|
|
|
|
|
Charlotte's Shadow - Eternal Sleep (Self
Release) Review by Steve Green |
 |
If you are a fan of the 80s Goth
scene, then you are going to love Charlotte's Shadow. Ok, this isn't the
the most original cd ever released, but for pure retro action, you can't
beat the feel good factor of the music. When I first heard The Key, I
though I was hearing The Cure and possibly a cover of Friday I'm In Love.
It's not until the vocals come in, that you notice the difference. They're
like a electronically altered version of Pete Steele and I don't know if
they're so over-produced to make them stand out, or to cover a deficiency
in the frontmans vocals. I'm going to plump for the latter, although it
doesn't really matter, as they fit the music perfectly. |
| Cold is again pure 80s Gothdom, with a bouncy keyboard makeover and is
damn near impossible not to enjoy. The One is far more upbeat and is so
familiar it's doing my head in as I'm trying to remind myself who it
sounds like. I have the same problem with the final number, a radio edit
of Hush. A great song that just takes me back to the 80s. Charlotte's
Shadow seem to want to embrace the whole of the 80s Goth scene and every
possible subgenre, so if you liked The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy and more
keyboard orientated bands such as Depeche Mode and countless other
similar bands, then you are going to like this. Good stuff.
www.charlottesshadow.com
|
| |
|
Dallas Perkins -
Unbecoming (Self Produced) Review by Metal Mark |
 |
Guitarist/vocalist Dallas Perkins has composed a four song EP
that left me a little puzzled. So puzzled that I had to listen
to the CD several times to really get a solid enough grasp on
how I felt towards it. When a hard rock guitarist has his or
her name on the CD I automatically wonder and fear that it
will be someone trying so hard to be a virtuoso. Mr. Perkins
throws around some assorted wizardry, but largely it helps or
at least is meant to help the overall song. His style reminds
me some of Eric Johnson, but of course it leans much more
towards a hard rock sound. The overall sound is a bit 90’s
rock sounding perhaps leaning towards the earlier part of the
decade. The first track “Taken Alive” was a |
|
little dull for me outside of the early guitar flurry.
However, the other three songs fair a bit better as the
writing is considerably stronger on those tracks. The vocals
are fine and the music pushes forward with equal amounts of
smoothness and a certain edgy quality. It’s not something I
could listen to every day, but there the approach and the
amount of various guitar tones certainly maintained my
interest. The production was down a little from where I think
it needed to be, but that’s fairly minor. If this had been
like thirteen years ago then it would have been more
thrilling, but it’s decent by today’s standards.
www.dallasperkins.com |
| |
|
Floodstain - Dreams Make Monsters (BadMoodMan
Music) Review by Steve Green |
 |
Although I enjoyed this album on my first couple of spins, I considered it
nothing more that good, solid, Stoner Rock... and then it began to click
with my brain. This album is actually pretty damn good, and some of the
material, just out of this world.
Opening number Monster, is exactly what you would expect to hear: huge
riffs, a cool rhythm and smooth archetypal Stoner vocals. No surprises,
just good clean rockin' fun. Then Love Is Poison rocks in and immediately,
you are on familiar ground. I've no idea who this song reminds
me of, but it's fucking good and is a couple of levels above
the norm in terms of quality and accessibility. Trailblazer is
again, typical Stoner Rock and something |
you'd expect to hear on Small Stone, or any other similar
label. And then we get You Lose Alone...
I tried writing a song on my sisters Bontempi keyboard when I was about 12
years old. As you'd expect, it was shit. Man, I would kill to be able to
write a song like You Lose Alone. Grab a hold of this album just to add
this song to your collection. How does it sound? Kind of like Neil Young
and Jimi Hendrix jamming with Soundgarden and Black Sabbath for over eight
and a half minutes. Look, sometimes you just connect with a song, and I
have with this one, big time and it really makes this album into something
special.
With three songs left, nothing is going to touch You Lose Alone, but it's
still cool as shit, hot rocking music. Deathwish fires up an infectious neck
snapping groove, while Stray Dogs slows it down and drifts away into a
smoke fuelled oblivion. Bringing up the rear is the acoustic led End Of
Trail, which displays a nice change, not only of pace, but of texture too,
and it's also a very cool way to end the album. And that only leaves me to
say, that this cd comes very highly recommended.
www.solitude-prod.com |
www.myspace.com/floodstainstonerrock |
| |
|
Idols Are Dead - Mean
(Scarlet) Review by Robert Beeton |
 |
Once every while bands awake around the world and start their
journeys, yet only a select few are out to be defiant and
conquer the world. These are the strong contenders and
recently from the Italian shores, come a band that has
combined the elements in their anatomy of bands such as the
thrash metal legends Metallica, Slayer, Testament and Anthrax.
But not only have they taken sounds from bands which you could
say have set the foundations, but from more new recent bands
such as Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine Atreyu and Avenged
Sevenfold. And so a new cutting edge breed of “modern” old
school thrash has come and one of the first of its kind are
“Idols are Dead”. |
I've heard a lot of metal that sets off sparks and I've heard
a load of recent bands that all kick ass and I believe that
“Idols are Dead” are going to go far and make a mark in metal.
The Members that make up this thrash metal 5 piece include the
founders Mana on vocals and Luka (drums) followed with the
talented Alley-X (guitar), Ico (guitar) and then finally Maxx
C on Bass. This band has all the elements needed to make it
far as they have come from backgrounds such as being part of
the nineties band “Electrocution” and “Folder”. Not only do
they have experience from being apart of these bands but they
members who were in “Folder” took part in releasing two full
length albums, a giant European tour and a collaboration with
“Stuck Mojo”. So they have what it needs and this can be seen
in their debut album “Mean”. An album which I had a hard time
finding any fault with it. Yet, as I listened to it, all I
could see was aggression and power intensity and great
complicity which made up a great thrash album. Through Mana’s
vocals you could hear hints of James Hetfield (Metallic).
Through the drums you could hear the thunder and force that
you would hear in Testament and Anthrax. The guitars had the
edge and crispness that could be heard through sounds produced
by Avenged Sevenfold and bass that, well, was just hard to
relate to any band. Among its nine tracks which like many
classic albums had this length there is nothing short of a
good track. With many favourites it was hard to say which the
highlights were.
“The Name Of My Rage” is one of those types of tracks that
will get you really fuelled up to go crazy like a mad man.
This purely excited me. In order to get the full power from
this track I had to put this on my main hi-fi and crank up the
volume. I stood in front of the speakers and from the almighty
build-up, it felt like I was going be blown away. The power I
could feel going through me, it felt like if this was turned
up ten times louder then the flesh would be melted of my bones
and my organs dissolved by the hard to breath blast that I
could feel piercing through my body. The track went into
sections of marching pace yet this didn’t matter as it still
felt you eyes were being ripped out from their sockets. It
felt like that each slice of guitar was like your person being
ripped apart by magazines worth of bullets. Need I say more?
One of my favourites had to be “Proud To Be Sick.” The intro
alone sets the track off with a gruesome riff and
chainfire-esque rumble of bass pedal and snare. You get a
feeling of a large storm brewing about to take anything in its
path. This track has the brutality and sheer authority that
makes it sound like a giant monster prowling around ready to
destroy anything with its mighty fists. Tempo and intricate
waves of weaving vocals and guitar combined with a dramatic
colossus of roaring drums makes the foundations for a great
circle pit starter. “Idols Are Dead” have delivered and
exceptional first album and have proven they mean business in
the thrash scene. They are ready to conquer the thrash world
and riot in venues across the lands. A great album definitely
worth buying!!
“Idols are Dead” debut album “Mean” is out now through Scarlet
www.scarletrecords.it |
| |
| K.O.B.U.S! - Swaar
Metaal (Rhythm Records) Review by Marco Gaminara |
 |
I received their complete back catalogue (3 CDs) last week,
and while the first two were released under the name KOBUS!
And were kinda rock/pop/funking weird in a Mr. Bungle sort of
way, their latest album has had them change name to K.O.B.U.S!
And style to 'Swaar Metaal', which happens to be Afrikaans for
Heavy Metal. Yup, the Cape Town based duo of Theo Crous
(Guitars) and Francois Blom (Vocals, Keyboards, FX) have added
Paul Blom (Drums) and Pierre Tredoux (Bass) to transform
themselves into the metal band they should've been all along.
For those not in the know, the Blom brothers were previously
in South African metal stalwarts V.O.D. and Francois's
distinctive vocals |
|
are primal, raw and as aggressive as ever. He swaps from death
growls to high pitched Manowar like
shrieks and throws some crooning in there for good measure
too, and all in Afrikaans 'nogal'. Paul's battery is as
charged as one would expect it to be as his snare and kick
drums try to outrace and overpower each other. Theo's guitars
wail from lead to low and heavy rhythms that 'kick poes' as my
guitarist likes to say. Pierre's bass isn't overbearing in the
mix but fills out the sound perfectly. Starting with near
silence for almost a minute before a catchy tune kicks in and
takes you on this journey through "Honger" where things only
get heavier and faster, mostly. There are a couple political
issues about ZA brought to light in "Witman", "N.J.S.A." and "Doodstraf"
and are food for thought to those that can understand what's
going on, lyrically and politically. No metal album would be
complete without a song about teen angst and "Tienerangs" is
just that track on this album, but with a difference... Yes
the world owes you nothing so fucking get over it. Heh, heh. "Huigelaar"
is kinda their version of "Send Me Your Money", but while not
only ripping of evangelical xians, they are suggesting that
buying their CDs shall get you into heaven, so one can't
really go wrong doing that. The beautiful instrumental "Die
Vlam" ("The Flame") just glides along and soothes as it
purges, while "Kinderhel" slowly pounds its message about
child abuse home with its childlike melodies. Taking on a bit
of a black metal tinge with its majestic keyboards "AMEN"
reminds me a bit of the slower Dimmu numbers. The title track
"Swaar Metaal" is exactly what you'd expect it to be, a balls
to the wall thrash attack that has hints of Accept and Slayer
and is fun to boot. Outro track "Luister FKN Hard" has you
listen really hard to the sounds of rain (or is it vinyl on a
turntable?) for anything else that could just be happening in
the background, which can be an experience in itself. Fucking
awesome album and definitely worth tracking down if you enjoy
anything you hear or see on their website where there are
MP3's and videos.
www.KobusMusic.com |
www.RhythmRecords.co.za |
| |
|
Marco Sfogli - There’s Hope
(Lion Music) By: Joe Florez |
 |
Here’s another guitarist that is trying to be noticed and has
a debut album out that he wants you to hear. If this name
slightly rings a bell, it should. He has worked with Jordan
Rudess, James LaBrie’s solo record and John Macaluso as well
as others. Now, it’s time to show everyone what he has up his
sleeve. I automatically assumed that with a solo artists
release I could expect a full on shred assault filled with
overkill wankery, but that’s not the case here. There is a lot
more to this man’s music. “Still Hurts” is the opening track
and while this doesn’t melt off your face off right from the
get go, it’s still a joy to listen to if you can expand your
horizons. This track is performed more from the heart than the
head. This is a |
very poppy track, but there is some light shred action here
and it’s not all fluff. You can feel the emotions running
through the man’s hands here and there is even some heaviness
added to the mix. Plenty of change ups run amok on here, but
it keeps things fresh and exciting. I really felt what was
going on with the track. Hopefully the rest of the album can
contain the same enthusiasm as cut one. “Andromeda” is a
playful track that is upbeat, colorful and
full of life. Marco shows off his chops here that are both
technical and simplistic that makes for one pleasurable
listen. “Spread The Disease” has a more rock flair with hints
of a seventies vibe thanks to the Hammond organ playing that
is akin to Deep Purple. Rock on! There is plenty of depth and
dimension to “There’s Hope.” You can call it experimental, but
I like to just say that the man simply expands his horizons
and opts to travel down several roads rather than one. It’s
all in here whether it’s proggy, shred, pop, synthetic or all
of the above. The one thing for certain is that if you can
open your mind a bit you will find something on here to enjoy
and this disc will warrant repeat listens for obvious reasons.
Marco is an individual that doesn’t deserve to be overlooked.
Show him some love.
www.lionmusic.com |
www.marcosfogli.com
|
| |
|
Skogyr - Rain Chants
(Badmoodman Music) Review by Crin |
 |
Russian atmospheric pagan metal that is a set of instrumental
passages invoking the olden skies to recall their distant
images of fire, wind and battle. This is not the yawning synth
movements made unbearably popular by Mortis. Here we have an
Opeth like musical soundscape without the vocals. The album is
broken into six tracks, all sewn into one epic theme. With
guitars, drums and keyboards driving the sound along, it is
frustrating when the expected vocal appearance never arrive,
but that’s just a small gripe. Once this small irritant is set
aside, there is great warmth to be discovered from the
up-lifting arrangements. Track two is a twelve minute journey
of meandering pagan metal with rousing guitar riffs and |
sweeping keyboards. Track three clocks in at thirteen minutes,
again dragging you into a wordless musical mist of sweeping
rhythms and pagan atmospheres. This is an album to set loose
your mind, to let go of your thoughts and be swept away on
long ships set against a backdrop of tree smothered mountains,
peaks gleaming with an icy hue. The final track is the theme
from Silent Hill, utterly rousing stuff.
An unusual release, and yet a rewarding one if you have the
time to relax to a Black primitive Pink Floyd musical style
stripped to the bare bones.
www.solitude-prod.com |
| |
|
Tantric - The End Begins (Silent Majority Group/Warner) Review by Steve Green |
 |
As with Vayden, who are reviewed below, this is probably a little more
mainstream than I normally listen to, but once again, I can't fault this
in terms of quality. Arena Rock, aimed at a US audience and one that has
obviously taken to Tantric in the past. A platinum record, successful
tours with the likes of Nickelback and Creed, this is a band that have
tasted more success than most. And before you dismiss this as another
faceless act, take the time to discover what they are all about. What
makes Tantric different is fact that they utilise a violin, to make them
stand out in a crowded market. Sometimes it's used in an upbeat rock
format, and other times it's used in a more classical manner. It's an
instrument I love, and I |
like how Tantric incorporate it into their music.
As the album progresses, I do tend to become worn down as their isn't
enough rocking going on. The more upbeat songs seems to have been placed
at the beginning of the album and the latter material is too pedestrian
for me, the exception being the guitar orientated Monopoly, which
perversely, after wanting something heavier, I didn't really like it. But
hey, shit happens.
Summing up, I'm not denying that this is radio friendly rock, I'm just
saying don't be prejudiced before you even hear it, because The End Begins
has a number of good songs on it. I just fear that the majority of this album
won't be loud enough for your average Metalhead.
www.myspace.com/tantric |
| |
|
Vayden - Children Of Our Mistakes (Silent Majority Group/Warner) Review by Steve Green |
 |
This album is a re-issue from 2006. The new version is to be re-mixed,
re-mastered and as my promo is labelled as "demo versions", I'm guessing I
have the original album mix, but no matter, as what's coming out of my
speakers is still sounding good.
I wouldn't say that Vayden are my normal type of band, they mix a high
octane modern approach, with an alternative edge that borders on grunge,
with both Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots instantly springing to mind.
I'd even throw a dash of arena rock into the equation as well. They
constantly mix up a various number of styles, but it works brilliantly.
For example, the title track explodes from the speakers, flailing wildly,
before it falls away |
for an impassioned vocal display backed by a lone, albeit
exquisite violin. I guess the highlight for me, is the mixture
of the passion and the energy. You can really feel what Vayden are all about.
Unfortunately, at times this is a little slick for me, a bit too clean:
Fallen being a prime example and at other times, they aren't quite heavy
enough. But there's no denying that Vayden are convincing as a band. They
click as a unit, and there's no escaping the fact that they've got soul, I
just wish they were a bit heavier as I wanted to like this a lot more than
I did. Those with more mainstream tastes will lap this up I'm sure.
www.myspace.com/vayden |
| |
|
Voodoo Six - First Hit For Free
(White Knuckle) Review by Metal Mark |
 |
Voodoo Six claim to be highly influenced by 1970's and early 80's rock and
I can hear that to some extent. However I think their sound is more like
those older influences as funneled through late 80's-early 90's bands such
as Soundgarden and Guns and Roses. In Voodoo Six we get a hard rock outfit
where not only is every member a talented musician, but they
also bring far more life to their songs than most of the hard
rock acts of today. I think they manage to bring technical
ability plus soul and emotion and let these parts help elevate
their music as a whole. It's obvious that they put some work
in towards making each song have it's own identity. Okay, they
have their influences and they are obvious, but Voodoo Six are |
|
at least beginning to develop their own ideas as well. They
also handle their music with a great deal of confidence and
poise as they obviously believe in what they are doing and
that fact shines through on this release. This is a band who
managed to blend melodies with some rough pounding rhythms
that will stick in your head long after the CD stops. The
biggest problem I had was they are a little repetitious at
times and this seems to come when they try to stretch a song a
little past when they should have stopped. Still, this is one
of the more exciting hard rock releases I have heard in a
while and my hope that Voodoo Six keep pushing and punching
away at a hard rock scene that could certainly use the burst
of energy and skill that they so obviously possess.
www.myspace.com/voodoosix |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
