Live 4 Metal - Reviews

Morker - Hostmakter (Northern Silence Records) Review by Crin
	Swedish melodic black metal that roars into action from the very first note. Thick guitar strums hurl the frenzied pace forwards with devastating fluency. From the brash guitar arrangements, ooze the acoustic slower sections and finely fashioned atmospheric parts. The first track, I Flodens Forsande Brus, is a multi layered black metal masterpiece. The sound is very much in the symphonic style and yet the keyboards do not consume the guitars like they do in the Dimmu Borgir dense orchestral formula. Here the guitars take centre stage with the keyboard sections either being part of the sound or taking their cue in solitary moments of gentle repose.
This is the bands second album, the first being a more subdued affair, darker and less awe inspiring. Here, and especially on the track, Dodsingest, the outstanding melodic fabric of the music melts into the ears. The vocal snarl still retains a venomous bite, yet the smooth production allows the album as a whole to flow freely without the trappings of undue vehemence or necro sound collisions. I found the embodiment of the tracks here to reflect the Eastern European style of wonderful pagan influenced compositions rather than Morkers Swedish root sources. Whatever the conclusion, this album confirms the potency of the current Swedish Black Metal scene that dominated the world map alongside the Finns and Germans. It seems rather odd that a band of such quality and hypnotic song creativity can possibly exist on a dedicated underground label whilst far more crappy and absolute mediocre acts continue to pollute the mainstream underground propped up by big indie labels. www.northern-silence.de

Ruines Ov Abaddon - Thee Rise Ov A New Era (Self released) By: Dave Schalek

Frankly, I don’t have much on my review plate at the moment, so I thought that I would submit a short review of the best demo that I’ve heard come out of the Southern California extreme metal scene in quite awhile. That would be “Thee Rise Ov A New Era”, a three song effort from San Diego-area based Ruines Ov Abaddon. As is probably the case just about everywhere, after every metal show in Southern California, numerous local bands are in front of the venue passing out copies of their latest demo on CDRs. Most of the time, frankly, the music is absolute shit and isn’t worth a second listen. Imagine my surprise when Ruines Ov Abaddon’s demo was so good that I had to write about it, something not normally done here at Live 4 Metal for a demo. Ruines Ov Abaddon play blackened death metal similar to that of Behemoth or Keep of Kalessin with a nice mix of brutality, excellent tempo variation and a few melodic elements such as muted use of keyboards. Combine good songwriting, a stellar production better than a lot of so-called professional jobs that I’ve heard, and excellent musicianship over the course of the three songs and you have a band that just screams “potential”. As far as I can tell, this three song effort is Ruines Ov Abaddon’s first demo and the band remains unsigned. Hopefully, that will change soon as Ruines Ov Abaddon is the best band to emerge from Southern California in quite awhile, and that description includes the wildly overrated Sothis. You can hear the band at: www.myspace.com/ruinesovabaddon

Smaga - My Lands (Dark Moon Productions) Review by Crin
	Apart from having a band moniker that reminds me of a cheesy resin, this 4 tracker does try its utmost liven up my already lousy evening. Here we have yet another blast of snarling Slavonic black metal from Siberia. This mcd serves as a searing, fast and atmospheric pagan style head hacker. One moment the guitar riffs are chattering in a frenzied aural outpour, the next moment a more depleted angst is showered on the unsuspecting ears. The compositions are rather lacklustre and hold little of the emotive depth of bands like Windir. The cover art of old dark age warriors and open countryside is misleading, the inlay more so with its wizard and long ship imagery, as there are no folkish references of
note, no up-beat Viking style anthemic compositions and no war Metal of rousing intent. Musically neutered of any cultural instruments and thus I was rather subdued in my hopes to discover any similarities with Moonsorrow, Finntroll, and their likes. Never judge a book by its cover is the saying and yet most covers do reveal something of the content. Not here. There may be an acoustic interlude amongst the feral riffing, a slight guitar lead buried within the hammering snare beats, a lean vocal issuing from the final track, but overall this release manages to stir little of the pagan imagination. Maybe four tracks is not enough to grasp the real potential of this band. www.darkmoonzine.net/index_smaga.htm

The More I See - The Unholy Feast (Transcend Records) Reviewed by Nathan Ward
	The More I See is a thrash metal band from the UK, the creation of Gizz Butt, former English Dogs and Prodigy (live) guitarist. I thought this would be a weird album, given the stuff the Prodigy have done, but it turns out it’s just a straight forward thrash album. First impressions of the album made me think of recent Testament and Exodus, but there is also an element of the post-thrash and grindcore movement, music only, no pig squealing vocals, thank god. The album is 12 tracks long, all of them just fast and heavy. The guitar riffs are powerful and intricate, with the bass adding more power behind them. The guitar solos are similar to
that of Arch Enemy and Testament, which work well within the songs. The drums have a thunderous sound and add more power to each song. The vocals are clear and clean, but do go into the growl style that is common in modern thrash these days. These two styles are used well on the album, neither is over-used, but the changing styles give a nice feel to the album. My favourite tracks from the album are ‘The Unholy Feast’, ‘The Ratcatcher’ and ‘The Siege Is On’. The Unholy Feast is a really good thrash album, and hopefully this will help get more notice to the British Thrash scene. The album is mixed really well, no drowned out instruments or vocals; you can hear all the instruments. So, if you like recent Testament and Exodus and stuff by Lamb of God and the likes, give this album a try. www.themoreisee.com

Trident - Chained To Routines EP (Self Release) Review by Steve Green
	Death & Doom, Black & Death, cheese & biscuits, yes they all fit together beautifully. But old school Death Metal and NY Hardcore? These Finns describe themselves as "90s rip off metal with a touch of evil motherfuckin' hardcore attitude and Brooklyn beat" and that really is exactly what you get here. There's the familiar rumble of Swedish Death N Roll that rattles the shit out of your brain, while the vocals do have a bit of a hardcore flavour to them, mainly in the delivery as the texture verges on old school death grunts. The mixture is certainly different, but it's still a
pretty cool combination. Kind of reminds of Cathedral as well, mainly as I can imagine Lee Dorrian doing a bit of hardcore karaoke and throwing in a couple of "huggy bear oh yeahs" just for the hell of it. And if you are thinking, I don't like Hardcore, then the reference is just a small make-up of the bands sound, as Machine Head and Down are also high on the list of influences, as are The Entombed and the whole of the Swedish Death Metal scene. So, if you love a bit of raw as shit, old school Metal, with a slight Hardcore twist, then check these guys out. www.myspace.com/tridenthc

Verse - Aggression (Bridge Nine) Review by Steve Green
	Is there such a thing as melancholic Hardcore? When a band work really hard to put their message across, particularly in the Hardcore scene, the music tends to take second place. Here, Verse have put their message across and they've worked really hard on making the music just a little different, and have kept it interesting at the same time. The New Fury has such a mellow intro that you are expecting a huge crash to wake your senses, but no. Verse build the song very slowly, with frontman Sean Murphy screaming his impassioned lungs out, which makes for a nice juxtaposition with the music. The New Fury runs straight into Old Guards, New Methods and the sudden injection of energy is the
only sign that the songs have changed. I really like what Verse have created here. This isn't your normal crash, bang, wallop approach. This is music with real emotion, but without compromise. Fear not as this isn't all about slow and brooding as there are still a few high energy rockers in the pack, with Signals, the punk tinged Blind Salvation and the rousing finale of Sons And Daughters being the pick of the bunch. Find out more about the band at: www.bridge9.com/verse

Withershin - Ashen Banners (Canonical Hour Records) Review by Crin
	Swedish Black Metal rears its head from a murderous guitar tumult. The aural savagery here follows in the illuminating footsteps of Dark Funeral and Marduk, at other times it pales into the average masses that pollute any scene of such notoriety. So what pit of despair do Withershin fall into? Well, the name Marduk certainly springs to mind as the music here is vicious blasting Black Metal with a bite like a rabid pit bull with its bollocks on fire. As to whether you will be consumed by its hacking guitar riffs and savage snare hammering is a matter of opinion. From the opener, The Art of Ascension, to the closing, Never Condoned, the furious riffs are spat at you in sporadic salvos. The sound is thick,
thus allowing the blistering atmosphere to sustain its depth rather than wallow in the thin air of the icy Darkthrone style. This is a very competent and able outfit who have crafted a solid Blackened Death release. The compositions pretty much melt into each other, neither becoming any less detailed than the former. There is no real identity to the sound as it is such a well used formula. There is nothing remotely different to ensnare the ears here apart from the more than capable musicianship that can certainly pummel the senses into an early grave. But is that enough?? www.withershin.se \| http://canonicalhours.com