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Benediction - Killing
Music (Nuclear Blast) Review by Chris Davison |
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My name is Chris Davison, and I am a fucking retard. There,
I've said it. The reason for my self effacing introductory
outburst? Well, for the longest time I thought Benediction
were a second rate British death metal outfit that couldn't
write a decent tune if they had a pistol held at the heads of
their loved ones. I'm not sure why or when I formed this
opinion, but I remember round about the turn of the 1990s that
I was so sure that this was the case that I simply lost touch
with what they were doing. Bare in mind that at that time I
also had a very poor and misjudged musical affair with
alternative tosh like Senser and Dog Eat Dog, which distracted
me from my previous and subsequent monogamous relationship
with |
heavy metal. That all changed on a rainy Saturday in Derby in
2007, when I saw the revitalised Benediction (with new frontman, Anaal Nathrakh singer Dave Hunt), and “Benny
Dixon” simply blew me away with their ferocity and the quality
of their tunes.
For the most part, Killing Music (which is simply pun-tastic,
guys), is straight ahead, old school death metal with no
frills and a punky sound and attitude. This suits me right
down to the ground. All the constituent ingredients for great
death metal is here. We have decipherable but nether the less
diabolic sounding growled vocals, grinding guitars that have a
great sound, bringing to mind Napalm Death in their “Harmony
Corruption” days. We have drums that sound like a belt fed .50
calibre being let loose on a sea of advancing troops, and the
bass rumbles along in an extremely Bolt Thrower-esque kind of
way – especially on the extremely catchy mid paced bombast of
“Dripping with Disgust”. Its somehow gratifying to hear
veterans of the death metal scene coming back to a world which
has become full of poseurs and ...well, for want of a better
word, “twats”, who take the trappings of extreme metal and
subvert them for their own trend filled fashion -core
products. “Killing Music” is not a product. It is an album
made by musicians who have an apparent love for the music, and
want to unleash it onto the metal buying public.
The production is at degrees both slick and yet retains that
grit and spirit which is essential for good, biting aggressive
extreme metal. All too often, modern death metal confuses a
slick, punchy production with a decent sound. This just sounds
authentically nasty and downright unpleasant in a way that I
haven't heard in a very long time. From the song writing to
the production, this album has death metal as a steel core.
Benediction – I apologise for being wrong about you. Killing
Music is unlikely to ever feel the ire of the trades
description act.
www.nuclearblast.de
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Dolium - El Vampiro Attack
(Parlour 9)
Review by Steve Green |
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I must have a very filthy mind as I was expecting "You've Got Holes!" to
be about something very different than the actual subject matter of the
song. I should have looked at the title of this EP as the word Vampiro
would have given the game away. You've got holes in your neck... is what I
should have been thinking and this camp, gothed up to the nines romp is
actually a lot of fun. Raw as hell and totally infectious, you cannot
frown upon such an entertaining song. Is this musical genius? Not a
chance. This is goth n roll, with a fun, punky-meets-garage attitude, and
I like it.
This EP has 4 tracks, the first 2, You've Got Holes and (She Can't) Stake
My Heart are
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up-tempo and full of life. The latter duo are both slower in
place and are nowhere near as good, with Coughin' In The Coffin being so
bad that I had to stop it halfway through. So it's a shame that this
release petered out as I really enjoyed the first couple of songs.
www.myspace.com/dolium
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Fall Of The Idols - The Séance (I Hate Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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I'm not a Doom aficionado like our resident merchant of Doom, Mr Chris
Davison, but I know a good slab of misery when I hear it. Fall Of The
Idols are free of any distractions, (ie: no keyboards or female vocals)
and are just (merrily) plodding along in a world of absolute desolation.
This is ponderous, utterly depressing and about as warm to the touch as
this years so called summer. Yes, it's that fucking miserable and as the
bell tolls for the start of The Conqueror Worm, I just know it's about to
get even more depressing. To be fair though, I actually find this quite a
pleasant affair as I find Doom a very therapeutic listen. If I'm unhappy
and I throw on a Doom cd, it's always guaranteed to cheer me up.
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No idea why, it just has that effect on me. But in the case of
this album, I'm liking what I'm hearing, but I've not managed
to smile once and my enjoyment has been limited to the tapping
of my feet or the rare head movement in appreciation of the
ghastly grooves.
To break the spell, there is the occasional chink of light. At The Birth
Of The Human Shadow loosely reminds me of Cathedral from a decade or so
ago, mixed in with more traditional, uplifting Doom, but for the most
part, this album is simply a miserable beast that's determined to drag you
down to its own gutter level existence.
www.ihate.se |
www.myspace.com/falloftheidols
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Held Under/Discovery
- Anthology (Stormspell) Review by Metal Mark |
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This band from Preston, Washington began as Discovery as was
formed by the Stevens brothers Michael (vocals) and guitarist
Patrick. They formed in 1983 and plugged along recording demos
and an EP, but didn't get signed. In the early 90's they
changed the band name to Dorian Gray and had changed a few
members as well. They were set to record, but decided to go
with "Held Under" as the band name since they learned that
there were other acts using the name "Dorian Gray". They
recorded another demo and could still not get signed, but
plugged along some more into the 1990's before disbanding.
Okay, now I need to close the book on this history lesson
since I have given you the background. That |
will also free me up to get at the important matter, which is
what is the music like? This is a two disc set with the first
disc being the Held Under material which was recorded in 1991,
1995 and 1997. They follow a style of early power metal
similar to Leatherwolf and Fifth Angel. They obviously were strongly
influenced by classic metal acts like Iron Maiden, Judas
Priest and the Scorpions, but they also have a definite touch
of early progressive metal bands mixed as well. The Held Under
disc has the bands more complicated and balanced songs plus
the production is better. These guys were tight and knew how
to manipulate their music with equal amounts of control and
finesse. The vocals compliment the music with a broad enough
range, but were a little low in the mix on several tracks.
The Discovery disc finds the band playing a style that's in
the same ball park, but certainly more basic and little more
loose in the structure. You can still certainly hear the
potential and the talent even if the production isn't always
spectacular. My only real complaint on this set is that I
think I would have enjoyed it more if it were in chronological
order with the Discovery disc coming first and Held Under
second. That way you could hear the musical growth like it
happened, but of course I can listen to it in that order now
if I want to. I had never heard of this band before and don't
know if their failure to get signed was due to the crowded
market or that they just got overlooked. However the bottom
line is that they were talented and they knocked out and
fortunately for us they recorded these 29 tracks between 1986
and 1997 so they we can now enjoy them.
www.myspace.com/heldunderseattle |
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Iced Earth - The Crucible
Of Man: Something Wicked Part 2 (SPV) By: Joe
Florez |
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Man oh man, there has been so much drama within this band from
the Something Wicked Part 1 to now. While “Ripper” made an
awesome addition to the band, things didn’t work out between
him and Jon and I know a lot of fans gave him slack cause it
wasn't Barlow at the mic. Well, the fans spoke and Matt is
back with his deep, dark and passionate voice that sends
shivers up and down everyone’s spines. I have to admit, that I
was also anxiously awaiting for his return too and hear what
the final product was like. Let’s just say that everyone and
everything picks up where A Tribute To The Gods left off. By
that, I mean top notch musicianship and singing capabilities.
All guns are blazing as Jon and the |
gang barrel though your speakers with “Behold The Wicked
Child.” Original drummer Brent Smedley hasn’t lost a step as he continues race through
with precision. Jon’s riffing is always melodic yet catchy and
dangerous. As for Matt, he hasn’t lost a step as he sounds
just as good as before if not better. He hits the highs
perfectly and his lows are just nuts. You can tell that
everyone is vibing here cause it shows. While this one is
fast, there are some chants that make their way on here just
for that epic feel. The middle eastern/ethnic feel is also
present as well. Despite Part 1 having a bit of experimenting,
this disc is more straight forward, but done well. Jon sounds
like he’s at war 'cause his guitar work is furious and the
band follows suit with no problems. However, there are some
slight change-ups to keep things fresh. “A Gift Or A Curse” is
an awesome ballad that has some nice percussion work and
mellow guitar work, but things also get plugged in as well.
Matt can sing any style without any probs and here is no
exception. You can just feel it. I don’t care where you start
this disc, each track is played to perfection and rocks out.
The story is now complete and left for you to interpret what
it all means. I don’t know what was on Jon’s mind when he
created this, but this one has everything that easily trumps
part 1. It’s epic with a Hollywood soundtrack feel. It’s lean,
mean, emotional and then some. I liked Ripper in the band, but
welcome back Matt. All power metal fans and IE fans must grab
this immediately. Zero disappointments and if you download
this one illegally then you are a complete tool.
www.spv.de |
www.icedearth.com |
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Poisonblack - A Dead
Heavy Day (Century Media) review by Sam Thomas |
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A Dead Heavy Day is Poisonblack’s third album, and has exactly
the same line-up as its predecessor, “Lust Stained Despair”.
Or, in other words, as Ville Laihiala has now permanently
taken over from J-P Leppäluoto on vocals, it is the second
Poisonblack album to sound suspiciously like Sentenced. Now
before you go getting all over-excited about me slagging
Poisonblack off, I’d better just point out that Sentenced are
possibly my favourite Finnish band of all time. Although the
minute I type those words, I can feel a large list developing:
Amorphis, Charon… And I’d also better mention that I really
liked “Escapexstacy”. |
So all round then, this is a pretty satisfactory album as far
as I’m concerned. And, more surprisingly, it did get a rather
grudging “this is as catchy as fuck” from Steve, despite
having first dismissed it as “wimpy shit”. It’s very much a
continuation of “The Cold White Light” era, both in musical
style and lyrical content, dripping misery and depression with
every riff and chord. I’m sure I read somewhere that Finland
has one of the highest suicide rates in developed European
countries, a huge alcohol problem and a corresponding Monday
morning absenteeism problem, and Poisonblack’s lyrics
certainly reflect the darker side of the human psyche.
Title track, “A Dead Heavy Day” is as full of disillusion and
misery as you should have come to expect by mow, but it’s not
too long before the humour shows through with “Me, Myself and
I”, a hymn to egocentricity which carries on the great
tradition of having a laugh at the expense of the hangers-on.
One day I really must count the number of references to
suicide, death and unhappiness in Ville’s lyrics and see if
he’s got any more cheerful since Sentenced disbanded – I
rather suspect not.
In summary, then, “A Dead Heavy Day” is precisely the right
title for this album. Poisonblack have morphed into a 2008
version of Sentenced and are now the rightful occupiers of the
throne of Finnish misery. Catchy as it gets, dripping with
melancholy, more references to death than a coroner’s court:
what more could your dark heart desire?
www.poisonblack.com |
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Reversion - King of Deceit
(Kampas Records) Review by AJ Carlile |
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I had no idea what to expect from Reversion’s first full album, King of
Deceit. And after giving it a listen, I still wasn’t sure what to make of
it. But after a couple of playthroughs, I was finally ready to put pen to
paper.
Reversion certainly aren't opposed to trying new things. The majority of
the songs on the album feature a variety of unexpected segments. However,
the end result of this playing around leads to a number of uncomfortable
instances which rather ruin some of the earlier tracks. For instance,
‘Enigma’ opens with a blindingly fast synth intro, which comes to an
abrupt end as the track proceeds down a much slower, vocal led
route. Sudden changes |
in, for instance, pace and vocal style may appeal to some, but
to my mind, a number of the tracks on the album would have
been so much better were they a little more consistent.
This almost experimental approach Reversion have adopted is a shame, as
there are some moments of brilliance which tend to be marred by a few
faults. In some of the songs, Aleksi Parviainen’s vocals are quite
remarkable. But he has an unfortunate tendency to scream as though he’s
being castrated, or otherwise tax his voice unnecessarily. The most
obvious example of this is in ‘Immortalized’ though it can be spotted in a
few other songs as well. Much in the same way, Samuli Federley’s guitar is
capable of producing some quality riffs, and some excellent solos, but the
way they’re distributed amongst some of the first six tracks seems more to
their detriment at times. The same can really be said of all the members
of the band.
‘Hurt’ and ‘King of Deceit’ stand out on the album, as they maintain a
high standard throughout. This is probably because they’re the only tracks
on the album that maintain a set style. In ‘Hurt’, a deliberately slow,
heavier pace is maintained in the entire track, with no sudden changes in
pace, and no solos which would be more at home in another track. ‘King of
Deceit’ is even more of a feat, as they manage to weave heavier verses
along the lines of ‘Hurt’ together with more melodic choruses almost
seamlessly, into something which, save for a strained scream toward the
end, is really rather good. These last two tracks stand out in my mind as
a portrait of what the band could have been. And hopefully, what they will
be in future, because despite my reservations, I'd be quite intrigued to
see what their next album offers.
www.kampas.fi
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Sesta Marconi - Ritual
Karmasutra Kitsch (Self produced)
Review by Chris Davison |
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It didn't start well. Sound effects of an (Italian) radio
being tuned and detuned across the radio spectrum. I spent
some time in Italy at the beginning of the year, and it bought
back hilarious memories of the mangling of English to be found
on their radio shows – for example, “Madonna – crazy disco
queen – Like a Virgin”. Luckily, it gets a whole lot better as
the CD wears on. This is good, catchy doom metal, which
luckily is less annoying than the lengthy intro!
Falling somewhere between a traditional doomy sound that
nestles somewhere near Sabbath in the Sabotage era, and the
rock and roll influenced heavy metal sound of |
Blizzard of Oz. Though weighing in at only four proper tracks,
this is an very enjoyable listen that had me pressing the
“repeat” button on the CD player to give it back-to-back
listening marathons throughout the day. There are more grooves
here than in a Lincolnshire potato field, and the music as
earthy as the soil. If your head isn't nodding along to the
infectious bass lines and rocking guitar riffs on “Skeletons
Party”, chances are that you might well be dead. I would check
in immediately with medical staff to assess your vital signs.
Simple, effective drumming, clear warm guitar tones and
dextrous bass all accompany the vocals which veer between an
original, classic rock tone and an Osbourne like howl which sounds not
unlike Sheavy. All in all then, just what the doctor orders
when you want to return to a simpler time of metal when all
that mattered was “is this a good tune”?
There are a couple of curveballs in here mind you, it's not
all brain off good rocking. “LSWD” is a damn deal heavier than
most other traditional doom tracks you might have heard, with
an absolutely pulverising opening riff that gives way to
slower, dirge like sections, before again morphing into a
psychedelic kaleidoscopic doom-laden main refrain. It's
certainly the stand out of the album and proof that Sesta
Marconi don't just think in rigidly expressed genre
conventions. It's a good disc, this, and great fodder for
accompanying a pint or two. Bang that head. Just not too
quickly.
www.myspace.com/sestamarconi
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Spread Eagle - Self
Titled (Lovember) Review by Metal Mark |
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The debut from New York's Spread Eagle was originally released
back in 1990, then it was re-issued in 2006 and when I saw it
being distributed again in September I decided to get a copy
to check it out. I remember seeing a few half-page ads for it
in the metal magazines back in 1990. I don't know if I read
negative reviews or if I just couldn't find it at my local
record stores back, but for whatever reason I never got around
to hearing it back then. In more recent years I began to see a
lot of very positive reviews on it so I decided to check it
out and see what all of the fuss was about.
"Broken City" comes bursting on with more guitar changes in
the first thirty seconds than |
many of their peers had in a whole four minute song. The
groove is undeniable as they just ride this one out of the
gate and hang on as it bucks and kicks all the way. Tracks
like "Back on the bitch" and "Switchblade Serenade" are a bit
more typical of the times, but just active enough to rise up
and stand out. My two biggest complaints about hard rock back
then and in general would be that they settle for bland rhythm
sections and that the guitarists either can't or won't just
rip loose on the rhythms enough. The rhythm section of Rob
Deluca on bass and Tommi Gallo on drums are certainly well above the average and
not afraid to step up and be heard. Guitarist Paul Di Bartolo
is a monster just peeling off riff after riff with plenty of
skill and precision with everything focused towards making the
songs stronger as a whole. Vocalist Ray West is right in there
screaming all the way and leading the charge. As a whole they
remind me some of Skid Row, but more groove oriented and maybe
a bit more versatile.
Should Spread Eagle have been big? I wouldn't say that
necessarily, but they probably should have gotten more notice
than they did. Yet it was a crowded time with so many acts
being signed at one point, it was inevitable that not everyone
was going to emerge successful and sometimes it was just luck
of the draw or having your single or video hit at the right
time. However Spread Eagle debut stands out as an example of
enjoyable hard rock of the time and it has aged rather well to
boot. |
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Thundertale - Milžinai (Atra
Musica Records) Review by Nathan Ward |
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It isn’t everyday you hear metal from our eastern European cousins, well
not for me anyway. So when I was handed ‘Milžinai’ (Giants) I didn’t know
what to expect, all I was told is that ThunderTale are from Lithuania.
The album is power metal infused with tradition Lithuanian music, with all
but 4 songs sung in Lithuanian, which is something different. The 4 songs
in English are: ‘Knights of the Burning Hill’, ‘Thunder Take Me Away’, ‘Is
It Worth’ and ‘Dance in the Wind’. The sound of the album is similar to
that of Hammerfall or Blind Guardian, with traditional Lithuanian
instruments, such as the hornpipe, which adds a feeling of
folk to the album. All |
of these elements work really well together and create a great
album to listen to. As I mentioned most of the album is sung
in Lithuanian, which makes the album enjoyable to listen to.
It’s nice to see a band that chose to sing in their own
language and another language; it adds uniqueness to the
music.
All in all ‘Milžinai’ is a really enjoyable album, memorable melodies and
lyrics, even if you don’t understand the lyrics. I’d have to say that my
favourite songs from the album are: ‘Milžinai’, ‘Vienybės Dvasia’ and
‘Thunder Take Me Away’. So if you want to listen to something new and like
bands like Blind Guardian, give ThunderTale a try.
www.thundertale.com
| www.myspace.com/thundertale |
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Trees - Lights Bane
(Crucial Blast/ 20 Buck Spin) By: Dave Schalek |
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Don’t let the rather sunny, light sounding band name fool you.
Trees, a quartet from Portland, Oregon, are bone shattering
doom with nary an acoustical passage in sight. The not quite a
full-length debut “Lights Bane”, released jointly on Crucial
Blast (CD) and 20 Buck Spin (vinyl), consists of two songs and
clocks in at a mercifully short 28 minutes, unusual for the
genre.
Take the glacially slow, dripping riffs and horrific feedback
of bands such as Burning Witch, Khanate, and Boris’ forays
into blackened doom, and combine that with percussion that
just serves to punctuate the madness as well as tortured
rasps, and you end |
up with a release that is definitely not going to be for
everyone, even if you consider Sunn O))) to be
high concept art. “Lights Bane” is at its best when the
harmonics drone on for long periods between hits of the
cymbals and snare, and the vocals approach a certain low
level, muted hum. Other moments consist of the tortured rasps
interspersed with percussion devoid of structure, resulting in
rancid, cellar dwelling, blackened noise that is hard to
stomach. That is, of course, the whole point of this exercise,
and kudos to Trees for doing so in an efficient 28 minutes
split evenly, more or less, over two tracks. Anything longer
than that would be pointless.
“Lights Bane” is not for everyone, but those of you with a
penchant, and tolerance, for this sort of blackened doom may
want to seek out this release. Recommended within limits.
www.crucialblast.net |
www.myspace.com/trees00
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