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1000 Hertz - Input the Output (In at the Deep End) Review by
Samuel Munch-Petersen |
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So you like punk do you? You like hardcore do you? Still a
metal fan too? Excellent, now you can go and buy this album
and make sure it’s listened to. 1000 Hertz are finding
themselves emerging from the rather
perpendicular-grid-roundabout-infested town (or is it a city
now?) of Milton Keynes. A hellhole to drive in and indeed
frequent on Friday nights or weekend evenings thanks to the
binge infiltrators that horde the streets and bars from early
p.m. to early a.m. (I know, I used to do that once upon a
time). To have a band come out of such a dank and deprived
place filled with retail-torture-parlours is something of a
miracle, but 1000 Hertz have managed to give us something more
than just a hub of |
mindless activity.
“Understanding that cool is not an aspiration” allows for us
to delve a bit deeper into the psyche of 1000 Hertz and what
they stand for when it comes to ideals and their personal
ethos. “This music is for thinkers and shakers, movers and
breakers” and it would seem that with this element of being a
band with more to say than just be cool when you’re edging in
the pit 1000 Hertz continue to break on through.
I’m not saying this is the definitive and best album out there
when it comes to hardcore or even punk, but at the same time
it’s not the worst thing I’ve heard in a while. In fact it’s
pretty damn good compared to most of the stuff I’ve got
through the post.
Twelve tracks in length isn’t a lot of music but don’t be
fooled, the album managed to stretch itself for an appropriate
amount of time before becoming epic. Silence Means Everything,
Wake Up Call, Immobilised and Fallen Ground are tracks to
really look out for.
You’re bound to enjoy this album more than what’s out now in
the world of commercial, I can say that once an album goes
into shops, music. So go check out 1000 Hertz and be impressed
with them at every listen.
www.myspace.com/onethousandhertz |
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End Of Level Boss - Inside The Difference Engine
(Exile On Mainstream Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Like many reviewers, I don’t particularly like to read
accompanying promo material because 90% of it is bullshit or
worse. Case in point is U.K. stoner band End Of Level Boss
(your guess is as good as mine) with their second full-length,
entitled “Inside The Difference Engine” on Exile On Mainstream
Records. According to the promo material, “Inside The
Difference Engine” is supposed to be the second coming of a
perfect blend of Kyuss and Voivod with a, presumably,
Babbage-inspired mathcore vibe. Naturally, I’m sure that most
of you would sit up and take notice; unfortunately, you’d only
be in store for a huge letdown with End Of Level Boss. |
From the opening riff of the first track, gratingly titled “Selfishnegativibemerchant”,
this band just annoyed the Hell out of me, and not just
because of the bad song titles. Yeah, there’s a bit of a
Voivod influence here and there with vocals distantly similar
to Snake (that’s a stretch, though; Chris Cornell is a better
comparison) and some quirky song structures and so forth, but
the talent here is seriously lacking. The musicianship is
competent, but the riffs that just serve to annoy rather than
entice and interest forced me to reach for the skip button
more than once as the album progressed. In a word, the
songwriting is pretty awful as each track didn’t get much more
than a few minutes from me before I gave up in disgust.
I suppose that the Kyuss influence makes itself known with
some sludge-like riffing and pacing, but the jarring, poorly
written songs quickly dispel any hope you would have for this
release to gel into something listenable.
Obviously, I can’t recommend this one on any level. Next.
www.eolb.com
| www.mainstreamrecords.de |
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Hellish Crossfire - Slaves Of The Burning
Pentagram (I Hate Records)
Review By Strawb |
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Throw a few random sounds together and call it an intro. Add a
deep guttural groan from the bottom of the throat and then add
all of the instruments going at full pelt. And lo, we have old
school thrash, faster, faster, short break, faster bastard
faster. Just as it says on the tin. There are words, some are
even decipherable, but this is thrash. These are the values
that are all over this release like gravy on a roast. It
demands you play it loud on a good sound system, no small
speakers or low volume settings here.
The name Hellish Crossfire is taken from an album title
released in the mid 80s by the German speed metal group Iron
Angel. The group are also from Deutschland, there are |
four of them and as well as the obvious thrash they claim
death metal and black metal overtones. Most bases covered
there then. In honesty this is eight tracks of no compromise
like-it or fuck-off music. The tracks are mainly around five
minutes length with the almost seven minute opus being Shadow
Curse. Guitar necks are wrung. Drum skins are beaten to within
an inch of their lives. Larynx are strained and lungs busted.
It assaults the ears as it is intended to do, it batters the
senses and I want more.
And as the music is early 80s, so is their website – I can’t
find one. Try the label at:
www.ihate.se |
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Inexacta - Previous Trick Us (Self
release) Review by Steve Green |
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This one is kind of spooky as I don't even remember this cd
turning up, but as it's in my pile, so it got here somehow.
And it travelled a long way as Inexacta are from Santiago in
Chile. The South American sound is obvious from the off.
Opener Nothing Moves has a very (Max era) Sepultura feel to it
and the hypnotic, bouncy riff is very Chaos A.D. as are the
vocals. But I feel Inexacta are a lot more intense than the
Cavalera Brothers. As From Right 2 Wrong proves. One thing is
for certain, these guys know how to throw down a slamming
groove.
In all honesty, it is hard to ignore the Sepultura
comparisons, but that no way implies they
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are nothing but clones of their Brazilian cousins. It's just
that the whole South American vibe is difficult to ignore. As
is the bounciness of their sound. Thankfully, tracks such as
Lie To My Face and the epic Assuming The End keep this album
sounding fresh.
The one original thing about this album how the the running
order is listed on the tray card. Each song has a number next
to it, but the running order is not in sequence. Track 1, In
Sane Side, may have the number 001 next to it, but it's listed
in the tenth position. And every song is like this, making it
very difficult to keep track of which song is being played.
Unless you follow the numbers precisely, you're fucked.
Previous Trick Us, is perfect is execution and in terms of
production, it's just a choice over the lack of originality
that dictates whether you explore this one further.
Personally, I think it's a tough one to call, despite my
enjoyment of the album. Decide for yourself at:
www.myspace.com/inexacta |
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Intestinal Disgorge - Vagina (Self-released) Review by James
Young |
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Sixty-three tracks, just over half an hour, sickening artwork,
and the title of ‘Vagina’ could only mean one thing, a grind
album. If you dare to seek a subgenre, this could quite easily
be called ‘porngrind’, with the sexually driven macabre
samples, and song names including ‘Triple Cock Piss Shower’,
‘Spermsoaked Tranny Whore’ – I really could go on, but you get
the idea. On this, Intestinal Disgorge’s fourth album, the guys
go about their job to repulse pretty well, with a blistering
array of blasts, sicko-style shouts and female sounding
screams. The addition of a clarinet on ‘Molester Hipster
Bitch’ and ‘Tongue My Ass’ give an abstract pornographic edge
to the sound, and sounds like the musical equivalent of a |
hardcore S&M session. Homage to the woman-hating antics of AxCx can be detected in the music, and even more certainly in
such tracks as ‘I Like My Women Like I Like My Eggs – Beaten’
- this truly is a misogynist’s wet dream.
Basically, if you like your grind gritty, punky, and a little
bit tongue in cheek (no pun intended), you can’t really go
wrong with this – it’s a disturbing slab of art that’s as
headbangable as it is slightly unnerving. The band are at
their full foamy-mouthed best when grinding like there’s no
tomorrow, with power chords and guitar squeaks going nicely
alongside the ear-wrecking electronic noise sampling. Most of
the work is done by Ryan, who handles the drums, guitar, bass,
electronics and vocals, but ‘Pissy’ and Jacob are also
responsible for the chaotic vocals which define this band.
Less relevant are the four to ten second long tracks, which
are possibly there just to bump up the song count, and don’t
really serve much of a purpose apart from a little comedy
value. But fortunately, these are interspersed with some
excellent noisy grind moments, which come across as early
Napalm Death and Brutal Truth meets the deranged
female-sounding weirdness of Macabre. Musically it’s fairly
mature, despite what the song titles, and lyrics, may suggest.
Lines like ‘Fuck you Oprah. Put us on your show, we’ll show
you bitches how shit really is’, may not win the award for
most profound songwriting, but it is nice and intense, with a
whole load of attitude. This whole album is an X-rated
pleasure, and one to be treasured at that.
www.intestinaldisgorge.com |
www.myspace.com/intestinaldisgorge |
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Pathosray - Pathosray (Sensory)
By: Joe Florez |
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After seven years as a band trying to make it, they get a shot
at the metal scene with their debut offering. Italy isn’t a
really well known hotbed for metal with the exception of
Lacuna Coil and Rhapsody Of Fire who have worked hard and
succeeded and now these guys are giving it a go.
“Free Of
Doubt” is a typical instrumental that can be heard on any
number of progressive metal recordings. This one is just
classical piano performed with great finesse and the we get
hit hard with “Faded Crystals.” The double bass drumming has
great impact while the guitars are hard at work with ferocious riffing.
They keyboards are not only neo-classical |
here, but also add this haunting sound that is reminiscent of
church organs. What comes next is not what I was expecting. I
was automatically predicting high pitched vocals, but instead
they are rough and rugged and the music despite having a clean
and clear production has somewhat of a raw punch to it. The
speed is there and the progressive elements are kept to a
minimum here. I was more than positive that I would hear all
kind of odd time changes and quirky compositions. Instead, I
was treated to something that was different and refreshing.
70’s classic keyboard prog vibes enter the picture and the song was
more on the simple side. The kicker is that while it’s long,
it doesn’t feel like it cause the guys try their best to
compose something that is well crafted and it shows. It’s no
filler. It’s very easy to impress the masses right from the
get go, but the important thing to remember here is if the
formula will continue to hold your interest as well as mine or
will we just drift off into something else?
“Lines To Follow”
goes for the jugular with a more than aggressive Marco who
sings with passion and comes off a little bit like Terrence
Holler from Eldritch. There’s thick bass string pluckings that
could rumble the speakers and the music picks up even more
steam than the predecessor. “Scent Of Snow” is the first song
on here to embrace the prog elements as some of the
musicianship gets a little tricky, but adding a change of pace
to keep things interesting. Think of this as a mid to upper
paced jam that has some balladesque qualities in here. With
the exception of two under two minute tracks that are
worthless, this disc is a true gem. I was expecting another
paint by numbers modern heavy metal prog disc that would show
the band exposing their influences on their sleeves and
performing elegantly over the top technical tracks everywhere.
Instead, I was treated to a fun and enlightening experience.
Sure, Pathosray are new to the game and may have been followed
artists like Dream Theater. Symphony X and the ilk in the
beginning, but they have their own agenda and own style and it
shows quite well here. This is perfectly crafted music with
the right bite of energy, passion and sincerity. If you are
tired of the Hammerfalls, Rhapsody Of Fire’s and all that is
lame, then I recommend that you track this debut down. It is so
worth it.
www.lasercd.com
| www.myspace.com/pathosray
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