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Awake - Illumination (Lion Music)
By: Joe Florez |
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Is
this the UK’s version of Evergrey? When I read that in the
bio, I was both excited and nervous. The reasons are simple
enough. I love Evergrey and if they can match the music with
powerful voice, I would be in heaven. At the same time, you
don’t want a replica of something already so original and
unique. Also, you don’t want to be disappointed if the results
are dismal in the end. So, I was excited to pop this in and
what I got out of it was awesome.
Lead cut “Disbelief” has keyboard ambience along with a
jamming riff that will have you headbanging. The drumming is
pretty simple and when we get to Simon’s vocals, it’s pretty |
wild. He does possess the capabilities of one Tomas Englund,
but it’s not as deep or passionate. And that is a good thing.
The singing on here is more subtle, but oddly enough has an
originality all its own. Surprisingly enough the overall sound
and singing is great and fans of the Swedes should eat this up
as I am right now. “Retribution” is a real classy number that
not only incorporates progressive metal in the mix, but
acoustic guitar work that is second to none as well as some
fine ivory keyboard work that shifts from neo-classical to
just haunting. “Crime Of Passion” takes a turn for the darker
as the music is slightly heavier infusing double bass drumming
at times, but the overall mood isn’t pretty, but I like it.
Simon’s lung work really shows an impact on “Begin Again”
which is an acapella ballad that only has a piano included in
the song. His voice can really bring a tear to the eye and add
some minor string work during the solo and you have a really
effective number that’s powerful and emotion packed. Jesus
Christ! Each well designed tune on here is worthy of your
attention. There are plenty of tempo changes on each song to
keep things fresh and enlightening. Even though the
comparisons are noticeable, they aren’t a complete carbon
copy. Awake go down their own path and besides, it can’t be
helped since Tomas and their engineer Arnold sing backing
vocals and handled all of their production duties including
guitarist Henrik making a solo appearance on “Forgiven Now
Forever.” Basically, if the Evergrey guys think this is worthy
of being worked on, then it must be good. Word will probably
spread fast about this one and for once any hype given is
definitely spot on and I am going to throw my hat into this
one. A must have and listen! Discover the next best thing
before everyone else does.
www.lionmusic.com |
www.awakemusic.net |
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Catholicon - Treatise on the Abyss
(Negativity Records) Review by Crin |
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Black Metal from the U.S.A, [Louisiana to be precise], and
following a long line of solid, genre bolstering state side
bands. Like most Black Metal genres, the sound generally falls
into 2 basic categories, and the Americans scene is no
different. There are the minimalisms of the icy cold
Darkthrone formular as employed by Krieg, Profanatica,
Nachtmystium, Judas Iscariot, Xasthur and numerous others. And
there’s the more technical, deathly balanced sound attributed
to the likes of Acheron, Arghosolent, Vespasian Sorrow, Grand
Belials Key, etc. Catholicon are of the latter, having a full
bodied sound, shredding riffs and a bold keyboard spine.
Musically the sound is a stark citation of Bal-Sagoths, Full
Moon |
Over Lemuria album. There is that archaic feeling to the
sound, a hard guitar crunch and definitive keyboard
interaction. This coupled with a very intense Cradle of Filth
vocal style that heralds a squawking ear lacerating vocal,
mixed with grunts and squalls.
The compositions are inconsistent in their durations. Some
being 3 minute neck breaking workouts, others clocking in at
around six minutes and offering a far more involved and
complex embodiment of extreme metal. The drum arrangements are
at times all over the place, and the sticks man certainly uses
the full repertoire of his kit, smashing and bashing his way
through the albums ruthless momentum. Melody is weaved into
the ear mauling music to underline the all consuming ferocity
with a sense of purpose, as opposed to a chaotic and
irreverent set of songs played hard for the sake of making a
noise.
Again, if you can recall Bal-Sagoth, before they discovered
their own repeating cycle of individuality that was born on
their second and ensuing releases, you will be aware of a bone
shuddering darkness that was neither blatantly Black or Death
Metal, but somewhere beyond.
www.negativityrecords.com |
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Goryptic – From Blast To Collapse
(Self-released) Review by James Young |
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Goryptic took over from the band Heresy in 2005. As I’ve never
heard of either, it didn’t really affect much, but the list of
bands which they’ve toured with does help shed some light on
what they play. Brutal and technically proficient death metal
outfits such as Spawn Of Possession, the Mexican Disgorge and
Sanatorium pretty much sum up what to expect from these
Frenchmen. With song titles and lyrics grunted in English by
Damien (although you probably wouldn’t recognise the language
if they were sung in Klingon), the subject matter is of the
gory and morbid variety. Track names, including the delicious
‘Malformed Pig Fetus’ and ‘Stacking Stillborn’, give you a
nice flavour of what goes on in the half hour |
plus of blood-drenched mayhem. The production is the
claustrophobic and suffocating job that you would expect from
this kind of extreme death metal, and there’s enough of each
instrument in the mix at all times to create a well-balanced
blasting wall of sound. This brutal assault becomes all the
more impressive when the general onslaught ceases and the
twangy bass-lines and breakneck snare blasts stand alone. The
result is a great sounding slab of brutality that may add very
little to the genre itself, but does it really well, and as
such I can’t really complain at all.
Every song is a well-crafted expression of hate, and contains
a ridiculous amount of variation, and as such a track-by-track
analysis wouldn’t begin to do the album justice. The mood of
each number rarely remains stable for more than twenty
seconds, either stopping or twisting, interrupted by some sort
of tempo change or breakdown. The riffs of Ugo are
terrifyingly crushing, and when they’re not winding all over
the place, they are crushing you with their sheer heaviness.
Guyom’s enormous range of drum patterns keeps chopping and
changing frantically, blasting, double kicking or doing
whatever the hell sounds heaviest with the current riff. It’s
insanely technical, but still feels as if you’re having your
brain systematically smashed in by some kind of pneumatic
drill. Headbanging is absolutely imperative in such platters
as ‘Internal Conflict’ with its quasi-death ‘n’ roll vibe,
although it only lasts for only seconds at a time. The
brutality on disc is clearly meant to incite violence in a
live environment also, as the name of the track ‘Circle Pit’
suggests. This track and others contain the non-linear
technicality of Gorgasm, but adds a more spontaneous ferocity
with some killer speed bursts and crescendos that Cryptopsy
would be proud to call their own. Rather surprisingly, there
is only one sample utilised, which is a relief as they are
totally overused by other bands. The only sample, found at the
start of ‘Eight Shitty Hours And A Happy Slaughter’ is really
short, doesn’t even contain words, and is more than
compensated by the frantic blasting which follows, not to
mention the headbangingly sick guitar squeaks towards the end.
The only blip on the album is a strange remix of ‘Malformed
Pig Fetus’ which doesn’t really fit in with the general vibe
of the album, substituting the frantic blasting for more of a
techno feel, along the lines of The Berzerker. It isn’t too
bad, but it doesn’t fit in with the primitive animosity on the
rest of the album.
If you want an ultra abrasive, grinding record of death metal
violence, you really need look no further. Goryptic are hardly
original, but they are masters of what they do, and when it
sounds this brutal, it’s hard to find fault with such
ferocity. It really does do what it says on the tin, and makes
you want to collapse. What a blast!
www.goryptic.com |
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Immolation – Shadows In The Light
(Century Media) Review by Chris Davison |
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The American masters of death metal return at long last with
their seventh album! Can it really be so long since their
seminal Dawn of Possession? Well, to say they are back in
style would be a bit of an understatement really. In general
terms, as long time readers will know, I prefer the old school
of death metal to the overly technical, and I prefer the
atmospheric to the brutal. All this generally adds up to being
in the European camp of skull-crushing terror rather than the
more bludgeoning style of the trans-Atlantic variety. That
being said, Immolation have always been one of my favourite
yankee doodle dandies, and this album perhaps showcases their
talents more clearly than Harnessing Ruin, their 2005 |
predecessor on Listenable Records.
So, a new record company has come along since the last
platter, and a move onto Century Media, one of the genres
prime movers, is at least a record company befitting the
legendary status of such a widely respected band. I think that
more than ever this is the sound of Immolation at the top of
their game; the oppressive nature of the dense, lead-heavy
music means that this is the aural equivalent of being trapped
in a slowly sinking submarine. You can hear the thin metal
walls of your vessel slowly collapsing as the outside pressure
brings terror and fear. This is, for the uninitiated, a terse,
tense and terrifying brand of death metal. Immolation are
utterly unrelenting and tight, and yet still manage to bring
an all pervading (and all important) atmosphere to the album.
Their knack, almost unique among their peers, is to splice
brutality and neck snapping heaviness with memorable tunes and
extremely effective melody lines. The drumming is as powerful
as ever, the sound of tank treads running rough shod over your
spine, while the bass and guitars are both wielded expertly
and produced perfectly. The lead guitar sound, to my ears, is
much clearer in the mix than ever before and adds even more
musical class to this utter pedigree performance.
This is devastatingly gloomy death metal of the highest order.
I can't really call it doom due to the inherently swift tempo,
but at times I was reminded of the legendary “...For Victory”
platter, which as any fool knows was the zenith of the Bolt
Thrower discography. Immolation have managed to create that
rarest of breeds; a modern death metal album that will satisfy
the br00tal kiddies, but have enough musical skills and tight
song writing skills to keep the rest of us happy. Immolation
are back at the top of their trade. Do you know anyone man
enough to take them down from their throne? Thought not.
www.centurymedia.com
*Please note this review was written by one of our US
writers. Immolation are still on Listenable in Europe. |
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Joop Wolters - Out Of Order (Lion
Music) By: Joe Florez |
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Joop is a guitarist from The Netherlands who’s a hired gun and
has worked with the likes of Hubi Meisel, Vivien Lalu and
worked on tribute albums from Jimi to Uli Jon Roth, Gary
Moore, Blackmore, and Shawn Lane. He has also released two
previous solo instrumentals as well to his resume. Now, he’s
back to show the world that he can rock. Yes folks, it’s
another instrumental from the Lion Music company. I am
slightly familiar with his talents, but now it’s going to be
different because I will hear him only and be able to tell if
he is able to carry his weight or if he’s nothing more than a
fluff piece.
“Broke” is a quick opener that’s just under the three minute
mark and is more rock oriented |
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than anything else. The rhythm section is performed at a
mellow pace with some major thumpin’ bass lines while Joop
goes from slow to fast and noisy with his six string. The odd
thing is that there is some sort of catchiness to the thing
despite it sounding a little unconventional and disoriented.
It’s definitely different and exciting. “American Dance” is
what most fans would come to expect from a metal/rock
instrumental. There is a consistent riff that is lively and
even sounds a tad like Satriani, but better. There are full-on
sections where he shreds and gets down and dirty. It’s got
rhythm and a better pacing than the opener. He really goes off
on this one. The one thing on here that I like is the fact
that Mr. Wolters can’t stay in one place for too long because
when we get to “Cardiac” it’s jazz/rock that is highly
complicated, but intriguing and has plenty of off timing
moments. I wasn’t exactly prepared for what was about to come
out of my speakers. I am more than happy to report that my
initial reaction to this disc was way low because if it was
high then I would be disappointed, but this isn’t the case
here. There is a lot of surprises on here. Normally, I think a
one man project is very overwhelming and doesn’t sound good in
the end, but Joop manages to compose, program and produce with
ease. He also manages to hire drum extraordinaire Virgil
Donati to lend a hand. There are a lot of direction that this
man dives into from flamenco to ambient to jazz, prog, rock
and even some flat out quirkiness that is unexplainable. This
is journey worth taking if you like your rides to be filled
with twists and turns at every corner.
www.lionmusic.com |
www.myspace.com/joopwolters |
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Ken Hensley - Blood On The Highway [The Ken
Hensley Story] (Politur) Review By Strawb |
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Ah, the early 70’s – some of the most excellent music ever,
and right there amongst the best, Uriah Heep. My personal
selection the Magicians Birthday and the Demons And Wizards
albums, still played to this day. And one of the driving
forces behind the group, vocalist and keyboards, Ken Hensley.
Now it’s 30 years later and I am asked to review the latest
from this artist. I have changed over this period, and my
first question? Has Ken? The answer has got to be an emphatic
yes. What he has done here, is open his soul and search his
memory to present a Rock |
Opera, based upon his life in Rock.
Rock Opera, to some that would be early Lloyd Webber & Rice
[is it only me, or does that option appear better if it was a
meal & not an assault upon the ears?], but I think of Tommy,
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Wall.
And Ken wants to join this elite group. In order to do this,
he has assembled a substantive list of players including Jorn
Lande, John Lawton and Glenn Hughes. This leads to an eclectic
mixture of tracks throughout. Jorn Lande has a strong, bluesy
voice, reminiscent of Coverdale in the early Whitesnake days,
John Lawton was in Uriah Heep in the late 70’s and still has a
good set of tubes, and Glenn Hughes, known to many as an
ex-Deep Purple front man offers his own distinct vocals, which
contrast with those of the other vocalists.
A number of the tracks are slow and bluesy, written in the
context of a musical rather than Metal. And Think Twice has
definite country overtones, confirmed by the onset of my
allergic rash…… However, the main body of the album is Rock
[with the capital R], occasionally reminding me of
Meatloaf/Steinman when their product was refreshing and
excellent. Some are outstanding, the title track and Okay in
the opinion of this reviewer. And, the two statements made on
the Doom tracks must have been heard by not only Ken, but
thousands of others, and without doubt will have strongly
influenced music throughout its history.
I am sure that an immense amount of thought and work has gone
into this project, and this is reflected in the end product.
If I want Ken Hensley, I will still go initially to my classic
Uriah Heep, but if your musical preferences are not firmly
stuck in the early 70’s then this album is well worth a
listen.
www.myspace.com/kenhensleymusic |
www.ken-hensley.com/ |
www.membran.net/ |
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M.A.N - Obey • Consume • Reject
(Gain) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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This is a bit of a strange one, but the CD sleeve has the band
listed as: Tony J.J. - vocals and guitar, Martin Mayerman -
guitars, Stitch - bass and Magnus 155 - drums, their website
has the following: Tony J.J. - vocals, Robgus - guitars, Rob -
bass and Engberg- drums. So I'm guessing that Tony J.J.'s
changed the entire line-up of his band since recording the
album. Regardless, that's not really where the strangeness
ends, their image is a bit of a hybrid of many things and
doesn't in any way represent the music played, which in some
ways is rather refreshing. While they tend to venture readily
into nu-metal type sounds, the overall sound is far heavier
and less sludgy, more akin to one of Tony's former |
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bands. "Fold And Disgusted" sounds a bit like a Korn/MachineHead
mix, but altogether not bad. Very bouncy and I'm sure that it
shall go down well in pit, "Last Injection" has the right
qualities to get a crowd bouncing. AN attempt at an awesome
Fear Factory track at the end of "My Master", but that may
just be me... and man is there plenty of shouting on "None To
Tell", but the clean vocals blend in well with the occasional
growl, so you can ignore them if need be. "Cop Out" has plenty
of shouting, but a very sharp snare sound that cuts through
everything, especially the clean vocals. I wonder if James
Earl Jones had anything to do with "Bon Voyage Mother Fucker",
LOL. Anyway... "Soul Wasted" has a nice slow groove to it that
the vocals flow over easily enough that the transitions from
screams to shouts to whispers don't even phase. Not sounding
much like a love song, "Handcuffed" has a bit of a Soulfly air
to it. While the bittersweet vocal melody on "Cancered" makes
the aggression on the chorus stand out rather nicely. Starting
off sounding like it could be a Sabbath track, it picks up its
pace significantly and lays a nice "Kick Down" for a couple
seconds before slowing right down again and then repeating the
whole process. Ending it all off the solid "Monster Device"
and its screaming guitar leads.
www.manmusic.nu |
www.gain.se |
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Six Feet Under - Commandment (Metal
Blade Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Chris Barnes and company usually provoke a response amongst
metalheads along the lines of “SFU: love ‘em or hate ‘em”.
I’ve always been mildly indifferent. I never outright disliked
SFU, but I really haven’t paid too much attention to them
since “Warpath”.
At any rate, stalwart Metal Blade Records continues to be the
label of record for SFU as they regularly churn out
full-lengths with absolutely no change at all in their bread
and butter formula of slow to mid-paced, groove-laden death
metal. Therefore, whether or not a release from the band is of
any quality is wholly dependent upon Terry Butler’s and Steve
Swanson’s abilities in writing memorable riffs to snap your
neck to. With that in mind, |
SFU’s seventh full-length (I’m not counting cover material),
“Commandment”, comes along with plenty of good riffing,
particularly in the album’s latter half, and, believe it or
not, some variation in pacing and well placed time changes
within songs to keep this release fresh and interesting (well,
sort of, as interesting as this can get, at any rate).
Really, folks, beyond that, what else do you expect from this
band? The production is excellent, the musicianship is
adequate for what’s being played, and Barnes’ delivery is
exactly as it always is. Some people seem to worship the
ground that Barnes walks on, but I’ve always found his work
post- “The Bleeding” to be rather half-hearted and weak. This
release does nothing to dispel that notion, but his
performance is adequate enough.
Certainly, we have a competent SFU album that will probably
still be regarded as enjoyable yet ultimately forgettable by
most. At any rate, “Commandment” will tide you over as you
wait with baited breath for Torture Killer’s next full-length.
www.sfu420.com
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www.metalblade.com |
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Soulbreach - My Dividing Line (Mascot
Records) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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Full of intricate melodies, but with so much aggression and
power that even the pseudo acoustic interludes are damned
heavy. Daniel Andersson's vocals occasionally remind me of
Face Down where Marco Aro flicks effortlessly between hardcore
shrieks and growls to almost crooning, while Dino Medanhodzic
and Per Fransson trade leads and thrash out churning riffs
with as much ease. Erik Stenström's time keeping is a precise
and assaulting battery accentuated perfectly by Magnus Wall's
bass pounding. While I've heard it said that album should
never start with a lead, Soulbreach pull it off on "A Figment
Of Truth", where they set a couple trends for the remainder of
the album, with all the changes and swaps I |
described above. Powering along like a locomotive and then
rushing downhill like a rollercoaster "Skin Deep" has some
pretty heavy chugged out riffs that get replaced by much
faster ones during the freefall leads. "Cease To Be" doesn't
bother with doing any of the slowing down however and even the
slower pieces are played at speed, especially the solos.
There's very little that doesn't flow well on "Disjointed",
which has that very distinct Face Down feel to it, along a
pretty cool bass lead. Beautifully played, "My Dividing Line"
is an acoustic intermission, if you will, before getting your
head rattled again by the mid-tempo "What Is Me". "Lash" on
the other hand doesn't have any of the finesse of the previous
two tracks, but who cares really when it's pounding along.
Dropping the pace a little but replacing it with triplets and
then a melodic bridge "You Tore" fades into the much faster
"As I Am Concealed" which has Erik Stenström drumming for all
he's worth. Final track "My Delight" is extremely fast, but
not a single note is out of time and a fitting way to wrap
things up. And perhaps it's owing to the fact that I've had
this CD for a couple months now, or because it draws on the
qualities I like in several other bands that makes it so easy
to listen to repeatedly and enjoy while hearing more hidden
layers each time.
www.soulbreach.com |
www.mascotrecords.com |
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Thom Mathews - Mindcraft (Black
Flame) Review by Steve Green |
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Instrumental guitar shredding. Heaven or Hell? For me it's the
latter, although I'm up for anything if it's done well.
Mindcraft is the debut solo album from Quinta Essentia/Hallows
Eve guitarist Thom Mathews. And if I'm brutally honest, which
I normally am, then he should have stuck to his day jobs.
First up, if you are going to release an instrumental album,
then please spend some money on the production. In places,
especially on opener Prepare For Crash Landing, the production
is, shall we say, a little basic. It immediately gets your
back up and because I'm a non-believer already, you are going
to have to work even harder to win me over. If you |
are a guitarist, then I want to hear your instrument in all
its glory. This album is demo quality at best. My only other
problem with this album is that the songs aren't interesting
to listen to. There's nothing here to make my jaw drop to the
floor, nor is there anything to latch onto.
If you want to make an instrumental album, then make it
interesting. I'm thinking back to Ed Alleyne-Johnson's album
Ultraviolet, which was recording using only a five string
electric violin. That album was not only a joy to listen to,
but was full of texture and variation, something I can't
really say about Mindcraft. I'm not knocking Thom Mathews
skill as an axeman. I'm questioning the production values and
the craft of making an instrumental album interesting.
Not for me I'm afraid.
www.blackflamerecords.com |
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Twinspirits - The Music That Will Heal The
World (Lion Music) By: Joe Florez |
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Italian keyboard guru and guitarist Daniele Liverani has now
added Twinspirits to the list of projects under his belt.
While he is a very talented musician, I just don’t find his
music appealing with the exception of Khymera. Prog heads will
pretty much know him from the Genius project. I tried getting
into that and it just didn’t click with me. Perhaps this
release will change my perception of him.
“Projected” is a four minute plus instrumental opener that is
filled with keyboard wizardry, proggy drum strikes and semi
agro riffs. It’s not bad, but would have inserted this perhaps
in the middle of the disc. Finally we get to “Back To Reality”
which is basically prog rock |
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with classic rock elements. Soren Adamsen’s voice is rather
strong with hints of high pitches, but not a lot. The guitar
work has a 70’s feel as do the black and white keys. The music
isn’t bad, but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s not until the
solos where everyone, especially the axeslinger, go balls out
and really shine. It doesn’t take long for this disc to take a
turn for the worst with the very slow and sluggish “What You
Want.” Everything about this just drags on for an eternity.
The vocals sound like they are in slow motion. The drumming
feels like it’s going to stop at any moment and the guitars
are just so emotionless. Utter boredom is the name of the game
here. “Take My Hand” may pick up the pace in terms of going in
a mid tempo range, but it just lacks everything from being
memorable to not having a catchy hook. The vocals are filled
with energy, but do nothing to make me take notice and the
music is just cruising along without making you jump up and
down and getting excited over it. Sure, there are prog moments
on here, but there is something lacking. “Power To Kill” lives
up to its name as it seems like a fire has been lit under
everyone’s arses and things are kicked up several notches into
power metal mode. The double bass drumming is in full effect
as well as fierce guitar playing. Quite frankly, this is one
of the best tracks on here, but not enough to save the disc.
Basically, this disc is half decent and half throwaways. The
problem with this debut is that most of the songs are long in
the tooth with the exception of the title track and
“Understand” which clock in at the ten and twelve minute mark
and that’s only because they are exciting and jammed pack with
diversity. This is an ok effort, but someone really needs to
get in here and let the man know that it’s ok to leave some
things out. Massive editing is needed here. Daniele’s major
problem is that I think that he thinks he needs to write
overtly long songs just to prove how intelligent his
compositions are and it’s not necessary. Ever hear of the old
saying “less is more?” Try it on your next effort.
www.lionmusic.com |
www.twinspirits.net |
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Virgin Black - Requiem – Mezzo Forte
(Massacre Records) review by Sam Thomas |
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“Requiem – Mezzo Forte” is the third album from Virgin Black,
an Australian band who are described in the press release as
“Gothic metallers”. This album forms the first part of a
trilogy, all of which has apparently been composed together,
but we will have to wait to hear the remaining parts.
The one thing that I can write about this album with absolute
certainty is that it is absolutely stunning: this is sheer
perfection in every respect. It has the mathematical precision
of Gregorian chant, the symphonic brilliance of classical
music (courtesy of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) and the
sweeping scope of an epic movie soundtrack (but without |
any Hollywood tackiness). It drips class with every perfectly
executed note. Every second is devoted to producing a
performance of staggering proportions, each track leads
inevitably into the next.
In many ways, this is not particularly dissimilar to the two
previous albums, “Sombre Romantic” and “Elegant… and Dying”,
but then again, if you’ve managed to come up with something
that is both unique and outstanding, why change things? Once
again, you have the twinned male and female vocals, but make
no mistake, we are not talking cheap and nasty Lacuna Coil
sound-alikes here. These are classically trained voices,
people who have devoted years of study to achieve their sound.
The vocals twine around each other, spiralling and soaring
above the music in perfect counterpoint to it. Both male and
female vocals have that wonderful quality of restraint, they
know how to project their voices without having to scream flat
out. And yes, Rowan London is equally competent at growling
“Requiem” in a perfect death metal style when appropriate.
The overall style of the album reflects the title: there is
definitely a feeling of the high ritual about it, as it flows
with majestic grace from one style to another, without ever
showing any cracks. That is really the most impressive thing
about this: the ability of the band to combine diverse
influences into such a perfect whole. When I listen to it, I
don’t consciously identify the different elements, as in “Oh,
this is a metal bit, here’s a choir, this must be the
orchestra…” although there are all those elements, it’s just
such a complete musical creation that to try to reduce it to
its component parts would be as pointless as buying a classic
car and disassembling it into a pile of nuts and bolts. This
isn’t anything like other offerings which have featured metal
with orchestral accompaniment, largely because you know that
Virgin Black are perfectly at home in the classical world and
are probably as little interested in being labelled as any
particular kind of metal as I am in labelling them.
As well as being flawlessly executed, this is also an album of
great emotional intensity. It’s not something that you can
listen to and remain unmoved by, nor is it something that you
could listen to as background music. It’s just too good for
that: it demands that you be involved with it! Overall, this
is one of the most beautiful albums that it has ever been my
privilege to listen to. It is a sumptuous piece of work,
oozing talent with every perfect note. Virgin Black have
succeeded once again in producing something which is unique
and beautiful beyond belief.
www.virginblack.com |
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