Plutonium Orange
Featuring members of Swallow the Sun, Finland’s Plutonium Orange weave together an awesome amalgamation of music genres, putting their fingers upon everything from Black Sabbath right through to Metallica, Monster Magnet, Danko Jones, The Hellacopters. The end result is gritty, high-powered and full of killer riffs, definitely a band to keep an eye on.


Oblique Rain
Hailing from Portugal, Oblique Rain fuses the despondent and dark melodies of Katatonia with the progressive intricacies of both Opeth and Porcupine Tree. So, how can you go wrong when you intertwine influences from three of the most engaging and interesting bands of this decade? The band’s second full-length record ‘October Dawn’, just recently released, is a stellar work that will surely appeal to fans of the aforementioned acts.


The Dillinger Escape Plan
It’s fair to say that the forthcoming ‘Option Paralysis’ is an important album for The Dillinger Escape Plan; in a unexpected move the New Jersey group signed with French independent label Season of Mist last year, claiming that the music industry is changing and they needed to readapt to those changes. Their fourth effort will reveal whether or not The Dillinger Escape Plan are still in the leadership of a genre they’ve helped create, while still being able progress their sound into uncharted territory.


Deftones – Eros
Enshrouded in tragedy due to the terrible car accident that victimised bassist Chi Cheng (now steadily recovering from a coma), Deftones’ new album ‘Eros’ was initially planned for a spring release but was postponed to 2010, as the band was unsatisfied with the way it turned out and decided to rewrite some parts of it. Honestly, Deftones remain one of the most fascinating and distinctive bands in the world and has yet to disappoint, so expect nothing but pure brilliance from ‘Eros’.


Mnemic
One of the most overlooked bands in the recent history of metal music, Denmark's Mnemic have always produced solid and quality metal with industrial leanings. While most of fans of the genre are attracted to the prospect of a new Fear Factory album with Dino Cazares back onboard, I on the other hand am keeping an eye on Mnemic and eagerly waiting for their forthcoming album ‘Sons of System’.


Men Eater
I've had a soft spot for this band ever since their debut album ‘Hellstone’ came out in 2007. Their powerful and groovy stoner rock had a certain charm that conquered me immediately. Two years forward, the Portuguese four-piece are back with their sophomore work ‘Vendaval’ and it doesn’t fail to impress. Men Eater have fined-tuned their skills to top performance and their music roars like the engine of a muscular Mustang V8.


David Alexandre

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Having released an extraordinary debut album called “Hellstone” in 2007, which took a lot of folks into heavy and rock music by surprise with its vital and high-octane stoner-post-rock combination, the Portugal-based four piece known as Men Eater have done it again and are back with a sophomore work called “Vendaval” that proves to be even more potent, dynamic and refined than the first one.
The pungent rage and irreverence of their previous release is still present, though there’s a developed maturity and a new dynamism in their song writing that reveals a deeper focus on verse-chorus-verse structures and confers a sense of immediacy to their songs. Men Eater have fined-tuned their skills to near excellence and their music roars like the engine of a muscular Mustang V8 running at 6000rpm, it’s gritty, high-powered and full of killer riffs, and you can almost feel that energy popping out of the speakers. Just listen to opener “First Season”, a nasty theme brimming with groove and swagger, revolving around gargantuan and fuzz-laced riffs that reminded me of Corrosion of Conformity at their highly corrosive and infectious period, that’s around “Deliverance” for me. Following themes, “Heartbeating Locomotiva” and “Man Hates Space” aren’t as ear-grabbing as the opener but come out with a similar impetus, both laden with a sludgy-southern-rock vibe, largely thanks to the ultra-heavy, contagious and Sabbath-style riffs provided by guitarists Miguel Correia and Carlos Azeitona. Miguel Correia also handles the band’s vocalisations and it’s admirable to see how far he has progressed with his voice, which could be described as a cross between Fu Manchu’s Scott Hill and COC’s Pepper Keenan.
After a two minute doom-flavoured instrumental called “Quatero” surges “Drunk Flies Drugged Souls” my favourite song from the whole album, a driving theme wonderfully balanced between hard and thick guitar riffs and gentler melodies meandering into progressive rock. The Hammond keyboards nicely inserted at the end coupled with some bluesy guitar leads gives the song a very psychedelic and progressive edge that’s extremely invigorating.
The denser and Isis-inspired ambiences that permeated the atmosphere of some songs from their debut like “Lisboa” and “Redsky” are still audible here, but while those influences would surface as isolated exercises of strummed chords and calmer atmospheres in their past effort, nowadays they’re masterfully integrated in small bits throughout most of the songs featured here.
Bottom line, “Vendaval” is a great album that confirms Men Eater as one of the best and most talented acts the Portuguese scene has to offer. (8/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/meneaterdoom
Label info: www.myspace.com/ragingplanetrecordsportugal

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