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Alan Morse - Four O’ Clock And Hysteria
(InsideOut Music) By: Joe Florez |
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Let’s get this out of the way now. Yes this is Neal Morse’s
brother from Spock’s Beard. It seems like everyone in the band
has pumped out a solo offering: keyboardist Ryo Okumoto and
Nick D’ Virgilio-drummer. It’s Alan’s turn and for once it’s
not a proggy record as one would expect. Here we are treated
to some fine jazz fusion instrumentals that will keep you wide
awake for a long while. Lead off track “Cold Fusion” is punchy
and packed with excitement as the keys fly around and flourish
the song with a 70’s jazz feel while the drums get technical
at times, but basically get down and spice things up a bit
while Alan goes off with his six string creating something in
the end that is fresh and modern. It doesn’t follow |
any blueprint of any kind. ’Return To Whatever” is a bit more
furious than the opener as we get some lightning quick bass
thumping action along with more wicked guitar work filled with
squeals and more complicated composing, that will simply have
your jaw drop on the floor. Alan is smart because he knows how
pull the reigns in on all the action and slow it down a bit,
changing the tempo and to go for a more relaxed sound before
adding more steam once again. Besides being all fancy and full
of vitality, he knows when it’s time to calm down just a
touch. With “R Bluz” it’s a very catchy and rhythmic number
filled with throw back sounds and funky organ work. The axe is
performed with more feeling and passion. The jazz movement is
still included, but there is just a lot of things going on
here that keeps it from being one dimension. Fusion is the
best way to talk this one up. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting
much out of this album. I was thinking this would just be
nothing more than a paint by numbers instrumental that would
have no heart or soul to the music. I only say this because I
have been receiving countless vocal free records and a
plethora of them have been mediocre at best. I had a big smile
on my face from basically beginning to end. While there are
some things on here that don’t do it for me, for the most part
my spirits were flying high with this release. It’s obvious
where Mr. Morse’s influence comes from and that he had courage
not to incorporate SB into the mix. Furthermore, he was able
to take something that he loved very much and improve on it
ten fold. While a lot of this is structured from the man
himself, but there also seems to be a sense of a free form
session that goes on with a lot of these songs from time to
time when it’s called for and it goes a long way. When I
listen to this, I can truly tell that he enjoys what he has
created and the music flows in his veins. This is a mature
record that is just waiting to be explored through your ears.
It very refreshing to hear someone go against the grain a
little bit and come up with something that is satisfying in
the end. Glad I got to check this one out.
www.insideoutmusic.com |
www.myspace.com/alanmorse |
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The following three demo’s are released on a limited 300 pro
cassette. A classic format unearthing three bands from the
asphyxiating realms of the unseen Black metal underground.
www.debemur-morti.com |
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Ars Diavoli - The Absence of Light
Limited MC (Mystic Arts/
Debemur-Morti Productions)
Review by Crin |
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Portuguese Black Metal set to warp ten and very much in the
early Mayhem mould. The galloping snares and cold hell bound
vocals create a very Scandinavian feel to the dense guitar
sound. The atmosphere has a thicker body than the more icy
drone of lets say, Darkthrone.
The music is both engaging and very well written and the
longer you absorb the varied melodies set to the rough hewed
arrangements, the deeper you are drawn into the Pagan like
moods that emanate from the furious music.
There is an early Amorphis influence driven into the resonant
guitar chords, and when the galling slower sections give way
to the ferocity of the snares, a cold suicidal mood is
galvanized to an arousing morbidity. Forsaken chanting, like
monks begetting a life of agony, seep into the mid-section of
Human Mass Suicide, a daunting, Black Metal son that reeks of
the stifling shadow realms of the underground. |
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Rebirth of Nefast - Only Death Limited MC
(Mystic Arts/ Debemur-Morti Productions)
Review by Crin |
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German
Black Metal with a haunting guitar style to the arrangements.
A surreal emotive debut release, with tribal like drum work,
and a swishing guitar sound, reminiscent of the most extreme
of Black Metal bands.
With long winding compositions, one being 14 minutes, another
11, you can be assured of a mind numbing experience.
A suffocating atmosphere drapes the moribund melodies and the
lengthy winding tracks slowly claw their way into the mind,
squeezing the light from any thoughts you may care to
entertain.
Intelligent and exclusive to the select few, this may not be an
innovative release, but it has all the rare compulsive darkly
flavour of a mystical underground release.
The Germans have a fine Black Metal scene, with bands like Carpe Noctem, Dark Fortress, Moonblood, Kargvint, and
that pedigree can be found here. |
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Slidhr - Demo 2006 Limited MC
(Mystic Arts/ Debemur-Morti Productions)
Review by Crin |
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A rare Irish Black Metal band, with exasperating vocals
issuing words of excretal intent, decimating the air with a
repugnant atmosphere.
The mid tempo nature to the music in general evokes a
bemoaning aversion into the very bowels of hell.
The sound is powerful, the arrangements fashioned from aching
vocal strains and a deep emotive rhythmic sustenance.
Musically emanating from the singular mind of Gast, who
provides all the instruments and vocal misery.
Such bands with their one dimensional creative spark, often
sound like a tormented wandering spirit plucking at a broken
blood stained guitar and thrashing the human skin stretched
bass drum.
Agonizing bass strains, excruciating vocal yelping and a
menacing overall sound make up the self mutilating nature of
Slidhr’s musical vision. |
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Blood Stain Child – Idolator (Dockyard1) Review by Samuel
Munch-Petersen |
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They hail from Japan. They sound European. They have weird
makeup. They are Blood Stain Child. This band, formed in 1999,
takes on a metal edge that at times is melodic, can at times
be
extremely aggressive. The vocals, though punchy and raw, don’t
come across heavy enough for my liking. Their first track
Hyper Sonic gives a mishmash of thrash and hardcore with melodic vox backing up behind screeches from all sides. The music
itself, though somewhat commercial, is tight, speedy and
flawless. They’re certainly in the same league as Dir En Grey,
though I prefer DEG simply for the electro stuff that is
incorporated into their music. |
Having said all that BSC play well and have had some rather
high levels of exposure; two of their songs were played for a
Japanese wrestler in 2001 and a theme tune for the 30th
anniversary of a professional wrestling group. Even though
that’s definitely going to get their music into the ears of a
large crowd it would appear that their debut album; Silence of
Northern Hell, was the album that really made them jump out
into the metal realm music.
The music itself, as mentioned, is perfectly solid. Tracks
like Final Sky and Ag2o beat through with riffs that follow
circular motions rather than the awkward jump riffs you find
in some metal-come-emo music. This adds fluidity to the music
and keeps it travelling in one direction. From their music
contacts it would appear that BSC wanted (and keep wanting) to
stretch their music to European heights with the likes of
hiring Finnish producer Anssi Kippo (Children of Bodom,
Norther) to produce their second album and then getting on
board Tue Madsen of Denmark (The Haunted, Raunchy) to produce
Idolator. You can hear the influences creeping through in the
production but also in the music itself, with heavy blast
beats and a lot of heavy riffs with solos tagged onto the
ends, which are clearly heard on tracks such as Trial Spiral
and Void for instance. The double kick work is standard of a
punchy, thrashy, Euro-metal band which makes their vision of
being a European metal band more attainable.
Of course, singing in Japanese kind of detracts from this. But
that’s their only link to the world of J-Rock as we like to
call it. Overall a decent album, but a collection of J-Rock
and European influences make it a jumble of sounds, whether
they work or not, I will leave up to you to decide.
www.myspace.com/bloodstainchildmusic
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Chimaira - Resurrection (Nuclear Blast)
Review by Steve Green |
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I sell music shirts for a living and
spend most of my working day discussing Metal, which is a
pretty cool way to earn a crust as far as I'm concerned.
There's been an upturn recently for kids wanting shirts from
the heavier side of the spectrum. Mastodon, Machine Head, Lamb
of God and especially Chimaira are all featuring heavy on our
most wanted list. With Resurrection having been released a
week or so ago, I'm also getting a lot of feedback on just how
damn good this album is, and that's an understatement.
Up until now I've missed out on Chimaira as they signed to
Roadrunner around the time the label signed a shedload of
wanky "modern metal", a genre I steered clear of completely.
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And yeah, it's fair to lump Chimaira in with the modern scene,
but boy do they kick serious amounts of booty and I'm gutted
it's taken me this long to discover them. Resurrection is an
unrelenting, in your face assault from beginning to end...
well almost. The aggression is temporarily broken up with the
occasional dose of melodic six string action, especially on
the aptly titled Six. I must really like this album as I can
even cope with the more melodic clear vocal drop-outs that
frequent the album, something I normally can't stand. But they
fit in with the structure of the songs and they do keep the
sound from becoming one dimensional. Although that was never
really an issue with this album as EVERY song is a killer.
Despite my reservations, admittedly before I'd even heard a
single note, Chimaira have produced an album that carries on
the tradition of kick ass American Metal, that I first
discovered with Pantera's A Vulgar Display of Power. Awesome.
www.chimaira.com |
www.nuclearblast.de |
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Ensiferum - Victory Songs (Spinefarm/Candlelight Records USA)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Simply put, “Victory Songs” by Ensiferum kicks some serious
ass. Candlelight Records USA yet again snatches up another
excellent Finnish band to add to a roster that seems to be
growing every day. Ensiferum’s third full-length, “Victory
Songs”, is the perfect blend of galloping thrash metal and
traditional folk elements that will inspire you to grab your
broadsword and head for the forest.
Ensiferum’s previous two albums, the self titled debut and
“Iron”, were both great examples of well performed pagan/folk
metal with a thrash metal base, but here on “Victory Songs”,
the absolutely masterful musicianship and songwriting of the
band has reset the bar for the |
genre. Consisting of lightning fast, frenetic riffing on top of galloping thrash metal and
backed by a powerful production, “Victory Songs” steamrolls
through nine tracks written around Finnish/Viking war themes
that are enhanced with just the right amount of traditional
folk melodies. The generally rough vocals are interspersed
with moments of clean vocal harmonies, and a strong bass and
solid drumming accompany the shredding guitars. Traditional
elements and instruments include the use of woodwinds,
keyboards that do not overwhelm the music, acoustical guitar
flourishes, and some Finnish folk rhythms and melodies. The
tempo of the music varies from a generally fast pace to one or
two all out blasts. The album does slow down occasionally in
order to showcase some of the traditional elements, but these
quieter moments always build to a satisfying crescendo that
resumes the all out thrash metal base.
As mentioned, Ensiferum’s musicianship has always stood out,
but the songs on this album are simply tighter and better
written than on previous efforts, ultimately resulting in an
album that will no doubt appear in many Top Ten lists at the
end of the year. Buy or die.
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com
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www.spinefarm.fi/ |
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