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Architects - Hollow Crown
(Century Media) by Robert Cheesewright |
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Hollow Crown is the third album from the highly acclaimed
Brighton-based Technical metal band, Architects. Having been a
big fan of the previous two full-length releases, Nightmares
and Ruin, it has been tough to review this one, as I feared I
would be overly critical due to unrealistically high
expectations, or allow my fondness of the band to cloud
acknowledgement of the record’s flaws. The entire album is
down tuned, giving it a far more hardcore than metal feel,
when compared to their earlier releases. The low sound is
contrasted by sections of high-soloing and clean vocals, often
layered to create a colossal sound. |
Opening track, Early Grave, has been getting radio play for
weeks now, so is already familiar. It kicks off with a brutal
Meshuggah-like intro, ending up in an incredible melodic
segment. Rarely does a piece of music leave the listener
closing their eyes and becoming lost in the music, but for 30
seconds Early Grave can have that impact. Dethroned follows,
and is reminiscent of the sound created by Nightmares, which
suits me, because Nightmares is still my favourite Architects
album.
Tracks three and four, Numbers Count For Nothing and Follow
The Water have been on the band’s MySpace for some time now,
so again are familiar. The highlight of the tracks is the
breakdown in NCFN and the anthemic group vocals at the end of
Follow The Water. In Elegance follows the same formula, with
an aggressive, technical opening, before becoming melodic with
clean vocals.
We’re All Alone featured on a Split-EP with fellow Brighton
band, Dead Swans and has been deemed good enough to make it
onto Hollow Crown- a good decision, the track is one of the
many highlights of the album. The final minute of We’re All
Alone is absolutely stunning, rivalling the middle segment of
Early Grave for best moment of the album.
Terrorizer has described Hollow Crown as a more mature album
than their previous efforts, but the angst ridden Borrowed
Time and One of These Days make that claim seem rather
ridiculous. Both tracks are full of aggression and contain
breakdowns which will give the ‘pit kids’ plenty of
opportunity to beat the crap out of each other. These tracks
are separated by Every Last Breath, which follows the exact
same formula as many of the others- aggression followed by a
massive, layered sound with clean vocals. Whilst this could
lead to the criticism that the album is formulaic, there are
enough nuances in each track to make every one unique- that,
and its one hell of a brilliant formula!
The vocals in Dead March are incredibly emotional. Many an
“emo” band would be delighted to be able to create such an
atmosphere in a song. The heaviness of the album is toned-down
for Dead March, and is utterly lost in the final track, the
title track, Hollow Crown. The technical riffing is not lost,
and there is some brilliant sweep picking to be found. Track
11, Left With A Last Minute restores the frenetic heaviness of
the album, and is classic Architects. The title track will
leave a metal purist lost for words- it’s a ballad and in no
sense ‘metal’. Despite the surprise of finding such a, frankly
girly, track, I think it is brilliant and wonderfully
demonstrates the flexibility of Architect’s style. It’s
undoubtedly an Architects song, merely one stripped of all
aggression.
Hollow Crown is fantastic. There is enough diversity and craft
to make each track interesting and some of them are absolutely
stunning. I’m not yet convinced that Hollow Crown is better
than Ruin and Nightmares, but given the complexity of the
album, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve missed some excellent
moments. I’ll be very surprised if Hollow Crown isn’t listed
among the best metal albums of 2009 come the end of the year-
and for once, those compiling the lists won’t be wrong.
www.myspace.com/architectsuk |
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Before the Dawn - Soundscape of Silence
(Cyclone Empire)
review by Sam Thomas |
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Sometimes you just get the wrong end of the stick…If you said
“Before the Dawn” to me, I’d immediately think of a track from
Judas Priest’s “Killing Machine”. And if you said “Soundscape
of Silence”, I’d immediately think of In Flames’ “Soundtrack
to your Escape”. But “Before the Dawn” are definitely not
NWOBHM soundalikes, nor are they more than perhaps the
faintest echo of Gothenburg sound.
OK, now we’ve established what they aren’t, what are they?
Finnish. Dark Metal. Nice mix of clean vocals (very much in
they style of Charon, courtesy of Lars Eikind) and growls. The
growler in chief, Tuomas Saukkonen, is the mastermind behind
the band, |
which has been producing since 2000, having got through an
alarmingly long list of band members and session musicians,
even by the revolving door standards of Scandinavian metal.
Then again, if your vision is that clear, maybe compromise is
not an option.
The label would like comparisons with Katatonia (yes it’s
melancholy, but it’s not really Katatonia), Swallow the Sun
(don’t know their stuff, so that could be a goer), Dark
Tranquillity (not as commercial, but I can see where they’re
going with this), Amorphis (early stuff possibly, but I think
this is mostly because they’re from Finland) and Sentenced
(absolutely not, this just doesn’t have the alcohol-fuelled
anarchy that made Sentenced such a delight). Curiously, the
one comparison that I would make, the label has avoided: track
8, “Monsters” is very reminiscent of “Damnation” era Opeth to
my ears. It’s also an absolutely brilliant track, switching
between plaintive clean vocals and upping the tempo with
heavier sections accompanied with growled vocals. Oh, and the
subject matter is very Porcupine Tree..
Really, the thing is that Before the Dawn don’t quite fit into
a neat little pigeon hole. They definitely have a Finnish
sound, but there is so much going on in each track that you
could probably write a short novel describing the whole album.
Rather than do that, I shall just say that this is a very
accomplished production which steers a fine line between being
extremely catchy and being too commercial. Altogether a very
good release.
www.beforethedawn.com
| www.cyclone-empire.com |
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Born From Pain - Survival
(Metal Blade) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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This latest release from an 11 year old band that I've never
heard of from the Netherlands and is actually pretty damned good.
Their main preoccupation is with the state of the world today,
and waste no time in pointing out the numerous issues that
we're currently beset with. Musically this quintet range from
thrash to hardcore and crossover between these genres
seamlessly. Rob's vocals remain primary in the hardcore vein,
which I think suits the lyrical matter, perhaps that's just
because I tend to think of hardcore as more punky and
politically activated than the other genres, even though there
are plenty of grinds bands that are only about politics. Roy's
drumming is tight, precise and keeps Dom and Karl's guitar |
triplets in time, with Andy filling out the bottom end. From
opener "Sound Of Survival" to closing "Under False Flag",
we're taken on a journey through the chaos and corruption that
has the world in its grip. Standout tracks for me are "State
Of Mind" and "Endgame", but that's probably because they are
the fastest tracks on the album and the most intense. The rest
are rather well paced, but nowhere near as fast and in some
cases feel as though they are just plodding along with chunky
guitar riffs that could easily be double-timed to get things
really going. So while there are times where the band is
amazing, you have to wade through some sludge to get to those
white waters.
www.bornfrompain.com
| www.metalblade.co.uk |
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Coronatus - Porta Obscura
(Massacre) Review by Steve Green |
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I was a big fan of Coronatus' 2007 debut, Lux Noctis and this album is a
natural successor to said album. Except that everything thing seems
bigger, brighter and better in just about every department.
For those of you not familiar with the band, Coronatus are a symphonic
Metal band from Germany with two female vocalists. The beautiful soprano
tones of Carmen R. Schäfer and the equally enchanting, rockier tones of
Ada Flechtner. Between them, they lead the listener on a rollercoaster
ride of first class Gothic, symphonic Metal.
Without making any comparisons at all, this album will definitely appeal
to fans of Epica,
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Therion and earlier Within Temptation. In fact, I'll
just completely ignore what I've just said and remark that the second
track, Exitus, would probably sit quite well alongside Therion's Secrets
of the Runes album. But thankfully Coronatus have their own sound, while
incorporating obvious influences and points of reference. This is helped
by the distinct voices, and obvious talent, of the two front ladies.
If you're a fan of this type of music, then Coronatus don't really offer
up any surprises, although In Silence throws a real curve ball as it's so
commercial and radically different from the rest of the album. It sounds
as if it could be a cover from one of Atrocity's Werk 80 cover albums. The
song has a very 80's pop feel to it and Carmen's vocals aren't a million
miles away from that of Liv Kristines. But there's no mention of it being
a cover, so I'm going to presume it's an original, but boy does it sound
so achingly familiar...
I used to be a huge fan of the female fronted/Gothic scene, but it got so
over-saturated with average bands that I eventually got tired of it. Coronatus are a band that buck that trend and are more than worthy of your
attention. www.massacre-records.com |
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Evocation - Dead Calm Chaos
(Cyclone Empire) review by Sam
Thomas |
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Evocation are a strange bunch. No, that’s not fair. They’re
(probably) a perfectly normal bunch, but their story so far is
just a bit strange. Their previous release “Tales from the
Tomb” followed the resurrection of the band by their then
label after a long fallow period, and was a big success in
death metal terms.
Being as they’re Swedish, and they play old school death
metal, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to find Dan
Swanö cropping up on one track and Anders Björler on two
others. The surprise is that this is actually everything that
you always thought old school death metal should be, but that
it doesn’t always manage to achieve. It’s absolutely heavy |
and punishing, seeming to batter you to a pulp, but without
that leaden feeling of all being the same old stuff you’ve
heard a million times before. There are some stunning riffs in
here, and the music licks along at a tremendous pace
(considering that this is old school death metal), making it
all rather compelling, in a brutal kind of way. You’re not a
million miles away from Dismember (but with more brutality) or Amon
Amarth (but without the Viking theme). In fact, the structure
of the tracks is very reminiscent of Amon Amarth at times,
especially when coupled with the tempo of madly buzzing bees.
Describing this as “old school Swedish death metal” may be
accurate to a point, but it does Evocation a huge disservice
in my eyes: it suggests that they are a bunch of past their
sell-by date musicians rooted in the past. Whereas they are a
bunch of talented musicians bringing a cutting-edge approach
to a musical style that probably didn’t even realise how good
it could be. This is a great album that has me wanting to go
and dig out all my Swedish death and play it very loud. Sorry,
Steve*, you’re in for a rowdy few days. Now how many Entombed
albums can I find?
www.evocation.se
| www.cyclone-empire.com
* Can I just point out that she (Sam)
constantly blasts out Swedish Death most days, mainly when I'm
trying to work, so this will be no different - Steve |
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Faith Factor - Against A Darkened Sky
(Retroactive) Review by Metal Mark |
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I had never heard of this band before very recently. However
the name Norm "Ski" Kiersznowski stood out to me because he
sang in former New Renaissance artists Deadly Blessing back in
the day. So my interested was peaked after making that
connection and I was very hopeful.
The album opens with the
grandiose orchestral piece "Evila si eh" before giving way to
the decidedly more metal "Keep It True" which comes
blasting on. The music for this track is steady, but the
vocals just didn't work for me. He has a good range, but the
whole vocal arrangement is very uneven on this song. That
being said, this was the only song on the |
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album that did not work for me. After that the band sink their
teeth in and create some blistering classic style power metal.
The duel guitar attack creates blistering riff after riff in
an all out assault. Faith Factor gallop along forging tracks
that are both heavy and melodic. They waste very little time
in this effort as they are very tight and to the point in
their approach. They unwind, track after track, of crunching
and powerful music. "Against a Darkened Sky" is reminiscent of
acts like early Fates Warning, Liege Lord, Helstar and Attacker. It is true metal music with
a strong mid-1980's flavor. Now the band use very strong
Christian lyrics so whether or not that works for you may
depend on feelings on that matter. The album exceeded my
expectations and made me a fan right away. |
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Grimmstine - Self Titled
(Self-produced) Review by Metal Mark |
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So much has changed since the 1980's. Metal vocalists who were
hitting all kinds of notes back then oftentimes are not the
same now. It's just natural that age catches up with you and
singers can certainly suffer from this. Some vocalists lose a
lot of the range they once had, while some only lose a little
of their edge. Some singers, like Bruce Dickinson and John Bush
actually sound almost as good as they did two decades ago.
Absolutely nobody sounds better than they did two decades ago
or do they? Well that's what I thought until I heard the Steve Grimmett Band's 2007 release "Personality Crisis". I liked
Grimmett back in the 1980's when he was in Grim Reaper, but he
could be over the top with his screams. |
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However on "Personality Crisis" he showed a control over his
voice that had escaped him before and he had become a much
better singer because of that control. For this project the
band name was take from the last names of singer Grimmett and
guitarist/producer Steve Stine. The styles represented here
vary between hard rock and metal. Classic influences like
Iron Maiden and Grim Reaper as well as some modern sounds. The
feel is slightly uneven and they bounce around between the
sounds with one song being a style and the next being very
different. We get some gritty bone shaking metal, but there
are ballads here that actually have touches of very commercial
hard rock tinged with AOR edges. Grimmett's voice is
consistently rock solid so that helps bring some stability to
the album. The music is tight and to the point. There are a
whopping fifteen tracks on this disc. While quantity can be
great, I got a sense that this album would have been more
concise if they cut off the last five tracks. Those last five
songs are all decent, but almost all of them are far more
mellow than the bulk of the album. As a whole this album is a
good offering for sure, but perhaps not as focused as it could
have been. Still fans of Steve Grimmett will surely want to
check it out.
www.myspace.com/grimmstine |
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Guillotine - Blood Money
(Pulverised Records) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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I know there's the old adage "Never judge a book by its cover"
but in this case, since the cover is depicted by Ed Repka, the
band already had me partially won over before the disc was
even in my player. But once it started to spin... I was
instantly a fan. This Swedish quartet plays ultra tight thrash
with the ferocity of the Germans in the 80's. Fredrik Mannberg
(Vocals/Guitar) and Nils Eriksson (Bass) created the band as a
side project in 1995, but in 2007 recruited Daniel Sundom
(Guitar) and Efraim Juntunen (Drums) to make it a fully
fledged band, and this sophomore release really kicks arse.
The long flowing leads are played at insane speeds, but manage
to add to the songs rather than feel like |
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afterthoughts or obligatory additions. Raw aggression and
passion can immediately be heard once "Insane Oppression"
starts and it's infectious, as are the killer grooves. A nice
guitar pace is used on "Insanity" which lets the drums speed
up and slow down at will to accent Juntunen's talent. Mannberg's vocals
encapsulate the accent tinged thrash that I grew up with and
on "Skeleton City" there's even a bit where there are only
vocals and the scratchy sound we'd get on vinyl when nothing
else was drowning it out. "Madness" has a distinct Deathrow
feel to its melancholy which flows into "Dying World" with its
melodic guitar harmonies and Kreatoresque riffs. Slowing
things down a touch, just to allow things to build into a
frenzy and then relax again "Our Darkest Day" is the epic
track on the disc at just under 5 minutes, but title track
"Blood Money" opens with a squealing guitar and powers through
to the end at a steady breakneck speed. Thrash shall always be
my favourite metal, and it's great to hear a band do it so
well.
www.myspace.com/guillotine2007
| www.pulverised.net |
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