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Atrox - Binocular
(Season of Mist) Review by Metal Mark |
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If someone said say the first word that comes to mind when I
say “Atox’s Binocular” then my answer would be “water”. In
part because of the blue cover, but even more so because the
music, noises and tones produced on this album have a feel
that make me think of hearing sounds under the water. I often
got the sense that the echoes and vibrations of the music on
this album were just as important to the band as the actual
music itself. This is listed on the case as both experimental
and avant garde metal. Although I wouldn’t say that is wrong,
I would certainly note they would fall towards the subtle end
of those styles. Whether or not that’s great or not, depends
on your preference. I found that I was able to |
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focus more on each individual sound because they avoided being
too busy or bogged down by having so much going on that you
missed out. I felt like I absorbed a great deal of what was
going on and I think they had a strong plan on what to do and
they stuck to it. I wouldn’t say it was mind bending or
outstanding, yet it was certainly interesting. I would add
that this is definitely the kind of release where you need as
little outside distractions going on as possible. If you want
to really hear all that this album has to offer then you need
to focus on just this because there is quite a bit going on.
www.myspace.com/atroxno |
www.season-of-mist.com |
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At The Soundawn - Red Square: We Come In Waves
(Lifeforce
Records)
Review by Luke Goaman-Dodson |
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The post-rock-meets-hardcore-meets-metal fad is coming to its
tail end, and will inevitably implode in good time once the
point of saturation is reached. However, that point is not
quite here yet, and there are still some decent sounds to be
coaxed from the pile, as Italy’s At The Soundawn have shown.
Despite using the basic standard recipe – 2 oz. Tool, 1 fl oz.
Neurosis filtered through the Hydra Head roster, a drizzle of
Mogwai, and a dusting of Radiohead – ATS still manage to
produce the combination of heaviness, melodicism, and
atmosphere that this style evokes at its best, and this album
has grown on me considerably with each listen. Vocalist Mirco
sounds a bit like Jamey Jasta when he screams, which gives |
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the music a good dose of solidity and keeps it from sounding
fey or screamo-like. The band relies heavily on quiet-loud-quiet
dynamics, best shown on the album’s standout track ‘One Day
Before’, which switches back and forth between a pleasant,
Sonic Youth-ish melody and a surprisingly heavy main riff.
‘Phone Will’, another excellent track, brings up the tempo a
little bit, before pulling back to reveal a pulsating bass
line reminiscent of A Perfect Circle’s ‘The Package’. The
influence of Maynard James Keenan crops up again on ‘Frames Of
You’, one of the better homages to Tool that I’ve come across.
The only track that I couldn’t really get into was ‘Rain
Falls’, which was just a bit poppy and melodic for my tastes,
but that was just a minor blip on what was otherwise an
excellent album. Anyone with an ear for the likes of Pelican,
Isis, Deftones, and the like should definitely give this a
listen.
www.myspace.com/atthesoundawn |
www.lifeforcerecords.com |
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Breakdust - Mutilated
Earth (666 Productions) Review by Strawb |
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Bonjour, et aujourd hui dicouvrir le renouveau du thrash
français - s'appelait BreakDust. – discuter. Five hundred
words and on my desk by Monday [Sorry, showing my age again,
would that be and email to me by the deadline?]
So today we find ourselves in a European country where I do
parlez un peu of the language. Welcome to the world of French
thrash / metal. The website picture of the band shows all of
the members have the hair, looks and attitude required, even
if I initially thought I had been hijacked to the ‘one of
these men is a serial killer, select A B C or D’ site. And
whilst I do this my ears are suffering a serious assault from
the musical talents being |
exercised. It has to be loud and whilst it is fast it is not
the speediest I have heard. The mixing is very good, giving
each band member priority at times, but blending so none are
forced in to the background. And after my previously
journalled Italian experiences, the English is structured and
understandable. I have no favourite track, and there are no
outstanding ones, just constant standards throughout.
On a recent trip to visit relatives, I played this to a car
full of people. “Vomit rock, must we?” seemed to be the most
prevalent comment, but I may have missed others as I was
headbanging in that limited style displayed by most people
engaged in driving at 70+ MPH. “They’re tight though” was
definitely heard. The musical brother –in-law also partook in
the following “The drummer is just going for speed.” “Yes, but
he is fast and it provides the backbone for who they are”
“Right, but Carl Palmer did it thirty years ago, and faster,
but he could play as well” and about there I felt the hoisting
by my own petard, but having had three days to think of my
reply would make it “Bollocks” or more correctly that
Breakdust wouldn’t water ELP in a pyrotechnics emergency.
The bio of the group supplied would indicate that nothing in
their history has been rushed, like a good wine, the maturing
has been slow, from inception in 1997, through band changes to
the settling with the current line up in 2003. A few demos
have been served up, but this is the debut album only just
released. Did I say wine? Maybe a crusty port would be a
better simile. As my musical horizons stretch to new limits, I
welcome Breakdust on board. This is an album I have put on my
iPod and will definitely play again. Now.
L’internet est ici -
www.breakdust.com |
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Destinity - The Inside
(Lifeforce Records) review by Sam
Thomas |
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Destinity are a French band, from Lyon, who have been around
for more than ten years, but have so far not managed to
achieve much of a profile outside of France. Things could be
set to change, however, as they’ve signed to Lifeforce Records
(they were previously on Adipocere, home of some quite amazing
French underground acts) and seem to be ready to unleash their
sound on a willing world…
They play a very skilful brand of melodic death metal with an
uncompromising level of brutality, which is very, very good to
listen to. If you can imagine the vocals of Hypocrisy,
overlaid on the heavier end of the Gothenburg bands, you might
not be a million light years |
away from the sound. But then again, there are also passages
that, taken in isolation, could mislead you into thinking of
the symphonic majesty of Dimmu
Borgir... There’s a ridiculously high level of musicianship on
display here, particularly in the twin guitars of Zephiros and
(I kid you not) Ponce. The album races along, with some of the
best guitar work I’ve heard outside of power metal bands, and
it’s not until it’s finally over that you realise quite how
brutal it really is. The quality of silence that appears as
the CD finishes is so deafening that you appreciate just what
a torrent of sound has been flowing around you for the
previous forty something minutes.
One interesting tendency that Destinity have is to insert
little passages of music that could very well serve as an
intro (there’s one that sounds very Dimmu Borgir, one that
sounds very Finntroll) into the middle or end of an existing
track and make them sound as though they couldn’t possibly
belong anywhere else.
It’s very rare to come across a band who are so unknown and
yet are so thoroughly accomplished. Rarer still to come across
a band who have written music that is so original and
well-constructed. Another case of trying to track down their
previous releases, I fear.
In summary, then, outstanding melodic death metal with an
intense brutality and superb guitars. How much more could you
ask for? www.destinity.net
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Elffor - Son Of The Shades (Northern Silence) Review by Steve
Green |
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It seems the race for my favourite album of the year just intensified, and
it's still only the end of April. This is the 2nd of four re-issues from
Elffor, an Ambient/Medieval Black Metal project from Spain. Son Of The
Shades was originally released in 2002, here we find the new version,
which has been rerecorded, repackaged and has 2 new bonus tracks... and I
think this is just a little bit special.
Son Of The Shades is a mellow, thoroughly engaging masterpiece. Simple
piano passages are laid over layers of ambient keyboards and restrained
guitars that are barely audible, but feel as if they could burst through
at any second, which is a trait the Summoning are very
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good at. The atmospherics are absolutely stunning, as are the
vocals, particular the more layered, clean vocals. To break up
the ambience, the medieval Ravensong leads us on a merry dance and the first bonus track, Hidden In
The Nebular Landscapes, takes on a blackened journey, but for the majority
of the album, you are drawn into another world, be it the middle ages, or
Middle Earth. This is escapism at its very best.
If you want this simplified, this is as good as the mid-90's era of
Mortiis, before he turned all goth and electronic and this is also right
up there with the Wongraven masterpiece, Fjelltronen, which of course is
the brainchild of Satyricon frontman, Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven. I'd also
compare this to the Lord Of The Rings fixated Summoning. With Wongraven
and Summoning being two of my favourite artists, as you might have guessed
by now, I'm truly blown away by this re-issue.
www.elffor.com |
www.northern-silence.de |
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Flesh - Worship the Soul of Disgust
(Pulverised Records) Review by Chris Davison |
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Has it really been three albums already? How time flies when
you're producing filthy sounding, misanthropic old school
death metal that flicks a skull-ring adorned middle finger in
the face of modern scene hopping convention. Having previously
reviewed Flesh (the solo band of ex-Maze of Torment man Pete
Flesh), it was a pleasure to open the latest review batch to
see this nasty looking bastard nestled angrily among the other
CDs, like a particularly necrotic cuckoo in the nest.
Right off the bat, let me tell you that this is a massive
improvement on “Temple of Whores”, the last album that I
reviewed for this august online organ. Personally, I love the
old school |
death metal sound in a manner that may suggest that I need to
get out a bit more, but there's nothing quite as satisfying as
hearing a gnarled, venerable riff being constructed from the
bones of a genre that's become a muso-loving
parody of itself. Death metal used to mean something more than
how many notes the guitarist can play a second, how many beats
per minute the drummer could make, or how many time changes
the rhythm section could push into a song. It used to stand
for atmosphere, for the awesome power of a simple riff to
inspire dread, and the primeval emotions stirred by the gravel
voice of good death metal vocals. This album is nothing other
than a huge treat for those of us who prefer our death metal
to be memorable and simple, rather than disposable slabs of
technical wankery.
Firstly, maximum points to Pete for the tastelessness of the
song titles, including such rub-tickers as “I masturbate to
Jesus Christ”, “Sluts and Whores”, “Fuck the Romantic – Fuck
the Gothic” (a particular favourite of mine), and “My Penis
Will Be Your Opera”. From the opening strains of “Shatahan”,
you know you're going to be in for an enjoyable ride. So sure,
these guitar riffs aren't clever, but they are more infectious
than the common cold, and you'll be humming these filthy
little hymns under your breath long after the CD has stopped
spinning in the player. The guitar sound, growlier than a
pitbull with a moustrap on its balls, is so desperately filthy
that you'll feel unclean just for listening to it. The guitar
melodies, where they surface, are all minor key miracles,
producing a sensation of (hammer) horror film grandeur, with
(in the case of “Sluts and Whores”), more than a touch of the
Dissection sound to the electric hypnosis of the beauty and
beast combination music. Not so much an Iron Fist in a velvet
glove, more Christopher Lee smashing the back of your head in
with a lump hammer. Melody though, is very much an after
concern – the main thrust here is in getting that all
important head banged through the tried and tested formula of
grimace-inducing heavy metal heaviness and furious intent.
The drums are all of the old school variety (that is to say
thrashed to bits), which suits the music fine, as any
poly-rhythmic blast-beatery would have utterly ruined the
authentic atmosphere on the album. The production tends to be
slightly dry and distant, though that is also perfect for this
type of album – it feels analogue, and dare I say it,
“period”. You? You can keep your jazz-death mathematicians. I
would much rather listen to Pete Flesh and his single-handed
crusade to keep all death metal the preserve of whiskey
drinking, Satan worshiping misanthropes who ought to know
better. www.pulverised.net
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Gloomy Grim - Under the Spell of the Unlight
(Anticulture
Records) Review by Crin |
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Shoddy promotional discs never instills enthusiasm, no matter
how small the label. I have had great promo packages form the
smallest of labels who appreciate the work the un-paid scribes
put into reviewing music. A cd in a plastic slip case shows as
much effort as going for an interview dressed in ya under
pants. Thankfully, the bands music is far better than the
labels promotional package.
Gloomy Grim hail from Finland, a
land swarming with great bands of all extreme genres. The band
formed in 1995, and this is their well conceived fifth album.
The promo sheet harkens the bands music to the golden age of Dimmu Borgir
and Cradle of Filth, a fatal |
mistake if ever there was one. Dimmu Borgir are far more epic
in texture and utterly bereft of the stark subtleties of
Gloomy Grim. Cradle of Filth never won the hearts of the very
audience Gloomy Grim deserve to have, those Black Metal
enthusiasts who lurk in the murky shadows away from the bright
lights of mainstream dross, and in any case, Gloomy Grim do
not sound like either of the aforementioned bands. Gloomy Grims brand of Symphonic
Metal takes more of a sustained, and at times epic approach
where the music swerves from primitive minimalism to involved
aural soundscapes. There is a darker soul lurking within the
music especially when the industrial like passages seep into
the mix. There are also pomp driven moments that evoke the
likes of Therion, as well as the more Blackened icy guitar
riffs splattering into the air like flies spinning out of
control. There is none of the brazen colour of Dimmu, and none
of the wild gothic dynamics of Cradle. Here we have a diverse
and very individual take on the symphonic theme that never
falls into pure farce, always keeping one foot in the mire of
underground ethics.
A most interesting and enjoyable release.
www.anticulture.co.uk
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Grab - Plague (Blackmetal.com Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Hellenic warmaster Wrath continues to be a busy man. Besides
the slew of full-lengths that he has released with Dodsferd
over the last two years or so, he has also found time to
release a split with Ganzmord (also on Blackmetal.com
Records), as well as collaborate with another countryman, War,
for the oddly titled project called Grab.
Grab is mostly War’s effort with Wrath supplying the vocals,
and all of the instrumentation performed by War on the debut
full-length entitled “Plague”. War’s approach to black metal
comes from the traditional, thinly produced style lifted from
early Darkthrone and Burzum with some nihilistic influence
from Judas Iscariot. Throw in a bit of a minimalist |
approach akin to Ildjarn, and you have yet another raw black metal
project treading very familiar territory.
All of the signature elements of the style are present. Simple
chords, a horrendously thin production, steady blasts with
rolls and fills with some mid-tempo interludes sprinkled
throughout, a distorted rasp from Wrath, and some rather
sloppily played musicianship. Naturally, none of this is
particularly original, but the riffs are simple and catchy,
and the time changes that are present are enough to keep you
from getting bored. In addition, the atmospherics are more
than adequate, as well as the obvious enthusiasm for the genre
from War.
Other then that, what else can you say? Yes, you’ve heard all
of this before, but “Plague” by Grab is another solid addition
to the genre of raw black metal. Recommended.
www.blackmetal.com
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Human Fortress - Eternal Empire (Massacre) Review by Steve
Green |
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I think I was kind of happy that my main Power Metal writers had just been
given new cds just before this one arrived as, based on opener Contrast, I
really wanted to cover it myself. Proud Germanic Power Metal, with the
addition of angelic female vocals and one of catchiest hook you could ever
imagine. An absolutely stellar beginning. Borders of Insanity isn't as
immediate as Contrast, but after a few listens, it all clicks nicely into
place.
Human Fortress aren't a standard power Metal band. Sure, they contain most
of the same ingredients as, say your Helloween's and Gamma Ray's, but they
certainly ain't full of cheese. They are more in keeping with Blind
Guardian's medieval fantasy world, with a
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slightly more pronounced epic feel than their fellow
countrymen. Kind of like Ensiferum, but without the
Pagan theatrics, although The Wizard does have a cool violin jig right in
the middle of it, which is backed up by penny whistles and a very Celtic
beat. And the hidden tenth track, which made me jump out my skin the first
time I heard it, (as I wasn't expecting it all) is a Metal
hoedown, more in keeping with our Scandinavian brothers Korpiklaani. For
the most part though, this stays on the edge of Power and Progressive
Metal and on more than one occasion, Carsten Frank's vocals remind me of
Geoff Tate, although I don't think Human Fortress particularly sound like
Queensryche.
This is epic, Power Metal that flirts with the realms of fantasy and that
I think that it will appeal to more traditional Metal fans as well. The
vocals are definitely on the right side of the cheese-o-meter and I'm
suitably impressed by my first meeting with Human Fortress.
www.human-fortress.com |
www.myspace.com/humanfortressband |
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