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A nearly all-Scandinavian mix of melodic death metal swirls over the din and produces Frantic Amber, a quintet of heavy metal females that tear at your skin and claw at your ears with Wrath of Judgment.

Sharp and steady, Frantic Amber relies more on immense ‘melodeath’ to issue its fist to the face of the metal underground. Where women like Angela Gossow fail to impress me at all, vocalist Elizabeth has a huffy, loud whisper-like tone to her delivery that is clear and a perfect piece to the bigger puzzle. The rest of the band provides well-crafted songs filled with soaring melodies as well as crunching riffage that might be a tad more on the mainstream side of the spectrum, yet not enough to see the hipsters claim this band as the next Disturbed or other generic band. What that simply means is that this metal could appeal to death metal fans from across the board.

“Unbreakable” showcases a brief foray into clean tone right before shattering the mood with a shrieking growl that piles on the power in these five tracks. “Doomed to Walk This Earth” is also a winner, but I seriously found no real fault with any of the five tracks. The ladies kick some serious ass. The production has some precision-heavy attention paid to it, and the guitars carry a certain Dimebag Darrel feel to them, always a plus when orchestrated correctly. Everything about this band fits the bill they signed to, so there are no disappointing genre-jumps here.    

The lineup has had some problems with consistency, as they are currently seeking a permanent drummer, but I think once the lineup stabilizes, so too will the fan base that will surely enjoy this band’s brand of melodic death as it was meant to be implemented.    
Fatal, Frantic Amber, Gloomy Suicide and Night Ritual
April 30, 2011
CHRIS
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Fatal - Demo 2011
Floridian death metallers Fatal issue a three track collective of dark and shredding death metal, however don’t let the geographical slant lure you into otherwise familiar or blueprint territory. These guys retain some of the early Florida sound, but not enough to compare them to the likes of Obituary or Morbid Angel. These guys sound like they were emanating from the Swedish bogs under a murky layer of fog and despair. The crisp and sharp guitar sound makes this demo a pleasant pace-change from the hum-drum of modern death metal that relies too heavily on imitation as art rather than inspiration from influence.

In these three tracks is a pounding reserve of deadly brutality that manages to catch a good amount of clarity and style in the presentation of the music. “Slaughtered Consciousness” flies right out of the gate at a battering speed, reminiscent of a more technical Deicide without the pretense of Benton’s modern-day ‘evil’ vocal. The spot-on time changes keep you interested and just a bit awed. “Burning Lotus” is my favorite of the three with its riffing straight from the belly of disease; it’s a sound entry with some fine note assemblage and perfect balance between brutal and melodic, all the while keeping the recycling of chords to a minimum.  

These guys are pretty good; I look forward to hearing some more in the future.
Frantic Amber - Wrath of Judgment
Release Date:   2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1. Wrath of Judgment  2. Bloodlust  3. The Awakening  4. Unbreakable  5. Doomed to Walk This Earth   
-     Total playing time: 17:27
For a copy of Wrath of Judgment, contact the band via their myspace (click on link above)
Release Date:  February 27, 2011
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1. Slaughtered Consciousness  2. Distortion//Perception 
3. Burning Lotus        -    Total playing time: 12:08
DOWNLOAD Demo 2011 from the band 's bandcamp page (click on link above).
Gloomy Suicide - In Pain
Release Date: 2010
Band Self Released
TRACK LISTING:
1. Alone (intro)  2. Five Seconds to Die  3. Fuck This World  4. Nordic Winterstorms  5. Stan My Father  6. Through the Vast Fog Surrounded by Ancient Thrones
-    Total playing time:  15:38
Okay, what bothers me most about metal music is the absolute lack of monitoring we have in the movement. By that I mean that any dink can pick up an instrument, and I do mean any dink, plug it in and viciously insult my precious time and space with pedestrianism posing as music.

What the New Zealand outfit called Gloomy Suicide hopes to gain is beyond my vast comprehension. What I do know is that this was an egregious waste of my time and I’m offended to my core to even have to waste words on this mess. This is supposedly suicidal black metal, but the only thing suicidal about it what I feel after having to hear this crap. If this band is serious, and nothing in the “songs” affords me that this is true, there’s a long way to go before you reach Silencer or Bethlehem territory. The vocals are an absolute sham, proving to be nothing more than some processed screeching by what sounds like a 12-year-old harboring a serious glue-huffing habit. Really, dude…what the hell is your point?

The music is a muddied, buried mess, and the only reason this doesn’t garner a flat zero from me is because I can actually hear structure to the music, and let that be my small gift to you. While you retain structure and some melody, the completely amateurish manner in which this demo is presented is nothing less than an affront to the black metal movement.

Tell you what…you come talk to me in five years when you’re serious about heavy metal. For some of us, this isn’t a joke to kill time, get drunk and giggle how we once made a ‘craptastic’ demo. You have wasted my time.
DOWNLOAD In Pain from the band 's BEBO page (click on link above).
Night Ritual - Satan’s in My Blood
Release Date: 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1. Intro [Midnight Ritual]   2. In Honor Of Belial  3. Bloody Christian Sacrifice  4. The Secrets Of The Black Arts  5. Praying          -    Total playing time:  17:24
Mexican black metal straight, and I mean straight from the primitive files is issued in Night Ritual’s demo titled Satan’s in My Blood. And I though the first Burzum demo was lo-fi…

I’m not sure what to make of Night Ritual, honestly. The music is overly generic black metal; I mean, there’s nothing even close to innovative or thought-provoking in it, and for those out there that claim black metal isn’t supposed to be ‘polished’, I’m with you…but it should make you think. This is so poorly played, sloppily orchestrated and criminally useless. I will say it’s better than the demo I had before me just a few hours ago that really made me contemplate suicide, but this is so damn sloppy it’s sickening. “The Secrets of the Black Arts” will make Dark Funeral want to come after these guys; it’s the most basic and bland riff that got on my nerves after hearing it for 30 full seconds!    It’s dirty without being cult, and it washes any filthy semblance of black metal and replaces it with unturned messes disguised in random chords. If you’re not going to take pride in your ‘art’, leave it in the files folder and move on.

I wish these bands would stop this already; hell, at the very least learn a new scale or something. It’s not even worth hearing.  
DOWNLOAD Demo 2011 from the band 's website (click on link above).
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