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Defiance - Void Terra Firma
re-issue (Metal Mind) Review by Metal Mark |
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The Bay Area thrash scene was so active once upon a time, about
twenty years ago. It was a very crowded scene that a few bands
emerge while others didn't get the same amount of notice.
Defiance, probably for two major reasons, one being that their
debut didn't come out until 1989 when thrash was already in
full swing. The second is that they sounded a lot like
Testament. While that is a good sound to have, Testament had
already established themselves and thus Defiance had some
trouble coming up with an identity of their own. However that
doesn't erase the fact that Defiance were a fine thrash band.
By their second album they had obviously loosened up a little
as they change the tempo and |
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go beyond the very basic route of their debut. The playing
level is certainly more efficient this time around and they
are more consistent. I am not sure that's necessarily heavier
though and although this album is good they would have
benefited from increasing the heaviness level and there.
Defiance are a fine example of Bay area thrash and they
improved during their all too short first run. I actually like
them better now than I did back in the late 1980's/early
1990's. I think that is because their material has aged nicely
which isn't something I can say about every thrash band from
back then. Metal Mind does a splendid job with the re-issue as
this one includes bonus tracks and a lyrics booklet. |
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Iskald - Revelations of Reckoning Day
(Indie Recordings) Review
by Crin |
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Black thrash that follows pretty much in the same high
velocity precision Dissection style tempered savagery as the
Shades of Misery album of 2006. Iskald are something of an
enigma. Their exemplary musical vision of snappy blackened
thrash is wonderfully composed, feverously played, and charged
with high octane passion that pumps the music’s driving
ferocity to a maximum. The problem is that the music offers
little variation on a well culled theme. The hectic polished
arrangements that meander across the slow/ fast concept was
epitomized by the Swedish Gods Dissection. Here we have an
extension of all that has been and nothing that is any
different. The albums drags you across a |
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technical minefield of
polished Blackened Death with a thrashy underbelly. It isn’t
until track 8, Journey to Hell, that the real master class of
such Blackened Death is revealed. Sure, the whole album is
bristling with riffs and immensely endowed with complex
arrangements and yet most of the music is pretty safe, and
pretty ‘heard it somewhere before’. |
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Kivimetsän Druidi - Shadowheart
(Century Media) Review by Steve Green |
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Kivimetsän Druidi, which means "druid of the stone forest" in Finnish, are
playing on the Finnish Fire tour this winter alongside Korpiklaani and
Battlelore. And if you like both of those bands, then I'm sure Kivimetsän
Druidi will appeal to you as well.
For want of a better term, I'd classify this as Symphonic Folk. A huge
symphonic keyboard backdrop is utilised to good effect, while two
vocalists, the harsher tones of Joni Koskinen duel with the more serene
tones of Leeni-Maria Hovila, constantly battle for supremacy in a Lord Of
The Rings/fantasy style. The overall tone is definitely Finnish in texture
and from the off, I was reminded of Soulgrind, circa their 1997 album
Whitsongs.
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Kivimetsän Druidi don't particularly sound like Soulgrind, but
the vibe from their music is nearly identical, well to me anyway. I'd also
make a comparison with the more nature themed (Mother Earth) songs in
Within Temptations repertoire, so the core of their song structures are
from very good stock.
So, is there a downside to Kivimetsän Druidi? Probably that there's not enough
crazy shit going on. I'm sure that, if they play it live, The Tyrant will
have people up on their feet as it veers a little towards Finntroll, but
there's not enough of this style on the album. Maybe it's because some the
songs are culled from earlier EPs and have been re-recorded for this
album, and that's stopped the natural flow that Shadowheart should
possess. But overall, minor quibbles aside, Shadowheart is a good solid
debut. www.myspace.com/kivimetsandruidi
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Psykup - We Love You All
(Season Of Mist)
By: Dave Schalek |
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France’s Psykup could best be described as a collision between
the nu-metal tendencies of System Of A Down (what I’ve heard
of them, anyway), a huge amount of self-indulgent jazz
interludes, and a weird, early 90s grunge vibe, mostly
courtesy of the clean vocals which have a huge resemblance to
Layne Staley’s cosmic wails.
This is definitely not for me as I really have no burning
interest in any of the aforementioned influences, but I will
say that Psykup do an admirable job of just shredding it up
with exceptional musicianship, quirky songwriting that also
seems to take a page from Meshuggah and the like, and stellar,
crystal clear production. All of that aside, however, |
Psykup
will mostly appeal to the nu-metal crowd along with those of
you really into bizarre, jazz-influenced instrumentation with
stop-on-a-dime time changes and so forth as much of the album
comes across as a showcase of technical musicianship.
Unfortunately, however, the abundance of nu-metal influences
combined with all of the rather self-indulgent wankery left me
high and dry and I found myself repeatedly reaching for the
skip button as I progressed through the album. “We Love You
All” might be alright for the niche audiences that find what
I’ve described here appealing, but I’ll pass.
http://psykupreflexion.free.fr |
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Shadowkeep - The Hourglass Effect
(Melissa Records) Review by Steve Green |
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About 5 years, Shadowkeep guitarist Nikki Robson sent me a very polite
"fuck off" type email after I reviewed the band when they supported Dream
Evil at The Underworld. Quite honestly, I thought the band were absolutely
awful that night. They were so bad, I can even remember the performance to
this day. Thankfully, the 2008 version of Shadowkeep are a completely
different proposition to the one I saw in Camden that night. First up,
vocalist Ronnie Stixx is no longer with the band and the man at the mic is
ex-Tygers of Pan Tang front man Richie Wicks, also, in my live review I
described them as "Queensryche gone wrong", well with this album, I'd
describe them as the perfect balance
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between Queensryche and Judas Priest.
Plenty of Progressive elements and enough traditional grit to appeal to a
wider audience. The Hourglass Effect really is an amazing album.
I guess the biggest difference 5 years on is the quality of Richie Wicks'
pipe work, the man has an absolutely belting voice. His performance on
opening number Shadowkeep had me thinking of a Power Metal version of
Geoff Tate and this was quickly followed by the Judas Priest influenced
Incisor, which reminded me of the classic Exciter, especially on the
chorus. And while I'm mentioning the mighty Priest, I have to praise
the twin guitars of Nikki Robson and Chris Allen as they run riot
throughout the album. Their axe work is exemplary, and I genuinely don't
remember a UK band providing such a strong twin guitar performance since Iron Maiden's
golden era in the mid 80s. For the most part though, the Progressive side
of the band takes overall control of their sound. A comparison with
Threshold isn't unexpected as Karl Groom produced this album at his Thin
Ice Studios, but what I wasn't expecting, was Shadowkeep to produce such a
classy sounding album. Whether a band likes my comments or not, I always
try and give an honest opinion and my honest opinion here, is that
Shadowkeep have produced an album that could catapult them to a level they
probably thought they'd never reach. The Hourglass Effect really is a
world class piece of work.
www.melissarecords.com |
www.myspace.com/shadowkeepuk
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Trinacria - Travel Now Journey Infinitely
(Season Of Mist)
By: Dave Schalek |
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A side project from the Norwegian Viking metal scene,
Trinacria would initially get just about anyone excited with
the giants appearing on the project’s roster, most notably
three members of Enslaved. Unfortunately, Trinacria pretty
much falls flat as a project that very quickly descends into
mediocrity on “Travel Now Journey Infinitely”, the debut
full-length on Season Of Mist.
First of all, Trinacria are nowhere near Viking metal and,
instead, consist of an avant-garde, industrial template
replete with electronica sampling, Theremins, distorted noise,
and a muted rasp for effect. All of it is loosely held
together by rather pedestrian riffing, |
resulting in a poor man’s version of something on the order of
“Monotheist”, or perhaps that old Floridian project from years
ago entitled Meathook Seed, but with even less excitement, if that’s
possible.
At any rate, as stale as the riffing may be, the guitars still
manage to be the glue that attempts to hold this mess together
as the electronic sampling present on “Travel Now Journey
Infinitely” is grating and annoying, to say the least, and
ruins this release. Unfortunately, as soon as you find
yourself becoming mildly intrigued by some of the galloping
speed backed up with the riffs (at times, the riffs are
interesting enough, but are too few and far between), the
sampling breaks in at the most inopportune moments, and is far
too prominent in the mix to boot. Yech.
Ultimately, “Travel Now Journey Infinitely” is at, best,
uninteresting, and, at worst, annoying. I’ll pass on this one.
www.season-of-mist.com
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www.myspace.com/trinacriamusic |
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Zonaria - The Cancer Empire
(Century Media) review by Sam
Thomas |
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I had the pleasure (and pleasure it definitely was) of
reviewing Zonaria’s previous opus, Infamy and the Breed, back
in 2007. Since then, the Swedes have moved to Century Media
and changed bass players. Not the most earth-shattering of
things to have happened, and yet the music has changed…
Last time around, I compared them to Hypocrisy with touches of
Dimmu Borgir style symphonics. This time around I can’t quite
put my finger on what has changed, but it’s kind of like
someone has nicked your TV remote and adjusted the colour on
your set to reduce the normal vibrancy to a washed-out,
watercolour style. I can still hear the resemblance |
between Simon Berglund’s vocals and Peter Tägtgren’s, there are some
pieces that are very much like Hypocrisy – the opening to
fourth track “Contra Mundum” for example, and there are
definitely symphonic influences but the album as a whole is
just a little, well, boring.
Things start off promisingly enough, but unfortunately by
about track four or five (depending on how jaded I’m feeling)
it’s all beginning to sound very repetitive. I know I’ve
complained in the past about bands who don’t have any sense of
direction, but when you do have a sense of direction along the
bottom of a rut, trust me, it’s not an improvement. To me,
this is very reminiscent of the old days when certain bands
would struggle to produce the bare minimum of recorded sound
that could pass for a vinyl album, (preferably including at
least one track about the difficulties of recording the album)
release it and then go off on tour to produce a live album
that was twice the length and an absolute classic. Guesses by
email if you wish…
But, back to the CD in hand. There’s nothing intrinsically
wrong with this, but it’s just not anywhere near fulfilling
the debut album’s promise. Instantly forgettable, I’m afraid.
www.zonaria.com |
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