It is interesting to listen to The Man-Eating Tree, as despite their label as a metal band there is really much little related here to metal music than there is to contemporary, progressive rock. One telltale sign comes from singer Tuomas Tuominen's consistently warbled tone, which with its nasal pitch and faux-American Southern accent sounds more fitting for loose and experimental guitar layers than tight, metal riffs. It's as if The Man-Eating Tree are unwittingly fashioning themselves in the footsteps of experimental hard rockers Tool

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After a relatively promising debut release in the form of 'Insidious Awakening', Portuguese thrashers Echidna return three years later with follow up 'Dawn of the Sociopath'. Sadly, as compared to their first effort, the second outing feels to be more of the same material recycled, with the band's drawbacks all the more audible to hear. 
One particular fall point for Echidna is their overuse of "crunching" guitar notes; a common issue in much of modern extreme metal. A poor influence from metalcore, this style offers little but a restricting twang of mediocre riffs that sit out of place with the freer side of death and thrash metal.

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Line-up shifts seem to be an issue for LA's White Wizzard, namely due to the constant changes with their vocalist. Yet while lead singer Wyatt "Screaming Demon" Anderson is gone, his legacy is well marked on the band's second album 'Flying Tigers' where he and his cohorts come into their own.

In opting for higher notes in the vein of hard rock 'n' roll this time, Anderson offers a stronger performance, as his voice hits raw ends with each verse. It also makes White Wizzard's sound all the more human, in the sense that his method this time around gives more emotional leeway to be heard and felt by the audience. Music is powerful at its most empathetic, and coupled with the tightened strings on the songwriting, Anderson's vocals prove this point repeatedly without ceasing to be enjoyable.

In turn, White Wizzard's worship of heavy metal's icons, typically Judas Priest and Ronnie James Dio, is given a greater boost on the grounds of the band's entire performance - whereas the seeds were there on previous album 'Over The Top', 'Flying Tigers' watches them bloom into a band that could well become a name worthy of stepping up to being a part of the genre's history. (8/10)

Ann Sulaiman

Read full issue here.

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When listening to 'Aphotic', the latest offering from American romantic death/doom outfit Novembers Doom, it is evidence enough that the band don't expect to break any new ground with the eighth album into their career. At the same time, it can also be heard that the entire record does show some, if only slight changes in the group's style by means of a meatier sound production, weightier melodic riffs and a step up in tempo. 

While not major changes in themselves, it does mean that 'Aphotic' is a record which again shows that Novembers Doom are so confident in their own comfort zone that they know well enough how to manipulate it. 

Ann Sulaiman

Read full review here.

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