|
|
|
|
|
Bloodsimple - Red Harvest (Warner Brothers Records)
By: Joe Florez |
 |
I have heard the band via satellite radio, but it didn’t click
with me cause I am not a fan of the severe screaming and I am
also not huge on the screamo/metal core genre either.
Bloodsimple is comprised of members from the legendary New
York hardcore band Visions Of Disorder and Kyle Sanders whose
brother is Troy of Mastodon.
“Ride With Me” is the opener and begins with just melodic
guitar strumming that are actually catchy and Tim does his
spoken word which eventually leads to him screaming
(shocking). At that point, the rest of the guys are plugged in
and come crashing in in which the scream-o movement begins.
Tim is angry and vicious as hell and the music is filled with |
crunchy and sluggish riffs along with thunderous drumming.
This has sort of a Deftones feel. This
music isn’t to my liking, but will hang in there for the
duration. The title track offers more than the opener with the
pace being picked up tremendously and has more groove. The
yelling is still in full effect and works my nerves, but it’s
the music that keeps me hooked. This is a song where I can see
the kids moshing to this live in the concert scene and letting
out all of their frustrations. There are thick hardcore bass
lick heard loud and clear on “Dark Harvest.” Tim’s lung work
goes for the Wayne Static (Static X) vibe here. This one is
fast and fun. “Whisky Bent And Hellbound” shows a slightly
different side to the band. This is probably the most
commercial song on here with potential to be a hit on the
radio. The vocals on here go more for a singing approach and
keeping the angered screams to a minimum. Tim does a decent
job here. “Truth” is the one that I was shocked and most
impressed with because things are toned down tremendously
thanks to the acoustic guitars being added into the mix of amped up six strings and for once I can hear some real
singing. I actually found a lot to like on here, well at least
musically. The songs are energetic and will hit you square in
the face. I think that fans of Mudvayne, Non-Point, Deftones
and the ilk will find a lot to celebrate on here. The songs
are short and right to the point with no messing around. It’s
surprisingly diverse yet strong.
www.warnerbrosrecords.com
| www.myspace.com/bloodsimple |
| |
|
Dies Ater - Odiums Spring (Twilight)
Review by Crin |
 |
Here’s an absolute peach of an album, a modern Black Metal
release that has all the ingrained ethos of head rushing Black
Metal woven into a free flowing, modern cauldron of fluent
guitar melodies and gut busting twists and turns.
The album starts with a predictable keyboard intro, leading
you into [yes you guessed it] a blasting furnace of guitar
strums and snare bashing. Would we have it any other way?
From this initial predictability flows quite masterfully a
breathtaking album emitting a modern Black Metal take on the
orthodox values this band obviously adhere to.
There is a great emphasis on melody, on making songs enjoyable
without watering down |
the initial bite. There are moments of pure Heavy Metal meets
Swedish Death Metal in a Blackened mist of evaporating piss
and blood. That catchy riff style of thick guitar strums that
evoke the likes of early Sentenced, and Mayhem. These warm
melodies just fall out of every track here. There is also a
majestic keyboard undercurrent that adds to the albums epic
like quality. This is not anything like a Dimmu
Borgir overkill on orchestration, Dies Ater are far more subtle
with their synth backdrop, used purely when required. I don’t
need to play this album twice to tell you it will gnaw into
you mind like a burrowing cancer, but I will play it again,
that is for sure.
Dies Ater have reached their creative peak, along with recent
though stimulating releases from Belgians Enthroned, and
less recent gems by Seth and Rotting Christ.
The final track, Still Rising, is a brooding instrumental that
evokes the magnificent raw atmosphere of Strid, a harrowing
malefic end to a truly fantastic album. www.twilight-distribution.com/index.php?cat=item&id=2818 |
| |
|
Drautran - Throne of the Depths (Lupus Lounge) review by Sam
Thomas |
 |
Now I’m all in favour of bands taking whatever time they feel
they need to make an album, but I have to say that the eight
years that have elapsed since Drautran’s debut demo “Unter dem
Banner des Nordwinde” might be considered excessive in some
quarters. Then again, if it takes eight years to craft
something as outstanding as “Throne of the Depths”, why
complain?
This is described as “furious, highly atmospheric pagan metal”
by the label, but the best comparison I can give is early
Burzum (i.e. before Varg was banged up and consequently rather
restricted in his recording options) with German talky bits.
Many of the song titles are |
in German, but since the lyrics are (largely) screeched in
true Varg-fashion, this is pretty
irrelevant. Clearly, these German pagans have decided to align
themselves to the mythology of the Norsemen as there are
references to Fimbulwinter and Niflheim amongst the track
titles.
Basically, what you get is flat-out black metal, with that
very distinctive early Norwegian sound (particularly with
regard to the drums) interspersed with some very harsh spoken
German. It comes as no surprise that Tolkein based the
language of the orcs on the German that he heard as a soldier
in the trenches of the first world war, it is absolutely the
perfect language for generating threats. But there are also
parts of this album that are quite beautiful and tranquil –
admittedly they are there mostly to provide a contrast to the
frantic, overwrought pace of the rest, rather like an austere
arch around a highly coloured stained glass window. I’m not
too sure about the clean vocals, though, but they are
sufficiently few and far between that it would be churlish to
complain.
Overall, this is a tremendous battle of an album, with great
epic tracks that come to sudden unexpected halts. There is
even experimentation with female vocals at one stage, along
with some quiet rippling guitars over a low insistent rumble
that had me convinced it must be Monday with the bin men on
their rounds. The track concerned “Saevar nidr” summoned up
images of a warrior being treated for his wounds whilst the
battle raged on nearby. He must have survived, because with
the next track it was straight back to more screaming mayhem.
“Throne of the Depths” is an incredible production, with
amazing energy and scope. I would always expect technical
competence from the Germans (blame it on the car ads) but this
degree of originality and imagination was not something I
would ever have anticipated. Put quite simply, “Throne of the
Depths” is an outstanding example of fast-paced pagan metal.
Beautifully put together and absolutely breathtaking in its
scope. Hopefully it won’t be another eight years before we get
to hear Drautran’s next opus.
www.lupuslounge.com |
| |
|
Faloide - Theories of Decadence (Self release) review by Sam
Thomas |
 |
Faloide are a French band from the north, who’ve been gigging
around the Lille area since their formation in 2004. They
started out covering a lot of Sepultura, but have now moved on
towards Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal. No surprise then, that
the comments on their myspace page almost exclusively refer to
them as “old school death”. “Theories of Decadence” is their
first foray into the recording world.
Dawn of Reflexion is an aptly titled (if misspelt) little
opener, being a quietly contemplative little acoustic guitar
intro. Then it’s into the main thrust of the album, which is a
death metal |
work with vocals which are only just a shade removed from
grind. I say just a shade removed, I’m basing that on the fact
that there are no subsonic pig squeals, and it is nearly
possible to make out the lyrics occasionally as they are
growled.
The one thing that lets this CD down is the quality of the
production, I’ve had to crank my amp up (not quite to 11) and
even then it sounds muddy, as though its being played next
door. Not a very likely prospect, given that both sets of
neighbours are retirees…
The style is very ponderous and deliberate, with the vocals
delivered in the style of Desecration in some places and in
others heading more towards the “inescapable list” style of
Rotting Christ. By the fourth track, the guitars had appeared
to make it higher in the mix, and all I can say is that Alexis
Cornille and Alexis Classeau can certainly make their guitars
sing. “Torments of Century” showed that the band are capable
of writing to a structure, which is something that I always
appreciate, returning back to musical themes laid down earlier
in the piece and neatly tying everything together at the end,
just like a bit of English homework.
Basically, “Theories of Decadence” is a pretty decent self
released debut MCD. Faloide need to sort out the production
for next time, but that will come with experience. They’ve got
the basics right – they can play, they can create decent
songs. And for added interest, they do some very pretty guitar
work. I will definitely look forward to their next release.
www.faloide.new.fr
| www.myspace.com/faloide
|
| |
|
Gallhammer - Ill Innocence (Peaceville)
By: D.W. |
 |
Hailing from Japan, the all-female trio Gallhammer derives
(not only) musical influence from mighty Hellhammer – though
to identify them solely as a black metal act would be
subverted by the equilibrium with other genre experimentation,
wherein lies obvious dark ambient/anarcho-punk/doom influence.
Self-proclaimed “New Wave/Metal/Punk” on their myspace page,
while also described as a “black metal/punk” act on promo
material leads one to infer an identity crisis – though this
is not entirely for the worse. Prior compositions (readily
available online; link below) retain the essence of 1980’s
blackened filth, containing those raw, dirty riffs and
atmosphere that induce a steady nod and furrowed brow. Opening |
tracks “at the onset of the age of despair” and “speed of
blood” reflect this effectively, the opener permeated with a
mysterious air over anguished screams and minimal
technicality, while on the second track a simple BM
chromatic-scale is riffed to a mid-paced blast – granted,
track two offers nothing new, but is executed with attitude
(aside: these two were available previously on “The Dawn of…,”
compilation of demos and live videos released by Peaceville
earlier this year). However, though most of “Ill Innocence”
has an element of the blackness of yore coupled to a
doom-paced battery, moments are apparent on the album where
other contributing musical aspects are too abstract in
juxtaposition. Prime example: clear vocals on the third and
fourth pieces, one being a rather unexpected shouting-style
and the other having a moaning, dragging effect, will detract
from this album for most BM fans and seem excruciatingly out
of place, the former in particular. Occasionally the album
experiences an imbalance of major key contribution and/or
wanders astray for too long into a slower clean guitar
passage, but Gallhammer still manage to encapsulate an overall
gloomy ambience. To the ladies’ merit, this album will
certainly be accessible to fans of atmospheric dark metal, and
cater to a handful of the doom and anarcho-punk crowd. Indeed
Gallhammer carve a grim homage to Hellhammer and the like,
though the BM faithful will be more inclined to reminisce with
the original black metal gods themselves and tap into the old
album stash.
www.gallhammer.com
|
www.myspace.com/ghammercrust
|
| |
|
House Of Shakira - Retoxed (Lion Music)
By: Joe Florez |
 |
It’s been ten years for these Swedish hard rockers since they
started and they are now dishing out album number 5. Once
again, this is a band that I have always been aware of, but
never really had the opportunity to soak in their music. What
better time than now to try and digest it…if I can.
“Small Town” gets off to a happy and energetic start with
simple yet effective drumming. The guitar work is upbeat and
easy to swallow and has some minor shred action during the
solo. Andreas’s voice is just right for this type of pop/hard
rock music as his voice is solid and strong and never hit’s
the wimpy territory. The best part about this is the harmony |
vocals that kick in during the chorus as they add extra oomph
to the song. Love it. The first cut may have been an upbeat
mid tempo track, but “No Faith” turns things up just a couple
of notches as you will get a touch of double bass drumming and
the six sting action is a little bit leaner and meaner, but
retaining the melodies at all times. What’s shocking for this
brand of AOR/hard rock is that there isn’t any ballads on
here. Usually, there’s at least one or two. There isn’t
anything that you haven’t heard before on here. It’s pretty
basic and right to the point as most of the tracks on here are
short.
If you are a fan of the lighter side of rock/metal and
are into your Gotthard’s or anything that is on a label like
Frontier’s then you should feel at home. This is good light
hearted music when you don’t want something hard and heavy at
the moment. www.lionmusic.com
| www.houseofshakira.com |
| |
|
Limbonic Art - Legacy Of Evil (Candlelight Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
 |
Veteran symphonic black metal outfit Limbonic Art disbanded in
2003 after the release of “The Ultimate Death Worship”, citing
a dearth of new ideas. After four full-lengths, Limbonic Art
had progressed from a rather typical symphonic black metal
sound replete with keyboards, female clean vocals and other
familiar trappings to a more hyperspeed-style of black metal
while retaining a symphonic element through the use of
keyboards. This culminated with the monstrous “The Ultimate
Death Worship”, an album played at an exceptional speed with a
heady combination of an organic sound with machine-like
precision. |
Apparently growing bored, Limbonic Art disbanded soon after
but reformed on Slayer Day last year. “Legacy Of Evil” on
Candlelight Records is the band’s first release after their
reformation and pretty much picks up right where “The Ultimate
Death Worship” left off. Black metal played at a hyperkinetic
pace personified with chord progression guitars, drums that
just unrelentingly blast away, and layered keyboard work to
provide melody that remains somewhat muted are all present on
“Legacy Of Evil”. All of this is backed up with a crystal
clear production that focuses upon the guitars. The only let
up to the assault occurs around the album’s midway point with
a slow, melodic track with prominent keyboards.
All of this is fine and good, but I found that the album seems
to lose its identity after a while as all of the tracks begin
to somewhat blend together. Couple this with very mechanical
sounding drums and a production, though very clear, that
causes the music to lose that somewhat nebulous, organic
quality previously mentioned, and you have a release that is
technically proficient is every sense of the word, but lacks
an emotional impact.
“Legacy Of Evil” is ultimately a promise that, to these ears,
is unfulfilled. By returning to the fray, Limbonic Art seem to
wish to make a statement that will allow them to vault from a
second tier status to the forefront of metal’s consciousness.
Unfortunately, “Legacy Of Evil” is probably not the album that
will do that.
www.nocturnalart.com
|
www.candlelightrecords.co.uk |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
