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Abgott - Artefact Of
Madness (Helvete And Hate) Review by James Young |
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Even for those amongst you who don’t follow black metal
closely, the name Abgott should ring a bell - having supported
the likes of Enslaved, Marduk and Hypocrisy (to name but a
few) on these shores in recent memory, the Italian extremists
have made quite a name for themselves on the live circuit.
Their breakthrough album, Fizala, was as complicated and
intricate as music gets, and whilst technically jaw-dropping,
may have put off more than a few listeners, sometimes coming
across as a possessed broken record. The tracks from the
previous work managed to impress in a live environment, the
band tighter and more impressive at every show, and it was
only a matter of time before this vicious assault was |
given
justice on disc. And here it is, in the form of Artefact Of
Madness. Arriving through my postbox complete with a
wax-sealed biography, authentic burn marks included, it is
clear that the band have put every last ounce of energy into
this release, reflected in the music itself. The almost
gurgled groans of Agamoth which made the last release so
unsettling and perhaps slightly inaccessible, return, but to
better effect. Not only do they provide an eerier atmosphere,
but they are coupled with blood-curdling screams, which
characterise their stage performance, providing the majority
of the vocals. This is enhanced further by the production,
which is so much sharper and muscular than Fizala that you may
not even think that the same band is playing. That is, until
you hear those evil twists and experimental (with emphasis on
the ‘mental’) additions that could only come from the warped
minds of these corpse-painted geniuses. Everything from the
blinding fretwork of Thanatos and Agamoth to the blistering
unorthodox drumming of Antichrist, blastbeats and double kick
drums hailing from the fiery underworld itself, ooze with a
rigid evil that very few bands can rival. When I interviewed
the band last year, certain jazz touches were mentioned, and this does
come across quite strongly in places. Don’t go expecting a
black metal Dillinger Escape Plan - that would plainly stink -
what I’m trying to say is that the influence is certainly
there, but I’m simply too lacking on the technical knowledge
front to explain how. Let it suffice to say that this is
taking black metal one step further than your average Mayhem
release (or ten steps further than Burzum).
Another vast improvement between albums would be the relative
lack of what I would call ‘filler’ on Artefact Of Madness.
Five of the twelve songs may well not qualify to be called
real tracks, but they are on the whole extremely short and
actually make sense in terms of the mood of the album. The
intro, ‘IV’ for instance lasts a mere fifteen seconds before
bursting into ‘Kronos’ Cosmic Throne’. This cheesily-titled
tune gives a lovely big dose of what to expect from the album,
with its extravagant guitar leads, drums which change
technique at the drop of a (hi-)hat, and a varied vocal range
from Agamoth. After a spine-tingling Latin chant, ‘Church Of
The Necrophilism’ utilises an absolutely blazing blast attack
which is easily comparable to the speed of Marduk, the main
difference being that Abgott choose to break with tradition
and install some rather insane stop-starts, including a
memorable ‘Eurgh’ following a pause which will have you
joining in after a few listens. The seven minute long ‘Experiment
In Evil’ may slow things down a little, but this isn’t saying
much - it’s as vicious as any other track, with some truly
outstanding double kick pounding, and a grandiose guitar solo.
However, it is the solos of ‘The 9th Gate’ and ‘Dimensional
Labyrinth’ which literally have to be heard to be believed,
coupled with mind-bending alternating drumming. If I hadn’t
seen Antichrist live (the drummer that is, not the red bloke
with the horns), I would have sworn that such fast switching
couldn’t be done - it’s that nutty. As mentioned earlier,
there is a jazz edge to the album as a whole, but two songs
stood head and shoulders (or should I say jazz-hands) above
the others in terms of swinging my sausage. ‘Black Night
Scenario’ contains some almost mathematical twiddling, whilst
‘Thy Infernal Fields’ contains a swing-style cymbal pattern
under a furious guitar solo, which wonderfully brings the
album to its noisy conclusion.
I can’t really praise this album enough. If you’ve ever seen
Abgott live and thought you’d seen something special, just
give this a spin and relive the insane glory. If you haven’t
caught them yet, be prepared for something special - it’s one
hell of a listen.
www.abgott.co.uk |
www.myspace.com/abgott
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Angtoria - God Has A
Plan For Us All (Listenable Records) review by Joe Florez. |
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This has been a project in the works for four plus years now
and it’s finally come to fruition. I remember when Sarah
Jezebel Diva talked about this non stop and was posted on all
of the news websites. I immediately pegged this as another
goth release and had no interest in it. As usual, I received
the disc and had to take a listen for myself and hear what the
hoopla was all about because it was receiving critical acclaim
the world over from the demo to now the full length. Little
did I know that I was about to be schooled in a product that
is anything but laced in drab. The intro for “The Awakening”
is symphonic, haunting and filled with chants that contains
string arrangements which comes off as classical. It’s cool
and adds a |
touch of
class. “I’m Calling” is absolutely bursting with energy and
excitement as everything is upbeat thanks to some programming
vibes, mid paced drumming and the vivacious voice breaking
through from one Sarah Jezebel. I always knew that should
could sing, but God damn she just shines through here. She
really holds her own. The track here just blazes through and
to be honest some sections of the composition sounds like
something that would come out of the Rhapsody Of Fire camp.
Despite the depressing and dark lyrics to “Suicide On My
Mind”, there is a sense of romanticism at least musically
anyway because when you hear it there is a beautiful touch to
it. “Deity Of Disgust” dabbles a bit in the realm of
progressiveness as it’s incorporated into the mix. Not only is
there great solo work here, but with the deep male vocals
thrown into the scenario we get something comparable to Evergrey and that my friends is not a bad thing at all.
The
long time that Sarah and the Rehn brothers took to create this
was well worth the wait as they have created something special
and memorable. To merely call this a goth release would be
insulting as it’s so much more than that. There is plenty of
depth, diversity and dynamics that prevents it from being on
one track. Guest appearances on here include Aaron Stainthorpe
from My Dying Bride and Dave Pybus formerly of Cradle Of
Filth. I just hope that this wasn’t a one time thing as the
next time around they will have less time to create what I
hope to be another future classic. There is something here for
everyone. This crosses genres by leaps and bounds.
www.listenable.net
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By Night – A New
Shape of Desperation (Lifeforce) Review by Samuel
Munch-Petersen |
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I’ve already
mentioned in a few reviews before that I’m part Danish and
even part Swedish. I said how proud I was to be of that
heritage since metal seems to flow in Sweden like the juice of
an orange in California. And By Night haven’t disappointed.
Intense drumming makes this my album. It’s filled with guitar
paralleling double kick work with a heavy bass line that
thumps your face and heart. That black metal heart you’ve all
got. Front start to middle and from middle to finish this
album rocks your socks. You find yourself engrossed in the
brilliance of the musicianship and the overall tenacity of the
music itself. It’s atmospheric with the intro thirty second
long track and the beginning of Dead |
Eyes See
No Future. By Night are signed to a German label and I’m sure
the German metal fans will go ape when they sample the work
laid out before them.
The band originally tuned their music down to B and with the
addition of vocalist Christoffer Andersson they began work on
two demos; By Night (2000) and Derelict (2001). However,
trouble in the band meant Andersson moved on and By Night
gained the vocalist experience of Adrian Westin (Aggressive
Serpent aka Trendkill) and the tuning went down to Bb (I don’t
actually know about tuning so I presume it’s a lower tuning,
heavier). Don’t hate my ignorance, I’m a drummer.
This final line up has given By Night the chance to impress
many band labels and magazines in Europe as well as the
important crowds they play to. I can say this for a certainty
that I think that By Night will be one of the best loved metal
bands to come out this year. There are loads of bands being
released every day and more often than not they’re death/black
metal bands, an acquired taste. Rock metal or whatever you
want to call it, something not so heavy to be regarded as
death seems more accessible and I think that By Night have the
ability and love to carry their music forward.
Note the clip from Full Metal Jacket on Walls of Insecure and
the great guitar work on Cursed By the Thought., superb.
You should almost certainly listen to By Night. You won’t be
disappointed with what they give you in terms of music, in
terms of power, in terms of emotion and in terms of sheer
likeability. and after all, they’re Swedish, of course you want
to listen to them.
www.bynightonline.com |
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Despondency - Exposing Misery’s Design
(Self-Released)
By: Dave Schalek
Fresno, California’s Despondency are a typical gore grind band
that have released a couple of demos prior to this
self-released MCD debut entitled “Exposing Misery’s Design”.
Essentially, Despondency’s brand of gore grind consists of
sloppily played, simple chord progression styled guitars
combined with a partially programmed percussion; and
uninspired screamed vocals that ultimately result in a rather
uninteresting listen.
The six songs on this debut, along with two live tracks that
sound as if they were recorded from somebody’s hip pocket, all
pretty much sound the same and fail to deliver any sort of
excitement to the listener. The guitars are just simple
progressions (from what I can hear), and the machine gun drums
are obviously programmed (although there are some claims
otherwise, but I’m not convinced) to some extent. The vocals
are a monotonous scream, although a few deep growls dutifully
make an appearance. The bass is buried in the mix. Ultimately,
“Exposing Misery’s Design” is nothing that we’ve all heard
before and done with a great deal more sophistication and
talent. Beyond that, there’s not much else to say and you’re
better off waiting for Regurgitate’s next release.
www.despondency666.com |
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FleshMould – The
Lazarus Breed (Shiver Records) Review by Oliver Cass |
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I don’t know about anyone else, but to me the name FleshMould
brings to mind generic Death Metal bands; the kind that never
go anywhere and outnumber the great ones by five hundred to
one. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that’s the way I see it.
Now if one were to progress past the name, and actually give
the music a chance, one would discover something fairly good
here. For a band that appears to have come from nowhere, this
isn’t a bad album and I think it rises above the generic crop
of sleep-inducing Death Metal. I won’t deny some moments do
drag a tad, but on the whole there is enough interesting
material here to warrant some interest from fans. |
FleshMould aren’t one of those bands whose aim is to be the
fastest band on the planet either; they prefer to concentrate
instead on rhythm and mood. Of course there are blast beats
scattered around, but the majority of faster moments are
handled by drummer Roel’s rapid double bass kicks.
Interestingly, vocalist Sven reminds me of one of the most
distinct Death vocalists I’ve heard. In fact he’s the only
person who has ever reminded me of Dies Irae’s Novy (Vader’s
bassist). I don’t think his is as strong as Novy’s voice, but
it’s a decent growl nonetheless.
The riffing on ‘The Lazarus Breed’ is very rhythmic, and quite
often atmospheric. There are a couple of moments reminiscent
of Kataklysm’s ‘As the Glorious Weep’, especially on ‘Eternal
Shirting Portals, which has some lovely mournful, melancholic
moments. ‘Apocalyptus Rexx’ has a couple of Black Metal tinged
passages interspersed with its chugging mid-paced riffs,
giving it another dimension, and ‘Structures in Decline’ has a
good dramatic start, harmonising a particularly ear-catching
riff and switching between fast and slower tempos.
This is definitely worth investigating if rhythmic (and often
groovy) Death Metal is your cup of tea. It won’t find itself
on my top ten list at the end of this year, but I’d still
recommend it as a decent album.
www.fleshmould.com |
www.shiver-records.com |
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Frontside - Twilight
Of The Gods (A First Step To The Mental Revolution) (Dockyard
1 Records) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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Goddamn! After the battery of relatively laidback stuff that
I've been receiving of late, this CD came as a bit of a slap
in the face. A fire being lit under the arse of Auman causes
him to roar into "Apocalypse Continues", with the rest of the
band racing ahead to take off any heads that happen to be in
the way. Man that's way too many mixed metaphors for even me
to understand what I'm typing. Perhaps it's just the sheer
intensity of what's going on here that's frying my addled
brain. Vocals range from low guttural growls, to slightly more
hardcore based aggressive screams and shouts. Demon and
Daron's guitars complement each other and carry certain
melodies that you wouldn't expect to find in music this
extreme. |
Toma and Novak wrap everything up with the drums and
bass, respectively, where their triplets and blasting fill out
the sound superbly. Their full frontal assault doesn't stop
and "Burden Of Hell" allows the momentum to keep building.
Something that's been around for millennia now is the "Messiah
Syndrome" with leads which are sharp and crisp. A slightly
slower and bouncier feel is used on "We Are Destined To Burn",
and the bridges even have some well executed clean vocals.
There's a bit of a Gothenburg edge to "Hurricane" while
there's a touch of black metal harshness to the shrieks on
"Appeal For Forgiveness". Starting out with a slow sweet
sounding guitar lead intro "Absolution Hour" soon builds
itself up to batter your senses with a barrage of high speed
drumming and shredding riffs, while the clean vocals on the
chorus lull you back into a sense of peacefulness 'til some
awesome growling raises the hair on your arms on end once
again. Plenty of twin guitar harmonies are employed on
"Embrace This Promise" add an extra dimension to their sound
then on "Shape Of Pain" they use twin clean and death vocals
to great effect too. More of an angry blast than atmospheric
choir music "Redemption Symphony" pounds along swapping
between high paced staccato to full blasts, then down to slow
but extremely heavy riffs and majestic leads. Then ending it
all in a splendid climax we have "Exhaling Final Breath" in
its Slayeresque splendour. Great album that's taken them 2
years to put out, but well worth the wait.
www.frontsiderocks.com
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Goatwhore – A
Haunting Curse (Metal Blade) review by Baulky |
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Boasting members/ex-members of some of metal’s finest acts
(Crowbar, Soilent Green, Acid Bath), Goatwhore’s third
offering of groovy death comes like a smash to the plums amid
all the sub-standard mediocrity out there at the moment. No
beatdowns, no singing, no Iron Maiden parts, just straight up
blasting metal.
‘A Haunting Curse’ picks up where the band’s previous effort
‘Funeral Dirge For The Rotting Sun’ left off. The band have
matured somewhat since then, and have taken a more, dare I say
it, melodic approach to their brand of Louisiana-tinged death.
Now, that’s not to say that songs like ‘Diabolical Submergence
of Rebirth’ and ‘My Eyes |
Are The
Spears of Chaos’ aren’t laden with beats and riffs fast enough
to tear your face clean off, it’s just that it all sounds a
bit more…listener friendly. Admittedly, the Dark Funeral and
Fog influences do loom large at times, but the underlying feel
of this record is one which is of a more focused battery of
the senses than in previous outings. It may be the fact that
‘A Haunting Curse’ was recorded at Erik Rutan’s now infamous Mana Studios, it may be
that all the hardship that the band as a unit has made them
more resolute than ever before, or it may just be that they
are only now hitting their stride properly.
From the groovy ‘Alchemy of The Black Sun Cult’, to the Napalm
Death tinged ‘In The Narrow Confines of Defilement’, the band
take their cues from so many different acts, melding them all
into a veritable melting pot of metal fury!
Goatwhore have produced a record which will satisfy the most
hardened death-metal lovers, the most made up black metal
lovers, and the most drunken swamp things.
And a record that can transcend all those genres should be in
your collection. Along with an extra bottle of Jagermeister
for the road. www.goatwhore.net |
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