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Abruptum - Evil Genius (Black Lodge
Records) Review by Crin |
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Formed in 1989, and very much part of the birth of the
Norwegian led Black Metal renaissance in the early nineties,
Abruptum can be mentioned in the same breath alongside bands
like Profanatica, Rotting Christ, Abigor, Master Hammer, etc,
all who evoke an era of musical awakening. These were the very
earliest bands who contributed to the collective birth of
Black Metal in the early nineties.
The band consists of the oddly named, IT, and the more aptly
named, Evil. This pairing of twisted mortal souls has created
three mind lacerating albums of gnarled aural sensations, ear
bleeding soundscapes and a musical vocation bereft of calm. |
This release is a re-mastered version of the 1995, Hellspawn
version, and contains the bands 1990 demos, Hexum Galeum Zelog,
Satanist Tunes, and the Evil 7” Ep [1991] Here we can see the
very first sound tracks to the harrowing of Hell, an infernal
din of torturous vocal deployment and head imploding musical
calamity. Abruptum make no attempts at subtlety, no purposeful
desire to create music to warm the heart. This is painful and
torturous.
Strident guitar chords, funeral drum beats, and a dissonant
musical visage permeate the air with pure hellish chaos.
There really is no easy listening here, every perverted
musical note, every psychotic vocal strain, every unnerving is
tempered in the bloodless boiling veins of Satan’s blazing
arse lips. Quite beautiful I must say.
www.blacklodge.se |
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Charnel Valley - The Igneous Race
(Paragon Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Metal Maniacs contributor S. Craig Zahler pairs up with Marty
Rytkonen from flash-in-the-pan death metal project Prosthesis
to form Charnel Valley, an old school black metal band with an
EP from 2005 under their belt and now, through Paragon
Records, release their debut full-length entitled “The Igneous
Race”.
Paragon Records has a quality roster that includes some old
school acts such as Finnish legends Black Crucifixion. With
that in mind, Charnel Valley reminds me of very early Sodom
with an almost rock n’ roll base in terms of riffs and mid
tempo beat combined with a powerful production that will just
flatten you. Another band that comes to mind for |
comparisons’ sake is Cult of Daath, another band playing in
this style.
At any rate, take the old school sound and really beef it up
with a deep production, slow it down a bit, add some riffs
that would almost be right at home on a mainstream classic
rock album played with a rather dirty sound (think Motorhead,
another influence it seems), and you have summarized “The
Igneous Race”. Charnel Valley’s stripped down style works very
well, resulting in simple riffs that are very catchy.
Contributing to the simplicity is a minimalist approach to
artwork and album layout. Some may be put off by all of these
nods to the much simpler times of the old school, but I find
Charnel Valley’s approach to be a welcome break from some of
the more bombastic releases of late.
Certainly, fans of the old school approach that are nostalgic
for the days of Hellhammer, Sodom, Beherit, and so forth will
definitely appreciate the efforts of Charnel Valley. For this
sort of niche, “The Igneous Race” is highly recommended.
www.paragonrecords.net |
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Evergreen Terrace - Wolfbiker (Metalblade)
Review by Samuel Munch-Petersen |
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Evergreen Terrace, also a yellow person’s burb, hail from the
US, Jacksonville and combine their force of power with some
harmonic overtures. I was a bit put off by the name and the
thought of being bombarded by another hxc band without a shred
of talent. I was surprised to be wrong. They’re in fact more
punk than hardcore but more metal than punk. Of course hxc is
meant to be punk in its rawest form but what does it matter,
these guys are a kind of guttural punk that is swept up in a
sea of riff and screech. The band have had a few releases
before Wolfbiker; three previous full length albums, two split
EPs and a covers album entitled “Writer’s Block”. I reckon
they were just lazy. |
Wolfbiker certainly grips you from the off and with ten tracks
to choose from you’ve got a while before they decide to let
you go. The tracks come fast, come hard and come with energy
that is only surpassed by the Energizer bunny. The riffs and
drums work in time with such pure collectiveness that it’s
hard to differentiate between the two. The music isn’t
particularly new but it is executed in such a way that it’s
worth a shot at listening to. Heavy and pounding whilst at the
same time being fluid enough and fast enough to keep you
dancing should you ever hear it on a night out. Watch out for
track seven; Starter, as it’s very Jimmy Eat World, but I
don’t mind them that much, just think of it as a heavier rip
off band.
There isn’t much to say about them really. They play well,
they deliver what’s needed; movement, appeased ears and they
aren’t bad, but not brilliant. If you like hardcore that
really isn’t hxc then go for it. If you prefer the definitive
raw edge of bands like Throwdown and Converge then maybe best
stay away, though they’re still good enough to be given a
chance.
www.myspace.com/evergreenterrace |
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Eyefear - A World Full Of Grey
(Dockyard 1) Review by Strawb |
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Ah, the humour of our Antipodean cousins. The sleeve notes
mentions Eyefear being compared to other bands and includes
Iron Maiden. In a particularly wet ‘XXXX’- inspired dream
maybe and, even then, only as an early local act on an
international bill topped by Bruce & the boys. Meanwhile, back
on planet Earth…..A World Full Of Grey isn’t bad.
The first sound from the speakers is the old ‘make it sound
like crackling vinyl’ intro on Searching For Forgiveness. It
is closely followed by a few piano notes and then a crescendo
of high-octane sound. It proceeds apace before slowing for the
piano and |
keyboard solo, and then has a second acceleration before a
fading ending. Staple fare then. This pattern of slower
keyboards and sometimes vocals repeats throughout the album,
sometimes to the detriment of otherwise fast tracks. There is
some excellent guitar work throughout, and the drumming drives
many of the titles, but is seldom allowed to the fore. I must
mention the superb vocal talents of Danny Cecati. He has a
great vocal range and seemingly endless lung capacity as some
of his screaming vocals stretch towards infinity. The band
seem to want to span a number of genres, quoting prog, power
and melodic metal and this leads to a schizophrenic mix on the
album. Some of the tracks have a cheesy 80s feel to them; I
imagined videos with big hair, supercars and supermodels.
Eyefear are at their best when going for it with the likes of
Whispers Of The Soul - the only tune on the album which had me
turning the speakers up and everyone who heard it nodding if
not headbanging - and with Breathe Again which almost induces
narcosis with the slow opening but then delivers wakefulness,
as one would with the toecap of a 14 hole Doc Marten boot.
This is the third album from this Australian group who the
world wide web has captured at
www.ozzyfrank.com/eyefear/Eyefear.htm and
www.myspace.com/eyefear |
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Khors - Cold (Oriana Music)
Review by Crin |
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Black Metal from the Ukraine, a land that has spawned the
magnificent likes of Nokturnal Mortum, Hate Forest, Drudkh,
and Astrofaes. The band features an ex Hate Forest member, so
the connection between the two bands is very close. This is
the bands second album, the first being, The Flame of
Eternities Decline in 2005.
Rare is an album so rich with atmosphere and Pagan fire. The
music here is rooted to that Ukrainian heritage, a Paganized
Black Metal shroud that ignites the creative muse of Drudkh
and Hate Forest. Khors are a more polished, more refined
version of the Graveland inspired Drudkh, a less folk
influenced and not as primitive in texture. |
The deep Bathory pomp of Hate Forest is also adopted by Khors,
but not as blatantly. The most natural and direct alignment to
the aforementioned acts though is most certainly Drudkh.
Whether the band choose to blast you with hammering snares or
calm the air with slow music, the instilling of quite
exquisite guitar leads, epic purposeful keyboards, and a deep
passionate embodiment of cultural pride. This is a very well
created set of songs, all enriched with memorable riffs, and a
special blackened spine that is always present, but never the
dominant emotion. The vocals are deathly rasps, and work their
spells on every level of pace and intensity the album
conjures.
For fans of Graveland, Hate Forest, Bathory, and the likes.
www.khors.info/ |
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King Diamond - Give Me Your Soul…Please
(Metal Blade/Massacre Records) By: Joe Florez |
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The great story teller that is K.D. has been away for four
years, but he’s back with a new tale and the same line-up as
The Puppet Master is intact.
“The Dead” is a haunting intro that comes complete with organ
and an introduction to the story. In short, the fable goes as
such. A brother and sister are both murdered by the hands of
their father. You would think that children should
automatically go to heaven, no? Well, the spirits that be
accuse the young man of committing suicide and he will be sent
to hell. Well, sis won’t have it and she says that they will
steal a soul from someone and enter the pearly gates by hook
or crook. |
“Never Ending Hill” fires on all cylinders with Mike Wead and
the legendary Andy LaRoque delivering a tour de force of riffs
while the rhythm section of Matt Thompson and Hal Patino pound
away with great rhythm that mirrors vintage 80’s metal. As far
as “The King” goes, he still sings in his high octave range,
but it’s nowhere near over the top or obnoxious as one might
think. It’s more reserved and he saves the high pitches and
only uses them when necessary. You will also notice that he
also drops a few ranges too and sounds just as medieval as
ever. The solos remain effective as Mike and Andy shred as if
the apocalypse was upon them. “Is There Anybody There” keeps
up the mid pace with plenty of groove and darkness. While I am
a major Diamondhead, I thought that the last couple of discs
were missing that certain something and I think it’s due to
the fact that he was pumping out too much over the course of
the last ten years. His name is cemented in all of our brains
so King doesn’t need to constantly flood us with mediocre
material. I would rather wait a few years like this one and be
wowed than be disappointed. One of the tracks that comes as a
surprise to a degree is the close “Moving On” which is a
partial dark ballad which makes good use of the acoustic
guitar. Things are not always slow here as the gang picks up
steam towards the middle of the track and just take off from
there.
What you get in the end is something more satisfying than the
past couple of efforts. King does his best along with his
right hand man Andy in creating the perfect balance of
capturing the essence of old K.D. and the modern day. Longtime
fans should continue to embrace this and those that have
strayed from him should come back because he’s on target once
again. Do yourself a favor and listen to this…please.
www.metalblade.com (For USA)
www.massacre-records.com (For Europe)
www.covenworldwide.org |
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Memoria - The Midnight Ball (Self
Release) Review by Steve Green |
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We've had quite a few cds in from Australia recently and I
have to tell you, the quality has been brilliant every time.
And one thing I've also noticed about the bands from down
under, they aren't half original. From the classical beauty of
Virgin Black to the sinister acoustics of Memoria, these guys
definitely give a XXXX for what they produce. And Memoria have
gone the extra half-mile with a funky little card, all-in-one
booklet design with the cd been held in place by a foam
centre.. well I say held in place, mine falls out at every
opportunity, but it does look nice.
And from looking nice, we head to sounding nice. The dark
acoustics of The Midnight Ball |
are a joyous listening experience. There's an ever-present
Medieval feel, without the feeling of someone about to start a
hoe-down. This is the dark, dank side of the Medieval coin.
Considering the whole album is acoustic and is littered with
the beautiful sounds of the Spanish guitar, why does it sound
of the edge of, not quite evil, but somewhere not very
inviting? Maybe it's a form of Doom from generations gone by
before amplifiers were invented. Who says that dark can't be
beautiful too!
The Midnight Ball is an album to be drawn into, a piece of
music to savour and one to be totally absorbed by. I don't
want to use the word Opeth as I'm sure that band are sick and
tired of comparisons, but there is such a mesmerizing quality
about their work that you'd want it mentioned up there with
the best around in your given field. The Midnight Ball is a
flawless release.
www.memoria.com.au |
www.myspace.com/memoriaaustralia |
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Neobliviscaris - The Aurora Veil
(Demo) Review by Steve Green |
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More stunning music from Australia, this time it's a "demo". I
use the word demo lightly as this is world class in every
sense. The three songs, with a running time of thirty three
minutes have left me so dumbstruck, I'm at a loss of how to
describe them. To give you a ballpark idea of where they come
from musically, I'd say that they'd fit very nicely on Dark
Symphonies roster - Progressive with superior musicianship and
an ear towards the past - not retro, but a few hundred years
ago.
Tim Charles' violin sounds fantastic throughout and reminds me
of Ed Alleyne-Johnson, an artist who I really need to
re-acquaint myself with. This is just the icing on the cake as
the |
clean vocals, (again provided by Tim Charles) clash with the
darker growls of the more mysteriously monikered Xenoyr. These
are underpinned by the ridiculously quick double bass work of
Dan Presland, who, it will comes as no surprise to you, won
the Australian final of the worlds fastest drummer. The bass
is high up in the mix and extremely punchy and the guitars go
from mellow to galloping at full-pelt. And while each element
isn't anything out of the ordinary, it's the whole package
that makes this band so unique. I'm going to really stick my
neck out here and describe the last song, As Icicles Fall, as
an extreme metal version of Rush... with Black Metal overtones
- I told you this was hard to describe.
If you want some quality music to listen to, then look no
further than The Aurora Veil. The best unsigned band on the
planet? Quite possibly.
www.myspace.com/neobliviscaris |
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Pitiful Reign - D.I.V.E (Self
Released) Review By Marco Gaminara |
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Not really having much to do with Acid Reign, other than being
from somewhere "up north" as the Londoners so succinctly put
it of anything north of the M25, and playing very straight
forward 80's thrash without too many frills or flair. Sure
they are pretty good and quite tight, but this 4 track EP,
while amazing it might've been if released in the 80's,
doesn't fair so well these days. That said, I am a huge thrash
fan and really enjoy this sort of stuff, so from the opening
bars of "Pushed To Prime" which have a bit of a Slammer feel
to them, the mayhem begins and takes you on a whirlwind ride.
Like I said, there's nothing original here, like Josh Callis-Smith's
vocals occasionally go very Neil Turbin with their screams,
but Kristian |
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'Neville' Britton and Al Pashby's guitars keep the ever
changing riffs coming out at full speed over Tom Small's stoic
drumming tempered by Matt Walker's bass rumble. The title
track "D.I.V.E" is a little more mid-paced and has a bit of
Exodus meets Testament in the early 80's flavour to it.
Stepping things up a bit "Fatality" has a nice Xentrix style
lead solo to it that complements the rest of the song by not
going off on a tangent and lasting three quarters of the song.
Final track "Video Overkill" carries on in the same vein, but
also contains a couple tempo and timing changes adding further
dimensions to the song. Great for that nostalgic feeling of
sounding 20 years old even though it's still brand new.
www.pitifulreign.co.uk/ |
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Profane - The Day We Scorched the Sky
(Rebel Assault) Review by Samuel Munch-Petersen |
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Mancunian band Profane is a band ten years in the making. This
is in essence a re-release of their independent release in
2006 on Gizeh records. This release has three added tracks; a
new song, a reprise of Cable Car and a live recording of
Turning Bloodletting into an Artform.
The album and band are mixed with genres spanning from
hardcore to mathcore to punk and back to harmonic and gentle
rock overtures. It certainly opens music up to a new level of
listening. There aren’t many bands out there that have the
technicality or the balls to just give what they want and see
if people enjoy it. Profane have something that a lot of bands |
recently have been lacking. They have movement, sincerity,
passion and creativity. They’ve moved away from their desired
hardcore roots of the late nineties and have become something
more powerful and complex.
Porcelain opens the collection and what a song; fast, loud and
heavy. Cable Car comes in at four and is by far the more
harmonic of all the tracks, more rock and less raw. An anthem
of sorts if you will. Then we’re back into the depths of raw
and crunch mixed with mellow sessions rooted in plucked
guitars and gentle drums with twangy bass that is Hang the
Muse.
They’ve performed the Uxfest and have supported the likes of
Skindred, Breed 77, Converge and GWAR. Not a bad line up to
have under your belt. People have claimed that they sound a
lot like Tool or Soundgarden, even SikTh or The Mars Volta. In
some ways I’d agree with this though at times I think Profane
have managed to find a niche of their own whereby there are
insane drum fills and pretty fucking mental riffs and
deep-spawned-crying lyrics. There’s no doubt that this lot are
talented and have got a lot to give, in terms of a show and
I’m hoping that the next time they’re doing their stuff I’ll
get a chance to see them. If you get a chance check out their
video on their myspace, it’s pretty and gives you an insight
into them doing something live-ish.
They’re worth a listen like the types of bands mentioned, but
remember they have their own sound and work it well.
www.myspace.com/profane |
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Vorkuta - Into the Caverns of Lunacy
(Paragon Records) Review by Jesse Ketman |
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Taking a lesson from Goatlord era Darkthrone, this is some
hardly-produced black metal from Hungary that gets a lot
straight, but muddles some key elements as well. This is the
band’s very first record, comprised of 6 tracks (3 of them
instrumentals), and clocking in just past 35 minutes. To be
honest with you though, probably half of it is actual music;
and if that’s a stretch, then damn does it feel like it. A lot
of Burzum-esque soundscape minimalism makes its way in here,
which is either a good or bad thing, depending on taste.
Whilst I personally really like that kind of material, I can
see a lot of people turned off by the virtue of the fact that
it kinda breaks the flow of the album. Anyhow, drawing back
from |
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the negative, I immediately took a liking to certain elements
from the get-go, as the use of closed notes creates more of a
melody than the savage openness of, let’s say, modern-day
Darkthrone or Marduk. In fact, the times I enjoyed Vorkuta
most were when they slowed things down, withdrawing from the
obvious connotations of the album title to a more relaxed
approach that oozes the grim atmosphere that their faster
portions have trouble conveying. The sweetest moments by far
are during these breakdowns, when the bass creeps up to higher
frets and the experience is something like a black metal
Opeth, if only for a moment. I’d dearly love to hear a more
relaxed, less-fragmented album from these guys, as they
obviously have an experimental inclination. My advice: ditch
the chaotic fury, it’s been done way too much and reeks of
blandness. Instead, focus on the technicality and originality
that’s simmering beneath the surface, and bring this bitch to
a boil. I’ll give you a 6 this time, Vorkuta, but you could be
at least an 8.
www.paragonrecords.net |
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Yakuza - Transmutations (Prosthetic
Records) By: Joe Florez |
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Chicago’s most experimental and unpredictable band is back
with their second disc on the Prosthetic label. The last time
I heard them was when they released their Century Media debut
back in 2002. I was anything but prepared for what I heard and
I liked it. Now, since so much time has passed since I last
listened to them I wonder if they have moved forward or are
stagnant continue to pump out the same compositions.
“Meat Curtains” starts out with these long and sluggish riffs
that drone on for a while. At first, I thought that that’s all
I was gonna get, but after hitting the minute mark Bruce
Lamont comes out of nowhere and screams at the top of his
lungs. The drums come crashing in as |
well and things begin to drone on. There is some clean singing
going on and spurts and blastbeats, but the swing shift from
slow to fast and deadly is consistent and when it gets going
it's total cacophony. I wasn’t expecting such madness.
“Egocide” is what I am more used to. It’s slow and ambient
with a saxophone giving it that jazz feel and percussions
having a soft, but rhythmic vibe. The vocals are also clean
and more tolerable for my tastes. Just when I thought things
would remain tranquil after the half way mark, the track picks
up a ton of steam and for the duration everyone remains in a
fury. It still brings down the house though. All I can
basically say is that most people aren’t gonna be ready for
the onslaught that will be brought onto them once this is
popped on unless you have been listening to these guys for a
while. This one is much heavier with devastating results
compared to when I first heard them back in 2002. You can get
anything from calm and peaceful from a song like “Raus” to
death metal jazz with “Steal The Fire” or a combination of
everything. All I can truly say is that it’s there. You can’t
pigeon them that’s for sure in terms of sound. At best I can
just say that they are experimental and include elements of
jazz, metal, death metal and ambience. To be honest, that’s
only scratching the surface. If you like those artists such as
Neurosis, Isis and stuff akin to that then you are prepared
for the unpredictable journey that is Yakuza.
www.myspace.com/yakuza |
www.prostheticrecords.com |
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