Live 4 Metal - Reviews

Sanctification - Black Reign (Pulverised) Review by Chris Davison
	I listen to a lot of new albums. This is a good thing. It’s also pretty hard to review them all in the same spirit as when I first began reviewing for this august organ. Not only am I more cynical and more exposed to underground metal than when I first started, but I’m also convinced that more than ever the general standard of submitted music has improved, so that it’s very rare for a band to be dreadful. It’s also sometimes difficult to determine much of worth that raises that band above the crowd. Thus it is that an album like “ Black Reign” can raise it’s head confidently above the crowd by having that almost indefinable “something” that makes it that little bit more special than
its peers. Of course, it would be easy to pinpoint something like the production, which is flawless, as that factor, but though it is undeniably excellent, this isn’t where the album scores points for me. No, “Black Reign” has that feeling of excitement, that certain magic that some albums are lucky enough to possess while others fall into the “never to be played again pile”. Musically, Sanctification play blazing, uncompromising and brutal death metal, though with an obvious ear for catchiness and writing actual tunes. In terms of overall sound, I was mostly reminded of the blasting and warlike nature of Hate Eternal, though with the good grace to mix this with the knack of having memorable death metal songs (as with the destined to be classic “Eternal”). It used to be, of course, that most death metal albums of the early to mid nineties would have at least one “crowd pleasing” song that the audience would go nuts for. “Eternal” harkens back to this age, but it just as easily be the martial rumble of “Hear This”, with its Domination-era Morbid Angel on steroids vibe, or with the stop-start dynamics of “Flesh Bone and Skin”. There has been a lot made about the resurrection of old school (Scandinavian) styled death metal, but Sanctification have shown that it is possible to be a brutal, heavy death metal band without sacrificing the actual song upon the altar of technicality. I can’t really fault this in any way. The vocals are perfect (courtesy of Magnus Broberg – a.k.a. Emperor Caligula of Dark Funeral), with the neat Deicide-like choral effect every now and then of having the deep, hoarse roars accompanied by shrill screaming and the collaborative efforts of Peter Tatgren (Hypocricy) and Kristofer Hell (ex-Sanctification) among the voices here. The rest of the band are as tight and proficient as you would expect for an album of this calibre. So, in a year that has seen some excellent death metal albums pass through my hands, could it really be that Santification are at the top of the tree? Too early to say for sure, but they’re in with a real chance of death metal album of the year for me. Amazing. www.pulverised.net

Stormnatt - The Crimson Sacrament (Ashen Productions) Review by Crin
	Austrian Black Metal starts and ends with Abigor, and that very stark fact has not altered in years. Stormnatt [a Norwegian name for an Austrian band?] are rougher than an unshaven Nuns nipples and belch forth a din not far removed from the aural clattering of Ofermod and Watain. The overall atmosphere is not as barbaric as Marduk as there is a deep sense of melody woven into the tracks. I suppose to these ears the whole sound is rather lightweight compared to the likes of Archgoat, but that just makes it more digestible and for the musical mind, far more enjoyable than a one dimensional kick in the teeth. The tracks flow in the same vein as Keep of Kalessin, with immediacy prevailing over sensory
murder. The production is good which allows the sound to breathe rather than suffocate in a low-fi fuzz. So, depending on how you like your Blackened tumult will guide you to or from this decent enough album. www.ashenproductions.net

Subscribe - Stuck Progress To Moon (Edge Records) Review by Steve Green
	More Hungarian Metal, which is being made available to more Western ears after a good level of success in their homeland. I'm going to take the easy option here and I'm going to describe Subscribe as a hardcore version of Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More, with an element of System of a Down's quirkiness. In your face and threatening one minute and soft and sugary sweet and melodic the next. Unfortunately they do veer in the modern direction a bit much for my liking, mainly with the melodic vocals, but when they mix it up with vitriolic vocals they are a much more potent proposition. And I've only touched the surface as there's Reggae, Jazz, female vocals, of the folk variety and all sorts
of crazy shit going down here. A melting pot of various sounds this most definitely is. Thanks to the joys of modern technology, this is a dual disc and it has a live dvd on the underside, which was filmed at A38, which I presume is in Hungary. So it's a nice add-on to an album that the more modern and broad-minded fan will find appealing. www.myspace.com/subscribe

Tenet - Sovereign (Century Media) Review by Chris Davison
	Gene Hoglan, aside from looking like a Klingon thanks to his distinctive beard, has been the drummer in over three zillion bands, some of whom have gone on to have second or even third albums. Tenet is officially his three zillionth-and-oneth outfit, an extreme – some might even say “post thrash” metal band, gathering together some of the bold and the good of the metal community. Other band mates include Zetro Sousa (Exodus, Dublin Death Patrol), Glen Alvelais (Forbidden, Testament), Byron Stroud (Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory *) and Jed Simon (Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole). Unsurprisingly, therefore, Sovereign is a professional – if schizophrenic album.
Three of the band have had previous working experience with Strapping young Lad, and boy, does it show. Tenet is a seriously eclectic – even erratic – recording. While dark, brooding thrash based numbers like the impressive “Unnameable” make their mark with the atmosphere that they conjure, the strange jarring rhythms and peculiar production job mark this as very much a close family member to Zimmers Hole in their more serious moments, or to Strapping Young Lad in the more dizzying, less straightforward sections. The riffing here has been given that peculiarly machinistic tone, sounding in parts like it has been lifted wholesale from prime Fear Factory – which dependant on your opinion may or may not be a good thing. I for one think that it works, albeit with the caveat that the guitar tone does occasionally neuter what I suspect would be good, solid thrash riffs. Most jarring are the vocal contributions of Steve Sousa – one of the all time classic thrash vocalists here attempting to produce a more “extreme” vocal style. Hearing that trademark snarl next to more dark, subdued tones or more spine-tingling screams can be a little disorientating for those of us who have grown up with Exodus, but all in all he turns in an impressively wide ranging performance. As an opening album, this works with the timbre and dark tone, though some of the more extreme excesses could well be toned back to allow the band of such an impressive pedigree do what they do best. I have no problem with taking thrash forward – God knows that it is doing enough looking backwards. All that Tenet need is to have time to develop their own trademark sound, as at the moment, to my ears, they borrow too heavily on their own experiences in previous bands and not enough on the new. www.centurymedia.com Statistics from the National Audit Office *Mark 16716871671

Tyr - By The Light Of The Northern Star (Napalm) Review by Steve Green
	I've always had a soft spot for Faroe Islands Pagan / Viking Metallers Tyr, but I don't think they've quite lived up to the potential I thought they had. Thankfully, all the hard work the band have put in over the past few years has paid off and they've finally hit the jackpot. Rewinding a couple of months, to when the band blew Alestorm away on their UK tour, it was pretty obvious that Tyr have become a rather slick Metal machine. Their live set has improved immeasurably, as has their songwriting. By The Light Of The Northern Star is chock full of sing-a-long anthems and Tyr have joined the elite of the Pagan fraternity. Opening number, Hold The Heathen Hammer High is impossibly catchy and is without
doubt the best song these guys have ever written. To me, it's a testosterone free version of how Manowar sounded at their peak, around the Sign Of The Hammer, and so far, it's my favourite song of 2009. It was also their opening number when they played here last and it's a perfect set opener as it's so vibrant. As much as I love Tyr, they can get bogged down a little with their slower numbers and this song bucks that trend perfectly. The anthemic Tróndur í Gøtu carries on the feelgood factor and although I can't speak (or sing) Faroese, I do like to pay my respects to the very infectious melody with a serious bout of headbanging. Into the Storm takes a slightly more melodic approach and harks back to their earlier work, particularly to their cover of The Wild Rover. Tyr continue this familiar theme with Northern Gate, which is another sing-a-long anthem with Heri Joensen leading the battle cry, and the calmer Turid Torkilsdóttir, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Thin Lizzy's Whiskey In The Jar, albeit with a bit more urgency and the Irish theme replaced with a Viking stance. Things get a little heavier with the menacing By the Sword In My Hand. And despite the bloodthirsty nature of the song, it's impossible not to sing along with the chorus, "I will decimate and decapitate, those that question the sword in my hand", nice. Ride is very catchy and once again the melody line is pure gold and Tyr are fast becoming masters of their trade as they continue to fire out some of the best Viking Metal I've ever heard. And as a Celt myself, I just love the Celtic influences that seem to litter their sound. As we hit the home straits, Hear The Heathen Call doesn't quite live up to the rest of the songs on the album, although by no means a filler, it just doesn't really bowl me over like the rest of the album, despite a good chorus. So that only leaves the title track to seal Tyr's victory. And despite a slow-ish start, it builds into yet another fantastic anthem and now I cannot wait for Tyr to hit the road again as I want to hear as many of these songs as possible in the live arena. So my review is complete and that just leaves me with one decision to make. Album of the year? Quite possibly. www.myspace.com/tyr1

Voivod - Infini (Relapse Records) By: Dave Schalek
	I must admit that a review of “Infini” is a difficult one to write. For example, I greatly prefer Voivod’s first four albums over anything that the band has done since, as my own personal tastes tend to veer away from the progressive. However, I do really like, somewhat surprisingly, “Angel Rat”, the Eric Forrest-fronted albums (mostly because they’re heavy and, to some extent, hark back to “Killing Technology”), the self-titled album from 2003, and a scattering of other songs done by the band since “Dimension Hatross”, Although I greatly admire the skills of Denis D’Amour and emphasize with the sentimental feelings surrounding his tragic death and the release of his material that he was frantically working
on prior to his death, I just didn’t particularly care for “Katorz”. The songs just didn’t grab me nearly as much as those from the preceding self-titled album. At any rate, “Infini”, purported to be Voivod’s last album (until recent comments from Away have indicated otherwise), is quite long with 13 songs clocking in at just under an hour. To give myself a bit of reference, I listened to “Katorz” and “Infini” back to back, as the latter album consists of Piggy’s last works. Immediately what comes to mind is that “Katorz” has a much deeper, more fully polished sound than “Infini”, which tends to sound a bit more low-fi and raw (not surprising since Piggy recorded the guitars in his bathroom with a small amplifier and a laptop). However, the bass and drums are crystal clear. In addition, “Katorz” is more straightforward, with plenty of up tempo material and experimental jazz, whereas “Infini” is much moodier. Notably, Snake’s vocal delivery is much more nasal on “Infini”, as well. I found that I had to give “Infini” time to sink in, as well (I suspect the same is true of “Katorz”, and I intend to find out in an appropriate manner). Once I did so over many intermittent listens stretched out over a week or two, I began to appreciate the dynamics of the music that much more. Essentially, “Infini” requires effort on the part of the listener, as does much of Voivod’s music since their somewhat primitive early days. “Infini” is a fitting final chapter to the current incarnation of Voivod (Mach 3, as referred to by the band). Whatever version of the band that carries forward will, inevitably, be a different animal and I look forward to the band’s new creative vision. www.voivod.com \| www.myspace.com/voivod \| www.relapse.com

Zerstörer - Declaration Of War (Ashen Productions) Review by Crin
	Hailing from Germany but sounding like a rampant hybrid of Australian head cases, Destroyer 666 and Abominator. Imagine a slower incarnation of 'Panzer Division Marduk' and the thrash dynamism of Aura Noir/ Black Witchery and you will be halfway to succumbing to the rugged sound here. This album is from its beginning to its end, a simple claw hammer to the face experience and yet instead of hacking your face off like the gruesome Impiety [Singapore], Zerstörer manage to leave you with a sense of wanting more. The crushing guitars, stampeding percussion, and low guttural rasps collide to form a formidable wall of thrashing blackened rage. The wonderfully rich music reminded me of
the similar full bodied and well conceived music of Swedish band Necrophobic, or even more closer to the point, Finland’s, Demigod. There is even a blatant rip off of Darkthrone’s, In the Shadow of the Horns, on the crawling, Total Frost [maybe the title suggests the same]. The album offers up nothing remotely new, and yet it has a sound and musical vision that just embraces good old school thrashing Black Metal with a large Swedish deathly essence for good measure. www.ashenproductions.net