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Black Bonzo – Sound Of The Apocalypse (The Laser’s Edge)
Review by Strawb |
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This is the one, with loon pants on, a tie dye shirt showing
just a touch too much belly, a bandana, round and slightly
reflective sunglasses, and a weak Old Holborn rollie [claiming
reefer, obviously.] Thorns Upon A Crown begins the album, and, in order, has a burst of Yes, keyboards by the Nice and
guitar by Queen [early days.] Good? Damn right and between the
eyes with the force of an Ali jab. These boys have influences.
From before they were born or capable of cognitive thought
but, on the other hand, Beethoven has been dead for a few
years and still has an influence. Can they carry a tune? Like
Schwarzenegger |
carried a fifty kilo dumbbell in his prime. They know there is
a market and they capture it with this album. Proggers, even those older than me, will park their
zimmer frames and assume the lotus position, smiling and
nodding along to this fine platter. The next track is Giant
Games and a touch of vocals reminiscent of The Sparks.
Yesterdays Friend is pure Gabriel era Genesis at the opening.
The vocals vary from track to track, from melodic to almost
plain, and either a duo or two track. Instrumentally there are
solos and combinations throughout, and no one is allowed to
dominate. During The Well there were overtones of good era ELO.
Intermission has a flute or similar instrument opening. I
think of a man stood on one leg for some reason. Ageless Door
is more frenetic with the drums at their most prominent.
Iscariot has a catchy guitar opening and the most distinctive
vocals on the album. The title track closes and is a
thirteen-minute opus. It begins slowly, with talking. The
drums have a military theme for a time. The message is not
cheerful. After about five minutes the pace and intensity both
rise, leading to a multi-minute instrumental. A further verse
punctuates this before instruments return to close.
Please do not allow the constant references to other bands to
make you think that Black Bonzo are clones of the late
seventies. They have their own distinctive sound and have
produced an album that this reviewer recommends.
Unless you are Reginald Kenneth Dwight, find this five member
Swedish band on the world wide web at
www.blackbonzo.com
and
www.myspace.com/blackbonzo |
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Boltdown – Omnicide (Hangmans Joke) Review by Samuel
Munch-Petersen |
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Newcastle-bred four piece Boltdown have savaged the local
scene with their overly punchy and beat-up style music. Very
much a metal band they seem to take a spin on the hardcore
elements of most recent bands seen in today’s music industry,
though ultimately keeping it truly metal. The songs are packed
with emphasis on starts and stops that define what Boltdown
continue to be; a metal band taking it a notch up.
Boltdown comprises of Leigh, Dan, Ryder and Ant who have all
been partners in other bands and have found themselves coming
together to form a new breed of metal for us to rock out to.
Their former bands have been successful in previous shows but
Boltdown has |
taken it further, with not only heavy and smashing live shows,
creating a large local fan-base, but they have released their
first full length album.
They’ve toured with the likes of Suffocation, Pro-Pain, The
Gathering, The Lost Prophets, Hondo MacLean, Dry Kill Logic
and Earthtone9, which is quite an eclectic and impressive line
up for an aspiring band.
Ten tracks long and packed full of guts it’s an album that
spans in riff and beat. Boltdown thought they’d ask Scott “Axegrinder” Atkins (Stampin’
Ground) if he wouldn’t mind recording their tracks for them,
he didn’t mind one iota. Boltdown then moved on to Hangmans
Joke to distribute the album to the world. They’ve done a good
job on the overall production and the selling point, so I’m
sure we’ll hear further great things about Boltdown in the
near future.
Heavy rotational riffs and kick-heavy drums with raw and
stabbing vocals make up what Boltdown are all about. If you
like slow but staggered metal then I’d heavily recommend
Boltdown to you, then again if you like the idea of something
with a twist that gives the UK something to work within the
metal scene, then grab these guys and support what the UK has
to offer in regard to building us up in the ways of modern day
metal. www.boltdownmusic.com
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C-187 – Collision (Mascot Records)
Review by Chris Davison |
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Blimey, if ever there was a line up that was going to get the
forum dwelling massive excited, it's C-187. Sporting
ex-members of Cynic, Atheist, Death, Pestilence, Mnemic and
Transport League, C-187 are something of a wet dream for all
those tech-metal fans that keep weeping into their keyboards
at the end of Atheist all those years ago.
I should say right off the bat that I fucking hate Jazz. Not a
little bit. I could be in the British Jazz hating Olympic
team, maybe even the captain. Lordy, how I don't live strange
time signatures lobbed in songs seemingly at random,
discordant music chucked about by muso-finger twiddling navel
starers and drummers playing a different tune to the bassist.
I think |
that kind of establishes my feelings about Cynic and Atheist,
but this band isn't Cynic or Atheist. It is a very technical
band, though, that's for sure, and you aren't going to be
getting your standard drop tuning open “E” chord neo thrash,
that's for sure. Every single track on here is a complicated
head fuck, whether inflected with a Voivod-esque
sense of warped rhythm, or sporting seemingly hip-hop
influenced vocals. Yes, the drums are played extremely well,
and the guitars, especially the ethereal, spaced out shred-tastic
guitar solos are particularly convincing. The bass playing is
top notch, and while the vocals aren't necessarily my taste at
all, they are at least fairly idiosyncratic and memorable.
There's a big but coming, though. BUT this is sterile stuff,
and I don't really connect with it at all. Perhaps it's my
innate dislike of tech-metal, almost on principle, but while
this will undoubtedly make all the jazz metallers cream their
underwear, it leaves me wanting to put some nice Hellhammer on
full blast and get rid of all that nasty cleverness with a
hefty dose of simple idiocy. I have nothing against
accomplished musicians and complicated music, it's just that I
do demand that they have the common decency to right good
songs somewhere along the way. Sorry chaps, just not good
enough. www.mascotrecords.com
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Darkwater – Calling the Earth to Witness (Ulterium Records)
review by Sam Thomas |
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“Calling the Earth to Witness” starts with a messy, pointless
intro, which calls into question the musical judgement of the
band. The problem is, they are then constantly in a position
of trying to claw back their way to a position which was
thoughtlessly set aside. And guess what? Every tine they
persuade me that they are actually not that bad after all,
they gleefully throw another spanner in the works. Altogether
this does not make for the happiest listening experience I’ve
ever had. In fact, they could have killed two birds with one
stone quite easily by cutting out a lot of pointless twaddle
and reducing the album length from an unnecessary and unwieldy
sixty-eight minutes to a more reasonable forty-something. |
Being fair, however, this is Darkwater’s debut album, and it
does have some redeeming features. They play a kind of melodic
metal which puts me in mind of the likes of Mercenary. There
is also (according to the press release) supposed to be a
“progressive metal influence” which I think is the weaker side
of what they do; it ain’t a patch on Threshold for example.
Third track “Again” surprised me by starting off with a
crunchy, almost death metal style that had me scurrying off to
check the biog to see if Peter Tätgren had anything to do with
this (being all Swedes together, I thought there was a
chance), but apparently he does not. By the time I’d managed
to establish this, they were back to being Mercenary again,
but without that band’s alarming catchiness. That may have
been the root of the problem here – being Swedish Darkwater
have a tendency to explore every possible permutation before
being able to terminate a track. OK, that technique works well
for Opeth, but Darkwater just haven’t got the music writing
ability to keep up the interest level through ten minute
tracks. And because they use clean vocals in combination with
lyrics that can be described as either banal, puerile or
clichéd, there is nothing to provoke any thought or desire for
understanding. WYSIWYG, a shallow pool with no reflections, no
hidden depths.
All of the above would be fine, were it not for the fact that
these guys have clearly worked very hard at this album, and
clearly are very competent musicians. I think that what is
needed is a tightening up on the songwriting side of things,
to focus on producing shorter tracks which head in a coherent
direction rather than dragging on without reaching any
conclusion.
And yet, there are flashes of brilliance in this as unexpected
as sunlight reflecting from stagnant water. The keyboards are
very good, particularly when producing rippling piano sounds.
Fifth track “The Play 1” is actually damn near perfect (yeah,
OK, it’s short, has good lyrics and great keyboards) but leads
into the very European “The Play 2” which sadly reverts to
type.
All in all, Darkwater may appeal to lovers of lighter, more
Euro-metal music with plenty of time on their hands. For me,
it lacks a little bite, there’s not enough beneath the
surface. But if you want your metal to be softer, and you like
to listen to it as the dreaded background music, this may be
just the album for you.
www.darkwater.se
| www.ulterium-records.com |
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Deathvalves - Wild Rock N' Roll Obsession
(Self Released) Review by Steve Green |
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It seems we get an album like this every couple of months.
A new band gets together, records an album, gives it a cheap
and cheesy cover and sends it out to the press and the quest
for success begins. Yet you know immediately that they'll
never make it big, but at the same time you hear something
that you really like. This time around ladies and gentlemen, I
bring you Deathvalves from Greece.
Deathvalves have only been together since November of last
year, yet already they've got their debut album out. And
rather than thinking it's rushed, I think it's got a certain
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something. Ok, I probably like it for all of the wrong
reasons, but with bands trying so hard to the loudest, the
fastest, the darkest etc... you can tell that Deathvalves are
playing from the heart and having a bit of fun. I'd say their
style is no frills rock n' roll with slight punk tendencies,
but more towards the non-aggressive side of the Clash, rather
than anything vitriolic. D.F.H. Which stands for Dirty Fucking
Hard, is a prime example. The lyrics were probably written in
5 minutes, yet it's as catchy as fuck and the chorus, I'm
sure, goes down a storm live. But as far as re-inventing the
wheel goes, this album does not even come close. But as far as
the musicianship and the production goes, everything is
excellent. The only thing missing is a bit of originality in
the song writing department, but that may not be the aim of
the band, because if they just wanted to make a record for
fun, then they've achieved their objective. It's only rock n'
roll, but I like it... as someone called Mick once said.
www.myspace.com/deathvalves |
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Edu Falaschi - Almah (Candlelight USA) Review by James Young |
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Angra’s frontman Edu Falaschi has somehow found time to write
and put out a solo album for our listening pleasure, hot on
the heels of his main band’s excellent release Aurora
Consurgens. The album is a bit of a conceptual journey,
through different emotions of the human soul, which is the
band name translates into. In all honesty I was expecting a
Dio clone, like Russell Allen’s Atomic Soul might be seen,
especially with the ‘soul’ title and idea of a vocalist of a
prog-power group releasing a solo album. However, I was
instantly proved wrong by the sheer range of the vocals, which
vary from the powerful to the fragile, indeed going into a Dio-style
overdrive on belters such as ‘Take Back Your Spell’, but |
sounding more like Geoff Tate on the ballads. The production
job is fantastic, bringing out every vocal note perfectly,
although sometimes the symphonies could have done with being a
bit higher in the mix, making some songs a little
frail-sounding when they could have been more epic. The
Brazilian elements are certainly less prominent than in Angra
albums, with the tribal drumming of ‘Scary Zone’ and the
acoustic guitars of ‘Almah’ the only glaringly obvious
influence from Edu’s homeland. The guest musicians provide a
wonderful array of talent - Casey Grillo from Kamelot provides
the drumming, whilst Stratovarius’ Lauri Porra is the bassist
on the album. If this supergroup-esque line-up wasn’t enough
for you, there are guitars from Nightwish’s Emppu Vuorinen,
and guest slots from Queensrÿche’s Mike Stone and Dr. Sin’s
Edu Ardanuy - not too shabby, huh? The album is fairly short
at a mere 42 minutes, but every second counts, with no filler
or boring tracks, so it’s brief, but an intense ride.
As far as describing the style of music, fans of Angra won’t
be disappointed, although the power metal that you may expect
is less represented, with ‘Take Back Your Spell’ the only
track I would even consider labelling under the genre, with
the excellent symphonies and fast double kick drumming of
Grillo. Otherwise, the album is based around heavy metal riffs
and love for symphonic atmospheres, all underpinned by Edu’s
fantastic voice. There is a danger on first listening of
passing this album off as an unoriginal homage to the
old-school, but if you concentrate and play it a few times,
the real brilliance begins to shine through. There’s a nice
variation in styles, from the heavy riffs of ‘King’, to the
more symphonic-led treats such as ‘Children Of Lies’, with its
excellent sing-along section. The vocals and sometimes
progressive writing make for a really feel-good experience,
hitting all the notes that create that fuzzy feeling that will
make you love the album. A couple of the tracks are
straight-out ballads, including ‘Forgotten Land’ and
‘Primitive Chaos’ with soft guitars and gentle pianos. The
vocals totally come into their own here, finding their niche
and gliding over the other instruments gracefully.
This album should make the Angra faithful very happy, as well
as many other fans of melodic power and heavy metal. Even with
such an excellent bunch of musicians to record with, Edu has
surpassed expectations here.
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com |
www.almah.com.br |
www.edufalaschi.com.br
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Epidemic Scorn - System of Sickness
(self release) Review by Richard Tomsett |
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Epidemic Scorn are a young band, their current line-up only
coming
together in 2004. According to their biography, "Epidemic
Scorn uses
only social critic lyrics about war, the stupid
world-religions and the
difference between rich and poor and almost the fucking
mainstream."
Vicious stuff, and the music mirrors the attitude. Old school
death
metal that sounds like the band haven't listened to an album
since about
1994, saving the very occasional melodic flourish. Hints of
Vader, older
Death and Obituary abound, though sadly the production doesn't
quite let
the grit and grime, erm, shine through as much as it could.
The drums
are plastic and the guitars fizzy, with the whole thing
lacking in low |
end punch, though this adds somewhat to the raw, old-school
edge. The
band only has one guitarist but the single guitar line packs
punch and
drive. I have to say that when the first song kicked in I was
rather
uninspired, but from the second riff in the record really
picks up.
There's nothing particularly new on display here, and some of
the song
and riff-writing is decidedly rough around the edges, but
there's a
naïve charm (patronising? Moi?) and strong attitude behind the
music
which makes it hard not to like. Though some of the riffage is
less than
great, some of it is truly inspired and several moments of
rhythmic and
melodic intrigue point to what the band is capable of.
A lot
of bands
these days are doing the retro death metal thing, so whether
you would
prefer Epidemic Scorn to any number of other “new” old school
death
metal bands is debatable, but I find their combination of raw
energy and
even some unique touches rather compelling. Hopefully next
time a better
production will help raise them to the next level.
www.epidemic-scorn.de |
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insek - Maaiers (HardChord) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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I've no idea how many people around the world shall remember
South Africore greats Groinchurn, but for those that do, their
vocalist/bassist Christo Bester is now in insek and his
partners in crime are Ewald van Vuuren and Emile Hoogenhout on
guitar/vocals and drums respectively. There are some
similarities, like concise songs that kick you in the balls
and then stomp on you toes, some pretty cool samples for added
effect and Christo's very warped sense of humour and lyrical
style. But the unique thing about this grind band is that
nearly all the songs are sung or is that screamed and growled,
in Afrikaans. Thankfully for those that don't 'praat die taal'
there are English translations to the lyrics on the CD, along |
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with a video of opening track "Terug Van Die Dood" and a
couple other odds and end. Great opener too, just over a
minute long and let's you know exactly what you're in for.
Yeah I know, easy to say things like "Maklik Om Te Praat", but
there's always some venom in the words and the melodic breaks
just hide it more. Ne'er truer a word said than "Mense Lieg"
and it's choppy cutting back and forth and then into the
violently fast "Fucking With The Law", which in ZA isn't
something you want to do, cos you'll invariably wind up dead.
Blasting nearly from beginning to end "Slawerny" shows exactly
why the songs need to be concise. Far groovier, but still
containing the occasional blast "Drogbeeld" portrays their
ability to do more than just grind. There are some priceless
lines in "Good Night Sweet Princess" and it's pretty fucking
heavy to boot. The squealing guitars on "Kyk Dit Mis" combined
with the loudly beaten snare and the riff changes, make it an
interesting midway point for the album. Starting off with some
laid back sounds from the orient "Revenge" is all about
getting your own back, 'Wax on, wax off, wax on, fuck off',
gotta love it man. Slowing things down to a fuzz "Die Lewe
Gaan Aan" allows you to catch your breath after doing some
kung fu fighting. How can you not adore a title like "Satan Is
Liefde" (Satan is Love), it just rolls off the tongue, like
the sweat shall when hearing it in a mosh pit where winters
are warmer than English summers, and far drier too. "Derrick"
is a very strange little instrumental, but since it's a cover
and only a minute long, what the heck, even tho' the jazzy
breaks are pretty nifty. Bouncing from slow and growled to
frantic and screamed "Saggesproke Slet" has Emile doing some
serious blasting and freakily fast timing changes. "Haat Wat
Jy Ken" wraps everything up neatly with an iconic ZA News
reader rambling on about some mathematical theory after the
song's completed and weird and wonderful other sounds ensue
for a couple minutes, making this the longest song on the CD
by well over 2 minutes. So all in all, short, sweet and about
as appealing as a bowlful of maggots. Sorry that's the CD
image. Well worth listening to, and since some of the stuff's
on their MS page, you may as well have a listen and view for
yourself.
www.myspace.com/insek
| www.hardchord.com/
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Matadors - Flame The Whisper (Devil
Doll) Review by Steve Green |
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When the time is right, and it seems to be right now, I'm a
sucker for throwaway, rock n roll flavoured bubblegum
silliness. Music that's a no-brainer to listen to and you can
drift off into your own little world and rock out to. Well the
Matadors fit that bill perfectly. Imagine a smorgasbord as
diverse as Johnny Cash for the rock n roll, Hanoi Rocks, for
the glam, Stoner Rock, for the feelgood factor and the Rolling
Stones for the attitude, and then you'll begin to see where
these Swedes are coming from. This is a melting pot of the
happy side of rock. Kind of like a glammy, rock n roll version
of The Ramones, albeit at a considerably slower pace.
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It'll come as no surprise that Matadors formed out of the
ashes of a Stoner band, namely Ridge. They've just got that
certain something that grips hold of you, very much like a
good Stoner band should, and you cannot help but fall in love
with their music. My personal favourites are the ones that
kick off with the Rolling Stones-ish riffs. Down In The Dumps
(Like Nobody Else) and particularly the bouncy New Wake Coke.
The downside is that the album is too long. With sixteen
tracks in total, it does get a little bogged down in the
middle as the pace drops and the Stoner influences take
centre-stage. Mere A Cipher and Sod's Law try to re-ignite
some passion back into the proceedings, but it's too little
too late as the album cruises to a tame ending after a really
bright start.
www.devildollrecords.com |
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Poverty’s No Crime - Save My Soul (InsideOut)
By: Joe Florez |
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It’s been four years since The Chemical Chaos and that was my
introduction to this Germanic prog metal band. This five piece
unit delivered music that was mature, laidback and not as
chaotic as some of the others in this field. At least on their
last offering anyway. So, I was wondering if they would
continue in that vein or step it up. It would be to my
amazement that things would get slightly heavy. “Open Your
Eyes” starts out with a bang. Quick paced double bass drumming
along with fancy keyboard wizardry and catchy, yet aggressive riffing
that fires on all cylinders. After showing off what they got
during the first minute or so, vocalist Volker comes in with
an astounding set of pipes that’s not only clear, |
but manly and adds a touch of class. Things only get better as
the song builds up as the chorus includes nice piano work and
the background vocals are angelic, but in a positive way. I
wasn’t expecting this, but glad that they picked up the pace a
bit as opposed to the last one. The title track also proves to
be a worthy number even if the members aren’t playing at
ludicrous speeds or performing ultra technical time changes.
This is first rate composing. Volker’s lungs continue to be
genuine, sensitive and powerful while the rest of the crew let
the music flow from mid paced to upper with tinges of pizzazz,
but overall making this accessible to all music fans. “End In
Sight” is not only modern sounding, but lets the fans know
where some of their influences come from and you can tell by
the 70’s prog/rock keyboard performance. It absolutely takes
nothing away from the sound, but only adds more depth. Son of
a bitch! You would think that the music would being to suffer
at the halfway mark, but no. It only improves. “In The Wait
Loop” is a haunting number with plenty of atmospheric black
and white keys that also travel down the 70’s rock path and
the overall vibe is cool and clam. There’s nothing heavy about
it, but it just shows not only the level of musicianship they
are capable of, but they can think outside the box. PNC really
picked up the pace on this one and delivered one hell of a
disc. There are several reasons to not like, but love this
disc: 1. The songs aren’t ridiculously long. 2. They can be
enjoyed by everyone that’s a music a lover. 3. The tracks are
full of depth and diversity which makes for some nice
unpredictability. 4. It’s not overtly complex and isn’t filled
with wankery. The new Dream Theater hit all the right spots
for me with their latest, but Save My Soul could quite
possibly eclipse it. Quite frankly, I believe I have found the
prog record of the year. Don’t believe me? Check it out. Well
worth the time and money.
www.insideoutmusic.com
| www.povertys-no-crime.de
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The Fucking Wrath - Season Of Evil (Goodfellow Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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I fucking like it already, and all I’ve done so far is look at
the band name and cover art! Yep, Montalvo, California (shit,
that’s not too far from me) has a street somewhere that has
produced a stoner/sludge-core band consisting of three guys
who’ve been friends since childhood or something. That
description, by the way, sums up what The Fucking Wrath’s all
about. Throw in one part Down, add another part Bongzilla, and
liberally add a huge dose of crossover reminiscent of C.O.C.’s
very early days that ultimately results in a highly
enjoyable11-song debut entitled “Season Of Evil” on Goodfellow
Records.
Frankly, I’m all over this one. This album is just a plain ol’
good time with thick riffs, |
crossover type speed, some glacial riffs and stoner
contemplation thrown in for good measure, a gigantic
production, and the band obviously having a grand ol’
time while they bash out these songs that were undoubtedly
born in someone’s garage next to the leaf blower.
Most of the songs are under two and a half minutes or so and
consist mostly of old style crossover, but the stoner moments
do find their way into the songs at times and are very well
done (I’d actually like to see more of it). Not many bands can
mix these styles together on the same release (some people
have to split the two styles into two different bands), but
The Fucking Wrath are able to pull off this mix pretty
seamlessly and have produced an album that definitely speaks
of great things to come from this band in the future. As the
band says with a short voiceover, “It’s pile- drivin’… heavy
metal rock n’ roll” and they’re having a blast doing it. I had
a blast listening to it. Go get it!
www.goodfellowrecords.com |
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Winds of Torment – Delighting in Relentless Ignorance
(Mascot) Review by Richard Tomsett |
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For no particularly apparent reason, I instinctively distrust
groups who
get signed on the basis of winning "Battle of the Bands" style
competitions. French outfit Winds of Torment are such a band,
but, they
do rather
a good job of thrashing out some blackened death metal with
reasonable
depth. They pull in influences from right across the death,
thrash and
black metal genres and blend them into a solid if occasionally
unsatisfying whole. Those detectives amongst you might have
noticed that
I'm somewhat in two minds about this band. They create some
fantastic
riffs and great atmospheres at times, especially in their more
black
metal moments. They also seem to have a penchant for
November's Doom style |
heavy-yet-mournful sections which, combined with some almost
Opeth-like acoustic interludes, provide the highlights of the
album. The
vocals are nicely varied, ranging from hardcore-esque screams
to low
growls and blackened shrieks. However (yes, here it comes...),
the
cracking riffs are not always combined to produce coherent
songs, and
this is the album's major flaw. Often it seems like the band
have picked
riffs out of a hat and combined them randomly to produce their
song
structures, leaving the album feeling quite disjointed
overall. Some
slightly less-than-cracking riffs also slipped through into
said hat,
which obviously doesn't help. If Winds of Torment can cut the
chaff from
their songs and re-arrange the wheat into neatly formed little
breakfast
cereal ringlets, they could be onto something tastier than a
bowl of
Kelloggs Crunchy Nut (yep, I really did take the metaphor that
far,
hah!).
"Delighting in Relentless Ignorance" certainly shows
plenty of
potential, but I can't say I'd recommend it highly given the
large
number of exceptional quality death and black metal releases
this year.
Give it a try though if you're seeking some thrashy blackened
death with
a touch of melody, it may just strike a chord with you.
www.mascotrecords.com |
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