The term “Neue Deutsche Härte” was invented by the German music press after the release of the debut album “Herzeleid” by Rammstein in 1995, but bands such Oomph! set the standards of this (sub) genre years before.
Schwarzer Engle sounds like a blending of Rammstein with Umbra et Imago, elements of industrial metal, German rock, alternative metal are mixed with Gothic textures and epic constructions. “Träume Einer Nacht” (“Dreams of a night”) is the band’s second full-length album following the critically acclaimed “Apokalypse” from 2010. Read more Schwarzer Engel – Träume Einer Nacht (2011)
dark metal
Breaking The Day – Survived By None (2011)
Atmospheric and ravishing, “Survived By None”, the twelve tracks debut release of the British Breaking The Day will grind you to the ground. With roots back to raw black metal, but with extreme and modern, sometimes quite experimental metal in their veins, BTD find their quite unique path to explore the darkest and contorted borders of nowadays metal/post-hardcore area of music. Brutal, but expressive, gloomy, but beautiful, “Survived By None” is an astonishing panorama of apocalypse, an end not of the race or the species, but of the man and his alienated soul. Shit, at least this is what I think so. Read more Breaking The Day – Survived By None (2011)
Altar Of Plagues – Mammal (2011)
Pretty gloomy, merging elements from black metal to post-rock and creating sometimes contorted butcheries, other moments twisted, spacy, atmospheric, ambient passages, from Cork, Ireland, Altar Of Plagues strikes again with their second full-length album and four dark, epic, tumultuous tracks. Formed in 2006, they take influence from several differerent acts such as Emperor, Björk and Arvo Pärt. The bands untraditional aesthetic and approach to the music has led to a wide variety of listeners and this may be seen by the diverse range of acts Altar of Plagues have toured with, including Isis and Mayhem, as well as having appeared at festivals that focus on ‘extreme’ metal and festivals that encourage experimentation and diversity. Read more Altar Of Plagues – Mammal (2011)
