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Absu - Absu
(Candlelight Records) By: Dave Schalek |
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Not much has been heard from Plano, Texas-based Absu since
the release of their last full-length, the excellent “Tara”
from 2001. Since then, there have been a few projects and
headlines featuring drummer extraordinaire Proscriptor,
including an audition with Slayer when Paul Bostaph left a few
years ago, but there haven’t been any further releases from
Absu until now.
Recently, Proscriptor apparently afforded Absu his full
attention once again, culminating with the release of the self
titled “Absu” on Candlelight Records. In addition, “Absu”, the
fifth overall full-length, will be fully supported with a
headlining tour of the United States |
with a full line-up of label mates from Candlelight Records
(including the newly signed Glorior Belli, but, I digress).
Those of you that enjoyed the blackened thrash with folk
touches to be found on “Tara” will be quite pleased with “Absu”,
as the album largely continues the style. Lightning fast
riffing, blisteringly fast blasts, and a deeper production
than that found on “Tara” are backed up with stellar
musicianship and excellent songwriting on “Absu”, an album
that should propel Absu back into metal’s collective
consciousness with all of the subtlety of a freight train. For
the most part, however, “Absu” is purely frenetic thrash with
a few blackened touches present in the form of the requisite
rasps and occult themes. A few symphonic flourishes are
sprinkled here and there with some mild, but not overpowering,
keyboards. Strangely absent, though, are some of the folk
touches that were present on “Tara”.
Possibly the only negative that I can come up with is that
“Absu” clocks in at just under an hour with 13 total songs.
Although not overly long, there are one or two moments of
filler towards the end of the album, somewhat muting the
album’s focus. This is a minor quibble, however, and by no
means should detract you from snatching up “Absu” immediately.
An excellent return to form, to say the least.
www.myspace.com/absu |
www.candlelightrecords.co.uk |
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Augrimmer - Autumnal
Heaven (Northern Silence Productions) Review by
Crin |
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Germanic sorrowful Black Metal from this relatively new act.
This a melodic, raw but not too primitive Black Metal release
that utilizes the normal format of slow/ fast arrangements to
captivate [or alienate] the listener. With so much of this
style saturating the underground it is the labels choice of
who actually gets a cd out and this is purely a personal
choice, so for the rest of us it’s a matter of whether we
agree or not. I found this MCD to be enjoyable due to the
heavy guitar strum that directs the compositions. The harsh
vocals do the necessary job, and yet this has nothing remotely
new to offer. So does that make this a bad release? On the
contrary, the reeking strong vocals anchor the old school,
thick guitar |
style in the claustrophobic atmospheres permeated by the raw
production and old school thrash influences. A mcd is never
enough to gauge a band as from a set of 10 tracks its always
easy to pluck 3 or 4 for a release of this nature. Whether a
full length can maintain the depth and enthusiasm here is to
be seen.
www.myspace.com/augrimmer |
www.northern-silence.de |
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Avantasia - Lost In Space
Part 1 & II (Nuclear Blast) By: Joe Florez |
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Ok, this situation is weird. Before the full length of The
Scarecrow came out in 2008, there were two E.P.s that came out
which were Lost In Space Part I & II respectively and they
came out at the same time in 2007. Now, these were only
imports and sported a hefty price and never came out
domestically (in the US) until now. Well, since I had no idea
what was going to happen, I bought them both the minute I saw
them. The best part about it was that you didn’t get screwed
because they both contained a shit load of unreleased material
that never surfaced on the full length. So, it was worth it.
Well, if you never got them before and are a fan, now’s your
chance to possess them. |
The single which is the title track is very pop oriented AOR
styled music and is pretty damn catchy. It’s mid paced with a
nice rhythm section, piano sections that come in from time to
time and Tobias taking a more serious approach to his singing.
It’s a pretty decent song. There are two covers on here. “Lay
All Your Love On Me” is a ramped up and more energetic version
of the ABBA classic. Also, there’s Ultravox’s “Dancing With
Tears In My Eyes” which contains some very infectious moments.
Some fans may say that this song is gay because of its pop
orientation, but whatever. It still rocks out in my opinion.
“Another Angel Down” which is the only other track on the full
length kicks up the adrenalin goes for broke here and speeds
things up here with quick riffing and a heavier beat that will
have you headbanging with joy. Just for the record, Jorn Lande
makes an appearance here. Apparently, Tobias’s singing idol
Bob Catley shows up on “The Story Ain’t Over” and sounds just
as good today as he did in the past. The choruses on here are
very bombastic and filled with life. “Ride The Sky” (no not a
Helloween tune) rocks out as hard as possible with the 70’s
inspired keyboard work and studio drummer for this project
Eric Singer of Kiss fame and beyond throws down his vocals
here. Anyway you look at this one, I thought this was a
homerun no matter if this was a quick cash grab or not. You
won out here. So, as I’ve said before if you have the original
versions, no need for this. Otherwise, if you wanted this
before but held out or whatever, now’s your chance to own this
one. Great product here. I will say one major difference does
occur. If you have the imports, it comes as an enhanced CD
with video clips, wallpapers and making of and part one comes
with a fold out poster.
www.nuclearblast.de |
www.tobiassammet.com |
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Dark Heart - Shadows Of
The Night (Metal Mind) Review by Metal Mark |
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One of the many bands to emerge from the NWOBHM explosion,
Dark Heart formed in 1983 out of the ashes of Tokyo Rose. They
rather quickly got on track and knocked out an album the next
year. This is solid metal driven by gritty guitars and
complemented by a slightly dull production that helps their
style. The album is based around strong hooks and that's why
it works so well. The songs are easy to get into, largely due
to the basic song structures. It doesn't take long to draw
comparisons to Diamond Head's work from a few years earlier.
Dark Heart obviously followed a similar blueprint. There's not
much fancy going on here, but there doesn't have to be. The
choruses are instantly catchy and Dark |
Heart waste little in getting into the meat of every track.
"Shadows of the Night" is an album full of easily accessible
material. I do think that they could have varied the pace a
little more at times. More than anything the biggest reason
this album didn't make a larger splash may just be that the
sound is perhaps a couple of years behind. It came out in
1984, but if I had heard it without knowing the release year
then I would have guessed 1982.
This would be the only album for Dark Heart. The band fell
apart some time after "Shadows of the Night" was released.
Guitarist Alan Clark did try to form a new version of the
band, but that project also fell apart after a short time.
Some other members of Dark Heart later ended up in a thrash
band called Holosade. Thanks to Metal Mind for re-releasing
this or else I probably never would have stumbled upon this
band. Certainly worth checking out. |
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Darktrance - Ghosts in
the Shells (BadMoodMan Music) review by Sam
Thomas |
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I’m beginning to think that one-man bands are to 2009 what
Australia was to 2008, ie producing some quite outstanding and
surprising music. Darktrance is the latest case in point,
being the brainchild of Dmitry Gubsky from Kiev, Ukraine. It’s
worried me in the past that perhaps you might lack a certain
something as a one man act, but it would seem that maybe you
actually gain something – a single-mindedness which translates
to a very focussed vision, perhaps.
Ghosts in the Shells is the debut album, and could probably be
loosely described as fitting somewhere in the black/doom
firmament, sounding very much like the early forms of |
Norwegian black metal at points (although lacking, as far as I
can tell, and of the religious references) but slowing to doom
speed at other points (if you can have doom coexisting with
blastbeats, that is).
The whole aura of the CD is one of unremitting gloom, from the
cover art which features greyscape pictures of bombed out
buildings in an apocalyptic landscape with shadowy human
figures as grey silhouettes in the foreground. This theme is
certainly carried on in the title track, which is a
sufficiently pessimistic view of humanity that we can probably
expect to hear it repeated by the Governor of the Bank of
England in the very near future.
As you might expect from a solitary effort, there is a lot of
multi-layering here, over all of which sneers an insistent
vocal. It’s going to be a CD that you either love or hate,
largely based on the vocal – which reminded me in a kind of
offbeat way of Ancient, but without the eerie hissing. The
absolute stand out track for me, curiously, was the one
departure from template, “Between Two Worlds”, which has the
best dissonant industrial feel to it. The whole track just has
the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, and the
clattering metallic sounds send shivers down my spine every
time. It produces such powerful images of desolation and
wastelands that it should certainly be kept away from all but
the most determined of optimists. Or, of course, those who
revel in misery… I fall into one of those categories, but not
the other…
Darktrance will not be everyone’s cup of tea, or indeed, shot
of vodka, but within its genre, this is a very promising
release. One to follow in the future, I suspect.
www.myspace.com/darktranceband |
www.solitude-prod.com |
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Edguy -The Singles
(Nuclear Blast) By: Joe Florez |
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Tobias Sammet has been a very busy boy as of late with Edguy
really taking off and now they tour all over the world. Many
hardcore fans have been feeling betrayed for a while now as
the group have shifted from their power metal roots and gone
more for what haters are calling “cock rock.” The thing is
that while it’s true that they have opted more so for the rock
and roll style, they manage to speed up a song or two in their
later releases with traditional double bass drumming and
speedier guitar licks. What we have here is a culmination of
the Superheroes and King Of Fools E.P. and the Lavatory Love
Machine MCD. For those of you who prefer to wait and not buy
the singles and what not and were |
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hoping that all of that stuff would culminate under one roof
one day, well now’s your chance to pick this up. There is
nothing new on here. It’s all been previously released, but if
you never heard the material, well it’s new for you. Tracks
1-6 on here cover Superheroes with two versions of the title
track both electrified and the epic version with string
arrangements and piano. “Blessing In Disguise” is a ballad and
there is a Magnum cover “The Spirit.” That explains why Magnum
vocalist Bob Catley appeared on the Avantasia project. Former
Helloween vocal God Michael Kiske makes an appearance on
“Judas In The Opera.” 7-9 is the Lavatory Love Machine is the
MCD covered next. The title track here comes in two versions:
electric and acoustic. I think this is where fans got pissed
with the band cause the song is so silly and over the top.
People have to realize that Tobias has a comedic streak and
doesn’t take things so seriously and sometimes it’s refreshing
to have a band show off more than one side of their musical
personality. The band was never to be taken seriously from the
get go. There is also a Europe cover “I’ll Cry For You” which
also happens to be acoustic. The rest of the disc which is
tracks 10-14 and that covers the King Of Fools E.P. which
contained numerous b-sides at the time. The tracks on here
were very perky and exciting. In the end, if you are still a
fan of the band like myself and don’t have the singles and
whatnot then I would say get it. If you already have if from
back in the day then it’s not necessary. This is fun stuff no
matter how you look at it.
www.nuclearblast.de |
www.edguy.net
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Letzte Instanz - Schuldig
(Drakkar Records) review by Sam Thomas |
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Letzte Instanz are definitely a band from Germany, and they
have definitely produced a number of releases to date,
including the usual live albums, DVDs , singles, etcetera.
After this point, it becomes quite difficult to be definite
about anything too much. I’d normally like to give a broad
overview of the genre, and throw in a couple of bands for
comparison purposes, just to show I know what I’m talking
about. Well, that idea’s not gonna fly. I’d guess that the
word “medieval” has been used to describe this band in the
past, because there’s that kind of feel to the instruments,
but the music itself is more towards a kind of catchy rock
beat. As for a band to compare them to, I guess that they are
absolutely fed |
up with being likened to Subway to Sally, although there is a
superficial resemblance.
OK, so they’re hard to categorise. I’m not sure that they’ll
get much recognition outside of Germany, purely because their
lyrics (which are quite clever and thought provoking) are in
their native tongue. Not that that’s hurt Rammstein, of
course… And I think that that’s a bit of a shame, really,
because this album is actually quite pleasant to listen to.
You get some fantastic strings, and for once it’s actually a
violin and a cello, rather than a keyboard, which do make the
music flow and soar beautifully. There are also some female
vocals , courtesy of a Turkish singer, Aylin Aslim, which I
actually felt added to the music (I normally run a mile from
any female vocals, apart from Sarah Jezebel Deva).
For sheer stickability, track nine “Feuer” has to win hands
down, with its insistent beat, sinister sounding vocals and
the inclusion of strings as an almost menacing background. The
complete stripping down at certain points to just a vocal and
guitar, interposed with furious activity at other points,
makes this an absolutely fascinating listen.
I’m still quite ambivalent towards this album – I enjoyed it,
but it’s quite different to most things that I listen to, so
I’m not quite sure why I enjoyed it. Then again, it could be
just because it’s a good album, and what does it matter if
it’s not my usual fare? Schuldig is definitely one of the
stranger albums I’ve reviewed, but there’s nothing wrong with
a bit of strangeness.
www.letzte-instanz.de |
www.drakkar.de |
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Nico's Alchemy - Fundamental Darkness
(Dirty Dog Records) Review by Steve Green |
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Spinal Tap take 666: Guitarist Nico Tamburella is a man who nearly had it
all. After moving to the US after leaving his native Italy, he released a
couple of albums on BMG Ariola in 1988 and in 1992 via his band Nico's
Fleet and was sooo close to signing with Capitol Records, before his
personal life fell apart and the deal was never done. A relocation to
London and a period of musical abstinence followed. 2002 saw Nico
rediscovering his musical mojo and then one his songs was used on The
Bratz soundtrack and we are nearly up-to-date...
So, the life of Nico Tamburella 2009 brings us the debut album from Nico's
Alchemy |
which is steeped in classic 1970/80s Hard Rock, thanks to Nico's
and frontman Candido's love of Deep Purple, Rainbow and Led Zeppelin. And
quite bizarrely, our guitar hero actually looks like a certain Richard
Hugh Blackmore. Musically, he sounds a bit like him too, with Candido's
vocals veering more towards that of Glenn Hughes, so you do get a mish-mash
of Rainbow and Deep Purple on here. Kind of like Glenn Hughes singing on
Difficult To Cure. Which is all good as far as I'm concerned.
This is a decent album, which unfortunately I don't think will set the
world alight, but it's a very good listen nonetheless and is recommended
to all fans of Blackmore and other guitar luminaries such as Yngwie
Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai.
www.myspace.com/nicosalchemy
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Robot Lords Of Tokyo -
Whiskey, Blood And Napalm (Self-produced) Review
by Metal Mark |
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I spent way too much of my youth watching movies about giant
monsters leveling various cities and terrorizing the local
inhabitants. The behemoth would smash and crash a path of
destruction until its rampage came to an end by way of the
military or some other source. Okay, I still watch and enjoy
those kind of movies. Robots Lords of Tokyo (they are actually
from Ohio) approach their music much like the beasts from the
aforementioned films. They attack with an arsenal of thick and
mighty riffs. They call upon the power of heavy Sabbath
inspired sludge and relentlessly unleash it like a blast of
fire upon your unsuspecting ears. Oooops, sorry I got caught
in the monsterfest like moment. Really this a |
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combination of early 70's classic metal, stoner rock, doom and
just some real spine-rattling might. Think Sabbath swirled in
with Clutch, Fireball Ministry and Sheavy and you get a good
idea of where this band is coming from. The vocals are deep
and powerful while the music relies on a raw and simple
approach. The sound might be more deeply influenced by real
metal than other modern stoner acts. In a way they draw on
aspects of heavy music from every decade from 70's on yet they
manage to control it and make it their own. I do think that
the band could benefit from varying the pace a little more at
times. Still this is good slab of no-nonsense metal played
with a lot of spirit. The creatures of those old monster
flicks normally met their fate by the film's end, but the
Robot Lords of Tokyo will hopefully get to march on for years
to come.
www.myspace.com/robotlords |
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Seance - Awakening of the
Gods (Pulverised Records) Review by Marco
Gaminara |
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Wow! I was completely unaware of this band's history and the
number of really good bands that they came from and went to
and returned from. But that said, this album is a really fine
piece of work. Not exceptionally long, but then again with the
intensity that these songs are played, there's really no point
in dragging them out and leaving them "Wasted" in a diluted
state. Johan Larsson's vocals are as low as his bass tones,
but somehow he manages to convey plenty of emotion in their
delivery. Micke Pettersson (aka Mique Flesh) alternates his
drumming from pure blasting to choppy off-beats and then to
simple timing signatures and back effortlessly. Rille
Rimfält's lead on "They" is short and simple, |
but to the point while that on "Your Time Has Come" is far
longer and more involved. And both he and Tony Kampner (aka
Toxine) lay down some awesome riffs as they go from song to
song. Everything happens at once during the intro to
"Invocation", we have a growl, a lead squeal, blasting and
bass and rhythm going nuts and then just carrying on in a
similar way for the remainder of the song. The 50 second
"Flight Of The Wicked" is an intense flurry of tribal guitar
work which drives us into "Murder" where they play some great
choppy riffs. The vocals are slowed down on "Choose Your
Eternity", while everything else remains up-tempo, giving it a
bit of a strange feel. The tone on "Forever Haunted" is much
higher and the guitar riff cut through everything far more
than on other tracks, which is good because they are played at
such a high speed that they would be too muddy to hear
otherwise. I really like "Revel In Death", as it's a pretty
acoustic interlude, which is a stark contrast to the rest of
the album and beautiful in its simplicity while "Prisoner 666"
just washes over you afterwards like a caustic bath then
wrapping things up with "Burn Me" it all ends on an intense
note.
www.myspace.com/seanceseance |
www.pulverised.net |
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