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Admiral Browning - Magic Elixir
(Dancing Sasquatch) Review by Metal Mark |
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This disc, from Middletown, Maryland's Admiral Browning
showed up a few weeks ago and I promptly stuck it in the
stack I think of as "need to be reviewed at some point".
Eventually I pulled it out of the disc and popped it in the
player to see what this three piece instrumental band was
capable of doing. I was promptly greeted with a brief old
time salesman pitch which goes along with the theme of the
album title/cover and liner notes. Then the opener "Vortexer"
marches on very deliberate and simple strides. Heavy for
sure, but all rather ordinary until a few minutes in when
they started to deviate from the simple path they were on.
All of a sudden my senses were assaulted from multiple
angles as the |
instruments involved seemed to explode bringing tones,
various beats and a barrage of all things slow and brutal.
Only one track in they in and this band has already set me
up and knocked me down. "Ol' Martini Man" is
up next and this much more aggressive from the start. The
main riff sounds like they took the core of classic Sabbath
and Pentagram, but pumped it up and twisted it into a huge
and powerful Frankenstein monster style creature. Then it
stomps its way through knocking aside everything in it's
path. This one is a behemoth that shows it's muscle from the
beginning and never backs off. Up next is "No Good
Stones" which is as Led Zeppelin influenced blues rocker.
Only Admiral Browning add a smoky haze to the mix yet still
keep a big beat going in the background to guide this one
through. The next track is the very appropriately named
"Speaking in Tones". This is a wild, riff-fueled rant that
comes on like a storm and never lets up. Like a boiling
cauldron, they keep steadily stirring the pot and adding odd
and bizarre ingredients that all help keep the mixture
swirling. All these songs have somewhat different
approaches, but they all show that this band are a talented
group with a mass of ideas at their disposal. This is only
an EP and it manages to stand up great on its own and also
whet my appetite for the next full length offering.
www.myspace.com/admiralbrowning |
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Augury - Fragmentary Evidence
(Nuclear Blast) Review by Luke Goaman-Dodson |
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The French settlers of North America must have been an
exceedingly talented bunch, because at least two of the
major cities they founded – New Orleans and Montreal – have
produced some of the most inventive metal bands of the past
two decades. Luckily for me, Steve has welcomed me back into
the Live4Metal crew with a real treat in the form of Augury,
a progressive/technical death-metal band who hail from
latter city. This band has a real Quebecois sound, operating
somewhere between Kataklysm and a more progressive Cryptopsy,
which is not too surprising as the Kataklysm guitarist J-F
Dagenais actually mixed this album. Opening track 'Aetheral'
features some very nice rhythm work, with |
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patterns weaving in and out of each other. 'Skyless' and 'Jupiter To Ignite'
showcase some King Crimson-esque atmospherics, and some of
the heaviest riffs on the album. 'Brimstone Landscapes',
easily my favourite track on the album, begins with a
comparatively melodic prog section, before shifting into
blitzkrieg mode featuring the most disconcerting use of
clean female vocals I've ever heard. The album's denouement
is over ten minutes long and showcases some very impressive
guitar work. The only thing that didn't click with me was
the screaming that occasionally veered a little close to
Metalcore for my liking; but this is a very, very minor
detail in an album that is a really strikingly good piece of
progressive death-metal. Highly recommended.
www.augurymetal.com |
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Dalriada - Szelek
(Nail Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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This was originally released last year in the bands native Hungary, but
now it's being made available to us lucky souls in Western Europe for
the first time... and my advice to you, would be to grab this as soon as
you can.
Dalriada, formerly known as Echo of Dalriada, until they shortened their
name in 2007, mix folk music, presumably a lot of which is traditional
Hungarian folk, with, well I guess a Power Metal base, very similar to,
in places Blind Guardian and at other times, Ensiferum, but with the Trollhammaren sound of Finntroll
keeping an eye on the proceedings, and not forgetting a healthy dose of
Medieval leanings, which often veer towards crazy circus |
music, (think Slovakia's Lunatic Gods).
Making Dalriada stand out (even further) from the crowd are the
medieval feel of their of their multi-layered vocals, which include both
male and female harmonies and a deathly growl and I can (rather
perversely), imagine Dalriada winning the Eurovision song contest with
their very happy sounding mix of of Folk and Metal. Unfortunately, I
fear that this album will forever remain in the underground, but that
doesn't stop it being a generally undiscovered gem. www.myspace.com/dalriadahu |
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Dark Castle - Spirited Migration
(At A Loss) Review by Metal Mark |
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In general, I like a lot of doom metal, but it is one of
those genres that takes some time. It’s a bit of an
exploration process on occasion and I found that to be the
case with this release from Saint Augustine, Florida based
duo Dark Castle.
The first time I listened to this disc I
made it through a few tracks and just had to remove because
it wasn’t taking with me. I knew there was enough that
wasn’t the end of my playing this disc. The second time I
put in the stereo and was feeling the low and slow vibe
begin to sink in, but had to stop about half way through as
I still didn’t feel settled in my opinion of it. By the
third play I was coming to terms with this disc and was able
to give an |
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opinion that was fair to the band, the music and to me. This
is the kind of doom where the band unwinds every note with a
lot of attention and every movement is done very slowly with
a great deal of precision as they carve out their path.
Oftentimes the music reminded me of YOB with the plodding
pace and large explosions that accompany each not and beat.
Dark Castle has a sound that is perhaps darker and slightly
less mechanical sounding than YOB. At first I thought the
vocals were low in the mix, but I think that is very much
deliberate. By that crucial third play of this disc the
vocal approach fit perfectly to my ears. In fact I think the
slightly below the surface approach caused me to listen more
closely and thus take in even more of what was
going on. For an album of this pace there is certainly a lot
going on if you focus in close enough. It’s not all gloom
and doom and either because there are enough variations and
just pure energy to really make this a fairly versatile
offering. No, it didn’t catch my attention completely on the
first play, but now I am sure it is an album that will keep
me coming back repeatedly over the next several months. |
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Dawn Of Tears - Dark Chamber
Litanies (Self Release) Review by Steve Green |
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With a very pleasant classical style intro, which reminds me of a slow
downed version Danny Elfman's theme to Desperate Housewives, I had a
feeling this was going to head into the cheesy world of Power Metal. The
rough textures of J. Alonso's voice told me immediately this was going
to be a much heavier affair. I guess melodic Death, with hints of Gothic
Metal and Cradle of Filth influences (mainly because of the vocals and
guitar melodies) is a fair assumption. There's also a bit of a symphonic
feel to everything, but it's the guitar work of J.L Trebol and A. Perez
that do it for me. These guys are serious axe masters and throughout the
huge amount of styles crammed into this EP, it's the guitars that |
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grab my attention every time. It's worth getting this EP for
their performances alone. And once again this is a band who
are allowing fans to legally download their EP for free.
Head on over to the bands website at
www.dawnoftears.com and
enjoy. |
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Havok - Burn (Candlelight Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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The retro-thrash revival continues, for better or worse,
with the release of “Burn”, the debut full-length from
Denver’s Havok. Havok appear to be Candlelight Records’
response to the other big independent metal labels signing
American retro-thrash acts (Blood Tsunami are European, so
they don’t count). For example, Century Media’s signing of
Warbringer started a cold war of sorts with Nuclear Blast
jumping on the bandwagon soon after with the signing of the
wholly pedestrian Mantic Ritual. Sure enough, Havok get
signed to Candlelight. Interestingly, Merciless Death is
still kicking around on the relatively unknown Heavy
Artillery Records. |
At any rate, Warbringer really have nothing to worry about,
however, with their status as the reigning kings of the
thrash revival as Havok are nothing special. Playing typical
second tier Bay Area thrash with nods to Exodus, Vio-lence
(who else?), and so on, Havok have the patented snarl,
galloping speed, hooks and riffs, you name it, that you’ve
all heard a million times before from bands over the last 25
years.
More or less, “Burn” is decent as you’ll find yourself
nodding along as you listen, and I’ve no doubt that the band
is probably fun to watch on stage, but “Burn” is really just
typical and does nothing to stand out from the crowd. That
said, though, the musicianship is good and Havok eschew the
80s production values for a deep, bass heavy sound. In fact,
the fluid bass work does stand out, something that’s always
been missing from thrash metal as a whole.
Havok show some promise and may end up being something
noteworthy as “Burn” does have its moments, but this is
pretty typical Bay Area thrash. Not bad, but not great.
www.myspace.com/havok
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www.candlelightrecords.co.uk
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www.candlelightrecordsusa.com |
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Kult Ov Azazel - Destroying The Sacred
(Arctic Music Group)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Floridian black metal beasts Kult Ov Azazel return after a
four-year hiatus with “Destroying The Sacred”, released on
the Arctic Music Group label, and their fifth full-length
overall. Right off the bat, “Destroying The Sacred” is a
bulldozer of an album that is exceptionally well played,
well written, and, somewhat unusually, well produced.
Consisting mostly of balls out, fast black metal with a few
moments of atmosphere and the odd melodic touch or two,
particularly late in the album, “Destroying The Sacred”
features plenty of fast riffing, blastbeats galore, rasps,
and a noticeably loud bass. Combine the stellar musicianship
with very catchy, well written songs spread out over nine
tracks (ten, if |
you count a fast cover of “Hang The Pope” to close the
album) that blow by in just over thirty minutes, and Kult Ov Azazel should vault themselves well to the
forefront of the USBM scene with “Destroying The Sacred”.
What strikes me the most about “Destroying The Sacred” is
the ability of the band to retain a feeling of all out,
black metal brutality while attaining a very clean,
professional sound. Compare “Destroying The Sacred” to
“Triumph Of Fire”, and the band’s progression in this regard
is obvious. All the while, “Destroying The Sacred” is backed
up with a huge, crisp production, and the album immediately
becomes highly infectious. This one should give well
established giants such as Marduk and Dark Funeral cause to
look over their shoulders.
Although not the most original album that I’ve ever heard,
“Destroying The Sacred” is so well done for the genre that I
can’t help but begin to consider its inclusion in this
year’s top ten list. Yep, buy or die!
www.myspace.com/kultovazazel
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