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Sepia Dreamer - The Sublime (Galactic
Records) Review by Steve Green |
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Releasing an instrumental album for your
labels 2nd release is a brave move. Mainly, I believe, because
of the limited potential audience. But with labels such as
Lion Music and David T. Chastain's Leviathan Records releasing
a huge number of instrumental albums, perhaps this could be a
clever move by label owner Leon Macey (Mithras/Zero
Tolerance).
My first impressions of this album were pretty much mixed. I
loved the atmospheric opener Gateway and I was getting drawn
in to the wonderfully atmospheric undulations of The
Exposition, when the album went all Metal-cum-Proggy and the
spell was broken. A few
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listens later and while I can appreciate what Sepia Dreamer
are attempting to do, I still prefer their more chilled out
side and wish the whole album was like that. I'm sure the more muso orientated may disagree
as there's plenty of technical twists and turns to marvel at.
By track 3, (of 4), Development, the orchestral/atmospheric
side has disappeared completely and this has now become an
instrumental Progfest and my initial impression of what Sepia
Dreamer were offering has disappeared completely, as is their
potential audience. By now I think the only ones standing are
the Proggies and those that get their kicks from InsideOut and
the plethora of instrumental albums that Lion Records release.
I must admit that because of the way the album began, I was
expecting something along the lines of Arcana and John Foxx,
circa his Cathedral Oceans I and II masterpieces and because
of this, I've really struggled to get into The Sublime.
www.myspace.com/galacticrecords |
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Sonata Arctica - The Collection (Spinefarm) Review by James
Young |
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Don’t get me wrong - I love Sonata Arctica. The albums of this
Finnish sensation are some of the best that melodic power
metal has to offer, from ‘Ecliptica’ of 1999 to Reckoning
Night in 2004. With four studio albums and goodness-knows how
many EPs under their belt, the problem is that very little new
material has surfaced from the Sonata studio since 2004. A
live album and DVD, ‘For The Sake Of Revenge’, presented their
best work to us in a nice live setting, something they had
already attempted with a ‘Live in Tokyo’ release, already
suggesting a lack of imagination. With a brand new album
(shock horror) lined up for late May of this year, it is
rather confusing why they felt the need to put out a |
‘best of’ album just before its release. Okay, they haven’t
released as many greatest hits albums as Motorhead or Saxon, but it all
seems a little pointless to me. As it is, my media player
brings all the wrong song titles up, thinking that this is
another compilation of theirs called ‘The End Of This Chapter’
- even a machine is confused by the overwhelming number of
their song collections!
As I said, I love the band and cannot fault the music captured
on the seventeen tracks that span the hour and twenty minutes
of ‘The Collection’. This does work fairly well as an album in
its own right, and the various releases which it draws upon
are jumbled up enough to show this. We have all four albums
lovingly represented in the first five tracks, the fifth of
which slows the previous speed with a ballad, ‘Tallulah’, from
the album ‘Silence’. Other ballads, just as powerful, appear
in the form of ‘Broken’ and ‘Last Drop Falls’, spaced out at
regular intervals, showing that the songs have been carefully
laid out to mix up the various tempos that Sonata are capable
of playing. Let’s not forget that wonderful lyric of the
latter, delivered in wonderfully deadpan fashion: ‘walking in
the cold night air, without underwear’, which never ceases to
make me titter. If I had one complaint about the songs, it
would be that the sweet ‘Reckoning Night’ does not enter the
compilation more. We are left with the anthemic ‘Don’t Say A
Word’ and the crisply delivered ‘Ain’t Your Fairytale’, giving
us only a brief glimpse of Sonata Arctica as they exist now.
Otherwise, the other three albums are showcased to maximum
effect, and wouldn’t be complete without the feel-good madness
of personal favourites ‘Black Sheep’ and ‘FullMoon’, with
their solo tomfoolery and ability to get you singing along.
For those of you wondering what is actually new on this album,
there are ‘2006 versions’ of ‘My Land’ and ‘Replica’
originally from ‘Ecliptica’. After closely studying the
differences between these newer versions and the originals, it
turns out that, well, there aren’t many. These are simply the
same songs recorded again a few years down the line, and this
rather feeble effort to add new material does not warrant the
purchase of this ‘best of’ if you already own the originals
which are equally as good.
There is very little new on this album, and although there
will undoubtedly be a large number of die-hard fans who will
see it as essential to complete their collection, there’s no
real need to buy it, even though some editions may contain a
bonus DVD which unfortunately wasn’t included with my copy.
Newer power metallers may want to use it as an introduction to
the band’s work, but I would still prefer a whole opus to get
to grips with. Bring on the new album!
www.sonataarctica.info |
www.spinefarm.fi
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Spirytus - Into Life
(Self Release)
Review by Steve Green
Even though I hate Myspace.com (it's a
shallow network for shallow people without a life, as far as
I'm concerned - send a freakin' email and keep it private is
my take on it), I have to congratulate Nottingham based
Spirytus on gaining over 29,000 "friends". Whatever I think of
the site, it must have taken a helluva lot of work to set up
such a network. And such a network is needed for an unknown
band to get out of the mire that is the UK underground.
With all the hard work that's gone into their networking, I'm
kind of disappointed with the quietness of the production and
the lack of detail that's gone into the visual presentation of
their album - the only track listing I have is on the actual
cd itself and there's no online information about the album at
all, including the artwork. That disappointment is
counteracted by the actual song writing and performance, which
are excellent in both departments. Vocalist Joseph is an imposing looking frontman, yet his voice
is a cross between a soothing, yet marginally gravel throated version of
Placebo's Brian Molko and someone who'd be more at home in a
Retro/Stoner band, rather than Spirytus' more laid back
melodic take on the contemporary scene. Trying to pin Spirytus
down musically, is a much harder task. Yes, their music can be
classed as modern, but they lace their sound with molten
riffs, which are offset by plenty of softer moments, with a
smattering of funky nuances, to cultivate something reasonably
unique. Each song is individually identifiable from the next
and this aids the listening pleasure. It also means certain
songs have that annoying knack of swimming around in your head
all day long. Something that's happening to to me a lot
recently. (I blame old age) Unworthy is the biggest culprit
and has been attacking me from all angles for the last 10
days. On the flipside, slower numbers such as No One Knows and
the brooding Life can still have big impact because the
structuring of the song is spot-on. When it comes to the
actual songs, I don't have a single complaint.
Spirytus do have that certain something, I just wish I could
have heard them at full blast and in all their glory. If this
album gets remastered, I think they can go far. Because it's
obvious that they aren't afraid of hard work, they just need
the product to back it up with.
www.myspace.com/Spirytus |
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Thus Defiled - Daemonspawn (Shadowflame Productions)
Review by Crin |
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How many English Black Metal bands can you think of?. Cradle
of Filth, more Gothic extremity nowadays. Akercoke, more
Deathly in vision, Hecate Enthroned, never found their
footing, Meads of Asphodel, what are they really?
So that ultimately brings us to Thus Defiled, one of the
oldest English Black Metal bands who still play Black Metal.
Their first album, Through the Impure Veil of Dawn, in 1995,
appeared at the same time as the debut releases from, Dimmu
Borgir, and Ulver.
So why aren’t they a household name in extreme metal circles,
why are Thus Defiled still an obscure act who's whole career
has been below the radar of the arse fucking music industry?
Well, the band have never opted |
to be signed by a bigger label, as most bands get shafted, all
bands get their art taken away and ultimately never own the
music they lovingly create.
Thus Defiled have made their way self releasing their albums,
but does that make them any lesser in quality than the likes
of bands like Enslaved, or, Gehenna?, Does it fuck!
If Nuclear Blast or Century Media had picked this band up ten
years ago, they would be as infamous as those fine bands,
such is the calibre of the music.
Daemonspawn, the bands 4th album, is a fast, polished, Black
Metal monster that can live with the likes of Marduk or
Dissection for sheer musical ferocity.
The production is as solid, allowing the guitars and snares to
bite with every chord and beat.
The tracks are set to lengthy, rabid winding arrangements that
gather in an aural blitzkrieg. The ear lacerating fury is
balanced with a thrash underbelly that allows the music to
breath, to become more fluent with its catchy rhythmic
sections and brooding calmer moments.
The two main factors that lift this album above the average is
the caustic vocals and the twin guitar work of Paul C, and
Paul F.
The vocals literally drip blood, boiling in anger and spitting
rage. It is with the harrowing vocals that the whole ensuing
aural tumult becomes firmly anchored in a vicious Black Metal
swirl.
The guitar duels are worthy of King and Hanneman of Slayer, at
times, and this is the backbone of the bands sound.
There is even a worthy gust appearance by Sakis [Rotting
Christ].
The English can be proud to have a band who can match the more
reliable and established acts across the channel and beyond.
Whether the likes of a small label grinding against the big
boys and their distribution networks can survive in the long
term is doubtful, but the band has made an astonishing
statement with this release and anyway, after fifteen years,
do they give a shit! Of course they don’t…..
www.thusdefiled.com/ |
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TME - Worlds Collide (Aphotic Records)
Review by Crin |
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Raging Thrash Metal from members of Swedish Folk enhanced
Viking Black Metal act Vintersorg.
With the album title being ‘Worlds Collide’, the musical
content can also be likened to the Thrash World colliding in a
myriad of styles that rip along at a hammering pace, spitting
a barking snarl into the air.
This is Thrash of a more rugged form, a more menacing side to
the genre that has previously been inhabited by the likes of
Whiplash, Possessed and early Metallica.
There is none of the subtleties of Testament, or the free
flowing distinctiveness of Destruction.
TME, play a savage hell for leather Thrash attack that on
occasion enters the more current Black Thrashing style. |
Like many of the retro fuelled bands, the sound is good, the
songs sharper than a razor blade cutting though coke, and the
material well crafted.
With a distinctive and full bodied production, the reflective
thrashing sound of yesteryear is effectively brought to life.
It’s nothing new, but the regurgitated sounds of past musical
icons are given another lease of life and injected with some
modern ass kicking attitude.
Bang that head that doesn’t bang, so the saying goes.
www.generation666.com |
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Vital Remains – Icons of Evil (Century Media)
Review by Chris Davison |
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Ok, so what do you call a rabidly anti-Christian death metal
band, whose latest platter includes a healthy dollop of
classic metal riffing and soloing, has had an excellent
production job and features Glenn Benton as the lead singer?
Ok, so chances are if you hadn't seen the title of the review
you would probably have put “Deicide” as your answer. Vital
Remains latest (burnt) offering is an affront to all that is
decent and upstanding about our modern Christian society.
Excellent.
Their last opus, “Dechristianize” was much lauded in the death
metal world, and rightly so. It seems that the unholy trio
have decided (should that be dei-cided?) to outdo themselves |
this time with a right corker of an album. This is barbarous,
rabid death metal of the most egregiously unpleasant kind. As
if having Mr. Benton wasn't enough of a cast iron pedigree,
the band have only gone and recruited chisel-cheeked barking
stalwart one Mr Erik Rutan to produce. In every sense, Vital
Remains have set themselves up to succeed. That they have,
because this is to my ears the best “major label” death metal
album of the year so far.
From the gory album cover, through to the blasting, ravishing
strains of first track proper “Icons of Evil”, this has intent
to completely destroy Christianity branded through it.
Inhumanly fast drumming and light-speed riffing give way to
mildly eastern sounding guitar soloing, the song then segueing
into an almost traditional metal mid section reminiscent of a
better produced early Testament track. This is an album of
light and shade, complex song arrangements favour the
juxtaposition of heads down blunt-instrument death metal,
married to the sinister and sublime slower sections. Guitar
fans are in for a complete treat, as Dave Suzuki produces
stunning solo after stunning solo, while the rhythm work of
Tony Lazaro is bound to have you all dusting off the old air
guitars and throwing up the horns in satisfaction. Between the
two of them, they handle all musical duties (via studio magic,
I reckon – although they might be like the proverbial one-man
bands of yore), with Benton concentrating on vocals, which are
as ever as uncompromisingly gruff and brutal as you are likely
to hear. Suzuki produces rasping back up vocals akin to those
heard on the last couple of Deicide albums.
The production is excellent, as you would expect, with plenty
of mid-range clout and a particularly biting guitar sound. The
percussion is brought out well, particularly with the pounding
rhythm of tracks like “Hammer Down the Nails”. The shortest
track on here is the cover version (Yngwie Malmsteem anyone!),
and even that weighs in at almost five minutes in length.
Generally, the epic neck-destroying work outs are at about the
seven minute size, which is ample opportunity for the
fantastic song writing to shine.
I really can't say enough good things about this album. It's
as perfect a marriage of the more brutal end of the spectrum
with the rich vein of history of traditional metal as you are
ever likely to find. Blasphemy has never been so cultured.
Album of the year?
www.centurymedia.com |
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Vomitory – Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize
(Metal Blade) Review by Chris Davison |
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When an album starts with the track, “Eternal Trail of
Corpses”, you can be fairly sure that your ears are going to
come in for a fucking good battering. True to form, the brutal
Swedes smash your head in like a piss head on PCP with as
massive a death metal track as you will have heard in many a
winter month. This outfit have trodden the boards for a little
while now, and previous albums (take a bow, “Blood Rapture”)
have become minor cult classics. This is an album of evolution
rather than revolution, and boy, am I glad for that.
This is nothing-fancy, middle-finger to the idea of “prog/tech
death” and cast in the mould of old-school, heads down
fist-in-die-air death-fukken-metal. Second track, “Scavenging
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Slaughtered” comes at you courtesy of an unholy marriage of
the gnarly old Dismember sound with a riff sounding as if it
may have been “inspired” by classic Death cut “Zombie Ritual”.
So it continues throughout the ten tracks – metal teetering on
the edge of old school Sunlight Studios sound, but much more
aggressive and spiky sounding. Their guitar sound is the aural
equivalent of having to shit Kerry Kings old wrist gauntlets.
Ouch. The bass is particularly clear and twangy in the mix, and most of the songs propel themselves at
the listener with all the energy of a half-starved attack dog
that has just seen a rabbit covered in beef. Teeth bared, fist
swinging metal to be sure.
There is an omni-present groove that runs through the whole
album. Not in the sense of the dreaded mid-nineties groove
infection that threatened to destroy good death metal bands
(i.e. Konkhra, who managed to pull themselves back from the
brink), but in a neck bobbing, head swaying, grimace inducing
bier-und-Motorhead kind of way. I also love the drumming;
heavily rooted in “proper” drumming, and not giving in to the
temptation of the poly-rhythmic multi-drummers of all the
popular modern drummers, but more in the Mickey Dee school of
“scream if you wanna go blaster” and interesting fills.
Quality. It isn't ever going to change the world, but let's be
honest, sometimes we just want the basics doing well. Enter
Vomitory.
www.metalblade.de |
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