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Alestorm - Captain
Morgan’s Revenge (Napalm Records) Review by
Nathan Ward |
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Get out your plastic cutlasses, inflatable parrots and pour
yourself a flagon of ale, ‘Captain Morgan’s Revenge’ is
finally here. I’ve been waiting for this album ever since a
friend introduced me to Alestorm, it seems like aeons ago.
After listening to the teaser tracks they had on their MySpace
page I was really looking forward to the full album.
From the opening few seconds of the first track I knew this
was going to be a great album. It’s all there; the thundering
bass, drums and guitar and the accordion style keyboards. Then
the vocals kick in, which are done in the pirate accent, just
a bit grittier. Whilst listening to some of the tracks,
there’s the feeling that you should be waving a bottle of rum |
around whilst singing along with your mates. This is more
noticeable on ‘Wenches and Mead’, which will join the likes of
Korpiklaani’s ‘Beer Beer’ or Turisas’s ‘One More’ as drinking
songs. The vocal harmonies on the album will make for great
moments during the live shows, allowing you to shout along
with your pint. Throughout the album there are great riffs,
guitar and keyboard solos, bass lines and drum beats. Alestorm
manage to keep the pirate theme all the way through the album,
the sound production is spot on; everything can be heard and
nothing is covered up.
With a high level of song writing on this album it’s hard to
choose my favourite tracks, but I’d have to say that ‘Wenches
and Mead’, ‘Over the Seas’ and ‘Terror on the High Seas’ are
in the running. From start to finished ‘Captain Morgan’s
Revenge’ is a fantastic album and I look forward to seeing
them live when they tour with Turisas in March.
www.myspace.com/alestorm |
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Ayin Aleph - I (Invencis)
Review by Steve Green |
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I know Spring seems to have come early this year, but I didn't realise
that April Fools Day had been brought forward as well. I actually wish
this was sent to me on April 1st as then maybe it would make a bit of
sense. Let me explain...
If you are aware of the Great Kat, then you'll know where I'm coming from
on this one. This is another lady inspired by the great composers, whose
"music" shoots off at ridiculous tangents and is obviously deluded into
thinking she is talented, when the rest of the world is just laughing at
her. This album is a fucking mess, and that's an understatement. The lady
in question, Aylin Aleph can sing, just about to the standard that I can.
And trust me, I'm |
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absolutely shite. This is masquerading as being inspired by
classical music and metal... well I'm sorry, it's simply a
tuneless mess, created by someone who cannot sing. This is
probably the worst cd
we've ever been sent since the site started 7 years ago, and that includes all
of the generic emo and the indie crap that's landed on my doorstep. This
is released on March 7th in the UK and I suggest you stay at home that
day and resist the temptation of buying this. I'm sure you'll manage
somehow.
www.myspace.com/ayinaleph |
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Deivos - Emanation From
Below (Metal Mind) review by Sam Thomas |
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I’ve been getting a lot recently – of brutal death to review,
o smutty minded individuals! And I have to say that the
quality is absolutely superb at the moment as well, whether it
be Swedish, Norwegian or, as in the case of Deivos, Polish.
It’s as though brutal death is going through a renaissance at
the moment, it seems to be sprouting up all over the place.
Maybe it’s something to do with global warming and the
unseasonably early spring…
Deivos have been around for about ten years now, but
“Emanation from Below” it their first full-length production.
As you might expect, given that it’s on Metal Mind, the
production is absolutely faultless. As you also might expect
from a Polish band, it is vehemently anti- |
religious, with tracks such as “No Father of Mine” and “Divine
Defilement” bludgeoning home the theme. Of course, it’s not
all about religion, there’s plenty of warfare, torture and
general everyday unpleasantness going on.
Even amongst all this darkness, there’s room for some very
nice guitar solos, particularly on “War March”, and some
rather strange sounds on “Realm of Desecration” which are
midway between souls screaming in agony and the Galaxians
tumbling down the screen in free-fall, just to remind us all
that brutality doesn’t have to be mindless. And of course,
that’s exactly what I like about this album, it’s very well
put together, well performed and (if you read the lyrics)
quite thought-provoking. All in all, another blinding release
in the brutal death genre.
www.deivos.metal.pl |
www.myspace.com/deivos |
www.metalmind.com.pl |
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Firebrands - First The
Flash Then The Pulse (EMI/Groovy Records
International)
Review by Metal Mark |
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Firebrands have 5 members of 5 different cultures and they
came together bringing some different musical backgrounds.
Even though they have only been around for less than three
years they have already opened for Puddle of Mudd, Tommy Lee
and Jet. The prime sound here is say early-mid 1990’s heavy
alternative music drawing on, but not limited to Faith No
More, Rage Against The Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The songs are largely mid-tempo, but the vocals often add some
real fire and intensity at times. There are plenty of moments
where they are not afraid to incorporate different sounds and
tones as well. Firebrands play a fairly steady style of heavy
music that is comfortable, but certainly |
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not earth shattering. They have a solid grasp on what it takes
to maintain the entire track and that’s great, but I had
trouble getting past the “nothing new” factor. I can easily
recognize that they are comfortable and confident with what
they are doing, but it was really just decent material that I
am going to have trouble remembering a day after I heard it.
www.myspace.com/firebrandsrock |
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Frozen - In Time
(Self Release) Review by Nathan Ward |
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It’s always interesting when genres of metal collide. Thrash
metal for example came about because some American bands
combined heavy metal and speed metal. ‘In Time’ is another
combination of metal genres, Black metal and Power/Thrash
metal.
Frozen have the image of your typical Black Metal band, black
and white face paint and scowling looks all round. The vocals
and drums are of the black metal style, whereas the guitars
take more from the Power and Thrash side of metal. But don’t
go thinking; “So there are no black metal riffs then?” The
album still has these styles of riffs. There is also a lot of
lead work dotted about the album, which to me sound like they
have an Iced Earth |
influence. The fusion of these two styles works extremely
well, the powerful/melodic guitars, powerful drums and bass
and the growling vocals complement each other, giving you the
aggressive stuff to mosh and headbang to and
the melodic lead work to air guitar to.
The songs which stand out on the album for me are: ‘Nagash
Hellscream’, ‘The Dreams in the Witch House’ and ‘Decaying
Soul’. For me these give a good taste of what the album is
about. So all in all, this is a really good, solid album,
which contains a nice blend of various styles of metal that
doesn’t fall apart anywhere on the album. ‘In Time’ will
appeal to those who like their metal riff based and also to
those who like the black metal side of things.
www.frozen-in-hell.com |
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Grotesque Hysterectomy - Reek
(Støy Music) review by Sam Thomas |
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It’s an unwritten rule. Swedes do death metal, Norwegians do black metal.
And then along come Grotesque Hysterectomy (from Norway) who decide to do
death metal. And they do it rather well. There’s no apologetic, well we
are Norwegian, we can’t be expected to get it right sort of crap in Reek.
It’s straight at you, brutal death metal. From Norway.
Reek is the first full length album (although that may be
stretching the point a little – it’s just a shade over twenty
minutes, but to quote vocalist Disfigured Chest “We will not
release a gay 70-minute album … EVER!”) which comes with a
“do-it-yourself” hysterectomy kit for the first 100 CDs. This
has to be one of the most off-the-wall freebies ever, even in
the |
world of extreme metal!
As for the music itself, it’s very good. The brutal side of it is more of
the persistent low buzzing variety (think colony of bees in box amplified
with added bass, or low rumble of train approaching in a tunnel) rather
than the bludgeoning axe variety, but the vocals are absolutely perfect –
distorted, yes, but still perfectly comprehensible (to aficionados of the
genre at least). After all, it would be a huge shame to not be able to
make out the words to such delights as “The Reek of Infected Bowel”. In
that regard, the final two tracks are probably my favourites, particularly
“Obeyer” with its everyday tale of torture and domination.
This is a very neat little release, and, once again, it shows that there’s
a hell of a lot of real quality brutal metal out there. Congratulations to
the Norwegians for absolutely nailing a Swedish genre!
www.myspace.com/grotesquehysterectomy
| www.stoy.no |
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Iron Maiden - Live After
Death DVD (Universal) Review by Metal Mark |
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I remember back in late 1985 being in awe of the huge Live
After Death display at the mall record store as I stood in
line waiting to pay for my copy of it on cassette. I was even
more in awe when I actually listened to the tape and of course
I just about wore the tape out. A few years later I bought the
VHS version and was just struck by the overwhelming sounds and
sights of this show. Of course I wore out the VHS copy with
many repeated viewings, but now twenty something years later
we get it on DVD. It’s a two disc set and the first disc is
the show that was recorded at the Long Beach Arena back in
1985 on the huge World Slavery tour which was of course in
support of Maiden’s fifth effort the 1984 release “Powerslave”.
When this was recorded live concert videos were a fairly new
concept yet Maiden set out to capture their live show and
indeed they did. The visual side is that it was amazing then
and it still is with the huge sets and incredible lightning.
However that only |
adds to the real attraction which is the music and what an
attraction it is. As individuals, each member of this line-up
was a tremendous musician, but together they sounded
effortlessly phenomenal. Then add in the writing and you have
undeniably the best metal band of the 1980’s and perhaps the
best of all time. For this show Bruce is all over the place,
hitting every note, running and just helping keep the machine
constantly going. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith are easily the
best all time guitar duo in metal and it normally seemed as if
Maiden’s songs had enough guitar parts to make three songs for
normal bands yet it never felt cluttered because they knew how
to arrange the songs just right. Nicko
McBrain is just tearing it apart behind the kit and looking
like he is having the time of his life and he probably is. Of
course Steve Harris just makes it look way too easy as he lays
down the meanest, busiest bass lines in metal and rarely even
looks at what he is doing. I am sorry, but if you like metal
and I mean real metal than you just really have to realize the
greatness of this band and their importance to the genre. All
too often hard rock and metal gets put down for being more
about image than talent yet Maiden were and still are the
prime example of a metal band with tremendous writing and
playing ability. On DVD this show looks and sounds better than
ever.
The second disc has the band’s show from Rock in Rio in early
1985, video clips for Aces High and Two minutes to Midnight,
‘ello Texas feature from 1983, the Behind the Iron Curtain
documentary and The History of Iron Maiden - Part 2
documentary. My favorite feature from disc two is the History
of Iron Maiden – Part 2 documentary because it tells all about
the making of Powerslave and the subsequent tour. It includes
a lot of interviews and behind the scenes footage that really
allows one to fully appreciate the huge endeavor that this
band undertook. This DVD would have been an amazing release if
it were just the 1985 concert, but all the extras are just
icing on the cake for this great package.
www.ironmaiden.com |
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Jorn - The Gathering
(Locomotive) Review by Metal Mark |
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This is my first exposure to Jorn Lande’s solo material and
largely what I have heard about his albums, was how good the
vocals are. This is a compilation that includes sixteen tracks
and indeed the vocals are good and they very much remind me of
Dave Coverdale's vocals although the music here leans more
towards metal than hard rock. I would say the music reminds me
a great deal of 80’s Dio as far as the style of the riffs and
the level of heaviness goes. The production is extremely
strong and sharp, allowing listeners to get a good grasp on
everything that’s going. So why then am I not thrilled by this
album? Well, although I certainly like it, there was just
something bothering me as I listened to it. That problem has |
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to do with pace and approach, primarily with the vocals. With
bands like Dio or Whitesnake, they knew how to build the song
and raise it to a peak with vocal and musical inflections.
Largely this album is lacking that because most of the tracks
just have the vocals plunging forward with little build-up.
Yes, he can sing and the music is good, but the overall song
structure often works against the band. The songs are not
allowing them to get the most out of their ability. Sometimes
getting the most isn’t about the quantity of vocals or guitar
riffs, but rather about getting the most out of every single
note. I get the impression that the music and vocals have a
bit too much of a rushed feel to them and that keeps this
album from being little more a decent album with some real
potential.
www.jornlande.com |
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Noekk - The Minstrels
Curse (Prophecy Records) Review by Chris Davison |
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Blimey, this is a tough one. On the one hand, I usually quite
like sorting out reviews of short albums – and this is one of
those, with only four tracks (though they total over thirty
four minutes in length), but this is unbelievably tricky to
review. This isn't a bad thing, however, as the reason why
short albums are easy to write for is because there isn't a
lot to write about – and here there most definitely is.
Noekk (apparently the name of a fairytale bad egg who did,
like, bad things and that) are a two piece hailing from
Germany. The music contained here is pretty much beyond easy
categorisation; what I originally (having listened to the
first few bars on the eponymous |
opening track) thought was going to a retro-flavoured doom
outfit that sat somewhere between the Spiritual Beggars and
Witchcraft, soon opened up out into something far stranger.
The vocals here are deep, operatic and immaculately sung,
while tasteful organ sounds accompany expansive yet pleasingly
chunky riffage. In the true
meaning of the word, this is progressive music. All four songs
are well over the five minute mark, with the truly epic
closing track “The Rumour and the Giantess” weighing in at
over fourteen minutes in length.
I don't think that this is strictly metal, though there are
clearly metal roots here, most often in the chugging,
downhearted riffing that brings to mind a doom heritage. The
song structures are so different to most metal, however, that
this is clearly the fruit of a progressive leaning set of
songwriters. I'm not well versed in most progressive music at
all, to be honest, eschewing it as beard-stroking,
navel-gazing, drug-taking nonsense, but this has gripped me a
fair bit. It's certainly not going to be an album that you can
pop on to enjoy without any great amount of effort on your
part. If you can put the time in, this is certainly a
recording that will reward your investment. It's cerebral
music, for sure, but without ever thinking itself clever.
Isn't that the way that the most intelligent music should be?
www.prophecy.cd |
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Nucleus Torn - Knell
(Prophecy) Review by Steve Green |
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I'm normally
a big fan of the releases on Prophecy, but this one is bloody
hard going. I guess the biggest problem for me, is that this
album just doesn't gel. With four long songs, clocking in at
almost an hour, it takes something special to keep your
attention for the duration of the album, and Knell just
doesn't have it. The four tracks are inventively titled I, II,
III and IV, so you'll know why I don't mention each song by
name. The first song is an acoustic affair, with female vocals
and is best described as minimalist. When the Doomy part
finally kicks in, I'm already looking to nod off, and I
normally like this kind of stuff. Second song, has the longest
intro ever, with the vocals, male this time, taking over 4 |
minutes to make an appearance. Look, it's a vast improvement
on song one, but these songs are too long winded for their own
good. Cut out the crap and I'm sure the listener will be more
enthusiastic, as would this reviewer.
Song three, and my god, this one plugs in, in under a minute
and is so much better for it. It grabs you immediately and it
manages to hold your attention. Which is darn good considering
the experimental feel to the rhythms. The overall sound
reminds me of HEart of the Ages era In The Woods, especially
with the guitar tone, which borders on Black Metal. As we hit
the five minute mark, the cacophony calms down and the
tranquillity returns... and carries on until the song reaches
the 29 minutes mark. Sorry, that's taking the piss, especially
as almost nothing happens in the last half of the song. Do I
care what happens on the last track? Not really, at only about
4 minutes, it's a tame way to end a confusing, and at times,
extremely boring album. Sorry, this one's not for me.
www.prophecy.cd |
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Overdrive - Let The Metal
Do The Talking (Lion Music) By: Joe Florez |
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I
have no idea how this band passed me by. They were an 80’s
true metal band and I was into this music as soon as I was
introduced into metal in the late 80’s. The band’s last
release was twenty-four years ago and it’s only now that they
have surfaced again, but with a new vocalist. The simplistic,
catchy and fierce riffs opens “Army Of Darkness.” Very dated
sounding, but with a better production. The drums just pound
away and Per’s voice is a combo of mid to high range. It fits
this music so perfectly. The solos are there with a touch of
flash and is predictable, but fun. This one really sets the
tone for what to come. So, hold on tight. The title track will
bring you back to the decade of decadence. Even though |
it’s metal, you can hear the touch of glam in it. Great guitar
work with a touch of blues slide guitar action in here and it
works mighty finely. I have to admit that everything on is
pretty much the same with the exception of varied speeds. Each
track is loaded with vibrant energy and a passion for the
past. Nothing is original on here, but is fun if you like to
reminisce about the good old days of spandex and hairspray. I
would have to say that I would avoid if you are looking for
something more, but if you can handle hearing something you
have heard before then it’s all good.
www.lionmusic.com |
www.overdrive.se |
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| Stuck Mojo - Southern Born Killers
(Napalm Records) Review by
Steve Green |
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I wanted this album to be covered by a real fan of
the band, but it seems we have none amongst the Live 4 Metal massive.
That's fine with me, as although I'm not a fan, I've crossed paths with
the band a couple of times before, including catching them live once. And
as it turned out, I've really enjoyed this album.
Being a fan of extreme hip-hop in the past, mainly with Onyx
and Public Enemy, I immediately felt at home with the music
and vocals on Southern Born Killers. From the opening Rage
Against The Machine rap-metal blast of I'm American to the
Public Enemy vibe of Metal Is Dead, which I attribute more to
Lord Nelson's vocals than the music. The |
guy is a dead ringer for Chuck D. The only thing I'm not over
the moon with is the lyrical, political edge. For The Cause Of
Allah is more of a radio broadcast set over a hip-hop beat and
I'm American is pure patriotic fantasy. I'm sorry, I'm not
trying to piss off a whole bunch of our readership with my
views, but I've never understood the need to be so over the
top in being patriotic. I feel it much better to be a decent
person, than to kiss the ass of my flag. But I can live
without being a fan of the lyrics, or more accurately, the
subject matter, as the music really is top notch. I think the
lyrics on Southern Born Killers are meant to provoke a
reaction, especially with the war on terrorism, which is the
subject matter of Open Season. I much prefer the bands angle
of attack on this one and the song is, by far, the highlight
of the album.
This one will be out in time for their European tour with Ektomorf. And is
well worth picking up.
www.napalmrecords.com |
www.stuckmojo.us |
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