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AC/DC - No Bull: The Directors Cut DVD (Columbia) Review by Steve Green |
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With a new album less than a week away and a newly announced world tour to
look forward to,
it's kinda cool to catch up with one of the greatest ever Metal bands,
AC/DC, just before the world goes into overdrive with Angus and the boys
once again. Here we have a re-issue of an AC/DC DVD from 1996, recorded in
Madrid, repackaged and re-edited, just in time for the busiest year the
band will have had for over a decade.
I actually owned the original DVD release, but to be honest, bar the sexy
new packaging, I'm not sure what the differences are, despite the claims
of HD re-edit and the audio remix. But with a track listing chock full of
some of the best Metal anthems ever, does it really matter?
I think things start in a sluggish manner as the band don't really click
on the first couple of songs, Back In Black and Shot Down In Flames, it's
not until track 3, the rather awesome |
Thunderstruck, that this DVD springs into life. From there on
in, it's a fantastic musical experience, although I'm over
keen on some of the sound levels. Visually, you can see the
crowd, quite rightly, going apeshit. But it seems as if the crowd mics are
turned off during most of the songs and they are cranked up again so you
can hear the applause at the end of each song. I guess it just makes the
whole experience just a little too polished and over produced for my
liking.
Any, enough of my minor quibbles. Here's the important stuff: Shoot To
Thrill, Hells Bells, Rock N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, Whole Lotta Rosie,
T.N.T., Highway To Hell and For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)... and
the list goes on. This is a DVD just crammed full of classics, which the
diehards will all love, but it's also a good way to corrupt you kids into
liking decent music. Since a very young age I've been a diehard
traditionalist and I'll stay that way until the day I die. Despite my
enjoyment of many other genres, for me, the likes of AC/DC, Iron Maiden,
Saxon, Accept etc... will always be my preferred listening and this DVD
has been a timely reminder of just how good AC/DC are.
www.acdc.com |
www.acdcrocks.com |
www.columbiarecords.com |
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| Cross Examination -
Menace II Sobriety (Organized Crime Records)
Review by Marco Gaminara |
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A CD that comes with a comic book! AWESOME, well to me at any
rate, as I spend a ton on comics every month and it's been a
long while since I've reviewed one... and this shall be brief,
It's very much in the stoner style, Crumb, early Vignette
style Jim Valentino, but great fun nonetheless and fucking
funny too. Well worth getting just for the collectability of
it all. Anyway, back to the music. It's 25 minutes long and
has 12 tracks and as their blurb suggests it's very much in
the style of early crossover thrash comparable to S.O.D. and
D.R.I. being completely frantic and all about fun rather than
getting any deep messages across. First thing I *must* mention
is that Kegmaster D's vocals fit the style perfectly, but |
towards the end of the album I started getting a little tired
of them, yeah I know.. How can someone that'll listen to Vio-lence and Suicidal for hours on end get fed up of someone
else's vocals? Dunno, but eventually they just got to me, even
though the speed at which he manages to spew out lyrics is
phenomenal. From the cheesy martial art flick sound byte in
the intro for the instrumental "Return Of The Shredder" to the
chuggy guitar riffs and steady drum pounding of "The Wimp
Chipper" this is all about having a party and enjoying
yourself. "Maximum Overchill" is where the vocals begin, and
kinda like with Vio-lence the backing vocals are stronger and
more melodic that then lead vocals, but this is all about Leon
St. cin and Justin Toxicated's guitar work and granted they
don't cover any new territory but like in "Necroponics" it's
all about speed and racket! Ryan O'Brien plays his drums
giving the frenzy its insane speed and dragging Raymondo
Arriola and his bass along for the ride on "Unlimited
Chainsaw". The protagonists of the comic book, the "Arson
Party Squad", have their own nearly 3 minute track on here and
the lead is actually pretty sweet. Like most thrash bands they
have songs about going berserk on stage and "Collateral
Jam-Age" is theirs. Very loud screaming takes place in "Thrashin'
For The Cash In (Royality Check)" quickly followed by that of
"Raid Your Fridge" and even more quickly followed by the title
track "Menace To Sobriety". The outro to "Blackout" had me in
stitches far longer than "Operation Devastation" lasted and
the instrumental outro "The Wimp Chipper" was covered above.
So if you're into fast nonsensical crossover thrash or just up
for a really good laugh, then I'd suggest getting this and
listening to it, cos it's well worth doing so.
www.myspace.com/crossexamination |
www.OrganizedCrimeRecords.com |
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God Forbid - Beneath the Scars of
Glory and Progression DVD (Wild Wind/Mygoodeye)
Review by
Metal Mark |
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This two DVD set begins with God Forbid being captured playing in front of
a hometown crowd at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey at the conclusion
of their world tour in February 2007. The band takes charge
from the moment they hit the stage as they launch into an
energetic and overwhelmingly powerful set. Their stage
presence is undeniable as they just attack their material, and
the audience is instantly captivated by their performance. The
band wastes little time as they just storm through the 13
tracks captured at this performance. God Forbid put on a near
flawless performance as their aggressive style is evident.
Doubtless they have gotten better over time. I do have two
minor complaints on the quality of the show. The first is that
the editing is too fast and furious at times. I could feel my
head, neck and eyes feeling some strain as the cuts on their
show were going by far too quickly. The second complaint is
that the crowd sound seems a little muddy and |
uneven in the mix.
The second disc contains a documentary, six music videos and a few other
items. Actually everything on this disc is well done except the
documentary goes on a little longer than it needed to. This certainly
qualifies as very strong and packed set that gives background on the band
it plus shows them at the place where they excel the most, the live stage. |
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In This Moment - The
Dream (Century Media) By: Joe Florez |
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These guys are absolutely shit hot right now. Their debut,
Beautiful Tragedy spread like wild fire thanks to spins on
satellite radio and MTV. Tours with Ozzy/Rob Zombie and
Ozzfest didn’t hurt either. Their fan base is strong and not
just because of the lead vocalists tats and beautiful looks.
People related quite well with the screamo vibe. So, it’s
round two and will they manage to repeat themselves or branch
out and surprise us with something different? Damn! I was
rather shocked with the first cut after the intro “Forever.”
This is tremendously commercial and poppy. This is more rock
than metal. I love the fact that Maria sings her heart out her
rather just straining her vocal cords by |
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screaming to death. The guitars are supremely catchy and
hooky. They will wrap around your brain with the quickness.
Also, the drums have a different vibe too. They are clean and
have more of a pop rock sound than dirty. Wow! “All For You”
really takes a twist musically as it has more of an 80’s pop
feel thanks to the drum work. For a minute there, I thought I
was listening to a Pat Benetar song or something. “Lost At Sea” slightly hits the
ballad mode with Maria singing softly at times, but picks up
the pace along with the band to kick it into high gear. It’s
not weak or heavy on the cheese. “Her Kiss” is pretty wild
because it combines the clean 80’s pop rock sound with some
down tuned guitar work that manages to work. Also, after five
songs of singing cleanly, she finally belts out her screams of
anger that so many fans have come to know her by. It’s not
into the mid section of the song and it will hit you like a
ten ton hammer. The two true ballads on here are very sappy,
but her lung work remains fragile, yet angelic. The bottom
line here is that this record is pretty much high impact
energy from top to bottom. The positives: Maria shows that she
can be versatile. Each track will remain in your brain for a
long while because it’s just that damn catchy. The record is
cleaner than their debut. The music on here is much more risky
than the debut. The negatives: This record is too polished.
Depending on your tastes, this could have been a little
dirtier like the debut and the drum recording has too much of
an 80’s pop rock feel. Could have used a tad more screams here
and there. Don’t always save the best for last. Overall, this
record will strike gold again if not platinum. These guys are
here to stay. The Hot Topic, HMV, FYE and the ilk will flock
to this like bears to honey. I think that if you can be a bit
more open minded, you can simply enjoy this release.
Entertaining.
www.centurymedia.com |
www.myspace.com/inthismoment |
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Jennie Tebler’s Out Of
Oblivion - Till Death Do Us Part (Blackmark)
Review by Metal Mark |
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We have here a female fronted gothic-doom metal style band
whose music is fortunately not as long winded as the band
name. Seriously though, the vocals here are quite stylish with
thick beautiful tones and a rather vast range to boot. The
music might be a bit more limited, but I am fairly sure that’s
by choice rather than by any limitations of talent. There is a
large low-end feel that often controls the pace rather merely
riding with it. I certainly appreciated that they pushed the
slow and heavy doom pulses to the forefront on occasion rather
than always letting the vocals take the center stage. Indeed
this was certainly heavier than a number of bands subscribing
to the goth-metal approach. Yet despite the fact that I |
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could check off several items that they did well it’s still
just rather alright and that’s about it. They went through the
motions ok, yet it still adds up to being a slightly dull
outing and it’s not that original. The production is a little
low places and that doesn’t the album any favors. I made it
through this one giving a sigh of relief that they had gotten
past some of the pitfalls that others bands of this musical
sub-genre inevitably fall prey to. Yet that still doesn’t mean
that is was entertaining enough for me to want to play it
again any time soon. |
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Naer Mataron - Praetorians
(Season of Mist) By: Dave Schalek |
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Naer Mataron from Greece are one of those solid black metal bands that
I’ve heard bits and pieces of over the years, but I’ve never really had a
chance to sit down and give the band a serious listen. Luckily, with the
release of “Praetorians”, the band’s latest full-length, on Season of
Mist, I’ve had the chance to do so, and I’m rewarded with an excellent
album.
“Praetorians”, Naer Mataron’s fifth full-length, features a nice mix of
raw ferocity with a polished, yet slimy, finish. “Praetorians”
combines all out blasts, a grimy, greasy feel to the guitars
consisting of mostly rapid chord progressions, and twisted,
rasped vocals with a |
horrible, nasally sound to produce an album that definitely
has roots in the raw black metal genre. Somewhat unusually,
though, Naer Mataron eschew the
low-fi production values of raw black metal for a fuller sound. To
summarize, I suppose that I would compare Naer Mataron’s current output to
bands such as Sargeist and Craft, but with a deeper sound (and better
musicianship, as well). In addition, throw in some catchy songwriting
along with a few scant moments of well-placed guitar melody, a few
mid-paced tempos, and “Praetorians” ends up as a varied album that has
that rare quality of becoming better with each listen.
There’s nothing too terribly original about “Praetorians”, but Naer
Mataron have delivered a solid effort. As a bonus, a slick video clip
(quite grotesque) for “Incarcerating Gallantry” is included. Overall,
“Praetorians” is strongly recommended.
www.season-of-mist.com |
www.naermataron.com |
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North Side Kings - Suburban Royalty (I Scream
Records) Review by Steve Green |
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I'm sure the North Side Kings will always be remembered for their frontman
Danny Marianino decking Glenn "I've not got a bald spot" Danzig. I'm going
to remember them more as the band who snapped me out of reviewing average
cds... For the past few weeks, it seems as if I have played nothing but bloody
sound-alike bands and bands who seem happy to release sub-par shite. Thank
fuck that the North Side Kings have come along to blow my cobwebs away.
Starting off with "Giving Emo Kids Something To Really Cry About" you
know this is going to be one hell of a testosterone filled ride. An
immense hardcore/thrash riff is joined |
by a huge "North Side Kings" gang shout, and the fun begins.
This takes me back to when I listened to bands like Suicidal
Tendencies (in their prime) and Adrenalin OD, but NSK mix in a
punkier vibe and they love their gang shouts, which are used to great
effect throughout the album.
After 12 original Hardcore anthems, the album closes with a couple of
covers, as well as another song written by outside writers. The covers
are, not detracting anything from the bands own material, a real fun way
to end the album. I recognised the first one straight away... or so I
thought. Upon hearing the riff for the first time, my original guess was
the Ramones, before it became clear that this was a cover of Joan Jett's
Bad Reputation. And what a fucking blast it turns out to be. As does the
cover that ends the album, a ridiculously heavy version of Anthrax's Among
The Living. Not only does it kick ass, it also highlights how close
together Thrash and Hardcore really are. This is neck snapping fun that
gets you pumped up every time you hear it.
www.myspace.com/northsidekings
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