Review by Felix on September 24, 2019.

Sobibor - what a stupid name for a Colombian band. Sex sells, but provocation does not. The second thing I realize is the dull sound. In particular the powerless drums fall by the wayside. The hardly audible bass drum is only a vague deep tone in the distance. Okay, call your intro "Blitzkrieg", but if you do so, then introduce yourself with a belligerent, combative piece. This does not happen here. The three guys of Sobibor need a warm-up period, before they accelerate speed. As soon as the band has achieved its operating temperature, things go more or less well. "Carne" is a decent thrasher of the rather primitive kind, but already the third track suffers from an overlong intro again. It does not generate tension, it just happens and given this lame approach, it comes as no surprise that almost the entire track lacks aggression. I admit that the simple riffing is effective, anyway, I do not expect many slow-moving sequences on an album that promises fury and metal.

Sobibor are caught between a rock and a hard place. They do not possess this exuberant, sometimes chaotic energy that characterize some thrash formations from South America, but they also do not impress the listener with their maturity. No need to panic, Furia y Metal is no uninspired album and I do not regret that I bought it some years ago. It has a cool artwork and from time to time, the band is able to create a certain depth. The dragging "Danzando con la muerte", for example, is a really strong number. It has a malignant core and turns out to be a slow-acting poison. By contrast, some of the swifter tracks only touch the surface and this is not enough to make my pulse run faster. Mediocrity, I hate to write it, is the most significant feature of the album. The vocals, to give but one example, are neither original nor expressive. Some Schmier-like screams disturb the one-tone-approach every now and then, but I really hoped the lead vocalist would perform his Spanish lyrics with more charisma.

However, I do not want to condemn all of their fast songs. The straightforward and untamed title track stands out. Although it is well hidden on the eighth position, it marks the only song that takes the listener by the throat in a matter of seconds. It scores with this raw form of catchiness that greater bands like Sobibor are able to manage permanently. This song remains the only real gem on an album that is occasionally prone to some rather boring parts. The bad production does not make things better. Even though I like their enthusiasm that makes them run a band, I cannot say that the dudes of Sobibor have recorded a really relevant album. It lacks compactness, 45 minutes are simply too long for their level of creativity, and it suffers from the absence of memorable, gripping moments, but also from the absence of typical, rasping or jagged thrash riffs. No bad full-length, but also not good enough to be heard.

Rating: 5.8 out of 10

Review by Alex on September 26, 2019.

Noveria is a fairly new progressive power metal band from Italy, Aequilibrium, their third full-length, is set to be released through Scarlet Records, October 25th. Yes, more progressive power metal, this time it’s an hour plus long journey to the stars, so much so, one of the songs on Aequilibrium is even titled ‘A Long Journey’. Noveria’s approach to the genre is more modern than what I've been listening to lately, also heading more towards the futuristic. After listening to Aequilibrium, it is clear that the makeup of Noveria is clearly confident in their abilities to deliver a record that is not exhausting, but rather delightful for such an extensive experience. The teamwork of Andrea (bass), Omar (Drums), Francesco (guitars), Corigliano (vocals) and Julien (keyboards) have crafted a wrecking force of an album.

Aequilibrium has a clean production and bends towards the modern parts of the genre, never-the-less, through the keyboards, there is an old tinge of progressive metal to be heard. ‘Waves’ is a decent build-up towards the primary produce of the Italian quintet and given the clean production value of Aequilibrium each instrument and vocal note sung can be distinguished with crystalline clarity. It must be noted that vocalist Francesco Corigliano is an exceptional singer, his voice has quite an assorted range appearing un-strained throughout the album’s run-time. Moving onward to tracks like ‘Blind’, ‘The Nightmare’, ‘Broken’ and ‘Collide’, the qualities of Noveria begin to shine and fall into place with more ease as their modern sound is lightly conflated with the keyboards and expel a shoulder rubbing of old and new eras.

In lending some focus to the guitars and drums, Omar and Frencesco go head to head with the result reflecting an opulent combination of riffs and drumming. Julien’s keyboards lay the atmosphere over the exhibition put on by Omar and Frencesco while Andrea’s bass-lines land more support as Corigliano brings it all together. There is not a weak song on Aequilibrium, guess you could say their qualitative equilibrium functions at similar levels as ‘Waves’. Not forgetting, for in the company of fine musical artistry comes deeply expressive lyrics seeming to deal with inner thoughts and emotions. That is always a welcome feature of most metal I listen to; hence, at the end of the peregrination the listener/s feel rewarded, like they have witnessed the sacrifice each musician made during the creative process of the music. That in itself is difficult to achieve and is easily spotted particularly in heavy metal; many people within this art form can tell the difference between compassion and laziness. Some musicians go through events that proceed to shape their art, and more times than less, the effect/s of those experiences materialize through the music being created.

This is the kind of music I don’t mind spending an hour plus listening to, when there are musicians this talented, the process comes as a delight, something that is priceless considering the over-saturation metal has been dealing with post 1993. Music this good is hard to come-by if you’re still looking towards the mainstream as a source, you will find shite 9/10 times. Noveria is a band you need to hear if you like elaborate, skillfully crafted and meaningful work; though Aequilibrium is the band’s third full-length, one gets the feeling they have made countless albums as a group given how well the songs flow. That's been a strength of many above average progressive-power metal bands, ‘flow’ has always been an asset they emphasized greatly on and for a record lasting just over an hour it has come as no surprise to me Noveria has excelled at what most enthusiast would consider to be a prerequisite of the sub-genre.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 24, 2019.

Tribulation is a band that transforms itself much faster than I can think. This results in the fact that their second work gave me an ambivalent feeling and I was not interested in their following efforts, because the way ahead was already charted. But their debut left an enormous impact, at least in my living room. Due to the great potential of the band, it still baffles me that the Swedish horde released its first work on a label from Singapore. Did nobody in their homeland - or at least in Europe - realize their great abilities? Okay, my boss does not realize my great skills as well, but this review does not deal with that physically fat yet mentally thin guy. (I mean my boss, not me.)

Aptly titled, The Horror spreads a nightmarish aura. All tracks are totally reckless, and many combine furious and morbid elements, but the raging sections definitely prevail. The songs cannot be easily categorized. It's a mix of all relevant extreme sub genres, black, death and thrash metal - in this order. The high level of energy has the highest priority and ensures the homogeneity of the debut. The listener faces the eye of the storm as soon as the opener breaks loose. Its solos border on insanity and King and Hanneman (R.I.P.) would love them if they could listen to them. But the solos are just one building block, it happens a lot during the tracks. They are equipped with the right number of breaks without being progressive. On the other hand, the tempo changes, the slicing guitars and the omnipresent force guarantee an exciting listening experience. Tribulation do not only concentrate on high velocity, but they have integrated hyper-fast sections in each and every song. This leads to nine high class eruptions which profit from a brilliant sound. The voluminous guitars pave the way, but they do not sideline the hateful voice or the thundering drums. No doubt, listeners who are not used to consume metal, will describe this mix with words like apocalyptic, hellish and brutal.

Speaking of brutality, we may not forget that these dudes originate from Sweden. This means that their DNA is a very specific one and they are not able to present brutality for the sake of itself. They also have great technical skills and therefore they play very tightly, precisely and powerfully. And, even better, the group does not run out of ideas. Quite the contrary, the longer The Horror lasts, the better its songs become. The outbreak on the eighth position, 'Seduced by the Smell of Rotten Flesh' starts with flattening guitars, but a high-speed eruption is following immediately. Great riffs and hammering drums characterize this relatively long outbreak of hate, but there is also a contrasting section that holds some gloomy keyboard. All different parts go hand in hand and its spooky outro seems to be an excerpt of a feast of vampires in an old castle. (Please send me an e-mail if vivid imagination needs to be treated.)

The closer convinces with a fantastic structure, too. It delivers an example for those songs where, all of a sudden, a pretty melodic guitar line leaves the orgy of brutality behind and adds an unexpected ingredient. No doubt, Tribulation used a great recipe when penning this diabolic work and it remains a pity that they threw their successful formula away after finishing it. I guess they belong to these overly ambitious musicians who always feel the need to say that they hate to record the same album twice. But who has ever asked me whether I agree with that attitude? I wish The Horror would have a very similar brother, but its kinship rather consists of dubious creatures.

Rating: 9 out of 10