Krisiun (2018) Scourge of the Enthroned 'Review'

Band: Krisiun

Country of Origin: Brazil

Genre: Death Metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD
Length Approx.: 38:00 min.

Release Date: 09-07-2018

Release Label: Century Media Records

IR Classification: Good (3.9 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

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Their sound is murky, heavy and incendiary.

Damn! I wrote three years ago the "Forged in Fury" review and I’m still thinking the same way about that album, in fact I gave it a spin few days ago and the emotion remain the same, but "Scourge of the Enthroned" definitely throw myself back in time, to be more specific the year 2000 where "Conquerors of the Armageddon" took by assault that growing death metal scene and everybody wanted to witness their destructive path.

Twenty-eight years later seems that Krisiun have renewed their own commitments and decided to reflect them in "Scourge of the Enthroned." Their sound is murky, heavy and incendiary, with a clean production that enhances every element starting by the ceaseless torrent provided by Max and its drumsticks, while Moyses performs frantically squeezing riffs that range from aggressive to more complaisant or at least not overly complicated on top of that, plenty of great guitar solos and last but not least, Alex throws in a superb execution of dense and intrusive bass lines.


In general, this effort meets many expectative, rawness, speed, aggressiveness and sharpness, which is why I dare to highlight only four songs out of the eight tracks included in this album, "Demonic III", "Devouring Faith", "A Thousand Graves" and "Scourge of the Enthroned", do you agree with me?

Stay True... Stay Metal... Stay Brutal...

Track List:

01. Scourge of the Enthroned │ 02. Demonic III │ 03. Devouring Faith │ 04. Slay the Prophet │ 05. A Thousand Graves │ 06. Electricide │ 07. Abysmal Misery (Foretold Destiny) │ 08. Whirlwind of Immortality

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Dragonheart (2015) The Battle Sanctuary

Band: Dragonheart

Country of Origin: Brazil

Status: Active

Genre: Power metal

Type: Full length

Format: CD

Length Approx.:  58:00 min.

Release Date: 10-02-2015

Current label: Pitch Black Records

Release label: Pitch Black Records

IR Classification: Poor (2.4 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

A tragedy in the battle sanctuary

Dragonheart is a band from Curitiba, Paraná in Brazil, they were formed around 1997, by the brothers Marco Caporasso doing guitars and vocals, Marcelo Caporasso behind the drums set, Mauricio Taborda in the bass and backing vocals, and Eduardo Marques as the second guitar and third vocals, they joined forces together and their influences which fall into the Heavy metal of the 80's, medieval and epic too, they began the songwriting process and by August, 1988 they released their first demo, titled "The Gods of Ice" with five tracks, and they keep on going; by November, 2000 they released their album debut "Underdark" for Megahard Records and almost two years later, "Throne of the Alliance" saw the light by September, 2002 under HTR and also the departure of guitarist Eduardo Marques, who was replaced by André Mendes, their third album "Vengeance in Black" hit the streets in 2005, for the German label Hellion Records, before they go in hiatus for a decade. 

"The Battle Sanctuary" is Dragonheart's fourth effort up to now, it was released the last October 2nd, 2015 supported by Pitch Black Records, this time; by the departure of Marcelo Caporaso, they brought on board a new drummer Thiago Mussi, let me tell you;  what you can expect is a full dose of Heavy metal with lots of generic Power metal, yes! unfortunately for you this is an album that tends to be boring due to its length, reaching almost an hour of musical tragedy, their sound is for the likes of Portuguese, Ironsword or even the Swedish, Sabaton but not compelling as they are, my first impression about this album, was to recognize that they remain true to their roots, playing what they know best and preserving its mark on their music using three voices, something that is presumptuous, because while one guy tries to do clean vocals, the others guys are overwhelming with harsh vocals and the clean vocals loses any significance, musically there you can hear a lot of classic Power metal riff with some Thrash cords fused, adding an aggressive and solid sense, the guitar solos are not memorable as I wished. So, there is not enough to keep you tied for you to listen their tones.

The album has few tracks that can be saved, Dragonheart decide to open with "Far from Heaven... Close to Hell", such of powerful and energetic, puts your expectations higher for what's coming, they throw some riffs to engage you, catchy choruses and unfold an unlimited energy, "Black Shadow" the second track is well structured from the beginning you can listen clear all the instruments, there is a bass line that plays amazing in the background, the clean vocals are outstanding, the guitar solo is one of the few memorable in the whole album, “Forged in Metal” there is some riff to remember, one of the most influential bands as Iron Maiden is, the drums by Thiago Mussi are great, while the choruses does what they meant to do, inflict an overdose of energy, I still have issues to conceive a clear idea of what they tried to do with the track number seven, "Marching Under the Stars"; the style and idea is clear some kind of Folk, Epic Power metal, but it totally breaks the flow, it is plagued in choruses that baffles me, the self titled track brings some groovy riff blended with plenty of thrash hooks, to engage you good enough, the battling vocals between clean and harsh, make a perfect contrast with the chorus, the last track is "Time Will Tell" is another of the few redeemable tracks, displaying lots of intensity and versatility  for a good guitar solo, the vocals are acceptable, but again it fades in the attempt.

To conclude, Dragonheart delivers an inconsistent album, marked pretty much, for a standard songwriting, few eloquent and memorable riff and the abuse of three vocals, sometimes turning annoying or forgettable and last but not least the length, eleven tracks! almost an hour! I truly believe is too much for a comeback album after a long hiatus, this album is recommended only for diehard fans of  Power metal.

Stay True… Stay Metal… Stay Brutal...

Track List:

1. Far from Heaven... Close to Hell
2. Black Shadow
3. The Arcane's Palace
4. Inside the Enemy's Mind
5. Forged into Metal
6. Battle Lines
7. Marching Under the Stars
8. Circle of One
9. Kill the Leader
10. The Battle Sanctuary
11. Time Will Tell

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Krisiun (2015) Forged in Fury

Band: Krisiun

Country of Origin: Brazil

Status: Active

Genre: Death metal
Type: Full length

Format: Digipak Ltd. Edition

Length Approx.:  60:00 min.

Release Date: 08-07-2015

Current label: Century Media Records

Release label: Century Media Records

IR Classification: Good (3.6 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

Forged in Fury is an album that release a furious onslaught, but lack in vitality

Brazilian death metal machine Krisiun returns to the scene after a long period without releasing a studio album, after "The Great Execution" released back in 2011 followed by an extensive and comprehensive touring around the globe, the three brothers Alex, Max and Moyses charge back with their newest album "Forged in Fury" which is their tenth full length in their discography.

Krisiun is undoubtedly a band who has "Forged in Fury" their name in the underground scene always supported by the "Unmerciful Order" of fans to expand their "Black Force Domain", these visionaries of the "Apocalyptic Revelation", the three "Conquerors of Armageddon" loaded of wrath and "Ageless Venomous", always willing to perform "Works of Carnage" and "Bloodshed" with no remorse for the "AssassiNation" of the masses by their explosive "Southern Storm", they leave a desolate and cold path of “The Great Execution” and clearly stating their legacy, this trio of Brazilians are well known for what they have done in the past twenty five year of career and the years to come will testify more ruthless assaults.

"Forged in Fury" opens with "Scars of Hatred" demolishing guitar riff, a galloping bass and an unmerciful drums, Alex spits ferocious grunts, next is "Ways of Barbarism" is a pure overwhelming drum track, violent riff and an outstanding guitar solo ending up subtle in slow paced, "Dogma of Submission" seems to hold the brutality of the previous track but you can appreciate how the instruments blend together more harmoniously, this is the point where you realize, that this album has its own personality and distance itself from the early sound of "Black Force Domain" or even recently "Southern Storm" particularly my two favorite albums, "Burning the Heretic" falls into a dissonant chaos, powerful grooving riff along the bludgeoning drums by Max, "Oracle of the Ungod" clearly shows up the prowess acquired to songwriting, taking them a step into the Progressive Death Metal, "Timeless Starvation" is more oriented to the thrash roots, fast riff and compelling drums, it links rapidly with "Milonga de la Muerte" and acoustic guitar interlude, the last track is "Electric Funeral" a Black Sabbath cover, very well executed under Krisiun trade mark, probably the low point of this album is the length, over fifty two minutes of pure relentless Death metal and a really short interlude almost at the end, make this a hard bone to gnaw.

It is true that this is a good album, the production, mixing and mastering reach every note very clear, is an album crafted with outstanding songwriting, memorable guitar solos, catchy riff and stunning drums, however; being honest I believe we have already listen this, a slightly turn into their roots will be more favorable to reinventing their sound for the next album, something that old fans will greatly appreciate.

Stay True... Stay Metal… Stay Brutal…

Track List:

1. Scars of the Hatred

2. Ways of Barbarism

3. Dogma of Submission

4. Strength Forged in Fury

5. Soulless Impaler

6. Burning of the Heretic

7. The Isolated Truth

8. Oracle of the Ungod
9. Timeless Starvation
10. Milonga de la Muerte
11. Earth's Cremation
12. Electric Funeral (Black Sabbath cover)

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