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Avsky - Malignant
(Moribund Cult) By: Dave Schalek |
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No holds barred raw black metal without absolutely any
compromises is the order of the day from Avsky, a Swedish duo
releasing their second full length, “Malignant”. Appearing on
the ever reliable Moribund Cult Records, Avsky draw
inspiration from the usual influences. Take equal parts the
early versions of Darkthrone and Burzum, toss in some Shining
for pure suicidal nihilism and razor sharp, horribly
marginalized atmosphere, and Avsky take their place right next
to similar bands treading the genre.
Whole feelings of absolute disgust (“avsky" in Swedish, what a
shock) and misanthropy abound on “Malignant”, and convincingly
so. Not too many bands are able to pull this off |
with panache, but Avsky is similar to bands such as Sargeist
in this regard. In fact, that horribly greasy feel of Sargeist
is noticeable on “Malignant”, an apt title if there ever was
one for this exercise.
The question is, of course, is “Malignant” worth it since this
genre has been thoroughly explored, to say the least. Well,
yes and no. “Malignant” does storm out of the gates in fine
fashion with well written, interesting songs with some tempo
variation, the buzz saw, grating guitars, and the horribly
screeched vocals all on display. Unfortunately, though, the
songwriting seems to peter out a bit as the first half of the
album is much better than the second half. “Malignant”,
unfortunately, just does not sustain itself very well over the
long haul as I found myself losing interest with repeated
listens.
As you may have gathered, there is room for improvement here,
but, overall, Avsky are another competent raw black metal
band.
www.avsky.tk |
www.moribundcult.com |
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Behexen - My Soul For His
Glory (Moribund Cult) By: Dave Schalek |
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Finland’s Behexen return with their third full-length,
entitled “My Soul For His Glory”, on Moribund Cult Records. I
have a passing familiarity with Behexen’s two prior
full-lengths, although it’s been awhile, and I recall the
albums as competent entries in the raw black metal genre.
Apparently, though, “My Soul For His Glory” has caused some
grumbling amongst fans due to a slight change in sound.
Frankly, I really don’t see what the big deal is because “My
Soul For His Glory” is a powerful black metal album.
For those of you that may have some trepidation, “My Soul For
His Glory” reminds me greatly of “Sworn To The Dark” by Watain.
Both albums share the same huge, bass heavy |
(in fact, the bass is so prominent that it actually, at times,
overwhelms the guitars) sound, a general mid-paced tempo mixed
with only a few all out blasts, subtle moments of melody and
the odd guitar solo, and good songwriting and musicianship.
Due to these differences, “My Soul For His Glory” sounds, at
times, closer to Swedish death metal (sort of reminiscent of
the earlier albums from the Sunlight era) than raw black
metal. In addition, the vocals from Torog are different this
time around, eschewing a grated rasp in favor of a deeper
growl, as well as the use of a few clean chants, notably in
the title track.
Whether or not you choose to view Behexen’s changed sound as a
nod towards greater accessibility, ultimately, “My Soul For
His Glory” is still a powerful slab of black metal with a
definite dose of Swedish death metal. Although different from
earlier releases, “My Soul For His Glory” is excellent.
www.kolumbus.fi/anniina.sade/HTML/index.htm |
www.moribundcult.com |
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Chrome Division - Booze,
Broads and Beelzebub (Nuclear Blast) review by
Sam Thomas |
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Some albums should really carry a health warning, and this is
one of them. Purely based on the fact that it’s way, way too
infectious. Chrome Division started out as a side project for
Dimmu Borgir’s Shagrath, with Eddie Guz (The Carburetors) as
vocalist, but it seems to have succeeded rather better than
many such ideas. It now exists as a five-piece outfit, playing
some of the dirtiest, catchiest rock n roll on the planet.
I’d missed out on the debut album, so I wasn’t quite sure what
to expect. The intro sounded ever so slightly reminiscent of
Dimmu at their “writing theme music for Star Wars” best, which
threw me a bit, but then it was straight in to the title
track, and you could see |
exactly what was going on. This is back to the old days of
classic rock, Motörhead, Judas Priest, whoever you remember
from that period but with such a thoroughly dirty edge to it
that it’s quite breathtaking. The lyrics are extremely simple,
but don’t be deceived – sometimes it takes an incredibly
talented person to write something that is so fundamental that
it can be instantly appreciated. Although I’m not sure that
the line “Show me your tits” on second track “Wine of Sin”
exactly falls into that category, but you get the general
drift.
And simplicity is really the trademark of this album. There is
nothing complicated, nothing even particularly innovative
about it. But that’s actually what makes it great, you will
find yourself singing along to it (and not just the one track
either, every single one is noteworthy). The guitar playing is
absolutely outstanding, the vocals are perfect – I can’t
believe that Eddie Guz is Norwegian, he sounds as though he
was born and raised in the US – and the whole album is just
one of the best surprises of the year so far. Just to try to
explain how good it is, this is the only album that I’ve ever
had to review that I’ve ever heard Steve choose to play. And
when I walked in on him playing it, I was severely miffed to
find that I’d missed my favourite track “Raven Black
Cadillac”.
For your money, you also get a cover of ZZ Top’s “Sharp
Dressed Man” (I loathed the original, but like the cover)
which fits well with the rest of the album. Apparently, the
whole sound is rather reminiscent of Zodiac Mindwarp, but
being as the house copy of the Best of… is somewhere at the
bottom of a packing crate, I can’t really verify that. It did
sound pretty similar to the one track I downloaded, though.
(It was Prime Mover - Steve) I’d
also compare it to Impaled Nazarene’s offshoot, The Black
League, although Chrome Division is, well, in a division of
its own.
For me, this has been the discovery of the year so far, and
I’m expecting to place it high up on my top ten for the year.
And, who knows, it may well be appearing on Steve’s list as
well. This is an absolutely fantastic album that I’ve enjoyed
every minute of. Catchy and dirty as fuck. You can’t improve
on that!
www.nuclearblast.de |
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Clintone - Full Circle
(Metro City/Locomotive) Review by Metal Mark |
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Guitarist Clintone hails from Salem New Hampshire and this
instrumental album seems to act on the presumption that most
of the 1990’s never happened. This is pretty hard rock/rock
type shred probably influenced by the likes of Satriani, Vai,
Eric Johnson and others that loved to shred and made no
apologies about it. Most of the tracks begin with some fairly
bright, often groove oriented rhythms and then inevitably we
get mounds of wailing solos thrown our way. Clintone certainly
has a grasp on what constitutes a good hook and he has some
patience in building the songs. That part I like, but he
unfortunately falls into a trap that a number of virtuoso
types stumble into. That is the fact that his solos |
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are more about technical flair that about translating
emotions. Okay, he has some solid skills, but it’s all just
rather soulless flash that I won’t remember an hour after the
disc ends. I would much rather hear a player who concentrates
on getting a great deal of just a few tones than a player who
tries so hard to squeeze every little note in. That’s my
preference and ultimately this came across a mildly decent
disc, but there’s not enough here for me to want to play it
again. |
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DownRiver - Seethin’
Heathen (Self Release) Review by Strawb |
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Put DownRiver into your internet search engine and a number of
interesting paths are there to be trod, however let me put
your minds at rest these boys are nothing to do with the
acoustic indie pop band from the UK who have the same name,
nor is this anything to do with the 2002 ‘phenomenon of the
five boys who sang rap to a simple didgeridoo beat. And thank
your deity of choice that it is so, otherwise the review would
finish here and the world would have yet one more silver
frisbee.
This DownRiver is a four member group from Melbourne,
Australia whose declared intention is ‘bridging the gap
between old school metal, blues, doom, stoner and heavy |
rock’. Or to display schizophrenic indecision as some of us
may view it. Two guitars, drums, bass and three of the band
with vocal credits leads to a large amount of choice, to be
fair. This would appear to be their second release, but
neither their website nor the accompanying CD insert give any
great insight in this area. In fact the CD insert is probably
the most useless paper-based product since the old san isel
toilet paper that used to spread, not wipe.
These boys should float all of my boat, but this disk reveals
a band who have potential, but need to go some way to achieve
it. I would say that the niche they currently claim, as a part
of the Melbourne club scene would be the result that this
release warrants. My trepidation may be somewhat influenced by
a flyer full of my Metal heroes, all of whom are so many miles
away from the place DownRiver currently occupy, but is based
mainly upon what I hear as I listen to this. I will be honest
and say it is mediocre at best, and over the last year, I have
heard many bands from the lower end of the festival posters
who rate much higher than DownRiver. This album isn’t bad, nor
does it offend the ears, I just feel, to revive a quote from
many of my school reports, ‘Could do Better’.
Internet at
www.myspace.com/downriverband |
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Gunslinger - Earthquake In E Minor (Earthquake Records) Review by Steve Green |
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Gunslinger was originally formed by bassist Alan Davey and guitarist Nigel
Potter in 1979. The band were on the verge of signing a major deal when
they unfortunately split up. Potter unsuccessfully auditioned for
Motorhead and Davey went on to play for Hawkwind. Now having just finished
his 2nd stint with the sonic assassins, Alan Davey has reworked the old
Gunslinger songs, the end result being the rather marvellous Earthquake In
E Minor.
I think that if this album was released at the start of the 80s, it would
have been a serious contender for Motorhead's noisy crown.
Opener, Night Song, is more Hawkwind than |
Motorhead, which obviously is no
bad thing, nor is it a surprise considering the amount of time Alan Davey
spent in the band. It's not until Davey's groove laden bass solo that the
Motorhead comparison reveals itself. By the time track 2, "If The Bombs
Don't Get Ya, The Bullets Will" kicks in, you know Lemmy has himself a
serious rival. I know these songs originated nearly 30 years ago, but they
really do sound like Motorhead circa Overkill, Bomber and Ace of Spades.
So if you are a fan of that era, then you are going to absolutely love
this album. Me, I'm taken back to a time when I first bought Overkill and
Bomber on a double cassette, to when I first heard Love Me Like A Reptile
and to when I first discovered there was more to Hawkwind than Silver
Machine when someone played me the whole of Warriors On The Edge Of Time.
Like the classics I've just mentioned, this album is timeless. I loved
this stuff when I was in my early teens and I still love it now that I'm
in my forties.
To old gits everywhere, if you want to relive your youth (once again),
then snap this baby up asap.
www.alandaveymusic.co.uk
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Have Heart - Songs To Scream At The Sun (Bridge
Nine) Review by Steve Green
Ceremony - Still Nothing Moves You (Bridge Nine) Review by Steve Green |
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Here we have two new releases from the ever reliable Bridge Nine stable, but
these releases are just a little different than the labels normal brand of
hardcore.
Massachusetts Straightedger's Have Heart didn't really win me over with
their The Things We Carry cd, so my expectations weren't overly high for
this release. Thankfully I get to eat my words as Have Heart have cranked
things up a few notches for this release. This is as intense as hell, but
without being particularly heavy, if you see what I mean. Songs like
Boston and Pave Paradise rip the shit out of your senses, but Have Heart
are masters at slowing it down and piling on the angst. This in turns
fires you up in a completely different way. This is hardcore without
jagged edges. The melodies are nice and smooth and round, yet the vitriol
is still flying at you through Pat Flynn's impassioned performance.
I thought that Ceremony were offering up a similar type of fare as the
bass heavy quirkiness of Dead Moon California (Midnight In Solitude)
splutters from my speakers. But just after the two minute mark, the
intensity increases and the song eventually explodes into a punk driven
diatribe. Ceremony don't stand on... well ceremony, as they spit out 15
songs in just over 21 minutes. This is abrasive as all hell, punk fucking
rock with an explosive grinding edge. I can't stay still to this shit as
it batters you senseless with its never |
ending hate filled barrages.
I'm trying to think who vocalist Ross Farrar reminds me of, and all I can
think of is a grind version of John Lydon. He has an obvious punk lilt to
his voice, but I can't quite pin it down. But it matters not, as all you
need to know is that this is a mass of hate and it's just ripping up the
mother of all storms.
Ceremony are lumped in with the hardcore scene, as well as the punk scene,
but to me this reeks of good old fashioned English punk. Brilliant stuff.
www.bridge9.com/haveheart |
www.bridge9.com/ceremony |
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