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Grand Lux - Carved
In Stone (Ulterium Records) Review by Frank Allain |
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Generally accepted thinking these days is that if you’re going
to compete in the modern power/true metal market, you could do
a lot worse than take great strips from ‘Painkiller’-era Judas
Priest - after all, Primal Fear have managed to make a healthy
career out of it – or plagiarise wholesale the early works of
Helloween. Grand Lux have entered the fray from a different
perspective, offering up a less hysterical, slower and more
rock-orientated take on a tiresomely oversaturated genre and
for this at least, they should be applauded. Tragically,
‘Carved in Stone’ is such a banal and unsatisfying affair that
they may have been better off aping their tried-and-trusted
betters after all. Boasting a by-the-numbers pristine |
production and mechanically competent musical performances,
Grand Lux have failed to construct a single stand-out, ‘fist
in the air’ moment on this entire album, a remarkable feat
indeed.
Adjectives such as ‘inoffensive’, ‘alright’ and ‘OK’ cropped
up time and time again as the CD span in my stereo - are these
really the plaudits that a modern metal band should be aiming
for? It’s fair to say that moments of this record are pleasant
enough with ‘Escaping the Clouds’ sporting a decent chorus
hook and final track ‘Rainbow’s End’ deploying a vigour sorely
lacking from the rest of the album. Nevertheless, the feeling
that lingers throughout the entirety of the album’s 39-minute
duration is that, stripped of the production polish and shiny
modern imagery, Grand Lux are essentially peddling run of the
mill pub rock – a homogenous morass of repetitive and dated
rockers, not helped by a vocal performance that errs on the
erratic too often for comfort. ‘Carved in Stone’ is a fair
enough stab at the genre but can they really be satisfied with
currently sounding like a poor man’s Armored Saint? One would
hope not.
www.ulterium-records.com |
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Grimness 69 -
Grimness Avenue 69 (Grotesque Productions) Review by Richard Tomsett |
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I tore open my beautiful review package, kindly sent a little
while ago by Steve, knowing that I'd have the lovely new
Kamelot DVD to tickle my eyeballs and caress my eardrums.
However, I was also warned of a little surprise arriving along
with that eagerly awaited item. I was about to eat my lunch at
the time, and college food being what it is my appetite wasn't
overly aroused anyway, but when I reached into the packet and
pulled out Grimness 69's latest offering, it disappeared
totally. Unless you're stuck in a time-warp and aren't using a
graphical browser, you will be able to see, conveniently
placed to the left of this text, the beautiful album cover of
“Grimness Avenue 69”. Sex on a plate, innit? Sick grindy/deathy |
| type music is, naturally, what Grimness 69 offer, influenced
by the usual grind suspects, as well as early Swedish death
metal and incorporating perhaps a bit more of a punk influence
than some of their peers. They certainly aren't doing anything
new, but they sound like they're having far too much fun to
care about that. Unfortunately the promo CD didn't come with
any lyrics, but song titles like “My Mongoloid Girlfriend”, “Spermrainbow”,
“Piss not Peace” and “Lucy was Pregnant” suggest that the band
aren't really aiming to write lyrical epics with depth and
emotion. The “let's be really sick and twisted and talk about
buggering aborted foetuses cos it's hilarious” approach got
boring in the eighties - if you ever found it interesting in
the first place - so it's just as well Grimness 69 (what is it
with me having to review bands with really shite names?) have
some meaty riffs to get your head banging. From time to time a
bit generic and boring, but often grinding along nicely with
some good breakdowns and even surprising occasionally with
melody, stemming from the more melodic moments of the
Stockholm influences – for example, the second riff in “Autos
da Fe”. The production's an interesting one: single guitar
slightly off-centre and drums spread quite widely across the
stereo spectrum, which actually makes the sound reasonably
powerful, yet very raw and gnarly. Perhaps a stronger guitar
tone would have helped the album to be more in-you-face. The
vocals vary from typical deep gutteral belchings, to more
mid-range and high screams/shouts, sometimes with effects
applied, which adds variety nicely. The songs are on average
under two minutes long, which is pretty much perfect for this
style: nothing annoys me more than a good song ruined by too
much repetition or sections simply adding unnecessary length.
It's like Linford Christie getting a penis extension. Reckon
he'd bother with that? Thought not. Anyway, this is a fun
album (musically if not lyrically) which, while bringing
nothing new to the metal table, does what it does effectively
and should go down well with fans of the genre.
www.grotesquemusic.com/ |
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Kult - Winds of War
(Debemur Morti Productions) Review by Crin |
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Its not often that a band stirs my innards, but this Italian
act is one of the rare exceptions. Pure melodic Black Metal
with songs that re so well put together, you just need to play
‘em again and again.
There are no keyboards to fill any weak holes, no deviation
from the melancholic velocity of the tempo, and more
importantly, there is no compromise.
Here we find a band so full of class, so imbedded in the
underground its frightening.
It's this combination that makes the music so pure and free of
any commercial wank labels poison.
Temple of Darkness are one of the many labels who strive to
produce music from nowhere, not the labels who strive to steal
the bands from the labels who find the bands from |
nowhere.
To have a band with so much musical ability and possessing
that special creative flair is Temple of Darkness’s gain.
Starting with a sombre, doom clad riff, the erupting fury soon
hauls the sound into the familiar tumult of good, melodic
Black Metal.
Then those riffs to die for are driven into the head with
shocking ferocity.
It sounds so Scandinavian, as quality of this calibre normally
stems from that part of the world, yet here is a band with
equal measures of inventive ideas and musical ability.
There is a heavy leaning towards Gorgoroth era ‘Pentagram’,
and that old school feel is constantly set into the chilling
atmosphere. The guitars are played by Ancients, Aphazel, another Norwegian
reference, and his amazing contribution certainly bolsters the
album with menace.
Many bands need two or three albums to reach this level of
competence, and every track has its own identity, and the
songs are so complete and likeable, you forget you are
actually listening to a vicious Black Metal album.
Go get this or Fuck off!
www.debemur-morti.com |
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Mendeed - The Dead
Live By Love (Nuclear Blast)
By: Joe Florez |
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Scotland’s Mendeed is already up to their junior effort in a
very short amount of time. I didn’t like their last release
“This War Will Last Forever” for the simple fact that Dave
Proctor’s vocals were too metalcore for my liking even though
the music was fantastic. Things have seem to shifted for the
better in just a year’s time. Now, on “The Dead Live By Love”
Dave’s voice is more metallic. He has this shrieking scream
akin to Alexi Laiho, but doesn’t really phase me and when he
sings clearly it’s absolutely mind boggling because it’s that
damn good. The music is also fast and furious, but packs a
wallop upside the noggin. “Burning Fear” takes off immediately
without ever looking back. The fingers on the fret |
boards
from Steph and Steven are furiously lightning quick as they go up
and down and strum with plenty of muscle behind them. The
drumming is also intense as Kevin moves those sticks around
like nothing, but never sounding sloppy. Call this modern
thrash with originality. Just this one track alone proves that
they are versatile as the tempo changes are swing back and
forth without ever losing steam and confusing the listener.
Wow! What an improvement in just one year.
“The Fight” contains some serious skin bashing in the
beginning as it has a death metal vibe. When you get deeper
into the song, the composition sounds like something that
Rhapsody (Of Fire) could have created, but this is better as
the boys manage to avoid redundant and safe patterns that
many power metal artists are used to creating. Once again,
Dave’s lung work during the choruses are quite beautiful. As
far as the solos go, the steel strings simply go into warp
speed, but have great melody akin to Dragonforce, but once
again have some bite and an edge to them that is razor sharp
and untouchable. Just to show you that the term versatility is
in their vocabulary, the title track proves that they don’t
always have to rely on speed to hold your interest. Sure, some
blastbeats, flailing riffs and abusive drum bashing are in
great demand here, but they also have some slower passages in
here just to balance things out a bit. I wasn’t ready for this
experience when I popped it in. When I received this in the
mail, I just wanted to throw it out immediately because I
assumed it was going to be like their last offering. I am glad
that I decided to take a shot on this and I love it. If they
keep this up, I will become a long time fan. Fans from power
metal to thrash and even melodic death metal ala In Flames and C.O.B. will find pleasure in this.
www.nuclearblast.de
| www.mendeed.co.uk |
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Naglfar - Harvest
(Century Media Records) Review by Crin |
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Swedes long established Death/ Black Metal act, Naglfar, have
been around in since 1993, having their debut demo ‘Stellae
Trajectio’ released in ’94.
Since then the band have released four well received albums
and a couple of EP’s.
With a sound as full bodied as you’d expect a heavy weight
Swedish death act to embody, the music here is oozing with the
melodic soul found in the likes of, Entombed, In Flames, Dark
Tranquillity, Arch Enemy, and I could go on and on...
Naglfar sit alongside these acts as equals, the music being in
your face and fired at you from a raging quartet seething with
vicious riffs and pure METALIC rhythms. The vibrancy and
crystal clear production adds |
to the
immense sound, allowing the fury to melt into the ears with
ease.
Its not as relevant as the bands initial output, but far more
enjoyable than the last album.
With a fast and furious set of songs, concluding with a far
more lengthy slower track, here we find a band reborn, ignited
with a new spark of passion that certainly injects life into
this rather splendid release.
Have we heard it all before?, Of course we have. Originality
isn’t the reason this album burns the senses, like the
regurgitated Swedish sound that the aforementioned bands spit
out, it’s the very sound of a genre that makes this album so
enjoyable
www.centurymedia.com |
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Obituary - Frozen
Alive (Metal Mind) Review by Chris Davison |
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If you ask me, (and even if you don't), I'd say that Obituary
never got anything like the plaudits that they deserved. While
their American counterparts in the birth of Death metal (more
Oxymorons anyone?) were all lauded for various reasons, it
seemed that Obituary never got their fair share of the praise.
Sure, Deicide might have been faster, and Morbid Angel might
have influenced more bands, for my money Obituary always
produced more interesting and memorable music than any of
their peers. While it seems that Azagthoth and chums have a
new tribute band every other week (Mithras et. al.), the
shelves aren't exactly clogged with bands emulating the famous
Tardy brothers approach to the extreme, or the column inches
over laden with words about how much of an influence they have
been to the latest generation of floppy haired fuckers.
This, however, might be the best form of praise that the band
are ever likely to get; that of a truly stunning metal live
DVD. I waxed lyrical about the supremely excellent production
of |
the
Grave DVD (also courtesy of Metal Mind), and much of what I
wrote there is also applicable here. The setlist is an
absolute blinder, and serves to remind just what a brilliant
band Obituary have been, and how great they continue to be.
The fact that newer cuts like the pounding "Redneck Stomp" can
sit almost seamlessly next to more classic numbers like the
all time wonder-song "Chopped in Half" or the venerable "Find
the Arise" is testament to their persistence and unbridled
song writing power. There is a baffling omission on the behalf
of "I Don't Care", but aside from this baffling no-show, all
the "hits" are contained within, and then some. The camera
work and direction remain second to none, with each shot going
to highlight the power of the band as they rocket effortlessly
through their performance.
This should really be required viewing for any metal fan,
especially those youngsters among you who may be tempted to
think of Obituary as just another footnote in the history of
death metal. Not only were they the best of the early DM
bands, this performance shows that they are probably among the
best that the most brutal of genres still has to offer.
www.metalmind.com.pl/ |
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Painful Memories -
Memorial To Suffering (Solitude Productions)
Review by Chris Davison |
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I have had some right rare finds to review since the beginning
of my tenure with the good people at Live4metal.com, but with
this I feel like the ultimate metal archaeologist. Talk about a
rare gem - this really is a forgotten masterpiece, and you
need to know that right off the bat. You don't know Painful
Memories (the band), I would almost wager my monthly income on
it. The only real chance that you'll have heard of them will
be if you are related to one of the band members - and given
that Painful Memories are from Russia, the chances of that
happening are about a zillion to one, on an English speaking
website!
This, it transpires, is a demo MCD recorded in 1996, and yet
only re-issued this year after |
having
been mastered last year. In terms of sound though, this is
squarely rooted, to my ears at least, in the glory years of
about 1993-1994. This is some heftily majestic death
influenced doom metal, which most strongly brings to mind
"Tales From The Thousand Lakes" era Amorphis, minus the cod-folk influences, and with the added
benefit of some absolutely inspired guitar melodies. In terms
of the guitar sound, elephant heavy monolithic riffs cascade
headlong into the ear, while crystal clear lead work is
interlaced delicately over the top like the veritable icing on
the cake. This is a mostly mid paced delicacy, with some
tasteful drum work and pounding (if a little unspectacular)
bass work. The vocals are clear but gruff and growled,
complimenting the music perfectly.
The song writing had clearly had some attention lavished on
it, and the music sounds like the very best possible
influences have been gained from My Dying Bride in places, but
more often than not more particularly in the atmosphere and
guitar sound of Greg Mackintosh from Paradise Lost in his
"Icon" phase. Of course, given the age of the release, it
might sound particularly reminiscent of the era to some ears,
but to my mind, this has aged remarkably well, and can hang
its head high when compared to many modern releases. The
mastering job, I suspect, has done a great deal to aid the
initial production, and as a consequence the sound is clear,
heavy and allows plenty of room for the music to "breathe". I
have to say that had this enjoyed a wider audience at the time
of its conception, Painful Memories may have gone on to some
considerable critical aplomb. As it is, I think that they're
probably destined to remain a curious footnote in the annals
of history - which is at turns a shame and a boon. A shame
because they will probably never reap the rewards that this
excellent album deserves, but a boon as owning this will give
you bragging rights when you play it to your metal loving
chums. Wonderful stuff, all in all.
www.solitude-prod.com/ |
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Plate Six - Battle
Hymns For A New Republic (One Little Indian) Review by Steve
Green |
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This isn't about what's happening now, this is about the last
25 years. Two members of Plate Six started the Bent Rail
Foundation, their own record label (which originally released
this album 18 months ago before One Little Indian snapped it
up for Worldwide release), evolving from a fanzine, very much
in the style of Sub Pop. Musically the connection ties in with
the likes of Sonic Youth, with their roots stemming from the
likes of Fugazi. And although they aren't comparable to rock
maverick Neil Young, I can't help feeling that Plate Six are
doing things on their terms, whatever trends are floating in
the wind, nothing about Plate Six is commercial. It's slightly
off key/kilter, which is often the case with Neil Young |
and
there's the distorted, almost out of tune but it still sounds
good element, that takes me back to the days of Welfare
Mothers. The out of step feeling can also be attributed to
Brad Davis' drumming. On Losed, (sic) he follows the rhythm of
the song, but this is a rarity as he is usually beating shit
out of kit, but following a completely different path than the
rest of the band. The vocals follow a similar formula, not the
most tuneful I've ever heard, but they work well in the raw
confines of Plate Six.
Never mind your post-hardcore and post-punk labels, this is
post-shoegazing. Unfortunately, despite it being an
interesting listen, it may be a tad too geeky for your average
Metalhead. www.indian.co.uk |
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Psyopus - Our
Puzzling Encounters Considered (Metal Blade) Review by Steve
Green |
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This review could quite easily be constructed with me writing
WHAT THE FUCK!!!! 300 times. And you still wouldn't be any
wiser to what this album sounds like. Taking this from their
bio, "Psyopus create heart attack-inducing, grinding
metal, that conjures up whirlwinds and tidal waves of absurd
guitar work, harsh vocal onslaughts and hypersonic rhythm
bombardment that takes the term 'tech' to an entirely new
level" I couldn't agree more. I also can't work out why they
would want to make such a crazy fucking racket. It's noise
just for the sake of it as far as I'm concerned. Exactly the
same as my views on Mr Bungle. Obviously I'm not the right the
person to review this album, but on the other hand, I can |
only
think of one ex-writer (George Korein) that would like this... and his
tastes were very strange indeed.
I have managed to survive opening number "The Pig Keeperis
Daughter" (sic), but second number "2" was causing my head to
explode (I'm listening to this on headphones, which is not a
good idea) so I've had to stop the cd. I'm now at the stage of
do I resume the same number, or do I play it safe and go for
track 3, "Scissor Fuck Paper Doll". I have just chosen the
latter, but it's still the same pulverizing tuneless noise
with guitars firing in at such a nutty intensity, that I've
had to admit defeat and turn it off.
I've no idea why anyone would want to listen to this, I'm also
at a loss to why any label, never mind one as respected as
Metal Blade, would put their money into such a diabolical
abortion of a band. Quite possibly the worst album I've ever
heard... or at least the three songs I tortured my senses with.
www.psyopus.com/ |
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