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Asmegin - Arv
(Napalm Records) Review by Crin |
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Norwegian Folk Viking/Blackish Metal sounding like a deformed
Skyclad melting into a imploding early Within Temptation. So
with that appraisal we can concur this has violins aplenty, a
rough male vocal and a serene female vocal, plodding guitar
arrangements and an overall unremarkable selection of songs??
Well, nearly… What first seems like a drab blackened folk
album somehow emerges from the unexpected to become a rather
likeable album after all. There is a sombre mood generated by
the music’s lacklustre delivery, an almost straining urge to
burst into up-tempo folk warmth and yet never managing to do
so. There are accordions and fiddles but not tuned to the high
shenanigans of lets say the |
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Asmegin have a seemingly unfathomable need to keep the mood to
a drowsy minimum at times and their odd uniqueness can strain
the ears. The overall feeling is the songs are meant to be far
more invigorating, to be free of the downcast shackles that
bind them. The only tracks to sit comfortably within this
restriction is Yndifall, a deeply atmospheric, Opeth like
journey into the darkest northern night, and the undeveloped
Prunkende Stolt I Jokumsol. Here and here alone does this
album reach out from its bleak mire of sounds and make the
statement of exemplary Norwegian music incarnate. If you have
patience and an ear for the unusual then this will appease
thee well…
www.napalmrecords.com |
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Dawn Of Winter - The Peaceful Dead
(Massacre) Review by Ellis Woolley |
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With an opening track declaring in it's chorus "Doom is the
soul of metal - primordial and pure/ Doom is the true essence
of living - immortal - my cure", you can be sure of but
one thing when "The Peaceful Dead" begins it's journey round
your CD player - Dawn of Winter will be bringing you doom.
Dawn of Winter plod and rumble along in classic doom metal
fashion - thinking Candlemass, Reverend Bizarre or The Gates
of Slumber - telling tales of suffering in various forms, but
never in the self-pitying means of My Dying Bride and their
darkened kin.
Despite rarely deviating from the tried 'n' tested
Candlemass-ian template of doom, DoW |
possess enough genuine
conviction in their art that this isn't a problem. Other
scenes might see a band reference their influences and peers
through borrowed riffs but doom goes one step further - bands
actually namedrop their peers in song. "The Music of Despair",
much like Reverend Bizarre's now legendary (?) "The Goddess of
Doom" is a history lesson in classic doom - that would be
Candlemass, Pentagram, Saint Vitus if you didn't know. Despite
showing less inventiveness in bending the 'rules' of true doom
than RevBiz, sufficient variance within the songs comprising
"The Peaceful Dead" result in a pleasingly enjoyable hour of
spirited, reliable doom metal. The title-track is the albums'
most introspective song, capturing the hollow essence of many
a Solitude Aeturnus classic with vocalist Gerrit P. Mutz, a
Messiah Marcolin student of the operatic screams of doom,
taking a formidable lead. One of the highlights among the
drawn-out riffs and thudding drums is the vocal melodies in
the likes of "Anthem of Doom" and "Burn Another Sinner",
lifting "The Peaceful Dead" beyond being a mere true doom
copycat. Any fool can play slow riffs and instruct their
drummer to chill out a while, but without the emotion felt
amongst foreboding closer "The Oath Of The Witch" a band will
not get anywhere.
Most listen to metal to hear music faster and louder than
everything else, and in such a respect doom metal is a loner.
However, for a change of scenery, Dawn of Winter with "The
Peaceful Dead" is a worthy addition to the record collection
of those who like to live life in the slow lane.
www.massacre-records.com |
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Diamond Drive - The Infidel's Ep
(Self Release)
Review by Steve Green |
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Damn, I keep calling this band Diamond Dave, thinking back to, of course,
"Diamond" Dave Lee Roth. But fear not, if Van Halen are not your cup of
tea, as Diamond Drive are a more modern proposition from Demark, with
System Of A Down, mixed with the smoother elements of Soundgarden being
the order of the day.
Bar the lack of originality, this is quite a pleasant 4 tracker. But for
what the band lack in originality, they do make up it with a very high
level of musicianship, with plenty of clever nuances littering each song.
Jens Moss has a versatile voice and constantly mixes it up, switching from
a modern snarl to a near perfect Chris Cornell impression with ease. All a band like Diamond Drive need is for a mag like Kerrang to pick them
up and I think they'll go far once they get the exposure. They are already
count S.OA.D's John Dolmayan as a fan, so they are definitely heading in
the right direction. If you like the more modern side of life, then head
over to: www.myspace.com/diamonddrive |
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Dodsferd - Death Set
The Beginning Of My Journey (Moribund Cult) By:
Dave Schalek |
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Dodsferd return once again with a full-length to close out
2008. “Death Set The Beginning Of My Journey”, released on
Moribund Cult Records, is the birth of a new trilogy of
full-lengths from Wrath, the sole genius behind Dodsferd, with
the remaining albums slated for a 2009 release. Prior
full-lengths from Dodsferd, most notably the absolutely
crushing “Cursing Your Will To Live” from late last year, have
set the bar pretty high for quality, so I was curious to see
as to whether Wrath can come to equal, or surpass, the quality
of prior releases.
“Death Set The Beginning Of My Journey” pretty much picks up
where “Cursing Your |
Will To Live” left off. Exceptionally raw black metal with
blackened “death/ punk n’ roll” overtones, “Death Set The
Beginning Of My Journey” has the catchy riffs, tempo
variation, slimy atmosphere, tortured shrieks, and the
slightly “bouncy” feel to the music that have categorized
prior releases from Dodsferd. The songwriting does appear to
be a bit more mature than in the past, with some greater
attention paid to variation in the music, as well as the
overall catchiness. Somewhat surprisingly, “Death Set The
Beginning Of My Journey” is also a bit under produced with
respect to the sheer power blasting forth on “Cursing Your
Will To Live”, yet still retains a mammoth feel. Also worth
noting is Wrath’s obvious enthusiasm for his chosen art form
with rather humorous song titles that include punctuation in
the form of exclamation points and semi-colons.
Probably the only negative aspect that I can find is that,
unlike “Cursing Your Will To Live”, “Death Set The Beginning
Of My Journey” doesn’t quite approach Top Ten for the year
quality. It’s still a great black metal album, though, and
should be on everyone’s list. Certainly, if you’ve been with
Dodsferd for awhile, you’ll, no doubt, want to seek out “Death
Set The Beginning Of My Journey”.
www.moribundcult.com
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Gamma Ray - Hell Yeah!!!
(SPV) Review by Metal Mark |
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Okay, first I have to relay the full title of this album which
is “Hell Yeah!!! The Awesome Foursome and the Finnish
Keyboarder who didn’t want to wear his Donald Duck costume.
Live in Montreal”. Let me rest my fingers after typing that.
Okay, fortunately the music contained here is not as
longwinded as the title. This was recorded back in 2006 on the
tour for “Majestic”. It seemed a little odd to me that this
comes out after they recently released another studio effort.
It might have made more sense to have had this released closer
to “Majestic” or wait and record a live album during the
current tour. I guess it doesn’t matter a whole considering
they don’t have a lot of material from “Majestic” on |
this 2 disc set anyhow.
Along with Helloween I have long considered Gamma Ray to be
one of the finest and most consistent power metal bands
around. A major reason for their consistency is likely the
fact tat they had the same line-up for the last decade. They
helped define and shape the genre and they are still putting
out solid material. This live album is no exception as the
band play a very active set with little down time and the
crowd seems very much into all that is being thrown their way.
The sound quality is strong although I don’t think that power
metal translates as well to live CDs as much as some other
metal genres. I think that some of the gloss of the sound is
lost in the transfer, but that may just be me. Still this is a
great set for fans as the songs are largely a best of and it’s
just Gamma Ray doing what they do best which is serving up
some of the best power metal around. There are also four
tracks off their latest studio album “Land Of Free II” as a
bonus of sorts taken from a concert in Barcelona from earlier
in 2008 during their tour with Helloween.
www.spv.de |
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Horna - Sanojesi Aarelle
(Moribund Cult Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Extremely prolific raw black metal band Horna release yet
another full-length, this one actually a double album of
entirely new material entitled, once again in their native
Finnish, “Sanojesi Aarelle”. Over a ten year stretch, Horna
have released seven proper full-lengths, the last few on
Moribund Cult in the United States, but they also have
numerous EPs and splits with just about everyone from, at
least, the Finnish black metal scene to their credit.
Horna are always solid, and pretty much stick to their tried
and true formula of raw black metal that drips with ferocity
and power. The songwriting and the musicianship are never
really the greatest, but, with Horna, that isn’t really the
point as the band merely exists to |
bowl you over with a black metal assault with no frills
whatsoever. “Sanojesi Aarelle”
continues Horna’s formula, but the album is split into two
distinct discs, resulting in a total of almost 90 minutes of
music. The first disc of the album is the usual ferocity with
variations in tempo that is the expected formula from Horna.
Subtly different, however, is the second disc with a more
muted production, a lesser emphasis upon in-your-face
ferocity, and greater concentration upon atmosphere and tone.
Although still quite raw in nature, the brutality seems to be
turned down a notch. The variation between the two halves of
“Sanojesi Aarelle” is definitely a winning strategy, as 90
minutes of straight away blasting would tend to get a bit old.
Once again Horna deliver yet another solid album with some
variation shown over an ambitious, two disc project. “Sanojesi
Aarelle” probably won’t change anything regarding Horna’s
stature within black metal, and that’s probably just fine.
www.legion-horna.com |
www.moribundcult.com
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Kingdragon - Fire In The Sky
(Self Release)
Review by Steve Green |
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Despite the odd flirtation with the genre, the AOR side of Hard Rock is
not a journey, pun intended, I've taken much in the past. Yes, I was a fan
of the Steve Perry era of Journey, but that's probably about my lot, bar
some obscure band like Stingray (anyone remember them?).
Kingdragon are a band from Greece put together by ex-Nightfall keyboard
player George Aspiotis, who also doubles up on vocals for Kingdragon, and
boy are these guys good. As I've already mentioned, not really my normal
pleasure, but this is a very good debut. Four tracks of pure melody, with
slick multi-layered choruses and enough hard rockin' to keep
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your attention throughout. Opening number Fire In The Sky wins
it for me as if I play this enough, I'm sure the melody will
stay in my head for days. This is pure ear candy, but superbly
put together.
Fans of Journey and the like will really enjoy this.
www.myspace.com/meetkingdragon |
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