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Geist - Galeere (Lupus
Lounge) Review by Steve Green |
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For want of a better term, and not for the purposes of creating a new
Pirate Metal sub-genre, this is nautically themed Black Metal. With the
album title translating (from German) as Galley and the rather fine
album artwork of a galleon, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
Their music is best described by frontman, Alboin, who states that "This
album is the deep sea set to music". It's a wonderful description that
captures exactly what this album is all about. Beautifully tranquil one
minute and stormy and unpredictable the next. The Black Metal textures
aside, I cannot help but be reminded of Iron Maiden's The Rime Of The
Ancient Mariner, with both parties creating a truly epic piece of music. |
| And Galeere is an epic album, with only 5 tracks on offer, the shortest,
Helike is a sparse 8.26, while the album closes with the monumental
Unter toten Kapitänen clocking in at 15.44. Each song flies by as the
structure of each number is nigh on perfect. Brimming with ambient
textures and with a blackened heart (I know I've used the term Black
Metal more than once, but this is far from your average Satanic
anti-Christian barrage) this is my favourite side of the dark art.
Intelligent, intriguing and utterly captivating.
www.myspace.com/geistmetal |
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Helrunar - Grátr Re-issue
(Lupus Lounge) Review by Steve Green |
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I don't think the good folk at Prophecy Records, or their sub-label Lupus
Lounge, know how to release a bad record. Bar an average Klimt 1918
review, I don't think I've ever given any of their other releases a bad
review, and that trend is set to continue here. Grátr is Helrunar's
debut album from back in 2003, which only received a print run of 500,
which obviously isn't enough for a band of this calibre, hence this
re-issue. And although I called this the bands debut album, it was
actually originally released as a demo, but such is the quality on offer
here, you'd never believe it. |
Mixing uplifting Pagan Metal with Black Metal, which ranges from melodic
and atmospheric, to all guns blazing, this is a stunning listen. Rousing
Viking anthems live alongside blackened slabs of anger, with acoustic
guitars and even (I presume) a Jews Harp getting in on the act for the
more atmospheric side of Helrunar's sound. And it's the atmospheric side
of the band which elevates them above most of their contemporaries, as
they create such beautiful music, which they then shroud in Black
Metal!!!
Although new on my radar, Helrunar are a band I'll be taking the time to
find out more about as I rape and pillage my way through their back
catalogue. www.myspace.com/helrunarhorde
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Hysterica - Metalwar
(CRoNG Records) Review By Steve Earles |
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Woah! A female Manowar, now that is a grand concept, not
least of all because Manowar’s leathers look a hell of a lot
better on a group of lovely ladies, but also because
Hysterica have taken on Manowar’s all-abiding love of metal,
and it shows. Make no mistake, Metalwar is an outstanding
true metal album. New vocalist, the lovely Anni De Vil, has
an amazing voice, a cross between the mighty Anne Boleyn of
Hellion (anyone remember their killer cover of Judas
Priest’s Exciter?) and Ronnie James Dio, Anni has got that
strong a voice. We Are The Undertakers is classic 80s metal,
all catching choruses and attitude. While Halloween has the
vibe of Black Sabbath circa Neon Knights. Bless |
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The Beast, is more contemporary, with its Pantera style groove. All the
band acquit themselves well musically, and all are
excellently named, SatAnica on bass, Hell’n on drums,
RockZilla and Bitchie on Guitar. On tracks like the
environmentally inspired Wreck of Society and Metalwar,
Hysterica really come in on their own. Played from their
metal hearts, oozing talent and sincerity, these furies of
metal have created pan album to be proud of, featuring a
fine production by Peter Tagtgren.. Highly recommended.
www.myspace.com/hysterica
| www.hysterica.se |
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Necrophobic - Death To All
(Regain Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Sweden’s Necrophobic return with their sixth full-length,
this one entitled “Death To All” and released on Regain
Records. Necrophobic are yet another second tier band just
waiting to make a jump into the big leagues with a breakout
album. A decidedly up and down slew of releases
characterizes the band, with “Bloodhymns” from 2002 being
their best album, only to be followed up with their weakest
album in the form of “Hrimthursum” after a long, four year
hiatus. Can “Death To All” be the breakout album that this
outfit sorely needs?
Based upon musicianship, songwriting, and so forth, the
answer is a definite “yes”. “Death |
To All” is full of well-written songs that firmly straddle
the line between melody and an out blackened death metal
assault. Fabulously alternating between brutal riffing and melodic elements, the
twin guitars from Johan Bergeback and Sebastian Ramstedt
form the backbone of Necrophobic’s sound and overall
approach to songwriting. Overlay the excellent guitar work
with very catchy songs that have an epic sweep, and “Death
To All” is a barnstormer of an album that will go a long way
towards vaulting Necrophobic from the second tier of Swedish
death metal.
But. Yes, there is a “but”. Damn it all to Hell, but the
album is weakly produced! The focus is obviously upon the
guitar sound, which is reasonably well mixed, but the drums
are completely flat. The bass is non-existent. This lack of
a crushing depth really robs the album of some needed heft,
and lowers the album’s quality by a notch or so. This
oversight (yes, this is my opinion) is unforgivable given
that Necrophobic have obviously ramped up their game in the
songwriting department. This is really a shame as;
otherwise, the album would come highly recommended. Even
still, buy or die.
www.myspace.com/necrophobic
| www.regainrecords.com |
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Scar Obscura as performed by Sinocence
(Rising Records)
Review by Strawb |
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“A veritable Tour –de-force in vicious, hook-laden, melodic
metal. Featuring 10 songs of raging metal anthems” –
Discuss.
The text in quotes is from the website and has obviously
been tossed off by some PR guru. The two unusual points in
this review so far are that I am actually quoting said
suited one and that the description is more accurate than
any counter I can come up with. The Columbian product taken
that day must have been from the top drawer.
Sinocenece are a four person band who originate from
Northern Ireland. Their touring so far seems mainly to have
been in that Emerald Isle but has included supporting some
well |
known headliners – Machine Head and In Flames anyone? They
have meandered this side of the pond to grace the the odd
festival and have recently ventured in to the expensive area
that is mainland Europe. This, their debut album brings a
platter which offers up their skills to a wider fanbase.
They play it fast, they slow down, they are melodious, and
then again they are just downright dirty. I for one was
drawn in by the opener, Perfect Denial, as it has an air of
Panic Cell, who are a band I really rate, and it has been
the most played track in my house. By God Complex the pace
has slowed but the quality remains. Well, OK the pace has
slowed for the first minute and a quarter, right until your
speakers try to pull themselves from the wall. Throughout
the whole album the vocals are clear but not overpowering
and none of the instruments are favoured to the detriment of
the others, so a tick in the mixing box then. Need a softer,
almost ballad pace, with the ambiance of an acoustic set,
then click along to Art Of Separation.
Wondering why a band from N.I. ended up connected to a
record label based in sleepy Suffolk and with a claim to
fame of [people of Ipswich, help me here, what the fuck has
happened there in the last few millennium?] I then
interwebbed to Rising Records. They are building a stable of
new, vital must-hear bands, and in Sinocence have acquired
just one more thoroughbred.
www.myspace.com/sinocence
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www.risingrecords.org/home.php |
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Sin of Kain - The End
(Vic Records) review by Sam Thomas |
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I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a band from Hungary before,
which is kind of a surprise really, as it’s always been a
country that was eager to throw off the shackles of the Iron
Curtain days, and we have heard many other bands from former
Eastern bloc countries, so here goes… Second surprise is
that they sound decidedly Norwegian in places. They play a
combination of death and symphonic black metal, the latter
drawing the obvious comparison with Dimmu Borgir, but
there’s a bit more of an industrial, maybe even techno, echo
in there somewhere.
This is in fact a re-release of their 2007 album, which was
their debut for Vic Records – |
I’m not entirely sure what, if anything happened to it, or
why it’s being re-released now,
but from my personal point of view I’m quite glad that it
has been, as I’d otherwise have missed out on a fairly
decent release. I’m also not quite sure what’s going on with
the label description of the band’s style “a thrashy version
of Morbid Angle (sic) with black and prog. metal
influences”, but hell, everyone’s entitled to their own
view.
Leaving the music aside for a while, the artwork is
absolutely stunning, and I found myself looking at the
artist, Gyula Havancsák’s website, where I was amazed to
find a load of album covers that I knew, including the
latest Stratovarius and Tyr albums. And, more interestingly,
I noticed that this was exactly the same name as the name
given for the bass player on the band’s myspace page.
Clearly a man of many talents. And a first for me, I’m going
to include a link to his website, so have a look if you
want... www.hjules.com
Meanwhile, back at the music… Csaba Rom’s keyboards are
enthralling, and the third track, “Cursed Name”, my
favourite, really showcases his undoubted talents. (And, you
guessed, sounds very Dimmu-like). In a way, I can see where
the prog tag is coming from, in that you get long passages
of pure instrumental, but I wouldn’t really describe it as
prog, purely because it (mostly) lacks altogether any aspect
of widdliness. (I’ll make an exception for a part of sixth
track, “Questionless”, though, which is almost Pink Floyd
style prog). Maybe I should coin the “symphonic death metal”
genre, just to dig myself out of a hole here? What the hell,
this is a very well-produced, very technically competent and
extremely listenable and likeable release.
In summary then, this is technically flawless, symphonic
metal with touches of death, black, industrial and echoes of
prog. Definitely worth going out of your way to acquire.
www.sinofkain.com
| www.vicrecords.com |
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The Bereaved - Daylight Deception
(Vic Records) review by Sam Thomas |
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I’m really enjoying this year’s new crop of metal – largely
thanks to two discrete phenomena, the resurgence of the one
man band and the sterling efforts of the good people at Vic
Records, who have gone from a distant point on the horizon
to a blazing light overhead. (Can you tell I used to study
physics?)
The Bereaved are (mostly) Swedish, but have now got an
American vocalist on board, in the shape of Travis Neal
(Divine Misery), who applied for an audition by email. Just
goes to show what you can get through the net these days!
His vocal style has definitely added an edge to their
performance, and it’s quite an interesting change to hear a
guy who sounds |
American because he is American, rather than just because he
watches too much US TV!
All in all, it’s been a tough couple of years for The
Bereaved. Quite apart from the inevitable line-up changes,
they had a record deal with Black Lotus which came to
nothing when the label closed down. Fortunately, the
ubiquitous Dan Swanö, who had been lined up to do the
production, managed to help the band out, and they signed
with Vic Records.
Geographically, Örebro, The Bereaved’s home town is closer
to Stockholm that Gothenburg, but their music is pure
Gothenburg. Just think of the more aggressive faction of In
Flames, keep the melody and add some stunning production and
you’ll be right there. Or, as a miserable member of the
household put it (I think that must be
me - Steve) “I can’t stand that stuff – it’s
practically metalcore”. The opening track, “Zero of the
Day”, in particular, is so reminiscent of In Flames that
it’s kind of surreal. I was surprised to discover that this
album’s less than forty minutes in length – there seems to
be so much packed in to it that you’d swear it was longer.
It’s as catchy as it gets, and just races along at such a
tremendous pace throughout that you almost feel exhausted by
the finish. Sometimes I feel in danger of forgetting how
much metal owes to Sweden and to Gothenburg in particular,
but then along comes a release like this. High-octane
aggression. Perfect.
www.vicrecords.com
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www.myspace.com/thebereavedswe |
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The Seven Gates - Angel of
Suffering (Heavy Artillery) Review by Metal
Mark |
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When I see the big tank and the Heavy Artillery logo I know
that I am in for retro metal of some sort. French act the
Seven Gates have been around just since 2006. This is old
school death metal that is highly influenced by the likes of
Deicide, Morbid Angel and Autopsy. That's fine because I was
certainly liked those bands back then when death metal was
beginning as an offshoot from thrash. The only problem is
that The Seven Gates have taken classic death metal and
presented it with very little fire and enthusiasm. They have
the heaviness down to a passable level, but the speed is
sub-par and they just glide through the motions. The
production doesn't help a great deal as it sounds like a
demo from 1990. |
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One of the problems with relying so much on a sound from the
past is that you really have to add something of your own to
make it interesting. This band fail to add much of anything
to this old sound. In fact they do not even play A list
early death metal. This would have been forgettable grade
"B" fodder at best if it had been trotted out twenty years
ago. To me good death metal needs to be heavy, fast,
aggressive and have a few twists and turns. The Seven Gates
don't really excel at any of those categories. They just
clunk along and although they hit on a few sparks they just
never put enough parts together to show any kind of
consistency. In the end "Angel of Suffering" just doesn't do
enough to warrant anyone's attention. It was quite honestly
very difficult to make it through the whole disc. There are
just a lot of other bands doing this style a lot better than
The Seven Gates. |
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Wyrd - Kalivägi
(Naga Productions) Review by Crin |
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This is the eighth full length from the cult Finnish pagan
metal act and here we have a style more akin to the bands
2006 Ghost opus than the rest. The violin intro eludes a
smokey grove with the chill of twilight on the skin, and
when the first track, Verisurma kicks in to a mid-beat
pagan hellfire groove, the ice riffs of Gravelend echo from
the atmospheres. The folk surges of Finntroll also liven the
musical vision here. But Wyrd are far more than a monotone
reflections of barbaric primitivism. The following, Kalivägi,
is a severe drop in tempo to a doom like Sabbath plod. It’s
a strange yet compelling addictive riff croaking from some
unseen abyss. A mild keyboard arrangement is cut in two by
the strident vocal |
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snarls. The doom element this album is bound to are
relatively small, and the acoustic driven, Hämärän Soutajat, again drags the vibrant Finntroll warmth
into the mix, dispelling the bleak moon that roamed prior.
Thrashing guitars are tempered by a clean vocal chorus and
the whole song reminded me of that classic Belarus band,
Gods Tower. A short, sharp deconstructed Finnish folk thrash
blast shoots up the dynamics for a brief moment before the
masterstroke of this release arrives. The sweeping highlight
of this album now arrives in the form of the ballad like Talviyö and its soothing guitar rhythmic trance
groove. It’s a wonderfully composed track that for its ten
minute duration flirts with your emotions and renders the
world outside numb. The album closes with a final upbeat
song and the adaptability of this band is quite astonishing.
There is so much depth and solid music to be discovered
here, a veritable Pagan masterpiece that affirms the Finnish
domination of this most popular genre. The Polish seem to
favour the more rough and rugged Pagan styles, but it is the
Finns who really know how to liven up a dull pig roast
festival.
www.myspace.com/wyrdfinland |
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