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Amplify - Beneath The
Beauty Lies... Heaven To Burn (Self Release)
Review by Steve Green |
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I've liked this EP from the off, my only argument is how
original the material is. And my enjoyment of the five tracks
on offer has won over any doubts I may have had on this
subject.
Look, Amplify is made up of seasoned musicians that have
worked at the very highest level, and I'm talking from the
likes of Peter Gabriel to Killing Joke, to one band member
being a Grammy Award winning. This is high calibre stuff (I
daren't use the word shit, way too dirty a word for this
beautiful disc) so please excuse the comparisons, but as I
said, this isn't the |
most original cd ever released.
Best of the five tracks is the first one. House reminds me of
the sass of The Cult, so much so that I could imagine Ian
Astbury singing on this one, and something a whole lot more
soulful, maybe the Dan Reed Network, or at a push, Living
Colour. Great groove, great song. Bobbie Rae does have an
extremely soulful voice, which is where the Dan Reed/Corey
Glover comparisons come from, but he's also got a grittier
side, which leans a bit towards the grunge scene of the mid
90s, which is how High As The Sun begins. The song quickly
slips into a gentle slipstream and the Dan Reed Network vibe
comes back into play. Surrender is simply stunning. The whole
band comes into play on this one. Rachel Z's gentle piano, Joe
Rodriguez's sublime guitars and guest bassist Tony Levin's
pronounced bass line, and yes, mind-blowing vocals. And I
haven't forgotten the drums, Bobbie Rae handles them as well.
I might even change my mind on which is my favourite song as I
cannot praise this one enough.
The pace changes completely for track four, Becoming, which
reminds me of Sex Type Thing, by the Stone Temple Pilots,
especially in the guitars. Again the band add their own
soulful take on rock, which is fast becoming a trademark to
these ears. Last up is the mellow acoustic based December,
which is a beautiful way to end an utterly beautiful cd. If
there's any justice in this dodgy industry, then Amplify are
going to be HUGE.
www.amplifymusic.com |
www.myspace.com/amplifyworldwide |
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Blodsrit - Hinterland
(Unexploded Records) Review by
Crin |
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Swedish Black Metal need not be expanded upon here. I am sure
any reader of worth will know of the deep history of the genre
and well respected acts that inhabit its vast domains. Here we
have the rather formidable Blodsrit with their 5th album [how
many of you have heard the previous four??] such is the
underground abyss this band wallows within. The sound here has
a flavour all of its own, a dry bass driven sound that is
manifestly Black Metal, and yet of its own rancid making. The
songs are easy to grasp, melodic and oozing a certain raw
energy, a fresh take on a well trodden path so to speak.
From the first track, Hinterland, you will succumb to a sense
of macabre charm, with |
Blodsrit’s own brew of face slashing Blackened wrath
serenading you with quite invigorating, well balanced Black
Metal. The great waves of guitar strums bolster the sound with
melody, adding individual faces to the tracks. Like a fusion
of Khold, Sadness and more recently Norwegian act Slagmaur.
There is an emphasis on mid-tempo arrangements with a mind to
drag you into the very embers of Hells boiling pus pits.
The faster sections lift the drowsy atmospheres into a more
familiar all guns blazing territory, the track, Sverige, being
the pick of the bunch here. With the Germans sweeping the
scenes outer plains with bands like Endstille, it needs a band
like Blodsrit to hold fast the Swedes traditional frontline in
this ferocious, yet enchanting side to the Black Metal genre.
www.unexplodedrecords.com |
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Epping Forest -
Everlasting Struggle (Unexploded Records) Review
by Crin |
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I
live only a few miles from Epping Forest [the one in England]
and it has as much darkly malevolence as a nun covered in
semen. Maybe Epping Forest in Portugal offers some form of
occult fascination or maybe it’s the forest in Australia that
bares the same name?? I can assure anyone who wanders through
the now patchy forested areas [much of this once vast forest
is now a maze of roads and tracks] is more likely to get shit
on by a pigeon than ritually hacked to pieces. Anyway, lets
forget the band name and concentrate on the music. The intro
of creaking wood, howling winds and scary feedback is not the
best of starts [how many times have we endured the like!] From
this uneasy start, the bludgeoning drum |
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attack hauls a similar manic guitar strum and barking vocal
tumult into a six minute head battering symphonic awakening.
From the aural carnage bleeds forth the obligatory slower,
atmospheric parts. Soft piano, ethereal synths and
mythological soundscapes. The style of lightweight aggression
entwined with orchestral themes is one that at its extreme,
evokes the likes of Bal Sagoth transmuted into a Cradle of
Filth carcass and at its creative heights, early Moonspell.
Here we have a more balanced mix of the three. After a couple
of tracks, the choppy guitars and hyper fast snare work
becomes secondary to the set pieces they are weaved around. It
is these wonderfully melodic and very well created sound clips
that lift this release above the norm. Great swooshing
keyboards, masterful guitar riffs clatter in a melee of death
grunts and blackened snarls. What is this albums downfall is
the amount of ideas and technically complex arrangements that
pepper the songs as a whole. There is so much going on, so
many twists and turns, it takes a greater many spins to digest
it all, and by then you will either be under whelmed or
insanely addicted to its frantic Blackened music.
www.unexplodedrecords.com |
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Serge - Defy The Clan
(Self Release) Review by Steve Green |
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Serge, are a band from Switzerland, not a gentleman from
France. And being from Switzerland, which is obviously close
to Germany, their sense of humour is kind of warped. On first
inspection, I couldn't discover the humorous side of the band
as mentioned in their biog. To me they were (still are come to
think of it) an extremely competent Metal band with a taste
for Sepultura and more hardcore/Punk crossover leanings. This
is a dose of old school Metal to bounce along to. The humour
is in the lyrics. But because of the caustic growled delivery
of Kéké, this isn't an obvious fact until you read the
write-ups for each song on the inlay. Maximum is about eating
fish - with rice, and Train Back, is about Serge |
taking the train to Hell, which I'm sure you'll agree isn't
really funny and the same ideal applies to practically every
song on this album. This is well played and thoroughly
enjoyable Metal. This is a million miles away from parody
Metal. The only track to make me snigger, was N.O.T.N, which
stands for Naked On The Net and is about catching your wife
involved in a major orgy with the rest of the town.
Maybe the band don't know, or don't want to, write about
serious subjects, which is a bit of a shame as the music and
the vocals are all good and deserve something a little more
substantial as a subject matter. The lyrics are just a bit
pointless and will no doubt hamper their career. A serious and
focused Serge could actually get somewhere I'm sure.
www.myspace.com/serge1700 |
www.serge747.ch |
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Soho Roses - Whatever
Happened To…The complete works of (Full Breach
Kicks)
Review by Metal Mark |
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I never heard of this band until just very recently, but Soho
Roses were a British band and they were around from 1987-1989.
They released one lp, one ep, a 12 inch single and a 7 inch
single. This cd includes all of that material plus a few
remixes. From the band name and the image my guess that they
would be like Hanoi Rocks and indeed they are. They play a mix
of glam and punk rock with the prime influences being Hanoi
Rocks, New York Dolls, Sweet, Ramones, Avengers and maybe even
DOA. The odd thing is that these songs sound like they were
done between about 1979 and 1982 rather than the late 1980's.
So apparently these guys did what they wanted rather than
following the big trends of the time. |
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That's cool because they have a good sound, but that might
also be why they didn't get any further than they did. The
vocals and overall feel is closest to Hanoi Rocks, but the
pacing leans more towards early punk rock than Hanoi Rocks
normally did. The songs are short, largely mid-tempo and
fairly simple yet fun. They are also far more straightforward than Hanoi Rocks or New York
Dolls with little quirkiness and not a lot of changes within
the songs. They pull it off, but a number of the songs are
similar to one another because they don't mix it up a whole
lot. I certainly prefer this to many of the hair bands that
were pouring out of our country at the time. There is much
more of a genuine feel to it as they manage to maintain a
great deal of energy without having the over-processed sound
that so many bands of the day suffered from. My only major
complaint is that I wish I had heard them back in the late
1980's because I would enjoyed them back then a great deal. At
least I am getting to hear them now.
www.myspace.com/sohoroses
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Soilwork - Sworn to a
Great Divide (Nuclear Blast) Review by Jesse
Ketman |
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Soilwork is one of those bands that doesn’t differ from itself
too greatly, always seemingly content to refine their
admittedly unique style rather than reinvent themselves. For
better or for worse, this draws a dividing (no pun intended)
line for fans. That is, this is a Soilwork album, and whatever
your experience or opinion of the band, this isn’t going to
change your mind. That being said, what a great fucking
refinement it is! While the song structures and style will be
instantly familiar to fans (shouts and growls on verses, clean
on choruses, and all the keyboard lines fans know and love)
with everything you would expect and hope for in a new
offering, and a little more. I was really happy with certain
songs that I felt help |
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differentiate the experience of this album from other Soilwork
offerings, if not to the greatest of extents. For example, in
The Pittsburgh Syndrome, we get to experience Soilwork at
their fastest and most brutal in a long, long time, calling to
mind their Steelbath Suicide offering, while the bonus track
Martyr shows a glorious evolution of the electric aspects that
Soilwork is so fond of, and one of the best choruses ever,
outside of Nerve (off of Stabbing the Drama), which continues
to be my favorite Soilwork track of all time. Above all else,
however, I feel more relieved than anything. With the
continued evolution of the Gothenburg sound, particularly the
near-death of what once was the beauty of In Flames (now a
disheartening mishmash of Korn-style vocals and pop-rock
sensibilities; listen to the song Come Clarity if you doubt
me), I’m content beyond words that neither Soilwork nor Dark
Tranquillity, who we all know are the other major players in
the Gothenburg genre, have chosen to adapt the sell-out sound.
Now, usually when I’m this keen on a new release, I feel the
need to tell you all about all of the tracks, but you know
what? I said it before and I’ll say it again: This is a
Soilwork album (maybe the best one), through and through,
which means everything you like or don’t like about the band
is cranked up another notch. I love this group, and the
electrified self-loathing and rage within does me good. Cheers
for sticking to your roots, guys, and I’ll see you on your
next US tour.
www.soilwork.org |
www.nuclearblast.de |
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Vader - Lead Us!!!
(Regain Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Polish death metal machine Vader once again show that they are
one of the hardest working bands in metal with the release of
yet another in between full-lengths EP, this one entitled
“Lead Us!!!”, on Regain Records. Consisting of four audio
tracks and three video clips, there isn’t any new material on
“Lead Us!!!”, but some rarities are presented here for a wider
audience.
The four audio tracks are
1) “Lead Us!!!” from “The Art Of War” EP.
2) “The Book” from “Impressions In Blood”. |
3) “Die!!!” from the Japanese version of “The Art Of War” EP
(sung in Polish).
4) “Raining Blood” from the Japanese version of “Impressions
In Blood”.
Obviously, Vader fans will want to snatch this up for the last
two tracks. The three video clips are
1) “This Is The War”, a promo video for Corion, a multiplayer
game using the design of “The Art Of War” cover art.
2) “Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)”, a standard video.
3) “Sword Of The Witcher”, a melodic original with a definite
slower pace, perhaps to reach a wider audience, used in
conjunction with “The Witcher”, a RPG PC game by Polish
software company CD Projekt.
Also of note is the introduction of a new band logo on the CD
cover art.
2007 was a banner year for Vader, finishing up the year with a
new, well received DVD release and the successful Death By
Decibels Tour in the United States (see reviews and interviews
elsewhere here at Live 4 Metal). The release of “Lead Us!!!”
demonstrates that Vader has no intention of slowing down in
2008.
www.vader.pl |
www.regainrecords.com |
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Vanity Ink - On Your Skin
(Vanity Ink/Olennainen Valittyy) Review by Metal Mark |
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This album actually came out a while ago, but I just got
around to getting a copy. Vanity Ink are certainly heavier
than I expected and although rather simplistic at times, they
approach more of the tracks with a rather furious energy that
pays off in the long run. They mix up the pace and style
rather well while still managing to stay within the realm of
hard rock. There was a song or two that reminded me of "Slave
to the Grind" era Skid Row and a song or so that reminded me
of the better material by Smashed Gladys. Yet they also manage
to forge a bit of their own style as well and it's an approach
that's worth a listen. Vanity Ink's style is heavily founded
in hard rock, but there are some strong pop driven melodies
and the music |
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even has some traces of some more basic punk rock fury as
well. Vocalist Annabella has a powerful voice and
can change the mood of the song with the inflection of her
voice. At times the music can be raw while at the same time
the vocals are smooth and yet somehow the overall effect of
this still comes off rather nicely. I was actually taken by
most of the songs right away largely due to the hooks and
catchy vocals. That's somewhat rare for me because it normally
takes more than one listen for me to warm up to many albums.
The biggest down side here was that a few tracks towards the
middle of the album didn't have quite the electric feel of the
opening and closing tracks. Since they play a rather basic
style I think there is a tendency to become a bit too
repetitive and that does happen here on a song two. However,
"On Your Skin" is primarily a good stab at bringing at least a
partially fresh spin on hard rock. I am certainly glad to see
a band take risks if if not everything works perfectly.
Definitely one to check out and keep an eye out for this band
in the future.
www.myspace.com/vanityink
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