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Another Messiah - Dark Dreams, My Child
(Restrain Records) Review by Steve Green |
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I've never understood what Post-Hardcore, Post-Rock and the
various other flavours are supposed to mean. I'm even more
flummoxed with the description of Dutch quartet Another
Messiah. What the fuck is Post-Doom????
Go back about a decade and think of the darker beginnings for
bands such as Tiamat, Opeth and Amorphis. A time when labels
such as Nuclear Blast and Century Media were on the verge of
becoming big(ger). That's what Another Messiah remind me of.
Yes, there's a doomy element, there's a tinge of Melodic Death
too and there's plenty of grooviness going down, all of it
from the mid-nineties. |
Is it too soon to call a decade ago retro? Probably. But
Another Messiah do take you back to what is, by today's
standards, another era. And a considerably better era too.
There's just something about this album that's exciting, which
is how I felt when I first heard Tales From The Thousand Lakes
(which is unbelievably 13 years old already) or travelling to
Holland and the Dynamo Festival for the very first time. Ah,
this stuff makes me nostalgic.
One thing is obvious. Another Messiah aren't jumping on any
bandwagon. You either follow a trend or you play what's in
your heart. And I'm loving what these guys have produced.
www.anothermessiah.com |
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Birdflesh - Mongo Musicale
(Candlelight Records USA) By: Dave Schalek |
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Ah, yes! Swedish grindcore! Candlelight Records USA delves
deeply into grindcore and adds Birdflesh to their ever
expanding roster covering just about every metal genre that
you can think of. And what an addition it is! With the
untimely, and unfortunate, demise of Nasum, two grindcore
bands from Sweden, to name a couple, have stood out in my mind
and have taken up the mantle. That would be Exhale and
crust-oriented enthusiasts Birdflesh. “Mongo Musicale”,
Birdflesh’s third full-length, is my first exposure to the
band and, frankly, I’m blown away by the powerfully produced,
almost Slayer-esque, sound with plenty of chaotic forms and
good old fashioned gore grind hilarity thrown in for good |
measure.
Considerably mixing up the influences, twenty five grindcore
gems blow by in just over thirty minutes, the perfect length
for a full-length from this genre. Combining some Slayer-esque
riffs with some more traditional death metal riffing,
Birdflesh also masterfully incorporates some plain old
hardcore beats and rhythms, resulting in an old school vibe
that comes across as, well, bouncy! All of this manages to
intermingle with the all out blasts. The punishing rhythms are
backed up by vocals that vary from growls to shouts to all out
screams (some actual singing also takes place, strangely
enough), as well as some interesting bass lines that manage
to, at times, rise above the fray. Throw in interesting some
song structures and a huge production, and you have all of the
trappings of an excellent example of the genre. As usual, the
humor ensues with various samples, moments of deliberately
bizarre vocals, and goofy song titles with a few nods to other
greats such as Pig Destroyer and gore metal masters Impaled.
Simply put, this is a great grindcore album with plenty to
offer to fans of the genre. Did I mention that there’s a sort
of cover version of the old Death song “Pull The Plug”? What
the Hell are you waiting for?!
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com |
www.birdflesh.net |
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Black Horizons - A Dreams Funeral
(Twilight) Review by Crin |
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With a dedication to the memory of, Jon Nodtveidt’, it should
come as no surprise that the music here is more Dissection
sounding at times that Dissection. The graceful ease that
Dissection combined fast flowing vitriolic Blackened Death
Metal and in an instance switched to acoustic sections, is
lovingly copied here within the twisting arrangements of Dark
Horizons material.
Sweeping riffs interact with melting snare work, driven by a
relentless surge of energy and power. The guitar leads rip
though the music’s core, evoking emotive melodies that lurch
between sorrowful repose and high octane metal magnificence.
It’s so hard to praise this |
near flawless rendition of apocalyptic clamour, considering
the music’s very soul is one borrowed from the mighty defunct,
Dissection. One must credit this style of music to its root
source, yet this inadvertently takes away any individuality
the forthcoming adaptations may deem deserved.
Like, the Darkthrone clones, or the Black Sabbath devotees,
each may warrant distinctive acclaim, all may merit admiration
for keeping a genre alive, and yet none can achieve the
formers status of exclusive owners of the sound.
What Dark Horizons lack in ideas, they more than make up in
musical competence and creative flair. So, if you enjoy the
style of Dissection, this album will more than crush your
skull to powder.
www.twilight-vertrieb.de |
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Kruger - Redemption Through Looseness
(Listenable) Review by Steve Green |
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Rattling out of the blocks sounding like Entombed with their
collective asses on fire, this is Kruger. Redemption Through
Looseness is my first experience of Kruger, and as I found out
earlier this week, like their fellow countrymen Zatokrev, this
isn't about clean air, cheese with holes in and Heidi.
Switzerland can be just as dirty as the rest of the world when
it wants to be.
Kruger are, sort of, a hybrid of Entombed's more kick ass
moments and a completely different, more melodic, stance. I'm
loathed to throw the likes of Neurosis or Isis into the
picture, but with the amount of atmosphere and twist and
turns, I've not really got much of a |
choice. With that introduction out of the way, it's all down
to whether the songwriting matches the build up. Thankfully,
it does.
RDL is a good album. The first impressions are excellent, with
plenty to grab hold of on the first spin. Especially Queen Of
The Meadow which reminded me of the whiskey soaked rawk of
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and the album closer
Crusaders blew me away, probably because it hints at Syd
Barrett era Pink Floyd somewhere amongst the carnage. The
Voivod-esque assault of War & Wine and the rumbling thunder of
The Cowboy Song were also flying high. Others require slightly
more listening time to get into, with the brooding masterpiece
Hummers Vs Pedestrians being a prime example. It's instantly
likeable, but it takes a little while for everything to fully
absorb into your system.
If you are fed up of the sunny weather and the happier moods
(generally) associated with it, then put on this slice of
darkness and let your mood slip back into more gloomier times.
Quite simply - a really good album.
www.kruger.ch |
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Morkriket - Hellwards (Twilight)
Review by Crin |
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Inverted
crosses, corpse paint, two tone cover art, and a logo that is
illegible. This can only mean, dry, icy, cold to the balls,
TRUE, northern Black Metal, and guess what!, that’s exactly
what we have here.
Simple yet engaging, melodic and unlike the more violent
approach of lets say, Dark Funeral or Marduk, the intensity
here is rather flat, keeping in tow with the minimalisms of
Darkthrone and Graveland. Music of this nature is very easy to
digest, as the whole atmosphere is driven my menace rather
than pure force. When you have a band capable of weaving
catchy riffs and expanding out from the more lacklustre song
structuring, then it |
becomes a far more pleasurable experience that can be shared
by a wider audience. The base platform of the music is
launched from a demo era Dimmu Borgir/Satyricon style of
writing. The primitive atmosphere is painted in a caustic
guitar drone where riffs are replicated across varied levels
of pace, all of which emanate from an old school foundation.
This release may be typical of the massive scenes
sub-underground exponents, and believe me, there are thousands
of bands adding their own little piece to the world wide
puzzle, and yet, Morkriket have a certain affinity with the
music’s soul, thus feeding from its turgid existence and
regurgitating this bile into pure Black Metal.
You either have that deep spirit of dark feeling or you do
not. This band most definitely have it.
www.twilight-vertrieb.de |
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Nonexistence - Nihil (Twilight)
Review by Crin |
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Hailing
from Austria [home of Abigor and Summoning], this one man
band, [featuring multi-instrumentalist Philip Santoll], has
created a singular musical journey that steals from numerous
other Gothic acts, thus creating a near perfect melodic dark
metal album.
The keyboard arrangements are epic in their construction, the
guitar melodies beautifully put together, and the dual vocal
interaction of harsh and clean, work well to create that all
important cold meets warmth atmosphere so typical of the
genre. There are elements of Paradise Lost's Icon album,
Moonspell’s, Irreligious album and Katatonia’s, Discouraged
Ones album. There are more than generous hints of early
Pyogenesis and Opeth, as well as |
small lashings of classic era Tiamat, and My Dying Bride. All
the above elements seem to converge in one massive cauldron of
very enjoyable Gothic meets Black meets Doom metal in a cold
and frosty afterlife.
With 10 tracks, all exquisitely carved from cold wrought
emotion, passionately conceived from a bleak desolation where
the creator has consumed so much of the aforementioned acts
musical muse. Here, the best bits of this collection of
inspired darkly music is laid upon a brooding sound-scape of
hard, deeply moving music.
This is a very surprising album, one I was sure I would
discard as irrelevant, as most one man creations seem to be
egotistical and one dimensional. Given the abundance of
exterior influences, I am still very much impressed with the
strong compositions and memorable moments on this album.
www.twilight-vertrieb.de |
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Requiem - Government Denies Knowledge
(Massacre Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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I’m not quite sure how this sucker from 2006 got past the
writers here at L4M, but it ended up in my lap and I’m fuckin’
glad it did. I’m already well familiar with this absolute
scorcher of a death metal album, as it sees heavy rotation in
my workout routine and I’m pissed off in general. For some
bizarre reason that I’ve been kicking myself about for months,
“Government Denies Knowledge” didn’t end up in my 2006 top ten
list, but that was purely an oversight on my part as this is,
frankly, an incredible, old school driven death metal album
that fires on all cylinders.
Sort of a sped up version of Bolt Thrower complete with
politically driven war themes, |
“Government Denies Knowledge”, Requiem’s second full-length
and third release overall, consists of one awesome riff after
another without any filler whatsoever, vocals similar to Karl
Willets with some added background vocals reminiscent of Mitch
Harris, excellent drumming variation with well-placed tempo
changes, and a balls out, bottom heavy production that will
flatten you as you crank this sucker up to full volume.
Ultimately consisting of nine tracks that blow by quickly,
“Government Denies Knowledge” is a full frontal death metal
assault that is simply right up my alley. What else can you
ask for? I can only hope that the imminent release of
Requiem’s new full-length, “Premier Killing League” will
catapult the band into a well-deserved slot amongst death
metal’s elite. Yeah, buy or die.
www.myspace.com/requiemdeathmetal |
www.massacre-records.com/index.asp |
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Scarve - The Undercurrent (Listenable
Records) review by Sam Thomas |
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Scarve are an interesting band who’ve been around for a while,
without making too much of an impression on this side of the
Channel. Back home in France, they are a lot better known, and
deservedly so. They were also Meshuggah’s own choice as the
only supporting band on their European tour, so there’s no
excuse not to admire them. They’ve suffered recently from a
near haemorrhage of members leaving to go to other bands,
which has led to huge uncertainty about the band’s future.
“The Undercurrent” is their fourth album to date, a follow-up
to the brilliant “Irradiant”. It’s a short (32 minute) episode
of brutality that leaves you simultaneously gasping for breath
and gagging for more. From the opening |
blastbeats of “Endangered” through to the chugging guitars
that terminate “Rebirth” this album is an unremitting ode to
technical, futuristic brutality at its best. There’s a
definitely identifiable Frenchness to it (not in terms of
lyrics or vocals, but something about the whole way that it’s
put together tells you that these lads are not Swedish. Even
having one of the ultimate Swedish producers, Daniel
Bergstrand on board has not managed to airbrush out the French
style that is so quintessentially Scarve. ).
I particularly enjoyed fourth track “The Plundered” which
features (in no particular order) blastbeats that wouldn’t be
out of place in black metal, keyboards that wouldn’t be out of
place in prog and some hauntingly strange parts that hint at
the industrial. Overall, the effect is one of multi-layered
complexity and haunting beauty. It comes as no surprise to
find that Scarve have close links with Darkane (Lawrence
Mackrory who shares vocal duties with Pierrick Valence was the
original Darkane vocalist) because there is definitely a tinge
of Darkane style ranting going on at various points, notably
in “Assuming Self”.
Although “The Undercurrent” lacks some of the catchiness of
previous effort “Irradiant” (particularly of the title track
of that album) it’s nonetheless a well thought out and
executed album. And whilst it may not be as immediately
accessible as its predecessor, it has other hidden, darker
qualities that are well worth investigating. Scarve aren’t
afraid to break all the rules about what belongs in death
metal, and it works well for them. This is an excellent album,
and I was saddened to discover just as I finished writing this
review that vocalist Pierrick Valence announced his departure
from the band, to concentrate on Phazm.
www.scarve.net
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www.listenable.net |
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The Senseless - In The Realm Of The Senseless
(Anticulture) Review by Steve Green |
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In
The Realm Of The Senseless is a brutal beast. Considering it's
the solo project of Sam Bean, bassist with The Bezerker, was
mixed by Luke "The Bezerker" Kenny and also features Bezerker/Akercocke
axeslinger Matt Wilcock, did you really expect anything
different?
I gotta be honest, this doesn't float my boat. Please forgive
the "Dear John" approach of, while it's not my thing, I can
appreciate what Sam Bean has created. In The Realm... is an
intense piece of work that has taken years to create. It's a
brutal assault, that from my point of view, doesn't flow. Too
much stop/start swathes of hatred, that, while I can marvel at
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intensity and craftsmanship needed to put this together, I
just don't get it. There's no connection for me. Fans of this
more fierce approach on the other hand, will probably lap it
up.
With a dozen tracks averaging out at about 3 minutes a piece,
for me personally, it's way too brutal. With the aid of a drum
machine programmed at a ridiculous BPM rate, it's enough to
induce epilepsy, without the aid of a strobe light.
www.myspace.com/thes3ns3l3ss |
www.thesenseless.com |
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W.A.S.P. - Dominator (Universal
Music) Review by Jesse Ketman |
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6
words created a resounding echo in my brain, pounding its
message into all my thoughts again and again like a war drum:
Oh my God, WASP is back. It wasn’t until I was thoroughly
psyched by the album and how absolutely fucking WASP it is
that I checked online to find that WASP wasn’t actually back.
At least not the way I initially perceived. They’ve been
making albums, unbeknownst by myself, and apparently all my
friends, for years. Well, fuck all that, I don’t care, I’m
still psyched. Every song on this album could easily be from
the first album. The melodies and the attitude all distinctly
personify the 80’s booze-and-girls glam attitude that helped
make them famous all those years ago. The |
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cheese factor is still deliciously dramatic, and old fans will
get a kick out of the pure rock n’ roll of tracks like Mercy
and Deal With the Devil. My personal favorite of the album, A
Long Way To Go, makes it clear that they aren’t fuckin’ done
yet, either. By far the most badass thing about this album is
how even though WASP has been around so long and done so
little dicking around with their musical formula, it still
manages to sound inspired, and harnesses the spirit of a past
age of music to enthrall the young, such as myself. I say this
with slight hesitation, however, as I realize a lot of you
just can’t stand this style. But really, if you fall into that
category, what the fuck are you reading my review for anyway?
I think all WASP fans know what I mean when I say it’s so bad,
yet so good. I’m of the firm belief that the world needs more
bands like WASP: They are exactly what rock and roll is; the
catchy, cheesy high-speed choruses, the ridiculous,
over-the-top style (both musically and aesthetically), and a
timeless energy and unwillingness to bend. WASP is WASP, and
it won’t ever be anything else.
www.waspnation.com |
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