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Hydrogyn - Deadly Passions (Demolition/D2)
Review by Steve Green |
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Let's get the obvious out of the way to start with. My god Julie Westlake
is one hot woman. Ok, now that's out of my system, I'll devote the rest of
the review to the album...
Now I wasn't expecting much from this album, but I have to say I was very
pleasantly surprised. Opening number, the rocket fuelled Rejection had me thinking of a female
fronted Judas Priest, with Julie providing a very solid hard rockin'
performance. And she's a real full bloodied singer. There aren't any
operatics or messing about on this album. Track two, On And On is a much
slower number than Rejection, but it's still a gritty rocker with a |
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nice modern edge and the melody just swims around in your head
long after the song has finished. This song could quite easily appeal to both fans of 80s Metal
and to fans of Evanescence as it really does hit the mark in every
possible way.
If you really want to know how good this album is, then listen to the
brilliant cover of Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know. The song could
have been written for Julie as it suits her voice perfectly and Hydrogyn
make the song their own. And all of their own self penned songs are of an equally
high standard. Candles Light Your Face, in particular, impressed me as it
embodied everything that was good about 80s rock and they've brought it right up
to date. And that's just about the benchmark for the rest of the
album. Good tunes, plenty of variation and a high level of performance
from all parties. There's not a dull second to be found. So don't make the
same mistake I did of thinking that this is simply an average
band with a hot chick singer. This band have got it all. Very
highly recommended.
www.myspace.com/hydrogyn |
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Keep of Kalessin -
Kolossus (Nuclear Blast) By: Dave Schalek |
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Talk about a band making huge strides! Keep of Kalessin seem
to be everywhere these days with a recently completed,
successful tour of North America (the marketing of this band
is concentrating heavily upon North America, apparently),
endless interviews galore, and a new album to boot. “Kolossus”,
the band’s latest full length on Nuclear Blast Records, is
their fourth overall, and is an excellent progression from
“Armada” from 2006.
The stylistic change that began with the “Reclaim” EP and
continued on “Armada” is now fully mature on “Kolossus”.
“Armada” was particularly noteworthy with the exceptionally |
fast riffing of Obsidian Claw and the all out blasts of Vyl,
all while still managing to retain a melodic touch. Those
elements are present on “Kolossus”, but, in addition, there
are some truly majestic moments that differentiate the latest
full-length from its predecessor. Soaring vocals, strong
acoustical passages, and a few, muted keyboard effects provide
a strong counterpoint to the all out speed and blistering
riffs. In addition, vocalist Thebon, while rough, has
excellent range, manages a few moments of singing, and is
fully understandable throughout the entire album. Throw in
some prominent bass work courtesy of Wiziac, back it all up
with excellent songwriting and stellar production, and you
have a melodic black metal album that easily eclipses last
year’s “In Sorte Diaboli” without resorting to any of the same
old, tired tricks of symphonic black metal.
Certainly, “Kolossus” is probably the statement that Keep of
Kalessin has been hoping to make at this point in their
career, and the album should raise the band’s status in
metal’s collective consciousness. Excellent.
www.keepofkalessin.no |
www.nuclearblast.de |
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Lauren Harris - Calm Before The Storm
(Demolition/D2)
Review by Steve Green |
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I'm kind of in a no-win situation with this album. I fully intend to say
exactly what I think about the debut album from Lauren Harris, yet at the
same time, will anyone judge my words accurately simply because Lauren is
Steve Harris' daughter? Anyway, here's my two penneth worth....
Lauren Harris has had so many breaks in the music industry simply because
she has a famous Dad. Would she have toured the world supporting Iron
Maiden in huge arenas based solely on her singing ability? Not a chance.
Sure, I'm not denying that she is easy on the eye and is very marketable,
but does that deem her worthy of being signed? Judging
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her just on her music, then it would have to be a no once
again. The problem I have with Calm Before The Storm is based
purely on the quality of the song writing. While I was
berating the clichéd nature of the songs here I found it quite
amusing to find out that part of the band on this album
includes Tommy McWilliams, who has numerous writing credits
and has received an Emmy and
has been nominated for Grammys. Honestly, songs like Your Turn are no more
than 5th rate pub rock (at best) which an idiot like myself could write
the lyrics for. This is, as far as I'm concerned, insulting any
potential fans intelligence. But maybe this is being aimed at dumb kids
and adults aren't supposed to "get it".
Now before you think I'm laying the boot in here just for the
sake of it, think again. The one thing this album shows is
that Lauren Harris should be a star in her own right, I just
think the material is severely lacking in depth. The only track I really rate is Come On Over, which is a
great rocking tune with a good old 70s hard rock feel and Mr Harris
banging out a fantastic bass line right down the middle. Back in the real
world, Get Over It is paper thin pop rock, yet her performance had me
thinking of Pat Benatar. Now if this album contained material of the
quality of Hit Me With Your Best Shot, or Love Is A Battlefield, then I'd
be raving about it. As it stands, this is mediocre mid 80s US soft rock,
performed by a talented singer and an equally talented band of musicians.
I just think the album sucks because of the awful lyrics (Count 1-2-3 and
you're inside of me!!!) and the complete lack of quality control in the
song writing department. Hurry Up is probably the biggest stinker on here,
but there were plenty of others that were in the running as this album
really is awful.
I know Lauren is surrounded by a bunch of people who could advise her a
lot better than me, but in my opinion she needs to go for a much more
adult approach if she is to succeed in her own right as I think this album
is only going to appeal to the kiddie market. Even an average cover
version of UFO's Natural Thing isn't going to convince a seasoned rocker
that she's the real deal.
www.myspace.com/laurenharrisuk |
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| Michelle Darkness -
Brand New Drug (Locomotive Records) By: Joe
Florez |
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From Germany we get a young man with a chick’s name who plays
goth/metal and sounds like Jyrki69 from The 69 Eyes. Despite
the humorous cover that’s a knockoff of Type O Negative, I
found myself drawn to this music even though I’m not that into
it anymore. “My Sweet” is the absolute perfect way to kick
things off here. Plenty of keys drench this song along with
the deep and croony voice that is very remorseful and dreary.
This is mid paced, but packed with catchy riffs and a
simplistic 4/4 beat. Fun and dark. Things quickly shift from
upbeat to depressing with a song like a cover of Joy Divisions
“Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Programmed drumming gets
incorporated into the mix. Michelle’s vocals go for |
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the Sisters Of Mercy vibe. Ramones commercially punk rock hit song
’Pet Cemetery” gets all darkened up here. Less fun than the
original and a lot more dreary. First, Atrocity covered it and
then Nevermore. I’m talking about Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound
Of Silence.” Now it’s tackled here with sluggish and quite
frankly boring results. But then again, it’s a goth
composition so it has to sound sad. What started out at first
as a guilty pleasure and fun trip to be on quickly wears out
its welcome with unoriginal singing and slow paced music. I
get it that in the goth world, things come to a practically
screeching halt, but there are bands out there like H.I.M.,
The 69 Eyes and such that breathe life into their songs, but I
guess this isn’t my thing as I have long passed this phase.
HMVers, Hot Topic and mall rats should eat this up by the
shovel load as they ignore my words. If you are under 25, then
this should be right up your alley. If not, be like me and
move on to something else.
www.locomotiverecords.com |
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Slaughter - Strappado
re-issue (Metal Mind) Review by Metal Mark
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Every mention of this band over the last 17 years has to
include "no, not the hair metal band of slight early1990's
fame". Instead these guys were from Canada and played a rather
early style of death metal that was influenced by the likes of
Venom and Celtic Frost. Unlike other early death bands like
Death and Possessed, Slaughter (at least at this point) were
as much about heaviness as they were about speed. Strappado
has some thick, killer riffs that grind forward and it's easy
to see why this band had a bit of a cult following. With all
the bands trying to blaze forward, Slaughter stood out a
little because their direction was far more about creating a
pounding sound that you would not just hear but feel in your
bones. |
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The vocals are even less of a typical thrash style, but
actually there is a slight hardcore influence as well
rather than the standard growling of most early death metal
singers. A few songs sound a little bit alike yet that's not
all that important compared to the relatively fierce sound
they churned with ease on this underground classic. This
re-issue also includes an entire live show that sounds like
the band is playing to maybe a dozen people in a basement
somewhere on a Tuesday night. The quality of the live
recording is extremely raw even by 80's standards yet their
style and aggressiveness shine past their primitive sound and
off the cuff banter with the crowd. It may not have seemed
like an essential release in 1986 amidst all of the typical
thrash of the times, but Strappado holds up well and there's
no doubt it was influential on death metal bands over the next
half decade or so. |
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Slaughter - Not Dead
Yet/Paranormal (Metal Mind)
Review by Metal Mark |
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First the brief history lesson, Canadian thrash/death metal
outift Slaughter recorded the Paranomal EP in 1988. Then the
band changed some members and their name as they became
Strappado. As Strappado they released "Not Dead Yet" in 1991
so this release includes both those albums plus four live
tracks recorded in the 1980's. The "Not Dead Yet" material
comes first on this release and it's rather typical although
semi-satisfying thrash. The guitar is a little muddy in
the mix and the complexity and fire are adequate yet nothing
that's going to bowl you over. For 1991 it's even a little
behind the times I would say due to some rather one
dimensional thrash parts. The Paranormal EP is slightly better |
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with a bit more steam behind them a stronger and richer
production. Both albums are decent, but both fail to really
pick up on the sound that this band established on their 1986
debut "Strappado". It's as if they became more basic and less
aggressive at they went along which makes no sense to me. They
also started as an early death metal band and were ahead of
the game by mid-80's standards. Yet by 1991 they were playing
rather standard and even slightly dated thrash. Perhaps they
dumbed down the style in hopes of getting a better record deal
during while thrash still had some following. I am not sure of
the reason behind the change, but it was slightly
disappointing. This version also includes four live tracks
that are good, but the sound is somewhat fuzzy. A decent
package for sure, but it's shame these guys didn't follow what
they are started on their debut. |
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The Crucible - Beyond Driven (Sub-Mariner
Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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The press quotes that accompanied this single fired over names like Led
Zeppelin and Alice Chains, and made claims about this being rooted in the
90s Grunge scene, blah blah blah... Well I had my ears syringed at the
doctors recently and apparently my hearing is ok again after a small bout
of deafness, so why am I not hearing these comparisons?
To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm hearing. For the most part, this is
pretty much a laidback affair. The heavier "To The Lions" is a more
interesting song than the lead track "Beyond Driven", despite the fact
that there aren't any vocals. It's just got a better groove
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and a bit more about it. I feel that Beyond Driven lacks a
certain something and doesn't really tick all of the boxes
with me.
It's kind of hard to form a true opinion about a band when you have only 2
versions of the same song and an instrumental on which to base it on. But
from what I'm hearing on this single is that the band gel together
brilliantly as far as the music is concerned, but I don't see Beyond
Driven as a good enough track to release as a single for the purpose of
attracting new fans. The Crucible are definitely a band with talent, I
just think they need to channel that talent a little differently.
www.myspace.com/thecrucible |
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Work Of Art - Artwork
(Locomotive Records) By: Joe
Florez |
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From Sweden comes a new AOR act via the Frontiers label. As
one may guess with the name association, this is strictly
melodic rock and is only recommended for those stuck in a time
warp like myself. This is vintage 80’s sounding music as “Why
Do I” reeks of commercial pop rock that would have gotten a
ton of air play if it was 1986. There’s plenty of synth action
along with big choruses and a simple and happy beat. It’s
groovy and contagious to the ears. A cool song if you like
melodic, energetic and poppy as sin compositions. Things are
pretty predictable until we get to “Camelia” because there is
some percussion work surprisingly thrown in to freshen things
up slightly. The keyboards have a |
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slightly different feel as well and it sounds like a xylophone
is mixed in here for a nice touch. Good song and smart use of
all the additional instruments injected here. Ok, so what the
guys do here isn’t exactly all that original, however, they do
manage to try and spice up their songs by adding different
influences such as jazz piano work on “Like No Other” or
adding new touches like the song mentioned above. One of the
things I like is that even though this is very retro, it’s
modern and even has a somewhat more mature feel to the overall
product. So, basically, no kids under 20 will get into this
like the old days. This is well done with great harmony vocals
inserted in the choruses in a batch of their songs. The pacing
is just right as it’s mid to upper the whole way through and
the ballads are kept to a minimum. Want something lighter, but
not watered down? Then this is for you if you can bypass
taking a travel back in time to the decadent 80’s.
www.locomotiverecords.com |
www.myspace.com/musicofworkofart |
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