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Saga - Worlds Apart Revisited (InsideOut Music)
By: Joe Florez |
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Call me crazy, but I never understood Saga. In 2007 they will
celebrate 30 years in the business and I never got it with the
exception of Worlds Apart because of the two songs made
famous: “On The Loose” and “Wind Him Up.” This concert was
recorded in 2005. I received their last offerings Trust and
Network and I was rather bored by it. I also had their live
Chapters CD and it did nothing for me either. This live
collection of past and present will be my final attempt at
whether or not I can appreciate this synthetic prog rock band
from Canada.
“The Pitchman” starts out the show with a mid paced number
that is actually slow, but what |
intrigues me is the keyboard work. It’s very poppy, but here
is something about it that hypnotizes me. The guitars have a
bit of bite to them, but it’s a pretty mellow tune that sounds
dated even if it has been modernized. Despite all that, there
is something there to like about the composition and I will
stick around for the next two hours. Forgive my ignorance, but
when I hear Mike Sadler’s voice he sort of reminds me of
Dennis DeYoung of
Styx. I thought that perhaps I would enjoy their older
catalogue better, but “See Them Smile” and “Ice Nice” is
rather boring and does nothing for me unlike today’s artists.
The only thing like I said that holds my interest are those
damn ivory keys. As we get toward the end of disc one, the
band congratulate themselves on the 25th anniversary of Worlds
Apart and treat the fans by performing the whole thing. Now,
I’m really listening because the first cut is “On The Loose”
and it’s upbeat with no down time. It still sounds just as
cheesy and fun today as it did back in 1981.The guitar work
overall including the solos are vibrant and the drumming is
tight. Glad to hear that they can still do this one with zero
flaws. I have never been a fan of those crappy
synthetic/electronic drums, but on “Wind Him Up” they work
perfectly. “Careful Where You Step” is another good classic
number that is more in the vein of Worlds Apart.
Well, I gave
it my best shot and I just can’t dig these boys as much as I
should have. The elements are there: rock, prog, cheese,
synths and catchy beats, but it just doesn’t gel with me for
one reason or another with the exception of a handful of tunes
at most. Hey, the European market loves them and I guess
that’s all that matters. Sorry, not for me. And just in case
you are a fan of the group, there is a two DVD set to whet the
appetite even more if you want the visuals as well as the
audio. www.insideoutmusic.com
| www.sagaontour.com |
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Schizo - Cicatriz Black (Scarlet)
Review by Chris Davison |
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Go on, name the country you associate with thrash. Say it out
loud. I know, I know, you feel a trifle silly doing so, but
indulge me. Right. Pound to a penny that you didn't pick
Italy. Unlike their former chums the Germans, our southern
European cousins never really hit the metal scene in a hard
way, did they? I mean, sure, there have been cult bands, such
as Necrodeath and Death SS, but by and large, you wouldn't
want to be on the Italian side in a world metal cup.
Schizo, it would seem, have had an immensely chequered past.
Founded way back in 1984, they've had more changes than the
national football squad in the same period of time, |
and some crossover with personnel with Necrodeath. They've not exactly
been prolific in this period, probably due to them splitting
up and being on hiatus for an extended period of time. It
seems like every thrash band and their cousins are currently
reuniting, and the results aren't necessarily all that
scintillating. Can a little known Italian band buck the trend?
Well, yes, it would appear that they can, thank you very much.
Very much in the Teutonic vein of thrash, this is absolutely
vicious, nasty, razor sharp stuff. The guitar tones hearken
back to the oldest recordings by Destruction and Sodom, a
trebly heavy production also gives the atmosphere of that
forgotten age. The drums, hollow sounding and quite tinny also
have that “period” feel, though it would be churlish to dwell
too long on the production, which for the most part is quite
adequate, even though it isn't likely to win any awards,
robbing the mid section of much power. The velocity of the
songs veers from blazing to the more pedestrian, without ever
lurching headlong into the old problem of palm muted e-chord
chug-alongs. Single string thrashings are much more the common
vein here.
The vocals really are something else, coming on like nothing
other than John Tardy with his fingers trapped in a door.
Really. An inhuman yelp conveys frustration and aggression
with some considerable aplomb. Indeed, there is more than a
hint of classic Obituary on the sixth track, “Agonizing”, with
the gruff, grizzled guitar lines, the grinding tempo and the
powerful vocals.
If the likes of Sodom and co. have left you cold with their
latest efforts veering too far from their raw thrash blueprint, then Schizo could be the band you have been waiting to
hear. They've got modern techniques, an extremely tight
musical delivery, but they've clearly still got the old fire
in their bellies. Remember kids, contentment is the death of
desire.
www.scarletrecords.it |
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| See You Next Tuesday -
Parasite (Ferret) Review by Steve Green |
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I've had my senses knocked in every
direction with the brutality of some of my recent review cds.
Most ferocious of the lot is this beauty. Fourteen songs of
utter chaos, clocking in at under nineteen minutes, which my
fellow Live 4 Metal scribe Samuel M-P, would probably describe
as "music to spazz out to". With song titles such as Before I
Die I'm Gonna Fuck Me a Fish and Good Christians Don't Get
Jiggy With It 'Til After Marriage, you know this is never
going to be just an ordinary album. Unfortunately this ones
leaves me thinking, that despite the musicianship being
tighter than a ducks ass, or in See You Next Tuesday speak,
tighter than a ducks ass stuffed full of grenades and
Rednecks, I don't see
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the point to the madness. Each song runs into the next without
any distinguishable difference and while I can marvel at some
of the shit these guys produce in terms of craziness, none of
it is memorable. I guess I've just become officially old.
www.ferretstyle.com |
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| Serenity - Words Untold
and Dreams Unlived (Napalm) Review by Steve
Green |
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I actually quite like this, yet at the
same time it doesn't really excite me enough to play it very
often. It's one of those difficult albums to review and a
divided opinion is harder to put into words than either pure
love or hate. Serenity also fall somewhere in between Power
Metal and a more melodic take on Progressive Metal. Whereas
opener Canopus is a measured, melodic affair, Reduced To
Nothingness heads in a hook laden, cheesier direction, with
hints of a more Germanic style with vocalist Georg Neuhauser
at times, sounding a little, (no pun intended) like Klaus
Meine. I'm also thinking they're kind of like Threshold,
mainly in terms of melody. Overall though, this is too slick
and too polished for
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me, with songs like Forever and Dead Man Walking, despite
being quite easy on the ear, are not possessing the killer
knock-out punch I was looking for.
While I openly admit to sitting on the fence with this one,
Serenity's class is obvious. Words Untold... sounds great,
with a big powerful sound and the song structures are
faultless, as is the musicianship. It's just a shame I didn't
really click with the album.
www.napalmrecords.com |
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Throne Of Katarsis - An Eternal Dark Horizon
(Candlelight Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Throne Of Katarsis, a two-man Norwegian black metal project
consisting of Vardalv, Grimnisse and a few session musicians
with connections to various other black metal bands, exists
solely to perpetuate early 1990s, second wave Norwegian black
metal, and that they do in spades. “An Eternal Dark Horizon”,
the project’s debut full-length from Candlelight Records, hits
all of the signature elements of the genre with gusto and
aplomb.
Ultimately, “An Eternal Dark Horizon” will not be remembered
for breaking tremendous new ground with originality; rather,
the album takes an existing sound and simply runs with it to
produce an excellent, homage-driven example of the genre. More
or less combining |
elements of Darkthrone, Mayhem, and others
probably too numerous to mention, “An Eternal Dark Horizon”
has the grimy production with a thin guitar sound consisting
of varied, droning riffs, snare driven drums right out of
Fenriz’s playbook with plenty of simple patterns, rolls, and
fills, and a rasped vocal delivery interchangeable with many
others you’ve heard before. In addition, Throne Of Katarsis’
overall look seems to be lifted off of Darkthrone’s classic,
early releases, culminating with a heavy influence from “Under
a Funeral Moon”.
Before you simply dismiss Throne Of Katarsis as just another
clone, though, what does separate this project from many other
bands floating around out there in the nether regions is the
incorporation of a loud, well-played bass, a good deal of
acoustical guitar work with what seems to be some Spanish
influenced, classical melodies believe it or not, variations
in beat, and some great, haunting vocals reminiscent of Attila
Csihar’s work on “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” that, alas, make
all too few appearances. These haunting moments combined with
a variation of elements are where “An Eternal Dark Horizon”
truly shines and makes this release well worth your effort to
track down. Buy or die.
www.candlelightrecords.co.uk
| www.throneofkatarsis.com |
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Twilightning – Swinelords (SpineFarm Records) Review by Samuel
Munch-Petersen |
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A Finnish band, that predominantly are labelled as power
metal, Twilightning aren’t as heavy as you might have first
thought. They’re rather clean in their music. The vocals
aren’t raw or cutting, though they are excellent in melody and
backing vocals cross to Russell Allen’s (Symphony X) level of
screech, though quiet. This is their third full length album
and has progressed, both in musical references and in band
formation; the album itself is filled with subtle time changes
that throw you off from time to time, like good Prog should
and their keyboardist has been removed from the line-up. This
adds (removes?) a layer to the overall feel of the album since
the tracks have become less fantasy and are becoming |
something more of a stereotype power metal band. There are a
pick of genres to watch out for; prog, pop, rock, heavy metal and
melodic smoothness.
I wouldn’t class Twilightning as a ‘metal’ band in the
traditional sense, but then again music is forever shifting
and it’s becoming far more a matter of the bands finding music
they enjoy playing and presenting it to the wide world. The
way music should be. But having said that, Twilightning aren’t
giving me goose bumps, nor are they as sharp as I think they
could be.
It’s claimed that the band will be loved by consumers who
enjoy the likes of Bon Jovi, Buckcherry and Hammerfall. I can
see the resemblances and I can see why they are more rock than
anything else. Track three; Reflection of the Cuckoo, seems to
swing a riff that could only be metal and then it moves into a
rather bland tick-tock section. Always coming back to that
chorus of metal, which is the only saving grace to be honest.
This ten track album doesn’t offer brilliance but it certainly
has enough of a tag to it to be enveloped by quite a few
people out there. They’ve toured with DragonForce and
Helloween and so that following of metalheads will surely
enjoy the down stokes on the riffs that Twilightning do rather
well.
The vocals carry lyrics which are apparently laced with a
venom comprising of sarcasm which attacks topics such as
religion and consumerism, odd for the latter since music is
made (mostly) to be bought. But I won’t go down that road
today. The lyrics are piercing and thoughtful, but obviously
don’t take them too seriously. Both the lyrics and the music
match up but there’s something missing from this band that
doesn’t quite get me raving about them. And I think that is;
speed, raw ability, heavy double kick pedal work and a ‘je ne
sais quoi ‘.
www.twilightning.net |
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Trelldom - Til Minne (Regain Records)
Review by Crin |
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Trelldom epitomise what the term, True Black Metal’ means. There are
those who restrict that phrase to the band and persons who
frequented Oystein Arseths, Helvete shop in the early
nineties.
I prefer, as others, to cite the terminology [also attributed
to Darkthrones description of the sound] to the low fidelity
sound and icy atmospheres generated by the most basic of
compositions.
Fronted by one of the most enigmatic players in the Norwegian
Black Metal genre, Gaahl, who also resides in Gorgoroth,
Trelldom have vomited forth an album that rivals their cult,
Til Evighet, debut of 1995, and the equally, raw to the bone Til Et Annet, opus of 1998. |
It's quite astonishing to behold such an archaic sounding
release forged with the utmost detail to a time long raped of
its stigma of evil and cold blooded essence.
Maybe it has something to do with the songs transcending time,
their whole being shrouded in an icy production that is
powerful, and yet free from the polished clarity of the mixing
desk.
Trelldom were, and for some magical reason, still very much a
time capsule of the mid nineties.
The classic sound of Under a Funeral Moon, [via the basic
guitar riffs] and Dark Medieval Times, [via the Nordic
narratives] oozes from every note.
That the band have managed to haul this authenticity into
today’s watered down scene and get away with it is a testimony
to their longevity, and for one of the olden masters to still
deploy such a savagery of menace, one can only cower in awe.
The songs are effortlessly catchy, strident blowing musical
hymns to the miasma of Satanic mystery.
The songs themselves are forged with individual paths set to
various tempos and intensity. They have a basic one
dimensional anaemic feel, although on closer inspection there
is an intricacy weaved into the apparent simplicity of the
compositions.
Trelldom are the inextinguishable flame of True Norwegian
Black Metal.
You just can’t replicate authenticity.
www.regainrecords.com |
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Visions of Atlantis – Trinity (Napalm Records) Review by
Samuel Munch-Petersen |
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Well you know that lost and forgotten city consumed by the
oceans? Atlantis I believe. That same city is the premise for
Visions of Atlantis’s (VOA) album which is their third outing;
previous albums include, Eternal Endless Infinity and Cast
Away (not the one with Hanks). There seems to be a definite
mariner feel to the album titles as well as the tracks
themselves; both in name and lyric. This is of course to be
expected from a band naming themselves after a mythical
drowned city.
VOA have gone through more changes than my ex’s baby. There
have been several new members since their formation in Austria
in 2000. This has allowed for changes in the |
construction of music to become quite expansive, like so many
bands are able to do when there are new members with fresh new
ideas pouring from their hands and feet.
The tracks are attributed to being more like hymns and rock
anthems. This is clearly seen on tracks such as The Poem and
Seven Seas. Of course when you first listen to the band you’re
going to say this; “they’re Nightwish with waterfall effects”.
And you’d almost be right, though they are still in their own
element when it comes to the music. When you come to hear
bands that deal with myth and fantasy you tend to find there
are obvious similarities; the costume designs perhaps. Of
course, the album has been mastered at Finnvox Studios (Nightwish,
Children of Bodom) and has had artwork from Anthony Clarksson
(Blind Guardian). This then comes as no surprise when you hear
them and you see them. Of course they’re fantasy metal. Just
look at the name.
The soprano vocals of Melissa Ferlaak give VOA that classical
element and add a lovely juxtaposed complement to the guitars.
Melissa is the third change to the vocals since the formation
of the band. Perhaps the meaning behind Trinity? Mario Plank
(made me laugh) loans his voice for the backing tracks, which
seems to be the case with a lot of bands that have female
singers; Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation and so on.
The guitars and drums are typical of a fantasy metal band,
quite low key and bass orientated with keyboard strokes
layered over the top in harmonious fluency.
I’d give VOA a thumbs up for decent music with decent
musicianship, but I’d only give them a half for originality in
all honesty. They seem to have (or will) become part of the
myth-metal genre which although superb in places is becoming a
quick fix for female vocalists. It’s an easy, open door where
there seems to be a rushing tide of artists smothering the
face of standard metal composition. In a way metal as we know
it might embody the vision of Atlantis as it flounders beneath
the wake of myth-metal.
I’m glad I can swim.
www.visionsofatlantis.com |
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| Waltari - Release Date
(Dockyard 1) Review by Steve Green |
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Crazy Metal Rockers from Finland, states
the biog. Yeah, well that's one way to describe them. The
Missus was supposed to review this originally, but she hated
it so much, she delightfully gave it back to me and refused to
do it. Who said romance is dead?
There isn't any other way to go, other than to tell it like it
is. This album is awful. Tuneless sub-standard vocals that
make Ozzy Osbourne sound good, yes, they are that bad. And bog
standard Euro-Metal, which maybe if they were matched with a
better vocalist. IE: one that can actually sing, wouldn't seem
so bad. I think the words Crazy Rockers is a blueprint for
"make any old noise" because we are different and get away
with it.
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latch onto and the fact that none of the three vocalists can
hold a tune. I'll correct part of the last sentence. There are
melody lines in each song, they just aren't very tuneful.
Songs like Let's Puke Together and Sex In The Beergarden are
just throwaway fodder for delinquents and I've had enough of
this crap already. One for the bin.
www.waltarimusic.com |
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| Wolfgang Parker - Room
Nineteen (Roadstar Records) Review by Steve
Green |
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Luckily, I'm already in the unenviable
position of having absolutely zero street cred, because after
this review I wouldn't have any left anyway. In all honestly,
I shouldn't really like this at all, but I do. Punk Swing,
which mixes 30's and 40's Swing Jazz with Rock N Roll with a
Punk attitude should be the sort of stuff that's kept for
musical nightmares, but this works and is genuinely impossible
not to enjoy. If you are familiar with the output of Germany's
infamous "I Used To Fuck People Like You In Prison" records,
then you've a fair idea of where Wolfgang Parker is coming
from. More Psychobilly a la The Stray Cats with prominent
guitars than everything else, Mr Parker and co have produced
19 catchier-than-
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hell songs that rock n roll for just under an hour.
The term Punk is used loosely, if I had to pin it down, I'd
say it's more in the guitar sound, which is used in the same
way as The Clash did on their various musical endeavours.
Vocal wise, Parker is the coolest cat in the pack, with a
smooth set of tonsils that compliment his laidback patter
perfectly. All of this is set to a cool cool groove and will
either have you jumping around one minute and chillin' out the
next. Obviously this won't we everyone's cup of rosey lee, but
if you are up for something a little different, then visit
www.myspace.com/wolfgangparker |
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