Stream District: Insomnium,Bolzer, Equilibrium, Vallenfyre

Apr 23 • International News, News, The Slumbering Ent • 2606 Views • No Comments on Stream District: Insomnium,Bolzer, Equilibrium, Vallenfyre

Oh bloody yes! We’ve got some brilliant tracks being released over the last week. But more importantly before i go into each of them, there are some brilliant albums that we here at The Slumbering Ent are absolutely stoked about. Some of them are being released worldwide over the next 7 days. Let’s see, there are releases from Helstar and Ancient Bards for all your Power metal aficionados, clinical tech-death from Archspire and Beneath, stoner spit from Fu Manchu, borderline interesting deathcore from Whitechapel, the brutal death metal juggernaut Aborted (hell yeah!), crushing sludge from Lord Mantis and finally the lords of murky death/doom, Autopsy.

Now lets roll them tracks out..

1. Insomnium

Was the least impressed by their first single Revelation but the markedly better While We Sleep and this latest one Black Heart Rebellion have raised my ‘not so high’ hopes. Yet still, i am keeping my fingers crossed here, because experimentation and evolution have never been Insomnium’s tools of success. They just have to stick to being themselves and any hint of watering down for the sake of accessibility can amount to much drivel and eventual derision. Black Heart Rebellion stands for everything Insomnium, which is this sense of seeping melancholy that cannot be shaken off no matter what you do.

The track comes off their what is their 6th record titled Shadows of the Dying Sun, released via Century Media Records.

2. Bolzer

Aura probably stands amongst my favorite EPs by any band, and probably one of the favorites that i own with much pride. When taken on its worth internationally I’d even go out on a limb and wager that this record in fact invigorated a genre that has simply become stale beyond reason. Just when OSDM when expanded spelt something like ‘Old Shit but Dreadfully Made’ comes along Bolzer. Its that peculiar melody that they employ which seemed like plucked out from this ancient ritual reeking of blaspheme. A tribute to the Great Old Ones perhaps.

And just when the dust of their last record was beginning to settle comes the announcement of a brand new EP titled Soma and a brand new track titled Steppes. Things start of pretty run of the mill, but past the one and half minute mark you have the ritual commencing. Mystical death metal that echoes across the cosmos.

3. Equilibrium

Up tempo folky blitz. That’d about sum up what Equilibrium stands for. Sagas was a force to be reckoned with, heralding the rise of a band that struck on a new chord of catchiness in a genre that suffers from bouts of acute memory loss (staying power). But with this first single off their soon to be released 4th record seems more like a loosening up, taking the step off the gas. Karawane sports a middle eastern melody before it segues into the grandiose display of pagan folk, but all that a pace which is so unlike them. More palpable. Slower as if intentionally spreading their chests before heading off into the battlefield. Yet i find it to be so irresistibly catchy.

The track comes off their 4th album titled Erdentempel, released via Nuclear Blast Records.

4. Vallenfyre

A Fragile King was a welcome addition to the buzzsaw riff pantheon. A record that seems to have slipped out of the annals of history to reappear at a distant point in the future. Probably to embellish a time when the Swedish death metal machine cut down everything in flesh to size. Although its mostly considered to be Paradise Lost main man, Gregor Mackintosh’s musings from a comparatively happier (not by much though) precipice, it is in fact a star studded cast that more than just warrants a listen. Hell its got Hamish from My Dying Bride and Adrian Erlandsson from At The Gates. The brand new track Odious Bliss stays true to the formula that one just does not get tired off.

Odious Bliss comes off their sophomore effort titled Splinters, to be released through Century Media Records.