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Clusterhead - Times Of No Trust
(Artistservice)
By: Joe Florez |
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It’s funny how certain things come back into fashion after
several years of hiatus. Melodic metal/AOR was once to be
condemned once the 90’s hit, but in the new millennium there
are labels galore pumping out artists like this one and
everything is thrown against the wall to find out what sticks
and what doesn’t. This is a new four piece German outfit that
deliver melodic metal to the max. “Tears I Cried” immediately
goes for the jugular with aggressive riffs that are meaty and
contain a slamming rhythm section. The music is pretty basic,
but it should be in this field. Singer Rene sounds like Rob Halford,
but with a gruffer voice. It’s distinct and works perfect.
This one is catchy and a great way to warm things up. The
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track proves to be a bit heavier than the opener and the fact
that this is still melodic is wild. There is nothing pretty or glammed up here. This is straight up metal to the
max even though the vocals manage to be harmonious. The ballad
“Ghosts” is anything but prissy as it has a dark overtone to
it and is actually quite heavy. Overall, I never thought that
a melodic metal band could be mid paced and contain such
heaviness and abrasive riffs. The vocal capabilities of Rene
proves that he isn’t a sissy man. He goes balls out on this
whole thing.
This is definitely a worthy debut that is strong
on all fronts. I just hope that they can do it again on their
sophomore release. Despite the quirky name, these Germans have
what it takes to survive. Dive in.
www.clusterhead.com
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Dantesco - Pagano
(Cruz Del Sur) Review by Metal Mark |
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Dantesco hail from Puerto Rico and this is their second
release of epic style metal. I can handle and actually enjoy
epic metal if it flows and has some degree or forward motion
to it. The vocals of Erico La Bestia are operatic in style and
although I admire his range I can’t say it really adds to the
overall feel of this album. In fact I found the vocals rather
distracting, although I'm not sure if that’s because they were
too much or because the music wasn’t particularly tight. Most
of the songs began alright, but none of the instrumentals did
enough to propel the songs ahead. Subtlety in metal can a
positive if it’s used right, but here it just caused things to
seem rather indifferent. Eventually everything seem to lead
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focus on the vocals and I could feel myself shifting uneasily
rather around my chair as I listened like I was at some kind
or recital that I wanted nothing to do with. In the end I was
left thinking this album was somewhat ridiculous with
overblown vocals and underdone music. The two parts didn’t
work well on their own and they functioned even worse
together. Maybe it’s a matter of taste, but I can’t imagine
too many diehard fans of epic metal being able to take the
sixty plus minutes of this clunky material that Dantesco have come
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El Soter - Appletree of Discord (Neversun) Review by Steve Green |
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I like it when I receive something completely different, and that's what
we have here. Electronic based music from Slovenia. And Appletree of
Discord is an album that is hard to categorise. I think it's fair to say
this has a light Industrial base, with the keyboards flitting from dance
floor to futuristic, and I can also see this appealing to the Euro-Goths,
mainly because of the high dance-ability factor. Through all of this,
there's a thumping bass sound, which I'm sure would rattle a few big sound
systems and the vocals are more semi-spoken than sung, which adds yet
another completely take on this. Imagine, if you will, an even more dour
(than normal) version of the Pet Shop Boys, covering 80s Goth tunes, and
at the
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same time, trying very hard NOT to be a very depressed Marilyn
Manson. It took until the 4th number, Freak Show, for me to
realise what an unhappy album this is. Which is a bit of a
shame as I really enjoyed the infinitely happier beats of
Initiation, which obviously rendered me oblivious to the less
than welcoming vocal style.
Despite the electronic edge to the music, ultimately this one will appeal
more to those that like a combination of razorblades and bloody wrists, as
it's an eerily depressing listen.
www.myspace.com/elsoter |
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Firth of Damnation - Carpe Diem
(Candarian Demon Productions) Review by Crin |
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Black metal from USA. Raw, cold NSBM, desolate throat ripping
infernal Black Metal. They are some of the potent descriptions
of the forlorn music here. The sound is in the vein of early Darkthrone/Graveland
with a little more melody and adventurous arrangements. The
first track bursts from thin air and hacks you into pieces.
The following track does little to change the rousing melodic
fury that is vented from the icy guitars and snarling vocals.
Primitive and yet embodied with a symphonic edge if you can
imagine that without any keyboards. An instrumental follows,
serving as a calming influence over the chaotic nature of the
previous tracks. This is soon relinquished for more gnarled
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guitar strums. There is an art to playing what can be
perceived as pure horrid noise. To the outsider and indeed the
insider, Black Metal of this fleshless nature can sound
brainless and stripped of any passion. Here we find the art of
icy low fi
Black Metal constructed and delivered with integrity and
wonderfully dark finesse. There is a fine melodic embodiment
to the compositions here, a formula well learned by many of
the Norwegians.
This album can be obtained from
www.godreah.com |
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Human Taxidermy - The Distinction Of Extinction
MCD (Burnt Weasel) Review by Steve Green |
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While the great Thrash comeback has been grabbing all of the headlines,
I've noticed recently, that a hell of a lot of Groovy Death releases have
been finding their way into our mailbox. Ok, it might just be a
coincidence, but it shows the genre is most definitely alive and kicking.
Here we have a project put together by Anthony Roark, who handles almost
everything: vocals, bass, guitar etc... including real drums it must be
noted, while his brother Charles chips in with keyboards and samples. And
as you may have noticed, there are keyboards and samples in this groovy
slice of death. They are used sparingly and flesh out the sound a
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little and the industrial touches work rather well, especially
the genital samples!!!! (Don't ask)
Ok, this all pretty basic stuff, but that doesn't stop it being a good
listen. And I have to say I do like the guitar sound, especially on
Engineering Annihilation, which shows that Anthony has the capability of
writing (and performing), some high quality Death metal. Get your genital
fixation via:
www.myspace.com/humantaxidermy |
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Jemineye - Restless Hearts
(Self Release) Review by Luke Goaman-Dodson |
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Well, bugger me if those Italians haven’t been keeping
themselves busy recently – seems like 9 out of 10 CDs we get
in are from the country that gave us mozzarella, Venice, and
the Emperor Claudius. This demo is from Jemineye, a
progressive-thrash band heavily influenced by Megadeth, which
isn’t too surprising as two of the members started out in a
Megadeth covers band. The production is pretty good for a
demo, although the band was minus a drummer at the time of
recording, so the drums are all programmed. ‘Bite Your Pain’
is an all-out thrasher that recalls the work of Megadeth on
‘Killing Is My Business’ and to an extent, Dave Mustaine’s
contributions to Metallica’s ‘Kill ‘Em All’. ‘Lust For |
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Death’ is a much slower, ballad-esque number that features keyboards
and some very pleasant acoustic guitars, while ‘Impossible
Reality’ has an almost industrial-sounding guitar tone. This
is some bloody excellent work – I highly recommend anyone with
an appreciation for melodic, progressive-tinged thrash to
check this band out.
www.myspace.com/jemineyeit |
