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Acid Drinkers - Fishdick
(Metal Mind) Review by Metal Mark |
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By 1994, Poland's craziest thrash band Acid Drinkers had
knocked out four studio albums. They were no stranger to
cover songs having already slipped their versions of tracks
by the likes of Metallica and Deep Purple on their releases.
Fifteen years ago doing an album of all covers (or just
about all covers in this case) wasn't quite as common a
ritual as it would soon become. Although I liked their
previous covers, I would not be too hot on this idea. The
reason being that their covers were frequently bizarre and
very much different from the originals. While they worked
amidst the originals would they get old on an album of just
odd covers? Unfortunately the answer is yes. The band slices
and dices |
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up covers of songs from Motorhead, Pink Floyd,
AC/DC and of course KISS with varying degrees of success.
Their cover of Sabbath's "N.I.B." with it's basic rap bits
and animal like noises works well. Their cover of "Another
brick in the wall" manages to be fairly engaging with
calculated pacing. However others like "Ace of Spades" and
"Highway Star" just had me thinking how much better those
covers by Sodom and Metal Church were. I guess that means
there was a certain novelty to their covers when they
appeared amidst primarily studio material. Here it's like
they have an EP full of likable covers and the other half
sound rather bland. This re-issue contains a different
version of "N.I.B" as a bonus track. |
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A Forest of Stars - The Corpse of Rebirth
(Transcendental Creations)
By: Dave Schalek |
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A new sub-genre is born (or, at least, one with which I have
no prior familiarity) with the debut full-length from
the North of England’s A Forest of Stars. “The Corpse of Rebirth” is an
interesting, unique foray into blackened Romantic Goth
metal, if you will. Beginning with a mid-paced black metal
base with some muted rasped vocals, low-fi guitars and bass,
and the odd blast or two, A Forest of Stars also lay on
thick plenty of melancholy violin, flute, and keyboard
effects. Add to the atmosphere an occult driven, opium
fueled theme based upon Victorian England, complete with
outfits with ruffles, and A Forest of Stars have found a
unique niche, if nothing else. |
This is not really my thing as I tend to stay away from
melancholy doom in the vein of Katatonia and the like, but A
Forest of Stars are much closer to black metal than bands of
that ilk. In addition, A Forest of Stars are able to weave
together well-written, interesting songs that tend to draw
the listener in over time. The music is, at times, quite
rough and, at others, psychedelic and heavily laden with
Romantic atmosphere. The atmosphere comes from plenty of
dreamy, droning riffs, muted female clean vocals, and violin
and flute melodies that overlay the guitars and bass. Some
quiet piano makes an appearance now and then, and some muted
keyboard effects are heard throughout.
In short, A Forest of Stars excel at their chosen sub-genre,
and should appeal to a wide range of fans. The band is also
quite good at fostering a theme and image, as is evidenced
by the band’s slick official website. “The Corpse of
Rebirth” is highly recommended.
www.aforestofstars.co.uk
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www.myspace.com/aforestofstars
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http://transcendentalcreations.com |
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Behemoth - Evangelion
(Nuclear Blast)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Poland’s Behemoth are poised to become metal’s newest
“breakout” band, whatever the Hell that means. A support
slot on one of the summer’s major North American tours, a
new album, plenty of media exposure, etc are all factors in
the band’s surging popularity (Nile were once in this
“poised” position, but seemed to take a step back). Not to
mention the fact that Nergal and company are probably one of
the most technically proficient, and hardest working, bands
in metal, and you have a formula for whatever passes for
crossover appeal in metal’s varied world (I’m sure that the
hipsters out there are excited about this “new” band from
Poland). |
Behemoth have always left me somewhat high and dry, however.
Yes, their stellar musicianship, energetic live shows, work
ethic, media savvy, etc are all well documented and
undeniable. As technically proficient and varied as their
last few albums have been, I just can’t seem to get into
them beyond the first few listens (and I’ve tried on
numerous occasions). As good as the production has been on
these albums, the cold precision with which Behemoth deliver
their ferocity robs the music of soul.
That said, though, the recently released “Evangelion” from
Nuclear Blast Records has it all. Unbelievable precision,
varied songwriting, lightning fast blasts and rapid fire
riffing resulting in an audio maelstrom, and a powerful
vocal delivery from Nergal are all on display throughout.
The production is noticeably deeper and gives the album
greater weight than that of “Demigod” or “The Apostasy”.
Certainly, if you like the direction that Behemoth have
undertaken over their last few albums; that is, into
straight ahead technical death metal territory, then you’re
going to go apeshit for “Evangelion”. The question for me,
though, is does the album have staying power beyond the
first few listens? I have to say that I’m still not sure. I
find myself gravitating back towards “Praise the Beast” by
Azarath, though.
www.behemoth.pl
| www.myspace.com/behemoth
| www.nuclearblast.de
| http://nuclearblastusa.com |
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Bulldozer - Unexpected Fate
(Scarlet Records) Review by Crin |
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The return of Italy’s cult eighties thrash act, and a
wonderfully welcome return for me at that. I was a huge fan
and this album was eagerly anticipated. Bulldozer were never
welcomed in open arms by the thrash world in the golden era
of the genre. Bulldozers debut album, The Day of Wrath,
appeared in 1985, and embraced a Venom style Black n Roll
atmosphere. At the time this album was a raw and chilling
album on par with Sodom’s ‘In the Sign of Evil’ and Venom's
‘Welcome to Hell’. The following, Final Separation was much
of the same mould. It was the 1987 release IX, and its
pornographic sleeve imagery that set the band on a negative
footing with much of the media. And yet the albums content |
was quite awesome and very unique in tone, but it will be
for the way ahead of its time 4th album, Neurodeliri, that Bulldozer
should have become far bigger than they ultimately became.
This album had a keyboard orchestration that never really
appeared proper until the Norwegian black metal explosion in
the early nineties. Sure, Florida experimental Death act
Nocturnus had a keyboard angle to their deathly music, [Neurodeliri
predates the classic Nocturnus, key album by two years don’t
forget] but Bulldozer actually made it sound pretty close to
the way the Norwegians would invent the whole symphonic
genre four years later. From this high point, the band
disappeared from view and their legacy left far from awe
inspiring. Apart form a very fine live album [Alive in
Poland], and a terrible dance style mcd [Dance got sick],
Bulldozer vanished into the murky halls of not so famous
acts along side of Nocturnus, Whiplash, Holy Terror,
Exciter, Razor, etc……
Now, 2009 is upon us and Bulldozer are back. It's not the
kind of all encompassing retro reunion the likes of Exodus
or Celtic Frost have generated, but it is nonetheless a very
important band from the era that gave birth to extreme metal
period. Unexpected Fate will give new fans a sturdy lesson
in, choppy thrash and old fans a two sided coin. Firstly this
is not the best Bulldozer album you will hear. It is not as
well fashioned or holding that unique aura as the bands
eighties releases, but it was never going to dwarf those
original flashes of pure brilliance. This is a whole new,
modern era Bulldozer, and the album is as solid they come.
The opening track, Unexpected Fate, rips into typical choppy
Bulldozer thrash mode and to be fair does little to
invigorate the senses. I think that anticipation of a
successor to the immaculate Neurodeliri album can overshadow this if you let it. Halfway though the album the
whole Bulldozer sound system bleeds into the ears. The 10
word per second vocal delivery is spot on and the mix of
thrash and hardcore elements are still very much woven into
the music here. The keyboards are kept to a minimum, but
when they are employed as on the tracks, Buried Alive by
Thrash, and the haunting, In the Name, the very ghost of Neurodeliri makes itself known. Overall this album is more
akin to the vicious IX album, and yet takes glimpses from all
their great moments this band once offered. I was pleased to
see the band emerge with a strong album that will make their
last run around the block a worthy addition to the bands
grossly underrated back catalogue. |
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Cinders Fall - The Reckoning
(Transcend Records) Review by
Marco Gaminara |
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After 5 years of existence I finally find out about this
British sextet and the Gothenburg styled metal they play.
This 5 track EP passes all too quickly and perhaps that's
because of the tremendous pace of the tracks that don't
wallow about and drag you along as James Bartram and Ben
Sullivan's guitars weave intricate melodies in their heavier
riffs while Laurence Al-Shaar makes certain that no-one has
time to catch a breath to keep up with his pounding snare.
While not always in your face, the keyboards are always
noticeable as an undercurrent and filling in of sound, along
with Jordan Pillai's bass. Vocally Anthony Masters
alternated between slightly low growls and higher pitched
ones, very akin to those |
of Dark Tranquillity's Mikael
Stanne. Not bothering with any niceties "Dead Zone" starts
in midflow and once the entire band join in, it steps up a
pace, if that even seemed possible, they then slow things
down allowing the bass melody to stand out as everything
builds up once more. I prefer the lower vocals on "The
Sorrow" as they add a nice depth with the guitars being more
melodic and playing slightly more piercing rhythm riffs. A
great head banging number "Beyond Existence" has a steadily
beaten snare drum, even if it is double timed regularly for
good measure. On the other side of the spectrum, the snare
is occasionally half timed on "I Inside", where the
blistering pace keeps my head nodding along for the
duration. The pianoforte on "The Reckoning" is a rather
welcome addition to the song giving it even more flavour and
the fact that it's played slowly, a great contrast to the
speed everything is being played and far more noticeable by
its refusal to just be a background instrument.
www.myspace.com/cinderfall
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www.transcendmediagroup.com |
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Dead Eyed Sleeper - Through Forests Of Nonentities
(SCR) Review by
James Davison |
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I had been looking forward to this album for some time, being
a fan of their pre-cursor band, “Legacy”. A
time worth waiting for. Sam Anetzberger slays the senses
with his distinguishable brutal vocals, as expected, coupled
with, an at times bizarre blend of death metal is like the
perfect marriage. “Of Wires and Lenses” is the perfect start
and prepares you for the impending onslaught. Riffs and
melodies jump back and forth, consistently leaving you
expectant and fulfilled. Metamorphine has a much slower and
synth-laden start. With a sophisticated approach to the
integration of keyboards into their sound, Dead Eyed Sleeper
have made some of the less distinguished acts also plying
their Casio-heavy trade |
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look a little ridiculous. Dead Eyed Sleeper make it sound
like the integration of the synthesiser belongs within the
confines of the songwriting
rather than merely levering it into a track. If only other
contemporary acts would take a page from their leaf and take
such care with song writing duties.
Cradle, however do not. Anyway, the track continues in
expert fashion, fusing death and doom to complete
perfection. If Peter Sutcliffe needs a sound-track, this
could be it! I'm in no way condoning serial murder, just for
the record. I just imagine if there was a film, this would
be a great stalking album – full of menace and subtle depths
among the more common “in your face” brutalities.
Production wise, everything is right where it should be –
with an assured and heavy sound, though with particular care
having been taken with the mixing of the more subtle
nuances. As with many of these more intricate albums though,
there is a caveat in that it demands your full attention at
all times – this is not an album for the faint hearted nor
one for the attention deficit afflicted among you. For the
rest of you – giving this a punt could well be the best
gamble that you’ve made in recent times.
www.supreme-chaos-records.de |
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Edguy - Fucking With Fire (Live in Sao Paulo)
(Nuclear Blast)
Review by James Young |
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Tinnitus Sanctus is a great album, so it will probably be a
surprise to the Edguy faithful that Fucking With Fire, the
latest live album from the tongue-in-cheek Germans, was
recorded during the Rocket Ride world tour, and as a result
it contains zilch from the new release. Without going into
too much depth on the history of the band, one important
change over the years is the transition from a power metal
sound to harder rocking one. This album contains a nice mix
of the old and new (albeit not completely new) - if you want
a really old-school live taping, you would probably be
better off with 2003’s Burning Down The Opera - so if you
dig all of the band’s recordings, you can’t do much better
than this really. |
As for the quality of the recording, it is pretty well
mixed, just containing enough noise from what was
undoubtedly an enthusiastic Sao Paulo crowd. The CD itself
doesn’t quite capture the fun of an Edguy show (the
‘divide-the-audience-up-and get them to repeat’ parts are
pretty much superfluous when listening to a CD, and they do
go on a bit on here), but it’s pretty close, and Tobias
Sammet’s stage brings a nice light edge to the gig.
Musically, it is very hard to criticise this hundred-minute
metal feast - fast, snappy drums from Bohnke, note-perfect
licks from Ludwig and Sauer, whether it be the power-chords
of yesteryear or the dirty hard rock of more recent times.
All of this is underpinned by the star of the show, Sammet,
whose Dickenson-esque range brings everything together with
power and passion. The setlist is pretty good too, with the
staples that should be on every Edguy setlist, such as
‘Lavatory Love Machine’, ‘Mysteria’ and ‘Superheroes’. We
even get the song ‘Avantasia’ from Sammet’s own project,
which is certainly as good as Edguy’s own material. If one
were to be picky, some more from the highly underrated
Mandrake album would have been nice, perhaps in the stead of
one of the less important tracks like ‘Fucking With Fire
(Hair Force One)’ (although being the album title this was a
bit unlikely).
Edguy do what more bands should do - take a genre or two,
strip them down to their essentials, make their songs fun
yet highly catchy and listenable, and put on one hell of
show. You can’t really ask for much more in a band, and
certainly not in a live album. Good times!
www.edguy.net |
www.myspace.com/edguy |
www.nuclearblast.de |
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Enochian Theory - Evolution: Creatio
Ex Nihilio (Anomalousz Music
Records)
Review by Steve Green |
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Wasn't it Nick Lowe that sang "you have to be cruel to be kind" back in
the late 70s? And I feel I'm going to be doing the same here. Everything
here is so nearly perfect, but I've found one glaring error, which, I
for one was put off by. So let's rewind to the beginning.
This is the debut album by UK Progressive Metal band Enochian Theory.
They've done everything themselves from production, promotion and it's
even on their own record label. The artwork that goes with the album is
stunning and the music on offer is of an equally stunning quality. So
for this, the band deserve success because of all the hard work they
obviously put into the album. Musically, everyone is going to have their
own opinion on |
how to describe the bands sound and my take on it is a very
chilled out form of Prog, with a plethora of orchestral and ambient
textures, as well as a bit of metallic urgency just to keep the overall
sound fresh and exciting. The closest band, for the sake of a
comparison, is probably Porcupine Tree or probably Blackfield, another
Steven Wilson project. Not that I'm saying that Enochian Theory are
copying the mans style, just that there's a similar feel to their music.
So far everything I've said has been positive, so I'd better move onto
my gripe.
The copy I have of the album is a download version, complete with
artwork. Yes, I received it free of charge from the band, so I can't
really complain with what I have. But I'm not from the generation of
freeloading wankers that do their best to ruin the music industry. If
I like something and I want it, I'll gladly pay for it, especially as I
can touch and feel the product, unlike the invisible nature of a
downloaded album. The band have worked hard at creating a fantastic
album, so they should be rewarded with my hard earned cash. So when I
went to investigate the cost of buying the album, I found none of the
main online retailers had the bloody thing in stock. The only place I
could buy the cd was on the bands website and it wasn't at a price that
I found acceptable. Which brings us once again into the whole
downloading debacle and the need for record labels.
So the bottom line here is, this is a great album and it's definitely
worth a tenner of your beer money. But we are in a recession and I'd
advise the band to price this at a level that'll not make someone think
twice about whether it's worth a punt on. And I'd also advise taking the
1st good record deal they are offered as there's no point in having a
great product if no bugger can buy it.
www.myspace.com/enochiantheoryband |
www.enochiantheory.co.uk
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