The Project Hate MCMXCIX – Bleeding The New Apocalypse

Before getting into the music, I want to dissect this album title a bit. The first part of the title is not a declarative statement, like “the apocalypse is bleeding”; it is an active phrase, a threat. The Project Hate MCMXCIX attempt to position themselves as the edge upon which the world will cut itself and bleed out. The second part of the (very long) title is equally telling. The phrase roughly translates as “to be victorious by the strength of your armed hands.” This is a challenge and a promise; Project Hate are determined to achieve victory by their own strength, with their own weapons.

Ava Inferi – Onyx

Female fronted metal, it’s not my genre to put it politely. I feel it’s more about the good looks of the female singer and not that much about the music. Fortunately, there are always bands that prove to be an exception to the rule. Ava Inferi are one of those bands. Lead by former Mayhem guitarist Rune Eriksen and female singer Carmen Susana Simões the band released several albums, including The Silhouette (2007) and Blood Of Bacchus (2009). Their latest record, entitled Onyx, is the subject of this review.

Moonspell – Night Eternal

When it comes to combining doom metal, death metal and gothic metal, few do it better than Portugal’s own Moonspell. Albums like Irreligious (1996) and Sin/Pecado (1998) are downright classics. After the experimental nature of The Butterfly Effect (1999) the band returned to a harsher style on Darkness And Hope (2001), The Antidote (2003) and Memorial (2006), but retained a certain yearn for change. Their latest effort, Night Eternal (2008) is no exception to the rule.

Orphanage – Driven

When it comes to so called “female fronted metal bands” or gothic rock/metal I’m definitely not the biggest of fans. In my opinion the focus is too much on fashion and good looks instead of delivering quality music. Before the whole genre became fashionable and it was still called doom/death, there were a couple of bands laying the foundation, including Celestial Season, The Gathering, Within Temptation and Orphanage. From those bands only Within Temptation reaped the rewards after drastically changing their style.