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| Aeon of Horus - The Embodiment of Darkness and Light
(Self-Released) Review by Chris Davison |
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Not that you readers give a shit, but let me say right off
the bat that AOH have produced THE single most impressive
self-released package that I have ever received by some
considerable margin. This is a mighty omen for the whole
album, I might add, in terms of the scope, vision and
determination in the music. A huge, glossy gatefold design,
much better than 99% of all full retail releases that I am
sent, the visual punch that this baby provided had my mouth
dropping open in amazement...and that was before I'd even
powered up my stereo.
You may have read about progressive death metal before.
Well, to give you an indication |
of just how bloody amazing this Australian four piece are,
allow me to use some pretty cheap, quick comparisons for
you. Aeon of Horus are so
impressively technical and progressive in their approach to
death metal that by comparison they make the likes of
widdly-widdly technical death metallers like Necrophagist
sound like Status-fucking-Quo. For once, this isn't some
kind of journalistic hyperbole. By the time second track
“Conquering the Speed of Light” had finished, I truly felt
like my head had been transported across the cosmos. Making
the likes of Mithras sound like the second-rate Morbid Angel
copyists they are, this is truly dizzying, mind blowing
music. Featuring more time changes than a watch factory,
just how the four piece manage to conjure such a massive,
mind blowing sound from so few instruments is simply beyond
my comprehension. The album is based on the rough concept of
humanity pushing the boundaries of the universe, and this is
a stunning production of that conception.
The songwriting is absolutely amazing, with particular
highlights being the monstrously epic “Arrogantly Opposing
Reality” with its tightly disciplined vision of the cosmos
being carved out of dense sound, and the frankly bat-shit
mental instrumentalism of “Heru-Ra-Ha”. The vocals are
extremely guttural but ultimately decipherable, while the
guitar, bass and drumming are played brilliantly. The
production does suffer a little by sounding a little
synthetic and digital, especially with a dry drum sound and
slightly weak, thin rhythm guitar sound on main riffing,
though given that this is a self-released album, it's not
half bad, just not on a par with the song writing, ambition
or playing of the album. Look, there's a lot of hype about
“the next best thing” in death metal, and other than the
increasingly fertile old school death metal sub-sub-genre,
there's really fuck-all of any merit to be found among the
shit and detritus of myspace. Aeon of Horus have a vision,
and they have harnessed sheer will power, grit and
determination to bring you that vision. This is peerless –
and it needs a wider release. Someone sign these boys,
immediately.
www.myspace.com/aeonofhorus |
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Alerion - Turn of Fate
(demo) Review by Steve Green |
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Alerion are a female fronted Progressive Metal band from Utrecht in
Holland. Because of vocalist Maaike Siegerist's tendency to drift off
into darker realms, the term Gothic will have to be inserted somewhere
into the review as well, but that bears no reflection on the bands
musical style, which is Progressive all the way. Ok, job done as far as
the description is concerned.
With only 2 songs in which to form an opinion on Alerion, one thing is
perfectly clear. This is a band with talented musicians. The near 8
minute duration of the song Turn Of Fate will have the musos creaming
their pants I'm sure, those wanting a quick fix of instant |
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gratification might not be so impressed. As far as my own
opinion is concerned, I like Turn Of Fate, but I think the
2nd number, Clash With Eternity is pretty weak and is
lacking any energy. You can download the promo for free on
the bands website, so form you own opinion by clicking here:
www.alerion.nl
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Baphomets Cunt - The Darkness Of British Culture
(demo cd) review by Crin |
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A not so ear pleasing band name, a not so eye pleasing cover
[Mira Hindley], and an into of a disintegrating British
National Anthem. So, welcome to the quite necro world of
Baphomets Cunt. This is a hideously deformed Black Metal
holocaust blasted from stench pools of aural piss clouds and
shit smeared lyrics. This two track demo consists of the
title track, a blasting all guns blazing blackened head
muncher, and a more slow burning gloom fest. Both tracks
accompanied by grisly guttural vocals and some catchy,
albeit heavy as a Cyclops turd guitar riffamania. If you
like your Black Metal raw, frost bitten and drenched in
hellish fear then look no further than here. All Def Leppard
fans should not play this cd as it will strip them of all
colour and compel mass suicides. |
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www.myspace.com/baphometscunt
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Blooddawn - Chapel of Bones
(demo cd) review by Crin |
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Blood curdling Black Metal with a vocal that gives the
impression the vocalist is chewing on the mic whilst fucking
a goats arse, pre-lined with sandpaper. Imagine the Mayhem
masterpieces ‘De Mysteriss’ played backwards though an old
hi fi system and the unholy clamorous noise belonging to
Blood Dawn will become a little clearer. This 5 tracker hits
you with the obligatory eerie intro, then pounds the bones
to powder with the quite ghastly, Chapel of Bones, Religions
of Blood, and Exit Wounds. All three follow the same
incoherent path where the guitars are the main musical focus
but when the vocals are engaged are totally blurred out. The
demo ends with an ambient piece, more to calm the |
listeners nerves no doubt after the previous aural rape. Is
it anything to cum in a Baphomets mouth about?? Will this
change the way Black Metal is showcasing more Homosexual
members than ever before??
No, of course it won't, but for that special underground
miasma and a little bit of good English Black Metal you
could do a lot worse. The band also feature on a killer 4
way split with fellow UK Satanic grinders, Baphomet's Cunt,
Antioch, and Mortirion. Try and get a copy from
www.myspace.com/panzerfaustproductions |
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Ironwood - :Fire:Water:Ash:
(self released) Review by Crin |
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Australian Folk with Metal bits, Pagan bits and other
bits….. From all intent and purposes, the cover art, band
moniker and song titles and overall concept of this band
offers a Pagan Metal manifestation in true Eastern European
style. I listened with great anticipation when the first track crawled
from the speakers, and for its full six minute duration it
maintained the swishy washy folk metal track it oozed as it just
never moved out of first gear. No, I am sure it was never
supposed to, but when you expect it to, its rather a storm
in a tea cup. This places your perspective on this album in
the completely wrong direction as track 2, The Oncoming
Storm, bursts in to an early Einherjer/ Isengard style of
rousing Viking |
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song. The following, Raven Song, reduces the jovialities to
a Clannad like plod. Clean vocals over an
acoustic setting evokes a Celtic transience. A croaking
raven heralds the two sided, Jarnvidr Gallows, and it is the
ignition into rabid blackened fury that really befuddles the
senses. It seems totally out of place amongst the generally
serene gentle folk music. The rest of the album is likewise
unbalanced, unsettled and unsure. Maybe the climate in
Australia makes it impossible to feel the Pagan chill of the
Europe’s Iron Age past?? It seems as if the Pagan ethos has
been deliberately diluted, or the band simply do not
understand the musical style they wish to create? Should
this reside in a Metal world or a purely Folk world? I
cannot place it in either as it is both and yet lost between
the two. The experience is certainly unique, but as to
whether it will be a pleasant one is for you to decide. I
found the album always threatening to become something
special, but never managing to do so.
www.myspace.com/ironwoodband |
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Masterpiece - W.A.F.E
(Demo) Review by Metal Mark |
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Brazil's Masterpiece have been in existence since 1998 and
this is their third E.P./demo. The bio claims they were
influenced by the great heavy metal bands of the late 80's
and early 90's. Now my first reaction to that claim was that
it was a very broad label that could mean almost anything.
So I didn't have an inkling of what this might really sound
like as I slipped the disc into the player. The opener
"Trajectory of death" comes on and everything becomes much
clearer about this band. This song sounds like like
Metallica if the band had held on to some "Kill 'Em
All" elements when they did "Master of Puppets". It's tight
and thunders along with a great deal of precision, but it
has some wildness that keeps it from |
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being too predictable. "Mr. Disgrace" comes on next and
again there is a major Metallica
influence from start to finish. However this time the sound
is more a cross between "Master of Puppets" and "And
Justice
For All". The big difference being that you can hear the
bass and they keep things on track which sets it apart from
most of the songs on "And Justice
For All". There is more of
a galloping sound this time around and a strong control of
the pace. "The Thing Out Of Control" wraps up the disc. The Metallica influence isn't so great here although there is a
little in the vocals. There is maybe a touch of early
Anthrax in there as well, but this is the band's most
original song. It revolves around a very simple riff, but
they manipulate it well. All in all this was a very
impressive demo for fans of early thrash.
www.myspace.com/masterpieceonline
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Mindbreaker - Self Titled
(Self-produced) Review by Metal Mark |
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This band hails from Easton, Pennsylvania and includes a
number of veteran musicians in their ranks. The first thing
I noticed about this disc is that the production is sorely
lacking. The sound starts out very muddy and dull. It does
get better particularly for the guitars, but the vocals
often sound like they are being sung into a can and the
drums lack the punch they need. However the sound does get a
little better as the album goes on, but I think that is just
due to the band stepping up the pace. After one play I knew
that I had to push past the production shortcomings and see
what was going on with the music that I could hear. Even
then it was tough at first to really figure out what this
band was doing. They have a |
short intro and then "Never Needed" comes on and it sounds
very underdone like they just knocked it out right then and
there and didn't work anything out. "Orchestrated Commodity"
follows and it's in the same style in that it is fuzzy and
wanders around a lot. It's kind of loud, but nothing is ever
distinct enough to make much of an impression. The next song
is "All The Same" which fortunately goes against it's name
and finally this band sounds like they are putting some
pieces in place. The main riff is simple, but driving. It's
the best part of the song, but it does make an enough of an
impression to get my attention with its Judas Priest meets
Accept approach. The vocals improve here and begin to
solidify a style of some sort, but it's still streaky. After
this the album fortunately never dips down to the quality of
those two horribly raw songs although they never quite get
everything on the same page either. The guitars might be the
most consistent part of this album, but they still struggle
to keep it together. The vocals show some promise, but it's
normally only in bits and pieces. There is not one whole
song where they really have everything. They really
desperately need a better production job the next time
around. They also need a lot of tightening around the edges
as well. I hear a few decent riffs some potentially decent
vocals, there is a whole clean-up and re-writing that needs
to be done before I can really say this is a band worth
checking out.
www.myspace.com/mindbreakerrocks |
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Misery - Fifteen Years Of Aggression
(Self-released)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Misery are a five-piece from New York playing a mix of
groove-laden metal with hardcore-style shouted vocals.
Immediately, bands such as Life Of Agony, Biohazard, Sick Of
It All, and other similar acts come to mind as Misery’s
brand of metal is essentially the first type of metalcore to
appear in the late 80s/ early 90s before the term was even
coined. In addition, this mix of hardcore and metal really
bears no resemblance to what is referred to as metalcore
today.
“Fifteen Year Of Aggression” is the band’s self-released
latest full-length (the total amount of releases by the band
since the early 90s is unclear), and consists of a mix of
modern |
metal (NWOAHM) and old-style NYHC with some of the
obvious influences being the heavier bands of the genre such
as Agnostic Front. There are also considerable amounts of
groove present on “Fifteen Years Of Aggression” with plenty
of crushingly heavy riffs. For the most part, the formula
works as Misery are quite catchy with some great riffs
liberally applied throughout the album; however, I’ve never
been a fan of bands such as Biohazard et al, and Misery fall
flat when they drift too far into this territory (in my
opinion, anyway). Luckily, those moments are few and far
between as Misery are mostly concerned with writing solid
riffs that provide the backbone for their mid-paced tempo
songs. The end result is an infectious album that, while
outside of my personal genre favorites, is nevertheless a
highly enjoyable listen.
Anyone with a nostalgic remembrance of NYHC will appreciate
“Fifteen Years Of Aggression”, as well as any genre fan
simply into catchy guitar riffs. Recommended.
www.myspace.com/miseryny
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www.myspace.com/clawhammerpr |
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No Love Lost - Submission and
Seabound (Self release)
Review by Steve Green |
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With only 3 tracks (one of which is an instrumental, albeit a good one)
and a running time of just under 13 minutes, No Love Lost really know how
to wind me up. I really enjoyed their last EP, 2007's In The Darkest Hour
and now they tease me with an even shorter release. The swine's.
For those of you, which is probably the majority of you (no offence
intended to the band) who've not yet discovered No Love Lost, then they
are a gem of a band. Takes a huge chunk of 90s Doom, which is influenced
by a certain trio of bands from "Oop North" (I shouldn't take the piss as
I live up north these days) and change the rules by having a female singer
and it's as simple as that. Accessible as fuck and equally as enjoyable,
No Love Lost really need to build on their EPs and to record an album as
three tracks is simply not enough. Check them out via
www.myspace.com/nolovelostdoom |
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