In La mer, he is among the master magicians: subtleties of nuance and timing (previously in short supply) now abound; here is playing of a wholly different order of grace and beauty, not the kind that lingers in passages in danger of becoming too exquisite to bear, nor the kind that parades the score's exoticism.

A recent entry in ECM's consistently interesting series presenting music from the former Soviet Union, this release offers two 1990s compositions from the Uzbek-born Alexander Knaifel. Svete Tikhiy (O Gladsome Light), written in 1991 and dedicated to Giya Kancheli, is a three-movement work for soprano and sampler, with texts drawn from Russian Orthodox liturgy. The manipulation of soprano Tatiana Melentieva's voice with the sampler comes mostly in the 20-minute second movement, where human vocal timbres are fragmented into beats and harmonies. Structurally the movement offers a procession of fields of sound (the rather mystical liner notes refer to color associated with Orthodox iconography) not so different from other minimalist works, but the sampler adds a new twist that in 1991 was fairly innovative, especially in Russia.

LOVE.MIGHT.KILL, the German/Italian melodic metal band led by drummer Michael Ehré (FIREWIND, ULI JON ROTH, METALIUM), has set "2 Big 2 Fail" as the title of its second album, due in October via Massacre Records (Europe) and Hydrant Music (Japan). The follow-up to last year's "Brace For Impact" was once again be produced by Ehré and mixed and mastered by Markus Teske at his Bazement Studios

Swedish "alternative metal" band MACHINAE SUPREMACY will release its new album, "Rise Of A Digital Nation", on October 19 via Spinefarm Records. According to a press release, the CD "echoes the musical simplicity of [2008's] 'Overworld' and faithfully reflects the issues and state of a Generation Online in its lyrics." The album was recorded inMACHINAE SUPREMACY's own studio in Luleå, Sweden, with additional recording at the 4Sound Studio in Stockholm. It was mastered byHenkka Niemistö at Chartmakers in Finland.

The collective of sonic architects conducted by the ingenious demiurge envisage futuristic soundscapes. The state-of-the-art concept reveals a new dimension in sound somewhere between the known electronic styles while being none of them. The bleeding edge of approaching music, which doesn't have it's own name yet, thus we call it - Technogenic. The opus which is concentrated on the ideas of technological progress and absolute immersion into machinery and hardware in everyday existence. The powerhouse with brilliant solutions and overt view at the forthcoming events possessing the spectacular meaning for next generations.

The first part created by Amroque is archive recordings, and the second part is a new material by Antalio, nevertheless matching well for the first part. Traditional symphonic and modern synthetic approaches intertwine gracefully in this split album to create majestic and bright atmosphere.

What is impressive about “The Code Is Red…Long Live The Code” isn’t that it’s a ground breaking release, but that it’s a well executed punishing one and after umpteen releases, that’s really all that NAPALM DEATH needs to do.

The album, which will be released September 24, features more material from the band’s The Wörld Is Yours Tour, including their 2011 Wacken headline appearance, plus highlights from their Sonisphere and Rio shows. Motörhead will kick off 2012 European Tour on November 5 in Wolverhampton, UK. The tour, which ends December 11 in Kempten, features support from Anthrax.

Cyclophonia brings a tradition Power Metal arrangement, two guitarist that bring a large variety of riffs, quite innovative and it is nice to see that they are stepping away from the stereotype here and there, you don’t feel like you can predict what is coming where other bands often bring the same type of riffs. The band works with two vocalists which gives a quite dynamic effect.