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Narnia - Course Of A Generation
(Massacre) Review by Steve Green |
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A word of warning before I begin. Narnia are a Christian Metal band, so if
you are a non-believer, like myself, the subject matter may put you off
before a single note is heard. But to be fair to the band, the song
titles don't indicate what kind of band Narnia are, so maybe they have
the good sense not to try and ram religion down the listeners throat,
whilst stating their intentions solely with the band name and its
obvious religious connection.
Musically, this is very melodic Power Metal, of the Swedish variety,
which has very good vocal style that will appeal to those that like it
nice and high, and German Pascual also, very occasionally dips into a
style that'll also appeal to fans of (the greatest Metal singer |
ever) Ronnie James Dio. For the most part though, this is stuck in Stratovarius territory,
although I have to admit that Narnia are a lot easier on the ears than
their Finnish counterparts.
This isn't really my thing, but I cannot criticise the band in anyway,
so fans of this style will no doubt enjoy this album.
www.massacre-records.com |
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Praying Mantis - Sanctuary
(Frontiers) Review by Metal Mark |
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Often lumped in as part of the NWOBHM, but this band
actually formed quite a few years before that scene erupted.
Also rather falling under the usual metal sound of many
bands from that movement, Praying Mantis leaned more towards
a melodic approach. Their 1981 debut "Time Tells No Lies"
still stands as a must hear from the early NWOBHM scene
though. They have certainly gone through the lead singers
over the years as Paul Di'anno, Gary Barden and Doogie White
are just a few on the long list of vocalists who have
recorded with this band. The current vocalist is Mike
Freeland and here's hoping he stays for a while because he
is a wonderful fit on this album. His voice reminds me at
times of former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. He has an
excellent range and a dynamic |
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presence. The Troy brothers Tino (guitar) and Chris (bass) have always been the heart
and driving force force of this band. Rounding out the
line-up this time around are guitarist Andy Burgess and
drummer Benjamin Reid. On "Sanctuary" the band plays a
smooth and severely tight blend that draws on hard
rock/metal and AOR. They remind at times of a mix of older
Scorpions and Whitesnake although far more involved. Every
song on this album is the work of a well oiled machine. I am
not sure if the key ingredient was time, new members or a
combination of the above, but whatever the reason they seem
to have found the proper recipe for success. This was one of
those albums where I immediately took to it on the first
listen. Easily their best since their debut. Normally many
bands who are 35 years into the game are doing well to just
put something decent, but Praying Mantis have managed knock
a fantastic melodic hard rock album. Okay, it sounds a lot
like it could have been done in 1983, but nonetheless
"Sanctuary" is certainly worth hearing. |
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Rebellion - Arise - The History Of
The Vikings Part III (Massacre) Review by Steve Green |
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Having really enjoyed The Clans Are Marching EP, which proceeded this
album, my expectations were high for this album, which is the third part
of the bands History Of The Vikings trilogy. Unfortunately, things do
get off to a shaky start. The problem lies with Michael Seifert's
vocals. He adopts a different style for the first few tracks, from a
Johan Hegg fronting Iron Maiden style (!!!) to a dark Carl McCoy goth
style, before landing on track 4, Odin, with a much more natural, Metal
style. From then on, the album does improve, despite a few more
variations in the vocal department.
I guess the band are using the voice as a way of telling a story, with
the different styles |
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representing another person or tale, but for me, it does
make the listen a rather disjointed one. Rebellion are a
very Germanic Metal band, but you wouldn't realise that from
the feel of this album. The best songs are those that fit
the Iron Maiden / Grave Digger blueprint, which leaves me
with the opinion that this album is not as good as I was
hoping for. It's brilliant in places, but not good enough
overall, unfortunately.
www.massacre-records.com |
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Rev 16:8 - Grand Tidal Rave
(Temple of Darkness Records) Review by Crin |
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This release has to go down in history as the cheesiest
title ever. Whoever thought of ‘Grand Tidal Rave’ should be
shot at dawn. Rev 16.8 were born from the ashes of Bloodshed
[another Swedish mediocre Blackened Death act] This album is
pretty much what you would expect to hear from a ferociously
smooth deathly Swedish outfit, tight, intense, thick
guitars, roaring vocals, and Armageddon percussion. Once you
get past a couple of tracks it becomes apparent that this is
a similar experience to sticking your head in a tin barrel
whilst your friends pummel it with iron bars shovels. The
outside world seems too distant to care about and in this
swirling ball of noise the very bowels of Hell secrete |
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their boiling shit and steamy piss all over ya ears.
Indeed, this album isn’t all head splitting rage as there
are many great melodic moments oozing from the chaos. Bands
like Dark Funeral, Marduk and Lord Belial follow a similar
path so there isn’t much brazenly new going on. Still, if
you can imagine being sprayed with liquid from a molten
fireball then this album is for you. The band name Rev 16;8
implies the book of revelation verse ‘The fourth angel
poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power
to scorch people with fire’ Indeed, this band certainly
lives up to its name.
www.templeofdarknessrecords.com |
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Savage Messiah - Insurrection Rising
(Candlelight Records)
Review by Marco Gaminara |
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Perhaps the cause for this comparison is watching an hour's
worth of old Megadeth videos the other night, but if I were
to use it, it would be musically only, and for 'Rust In
Peace' only, as Savage Messiah are far more technical than
the earlier thrash metal of the 80's, but vocally Dave
Silver has his high pitched moments, but has more of a Warrel Dane timbre to it (which brings us back to Megadeth
as Mustaine was a huge fan of Sanctuary, but I digress).
Dave Silver and Sy Taplin's guitars are attacking from the
opening bar of "Insurrection Rising", with bassist Sasha
Cron filling out the sound and drummer Ernie Nogara
relentlessly beating the crap out of his drums. "Corruption
X" is full of flairy and |
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intricate leads and guitar twists that keep you guessing
about what's to come next. The light cymbal tapping and
gently picked guitars of the intro to "In Absence of
Liberty" morph into far more powerful chugging riffs over a
steady beat that keeps the tempo and allows for the vocal
melodies to be the main focus of the song. Upping the pace
and with a touch of death vocals "The Serpent Tongue of
Divinity" is very Nevermore in feel and definitely the
highlight of the album for me. Doing a very 80's rock band
thing as the intro to "Vigil of the Navigator", they have a
simple drum beat going with a lead solo on top of it, 'til
Dave Silver lets off an alto scream. The song itself is
catchy with a solid riff that they manage to throw plenty of
leads and squeals over. "Enemy Image (Dehumanization)" on
the other hand has a rather savage riff that Ernie Nogara
kicks out an ultra fast tattoo to. Very arenaesque in
composition, I can picture a stadium full of lighters held
aloft during the breakdowns, but hair alight during the
faster sequences of "Silent Empire" where the infectious
chorus shall be sung along to by all. The subtle leads under
the vocals on "The Nihilist Machine", along with its intense
and ever changing riffs make it another really good track to
add to the many on this album. Finally they end it all with
"He Who Laughs Last" where I can't help but nod along to the
thumping drums while the lengthy leads are traded off
numerous times and adding more and more layers to the aural
tapestry that they're weaving here. Well, if you're into
good, fast thrash and enjoy a good solo, then this is well
worth checking out.
www.myspace.com/savagemessiahmetal
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www.candlelightrecords.co.uk |
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Thee Orakle - Metaphortime
(Recital Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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First of all, my apologies to the band for the lateness of this review.
I'm a very naughty boy and I deserve to be punished. Enough of my
perversions, onto the cd.
Thee Orakle are the type of band where you can overlook any mistakes
they may make, as the music is so obviously from the heart. So I'll get
the complaints / negatives out of the way so we can, more importantly,
look at the positive side of this album. This isn't the most original
album to ever find its way to me. The male / female vocal duelling has been
done to death and Thee Orakle's overall style, call it what you want,
from Dark Gothic to melodic Death, is again, a well used style. BUT, on
the positive side, they are bloody good at what |
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they do. I love the way Mika and Pedro's vocals work
together, with Pedro's growling vocals a perfect foil for
Mika's softer tones, which, incidentally, remind me of
(Stream of Passion's) Marcelo Bovio. And yes, this darker brand of Metal
is not a new one, but the added bonus of a Mediterranean flavour,
including a guest slot from Orphaned Land's Yossi Sassi Sa'aron, is a
particular favourite of mine. So while it's not exactly an original
masterpiece, it's a damn fine copy. Worth tracking down if this is your
kind of thing.
www.myspace.com/theeorakle
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The Project Hate MCMXCIX
- The Lustrate Process (Vic Records)
review by Sam Thomas |
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“The Lustrate Process” is the sixth full length album from
The Project Hate MCMXCIX, and is one of the more interesting
releases to have come my way for quite some time. You get a
selection of musicians, Jörgen Sandström (Entombed, Grave),
Lord K Philipson (Torture Division), Anders Bertilsson (Coldworker)
and Thomas Ohlsson (Axenstar) with a more than decent
pedigree, a female vocalist, Jonna Enckell, who has now
increased the number of female vocalists that I think are
absolutely outstanding to three, and a few guest musicians
that you may have heard of: Johan Hegg, Martin van Drunen, L
G Petrov, Christian Älvestam and Mike Weald amongst
others... And, surprise, surprise, it’s mixed |
by Dan Swanö.
This release has so many different elements to it, most of
them extreme. There’s the purity of Jonna’s vocals (very
comparable to Agnete Kirkevaag of Madder Mortem), brutality
on an absolutely epic scale, industrial sludge and an
overall feeling of driving intensity. The usage of so many
different vocalists does tend to lead to a bit of “spot the
singer”, but after a while I gave up and just let the music
flow over me like a raging tempest. The main focus of this
release is brutality, relieved from time to time by some
superb guitars and the powerful female vocals, which provide
an interesting contrast by being equally strong but in a
supportive rather than a destructive way.
I do find that some of the tracks on this album (and indeed
the album as a whole) are a bit long, but when I try to
think what I might abbreviate it’s impossible, so maybe I
shall just have to suffer! This is a fairly minor complaint,
and really the only thing that I can find to criticize!
If you think you could enjoy an outpouring of brutality,
tempered with female vocals with the clarity and precision
of a surgical instrument, overlaid with some heavy
industrial touches, then this could well be the release for
you. I enjoyed it every time I listened to it, and found
something different in it every time.
www.vicrecords.com
| www.theprojecthate.net |
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Voices of Rock II - High and Mighty
(Metal Heaven) by Julian
Handley |
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A couple of years ago the famed production team of Michael
Voss (Mad Max, Casanova) and Chris Lausmann (Bonfire)
embarked on the idea of injecting life into songs previously
unused which had been written by the pair.
For the project an astonishing line up of international
singers were invited to the party, individually contributing
to tracks which had been selected to suit their vocal
styles, with the likes of Dan Reed, James Christian and Gary Barden all stamping their trademark vocals on a perfectly
crafted AOR/melodic rock concept.
Such was the success of the “ Voices of Rock “ debut, we are
now blessed with Voices of |
Rock II, “High and Mighty “, performed along the same
winning formula, featuring a fresh crop of seasoned
vocalists plying their trade aboard the Voss/Lausmann bandwagon. Once again we are treated to
rockers, rollers, up tempos and ballads served up vocally by
the likes of Rob Rock (Driver/Impellitteri), Joe Lynn Turner
(ex Rainbow/ex Deep Purple), Tony Mills (Shy/TNT) and Mitch
Malloy to name but four.
For a catchy dose of blow away the cobwebs, classic rock
tinged with AOR, then this gathering of the great and the
good certainly serves up the remedy in copious quantities. A
perfect summer tonic for any solar deprived rock refugee.
It is particularly hard to nominate a single stand out
performance, such is the consistency and quality, but for a
hard rocking tune Tony Martin’s (Black Sabbath) effort “Into
the Light” takes some beating, as does Paul Sabu’s melodious
attempt “Down the Drain”.
Here’s hoping for a third instalment of even more exciting
collaborations.
www.metalheaven.net
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www.myspace.com/voicesofrock |
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