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N.Y.C.- Zyko
(Concrete Castle Music) By: Joe Florez |
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This one came out of nowhere and landed in my mailbox
without warning. N.Y.C. is the brainchild of Tommy Bolan. No,
not the Deep Purple guitarist. I thought the same thing, but
he’s been dead for eons now. This Tommy was the lead guitarist
in Warlock during the Triumph And Agony days. Gone is the
glammy pop rock sound and he has now opted for something
extremely heavy. In addition to making music, he’s also
endorsed for several guitar products that you will see ads for
in several mags. I only know this cause I was sent copies of
his endorsements. Anyway, onto the music.
This is really brutal stuff as his guitar is tuned down
several notches. There is plenty of |
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crunch, aggression and muscle behind the sound. “Strap Me
Down” blows the floodgates wide open with a raw and abrasive
approach. There are some electronic nuances injected in here
for an industrial feel, but it doesn’t kill the metal feeling.
Think of this as later era Prong meets Drowning Pool meets
Sevendust, but not leaning toward the nu-metal genre. There is
some melody action infused here, but it’s usually thrown in
during the choruses or breakdowns. Man o man, this is flat out
unrelenting. “Down In The Mind” keeps it hard and strong, but
there is plenty of groove licks in here to balance things out.
This is pretty damn catchy. The bottom line here is that at
fourteen cuts this is a little much because this is non stop
abuse pretty much like a SYL album. While the songs vary and
the tempos change slightly, it’s pretty much the same and
after the thirty minute mark, you are pretty much wiped out.
This isn’t something that you can always pop into your player
either. I would suggest this if you are in a road rage mood or
want to kick some ass because it will get your blood pumping.
If you are looking for a more melodic metal record, then you
will have to look elsewhere. I don’t mind this record so much,
but you have to be in the right mood for it, though. With a
record titled Zyko, I thought that this was either a hardcore
release or a nu-metal offering, but it’s neither and that’s
always a welcomed thing to me and this site. Listen first
before considering buying. It may be to your liking or not.
You decide!
www.nyctheband.com |
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Operatika - The Calling
(Scarlet) Review by Steve Green |
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US based Symphonic Power Metal, via Eastern Europe
(via Ukraine and Moscow to be precise), in the vein of many well
established German and Scandinavian bands. What you get for your money is
extremely well performed Power Metal, with hints of (early) Children of Bodom and the usual suspects as far as Power Metal goes, but with a female
singer. As I've touched upon, the musical side of the band is very good.
Even the mega guitar fret-wanking is enjoyable. I think front-lady Slava
Popova has an extremely pleasant voice, but her melody lines are far too
predictable and remind me of Elis a little too much. And that's the main
negative aspect of this album. As you'll see in many a review (in general)
the |
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female vocal thing really is way overdone and that will harm Operatika, because it doesn't matter how good they are, the problem is
that they don't really stand out in a very overcrowded market place.
Hopefully the high level of musicianship, especially Bill Vissers crazy
fretwork and guest bass player, Symphony X's Michael LePond, will be the
thing that'll make the fans take notice. So bar a little tweak with the
vocal melody lines, there's not a lot to complain about here. Recommended
for fans of the genre.
www.myspace.com/operatika
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Places Of Power - Now Is
The Hour (Blistering Records) By: Joe Florez |
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AOR is here to stay my friends whether you like it or not and
especially in times like this, we could all use a little bit
of uplifting music. For those of you that are hardcore into
the scene, the singer on here is Bruce Turgon. He released a
solo record a while back which I happened to enjoy and has
worked with Foreigner and Lou Gramm. So, you should all know
what to expect when I mention artists like that and mention
the genre. Now, how the end results turn out is dependent on
the musicians performing within the disc. “In Your Wildest
Dreams” may be a throwback to the 80’s albeit crisper
production values, but these guys hit the nail on the head.
It’s a strong opener that has all the ingredients for a |
successful AOR cut. You have a nice mid paced setting that
contains plenty of energy. The guitars actually have bite and
never sound too wanky. The rhythm section slams just with the
right amount of pounding as well as keyboards for accents. The
dual chorus vocal approach with one Philip Bardowell just
makes this thing sound absolutely grand. Philip is a Christian
singer/guitarist that has worked with Unruly Child in the
past. Don’t worry kids, no messages about the good Lord will
be mentioned here. This one track alone had me on cloud nine,
but could it remain for the duration? “Make Me Believe” opens
up with a slightly harder edge, but then eases up quickly as
the song progresses. As always in the AOR field, you always
have to throw in a ballad and “I Live For You” is a pretty
smooth track that doesn’t aim straight for the cheese.
Instead, it’s a heartfelt song that never comes off as whiney
and manages to avoid sounding too soft to reflect the tone of
the lyrics. There is still touches of muscle behind this one.
It’s not that often that an AOR disc comes with a few
clunkers, but this disc is the first one in a long while where
I don’t have to hit the skip button for any reason. This is a
strong offering and it’s good. Sure, this isn’t exactly the
most original music and some will continue to say that it’s
just as lame as before, but for those that love your
Journey’s, Night Rangers and all that was cool in the 80’s,
then this is for you and me. The musicianship on here is
strong enough to hold its own weight and there’s enough
variety to prevent boredom. Did I mention just how damn catchy
and infectious this thing is? I was hooked from the get go and
you would have had to pry me away from my speakers with a
crowbar. The tag team duo of Bruce and Phil is on target and
they both have a strong set of pipes. So, if you want
something uplifting and fun, then you should gravitate toward
this release.
www.blisteringrecords.se |
www.myspace.com/placesofpower |
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Scale The Summit -
Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic) Review by
Metal Mark |
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Houston based Scale the Summit are young band (average age of
22) who are now on their sophomore release. An album title
does not always reflect the music contained on the disc.
"Carving Desert Canyons" however is a remarkably fitting title
for this album. These young guys are certainly creating
beautiful and detailed musical landscapes. Not the style of
album I have come expect from Prosthetic records, but it's a
welcome release for sure. They would fall in the progressive
rock bracket. Yet they reach out more and their sound consists
of metal, hard rock, jazz and other sounds swirled into the
mix. For starters I hear "Images and Words" era Dream Theater,
Cynic, Eric Johnson and even some of Chris |
Poland's post Megadeth projects.
They work with 8 string guitars and a six string bass and my
guess is that this helps their music to sound deep and heavy
and they still manage to create thick, rich tones as well.
Instrumental music isn't for everyone, but I found these eight
tracks easy to dive into. The band are very skilled and that
fact is evident from the start. However this isn't a
self-indulgent virtuoso style of music. Every note, beat and
movement is geared towards creating the whole song to be as
strong and powerful as possible. The songs are tight and very
focused journeys through various textures and musical styles.
My favorite aspect of this band is their ability to keep the
flow of the music constantly going and at the same time they
keep so many different angles coming and going. This band
definitely had a vision for this album and they delivered it.
There were a few songs that were similar and some songs that
blended together some. Progressive music isn't always my
thing, but I found this album to be a delight because the
music is very cohesive and intriguing. Certainly one of the
best albums I have heard so far this year.
www.myspace.com/scalethesummit |
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Silentium - Amortean
(Dynamic Arts) Reviewed by Nathan Ward |
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Silentium are a gothic metal band from Finland. Formed in 1995
they have made 6 albums and 4 EPs. ‘Amortean’ is their latest
release, consisting of 9 songs all of which have the same
heavy riffs and melodies and a ballad element to a few of the
songs. Silentium are in the same genre as After Forever and
Epica, with the exception that the lead vocalist doesn’t do
the operatic vocals.
‘Amortean’, musically is similar to recent Nightwish and After
Forever; heavy guitars, bass and drums mixed with orchestral
tracks, which add more atmosphere to the songs and give them a
fantasy edge to them. The main vocals are performed by Riina
Rinkinen with |
backing vocals taken up by Matti Aikio. To me, Matti sounds
similar to Marco from Nightwish when he sings normally and
sounds like Robert from Within Temptation when he does the
lower grunting style vocals. Riina sounds like Floor Jansen,
when she does her non-operatic vocals. Riina and Matti
complement each other really well, neither sounding as if they
are trying to out-do each other. There are elements of guitar
lead work, but most it’s in the form of harmonies or short
lead parts. These parts are melodic and sometimes they follow
the keyboard or vocal melodies. The overall mixing on the
album is really good, you can hear all of the instruments
perfectly; nothing is muddy or dull.
The sound of the album has a fantasy feel to it, mostly due to
the choirs and orchestral parts, but also due to the vocals,
mixed with heavy guitars, bass and drums. Everything on this
album works perfectly, the backing vocals add to the
atmosphere, already created by the keyboards and other
instruments, without taking anything away from the songs.
After hearing news that After Forever have called it quits,
which is a shame, I think Silentium would be able to fill that
void eventually, if they continue to release great albums like
they have. If you like Epica, After Forever and bands like
these, and haven’t already heard of Silentium, give ‘Amortean’
a listen.
www.myspace.com/silentiumband |
www.silentivm.com |
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Skaldic Curse - World
Suicide Machine (Dark Essence Records) Review by
Crin |
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English Black metal is a fickle subject, and one I have long
been associated with. Here we have a band roaming within the
underground since 2001, and this is their second album, the
first being the quite rib cracking Pathogen, [2006]. For those
of you who know of the fine debut album, this will be a
familiar ride. To the majority of you who do not, read on…
Skaldic Curse are a complex dark metal act who lash riff after
riff to a framework of meandering arrangements that drift
between fast and slower moods. The very smog suffocating
atmospheres are driven by VoiVod like guitar arrangements that
drift through razor sharp riffs shredding the ears with their
lightning ferocity. The atmosphere the music |
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generates is one of nightmarish bleakness, a cold black and
white soundscape that casts images of brittle steel immersed
in blood and ice. This frigid, stark style is one that
contains great depth and all these dynamics are held together
by a wonderfully rich compositional skill. The tracks are both
memorable and although extremely grim in tone, oddly warm to
the sensory touch. The bass guitar is also vividly apparent,
dragging the music in its crushing wake. The whole
instrumental engine room of this band is way beyond the
constraints of Black Metals minimalist root formula. Here we
are talking a solid, tight, skilled deployment of direct and
viciously delightful musical moods that will crack your skull
one moment, and caress your soul with glacial emotion the
next. Ingenuity, individuality and passion are all attributes
that set this band in good stead, and one must congratulate
Darks Essence for having a damn fine ear for good Black Metal
rooted music. There are many bands wallowing in the UK scene
at the moment and Skaldic Curse are without doubt one of the
best.
www.myspace.com/skaldiccurse |
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The Rock United -
Baptized In Oil (Self-produced) Review by Metal
Mark |
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The Rock United are a hard rock outfit from from Sweden. Okay,
that applies to a heap of aspiring bands these days. This band
isn't going to be confused with the many hair bands that are
part of that scene. They play a brand of hard rock that comes
out of the 1970's AC/DC approach although that doesn't
completely define their sound. I think that this band has
moments where they march to the beat of a different drummer or
you may just think that they are odd. There are bits of doo-whop,
country and punk rock beats tossed into their sound. They
churn out some straight up rockers too. The lyrics are perhaps
more off the wall than the music on occasion, but not really
clever enough to be shocking. "Baptized |
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In Oil" often has me thinking that this is what Little Caesar
may have wished that their 1990 self-titled debut would have
sounded like. The Rock United have that rawness mixed with the
basic rock approach. There are countless bands playing AC/DC
inspired rock, but this band is trying harder to put their own
twist into it. They succeed in getting my attention and they
get points for the effort and attempting to bring in some
humor. On the downside some of the lyrics fall flat at times.
Also there are some very ordinary songs on here as and I don't
think that the band had enough ideas or hooks to sustain the
14 songs included on this disc. Chopping a few songs off
probably would have helped. It's an above average album that
benefits from being slightly against the grain. Still it's not
going to be every one's bag and I think they have some work to
do before they completely convince me. However they do enough
to warrant a listen.
www.myspace.com/therockunited |
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