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Abandoned - Thrash You (Dockyard 1)
Review by Robert Beeton |
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If you like pure Thrash metal with no thrills, just something
hard and heavy to go crazy to, then Abandoned maybe your cup of tea.
On first listening to this I knew this would be
hard to review. But then it gradually came to me! Fast Hitting
drums like the sound of Tarzan battering his scrawny chest
with the sound of what at times sounds like a drunken German,
spitting out lyrics mixed with a bit of whiskey is what you
will be fed if you give this album a good old listen. “Visions
of Death” didn’t make much of an impact on me. It sounded like
stuff I've heard before. It had the elements of thrash, the
fast pace and riffs which cut through you like a blunt saw but
it didn’t leave me thirsty for more. I moved onto “We Are |
Hell” which once again was a bit of blur. It had a great intro, then the track went back to sounding
samey. My hopes were slightly lifted by the solo which flew
though the air like a bird on speed until its effects
wore off. The feeling of then being plunged into a layer of
dark thick clouds struggling to find light is then thrown at
you by the drums and guitars. However the track quickly drops
back to playing like a cassette tape set to loop.
“Disorder” shone a light on me and as I found where the
acclaimed sounds of Slayer came from. Fast and brutal words to
get your mind around, like flailing around in a bowl of spaghetti. Followed by a
topping of steaming meaty riffs and drums is what this
plateful cries for you to get your teeth into. “Die in
Dignity” gave me the impression of a fat man laughing at you
as if you had tomato sauce around your lips with a helping of
a solo that sounded like a Sonic The Hedgehog background
track. That was the only part that left me thinking, fuck yeah!
However, once again it felt like a side order. Simply something
to fill the gap!
One of my favourite tracks has to be the vein pulsating “Sands
of Time”. Hallucinating, loss of control, caught in a haze are
my first thoughts as the intro drugs my precious mind. Then as
I continue through the fog I am greeted by what feels like
Iced Earth with lightening riffs and fast paced drumming. Strong
chants of the words “Sands of Time” reflected by riffs that
describe the words, really make this song a strong contender.
And as the track persists, flashbacks of the opening riff
float down on to you until it hits the river of rolling drums.
The river gains speed until you find the open water covered by
a lightening and thunder storm that is the chorus “sands of
time.” All I wanted to do when I entered this territory was
bang my head and dance like a marionette! Oh shit the
waves are getting stronger and the skies are becoming more
deadly sings the solo before calming back down to welcome a
last round of “Sands of Time” chanting.
“Feel the Fire” Like most of the album gave me mixed thoughts.
Great intro, great verse, but when it hit the chorus it just
seemed like the type of thing that after a few listens would
get on your nerves. And I was mainly on about the vocals! The
rest of the song was a bit of blur with another average solo
and a bit of chanting to send the song out. Nothing exciting
really, was there any hope at all?
“Damned for All Time” began like a bear ripping its prey apart
into tiny digestible pieces and playing with them as if they
were a toy. Brutal and bloody with a bit of headbanging
thrown in to add to the fun. Bits are spat back up that remind
me of riff lines and drum patterns in previous songs
but quickly change. With vocal lines that remind me once again of
Slayer, it’s nice to know we can boost this tracks performance.
Cry like a baby for you may wonder where that headbanging fun
disappears to. Yet there’s no need to worry as it gives you a
couple of nice revisits especially where the solo appears
struggling to be heard over the wall ripping and tearing. I
wondered at times if it was me or are the vocals sometimes
overpowered by the pure viciousness of the guitars?
So short, but beautiful in so many different ways my heart
literally cried a thousand tears from listening to the calm
acoustics and heart warming solo of the instrumental,
“Repentance”. This track shows stability in the album proving
that not all thrash metal needs chomping guitars and drums to
be powerful and moving.
Circle pits at the ready, kick that dust up and make
yourself “Too Blind To See”. This track really made me think
hard about Abandoned. From listening to the tracks (with an
exception to a few) before this I wondered if this album would
at all make me smile. “Too Blind To See” however did. It’s got
variations, enough licks to make you want to get your shins
fucked up by sweaty blokes kicking the shit out of each other
in a claustrophobic space and so my thoughts well no more
needs to be said about that.
Feeling a tad more awake and chirpier, I looked forward to “In
Search of Sanity” where I found more relief. Again one of my
favourite songs as I feel they’ve taken more time to think
about what they are doing. Slow twisting and turning, dark
riffs were set alight firing themselves into faster velocity
where a clash of hammering drums and soaring guitars meets a
rain of fiery vocals. As we get higher and higher, we are
catapulted into pit of squealing harmonics, twisted cries and
eerie hooks that make this adventure have a bit of flavour!
Like a heat seeking projectile you get the feeling of slowly
moving through a thunderous storm until we knock at the door
of what for a minute sounds like a power metal solo with its
warm chords and singing lead. Welcomed by riffs that appeared
earlier on in the song, they act as interludes between the rest of
the mellowed out solo and are then teamed up with spiralling
helter-skelter of drums before being tossed back into a
bombardment of flying riffs recalled from the beginning of the
song.
Abandoned’s efforts with “Thrash you” failed at times with
repetitiveness and lack of variation but managed to pull
through just with half a dozen or so decent tracks that you
could easily go mental to. Slices of Slayer and other bands
can easily be found lurking among the tracks which make up the
album, however if your planning to buy this don’t be expecting
a masterpiece as its suitability is only intended for people
who don’t give a fuck and just want to go mental. An album
really pulling just above the average mark!
www.dockyard1.com |
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Achilles - Hospice (Hex) Review
by Samuel Munch-Petersen |
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The US once more brings us a band that are of mathcore
proportions. Achilles reign from Rochester, New York and this
is their second outing on a full length album. It starts
punchy and full of force, enough to complicate your ears. But
they’re no Dillinger Escape Plan by any stretch of the
imagination. They do have a regular and somewhat
overwhelmingly un-original sound but they play well and at
least together as a band. It’s apparent nowadays that
following the trend seems to be the only way to make something
of yourself as a band. There are those out there I’m sure who
are trying to make a different sound but so far there hasn’t
been a spontaneous band come out of any country within the
past couple of months,
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bar perhaps Shellshock who have certainly grabbed me.
Achilles give us anthem guitar riffs and simple unbound time
signatures that chorus over the bars. The vocals scream loudly
and decisively but there is little behind them to take, me at
least, to the next level. The four piece from Rochester
haven’t gripped me as much as they have their myspace fans it
would seem, but to be honest they don’t have anything more or
less than the next band that comes along claiming to be
hardcore or mathcore or any other “core”-induced music
project. Chris, Rob, Rory and Josh have excellent musical
skills and can certainly write songs that deliver a sense of
good time and synergy. However, there’s just something missing
that isn’t coming through on this album.
There’s a massive element of ego and presence about the band,
especially since on the press release for this album it starts
“Hey! You lucky shit…”, that immediately put me off. I don’t
like bands that have a massive head on them and expect the
world to love them. Understandably the music business is a
hellhole waiting to engulf the next “special thing” but you
can still be dignified and, what’s the word? Humble.
If you’re into mediocre mathcore and into any “core” then
you’ll probably like what you hear from this second showing
twelve-track album from Achilles.
www.myspace.com/achilles |
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Beyond The Sixth Seal - The Resurrection Of
Everything Tough (Metal Blade)
Review by Steve Green |
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Due to the absolutely storming opening number, Nothing To
Prove, I thought this album was about to blow me away. Alas,
the groove laden deathly opener was a bit of a false dawn as
nothing else comes remotely close to the sexiness created in
the first three and a half minutes.
Beyond The Sixth Seal are a side project, featuring members of
the Red Chord. I didn't discover this until I'd given the
album a good few spins. After making this discovery, it made
sense. You see, my main problem with The Resurrection... is
the lack of consistency. I'm guessing this project is all
about having a blast, rather than knuckling down to some
serious
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song writing. Beyond The Sixth Seal are all about rocking out,
and on occasion they cross the border into greatness, which
makes this a frustrating listen for me.
The heavier tracks are most definitely the ones that do it for
me. Die At 35 is a homage to old school Motorhead meets The
Entombed and it rocks like a bastard. It's up there with
Nothing To Prove and both songs are worth tracking down. On the
other hand the likes of Revelry and Feral Dreamer lack the
spark of the more intense numbers and I tend to tire of them
rather easily. The sub-goth Yawning Of The Gale is also
difficult listening with the music and the vocals not gelling
at all.
When they get it right, Beyond The Sixth Seal get it spot on.
Unfortunately there's not enough of the good stuff on here.
www.myspace.com/beyondthesixthseal |
www.metalblade.de
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Elend - A World In Their Screams
(Prophecy) Review by Steve Green |
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I wouldn't say I lived in a particularly noisy household, but
I've had more false starts with this album that I care to
remember. Elend are a band that, like a fine wine, you need to
savour. Any distraction that occurs just breaks the spell that
their classically inspired madness creates. So every time that
I plug in my headphones to listen to this album, why is it a
cue for the kids to watch Dog The "bloody" Bounty Hunter, or
Takeshi's "sodding" Castle, or for the missus to bludgeon her
brain cells with a smattering of brutal death or grind? So
here I sit, at just after 6am, on one of my days off, a good
hour earlier than is necessary. Ok, I might be mad to give up
an hour of sleep, but at least I can now enjoy A
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World In Their Screams in all its glory, and without getting
disturbed, except by the music of course.
If you've not listened to Elend before, then you've missed out
on an extraordinary band. This Austrian-French trio, for this
album at least, are expanded to include 30 musicians and
singers. Together they've created a sounsdscape that
incorporates soprano vocals, spoken word passages, dark
orchestration and even darker electronics. This is the music
of nightmares. A World In Their Screams is the the third in a
trilogy of albums known as the Winds Cycle. I have part I,
2003's Winds Devouring Men and there are elements that are
carried forward for this opus, mainly the stark oppressive
industrial rhythms. I've not played Winds Devouring Men for a
while now, something I need to remedy asap, but it's a much
gentler album with only the occasional moments of doom and
gloom, which is totally eclipsed by Elends move into almost
complete darkness. To understand this transformation, I really
need to get hold of Sunwar The Dead, which is supposed to be
of a dark and furious nature. It's not as if the band have
completely changed their sound like certain bands I could
mention (Metallica and Paradise Lost instantly spring to
mind), I've just missed out on one very important part of
their evolution.
Shit, after sitting here in almost complete darkness for
almost an hour with only the slowly evolving dawn for company,
I want track down the cds to complete my Elend collection, A
World In Their Screams has woken me in a truly horrific and of
course thoroughly enjoyable way. This maybe utter madness to
some, with Borée being a prime example, but to me it's a
perfect way to welcome in another day of hatred that only this
fucked up world can provide.
www.elend-music.org |
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Elenium - Caught In A Wheel (Kampas Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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Elenium, having formed back in 1995, state that Amorphis were
one of their early influences. A dozen years later and I'd say
early Amorphis are still their biggest influence. I loved
Amorphis' Death Metal groove and Elenium's 2nd album is an
updated version of that trademark Scandinavian crunch. The
biggest difference between the bands are Johannes Salo's
dominating keyboards, which shouldn't come as a surprise as he
writes a fair chunk of the music. But to be fair, it's his
synth work that stops Elenium being classified as Amorphis
clones.
While I think the keyboards enhanced the first few numbers,
the cheesy keys absolutely kill |
The Escalator stone dead. I think they were supposed to be
horror tinged, or atmospheric, but whatever they are supposed
to be, they don't work. I much prefer the Deathly groove of
Challenger Of Gravity or the menacing Gothic tinges of Of The
Man Who Died, apart from the Prog keyboards towards the end of the song, which are
completely out of touch with the rest of the song. The same
thing kind of applies to Trail Of Beggars. This time the song
doesn't flow at all and is a far cry from the more
straightforward, and ultimately better groove of Human.
Ok, now this album is starting to wear me down. Elenium have
such a good basis from where to launch themselves, but
including all of these extra touches just destroys the core of
their material. Someone needs to get Johannes to calm down and
for the song structures to to kept simpler. Less is more, and
all that bollocks.
As this album is self produced, I'll politely suggest an
outsider would be preferable for their next release.
www.eleniumband.com |
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Hacride - Amoeba (Listenable Records) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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Having never heard of this French quartet that's "taking the
world by storm", I readied myself for disappointment, because
that's what usually happens when the promo-pack tells you how
amazing and successful a band is, yet you've never heard of
them. I guess that's actually all down to me not getting out
enough, or maybe that while these guys are pretty good, they
didn't blow me away. Starting off very quietly for the 1st 30
seconds
of "Perturbed", until a mighty roar rips in and then
it keeps chopping
and changing between slowly sung and drawn out melodic vocals
and further growling and screaming by vocalist Samuel Bourreau,
over the precise squeaks and harmonics played on Adrien
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guitar. "Fate" is a fickle thing and quite a bit quicker with
some fast tempo changes which have Olivier Laffond's timekeeping skills thoroughly tested. With audible
hostility in his voice Sam yells out "Vision Of Hate", which
is again filled with false harmonics, but while having them
occur occasionally on a song is ok, having 3 per riff and the
same riff repeated about 20 times starts to become a little
annoying because it just becomes an high pitched squeak that
won't stop. Too much of a good thing and all that methinks.
Anyway they do a pretty cool Ojos De Brujo Cover with plenty
of Spanish guitars and a very flamenco feel to the vocals,
incidentally I think they may have even featured on "Zambra".
Something else to note is that bar 2 tracks, almost every
other song on this album is 5 minutes and over, shortest being
the instrumental "Liquid", which actually have a very soft
flowing ambience about it. Benoist Danneville and his bass are
mostly relegated to the background, but there are some
occasions on "Cycle" where a distinct slap and pop can be
heard. Building up nicely from a slow chugging guitar sound to
some extremely staccato (and I mean as disjointed as hell)
riffs which when combines together make "Deprived Of Soul"
something far more interesting than the sum of its parts.
There's plenty of power behind the riffs in "Strength", and
being nice and compact doesn't hurt it either, so it doesn't
lose itself by trying to do too many unnecessary things, even
if it does have a minute of quiet guitar meandering halfway
though it. "Ultima Necat" is another instrumental which fades
into "On The Threshold Of Death" where the morose bridges are
well worth listening to.
So while
I may not have been completely blown away by these guys, they
are definitely worth listening to, even if it's not repeated, cos at least that way you'll have an idea of some new sounds
that are out there.
www.hacride.com
| www.listenable.net |
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Infernaeon - A Symphony of Suffering (Prosthetic Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Ft. Lauderdale-based Infernaeon issues their debut full-length
entitled “A Symphony of Suffering” on Prosthetic Records.
Given that the band is from Florida and Erik Rutan has a hand
in the album’s mastering, you’d pretty much expect Florida-style death metal with this
résumé . Well, certainly, Infernaeon have a solid base in the genre with bursts of
speed, a similar guitar sound, growled vocals, etc.; but,
there’s also a very pronounced Emperor influence, circa “IX
Equilibrium”, with some very prominent keyboard work as well
as some riffing that is very reminiscent of that classic.
The mix of styles generally works well, although, production
wise, the keyboards tend to |
overwhelm the guitars a bit, and the drums also sound a bit
hollow. The poor mixing robs some of the music of its power,
which is definitely too bad because there’s some fine guitar
work present on “A Symphony of Suffering”. The guitars also
shine with periodic moments of melody with some soloing
reminiscent of more traditional styles of heavy metal.
The album is quite short at a half hour, and only consists of
six songs with the first being an intro. However, treated as
simply a somewhat raw debut from a young band, “A Symphony of
Suffering” shows Infernaeon to be a band with some promise.
Keith Devito (Catastrophic, Pyrexia) and Ben Falgoust (Goatwhore,
Soilent Green), by the way, lend a hand with some guest vocal
appearances.
www.infernaeon.com
| www.protheticrecords.com |
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| Korpiklaani - Tervaskanto (Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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A new Korpiklaani album is always a welcoming prospect and their
third Napalm release in as many years is one that you won't be
disappointed with. After the recent lacklustre effort from Turasis, I
was fearing the worst from Finland greatest export, especially after
opener Let's Drink took me an age to get into. A rival for Happy Little
Boozer it is not, but a dozen listens done the line, it's now
acceptable. Which is the complete opposite of the title track
Tervaskanto, which is Korpiklaani firing on all fronts as their take on
humppa has me dancing like a demented twat on my chair. This fucker
rivals Happy Little Boozer and would have been a much better way to
begin the album. But with that small quibble out of
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the way, it's time to rejoice in this glorious slice of Folk
Metal.
It's the old adage of that if you can't get into this, then you don't
have a heartbeat. Korpiklaani's music demands to be loved and it's
impossible not to be drawn into the feel good factor and the hey nonny
nonny knees up. Viima moves slightly away from the folkfest and drifts
towards either a Greek or a Jewish celebration depending on your faith.
I'm tempted to edge towards the former... but only as it would be fun to
smash a load of plates while prancing around to this one. Either way,
it's a good change of pace and it's a nice pre-amble to the accordion
led hoedown of Veriset Aparat.
Running With The Wolves is another full throttle blaster and is one of
two instrumentals that can be found on Tervaskanto. The crazy pace is
kept up for Liekkion Isku and the foot stomping intensity continues,
albeit with a dash of drunkenness added for good measure. We are greeted
with acoustic guitars at the beginning of Palovana, but before long, the
pace quickens again and it's time for the party to continue. These Finns
never know when to stop and it's yet another couple of rounds of jaw
dropping humppa with the rabid Karhunkaatolaulu and the slightly slower
Misty Fields. The latter reminding me of a metallic version of The
Levellers on their Levelling The Land opus. Vesilahden Verajilla at last
sees the pace drop as a multitude of different instruments snake around
each other to create a feast fit for a king. And that's one thing
Korpiklaani have excelled on with Tervaskanto, the differing pace which
keeps everything fresh and their song writing has been near perfect. The
feast comes to an end with the appropriately titled Nordic Feast. Again
it's an instrumental and one in keeping with the majority of the album.
It'll have you dancing around like a loon with his feet on fire.
I'm gutted I won't be able to make it to Bloodstock to see them, but I'm
sure if their rise in popularity continues, a full UK tour surely can't
be far off. Maybe as support to Turisas if Warlord Nygard is brave
enough to take them on. This will definitely be one of my musical
highlights of the year.
www.napalmrecords.com |
www.korpiklaani.com |
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Salem - Necessary Evil (Season of Mist) review by Sam Thomas |
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Salem are an Israeli outfit who have been around since 1985.
Necessary Evil is their fifth full-length release in that
time, so I guess that sporadic, rather than prolific, would be
a good word to describe their output to date. They describe
their music as “blackened thrash mixed with mid-paced death
metal sure to scare the bejeus (sic) out of jihadists!”. Mmm,
interesting…..
The big problem that I have with Necessary Evil is that so
much of it is, frankly, unnecessary. This album is 62 minutes
long, and unfortunately the band have used the second part of
that time to experiment in as many musical styles as they
could think of. And, |
sadly, they have quite fertile imaginations. This results in a
CD which is just not pleasant to listen to.
Obviously, it’s difficult to describe what genre they might
aspire to. At the beginning they seem to be pretty
unexceptional death metal with a few odd little Middle Eastern
influences. This isn’t a bad thing at all, it serves to give
some interest to an otherwise bland, grey offering, but it is,
alas, a sign of things to come. By third track “Idol Worship”
they were sounding like a combination of Slayer, Sepultura and
one of those irritating 90s arcade games (Galaxians perhaps?).
The vocals definitely had a tinge of the exotic about them,
another interesting feature, but unfortunately this was fast
becoming like a house with interesting features – lovely to
look at, but nowhere to keep the vacuum cleaner.
By track four, I was beginning to get bored. The album seemed
to be going nowhere, and taking too long to do so. Things were
just plodding along, reminding me now of Rotting Christ
without their trademark catchiness. A few tracks later, “Make
a Difference” was an improvement, having got the insistent
nature of the drum and guitar absolutely spot-on and showing
that Salem are more than competent when they’re all going in
the same direction. By this stage, I was being reminded of
Kataklysm.
Things continued to make a gradual improvement right up to the
end of track ten, at which point I would have happily called
it a day. But, no. Why not introduce some strange female
vocals? You could make everything fall apart, crashing around
like an unwieldy beast caught in quicksand –lots of changes of
direction, lots of thrashing around, but all ultimately
futile. And then why not have some odd Eastern instruments?
And more female vocals? By this stage things were flying apart
at light speed and dreary, boring experimentalism ruled the
day.
I’m sure that Salem have impeccable credentials. They
definitely have major political concerns. But this album just
doesn’t hang together for me, and I’d rather not listen to it
again. Ever.
www.season-of-mist.com |
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Susperia - Cut From Stone (Candlelight Records USA)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Ex- Dimmu Borgir drummer Tjodalv began Susperia in 1998 with
the aim of essentially starting a new genre, a combination of
black metal and thrash metal that is now known as blackened
thrash. Susperia rapidly became the genre defining band with
three subsequent full-lengths and an EP to their credit while
also garnering considerable notice and acclaim. Tabu
Recordings and Candlelight Records USA now release the fourth
full-length, “Cut From Stone”.
Susperia’s first three full-lengths were an aggressive style
of generally fast thrash metal combined with a black metal
rasp (resulting in the mixed labeling of genres), culminating |
with 2004’s “Unlimited”, an album that reminded more than a
few people, including myself, of latter era Testament with the
black metal influences now more or less effectively excised
completely. 2005 saw Susperia switching gears with the release
of the EP “Devil May Care”. Considerably more melodic than
past efforts, Tjodalv and crew seemed to be signaling the
listening public that a major shift was at hand. That trend
towards melody has now matured with “Cut From Stone”.
Perhaps the album that most comes to mind regarding “Cut From
Stone” is Anthrax’s almost forgotten album “Volume 8: The
Threat Is Real”. Athera’s vocals now alternate between a gruff
style very similar to that of John Bush and some downright
melodic singing. Long gone are any traces of a black metal
rasp. In addition, there’s a wide range of song structures
present on “Cut From Stone” ranging from out and out thrashers
such as “More” to very melodic, almost power metal, tracks
such as “Under”. That mix of styles was also prevalent on the
Anthrax album and “Cut From Stone” is very reminiscent of that
album. Ultimately, “Cut From Stone” stands firmly by itself as
an excellent album with well-written songs, excellent
musicianship, and a production firmly within the confines of
American thrash metal. Overall, “Cut From Stone” is an
excellent example of the genre.
www.candelightrecordsusa.com
| www.susperia.net
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Zatokrev - Bury The Ashes (Firebox)
Review by Will Knott |
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A single word can be enough to define a band or an album, be it
death, intense or maybe ethereal. The pigeonhole is a simple
ruse to save time and if one is honest, is a lazy option for
journalists to take. So I'm wholeheartedly embracing Zatokrev's description of their sound: Dragging Metal.
I'm of the opinion that Zatokrev fall somewhere in-between the
monolithic doom of My Dying Bride and the experimental dirge
of Neurosis. With neither band offering any glimpses of
happiness, it's not exactly a shock to the system that this
Basel based outfit are as morose as whoever is the 2nd most
famous person in Switzerland. I mean, after Wilhelm
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(William) Tell, who else is famous in the land of cuckoo
clocks and cheese? (Martina Hingis was born in the old
Socialist Republic Czechoslovakia, so is removed from the
equation) So therefore, by default, it must be utterly
miserable being a complete unknown, when technically, you must
be famous. Please excuse my digression. Back to being
miserable.
There are no chinks of light in the depressing cesspool of
Bury The Ashes. The dragging metal tag is most relevant as you
do feel as if you are being dragged through a hedge backwards,
while at the same time you are receiving an injection of mind
altering drugs, or as this is so torturous, it is more likely
to be a suppository, just to really finish your day off in
style.
With seven long tracks taking an almighty 73 minutes to
pulverise you into submission, this is not an album for the
faint hearted. If you are willing to be slowly crushed into a
quivering wreck, then your poison awaits.
www.zatokrev.com |
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