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Noumena - Death Walks With Me ~ Album review







NOUMENA is a Finnish melodic death metal band founded in 1998, consisting of Suvi Uura and Antti Haapanen on vocals, Ville Lamminaho and Tuukka Tuomela on guitars, Hannu Savolainen on bass, and Ilkka Unnbom on drums. They have returned with a new album called “Death Walks with Me” after 7 years of absence (since the release of "Anatomy of Life" in 2006).

The album contains 11 tracks with some noticeable changes; we can clearly notice that they added a clean female doom voice. Many of their fans were against that, since they think that only the growling/grunting (and maybe a male clean voice) in a melodeath album are able to satisfy their desire, and Antti's growling is really awesome. I actually tend to agree; I wouldn't say that Suvi’s clean voice isn't good; she has a really nice voice, it just doesn't connect with Antti's growling; a clean male voice would have been preferable.

In terms of music, I would say there’s a "development". It’s a bit “heavier” and “stronger” compared to their three previous albums. The addition of some atmospheric instruments like cello (in "Sundown"), French horn (in "Season of Suffocation"), mandolin (in "Mysteries of Motion"), piano (in "Sundown"), tambourine (in "Handful of Dust")... gave the album an epic atmosphere full of emotions mixing with the guitars, which surprised me with their melodic riffs and awesome solos by Ville Lamminaho & Tuukka Tuomela, in which we can taste some progressive. As for Hannu Savolainen and Ilkka Unnbom, they both played an important role in making the whole album melodic and atmospheric; there’s a marked touch of the old In Flames. That's what I actually liked in the album. And regardless of Suvi's clean voice, she also participated in the additional growling in "Handful Of Dust", "Play Dead" and "Mysteries Of Motion".

The lyrics are perfectly written; every song is full of emotions and deals with an interesting topic. Even the titles were well chosen; they are so deep, I would say! They make you wonder about the songs.

I also would like to throw a glance at the artwork cover! It's actually the first thing that attracted me once I took the CD! It's so dark and mysterious, there's a secret in it, which makes you feel excited to listen to the album!

And despite the disagreement in the vocals, the album was good in general; I especially appreciated the fact that they are back with a change in the music to show more of their capacities and to avoid becoming “typical” and… "boring" maybe? Anyway, "Death Walks With Me" couldn't only be listened to by Melodic Death Metal fans but it can be recommended also to the listeners of Progressive and Doom.

Noumena just showed us more of the Finnish power!


Check out the band here.

                                    Rating : 7/10


Catuvolcus - Gergovia ~ Album review







Differently from most black metal bands that delve into the history of the Middle Ages with their lyrics, the Canadian band Catuvolcus chose another theme and focused on the Gauls. The band was formed in 2007 in Quebec and includes 4 members: Pierre-Alexandre Plessix on vocals, Maxime Côté on guitars, Etienne Gallo on drums, and Dominic Forest Lapointe on bass guitar.

Just like their other releases, Catuvolcus is going to take us through the pages of history with their second album, "Gergovia," released in 2012. This concept album is about one of the most important battles in the Gallic Wars, between the Gauls and the Roman legions guided by Julius Caesar, that took place in the Gergovie oppidum in Arverne and ended with the victory of the Gauls. It features nine tracks, starting with an acoustic prologue with the sounds of rain, wind, and mystery, and ending with an epic epilogue. Every track contains some interesting events. I would say every track is a chapter of the story because the writing process is full of narration, and it feels like you're reading a book while reading the lyrics. What makes them more epic is that they're in French, and we all know how amazing the pronunciation of this language is. Adding to that, the very atmospheric music automatically transports you to 52 BC; you totally feel like you’re in the middle of that battle, seeing all that blood and hearing all the strikes of the swords. And while Maxime Côté and Matrak Tveskaeg (former bass player) entertain us with their epic riffs and solos, and the powerful drums excite us, Pierre-Alexandre Plessix also plays an important role with his mighty grunt and some clean vocals.

This album is melodic and brutal at the same time; you can taste the victory as well as the defeat. It ends with a calm acoustic epilogue expressing the end of the battle and connecting with the prologue. That's what makes you not feel that “break” when you replay the album; it automatically makes you want to replay it without taking you out of the atmosphere of the battle.

If you really want to try a new black metal theme and explore different history, if you want to live some moments from antiquity, you should check out Catuvolcus, a band with so much power and many stories to narrate to us.


Check out the band here.



                                    Rating : 8/10