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May 2007 ~ July 2007
The Fall of Ideals
Prosthetic Records
New American Metal of rare quality from start to finish. A good mixture of melodic and speed metal with a splash of clean vocals and a hint of Swedish flavor. Phil Labonte's extraordinary and versatile vocal skills partnered with mesmerizing guitar handiwork from Oli Herbert and Mike Martin make their first impression a memorable one. This complementary pair of axe-wielders and band mates have held my attention since catching their short, but stand-out performance at Locobazooka 2004.
After suffering some changes in personnel since This Darkened Heart, All That Remains now has drummer Jason Costa (ex-Diecast) and bassist Jeanne Sagan. Even though I feel the former drummer, Michael Bartlett, was good enough (for what he lacked in speed, he made up for in style) I now understand why they wanted to explore thrashier options. The lightning-fast, pummeling drum blasts prominent in The Fall of Ideals makes it near impossible to follow along on my air drumset. I think I'll just stick to the almighty air guitar (the poor-man's Guitar Hero).
All That Remains can deliver albums the way Metallica used to be able to. I never feel the need to skip over songs. The Fall of Ideals follows the same consistent pattern and there are undeniable improvements in the new album that were not present on This Darkened Heart. The new drummer sped up the tempo and the guitars have followed suit. Blend that with Phil's universal vocal abilities and their new sound brings back that old-school thrash feel like in my favorite track "The Weak Willed". "Become the Catalyst" could very well be the national anthem for New American Metal. These songs can extinguish fatigue. The second half of this album alone can keep me at the gym for hours.
A -Alesha Brunell
S/T
I Hate
Frances The Austrasian Goat fit squarely into the rising waters of Drone Doom. Along with fellow doomsters Sunn O))), Esoteric, and Boris, The Austrasian Goat’s debut self-titled release is full of drawn out melancholy and creepy, long songs. Most of the songs on this CD will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. The guitars are distorted, almost always playing down-tuned full notes. The vocals are nearly inaudible, unintelligible growls that increase the creepiness of this album.
However, as the CD progresses, the novelty of creepy music simply wears off. The band does put in some short, melodic interludes, which are nice, but they fail to provide enough variety to keep the listener’s interest. After multiple listens, I still found myself waiting for this CD to end, which is never a good sign. The final song is “Unchained,” a near twelve minute “epic.” By this point, the creepiness of this album has gotten old; only the most gutless listener would still be frightened. Therefore, a twelve minute song drags endlessly.
The Austrasian Goat need to learn new ways to write their songs. There is some potential here, but it cannot be unleashed until the band shakes things up a bit.
D+ -Adam Kohrman
Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band
Oglio
Beatallica, a parody band playing a perfect combination of Beatles and Metallica tunes - usually using a Beatles track as the base music, but turned on it's ear with Metallica influences lyrics and vocal stylings. Featuring the members Jaymz Lennfield, Grg Hammetson, Kliff McBurtney, Ringo Larz, the band puts together a great collection of 13 songs on their debut full-length.
When listening to Beatallica, sometimes I just sit back and laugh at the pure genius that is shown to put these songs together. Witness "Sandman", which features heavily borrowed riffs and lyrics from "Enter Sandman", but also borrows heavily from "Taxman", weaving the two together seamlessly (all the while taking some jabs at Don Dokken). "Hey Dude" plays off "Hey Jude", adding some hilarious lyrics about how to be a metal shredder - "Hey, dude - never turn it down! You must pound her, I mean Kip Winger New wave of British heavy metal is in your heart And you can start with Diamond Headers" - completely brilliant stuff. I could go on and on, but you just need to hear this for yourself.
Vocalist Jaymz Lennfield does the Hetfield vocals perfectly, right down to the drawn out OOOOOHs (showcased perfectly in "Revel-ooh-tion"), and the rest of the guys put the riffs together perfectly. The band also had two previous EP's, some of the tracks are available on this disc, while others (like the amazing "Got to Get You Trapped Under Ice") used to be available on the bands website, but don't seem to be anymore. Beatallica is mashup music the way it should be.
B -Goz
The Apostasy
Century Media
Poland's Behemoth follow-up their amazing 2004 release, Demigod, with something that is even more brutal and insane. This is no small feat considering who good their last release was. The band has mostly abandoned their black metal roots in terms of musical style, but the lyrics still follow in a similar vein.
The Apostasy is 11 tracks (with one being an intro) of unrelenting brutality - the type of stuff very few bands can match right now. A short intro starts off with a distant female voice singing, then is trounced by some fierce riffage and drums, along with a horn section (which also makes a reprise later on in the recording). "Slaying of the Prophets ov Isa" is the true opening track, and a good one it is. Featuring numerous blast beats from the amazing Inferno on drums, seering guitar leads, and punishing vocals that are multi-tracked at times to provide amazing power, the song grabs you by the head and refuses to let go. "Prometherion" follows, and provides more of the same brutality you'd expect from Behemoth. There is a monstrous riff here, totally ass-kicking yet memorable as hell, and also the great chorus - "eat the weak, fuck the flesh, slit the throat, consume the dead" - good stuff indeed.
It's tough to pick a favorite track here, since there isn't a stinker to be found, but I would have to pick
"Kriegsphilosophie", as it's the track that stood out to me most upon first listen, and still blows me away each listen. Most likely, it's the insane drumming that opens the song, with stop-go blast beats and monstrous fills getting it all going, and one of many returns of the horn section as well. There is also an extended section mid-song that features some amazing guitar, drum, and bass work - showing that these guys have pretty damn good chops. "Inner Sanctum" is another track worth mentioning, as it features piano work from
Leszek Mozdzer, who is a well known jazz pianist from Poland, and also guest vocals from Warrel Dane of Nevermore. They each add their own touch to the song, yet it is still definitely an overpowering Behemoth track when all is said and done.
The Apostasy is a monstrous and immense recording from start to finish. After you are brutalized by the 40-minutes attack here, you'll either want to replay it to be beaten again, or need to take a break to recover from the aural assault you were just subjected to. Either way, you'll come back to this again and again.
A+ -Goz
Dödsvisioner
Hydra Head
Combining black metal with lot's of melodic parts and other interesting oddities, Sweden's one man black metal band Bergraven have loaded up Dödsvisioner, their second full-length release, full of off the wall craziness and uncontrolled mayhem - just the way I like it.
The idea here is black metal, but the music is anything but basic black metal in it's execution. From the opener, "Döende", with it's long intro and mid-paced attack (complete with some soft percussive instrument that I can't pinpoint backing much of the song), to the finale "Döende (en avslutning)", a drawn out instrumental piece, Bergraven (aka Pär) showcases a diverse array of sounds.
This is a disc that needs to be listened to numerous times just to begin to get a feeling for it. Each new listen will bring out something new and interesting to your ears. Take the cool bass line in "Kansla Av Livets Nasta Skede", which you may filter out on the first listen due to the crazed guitar part that is played over it. "Det Man Med Sjalen" is a quiet instrumental affair, with a jazzy feeling to a lot of the guitar and bass work. It's unusual stuff like this that makes Bergraven's Dödsvisioner a great album.
A- -Goz
Testify For My Victims
Candlelight
Poised for an international explosion, Sweden’s Carnal Forge release their sixth album Testify For My Victims on a market primed to accept modern thrash/death at just the right time. Sure there are some parts of this 11 track album that will remind you of The Haunted (the opening title track) and other times you’ll feel like you hit a time travel machine back to Testament (third cut “Numb”) but overall Carnal Forge seem to have much more confidence in their energetic, almost cathartic presentation. New vocalist Jens C Mortensen (formerly of Slapdash and Revolver) spews his caustic words with a Mille-like roar, taking everyone along for his painful ride. Yes there are times when I feel like Carnal Forge are aiming for the North American market with their groove/breakdown tendencies especially in a mid-tempo number like “Godsend Gods End” but overall this album navigates the old school while not forsaking the modern approach in terms of arrangements and production ability.
The solos bleed for jazz-infused guitar heads, the rhythm section rips as if transplanted from the Bay Area and over the top you’ll feel a viper shredding his voice over the microphone. Hopefully Carnal Forge can make amends over the aborted Metal Gods tour of years past and the fans will equally plead forgiveness by purchasing Testify For My Victims in droves.
Clearly the ultimate album in their discography, let’s hope they keep the level set this high for future releases.
A- -Matt Coe
Neuthrone
Candlelight
Crionics brings us some vicious black death (with a slight industrial feel thanks to the keyboards) on their latest release, Neuthrone. They take the best of their Polish metal roots (Behemoth, Vader) and mix in a bit of Fear Factory, coming out with a heavy and brutal attack that works pretty well.
"NeuThroneAeon" is an impressive track, with blistering drumming, a superb riff, and intense vocals. For a good idea of the industrial feel from the keyboards, one need only listen to "Humanmeat Cargo", which features some spacy keys in the background over a super heavy riff a couple of different times - the disc also features enhanced content, which is a video for this song. "Black Warriors" closes out the disc, with a flurry of melodic riffs, more of the outstanding blasting drums, and a great slower part for the middle third of the song.
B -Goz
Can't Get Us All
Selfmadegod
Polish quartet Daymares has been around for less than a year now, yet their debut release, Can't Get Us All, has already been unleashed on the unsuspecting masses.
Daymares plays a mostly punk/hardcore combination, with a bit of metal as well. Think Cro-Mags meeting Clandestine era Entombed, and you can get the basic idea of what Daymares sounds like. The first few tracks get you interested, with the pummeling drums, crushing riffs (the guitar sound on this is superb), and great gang vocals, but they tend to start spinning in their tracks, and everything seems to blur together. It may be the sameness of the drum beats throughout, or the repetitiveness of the riffs, but it all runs together at times.
The albums closer, iContact, is the best track here, which leans more to the metal side than the other songs. It also features the greatest percussion instrument ever, the COWBELL! Metal needs more cowbells if you ask me. Anyway, iContact stretches things out a bit, at 8 minutes long (most of the other tracks are in the 2:30-3:00 range) it seems to have been constructed more thoughtfully than the rest of the album. Unfortunately, many listeners may lose interest and not make it this far.
Daymares shows promis on Can't Get Us All, and it will be interesting to see what they can do with a little more time together and maybe a longer song writing process for their next release.
C -Goz
Let it Stink EP
Relapse
Death Breath follow-up their amazing debut, Stinking Up the Night, with a short but sweet 7-song EP, Let it Stink. Featuring 4 news songs, and 3 covers (one each from Discharge, G.B.H. and Bathroy), the band follows the same form as on their debut.
To borrow a review from our own Mark fields:
"65% Autopsy worship + 15% Repulsion worship + 5% demo-era Death worship + 15% riffs that could've been on any of the Nihlist demos = 100% genius. That is all you need to know. "
That was the majority of his review for Stinking...and it is now the majority of my review for Let it Stink. Death Breath truly stinks, but in a really good way. Absolutely brilliant.
A -Goz
Ghosts of Devotion
Firebox
Finland's Depressed Mode might be what you would get if you took old school Paradise Lost crossed with My Dying Bride, added a bit more keyboards and some angelic female vocals to the mix, then played it slower than normal. Funeral gothic doom, maybe? Who really cares if it is good, right?
Anyway, Depressed Mode's debut is nine tracks of slow, crushingly heavy funeral style doom, with enough melody and gothic touches to keep it from being too monotonous. There is plenty of heavy stuff, as in "Ghosts of Devotion", but they balance it with beautiful female vocals over fantastic melodies, as in "Suffer In Darkness". The main riff in "The Sun is Dead" reminds me somewhat of one of the Gatherings original songs, while the beginning of "Fallen Angel", with it's programmed, poppy drums, could almost be on a Depeche Mode album (it gets heavier after that, but retains some of the same poppy feeling).
Depressed Mode takes Funeral Doom and steps up a bit with it. Being a young band, it will be very interesting to see what they will come up with for a follow up to this.
A- -Goz
Victory Songs
Candlelight
Ensiferum has been playing their interesting brand of folk metal for 12 years now, and Victory Songs is their first disc to be release domestically here in the United States. It is also their first full-length release since founding member
(and songwriter, frontman, etc) Jari Mäenpää left the band.
Opening the disc is an instrumental piece which has a movie soundtrack feel to it, before delving into "Blood is the Price of Glory", a fast paced affair with a bit of everything Ensiferum has to offer in it. Transitions from the gruff vocal style used for the majority of the vocals, to a cleaner gang vocal attack are done nicely here, and there is a great guitar lead mid-song. They continue along this vein for much of the disc, with a notable exception being the ballad-ish "Wanderer". It does tend to have a samey feeling, though, and gets a but repetitive at times.
Skillfully combining grating almost black metal vocals with clean vocals, heavy and melodic guitar riffs with acoustic and traditional folk instrumental passages, the band can certainly hold their own as musicians and songwriters. Overall, the music is very "visual", with an epic soundtrack feeling to much of it. You can almost picture some victorious vikings returning on their ships, celebrating with each other and enjoying a tasty beverage of some sort. A good release, but lacking something to put it over the edge and make it great.
B- -Goz
Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments
Candlelight
Jumping fuck!!! I had pretty much written Entombed off after Wolverine Blues, but this album has sucked me back into Swede fandom! Their last few albums have been a scatted mish-mash, assembled piecemeal it would seem. Some stuff worked, but the majority did not and my ears moved on to other things.
Hearing Serpent Saints for the first time was reminiscent of the kick in the balls I got when my man Mark Fields brought Left Hand Path back to our college dorm room. It’s fresh, groovy and ANGRY! New addition Olle Dahlstedt’s drumming harks back to the Nicke Andersson days, but he brings a more competent array of fills to the final product.
“When In Sodom” is a wonderful tongue-in-cheek chug-fest (“…keep my company of arse!” TOO funny!) and probably my favorite tune, followed closely by “Amok”,
“Warfare Plague Famine Death” and the title track.
All hail the old new band to stand atop the Swedish death metal heap.
A -Mike Baronas
Almah
Candlelight
Current Angra singer Edu Falaschi pulls together his first solo album with some impressive musicians in the symphonic/power field. Guitarist Emppu Vuorinen normally holds the fort for Nightwish, bassist Laura Porra handles the bottom end in Stratovarius and drummer Casey Grillo mans the kit for Kamelot. Almah features a sound that approaches more of a modern Metallica groove feel coupled with his known power/ symphonic conventional background. Edu’s range contains more of that aggressive, balls out rage, evident early on with the opening track “King”. The only track that mirrors his work in Angra would be the double bass/ speed chord dual “Take Back Your Spell”, as most of the 11 tracks seem to have a lighter, more emotive dynamic such as the ballad “Forgotten Land” and 80’s AOR inspired “Breathe”.
Simplistic songwriting plus performances that get the job done equal an overall album that probably won’t remain in many home collections for long.
Nothing screams ‘wow!’ regarding Almah, which is a shame as I have enjoyed Edu’s performances in Angra since joining for Rebirth. To me I felt like this record was more of a hodgepodge stew rather than a cohesive vision, and as such the quality wavers from cut to cut. Probably one for the group who must have every Edu album- otherwise seek out greener pastures for your melodic metal needs.
C -Matt Coe
From Below
Aftermath Music
The Fall of Every Season is the mastermind of lone bandmate Marius Strand. Marius started the band in the fall of 2004, and released a couple of demos before Norway's Aftermath Music took interest and from that came From Below.
From Below is a melancholic, moody, and masterful ride through various bleak soundscapes of mortal mystery, meandering on a slow path to a doomy place we are all most likely destined to discover some day. Full of melodic bits and pieces, yet strung together with some supremely heavy guitar parts, this is at once hauntingly beautiful music and heavy enough to knock the pictures off your neighbors walls if played with enough volume. Marius' voice is as versatile as the music he choses to sing over. He goes from a quiet, melodramatic tone to a deep gruff style without a hitch, heightening the power or sadness of a particular passage as he needs to.
While The Fall of Every Season most definitely shows numerous and varied influences, Darius weaves them together seamlessly into his own masterpiece of music. I won't pick a favorite track here, as I normally do, because they all standout in their own way, and I think From Below needs to be listened to as a whole to fully enjoy it. Get this disc, listen to it, and marvel at the masterpiece.
A+ -Goz
Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes
SPV
This is exactly how I take my metal. I'll have an extra large aggression with scream and extra groove, hold the crap. Some people start their day with coffee, I start my days with metal. Hatesphere is some good gourmet Danish Heavy Metal.
Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes is not just a great metal album, all the songs have different motivational qualities to carry you through countless menial or pleasurable physical exertions. Fantastic riffs, drums, [unclean] vocals, solos, everything. It's all good. So good I had trouble picking favorite tracks. So far, I'm up to (and this is subject to change after many more listens) "Floating", opening tracks "Lies and Deceit" and "The Slain", and closing "Absolution". I could name more but I already mentioned the entire album was great.
The interesting percussion and clever guitars kept my attention and made Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes an absolute pleasure to review. Always driving, heavy, aggressive metal. Not so ridiculously fast you can't even hear the content of the music. The way metal should be. Hatesphere is only a step or two behind Pantera. The only thing keeping this album from A+ status is perhaps just a few more listens. Or I would like to hear a little more speed, a little more often, and I'd love to hear some more of that soul that was trying to surface in those heavy, sexy vocals.
I look forward watching Hatesphere's career gain recognition in the United States. Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes is due to be released in the USA on September 11, 2007. I hope that those of us who appreciate good metal go out and buy this CD and show some much needed support from America so they can get their asses over here and play [and I want the t-shirt]. The Danish awards Hatesphere has won for previous albums were just the beginning. Hatesphere and bands like them could be responsible for the abandonment of emo. Someone should start a tour for just that purpose, hint... hint.
A -Alesha Brunell
Hail Horror
Prosthetic Records
Seattle's Himsa have the rare ability to consistently deliver good, heavy metal with climbing rhythms in every song. This is apparent in Hail Horror. Their instrumentation clearly portrays the strong emotion of their music (not to be confused with Emo). Guitarists Kirby Johnson and Sammi Curr exhibit endless catchy melodies and riffs. Their perfect accompaniment, the speed and style of dexterous drummer Chad Davis, make Himsa a noteworthy pleasure to listen to.
Though not their most favorable characteristic, but certainly a factor that earns extra points and respect from me is there are NO clean vocals. Some may disagree, and I may be a little too picky about clean vocals in my speed metal, but I think clean vocals have to be clever and/or phenomenal or it sounds out of place in really fast paced music. John Pettibone's throaty vocals are a fitting complement.
Himsa's expressive sound makes Hail Horror a quality metal album from start to finish.Stand-out tracks include "Pestilence", "Anathema", "Sleezevil", "Seminal" and the list grows the more I listen to it. Every song contains speed. "Wither" starts slow but doesn't stay that way. Closing track "Send Down Your Reign" is... peculiar. The Japanese release featured an extra track "I, Possession".
I liked Hail Horror for it’s unending "catchiness". I did not find it as memorable as I expected. By that I mean, all the songs were good heavy metal, but nothing sticks in your head to remember later that make you head bang even though there’s no music playing. Like my two favorite tracks on their last album Courting Tragedy and Disaster ; "Jacob Shock" and "Rain to the Sound of Panic". Himsa’s new album, due to release late this summer, is said to be a combination of the strengths of Hail Horror and Courting Tragedy and Disaster.
B -Alesha Brunell
Overture of the Wicked EP
SPV
One of the longest running power /traditional metal acts in America, guitarist Jon Schaffer has a distinct vision and approach to Iced Earth. Tight rhythm guitar, loads of triplet runs and epic arrangements usually complimented with killer pipes to bring his historical/ science fiction lyrical concepts home. As a preview to the second installment of the Something Wicked trilogy of full lengths, we get this four song EP with one new track “Ten Thousand Strong” along with a re-recording of the original “Something Wicked” trilogy of songs that appeared years ago with Matt Barlow on vocals, this time featuring their current singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. The drums seem to have more of a punchy feel on the revised recordings, but “Ripper” I believe doesn’t capture the versatility and original bite that Matt Barlow had years ago when these songs first surfaced. “Ten Thousand Strong” has more of a thrashy atmosphere and seems to be a logical continuation to the Iced Earth vision of 80’s influences along with a slight modern production dynamic that should keep the troops happy.
I suppose collection hounds will scoff Overture Of The Wicked up in droves, but the casual Iced Earth consumer would be better off waiting for the full product so you can get all sides of the band in a much deeper fashion. Considering the wider market in America for melodic bands these days, Iced Earth could continue their upward appeal with another strong studio release.
B- -Matt Coe
Choas Dissection Order
Osmose
Dutch grind mainstays Inhume blast through 16 tracks in just a hair over 30 minutes on their latest release, Chaos Dissection Order. Blast beats, massively distorted guitar riffs, and gurgling vocals (with the occasional screams) are aplenty here, and it should please any fan of grindcore. Want to be blown away immediately? Skip to track 7 - "Dismal" - and prepare to be blasted back in your barcalounger. If that doesn't do it for you, then play "Exhume" and suffer the same fate.
All fans of grind should have this in their collection.
B+ -Goz
The Silent Epidemic
Black Balloon /Candlelight
The thing I love most about metal is there's always a seeming endless supply of new bands to explore. When I first saw that Insense was from Oslo, Norway, I assumed black metal. It was a refreshing surprise to hear otherwise. While I do hear several influences in their sound such as Death, Pantera and Slipknot, the majority of The Silent Epidemic sounds a lot like Tool. Considering Tool's fan base, Insense could be very successful.
Some tracks from The Silent Epidemic can be dark and aggressive, while others are lengthy, mellow, progressive pieces. Some are both and almost all the songs are over 4 minutes long. "The Erosion of Oslo" for example, started out good and fast, then gets slow, and finally 4 minutes into the song begins the outro that I felt was the best part of the five and a half minute song.
I was very impressed with the guitars. I liked their Pantera/Slipknot style chugging that you don't hear too often as of late. The drums were a welcome focus during the progressive parts. The clean vocals were good most of the time (I even heard a little soul trying to surface there), but at times sounded a little 'off' like in "Deeper Nail". But I have to say, Tommy Hjelm has an excellent screaming voice. Sometimes he even sounds as if he's really straining those vocal chords. I'm not sure if that was the intended effect, but the music speaks for itself. Unless you're taking a shit, don't push yourself too hard. We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.
Two songs that made me very happy were "The Pendulum Knife" and the opening track "Welcome Whore". Both tracks were consistent top-shelf quality from start to finish. The slow, Tool-ish style scattered throughout a lot of the other tracks didn't catch my fancy. I do understand that a lot of people like that, so The Silent Epidemic could be an album that others would definitely enjoy. I do admire and respect mellow music like Tool, Pink Floyd and such, it's just not something I'm ever in "that" mood to listen to. So, if you're big into Tool, and like Pantera and Slipknot as well, this is an album you would not want to miss out on.
B- -Alesha Brunell
Ghost Opera
SPV
Growing up with the traditional metal sounds of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Accept, Fates Warning and the like, I always gravitate to acts that add mystery, mystique and a sense of historical respect to the genre. Florida’s Kamelot can be one of those bands that consistently release albums that grab my brain through the combination of theatrical lyric presentation and music that sweeps across power, progressive and slightly gothic lines. Once labeled with the Crimson Glory clone tag (mostly due to former vocalist Mark Vanderbilt’s eerie similarity to Midnight’s range), they’ve really broken through in all markets thanks to the addition of Roy Khan handling the microphone- as his range moves across the spectrum a la the best days of John Arch or Geoff Tate. Ghost Opera gives Kamelot a chance to streamline their sound and stray from their past two conceptual pieces Epica and The Black Halo while also taking a couple of chances in terms of their versatile established sound.
For instance “The Human Stain” and “Blucher” contain distortion vocal techniques that ardent Kamelot fans may consider dangerous, but I believe give Roy a chance to add another flavor to the darker material. The blazing double bass speed tracks are also kept to a minimum on Ghost Opera- save for the title track and “Silence Of The Darkness”, as the dynamics shift to more of a morose, mid-tempo nature throughout the majority of the album’s
12 tracks. Unlike their last effort, the songs cut to the chase quickly, rarely exceeding the 5 minute mark which I think makes for more of an instantaneous effort. The classical spirit comes to the forefront in a stripped down ballad like “Anthem” which concentrates on the keyboard work of Oliver Palotai as well as the orchestral arrangement help from co-producer Miro. Guitarist Thom Youngblood takes in a broad spectrum of world cultural influences and infuses Kamelot with the ability to keep every album invigorating, something that I think veteran groups often struggle with when you’ve been around for over 15 years as they have.
The Fourth Legacy and The Black Halo probably would be the two Kamelot benchmarks in their long discography yet Ghost Opera I think deserves the same attention due to its confidence and subscription to a ‘less is more’ philosophy.
A -Matt Coe
Live Consternation
Peaceville
Peaceville is releasing Katatonia's Live Consternation in advance of their first US headlining tour in September (with first ever US appearances for Insomnium and Swallow the Sun as well). This CD/DVD combination was recorded in 2006 at Germany's Summerbreeze open air festival. It shows the band in top form, both musically and vocally.
Romping through 11 tracks, the band focuses on their later years (as stuff from the first 2 would be near impossible without an extra vocalist), and pulls the songs off quite well. Vocally, Jonas Renske sounds good, but without the trickery a studio can provide, he does sound a bit different live. Musically, the band it tight and powerful, not missing a beat anywhere, and laying down some massively heavy riffs when the song calls for it.
As for the DVD, it is pristine in it's quality. Although the packaging says the audio is 5.1 surround, it is actually 4.1, with no front center channel present. It may have made the surround experience a bit more true had Renske's vocals been locked in the center, but it works fine the way it is.
Check this out if you are a fan of the band, and if not, check it out to see what to expect when they come to the states during the month of September. Various members of the GASPetc.com staff will be at the September 7th show in Bedford, NH - throw us some horns if you see us.
B -Goz
Give Me Your Soul...Please
Metal Blade
Right off the bat (pun VERY much intended!) I know what I’m getting into when I put on a new King Diamond album (falsetto vocals, virtuoso guitar playing and insane rhythm backing it all up) - the fun is always unraveling the mystical, paranormal, haunting story he has concocted for us!
He’s back with Andy LaRocque of course, and returning King Diamond veterans Hal Patino on the bass, Mike Wead on second guitar, Matt Thompson on the skins and Livia Zita on additional vocals (the female parts). Give Me Your Soul...Please finds us facing another female child ghost, (actually a boy ghost is involved too, but he has met a fate that she can’t control) looking for something from the living, a topic that is no stranger to the King. To give away the story would be a spoiler to the diamond bangers out there, so I’ll only mention there’s lots of blood, shadowy imagery, soul-seeking tortured ghosts, and ghosts haunting the living, oh yeah, an axe and lost sanity show up too!
“The Dead” starts off the disc in typical Diamond fashion with creepy horror organ and story set up then breaks into the faster paced “Never Ending Hill”. “Is Anybody Here?” has the mid-tempo catchy chorus the King is so great at. “Black Of Night” has a sweet melodic intro riff that breaks into a faster paced riff and “Mirror Mirror” starts off slower and cooks into an offbeat chugging beat and contains some of King’s trademark descending “ah ah ah ah aaahhh” vocals and an upside down cross thrown in for evil measure. “The Cellar” has dual lead guitar harmonies and as the song title suggests takes place in the cellar, a place we all know leads to nothing happy or uplifting for our poor hapless living souls in the story line. “Pictures In Red” is the discs ballad with King’s whispering and falsetto ballad vocals over mellow melodic guitars. “Give Me Your Soul” picks up the pace with a major plot connection between the living and the dead. “The Floating Head” has a nice machine gun riff and “Cold As Ice” has a nice break down in the middle that gives it a nice cold effect. “Shapes Of Black”, a mellower track on the album has a nice harpsichord in it and creepy synthesizer melodies that make it a stand out track. “The Girl In The Bloody Dress” has a cool bass line and more synthesizer melody and closes up the plot line of the story and, features additional vocals by Livia, playing the girl in the story. “Moving On” ends the album with a sweet flamenco style nylon acoustic string guitar piece at the beginning of it and more vocals from Livia, that add a nice gothic flavor to it. Some of the most emotional guitar solos occur in this song, not to say the others aren’t emotional, but these are slow and you can connect to them more.
Even though the King hasn’t excited me the way he did since I played Abigail, Them and House of God for the first time, Give Me Your Soul… is no slouch of an album from everyone’s master of horror metal ghost whisperer! The thing I want to know is, King, when are we going to see you hosting a weekly paranormal show? It could be called “Ghost Riding with the King!” You know you’re the man to do it and you’d blow away all of these so called ghost hunters that proclaim to have these special talents to connect with the dead!
B+ -Matt Smith
Serenity
Candlelight
Vocalist Timo Kotipelto may be best known as the front man for Finland’s Stratovarius, coming into the band during 1994’s The Fourth Dimension and leading the quintet through a series of melodic power efforts that helped break the group into the upper echelon of headlining acts. During down time he’s released two solo albums which haven’t really stretched far beyond his normal day gig, so this third album Serenity seems like a slight departure and more of a back to his early influences recording. Returning keyboardist Janne Wirman (Children Of Bodom) and fellow Stratovarius bassist Lauri Porra are joined by guitarist Tuomas Wainola (Thunderstone) and drummer Mirka Rantanen for these 10 tracks.
You’ll hear a mixture of traditional hard rock, happy power, epic tracks and the emotional balladry Mr. Kotipelto has been known for throughout his career. “Sleep Well” the first single typifies the straight ahead 4/4 mid tempo atmosphere the band prefers, Timo feeling comfortable not reaching for the banshee highs and instead allowing his lower register to shine.
“Angels Will Cry” contains all of the speedy double bass runs and guitar/keyboard neo-classical interplay one could ever hope for, a fast cut to get the heart racing. “After The Rain” sees the group slow down in a classic power ballad manner, but follow it up with the Whitesnake-inspired “Mr. Know-It-All” that features Tuomas wielding his axe in a John Sykes/Gary Moore dual battle while Janne hammers home his organ chords in an older 1970’s way. Serenity doesn’t reinvent the wheel- it’s just a feel good album from musicians willing to delve deep into their early memories of music appreciation growing up and paying homage to their heroes.
This will be one I keep in my collection- leap years beyond the first two Kotipelto discs, the man with a golden voice should appease his long time followers while the next Stratovarius album hits shelves sometime in 2008.
B+ -Matt Coe
New American Gospel (re-issue)
Prosthetic Records
I'm sure I don't have to tell you how Lamb of God stands apart from many metal bands. Their well-deserved success is a just reward for their unique brand of addictive metal.
After changing their name from Burn the Priest to Lamb of God, their first album was New American Gospel (September 2000). The Japanese release had extra track "Nippon". In 2006, the album was re-released with video extras, and remixed versions of "Nippon" and demos of three preceding tracks titled "New Willenium (The Black Dahlia)", "Half-lid (A Warning)", and "Flux (Pariah)". The songs I liked most from this album were "In the Absence of the Sacred", "Letter to the Unborn", and "The Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion" [so far].
I am not pleased to report that I have not heard many good things about New American Gospel and understand that it is not a preferred Lamb of God album among fans (probably spoiled fans who have only listened to more recent Lamb of God albums). However, I choose to look at it this way; Ok, ya, it's not as memorable as what they have written since their debut as Lamb of God, but it's still above-average quality heavy metal fast or slow. You can plainly hear their perfectionist standards and their serious drive to deliver straight-forward metal. Which they do well throughout the entire album. The fact that they were doing these things consistently over seven years ago deserves mention and earns my respect. It also proves that the truly talented can only get better with age. (The below grade would have been a B- if the drums and guitars weren't so damn good).
B+ -Alesha Brunell
Les Ékorchés
Indica
I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t buy this album because Michele Langevin (aka Away, from Voivod, one of THE best drummers in the Metal community) plays drums on it, so with that said I absolutely love this band!
Hardcore influenced metal/metal influenced hardcore, not unlike Tool, but without the progressive psychedelic trippiness but possessing their raw power. Clocking in at under 43 minutes and 15 songs Les Ékorchés says a lot within a short amount of time. Most songs are under three minutes and only two or three of them go past four minutes so there’s no time to get bored with a particular song. That is where the hardcore comparison in their sound really makes sense. They’re not here to make any prog rock impressions, they’re here to kick our fucking heads in with some killer riffs and bashing mosh pit rhythms and aggressive (not death metal) vocals sung in French (Canadian, I presume)!
“Shot ça yeule” kicks off the album with shouting vocals from Mark Vaillankourt, whose raw vocal style can only be described as Max from Sepultura meets Henry Rollins. “La vie m'ékoeure” continues the album in the same heavy vibe and “Naître d'un chakal” has frenetic drumming twisting around manic vocals and guitars with a raw guitar riff and a mesmerizing bass line from Phillipe Mius d’Entremont. “Haine” starts off with the coolest bass riff on the album and “D'la viande cé murs” has one of my favorite guitar riffs from Pat Gordon, whose guitar sound is heavy but with a hollow crunch to it that is extremely unique and memorable. It makes me want to throw some fists around the pit (even though I’ve never really done that in my life!). “La poly” has a nice cello accent in the mellow start of the song that comes back toward the end of it and adds such a sweet sound to the mood. “Rien n'a changé” has a nice fast paced drum riff rhythm that could easily get the pit swirling quite nicely! “Vesoul” has some cool accordion in it (credited to “Joe Evil”,whom I have a sneaking suspicion is also named Michele Langevin, as I’ve heard he plays the accordion!) that makes it sound like a French hardcore metal polka jig, definitely one of my favorite tracks on the album! “Amourir” has a very Voivodesque sounding riff in it, while “3 bonnes raisons” has more raw riffs and vocals. “Le feu est pogné” has an old school punk beat and sound to it that would fit right in at an old school CBGB’s show. “On est en guerre” is a fast paced number keeping with most of the pace of the album. “On s'tire dans l'pied” has a nice crunchy chugging riff and a nice mid-tempo galloping beat whereas “Vendredi” has more of a rumbling Tool rhythm to it. “Tête dans l'kul” has more cello in it that leads into a doomy riff that eventually picks up to a machine drum beat that leads us to a fast paced section to finish off the disc.
You’ll probably have to find this disc online (I got this one through the major online music store that I don’t want to promote here) because it’s an import and probably not easily available in the states. It will be worth searching for though, trust me so look for it! As the French would say, trés magnifique! I think that’s how you spell it!
A -Matt Smith
Planetfall
Candlelight
Space rock is one of those genres that goes practically unnoticed by the mainstream (at least in America) but will always have a built-in following to keep it going strong. With multiple day festivals where bands from every continent, time period, and label converge in one space time continuum event and web based groups trading mp3s.
Litmus is one of those bands keeping the spirit of space rock alive and Planetfall is a pure indication that it is in no danger of dying. Like pioneers of the genre, Hawkwind, Ozric Tentacles, Helios Creed, Litmus ARE space rock. Swirling synths (I always envision they have their own tour van for all the synth equipment), multi-rack mounted guitar effects (unless their analog purists like me!), sometimes multiple drummers, sci-fi song topics ("Psychic Projection" is a perfect example), and a vocalist that keeps you grounded by actually singing in english, as opposed to an alien language!
Clocking in at over an hour, Planetfall is an odyssey, best taken when you're going on a long trip, be it by car or psychedelic substances! With the shortest song being like an intro, "Planetfall" at 2:36 minutes and the longest epic being "Expanding Universe (Twinstar Pt. 2)" at 17:05 minutes. If you like your space rock pure and epic, I highly recommend picking up Planetfall, you won't be disappointed!
A -Matt Smith
How the World Came to an End
Candlelight
Manes began as an avant-garde Black Metal group. Their sophomore effort, Vilosophe saw them venture far away from metal, retaining very few metal influences in their sound. Now, their third release, How the World Came To an End, ventures even further away. The metal sounds are virtually nonexistent here. Instead, Manes has decided to favor an electro/trip-hop sound. Manes seemingly do not care about making their original fans happy, as many of them will continue to be alienated by the band’s innovation. However, despite not liking the music, they must admit that the band displays stellar creativity and musicianship.
The album begins with a haunting track entitled “Deeprooted.” This song has a gorgeous female soprano over house beats that put the listener into a trance. Next up is the song “Come to Pass,” which is another house dance tune, but this time with French rapping for the vocals.
The rest of the tracks on this album are so eclectic that classifying the album is wickedly difficult. From the frightening “Last Lights” to the eerie “Nobody Wants the Truth,” these clearly Radiohead-influenced former metallers are clearly out to prove that they wont be confined by metal.
B+ -Adam Kohrman
Eat Me, Drink Me
Interscope
Marilyn Manson's latest outing, Eat Me, Drink Me has songwriting help from producer Tim Skold. He has helped construct a dark story of broken love and yearning to be loved again the way only Manson can tell it. Actually, Manson and Tim Skold wrote, produced, and recorded the whole album themselves. Apparently Tim can play guitar, in addition to drums and bass, as there are no other playing credits on the album. One major element Tim brings to the table is some very creative and interesting guitar work. Riffs and solos are inventive and textured while the drums aren't anything special, and may even be programmed and the bass is just there for filling the backbone of the guitar. Gone are the pummeling chugging guitars and instead are his most accessible rock songs since Mechanical Animals.
"If I Was Your Vampire" leads off the disc as a haunting love song involving immortality to never having to feel heartbreak. "Putting Holes In Happiness" starts off with a melodic guitar line and has a great guitar solo. "The Red Carpet Grave" has a very poppy guitar riff almost doesn¹t even sound like a Manson song until he starts singing. "They Said Hell's Not Hot" continues the melodic guitar vibe whereas "Just A Car Crash Away" is the ballad of the album (and one of my favorite tracks on the album). "Heart-Shaped Glasses"
is the most radio friendly and upbeat song on the album, and the one Manson himself was quoted as saying is the new "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and I can see what he means as it has a very Bauhaus sound to it. "Evidence" has a slow drum beat to start off the song and eventually bleeds into heavier guitar for the chorus. "Are You The Rabbit" starts off with finger snaps and goes into a swinging riff and beat, sort of like "Dopeshow". "Mutilation Is The Most Sincere Form Of Flattery" is by far the heaviest and most classic Manson sounding song on the album with a "Fuck you/fuck you" chorus so everyone can shout out live. In the song he makes the point that no matter what, he'll always do what he does best and fuck the imitators. "You, Me & The Devil Makes 3" is another swinging song with more of a classic Manson vocal sneer to it. And on the title track, "Eat Me, Drink Me" wraps up the album with a nice guitar melody and Manson inviting resolution to all future love interests with some creepy whispering in the middle.
Although not a classic Manson album, it still ranks up there in content and quality compared to the others. Tim Skold seems to have brought out some hidden pop sensibilities in Manson and it has made for a very mainstream album for the master of shock rock! I'll be interested to see if his next album is full of love songs for Evan Rachel Wood, his newest love! Hopefully they won't break up before we get to hear it!
C+ -Matt Smith
Martriden
Candlelight
Montana isn't exactly known as a hotbed of metal, but Matriden bring us the heavy stuff from Big Sky Country. This is the bands debut EP, and they are currently in the studio recording a full-length disc.
If you are into technically inclined death metal with a touch of blackness, and more than a touch of Scandanavian influence, then Martriden is a band you want to investigate. While not breaking any real new ground on the four tracks included here, they certainly are putting forth a great effort to make a name for themselves in the metal scene. The standout track for me is "The Art of Death Infernal". While it is also the most basic in terms of song structure, the pure brutality and power of the song just does it for me.
I look forward to hearing what Martriden comes up with for their next release - maybe they'll help make Montana the next metal hotspot.
B -Goz
United Abominations
Roadrunner
It’s tremendously refreshing when a legendary band proves that they’re still capable of producing great metal. So many bands can’t do that anymore. However, Megadeth sure can. After their disappointing The System Has Failed, the mighty thrashers have rebounded with their best album since Countdown to Extinction. From the catchy opener “Sleepwalker” to the pummeling closer “Burnt Ice,” United Abominations revitalizes the pioneering metal band, even after many had left them for dead.
Each song on this album retains its own identity. The single “Washington is Next!” is an energetic, groovy anthem, despite the fact that the main riff sounds suspiciously similar to Crimson Glory’s “Red Sharks.” The next three songs “Never Walk Alone…A Call to Arms,” the title track, and “Gears of War” have the aggressive tendencies of Megadeth, and even hearken back to their golden years. Then the album slows down for a bit with the duo of “Blessed are the Dead” and “Pray for Blood.” The latter of which has a downright irritating main riff. The album then settles with the soothing remake of “A Tout Le Monde.” It’s a song with that instant accessibility that so many great songs possess. The album then closes with some of the heavier tracks on the CD. “Amerikhastan” is an indictment of our country’s current political turmoil.
This album is bound to be on plenty of critics’ top ten lists at the end of this year. It’s groovy, listenable, and even danceable at times. The only thing keeping it from a perfect score is the awful riff in “Pray for Blood.”
B+ -Adam Kohrman
The Wind-Up
Candlelight
What I remember the most on The Wind-Up is the vocal harmonies and the different directions the instrumentals take. There are almost too many styles for any songs to stand out except the least favorable things that sounded so out of place, they stood out.
The vocals on The Wind-Up were good most of the time. There were a few harmonies, like in "Cover It Up" and "Eternal Failure", that propelled me to skip that song every time it came around again. For clean vocals, unless it sounds creepy or scary, I like them to not sound like singing happy hymns in church choir. Their harmonies sounded like professional choir vocals, and I'd probably go to church a lot if we could sing Memfis instead of looking at the Baptists with envy because they get to clap and dance, but the hymnal style was too weird for me to get used to in a metal album. To me that's like mixing oil and water or good and evil.
"Breathless" started off sounding very Dillinger Escape Plan influenced, went in several directions, then spiraled off into some other world like in the third track "Forever Discounted". They let the instrumentals sometimes go to this plane of existence where forgotten background music for old Super-Nintendo adventure games go to die. That did not make me overly eager to hear again.
Over-all I think Memfis has great potential. There were a few tracks that were almost catchy, like "The Judgment" or "Stop Those Waves". The band's basic musical composition and talents are good, progressive metal. I should have spent more time listening, and probably would have if not for certain less appealing parts in some songs throwing me off.
The Wind-Up almost sounded as if Memfis were trying to mix metal with easy listening if that is possible. It actually had a bit of a relaxing effect at times. If you like metal with clean harmonic vocals, and lots of other elaborate things going on, you may like this album. My grade is only the opinion of someone who prefers lots of bass, grooves, and fast drums in my metal which wasn't a focus for The Wind-Up.
C -Alesha Brunell
Your Demons, Their Angels
Rivel Records
Sweden's Miseration wail their way through 9 tracks of melodic and technical death metal (melodic death from Sweden - what a surprise!) on their debut disc. Featuring Christian Alvestam of Scar Symmetry on vocals, and Jani Stefanovic of DivineFire on most of the instruments (with some help from friends), you know the band has some talent to draw on already.
Launching out of the gate with "Thrones", we are instantly treated to a massively brutal attack of humongous riffs and pounding drums. Then Christian's vocals kick in (double tracked at times) and add even more depth and heaviness to an allready crushing track. "Perfection Destroyed" brings a bit more melody, a bit of clean vocals, and also some pretty kick ass blast beats. "Chain-Work Soul" showcases some pretty good vocal dynamics, going from death growls, to clean singing, straight to black metal style growls with seeming ease.
Overall, this is a great debut for these guys. The only drawback here is that a lot of the song structures seem to be the same, as if the songs are interchangeable. Hopefully this is because of the newness of the band, and they will get a bit more inventive from track to track on future endeavors.
A- -Goz
Behind the Shadows Lie Madness
Candlelight
Mithras, a duo hailing from the United Kingdom, bring forth 12 tracks of technically inspired death metal, with a couple of interesting touches thrown in.
The disc gets started nicely enough (after the 2 minute intro), with "To Fall From Heavens". While it is for the most part fairly straightforward death metal fare, Mithras make it a bit more unique with some clean vocals and some multi-layered, echoing guitar leads. From there, we get into more straight ahead death, very similar in sound and style to Morbid Angel - eerily similar at times, in fact. They do have technical proficiency, with some amazing drumming and great solos, but it all starts to run together after a while. They do try to break things up with a couple of well-placed spacey instrumental tracks, but by then it's too little, too late for me.
The production here is quite good, with everything being in the proper place in the mix and coming through clearly. My main complaint in the sound department is that the drums sound pretty dull and lifeless - as triggered drums usually do. Behind the Shadows Lie Madness is decent, but not something that will grab your attention and hold onto it easily. The first track is the best here, and everything else that follows blurs together.
C -Goz
The Latest Version of the Truth
Regain Records
When you sit down to listen to a band named Mustasch, you really don’t know what to expect. But this four-piece metal outfit has paid their dues in the Swedish metal scene for nearly ten years, and Latest Version of the Truth leads you to believe that they may finally be poised to break through. And despite their name, this is no hair band.
The album features classic heavy metal riffs, strings, and soaring vocals that when blended together really seems to work. There is a sinister quality to their music which is evident beneath such standout tracks as “Falling Down” and “The End.” But you get the feeling that this band is having a kick-ass time making music, and it shows. Latest Version of the Truth is sometimes angry and often melodic, but dammit it’s always fun.
I guess that is what you’d expect from a band named Mustasch. But make no mistake, this is a serious metal band that knows how to entertain. Skip straight to track 2 “Double Nature” and you’ll immediately know what I mean. As for the name Mustasch? It comes from the farm where they used to practice in their early days .
B+ -Dan McDermott
White Darkness
Black Mark
While Nightingale has transformed a bit from their earlier days being a goth rock solo project for metal master Dan Swanö into a prog rock/pop band, they still are making great music that even metal fans should be able to enjoy.
White Darkness is a keyboard laden, sometimes poppy affair, with superb melodies and catchy choruses in just about every track. This is music that you will get in your head and not be able to forget for a long time. While this may surprise some, considering Swanö's past efforts (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Infestdead to name but a few), having read interviews with Dan and his brother Dag in the past, it is obvious that they both have enjoyed this style of music since their early years.
I'm not going to pick a favorite track for this one, as they are all brilliant from start to finish. If you are a casual fan of Swanö, you may not like this as it's not death metal - heck it's barely metal at all, but it is great music that is played a group of extremely talented musicians.
A- -Goz
Xecutioner's Return
Candlelight
Obituary's Candlelight debut follows their comeback album, Frozen in Time, and presents much of what you'd expect from these pioneers of death metal from Florida. This disc is also the Obituary debut for six-stringer Ralph Santolla, who seems to bring a bit of his technical ability to Obituary, as he did to Deicide on Stench of Redemption.
"Face Your God" gets us off to a galloping start, with a quick paced riff smacking you in the face right off the bat. John Tardy's vocals are as expected - gruff and angry sounding, and the rest of the band keeps the brutal attack strong and groove filled throughout this track. There is also some great guitar lead work towards the end of the track - no doubt at least partially influenced by Santolla. "Evil Ways" - the track made available on iTunes in late July - showcases another heavy and catchy riff, and some more of Tardy's trademark vocal stylings. Santolla's guitar ability is shown here as well, with a good lead part closing out the track.
"Bloodshot" gets my vote for best track on Xecutioner's Return. A bit of a slower attack, "Bloodshot" pummels you with it's heavy, ferocious riffing, and Donald Tardy's superb drumming tying together a fierce but of music that should please all. "Contrast the Dead" offers up some competition for best track with it's doomy feel and numerous lead breaks, this 7+ minute affair is extremely well done.
Obituary show that Frozen in Time was no fluke, and that they are back with a vengeance once again. Check the dates for their upcoming US tour in September and October and get obliterated by Obituary.
B+ -Goz
Grace Submerged
Candlelight
Back when I first delved deep into the metal world as a youth, my mind rigidly refused to accept cross-pollination between styles. British metal, power metal, progressive metal, doom metal, thrash metal and death metal- all had distinct elements that I didn’t want to see polluted with or watered down. But at some point in the lifetime of metal, the only moves to make would be to take diverse backgrounds and try to meld a new individual take to stand out from the crowd. Back when this first took place rumblings in the underground abounded as it was worse than the first meeting of peanut butter and chocolate (nu-metal, metal core, death core, etc…). In 2007 though I think more acts get the picture and we’ve had some special creative albums to speak of as the focus seems to be placed on solid songwriting and musical intuitiveness.
Norway sextet Octavia Sperati fuse the gothic and doom genres with their music, catching listeners from both camps on their second album Grace Submerged. Vocalist Silje Wergeland conveys the angelic female presence that fits her in the Theatre Of Tragedy/ Lacuna Coil mold while her band mates gravitate between the classic doom tones of Candlemass and Trouble as well as their gothic role models The Gathering or Paradise Lost. The track to win believe it or not is their piano-stripped interpretation of Thin Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe A Word”- taken down to a strict ballad format, this tale of a love torn relationship makes the song more of an Octavia Sperati original and I can appreciate both versions for what they offer. Drummer Ivar Alver (the only male of the group) gets to flash some technical prowess with his off tempo triplet runs during the faster charging “And Then The World Froze”, while the guitar team of Bodil Myklebust and Gyri Losnegaard take a page from the underground wit h their speed picking in the main riffs of “Going North”. The complete album whirls by in under 40 minutes- once again fitting with the less filler, all meat and potatoes direction the group seems to employ with every song.
Given the higher profile of female fronted acts these days as well as the renewed attention to doom metal in general, I think Octavia Sperati could be poised to make a large breakthrough on their European shores as well as inroads through North America. Brilliant, emotional, long lasting- Grace Submerged will be in my top 5 of the year.
A+ -Matt Coe
Healing Through Fire
Sanctuary
Orange Goblin return with their latest, Healing Through Fire, a kickin romp of stoner rock that old school stoner fans and new ones will appreciate equally. OG have been putting out albums since the mid-nineties and show no signs of slowing down with this disc! I actually hadn't bought one of their discs since Time Travelin' Blues but I did see them play an incredible show at the Lucky Dog in Worcester last year and it renewed my interest in them.
This latest opus starts off with "The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle" blasting off the album with a heavy stoner metal riff complete with wah-wah guitar wailing. "Vagrant Stomp" keeps it moving with a fuzzed out bass line that kicks into more stoner battering riffage and a great rumbling riff break in the middle section. "The Ale House Braves" kicks off with vocals and breaks into a sweet groove while "Cities Of Frost" starts off with a mid-tempo beat like a lost Celtic Frost song from Morbid Tales. "Hot Knives And Open Sores" is a rocking number with cool melodic descending riff that blends into a groove laden tempo and then breaks down into a slow spoken word-like poem section that breaks up the song nicely before it kicks back into the heavy song riff. "Hounds Ditch" starts off with a riff that rings out and drums that come galloping in before the whole thing kicks into a sweet rhythm. "Mortlake (Dead Water)" starts off as a beautiful melodic acoustic intro to "They Come Back (Harvest Of Skulls)", a hammering mid-tempo song that breaks into a thrashy speed that sounds like it could be on an old 80's Metal Blade compilation album. "Beginner's Guide To Suicide" is an epic number (eight plus minutes) that starts off slow and bluesy and eventually breaks into a sweet mega blues jam sounding at times like an old blues rock standard a la AC/DC.
The 45 minute DVD that comes with the CD has live footage from the Mean Fiddler in London Dec 2006 and it perfectly showcases their live show. It is interspersed with interview footage of the band and studio footage of them recording Healing Through Fire. One fun tidbit we learn during one of the interviews is the origins of the song "The Ballad Of Solomon Eagle". It is based on a guy from the plague era that would go around naked preaching that the plague was a sign from God to the sinners. I love learning stuff like that! ; )
This CD/DVD combo makes "Healing Through Fire" a valuable purchase if you want an introduction to Orange Goblin or if you're a longtime fan!
A -Matt Smith
Black Rain
Epic
These days any discussion of the Godfather of metal, Ozzy Osbourne, seems to have a bit of a polarizing effect. It's hard to remove Ozzy from the shroud of commercialism that manager/wife Sharon amply portrays. And then there's "Ozzfest", of course...initially one of the largest annual metal/heavy rock tours around, but seemingly winding down and fading out. And, of course, when discussing Ozzy, there's always the connection to Black Sabbath...and the never-ending, if futile, debate over who the better frontman is...the ol' "Ozzy vs Dio" silliness. It's all ridiculous, of course. Ozzy is Ozzy and he does his thing. His contributions to the history of metal and hard rock cannot be understated by any means. And while Dio is a great front man and has a unique, strong set of pipes, there's simply no comparing the two when it comes to overall metal greatness. The original, 1970s Black Sabbath will always be THE Black Sabbath. Everything that came after is secondary, and that includes the Dio-fronted albums, which were good, but not even in the same stratosphere as the all time great Sabbath records made in the 70s.
The current "Heaven and Hell" tour featuring half of the original Sabbath, along with Dio on vocals and Vinny Appice on drums is fun diversion until Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill reconvene for ONE MORE Sabbath record. Just accept this fact and you'll feel so much better.
All this aside, though, how is the Ozz-man holding up these days? The last real solo Ozzy album was 2001's Down to Earth, which was a solid outing overall with some great moments. But, it's been 6 years, a few Ozzfests, and 3 seasons of "The Osbournes" on MTV. Can the guy still make a record?
Approaching 60 (he's 59) and with a somewhat fragile voice (in a live setting, he's been hit or miss...some nights strong, others not so strong), it would seem the odds are stacked against him to pull it off, but he does it. The days of Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Oz are long gone, but can he match an album the quality of, say, No More Tears? The answer here is yes...almost. There are some memorable moments on Black Rain, and some may end up as standouts in the legacy of Ozzy's solo career, while a few sort of feel "safe".
Zakk Wylde, Mike Bordin, and Mike Blasko are back for another tour of duty (Ozzy's live band the past few years), and the record is a bottom-heavy, well-produced effort. As might be expected, Zakk's guitar work is at the forefront, but that's not a bad thing at all--the guy can play. Bordin and Blasko make up a great rhythm section, so the pieces are all in place.
Ozzy's vocal delivery is exactly what one might expect at this point in his career. Aided and abetted by vocal processing, Ozzy's voice sounds strong, but his range is certainly limited. No longer able to hit those higher notes, Ozzy lays low in the vocal register, but he makes it work for him.
Ozzy has always had a distinctive "eery" quality to his voice--it was one of the key elements that drove those early Sabbath records, and it's used to the best of his ability here.
Musically, there's lots of thick, heavy chugging to compliment Ozzy's vocal delivery--Wylde does a fine job of anchoring down and delivering "the metal"
here, and there's a certainly a modern feel to the record. Lyrically speaking we're in the territories of anti-war stances, relationships (there are a couple of ballads here, like Sharon or not), and of course, the proclamation from Ozzy throughout that he's not ready to give it up and walk into the sunset, highlighted in the opening two tracks, "Not Going Away" and "I Don't Wanna Stop". The title track, "Black Rain", is a definite highlight and one of the heavier numbers...dare I say, classic Ozzy?
The standout track is, perhaps, "Trap Door" which closes the CD, starting off with a typical Ozzy hard rocking approach, but slips unexpectedly, but effectively, into a very "Sabbath-esque" bridge section that demonstrates there are still a few tricks up Ozzy's sleeve.
The only significant drawback (other than the ballads), is the packaging...there are no liner notes and virtually no artwork...there is nothing to look at. The package is a dark brown cardboard sleeve that strangely opens up to more non-artwork, with the back cover listing the songs, production credits, and website. Odd.
Overall, though, this is a solid outing by Ozzy. While this might not rank with his greatest works, it's far from weak and anyone professing to be a fan of Ozzy should check it out.
B -Chuck Ferreira
Evolution Hour
Candlelight
Current Emperor drummer Trym plays in this traditional metal quintet, also fronted by a progressive singer Geir Helge Fredheim and rounded out with guitarists Thomas Rokne and Stian Mausethagen plus bassist Tor Seltveit.
Paganize recorded two demos previous to this album between 2003-2005, finally gaining the chance to put out a debut full length. Their sound takes a strong nod to the power scene of the mid 1980’s, especially looking into American acts like Helstar and Queensryche on tracks like “The Hour”, “Dark” and “Divinity In Vain”. When they do speed things up, it’s almost a semi-thrash style like the Mike Howe/ Metal Church days on a number like “Turn Of The Tide” because Geir’s high pitched Geoff Tate-ish melodies keep this away from being a pure bash out. The production has more of a digital precision not unlike Canada’s Eidolon, capturing all of the energy adequately.
Maybe I’m being super clinical in reviewing Evolution Hour, but there’s nothing about Paganize that really separates themselves from the classics.
The riffs don’t grab me, the solos are proficient yet perfunctory, the vocals soar but I’m hard pressed to find a song in particular I can hum away after listening to this twenty times. Trym’s normal drum tempos also seem a bit loose in the double bass realm, as if he’s a little out of place playing in a more traditional style. This could very well be a case of another time in the studio could produce magical moments, but for now Evolution Hour won’t appeal to many newcomers or veterans of the metal movement.
D+ -Matt Coe
Cemetary Earth
I Hate
Pennsylvania’s Pale Divine once again forge on through another label closing its doors, releasing their third album Cemetery Earth on their third independent to date, Sweden’s I Hate Records. Power trios always have a soft spot in my heart, there’s something about keeping the arrangements and abilities down to the core essence that appeals to my sensibilities.
Pale Divine continue to express their affinity for the older NWOBHM along with their stock doom and gloom nature, checking in with another 10 tracks that clock in just a shade over the hour mark. Greg Diener runs the show vocally as well as blistering your ears with a pile of riffs and solos that lift the spirits from decades past while his rhythmic band mates John Gaffney on bass and Darin McCloskey on drums provide the bottom end punch you need to carry home all the songs.
What bands come to mind when listening to songs like “Fire And Ice”, “The Seventh Circle” and “The Conquerer Worm”? Budgie, Candlemass, Trouble, Solitude Aeturnus, and Uriah Heep would be the five I instantly think of.
Diener has no qualms about longer instrumental breaks filled with wah wah induced guitar action. Vocally he continues to bring home an eerie Glenn Danzig rawness, but I believe this time adding in a touch of Phil Moog and Kevin Heybourne on songs like “Broken Wings” and the title track. The production seems to envelope their older inspirations as well, as if the band merely set up the mics, pressed play on the soundboard and digital norms be damned in their circle of life. Be prepared for some long winded jam sections on Cemetery Earth, the type that Deep Purple and UFO would favor in their live concerts- but I don’t mind as I feel like I’m transported out of the current quick fix market and into their world where trends don’t matter- it’s all about the music, the substance and the style.
Each album continues to be a keeper in my book. Add another text to the doom shelves and let’s make Pale Divine more than just a cult appeal trio to the masses.
A- -Matt Coe
PARACOCCIDIOIDOMICOSISPROCTITISSARCOMUCOSIS
Aromatica Germenexcitación en Orgías De Viscosa Y Amarga Putrefación
American Line Productions
Mexico's Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis, aside from having the longest band name I've ever come across, also have the longest album title ever seen my by eyes - Aromatica Germenexcitación en Orgías De Viscosa Y Amarga Putrefación. They play a form of old-school Carcass worshipping gore grind with Meat Shits influenced porno inserts in between many of the songs.
While I am a huge fan of Carcass' first two releases, and the Meat Shits are always good in smaller doses, this release doesn't seem to do a whole lot for me. Sure, it's got some good blast beats, a few decent riffs here and there, and total pitch shifted gurgling vocals, but it just seems to be lacking any cohesion, and doesn't have any of the "catchiness" of the classic Carcass tracks, such as "
Oxidised Razor Masticator" and "
Swarming Vulgar Mass Of Infected Virulency" had way back when.
I am sure a song like "
Erótico Festejo Anal Por La Inmolada E Irreconocible Carne Femenil (Aromática Germenexcitación En Orgías De Viscosa Y Amarga Putrefacción)" (yeah, that is one song title) has some pretty well thought out lyrics, but I am not going to waste anymore time listening to this to find out.
D- -Goz
PARADISE LOST
In Requeim
Century Media
UK's Paradise Lost has been going at it for almost 20 years now, starting as a doom band with some death metal touches, slipped into more of a gothic rock phase for a while, and are now blending the two quite nicely, leaning a bit more back towards the doomier stuff with In Requeim.
Opener "Never for the Damned" comes in crashing (after a bit of an intro), with pummeling drums and a very heavy slow riff accomanying frontman Nick Holmes smooth, yet gruff vocals. A nice mid-paced chugging riff carries the middle part of the song, and a stellar guitar solo closes out the track along with some pretty cool chanting. "The Enemy" is a slightly quicker paced song, but still features some pretty damn impressive riffs, and a chorus that has almost a poppy feel to it.
"Prelude to Descent" is my pick for standout track on this one. Opening with a heavy riff that has a nice dual guitar melody on it, then a brief lead part. Were the vocals are a bit less clean, this song almost could have come off of Draconian Times. The aforementioned melody line is repeated later on in the track, and it's one that will have you humming along to it pretty quickly. The song picks up speed just after the midway point, leading to a great guitar solo by Gregor Mackintosh. I hope they play this song on their upcoming US tour.
B+ -Goz
Phantom Limb
Relapse
Pig Destroyer's fourth full-length, Phantom Limb, brings forth a maelstrom of brutal grindcore, as you'd expect from these guys. They do add a bit of accessibility for more casual fans of the nasty grinding stuff, by adding in some breakdown type stuff here and there.
A rather uniquely arranged three-piece band - just vocals, guitar and drums - no bass player here - Pig Destroyer open the disc with intensity that never lets up. "Rotten Yellow" features plenty of the blast beats and insane vocals that make grind so good, as well as a bit of a breakdown in the middle to get people moving a bit. The title track is a short little number with a great riff towards the end of it, and of course plenty of blast beat laden mayhem as well. They do venture into some longer tracks, such as the standout "Loathsome" and "Heathen Temple", which show that they can structure songs with multiple ideas instead of just blasting about for a minute and a half. The lyrics are also great, at times disturbing, but usually with a nice touch of humor as well.
Pig Destroyers latest disc destroys more than just pigs, it destroys all that is in it's path. Whether or not you are a fan of grind, you should be checking this disc out.
B+ -Goz
In Your Time
Kemado
Priestbird, like their former namesake, Tarantula A.D. (I'm still not sure why they changed the name) are a beautiful band. One moment crashing heavy, the next strings, piano, and acoustic guitars. In Your Time continues the sonic exploration Tarantula A.D. forged, and expands and refines it. "Life Not Lost" starts off the disc heavy, heavy in the Tomahawk kinda heavy, not terribly distorted guitars, but clean distortion, know what I mean? "Season of the Sun" has a nice melody and soft dreamy vocals that make me sleepy.
This tune is one of many that make me compare Priestbird to Pink Floyd, mostly because of the guitar progressions/solos and slow buildup of song structure, and like I mentioned before, mellow vocals, kinda like David Gilmour and Roger Waters. "Guest Room" is a beautiful classically influenced piano piece that intros "Hand That Draws", a song that starts out very dreamy, with piano and sparse synths and acoustic guitar, and picks up to a heavier song, kinda Tool influenced. "Smoke & Pain" is one of the songs with heavy guitar and vocals sounding almost like a grunge song a la Alice in Chains. "In Your Time" starts off nice and mellow with more dreamy vocals and piano with string accompaniment. "Jackyl" is a nice instrumental piece with backwards sitar(?) and mellow folksy finger picked acoustic guitar and "Last to know" is another Meddle/Atom Heart Mother era Floyd sounding tune with nice mellow acoustic guitars and vocals. "Kliminz" is a nice mellow piano based instrumental with string accompaniment and violin solo.
"Mandog" ends the disc starting out dreamy Floyd like, with what sounds like mellotron-like sounds and nice slide guitar work. It then breaks into a heavy crescendo with cello and violins to end the song. Oh, there's a weird "Hidden Track" too, and it sounds like an improvised jam outside on acoustic guitars and bongos and funny howling high pitched vocals. It sounds like they were having some fun!
I highly recommend this disc is you're bored with everything else out there and don't mind mellowing out to some nice Floydian influenced music!
A- -Matt Smith
Age of Tyranny: The Tenth Crusade
Candlelight
Another year or so, and it’s another solid release from Pro-Pain. This is nothing new from the hardcore veterans, just another piece of aggressive music. So while fans looking for something new wont find anything here, hardcore stalwarts will eat it up.
Even more than Pro-Pain’s previous releases, this is clearly an album with an agenda. They are pissed, and they’re letting us hear about it. The opening track repeatedly chants “Fuck the system!” The next song, aptly titled “All for King George” opens with the lyrics “My country tis of thee, sweet land of tyranny,” thus ramming their politics down our throat even more. Thankfully though, unlike many other bands with a political agenda, the music isn’t sacrificed. The riffs are still groovy; the vocals are still intense; and overall, Pro-Pain retain their authentic sound.
The best song on this album is easily “Beyond the Pale.” Its catchy chorus mixes clean vocals with background growls. Despite how good it is, it sounds very much like the rest of the album, which is the album’s main flaw: monotony. Yes, even after multiple spins, many of the songs on this record blend into each other. Upon hearing a riff from the album on the radio, you could recognize it being a Pro-Pain riff, but naming the song would be difficult. They’re just too similar.
Despite monotony of the album, it’s an enjoyable listen nonetheless. Pick it up if you’re a Pro-Pain enthusiast, or just love aggressive hardcore.
B -Adam Kohrman
Era Vulgaris
Interscope
Five records in and Josh Homme & Co. continue to resist the notion of making two albums that sound alike, yet there is a common thread running through each CD--you just "know" that QOTSA sound. Similar to virtually all other QOTSA releases, it takes a few listens before you just "get it". It's been a few years now since they released the amazing (and terribly underrated) Lullabies to Paralyze, and there are still new tidbits to extract from that CD...nuances and subtleties that continue to unravel during repeated listens, and I suspect that "Era Vulgaris" will be much in that same tradition.
It's been a LONG while since Homme's stoner-mega-heavy band Kyuss sailed into the sunset, and those fans clamoring for a more Kyuss-esque sounding band should move along...nothing to see here. Homme and his revolving band of Queens, featuring the same core musicians from the last record (Joey Castillo on drums and Troy Van Leeuwan on guitar and keyboards), have put together a suite of trippy, yet heavy rocking compositions that grow and grow on you until they're pleasantly stuck in your head. There are these great "oh wow" moments all over this record--those moments during a song when it ventures into a catchy bridge or transition section that sort of defies traditional songwriting, but works so well. In fact, this album has more catchy hooks than your local bait n' tackle shop.
Opening with the hypnotic-heavy-trippy "Turnin' the Screw", the notice is served; this is going to be an interesting affair of hot licks and groovy stoner-inspired rock. Then again, what else would one expect from these guys, right? "Sick Sick Sick" blasts in with it's huge-guitar-in-your-face opening, and steamrolls on through yet another catchy chorus section.
Another album highlight comes early on with the 4th track, "Into the Hollow"
featuring part-time member, vocalist Mark Lanegan leading the way with his deep baritone approach over a musical bed that can best be described as slightly eery and hypnotic.
"Make it Wit Chu" is the most uncharacteristic track of the bunch (refined during the "Lullabies" tour, and written during the famed "Dessert
Sessions") with its faux "R&B" feel, featuring some of Josh's most smooth and falsetto vocals. It's a nice diversion from the huge guitar sound prevalent throughout the record, and somehow it just "works" here.
"3's & 7's" comes on strong after the brief break in the action with it's angular, syncopated riffing and lumbering chorus, while "Suture Up Your Future" starts off with a more introspective, almost somber feel, until it starts bouncing along a bit, but never reaching full-on rock status in a restrained mode until the closing of the song. Album closer "Run, Pig, Run"
can best be described as wonderfully weird. Kicking off with a busy guitar riff and drum interplay throughout the verse, the chorus treats you to a more sparse and bizarre one-two hook featuring an eccentric and more avant garde feel. Yet, again, it just "works"...and this might be the Queens of the Stone Age's most accomplished talent--working in untraditional structures into songs that first come across as "straight-ahead", but with repeated listens reveal more depth and fun insanity. Welcome to the Era Vulgaris...
B+ -Chuck Ferreira
Before the Sea Was Built
SPV
Raging Speedhorn prove their versatility on their soon to be released fourth album Before the Sea Was Built. British metal that spans several genres of music and expertly blends them as if they were never separate. Their sound is a mixture of early punk rock, progressive, alternative, and of course, heavy on the metal.
"Dignity Stripper" and "Too Drunk to Give a Fuck" were two great tracks. They were punk-metal fusions, unfortunately not much longer than two minutes. "Dignity Stripper" is the most impressive for it's innovative guitar melody. It sounds like an upbeat mix of the kind of punk rock that spurned some of the better 80's pop music with a strong and pleasing metal base. Yeah, I would never think to blend these two sounds either, but they pulled it off nicely.
"The Last Comet from Nothingness" was one of two songs with a minute long intro. After the wait, the song is little more than another minute and a half, but it is the most interesting song on Before the Sea was Built, so far. The remaining seven tracks, with the exception of "Sound of Waves" which was above average, were mainly progressive or heavier pieces and less memorable than all tracks mentioned previously. There were also a lot of jarring, conflicting riffs spread throughout the album that were a bit out of place among the well blended melodies.
"Sound of Waves" is a song of the progressive style which is usually less appealing to my tastes, but I did like this one and have to mention what a great feat that is. For Raging Speedhorn to get me to enjoy music that usually bores me, great talent must be at work. Where many bands meld different styles of music and struggle to make them sound like they fit together, Raging Speedhorn make it sound easy and natural.
Before the Sea was Built is due to release in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2007. I liked their unique blend of punk and metal. Their progressive/alternative style was above average because they managed to keep it heavy. I might have liked more of the songs had they been longer, but it's like most good punk... just a tease. Tip: If it's that good, we want it to last longer than two minutes. wink, wink.
B -Alesha Brunell
Prey For Eyes
Metal Blade
The Red Chord's third release, Prey For Eyes, is chock full of grinding death metal (with a touch of hardcore at times), with some more progressive elements thrown in to make it even more interesting, and less breakdowns than on Clients. You get it all here - blast beats, pummelling double bass, pinch harmonic squeals, and crushing riffs are all here and plentiful.
"Send the Death Storm" is a blistering track with a memorable riff, some insane drumming, some of Guy's best vocal work on the whole disc, and a great, if short, guitar solo. "Midas Touch" is a chaotic masterpiece, opening with an onslaught of pinch harmonics, and pounding through for 2.5 minutes of pure brutality. Bassist Greg Weeks showcases his mighty bass skills on the title track, playing some melody parts that take on a lead type of feel at times.
"It Came From Over There" is an instrumental track, which doesn't really fit in with much of the other stuff presented here, but is great nonetheless. With a space rock keyboard part (played by Sigh's Mirai Kawashima) as the main backbone of the song, it's a melodic piece with some great guitar leads trading off with Mirai's great work on the keyboard. A very different track, but incredibly good, and showcases the bands talent nicely.
Prey for Eyes shows The Red Chord progressing nicely. As amazing as the band is on disc, they are even more crazy to see live - catch them at your next opportunity.
B+ -Goz
III: So Long Suckers
Spinefarm
Finnish doom trio Reverend Bizarre slowly slaughter all with their third and final full-length release, III: So Long Suckers. This release is a 2-disc set, featuring 8 songs and coming in at almost 2:10. That's a lot of time for only 8 songs, but it never seems to get boring or monotonous, which says a lot when 3 of the songs are over 25 minutes long.
This is doom the way it should be, slow, down tuned, massively distorted and yet with a melodic feel to it as well. All three band members get to showcase their skills, with numerous guitar & bass leads and frantic drum fills and bits that tie everything together nicely, especially during the extended instrumental parts.
"Anywhere Out of this World" is probably my pick for best track here (with the opener "They Used Dark Forces/Teutonic Witch" coming in a very close second). Starting off with Albert playing some quiet bass solo for a bit, it comes in like a herd of elephants for a smashing first verse, then slows to a jazzy bit in the middle of the song. The calm is once again broken by a huge guitar riff, with Albert once again taking the lead with his bass. It rumbles on for a while longer, ending somewhat abruptly with a quick hit of crackly feedback.
Production here is top notch, everything comes through perfectly and sounds spot-on (no crappy triggered drums here). The low-end packs a wallop, but never overpowers the rest, especially Sir Albert's smooth vocals. If doom is your thing, you NEED to have this disc in your collection - there is no excuse not to.
A -Goz
Crucify Kill Rot
Candlelight
Rose Funeral's debut Crucify Kill Rot consists of a quick 36 minute mix of breakdown loaded metalcore and death metal. This is music for the moment, full of current cliche's that too many young bands are plopping onto their myspace pages with the help of Pro Tools and Drumkit From Hell. Everything about this screams generic, from the song structures, to the production, to the ever present breakdown (what should we put after this part - how about a breakdown) and even the two atmosphere adding instrumental tracks (back to back no less!).
For a taste of the crappy and weak sounding drums, one needs only listen to the fill at 0:56 into the track "Sledge Hammer Face-Lift" and the horrible blasts near the beginning of "Buried Amongst Flames" (among many other instances). My snoopy drumkit when I was 4 sounded better than that. Maybe they used Animal from the Muppets to lay down the drum tracks here.
Pardon me while I nod off in boredom....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
F -Goz
Snakes & Arrows
Atlantic
The first thing many Rush devotees will notice (or have noticed, by now) when the opening track, "Far Cry" kicks in is the famous suspended F# chord that Alex Lifeson (supreme guitarist) made so famous in one of their earlier works, Hemispheres, at the closing of the opening bombastic section of the song. It's one of those moments in a rock song that assures the listener that they're in for something special, and in fact, listener, you are.
What we've got here is a band that's been active for over 33 years and have released 19 albums (not including live albums and compilations), and continue to sound fresh and relevant. What's equally incredible is that as Geddy, Alex, and Neil move into their mid-50s (I find it humorous that they released their first album when I was 2 years old), their playing continues to improve as they challenge themselves as musicians, and Neil's lyric writing seems to have elevated to a new level. This is not a band interested in resting on its collective laurels and cashing in on "golden oldies" tours. In fact, the current Snakes and Arrows tour features a whopping 9 songs off of the new album, which is a clear indication that Rush feel strongly about the new material.
I say, who can blame them? Snakes and Arrows is a muscular, dense, and vibrant release coming on the heels of a very busy and active period for the band, starting in 2002 with the release of the underrated Vapor Trails, the massive tour that followed, and then the 30th anniversary of the band in
2004 which featured an E.P. of classic rock songs that inspired the band as youths, along with another huge world tour (culminating in the excellent R30 DVD & CD collection).
Co-produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, QOTSA, Stone Sour) and recorded at the world-class Allaire Studios, the album has a thick and layered sound, without feeling too cluttered or overly produced. There's a sort of "live" sound to a lot of the songs, and as with all Rush albums, the musicianship is unrivaled and tasteful.
There are many highlights on this album...in fact, the first three songs kick off the entire affair in strong fashion. As mentioned earlier, "Far Cry" is an amazing exercise in Rush song craft featuring a syncopated drum/bass/guitar opening followed by a muscular verse section into a soaring, open chorus. What's more is that the solo Alex lays down here is more of a noise/feedback solo, further showcasing admirable restraint from a virtuoso musician. "Armour and Sword" and "Workin' Them Angels" follow and further kick things into that dense and muscular feel (the latter clocking in at over 6 minutes) but without being overtly heavy.
What becomes apparent early on is Neil Peart's lyrical tone. There's a sort of discontent with the state of world from a perspective of someone who has seen his fair share of travels across the North American continent (and entire globe, really) and who has been knocked down by life's typical unfairness and cruelty and has managed to come through it all a bit wiser, but certainly battle scarred. Topics of religious hypocrisy and spirituality emerge and are fleshed out over the course of several songs, for instance, along with the topic of personal faith and survival. "Armour and Sword" is a prime example of this, expanding on the idea that while one's faith should be a shelter and solace (the Armour) in this mad world, it's often used as an angry sword to hurt others rather than extend peace and goodwill. One of the strongest tracks on the album, both lyrically and musically, "The Way the Wind Blows", highlights this perfectly. Set against the backdrop of a fierce Alex Lifeson riff (a sort of a zig-zag riff locked in with one of Neil Peart's best "straight-up" drumming parts), the verses unfold to reveal a sense of bewilderment with the current state of religious fanaticism causing so much misery, unrest, and even death..."now it's come to this, like we're back in the dark ages, from the Middle East to the middle west, it's a land of superstition...now it's come to this, wide eyed armies of the faithful, from the Middle East to the middle west, pray and pass the ammunition". Whether one is a person of faith or not, it's hard to disagree with the sentiments of those lyrics. Before the witch hunt is convened, though, it should be noted that the lyrical tone is not "anti-God", but of an outrage of using faith and religion to promote hatred and death. Again, hard to argue with that.
No Rush album would be complete without an instrumental, and this time we're treated to three of them. "The Main Monkey Business" is a live sounding jam of epic proportions--the kind of exercise of craft that can only come from years of experience playing with one another, while "Hope" is one of the more beautiful moments on the CD, featuring a solo Alex Lifeson playing an acoustic 12 string. The third and final instrumental, "Malignant Narcissism" features an amazing interplay between Geddy and Neil, along with some breathtaking solo bits from both musicians over a bed of loud, feedback from Alex (it's worth noting that this song is also the shortest on the CD at just over 2 minutes).
33 years and still valid and fresh. It's good to be a Rush fan...Snakes and Arrows will rank high on the list of great albums by this band of living legends.
A -Chuck Ferreira
Antithesis
The Ajna Offensive
Secrets of the Moon present their black metal slow and doomy, with a bit of a progressive feel to it. Songs range from slow to mid-paced, with lot's of quieter passages and minimal blasting raspy black metal fare. Along with the quieter passages, there are also many memorable riffs present here, and some pretty good guitar solo work as well.
"Seraphim is Dead" is a good example of the diversity - it starts with a slow, clean acoustic guitar part, shortly after the distortion is added, it becomes a blasting, raspy attack for the first verse. There is another slow part in the middle, featuring a nice guitar solo, then back to the blasting stuff for the next verse. A well done song, to say the least. I would pick "Ordinance" as my favorite track here, with it's killer main melody line (that you get both clean and distorted versions of), groovy riffing, and the chant-along inducing "You Cruel King" line that is repeated many times.
If you like your black metal a bit more progressive than the standard stuff, SotM will be right up your alley.
B+ -Goz
Hello My Name is...Madness
316 Productions
Take a young Biohazard and throw it in a blender with Suicidal Tendencies, add some razor blades to roughen it up at the edges a bit, and you might end up with something akin to Seizure Crypt's latest release, Hello My Name is...Madness.
Opening with a straight up thrashy/hardcore attack of "The Great Defector", complete with a powerful twin vocal attack (as are the rest of the tracks), this song packs a wallop to open the disc. "The Deadend" follows, with a rap style vocal line that kinda loses this reviewer. The band runs roughshod through some more vicious attacks, ending the disc with "Eulogy", which features a strangely, almost out of place clean guitar part in the middle of it.
Seizure Crypt's latest is short and to the point. A decent mix of thrash and hardcore, with a very interesting dual vocal attack, and a clunker of a rapcore track stuck in the middle of it all.
C+ -Goz
SIGH
Hangman's Hymn: Musikalische Exequien
The End
Upon first listen, if you don't know Sigh at all, you're first thought will probably be - "What the fuck is this?" Keep listening, and you will hear some of the most unique and interesting music out there, although it can be a bit tough to get past that first step.
The disc is divided into 3 "Acts", with tracks 1-3 being Act 1, 4-5 Act 2, and 8-10 Act 3. Now comes the time when I try to describe the music that you will hear here. It is at once extremely fast and heavy metal, with leanings towards the blacker side of this (especially in the vocal department), and also superbly crafted orchestral music with classical influences dripping readily from all sides. There is plenty to keep the metal head happy, from blast beats to huge riffs and soaring guitar solos, but there is also a very strong classical presence to all of the music here. It definitely takes good musical training to tie all of these elements together into a cohesive unit and make it work like Sigh does. The production here is pretty close to flawless as well - to keep all of the intricacies intact and sounding so well together must have taken a good deal of time both in recording and mixing.
When listening to Hangman's Hymn, at times I feel as if I am listening to the thoughts of a maniacal madman put to music, like some psychopaths biography turned into a musical or something. Maybe that exactly what this is. No matter, though, it's freakin' ridiculously good whatever it is.
A- -Goz
Commandment
Metal Blade
If the title of this album doesn't command your attention, the steadily motivating music will. Six Feet Under's seventh full-length album Commandment is straightforward death metal.
The gruesome and imaginative lyrics sound as if they're actually spewing from the rotting lips of the undead. No wait, that's Chris Barnes. Alongside the gruff vocals, the instruments offer consistent and powerful rhythms. Several tracks (including my two favorite "In A Vacant Grave" and "Zombie Executioner") offer catchy, groove-heavy riffs coupled with speed which will make you bare your teeth and bang your head. Other standout tracks include "Thou Shall Kill" and "Resurrection of the Rotten".
To be honest, what I'd heard of Six Feet Under before Commandment had never compelled me to run out and get their albums. All I had heard was maybe two songs and some of the AC/DC tribute album Graveyard Classics II. After having a good listen, I now understand what the Six Feet Under fans already knew. Death metal that can throb is good death metal.
B -Alesha Brunell
Christ Illusion (Limited Edition 2-disc set)
American Recordings
Slayer's latest, Christ Illusion, was released as a special limited edition version, with one new track, one alternative version of a track from the original release, and a brief DVD. Since the original has been out for over a year now, you all should know what it's all about, so I'll focus on the new material presented here.
The new song, "Final Six", starts off peacefully, with a clean guitar jangling away. It is then joined by some crushing distorted guitar and drums, and after a bit more, it gets down to the Slayer that we expect - lightning fast riffing, Tom's angry vocals, and guitar solos that you'd expect from Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. "Black Serenade" is offered up in an alternate version, at 20 seconds longer, it's not that much different, with the most noticeable part being the end, where the echoing and fading "fear...death" is gone.
The DVD is what most people will be interested in here. The first track features clips from Slayer's 2007 tour back by "Jihad" and "Consfearacy". It offers a pretty decent look at stuff behind the scenese, as well as crowd shots and other varied stuff from the road. Next up is the video for the Grammy winning song "Eyes of the Insane". I'm sure you've all seen this at some point, either on TV or the internet, so I don't need to tell you much about it. The best clip presented here is a live version of "South of Heaven" from last years Unholy Alliance tour. The band is solid in the clip, and the sound and video is top notch. The crowd sings most of the first verse, and Tom seems more than happy to have them help him out in that regard.
All in all, this release seems aimed at either collectors who need to buy anything and everything Slayer related, or at Manson fans who may go to see the Slayer/Marilyn Manson tour and decide to check out Slayer a bit more in depth.
B -Goz
Anima
Sensory Records
European progressive metal. Thanks to the innovation of Dream Theater as well as the experimental nature of Pain Of Salvation, more and more musicians take their technique to dizzying heights of theory and composition. Enter French quintet Spheric Universe Experience, a group that started in 1999 under the moniker Gates Of Delirium but through a few twists and turns developed as the current named moniker in 2002. The group have an affinity for the neo-classical guitar/keyboard styling of Symphony X along with the longer arrangement skills of Dream Theater, yet within the rhythm section of drummer Ranko Muller and bassist Drai you have a duo who aren’t afraid to throw down some heavier thrash/ Meshuggah like off time intensity. Vocalist Franck Garcia (originally a session vocalist in his early days, convinced to join full time after a short while) has a similar range as James Labrie, probably with more of a savage aggressive under tone through tracks like “The Inner Quest” and “World Of Madness”. The core musicians aren’t oblivious to prolonged dexterity measures, as the two instrumentals “Being” and “Black Materia” feature solo workouts from guitarist Vince Benaim and keyboardist Fred Colombo that prove these men know their way around their instruments.
I believe Anima stands well above the latest Dream Theater offering yet isn’t quite up to the complete package standards of Symphony X. I think it will take another album or two for Spheric Universe Experience to establish their own nuances on the progressive metal genre- but for now “Anima” pushes out the playing, songwriting ability and skill level to appeal to a large contingent who like their music taking them to another sonic level. Those of you who enjoy your music expansive (as 6 out of the 11 tracks eclipse the 6 minute mark, and a couple hit the 9-10 minute time frame) should get plenty of hidden highlights from personal favorites “End Of Trauma” and “The Key”.
Let’s hope that these gentlemen move from album to album so the genre can prosper.
B -Matt Coe
Cut From Stone
Candlelight
Norway's Susperia bring a wide range of styles to the table on Cut From Stone. With a healthy dose of thrash metal mixed in with some melodic death tendencies, the band opens themselves up to a wide range of fans.
Layers of thick grooving riffs are backed up by limitless melodies, with Athera's smooth yet gruff vocals riding ferociously on top of it all. The third track, "The Clone", is where the album starts to hit it's stride. After a couple thrashing warm ups, this song comes along with some majorly catchy riffs and a great sing along chorus, not to mention some outstanding drum work. "Distant Memory" follows, and has a bit of an epic, old school metal feel to it - with some strong Maiden or Priest influence going on. "Life Deprived" goes the other way, with a bit of a death metal feel to it - complete with some quick blast beats - but then it falls apart midway through during the guitar solo.
Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't work quite as well. At times, it seems as if they are trying to combine a few different styles into a memorable song, but then forgot what they were doing halfway through the song and just started noodling away (as in "Life Deprived"). To me, this makes it a bit difficult to listen to and enjoy, as it becomes a bit of a disjointed mess at times. Definitely not their best work, but not terrible either.
B- -Goz
Narcimalion
Hold True
I never understood making concept albums without clean vocals. It’s always made sense to me that, if you want to tell a story with your album, that you should make the vocals easy to understand. Anyway, Boston-based Hardcore act The Taste of Silver’s new album Narcimalion is just that. Despite my reservations about the harsh vocals, the story here is quite poetic. A quick summary of the album is that it is about a girl named Narcimalion, and her trials and tribulations throughout life. But let’s get to the important stuff: the Metal.
I usually can’t stand the whiny screams of Hardcore vocalists, but Rowan’s vocals fit this band almost perfectly. He has an impeccable talent of switching between hardcore shouts to death growls within nanoseconds. Listen to the song “Icarian Isolation,” and this skill is apparent. In addition the vocals, the riffs on this album are plenty good. There are plenty of arpeggio riffs accompanied by brutally fast drumming.
Unlike many other bands, The Taste of Silver have some simply excellent slower, softer song parts. The acoustic beginning of “As They Wander” is eerie, yet calming: a testament to great songwriting. Also, in “Minera Ignia,” there is a slow part with Rowan emulating Narcimalion’s angst by screaming. Then he bellows “And the shell ruptures and it falls away.” The instrumentals then kick into a groovy, headbang-inducing riff. It’s the album’s most memorable part, and one of the best hardcore bits I’ve ever heard.
Hardcore is, to me, one of metal’s weakest sub genres. That’s what makes it all the more refreshing to hear an act like The Taste of Silver come out with a solid, intelligent piece of work like Narcimalion.
B+ -Adam Kohrman
Eyes Unfolded
Firebox
Terhen is a six piece band from Finland, playing what is best described as melodic doom. This is their first full release, following a couple demos and also a recording that was used for a fashion show.
"Influences" kicks things off, in a rather slow and stark manner. Sparse guitar, industrial sounding drums, and eerie keyboards lay down the opening of the track. It sort of reminds me of Blut Aus Nord's latest in a way, but it is definitely more structured than that. It picks up a bit around the time the vocals come in, but never gets above a slow pace. The vocals range from gruff doomy growls, to almost black metal rasps, both fitting the music well. "Six Months" is more of a straight ahead doom track, with double bass pounding away on the bottom end and chugging guitar riffs churning throughout.
"Latest Moments" gives us our first chance to hear vocalist Elisa Pellinen, who along with new drummer Joni Romo are the latest additions to the band. She adds her beautiful voice to nice melodic doom track, which is a great contrast to vocalist Jyri Pylvänäinen's deep growls and rasps. The best cut, "Wandering", finished up the disc in a fantastic manner. At once heavy and doomy, yet eerily melodic with Elisa's vocals carrying much of the song, this is a great way to finish of the disc.
Terhen is a young band, and this is a might impressive debut effort for them. With the first three tracks being from Thamuz' (Terhen's former moniker) 2005 demo, it will be interesting to see what their all new material will be like.
B -Goz
Scare Tactics
Hold True
The oddly named These Are: are one in the slew of hardcore bands that continue to pop up. Placing them squarely within the hardcore genre would be unfair though, as there is more going on here. For one, there are a lot of prog influences here (progcore, anyone?) While the first half of Scare Tactics features many hardcore standards and fails to stray from them, the second half kicks into full progressive gear—complete with time changes and riffs that jumpy riffs that go all over the place.
During the first half of the CD, the time changes simply don’t work. They’re pretentious, sacrificing the quality of music for technicality. All of the songs are short with no real structure. Beginning with the song “Miss Illegitimate,” the CD begins to implement its structure, and the time changes have their place, although the songs are still quick spurts of noise. “Kill the Management” is full of impressive breakdowns.
However, it isn’t all golden in the second half. Anyone who has been reading my reviews knows that I’m a stickler with vocals, and these guys just go over the top. Especially in the closer “Sidereal Messenger,” the shouting just becomes too much. The great part of this album is the instrumental side, so pipe down on the vocals and focus on that.
C+ -Adam Kohrman
Progress
Selfmadegod
Excusing their silly name, Toxic Bonkers put a wide array of various styles on this disc. Part death metal, part grind, part hardcore, and ever so slightly part metalcore, they blend their varied influences fairly well on the 10 tracks that make up Progress.
While never getting to full on grinding as far as blast beats go, "Denial" definitely has a grindcore feel to it with the dual vocals, at times deep and guttural, other times screaming and higher pitched. "Progress" is a groove filled cut, using some keyboards to add something a bit different to the mix, and also some spoken vocal parts.
While they do a decent job of mixing a few styles, the music starts to get a bit redundant at times, which doesn't really speak well of the replayability of the disc.
C+ -Goz
Shitlist
Spook City Records
Boston's Trust in Few is a side-project of Frankie Puopolo from Death Before Dishonor. Their most recent EP, Shitlist, is a quick twelve minutes of punk rock aggression.
The two longest tracks, "Stop Crying" and "After the Blood", were the gems of this EP. Both were fast, up-beat, sing-along numbers with memorable guitar licks. Of the other five tracks, "You're a Piece of Shit" (along with the intro) and "I'm Waiting" were well structured punk songs but they were not as anthemic. "You're a Piece of Shit" was more crude than humorous along with the fifth track, a thirteen second spurt called "You Suck". The closing track, "My Barroom and My Beer", sounds like a Johnny Cash tribute of sorts or a gloomy country spoof.
In conclusion, if Trust in Few put out a full length album with more songs like "Stop Crying" and "After the Blood", I would definitely buy. I would also hope that if they decide to put another country song on the album, they'll put it at the end again so I can easily skip it.
B- -Alesha Brunell
Mastercuter
Candlelight
Arguably the worst vocalist of all Metaldom (with Dave Mustaine pulling a close 2nd), it’s amazing to me that Udo Dirkschneider has made a career at it for 30 years now.
Mastercutor finds the ex-Accept frontman amidst swooning metal guitars and steady anthem-esque rhythms. The band is an extremely proficient bunch of musicians, but once Udo opens up his mouth, I have to cringe.
Hell, “Balls to the Wall” is a metal classic, but that came out when I was 13 and I must admit that it was more than enough Udo for one lifetime.
C- -Mike Baronas
The Somatic Defilement
Candlelight
Whitechapel's debut disc, The Somatic Defilement, showcases the bands brutal three guitar attack of grinding, breakdown laden death metal. Their sound is fairly generic, taking a road traveled many times before.
The standout feature of the disc, for me, is the vocals. They have a super deep cookie monster type vocal, a more mid-ranged angry growl, and a grinding high pitched attack that all work very well together. Whitechapel tends to rely on the breakdown quite a bit, and it gets a bit tedious to these ears as well. The production is also overly bass-heavy, which heightens the fact that the drum sound they use here isn't very good (especially the double bass, which sounds almost like hitting cardboard boxes).
Anyway, there is nothing inherently bad about Whitechapels debut, but there really isn't anything that jumps out and makes you want to go back for more, either.
C- -Goz
Black Clouds in Twin Galaxies
Candlelight
Right from leadoff track "Fried" I could tell Winters were going to be a band right up my alley. The song starts off with a nice mid-tempo drum/bass riff that breaks into a fuzzed out guitar with mellow laid back vocals reminiscent of a less nasal/whiney Billy Corgan. Guitar solos and drum style are also Smashing Pumpkinesque, and remind me of Gwen Mars (remember them?) but if those bands were doomier. "Aftershown" starts off with a very Sabbathy riff and has a catchy chorus, "Watchin' that same old car crashes". It does break into a cool drum solo and then back into the slow Sabbathy riff.
"Oh no" has a cool riff but it also suffers from some repetition and not enough dynamics to make the song more interesting. All this being said, if I were under the influence of a certain substance it would fit the mood perfectly! "Endless Fight" has a great starting riff, much more upbeat and heavier and sounds almost like an indie rock song at times. The guitar solos have a cool double layered effect on them that makes them sound like they're straight from a space rock song. "Life Was So Simple" starts off as a mellower song with nice mellotron to accent the mood and kicks in with a heavier sound but retains the slow tempo. Dreamy at times and again, I can't help but keep referring to early Pumpkins (Gish, Siamese Dream) for comparisons, the only thing that keeps it from completely entering Pumkindom is the doomy riffs that keep it more rooted in doom metal and not indie rock.
"Mark My Word" starts off with a sweet doomy riff and rides it throughout most of the song. "Two Wrongs Make A Right" has a cool rhythm and "Destroyer" continues the formula with more indie rock sounding vocals backed up by a pop doom band. "No Will" has the doomiest riff and spaciest guitar solo on the album and "Did Me In" continues the doomy stoned out riff vibe and a really cool chorus that is very catchy. "Black Clouds In Twin Galaxies" is probably my favorite track on the album and the longest, at over six minutes, because it utilizes the mellotron in a perfect way to accent the sweet melody and spaceiness of the chorus and overall vibe of song and keeps it buzzing through your head long after the song is done playing.
To say Winters has hit a formula that encapsulates doom/stoner rock metal and pop rock sensibility is an understatement. Their songs are short and sweet, never giving us a chance to get bored. I think if they focus enough, they could continue to crank out superior albums in the future. I would also love to see them live because this kind of music can be an incredible experience in that setting.
A- -Matt Smith
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