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Be’lakor - Stone’s
Reach (Prime Cuts Music) Review by Steve Earles |
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Ah, Australia, home country of one of the best thrash debut
albums back in the day, Mortal Sin’s Mayhemic Destruction.
Be’lakor are cut from a different cloth but seriously heavy
nonetheless. Definitely inspired by the like of Opeth, the
musicianship and song-writing is of the highest standard
indeed. Opening track Venator is seriously moving, like a
death metal Dream Theater, running the full range of the
listener’s emotions and absolutely giving the music time to
breathe. Some fine lyrics too: “As lonely bones forgotten
now/I lie here ever more.” From Scythe to Sceptre brings to
mind classic Paradise Lost-epic in its sweep. Outlive The
Hand reminds me of Anathema: haunting stuff: “In death she
spoke |
of waiting/Her final days were long/These fields have
changed since last she slept/Before the silent throng.”
Sun’s Delusion is more uptempo, epic metal in every sense of
the word. A masterful reflection on the creeping old age and
death that awaits us all: “Formative years aside/Truth
blanched in sun’s delusion/But providence affirmed/Destroyed
my aberration/Mortal seeds in divine/Gave grief into life’s
form.” Held in Hollows sees the band really establish their
own identity, something really evident on album closer
Aspect, wherein the band really shine as their own identity.
High recommended and most beautifully packaged too, very
admirable in this day of soulless downloads and Myspace.
www.myspace.com/belakor |
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Canis Dirus - A Somber Wind From A Distant Shore
(Moribund Cult)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Canis Dirus are a duo from Minnesota issuing their debut
full-length, entitled “A Somber Wind From A Distant Shore”,
on Moribund Cult Records. Named after the dire wolf, an
extinct Pleistocene species from North America, Canis Dirus
are treading the well worn ground of black metal descended
from Burzum with influences ranging from Drudkh to Xasthur.
A thin production, high pitched rasps, and dreamy guitars
with a mid-paced tempo are the bread and butter of Canis
Dirus. Immediately, comparisons to early Drudkh and Xasthur,
in particular, come to mind, as Canis Dirus have an
identical sound and vibe to the middle |
period of Malefic’s
output. However, rather than solely relying on nihilistic
atmosphere, Canis Dirus inject a bit of melody into their
delivery and TMP, who handles all instrumentation, is a
noticeably better musician than Malefic (never really his
strong point). RH, the other half of this duo, delivers the
vocals.
Also separating Canis Dirus from Xasthur are ecological
themes, rather than obsessively discerning your suicide
through a mirror, and a dreamy quality to the guitars that
periodically causes the music to cross over into slow,
psychedelic-laced classic rock (I’ve no doubt that TMP is a
fan of Joe Satriani; just listen to “Joyless and the Self
Fulfilling Prophecy”). A few blasts and slow, dark ambient
passages complete the mix of sounds to be heard on “A Somber
Wind From A Distant Shore”.
The overall result is a promising debut from Canis Dirus,
and fans of dreamy black metal with ecological themes will
find much to like on “A Somber Wind From A Distant Shore”.
Recommended.
www.myspace.com/thecanisdirus
| www.moribundcult.com/ |
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Conquest Of Steel - Storm Sword, Rise Of The Dread Queen
(No
Face Records)
Review by James Young |
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One of the most unashamedly metal bands on the planet,
Conquest of Steel have torn a path through the UK
underground to become quite a household name for all the
denim and leather clad warriors out there. ‘Storm Sword,
Rise Of The Dread Queen’ is the band’s third outing, and it
certainly is an adventure quite unlike anything which
preceded it. This is a concept album which takes Conquest Of
Steel from being a slightly under-produced band which plays
straight-up heavy metal, to a well-produced power / heavy
metal band with a well-defined purpose for its being. There
are still a few sound imbalances, but on the whole, the
mixing is what the band have always deserved; Dan Durrant’s
vocals sound |
better than ever, and the lyrics are certainly worth paying
attention to, as they tell the captivating story of the
album.
The heavy metal riffs of James "Claymore" Clarke and DD
Danger are played with conviction and never let up
throughout the verses, sometimes falling into a more
power-chord style to bring about a more sweeping and epic
edge. We even fall into prog-power territory at the start of
‘Spirit Of War’, with its almost jazzy heaviness. The
beer-fuelled solos are dynamic and explosive, and contain
all the ingredients needed to keep you playing the songs,
and album to the very end. To add to the ‘epicness’, I
suppose, are a number of acoustic breaks in between songs,
which might be slightly annoying after repeated listens, but
serve to diversify the album, and bring it into a soaring
fantasy world nicely. If things needed varying any more, we
have the inclusion of female vocals on the bard-like ‘Unholy
Union’, which bring a completely new gleam to the already
multiple-edged sword of the band.
The fact that this album was recorded between the hours of
midnight and dawn says a lot about the dedication of this
band to all things metal. This is a real all-out effort,
almost going too far at times to make each song sound
different, but this works in Conquest’s favour when all the
dust has settled. The real problem with this album is that
it will be incredibly different to top such a fantastic
opus.
www.myspace.com/conquestofsteel |
www.conquestofsteel.co.uk |
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Daemonicus - Host Of
Rotting Flesh (ViciSolum Productions)
Review By Steve Earles |
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Hailing from Sweden, this is a prime-slab of old school
style death metal, while original in approach, the emphasis
is definitely on metal! Thus there are no shite deathcore-isms,
death metal is not about scenes. And the wide range of
influences listed on the CD booklet speaks for itself, these
guys know and respect their metal history. You cannot build
without foundations.
This finely packaged album opens with the insanely catchy
Baptism Of The Dead. Funeral For the Living, has a blackened
Autopsy/Abscess vibe, excellent stuff, this is as it should
be. Carnage has a killer groove, you see this is where
Daemonicus get it right, and so many |
others get it wrong, they’ve written songs! Thus, Unrest In
Peace is metal to the max (Calvera!), and fair chugs along. Dechristianisation
Rituals brings to mind Slayer circa Hell Awaits, and
Sepultura circa Beneath The Remains-its where precision
meets brutality! Rituals is very bizarre, almost Celtic
Frost in its desire to experiment. Well in order, this is
what forges identity in a band. Welcome The Dead, would make
Chuck of Death proud, a vibe which continues into To Feed
Upon Flesh. Swarm of Death brings to mind Mercyful Fate in
the virtuosity and fluidity of its musicianship. Daemonicus
end the album as they’ve begun in fine deathly style with
Breeding In Decay.
A fine, true, trend-free, death metal album! This is as it
should be.
www.daemonicus.nu |
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Emil Bulls - Phoenix
(Drakkar Entertainment) Review by Luke
Dodson |
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Emil Bulls are a band I've never heard of, but I imagine
they've had a degree of success as this latest offering is
distributed by Sony. Whether this success is confined to
their native country of Germany or not I'm not entirely
sure, but in any case, their music is basically a mix of
post-Pantera groove-thrash, nu-metal, alternative-rock, and
a strong modern metalcore influence. I really hate to have
to start this review off on a bad-note, but this is
basically the sort of watered-down, bog-standard
wallpaper-metal that watered-down, bog-standard rock
magazines go mental over. Now, occasionally I can't resist a
bit of wallpaper-metal; I admit to drunkenly singing along
to 'Halo' by Soil at least once in my |
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life. I'm not the kind of snob who would rather throw out
his Einsturzende
Neubauten collection than listen to something with a big,
dumb riff and a big, dumb hook. I will concede that the band
stumbles upon such idiotic infectiousness here and there,
but as a whole they are simply outweighed by the boring and
irritating parts. The album starts off with 'Here Comes the
Fire', which I expect will be released as a single; not
exactly as 'super-tough' as the promotional material
described, it's still got a catchy, nice-but-dim riff that I
could nod my head too without feeling too embarrassed.
Unfortunately, the screechy Anselmo-core vocals are just too
grating for the song to really break out of the 'average'
arena into the 'likeably average'. There are a few comparable
moments here and there, but ultimately, this album falls
flat; the achingly cheesy pop-rock numbers like 'The
Architects Of My Apocalypse' and 'I Don't Belong Here'
demonstrate the inoffensive mediocrity of this band. It's
not that this is a terrible album in any sense; it's
competent, professional, and well arranged. But when it
raised any kind of emotion, it was mild and uninspiring; the
promo notes go into great detail about the passionate nature
of the music, and while I do not doubt the band's emotional
commitment to what they do, they just haven't been able to
make that commitment infectious enough.
www.myspace.com/emilbulls |
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For Ruin - Enlightened EP
(For Ruin Music) Review by Chris Davison |
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There’s a strange (and in some ways quite sad) sense of
circularity to this review. For Ruin are a rather excellent
Irish band fronted by the ever affable John Murphy, and they
also happen to be one of the first, if not THE first band
that I reviewed for this very website. Fast
forwarding all these years, and with the news that
Live4Metal will soon be disbanded in its present format, and
there is a grim sense of satisfaction that the same band
that was my first review will become one my last.
“Enlightened” is a digital only EP release, timed to
pre-date the release of the much anticipated new long player
“Last Light”, which is pencilled in for a release later this
year. |
Opener “Crawl” is a tasteful instrumental number, with all
the raging death metal touches and mastery of instruments
personified by For Ruin, and with the trademark melancholic
touches that For Ruin have become known for. It is with the
meatier “Care of the Dead” that For Ruin come into their
own, however, showcasing their increasingly mature sound and
the development of the downcast sense of melody that has
always been present, but has been brought to the fore here.
Despite having an aggressive tempo, attacking drums and the
ever-vicious vocals, there is a tone of despair and
dejection in the delicate guitar lines. These conjure an
immediate atmosphere – which found a parallel in my mind to
those to be found in the …erm…godly “Shades of
God” opus by Paradise Lost. “In Suffering” has more of these
touches, producing what may well be an unholy mixture of
melodic death metal with the post-doom sensations produced
by peers in the likes of Finland's Ghost Brigade. For Ruin
have a far more “in your face” brand of metal catharsis, and
are more likely to bottle you than spend half an hour
developing a meandering guitar line and pointless
mirror-squatting introspection than some of their other
peers. The re-recording of the near-classic “Towards an End”
(originally found on their debut full lengther, December)
shows just how far For Ruin have progressed in terms of the
meaty, confident production and just how professional the
four piece now sound. The churning, grinding riffs now sound
just as developed as all those minor key, delicate melodies
that fans of the band have come to know and love.
The final track, Crawl (demo) does exactly what it says on
the tin – a drum machine hampered, rough and ready early
demo of the opening track. While rather inessential, it does
prove to serve how much time and effort was spent in
developing the rough ideas and the songwriting craft on the
finished article. My only complaint? At four tracks (plus a
demo track) long, “Enlightened” is a teasing, tantalising
prick-tease of a release that makes me want to find “Last
Lights” and tear its knickers off. Oh, and rather wonderful
artwork too, chaps. To the band, and to all our readers,
good night and take care – it’s been a blast.
http://forruin.com/index.php |
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Karnak Seti - Scars Of Your...Decay
(Self Release) Review by Steve Green |
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While I was impressed by last years Stranded By Existence album, the
recording, done in a non-metal environment, didn't really do the music
justice. So the band did the sensible thing and recorded this album with
a proper Metal production team, namely Daniel Cardoso and Pedro Mendes,
whose work I've come across most recently with Thee Orakle and Scar For
Life. The end result, not surprisingly, is a wonderfully produced slab
of Melodic Death Metal, which I'm guessing the band are very pleased with, and
so they should be.
After such a leap forward in quality from their last album, I'm at odds
to say anything |
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negative about this album, but that's my job, so I guess I'm
just going to have to get on with it. The positive points
for me, are obviously the clarity of the sound and being
able to hear every note in all its glory, and I absolutely
love the guitar work of António Jesus
and Renato Ramos. And the downside? I don't think the songs are
memorable enough. Which is a bit of a shame as I think the band have got
just about everything else bang on. But despite the music on this album
being reasonably melodic, nothing sticks in my head, bar the lead
guitars and the fabulous album closer, Seizures. But as I've already
said, Karnak Seti are definitely moving in the right direction and I
think they'll progress once again on their next album.
www.myspace.com/karnakseti
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My Own Grave - Necrology
(Pulverised Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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What began as a trickle of albums at the end of 2008 has now
become a torrent. OSDM/ NOSDM has exploded of late with
albums coming faster and faster from classic bands newly
revitalized, and upstarts eager to carry forward with a
genre that has been ignored until recently. OSDM also got a
huge shot in the arm with MDF, and bands will undoubtedly
begin touring in the fall to bring the genre back to the
masses (I’d so like to see all-things-core go the way of nu
metal). Sooner or later, though, all of this will
undoubtedly devolve into a sea of mediocrity (retro-thrash
did almost as soon as it began), but, thankfully, that
hasn’t happened yet. |
Establishing themselves in the OSDM/ NOSDM movement are
Pulverised Records with a roster of promising acts. One of
their fresher faces belongs to Sweden’s My Own Grave with
“Necrology”, the band's second full-length. I’m not familiar
with past efforts by My Own Grave, but I suspect that a
change in sound has occurred with the band as Encyclopaedia
Metallum has them listed as melodic death metal. That’s not,
or no longer, the case as “Necrology” is pure OSDM with
crushing riffs, a deep production, bursts of speed, and a
sloppiness that OSDM purists such as myself will find
instantly appealing. Highly infectious, of course, are the
riffs that have that patented “meat and potatoes” sound so
important to OSDM.
Although not original by any stretch, “Necrology”
demonstrates that there is still a lot of life left in OSDM.
Buy or die.
www.myspace.com/myowngraveyard
| www.pulverised.net |
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Pestilential Shadows - In Memoriam, Ill Omen
(Pulverised Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Pestilential Shadows are an Australian band cobbled together
from members serving time in other noted acts, such as the
recently reinvigorated Naxzul. Playing melodic black metal
with a raw sound, but without any use of saccharine
keyboards, Pestilential Shadows can certainly play their
instruments and write songs that, if not wholly original,
are at least interesting and are solidly within the genre.
“In Memoriam, Ill Omen” is the second full-length from
Pestilential Shadows, and is released on Pulverised Records
(the releases just keep coming faster and faster from this
label with a seemingly global reach).
Pestilential Shadows are treading well worn ground here with
a range of tempos, a |
generally melodic take on the genre with buzzing guitars and
rasped vocals, and good songwriting.
Try as I might, however, I just cannot get into this
release. An insurmountable problem with “In Memoriam, Ill
Omen” is the production that completely misses the mark. I
suspect that the intention here is to create a melancholic
atmosphere with a fuzzy, low end production, but that’s not
the end result. The production is completely watered down,
robs the music of any heft, particularly in the tinny
sounding percussion, and just falls flat with far too clean
of a sound. I found this to be extremely annoying and,
although there’s quality musicianship and songwriting going
on with Pestilential Shadows, I found it difficult to get
through the album in one sitting without my attention just
drifting away. Certainly, there are plenty of releases out
there with incredibly low-fi production and still manage a
slimy atmosphere (Black Funeral), but Pestilential Shadows
end up with a release that is too just clean and flat
sounding for its own good.
In short, although there’s potential here, “In Memoriam, Ill
Omen” is not one of the better releases on Pulverised
Records’ roster.
www.myspace.com/pestilentialshadows
| www.pulverised.net |
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Prodigal Earth - Zenith II Zero
(Pitch Black Records) Review by Steve Green |
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This is the 2nd cd that I've received from Cypriot label Pitch Black
Records and once again I've taken forever to review it, so my sincere
apologies to the label. And as with the last album from the label,
Diphtheria's classic, To Wait For Fire, Prodigal Earth feature the very
talented Nicholas Letpos on vocals. And if you read my Diphtheria review
last year, you'd know to expect Classic Heavy Metal, this time in the
vein of Manowar, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Nicholas has a Classic
Metal voice and the NWOBHM meets Fantasy/Power Metal music on offer here is a perfect
foil for this talented vocalist.
This isn't a perfect album, a couple of the songs don't really tick all
the right boxes with me, |
mainly Once Upon A Crime and or God's Children, but
generally, the quality is very high here. Although this
doesn't sound like Dio, it has a similar feel, with the fantasy textures and
traditional Metal values, the biggest difference being the soaring high
pitched vocals that litter the album. So this album should appeal to
both old school Heavy Metal and Power Metal fans alike as Prodigal Earth
are a perfect marriage of the two styles.
As I've said, not perfect, but at least this album steers clear of the
usual Metal clichés and is worth investigating for the vocal performance
alone. www.myspace.com/prodigalearth |
www.pitchblackrecords.com
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