Ask any metal head for his or her favourite death metal band and you will most likely hear the upcoming two words quite a few times: Morbid Angel. After a musical career span of more than 30 years, the band decided to quit, leaving its fans crestfallen. Named after the most renowned song by the American band, these guys play works from “Altars Of Madness”(1989), “Blessed Are The Sick”(1991), “Covenant”(1993) and “Domination”(1995).
Necrophagia
Halfway the eighties, Necrophagia definitely was one of the most innovative and unique bands in the scene. With their name -referring to cannibalism- and a debut album titles ‘Season of the Dead’, it can’t be clearer that this music is not meant for the faint-hearted. Fun fact: at the end of the nineties, Phil Anselmo, singer of metal pioneers Pantera, played guitar in this band under the pseudonym Anton Crowley.
Back to the present. Nowadays, Necrophagia’s horror sound is as old school as can be. Under the motto ‘of it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’, Killjoy leads its 4-headed metal monster as if we’re back in the 80’s and 90’s, watching a gory horror film.
Helsott
Formed in February 2010 Helsott, meaning “Fatal Illness” in Old-Norse, are a melodic death metal band from southern California. The band proudly pay homage to pagan cultures and ancient mythologies. That’s why Helsott is often referred to as a folkmetal band. Therefore they’ve shared the stage with fellow-folkmetallers Woven, Arkona and the well known Heidevolk throughout the past years. With their new EP The Healer, which was released last month, Helsott is the living example that it isn’t necessary to have Scandinavian roots to play folkmetal.
De Profundis
Over the course of their near decade long existence De Profundis have grown and developed at a prodigious rate, their music blossoming into ever more imaginative and challenging forms. From their roots in death and doom metal they have reached out in a multitude of diverse directions, leaving limiting genre definitions and regulations shattered in their wake. Blending unfettered creativity, fierce ambition and outstanding musicianship the band have already unleashed three magnificent albums, including the ground breaking The Emptiness Within which elevated their absorbing atmospheres, progressive thinking and breathtaking technical abilities to unprecedented levels.
The Heretic Order
The Heretic Order are a new modern-sounding classic metal band, based in London, and influenced by Hammer House of Horror movies and 80s metal: Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate and the like.
Incorporating on-stage theatrics with a powerful combination of searing riffs and blistering solos to enhance their pagan and occult philosophies, they have become an impressive spectacle to watch since their incarnation in 2014, offering a refreshing and exciting edge to a stagnant metal scene.
