|
August 2009 ~ October 2009
The Curse of Martha Splatterhead
Southern Lord Records
The Accüsed has been around forever (at least it seems that way). From their debut, The Return of... Martha Splatterhead (the first release ever on Earache Records), up to this most recent release, The Curse of Martha Splatterhead, there have been a couple things in common. Firstly, Tommy Niemeyer (the sole remaining member from the early days), and secondly is the bands ability to cross boundaries from thrash to punk and hardcore without so much as a beat going by during the transition. Of course, they continue that musical crossover on this disc.
"Hemline" is a grooving hardcore ditty, while "Stomped To Death" unceremoniously stomps through the thrash/hardcore boundaries, and then there is the thrashing power of "Martha's Disciples" (with the kickass Slayer like riff). I could go on and on through all 14 songs here, but suffice to say that the band jumps around and around, while still keeping the riffs catchy and the heaviness attacking.
The latest from The Accüsed is just what you'd expect from the band. Sure, they've been around forever, but this disc has them showing no rust at all.
B -Goz
Black Medicine
Paragon Records
Hungary's Aetherius Obscuritas deliver their fifth full-length disc in almost as many years. This is a two man project, with Arkhorrl handling all the vocals and instruments, while Zson is the drummer.
This is some pretty good black metal here - from what I remember of their last release, this one is a pretty good step forward. The riffs here are solid, the drums are well played, and the use of other instruments (like the tuba in "The End") makes for some interesting changes in pace. The title track is my favorite one here, with the massive riffs that constantly propel it forward, and vocals that could peel paint. Other notables are "Grim Smile", 'Circinus Nebulae" and a good rendition of Marduk's "Black Demon", which closes out the disc.
Aetherius Obscuritas give us an unrelenting assault of old school influenced black metal, yet with a touch of more modern influences that keep it interesting and a bit different.
B -Goz
The Divinity of Oceans
Napalm Records
It’s fitting that I get a promo from funeral doom masters Ahab to review because right now I’m ensconced in a class on Moby-Dick, the novel that inspired much of the band’s catalog. These guys have released their debut album The Call of the Wretched Sea three years ago to critical acclaim. The album featured angsty, crushing, and ultimately depressing funeral doom. Their new record The Divinity of Oceans goes in the same direction as Call…, yet the songs lack cohesion, sounding more like a collection of cool riffs thrown together to create long, drawn out songs.
Ahab’s goal is clear: to capture the sprawling nature of the ocean and sailing the seas through exceedingly long songs with no clear direction, just like sailing. Now, most funeral doom has no clear direction; the songs continue with many riffs and parts. Sometimes it creates a surrounding mood not found in other music. On The Divinity of Oceans, Ahab occasionally achieve this sprawling mood, but it isn’t necessarily reminiscent of oceans or sailing. The riffs themselves are never bad per se, but it seems as if Ahab wrote five or six dozen strong riffs and chopped them together into songs. As a result, the songs lack the cohesion needed to evoke the surrounding moods of funeral doom.
This album is far from perfect, but fans of Esoteric and Mourning Beloveth will most likely enjoy it. Where Ahab goes next will be interesting to see, but this album feels rushed and thrown together.
B- -Adam
ESM
Hold True Recordings
ESM is the full length debut of central Massachusetts' Anomia. Stirring together important elements of what make Suffocation (brutal pinch squeals, cool blasts, and severe breakdowns) and (early) Cave In(cascading guitar work) successful, borrowing maybe some of the more off-the-wall Cephalic Carnage stuff, and sprinkling in some additional progressive sensibilities, ESM is a good first album.
Although admittedly ESM features too many breakdowns--many of them of the hackneyed single-chord/single note variety--and the vocals occasionally veer toward the overdone deathcore style, ANOMIA packs the remaining space with stellar musicianship, proper use of the "math" factor, dynamic change-ups, and plenty of versatile guitar work. One trick ponies these guys aren't, and it seems unlikely to me that anyone will ever accuse them of falling into traditional song arrangements.
I'd like to hear them scale back the breakdown quotient next time around and incorporate RIFFS into the breakdowns (refer to Killing Time's "Backtrack," for example, for further study), but there is certainly more than enough quality herein to keep the listener's attention; check out their MySpace and support accordingly.
B -Mark Fields
This is Thirteen
VH1 Classic Records
I have to admit I've been caught up in Anvil fever since seeing the movie Anvil – The Story of Anvil and jumped at the chance to review their latest album, the one you see them recording toward the end of the movie. And to be honest, the only Anvil song I really remember before seeing the movie was "Mad Dog" because they used to play it on Headbangers Ball back in the 80's when Metal was becoming a fad. All this being said I have to say I think Anvil has made a solid Metal album with This is Thirteen. Some tasty riffs and vocals from Steve "Lips" Kudlow and some serious skin bashing by Robb Reiner are what we get from the title track that leads the album off. I had the same feeling when I reviewed a recent Saxon album and I think it comes down to really getting into an old school Metal sound and appreciating it for what it is, good heavy fun! It just brings me back to a time in my life when I could always rely on Metal/Hard Rock to cheer me up, and that's exactly what this album does. Even if the lyrics aren't exactly brilliant, for example on "Burning Bridges", "Burning bridges a fire attack, burning bridges, you can't go back" you don't even care because the beat and the riffs are so infectious it doesn't matter what the song is about.
It's amazing how things you got bored with or never gave a chance to earlier in life can sound fresh to you or catch at the right moment in your life. Like "Axe To Grind", I probably would have dismissed that song as just another boring Metal song but now I find myself cranking it up. You know, honestly I'm really digging this album and I know some people think of them as a joke but I can honestly say I'm an Anvil fan now. "Big Business" is a total Spinal Tap song, and guess what, it sounds a bit like "Big Bottom", but I still dig it. "Should' A Would' A Could' A" could be Anvil's theme song with the lyrics "never say you're sorry for the things you should have done" and it's one of the more rockin' songs on the disc too. If anyone needs a reason to get this CD it's to get the infamous track they talk about in the movie, "Thumb Hang", the first song they wrote as Anvil, and it's classic! "Thumbs will twist, can you resist? Beware the names on the inquisitors list!"
A -Matt Smith
Musica De La Resistencia
MeteorCity
Soundtrack Music, Space Folk, Experimental, Metal, all in one album, this is the best way to describe Ararat's Musica De La Resistencia, breathtakingly beautiful one moment, strangely grotesque the next, and never boring. Acoustic guitars, electric distorted guitars, organs, pianos, spoken word voices, the compositions challenge the listener in ways they SHOULD be challenged. At first listen I really wasn't sure what I was getting into, but upon second, third, and even fourth listening I am truly enamored with this disc. "Little Grissy" sounds like it could have come from the Incredible String Band songbook and "Ganar-Perder" sounds like a Psychedelic Spanish Folk song with male and female vocals and some back masked sounds to add to it's otherworldly vibe. "Magia Negra" starts off with almost Indian-style back masked melodies which blend into some spacey keyboards and then an almost Flamenco-style guitar. "Castro" is probably the most bizarre track on the album, with crazy vocals in a Muppet-like voice that almost sounds German but I think it's Spanish, and a bass line and drums that sound Kraut Rock influenced.
This disc is really unpredictable and original and I highly recommend it to any one looking for that outer limits type of sound.
B -Matt Smith
A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky
Candlelight Records
"A Night in Venus' Arms" starts off with some really trippy electronic sounds and sets you up for the spacey guitar riff that comes next and the pounding drums and heavy guitars with screaming, almost Death Metal style vocals. Noisy feedback and other sounds lead into the second track "A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky", which has a nice heavy riff that almost sounds like a Neurosis song with nastier teeth. I have to say, the song is not predictable at all and even has a bluesy solo toward the end of it before it fades into an experimental section of Industrial nature. "Grey Wolves" hits you in the face with it's ferociousness and has a serious mosh inducing riff (in a non-Nü Metal way) before "Our Sun, Our Saviour" comes in like a Throbbing Gristle song and slowly turns into a noisy slow psychedelic heavy EYEHATEGOD influenced tune. "Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence" has a nice meditative intro before it becomes another heavy number with a nice mellow little guitar bit at the end that leads to "One Amongst the Wheat Fields" which has a serious riff that is definitely Neurosis-like in nature. "Jump Room to Orion" has a nice melodic riff to start and it almost reminds me of a Tool song by the drums and vocals and it even ends on a noisy note like some Tool songs. "Leads to a Lifetime on Mercury" ends the album with a ten minute piece that starts nice and slow and doomy continuing that pace and the last three minutes of the song are what sounds like analog synth noises.
Definitely a unique sound and something that is not predictable, I look forward to hearing more from The Atlas Moth in the future.
B -Matt Smith
Double Brutal
Metal Blade Records
OK, for the few of you who haven't already heard, Austrian Death Machine is a Schwarzenegger-themed project band masterminded by As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis, who writes the songs, and plays most of what you hear on the album. Every ADM song is based around an Arnold film.
Tim's stated thrash/crossover formula for ADM is pretty straightforward and truthful: "a continuously fast paced tempo you can always circle pit to; the obvious build up to a breakdown you'll know how to mosh to; classic sing-alongs to pile up and sing along with; a guitar solo in every song; and...cliché vocals that sound really angry!"
The 20-page lyric booklet is noteworthy. Throughout it is page after page of well-done and otherwise hilarious photos depicting Tim in classic Schwarzenegger roles. Moreover, although it's less than an hour of recorded music, the album is presented on 2 discs just to drive home its title, Double Brutal.
Even though I'm a diehard Schwarzenegger fan, I gave a C+ to last year's Total Brutal, and a C- to the follow-up EP A Very Brutal Christmas, for some pretty obvious shortcomings--mostly for the sub-par Arnold impersonations. This time around, however, Tim hired a superior "Fake Arnold," avoided the clunkier between-song skits, and made more of an effort to include "Ahhnold"-style vocals in the songs themselves. It also sounds like this time he might have spent slightly more than an hour writing each song. Ironically, the only weak points come along on the second disc, which is a set of cover songs. "Hell Bent for Leather" still sounds as half-baked as it did on A Very Brutal Christmas, and "Iron Fist" doesn't quite make the grade either. On the other hand, most of the covers are pretty enjoyable--with appropriate vocal contributions from "Fake Arnold"--and it was an Arnold fanboy master stroke that Tim chose to cover the Arnold-inspired brutal death metal band Goretorture. Genius!
All in all, Double Brutal succeeds where its 2 predecessors failed. If you want good laughs--the most brutal breakdown is in the Jingle All the Way-inspired "Who Told You You Could Eat My Cookies"--set to a high-energy soundtrack, and Tim's aforementioned musical formula sounds appealing, don't hesitate to buy it..."DO IT NOWWWWWW!"
B+ -Mark Fields
Teraphim
Moribund Records
Finland's Azaghal don't waste too much time between releases. Since forming in 1995, they've released numerous demo's, splits, EP's, and their latest, Teraphim, is the bands eighth full-length. This disc has a tough job of following their well-received Omega - How does it hold up against it?
The band wastes no time, opening with the fierce "Elilum - Suuri Tyhjyys" - a track that combines the blazing rawness that you'd expect from the band with numerous tempo changes and just the right amount of melody and catchiness to keep everyone interested in what comes next. An absolute ferocious start to the disc. "Filosofi" brings some doominess to the party with a mid-paced, riff driven main theme, and some downright melodic guitar bits thrown in there as well. The title track brings back the blasting speed and rawness, combined with an intensely heavy breakdown in the middle of the track.
I'm not going to pick a favorite track for this one, as it would be too difficult. What I will say, though, is that the last 4 tracks on this disc combine to form almost 20 minutes of the most unrelenting and intense black metal that will ever burst through your eardrums. While many times I find myself tiring of a disc by the end of it, Teraphim does no such thing to me. This disc ends with such aplomb that you'll find yourself hitting play again and again to keep the brutality from ever ending.
B -Goz
Walpurgis Rites - Hexenwahn
Nuclear Blast Records
Being a fan of Belphegor for quite a while now, and having seen them live what seems like a ton of times over the past few years, I was eagerly awaiting their latest release, Walpurgis Rites - Hexenwahn. Thankfully, Nuclear Blast has recently delivered the 9 song, 40-minute collection of blisteringly fast blackened death metal for us all to enjoy.
The disc is full of the high-speed, melodic yet punishingly heavy black laced death metal we've come to expect from the band. "Veneratio Diaboli - I Am Sin" is the second track, and it packs an immense amount of pretty damn much everything into its seven minute running time. The main riff is thick, yet melodic and catchy as all hell, and the overall song is paced a bit slower than the typical Belphegor track, but the massiveness of everything, from the guitar to the drums to the layered vocals makes this song stand out from the rest quite a bit. "The Crosses Made Of Bone" is another crusher, once again with some downright catchy and melodic guitar work, and a chorus that will be begging the fans to scream along with it if they chose to play it live on their upcoming US tour. "Destroyer Hekate" brings back the super fast pace, with some kickass rapidfire guitar work and insanely good drumming.
Belphegor delivers yet again - no surprise, though, as they've been putting out great stuff consistently for a damn long time now. Go see them on tour in the US in November.
B -Goz
Till Makabert Väsen
Hydra Head Records
Bergraven is back with their third full-length release, Till Makabert Väsen. Once again taking black metal ideas and warping them into all sorts of heavy, melodic, and just downright entertaining musical passages - Bergraven delivers it with passion and feeling that seems to be lost in so much of today's music.
Opening with an extended atmospheric intro part, "Drömmen Om Undergång" takes a couple minutes to get going, and even then it is with sparse instrumentation and some downright evil sounding vocals (I think the Swedish lyrics help with the evil feeling). The chorus about half way in is when the song really gets heavy, and the vocal style changes - one of many many (many many) times this happens throughout the disc. The vocal range here is quite astounding - from the angry sounding almost spoken parts that start the song, to the chant like chorus, to the powerful screams that pick up just after the five-minute mark - and that is just in the first song! "Hunger" is probably the most straightforward song on here - meaning that it starts off with some great guitar riffs and has a bit more structure than the rest. It does breakdown in the middle part for an extended atmospheric segment, but that is the stuff that makes a Bergraven album stand out from the pack of mediocre stuff that seems to come out all the time. The disc closes with "I Timmen När Allt Är Över" - a 9 minute attack of doomy, heavy evilness that puts the finished touches on quite nicely.
The production on this disc is really well done. Everything sounds clean and clear, and the bass seems to be mixed a bit higher than normal - which is good in this case because it adds a TON to the music, and is the backbone to a lot of the tracks. If you enjoyed Bergraven's work in the past, you are sure to like this. If you haven't been exposed to the band yet, get this disc and see for yourself how good it is.
A- -Goz
The Black Swan Epilogue
Candlelight Records
Captivating. I don't think I've ever felt the need to use that word in a review before. In case I have, I didn't really mean it until I heard The Black Swan Epilogue. This is not merely ear candy. It's ear sustenance. Now that I have this album, I don't think I could live without it. Nor could I bear to not tell every living, deserving soul about it. I must warn you upfront, I'm going to rave about this album through the whole review.
That bibleblack doesn't capitalize their band name is something of an oxymoron. They are unbelievably awesome. I can't imagine why they wouldn't unless... wait... anti-capitalization maybe? Gotcha. Not a commercial sliver from this band. No way. This will be the best-kept underground secret for only the worthiest of us metalheads. I'm honored to get to spill this news. Handle it wisely.
The Black Swan Epilogue is as much moving as it is paralyzing. Getting this album is like finding a big, fat natural pearl after shucking through thousands of shells with blistered, bleeding fingers.
bibleblack is the same guitar duo that was once Abstrakt Algebra. It's the legendary Mike Wead of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate/Candlemass and Simon Johansson of Memory Garden/Steel Attack making metal together again.
The sound is enormous. Gigantic. Like The Wall or Trans-Siberian Orchestra size only with a Halloween base and being entirely metal.
That it's a five-piece band is nothing short of amazing. The music doesn't even sound overly orchestral (like with too much keyboards) but it still sounds big. Huge. Sinister. Sensual. Moving. Empowering. The snazziest-styled, really dark heavy metal I don't think I've ever heard matched so consistently. The only albums that come close would have to be.... well since Reign in Blood or Death's Human or Cowboys from Hell changed my life, each in their own pleasant ways.
I can't even describe to you how epic this album is. In fact, I can't even take you through each successive song as it would be pointless. I could never do the album justice. But I can try to explain the feel of the album and the things I go through when I listen to it. Well... not ALL things, I guess. But I sure feel like a sinner after indulging in a little bibleblack! You should, too. You can thank me later.
It's hard to write this while I'm listening because I just want to stop and bask in it. It's quite distracting in a disturbingly dark but exquisitely satisfying way. I usually multi-task while I'm listening to new albums to review. If I stop what I'm doing because of the music, it's noteworthy. bibleblack sure wouldn't let me do much. I had to keep checking out what I was listening to.
The guitars had a classical quality with a little blues and a ton of soul underneath a wholly metal coating. And they're so damn good, you might think 'that has to be a keyboard' then you see a video like this and your jaw just hits the floor. Mine did. The Black Swan Epilogue is a perfect mix of many flavors of metal. Not too much of one style or another, just all good, creepy, sexy, doomy, forceful mightiness.
Enormity. Old-fashioned and modern at the same time. You'll also find subtle horror in this perfect metal that sneaks up under the music. You can't decide if you want to fear, succumb, or relish in it's exquisiteness but you CAN do all of that simultaneously thanks to bibleblack. The album is available as a digipak with extra artwork from Gyula Havancsák or the limited edition version with a bonus DVD.
The Black Swan Epilogue is going to be a household name. It just doesn't let up. Every song makes me want to close my eyes and focus on enjoying the masterpieces sprouting forth. Each one is different, important, fantastic, and extremely memorable. They sometimes remind me of Fantomas for the horror aspects. Especially on “Stigma Diaboli”
because it was a little wackier than the rest of the album, but still easily digestible. Then when they slow it down it's like how on those old Slayer and Metallica albums they'd have songs that start slow but are still real heavy then it gets heavier and faster and ultimately burns itself into your mind and heart forever. Isn't our sense of hearing just the best! If I went deaf tomorrow, I would be devastated now thanks to bibleblack.
Just when I couldn't be more pleased with the beginning of the album, they go and invent an ending I could never forget with “Walk into Light (Liars Parade)” and “The Black Swan Epilogue.” The only way I could be more sated is if this album were longer. bibleblack practically blows almost every other band I've heard out of the metal pool. I mean, come on, they chant “I am Legion” as the outro and title for a song. That's so much cooler than “Creeping Death; Die!” And it's only a little piece of the juicy pie that is The Black Swan Epilogue. Their next album should be called “I am Legend.”
I feel genuine, heartfelt sorrow for anyone who does not own this album. That's the true horror right there, the nightmare of not having it. Let's hope this is not bibleblack's first and last, guttural 'swan song'. It's nearly too good to be true and literally lives up to it's title. Like the legend of the black swan that “could not exist,” The Black Swan Epilogue is a rare creature to be revered. Instantly, effortlessly, this album could be a treasured classic living inside every metalhead's little, black heart.
A++ -Alesha
Alongside Death
Pulverised Records
The Black are back, after a decade and a half of absence. Alongside Death was originally released in the summer of 2008 on vinyl, and has now been released on CD by Pulverised Records. Just by taking a look at the superbly simplistic cover art (which I think is great, and a perfect match for this disc), you know that black metal is about to pour out of your speakers.
Simplistic, raw and unrelenting black metal is pretty much it. Walls of distorted guitars, drums being beaten into submission, and mostly raspy vocals are what you'll get for the 30 minutes that follow you pressing play on this disc. While there is really nothing at all wrong with all of this, there really isn't anything that is very attention grabbing either - it just kind of sits there making noise for a half hour, while pretty much just flowing in one ear and out there other, leaving no lasting impression at all. I guess I'd say it is decent, but that is about it.
C- -Goz
Chronomega
Southern Lord
The deadliest duo in Stoner Metal has returned with a new slab of destruction to wrap our baked, sore-necked souls around. Ferocious from the first track, "Negative Reversal", Rafa and Jay pull no punches with their debut album for Southern Lord and fans will not be disappointed. Unrelenting in power and might, "Machine" keeps the pace going and if I'm not mistaken Jay's voice sounds even more raw than on previous albums. "Catalyst" has almost a Voivodian intro to it before it kicks into what sounds like Voivod jamming with Black Cobra. "Chronosphere" and "Zero Point Field" chug along in true Black Cobra fashion while "Lightning In His Hand" brings the intensity up a notch and doesn't give the listener a chance to breathe. "Storm Shadow" almost has an old school thrash sound to it and "Glacies En Spiritu" is a nice short neck breaker and "Nefarian Triangle" slows things down a bit with some melodic clean guitars before it slaughters us with it's heavy riffage and lets us off with a nice mellow ending.
I don't feel it's as good as their last album, Feather and Stone, but it's a damn great Metal album that is a breath of fresh air from all of the crap that is calling itself Metal and selling out venues. The artwork and layout reminds me of Away from Voivod's style and only adds to the overall package of a great Stoner Metal album.
B -Matt Smith
Deflorate
Metal Blade
American melodic deathcore for it's impressive, carrying guitar melody and hardcore background. Almost like Lamb of God but not as memorable.
Maybe what a more serious Gwar would sound like if they weren't so goofy and theatrical and had some really fantastic shredders backing them up. The Black Dahlia Murder is a little catchier than many in it's over-populated genre.
Now, let's just say upfront that I have enormous respect for funny people. Because The Black Dahlia Murder have established their reputations as our metal scene's class clowns, I have probably taken this album with a lighter outlook. It makes the growly, horror-iffic vocals more unique and amusing than typically annoying. I must confess that I wasn't as scared as they wanted me to be but I was certainly entertained.
I think “Christ Deformed” may have been the best song on the album as it had a great, heavy rhythm and guitar solo. But then the solo on “Throne of Lunacy” was even better. The guitars sort of carried the whole album, which seemed to get stronger and more memorable toward the end. Deflorate peaked at the close with two more great songs “That Which Erodes the Most Tender” and, appropriately, “I Will Return.”
They sound like above average musicians. The guitar melodies and drive is BDM's most endearing trait. The vocal style was harsh growling and screaming with zero clean vocals (thank Goz). Breaking speed records on the drums, at times, takes away from the music on Deflorate. Too much blasting sacrifices style. And the sound of the percussion on the record blows. Is that a requirement now or what? It's tinny and it really takes away from an album's potential. It's too hard to ignore on this album more than others because of Deflorate's exaggerated emphasis on speed.
Let me explain something to Metalbladerecords and colleagues. First: It doesn't matter how fast a drummer can be or if the next guy is faster.
What matters is style. Period. They're burning out way too many young, talented drummers too quickly. It's a shame. And it isn't to hard to notice style unless their going at light speed and then style is impossible. Let these percussionists breathe.
Second: Remember when you were a kid at a parade and the marching band would come up and you could feel that “boom”? That pressure that resonated in your chest with the pounding of the base drums? I think that's one of the main reasons I love metal so much. If you take away that boom in your chest and all you are left with is tinny, electronic pings and dings, that doesn't sound too appealing. Does it? If the reason drum machines are used in recording metal is to ensure that tours will still be successful or needed, then let me assure you, the better the CD, the bigger the crowd will be. Don't jip the buyer and make them go to the show to get the full effect. We want it in our hands when we buy it. What happens if the only venue nearby has a crappy sound system? Where is the justice? Bands never play every song either, so now what?
Enough ranting and back to Deflorate. I was quite impressed with this album and think Black Dahlia Murder have a solid start to what's probably a great career. I believe they might stand out some more if you could understand what they were saying. And if they elaborated on the guitars instead of the drums that were so in-yo-face alot the time.
B -Alesha
Hexagon
I'm Better Than Everyone Records
Stoner Rock is the first thing that came to mind when I popped in this disc and Stoner Rock is what it is. Riff-heavy guitars, bass, and crashing drums with vocals that are heavy with a slight growl to them. There are some nice smoking guitar solos peppered throughout each song and the songwriting is decent. They make me think if Soundgarden had played Stoner Rock they might sound like this on their first demo. I'm interested in hearing their next CD to see how they progress.
C+ -Matt Smith
Bestial Kruzifix666ion
Moribund Records
Slovenian black metal horde Bleeding Fist deliver their Moribund Records debut in the form of Bestial Kruzifix666ion. As the band state "We're not playing melodic, depressive shit, which nowadays is such a cool thing, and we're not crying of sadness and loneliness. Our music is filled with hate, blasphemy, revenge...." I don't think I could have put it any better myself. Vicious blackened thrash metal is what Bleeding Fist is all about, and they deliver fiercely during the nine songs contained here.
The disc starts off chaotic enough with "Morbid Psychotic Distortion (Part 1)" - fast, ripping guitar riff and leads, pounding drums, and vicious vocal screams deliver a good awakening punch. The best song on the disc is next - in the form of "Spirit, Dust and Magic". While not doing anything new or earth shatteringly different than the other songs here, this one just sticks out to me as the strongest. I think it might be the killer chorus that they have, which I can see going over really well in a live environment with the crowd screaming along. After that, things start to blur together a bit, with each song following a very similar pattern. Since the disc is just over a half-hour long, the sameness doesn't get too bad, but it does leave you looking to see what track is playing since they are almost indistinguishable from one another.
Overall, Bestial Kruzifix666ion is a decent disc with some good ideas, but the similarities between all the songs makes it hard to justify more than a few listens. I'll definitely keep an ear out for anything they do in the future in hopes that they get a bit more creative.
C -Goz
If I Were King For a Day
One man black metal bands seem to be all the rage. Blood Stone Sacrifice is one such band, comprised (for now at least) solely of Jesse DiGioia - he wrote and played everything for this 5 song demo. Raw, unabashed black metal is pretty much all you're going to get here.
"Dreamcrusher (King For a Day)" gets my vote for the best song on here. Not only is the music catchy as hell, but the vocals are brutal and the lyrics are downright evil. "Cast down and angel, so I can burn it's wings off", "enslave me an army, to begin my genocide", and "If I were king for a day, we'd begin this world anew" are just a few of the choice lyric lines here - and they are all delivered in a way that makes you want to shout along with them. That, to me, is the sign of good songwriting - catchy music and vocals lines that are memorable and make you want to join in. "Vermin" contains some of the same style of memorable riffs and vocals lines, and "Casting Shadows" had a much doomier feel to it than the rest of the disc (at least at times), and has a good deal of keyboards thrown in as well.
Being a demo recorded on a four-track, the sound isn't perfect, but it works quite well for the music here. The drums are programmed, and definitely sound it, but again, the raucousness they provide fits in well with the raw, evil sound of everything else here. Knowing Jesse, he is probably already working on ideas for new songs. Drop him a line on myspace and get a copy of this demo.
B+ -Goz
Summon
Profound Lore
Bloody Panda is one of those bands that defies categorization, and when I say that it means it's very hard to pigeonhole them into a category, but because of the heaviness of the guitar they inevitably will end up in the Metal bins. Industrial at times and experimental at others they would fit in with a Swans fan collection. "Gold" starts off the disc mellow and eerie, with female vocals (actually, the whole album is handled by a female vocalist), with some heavy slow doom-filled riffs and screaming in the background you get the flavor of what Bloody Panda is all about within the first five minutes of this song. The vocals are soaringly beautiful at times and painful excruciating screams at others but always interesting and genre defying. "Pusher" begins with a drone-like riff with a droning keyboard note behind it and plunges into a heavy guitar and tortured vocals track that will wake you up if you had gotten too comfortable with the first track. "Saccades I" is an experimental track with cold industrial sounds backing up chant-like and screeching vocals that sound like they were recorded in a cathedral and then it blends into "Saccades II" with some feedback heavy doom drone-like guitars with rolling drums behind it and more vocals of the same style. Mesmerizing in its heaviness you can't help but get sucked into the trance-like nature of the keyboards amidst the heaviness.
"Miserere" is an epic track of 21 minutes that starts off with some seriously slow doom guitar riffs and droning keyboards and chanting vocals and picks up at points to faster riffs sporadically and almost sounding like Black Metal. Screaming vocals permeate the track and make it that much more dramatic and intense sounding with the soaring vocals. "Grey" continues in a similar vibe with some mellotron sounding keyboards. "Hashira" has some nice clean sounding guitars and Tuvan throat-style vocals backing up the melodic vocals before breaking into heavy guitars and drums and eventually descending into an organ fade out with droning industrial-sounds behind it.
For those of you looking for something out of the ordinary but still heavy I would highly recommend getting this disc. It also comes with a DVD with some abstract video accompaniment which I must say is really cool to see with this music.
A -Matt Smith
Japanese Heavy Rock Hits
Volumes 1-3
Southern Lord
Southern Lord is releasing a series of three Boris seven inch records from September through November that dares us to think we know the always unpredictable Japanese band.
BORIS - 7" #1 Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Vol. 1 Side A track is called "8" and it is a rocking number that has a melodic punk vibe to it and side B "???????/Hey Everyone" sounds a bit like Filter with a sweet guitar solo to boot. 
BORIS-7" #2 Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Vol. 2 Side A "H.M.A. - Heavy Metal Addict" has a crunchy guitar riff and a driving bass drum pounding and some hammer-on guitar solos with some delay effects vocals and the chanting "H.M.A." Side B "Black Original" has an almost industrial sound to it, hinting of Nine Inch Nails.
BORIS-7" #3 Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Vol. 3 Side A "16:47:52... / 16?47?52..." is a nice beautiful mellow tune sung by Wata and Side B "..and Hear Nothing/?????" is a nice psychedelic sludge piece.
These are a very diverse collection of songs, but I wouldn't expect any thing less than that from Boris. Hunt these slabs of vinyl down if you can!
A -Matt Smith
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Napalm Records
My indoctrination to the world of hard rock began with AC/DC. Junior high school I discovered For Those About To Rock on tape thanks to a new transfer student who let me borrow said music, and 26 years later I haven’t been the same since. Although my tastes have broadened far and wide, there’s still an adrenaline rush to good old four on the floor, three chord bar boogie rock and roll. Germany’s The Bulletmonks strike that same early school addictions, pounding out 12 songs on their debut album that have as much in common with Motorhead and ZZ Top as they do Dangerous Toys and early Guns N Roses.
The first two songs “No Gain Just Pain” and “My World’s A Show” make me close my eyes and feel the beer soaked stage with bare-chested musicians electrifying a crowd who’ve been waiting all work week to release their pent up aggression. The latter has that “Sportin’ a Woody” Dangerous Toys rhythmic boogie, especially with the stick twirling exploits of M.dogg on drums. Other songs such as “Under the Black Sun” or “Never a Wannabe” feature riffs and vocal melodies pulling you back into the early 50’s rock and roll movement- not as Elvis influenced as Denmark’s Volbeat but certainly boning up on some Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets and other like-minded pioneers with heavier distortion.
“Hang On Lord” kills with a main riff a la “Running Free” Iron Maiden meets “The Zoo” from The Scorpions, that all of a sudden goes psychedelic as if careening headlong into a Led Zeppelin album. I’m not proclaiming Weapons of Mass Destruction as original in its approach or the influences- yet you’ll be hard pressed not to move your head or tap your hands/feet to this addictive material.
A- -Matt Coe
A Somber Wind From a Distant Shore
Moribund Records
Shrouded in mystery, this two man (RH on vocals and TMP on all instruments) black metal band from Minnesota. That is pretty much all the info that is given, and really all you need to know about the band. This here is their debut recording, done at TMP's home studio and unleashed upon mankind by Moribund Records.
Canis Dirus play a melancholic, raw and depressive form of black metal, and it is obvious that one of their main influences is Burzum. The songs here are long, mid-paced, and full of overly distorted and reverbed guitar lines that tend to hide a lot of the other musical bits that are going on. The vocals are freaky high-pitched shrieks that will bring a shiver down your spine the first time you hear them. At first, I was a bit annoyed with them, but upon repeated listening, they fit the music quite well. The songs are quite long (average length of about 10 minutes if you exclude the intro and outro), but never get boring or drawn out. Check out "Garden of Death", as I consider it the best song on the disc.
The debut from Canis Dirus is a good effort, and I am sure it will please a lot of fans of black metal. Some may be turned off by the vocal style, but the music is solid and well done, if not very original or inventive.
B- -Goz
Flora
Neurot Recordings
Drone Metal (for lack of a better term) has spawned many bands and projects and is only growing exponentially as I type this and that is fine by me, because I find it refreshing as a break from the regular guitar, bass, and drums combination of most Metal music out there. Chord is exactly one of those bands that takes one or a few chords and just let them ring out, or "drone" out for a length of time until it creates a type of feedback that in itself creates harmonics that then create an overall sound that is extremely trance inducing to the listener. One thing that makes Chord stand out from the other Drone Metal bands is every song is assigned a specific chord, and thus the names of the four tracks on the album, "Am7", "Gmaj (flat13)", "E9", and ""Am". The other difference is there are tracks that are completely mellow, like "E9", that I could totally picture in a movie soundtrack during a rainy day scene. Noisy at times and serene at others this is definitely a disc to check out if your a fan of experimental music or a Drone Metal fan!
B -Matt Smith
The Company Band
Venture Capital Records
Ahhhh. The long-awaited, debut full length album from The Company Band is here, here and here at last. This is a new side project of Neil Fallon (Clutch), James Rota (Fireball Ministry), Jess Margera (CKY), Brad Davis (Fu Manchu) and Dave Bone. Some call it a 'supergroup'. I'm not going to call it a supergroup because that could imply some 'company' put together a bunch of artists that may or may not have known each other like Linkin Park or something. That's like the exact opposite of what the Company Band is. And what side-project made of seasoned artists wouldn't technically be a 'supergroup' of sorts anyway? Who hasn't been in more than one band? Now you're gettin' it.
So ya, it's like Neil Fallon has to go play with another band sometimes so he won't have to listen to a bunch of longtime Clutch fans bitching at him that they don't like the newer, bluesy, roots rock they've been releasing the past few years. That may be somewhat true for him [I wonder] but it's not the reason why we now have The Company Band. It's more like good friends getting together to express how their influences made them who they are today. Then paying tribute to those influences with their own unique personalities and talent. And what an amazing product they have blessed us with! I love it when artists get more open and in touch with their roots. It makes the music new and familiar simultaneously. What better way to pay tribute to life-inspiring music than to evolve from it? That they would share the fruits with us is such a special gift.
If you're one of those folks that isn't happy with the newer Clutch music, then you may not like The Company Band. Personally, I think a closed-minded attitude like that is uppity and stupid. If we never had world-altering, classic rock n' roll legends to shape generations of successive bands, which sprouted from these important roots, then what the hell do you think we would have to listen to right now? And don't even try to give me that “we're supposed to move forward not backward”
crap. I've heard plenty of modern music that repels my attention and just sounds like noise, not music. I wish The Company Band were making monumental albums like this for the past few decades or so. Maybe our modern music would have more soul. Soul should be a requirement in music rather than something you have to search through leagues of shit to find, right?
The Company Band is straightforward, guitar rock with spice, originality and longevity. It sounds like some brand new classic rock band you didn't know about and can't believe you haven't heard of before. Probably from that era just before hair metal was born. Only, I think The Company Band is doing it better than most 'real' classic rock did. This is stuff you definitely would have heard a zillion times growing up if it really was 40 years old. It kind of messes with your head because when you listen to it, you're transported into another time. You might think 'Wow, they are so good they must've influenced hundreds of bands,' or 'They must be in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame by now.' Then you're like... 'wait a minute... this is here right now!
This is brand new guitar rock for us to devour. I didn't miss anything!'
I was a very lucky, and excited lady to receive the promo copy early, but I still can't wait to have my pre-order in my hands after it's released on November 10th. I really admire the artwork, too. It's got those intricate designs, like what's on our currency, and if you haven't figured it out already, this debut full length album is definitely worth more than merely several times it's weight in gold.
It's a valuable piece for any music collector. I'm not exactly sure what the artwork fully means yet, but I'll tell you what I take from it so far. It looks like someone's trying give the world a nice big ZAP.
Wake us the hell up. Society could certainly use a shock to straighten our crazy asses out, right?
With their EP, Sign Here, Here and Here, I remember feeling a subtle pull back to AC/DC Who Made Who era. It was like being sucked into Maximum Overdrive all over again. Now, with the full length, I'm getting an old ZZ Top vibe with a good lot of blues and motivation behind it. I'm sure the threads of their influence don't stop there but they sure have their own unique sound despite apparent influences. I haven't really heard much new music even remotely close to their sound, except “Djin And Pentatonic” reminds me a little of Clutch, which could be attributed to Neil's one-of-a-kind talents. But honestly, The Company Band sounds like a whole different animal.
To say that The Company Band is memorable would be a ridiculous understatement. It's 100 percent feel-good rock n' roll from start to finish. I think I could run across the country like Forrest Gump if I had this album piped into my eardrums nonstop. Every song makes me smile and most of it makes you strum the invisible air guitar no matter who's looking at you funny. If I were a dancer, I'd be doing that a lot, too. On my first impression, opener “Zombie Barricades” (which would've been a fabulous song for the Zombieland soundtrack) and “Who Else But Us?” were excellent songs that I took to right away. But it didn't take me long to fall madly in love with “All's Well in Milton Keynes” first for it's slow, sensual cool and then “Love Means Never Having To Say You're Ugly” later, thanks to Neil's unprecedented ability. As it stands now, those are my two favorite tracks.
Considering I'll probably be listening to this album extremely often in the future, that may change. But now, I just don't see how they can top them. I'll certainly be keeping a close eye on this lovable little side project's future.
I can't say that this album is almost too good to be true or that it was an unexpected surprise because... well... what else could I expect from a band with Neil Fallon and his friends? Plus, I have to admit, I already had their EP; Sign Here, here and Here so I had an idea of what to expect. What shocked me was that none of the four songs from their EP were on this debut. When I reviewed their EP last summer, I originally said you could hold out for the full length if cash was tight. Well, I guess I misled you and I'm sorry I did that. You should really have both. To make it up to you, I'll let you in on a bonus; there's also an electronic single available with a b-side of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's “Not Fragile.” It isn't on the self-titled release and I wouldn't want you to miss out on any Company Band product. This “Company” only produces quality merchandise.
A+ -Alesha
As The Path Unfolds...
Napalm Records
Music nuts all over the world are privy to the romanticized genius sitting alone, cut off from the outside world. He carries in his mind brilliant musical compositions, but hasn’t the means to create and distribute them. Nor does he have the band to play them for him. Such must be the case with Finnish musician Jakke Viitala. He has been in a few prior Finnish bands, but only now has had the capacity to replicate the sounds he has always heard in his mind on CD. His project is called Crimfall; it’s him, two vocalists, and a plethora of session musicians. His debut album As the Path Unfolds is so aptly titled, because it is a brilliant beginning to a hopefully lengthy career.
Oh, what a mix of genres this is! From epic power metal to folk metal, with some cranky, agitated black metal thrown into the mix, As the Past Unfolds melds together styles craftily. Even though the sound will shift from gorgeous power metal choruses to a folk riff played on a traditional instrument, it rarely seems contrived jumpy. The harsh black metal vocals of the accomplished Mikko Häkkinen elegantly blend with the strong soprano style of Helena Haarparanta, creating the “beauty and the beast” style of vocal pattern so rarely done correctly.
So many bands mix different genres together and it just sounds like a jumbled, postmodern mess, especially when they use black metal vocals. It’s relieving to hear a band like Crimfall, who do it tastefully, but don’t sacrifice the epic bombast.
A- -Adam
Dalit
Endtime Productions
Dalit sounds like traditional Metal and Gothic Doom Metal with some Black Metal vocals to top it off. Slower more melodic parts almost hearken back to "Ride the Lightning" era Metallica and the more I listen to this the more I think of My Dying Bride. "Tears Of Uriah" has an Industrial feel to it before it kicks into a Black Metal sounding song and "The Upper Hand" is a total My Dying Bride song, with double bass drums and chugging guitars and melodic clean guitars. "DEM" has some female vocals to add to the dimension of the song, which is another MDB influenced song. I think this is a very promising band and I look forward to hearing new stuff from them and if you're a fan of My Dying Bride I would highly recommend checking them out!
B -Matt Smith
Recurring Times Of Grief
Self-Released
Irish death/doom trio Decayor self-released this four song EP, with the help of Lugga Music. The band plays death/doom in the fashion of older Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and the like. The four songs here (with one being a short intro) clock in at over 30 minutes, so you're definitely in for some long running times on these tracks.
Starting with the first song, "Veil Of Despair", you get a feeling for how slow and heavy this disc is going to be. The track begins at a snails pace, with long, drawn out phrasing on the vocals, and guitars that are superbly heavy. The middle part of the song speeds up, and brings out the more death metal side of the band. "Weeping Willows" includes some clean vocals that are fairly well done (better than the clean-ish vocals used in "The Sacred Heart Is Bleeding"), and has some really well done guitar leads in the middle of the song.
If you like death/doom in the vein of the bands mentioned above, Decayor should appeal to you. I'll be interested to see what they come out with next - hopefully it will be a larger sample size, to give a better idea of what the band can really achieve.
B- -Goz
The Prophecy
Candlelight Records
Thrash reunion mania continues with Oakland, California’s Defiance. Signed in the mid 80’s they released three albums on Roadrunner and got the chance to tour the US with acts like Vio-lence, Testament and Flotsam and Jetsam among others. Most would consider them a baby Testament in terms of their sound, with Steev Esquivel’s voice at times mirroring Chuck Billy. Their third album Beyond Recognition appealed to me the most, the guitar riffing and solos approaching progressive and technical pastures.
The Prophecy continues their affinity for arpeggio-laced speed soloing from Jim Adams and focuses most of these arrangements on a mid-tempo or just above gallop thrash sound. The material doesn’t really set them apart from the pack, as I only gain mild excitement over the dual spider web guitar lines during “The War Inside” and the perfect soundtrack to accompany any military personnel overseas- “Desert Sands”.
The large problem looms from Steev’s contemporary scream bark employed on this album. I can understand the need to set yourself apart in today’s market, but a lesser version of Phil Anselmo or Robb Flynn makes me wish I could pull the vocals down in the mix and just enjoy The Prophecy from an instrumental standpoint.
If you need everything Bay Area thrash related, maybe this will appeal to you- but it’s not going to set the market on fire.
C- -Matt Coe
Filipino Antichrist
Hells Headbangers Records
Ok, I like the old school sound as much as anyone, but this disc takes the sound way too far. All that is really audible here is overdriven vocals, tinny sounding cymbals, and a pingy snare drum. The guitars are there, but just barely audible under the mess of vocals and poor sounding drums. I've given this a bunch of listens, but haven't really been able to pick out much that would interest me. I a sure this would be decent with better production, but the way it is currently, it is just a mess. Pass.
D- -Goz
Harmony of Discord
Ironclad Recordings/Metal Blade
The Destro is heavy metal that's not just Heavy but Weighty. Like it has mass. Lots of it. I'm pleasantly reminded of Stigmata-era Arch Enemy, only doomier and without all the guitar melody. Their refreshing brand of metal sounds like what early Arch Enemy might have been if they didn't have the Amott brothers. Not too slow, not too fast. Great vocals. Powerful, angry doom and groove.
The Destro's singer, Eric Daughtry, has a style and voice that usually sounds exactly like the original singer for Arch Enemy; Johan Liiva [yes, kids, they had a terrific male singer once. In case you didn't know]. And then sometimes he sounded like Chris Barnes or Phil Anselmo.
Like in “Dead Eyes Divide” and “Overcome.” It feels like it's my birthday or something, I keep getting passed metal albums with no clean vocals!
I'm happy with Harmony of Discord as it's all good, steady heavy metal.
It could've been a mite more memorable. Hard to pick favorites but I would have to say “Dead Eyes Divide” is the best track as it reminds me of Pantera and is an excellent song. Through the album, you can tell the musicians jive well together. They seem to have a sense of natural composition and style that makes their music flow instead of annoy.
Catchy, heavy doom material that's not elongated or boring.
I was doubly impressed with Harmony of Discord mainly for Eric's Johan Liiva-like style and the strong and steady, dark metal that backs him.
I'd definitely play this again. If you're a fan of Pantera or early Arch Enemy, you might appreciate Harmony of Discord. I did.
B+ -Alesha
Nailed
Hells Headbangers Records
Having released a bunch of EP's and splits in the past, Nailed is the first full-length from Australian black/death/thrash trio Destruktor. Fast and unforgiving, all 10 tracks on here are full on, in your face anthems of bullet belts and blasphemy. Tracks like "The Epitome" and "Violence Unseen" provide some great riffs and breakneck drumming, while "Forward We March" has a riff that will make you want to do just that - march into the pit and thrash it out with everyone else. "Meccademon" follows with an equally impressive riff, making that one-two combo of songs a must listen to (frequently) on this disc.
Production is a bit rough, but it plays into the old school sound of the band quite well, so no real complaints about it here. I did notice the that disc seemed to be mastered at a lower volume than most of the other stuff I have, but that is an easy fix, because you're going to want to play this loud anyways - just crank it up even more than normal.
Destruktor Nailed it with this release. Do yourself a favor and get this disc - it will satisfy your need for old school death/thrash quite nicely.
A- -Goz
Dethalbum II
Williams Street
First, I must say that Brendon Small is an absolute genius. He's not only an extraordinary and multi-talented musician, who's not limited to, but especially heroic with an axe. He's also the funniest guy I ever had the privilege to meet. He, along with Tommy Blacha, are the masterminds behind the epic [adult swim] series Metalocalypse. Brendon writes all the music and lyrics for Dethklok except the percussion which is done by the mighty Gene Hoglan. Brendon has superb taste and a knack for making a phenomenal impression upon countless metalheads of all ages. If anyone could induce a monumental change in the world, it's got to be Brendon. Through inspiring music and laughter, I believe he can accomplish that feat .
Now I want to explain what Dethklok's music feels like to me personally. Do you remember the very end of the old Bill and Ted movies? How they had those unforgettable, emotional guitar solos? Well Dethklok's music reminds me a lot of that vibe only it's wayyyy better. It's pure, uninhibited metal and about 100 times more brutal than Bill and Ted ever wanted to be. Dethklok is amazing. And it's absolutely hysterical! Like, I fell madly in love with just the music alone first. Then when I took the time to read the lyrics, I fell so hard all over again. It was like a whole new album after that. Two for the price of one. It's not like the marriage of music and comedy haven't been done before, but Brendon just took it to a level where I don't think anything could ever surpass what he's done. If you don't already have the first Dethalbum, I suggest you go out and get the deluxe edition immediately. And get this album, too while you're there. Then you will know exactly what I'm talking about.
As for this long awaited sequel, Dethalbum II is more of the same quality, brutal metal I described above. Of course, it would be nearly impossible to do any better than the first Dethalbum and I really didn't expect that to happen. I'm quite content with this continuation of the metal 'apocalypse'. It may not be as mind blowing or life altering as the first, but it's still as memorable, anthemic and inspiring as Dethklok ever was. Dethalbum II certainly satisfies me enough to not want to commit suicide while I await what comes next from Dethklok.
Dethalbum II opens with "Bloodlines," a song about genetic murderous tendencies. Right off, I already can tell this album is sure to grow on me quickly. You can expect all of the songs on the album to be highly motivating and uplifting because it's Dethklok. I'm sure it needs no further explanation. But I will name off some of my favorites; "Symmetry" and "Volcano" closed the album. "Murmaider II: The Water God" (the best on this album so far) and "The Gears" were also great uplifting tracks. "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence," from the Dethecution episode which began Metalocalypse season II, and "Black Fire Upon Us" had a little of "Thunderhorse" vibe. There were some neat guitar things going on in "Comet Song" and "Dethsupport" was positively hilarious! It's about the cost of healthcare and it's the funniest song on Dethalbum II.
I would recommend you splurge for the deluxe edition which includes the video footage that was displayed during their debut tour last year. If you didn't catch the live performance, you'll get to see what was on the screens during Dethklok's entire set which started and ended with my two absolute favorite Dethklok songs "Briefcase Full of Guts" (after the "Deththeme" intro) and "Fansong" as the encore. If you did get to see the show, you can relive the experience over and over with this bonus DVD. It's fantastic video that was made specifically for the tour with some added special features. Some of these include Facebones' explanation of proper concert etiquette and such wonders as the "Skank Patrol" and "Moshing." It's your guide for enjoying Dethklok's "sweet blowjobby metal", complete with full length videos for every song except the hidden encore "Fansong". There were also cameo appearances by memorable characters from the first season such as Fatty Dingdong. You'll learn how to go to the bathroom on stage during a performance and why Murderface likes to pee sitting down. Loads of useful information accompanied by colorful guts and buckets of bloodshed. How could you not want this?
A -Alesha
Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
Sensory Records
Goz knows when to lob the avant garde/ fringe groups to the appropriate writer… welcome to the twisted chicanery of Sweden’s Diablo Swing Orchestra. This sextet live for the days of spaghetti westerns, big band grooves, as well as a love for Metallica and Meshuggah- and wrap it all up with vocals that participate in a cage match between alternative, opera and progressive. Sing-Along Songs… is their second album, and they’ve already made quite a splash with the debut US performance last September at the tenth ProgPower festival in Atlanta, GA.
I mean the initial riff on “A Tap Dancer’s Dilemma” pulls no punches with its homage to everyone’s favorite The Muppet Show theme song before the horns kicks in against the jazzy arrangement and you will find an equal amount of dance ability as you will see pit movement. It would be an interesting audience that would take these 10 songs in- close your eyes and imagine zoot suits and top hats with canes sitting side by side next to your conventional t-shirt and jeans metal brigade. “A Rancid Romance” favors the Spanish bolero atmosphere along with a machine gun instrumental break around 3:16-3:18 that lifts from the pre-solo fury in Metallica’s “One”. In “Bedlam Sticks” you can expect lyrics about cookies, toenail dances and head riots- you can’t make this stuff up if you tried!
My favorites include “Lucy Fears the Morning Star”- a tale of Roots-laden Sepultura meeting Tool and meringue and the circus atmosphere surrounding “Vodka Inferno”- probably the closest to the experimental Therion I’ve come to know and love through the years, dual male and female operatic vocals against some serious cello/ big bass jam action.
You won’t be able to wrap your head around Sing-Along Songs… for at least weeks. That’s the beauty of experimental progressive metal music- and I doubt in our lifetime we will hear quite another act like Diablo Swing Orchestra. Meet at the mead hall, pour yourself the biggest mug or canister you can capture and revel in this insanity.
A+ -Matt Coe
Nihilistic Vision
Agonia Records
Named after the Venom song of the same name (or maybe after the kickass Bruce Willis movie), Swedish trio Die Hard play old-school thrash, in the vein of Slayer, Sodom, Celtic Frost, and of course Venom. They've released a couple of EP's before this, with slightly different lineups, but Nihilistic Vision is the bands first full length release.
"Fed To The Lions" is a kickass track. A nice heavy, slow start leads into a crapload of memorable riffs, and then the brilliant chorus "Crying in despair, death is in the air, you're about to be - FED TO THE LIONS!" complete with gang vocals. "I Am Possessed" has some of the most kickass riffs on the disc, and is also heavy as a really heavy thing, another great, catchy chorus, and some kickass guitar leads to boot.
Die Hard will bring out the old-school thrash fan in all of us. If these guys had come out in the 80's, everyone would probably have a Die Hard patch on their denim jackets now. This is pure thrash, through and through - no filler or junk thrown in, just the good stuff. Yippee kai yay, motherfuckers!
B -Goz
Buried In Narcissism
Menace To Sobriety Records
This album is so goddamn heavy it's hard to describe, a mix of screamo and doom, there is absolutely nothing out there like it. Take Black Sabbath, tune them down and slow them down and put Seth Putnam on vocals and that is pretty close to Dread's sound. Brutal beyond belief, the kind of metal that would make your lawn die and pretty much alienate all of your neighbors.
Comprised of members of various bands in the Boston metal scene; Salmon Patties (x-Upsidedown Cross, Guaranteed Katch, Colon on the Cob) on drums, John Alexander (Post Mortem, Ernest Borgnine, Solitude) on Guitar and Bass, Paco (Guaranteed Katch) on guitar, and Andy (Spoiled Humanic Waste) on vocals, it's like a supergroup of doom.
This album has to be heard to be believed, Dread has to be one of the heaviest bands ever created, a must for any fan of doom or sludge. I don't think my stereo will every be the same.
A -Choppy
The Thorn
Corruption Recordings
This three song EP by Dusted Angel is a powerhouse of melodic Stoner Rock and a taste of Monster Magnet and Soundgarden. Standard Stoner Rock songwriting with some interesting melodies and slightly improvised passages make it more than your average band in this genre. By the time the three tunes were done I was wanting more, so that's a good sign! This is released in a limited 7 inch pressing so if you see a copy some where snatch it up!
B -Matt Smith
Almost Home
Metal Blade
Trend Modern American Metalcore. By formula or requirement or whatever it is. Emocore, you could say. Is it just me or is it getting harder to tell the difference between metalcore and emo lately? What I heard on Almost Home was a hodge-podge of too many different styles of music that didn't really complement each other. You know, when you mix all your paint colors together and get a runny, shit-brown color? Yes, just like in the cover (what a coincidence). Need I say more?
OK, I'll elaborate. Evergreen Terrace has a great, metalcore base (and I mean advanced aggressive metal) with excellent guitars and percussion, being wasted underneath a ton of accessories. It's hardcore that wears some glam and then paints on about a ton of commercial radio-crap via multitudes of singy (sing-a-long-y) choruses. There's even a subtle scent of Buck Cherry only the finished product sounds poppy, not sexy. They seem AFI-ish or like if Drowning pool were trying to be really heavy or maybe like Nonpoint after their first album.
Similar to some of the disappointing new “metal” they've been putting on all the new Guitar Hero's lately.
Do you remember when 80's metal started catering to the chicks? I think they're trying to do that with metalcore nowadays but I really can't understand how this singy, emocore stuff is drawing people. If Evergreen Terrace separated out the chorus-y singing from the heavy stuff, they'd have two albums. An annoying pop album for the impressionable kids to abuse and probably a fairly substantial metal album. Put those elements together it just sounds like ballast. Throw it overboard Captain, we'll sail faster!
Evergreen Terrace must be trying to hook the jail bait. Who the hell else are they playing to? Clue: they have lots of TV and movie references in their music and the clean vocals sound like they barely hit puberty. They're even named after the street the Simpson's live on.
These dudes like TV I guess. And jail bait. This is a good one for the ladies. The jail bait ladies who think they're metal and have taste just because they shop at Hot Topic and dye their hair jet black and swipe it drastically over one eye.
The vocals on Almost Home alternated between an appropriately heavy, Trevor Phipps-style (Unearth) vocals, and then every single song gets wrecked by this chorus-y stuff that sounds just like Deron Miller's
(CKY) signature monotone. It's too bad that the one thing I don't like about CKY is Deron's closed vocal style.
Opener “Enemy Sex” started like Unearth for the harsh vocals. Then the clean vocals kick in and it proceeds to suck. Next is the title track and it has a good strong metal pulse. It's the best song on Almost Home, and could be an excellent song as it was instrumentally very catchy, but the clean vocals totally ruin that one, too. Especially ending with an overly repetitive chorus. Notice a pattern here? WAY too much chorus. Tip: We don't want to sing-along to metalcore, we want to shout-along.
“God Rocky, Is This your Face” and “The Letdown” both start off fierce, and “We're Always Losing Blood” starts with a real catchy hook, then...
well, you know. Way to singy again. It just sounds like wanna-be pop music when they're not being hardcore. Which would realistically look like a Rottweiler dressed up in a pink tutu or maybe a Harley-Davidson with daisies or teddy bears painted all over it. I can't believe cookie-cutter stuff like this makes money. Who's responsible for this infestation?
By the middle, with “Sending Signals and “Mario Speedwagon,” it turns almost completely annoying. They start hiding the heavy vocals way in the background. Toward the end, on “I'm a Bulletproof Tiger” I was laughing because the singing sounded so ridiculous, then just after halfway it got really good with a catchy breakdown, then it repelled my attention, then it got good again. Hey, I like roller coasters a lot, but usually not in my metal.
Almost Home had lots of catchy hardcore throughout the album and great guitar. I'd say in every song there were was a good, memorable base but it was all jilted by an overabundance of repetitive singing. This obscures all the talent hiding in Evergreen Terrace. Their music would be great if they got rid of all the girly stuff. You're supposed to “scream” metal most of the time, not “sing” it. Some singing I could get used to [maybe if I'm like twelve] but this is just too much.
Evergreen Terrace tries to mash together too many polar elements when they should really just ditch anything that doesn't sound metal or stay out of hardcore completely. Until then, I wouldn't go looking for Evergreen Terrace. Hey, maybe I'll be able to find Almost Home on a karaoke disc with most of the vocals and all of the choruses cut out.
Then it'd be a B or maybe even an A.
D -Alesha
White Medicine
Fainting Room Collective
When I first put in the new disc from The Family Curse, I was genuinely frightened. The vocals the accompanied the poppy industrial soundtrack were over the top, crazy, and just way out there - completely not something that I was expecting to hear. Moving on to the next song, "Laughing My Way to the Bank", I was treated with some more of those freaky ass vocals - this time, the soundtrack was equally freaky. The guitar was fuzzed out, and the wah-wah pedal was used extensively, creating an uneasy, wavy feeling to the song. Then all of a sudden comes the starkness that is the 13-minute "Back In The Water". The major league industrial landscape is dosed with violin and some synths creating an eerie backdrop. After a period of backward tracked vocal lines, there is a bit at the end that reminds me of something by Naked City. This type of musical insanity continued on throughout the entire disc. It is at once entertaining, while also being extremely disturbing at the same time.
This is the antithesis of easy listening. This isn't likely to be a disc I grab to listen to on a regular basis, but I now have my soundtrack for Halloween for years to come.
B- -Goz
From Glory To Infinity
Paragon Records
Italy's Faust finally brings forth their debut full length, after having been around since 1992 (with some time off here and there). Band founder/frontman Aleister has recruited an all star caliber troupe to play on this disc, including bass master Steve DiGiorgio and super drummer Daray. Together with guitarists Ghiulz Borroni and Luca Princiotta, they form the incarnation of Faust that recorded From Glory To Infinity.
Faust is all about brutally technical death metal. Right from the first track ("Purple Children"), the band blends a monstrously brutal attack with all sorts of insane musicianship - from slick guitar solos and rolling bass lines to some downright insane drumming. All of this meshes together seamlessly, unlike many of the newer technical deathcore type bands out there now that always sound as if their songs are chopped to pieces in order to fit some crazy ass guitar noodling somewhere that it doesn't belong. Here, Faust sticks all the guitar calisthenics in the proper places where they enhance the song, not detract from it. "Golden Wine Countess" is a great example of all of this. From the froggy bass sound at the beginning, through the heavy verses, the brief bit of acoustic guitar layered in the middle, and to the stereo swapping guitar melody bits towards the last half of the song (not to mention the soaring solos that follow), the song just flows perfectly from one part to another. "Pig God Dog" is an instrumental track, and everyone gets to stretch their instruments as far as they can go here - not that they don't throughout the disc, but this song they just let loose for most of it.
This disc is absolutely mandatory for fans of Necrophagist, Morbid Angel, Death, and pretty much anyone that likes really good technical death metal. Faust has the style down perfectly, and this disc shows just that.
A- -Goz
Storm
Napalm Records
Folk metal has been either derided or revered by the metal faithful, with only a few fans falling in between the two extremes. Now that the genre has solidified itself as a prominent force in metal, it has begun to splinter off into different styles. You’ve got Finntroll running the polka section, Turisas running the Viking style, and many more. Interesting about these styles, however, is that they incorporate very little use of traditional folk instruments. In the last few years, led by Eluveitie, a slew of bands have arisen that use these traditional instruments to create a jigging, undeniably Norse sound. One of these bands is Sweden’s Fejd, whose long line of instruments makes them a veritable folk metal orchestra. After making heads turn with their EP Eld, Fejd has released their anxiously anticipated debut album, Storm.
Much like Elvenking’s most recent release, this isn’t so much a folk metal album as it is a folk album with metal thematics. Guitar parts are subdued and minimalistic, usually nothing more than strumming in the background. Drums are sometimes fast, but never the highly mixed bombast commonplace in heavy metal music. The vocals are nothing new, but nothing overplayed either. Sung in Swedish, they range from calming soprano to a clean folky groan similar to the clean vocals used by Falkenbach. All of these instruments are used to anchor the traditional folk instruments like the hurdy-gurdie and bagpipes, among many more. Through using these instruments, Fejd evokes triumphant and suspenseful themes be found in any genre of metal.
There isn’t enough fun in metal. Fejd inject a healthy dose of carefree riffs (all played by traditional folk instruments, mind you) into their music. Instead of making the listener headbang, these will make him jig. In many of these songs, it’s hard not to imagine a dance hall full of people line dancing.
It’s catchy, danceable, and downright fun, and undeniably metal! Few bands have been able to pull off such a feat.
B+ -Adam
SOT
Pulverised Records
Shockwaves reign across the social media, metal forums and news websites when vocalist Christian Alvestam announced he was leaving Scar Symmetry due to differences in musical direction and touring obligations. Fear not though- he is still the die-hard work horse as this latest side project The Few Against Many attests to. A reunion of sorts with the label that put out a number of his releases as Unmoored and Quest of Aidance, the album features artwork from Dan Seagrave and lyrical contributions from members of Dark Tranquility and Katatonia.
Christian sings and plays rhythm guitar on these 8 songs, which travel in a land of symphonic death metal, as you’ll hear influences that range from In Flames and early Soilwork on “Blod” through to early Edge of Sanity and possibly a heavier version of another project he did Miseration. Coincidentally, drummer Jani Stefanovic also performs in this group, and I do enjoy his furious drum stomp in the faster sections as well as his quick fix tom runs, most evident on “Skapelsens Sorti” where there are times that his play will bring back Dave Lombardo in his early Grip Inc. time period.
Those of you who worry about Christian’s clean parts should know that SOT strictly has the man employing the deep discernable growls we’ve come to love throughout his long career. What can be a bone of contention for most will be the at will sprinkling of unnecessary keyboard parts- for I believe the riffing and rhythms carry enough of the dynamics that the symphonic element appears to me slightly overbearing. While many acts use this to add tension and atmosphere, The Few Against Many seem to throw it in for a black metal afterthought.
I’d compare SOT to latter day Edge of Sanity, but I think this will be a death album that the diehards may have trouble keeping in their collection compared to the new generation.
B- -Matt Coe
Reality Divine
Cruz Del Sur
A super group of sorts in the power/ progressive metal world, Fool's Game begins as an idea in the mind of ex-Division guitarist turned producer Matt Crooks. Writing for the pure enjoyment of songwriting, he soon piques the interest of Pharaoh guitarist Matt Johnsen who then went on a recruiting mission to fill out the lineup. Drummer John Macaluso (TNT, Powermad, Ark, Starbreaker) came aboard next, followed up by Nick van Dyk on keyboards and Lars Larsen (Manticora) on vocals. Crooks performed double duty with rhythm guitars and bass on this debut album Reality Divine.
Fool's Game have a European flair in terms of riffing and rhythmic structures- there’s a heavy emphasis placed upon harmonics within songs like “Sowing Dead Seeds” and “She Moved Through the Fair”- while John Macaluso’s percussive gusto weaves in and out of progressive texture. Lars glides through the lyrics as a much more convincing Hansi of Blind Guardian- though you’ll get a guest appearance from Tim Aymar on “The Conqueror Worm”. That particular song seems to connect instantly with me- a slithering amalgam of Chastain-like darkness and Iced Earth rhythmic pacing as Nick’s keyboard play recalls early 80’s Rush. These musicians understand that songwriting comes with crafting parts and making them flow together- which I think a lot of power acts fail to accomplish.
Reality Divine hopefully will not be a one-off wonder. I understand the difficulty in probably pulling off some live work in support of this due to the geographical distance between Denmark, California, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York- but I think the versatility and approach on display represents enough unique creativity to explore further album work. Those who love energetic metal with a nod to its history should not hesitate for the 9 songs on this stunning debut.
A+ -Matt Coe
Hymns of Blood and Thunder
Rise Above
The Gates Of Slumber, in my opinion, are the answer to Manowar except they don't dress ridiculous and they play a brand of Metal a lot heavier. All this being said, they have the token Fantasy art album covers, think Conan the Barbarian, and lyrics that conjure up Fantasy Warriors and Realms, but they wouldn't be laughed at for doing it. Heavy Iron Maiden-like guitar riffs with steady pounding drums and powerful vocals without the falsetto associated with Power Metal. One listen to "Chaos Calling" and you you know these guys aren't going to be singing about relationships or partying, instead they'll be singing about a "Death Dealer", "thunder, shattering bones", "the fire in his brain" are just samples of lyrics from this song. "Beneath The Eyes Of Mars" has an early Mercyful Fate vibe to it, especially the guitar solos and vocals, not that they sound like King Diamond, but because they have the same kind of vocal phrasing without the falsetto. There are some cool keyboards accenting this song as well that adds to it's anthemic vibe.
With epic storytelling and songwriting, The Gates of Slumber really know how to weave tales with fantastic ability, amazing riffs and guitar solos. "Age Of Sorrow" is an instrumental with melodic clean guitars and a mournful guitar solo and "The Bringer Of War" is probably one of the heaviest tracks on the album with it's powerful driving rhythm and monster riffs. "Descent Into Madness" starts off with a psychedelic intro with some spoken word before leading into a slow plodding Doom riff that sets us up for this epic 10 minute track that has all the dynamics I look for in a Doom song. "Iron Hammer" rocks in every way you want a Metal song to and leaves you satisfied with lyrics like "over the mountain, into the void", if that's not Ozzy/Sabbath influences on your sleeve I don't know WHAT is! Thunderous riffs carry this song into an almost Celtic influenced song that adds even MORE dynamics in "The Mist In The Mourning", a shanty type song sung with a female vocalist and what sounds like a hurdy gurdy. "Blood and Thunder" brings the heaviness back with some more anthemic riffs and drumming to wrap up the album.
If you like your Metal epic with old school traditional songwriting with a twist of modern Doom, then look no further than The Gates of Slumber.
A -Matt Smith
He Is Never Coming Back
Blackmarket Activities/Metal Blade
Salt Lake City sludgesters Gaza churn out their second release, He Is Never Coming Back, thanks to Blackmarket Activitites. Brutal and unrelenting, Gaza give us 14 tracks of super heavy sludge, with some elements of mathiness thrown in to keep the technical music freaks happy.
"How It IS How It's Going To Be" kicks things off a bit slowly, with a long and slightly droning intro, but things pick up as it passes the midway point in the song. Some kickass riffs are belted out here, and the heaviness is dished out on a family sized platter here. "He Is Never Coming Back" is slow and heavy, with some of the most vicious vocal work on the disc. "Canine Disposal Unit" actually catches you by surprise upon first listen, as it starts out a good bit faster paced than most of the rest of the music here does. No worries, though, as they heaviness is still all over the place in this song, and the sludge factor comes back into play for the last half of the song, with a drawn out, droning outro. "Tombless" has some of the math metal elements I mentioned before - just listen to the crazy guitar work going on there.
This was my first time hearing Gaza, and I am quite impressed. The music here is heavy and technical, yet it retains a catchiness that keeps it interesting the whole way through.
B -Goz
Galeere
Lupus Lounge/Prophecy Productions
German black metal sextet Geïst set sail with their third release, Galeere, ferried to us courtesy of Prophecy Productions/Lupus Lounge. While a black metal band first and foremost, Geïst incorporate all sorts of other elements into their music - doom, atmospheric droning, and some simple rock n roll riffs for good measure. Considering there are 5 songs and a playing time of over 50 minutes, each song has plenty of room to open up and breathe while displaying all of the various elements contained within.
The title track starts off with some heavy percussion and then some morse code, leading to a feeling of tension and eminent disaster. After a bit more of the slow droning intro, the huge layers of sound envelop the listener in their massiveness. This truly is some epic sounding stuff here - layers of guitars dumping heavy riffs on one side, other guitar lines shred around some melody lines underneath, and the huge percussion pounds away from every direction. In the middle there is some crazy horror movie soundtrack style synth thrown in, which just adds to the tense feeling brought on at the beginning of the song. Each successive track is equally engrossing - you never want the songs to end. There are transitions between the songs, with sounds of sonar beeps, gurgling water, and thunder storms keeping with the nautical theme.
The production that Geïst has on this disc is nothing short of superb. Even with all that is going on throughout each and every song, the sound is downright flawless. The guitar tone is thick and powerful, while the drums are punishingly brutal, and the keyboards and vocals are mixed perfectly where they need to be. I have a feeling that this disc will be docked in my CD player for a long time to come - it just doesn't get a whole lot better than this.
A+ -Goz
All the Dread Magnificence of Perversity
Crucial Blast
If there was a band that could score any Horror/Splatter flick, Gnaw Their Tongues would be it. Noisy, grating, and raw with screams, torture cries, this CD can be very disturbing at times and if you are weak of heart it may not be healthy to listen to. Droning keyboards and guitars build the back bone of many of the tracks and are accented by echo-filled chambers of clanging chains and ghastly screams. Some tracks have spoken word narration but I'm not sure what they're narrating, as they seem disjointed and random. "Broken Fingers Point Upwards in Vain", "The Stench of Dead Horses on My Breath and the Vile of Existence on My Hands", and "The Gnostic Ritual Consumption of Semen as Embodiment of Wounds Teared in the Soul" are all song title that give you a clear indication of what Gnaw Their Tongues are all about. This music will haunt you long after you have stopped listening to it and may even give you nightmares.
D(isturbing) -Matt Smith
Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt
Regain Records
I won't get into the whole legal crap that Gorgoroth recently went through. Suffice to say that Infernus was declared the winner in the battle, and he put together a new version of the band that includes some returning members in vocalist Pest and guitarist Tormentor, and the well-known Frank Watkins on Bass and Tomas Asklund on drums. This lineup cranked out the 9 song, 35 minute blasphemous creation known as Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt.
"Aneuthanasia" starts things off with a massive death grunt, then some crushing riffs drive us through the short song with a couple of time changes to keep it interesting. "Prayer" and "Rebirth" slow things down a bit, but still contain some really amazing and catchy riffs. Infernus definitely knows how to write some damn good music, and it shows in spades on this disc. My pick for best track is a toss-up between "New Breed" and "Cleansing Fire", although I guess I could pick just about anything on the disc. Both of the aforementioned track contain some of the most kickass riffing on the disc, are instantly memorable, and are just simply really good.
The production on the disc is really good overall. My only complaint with it has to do with the drums. The kick drums sound pretty awful, and with the poor sound they detract from the other music at times with their unrelenting double bass attack. This is a common complaint I have with a lot of recordings, though. Anyway, Inferno put together a great lineup and wrote some amazing music for them to play here. And one more thing - welcome back Pest - you've been missed.
B -Goz
Musick To Insult Your Intelligence By
Rotten Records
Green Jellÿ has been doing the comedic metal/punk thing since 1981, although there was a huge gap of downtime from 1995 or so until 2008. Musick To Insult Your Intelligence By is the outcome of this reunion, and contains 12 new songs and just of 40-minutes of the head nodding, silly stuff that fans should be used to from the band once known as Green Jellö.
If you've never heard the band before, then I'll try to give you an idea of what to expect. The music is simplistic, punk-ish rock, while the lyrics are silly and usually based around some sort of bad pun. Take a song like "Gefilte Fish", which is basically an ode to the poached minced fish-stuff. "Gefilte Fish, it's a tuna meatloaf dish, gefilte fish, hot or cold as you wish, gefilte fish, don't skimp on the horseradish" - I am sure you get the point from those lyrics there. Other comedic tracks include "Albert Fish Liverwurst", "Geek Girl" and "The Ballad of Swing Low Scroty". Speaking of "Geek Girl", it has a kind of rockabilly Ramones sound to it - I know that might be hard to imagine, but that is just the vibe I get from that song when I hear it.
If you want some punky rock with humorous lyrics, go and get your intelligence insulted and check out the new Green Jellÿ disc. You'll laugh, you'll cry (maybe), you'll likely get a bit bored of it all by then end (like I did), but overall, you'll likely lose some intelligence.
C+ -Goz
In Aloof Lantern, Thy Bequeathed A Wailer Quietus
Self Released
I believe that Grieving Age is the first Saudi Arabian metal band I have come across in my time. The band has been around since 2003, and this is their first full-length - a self released two song affair clocking in at about 37 minutes.
The music here is pure death/doom, in the vein of early My Dying Bride (in fact, Aaron Stainthorpe created the bands logo and also did the artwork for this release), Anathema, etc. Slow, downtuned, heavy as fuck music that will put you on the brink of depression is what you expect, and it is what you will get. There are some really good, slow riffs going on here, and there are tons of great little melodic bits piecing it all together as well. The music here is precise and cutting, while the vocals are tortured and menacing - just the way they should be.
One of the most impressive things about this release is the presentation. The artwork is great, the disc comes in a gatefold package, with full-color artwork inside and out, and a 12 page booklet with full lyrics and other stuff. The production is pretty much flawless, and the disc was mixed and mastered by none other than Dan Dan Swanö, so you know that side of it is gonna be flawless as well. The disc is available through Lugga Music - go get yourself a copy.
B -Goz
Lust in Space
Metal Blade
I always thought Gwar was a band you had to see to appreciate. More theatrical than musical. What little I'd heard, sounded like just noise. I remember being somewhat amused by them on video years ago, and I saw them live within the recent past but I wasn't ever inclined to go out and pick up their CDs. Either I have been missing out for some time now, or this amusing surprise is their best album. I'll have to find a Gwar fan and ask them if they've been this good all along. Musically, I mean. I already knew they were goofballs.
Let me just interject here in case there are any noobs afoot. If you haven't ever heard of Gwar, or their elaborate costumes (which they were doing long before Slipknot was born) or what they're all about, then maybe you need to first get the hell off this site because you're not metal.
Then you need to go and chew off your limbs until you die or something because you're too stupid to live. But if you're like me and just never had any Gwar albums before, then Lust in Space is a great introduction to the everlasting notoriety that is Gwar.
Gwar is comedic horror poetry slathered atop a heaping portion of heavy metal. They can make you bust out laughing just listening to the lyrics. Raunchy one minute and silly the next but still cool because it was all metal. Lust in Space kept surprising me with serious death metal underneath all the goofing around. The quality of metal in the first track, “Lust in Space,” sets a precedent for the album and I was pleased to hear more quality metal shine throughout. What was the icing on the cake? I was either smiling or laughing most of the time.
Gwar is like a cross between Dethklok and Tenacious D with an affinity for old-school death metal and science fiction fantasy. Singer Oderus Urungus has a voice like Jack Black and a little like Bruce Dickenson.
The band is a bunch of funny bastards not afraid to make funny metal.
The goofing around can sometimes distract from the instrumentation, or overrule it I should say. So, if you don't have a good sense humor then you won't enjoy what Gwar has to offer.
Musically, “The Price of Peace” was an excellent death metal song I'd revisit often. You could hear that immediately, even through the funny stuff. There were many more real good ones all over this album like “Lords and Masters” and I absolutely LOVED “Metal Metal Land” because it's fucking hilarious. Now I could tell you all about the songs and why I liked them, but I really just wanna quote some lyrics to give you little random bits and pieces of what you're missing.
“Judges are more fun on fire”
“80's hair bands are still hated”
“We can get there as long as it's by stolen car”
“I like killing more than sex”
“Thou shall not steal? Come on, get real”
“Metal up your fucking ass”
“We've been waiting such a long time to leave this planet”
“They wouldn't take just anyone unless you were Norwegian”
“I got no time for your crippled Christ”
“Her nebula was crawling with crabs”
“Heads will roll. Blood will flow.”
“All the chicks are strippers. All their mother's proud.”
“Metal metal. Metal metal. Metal metal. Metal metal”
For comedic factors they would definitely get at least an A. They are certainly one of a kind. Maybe an A+ if you could understand all the words on first listen. The cartoon character-like vocals is a very different, and in some respects better approach to trying to horrify people with creepy metal. I wish some of the younger deathcore/metalcore bands would do that so I could tell if they were fucking joking or not.
I keep going back to “The Price of Peace” and “Metal Metal Land”
because they were awesome. I hope they make videos for those. “Metal Metal Land” would be a cool metal anthem. I'm sure I'll take the time to get more into the remaining songs eventually. For now, considering this is a metal review, I'd have to be honest about my immediate impression and give them a “B” for 'Better than I ever expected.' Now that I've heard Lust in Space, I think they're an awesome band even without the makeup. They certainly don't need their costumes to entertain you, but the extra effort is appreciated. I wonder when they'll pull a Kiss and unveil?
B -Alesha
You Will Bleed
Cruz Del Sur
You Will Bleed is the latest of a handful of full-length releases by Italy's Handful of Hate. This is also their first release since breaking up briefly in 2007, with Vocalist/guitarist Nicola Bianchi being the sole returning band member.
As with the bands most recent efforts, You Will Bleed is a great combination of technical death metal and black metal. Fans of both genres should be able to enjoy this disc easily. From the ferocious title track that opens the disc, which starts off as more or less straight ahead blasting black metal, then churns into some really good technical riffing, through the chugging "Earthly and Crawling", to the absolutely sick "Extremism made Fire - Cholera!", which closes the disc, you will be unceremoniously bashed across the head by all manner of riffs, blast beats, drum fills and tortuous vocals. Some of the standout parts for me are the dual guitar action during the final track, the killer melodic riffs that perpetuate through "Bliss Between Thorns", and the pure insanity of the numerous blast beats throughout the disc.
Overall, this is a mighty fine return for Handful of Hate. You may just bleed if you don't treat yourself to this disc.
B -Goz
In Dark Tongue
Neurot Recordings
Sometimes I can listen to a CD and get completely lost in it, it can run through so many emotions and feelings without a single word, and In Dark Tongue by Harvestman does just that. Mesmerizing synthesizers, phased out guitars, drone-like dulcimers all create an atmosphere that is ripe for meditation or spacing out in a black light bedroom with some special incense or psychedelic substance. Ghost-like flute sounds on "Birch-Wood Bower" lull me into a trance before "By Wind and Sun" take me on a Space Rock journey that has some spacey vocals repeating the same phrase, "By wind and sun, thy will be done". Pink Floyd influences are evident on a few tracks here including "Carved in Aspen" which sounds like it could be a lost track from the Meddle era. There's enough material here for the Space Rock fan and the experimental music fan to keep both satisfied.
B -Matt Smith
To The Nines
Napalm Records
Hatesphere is as tight and heavy a band as they were back in 2007 when I reviewed their last full length album Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes.
Still plenty of driving, aggressive, and slightly melodic metal without the crap. Metal the way I like it.
“Aurora” and “In the Trenches” showcases my favorite characteristics of Hatesphere. Their old-school thrash/speed vibe and aggressive, heavy grooves. The guitar is another draw of Hatesphere brand metal.
Especially in “The Writing's on the Wall” and the most notable song on the album; “Cloaked in Shit”. I kept noticing ”Cloaked in Shit” as it was the best of all ten tracks on the standard release. The guitars remind me a little of Oli Herbert's (All that Remains) style but not as showy and their new vocalist Jonathan 'Joller' Albrechtsen does a great job of continuing where his successor, Jacob Bredahl, left off. You can barely tell the difference.
The only negative about this CD is the production could be better. On “In the Trenches,” I noticed the sound seemed a little flat. Sometimes you can't really hear the guitars as well as I'd like. And I still want to see them live. What would be better is if you're lucky enough to get the Limited Edition To the Nines instead of the promo one like I did.
You'd get to hear the whole album AND great bonus material without any annoying voice-overs. The bonus material includes some extra demo and live tracks, like “Cloaked in Shit” that I'd love to hear, plus video footage of Hatesphere at the Danish Metal Awards in 2007.
Oh and check out this sick video of their strong, album-opener and title track “To the Nines.” It's definitely metal and it's one hell of a job any special effects make-up artist could never forget. I have to warn you, it's really gross and I couldn't watch it without cringing and covering my mouth. Owwweeee! Bravo!
A- -Alesha
Cold
Napalm Records
Cold is Austrian black metal band Hellsaw's Napalm Records debut, their third full-length release overall. The opener is "A Suicide Journey", and after an extended (and quite nice) acoustic intro, the barrage starts in with some complex riffs backing up Aries vicious vocal delivery, while Svart lays down some killer blast beats and devious drum fills behind it all. A devilishly good start to the 45+ minute journey that Hellsaw's Cold will take you on.
"The Black Death" is a brutal blaster at the start, but breaks down with some massively melodic parts, and is probably the strongest track on the disc. If you want a song with a bit of a punk feel to it, look no further than "I Saw Hell", which follows a haunting instrumental "Sulphur Prayer". The combo of tortured shrieks in the instrumental followed by an all out raucous track like "I Saw Hell" works well together - lulling the listener with something a bit mellow, then just blasting the to hell with the punk attack immediately following.
This is a really good disc, and would be a good addition to any fan of old school or modern black metal. It will definitely be in regular rotation for me.
B -Goz
Worship or Die
Moribund Records
Worship Or Die is the second release from one man Italian black metal band Hiems. Algol is the man behind the project, and the black metal he creates here isn't your run of the mill old school, wiry, tremolo picked, raspy vocals black metal - far from it, truth be told. The term black 'n' roll is used on the back of the promo disc, as well as in the bio that came with it, and it seems to fit fairly well with the music of Hiems.
Let's start with "Scum Destroyer", the third track on the disc. It opens with a bass heavy groove (almost reminding me a big of Chaos A.D. era Sepultura), which continues on into the first verse, and then into the massively catchy chorus. The groove and catchiness is all over the place in this song, while still retaining a little bit of the blackness that Hiems is rooted in. "Wounds Just Death Can Heal" takes the progressive nature of some of the earlier songs on the album and ramps it up to a much higher level. The guitar work here is great, the drumming equally impressive, and there is even a good deal of fancy bass guitar work going on there. Check out the killer breakdown with about a minute to go in the song - damn good stuff there. The Hammond organ used on the track "Hiems" caught me by total surprise - pleasantly I might add. "Race With The Devil" is the discs closer, and while a great song, it seems a bit out of place. Organ heavy and more of a classic rock song than anything else, it just seems a bit awkward against the rest of the disc, but I guess since the music was getting more progressive as the disc went on, it is sort of fitting.
Hiems has thrown together a great collection of rock oriented black metal here. They don't go as far into the rock side of things as say, Satyricon did, as they keep a bit more of the black metal feel in there. This stuff is catchy, heavy and just flat out damn good.
B+ -Goz
The Serpents Lust
Hells Headbangers Records
Bathory worship from the land down under. That is what Hunters Moon gives you on their debut EP, The Serpents Lust out now on Hells Headbangers Records. This is old school black metal, done perfectly right. The guitar tone is just right, the riffs are terrific, the melodies are great, and the guitar leads are outstandingly well done (although a bit buried in the mix - again with the old school feel). You first listen to "A Light In The Abyss" will bring a bang to your head and an evil grin to your face. If that didn't work for you, then wait until you are unceremoniously stomped on the skull by the massive opening to "Baphomet" (and further bashed in by the faster riff in the middle). A fuckin' brilliant song if there ever was one, this gets my vote for best song.
My only complaint about this release is that there isn't enough of it - at just over 20 minutes, The Serpents Lust goes by WAY too quickly. Please please please record some more soon, Hunters Moon!
A- -Goz
May You Live in Interesting Times
Rotten Records
Chicago's Ideamen dish out their debut full length with the Rotten Records release of May You Live in Interesting Times. Combining elements of pop, rock, metal and just about anything else they feel like throwing in, the music of Ideamen is a mish-mash combination of stuff that will interest some, and probably leave others wondering what it is they just listened to. Count me as a member of the latter group. While some of the music is downright good (check out "Horses Head" for example), a lot of time the vocals seem to get in the way of some good musical ideas. The vocals are almost entirely harmonized, and they just don't do it for me, and seem to be trampling on the music most of the time instead of enhancing it. At times the music sounds like a circus act, like in "Uneventful Day", other songs sound like something Primus might have done (parts of "Quares", for example). Overall, I just don't know where they are trying to go with this disc. At times it is quite good and listenable, but in the end I just didn't really remember or even care to remember much of it.
C- -Goz
All Shall Fall
Nuclear Blast
Coming out of the local cinema last week, I was greeted to giant snowflakes: New England’s first snowfall of the year. As I got into my car, just after dusk had fallen, I drove through a forest as the soft snow covered my windshield. While walking from my car, I basked in the new snow, and opted to take a walk through my suburban neighborhood. The idle drizzle of snow became a downpour. The snow began to cover my unprepared body, and I started to freeze. Just before I walked home, I thought to myself: “It’s about time I picked up that new Immortal album.”
All Shall Fall may be the most hyped album of the year. After breaking up suddenly in 2002, rumors abounded of a comeback album. Those rumors didn’t become reality until last year, however. The question buzzing in everyone’s mind was “what would the new album sound like?” Well, those of you wishing for the days of Pure Holocaust can just forget about it. This takes off where Sons of Northern Darkness left it. Icy, grim guitar riffs, blast beating drums, all anchored by Abbath’s croaking rasp.
I am overjoyed that Immortal are out making music again. But after a while, I have to face facts: this is one of Immortal worst albums. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however. Immortal’s oeuvre is very consistent, strong album after strong album. That said, this album sounds like a less creative, less brash, and more compromising version of their three previous records. The riffs are more one-dimensional, and lack the pummeling, yet eerily majestic quality of their previous work.
This is a solid comeback album, but I cannot see Immortal really going anywhere further after this release. Let’s just hope they don’t start making the same album over and over again, like so many other reunited acts. Even with these complaints, any fan of theirs should pick this up, as it’s new music by Immortal. That alone is enough to make me, and any other black metal fan very satisfied.
B -Adam
Across the Dark
Candlelight Records
Across the Dark is the fourth full length release from Finnish melodic death metal band Insomnium. They are, in my opinion, one of the better melodic metal bands. Their music has a smooth ebb and flow with a sense of darkness. This complements their symphonic style and great guitar melodies with an undertone of doom.
Insomnium's Scandinavian style, orchestral metal has some keyboards and a small amount of clean vocals that aren't the annoying kind the kids are doing these days. Sounds more like men singing, you know. They're not trying to thrash speed limits or anything and they have good style.
I won't pick favorites this time but I will say that every song was relaxing and inspiring in many ways. And still metal. OK, OK I'll pick one favorite. “Into the Woods” was a big hit for me. That will probably change as it grows on me though.
I really liked the dark, carrying, uplifting feel of their music and was very happy they didn't overuse the keyboards or clean vocals. Even though it is still brand new, I feel that Across the Dark would be effortless to get used to and admire even more. I'd be happy to revisit this album several times over. And if you get the chance to see them live, please do so. You'll be as impressed as I was, I'm sure.
B+ -Alesha
Oxygen Flash
Neurot Recordings
Industrial, experimental, and mind altering music that you could get lost in if you're not careful. Lots of analog synths, samples, and flat out noise comprise KK Null's brand of music. Ambient at times and grating and extremely noisy at others, so noisy it could drive you crazy if you're not tolerant of this type of music. If you're looking for something to compliment your day at the dentist or drive through road construction, or you are Throbbing Gristle or old school Industrial music fan, then check this disc out.
B- -Matt Smith
The Coronation
20 Buck Spin
"Procession" starts this disc off with a four minute noise intro with supersonic sounds that would probably irritate a dog but then it blends right into "Invoke" a slow, Doom riff filled song that is slow and powerful enough to stop a moving train. Screaming gut wrenching vocals that are heavy in an EYEHATEGOD type of way and sections that are eerie and mellow, and ambient at times. "In Obscura" is a haunting almost sinister church choir sounding piece and "Wooden Horse" is another slab of severe heaviness and sludge with breaks of noise. "Autumn Horse" is a nice mellow piece that adds some dynamics to the heavy tracks and sets us up for "The Last Sleep", a slow droning piece that mellows out in the middle with a fuzzy bass line that is mesmerizing before kicking into heaviness. "Apotheosis" finishes the album with a droning ambient noise piece that could be used in a movie soundtrack before it gets heavy for the last three minutes of the song. I think Laudanum is one of the most interesting discs to hit my review pile this season, and I would highly recommend this album to any fan of Sludge, Doom, and Noise.
A -Matt Smith
Let The Night Roar
MeteorCity
Atlanta's Let The Night Roar originally self-released this disc in early 2008, and now MeteorCity has seen fit to give it a wider release while the band works on a follow up recording. The band weighs in with some heavy ass sludge metal, showing that they are majorly influenced by High On Fire, but also displaying more wide-ranging influences from bands like Celtic Frost and even Lair Of The Minotaur.
The opener "All Costs" demonstrates nicely most of the above-mentioned influences, while not being a straight copy of any one in particular. The guitars are brutally heavy and fuzzed out, as is the thunderous bass, and the drums aren't so much played as completely abused. Aside from being mind-blowingly heavy, the riffs here are also catchy and memorable. Just try to keep your head from nodding or banging when listening to this - you will meet almost certain failure. Just the opening riff to "Blood For Blood" is enough to ensure this, but they keep on throwing down more and more insanely good music, never letting up for a second. I usually like to pick a favorite track on a disc, but it is impossible to do here - they are all worthy of that choice, and at only 35 minutes, just listen to the whole damn thing - then listen to it again and again.
This disc is completely brilliant. Go to their website NOW and grab a copy of this, it's only $10 and I can't wait to hear what they come up with for their next release, and I hope that they'll do some touring because I have no doubt that this would absolutely crush in a live setting.
A -Goz
Aurora
Rise Above
With the first few seconds of the first track "Beyond The Sun" you realize Litmus are some serious Space Rock disciples with their Hawkwind inspired guitars and vocals. With extended guitar solo jams and analog synth sounds you know you've entered the stratosphere of music surreality. "In The Burning Light" kicks things up a notch with a blazing analog synth cranking and driving drums cooking up a solar flare reaction of a musical nature. Blending right into "Eos", a psychedelic synthfest with mellotrons and "Miles Away" is an anthemic rocker that almost sounds like if ELO jammed with Hawkwind.
"Stars" is a heavy trippy little ditty that has almost a punk rock/new wave vibe to it while "Kings Of Infinite Space" is a nice melodic pop song that could easily translate into a radio friendly song if it were shortened to less that 5 minutes. "Ma55oN_Rift" really gets the space cadet glow in full effect with it's driving beat and synthed out vibe and driving bass line with smoking guitar solos. "Red Skies" carries the album off in the same style and at twelve minutes it's quite the space trip!
For fans of Space Rock I would highly recommend checking this disc out!
B+ -Matt Smith
Renihilation
20 Buck Spin
Liturgy reminds me a bit of Wolves in the Throne Room and Krallice, but they have a rawer sound than those bands, and that's what separates them. Noisier Black Metal with lightning fast riffs and drums and traditional Black Metal vocals, but I find these guys less interesting than other crops of Black Metal doing the same thing. I think it may be because they're too noisy and they don't have enough dynamics to make it interesting. I have to say it gets annoying after a while, aside from the little interludes that only last a minute or two between every second song or so. "Behind The Void" starts off with an interesting riff but then goes right back into the same formula of the other tracks.
All in all this is a decent album I just wish there were more dynamics in the songwriting.
C -Matt Smith
New Shores
Napalm Records
The worldwide popularity of melodic, symphonic metal (led by Finland’s Nightwish) hits Switzerland’s shores with this sextet Lunatica. Beginning in 1998, they’ve put out three albums previous to New Shores and gain some interesting guest appearances for this record- ex-Asia singer John Payne and Hollywood soundtrack composer Michael Levine. Andrea Datwyler captures immediate attention due to her engaging range, much more in a lighter gothic vein with a touch of After Forever or Epica in tracks like “Two Dreamers” and “The Chosen Ones”.
For a change you’ll get to hear guitar players who can play with bite as the band allow the instrumentation leads to fluctuate between the keyboards and axe slingers. You can’t escape the larger then life multi-tracked chorus for a mid-tempo track like “The Incredibles”- Andrea holding out the short words for more dramatic impact. The first half of the record carries the workload, as I felt ending the album with two ballads such as “Winds of Heaven” and “How Did it Come to This” veers Lunatica close to commercializing their sound a bit too much for the pop audience.
New Shores has that theater or soundtrack flair where I could see some music producer or movie director signing up Lunatica for their next major effort. This album has enough catchy moments and spirited guitar to stay within my collection.
B -Matt Coe
Wormwood
Regain Records
It is hard to believe Marduk has been around for almost 20 years now. Not a band to rest on their laurels (or their asses for that matter), here comes Wormwood - the bands 11th studio release.
With Marduk, you more or less know what you are going to get - and that is lightning fast paced music, blasting drums, blurring, slightly trebly sounding guitars, and evil ass sounding vocals on top of it all. Of course, they throw in plenty of melody bits here and there, and change things up a bit, like on "Funeral Dawn", which is a slow-paced, almost doom song. Standout songs for me here are "The Fleshly Void", "To Redirect Perdition" (another slowed down number) and "Chorus Of Cracking Necks" (especially the middle part).
Many people think that Marduk was at their peak in the early/mid 90's, especially with the release of Opus Nocturne. Maybe they were, but they are still going pretty damn strong some 15 years after that. Be sure to check them out on tour in November, and don't get there late and miss Merrimack who is sure to be good as well.
B -Goz
Grey Rigorism
Moribund Records
French black metal quintet Merrimack have been belting out their blasphemic tunes from the depths of hell for 15 years now. Grey Rigorism is their latest full length, served up on a corpse painted silver platter courtesy of Moribund Records.
Unlike fellow labelmates Nazxul, Merrimack deliver a much more modernized black metal with this release. While retaining some of the older black metal touches, the band seems to focus on the catchy and melodic riffs, with most of the music being mid-paced and hook laden. Mind you, this isn't really a bad thing in my eyes - it has worked great for Satyricon, in my opinion at least. The opening track, "The Golden Door", will give you a good sense of what to expect right from the start. The slow, melodic opening succumbs to a raging bit of blasting blackness, which in turn gives way to what can mostly easily be described as a breakdown - no, not a lame-ass nu-core fight the invisible ninja style breakdown, but a flat out thrashy breakdown, ready for a circle pit to ensue. Sounds like a weird combination here, but it works quite nicely.
"When The Stars Align" is my pick for the best track on this disc. Mostly mid-paced, heavy as fuck, yet interspersed with some great blasting tremolo picked sections - this song showcases the bands variety very well. I also love their nod to Celtic Frost just after the 2 minute mark - a nice death grunt followed by a heavy ass riff that the might Frost would have been proud to play.
Production on the disc is quite good - clean and clear with everything coming through in the right spots. The main drawback I have with this disc is that it get a little long in the tooth. It plays to just over an hour long, but it seems like you've been listening to it forever by the time it ends. Not a major drawback, as you can always skip around in these digital days, but it does seem to drag out a bit towards the end.
Watch for Merrimack on their upcoming "US Plague 2009" tour with Marduk & others - should be a hellishly good show.
B- -Goz
Amigos De La Guitarra
Neurot Recordings
Relaxing, moody, and beautiful are words that come to mind when I want to describe the music on this CD. Comprised of one track, ¡M.G.R. Y Destructo Swarmbots! has created am atmospheric, movie soundtrack-like song that is 42 minutes but it seems like 10 minutes or less while you're listening to it. Repetitive guitar lines meander along at a slow pace with droning melodies accenting the peaceful tones. Ambient Industrial soundscapes fade in and out and add to the atmospheric vibe to the song. The mood stays fairly peaceful if you wanted to listen to this while drifting off to sleep or meditating. I found this a soothing CD to play in the background while working on my computer. Highly recommend for any one into Drone music or experimental music.
B -Matt Smith
Time to Change It
Napalm Records
The power metal scene isn’t as flooded as it was five years ago. That’s a blessing. The taste of the metal populace has changed, and the slew of generic power metal bands has slowed, which is even more of a blessing. Now the genre is recovering from oversaturation, as the countless tepid, stale bands that frequented the genre a few years ago have faded. There are few survivors in their wake. Mind Odyssey formed in 1993, during metal’s darkest age. They split in 1999, during the heart of the power metal explosion. After reforming in 2007, as deathcore and thrash became the popular styles, they certainly don’t have the best timing. But who cares? Not surprisingly, their sound is nothing new. But their soaring vocals, tight rhythm section, and solos that remind me of how damn exciting power metal sounded in 1997, their new album Time to Change It reignites the grand desire for the genre lying dormant in many fans.
Mario LeMole’s bellowing cries rise above each song, making each chorus very memorable, sounding as if Ralf Scheepers toned down his histrionics. Guitarist Victor Smolski, famous for being a constant member of German power metal innovators Rage, varies his style throughout the record. He knows when to tone down his playing, so he can accentuate the vocals for the benefit of the song. Nevertheless, in songs like “Storm Warning,” he just shreds. The songs don’t vary too much, and there are some clunkers on here, like the title track. The bulk of the tracks on this CD, though, are catchy. Really, really catchy. I’ve found myself singing plenty of them to myself for days after listening to them. Just try to not to like the infectious, borderline poppy goodness of “Enemy Daggers.” I dare you.
Power Metal will not be revitalized by Mind Odyssey. Nothing will do that, at least for a very long time. But for all you melody-famished fans out there, don’t pass this one over.
B+ -Adam
Detached From Life
Agonia Records
The first thing you'll likely notice when putting in Mr. Death's debut disc, Detached From Life, is the sound - totally reminiscent of early '90's Swedish death metal. Take a look at the production credits, and you'll see that it was recorded at Sunlight Studios with Tomas Skogsberg handling the duties - no real surprise there. Anyway, the band contains a couple ex-members of Treblinka/Tiamat, which is also likely to contribute to the old school sound contained herein.
The music on the disc could easily have been something written & recorded by Entombed, Dismember, Grave, etc - basically pick any early 90's Swedish death metal band, and Mr. Death sounds like that. Granted, there really isn't anything at all wrong with that, as I love those bands, and that timeframe was when I was first getting really into death metal. Mr. Death does a great job capturing that sound, and brings back fond memories for me. From "Suffer" all the way to "Black Blood", fans of old school death metal will be headbanging along with this, enjoying it the whole way through. The best track on here, in my opinion, is "Death Vs. The Living Dead" - it just features some of the best overall guitar, bass and drum work, and I like the lyrical theme as well.
B -Goz
Necrology
Pulverised Records
This is a first for me. This album has an indecipherable logo with no little sheet attached to it describing the band. It took me a few weeks to even figure out who the hell they were. After close examination of the mystery promo, I figured out it’s the new band My Own Grave with their album Necrology. Frankly, I would have been better off never knowing. This generic death metal band splices in irritating, needless doses of metalcore here and there, making themselves even worse. The vocals are one-dimensional and soulless, the guitar playing mundane and hackneyed, and the bass a poorly recorded fuzzy mess. According to this band, if you can drum quickly, then you must be good. Wow, this is some uninspired percussion.
Really, why are labels still producing this junk? It blew up about seven years ago. It’s been a long time since then and its market is dwindling. New genres have arisen and old ones have resurged in popularity. There’s plenty of better music to put out right now instead of metalcore dressed up in death metal clothing.
D -Adam
Iconoclast
Moribund Records
Iconoclast is the long-awaited full-length followup to Nazxul's 1995 debut, Totem. Sure, they've released a live album, a couple of splits, an EP, and a compilation in the interim, but nothing nealy as substantial as Totem. Iconoclast makes up for lost time in droves.
Atmospheric, symphonic, dark and brutal are just some of the words I would use to describe the nearly hour long collection of music contained herein. Eschewing the latest trends, the band sticks to a decidedly early-mid 90's sound here. The guitars buzz and rip, the keyboards drop layers of ambience at every turn, the drums pound and pummel you into submission, and the raspy vocals gratingly deliver the raw blasphemy quite voraciously. Most of the songs have their own instrumental/ambient opening to them, which adds a bit to the atmosphere, but I also think it takes away from some of the momentum gained during the previous track. Nonetheless, they are there, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
"Iconoclast" is one of the strongest tracks here. A mostly mid-paced song with plenty of catchy and intricate guitar work, plenty of layered keys on there, and some pretty aggressive vocals. "Dragon Dispitous" is an all out blaster, with some amazingly good drumwork driving the song home through speed limits unknown. "World Oblivion" has an almost ballad like feel at the beginning, then it lumbers into more familiar territory towards the middle/end of the track.
Nazxul is finally back, and they deliver a mighty slab of darkness with Iconoclast. This should please fans of their earlier work who have been clamoring for something new for years. It should also introduce the band to a whole slew of new fans. Nazxul is also slated to make an appearance at the 2010 edition of the Maryland Death Fest at the end of May.
B+ -Goz
Bishop Kent Manning
Black Market Activities/Metal Blade
New Hampshire's the_Network is one more angry, hardcore metal band that decided to make music after 9/11 happened. They are influenced by bands such as Every Time I Die, Deadguy, Turmoil, and Refused. Their sound is heavy and slightly influenced by some math-tinged metal, such as Dillinger Escape Plan, and other similar violent and spastic hardcore bands, but not as brutal. I would say they're like a mildly experimental hardcore compared to the more lengthy and progressive masses in this overcrowded genre.
The music on Bishop Kent Manning is a mite easier to pick out on a first impression than most typical experimental metal where you have to work hard to hear the musical content. The vocals were a good hardcore style throughout the album and even when there was a small amount of clean vocals, on “Corpse Paint,” it was more like agonized singing than typical modern metalcore/emo-clean. They seem to know how to play their instruments pretty well and fast, but the metal isn't quite memorable enough to make a lasting impression. I found there were too many spastic riffs and some were more sour than pleasing. I'm still having a tough time trying to pick out any stand-out tracks after several passes and I'm not going to bother because they all seem pretty mediocre and run-on to me.
Bishop Kent Manning is a concept album based on a short story by their guitarist Kevin Howley. That's an admirable point and might cause me to go on their website sometime and read it. Then I'd probably go back and have a closer listen to Bishop Kent Manning. As of right now, they're OK metal that I could maybe get used to and they get a measure of respect for giving it a fair try, but it's nothing I'd run and tell my friends about. There just wasn't anything that jumped out at me right away, or even after several listens, where I wanted to go back and hear it again. I don't think they're going the spastic route to stand apart from the rest because they must know how ordinary it is lately. They must be after the fans of that off-key, spastic experimental flavor which usually just doesn't do it for me. I know there's people who dig that and who may may enjoy the-Network's music. Then again, they may not find it all too memorable either.
C -Alesha
Superfreak
MeteorCity
If there was a band that could take over if Monster Magnet couldn't play a show Nightstalker could fill in perfectly. Vocalist Argy has a VERY similar voice to Dave Wyndorf and the lyrics to match it, for example, on the title track "Superfreak", Argy sings, "everything is for free, Super Motherfuckin' Freak", I mean you can't NOT wear you Monster Magnet influences on your sleeve with a lyric like that! The guitars are full and kick ass, including the smoking solos by guitarist Tolis, as are the bass and drums. Honestly, I love Monster Magnet so I like the tribute these guys are making to MM, and speaking of tribute, I wouldn't be surprised to find out these guys used to be a MM tribute band. If you're a Monster Magnet fan I highly recommend checking out Nightstalker, you WON'T be disappointed.
B -Matt Smith
Metal of Honor
Moribund Records
The first thing I heard when I popped in the newly released Metal of Honor from Detroit war thrashers Nocturnal Fear was soundclips from the amazing film Rambo. I figured that any band using clips from that movie has to be good - right? Turns out I was in for nearly an hour of old-school thrash with war themed lyrics - how can that NOT be good?
"Cast From Heaven" has some killer riffs, crazy dive-bomb guitar solos, and this refrain in the chorus - "No remorse for those I killed, no regrets for the blood I spilled" - nothing wrong with that to open the disc. "Death Before Dishonor" is one of the best tracks here - filled with numerous great riffs, a few blast beats here and there, and some vicious vocals make it stand out a bit. Further on in the disc is "The Enigma Of Steel" another great thrasher with some damn impressive guitar work.
Production on this disc is decent, although the guitar sound is a bit thin and wiry sounding. Nocturnal Fear will definitely appeal to fans of old school trash - they do it right and do it quite well. They aren't breaking any new ground with their sound, but the sounds that they rehash are good memories for me, and the war theme makes it that much better.
B -Goz
God Is Good
Drag City
Droning sitars and a hypnotic bass line start off the new disc from Om and it continues in a meditative fashion for about three and a half minutes before the vocals start very softly. Al Cisneros' vision-inducing lyrics are still abundant as he sings about the spiritual/metaphysical side of life. A slow buildup eventually crescendos into some heavy duty bass lines from Al and new drummer Emil Amos kicks the beat up a notch and fills the drummer position admirably. "Meditation is the Practice of Death" starts off in traditional Om style, slow bass lines with drums banging out a rhythmic beat and some nice flute lines accent the track to give it a World music vibe. "Cremation Ghat I" starts off with some nice rhythmic drumming and hand claps accented by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe's otherworldly vocals and droning sitar sounds and "Cremation Ghat II" continues the theme with a mellow bass line and tabla and sitar-like strings and breaks into an Indian-like trance song which just fades out to sitar drones.
I love this album but it is more like an EP (maybe that's what it IS!) and if you're even mildly interested in checking out Om this is an awesome place to start!
A -Matt Smith
Born Again
Crucial Blast
Overmars sound is very hard to define, and that is always something that attracts me to bands, when they're not too easy to pigeonhole. Slow and melodic at one point and slow, sludge heavy the next, they keep the song (the whole CD is one 40 minute song) and it never gets stale or boring. Female vocals as well as male vocals are another thing that keep this interesting and never predictable. Punishing slow riffs and pummeling drums are plentiful on this CD, and the vocals are melodic at times and brutal and frightening at others. Industrial, Ambient, and even Prog Rock influenced, Overmars have definitely created something original here and they must put on an amazing live show!
B -Matt Smith
What We All Come to Need
Southern Lord Records
Instrumental rockers Pelican have just released their fourth full-length (first since signing with Southern Lord), entitled What We Call Come To Need. What sets this disc apart from their previous efforts? Well, not a whole lot - it still consists of fairly long, repetitive, doomy, yet catchy songs - but this time a Pelican song actually has lyrics. More about that later.
Pelican's music is all about the textures to me. Layers of sound - from the massive guitar riffs, to the thundering bass, on down to the throbbing drums, the layers of sound form a texture of sound that is enticing. The opener "Glimmer" shows these textures quite well - with the heavy low end riffs being ruffled up by some really nice lead guitar work to keep it interesting. The repetitiveness is sometimes a downside for me, and it doesn't take long for "The Creeper" to get stuck in a rut and have me checking to see how much longer until the next song will start. "Specks of Light" gets my pick for best track on here - mainly because I really like the main riff that starts off the song and is carried throughout as the main theme. Now onto the vocal thing - "Final Breath" is the final song on the disc, and it is also the first Pelican song to contain vocals - or as the band calls them "Guest syllables". Performed by Allen Epley (Shiner, Life and Times), the vocals are ethereal, almost non-existent, as if an afterthought that was just thrown in to say - "hey we have a song with vocals now!" Not sure if that is how it really happened, though.
Fans of Pelican will probably like this new disc quite a bit. While there are definitely some interesting parts to this disc, the repetitiveness of the songs here makes it a bit too much of a chore for me to get through. Maybe I'll throw some of the songs into random playlists so they aren't all strung together - it may keep the monotony of it to a minimum for me.
C+ -Goz
In Memoriam, Ill Omen
Pulverised Records
Upon my first listen to Pestilential Shadows latest release, In Memoriam, Ill Omen, I didn't make it much past the first few songs due to the production. After letting it be for a while, I revisited the disc a while later, and, after a few complete listens, I realized that the lo-fi, distant sounding production works great for the bands style of black metal. The guitars are trebly and super buzzed out, the drums are fairly thin, the vocals sound like they were recorded miles away from where the vocalist was performing, and much of the time the bass is the clearest and most audible instrument on the recording. There are numerous clean passages (like the beginning of "Of Loss and Suffering Inherit"), where the sound is a bit clearer, which make the murkiness of the main parts of the songs seem that much more intense. With all that said, even though the sound fits the music, it does still get a little tiring to listen to straight through. Maybe a couple tracks at a time are fine for me, but the 45 minute length of the disc seems to drag on eternally when played straight through.
If you want a good dose of old school black metal, by all means check out this music from down under - it should satisfy your cravings quite nicely.
B- -Goz
Message From The Dead
Taboo Productions
Post Mortem's lead vocalist John McCarthy passed away days before he was supposed to record vocals for this CD, so guitarist John Alexander decided, after debating for awhile, to continue the CD with guest vocalists who offered their services to make this album a final tribute to John. Mirai Kawashima, lead vocalist of Sigh, lends his vocals to most of the tracks on this album and the results are very satisfying. The rest of the vocals are handled by various vocalists including A.C.'s Seth Putnam and GASPetc's own Ryan "Choppy" Travis. There are multiple versions of some of the songs here with a different vocalist handling the vocal duties and apparently there are more in the can as there wasn't enough time to include them all on this release. The music is pure Post Mortem, crunchy guitar riffs reminiscent of early Celtic Frost and old school Thrash Metal that any fan of this music will appreciate. Although its a sad time for the band, this is a great tribute to a singer who will never be forgotten and this album opens a new chapter in the "life" of Post Mortem.
A -Matt Smith
Power Pellut
I'm Better Than Everyone Records
Pounding driving Stoner Rock with some heavy vocals that remind me a little of EYEHATEGOD and Buzzoven. Listening to this disc I can only imagine what they must be like live, crazy and bludgeoning are a few words I would use to describe them. Driving, pounding drums, ass heavy riffs are in plentiful amounts and if you crank this album up in an apartment I'm sure you would get some serious complaints from neighbors. Solid songwriting make this more than you average Stoner Rock/Metal band and I would highly recommend it to Hardcore fans that aren't afraid to try something a little more Rock or Metal.
B -Matt Smith
...with Love
Hex Records
Portland Oregon punk/post-hardcore rockers Prize Country lovingly deliver us 9 new songs, just about 35-minutes or hook laden, catchy and easy to sing along to songs, entitled ...with Love. Although they've only been together for a few years now, the band has released an ep, 2 full lengths, and a couple of splits prior to this release. On top of that, they seem to always be out on the road, so I have no idea how they have time to record at all.
Prize country reminds me a bit of a cross between Fu Manchu and ASG with some Helmet or Fugazi thrown in. The music is full of heavy, catchy riffs that will stick in your head. The vocals are kind of that shouting/singing crossbreed that is also catchy and it is easy to imagine yourself singing along to them at a show. "Regular Nights" is the first track, and it will get it's hooks in you right away and not let go until the end. You'll be tapping your foot and humming along to this one in no time - and you'll probably be doing that all day long after listening to it a couple of times. "Gamble" is one of the standout track here, with some pretty comical lyrics ("place your bets on the dying horse and you hope he makes good glue"), and some downright kickass guitar and drum work throughout the song. Take a listen to "Bigger Picture" to hear some of the more technical guitar work on the disc - not noodling mind you, but just a bit more technical than some of the other work here.
Prize Country is a band that seems to do things their way. The numerous releases, the non-stop touring, and the flat out rock that they play all points to this. Check out this disc, you're bound to get dragged in by all the catchiness that is present, and if you're like me, it will probably make you want to see one of their many live shows.
B -Goz
C Is For (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here) EP
Puscifer Entertainment
Maynard James Keenan's latest effort from Puscifer is an EP of six songs that varies from mellow, "Polar Bear", a track with a heavier part toward the end of the song to "The Mission (Renholder Mix)", a Trip-Hop style track featuring Milla Jovovich that makes it so sweet because she's got a great voice and it blends perfectly with Maynard's voice. "Momma Sed" was recorded live @ Club Nokia as was "Vagina Mine" and they are great versions of these songs from their full-length 2007 album "V is For Vagina". "Potions (Deliverance Mix)" is a nice Electronic based rock song that even features some banjo and "The Humbling River" is a mellow tune with somber violins and female harmony vocals. I'm usually not a fan of EPs per se, but this one is a good follow up to their full-length and will satiate fans and get them ready for their first tour.
B -Matt Smith
Liebe Ist Für Alle Da
Vagrant Records
After a brief absence from the musical scene, German Teutonic industrial rock band Rammstein return with Liebe Ist Für Alle Da (translated to "There is love for everyone"). While most people simply know this band for their big hit single "Du Hast", they've got a lot more in their catalog than just that single.
From "Rammlied" (with it's sing along refrain "RAMM STEIN!") to the final notes of "Mehr" (i've left out the last track, as it is a bit poppier/less heavy), you're going to get slapped around with all sorts of rapid-fire riffs, mechanical sounding drums, and downright evil sounding German vocals (the German language always sounds angry to me, even more so when it is sung in the manner Rammstein does here). The band does use English for a song (or most of one at least), and that is the single "Pussy", with its sophomoric lyrics - not to mention the silly video they released for it. Of course, some songs have a bit more of a pop feel to them, like the cleanly sing parts of "Ich Tu Dir Weh", and the sing-along qualities of "Haifisch" (which reminds me a bit of "London Calling" at times). Then there is the downright heavy attack of "B********" - by a long shot the heaviest bit on the disc.
Rammstein is back, and sure to be a hit with their fans once again. I doubt they will ever reach the popularity they had back with "Du Hast", but this disc did debut at number 13 on the Billboard chart in its first week of release. Pretty impressive, and I guess it shows that there are still a lot of people interested in the band.
B -Goz
The True Speed of Steel
Hold True Recordings
Old-school thrash metal enthusiasts take note of The True Speed of Steel, the first full-length from Boston's Razormaze. For a band of thrashers young enough to have grown up on a steady diet of Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, et al, after one listen to this disc it's obvious Razormaze has deeper roots, drawing directly and heavily from the "golden age" bands.
Overall, The True Speed of Steel isn't as violent or serious-sounding as, say, Pleasure to Kill, Darkness Descends, or Reign in Blood; it's more rooted in the uptempo Bay-area stuff preceding the first Vio-Lence album, while incorporating elements from a wider array of great thrash bands of the 1980s.
As someone who was listening to it when thrash hit the first time around, I know the difference between thrash and trash. Razormaze offers tight, skilled performances, good songs with plenty of quick tempos, and a production that reminds me of the early Nuclear Assault stuff on Combat. It comes across like they're having fun playing seriously energetic music. A keeper. Here's hoping they stick around for awhile.
B -Mark Fields
Fed Through the Teeth Machine
Metal Blade
With a title like Fed Through the Teeth Machine you must expect to be pummeled by brute force. I've heard a lot of metal bands try to sound scary before. The Red Chord actually accomplish that feat.
This dark metal has much more emphasis on heavy brutality than melody and there's no room for melancholy. The speed is blistering and forceful. The guitar riffs are driving when they're not melodic. And there's an abundance of chugging rhythm with a touch of spastic/math metal that pops up once in a while, but not excessively. When The Red Chord did slow it down at all [for any rare length of time], like in my favorite song on the album, “Mouthful of Precious Stones,” it was for a creepy ambiance or a solo. When melody surfaced, the sound of the guitars was soulful and expressive enough to replace any need for clean vocals. Too bad a ton of other bands haven't acknowledged that fact and followed suit.
Fed Through the Teeth Machine consists of twelve short and to-the-point tracks. Two thirds of the album is made up of a series of quick beatings less than three minutes long. The longest were “Mouthful of Precious Stones” and “Sleepless Nights in the Compound” which were both under five minutes. I think The Red Chord maybe could've sacrificed some of the brutality for more memorability. The songs went by so quick and aggressively that it was hard to tell one from another. The guitars were what stood out on the album the most. But they did a perfectly frightful job of trying to scare the kiddies! Happy Halloween.
B- -Alesha
Front The Final Foes
Debemur Morti Productions
Tasmanian duo Ruins deliver their latest collection, Front The Final Foes, courtesy of Debemur Morti Productions. Alex (guitar, bass, vocals) and David (drums) make up the band, and they dole out a good dose of black metal with a decidedly rock n' roll feel to it at times.
The opener "Breath of Void" gets things going with a mid-paced rocking riff that will immediately get your head moving along with the rhythm. Comparisons to Satyricon will likely come to mind right away, as both the feel of the music and the production are quite similar to their recent releases. In fact, one of the riffs in "The Sum of Your Loss" reminds me quite a bit of Satyricon's "The Rite of Our Cross" - I think it is the guitar bend that they use that brings that to mind. The vocal style here is really clear and understandable, which works pretty well within this musical context. My favorite track here is the last one, "With These Winged Words". It has slower parts, faster parts, heavier parts, and a drawn out ending that wouldn't be out of place on a doom metal disc.
Ruins will be a good pickup for those who fancy the "black n' roll" style of music. If you're looking for old school black metal, look elsewhere.
B- -Goz
Ares
Rotten Records
Cleveland deathcore slash metalcore. With doom and a tinge of punk underthings. Salt the Wound's second full length reminds me of a Hatebreed offspring, but heavier and better. Maybe mixed with some Children of Bodom. Ares seems to be metalcore only part of the time, doomy as a base and a tad progressive towards the close. Not too melodic but just enough to be somewhat memorable (more for catchier riffs and shredding solos than melodies) and slightly heavier than most typical melodic metalcore.
For the majority of Ares, I was impressed more with the guitars than anything. Then I heard snippets of punk undertones. Especially in the background vocals like in opening track “Mutations.” (It sounded like a bunch of dudes shouting punk affirmations in exact unison if you know what I mean.) Ares also had zero clean vocals (adding points there) with mainly growling alternating with scowling, cougar-wail vocals and some cookie-monster to go along with the smidgen of punk influence. The drums sounded a little flat production-wise and there was some blast beat percussion but it wasn't too much to overpower or maybe Jono Garrett's good style masks it so they're not really sacrificing anything with the extra speed.
The beginning of Ares was above average, then towards the end of the album I noticed they sometimes were all over the place. The guitars basically held most of the album afloat but the riffs weren't always memorable. The second track,“From My Hands,” was the catchiest part of album. In fact, the last minute or so of “From My Hands” was just about the only positive memorable thing on Ares for me after ump-teen listens. Oh, and there's also a neat 15 second solo about a minute into “When People are Shameless.”
Most of the songs were OK heavy metal with the exception of “Hail the Locusts” which was horrible. That track should have been pitched or maybe revised. The scowling in it was just awful. Soured the song. Once in a while the cougar wailing was ridiculous like the Brandon Dico imitation of a metalhead I described in a review last fall. Then other times the vocals are so growly you can't even make out separate words never mind what words they are. I don't know if I'm supposed to laugh, like at how grating “Hail the Locusts” was, or take away points if they're really serious.
I also didn't care much for the album closer “Take a Bow.” You don't really notice the length of over 16 minutes because it was in three parts. The first two parts were non-memorable aside from maybe one riff in the middle. Then the last part was good heavy doom but too long and repetitive.
I guess Ares has more good points than bad. The punk background vocals was a pretty cool touch when it popped up, but Ares got to be a tad repetitive. I think I liked the catchier American metalcore side of Salt the Wound more than the Hatebreed side. With the exception of the motivational vibe at the end of “From My Hands,” Ares was not quite memorable enough for me to pick up again anytime soon. Especially since I have an abundance of much better albums [new metal even] within easy reach. But I'd definitely recommend it to any of the suckas that are into Hatebreed and shit.
C -Alesha
Black Reign
Pulverised Records
Let’s raise a toast to repeated listens! When I first popped Sanctification’s debut Black Reign into my car stereo, I was pretty bored. It just sounded like poorly mixed, generic death metal. This is another side project from production wizard and Hypocrisy mainman Peter Tägtgren. I was disappointed in him at first, but I’ve come around to this album. Whether or not it was it was the deteriorating quality of my speakers or the mood I was in at the time, I certainly missed something when I first heard it. This is an uncompromising slab of brutal death metal, complete with unwavering double bass drumming and light speed riffing.
That said, this album isn’t outstanding. It’ll make you headbang and slam around, but it doesn’t do too much to separate itself from the flurry of death metal acts continuing to come from Sweden. Maybe Mr. Tägtgren decided to take a leave from his main bands to create straightforward, by the numbers brutal death metal. He certainly has the pull and popularity to do so. While there are some similarities to Tägtgren’s main band, Hypocrisy, Sanctification if faster, with greater driving force and viscera. But even with this increased edginess and intensity, Black Reign can’t be saved from its own monotony. The album falls into the ever so common pitfall where every song is decent by itself, but sound exactly the same when juxtaposed on an album. This leaves the record feeling staid and uninspired by the end, even though its closing song “Storm” is one of the album’s best.
Overall, Peter Tägtgren has once again done what he does well: create Swedish death metal. For completists of the man’s discography, get this one by all means. If you’re someone looking for fresh, above the bar death metal, then give this a pass.
C+ -Adam
Power - Purity - Perfection ...999
Moribund Records
Satan's Host began it's life as a band over 30 years ago, went dormant for a while, then returned with a vengeance around 2000. This disc is the bands 7th release overall, their second since signing with Moribund Records. Satan's Host perfectly blends many styles - death metal, thrash and black metal (and even some hints of power metal) are weaved together in a way that few bands do as successfully.
For a good example of the band weaving all those styles together, one need only listen to the first song, "Sitra~Ahra (Power 9). Opening with a short instrumental intro, complete with what sounds like a violin solo, it then proceeds into a thrash/death riff for the first verse or so, the violin returns, and somewhere about midway through the song we get some pretty black metal feeling riffs and blast beats going on. There is a whole lot going on there, and it sounds pretty damn impressive, to say the least. "End All, Be All...2012" is my pick for the best track on the disc. A massive and vicious riff opens the song, and then come the vocals, which are just over the top powerful here. The guitar work in this song is also heavy as fuck for the whole song, with a lot of nice little melodic lines thrown in as well.
Production on this disc is freakin' perfect. Guitar sound is heavy as hell and cuts right through everything, the drums sounds spectacular, the bass is thick and juicy, and the vocals are spot on in the mix at all times. Not knowing what to expect when I put this disc in the first time, I was more than pleasantly surprised by what I heard blasting out of my speakers. Fuckin' amazing is all I have to say.
A- -Goz
Insurrection Rising
Candlelight Records
While thrash exploded in America and Germany during the 1980’s, I believe it’s now a worldwide phenomenon in this second generation resurgence. The UK may have been hit or miss with their first forays ( Sabbat’s first two albums and Xentrix’s debut record thumbs up for my tastes), but this new brigade seem to have a lot of life to their scene- each attempting to corner a sub-niche in terms of their style and energy.
Savage Messiah for instance have a lot of Megadeth in their guitar play and vocal approach- but it isn’t the early or current make and model, more like a careful study of So Far, So Good… through Countdown To Extinction. Bass play that pounds your chest and can form a rhythmic pulse metronome while the crunchy riffs assault left, right and center dimensions. The title track will get the windmill hair tangling in the pit, stacking one quick picking riff against the other as vocalist/guitarist Dave Silver rips out the lyrics in that talk sneer mannerism.
The only blemish on this album occurs early on, as “Corruption X” has more in common with Pantera than anything old school thrash-wise, but the solo from Sy Taplin with his Andy LaRocque neo-classical talent redeems itself.
I’d say for 2009 this is the best thrash album I’ve heard from their country- as Evile got too focused on drawing out songs for 8 plus minutes on their latest or I would say they continue to be the leaders of the pack.
B+ -Matt Coe
PrivilegivmLupus Lounge/Prophecy Productions
It has been a couple years since Secrets of the Moon released their last disc, Antithesis. Privilegivm is the welcome return of the band, complete with a beautifully done digipack with some killer artwork and an extensive booklet with a bunch of photos and full lyrics. Props to Lupus Lounge for not skimping on the packaging with this one.
As with Antithesis, Privilegivm has Secrets of the Moon playing progressive, doomy black metal - although I supposed the only real thing about them that could be considered black metal would be the lyrics, as the music and vocal styles don't have much to do with it anymore. One of the more impressive things about this disc is that, despite the 74 minute length, it seems to just fly by. The songs may be long (all are over 7 minutes, with the mutipart "Harvest" passing the 13 minute mark), but they are never tedious or boring to listen to - they just drag you in and beckon you to soak up all that is being offered. From doomy, super distorted parts (like most of "Sulpher), to the progressive, clean opening to "Harvest", this disc keeps your ears and mind interested from start to finish. "Queen Among Rats" get my pick for best song on here, although it is a tough task to pick just one song. I love the doomy, encompassing feeling of this song - from the slow opening, to the quicker and heavy middle section, to the drawn out ending, it just all ties together nicely and kicks your ass the whole way through.
Secrets of the Moon has taken what they achieved on Antithesis and progressed a few steps further. They recently completed a US tour with Moonspell - they didn't come anywhere near me this time, so I didn't get to see them, but hopefully they'll be back and will come somewhere near here so I can see them live.
A- -Goz
Shrinebuilder
Neurot Recordings
If there was ever a thing that could be called a Stoner Doom Metal supergroup, then Shrinebuilder is exactly that in every true sense of the definition. Just for starters here's the line-up: Scott "Wino" Weinrich (St. Vitus, Spirit Caravan, The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand, and most recently his own solo project, aptly titled, WINO) on guitar, Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep) on bass, Dale Crover (Melvins, Altamont) on drums, and Scott Kelly (Neurosis) on guitar. If that line-up doesn't give you an idea of what this band sounds like then you obviously aren't familiar with any of those people or bands. The hype surrounding this album is SO warranted by the final result, even Dale Crover himself says it's the most he's listened to a collaboration he's worked on EVER!
"Solar Benediction" kicks off the disc and is a clear indication of what this album holds in store, as it encompasses heavy monster wah-wah riffs, a nice mellow, melodic guitar solo section and some powerful vocals from Wino and Scott, booming bass from Al and pounding drums from Dale. Actually, every member share vocal duties so I should say that they alternate between them all, and each voice is fairly unique so you can tell who is singing if you're familiar with each guys voice. "Pyramid of the Moon" starts off heavy but gets a bit mellow before it gets heavier and never breaking the slow tempo. There's some nice mellow almost e-bow sounding guitar lines going through the song that add to it's spacey vibe. It really gets spacey when the chanting vocals come in about half way through the song and there's an analog synth sound that could be coming from a guitar for all I know. Al adds some Sleep/Om influenced vocals toward the end of the song that tie it all together nicely! "Blind For All To See" has a nice mellow bass riff with vocals by Kelly and gets pretty drone-like and trance-inducing before nice slinky fuzzed out guitar solos wrap your head in a space dream during the middle section and guide you out. "The Architect" is the most St. Vitus sounding song on the album, with monster riffs and vocals by Wino and Dale and a sweet bluesy guitar solo by Wino that helps the song slow down into a nice little bass solo for the last minute or so before sliding right into the last track, "Science Of Anger" another smokin' Stoner tune with some blazing fret work and shared vocals from Wino, Al, and Kelly. Half way through, the song breaks down into a nice slow riff with spacey Al vocals that reek of THC resin if you catch my drift. The song carries on with some stellar jamming and ends the album on a serious high!
I anticipate this album being in my Top 3 for best Metal albums of the year, seriously fighting Black Pyramid's debut for the number one spot!
A+ -Matt Smith
A Good Year For Hardness
Anchor Brain
Six Finger Satellite are back with a new album of rocking new wave synth rock that will make you want to get up and dance like a drug crazed robot (at least thats what I want to do when I hear it). If you're not familiar with Six Finger Satellite then you're missing a band who are always entertaining musically, with their quirky songwriting that I can only describe as a cross between Chrome and The Jesus Lizard, a strange combination of Indie rock and New Wave Synth rock. I have a few of their earlier albums and I have to say this definitely won't disappoint old fans and will even help them gain new fans. Not Metal in any way or form, but heavy in their own way.
B+ -Matt Smith
Breathing The Fire
Prosthetic Records
Old school Thrash with a modern sound is the best way to describe Skeletonwitch. I first saw them last year at the New England Metal Fest in Worcester and was really impressed with their energy and brand of Thrash Metal. I think they sound a lot like Sabbat on their "History of a Time to Come" album, fast riffs and solos with catchy classic Thrash mosh parts that transport me to around 1987 when I first heard Testament and Sabbat. Melodic harmony lead guitars sweeten the already brutal sound and make it sound fresh and new even though it borrows so much from late 80's Thrash. They also perfectly blend some elements of Death Metal into the sound and it's what makes them more than just an 80's Thrash nostalgia band. "Strangled by Unseen Hands" has some insane breakdowns that would get any Metal head banging their head and/or moshing.
This is a great follow-up to their debut full-length Beyond the Permafrost and it further cements their place in the new wave of American Thrash Metal along side Thrash monsters Lair of the Minotaur. If you were already a fan of theirs you will love this disc and if you weren't a fan this disc will make you one!
B+ -Matt Smith
Esoteric
Pivotal Rockordings
Five years between albums in the independent label metal world usually means toll the bells, as your band has to catch up with the groundswell of stylistic changes and a younger generation hungrier and more fervent for new acts. Sweden’s Skyfire didn’t take this idle time lightly- recruiting two new members in the form of Mark: Black vocalist Joakim Karlsson and Andromeda lead guitarist Johan Reinholdz- and unfurling a monster comeback melodic death metal album in Esoteric.
Guitarist Andreas Edlund and bassist Martin Hanner not only compose the music for these 11 tracks, but also double the orchestral and keyboard parts on this record, giving songs like the title track, “Rise and Decay” and “Darkness Descending” more of a deeper, old school classical feel. Mr. Reinholdz makes his presence felt in the lead solo department- shredding to his hearts content a la Marty Friedman or Yngwie Malmsteen on “Let the Old World Burn”, beginning with slower note picking before running his fingers and sweeps to keep up with drummer Joakim Jonsson’s blast beat pacing.
You’ll get some intense black metal parts at times, but overall I would classify the style of these Swedes in the vein of Dark Tranquility meeting Symphony X or King Diamond in a dark alley- as the piano parts aren’t relegated to the background and all the instrumentation gains credibility to carry emotion and sustainable relevance. Karlsson’s roar keeps Skyfire away from the Soilwork crowd who mix clean choruses with rough verses- I assure you his voice won’t scream of commercialism and recalls the early Swedish death brigade.
I’ve always believed Skyfire are a solid outfit- but I believe Esoteric will give them a second lease on life. This one has major appeal to the neo-classical, power and death crowds- so give it more than a few spins.
A -Matt Coe
World Painted Blood
American Recordings
Slayer needs no introduction. You all know them, probably have most, if not all, of their catalog. World Painted Blood is the latest addition to said catalog.
Since you all know Slayer, you know what you're going to get here. Fast, rifftastic songs with crazy, out of control guitar solos, and some incredible drum work by Mr. Lombardo. That's pretty much it. Some songs stand out from the others - "Snuff" (awesome solos), "Psychopathy Red" (great riff), and "Unit 73" (great solos and drumwork). The production here is decent, guitars and drums sound fine, but the bass sounds kind of weak for the most part. As with the bands recent releases, Tom's voice sounds a bit strained at times, but that is just something that will be part of Slayer now.
There are numerous formats for this release. The standard CD release is available with four different covers that form a map, then there is a CD/DVD combo that has a 20-minute animated graphic novel featuring music from the album, and finally a vinyl version is also available. Overall, this is a pretty typical modern day Slayer release. Regardless of what I, or any other reviewer says, you know you're going to buy it anyway (or already have).
B- -Goz
Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Neurot Recordings
"Alpha (Law Of Nature Pt 1)" introduces A Storm Of Light's second release with a spoken word piece by guest Lydia Lunch and it sets up the mood of the album perfectly by introducing the concept of the Earth as a living being. With the second track "Amber Waves Of Gray" we get the first strains of the band as we know them, drone like Metal similar to Neurosis with an orchestra-like effort of riffs, keyboards, drums and vocals. "Tempest" brings the heaviness of the band to the forefront while continuing the concept of the Earth taking over and wiping out the human race by natural disasters.
"The Light In Their Eyes" is a mellow piece with cellos and violins which leads to "Trouble Is Near", another heavy track that leads to "Aces Of Failure (Law Of Nature Pt 2)", the second spoken word piece that continues the concept of the album taking aim at the human race as a parasite of the Earth. "Midnight" plods along with the heaviness and "Across The Wilderness" has some nice opera-like vocals by Nerissa Campbell that accent this slow Industrial Gothic Doom-style track. "Time Our Saviour (Law Of Nature Pt 3)" is the final spoken word piece on the album and it wraps up the concept and leads into the mournful "Omega", the longest track on the album, clocking in at eleven and a half minutes.
This is definitely thinking man's Metal and will please Doom fans and experimental fans alike.
A -Matt Smith
Eight Bells
Crucial Blast
SubArachnoid Space is one of those bands that defies categorization, but if you had to put a label on them I would say Progressive Experimetal, and yes, I'm coining that term! With that being said, you get a full band, with heavy guitars that sometimes break into clean drone-like riffs and swirling melodies that permeate the five tracks on this album. "Akathesia" could almost be a Space Rock song with it's driving guitars but it gets a bit too heavy for Space Rock at the end. Mostly instrumental songs with a few street voice samples and what sounds like a screeching animal on "Haruspex". "Bird Signs" ends the the 37 minute disc and it sounds like a noisy Space Rock band that eventually blends into another Space Rock section to fade out the last minute and a half of the song.
These are are going to be a band to watch, I can see them doing some pretty crazy stuff in the future, as if this disc isn't crazy enough!
B -Matt Smith
Reissues
Bluurg Records
The Day the Country Died
I can say with almost certainty that if I had heard this album when it first came out, I may have gone a different way with my music tastes. I was already diggin’ on the punk and hardcore scene, but few bands truly grabbed me like the many metal bands that drove me to such fervor, the Subhumans are that band.
For those of you unfamiliar with the band, the Subhumans are a UK punk band that hit the scene in the early 80’s and remained active till about 1985. Over the years, the band experimented with mixing other styles of music with punk and may very well be one of the first SKA bands. The band wrote about social injustice, animal rights, and also had many fun songs just about life in general. The band split in 1985, but they left a last legacy and have recently released their full catalog, re-mastered and including artwork and a poster in each CD and I’m so glad they did.
The Day the Country Died is an amazing disc; it takes off like a shot and never slows down. The drums sound like machine gun fire and are some of the fastest I’ve ever heard. The Vocals are brash and snarky, evoking the wit and sarcasm of the lyrics, while still remaining clear and to the point. The Subhumans are a quintessential punk band in every sense of the word.
Favorite tracks on the disc are "Ashtray Dirt", "Mickey Mouse is Dead", "New Age", and "Subvert City". If you’re a fan of punk and have new listened to the Subhumans, please check them out cause you’re in for a treat.
From the Cradle to the Grave
This second disc shows the progression the band has made is a very short time. They are a much tighter band that delves even further into experimenting with their sound while still remaining very punk indeed. For a sophomore effort, the disc truly delivers and even boasts a 16 minute punk song, which an amazing feat by punk standards. The title track is an opus of punk gloriousness that truly tells a story from birth to death.
The best tracks on the album are "Reality is Waiting for a Bus", "Wake Up Screaming", "Rain", and "From the Cradle to the Grave". The songs may have a more polished sound, but the whole album has this sense of the futility of life. They also talk about evolution and how we're destroying ourselves. The peppy punk overshadowed by the bleak look at the world, which is essentially what punk is all about. Life is pointless, society sucks, and we're all just waiting to die. And that's what makes the Subhumans so great, they talk about real life, the life they have experienced, and they're not content to sit by and just let the world swallow them whole.
A great disc that sounds contemporary even by todays standards which shows how far ahead of their time the Subhumans really were. Light-years ahead of anything produced today this re-mastered reissue from the bands label, also includes a poster and is a must addition to anyone who thinks they know what punk is really all about.
Time Flies/Rats
The third release in the Subhumans re-release discography was originally two LPs, but were combined onto one CD. Straightforward in your face punk and a vast difference from the polished sound of From the Cradle to the Grave. Raw, but yet still exploring the boundaries of what the genre could be, inventing their own brand of punk in the attempt to truly evolve as a band with an agenda.
The Subhumans aren't pretentious about their view of the world, they don't stand on high and shout edicts of how life should be with grandiose ideals of peace and harmony. They see humanity for what it is, a society bent on destroying itself and they're not here to save us.
Fast and explosive, this disc is a time capsule of the punk genre. Favorite tracks being "People Are Scared", "Susan", "Work-Rest-Play-Die", and "Rats". The track "When the Bomb Drops" mixes reggae and punk in a perfect blend. This reissue includes a poster as well and is an excellent addition to a punk collection that needs just a little bit more.
Worlds Apart
Worlds Apart is a reissue of a 1985 release, but sure doesn't sound like it. A mix of rock, pyschedelia, reggae, and punk, you never know what you're gonna get from this album. The sound is tight, but raw enough for any purist. This is the album that truly made love this band cause they would speak of vegetarian issues with the song "Pigman".
They still see the world as falling apart, but instead of focusing on it, they turn their sights to the other indignities of the world and urge their listeners to think for themselves. Not content to be another sheep, they strive to rise above beyond just being top of the food chain.
This is an album that even people who aren't into punk can get into cause it's so much more than your typical album of this genre. The Subhumans aren't wrapped up in how fast they can blast through a song, but getting across the point of each of their songs. They want you to hear every word and they want you to be just as angry as they are about what is going on in the world.
Re-mastered with artwork and a poster, this album has so many great songs, it's hard to list them all, but some of my favorites are "Apathy", "Get to Work on Time", "Carry on Laughing", and of course "Pigman". A beautiful album in so many ways and a must have for lovers of just plain old great music.
EP-LP
Covering 4 Eps; Demolition War, Reason for Existance, Religious Wars, and Evolution, this disc goes back to the origins of the band with material that was produced before their first album. This is the punk you've always read about, but never quite experienced. Raw, fast, and in your face, there are no excuses on this release, no apologies, and as bleak as any doom album ever produced.
Dick has that snarky UK vocals that helped make the Sex Pistols so popular, Grant's bass is quick and snappy evoking the same sarcasm as the vocals, Bruce's guitar is raw, fast and filled with anger, but the real gem of the Subhumans is Trotsky's drumming. It's almost unbelievable how fast this guy can play, like a machine gun nest opening fire on the enemy he explodes with blistering rolls and fills, but still has the finesse to keep it all together.
Best tracks being; "Animal", "Cancer", "Love is", and "Evolution" which is my favorite Subhuman's song of all time. "Evolution" is a straight-up animal rights song and I love every inch of it. Re-mastered with artwork and poster, you must own this disc if you're a Subhumans fan since it covers their very early and groundbreaking work and has so many kick ass tunes.
29:29 Split Vision
The Subhumans' last reissue is definitely the most polished, less raw, but still filled with the original anger that drove the band from the beginning. Still the explosive drums and general snarky feeling, but I couldn't help feeling that there is a little something missing, something vastly different with this album than all the others and then I reached "New Boy" and I realized that this was a band that wanted more.
The Subhumans are an amazing punk band, but through the progression of their work, you could see that they weren't content to remain that way. They never wanted to be pinned down and they never wanted their listeners to be pinned down either. Always asking their fans to think for themselves, to question everything, and do something with their lives other than just sit there and let life go by.
A+ -Choppy
New Moon
Spinefarm Records
This new release by Finland doomsters Swallow The Sun was one of my more anticipated releases of 2009. After their last two releases (Hope in 2007 and last years Plague of Butterflies EP), which were both great, along with seeing the band live a couple times, I've become a big fan of StS. New Moon is also the recording debut for new drummer Kai Hahto (Wintersun, ex-Rotting Sound, etc.), who had previously toured with StS when their now-former drummer couldn't make the trek to the US.
The opening track caught me a bit by surprise. The music was doomy and melodic, as you'd expect from StS, but Mikko's vocals on this track are quite harsh and almost have a black metal feel to them. He is known for having a very diverse range of vocal abilities (just take a listen to some of the other bands he is in), but to open with a song like this through me off a bit. That said, it is a great song, heavy and powerful enough to get your head nodding, and full of the melody that StS is well known for. "Falling World" is a bit more what I expected to hear - slow, doomy and dark, yet again with plenty of melodic bits. Mikka once again showcases a wide vocal range, with a good bit of clean singing for most of the song, and some great death growling for a segment in the middle.
"Lights On The Lake (Horror pt. III)" gets my vote for best track on here. It starts off quietly, with a pleasant, airy female voice singing the first couple of verses. There is soem kickass melody lines in this song. A bit into it, we get a death metal segment, then the band kicks things into an all out black metal storm for about a minute. The blasting drums, tremolo picked guitars, and some really evil, raspy vocals will kick your ass. A brilliant song that just ebbs and flows through various styles perfectly.
Swallow The Sun absolutely killed it with this release. It has all the melody and doom you could want, and upping the death and black metal elements a bit make this just that much better than their previous works. Lets hope that they can get another US tour (maybe with country mates Insomnium again - that was a great tour) hooked up to showcase this new material.
A- -Goz
New Shores
Napalm Records
Ah sweet doom. Epic in nature, brooding in depth, it’s a style approached with a delicate mindset, as Bergen Norway’s Syrach explore on this third album A Dark Burial. It’s understandable that certain minds can’t wrap their heads around repetitive, slow riffs- yet when they are so heavy and driven with tribal-like percussion such as the 9 minute plus opener “Curse the Souls”, how can you not be swept into a euphoric state? Vocally Ripper employs a darker, almost death-like talk/scream delivery- you’ll not mistake his voice for Eric Wagner, Messiah or even Robert Lowe, more like Unleashed or early Entombed in its capacity.
Guitarist 8-Ball will often throw at you two or more parts within the same measure- one more feedback-laden and the other furious in nature- that creates a swirling hypnotic with a deeper , down tuned drone. “The River’s Rage” for instance fluctuates between Black Sabbath-ish mid-tempo hooks and then half-time or quarter-time runs where he gets the chance to explore more of his progressive tendencies. I even hear reference points to acts like Celtic Frost or early Candlemass- and you have to love their blatant “Black Sabbath” devil’s triad opening riff on the title song.
A Dark Burial for all of its strong suits has a couple of obvious limitations. Syrach aren’t really writing material that others before them created, and to be honest one great track does not fill out a full length album. The 11 minute epic “A Mourner’s Kiss” plods along with far too much feedback squeals from the start, and the atmospheric interlude around the 8 minute mark had me reaching for the next button.
You are better off getting Candlemass’ latest or diving deeper into the great doom acts of the past and leave Syrach for another day- as this is about as average as it gets.
C- -Matt Coe
Lightslaying Rituals
Agonia Records
The French metal scene is quite strong at the moment, with Gojira likely being at the forefront, but with bands like Arkan, Hacride, Gorod, Blut Aus Nord, etc. also releasing really impressive stuff lately. That brings me to Temple of Baal, whose last full-length release came almost four years ago. That time lapse is now remedied with the release of Lightslaying Rituals, thanks to Agonia Records.
When you attend the Temple of Baal, you will be bowing at the alter of blackened death metal. While everything here is worth a listen, the one two punch provided by "Dead Cult" and "Hate Is My Name" is absolutely nuts. "Dead Cult" starts off so damn heavy, and just flat out brutalizes you for the entire song - even during the insane guitar solo. "Hate Is My Name" is a bit faster paced, but is equally brutal, and the chorus is just begging you to chant along with it. The guitar work on this disc is stellar, from the big riffs, to the numerous guitar leads strewn throughout, it is obvious that Alastor and Amduscias know their way around the strings quite well.
Production on this disc is nice and heavy - the guitar sound is vicious, cutting through everything, just like it should. The sound is a bit raw overall, but it works perfectly for this type of music. A damn good disc that should be on everyone's holiday wishlist.
B -Goz
L'Eterno Maligno Silenzio
Debemur Morti Productions
The latest release from Italy's Tenebrae In Perpetuum contains 8 track and just over 38 minutes or unrelenting black metal. While unrelenting, I also found it to be rather bland and uninteresting. I am not sure if it is the production, which is very raw and trebly, or just the overall repetitiveness of the boring songs. The guitars overpower everything here, and the bass drum has a pretty hollow and empty sound to it - which is bothersome because it is constantly there, beating weakly all along the way. Once in a while, a nice little riff will pique my interest, but then I am back to not really caring what is happening, as the interest just fades away.
Completely average at best, but I am sure this will appeal to some of the black metal hordes out there.
C- -Goz
Forever is the World
AFM Records
Norway's Theatre of Tragedy is primarily slow to medium-paced, Scandinavian-style metal with a female co-singer. Similar to Lacuna coil or Evanescence and such, with more of an orchestral feel. They've been putting out albums since the mid 90's and I can see why I haven't heard of them before.
For me, “Ashtray” is probably the only cool song on here. I know a lot of people like metal like this and I can sometimes admire a female vocalist in metal if she sounds badass. Here it sounds like harmony most of the time. Soft. I don't know why I don't really like the sound of much female singing in metal. Maybe because metal isn't supposed to sound “nice and soft” [right here is where I shrug my shoulders, push out my bottom lip, and bug my eyes out in an expression of sarcasm]. I like my metal on the aggressive side. This album was just way too booooooorriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig.
I even tried drinking myself into tolerating this album, long enough to review it anyway, with my favorite fall seasonal beer. With no results. I still only found one track that had catchy parts in it then the harmonizing was just too “blah” in that one, too. If I had to listen to music like this all the time they'd have me on watch or in a padded room because I'd turn myself emo and be constantly trying to slice my wrists.
D- -Alesha
Who Linger
The End Records
These Are They is a relatively new band, formed just last year by two founding members of Novembers Doom - vocalist Paul Kuhr and guitarist Stephen Nicholson - with the lineup rounded out by drummer Sasha Horn (also currently back in Novembers Doom after a nine year absence from the band) and bassist Wiley Wells. Since recording this disc, they have recruited a second guitarist in Justin Jurgevich to complete the lineup. Paul and Stephen created the band to play old school death metal, with influences ranging from Bolt Thrower to Entombed and Obituary, to name a few.
Old school death metal was their goal, and I would have to say they achieved the sound quite well here. The guitars are downtuned and heavy, the music is mid-paced for the most part, and the riffs are heavy, yet retain that head bobbing hook that good death metal must have. The first song that really got my attention was "In the Halls of Waverly". It begins with a monstrous doomy riff, and then Paul's big, deep vocals bellow out the story of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium - an old Tuberculosis hospital where, if you believe the stories and rumors, upwards of 60,000 people died. This includes the story about a ghost who lingers ("these are they, who linger" is one of the lines) around room 502, where a nurse once hanged herself. Quite a good topic for a death metal song, I must say. "The Midnight Hour" is another song that is really good - exceptionally heavy and with a killer hook running throughout the song.
The debut disc from These Are They is just what they planned for it to be - old school death metal. They don't break any new ground at all, but I don't think they wanted to. They just crank out 50 minutes of solid death metal that fans of the genre should enjoy quite a bit.
B -Goz
Necropolis
Nuclear Blast Records
For 26 years (!!) there has been one mainstay in the Polish (and worldwide, for that matter) death metal scene. That mainstay is Piotr Wiwczarek - founder, vocalist, guitarist and lone original member of Vader. There seems to be a revolving door for the other positions in the band, but the true foundation of Vader has always been Piotr - especially his unique and immediately recognizable vocal style. Since the 2006 release of Impressions in Blood, Vader has toured extensively, released a couple of EP's, a live DVD, and re-recorded a bunch of songs for a 25th anniversary release. The other noteworthy happening in the Vader camp was the rest of the band leaving/quitting/whatever, leaving just Piotr as the long Vader member. Not one to sit around, Piotr recruited new members and soldiered on - creating the bands latest release, Necropolis.
So what does the resulting album sound like? Well, it sounds like Vader - fast, brutal death metal with tons of technical bits, amazing drum work, and loads of guitar leads. The musicians that were chosen to fill out the band fit in perfectly. Standout tracks include the opener "Devilizer", the scorching "Blast", the incredibly heavy "Impure", and the overly catchy, sing-along ready "We Are The Horde". Also included are covers of Venom's "Black Metal", and 'lica's "Fight Fire With Fire".
Vader delivers another slab of exactly what you'd expect to hear from Vader. Regardless of who is there to back him up, Piotr always seems to keep the foundation of Vader rock solid and lays down some kickass music no matter what. Catch them on tour in the US throughout November and December.
A- -Goz
The Reel
Rotten Records
St. Louis based Vampire Mooose (note the clever use of the extra o) bring us their third release in the form of The Reel (maybe they should've called it The Reeel). Fusing a bit of death metal and a lot of hardcore into a completely generic sounding deathcore album is what they do (at least here).
The disc opens with an intro that segues into "Pan.demon.ium" (clever again!), which waits almost a complete 20 seconds to go into a generic breakdown. I'm already yawning. But wait, there is more to come. Bass drops and breakdowns and more clever song titles - oh my! "Ash The World Turns", "Somebody Kill Don Henley" and "Spider Man vs Venom 2" (ooh, they do sequels!) are some more choice songs titles on here - the song titles may change, but the content is pretty much the same generic and boring -core all the way through. There is an occasional decent riff thrown in there, but they are always destroyed too quickly with a bass drop or a breakdown. I'm still yawning.
I should've just given up on this disc, but I saw that the last song was titled "Drayton Sowyer", which reminded me of the cook from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (although he is Sawyer). The first part of this song is actually quite goood [sic], as it is a huge departure from the generic crap that is played everywhere else on the disc. It is more ambient, instrumental, and incorporates some string instruments and other stuff. It actually shows that the band has pretty good talent and can write good music, but just don't put it to use for the rest of the disc...or for the middle third of this song even.
I'm gonna just put this disc down in front of Grandpa. "Hit it. Hit the disc! Go Ahead!"
D- -Goz
Blood Revelations
Debemur Morti Productions
Seattle based Vetus Obscurum were around for a short time in 1995, and was resurrected by Numinas in 2008 to have an outlet for music that didn't fit into his main project, Krohm. The four songs on Blood Revelations are the initial output by the band.
If you like your black metal to be cold, distant, and evil, then Vetus Obscurum is where it is at for you. Reminiscent of black metal from the early-mid 90's, this stuff is frigid and evil sounding, like shoving an icicle in your ear at times - or maybe a frozen upside down cross. I'll pick the title track as my favorite here, as the combination of blazing speed and the eerie double vocals make it sound just downright sick. With a running time of only 24 minutes, though, the whole thing is a quick listen and a pretty decent first effort from the band. Maybe Numinas will have some more ideas that don't fit in with Krohm and keep Vetus Obscurum going for a but longer this time around.
B- -Goz
Milorg
The End Records
I really liked Vreid's last offering, 2007's I Krig, so I was looking forward to their latest release, which has now come to us in the name of Milorg, via The End Records in the US. The album is themed after Operation Weserübung, a german attack on Denmark and Norway during World War II, and takes it's name from the the main Norwegian resistance movement. As many know, I'm a big fan of war themed music, and the theme of this disc makes me even more interesting to me.
The opener, "Alarm", starts with a slow intro, a cello playing the main part, then the guitars kick in with a doomy ferocity. Once everything kicks in, you know the battle is about to begin. Fierce melodys, blasting drum beats, and nasty vocals key you into this. There is also a good bit of clean singing here, which is a bit different, but succeeds at emphasizing certain parts of the song. Consider this a warning shot across your cerebrum, a mere taste of the battle you are in for with the remainder of the disc. "Disciplined" is where the battle really starts - just check out the opening lines of the song:
"This is times of battle
This is times of war
This is time for discipline
No mercy for a war whore"
I Imagine that would get you pumped up for a battle, especially with the massive music backing it up. Just listening to it almost makes me want to kick someone's ass.
"Blücher" is about the German battleship of the same name that was sunk by Norwegian forces, claiming about 1000 German troops in the battle. Once again, the combination of the music and the lyrics creates a picturesque landscape - I can only imagine what kind of memories must've been burned into the minds of the people involved in battles like this.
Vreid's Milorg is an amazing disc. The music is intense and immensely catchy, and the lyrics are brilliantly written - they put you right in the midst of the battle, creating images of the entire thing in my mind from beginning to end. That is the sign of well written lyrics. Be sure to be there when they tour the US in November - it is sure to be an amazing show.
A -Goz
Desecrated Internal Journey
Debemur Morti Productions
Desecrated Internal Journey is the debut of French avant garde black metal group Way To End. Shrouded in obscurity, not much is know about the band, and they prefer to keep it that way. The journey that they take you in is what matters anyway, right?
From the abstract instrumental opener, to the final notes of the closing track, "No Dream", you'll be unable to predict what is coming next. "A Step into the Void", for example, has some insane technical guitar and bass work that traverses between short blasts of heavier bits during the vocal parts. While many bands that take this abstract song writing style tend to lost my interest, Way To End somehow manages to keep my attention throughout. "At The Threshold" is a bit more straightforward, although the guitar and bass still get plenty of room to breath and show off some major chops. The music here is discordant at times, yet is always immensely listenable, and it just draws me in with each further note. There is just something infectious about it that won't let me turn it off.
This is a good combination of the darkness of black metal and the playing skill of technical death metal, with a whole bunch of other uniqueness thrown in. Recommended for fans of technical metal in general.
B+ -Goz
Drakonian Paradigm
The Ajna Offensive
From the opening notes to the instrumental "Weapon", I had a good feeling that I would like the debut of Canadian black/death metal troupe Weapon, entitled Drakonian Paradigm. The intro combines some quieter passages to start with some heavy ass riffs in the middle, and tons of lead guitar work interweaved throughout the entire thing. Reminds me a lot of something that would've come out in the early 90's, which tends to remind me of my younger days, which is a good thing. Thankfully, the band carries on the massive attack for the entire album, and makes this one of the most impressive releases of the year, in my mind.
Following the intro track, we're bludgeoned with the mid-paced "Cacophony! Black Sun Dragon's Tongue!" - a brutally blasphemous beast that begs you to bellow along during the chorus. The music here is still rooted in old-school death metal with blackened edges, and the staccato, chanted vocal style works perfectly here with the music - forcefully delivering the message. "Serpentine Ayat" is the most straight-forward track here - riff driven, slightly quicker paced, and has some killer gang vocals used throughout. The drumming on this song is really damn good, and the stereo effect used on the vocals scared the shit out of me at first.
While everything on this disc is great, they saved the best for last. The last two tracks, "Drakonian Paradigm: The Flame of All" and "Remnants of a Burnt Mosque" blend together to form a 14 minute attack of awesomeness that will leave you wanting for more. Not only are there some amazingly well done riffs and solos here, but there are some well placed acoustic breaks, and even a sitar in the latter track. A fucking epic way to bring this amazing slab of metal to a close.
I will have to say that this album caught me by surprise. I never know what to expect from bands that I've never head before, and a lot of the time they turn out to be mediocre at best. Weapon is far from mediocre - in fact, this disc is one of the best releases I've heard in a long time, let alone just in the past year. Hopefully they'll be doing some touring in the future - I can see this music kicking major ass live.
A+ -Goz
Unborn Again
Pulverised Records
When it comes to the East Coast thrash scene, you have to throw this New Jersey band in the mix along with Overkill and Anthrax as helping to fuel the movement. Early on the three Tony’s (Portaro on vocals/ guitar still around with this incarnation) got the ball rolling with a series of demos and eventually signing to Roadrunner, putting out three albums before taking a break in the first half of the 1990’s. Massacre Records would sign the group, and different lineups and stylistic changes took place, until 1998’s Thrashback signaled what many thought would be the final nail in their career.
Thanks to increasing publicity with video documentaries and where are they now features, Singapore’s Pulverised Records picked up the trio, consisting now of drummer Joe Cangelosi who played on Ticket to Mayhem and Insult to Injury and new bassist Richi Day along with Mr. Portaro for Unborn Again, a 10 song exercise in old school power thrash with no implication of modern production or riffing values in sight. Upon first glance songs like “Snuff” and “Fight Or Flight” contain the one of a kind double bass technique of Cangelosi- he can put on a clinic of foot tapping precision at blistering pace and then still manage to excite the listener with his energetic groove. Other highlights include “Pitbulls in the Playground” and “Feeding Frenzy” that have that mach 10 finger melting riff technique to them that wouldn’t have been far out of place on Power and Pain or the early Exciter efforts.
Whiplash also foray into the cover realm with their take on Montrose’s “I’ve Got the Fire”, sung by Joe at a distance, Tony’s fiery solo a highlight of the album. Overall my only slight beef would be with Portaro’s obvious mirroring of Dave Mustaine in terms of his mid-range vocal sneer- you just wish he would be a little more robust in his noted screams, but I guess as we get older our voices change.
In the end Unborn Again obliterates the 90’s efforts and should be in your collection if you miss the spirit of thrash without any regard to commercial success. Devil horns my men!!!
A- -Matt Coe
Book of Whyte
MeteorCity
To say that WhiteBuzz is heavy is a gross understatement, to say they are insanely heavy is a better description, because these guys definitely took a page from the book of Sleep and Om and brought it to another level. Serious low-end guitars and bass and extremely psychedelic passages that transport you to an ethereal plane of existence. I mean, this is so epic that the shortest song is almost fourteen minutes! Vocals sound reminiscent of Al Cisneros of Om and Sleep and are actually spacier than his. Each and every track on this disc brings you through Redwood forests of massive riffs and spacey voyages into the stratosphere with sections that will make you feel like you just meditated with the Universe and took a magic carpet ride into the Heavens.
"A Journey Through The Orchestral Labyrinth Of The Wide Plateau" makes me think of the melancholy Nick Drake can emote from his songs with the first five minutes of the song and then it becomes an Echoes-styled Floyd bass line rhythm that evokes influences of Om. "Antipocalypse" has all the makings of a great old school Doom sound with a modern adaptation that will make any Stoner Doom fan happy. A mellow section follows that has thunder sounds in the back ground that make it even more atmospheric and psychedelic before it slides back into heavy bass and guitar riffs again. This by far is my favorite track on the album, it has every element and dynamic I could ask for in a song in this genre of Metal. There is a five minute bonus track and I'm not sure what it's name is but I think it might be a cover song, but after the other 4 songs this is definitely an added bonus to such an accomplished release. Whitebuzz is definitely a band to watch!
A -Matt Smith
|
