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Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
(Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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This album is the 3rd part of a trilogy, the 1st part being 2005's The
Oath EP and the 2nd part being 2007's The Call of the Wretched Sea. Both
the new album and the last give an indication of the subject matter in
hand (if the band name hadn't already given the game away) and in a nutshell, and thus enabling me to forgo thinking up a long
explanation, it's a Funeral Doom take on Moby Dick. Or to be more
precise: The books, Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick and The
Wreck of the Whaleship Essex by Owen Chase. Anyway, the story is of woe
and despair and this is the perfect soundtrack for it.
I don't normally switch over into Doom mode until the Autumn, but with
yet another
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typically crappy English (and I use the word loosely) Summer
upon us, it's time to unleash the misery a couple of months
early. And although this album is not the most woeful ever
to be bestowed upon my ears, it's still a fucking miserable
listen. Daniel Droste relinquishes
his normally sunny disposition in Midnattsol and simply lets the
suffering crawl out, very fucking slowly.
As a genre, Doom isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, and Funeral
Doom is even more marginalized. But if you decide to jump ship (pun
quite purposely intended) then this is the album that will do it for
you. Miserable it may be, but the inclusion of uplifting clean vocals
amongst the growling and the stunning beauty and mesmerizing style of
the music may very well convert a few doubters to a new cause. And so it
should as this is a
stunning album in every way.
www.myspace.com/ahabdoom
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Ambassador Gun - When In Hell
(Pangea Recordings)
By: Dave Schalek |
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“When In Hell” is the debut full-length from Minnesota-
based trio Ambassador Gun on Pangea Recordings. Essentially,
Ambassador Gun can be categorized as a sort of grindcore
“lite” with a few nods to metalcore, certainly a genre that
has been increasingly maligned. However, to the band’s
credit, Ambassador Gun’s brand of metal treads more closely
to grindcore with rapid fire, short songs filled with catchy
riffing and so on.
Clocking in around a half hour, “When In Hell” has sixteen
short songs that contain rough vocals, good variations in
speed, and some catchy riffs. Some of the songs are quite
good, with fast blasts, well-written riffs, and good
musicianship. However, although treading |
close to serious grindcore territory for the most part, Ambassador Gun back
away from the precipice with a general lack of punch to the
music. Although well produced with crystal clear sound, the
band’s sound is not nearly as visceral, or as hard hitting,
as the heavyweights of the grindcore genre. In addition, the
copious amounts of melody that are prevalent also give me
the impression that the band is trying to appeal to a much
broader audience, namely the metalcore kid crowd. Not good.
In the end, although initially promising, I found “When In
Hell” to be disappointing. I would much prefer that
Ambassador Gun fulfill their potential and step over the
precipice.
www.pangearecordings.com
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www.myspace.com/ambassadorgun |
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Amberian Dawn - The Clouds Of Northland
Thunder (Ascendance Records) Review by Steve Green
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Ok, here's the deal for you. Amberian Dawn are fantastic musicians.
This, their 2nd album is a Neo-classical, Symphonic Metal fans wettest
dream. I'm not exactly the worlds leading authority on this genre, but
to me, at least, it's somewhere in between Germanic Power Metal and say
a mixture of Nightwish and to a lesser degree Epica (the latter mainly
for Heidi Parviainen's soprano vocals) so if that's your bag, just go
out and buy the damn thing. If you need a little more convincing, then
I'm not your man for the job.
I'm sorry, but this is a tedious album. The vocal style is the same in
every song and it gets boring very bloody quickly. Superb musicianship
cannot hide poor songwriting and I find |
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the whole experience very sterile with no warmth in the
vocals whatsoever. You know, I don't hate this album, it's
just too samey most of the time. I love songs like the
bombastic Shallow Waters, which leans more towards Epica, but with it
being surrounded in a sea of averageness, I find it very hard going. One
for the ever expanding never to be played again pile I'm afraid.
http://ascendancerecords.com/site/ |
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Argharus - Pleistas
(Inferna Profundus Records) Review by Crin |
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Lithuanian Black Metal with one foot firmly in the early
Mayhem/ Immortal mould.
Formed in 2004, this is the debut album and it begins with a
swoosh of hammering snares and violent guitar strums born
from a furious funeral mist. It is instantly apparent the
sound here is a notch above the icy one dimensional tones of
the most underground of styles. Here we have a sturdier,
fuller sound that still retains a certain primitivism and
occasionally flirts with the Swedish Dark Funeral dynamics,
and yet there is something unique reverberating from the
swirling darkly tumult. With the second track, Mano ligos -
Tavo ligos, the vocal arrangements are totally Attila Csihar
in all but personification. Painful death |
rattling moans and croaky barks permeate the air with rue
and foreboding dread. This track has a quality to its
composition that evokes fellow eastern Europeans, Root. Both
bands share that eccentric flair and solid sound without
becoming over polished. There is a degree of balance amongst
the debris of flagellating speed. The slower moments surge
out of the chaos to really drive that metallic edge onwards
and here the melody and song-craft open another level of
musical pleasure. I wouldn’t go so far as to cite this album
as anything beyond the norm, or anything above the musical
vision one expects from this genre. But it is well
constructed and very well deployed.
www.inferna-profundus.net/index.php?lang=en |
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Arkaea - Years in the Darkness
(Century Media) Review by Chris Davison |
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The recent Fear Factory debacle has all the hallmarks of
classic heavy metal drama. In the dim and distant past, Dino
Cazares leaves Fear Factory / is thrown out (dependant on
who you ask), and the band continue to record and release
albums. Then, Burton Bell (end?) rekindles his old
friendship with Dino, and decides that he should be welcomed
back to the fold – officially “reforming” Fear Factory. The
only problem is that he hadn’t told Christian Wolbers or Ray
Herrera that they weren’t invited along to the party.
One suspects that Christian and Ray have decided that they
didn’t want to have any of the nonsense that saw the
Gorgoroth name dragged all through the court system. Hence,
with |
the aid of Jon Howard (vocals) and Pat Kavanagh (bass)
both of Threat Signal, they have formed Arkaea, unleashing
this, their first album to us. Yes, it’s true that this does
have a somewhat similar sound to recent Fear Factory albums
(and in particular the return-to-form “Obsolete”), though to
my ears there are some nice improvements to the audio mix.
Firstly, they don’t have to tolerate the tedious
cow-being-slaughtered “vocals” of Bell popping up throughout
the mix, and they’re able to incorporate an even more
industrial brand of mechanistic guitar riffing without
washing everything over in obtrusive, BBC radio workshops
standard “futuristic” synth noises. Jon Howard has a good
metal voice, lurching between a curiously tolerable
clean(ish) kind of singing and a more harsh rasp that brings
to mind Eric Forrest of Voivod from their seminal
“Negatron”.
There’s over an hours worth of music here, and so it’s
probably no surprise that there is some minor variation in
the quality of the tracks, and the pedant in me wants to say
that at least a couple of the filler songs here could have
been trimmed (maybe to reappear on re-re-re-re-releases and
super-duper-deluxe – oops, this isn’t coming out on
Roadrunner!), but in terms of value for money, this is
generally of sufficient quality to make any fan of
progressive, industrial tinged extreme metal with a modern
twist open up their wallet. Good stuff. Beat that, “Fear
Factory”!
www.centurymedia.com |
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Arkona - Live... For The Great /
Nargathrond - Inevitability (Vic
Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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I absolutely love Arkona. I discovered them via their last studio album, Ot
Serdca K Nebu, which was released on Napalm Records in 2007. Their
chaotic take on Pagan Metal, with a distinctive Russia slant, is
unbelievably addictive. And thankfully, to feed my habit, Vic Records
are continuing to re-issue the Arkona back catalogue.
As you may have guessed by the album title, this is a live album
(recorded in Moscow in 2005) and the atmosphere is absolutely electric.
Whoever did the recording for this album captured the atmosphere
perfectly.
The album consists of 11 majestic Pagan anthems with the added
attraction of a myriad of |
folk instruments and a crazy and very vocal crowd commanded
by front woman Masha Scream. It's almost impossible to
pick out a highlight as all of the album is so good, but both Gnev
Vremen (Anger of Times) and the crowd favourite Rus (Russia) are pretty
hard to beat. If the storming live set wasn't enough, as a bonus on this
re-issue, we are also treated to the bands 3 track Rus demo from 2002,
which is a nice addition for all Arkona completists.
The 2nd cd in this pack is from the Arkona side-project, Nargathrond and
a re-issue of their 3rd album, Inevitability, which was originally
released in 2004. It's quite obviously Masha on vocals, particularly on
the opening number Teni Nochi, but from there we are taken on a more
melancholic, electronic kind of a ride. I've seen the band labelled as
"Gothic", which is a bit of a red herring as it's more 80s Goth or a
darker take on the New Romantic sound, with the rhythm section harking
back to the likes of The Cure. It ain't bad, but it's nothing to get
over excited about when it's laid out side by side with Arkona.
Arkona are a band that everyone with a love for Pagan or Folk Metal
should discover. This, along with all of the Vic Record re-issues are
highly recommended. www.vicrecords.com |
www.myspace.com/arkonarussia |
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Astral Travellers - The
Truth Beyond (Self Release)
Review by Strawb |
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We all have our addictions – Caffeine, Alcohol, Nicotine,
Pot, Porn, Coke – tick which are applicable to you. Amongst
the things I sneak off to do alone is listen to Prog. Yes, I
have sought help and been victimised, but it is something I
keep coming back to. Just occasionally a listen to Close To
The Edge or In The Court Of The Crimson King is all it takes
to make the world a better place. On particularly bad days
it may take the full Brain Salad Surgery. But Prog has a
place in my world. In this genre, as in most others, all of
the best music was committed to vinyl before 1980. New bands
come and go, digital recordings are made and occasionally I
have reviewed Prog for this site. And whilst Three |
and Knight Area have remained on the still listened to pile
of reviewed disks, they do not warrant the airtime of the
70’s classic albums.
And so through the door drops Astral Travellers. Before I
read the biography accompanying the disk I thought ‘five
tracks, a quick 200 word EP review then’, but when I
realised that the total playing time was approaching fifty
minutes I switched into Prog mode. The Biog does tell me
that the five piece are from Holland and have been together
since 1997 and in this line up since 2000. Previously known
as both Lower Lifeforms and Oker, they have transformed to
Astral Travellers for this album. They have also recorded it
totally by themselves, so any praise or criticism can only
be laid at the one door. So here goes boys – the musical
output is very good. The production values are met and the
noodling is as good as any that my local Chinese can supply.
But somehow it is just too polished. Soulless. It plays
along in the background but at no time does a riff stick,
does the variation sufficiently move me to contemplate
giving the music my total concentration. Maybe if I were to
mix it with any of the other previously mentioned addictions
then this may change, but as I sit typing this then Astral
Travellers will not be joining either the essential or still
listened to piles.
Try them yourself at
www.astraltravellers.nl |
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Boxcutter - The Ill Testament
(Screaming Crow) Review by Metal Mark |
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Boxcutter are something of a hardcore super-group as they
feature members of Eulogy, Krutch, Fury of Five, and Out Ta
Win. The finished product is all over the place as they
bring in hardcore ala Pro-Pain as well as rap and hip-hop to
boot. Despite the variety of musical styles they do not mix
styles very often. They instead bludgeon us with a pounding,
screaming hardcore rant then follow it up with straight
forward heavy rap track and then bring on a smooth hip-hop
song. This felt like a collection of tracks from different
projects rather than the output of a single group.
Everything is loud and the energy level is appropriately
consistent. I actually preferred the rap tunes to their
hardcore songs just |
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because they were more distinct and the band seemed more
comfortable doing them. Considering all that they attempted,
the results are solid because it’s obvious they had the
knowledge and the skill to pull off most of the songs. The
question that lingers in my mind though is who is going to
like this whole album? I have a feeling that hardcore fans
might not be able to take all of the rap hip-hop tunes and
vice versa. |
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Faust Again - The Trail
(Bastardized Recordings) Review by
Anthony Deane |
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Faust Again is a blisteringly heavy band, which are based in
Poland. The band has been inflicting their brutality upon
victims since 1999, and all I’m wondering is where they have
been hiding.
Their latest offering called ‘The Trial’ definitely has the
possibility to create one or more outcomes. Either to create
the biggest circle pits this world has ever seen, or have
other listeners pinned against the wall in sheer terror. In
recent times there have been lots of great bands who either
play just death metal or hardcore metal. So to infuse the
two together really helps the band to create a more unique
sound, and adds dynamics to this hate |
machine.
Faust Again are definitely not for the faint hearted:
musically ‘The Trail’ is packed full of melodic chuggy
hardcore guitar riffs, not to mention their beautifully created
and sometimes eerie guitar solos. The drumming punches you
in the face harder than a car crash, from relentless
pounding bass drums to fierce blast beats. The vocals switch
from low death metal growls to melodic singing passages.
To add more depth, some tracks are broken up by a mixture of
strange interludes. This may seem strange but is sure to
hold the listeners attention and adds more surprise to ‘The
Trail’. It really breaks up the album and keeps the tracks
sounding fresh, and in your face.
Overall I have to say this album is a must have for anyone
who loves their brutal music and with their crushing sound I can
only hope they grace the UK with their presence in the near
future.
www.bastardizedrecordings.de |
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Flood - Native
(Meteor City) Review by Metal Mark |
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San Francisco’s Flood is a psychedelic/stoner/doom outfit
that focuses on the heart of their music. There are several
moments including the beginning minutes of the mammoth
opener “Aphelion” where this band comes on more like a
trickle than a flood. The music oftentimes creeps out as
they pull each note out and they ever so slowly push it
forward and let the echoes seep into your ears. The pace
picks up some, but never too much. The style isn’t far off
from early Electric Wizard or Sleep’s “Dopesmoker”. Except
Flood are not quite as dark as those bands. They rely less
on distortion and more on direct punches. |
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There is a certain stripped-down even slightly under
produced quality on “Native”. As I listened them reel out
“Atlantis”, I could almost imagine myself being in some
dimly lit basement watching this band figure this song out
as they go. Flood manages a spontaneous feel on occasion as
solos and odd beats pop up at expected moments. Like towards
the end of the above mentioned “Atlantis” they even rise up
to a level of mid-tempo bashing for a few seconds. There are
a few tedious moments here and there particularly a few
opening moments. Considering the album is only four songs
and over forty minutes that’s not too bad. What I liked most
was that the wheels never cease turning for this band. Even
when just cranking out a note or two at a time, they are
still working their way towards progressing the song. They
also eventually work some smooth rhythms into the prevailing
sludge here and there. That just adds to the appeal of this
disc. Not something I am going to listen to every day, but
when I am in the mood I can definitely see sitting back and
letting “Native” ooze out of my stereo’s speakers. |
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