Review by Adam M on April 12, 2016.

Hyperion performs a manner of black metal that has strong melodic tendencies. It is complemented by a wide variety of acoustic guitar work that is splendid to hear. The atmosphere crafted by this band is nothing short of magnificent.

The guitar picking crafts a series of riffs that are almost unimaginably addictive in nature. This portion of the outfit is similar to what can be heard from the band Dissection and they do a good job carrying on that band’s tradition. The music is almost beautiful in a way because of the melody that is incorporated into each song. It has the right touch to put one in the mood for good black metal. Everything is in harmony for a strong entry to the genre and the pieces come together quite nicely. The album is harsh enough in nature, but there is always enough melody to make it sound more diversified and melodic. This leads to a balanced nature overall. There is always a nice hook to catch hold of the listener’s attention and bring them to a higher listening plane. In fact, despite the slight harshness to the sound, this is really a pleasant listen. Since the sound of this band straddles the line close to Dissection or Thulcandra, there are some strong shoes to fill, yet the band comes through on all counts. The music here is just as catchy and thoughtful as a lot of Dissection’s best material, which comes as a strong compliment. The production values are simply pretty good which isn’t quite at the same level as I would hold the musicianship. The guitar playing is more than great and the drumming holds up the background quite well. Finally, the singing is similar to that of Jon Nodveidt and suits the music well.

With all things taken into consideration, Seraphical Euphony is a very strong album of melodic black metal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on April 12, 2016.

Hyperion performs a manner of black metal that has strong melodic tendencies. It is complemented by a wide variety of acoustic guitar work that is splendid to hear. The atmosphere crafted by this band is nothing short of magnificent.

The guitar picking crafts a series of riffs that are almost unimaginably addictive in nature. This portion of the outfit is similar to what can be heard from the band Dissection and they do a good job carrying on that band’s tradition. The music is almost beautiful in a way because of the melody that is incorporated into each song. It has the right touch to put one in the mood for good black metal. Everything is in harmony for a strong entry to the genre and the pieces come together quite nicely. The album is harsh enough in nature, but there is always enough melody to make it sound more diversified and melodic. This leads to a balanced nature overall. There is always a nice hook to catch hold of the listener’s attention and bring them to a higher listening plane. In fact, despite the slight harshness to the sound, this is really a pleasant listen. Since the sound of this band straddles the line close to Dissection or Thulcandra, there are some strong shoes to fill, yet the band comes through on all counts. The music here is just as catchy and thoughtful as a lot of Dissection’s best material, which comes as a strong compliment. The production values are simply pretty good which isn’t quite at the same level as I would hold the musicianship. The guitar playing is more than great and the drumming holds up the background quite well. Finally, the singing is similar to that of Jon Nodveidt and suits the music well.

With all things taken into consideration, Seraphical Euphony is a very strong album of melodic black metal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on April 12, 2016.

Hyperion performs a manner of black metal that has strong melodic tendencies. It is complemented by a wide variety of acoustic guitar work that is splendid to hear. The atmosphere crafted by this band is nothing short of magnificent.

The guitar picking crafts a series of riffs that are almost unimaginably addictive in nature. This portion of the outfit is similar to what can be heard from the band Dissection and they do a good job carrying on that band’s tradition. The music is almost beautiful in a way because of the melody that is incorporated into each song. It has the right touch to put one in the mood for good black metal. Everything is in harmony for a strong entry to the genre and the pieces come together quite nicely. The album is harsh enough in nature, but there is always enough melody to make it sound more diversified and melodic. This leads to a balanced nature overall. There is always a nice hook to catch hold of the listener’s attention and bring them to a higher listening plane. In fact, despite the slight harshness to the sound, this is really a pleasant listen. Since the sound of this band straddles the line close to Dissection or Thulcandra, there are some strong shoes to fill, yet the band comes through on all counts. The music here is just as catchy and thoughtful as a lot of Dissection’s best material, which comes as a strong compliment. The production values are simply pretty good which isn’t quite at the same level as I would hold the musicianship. The guitar playing is more than great and the drumming holds up the background quite well. Finally, the singing is similar to that of Jon Nodveidt and suits the music well.

With all things taken into consideration, Seraphical Euphony is a very strong album of melodic black metal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by JD on March 11, 2013.

Yellowtooth. A rather interesting named band from the openness of Indiana pores out a very interesting mixing of deep Sludge and Heavy Doom Metal with some 70's Hard Rock flavouring smattered into a classic framework of older Metal/Hard Rock. You get something that comes out more than what it seems to be.

What you get with Yellowtooth is this wall of thick guitars, almost a groovy set of muscle melodies with demolishing drums that seem to be battering everything in sight. Add in a great growling gravelled voice and some very dark yet seriously blunt lyrics on a whole host of topics... you get exactly what this Indiana band is about, and then some.

Songs like the primitive yet very impressive attack of 'Soulstalker' and the way nasty 'Decay From Inside' blends some good Sludge/Doom/70's Hard Rock mix with vocals that are as sadistic as any - yet come across so perfect unlike most other singers out there. It is this perfect amalgamation of all of these various musical parts that come together to make a very interesting album to many parts of the Heavy Metal universe.

This might not be a perfect album by any stretch of the imagination but it is good because of its honest approach. It is so damned fucking massively good that it can show exactly how looming heaviness is supposed to be done. This is what metal is all about this is a lesson we all can learn over and over again.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Review by JD on March 11, 2013.

Yellowtooth. A rather interesting named band from the openness of Indiana pores out a very interesting mixing of deep Sludge and Heavy Doom Metal with some 70's Hard Rock flavouring smattered into a classic framework of older Metal/Hard Rock. You get something that comes out more than what it seems to be.

What you get with Yellowtooth is this wall of thick guitars, almost a groovy set of muscle melodies with demolishing drums that seem to be battering everything in sight. Add in a great growling gravelled voice and some very dark yet seriously blunt lyrics on a whole host of topics... you get exactly what this Indiana band is about, and then some.

Songs like the primitive yet very impressive attack of 'Soulstalker' and the way nasty 'Decay From Inside' blends some good Sludge/Doom/70's Hard Rock mix with vocals that are as sadistic as any - yet come across so perfect unlike most other singers out there. It is this perfect amalgamation of all of these various musical parts that come together to make a very interesting album to many parts of the Heavy Metal universe.

This might not be a perfect album by any stretch of the imagination but it is good because of its honest approach. It is so damned fucking massively good that it can show exactly how looming heaviness is supposed to be done. This is what metal is all about this is a lesson we all can learn over and over again.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 9
Originality: 9
Overall: 9.5

Rating: 9.2 out of 10