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Patrik Carlsson -
Melodic Travel
(Lion Music)
By: Joe Florez |
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For some unknown reason, it seems like Lion Music signs every
so-called guitar virtuoso as soon as they hear someone with an
ounce of talent. This label is becoming the new Shrapnel
Records for the 21st century. Enter Swedish guitar
instrumentalist Patrik Carlsson. I have never heard of him either, but
he has a couple of releases under his belt and now the label
seems ready to expose him to the world.
“Settler’s Pleasure”
begins with only a distorted axe noodling around and dishing
out some simple, but catchy riffs. Halfway through the song,
the programmed drums enter the picture as well as bass and
anything else to flesh out the piece. What starts off as
something that |
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like was recorded in demo mode before going into the studio
turns out quite nice and quick. “Battlefield” is another nice
number that throws in hints of atmosphere to make it sound
like you are entering a war. The solo work is a tad flashy,
but never goes over the top and can even sound sincere at
times despite it being an upbeat and somewhat heavy number. Of
course with every instrumental disc, we have to show off our
soft and gentle side and we get it with “Kristina’s Song.”
Definitely not sappy, but more so filled with happiness and
positive energy. A genre that I absolutely loathe, rockabilly
gets amped up here
with “Caribbean Uptempo.” This one is fast and never looks
back. Quite a joy to these ears. The music contained within
never stays in one genre too long. On tap here as well is the
smooth jazz cut “Archipelago Blues.” The tempo is just right
and avoids bogging the listener down with boredom. I must say
that this isn’t a metal release by any stretch of the
imagination, but the elements are there especially during the
first few songs. The writing style is mature and the
performance is entertaining. I think this man deserves a shot
at being heard, but with the competition being so grand these
days it’s hard to predict if this fella will sink or swim.
There is some potential for his music to be heard on
terrestrial radio on the softer channels or even satellite
radio, but only time will tell. A thoroughly entertaining
piece of art for sure.
www.lionmusic.com
| www.figstamper.com |
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Skyforger - Kauja Pie
Saules (Paragon Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Pagan/folk metal veterans Skyforger from the Baltic country
of Latvia have teamed up with New York- based Paragon Records
to re-release their debut full-length from 1998, entitled
“Kauja Pie Saules”, which translates as “The Battle Of Saule”.
Sung in Latvian, Skyforger’s brilliant debut glorifies and
honors the Balts prior to their subjugation by Christians from
the south.
Skyforger was one of the few established bands in the
pagan/folk genre to escape my notice prior to the reception of
this promo. I had heard of them, but was given the impression
that they were somehow affiliated with NS nonsense. That is
definitely not the |
case, as
their lyrical focus is one of Latvian heritage and tradition.
A stylized swastika does appear in their logo, but let’s all
remember our history and note that Hitler and the Nazis
co-opted the pre-existing symbol for their own twisted uses
starting in the 1920s.
At any rate, Skyforger’s musical direction consists of some
mid-paced, stylized black metal (different lyrical content)
with plenty of folk melodies, Latvian battle hymns, and the
incorporation of native instruments, such as the use of
woodwinds. In addition, there is a pronounced thrash metal
feel to the guitar riffs and the harsh vocals are reminiscent
of “Blood Fire Death”-era Bathory, which definitely seems to
be an influence. Additional comparisons to Finnish giants
Moonsorrow would be prudent, as well, with similar songwriting
structures and acoustical interludes. Pacing alternates
between some mid-paced tempos and blasts, with the clean,
acoustical passages sprinkled throughout. The end result is an
excellent, varied debut that depicts songwriting skills far
above that of your typical debut full-length. I fully intend
to track down everything that Skyforger has recorded to this
point, as I am very curious to see how they’ve progressed
since this debut.
Also worth mentioning is the high regard Skyforger has
garnered in their native country by winning Latvian Grammy
awards as well as teaming up with the country’s cultural
establishment to release an all folk music album in 2003
entitled “Sword Song”.
American label Paragon Records has a keen eye for lost gems
from Europe (witness the Black Crucifixion re-releases) and
gives these albums a proper American release for a wider
audience. Kudos to Paragon for their efforts! In addition, the
professional layout for “Kauja Pie Saules” contains English
liner notes and excellent artwork from a Latvian artist.
Needless to say, I’m very impressed by Paragon’s efforts and
this excellent release from Skyforger. Don’t make the mistake
that I initially made by overlooking this band!
www.skyforger.lv
| www.paragonrecords.net |
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Tarot - Crows Fly
Black (Nuclear Blast) Review by James Young |
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For the generation of angst-ridden teenagers who jumped on the
Nightwish bandwagon because it became ‘fashionable’ all of a
sudden, it should be stated first and foremost that although
Marco Hietala may have been in that female-fronted behemoth,
Tarot has been in existence far longer, dating back to the
early 1980s in fact. Without going into a full history of the
group, let it suffice to say that they were originally called
Purgatory, but changed their name to Tarot to put out their
first album in 1986 called ‘Spell Of Iron’. Fast forward a few
years, and after a number of albums, the success of Nightwish
put the band on the back-burner from 2003 to 2006, and we now
come face to face with their latest creation, Crows |
Fly
Black. Few similarities can be drawn between Tarot and Nightwish -
both are power metal of sorts, but where Nightwish were epic
in their expansive dream-like symphonies, Tarot provide a
heavier, more crushing form of heavy metal comparable to the
gargantuan sounds of Nevermore. The cover art gives a clue as
to the kind of material we should expect on the album, an
exceptionally dark, unsettling sound, which although not being
depressing as such, certainly gives a melancholy edge to a
number of the songs. Marco Hietala and Tommi Salmela’s vocals,
which resemble one another so closely I can’t tell them apart,
certainly help in conveying this mood, alternating between
haunting and incredibly powerful. I would place them somewhere
between the avant-garde style of Nevermore’s Warrel Dane and
the sheer intensity of Beyond Fear’s Tim Owens. The choruses
on the whole tend to be ‘big’ and anthemic, and the guitar
solos jaw-dropping in their structure and delivery,
complimented by a sinister yet crystal clear production job.
The mid-paced opener of ‘Crows Fly Back’ provides a
headbangingly creepy start to the album, with some tortured
operatic vocals in the verses contrasting with the pin-pointed
power of the chorus, with some rather underplayed guitar and
keyboard solos. Following this almighty start to the album,
‘Traitor’ and ‘Ashes To Ashes’ are perhaps more representative
of what is to come, with driving heavy metal passages,
wonderful guitar harmonies and sublime solos. ‘Messenger Of
Gods’ boasts a rockier feel, with its brash riffs and ‘woah’-along
chorus. ‘Tides’ is the ballad of the album, which despite
containing pleasant pianos, clean vocals and even a nifty
little guitar solo, is far more unsettling than reassuring.
The following tracks return things to normal, that is,
transforming the very disturbing to just plain disturbing, the
heavy grooves and guitar and keyboard harmonies of ‘Bleeding
Dust’ culminating in one mother of a solo, and the rock-based
‘You’ looping riffs for a mesmerising effect. The last couple
of tracks make no attempt to cheer things up in the slightest,
‘Howl’ featuring a haunting choir finale, and ‘Grey’ employing
some effortless high vocals to close the album in a
misleadingly ‘nice’ fashion.
Do not buy this album expecting another Nightwish, because you
will be sadly disappointed, and I would also advise those
suffering from depression or suicidal tendencies to think
twice before checking this out. For the rest of you who just
want a great heavy metal record to get your beaks stuck into,
‘Crows Fly Black’ is a must-have - great stuff.
www.nuclearblast.de |
www.wingsofdarkness.net |
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The Cast Outs - Self
Titled (Self Released) Review by Don Baird |
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To quote the band from their myspace page just sums everything
up perfectly. "If you woke up in jail only to find out that
you have three felonies for kicking a cop in the nuts,
stealing a car, and running over random emo kids, then you
must have been listening to The Cast Outs". This is a 7 track
DIY release with a 25 minute running time. The production is
as raw as hell, but has an endearing quality to it, which can
also be applied to the music. Sure, this ain't inventing any
new wheels, it's European style Punk Rock with a kind of New
Wave garnish, all blasted out from an Ohio garage. The vocals
are handled by both band members Derek and Dave, mainly
simultaneously as is all the instrumentation. While Dave is |
| listed
as playing drums, I'm more inclined to think they are
programmed as they sound about as organic and fresh as a
George W. speech on Iraq. Song 7, which is actually the 4th
song!!! is the 1st slow down after three romps of mild, ie:
without the snot, punk rock. This signals a change in
direction, to something altogether more musical... for about
20 seconds, as the once timid Can't Refrain, becomes a
pulsating ball of snot. Daze Down ups the pressure a few more
degrees before The Ramones inspired title of We'll Wait For
Tomorrow And See What Happens Today ends the cd with a hark
back to the 70s in pure punk rock style.
www.myspace.com/castoutsband |
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The Faces of Sarah -
Lament (Malicious Damage) Review by Steve Green |
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The Faces of Sarah are a band. I just wanted to clear that up
before I go on and on and on and on about Nick Schultz's
vocals. This man has such an amazing set of pipes I'm in
complete and total awe. With The Faces of Sarah being a Goth
band, as in a real Goth band (Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the
Nephilim) and not your female vocal type Goth band (which
really shouldn't have that tag, which is another argument
completely) it comes as no surprise that there's more than a
touch of the Wayne Hussey's about his voice. This is something
the band are aware of too I'm sure as there's no mention of
The Mission in their influences or in the "Sounds Like" list
on their myspace page. Either they aren't fans of The |
Mish, or
it's a comparison they obviously want to avoid. Too late, ha
ha ha, I've said it. The other comparison I have for Nick
Schultz's voice, is one he'll probably want to kill me for,
because it's of a woman. When he uses the lower register of
his range, I can't help thinking of Alison Moyet. Hey, no
laughing at the back. It's just that 80s feel the album gives
off.
Back to the album and the fact that The Faces of Sarah are a
band, it's a simple case of telling you that this album is
excellent. I love everything about it. The songs are fresh,
despite the overwhelming feeling of going back in time about
20 years and it's got me completely hooked, despite it being
an album I don't play to death. I good airing every week or
two and it keeps getting better with every listen (especially
with headphones on). Which also indicates I should have
reviewed this over a month ago, whoops. With the quality of
the quasi-ballad You Should Have Told Me, the impossibly
powerful offerings of Where Were You & Another Breakdown, the
catchy Goth Rock of All That You Used To Be and the fragility
and power of Fallen, Lament is a must album for all fans of
the genre and for those looking for something new to whet
their jaded taste buds. And in case you haven't guessed by
now, I fucking love the vocals too.
www.facesofsarah.com |
www.maliciousdamage.co.uk |
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This Ending - Inside
The Machine (Metal Blade) Review by Chris
Davison |
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Ever wanted to know what happened to A Canourous Quintet? The
Swedish deathsters seemed to have disappeared from all
existence some time ago, never to be seen again. The members
went on their disparate travels, going on to play in other
well known acts such as Guidance of Sin, Amon Amarth, Niden
Div. 187 and others. Quite why they split is anyones guess,
but now some nine years since the band were last active, the
boys are back together in the form of This Ending, and with
this, their debut full lengther for those thoroughly nice
folks at Metal Blade.
In terms of what you get, it probably isn't a huge surprise to
learn that this is excellently |
played
aggressive melodic metal with a modern edge. This release has
as much polish as a new car dealership showroom, yet as much
grit as an all day John Wayne marathon. Things are kicked off
with the atmospheric stylings of Seed of Destruction, an up tempo thrasher that
begins with a melody that the likes of latter day Slayer could
only dream of producing. The rabid drumming, clattering along
like the proverbial shithouse door in a force 9 gale, provides
the solid backbone of an archetypal death/thrash feast.
Given the pedigree of the various members, it also won't come
as a tremendous shock to the system to learn that I could hear
plenty of similarities in terms of the guitar and bass sound
to the much adored Amon Amarth sound. While the latter act
wallow in their Viking heritage, this is very much an album of
the "now", and rooted in the modern age. Those atmospheric
electronic flourishes and sound effects abound between the
tracks, adding to a palpable air of modern decay; in essence,
this has just the right amount of "modernity" for me. None of
this rather silly cyber metal nonsense, just grade "A" death
metal with interesting interludes and some rare (for the
genre) obtuse guitar tones hinting at prime era Voivod in
their nature. Otherwise, the vocals are screamed and hoarse,
but of the fully fledged variety unlike the grating whining of
many of the current vogue "screamo" acts that infest the metal
scene like so many pubic lice.
The production is top notch, with clarity of sound being
assured throughout this collection of ten excellent tracks.
The musicianship is faultless, and though there are plenty of
chugga-chugga palm muted riffs and duelling guitar melodies,
this is far from the normal run-of-the-mill melodic death
metal. This Ending have managed to give their music a true
personality, which given how crowded a genre melodi-death has
become is no mean feat. It remains a true testament to the
quality of the individual musicians that their debut has such
an individual sound that you could truly describe this as the
"This Ending" sound. Those in search of a sound somewhere
between the easy listening Death of Amon Amarth and the
sparkling personality of the first Blaze album could do much
worse than to give This Ending a visit. This Ending? I can
only hope that this is just The Beginning.
www.metalblade.com |
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Torok - Addiction Of
Fools (Sugar Shack Recordings)
By: Joe Florez |
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The editor and webmaster for this very site pointed out this
band to me since he knows that I like hard hair rock/metal in
addition to all things heavy. Torok was the name and before
accepting this review I went to their Myspace site and we all
know that everyone including their cats and dogs have one to
check out the goods first hand. Their were four tracks that
sounded very promising and I knew right then and there that I
had to give this a whirl. Since I have no clue about this
group, research was necessary and found out that this is their
fourth disc, the band has been around since 1995 give or take
and the lead guitarist Mike Torok was in the legendary band
Impaler from the 80’s who released a DVD just a few |
| years
ago. Now, just what is this band all about? For beginners,
it’s classic 80’s glam rock with a focus on guitars and even
classic hard rock influences like Purple, Zep and the ilk.
“Wolf Within” is a sluggish opener with vocalist Bryan
Erickson singing at the top of his lungs to the point where it
sounds like he’s stressing out his chords, but then brings it
down and actually sings during the choruses. There is plenty
of melody, but it’s slow. The drums are beaten in a simple 4/4
pattern. The guitar work has some bite especially during the
flashy solo and the use of flamenco is always a classy touch,
but is far from taking my breath away. You can hear very
prominently here the influences of the glam era and classic
hard rock, but it fails to impress. “Full Moon” picks up some
steam here and is more of an enjoyable tune thanks to the upbeat
energy injection which is badly needed. Bryan’s
voice is a bit on the harsh side and can be noticed especially
when the harmony vocals are thrown from time to time. Now, it
seems like things really begin to shape up in many ways. “1000
Reasons” shows more of the 80’s hair movement here than
anywhere else and that's cool. You can tell that while they
embrace it, they seem somewhat embarrassed by it and prefer to
throw in the heavier side of things instead. This song has a
pop feel to it and that’s cool! I love music that stands out
even if it’s dated. All that matters is that you put your
heart into it. I think the real Torok is exposed here and I
can dig it. The singing is much cleaner and more free. It
never sounds forced or uncomfortable. The title track is a
good ballad that utilizes piano and acoustic guitars where
needed. The band fluctuates their sound quite often going from
hard to melodic and even soft. The major problem here is that
songs like this need a slick polish to bring out the best
in their sound for what they do. These are too raw and end up
coming off like demo tracks rather than the real thing. A real
producer needs to come in and clean this up to the max. The
thing is that this music is making a minor comeback thanks to
labels like Frontier Records and it should be embraced and not
be shy about what they love to truly play. Remember the music
is made to satisfy yourselves (the band) first and foremost. The
potential is definitely there.
www.torokmusic.com
| www.nightmare-records.com
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