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Elis – ‘Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky’ (Napalm) 

There are a ton of new releases hitting the streets this month and the next, and the latest release from Germany's Elis is one of the best.  Symphonic, gothic, dark, majestic, and stirring...all at the same time, this album is a treat for fans of both sweeping female vocals and progressive European hard rock.  In fact, Elis' sound is a real amalgamation of various underground styles...goth, prog, symphonic, extreme.  They combine their influences in a better way than most, hinting at their favorites without sounding like they're ripping any of them off.  The male growling vocals of "Heart In Chains" is the perfect counterpoint to lead singer Sabine Duenser's angelic soprano, and the aggressive drumming at the beginning of "Lost Soul" would get any metal head's head banging.  And yet the band is capable of exquisite beauty, such as in the album closing "Ballade".  The fact that some songs ("Der Letzte Tag", "Die Zeit") are in German just make things more interesting.  In the flood of heavy bands coming out of Europe these days, Elis is DEFINATELY one to watch!  The Heathen Hippy gives it four pints of good German beer.  (Taliesin Govannon)

Enthroned – ‘Xes Haereticum’ (Napalm) 

And now for something completely different...at least as far as the music I've been reviewing lately goes.  ‘Xes Haereticum’, the latest from Enthroned, is a blistering slab of good old-fashioned Black Fucking Metal.  Glaurung's drums are machine-gun perfect, and they blast the listener back to the dark ages.  Nornagest and Nguaroth's guitar work is dark and crisp, and bassist Lord Sabathan's vocals are in the high end without sounding silly (which is NOT easy, let me tell you).  The album blasts off with the menacing "Crimson Legions", and it's one piece of black revelation after another from there.  "Last Will" has a great groove, and "Vortex of Confusion" is downright evil, man!  Kudos to the Harris Johns, the producer of this work.  He kept everything clear, destroying the myth that Black Metal has to be muddy to be atmospheric.  My only complaint (and it's a small one) is that I don't like the cover art.  But that's just because Enthroned usually features hella great paintings on their albums (my favorite was ‘Goatlust’...and you can imagine what that was like!), and the satanic silly-putty  sculpture on this one looks, well...kinda lame.  But the music is what matters, and this album kills.  The heathen hippy gives this album four balls of satanic silly-putty.  (Taliesin Govannon)

Heart – ‘Jupiter’s Darling’ (Sovereign Artists) 

Let me tell you a story, kiddies...once upon a time, there was this band from Seattle.  Led by a pair of sisters, this band made some of the best melodic hard rock of the 1970's, combining kick-ass riffs with acoustic accents and incredible vocals to entertain fans of all rock genres.  But come the 80's, the band tinkered with their sound, the hits stopped flowing, and they did the worst thing imaginable...they re-made themselves to "fit with the times".  Big hair, over-produced albums, and thin pop songs written by hired guns followed, and the band traded their credibility for a couple of more years on MTV.  When they did an insipid tune about some chick getting intentionally knocked up by a one-night stand, most of their old fans wondered what ever happened to that great band from Seattle.  Well kiddies, I can tell you...they hung out in the 90's, not giving a shit about popularity, and found their souls again.  Come the 21st century, and Heart is back in grand style with ‘Jupiter’s Darling’.  Folks, it's like the 80's never happened for the band, and that is a good GOOD thing.  This is the album that Heart fans have been waiting for since ‘Bebe Le Strange’, and it's been worth the wait.  From the album opener "Make Me", through "The Perfect Goodbye", "Move On", "Fallen Ones", and many many more, the Wilson sisters remind you of the band responsible for "Barracuda".  "Enough", "I Need The Rain", and "Led To One" show that they haven't lost the Zeppelin edge (and let's face it...Heart was one band that could pay homage to the mighty Zeppelin without ripping them off).  If you liked anything that Heart did circa 1976-1980, then BUY THIS ALBUM!!!  It's everything you wanted and more.  The Heathen Hippy gives this five platinum albums!  (Taliesin Govannon)

Lazy Lane – ‘Keepers of the Gloom’ (self released) 

I believe this is the second full length release from Pittsburgh goth rockers Lazy Lane.  I like this band, especially in a live setting, but as with their previous CD ‘---‘, this latest disc falls short of blowing me away.  The band is excellent, the songs are well written, and vocalist Lily Lane has a good voice that reminds me of Shirley Manson of Garbage.  The problem is they need a producer to help them get the most out of their material.  The arrangements need more dynamics and the mix is weak, with the bass overwhelming the guitar more than it should.  This feels like déjà vu, because I wrote almost the exact same thing about the band’s previous release.  Despite my disappointment in the production/mix, I’d still recommend this to fans of goth rock.  The vibe is suitably creepy/sexy and the songs are better than most of what I hear in this genre.  Also, thanks to what sounds like a bit of an Alice Cooper influence, the band has potential crossover appeal to non-goth audiences.  Lazy Lane is definitely worth checking out, especially if you get a chance to see them in a live setting where they really shine.  But despite some reservations, I’d say picking up this disc is a reasonable alternative if they aren’t doing any shows in your neck of the woods.  For more info, visit http://www.thelazylane.com.  (Bob Ignizio)