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Darzamat - Live Profanity DVD (Metal
Mind) Review by Steve Green |
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I've been meaning to check out Poland's Darzamat after
stumbling across a video of theirs a couple of years back. I
have to confess that what caught my eye was the rather
captivating form of female singer Nera. As the missus may read
this review, I'll just leave it at that.
The first part of the dvd is a live performance at the
Metalmania festival in Katowice of March this year. Being
unfamiliar with their material, I suspect that this dvd may
not be my best introduction to the band. Visually, as you'd
expect with Metal Mind, the production is stunning, but I've a
feeling that Darzamat's sound, may not be as good here, as it
would with a big studio production. While the male growls of
Flauros and the absolutely gorgeous tones of Nera are at the
top of the mix, the music, apart from the keyboards, doesn't
possess enough power. I'd prefer a lot more bass to be heard,
which would underpin the sound a hell of a lot better. But I
like what I hear and I'll be definitely checking out their
studio output in the future. |
The amount of bonus material is phenomenal. An eight track
concert filmed at the WinterNachtsTraum Festival, which is a
lot rawer than the Katowice footage, but the atmosphere
onstage is as vibrant as hell, and the dark Blackened - Gothic
tones of Blackward and Vampiric Prose just leaps from the
speakers. You also get three video clips for The Burning
Times, In Red Iris and Era Aggression, which confirms my
thoughts on their studio work sounding a bit more powerful
than their live performance, although I still think it needs
to be cranked up a couple of notches. Rounding things off, is
a couple of unreleased studio tracks, a behind the scenes
documentary (which is loads of short clips strung together,
without any real cohesion it has to be said, yet it's still
quite entertaining), an interview, thankfully with sub-titles
and the usual array of photo galleries, wall papers and
weblinks.
Overall this is a nice introduction to the band if you're a
newcomer like myself. Elsewhere, I think fans of the band will
enjoy this dvd as it is definitely good value for money.
www.darzamat.art.pl |
www.metalmind.com.pl/index.php?jezyk=en |
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Fight K5 - The War Of Words Demos
(Metal God Entertainment) By: Joe Florez |
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Well, this is something different. Rob has decided to release
all the demos to War Of Words. If you are looking for the
remastered edition, you will find that one accompanied with
the DVD. In addition to getting all of the songs from the
debut record from Fight, which he released after leaving
Priest, The Metal God throws in five songs that were never
finished from back then. “Into The Pit” is the lead track here
and quickly became popular on MTV and everywhere else world
wide thanks to the aggressive energy that was brought to the
table. Scott Travis who was recently new to the Judas camp was
brought onboard here to keep things heavy and fast. Brian and
Russ’s twin guitar work is beyond relentless |
and both guys play as if their lives depend on it. The song
you hear here sounds almost like the finished product with the
exception of some edits and polish. If you used up all of your
energy headbanging just to track one, then you better find a
way to get your second wind cause “Nailed To The Gun” doesn’t
let up thanks to the earth shaking solos and the thunderous
tight drumming. There are some moments here where Rob sounds
like a dying dog. It almost sounds like he ran out of gas
because he was giving his all. “Now You Die” is the first of
five new cuts on here. This one is a bit more mid to upper
mid-pace, but still contains enough energy to wallop you
upside the cranium. Another new song, “Forbidden”, sounds more
like a rough demo than a completed song. It’s thin, more or
less and doesn’t have as much depth as it should have. Rob’s
voice also isn’t too slick here either. This disc is
surprisingly diversified. You get the power and fury of metal,
the slightly industrial sounds of “Kill It” or a dark, heavy
and partially gothic tune in the form of “Life In Black” or
just songs that are slower paced, but still retaining the
power. Truth be told, I am not a demo fan and always love the
end product best. Some would disagree and go for the more raw
and unpolished sound. These tracks are really rough and loose,
but are fun to hear nonetheless. I think most folks will go
for the DVD with the remastered disc instead of this, while
completists will get this and also for the fact that there are
some new tracks slapped on here. The choice is yours…to buy or
not to buy.
www.halfordmusic.com |
www.robhalford.com |
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Halford - Essentials Vol. 1 (Metal
God Entertainment) By: Joe Florez |
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Halford has done one of the smartest things in the industry
and that’s buy the rights back to his music. Cheap Trick has
done the same thing too and more artists should follow in
their footsteps so that way they can put out the product that
they want and not the suits. Truth be told, before receiving
this promo, I was considering picking this up for the bonus
DVD on here as well as the new cuts. At any rate, unless you
have been in a coma for the past three decades you should need
no introduction to “The Metal God.” If you are unfortunately
new to the man’s music, I would suggest Priest first, but this
Essentials disc is more than a perfect way to get your feet
wet. You get on this disc, choice cuts from both of his solo |
records as well as his live offering and the two top Fight
songs that everyone knows. The disc appropriately begins with
“Resurrection” and every time I hear this I am amazed that he
is still able to hit that high pitch scream perfectly. Metal
Mike Chlasciak just delivers the goods with the sinister riffs
while Mr. Jarzombek pounds away with great force. The solos
simply shred and the song never lets up. This is true “power”
metal of the highest order. “Made In Hell” shows that Rob is
versatile with his lungs as he croons his way through this one
in a much lower octave range. Once again, aggression and rage
rules this number. While Resurrection was a more traditional
and basic record, Crucible was slightly different and diehard
fans had a bit of a hard time swallowing this one. “Golgotha”
is a much slower track that is dark and evil sounding, but the
music is a bit sluggish and doesn’t kick into high gear until
the second half and if you have A.D.D. then you may skip
through this section or pass it all together. “Crystal” is
another perfect example of a song that isn’t in typical Rob
fashion. This one drags a bit and even I don’t care for this
one too much. Also on here are “Into The Pit”, “Nailed To The
Gun” and “War Of Words” from the first Fight record that get
the new millennium treatment. They sound even better now
thanks to new technology and these songs continue to make your
blood pump. Shit, if this music is playing cranked up to
eleven on the speakers I could kick Mike Tyson’s ass. “Nailed
To The Gun” sounds a bit different here. If I remember
correctly, there was back up singers screaming to the chorus
along with Rob, but it’s just him alone here. It almost sounds
a bit naked, but what the hell, it still rocks out. Two
absolutely new cuts “Forgotten Generation” and “Drop Out” will
only be found on here and won’t disappoint the fans. The disc
is capped off with “Hypocrisy U.S. Mix” which is very
industrial and hard sounding. It’s interesting, but not
essential hearing. There’s a nice mixture of songs, styles and
tempos on here. As if that wasn’t enough, you also get a bonus
DVD. There is the typical behind the scenes footage in the
studio, rehearsals and on stage. It’s ok, but the real reason
to see DVD is because of the videos. There’s six of them and I
have never seen any of them. While “Never Satisfied” and
‘Silent Screams” are lifted from their respective live DVD‘s,
“Betrayal” and “Forgotten Generation” has a bit more thought
put into them and are conceptual with special effects. The
ballad for “In The Morning” is way lame. It is not how I am
used to hearing the leather one.
If you are a fan, then this must be in your collection without
question. The cover of the disc with the bike, skeletons and
horns thrown in the air represents metal to the max. FYI. This
package comes in two formats: A jewel case format with just
one CD and DVD. Then there’s the limited edition digipack that
comes with a bonus CD of remixes and it comes signed by the
man himself. Be warned though, this three disc set will cost
you at least $45.00 U.S. That’s no chump change my friends.
Either way you go, you win and Halford sees to it too.
www.halfordmusic.com |
www.robhalford.com |
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Led Zeppelin – Mothership (Atlantic
Records) review by Sam Thomas |
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Question: Does the world really need another Led Zeppelin
album? Answer: When it’s this album, Mothership, yes, there is
definitely a place for it. Mothership is a collection of 24
remastered studio tracks, culled from the band’s eight studio
albums. The selection was made by the surviving band members,
and is pretty equally divided between them, with disc one
covering Led Zep I- IV and disc two covering Houses of the
Holy to In Through the Out Door. You can even spring for the
deluxe edition with an extra DVD, not to mention the
collector’s edition (dread to think how much that one will go
for!)
The way that this has been put together (chronological order
of albums, tracks mixed up |
within album) actually works really well. I guess that the Led
Zeppelin-loving world (of which I am, and have been for many
years, a proud member) is probably going to divide itself into
two factions: those that think disc one is best, and those
that prefer disc two. For me, there’s no contest, I prefer my
early Zeppelin (probably because that’s the era that really
got me going musically). But then again, there are some
brilliant tracks on disc two as well…
I think that perhaps it would have been better to have not had
such an even distribution of tracks across the albums, but, on
the other hand, it must have been so difficult to make a
selection that maybe this was the simplest way of doing it. I
mean, there you are, you’ve got (for example) Led Zeppelin IV.
OK, so let’s have Black Dog, Rock and Roll, The Battle of
Evermore, Stairway to Heaven, Going to California and When the
Levee Breaks. I’m not happy about dropping Misty Mountain Hop
or Four Sticks. Bollocks, that’s the entire album. And I feel
pretty much the same about I-III as well. Just cut it down to
a max of four tracks per album, and have done with. And still
the arguments will rage. For me, the one glaring omission was
The Battle of Evermore, but other than that, I think the
choice was pretty damn perfect. Plus, I have to admit that
possibly Messrs Plant, Page and Jones may be better qualified
than I to make the selection.
It was a tremendous nostalgia trip listening to this album –
it’s been an age since I listened to “Dazed and Confused”
properly, and I’d forgotten how eerie a piece it was with
Jimmy Page performing at his arcane best to produce some truly
otherworldly sounds on guitar. Then again, when he gets going
on the theremin in “Whole Lotta Love”, otherworldly doesn’t
begin to cover it. Finishing off disc one with “Stairway to
Heaven” was a good touch as well, although it isn’t (quite) my
favourite Led Zeppelin track, it’s definitely a showstopper,
and I’ve always felt that it was a bit awkwardly placed
mid-CD. (Of course, back in the vinyl days, it was the last
track on side one.)
In a kind of contradictory way, disc two was the better one
for me, because it contained all the essentials from the last
four albums, thus enabling me to get all dewy-eyed over
“Kashmir” and to remember what a great track I thought “All My
Love” was. Plus, it saves me having to buy “In Through the Out
Door” and “Presence” in my vinyl-replacing mode. (I already
have “Houses of the Holy” and “Physical Graffiti”.)
Overall, this is a brilliant selection and a great quality
release from probably the greatest band ever. You can quibble
if you like, raise points about only being in it for the
money, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. This is a truly
worthwhile offering, and if I hadn’t reviewed it already it
would be a toss-up whether I’d have put it on my Xmas list or
pre-ordered it online. Awesome. |
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Monarkh - Rites Profanes (NMB
Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Northern Illinois’ NMB Records vaulted into my consciousness a
few months back with the debut album from Avichi, which saw
heavy rotation in my stereo for quite awhile. Certainly, I’ve
begun to look forward to releases from this upstart label, and
the debut album from French-Canadian, one-man act Monarkh
recently appeared in my mailbox. One look at the cover art of
“Rites Profanes” immediately gave me an impression of some
sort of symphonic black metal, but that was not the case.
Instead, Monarkh performs a dark ambient soundscape without
any of the traditional instrumentation of metal.
“Uh oh” I hear you saying to yourself; that is, those of you
that haven’t bailed at this point |
and are still hanging around for this review. I suppose that
dark ambient, while it can be argued is, at least in part,
inspired by black metal, is not really metal. Therefore, you
either accept dark ambient for what it is and like it, or you
don’t. Myself, I can sort of enjoy the genre periodically, but
I don’t exactly go out of my way to listen to it. Soundscapes
performed by artists such as Celestiial and Vinterriket are at
least distinctive and provide a different listening
experience, while the insanity such as that presented by the
over the top caterwauling of Diagnose Lebensgefahr can come
completely out of left field.
At any rate, “Rites Profanes” takes dark ambient and presents
the genre with every possible cliché that Monarkh can muster.
Consisting of deep, synthesized harmonics as a backbone,
Monarkh incorporates moans and shrieks seemingly lifted
directly from the soundtrack to “The Shining”, church bells,
thunder and rain, an evil guy intoning in French, you name it.
If there ever was a description of generic dark ambient,
Monarkh fits the bill. At best, I can usually only get through
about 20 minutes of this genre or so in one sitting before
becoming bored, and Monarkh certainly does nothing to dispel
that notion.
So there you have it. Essentially, if you enjoy dark ambient,
I suppose that you’ll find something to like here, even though
you’ve heard this before. If you don’t like dark ambient,
“Rites Profanes” will do nothing to change your mind. Eh.
www.nmbrecords.com/ |
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Seven Witches - Deadly Sins
(Screaming Ferret Wreckords) By: Joe Florez |
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I
must admit that my desire to listen to the band ended after
James Rivera moved on. It was mainly due to the fact that the
music that Jack Frost writes is too simple and dated sounding.
There is nothing fresh brought to the table and the songs get
repetitive quickly. I had no idea that former high pitch
screamer Alan Tecchio of Watchtower fame did the last disc
Amped. Well, he’s back again and now Joey Vera from Armored
Saint throws down on the bass. Now, my interest has piqued
again and with good reason. However, when I pressed play for
the first time I was expecting more of the same from Jack and
company. The title track threw me for a loop as I wasn’t
expecting what I heard at the beginning. I |
thought this was gonna be a stoner/sludge song with the
droning guitar riffs and slow yet pounding drums. Soon enough
though, Alan kicks in with his strong and solid vocals. What?
Alan’s voice has been knocked down a few octaves and he croons
away as well as screams too. The drums pick up a shitload of
steam and they hit the hyper stage. They are fast and furious
while the riffs remain tough and mid paced. This track
honestly caught me off guard, but I liked the change in
direction. So raw and unpredictable. “Science” showcases
Alan’s siren scream at the beginning of the song that will
remind you of his days with Watchtower. The song remains power
packed with consistent energy and aggression. This disc is a
pleasant surprise as Jack probably saw the need to change
things up a bit. This is a much heavier and ballsy product
than the whole back catalogue. Fans of the throwback sound may
be a little put off by it, but in the end all fans of heavy
metal should give this one a spin. Interesting to say the
least.
www.screamingferret.com |
www.sevenwitches.net |
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The Cult - New York City : Live At The
Fillmore DVD (Live Nation Studios)
Review by Steve Green |
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I
was a huge fan of The Cult in the 80s and was luckily enough
to catch them on the Electric tour. Since they reformed last
year, I've not been very excited at the prospect of hooking up
with them again. I've no idea why, but maybe as they were a
major part of my youth and that's were they should stay (even
though I still play their cds on a frequent basis,
particularly Love). But then again, I'm still into most of the
bands I enjoyed as a kid. So maybe I had a premonition that
they couldn't recreate that vibe from the 80s.
So here we have a stripped down, raw and in your face
recording from, as the title suggests, NYC. And I have to say,
this dvd is a bit of a letdown. The camera work is a mixture
of professional and fan shot work, which, while the concept is
a good one, the combination of shaky camera work, crap angles
and crap editing, makes this pretty much unwatchable.
Musically, I think the band sound tight as hell, with Billy
Duffy sounding even |
better than ever and the magic they are creating on stage
transfers really well to the home environment. Unfortunately
Ian Astbury sounds terrible. Lil Devil is a shoddy opener, and
when he shouts his way through Sweet Soul Sister, I feel
completely letdown by a band that played a huge part of my
formative years. Track 5, Spirit Walker, is arguably my
favourite Cult song, it's always a tough choice when a band
releases so many classics, and thankfully, it's where Astbury
finally gets his shit together, for one song at least. He then
gives a really bad performance on Revolution and we are back
to square one again. And as for his vocals in Rain.... no
fucking melody whatsoever. It was so bad it even cleared the
kids from the frontroom.
I've no idea what has happened to Ian Astbury over the past
few years, but he has joined a long list of singers that
cannot recreate the level of performance that made them
successful in the first place. The magic of these songs is
still intact, but that is the only positive I can draw from
this release. As a big Cult fan, this DVD is a big
disappointment. |
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The Order - Welcome to the Fabulous Metal
Casino (Dockyard 1) Review by Metal Mark |
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If
you call your album “Welcome to the Fabulous Metal Casino”
then you have already established a high cheese factor before
the listener has even pressed the play button on his or her
stereo. It’s instantly obvious that this band loves or at
least pretending to show a great love for 80’s hard rock with
all its typical musical styling and lyrical clichés. In fact
there are only a few moments here and there where you could
really that this was not done in 1986 or 87. The acts that
come to my mind as influences here are Krokus, 1980’s KISS and
maybe even Whitesnake during the slower songs. The Order tends
to be a little heavier than those bands, but most of the
heavier parts are brief and the songs quickly fall into all |
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too familiar territory. They manage to avoid being boring
because they are genuinely fairly tight and avoid overstaying
their welcome. Yet in order to do this style of music and make
it fresh then they need very energetic or bring something new
to the table. They ultimately did not do that or at least not
enough for them to stand out. Getting the description of
“that’s not too bad” is not a glowing endorsement, but that’s
the category that this band falls into. There are quite a few
bands still playing this variety of metal and The Order are
certainly better than some, but not nearly as exciting as
others. So it’s a rather average album, but one I may return
to every now and then.
www.dockyard1.com |
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Vader - And Blood Was Shed In Warsaw
(Metal Mind) Review by Chris Davison |
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Is
there a harder working death metal band in the entire world
than Vader? I thought not. Seemingly unstoppable, the Polish
wrecking crew have released quality album after quality album,
tour every available minute they have spare and have now
produced this, which is their third live video. I've been into
Vader since 1995, when I bought their brilliant “De Profundis”
album, and it supplied the soundtrack to one of the most
miserable Christmas periods in my life. There I was stuck in a
dingy attic room (5 Archery Place, Leeds, fact-fans), no
money, doing terribly at university and girlfriend having
fucked off with some bloody shoe salesman from Bradford. Vader
supplied me with a soundtrack of the most relentless
aggression that I was soon back on my feet and chucking half
bricks through the windows of hated neighbours. Ah, the
memories!
Anyway, that sojourn down nostalgia boulevard not
withstanding, I leaped at the chance to |
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get a hold of this release. Vader are a byword for live
excellence, and this just proves it. With a brilliant set list
made up of all the “hits” (if that isn't a misnomer, I don't
know what is!), and such an expansive set of material to
choose from, the proof of the pudding won't come from the
bands performance, but rather from the production of the disc
itself. Of the tracks on offer, to my ears the stuff from “De
Profundis”, “Litany” and “Black to the Blind” sound best, but
perhaps more illuminating is how excellent the luke-warm
“Hellelulyah! (God is Dead)” sounds when given the full
treatment by these Panzers of death metal. Sounding much
fuller and deadlier than being run through by a claymore laced
in poison, it just goes to show how much studio nonsense can
occasionally rob a track of its essence. Metal Mind, of
course, are the masters of producing extreme metal videos, and
they have excelled themselves in some senses here. I have read
some reviews recently that have criticised them (in my opinion
unfairly) for producing live DVDs that might have come off a
conveyor belt because of the similarity of camera angles and
editing techniques. My thought on that is that if it works, it
works; change for its own sake can often turn gold into base
metal or worse. That being said, this is markedly different
than other recent Metal Mind productions, with jauntier camera
angles, some particularly effective lighting effects and truly
excellent sound clarity, which is no mean feat with the
complexity of some of the songs. The drum sound is monumental,
which again is something that needs particular applause as it
is fundamental to the success of the “Vader Sound”. So, the
concert is brilliant, the visuals stunning and the sound
fantastic. What's not to like ? Well, the critic in me feels
bound to mention that the “extras” aren't anything amazing –
two promo videos (at least one of which made me cringe – game
footage and death metal bands do not mix), the usual band bio
and logos etc. The most interesting point though was the
excellent interview – which handled some sensitive subjects
(the death of ex-drummer Doc being one) in a thoughtful and
interesting way. A minor set of gripes then, for what is the
best so far in the Vader live DVD field.
www.metalmind.com.pl/index.php?jezyk=en |
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