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Behemoth - At the Arena
Ov Aion- Live Apostasy (Regain Records) Review
by Crin |
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Poland’s finest extreme metal band are just as devastating
live than on record. So how to you capture this bands
bulldozing live blitzkrieg of a sound to disc? Well however
it's done, it's here in all its brutally refined glory,
phew!!, This is one super tight live outing with precision
musicianship and god raping tracks that are quality tunes as
all you Behemoth fans will already know. Behemoth are also one
of the oldest bands to crawl out of the Polish underground.
They started as a grim Black pagan Metal band way back in
1991, alongside Graveland. How different the paths chosen by
both bands would prove to be. The former still immersed in low
fi fuzz And Behemoth then evolving from Black to a mind |
hammering Death technical beast . With eight albums and some
decent EP’s, this band are at the forefront of ear shredding
extremity. From the first track, Slaying the Prophets of Isa,
we are reminded of the sheer brutality, precision and tight as
a testicle in ice musical barrage this band deploy. This is
Death Metal at its most accessible by means of not too
grinding, not too goretastic, just pure and simple skin
peeling Death Metal. The cd basically pummels you into mush
with rip roaring renditions of From the Pagan Vastlands,
Slaves Shall Serve, and Demigod. What more could you want???
The Vinyl version has a cover of Turbonegro’s I Got Erection,
and that shows just how cult those camp Norwegian are.
Satyricon also dote on those arse splitting bum bandits…
[maybe there is a latent homosexual revival going on in
extreme metal???]
www.regainrecords.com
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Black Bile - Great Ape
Language (Sakara Eecords) review by Sam Thomas |
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Black Bile is the latest incarnation of Finland’s Henri
Kuttinen. He seems to do just about everything on the album,
but Black bile also play live as a quintet. This is the debut
album, and as a piece of trivia, the first album on Sakara
Records to feature lyrics in English. The artwork is
beautiful, very dark with a selection of (presumably)
scientific photographs of who knows what at amazing
magnification. If only I were judging this effort on its
visual merits alone…
Alas, there is an aural component to this as well. Now I know
that I’ve complained in the past about bands being all over
the place with their style, but generally that’s been because |
they can’t make up their minds which particular brand of metal
to align themselves to. Unfortunately, Henri isn’t even that
decisive. Vocally, he’s quite like Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) –
that is, sometimes. And sometimes Black Bile do melancholy
quite well. But by track three, “Light that Failed", Henri’s
singing in a register that sounds too low for him, and the
songwriting has become whiny self-obsessed crap that could
have been written by your average emo kid.
Things bounce back and forward between these two states, with
odd electronic/industrial bits thrown in for good measure, but
there’s no coherence. When Black Bile are flirting with being
Katatonia, they’re OK. Although, obviously, Katatonia are
better at being Katatonia. And when Black Bile are being
someone else, well, they’re just crap. And whether it’s indie
crap or emo crap, who cares?
This is definitely a candidate for my worst album of the year.
I will be looking out for Henri in any future incarnations,
simply so that I can avoid him at all costs. Abysmal.
www.blackbile.net |
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Black of the South -
Nation Under Siege (ATG Media) Review by Chris
Davison |
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Ah, Southern metal again. I suppose the clue is in the name,
though to be fair, you've got more chance of wandering through
potato fields than through cotton fields, as Black of the
South are an Irish outfit. There seems to be a bit of a modern
resurgence in the sun-fried, blues soaked sounds made so
popular by Anselmo and crew in Down, but to be honest, that's
no bad thing, as every rocker can I think appreciate the Iommi-on-Jim-Beam
riffs and laidback atmosphere of the genre.
So, as you would expect, this is a riff heavy, syncopation
obsessed swing-monster with plenty of groove and attack. It's
all in the attitude, this southern rock thang, I reckon, and
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BotS have the laid back attitude nailed pretty much perfectly.
Opener “Unleashed” is a groovy number brimming with confidence
that brings to mind the much missed and lamented Floodgate,
while “Overcoming Tyranny” has a bit more of a Downset, doomy
feel to it – not unlike a less soulful Trouble in places.
After that, well it's slightly less inspired with the fairly
bland “Turmoil”, but there's a strong finisher in the rousing
title track.
The songs are well written, with an emphasis on head-nodding,
foot-tapping memorable riffs, though the drumming is effective
and skilfully done too. That being said, there are some
problems here – the production is as weak as supermarket
own-brand lager, and about as likely to intoxicate. It's a
hollow sound, and the vocals, while not untuneful, are
definitely not strong enough to cope with the musical
material. Jordan could do with spending a bit more time
subjecting his voice to some training and grit. It's far too
high in the mix, which brings unwanted attention to his
shortcomings. All in all though, this is an enjoyable romp
through the four succinct tracks, and a welcome ray of
sunshine throughout the dark winter months.
www.myspace.com/blackofthesouth |
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| Cynic - Traced In Air
(Season Of Mist) By: Dave Schalek |
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have a copy of “Focus”, the discographies
of all the progressive/ jazz-oriented Floridian death metal
outfits such as Atheist, Pestilence (yeah, I know, they’re
Dutch), and so forth, but you probably wouldn’t be shocked to
hear that my tastes have always veered towards the more brutal
side of the Floridian genre. So, although many have been
hungrily awaiting the long overdue second full-length from
Cynic, entitled “Traced In Air” on Season Of Mist, I was just
kind of sort of awaiting its release with mild interest. Well,
it falls to me to review the album for L4M.
First of all, all of you technical musicians and/ or
progressively oriented jazz aficionados out |
there will no doubt rejoice to hear that “Traced In Air” is a
musical tour-de-force from Paul Masvidal, Sean Reinert, and crew with
plenty of jaw dropping musicianship, stellar production,
quirky time changes, mature songwriting and so on. But, then
again, you would, of course, expect as such from such an
accomplished group of musicians. So, with that in mind, for
that audience, “Traced In Air” comes with my enthusiastic
recommendation.
But. Yes, there is a “but”. Make no mistake, any traces of
death metal from years past with “Focus” are now essentially
long gone. There are one or two moments on “Traced In Air”
with guttural vocals, and even a speedier moment or two, but
this album is purely progressive rock (albeit with a heavy
sound) with elements of free form jazz. In fact, I would be
hard-pressed, at times, to label this as a metal album, as
Cynic has embraced the melodious side of their musical natures
in full, and seem to have dismissed death metal as a brief
flirtation from their youth.
As artists, Cynic certainly can do whatever they wish in an
artistic sense, but those of you looking for the next
technical death metal masterpiece in “Traced In Air” may be
disappointed. Still, “Traced In Air” is a great album, but it
is what it is.
www.myspace.com/cyniconline |
www.season-of-mist.com |
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Dragon - Horde of Gog
Re-issue (Metal Mind) Review by Metal Mark |
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Poland's Dragon would eventually be one of the scene's
pioneers in death metal. They formed in 1984 and went through
some line-up changes before settling down and recording their
debut "Horde of Gog" in 1988. Humble beginnings indeed as
the quality of this album are of demo quality at best. The
music finds Dragon playing a style that's much more thrash
than death metal. However they tear into their material with
frenzied abandon. The drums are particularly chaotic as they
throw traditional structure to the wind and just crash ahead.
The playing is somewhat primitive even for 1988, but it has a
sense charm just due their crazed enthusiasm. The structure is
loose and even a little messy in parts yet |
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they never get bogged down or too far off track. The playing
as a whole isn't terribly skilled, but it's more hit than miss
just due to the amount of aggression they pump into it. In
many ways this is a more brutal effort than the two albums
than would follow. In fact hearing this album makes me wonder
what their music would have sounded like had they followed
this style more closely. This re-issue of the album includes 9
bonus tracks taken from the Polish language version of the LP.
The booklet includes lyrics, a band biography and several
early photos of the band. Not an essential release perhaps,
but definitely a good dose of old-style, pulverizing thrash.
www.metalmind.com.pl/index.php?jezyk=en
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Dragon - Sacrifice
Re-issue (Metal Mind) Review by
Metal Mark |
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Following "Scream of Death" Dragon decided to end their
partnership with MMP. They felt that they had achieved
everything we could while working with them. However,
cancelling unfulfilled recording contracts brings about some
harsh consequences. For two years the band was unable to
release their new material. They also lacked live performances
and during the whole year of 1992 they played only 5 shows.
The band's fourth full-length album "Sacrifice" was mostly
written in 1991 and 1992, but it would be two more years until
it was recorded and even then it was initially released on
cassette only. Dragon were certainly not the luckiest band in
the world with their numerous line-up |
changes and label problems. However despite all of those
problems and the long wait "Sacrifice" is probably their most
ambitious and probably even their tightest album. It's less
ferocious than the previous albums, but far more stylish and
technically more adventurous. I do get a sense of it being a
bit front heavy as the strongest and heaviest tracks happen
early on and the mid-tempo entries finish out most of the
second half of the album. That doesn't take away from the
ideas that went into this release though. The band obviously
had a vision for this album and they released in fine form
despite it being against popular death/thrash trends of the
time. Although I definitely think that "Sacrifice" would have
gotten far more attention had it been released when it was
written back around 1992.
This re-issue includes one bonus track and a lyric booklet. I
definitely find this to be the band's most interesting album
and it's one where I may continue to find more parts of it
that I enjoy. It's just a shame that the road wasn't smoother
for Dragon because their career may have been even longer had
they had made different decisions and had some breaks.
www.metalmind.com.pl/index.php?jezyk=en |
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Dr. Slaggleberry - Tuc
into the Tar (Crash Records) Review by Luke
Goaman-Dodson
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With their new EP, Dr. Slaggleberry have refined their
brand of psychotic math-metal into a cohesive whole that is
leagues ahead of the work presented on their self-titled
release. The essential Dr. Slaggleberry template of dissonant
chromatic scales and jarringly staccato tempos is here, but
the band shows far more confidence in their songwriting
capability, almost being a match for their technicality
virtuosity. The fact that this EP is actually recorded live in
the XFM Studios is a testament to the latter aspect of their
sound, and I'm gutted I passed up the opportunity to see them
live early in the year, as they must put on a hell of a
fucking show. In terms of individual tracks, their sound is
very much like |
| Soilent Green's in that the focus is in the
constant evolution of the music rather than individual songs,
so it's hard to give a good discussion of the individual
tracks, but 'Lead Rabbit' is probably my favourite, shifting
from a mellow jazzy intro, to an almost-black-metal blastbeat
storm, and then on into ever-more bizarre territory. All in
all, Dr. Slaggleberry are quickly finding their feet in a very
crowded metal scene; I predict a bright future for this band.
www.myspace.com/drslaggleberry |
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Edguy - Tinnitus Sanctus
(Nuclear Blast) review by James Young |
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Edguy have been changing their sound for a few albums now,
becoming less of a power metal band and morphing into a hard
rock monster. Last opus ‘Rocket Ride’ contained only glimmers
of power metal, and this release is pretty much the same in
the proportions of these genres. The power metal credentials
are still evident in the band’s ear for dynamics, creating
genuinely ‘powerful’ songs with show-stopping musicianship,
but nevertheless, those expecting brazen double-bass drumming
and power chords throughout will be sorely disappointed. One
element of the band which fortunately remains consistent with
the band’s earlier outings are the vocals of Tobias Sammet.
Clearly influenced by |
Bruce Dickinson, Sammet’s attitude-laden vocal range is
superb, ranging from ballsy low notes to the ear-shatteringly
high, cementing his place as one of the best singers in metal.
There are some pure hard rock numbers on this album, such as
the opener ‘Minister Of Souls’, along with its deep grooving
riff, which may wrongly make some people think that the band
has completely dropped all power metal from its sound. In all
fairness, this wouldn’t really be a bad thing, because this
band know how to write a foot-stomping and upbeat rock number.
‘Dragonfly’ and ‘929’ also have a great sing-along vibe, with
the guitars of Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer utilising effects
which certainly fit in the rock genre. Furthermore, everything
about ‘Dead Or Rock’ - title, rhythm, chorus - sounds like it
could be a Saxon song. Whilst these songs are great, where
Edguy truly excels (call me a stick-in-the-mud…) is when the
rock is blended with power metal elements. ‘Nine Elements’ and
‘Wake Up Dreaming Black’ utilise double-bass drum intros and a
dynamic mix of empty keyboard passages mixed with booming
choruses, which brings a frenetic energy to the songs. ‘The
Pride Of Creation’ could almost have been found on 2001’s
Mandrake album, with its fast-paced kick drumming, quick
guitar work, and happy-as-heck chorus, which you can’t help
but fall in love with. Whether hard rock or power metal, a
ballad is mandatory, and this comes in the form of ‘Thorn
Without A Rose’, which is just as heartfelt as the Poison song
of a similar name. And as it’s Edguy, let’s throw in a jokey
song about sex as a closer, called ‘Aren’t You A Little
Pervert Too?’ with its rockabilly rhythm, and you complete an
hour of entertainment only Edguy can provide.
A few have questioned Sammet’s latest Avantasia album, but
Edguy fans can rest assured that this album is pretty much a
triumph in every way. Tinnitus Sanctus is an accomplished
piece of work that will be hard to better. They’ll manage
though, you wait…
www.edguy.net
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www.myspace.com/edguy |
www.nuclearblast.de |
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Marshall Law - Razorhead
(DR2 Records) Review by Strawb |
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If you
are sitting comfortably, then let me take you back to a land
before many of the readers of this site were born, back to the
time when I was a lad. I am sure the words ‘political’ and
‘correctness’ were about back then, it was just that the
industry supportive of inadequates had not yet joined them
together to invent the plague upon which they grow ever
richer, and the rights brigade had not yet formed. It was
standard to regard the Scots as mean. And where I was brought
up, the urban legend that ran that one a close second was that
the folks from Yorkshire were somewhat tight with money, and
many a coin or note falling into the hands of a white roser
would never see the light of day again........ |
Marshall Law have an as yet incomplete website, commenced on
03.11.08, which tells us that they have been producing British
Power Metal over a period of nearly two decades and committed
it to seven albums. I have been listening to music for more
decades than that, and this is the first time that I can
recall our roads converging. And the map point where we meet
is the village of Apathy, twinned with Distinctly Average in
France and Whogivesashit, Wisconcin. The fact that there are
better exponents of the genre out there is never in doubt;
however, I have played this more than 70 minute platter
numerous times and for the last few times I have done so out
of sheer cussedness just to seek the track that rises above
the mean, the one I can use to sell this album to you. I now
admit defeat. Even with fifteen to choose from, it isn’t
there. Obviously, there have been career-long aspersions
alleging the wish to catch, if not exceed Judas Priest, and
although I can understand these being made, the similarities
are distant - more the best of ML against the lesser tracks of
JP, so in my opinion they are grouped more by genre than
direct comparison. In another area, ML are unique. Their
interpretation of Power Metal is a good one, it is just the
product that lacks that which is required to rise above the
average lactic output and join the cream. It might be that in
appearing at Wacken [then the main stage at Bloodstock Indoor
2006], ML achieved their zenith. Certainly there is nothing
here to indicate to me that greater heights will be subject of
conquest.
So, if value for money is your raison d’etre, then get out to
buy Marshall Law and this opus called Razorhead. Never has so
much been forced on to the one CD. Happen t’is most poplar CD
in all Yorkshire…..
I mentioned the new website, enjoy its development at
www.marshalllaw.co.uk |
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