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Sacrificial Blood /
Zombie Spilt cd (Rusty Axe Records) Review by
Chris Davison |
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The problem is these days that metal bands just don't have
enough album covers featuring loads of zombies doing their
undead eating/rotting thing. There aren't many album covers
that feature demon thingies with fuck off big horns either.
Luckily, this split CD more than makes up for it, what with
its tasteful artwork of...erm...loads of zombies doing the
rotting/eating thing accompanied by...well..some demon type
thingies with fuck off big horns. The spirit of the nastier
sides of the 80's thrash and death scenes are alive and well
in this co-authored piece of utter malignant hatred.
Sacrificial Blood are a three piece hailing from New Jersey,
and open proceedings with five |
tracks
recorded in a basement in January of 2006. As you might expect
from tracks recorded in a basement, the sound is plenty raw
and authentic, but let's be honest, sometimes we want our
metal loud, fast and crude, and this is all three. If you
mixed in the spirit of old Sepultura round about the Schizophrenia album with the
prime output of vintage Deceased, you'd be getting somewhere
near to the mark; cavernous, hollow sounding guitars flash
about in the murk like razor blades wielded by madmen. Vocals
howl dementedly into the dark, while the drums, ever
perilously close to sounding like cardboard boxes combine with
bass rumbling over the music like a tank over brittle bones.
This even manages to sound like those 4th generation copied
TDK D90 cassettes that you had swapped back in the day thanks
to the production, the budget for which I assume was on the
modest side. SB might exclaim "DEATH to ALL ... retro-metal
trendfags", but in their case, I'm glad that at least one band
knows how to keep the spirit of a more innocent, less glossy
age alive.
Zombie, who are a much more pure thrash orientated outfit,
come across like it really is 1987. Again, the production is
straight out of the Slayer live bootleg circa 1985 quality,
which is to say that the vocals really sound like they were
recorded in one take and in a live setting, while the
instrumentation has that raw immediacy that you would expect
from a live performance. They win the production battle of the
bands, with a clearer (though no less authentic) sound. The
songs here, equal parts Hell Awaits Slayer, and the lightning
speed riffage of prime time Exodus. The guitars are a
particular highlight, what with the riffs seemingly having
been exhumed from a place where thrash bands go to die!
It isn't 1987 - but if you listen to this, you'll have a fair
idea of what it was like to swap tapes during that time. Just
hand write yourself an illiterate letter, preferably with ham
fisted attempts to make yourself sound more metal, and add as
many exclamation tapes as you can!!!!!!!!!!! It's a time
machine in itself...
www.rustyaxerecords.com/ |
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Sentenced - Buried
Alive DVD (Century Media) Review by Sam Thomas |
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This 2 DVD offering is inevitably tinged with a bitter edge of
sadness for those of us who have been devoted fans of
Finland’s masters of suicide metal. Being released as it was,
as the funeral offering to follow the funeral album, this
could have been either a sombre affair, or even a cynical
attempt to milk yet more money from the still warm corpse.
Fortunately it manages to be neither of these things, and is
instead a welcome addition to any collection.
DVD 1 is a recording of the final show in the band’s hometown
Oulu. Clocking in at just over two hours, this draws heavily
on the last three albums. It starts as it means to go on, with
some stark scenes of an empty stage, with trees visible in the
background. Just to add to the overall atmosphere of brooding
melancholy, the trees are bare of leaves.
When the band take the stage, there is very much a sense of
the concert having been out on purely as a thank you to their
Finnish fans: all the links are in Finnish (no subtitles!).
Ville Laihaila prowls the stage restlessly, like a man
possessed by an anarchic spirit (or should |
that be
spirits?). This was obviously a difficult gig for the band,
things didn’t really seem to be gelling properly until the
tenth track of the set “Despair Ridden Hearts”. From that
point on, Sentenced seemed to be well into their stride.
Taneli Jarva does the honours at the mic for a mid concert
selection of five songs from the older albums, looking as
though he’d never really been away. Then it’s back to Ville
for “Noose” – a track that is mercilessly slagged off by the
band on the second DVD as being the one that they least want
to ever perform again.
The concert is accompanied by a variety of special effects:
pyrotechnics, snowfall and falling metallic pieces which
should detract from the serious nature of things, but this
being Finland they scarcely lighten the dark brooding aura. A
fitting farewell.
DVD 2 is three hours of the usual type of material: a
documentary of the final trip round Finland which is subtitled
and contains some hilarious footage of the various scrapes the
band get into, along with surreal images of the chaps
transporting a coffin through various parts of the Finnish
countryside, an animated photo-gallery (only for the most
diehard!), the complete selection of videos and two interviews
the first of which is rather tedious at nearly forty minutes
long.
Overall, this DVD set is a fitting memorial to a band who saw
fit to write their own epitaph whilst still at the peak of
their career.
www.sentenced.org
| www.centurymedia.com
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Solefald - Black For
Death (An Icelandic Odyssey Part II)
(Season Of Mist)
By: Joe Florez |
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Well, some months have passed since part I Red For Fire was
released. Now this Icelandic journey comes to an end here.
“Red For Fire + Black For Death” is a blistering black metal
piece that starts out strong with Cornelius’ wicked and fiery
voice and aggressive riffing along with thunderous drumming.
Some classical violin work is incorporated into the mayhem as
well. It’s not long before things shift into the more melodic
scene. The vocals now bounce back and forth from clean to
cookie monster style making for a fun listen if you can handle
their known quirkiness. “Queen In The Bay Of Smoke” continues
to sound as goofy as their other work. You have more classical
arrangements inserted here while the |
| vocals
sound like Cornelius just work up and went to the studio right
away to cut them. It’s starts out slow at first, but slowly
builds up the momentum only to be brought back down and then
up again. Patience is required here because these are artists
at work. If you are a fan of Solefald, you will no doubt understand
that they have a massive case of A.D.D. because the music
bounces around very much without any notice. The instrumental
track “Underworld” is actually a classy piece with saxophone
and lasts for only a minute plus. It seems like there is no
reason for it, but it’s fun and definitely unpredictable. As
usual, the group continues to perplex the listeners mind with
off the wall compositions. Mixing elements of BM, classical,
jazz, melody, off the wall time signatures, epic madness,
bombastic and metallic and you stitch it all together, this is
about just one tenth of what the band is about. This is
definitely something that you have to have the right frame of
mind to have when you drop this in your player because if you
aren’t ready then you will hate this. Repeat listens are
required to not only understand what they are playing, but to
digest the layers of sounds that compose each song. These are
painters creating something on a canvas from nothing that
should be adored, if you take the time to try and appreciate
things out of the ordinary. It’s an adventurous ride to be on
if you can hang in there. Cornelis Jakhelln may have been busy
composing the new Sturmgeist and writing more philosophy while
Lazare was occupied with other band projects and what not, but
they managed to find the time to complete this tale composed
as only they could do it. This is only for the most daring to
divulge into.
www.season-of-mist.com
| www.solefald.com |
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Temple Of
Brutality - Lethal Agenda (Demolition Records)
By: Joe Florez |
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I read on the rock news wires that Dave Ellefson former bass
player from Megadeth was going to be in this band and that the
music was going to be heavy. Along for the ride is
former W.A.S.P. skin basher Stet Howland. So, just heavy is
this thing? Well, the title track does do some damage. You can
hear Dave pluck his bass along with the heavy sounds the boys
create It’s pretty simple and somewhat bombastic. I would like
to use the dated term of speed metal because that’s what it
is. The thing that kills me here is the vocal work of one Todd
Barnes. He screams and barks his way through in such a way
that comes off as comical. It sounds like someone who hates
metal and mocks the way one sings. The solos |
| are sick
and are capable of making ones ears bleed. “Hammer” is kind of
funny thanks to the way Todd goes about singing this one. It
sounds weird the way his phrasing goes with the music. You
can’t help but laugh. Ok, this thing is just getting goofy.
Mr. Barnes now goes for the nu-metal style which is dead on
“Already Dead.” There are some sections where he comes off as
rap metal thanks to the music because it’s so groovy. Think of
Disturbed on crack. The bottom line here is that the band says
in the bio that they are trying to “create a new sound”, but
fall flat on their ass. The music sounds a bit dated, under
produced and too simplistic. I don’t mind if someone wants to
go old school, but try to add something fresh to the genre.
The singing is the absolute star of the show because it’s so
fucking abysmal. Listen to the tracks on the band site for
yourself and hear what I am talking about. I would have
expected more from Mr. Ellefson. What a disappointment. The
only thing good that came out of this experience is that it
ends in thirty three minutes. Even that was too long for me to
take.
www.templeofbrutality.com
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Tristania - Illumination (SPV)
Review by Steve Green |
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Tristania are one of
those bands that fit in exactly with my tastes, but are a band
that I've never really clicked with. That is until now.
Everything about Illumination fits together beautifully, it's
an extremely graceful album. Is it down to the bands new
producer Waldemar Sorychta? Unlikely as he only gets one
co-writing credit. It's more likely down to the more prominent
role taken by Vibeke Stene after the departure of growler
Kjetil Ingebrethsen. I've never had a problem with her voice,
but she's never blown me away like she does on this album. She
sounds nothing like Leaves' Eyes vocalist Liv Kristine, so I'm
not making a comparison between the two ladies voices, but on
Illumination she produces a |
similar
captivating performance to that of her fellow countrywoman,
and because of this I think she's moved into the realms of
other world class singers such as the aforementioned Liv
Kristine, plus the likes of Floor Jansen, Simone Simons and
Sharon den Adel.
The other big winner for me is the song structure. Apart from
the heavier opener Mercyside and the bombastic operatics of
Sacrilege, there's a quiet confidence about the material.
Sanguine Sky may be dark, but the chorus is extremely
uplifting and accessible. And despite the Sisters of Mercy/Tiamat
comparisons, I wouldn't call this a sell-out. This is melody
without compromise. The sublime melodies continue into Open
Ground and by now, for the 1st time ever, Tristania have me
well and truly hooked. The interplay between Vibeke and Østen
Bergøy is completely natural and the introduction of Samael's
Vorph on The Ravens adds the return of the three tier vocals,
which will keep older fans happy. I'll let you discover for
yourself how stunning Destination Departure, Lotus and the
rest of Illumination is. If a non-believer like myself can be
this impressed, then existing fans of Tristania are going be
happier than the proverbial pig in shit.
www.tristania.com |
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Undergroove Vs Hangmans Joke Recordings Review by Will Knott
This one is a freebie, not just to me, the freeloading journo,
but to you the buying public. The idea is simple, two UK
underground labels want you to buy their products, so they
give you a free taster as a sweetener. A bloody simple idea
which more labels should adopt.
To be honest, some of bands on this compilations are slightly
left of centre to my normal listening pleasure and the quality
at times leaves a lot to be desired. For example, Johnny
Mental sound like they could be amazing and although the
"production" is thinner than an emaciated supermodel, there's
enough of a spark for me to want to hear more. I know this is
the underground and it's not supposed to sound polished, yet
some bands can take this concept to the extreme.
Just ask RSJ who offer modern take on Iron Monkey's
groundbreaking originality, albeit by lowering themselves a
few sewers down in the cesspool of life. Yes, it's that rough,
as is the downtuned sludge of The Abominable Iron Sludge. I'm
sure you are getting the idea by now. If you want to be
pulverised and for free, then get your derrière along to
www.hangmansjoke.net and follow the on screen instructions. |
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Various Artists -
Intoxicated Volume 4 (Underground Movement) Review by Steve
Green |
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We've been getting quite a few quality releases from Ireland
of late, so this compilation is a nice little tie in with
what's hot in the Irish scene. With 18 bands on offer, most of
them dabbling in Thrash and Death, this is not an album that
follows any given trend. It's obvious all of the bands are
playing their chosen brand of Metal because they
wholeheartedly believe in it.
First one that hit me between the eyes was the old school
drive of Nuclear Dawn by Dublin thrashers Mass Extinction. For
a minute I thought I was listening to my old Stars on Thrash
vinyl from 1988. Hard to pinpoint their sound exactly, but I'd
say fans of very early Slayer |
are in
for a treat. Not necessarily giving us the best track on
offer, Wreck of the Hesperus do stand out as being different
and are quite rightly described as "sewer dwellers". If you
imagine Gollum from LOTR
indulging in a bit of doom and gloom, this is what he'd sound
like, especially if his balls had been nailed to the floor.
Two bands that have both been given favourable reviews on L4M
recently, do both stand out. Ground of Ruin and particularly
Era Vulgaris are bands to keep an ear out for. Back to the
Thrash, of which I have to say the quality on this compilation
is high. Viocosis from Co.Louth win the award for the best
"heads down and head for the finish" breakneck approach and
probably just edge it as my favourite band on the comp.
All in all, considering this is mainly demo material, the
sound quality, bar a couple of bands at the end, is
surprisingly good. And it also highlights what a strong scene
Ireland has at the moment.
www.underground-movement.net |
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