. This focus has since developed & metamorphosed into a far more dynamic approach with a fully realised sense of atmosphere & mood, while furthering their foray into the darker end of the genre’s spectrum.
“Stare Into Death and Be Still” is the deepest, purest and most meticulous form of ULCERATE: a soul-searching conflagration of atypical melodicism, immaculate virtuosic dexterity and sublimated psychological upheaval. A breathtaking new beginning for one of the most uniquely talented bands in extreme music. (From Ulcerate Bio)
Carefully considered and selected by K-MaN
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