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Autopsy - Severed
Survival (Peaceville) Review by Chris Davison |
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Severed Survival. I hadn't heard this album since....well,
the last time I had played the rather mouldering TDK C-90 that
I copied it onto in my teenage years. I really can't now
believe that I hadn't upgraded this to CD a long time ago – I
suspect that rather like its general status in the history of
death metal, it had become a little buried in the mists of
time. However, put simply, this is a fantastic re-release,
because, ladies and gentlemen, this is truly one of the true
classics of the earliest wave of death metal.
Autopsy originally released this sickening piece of art way
back in 1990. Chris Reiffert had been the drummer for Death on
their seminal “Scream Bloody Gore”, and in many ways, |
that early conception of death metal was taken to all new
highs in “Severed Survival”. Taking the most twisted, mangled
riffs available at the time, then running them through a
festering proto-doom mangle, this is quite simply one of the
most primitive, engrossing releases in extreme music. While
the now commonplace genre may have moved on to (far) increased
levels of technicality and what the kids call “brutality”, but
in sheer terms of atmosphere, nastiness and extremity, this
has seldom been rivalled. The likes of “Gasping for Air”, with
its (aptly) breathless vocal delivery, a half-gurgle,
half-roar of almost undead fury combining with a atavistic
drum line, stumbling through verging on the brink of utmost
chaos until the leaden paced mid-section, complete with a
wholly enjoyable guitar solo underpin the appeal of this
album. Sure, it sounds extremely unpolished and raw compared
to modern death metal albums (and in my opinion all the better
for it), some of the playing is...erm....shall we say
“enthusiastic” rather than accomplished, but there is a
macabre magic here that is present on only a few albums.
Severed Survival is an album in the vein of...well, Morbid
Tales, Left Hand Path and the afore mentioned Scream Bloody
Gore, in that although it may well be the least musically
adept of the albums produced by their respective bands, they
were also never equalled or bettered by subsequent releases.
Oh, and for the record, “Impending Dread” could well possess
the best ever introductory sequence of any extreme track ever
written.
...all of which would be great in and of itself, but this
being Peaceville, they haven't done the re-release things by
halves. No shoddy “featuring shaky-cam camcorder footage”
bonus disc – this properly plush 2 disc digi pack extravaganza
features two whole new tracks from the Autopsy boys. So sure,
it sounds a little better produced, and the vocals are a
little more restrained than before...and yes, it's apparent
that everyone has learned how to play their instruments, but
nether the less, the songs on offer (Horrific Obsession, Feast
of the Graveworm) sit nicely alongside their classic material
and do offer some hope of future Autopsy releases. The rest of
the disc is taken up with old rehearsal tape and live footage
from between 1988 and 1990. These being copied from old
cassettes no doubt gathering dust in a wardrobe, the sound
quality is best described as “authentic”, but only goes to
enhance the old school charm of hearing these splendid old
songs being thrashed into life by young, enthusiastic, beer
drinking reprobates clearly having the time of their lives at
a time when the scene was on the ascendancy. Topping off a
great package is an extensive set of liner notes featuring an
occasionally rambling interview with Danny, Eric and Chris. A
loving tribute to one of the most hateful albums ever made.
Nice one, Peaceville.
www.peaceville.com |
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Autumn - Altitude (Metal
Blade) Review by Steve Green |
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When I reviewed Autumns last album, 2007s My New Time, I compared them to
the Mastersound Studio sound of Leaves' Eyes and Elis. Two years on and
they've a new singer, Marjan Welman, who has taken over vocal duties from
Nienke de Jong. And if Marjan's name sounds familiar, well she sang on Ayreon's
01011001 album, so her voice may be familiar as well to a few of you already. And we all know how good a talent spotter Arjen Lucassen
is...
There are few similarities with their last album and the comparisons this
time around are kept to a minimum, with just a few references towards a
couple of Arjen Lucassen's |
projects, namely Ayreon and to a lesser degree,
Stream of Passion and I feel as if Autumn have progressed a lot over the
past couple of years. I'm pleased to say that this album has a very mature
feel to it and I think a lot of that is down to Marjan's vocals. She
has a certain calmness about her and the quality of her voice is
unquestionable. Add to that the sensible song writing, by that I mean this
isn't flash or phoney as you can empathise with the realness of the
compositions, if that makes sense, and you have a good solid album that's
solely aimed at an adult audience.
Without intentionally using a cheesy pun, with this album, I feel Autumn
could rise above (the album's called Altitude) the mass of female fronted
bands who all sound exactly the bloody same. So this album comes recommended to our
older (and wiser) readers.
www.myspace.com/autumnband |
www.autumn-band.com |
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Beyond the Labyrinth -
Castles in the Sand (Incommunicado) Review by
Dave Baynham |
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This is a very good album. To explain how good, at about the
same time that I got this to review I went out & bought an
album by a band I’m a big fan of, on the day of release. While
there I got a load of cheap stuff in the sale. Yet this is the
album I’ve played over and over again recently. It rewards
repeated listens, too.
Beyond the Labyrinth are from Belgium and the band is the
brainchild of Geert Fieuw who plays guitars and keyboards, as
well as composing the material. He is ably supported by singer
Jo De Boeck, whose performance adds to the emotional depth of
the material. ‘Castles in the Sand’ is their second full
length release following ‘Signs’ in 2005. However |
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the history of the band goes back to the 1990’s, with work
starting on the ‘Castles in the Sand’ concept in 1996. This
album is progressive and in the classic sense heavy metal,
without sounding like progressive metal. The interplay between
piano and guitar bears comparison with Savatage circa
‘Streets’. The feel of complex, intelligent American heavy
metal of that period means the album also has echoes of
Queensryche and Fate’s Warning. The guitar tone is warm and
rocky and there are some fantastic solos on here, but always
within the context of the overall composition. At the same
time there is a feel of the 1980’s progressive rock revival. A
number of the pumping staccato riffs are very reminiscent of
the mightier moments of Pallas. There are some spine tingling
keyboards too. At times it sounds like a heavier version of
Knight Area. If you want something that rocks out, yet also
has depth and subtlety this is well worth checking out.
www.beyond-the-labyrinth.com |
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Bloodsworn - All Hyllest
Til Satan (Agonia Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Those of you that look past the top tier of the Norwegian
black metal scene know that there is still a healthy
underground to be had in Norway. Recent excellent releases
from bands such as Celestial Bloodshed and Abomino Aetas
demonstrate that Norwegian black metal hasn’t yet been
completely played out as a viable art form. With that in mind,
I approached the debut full-length from Bloodsworn on Agonia
Records with anticipation.
Bloodsworn have actually been kicking it in one form or
another since 1998, when a demo first surfaced. Since then,
however, the band’s members had drifted off into other,
reasonably well known bands in the Norwegian underground such
as Krypt, Urgehal, and |
a host of others. For whatever reason, the members of
Bloodsworn have decided to follow up now ten years later with
their debut full-length entitled “All Hyllest Til Satan”.
“All Hyllest Til Satan” is raw, fast black metal with muted,
deranged howls for vocals. The production is very thin,
although the bass is rather loud, resulting in a very cold
atmosphere that reeks of pure nihilism. Urgehal and
progenitors such as Marduk come to mind for comparison, as
Bloodsworn are mostly concerned with all out speed. The thin
production, however, allows Bloodsworn to diverge somewhat, as
the result is very bleak, rather than just overpowering. In
addition to the bleakness that is wrought, there are also a
few moments of crunch, once again played in a thin
environment.
Bloodsworn are not particularly original, yet do a fine job on
a rather short album of making their point; that is, merely to
produce some filthy black metal. ”All Hyllest Til Satan” is
recommended.
www.agoniarecords.com |
www.myspace.com/bloodsworn666 |
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Eyelash - Recession (Eversholt
Music) Review by Steve Green |
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Eyelash are 2 guy, 2 gal set-up who live on the sleazier side of life. Or
so I thought. The start of the album leans more towards a mixture of Glam
Rock/Metal, which had me thinking of a more acceptable sound of that
currently being ruined by Lauren Harris. Frontwoman Fe Salmon has (at
times) a real rock n roll rasp to her voice and this style is perfect for
menacing numbers such as the hypnotic, and stunningly brilliant, Bow To
The People, which is my favourite song on the album. Unfortunately, after
that, things go downhill very quickly.
From the more mature sounding opening numbers, this quickly becomes
braindead fodder for the Kerrang generation, although Kerrang themselves
only |
gave this album 2 K's this week.
I guess I just don't understand
the changes in style and the way the album gets worse song by song. By
track 10, out of 14, I'm forced to hit the eject button as I cannot stand
it any longer. So what was nearly the start of a beautiful friendship,
ends in a hissy fit with me throwing my toys (or in this case a cd) out my
pram (aka my cd player).
After I finish typing this sentence I'll be
putting this album aside for my 13 year daughter, which just about sums
this one up I'm afraid.
www.myspace.com/eyelashband |
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Finsterforst - Zum Tode
Hin (Einheit Produktionen) review by Sam Thomas |
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Finsterforst hail from Germany’s Black Forest region, which is
probably a first in metal terms. Just in case you didn’t
realise this, their name actually means “dark forest” (no,
passed me by as well despite many years ago passing O-level
German.) Zum Tode Hin (Towards Death) is their second album,
and I guess that the first thing I need to tell you is that it
was such a totally enjoyable romp that I actually broke off
writing this review to buy their debut album.
There are seven members of the band, although only six appear
in the photos, which is obviously enough of them to go on a
pretty successful rampage. And that’s exactly what |
you get: sheer anarchy in a musical form. At their wildest.
Finsterforst could give Finntroll a run for their money, and
yet they can also show the highest standards of musicianship
as in the reflective guitar intro to second track, Das Große
Erwachen (The Great Awakening).
The label are describing this as Viking folk metal, which
brings to mind the likes of Ensiferum and Moonsorrow, and
that’s a pretty accurate summary of affairs. You get the best
of both worlds here- the raw energy of Ensiferum, and the
sheer talent of Moonsorrow. Not to mention the accordion,
which is just so bloody catchy that you can’t help but tap
along to this. It’s to Finsterforst’s great credit that they
manage to completely avoid the trap of becoming a kitsch
creation (eg Turisas), managing to be both passionate and
credible as serious musicians at the same time.
At somewhere around the seventy minute mark, this is far from
being a short album, even if there are only five tracks, but
it goes by at such a breakneck speed that it really seems to
only last half that time. There’s a lot going on here, so it
never gets boring, and of course there’s always that accordion
to keep things moving along! Perhaps at this point I should
mention that I’m not a big fan of accordions, having spent two
hours captive on a boat with a bunch of Germans who decided to
sing their way through every drinking song they knew,
accompanied by (you guessed) an accordion. But I have to admit
that in this case, it is the perfect instrument for chivvying
things along.
This is an absolutely glorious riot of an album, performed by
some seriously good musicians. It’s utterly infectious,
bouncing along in a gravity defying kind of lawlessness that
should have you shouting for a stein of beer to wave aloft.
Sheer genius.
www.finsterforst.de |
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Jaguar - This Time
(Metal Mind) Review by Metal Mark |
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Jaguar's 1983 debut "Power Games" often gets unfairly
overlooked. It is a very solid offering with a definite nod to
early Iron Maiden. At that point Jaguar were a fairly
promising band amidst the whole NWOBHM scene. They would
follow it up a year later with "This Time". Something had
changed for sure and the results were probably different from
what any fan was expecting or wanting. Paul Merrell had done
the vocals on "Power Games", but all of the material was
written before he joined. Now that he was in on the writing
process he brought new ideas to the mix. Around the time of
it's release the were some references to the music on this
album as "dance metal". That's an amusing label, but I |
think a more accurate description is that Jaguar were now
playing AOR tinged hard rock. Gone were the blasting leads and
pounding drums and they were instead replaced by piles of
melodies, definite emphasis on the vocals and catchy choruses.
It was a gamble that went against what the band had become
known for. The new sound is organized and tight, but it's like
expecting Iron Maiden and getting Survivor. If they wanted to
go in such a different direction then they may have wanted to
change the band name or else they were definitely going to be
compared to the previous album. Any edge or power that they
once had was now replaced by smooth layers of gloss and slick
production values. Perhaps I would have liked it more had it
come out under a different band name. Then I could have had an
easier time accepting it as a debut from an AOR band instead
of seeing it as a solid metal band getting a complete face
lift. Whatever the motives, "This Time" is just an alright
album and one that is unlikely to appeal to most NWOBHM fans.
The band lasted until 1985 before disbanding.
Metal Mind has done their usual fine job with this re-issue as
they have included bonus tracks and a lyric booklet. |
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