Although ‘Rat King’ is that bit more refined and mature too sound wise from their debut, it still delivers that knockout punch in the intense ferocious pace, brutality and vociferousness of their material here as on their debut did a couple of years ago. There also has been some work gone into the structural aspects too, for example where tracks take a little breather before continuing their path of destruction.

Opening number ‘Conqueror’ lays down the groundwork for the rest of the album as it obliterates anything that would dare stand in its way. The blistering pace of the drums, along with the crunching riffs really do hit you straight from the off, none of this pussyfooting around with intro’s or whatnot.

The album is apparently themed from folklore from Germany about, surprise, surprise, Rat Kings. Something where rats became entangled together through various means, and were often associated with plagues and bad omens. If you had the lyrics at hand, you could probably check this, however trying to make out what vocalist Henrik Blomqvist is singing would prove near on impossible in itself as his unrelenting guttural style really knows no bounds.

‘You Should Be Paranoid’ has a more technical feel to it, with its almost machine like riffage, which could literally shred you to pieces if it were attached to anything remotely axe-like! While ‘Rabid Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing’ crucifies anything with its utter raw power that will most likely tear your face off.

‘The Coming’ is a melodic interlude which primarily cuts the album into two parts. At just shy of two minutes, it seems a bit long seen as it doesn’t really build into the next track at all. Still, what immediately follows this is nothing short of sublime. ‘The Nothing’, is one hell of a number, and probably one of the standout tracks on the album. Ferocious guitarwork and pummeling drums are the foundation here to a track that just has that devastating nature to it.

Overall, AS YOU DROWN have produced a solid modern death metal album (and one that makes a great platform to build from), which really delivers an intense 40 minutes of crushing power and obliteration. It’s unrelenting brutality from track to track, whether it comes from battering the hell out of those drums, those monstrous and bone crunching riffs, the raucousness of those vocals, or a combination of all of them really does give it a bit of extra oomph, that gives the listener a feeling of satisfaction throughout, despite probable bleeding from the ears afterwards!

Rating: 4.2/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

The simple answer is an absolute hell yeah! In fact, it’s hard to believe this is only ANTERIOR‘s second album, as they have grown so much in the four years. ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ has a more technical side to it than ‘This Age of Silence’. There is still plenty of those crunching riffs and outstanding solo’s thrown in for good measure that ANTERIOR do so well, with the likes of opening numbers ‘To Live Not Remain’ and ‘Blood In The Throne Room’ being classic examples of this.

One of the best tracks here is ‘Tyranny’, and like the title, it’s a tyrannical and brutal rampage mixed with some metalcore traits to produce a beast of a number which would go down an absolute storm live. As with their last album, you get a melodic approach at times throughout the album which interchanges with the other faster than light segments seamlessly and with so much ease, it’s like second nature to them.

Luke Davies vocals are scintillating once again, and have even improved, as his harsh growls fluctuate to match the tempo and style of the music at the time. This is especially obvious between the brutal and more melodic segments. ‘Sleep Soundly No More’ is a classic ANTERIOR number, and this is a prime example of the dual guitar attack of Leon Kemp and Steven Nixon at its best. Their crushing riffs and interplay is astonishing and you can’t help but admire their guitar work.

‘Echoes of The Fallen’ finishes as strongly as it starts with ‘Venomous’ being a sheer relentless all out barrage attack at break neck speed, with a stunner of a solo contained within it too. Let’s not forget drummer James Cook, who pulverizes his kit at times with great aplomb and keeps each track flowing nicely along with bassist James Britton.

Overall, ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ is a great listen from start to finish, and there is plenty to keep to the listener encaptivated, I mean you just try not to headbang during the brutal segments or play air guitar to the solos. You just can’t help it! This is right up there with their debut album and also as one of the best albums of the year so far. After experiencing some of their new material at Sonisphere this year, I can safely say that they will kill live, so get your asses down to see them when they tour with SYLOSIS come the end of September/beginning of October.

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

‘Watch Them Burn’ is a great and aggressive way to start the album as they tear into the album with nothing held back, and continues at full throttle into next track ‘Ruination of The Lost’. ‘Eyes of Black’ is a real highlight on this album, and you would run out of superlatives to describe it’s epicness. The guitar work is immense here and there is a hint of virtuoso-ness too ala Yngwie Malmsteem, making this one of the best new metalcore tracks I have heard in a while.

‘Arise The War Cry’ shows off some good use of melodic riffs, and the ease of it which it changes from melodic to brutal back to melodic is sheer genius, and engrosses the listener even further, before a almost faster marching style of the drums, starting off a ferocious breakdown. ‘Equinox’ is one of the more interesting tracks here, as it starts off really slow using keyboards to build up into the song before some intricate guitar work breaks through, and the more brutal side of the song pretty much starts and then finishes almost as quickly as it had begun, before more keyboards then take the track out.

‘The Fallen’ is another sublime example of mixing another style of the metal genre into the song. The guitars are more akin to a traditional/power metal style in places and switch between this and a more straight up metalcore style with seamless ease, but the drums take a severe pounding in this as temporary drummer Justin Foley leads a barrage of attacks on them, and the result is quite spectacular and thoroughly satisfying on the ear.

While it’s extremely difficult to pick out favourites from this album, another real highlight for me is the awesome ‘Overcome’. Contained within it is a multitude of excellent elements that all work together to produce a sublime tune. Awesome solo, a catchy chorus, a fast paced style and some crunching guitars. This is one track that makes you just want to bang your head and throw your horns or pump your fists in the air whilst screaming out the chorus.

Anybody who loves their previous albums will love this too. UNEARTH have delivered yet another killer album in ‘Darkness In The Light’ that can not only stand up to the excellence of it’s predecessors, it even surpasses them, and with album after album of pure quality, you have to wonder how they will choose a set come touring time to keep everybody happy. This is another masterpiece, and it’s near enough constant brutality and superb tracks from start to finish, whilst mixing a few other styles too into the album make UNEARTH masters of their craft, and still firmly mixing it with the big boys in the metalcore genre. Superb guys!

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

‘Black Sails At Midnight’ track listing:

01. The Quest
02. Leviathan
03. That Famous Ol’ Spiced
04. Keelhauled
05. To The End Of Our Days
06. Black Sails At Midnight
07. No Quarter
08. Pirate Song
09. Chronicles Of Vengeance
10. Wolves Of The Sea

For more information, visit (Alestorm)

‘The Classical Conspiracy’ contains a full live-show recorded in Miskolc, Hungary, with a 40-piece orchestra and a 30-piece choir. More than 2 hours of EPICA songs and EPICA’s adaptations of classical masterpieces and movie-scores!!

Nuclear Blast has set the release date on the 11th of May 2009.

This unique double live-album will be available as a 2CD and a deluxe 2CD digipack.

Tracklisting will be as follows:

CD I – Classical Set

1. Palladium
2. Dies Irea (Verdi)
3. Ombra Mai Fu (Händel)
4. Adagio (Dvorák)
5. Spider-Man Medley
6. Presto (Vivaldi)
7. Montagues and Capulets (Prokofiev)
8. The Imperial March
9. Stabat Mater Dolorosa (Pergolesi)
10. Unholy Trinity
11. In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Grieg)
12. Pirates of the Caribbean Medley*
13. Indigo
14. The Last Crusade
15. Sensorium
16. Quietus
17. Chasing the Dragon
18. Feint

CD II – Epica Set

1. Never Enough
2. Beyond Belief
3. Cry for the Moon
4. Safeguard to Paradise
5. Blank Infinity
6. Living a Lie
7. The Phantom Agony
8. Sancta Terra
9. Illusive Consensus
10. Consign to Oblivion

*Only on the European version