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| Anael - From Arcane
Fires (Paragon Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Yet another fine release from New York-based Paragon Records
finds its way into my mailbox. The good folks at Paragon
Records have quite a talent for discovering obscure, well done
Continental black metal, and providing an outlet for an
American release of excellent music that would be otherwise
hard to find (in the United States, anyway). This time around,
the band in question is Anael, a raw, yet melodic, black metal
outfit from Germany.
“From Arcane Fires” is the third full-length from Anael, and
is my first exposure to the band. The usual trappings of raw
black metal are present on the album; that is, whispered |
rasps, thin production, muted percussion, and a generally
mid-paced tempo interspersed with the odd blastbeat or two. As
usual with the genre, the musicianship also tends, somewhat,
to be a bit on the sloppy side. However, all of these typical
elements aside, Anael succeed with melodic, catchy, and simple
riffs along with some fluid bass lines that nicely complement
a melancholy, haunted atmosphere. Although the base of the
music is raw black metal, comparisons to doom/ death could
also be drawn, but Anael are not to be labeled as
“progressive” in any manner, and avoid some of the overbearing
elements of that genre.
There’s nothing terribly original about “From Arcane Fires”,
but Anael have a knack for writing catchy songs with plenty of
atmosphere that ultimately result in “From Arcane Fires” being
a satisfying listen. Recommended.
www.paragonrecords.org |
www.anael.de |
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Eldorado - En Busca De
(CD Pool) Review by Metal Mark |
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Spain's Eldorado play a classic style of hard rock. The
influences on their debut are obvious and include Deep Purple,
Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and latter day Rainbow. One item that
needs to be noted early on is that with the exception of their
cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" the rest of the album is
sung entirely in Spanish. That was a little surprising at
first, but it certainly doesn't detract from the power of the
album. By the second spin I was eagerly soaking in the catchy
hooks and melodies. The music oftentimes walks the line
between metal and hard rock while pulling in the best of both
styles. The real strength of the album is their consistent
delivery of pounding riffs and the stellar vocals of |
| Jesús
Trujillo. Solid production also helps boost their sound. They
manage to seamlessly blend in blues parts on several songs.
They wear their influences on their sleeves, but they have the
confidence and the ability to pull it off. I only have two
minor complaints about this disc. The first is the album
almost seems split with the first half being the more metal
tracks and the second half being largely the bluesy hard rock
tracks. Mixing the tracks more would have given it a more even
and effective feel. The other item is that it was just too
short. Two or three more songs would have helped it to be more
of a complete package. Still this is fantastic material
delivered with a great of passion and precision. Highly
recommended.
www.myspace.com/enbuscadeeldorado |
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Geisha - Die Verbrechen
der Liebe (Crucial Blast) Review by Luke Goaman-Dodson |
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Beginning with a blast of whammy-bar action that sounds
like Kevin Shields having a bit of a tantrum, Die Verbrechen
der Liebe launches into a ferocious bout of extreme noise
horror that would almost sound like mathcore if it wasn't so
fucking good. We are treated to about three and a half minutes
of that before Geisha decide to show us what else they're
capable of and shift gears into psychedelic minimalism
reminiscent of Boris' mellower moments. Indeed, the influence
of the Land of the Rising Sun goes deeper than just the name,
as the stamp of Japanese noise is all over this CD, whether in
the form of rock (Boredoms, Melt-Banana), or electronica (Merzbow,
Masonna). It comes as a genuinely
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pleasant surprise to learn that this band aren't Japanese,
American, or continental European, and actually come from this
grey and unpleasant land, specifically the town of Bristol.
The hilariously titled 'Cocktown and the G Boys' is actually a rather melancholic
number, with the merest hint of post-rock misery grafted onto
a Melvins-meets-Skullflower sludge/noise bedrock. 'Sportsfister'
continues in this vein but throws in a little Hawkwind, which
can never go amiss in my experience. Rounding off the album is
the half-hour epic 'Theme From Diana', a slowly expanding
psychedelic-drone jam that, as a frequent dabbler in
improvised music, calls to mind the intense joy that making it
up as you go along can often bring. This won't be to
everyone's tastes, that's for sure, but if
industrial-drone-noise-sludge-shoegaze sounds like your cup of
tea, then this could be the album of 2008 for you. Very highly
recommended.
www.myspace.com/geishanoiseresearchgroup |
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Goblin Cock - Come With
Me If You Want To Live (Robcore)
Review by Metal Mark |
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I remember when I was about 12 years old and first saw this
kid on my bus with this book that had a picture of this
monstrous giant warrior rising up over his opposition. I was
in awe of the picture and I took in the words "Dungeons and
Dragons" etched at the top of the book. Soon I found out that
it was a game and I knew it would not be like Monopoly,
Battleships and the conventional games that I was used to. In
my mind images started to form, images of fantastic and
ferocious battles with horrendous beasts and searches for
fantastic treasure. From that point on I knew that one day I
would play Dungeons and Dragons. I knew that once I played
that would be an event that I would never forget. At |
| least
a year went by before I finally had the opportunity to take
part in a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. True enough it was
an event that I would never forget. Yes, five pimple faced
kids sitting around a desk under dim light pretending to hunt
for treasure. It was as fun as watching paint drying on the
wall. All my high expectations were shattered by the reality
of it just being a rather dull way of wasting time. That is
kind of the way I think of Goblin Cock. Now granted this band
and their albums are not quite as disappointing as that game
of D & D. Yet both had my expectations up as I hoped to be
absorbed by fantasy worlds. Instead both just came across as
empty shells. Goblin Cock is a bit of a tongue in cheek take
on stoner rock and doom metal. They are also the brainchild of Robcore labelhead Rob Crow. I knew that going in yet I still
hoped for a full-on assault. They plunk out the fantasy album
cover, put their lyrics in runes and slowly grind out some
Sabbath inspired chunks. Okay, some of this works yet I cannot
help but shake the impression that they do not totally commit
to either being very heavy, very quirky or even very funny.
Instead they try a combination of all three that ends up
sounding generic and even lukewarm. The song title "Beneath
The Valley Of The Island Of Misfit Toys" got a small chuckle
from me, but that one of the few and brief highlights
contained on this disc. I cannot help shake the impression
that they wanted to be a spoof of evil drenched doom with all
the trappings. However they never push hard enough and there
are too many fluffy parts sprinkled throughout. I got the same
impression when I heard their debut "Bagged and Boarded" a few
years ago. The new album is more consistent than the debut,
but it still lacks the qualities that I hoped for. My hopes
were high, but the results were rather average. |
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Hanson Brothers - It's A Living
(Wrong Records) Review by Steve Green |
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The Hanson Brothers are really NoMeansNo, dicking about, playing Punk Rock
that pays tribute to The Ramones and they also throw in a lot of Hockey
based humour, which I have to admit is completely lost on me.
This album was recorded live at, I'm presuming, a small venue in Coaldale
Alberta, the Coaldale Motor Inn, and the live feel actually enhances the
songs as they capture the true spirit of The Ramones, especially the
1,2,3,4's. And while I haven't got a friggin' clue about the humour side
of their make-up, I love the music and the countless references to The
Ramones, who are my favourite Punk band. (along with the Dead Kennedy's).
And while
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I've been mentioning Joey and boys left, right and centre, let
me make it clear that this isn't an album of cover versions.
It's just a bunch of songs that sound a lot like The Ramones as the songs borrow a few
riffs here and there. The only cover, as such, is Blitzkrieg Bop, which is
transformed into Blitzkrieg Hops for the DVD section of this release and
No More Headcheese, which sounds like something off of It's Alive, but
which song escapes me right now, but it's probably Commando.
As I touched upon before, the disc this album comes on is double sided and
on the flipside is a DVD which is basically a guide on how to brew your
own beer!!! Which is definitely a first for a music release I'm sure.
So overall, a fun release and one that's very useful if you are looking to
brew your own beer.
www.myspace.com/hansonbrotherscanada |
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Hemoptysis - Who Needs A
Shepherd? (Self-produced) Review by Metal Mark |
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Hemoptysis hail from Tempe, Arizona and formed back in 2007. I
was surprised at how tight this band is on their five song EP
particularly given the relatively short time that they have
been playing together. This is old school thrash and lots of
bands are doing that however they guys mix in classic style
metal as well. I hear Kreator, Sodom, Slayer, Dark Angel and
others. Beyond that I also hear some shades of Mercyful Fate
and even some NWOBHM influences to boot. Where this band
excels is at mixing thrash and classic metal into a solid,
heavy assault. The approach is basic and familiar yet well
executed. Their sense of melodies and pace is strong. The
maturity level of their playing and writing is |
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evident as well. Hemoptysis has a solid grasp on how to really build the
song, but keep it heavy and vibrant at the same time. Those
are skills that not every up and coming thrash band has. Too
many acts are content to just copy the older bands, but these
guys do an admirable of trying to blend some styles. I was
surprised at the production of this CD. The quality is very
crisp and sharp with the right amount of emphasis on
everything. My only real complaint is that now I want to hear
a full length to see what they can do with that format. I do
however hope that they pushing the limits. I like what is
here, but they could certainly benefit from just continuing to
head in the direction that they started with this EP.
www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal |
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Lecherous Nocturne - The
Age of Miracles Has Passed (Unique Leader Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Personnel changes and a jump to Unique Leader Records mark the
second, rather short full-length (27 minutes, or so) from
Greeneville, South Carolina’s Lecherous Nocturne. Notably,
Dallas Toler-Wade has left from behind the kit to concentrate
on his guitar duties in Nile. This is a good thing, in my
opinion, as Lecherous Nocturne no longer give the appearance
of being someone’s side project or gimmick; rather, the
release of “The Age of Miracles Has Passed” is a step towards
being recognized as a serious, full-fledged band (connections
to Nile are still present, however, with Chris Lollis on
guitar).
At any rate, “The Age of Miracles Has Passed” is a
straightaway blasting affair with |
organic, shredding guitars, a fair amount of technicality, and
other typical elements of fast, modern death metal. In
addition, there are a few, slower dirges with moments of
melody nicely mixed in with the all out blasts. All of it is
done fairly well, with stronger songwriting present in the album’s latter half, but Lecherous
Nocturne run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle with so
many excellent death metal releases in 2008, from both
newcomers and heavy hitters. Lecherous Nocturne are going to
have to get a great deal of exposure to get noticed in a
crowded field. Signing to Unique Leader and, presumably,
subsequent touring should do the job, as there’s obviously
talent being presented on “The Age of Miracles Has Passed”.
Although not terribly original, “The Age of Miracles Has
Passed” is a more mature affair than “Adoration of the Blade”,
the previous, even shorter full-length from Lecherous
Nocturne, and is recommended.
www.myspace.com/lecherousnocturne |
www.uniqueleader.com |
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