Live 4 Metal - Reviews

Chingalera - In The Shadow Of The Black Palm Tree (Pacific Recordings/CD Baby) By: Dave Schalek
	Chingalera (Spanish slang for that little fucking thing over there) are a self-described prog/ stoner band from Los Angeles that come across as more of an early ‘90s-era grunge outfit than anything else. Given that Steve Albini of Helmet and Nirvana fame, amongst others, is twiddling the knobs for Chingalera’s debut full-length, entitled “In The Shadow Of The Black Palm Tree”, those types of comparisons are warranted. In addition, hints of disparate influences such as The Melvins and some post-rock bands such as Isis and so forth can be heard, as well. Adding to the confusion, Chingalera’s debut, the brainchild of guitarist Dave Gibney, who has music trade connections to a wide range of acts including the Circle Jerks,
Fear Factory, and Coheed And Cambria, is presented in a nondescript leathered album cover evocative of just plain ol’ rock n’ roll. Frankly, this is not really my thing and is more or less a combination of grunge and stripped down rock n’ roll. The rougher edge of grunge exemplified by Helmet and so on never really interested me, and I never thought of that genre as metal anyway. In addition, the songwriting on “In The Shadow Of The Black Palm Tree” does absolutely nothing for me. The riffs are boring and repetitive, there’s a decided lack of hooks to really draw you in, there’s no atmospheric layering such as that of Isis, and I found myself getting increasingly annoyed as the album wore on. Throw in lousy sounding drums and a meandering vocal style that sounds half-hearted at best, and towards the latter half of the album I was reaching for the skip button pretty often. If you have taste for some grunge, you might find something to like on “In The Shadow Of The Black Palm Tree”. If not, you’ll probably want to take a pass. Oh, there’s a DVD included with the album that I didn’t bother to watch, apparently consisting of the entire album filmed during the recording process, as well as some interviews about the creative process. Eh. http://chingalera.org

Discard - Carrion (Shadow World Records) Review by Andrew Ward
	Discard are a modern thrash band, not like Megadeth or Testament with the clean harmonious vocals, we’re talking aggressive thrash from the likes of Kreator. Now if that’s your sort of thing or maybe you a fan of The Haunted and Hatesphere then this band will be right up your street. From the first second on this album my head was moving, my feet tapping and I found myself playing the old air guitar. The first track ‘Bleeding Lead’ gives the listener thirty seconds of mid paced thrash riffing sucking you in before ripping your face off with a good fast paced attack. A good solid start to the album which gets you interested. From this
point its much of the same, thrash metal played with pace and aggressiveness. In my opinion the standout tracks would have to be ‘Bleeding Lead’, ‘Pulse’ and ‘The Antagonist’. The album is technical in its playing style but not overly technical just for the sake with excellent production, the sound is layered and textured, similar to the epic sound that Chimaira have. Discard have been creating a media buzz in their homeland since 2006 and this will put them on the map on a global scale I’m sure. This band have gained a lot of respect already in the early stages of their career. With guest vocals on no more than five tracks Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis this album is certainly worth your attention. www.discard.fi \| www.myspace.com/discardofficial

Evoken - A Caress of the Void (I Hate Records) Review by Chris Davison
	Blimey, has Evoken really been about since 1992? Apparently so, which to be honest makes me feel even older now. Well, the masters of the miserable, the downhearted and downcast have returned with this latest platter a mere two years since their last, “The Antithesis of Light”. Well, in a complete twist, Evoken have broken the mould and have returned to play jaunty, folk-tinged melodic death metal with high-pitched female vocals! Only kidding. No, Evoken are back with another sterling collection of songs as depressing as a weekend away at an orphanage, and seemingly even more torturous and heavy than ever before. Seriously, listening to Evoken is enough to make you realise that there is
always someone worse off than you – seemingly the poor bastards in this band, is the music is in any way indicative of their lives. This stuff makes Crowbar sound like Helloween on uppers. Doom/Death has always been, and remains for many of us a love it or hate it kind of deal. It's quite a while now since the heyday of the genre, and let's be honest, there isn't a huge field of bands out there performing this kind of music, even less if you sift out the wasters and posers and leave only those that have a flair for the songs, the atmosphere and that all pervasive feeling of dread and hopelessness. Evoken, as giants of the genre, and one of a handful of worthy bands have outdone themselves this time with the soundtrack to utter misery. Ethereal guitars entwine with the dreadful sound of the rhythm section, tolling like the church bells before a funeral on a misty morning. “Of Purest Absolution”, for example, is seven minutes of the bleakest, least uplifting music ever recorded. This is heavy in a context that scant few of us can properly appreciate, and about a billion times more powerful than whatever gore-inflected nonsense brutal death metal bands come up with now days. There is another world to be invoked through the music here, and playing the disc becomes like an incantation, a summoning of the world to the mind. Yeah, I now that sounds like so much pseudo-bollocks, but honestly, play this album and you're going to be treated to a journey – one that will drag you through pain and loss in aural form. So yes, you've got the standards of the genre – slow, torturous tempo, leaden skull crushing rhythm section and vocals dragged from the murkiest of swamps. You also get one secret ingredient: magic. I'm not talking about pulling a rabbit from a hat, I'm talking selling your soul to produce something this once-in-a-career. Most people would sell their soul to the devil. Evoken sold it to I Hate; after all, they have more good music than Satan these days. www.ihate.se

Hermano - …Into The Exam Room (Regain Records) By: Joe Florez
	While most people have been watching and hearing what former Kyuss guitarist John Homme has been doing (Queens Of The Stone Age), I think even more people have been overlooking what the other former Kyuss partner has been up to, unless you are part of the underground. Vocalist John Garcia had fronted two other bands in the past. Unida and Slo-Burn ended all too quickly, but gave us some killer tunes that were a combo of stoner and straight up rock. The last time we heard from Hermano was their 2004 release Dare I Say. I must say that I have lost track of the man and band myself since I am not into this brand of music that much anymore. Well, since this arrived on my doorsteps, I figured it would be
cool to hear what John has been up to. One of the major shockers here is that this is issued through Regain Records for North America. This label is associated with mostly black and death metal and all that is heavy. It’s always good to see and hear that feathers can be ruffled a bit. ‘Kentucky” sounds like it’s going to be a stoner cut, but after a few riffs the boys simply rock out and they do it hard too. John has a distinct voice that is slightly high pitched and nasally, but it’s strong enough not to sound annoying. The guitars are rough, but always carry a good vibe while the drums are smashed all over the place. “Exam Room” is a perfect blend of rock and funk and contains some major grooves that will have you moving to the beat. “Dark Horse II” shows a more mellow side to the man and group as this is an acoustic number. The disc varies from jamming out to calming down without losing its trademark sound. There is something here for everyone who is into this line of music. Glad to hear that the stoner influences are long gone. Gone are the early 1990’s sound of desert rock. It’s now 2008 and Hermano simply wants to do one thing and that’s blow the roof off of your house. www.regainrecords.com \| http://hermanorocks.com

Memphis May Fire – Self Titled EP (Trustkill) Review by Zoe Thetis
	Overall this album reminds me of Enter Shakira, but excluding this obvious flaw it is actually quite good. There is a lot of conflict throughout the cd between the music and vocals where you feel them both screaming (quite literally) for your attention. The sound is very raw, but this is a good thing you can tell that if you wanted to hear this live they would actually be able to do it without a thousand synthesizers or someone in the back changing whatever they are playing to a pre-recorded version. It seems so many bands are adding in little sounds here and there so its indistinguishable from the original, you would think its going out of fashion, honestly.
Throughout the cd, things seem to jump between what is clearly metal and some parts where it could almost have been written by Avril Lavigne!!! Although in a way this actually works as it allows them, through this first release, to not only find their feet but also to appeal to multiple audiences. It will be interesting to find out how their style may change for any future album releases. This cd does have one flaw, which when you are used to about 10 tracks, this leaves you wanting more as there are only 5 tracks, which is understandable as, after all, this is only an EP. But it still leaves you with the resounding feeling of ok where’s the rest of it. But hey, that may just be me. I don’t really know if I like this. I enjoyed it at the time but I don’t know if I would be able to listen to it every day. However it has made the jump to my ipod for those days I feel mostly emo. I guess if you like both emo and metal or especially would like a good version of Enter Shakira then you would enjoy this. www.myspace.com/memphismayfire

Silent Fate - The Autumn Machine (Self Release) Review by Andrew Ward
	From the first track to the last this album had my attention, even with strange cover of Duran Duran’s ‘Come Undone’. With interesting riffs and excellent vocal performance from Alessio Campoli you should keep coming back to this album time after time. The interchange between the heavy and clean cut vocals isn’t something new, but it works for this band. Where this album differs from the other turgid mess coming out from every state in America is the range of songs on offer in one release, many bands give the listener an album of songs which are almost identical in everyway. Silent Fate don’t do this, For example the first track ‘Permicide’, interesting riff, nice interchange between vocal styles,
then there’s track five ‘Sadly’, a soft melodic track, clean vocals throughout and no aggressiveness, this is the sort of album that keeps the listener interested. The band is described by their PR as being for fans of Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, honestly its not, more like a cross between the metalcore elements of Remembering Never and the clean vocal elements of It Dies Today with some heavy verging on guttural vocals thrown in for good measure. No disrespect to Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying as I’m a fan of both but Silent Fate have much more to offer than both. If the band can escape the metalcore tags that for some reason they’ve been given, then there is a hopeful future for this band. I’m sure this has been done this to try and sell this band to the army of teenager swamping Ozzfest every year, which may mean the band get dismissed by other more educated metal fans who are looking for something more than the turgid metalcore that’s currently being churned out. This band deserves a lot more than what I think is currently being offered to them. A damn good band, with a very solid debut. I'm hoping that this wont be the last I hear of them. www.silent-fate.com

Stonerider - Three Legs Of Trouble (Trustkill Records) Reviewed [again] by Strawb
	Stonerider are a four piece combo from Atlanta and this is their debut album. This album was sent to me in December, prior to Steve’s seasonal break, so I have listened to it on several occasions. I have prepared notes and written this review a number of times, but on New Year’s Day, when it came to sending it to the site, I scrubbed the review as it stood because I wasn’t happy with it. Stonerider have caused me a problem because they play the sort of music which is my staple diet. Riffs, clear vocals arranged in verses, guitars, bass and drums all played well and none of them really dominating. But at times when I have listened to this disk it has left
me cold. And the bastard has been that I could not put my finger on exactly why this should be. The opener, Rush Hour, Baby, sets the tone and pace for the next nine tracks and the total running time of almost forty minutes. After the first riff we have a brief period where I am expecting a grand prix to start [USA readers note, Fleetwood Macs The Chain intro is used here in the UK] and this is a simile to that intro. But then we go off in to Stonerider and their own sound. The references to the gods of seventies rock on the album are surely not intended as possible comparisons, but give a fair reference to the areas that the music of Stonerider is trying to occupy. Those listed are Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Pink Floyd and more modern bands listed are Wolfmother and Buckcherry. Stonerider do occupy the general areas of some of the tunes produced by these bands, but please do not read this expecting a Stairway or a Freebird, because we are nowhere near to that league. And narrowing down why this album does not receive greater praise? All of the tracks blend in to the next one, none memorable and none standing out as different from the next. Hosted on the internet at www.trustkill.com & www.stonerider.net

The Wandering Midget - I Am The Gate (Eyes Like Snow) Review by Chris Davison
	Look, I know what you're thinking, but this album really isn't anything to do with Jockanese transgender freak-artiste little “Jimmy” / Jeanette Cranky suffering from interminable wanderlust. I know, it's a natural conclusion to reach, stuffed to the ribs though you inevitably are with the curried and be-sandwiched remains of Christmas Turkey. No, this is Finnish doom, and no, it isn't Reverend Bizarre...but by jove it's not all that far from it! This trio of young upstarts started plying their trade as the bizarrely monikered Wandering Midget back in 2005, to some quiet acclaim it would seem. This collection actually merges two of their previous demos, so those of you of a deeply kvlt and underground persuasion
may actually own some of this music, and as it isn't remixed, re-recorded or otherwise tampered with, there would be little to tempt you back with. That being said, I don't know anyone that had even heard of these boys let alone owned any of their music prior to writing the review, which is good news for us all, to be honest. This is an excellent collection of music that trades heavily in the traditional doom vein, with tonnes of those lead heavy, mid-paced riffs that have so beguiled us since the original days of Sabbath. The closest reference point is really Reverend Bizarre, especially the song writing style employed here that reeks heavily of RB in their “Cromwell” and “The Devil Rides Out” phase. Here then are the thunderous drums, full of Wardian power and primitive appeal, the fuzzed out bass that threatens to cave skulls in and guitars with not only the power to hypnotise through the power of the riff alone, but also excellent guitar solos. You know, like those that bands used to do before proficiency in instrumentation became anathema to brutalism. Actually, I would rather hear a guitarist occasionally lose himself in the noodle than yet another drone doom band dragging one mediocre riff out for a quarter of an hour at a time. So the songs are great, catchier than the chickenpox in a kindergarten and well written, and the band can all play. Sure, the singer occasionally sounds more like a high pitched folk vocalist, but these are minor complaints. Some will bemoan the production, that sounds as if it was recorded direct onto C-90 in the middle of a garage – but that rawness has an appeal all of its own. This is a band awaiting a proper production, and hell, if I Hate don't pick them up, I'll eat my hat. Which, coincidentally, would make a nice change to all that Turkey. www.myspace.com/thewanderingmidget

Wall Of Sleep - And Hell Followed With Him (I Hate Records) Review by Strawb
	‘I say Caruthers, what is that sound emerging from the gramophone? My grandchild seems to have some weird tastes, his music is nearly as bad as his chosen libido testing. By the way, has the cat healed yet? And did you manage to remove all of the sellotape????’ (Jeeves and the Bestiality Experiment, 1934.) Meanwhile, in 2007 the sounds from the CD, amp and speakers can still cause a similar reaction in the older generation. And it did when Wall Of Sleep were playing. And this from a wrinkly who has had to endure my musical tastes for a number of decades. But as the album played on, the criticism diminished and by the end the final speech was “Well, it
wasn’t that bad”. I however would refute even that comment; it was a long way up the scale from bad. Doom it is, from the five members of Wall Of Sleep, who originate from Hungary. If I read their website correctly this is their fourth album. They are new to me with this release, however, based upon it this will not remain the case for long. In the world of doom my collection began with the original Sabbath albums. And no-one can live with them, so I struggled to add to it for an awful long time. Then a number of years ago, Chris introduced me to Candlemass. Slightly down on the scale, but still a band not to be missed. And my reviewing career has introduced me to a number of other bands in the past year. So, not up to the standards of Candlemass, and unable to challenge Sabbath, Wall of Sleep climb up my personal chart to be the best of the rest. Which I consider to be high praise indeed. I am not saying they are the third best doom band ever, just my current choice behind the two mentioned. And how do they win such an accolade? Easy really, they have stuck to the basics and delivered what doom should be. Do You want Riffs? You got ‘em. Drums which seem directly connected to your inner ear, well here they are. Bass which gives rhythm to your heartbeat, check that line on the cardiometer. And resonant vocals, well some consider this the season of goodwill, so have them as well. On the subject of the vocals, Gabor must give thanks to his deity of choice for Doom, because his limited vocal range would find no other genre suited to it. And there ends the criticism. So, if it is doom you like, or if the season has indeed cheered you up and you seek our usual melancholy, put your hand in your pocket and increase the wealth of Wall Of Sleep. Electronic 0s & 1s at www.wallofsleep.net

Worship - Dooom (Endzeit Elegies) Review by Steve Green
	While the band name and album title combined have probably given away what sort of music this is, it doesn't really tell the half of it. This is Funeral Doom on a major scale. Eight ponderous anthems of misery crawling in at nearly 73 minutes - shit, this even scared our resident Doomhead Chris, into turning this down. And I'm glad he did, as I've thoroughly enjoyed these downtrodden slabs of despair. Now before I get onto the music, I have to heap tons of praise on whoever designed and put together the packaging for this release. A huge 10 sided digipack that folds out into a cross, all done in impeccably Gothic fashion, full of darkness and desolation and to top it off, a 16 page booklet, which once again oozes
class. This is quite simply the best packaging I've seen for a cd, and all for an underground band too. The bar has been set and I don't see anyone producing something to top this for years to come. This is beautiful beyond belief. Thankfully, the music is of a similarly high standard, which is just as well, as otherwise the packaging would have gone to waste. This is mournful, no, make that, miserable as fuck, drenched in shit, sewer dwelling Doom. This is the bell tolling for the end of your life. I've not heard anything so demoralizing since I first discovered My Dying Bride all those years ago. And My Dying Bride circa Symphonaire and Turn Loose The Swans is where I'd place this album, albeit even more bleak and depressing than Yorkshire's finest, yet equally as engaging. I'm not a connoisseur of Doom, far from it, but it is a genre I love, the same way I love Pagan music. They are genres close to my heart and genres I need to explore more. As far as Doom goes, it just doesn't get much better than this. Having just published the top tens for 2007, this album could easily be up there with any of them and I'm kind of regretting not putting it in there now. Utterly essential for those of a dreary disposition. www.endzeitelegies.com \| www.myspace.com/worshipdoom