|
|
|
|
|
1349 - Revelations Of The Back Flame
(Candlelight Records)
review by Steve Earles |
 |
The progression between Revelation of the Black Flame and
it’s predecessor Hellfire, is most impressive. Much of this
is due to bringing Celtic Frost visionary and current
Triptykon frontman Tom G. Warrior as producer.
Only on ‘Magot Fetus…Teeth like Thorns’ do we get the more
traditional black metal of 1349, even this is highly
impressive well constructed material. Opening track
Invocation is very experimental and reeks with atmosphere.
‘Misanthropy’ is a colossal beast of a song, while
‘Uncreation’ is full of menace, and musically it shows the
band ever progressing forging an ever stronger and unique
sound. Dropping the pace has paid massive dividends, |
|
songs warp like dimensions around riffs and chords. Do what
thou wilt indeed! On all levels, atmosphere, song-writing
musicality, things have reached a new level. Frost’s
drumming is far more interesting here than on Satyricon’s
‘The Age Of Nero’. Ravn’s vocals are much clearer and reek
of sincerity. Down to a single guitarist, Acheron acquits
himself well, though doubtlessly a second guitarist will be
needed live, while this allows Seidemann’s bass a chance to
breath. An shining example of 1349’s progression is a fine
and unique cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Set Controls For The Heart
Of The Sun’. Daring, brave, and cosmic in scope,
complimenting their own material perfectly. ‘Uncreation’ has
a dark ambient majesty. While the huge riffs of ‘Serpentine
Sibilance’ crush. Ending perfectly with ‘At The Gate’, 1349
have bravely moved their sound light years forward and
justify deserve to be hailed as one of metal’s up and coming
legends, much like their producer’s band before them. |
| |
|
Acid Drinkers - Verses of Steel
(Regain Records) Review by Chris Davison |
 |
Well, this was a change. You see, when I have heard Acid
Drinkers before, I was absolutely hammered out of my mind.
On the back of a great lost weekend in Krakow, some more
metallic mates of mine ventured deep into the city and found
a tiny little bar (which I think was called Bar Woodstock –
any Krakowians who care to confirm are appreciated) which
stocked a most impressive jukebox. There, with the power of
beer, pigeon Polish and band names, one of the locals set
out to educate me on Polish metal other than my beloved
Vader, Decapitated and Behemoth. “Thrash good, yes?” said my
host. I nodded, Acid Drinkers were put on (along with Kat
and Turbo - whom you should |
also check out) and I was educated. Good, solid thrash from
behind the iron curtain.
This is (by my reckoning) their 14th album, having been
released in Poland in 2008 but now finding a world wide
distribution in the rest of the world. A band doesn’t get to
produce so many albums by being anything less than talented,
dogged and determined, and it shows here. Verses of Steel is
a solid, professional album, with plenty of groove laden
thrash with an extremely modern sound that took me rather by
surprise. I was expecting it to be a little more traditional
in terms of the thrash chops, but here the band have a
slightly hardcore take on riffing, with some extremely
interesting rhythms (on the writhing “Swallow the Needle”,
for example). The production brings the aggressive, biting
vocals to the forefront of things, with a bright, clear
sound.
The songs are a pretty varied bunch, with overall quality
being maintained – though here and there they could perhaps
have culled a couple of songs or had a tighter grip on the
quality control. When they get it right, they have a
fearsome sound that seems to be a more effective version of
the inexplicably popular Machine Head sound, though when
they get it wrong the “modern” aspects of the sound
(monotonous riffing, electronics and staccato vocals) make
the songs seem forced and contrived, as with the less than
essential horribly Coal Chamber-esque Silver Meat Machine. A
mixed bag, for sure, but overall a positive demonstration
that Poland has more to offer the world of metal than
ruthlessly effective death metal and ideologically suspect
black metal.
www.regainrecords.com |
| |
|
Alkonost - Put' Neprojdenny
(Vic Records) Review by Steve Green |
 |
Vic Records seem to building a rather splendid roster of bands and
another one to join the elite are Russina band Alkonost with the 1st of
2 re-issues, 2005's Put' Neprojdenny, which translates as The Path We’ve
Never Made.
I'm trying to fathom where to place Alkonost as they don't really follow
any set formula. Male and female vocals, one growled, the other
operatic, dark Eastern European tones, which flirt with both folk and
medieval influences and I guess just the merest hint of Gothic
splendour. The most important ingredient to these ears are the typically
Russian traits. I've become a big fan of the Russian scene the past few
years, especially with bands like |
| Arkona and the multitude of
underground goodies I've picked up via fellow L4M writer Crin's Godreah
Records distro and it's a unique sound I find fascinating. Miserable,
yet uplifting: Dark, but hauntingly beautiful and that's exactly how I'd
describe this album. Alyona Pelevina's stunning vocals are the centre of
attention as far as I'm concerned, but I'm also a sucker for Almira
Fathullina' keyboards, which go from atmospheric, through catchy, crazy
rhythms to huge swathes that dominate the album. I view the album as a
whole, rather than picking out individual tracks, as it flows into one
huge melting pot of Pagan goodness. Highly recommended to all fans
of Russian Metal and to those with a Pagan heart.
www.myspace.com/alkonostofficial |
| |
|
Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow
(Candlelight Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
 |
British duo Anaal Nathrakh return with “In The Constellation
Of The Black Widow”, their fifth full length overall,
released on Candlelight Records. The general pattern of
industrial tinged, blackened grindcore established on prior
albums continues on “In The Constellation…” with plenty of
all out, mechanized blasts, fast riffs, and screeched howls
from vocalist Dave Hunt.
Anaal Nathrakh have always been a band that have managed to
hold my interest for a few songs on each album, but, as I
progress deeper into every album, I always find my attention
drifting a bit. I’m not quite sure why that is, since Anaal
Nathrakh has just about |
everything one could want with this sort of over the top
blast. Fast riffing, all out blasts
courtesy of Mick Kenney’s drum programming (he also handles
all instrumentation), a deep, powerful production, and
considerable variation to the songwriting. At times an all
out blackened assault, at others an exercise in industrial
programming, and even a few slower moments of melody with
Dave Hunt incorporating his soaring, epic clean vocal style,
all of these disparate elements make various appearances.
In the end, I still don’t really have an answer as to why
Anaal Nathrakh don’t grab a hold of me. Once again, they
fail to do so on “In The Constellation…”, but that’s
probably more to do with my own gut reaction, rather than
any failings on their part. However, if you’ve been with
Anaal Nathrakh for their last couple of full-lengths, you’ll
probably continue to stick around.
www.myspace.com/anaalnathrakh
|
www.candlelightrecords.co.uk
|
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com |
| |
|
Bleed From Within - Humanity
(Rising Records) By Robert Cheesewright |
 |
Having heard a little of Glaswegian’s Bleed From Within
before, I was pleased to see this album drop on my doorstop. I
was already asking myself ‘will this album distinguish
itself from the heavier end-of-the-spectrum Metalcore which
has gone before it?’, or just be another rubbish clone of
all the other bands in the “scene”. The use of metalcore
will have most who read this cringing at the thought of
another wet, watered-down Killswitch Engage-a-like. Luckily,
Bleed From Within are much heavier than that; technical
death metal clearly influences their sound. In fact
comparisons to Veil of Maya or Born of Osiris better
characterise Bleed From Within. |
Beyond the effective two-minute intro is the first proper
track – heavy, intense, but yet the deathcore vocals make
the frustration build up. Luckily, that is the last time on
the album that a potentially brilliant song is ruined by
Bring Me The Horizon-esque banality. The three-minute tracks
fly by, all filled with a subtle blend of heaviness and
atmospheric melody. Best of all, just when you begin to
think you’ve heard enough shredding a bludgeoning breakdown
kicks in. Lovely.
There’s not a lot more I could want in an album. Bar the
first track, I enjoyed it all – any fan of technical death
metal would do well to pick this one up.
www.myspace.com/bleedfromwithin |
| |
|
Chris Caffery - House Of Insanity
(AFM Records) by Julian
Handley |
 |
The Savatage and Trans Siberian Orchestra guitarists third
solo offering was initially met with an absolute reluctance
by my cultured ears, but having perseverance and an
appreciation of Chris’s previous work especially with
Savatage, I declared that this release warranted several
spins as rarely do I dismiss the work of one so talented on
first hearing.
The problem lies solely with Chris’s vocal offering, it
enforces the classic case of stick to what you do best, as
there are many intricate, melodic guitar chops throughout,
which are savagely spoilt by Mr Caffery’s grating voice
which is hard on the ears, sounding like a poor man’s Alice
Cooper meets ex Anthrax man John Bush with a nasty case of
laryngitis. |
There is nothing really wrong with the substance of material
on show other than the horrible vocals, which had they been
performed by the afore mentioned Messer’s Cooper or Bush,
then the end result would certainly have been a more
pleasurable affair.
Of the thirteen tracks on offer the opener ‘Seasons Change’,
title track ‘House Of Insanity’ and ‘The Fleas’ show promise
but on the whole ’House Of Insanity’ is a tepid, uninspiring
disappointment. If any further solo efforts materialise I
would suggest enlisting any of the renowned vocal talents
who have previously complemented Chris’s often exquisite
guitar work.
www.chriscaffery.com
|
www.myspace.com/chriscaffery
|
www.myspace.com/afmrecordsgermany |
| |
|
Damned Spirits Dance - Weird Constellations (Code 666 Records)
Review by: Anthony Deane |
 |
“Damned Spirits Dance” past may lie within black metal. But
don’t be fooled as they certainly have lots to offer the
listeners of their debut album ’Weird Constellations”.
Describing “Damned Spirits Dance” sound is certainly not
easy task. Think Dimmu Borgir meets Mr Bungle. The music
ranges from Brutal black metal on tracks “Toxic Shock
Syndrome” and “The Angel and the Dark River” To head banging
thrash in the vain of bands such as "At the Gates" and the
Haunted on track” Fake” and “Cold Winds- A Dreams Vision”.
Just when you thought you knew what you were getting they
add lashings of Dance music, on album title track “Damned
Spirits Dance” and “Raven”. |
The keyboards parts, play a very important role in the
construction of the album. They vary from rich synth to
strange abstract sounds. Another unique factor is vocalist
Sinox who has an incredible range and diversity to his vocal
talent .Which really allows the band to slip into various
genres of music with the greatest of ease.
The album ’Weird Constellations” certainly lives up to its
name. This is certainly a band that enjoys pushing musical
boundaries which works to their credit.
’Weird Constellations” is packed with interesting ideas, and
showcases a great display of what is possible. Definitely
worth listening to if you like bands who aren’t afraid to
experiment whilst maintaining a high degree of musicianship.
www.myspace.com/damnedspiritsdance |
www.myspace.com/code666records |
| |
|
Dogs of Winter - From Soil To Shale
(Lapdance Academy) Review by Steve Green |
 |
For all you freeloaders out there, this album is available to download,
legally, for free. But before you rush off and clog up the Dogs of
Winter servers, don't you think it's best to find out if the damn thing
is worth downloading?
The answer is actually a resounding yes. The best way I can think of to
describe this is as "a thinking man's Stoner Rock". The framework of the
music is Stoner, but the rhythm section is far to clever to be a lazy,
drawn out, smoke influenced haze. Occasionally they dip their toes in a
more commercial direction, with As You Were drifting towards Foo
Fighters territory, albeit with balls, but the dual vocals of Ryan Dowd
and Brian Grosz, |
although harmonious for the most part, add an extra bit of
bite when it's needed to stop this becoming too weak. Oh, I
have to mention the production, fan-fucking-tastic and beautifully clean.
So yeah, considering this album is free to all, it's an added bonus that
it's really rather good. Get clicking:
www.myspace.com/dogsofwinter
|
| |
|
Eternal Tears of Sorrow - Children of the Dark Waters
(Massacre) Review by Dave Baynham |
 |
Given the name of this band and the title of the album it
doesn’t come as a shock that they are from Finland. There is
a fair amount of history behind this outfit, the main
songwriting partnership having previously been in death/doom
metallers Andromeda from 1992 to 94. They then formed this
band, who fortunately for the word count can be abbreviated
at EToS. The band grew from an underground label release of
their first album in 1997 to Spinefarm in 1998. By 2001 they
had been through a bunch of line-up changes and released
four albums. The next year they decided to take a break,
then in 2003 officially split up. However in 2004 reforming
the band was discussed and in 2006 EToS released |
|
their fifth album, ‘Before the Bleeding Sun’. All suitably
complicated, but what does it sound like? Well according to
the publicity it’s Gothic Metal. However if so it’s not the
sort I usually listen to. Most of the time I would say it’s
symphonic death metal. On most tracks the main vocals are
gruff and grunted. As somebody who only tolerates death
metal vocals as a contrast in multi-vocal arrangements I had trouble with this.
This doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that it’s not my thing.
Instrumentally this album did a lot that I liked. There are
huge atmospheric keyboards, including a nice solo ‘Baptised
by the Blood of Angels’ along with enjoyably widdly guitars
and the odd gothic choir. The tracks build up in some
grandiose ways too, at times almost progressive and
reminding me of Dragonland. But in a lot of tracks there are
sections where the drumming and riffing are too fast and
frantic for my taste. The one track I actually liked all the
way through was the ballad ‘Sea of Whispers’ which is
included twice, the second time as an acoustic bonus track.
It would not sound out of place on the classic Theatre of
Tragedy disc Aegis. For this album overall the nearest
gothic comparison would be early Tristania without the
female lead vocals and with lots more extreme metal vocals.
So if you want a diverse and atmospheric album of symphonic
death metal, it’s for you. I’m just not sure that
advertising it as gothic helps.
www.eternaltears.info
| www.massacre-records.com |
| |
|
Glittertind - Landkjenning
(Napalm) Review by James Young |
 |
The second highest mountain in Norway also happens to be a
sweet little folk band of the same land, headed by the
visionary Torbjørn Sandvik. At times, it’s extremely hard to
call this ‘metal’ at all, with the addition of a few
distorted guitars and heavily hit drums being the only thing
that sets it apart from being a straight-out folk band.
Napalm Records have a knack of picking up bands such as
this, who wouldn’t get much of a look-in otherwise,
especially due to the lyrics being almost entirely in
Norwegian. This is where the inaccessibility ends however,
as this album shows a great ear for melody and harmonies,
with a rousing range of additional instrumentation, with
everything from the inclusion of a |
cello on ‘Nordafjells’ to the presence of a harding-fiddle on almost half of the
tracks.
As it has been said, this is an extremely mellow album, one
which is far more ‘folk’ than ‘metal’. Some of the rich,
instrument-heavy passages resemble Korpiklaani, but rather
than having gruff vocals, we have clean vocals courtesy of
Torbjørn Sandvik. The guitars by Geirmund Simonsen, as well
as Sandvik, are quite optimistic, and can conjure up the
same kind of moods as Falconer at times. There’s even
something distinctly pirate-y about ‘Longships And Mead’, a
happy little accordion-based ditty with some quirky English
lyrics. Other tracks range from the more epic and grandiose
likes of title track ‘Landkjenning’ to a slightly more
chaotic punk rock influence - there’s something distinctly
Dropkick Murphys about ‘Jeg Snører Min Sekk’, and whilst
it’s probably an acquired taste, it’s pretty hard to
dislike, in all its cheesy Scandinavian glory.
An interesting and rather self-indulgent album, which will
capture the hearts of many more than just the Viking-horn
donned Bloodstock goers. Just don’t buy it expecting purely
brainless instrument-mashing, as there’s a lot of class to
be heard (and just a hint of cheese for good measure).
www.glittertind.net |
www.myspace.com/glittertind |
www.napalmrecords.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
