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Forged In Flame - Self Titled EP (Self Release) Review by Steve Green |
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Forged in Fire are another of those bands that aren't particularly
original in what they do, but they play from the heart and that shines
through on this debut release. Having only formed in late 2007, this EP is a taster for an album
that the band will begin recording in early September. Opening number, Miss Mothership, is
a groove laden, highly potent concoction of Southern flavoured Stoner Rock,
for want of a better term and thoughts of Down and Corrosion of Conformity
instantly spring to mind, as do those of Soundgarden and Alice In Chain,
particularly on the downbeat 2nd track, Black Halo. Gary Kane's vocals add
weight to this argument as he (kind of) reminds me of a more ragged
version of
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Chris Cornell.
Have really enjoyed the first two numbers, I think the final two are much
harder to get into. Ok, after repeated plays they are at last beginning to
win me over, but A Ravens Cage doesn't move me like the previous numbers
do, and I find Hexa just a little too messy and it struggles to hold my
interest. But I have to admit that after another 2 or 3 plays, I will
probably have changed my mind (again) about these tracks as they continue
to gnaw away at my taste buds.
www.myspace.com/purerock13
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Griffen - Linked In Eternity
(Self-produced) Review by Metal Mark |
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This five song demo from Sweden’s Griffen seems deeply
imbedded in a mid-late 1980’s melodic metal and hard rock. I
heard some early Queensryche, Dio, Rising Force and maybe even
a touch of Pretty Maids mixed in different songs. They
obviously are very focused and that comes through in their
sound as they are certainly very tight in many aspects of
their playing. They manage to be fairly heavy, melodic at
times and show a decent amount of technical flair to boot. One
of the most important things they are doing though may be that
they have a good degree of balance. They are not playing an
overpowering style, but they certainly have enough going
consistently to be interesting. The |
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vocals are strong and the music flows along fairly well plus
they mix up their direction enough on each song. I wish they
would have had a few more heavier parts because they handled
that well when they used that style, but I think they would
have been even better with a slightly heavier edge mixed in a
little more. The production is certainly first rate and I
think their sound certainly benefits from this. Still, I liked
every song, they have a great deal to offer and Griffen are cranking out some solid
classic style metal.
www.griffen.se |
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Hate Squad - Deguello Wartunes (Locomotive)
Review by Metal Mark |
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This is the fifth album from veteran German band Hate Squad.
It's primarily hardcore, but journeys into metalcore territory
at times as well. The music is moderately tight, to the point,
with above average production and fair enough vocals. The
first song or two has the band hammering out some grinding
track with enough aggression. Yet somewhere after that they
begin to introduce more melodies into their tracks and they
largely didn’t work for me. Being heavy and melodic at the
same time can work and more bands have leaned towards that
approach in recent years. Yet here the melodies seem to soften
the potential impact of what could have been rather than
enhancing anything. That is a shame because |
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they really have some heavy beats going on and they have a
fair amount of control. This could have been good, but really
it sounds like they tried to do more than they really needed
to and the results are that it’s just an okay album. |
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Lake Of Blood - Heed The Primal Calling
(Milkweed Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Lately, I’ve been taking more notice of emerging bands from
Southern California with some impressive newcomers in the form
of Ruines Ov Abaddon (blackened death metal) and Reciprocal
(technical death metal). Add to that list Lake Of Blood, a
slightly melodic black metal band with the release of their
debut, four-song EP entitled “Heed The Primal Calling” on
Milkweed Records.
Comparisons to the ecologically themed bands of the Pacific
Northwest, such as Agalloch, Blood Of The Black Owl, and,
maybe, Wolves In The Throne Room come to mind with
environmental themes present in the music and a melodic take
on the genre without the use |
of keyboards. Fast riffing,
variations in tempo from a mid-pace to all out blasts, and
some guitar melodies with acoustics are all present on “Heed
The Primal Calling”.
Although not as mature as some of the aforementioned giants,
what is notable about “Heed The Primal Calling” is that it is
the first release from the band; that is, no known demos have
been circulated (at least, according to Encyclopaedia Metallum).
The songwriting and musicianship are solid, as is the
deliberately rough production, and all point to a talent to
take note of for future releases. Overall, “Heed The Primal
Calling” is an excellent first impression.
www.myspace.com/thedarkestpath
| www.milkweedrecords.com
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No-Man - Schoolyard Ghosts
(Snapper Music) review by Sam
Thomas |
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Steven Wilson is one of those guys who is so ubiquitous that
he really ought to be Swedish. In fact, he has collaborated
with Opeth before, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time
before he crops up in a Dan Swanö production…
No-Man are a duo, the aforementioned and Tim Bowness, who’ve
been around for quite a while, producing six studio albums to
date. At the risk of totally putting you off, I could say that
Melody Maker once described them as “Conceivably the most
important English group since The Smiths". Which has to be one
of the more bizarre ideas ever, although as the press release
does intimate that this may have been a while ago, and that
the guys have |
changed direction a little since, it could have been true at
the time. In fact, the only thing that I would definitely
agree with is that the band’s music is difficult to
categorise.
Fortunately, it is possible to describe it, admittedly mostly
by reference to Steven Wilson’s other projects. If you took
the first Blackfield album (which was of course, quite
brilliant) and removed the faint tinge of the Middle East,
replacing it with some of the more reflective elements of
Porcupine Tree, you’d be in the right ball park. There are the
usual Steven Wilson trademarks: superb production, lots of
clever effects involving echoes, diminuendos etc, but no
“telephone voices”. The only real surprise for me was that
it’s actually Tim Bowness that does the vocals – he sounds so
much like Steven Wilson that it’s positively uncanny!
The whole album drips melancholy, talking of “hopes drowning
in the hurt”, leading you to expect to find it on offer at
your local record store with a complementary pack of razor
blades, but somehow the music is beautiful enough to still
leave it as a pleasurable listen. As long as you’re of a
miserable disposition, that is!
There’s an accompanying DVD, which is strange. Most of the
tracks are played with the on-screen accompaniment of still
black and white pictures. And when I say still, I don’t mean a
slide show, nor any zooming in and out. Just an absolutely
still picture. And the track that wasn’t had Tim Bowness (I
assume) lip synching really badly. I have to confess that I
watched most of it on fast-forward, waiting for some motion.
But that motion, like Ian Dury’s taxi, never came.
Overall, this is a beautifully put together piece of
melancholy, only slightly lacking in the wacky lyrics and
off-beat imagery that I always associate with Steven Wilson
(the way that In Absentia always leaves me wondering exactly
what he would get up to in a garden shed), but nonetheless an
uplifting visit to the dark side.
www.no-man.co.uk |
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Totalselfhatred - Self-Titled
(Ordo Decimus Peccatum)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Forget the vaguely Goth looking album cover (at least, that
was my initial impression), Finland’s Totalselfhatred is a
seamless combination of melancholic doom, and depressive black
metal with some light touches. Starting with a base that sort
of feels like a combination of mid-period Burzum and the
heavier moments of bands such as Paradise Lost and so forth,
Totalselfhatred nicely combines heavy brutality with guitar
melodies galore and mild, acoustical piano to evoke an
atmospheric response on their self-titled debut on the Ordo
Decimus Peccatum label. |
A five-piece with connections to such notables as Horna,
Slugathor, and others, Totalselfhatred’s seven song debut is a
thoroughly depressing affair, yet retains huge melodies and is
much different in tone than the suicidal black metal of USBM.
Soaring guitars, a rather hoary rasp, and a very prominent
bass are all intertwined with a few all out blasts (quite
blistering, and not at all out of place) and a generally
mid-paced tempo. Throw in some mild atmospherics courtesy of
some gentle piano accompaniment that never become overbearing
or pretentious, and a powerful, epic production, and
Totalselfhatred have put forth a debut bound to generate some
notice.
Overall, Totalselfhatred are treading familiar ground, but
their approach to this mix of genres is mature and
professional with well crafted, melancholic songs. Those with
a penchant for the depressive side of black metal, but still
prefer some melody, would do well to check out Totalselfhatred.
Definitely a band to watch.
www.totalselfhatred.net
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www.myspace.com/ordodecimuspeccatum
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Unshine - The Enigma of Immortals
(Low Frequency) Review by
Dave Baynham |
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This album has a great cover, that would have really looked
good as a 12 inch vinyl record. It reworks the concept of the
Green Man, which is familiar to anybody into paganism, folk
music or folk traditions, into a Green Woman. In a similar way
the album takes themes that have been well used in the girlie goth metal genre and remakes them, sounding fresh yet familiar
at once. If you think that ‘In a Reverie’ & ‘Mother Earth’ are
the best albums by Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation
respectively (and a mate of mine does) then ‘the enigma of
immortals’ will be for you.
Unshine are from Finland and describe themselves as Druid
Metal. They have produced |
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two demos, followed in 2004 by their debut album ‘Earth Magick’.
On this album the material is mainly written by guitar &
keyboard player Harri Hautala, with some co-credits to singer
Susana Vasilahti. The keywords here are monumental, sweeping
and atmospheric. In particular ‘Catherine His Beloved’ at
9.56, with a sampled birdsong meets drum break (which makes a
lot more sense than it looks written down) feels like a
mediaeval folk epic. It is almost progressive in scope with
huge keyboard choirs. On the next track, ‘Luminaries’, the
opening keyboard riff is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s classic
‘No Quarter’ while the guitar riff later is close to the
Hammer Horror riff from the track ‘Black Sabbath’. All topped
off with a great chorus of “timeless and divine”. Awesome!
Lyrically the tracks include a mix of shamanism, folk epics
and doomed gothic romanticism. This album is so atmospheric
that it is positively bosky. To get maximum effect you should
probably be using a pine forest incense, while reading a
Robert Holdstock book by candlelight. As well as the usual
girlie goth metal sounds there are elements of Carmina Burana,
and the Mediaeval Baebes here. If this album were any more
primal you would be able to folk dance to it, but at the same
time it rocks out. All of which may well be what the band were
trying to achieve. For me one of the albums of the year.
www.unshine.com
| www.lowfrequencyrecords.fi
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