heavy-metal-darkness: alternative metal

Showing posts with label alternative metal. Show all posts

Saturday, March 21, 2026

Schattenmann |Endgegner |Perception Label

Release Date March 13^th, 2026
Format CD/Vinyl/Digital
Genre Alternative Metal
Country Germany

Schattenmann crawled into the German music scene around 2018 and clawed their way up the ranks. They dropped four full-length attacks over the years, including "Licht An", "Epidemie", "Chaos", and "Día De Muertos". That 2023 release pushed them into the top tier of German charts and packed venues across Germany and Austria. They cut their teeth sharing stages with heavy metal acts like Eisbrecher, Feuerschwanz, and Hämatom. Now, Frank Herzig and his crew return with "Endgegner", bringing a massive shift in their sound. They stripped away a lot of their older electronic parts and injected straight-up metal and core aggression into their DNA.

"Endgegner" delivers a serious metal beating. Frank Herzig screams and shouts the German lyrics with total aggression. The guitar riffs from Jan Suk smash through the speakers, backed by a relentless rhythm section courtesy of drummer Nils Kinzig and bassist Luke Shook. Henning Verlage handled the production, dialing in a massive guitar tone and booming drum acoustics. Schattenmann unloads crunching grooves and heavy breakdowns. The new core influence works well for them. A few sections get slightly predictable. The formula is very simple. They stick to a specific verse-chorus structure throughout the entire runtime.

"Kein Kommando" strikes fast and leaves a trail of destruction. The guitars chew through the distortion, dropping massive core-influenced breakdowns right in the middle. The title track, "Endgegner", provides massive gang vocals and a stomping groove built for the mosh pit. "Einen Scheiß Muss Ich" delivers pure aggression and a giant middle finger to the mainstream. The chorus gets stuck in your head instantly. Then you hit tracks like "Schna-Na-Naps" and "Wir Sind Das Ende Der Welt", where the energy shifts into a massive live-arena anthem mode.

Schattenmann took a huge risk changing their sound, and the payoff is mostly positive. "Endgegner" brings a hell of a lot of heavy riffs and screaming vocals. "Besser Als Der Rest" and "Kamikaze" keep the speed high, tearing through the speakers with zero compromises. The band successfully transitioned into a heavier core-driven machine. A couple of tracks blend together near the end, making the album lose a tiny bit of steam before "Gelegenheit Macht Liebe" closes things out. "Endgegner" remains a killer spin for anyone needing heavy German metal raging in their car stereo.

Score: 7.0

Schattenmann:

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/schattenmannband

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/schattenmannband/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@schattenmann_official

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/schattenmann

https://www.schattenmann.net

Sunday, February 15, 2026

Korax MVD |Eidolon |Self-release

Release Date October 31^st, 2025
Format Digital
Genre Alternative/Industrial Metal
Country Uruguay

Korax MVD is an alternative rock and metal duo formed in 2020 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The band is composed of Natalia Arocena, who handles bass, guitar, theremin, and vocals, and André Goldman, who manages synthesizers, samplers, and programming. Blending alternative rock and metal with industrial elements, Korax MVD creates a sonic landscape driven by dystopian narratives inspired by science fiction and cyberpunk, exploring themes such as loneliness, loss, and alienation. All of the band’s material is recorded and produced independently, with mastering carried out at Montevideo Records by Pablo Soñora.

This Uruguayan duo aims for a dark, cinematic ride into a cyberpunk future, but "Eidolon" ends up stuck in the parking lot. Industrial rock demands a certain level of mechanical aggression or sleazy groove to work, and this release misses the mark on both counts. The production sounds flat, lacking the punch required to make the distorted guitars and synthesized beats threaten the listener. Instead of a crushing wall of sound, we get a thin layer of noise that fails to elicit any real reaction. It’s hard to get invested in a dystopian nightmare when the soundtrack sounds this tame.

The songwriting suffers from a serious lack of dynamics. Every song seems to ride the same mid-tempo chug, never accelerating into chaos or slowing down into genuine creepiness. The electronic elements, which should provide texture and atmosphere, often sound like stock presets from cheap software. They sit on top of the mix awkwardly, clashing with the guitars instead of weaving into them. If the goal was to create an immersive atmosphere, the result is unfortunately shallow and repetitive.

Vocally, the delivery matches the monotony of the music. The performance lacks the necessary venom or despair to sell lyrics about alienation and loss. You want a singer to sound like they are on the edge of a breakdown or commanding an army of machines, but here it just sounds tired. The emotional stakes never rise above a simmer, making the listening experience feel like a chore. You keep waiting for a hook or a scream to break the cycle, and it just never happens.

Ultimately, "Eidolon" is a forgettable entry in a genre that relies on shock and awe. It has the aesthetic down on paper, but the audio lacks the teeth to back it up. There is no danger here, no grime, and no real excitement. Korax MVD needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to make their machines bleed, because right now, this machine is running on empty. The only positive for me was the front-cover.

Score: 4.0

Links:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/album/3Yj06IEoQeq2XjVY5PDv44?si=8ui6T5cdRuK-icWMY9CNTg

Bandcamp: https://koraxmvd.bandcamp.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@koraxmvd77

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Koraxmvd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/koraxmvd

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@korax.mvd

Friday, February 13, 2026

Adeline Gray |Portrait Of Our Descent |Self-release

Release Date February 6th, 2026

Format Digital

Genre Alternative/Groove Metal

Country Italy

Adeline Gray is a fresh unit out of Italy that clearly spent a lot of time staring at Belgian surrealist paintings and overthinking Oscar Wilde before plugging in their amps. The name is a mashup of René Magritte’s mother and the immortal vanity of Dorian Gray, signaling a band obsessed with the bridge between beauty and absolute filth. They’ve crawled out of the studio with a sound that attempts to balance that "artistic" dualism, trying to be both the elegant face in the mirror and the rotting soul hidden in the attic.

"Portrait Of Our Descent" functions as a psychological map of hitting rock bottom. It’s got that Italian flair for drama, fueled by a mix of Deftones atmosphere and a Pantera style rhythmic beating. The lyrics are a total spiral into the human abyss, dwelling on the internal storms and mental contradictions that make life a headache. While the vibe is mostly dark and restless, they keep shoving a message of hope down your throat, insisting that you can actually get back up once you’re done crawling in the dirt.

The music itself is a tug-of-war. On one side, you’ve got Marco Longhi’s vocals and Andrea Pistarelli’s riffs trying to capture that Dorian Gray grace with melodic, introspective passages. On the other side, they remember they’re a metal band and pivot into the rougher, more violent territory. It’s a decent enough attempt at groove metal, though at times it feels like the band is fighting their own shadows to see which side wins. The production at Studio 73 is clear enough to hear the struggle, making sure the bass from Davide Borgogelli and Alberto Mussoni’s drumming don’t get lost in the emotional fog.

Honestly, the Adeline Gray concept is heavy on the intellect, which is cool if you want to read a thesis while headbanging. Tracks like "Beyond The Room" and "Smoldering Depths" show they have the chops to execute this vision of an "inner fight." However, the anger sometimes feels a bit restrained by the "artistic" requirement to stay melodic. It’s a moody, restless journey that hits the marks for fans of the genre, even if it doesn't quite rip your head off.

Score: 6.5