|
|
|
|
|
SatanaKozel - Rogatiya (Varjot Productions)
Review by Steve Green |
 |
A couple of years a go I was raving about the number of very good bands
emerging from Australia, this year, I think the title might just go to
Russia. SatanaKozel fall into the Pagan/Viking/Folk category and I think
the best way to describe them is as a more serious version of Korpiklaani
or Turisas, and as the missus pointed out, they aren't a million miles
away from Finntroll either.
You are lulled into a false sense of security with the gentle acoustic
intro, Veter (which translates as Wind) and with the hey nonny nonny
beginning of Strah da tuman, after that, things start to get a little
heavier. Don't get me wrong, there are numerous opportunities to
|
dance around, pump your fist in the air and generally just dig
the feelgood
factor of this album, but you cannot help feel that SatanaKozel are just a
little bit more serious about their art than a few other bands I could
mention. Maybe because this album has more of a Pagan feel about it than
anything else, albeit one that's great to dance around to.
Forget about friendly drinking songs or cover versions of 70s disco, this
album hits you firmly between the eyes.
Those of you that enjoy releases from Estonia and Lithuania, will also
really enjoy SatanaKozel as they fit in quite nicely with that scene. And
as you may have guessed by now, this one comes highly recommended.
www.myspace.com/satanakozel
| www.varjot.tk
|
| |
|
Sonic Euphoria - The Loss (Self Release)
Review by Steve Green |
 |
Sonic Euphoria are (yet) another bunch of talented kids preparing to take
the world by storm. They've been around since 2006 and judging by their
mugshots on the cd inlay, I'd guess they are around the 16 - 17 year old
mark, with two of them looking even younger. But, for what they lack in
age and experience, they make up for in talent.
This is Progressive Death with a million ideas woven into the framework
and I have to say this is a very refreshing listen. Plenty of tempo
changes, superb musicianship, particularly with some of Chris Jones' bass
work, nice growly vocals and above all, good song structures. The
production isn't fantastic, but for a debut self released EP, you can look |
beyond that as it's obvious that Sonic Euphoria are a band
worth keeping an eye on. And with the inclusion of an 8 minute
epic on their debut release, it's obvious that they aren't
short on confidence either.
If they continue to progress at the same rate since their inception and
with the right guidance, then they'll be snapped up by a decent sized
label within the next 18 months. Well worth checking out at:
www.myspace.com/soniceuphoria06 |
| |
|
Subway to Sally - Schlachthof
(Nuclear Blast) review by Sam Thomas |
 |
Schlachthof (which means “abattoir” – not an auspicious start for a
vegetarian!) is a live offering from Germany’s foremost medieval/Celtic
warriors, Subway to Sally, filmed and recorded at the Alter Schlachthof in
Dresden. It comes as a one CD, one DVD package, but I can only comment on
the CD content as we didn’t receive a copy of the DVD. Subway to Sally
originate in Potsdam, part of the former East Germany, and like their
compatriots, Rammstein, prefer to sing (these days at least) in their
native German.
This release is a good starting place to make their
acquaintance, or to extend your knowledge of their unusual
(even by today’s genre-bending standards) style: a mixture of |
medieval instruments, folk inspiration and overall metal
heaviness. It’s obvious that Subway... like to produce live
albums – a quick look at their discography shows that,
recently, they seem to be alternating between live and studio
albums – and they clearly have a great affinity with their
audience. They’ve managed to make the distinction between a
band singing folk songs in a foreign language and a novelty
act belting out drinking songs perfectly – these are far from
being a bunch of drunken Germans waving steins of beer at
Oktoberfest, they are a professional metal outfit. Who
admittedly do have one or two tunes that are irrepressibly
catchy, and, yes, you could enjoy singing them on your way
home from your local hostelry of an evening...
Personally, I can see exactly why Subway... are banging out this
particular mix of live/studio albums. They are a good live band (and I’m
sure that if you’ve ever been to one of their gigs – I haven’t yet – you’d
praise them more highly) but they also turn out some pretty decent studio
albums too – Nord Nord Ost is probably my personal favourite. And no
surprise, that gets rather more than a look in here, in a set list that is
drawn pretty much evenly from their more recent works. The other thing, of
course, is that with a live album you always discover a track or two that
come from an album that you don’t have. And of course, then you have to go
out and buy that album... Good sales pitch. Teutonic thoroughness in all
things.
This is a jolly nice album (especially if you like screechy things like
bagpipes). If you haven’t discovered Subway to Sally yet, it’s probably a
really good place to start. If you have, check out the set-list, which
will definitely feature your favourites. We have ways of making you sing
along...
www.nuclearblast.de |
| |
The Day Of The Beast - The Day Of The Beast
(Canonical
Hours Records)
Review by Marco Gaminara |
 |
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't want to review this
album, and not for the reasons you might think either. It has
more to do with the fact that once I've reviewed an album, I
tend to not listen to it again, especially promo stuff, as it
gets archived at home and rarely looked for again. But if I
take an extended time to write the review, then I just have
the CD in my work machine and listen to it on repeat for weeks
on end, usually I get fed up eventually and do the review, but
in this case I've been listening to this for over a week now
and it just gets better each time. This Virginian quintet play
black metal infused with a lot of Bay Area style thrash
elements, which is probably why I enjoy it so much. Think |
Immortal meets Exodus and you'll be wrong, or will you... but
it has the ferocity and emotion of both.
Opening track
"Pangaea Rising" takes you through a couple tempo changes and
Steve's very rasp vocals are very similar to 'Illusions' era Sadus, rather than smurfette style black metal shrieks.
"Predators Path" is just over 2 minutes of blasting by Jeremy
(or was it Aaron that played drums on the album?). KC and
Eric's twin guitar attacks on "Beyond Choronzon" keep things
fluid and dynamic as they bounce rhythms off each other. Going
for a far more choppy groove on "Harvest Of The Heretic's", it
even has a bit of very early Metallica influences in there.
Bit of a horror movie type interlude of pipe organ, thunder
and lightning and ghoulish sounds on "Dead, Yet Dreaming"
takes you into "He Who Shuns The Light" with its blistering
pace and Justin pounding his bass during his solo. Slowing
things down, but increasing the lead breaks, "The Crawling
Chaos" plods along at a steady pace until it picks up a little
for "Awakening The Morningstar", but not much. "De Vermis
Mysteriis" however has things back on track and my nodding my
head along to the intricate drum fills. They wrap things up
with the brutal track "Upon The Throne", where the tremoloed
guitar keeps up with the kick drums which never let up while
the leads are flailing and end abruptly, as the song changes
into an ambient keyboard laden outro. Good stuff! And I'm
going to listen to it again now as I send this off.
www.TheDayOfTheBeast.com |
www.CanonicalHours.com |
| |
|
The Wandering Midget - Serpent Coven
(Eyes Like Snow) Review by Chris Davison |
 |
...During which, this Finnish doom metal three piece, named
after a European tour undertaken by The Krankies*1, pull a
stonker from out of the faded denim pockets of their true
metal skin tight, bell bottomed jeans. Having reviewed their
mini-CD “I am the gate” some time ago, I was pretty excited to
have this land on my welcome mat.
Here they are, after a year or so, producing six new tales of
doom and terror for your aural pleasure. Much of what I said
in my last review is also applicable to this release, only
it's more so. For those of you not inclined to use Dr Google's
surgery of historical intarweb wonders, let me paraphrase said
review by using keywords. Reverend Bizarre. Sounds |
like.
Doom. Finnish. Having thus rendered the rest of this piece
redundant, allow me to go further. Serpent Coven is a really
good, engaging heavy metal album. While undeniably in the doom
mode, this also has little glimpses of more NWOBHM minded
pseudo-doom, particularly in the mid tempo passages and
rollicking refrains to be found contained within. Imagine,
then, if you will, a mix between Reverend Bizarre, Witchfinder
General and the less tedious passages of Sleep. A lazy
description, to be sure, but then I am a very lazy man*2.
The Wandering Midget have, to be fair to them, spent a bit of
time it seems honing their song writing skills, as the tracks
here are much sharper and to the point than their early works.
The same thundering guitar riffs, completely battered drums,
bubbling bass and clean, morose vocals are here, only more so.
The production sounds completely vintage and analogue, and if
the riff at 8 minutes and 50 seconds through “Taynia” doesn't
have you sewing a metal patch onto your sleeveless
vest-o-doom, there may well be a bona fide medical issue to
attend to. Reverend Bizarre may have long said “So Long
Suckers”, but with The Wandering Midget, we may not have to
miss them too much at all.
www.northern-silence.de/eye.htm
*1 Factually incorrect, and also used as the introduction for
my last TWM review. Well, recycling is in vogue, isn't it?
*2 Factually very correct. |
| |
|
Thou - Peasant (Level Plane/ Autopsy Kitchen Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
 |
Louisiana’s Thou return with their second full-length, entitled “Peasant”,
and released as a joint effort between Level Plane and the anxiety
inducing Autopsy Kitchen Records. Thou play a melancholic version of
bludgeoning, droning doom with vocals patterned after Michael Williams’
tortured shrieks from fellow Louisiana residents Eyehategod.
Not being familiar with Thou, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but
“Peasant” is mostly intoxicatingly heavy doom with a few touches of
melancholic riffing, a generally glacial pace, and a crushing atmosphere.
Throw in the aforementioned vocals, and you end up with a sound on
“Peasant” that basically comes across as a slower version of Eyehategod |
with, perhaps, more emphasis placed upon an oozing heaviness.
Overall, “Peasant” isn’t all that bad, but I do find my attention
wandering some as the album tends to lose focus and meander around
somewhat. At times, however, Thou seem to really nail what they’re doing
in terms of songwriting, and I find myself taking great interest. It’s
almost as if the band awakens from a wandering stupor and realizes that
they’re supposed to be writing some interesting riffs. Most of these
moments come when the pace picks up a bit, or when the riffs take on a
melancholic tone without becoming too saccharine or patterned after the
British melodic doom bands. These moments are all too fleeting, however,
and, ultimately, I come away from “Peasant” somewhat disappointed. I get
the impression that this album could’ve been a lot better, and a great
deal of potential may lie within Thou.
In short, “Peasant” does have it moments, but, for now, I’m afraid that I
really can’t recommend this album except for the hard core doom fanatics
out there.
http://noladiy.org/thou/
| www.autopsykitchen.com |
| |
|
Unearth - The March
(Metal Blade) Review by Robert Cheesewright |
 |
The March is the forth studio album by Massachusetts Metalcore
band Unearth. Unearth are one of the few bands whose albums
appeal to both young hardcore “kids” and long-in-the-tooth
metal heads. This album will not disappoint either faction.
The similarities between this record and their third, In The
Eyes of Fire, can be drawn rather easily- which is great,
because their previous albums are insanely good. The album
starts with ‘Thy Will Be Done’, a song that can only be
described as a monster. The intro to the opener being one of
the best moments of shredding I’ve heard in a long time. Track
three opens with similar intensity, as do a number of the
tracks- Unearth are clearly not interested in gentle |
intros this time out, which is bloody brilliant.
All the tracks, without fail, move onto the standard Unearth
formula, of rasping vocals, fast riffs and the occasional
brutal breakdown. That said, the breakdowns are far fewer and
subtler than previous albums. Many of the tracks include
extended solos - taking the album further away from the
hardcore end of the spectrum. The March, essentially, is a
metal album- and a good one at that! The March is consummate
Unearth- Immaculately composed and composed, full of
face-melting shredding and sure to placate all but the most
demanding of fans. It is hard to pick out stand out tracks, as
they are all strong, but the ‘punch in the mouth’ opening of
‘Thy Will Be Done’ is bound to ensure it gets significant
amounts of attention and radio play.
Unearth are famed for their high quality live shows and hit
the UK’s shores in November- see their MySpace page for more
info. www.myspace.com/unearth |
| |
|
Various Artists - Century
Media: Covering 20 Years Of Extremes (Century Media)
By: Joe Florez |
 |
I know it’s very important especially in the metal community
when a label reaches their 20 year mark they have to do
something special. However, not everyone that has accomplished
this feat puts out a special product. Nuclear Blast’s was
mediocre at best, but RoadRunner’s was a real treat for the
most part. Now, it’s Century Media’s turn and what they
decided to do was have their artists past and present cover
each other. What we have here is 32 tracks from 31 artists. I
don’t know why, but Napalm Death was posted on here twice. The
double disc set clocks in at an almost hefty 140 minutes.
Since my space is limited on this site, I will try to get
right down to the meat and potatoes of this |
thing.
Arch Enemy christens this unholy project by taking on Dream
Evil’s “The Book Of Heavy Metal.” As one would expect, AE’s
trademark guitar sound is all over this thing and it’s way
heavier and thrashier than the original with Angela shredding
all over the place. Fun. Dark Tranquillity puts their spin on
Sentenced’s track “Broken.” This one is equally melodic as the
former, but growly vocals from Mike are showcased and the
keyboards are much heavier. Cool. The one that really grabbed
me was Brand New Sin’s take on Iced Earth’s “Watching Over
Me.” This one has a more hard rock/blues based sound, but the
feeling and vibe is captured absolutely perfect and Joe’s
gritty voice could be the brother of Matt Barlow’s. Must
listen. Another shocker on here is Wolf being on the roster.
Does this mean that they have joined the big boys now? God I
hope so. Mercenary’s take on AE’s “Burning Angel” cracks me up
with their signature sound on here and high screams. The odd
thing is that they didn’t turn it into an eight minute epic.
Short and Sweet. What didn’t work for me was a band like Fear
My Thoughts taking on Heaven Shall Burn. Honestly, does anyone
really care? Uh…no! Fu Manchu bastardize Penance, but in a
good way and Krisiun paying homage to Demolition Hammer was
just absolutely sweet. While the project has good intentions,
not everything on here works. I mean, one extreme band taking
on another as mentioned above is no fun. Wanna’ shake things
up, then try something like Nevermore doing a Krisiun cut or
Zimmer’s Hole tackling The Gathering. Now, that would be
interesting. While this is ok, I couldn’t listen to the whole
thing in one setting and much less listen to every cut. I
would just program my favs and then be on my way. If you are a
fan of a certain band and need to be a completist, then so be
it. Otherwise, listen first before shelling out the scratch
for this one.
www.centurymedia.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
