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Acid Drinkers - Are You A Rebel?
Re-issue (Metal Mind) review by Metal Mark |
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I never heard of Poland's Acid Drinkers back in the day. I
think I only heard the name in recent years despite the fact
that they are still around knocking albums out. That's a shame
because they really were/are something special even here on
their debut. By 1990 thrash had been around for several years
and there were plenty of bands who were just going through the
motions and hoping to achieve success by just straight out
copying bands like Slayer, Exodus and the like. This band were
on a track all their own. Sure, they had some definite
influences. I would say Anthrax, Tankard, Dead Kennedys and
DRI all come to band, but that just the tip of the iceberg. I
guess the easiest way to explain it is to just to |
say that these guys were nuts and I certainly mean that in the
most complimentary way possible. It's thrash and crossover,
but they are way too quirky and crazy to be restrained by such
basic labels. They knew how to play fast, loud and heavy, but
then they just take off on a tangent and slap in whatever they
wanted. Obviously they did what they liked and didn't think
twice about whether it was metal enough or whatever. I can
respect that approach and what's more is it comes off
brilliantly on most occasions. Never has chaos and humor been
so unexpected yet worked so well. The element of surprise
helps this disc because it was hard to tell what they were
going to do next. I am sure that this wasn't and still isn't
for every thrash fan, but I found it to be fresh even though
it's almost twenty years later. The only remotely negative
thing I have to say about this disc is that I wish that I had
heard it when it first came out in 1990, but at least I am
getting to hear it now.
This Metal Mind re-issue includes a
lyric booklet and several live and demo tracks. |
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Black September/ Winters In Osaka - Hordes Of Flesh And Bone
(Self-released)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Chicago’s very own blackened stoner/ doom outfit Black
September very quickly follow up their two-song split with
Thou with a self-released EP. “Hordes Of Flesh And Bone” is a
one-song affair that also involves a contribution from Winters
In Osaka. Winters In Osaka is a duo, also from Chicago, that
appears to focus on electronically generated horror sound
effects, and nothing more. At least, that’s the contribution
heard on this EP as Winters In Osaka supply a mechanized
blizzard that rises and fades at certain points in the
11-minute song.
The effect works, but that’s entirely due to Black September
in that “Hordes Of Flesh And |
Bone” is a very well written song with catchy riffs, just the
right mix of blackened touches with stoner riffs and pacing,
and a crushing production. In short, this is a great song and
only gives rise to two questions. First, is there anyone out
there planning on signing Black September? (Southern Lord,
where are you?). Second, when are we going to see a proper
debut full-length? Buy or die.
www.myspace.com/thebandblackseptember |
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Chris Laney - Pure
(Metal Heaven) Review by Metal Mark |
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Chris Laney is one busy man. As a producer/engineer he has
worked with the likes of Candlemass, Europe, Crashdiet, Brian
Robertson and others. As a musician/songwriter he has played
with Randy Piper's Animal and Zan Clan in recent years. Even
on this his first solo album he co-produced, co-wrote, played
all guitars and sang. That's the background and I certainly
liked those albums from Animal and Zan Clan, but the real
question was what could Laney do on his own?
It doesn't take
long to realize that Mr. Laney is quite capable of putting
together some high quality melodic metal. The songs here call
up a variety of influences including 80's Kiss, |
Def Leppard,
80's Alice Cooper and Animal. Perhaps what works best on this
album is that it's smooth when needed, but heavy and forceful
as well. Both type of parts are handled with the same amount
of ease and confidence. In many ways this is an album where
the sound is certainly influenced by mainly late 80's/early
90's music, but it's more active and vibrant. Laney is a fine
guitarist and rips out some blistering solos as needed. He is
also a surprisingly effective and even versatile vocalist as
well. Since he has worked with a number of musicians, he
decided to call on some guests on this release including
Martin Sweet (Crashdiet), Zinny Zan (Zan Clan, Shotgun
Messiah), Vic Zino (Hardcore Superstar) and others. The only
complaint I had about this album is the song placement as many
of the heavy songs happen early on and the albums wraps up
with some more mellow tracks. Still a fine effort as Chris
Laney shows he can indeed deliver some solid material of his
own.
www.myspace.com/chrislaney |
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Damnation Army - Circle of the Brave
(Mascot Records) review
by Sam Thomas |
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I remember recently commenting in a review that I thought 2009
might be the year of the one man band. Well, seems like I
could have been right. Damnation Army is aka one Thomas Nyholm,
and talented is way too small a way to describe his musical
ability. This is his third album, and it’s absolutely
crushing.
The production is superb, and although his previous album,
Tyrant, was generally regarded as being black metal, I’d say
that for me personally Circle of the Brave is more akin to the
crunchier side of fellow Swedes Amon Amarth. Not least in that
the title alone summons up images of Vikings fighting to the
bitter end, besieged on all sides… |
This is not the kitsch Viking metal of Turisas, with its
commands to raise your arms and scream “Hei”, this is the
bludgeoning intensity of reality. Life is grim in Thomas’
world, and death is even grimmer. Misery and privation abound,
there is no glory to be found in these songs, only the
catalogue of death and darkness. The idea that goodness will
prevail over darkness is not one which finds much credence
here…
To go back to the idea of this being a solo opus, I would
never have guessed that there was just one guy behind this:
it’s so well put together, and it flows beautifully between
pulverising brutality and reflective melody (as in the superb
“Dark Ones Misery”) that it’s hard to believe that this is the
work of just one man. This is such an intense experience that
it’s rather like being inside your car when it’s crushed
because you forgot to renew your tax disc. Or like the
sensation you get when you bite into a bar of really good
quality dark chocolate: intense overwhelming bitterness that
overloads your senses.
If you enjoy intelligent, crushing metal produced by someone
who can clearly play brilliantly, and write wonderful death
metal, look no further. Damnation Army has it all. I
absolutely love this album.
www.myspace.com/damnationarmyswe
| www.mascotrecords.com |
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Dead Mans Hand - The Combination
(Agonia Records) Review by Chris Davison |
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“Read 'em and weep, the dead man's hand again” intoned Lemmy,
famously, on The Ace of Spades. I bet he's fucking sick of
telling people about the dead man's hand by now, however. All
of which segues dreadfully into the main review. Dead Mans
Hand are a new metal prospect, hailing from Norway, though
being somewhat unusual in the land of the ice and snow by
being a thrash band. This is about as common as finding a
Celtic folk metal band from Australia.
“More Thrash?” you yawn, listlessly. Don't fret, beloved
reader, this is a wee bit different to the hordes of moronic
19 year olds peddling recycled Dark Angel riffs at the moment. |
Dead Mans Hand play thrash with elements of death metal within
– to surprisingly effective results. Of course, the marriage
of death metal and thrash is nothing new, we've had it for
years. What is different here is that Dead Mans Hand aren't
just playing old Exodus songs and rasping like a 40 a day
smoker. The death metal aspects of this music are perfect,
being heavy, crushing and more often than not slower than the
preceding thrash. On slow burning numbers like the positively
bombastic “Body in the Barrel”, this becomes utterly deadly.
The combination of crushing riffs, killer drumming and a sense
of dynamics often found lacking in modern thrash bands lends
this an air of novelty. Elsewhere, the sheer tempo of tracks
like “Taste the Metal” might just leave you gasping for air.
Unexpectedly then, Dead Mans Hand have produced one of the
thrash metal highlights of the year so far by not sticking to
the cookie-cutter conception of the genre being proliferated by
fucking morons the world over. Just as I was about to give up
on the hope of there ever being a decent thrash album this
year, DMH come in and save the day. The production is a trifle
uninspired at times, but then this is a new band on their
first album. Their sound can only develop, along with the
production values. For those of you beginning to see the
Emperors new clothes for what they are (i.e. Most modern
thrash is fucking shit), then I urge you to to give Dead Mans
Hand
a try. Great stuff all round.
www.myspace.com/agoniarecords |
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Foreshadow - Nations Of Failure
(Blast Zone) Review by Steve Green |
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The hardest kind of album to review is one that you neither like nor
dislike. One where you can see the faults and can applaud the band for
what they are trying to achieve. The one where the vocalist isn't going to
be able to take the band to the next level, although his voice is pretty
much ok, just not amazing. Man, I could go on all day, but as you may have
guessed by now, I'm trying to describe this album.
It's neither good nor bad, so that makes it downright ordinary? For the
most part, yes. There are very few moments where I stand up and take
notice, with Problem, Reaction, Solution gaining my attention the most,
especially the out of tune Primus meets Dead
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Kennedys quirky lead guitars
and the stomping rhythm, which is just immense. I think the biggest
problem is that Foreshadow don't really fit in anywhere. This isn't Death
or Black or Thrash. It's just Metal, but Metal without an identity.
I feel they've got the pacing about right, with nice time changes and
textures, but I'm not finding anything to latch onto. No stand-out
choruses or moments to lift my mood above the lethargic state it's found
itself in.
Look, there's nothing particularly wrong with this album, but with a
couple of hundred albums a month battling for your money, this one's going
to be swallowed up in the lower depths of the underground.
www.myspace.com/foreshadow76 |
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Forever Never - Forever Never
(Siege of Amida) Review by Mat Willcocks |
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Prior to writing this review, I have had to establish a
swear-box, whereby I will contribute 20p for every time I
mention Killswitch Engage, Mnemic, Into Eternity, As I Lay
Dying, Threat Signal or Meshuggah. Right.... FN are a
relatively recent group from Essex with a couple of
little-known singles, most familiar to viewers of the Scuzz
and Kerrang channels. Essentially a modern sounding band, with most
biased leanings towards metalcore, with triggered verses and
harmoniously sung choruses, immediate comparisons are drawn to
Killswitch, with a more brooding vocal style and less of a
tendency to engage in the seemingly compulsory Maiden-style
guitar flashes (‘Break The Trend’ excluded). It all |
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sounds pretty good and though the ability to produce an
unforgettable tune is apparent, the majority of the tracks are
well worth a listen. Though the temptation lies to gravitate
to the first half of the CD for the gems (opener ‘Empty
Promises’ is a child-friendly Meshuggah mixed with nu-metal chorus, though
still rather pleasant to listen to), the standout tracks are
placed in the final four tracks, all possessing nice
arrangements and listenability-factor. Whilst we are waiting
for the next big, as yet unheard metal genre to make itself
known, take a listen to this for a great example of the UK’s
contribution to what was an otherwise haphazard genre. And
wouldn’t you know, only 40p to the swearbox.
www.siegeofamida.net
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Gory Blister - Graveyard of Angels
(Mascot Records) review by
Sam Thomas |
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The artwork and the band logo had me thinking brutal death
straight away, so the melodic opening was something of a
surprise. But then things got underway to an onslaught of
brutality and carnage that was really quite enjoyable. There
are quite a few bands emerging from Italy these days, and they
all seem to be alarmingly proficient in whatever style they
choose to pursue.
I think that possibly the best way to describe Gory Blister
(for those of you who’ve missed their previous two outings, OK
then, two albums and an EP) is as technical death metal. There
are some absolutely shredding guitar bits, provided by Raff
(please note the only |
band member without inappropriate umlauts in his name) and
rather more melody than you might expect, which all goes to
make this a rather jolly, listenable little piece.
And little piece it certainly is – nine tracks in thirty four
minutes is close to grind standard, but this is more a case of
just playing (presumably because you’re capable of it, and
want to show everyone else up) at absolutely warp speed
throughout. And then, again just because you can, why not
throw in an instrumental midway through the album to show
that, if you’d wanted to, you could have produced a pretty
acceptable industrial/symphonic black album as well? And just
for good measure, why not remix it as the final track of the
album, in a completely industrial style. And add screams as
well? It sounds fundamentally wrong, and I don’t normally like
albums which mix up styles like this, but Gory Blister are
perfectly capable of doing it so well, then why not?
Overall then, completely crushing and shredding death stroke
symphonic stroke industrial stroke who cares? Excellent
technical death. Enjoy.
www.goryblister.com
| www.mascotrecords.com |
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