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Arkona - Goi, Rode, Goi!
(Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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Studio album number 5 for Pagan Metallers Arkona and it's
business as usual for these talented, but crazy, Russians.
If you are already a fan of Arkona, then skip this review
and just buy the bloody thing as you know that the album is
going to be a classic, but if you're new to the band, then
strap yourself in, it's going to be a fun ride.
Arkona are leaders, not followers and they have a very
distinct and original sound. The band are led by a
frontwoman, Masha "Scream" Arhipova, who is equally adept at
singing in clear Pagan tones or growling like a woman
possessed, and she's backed by a musical style that mixes a
frantic Humppa style, with a patriotic Russian vibe and more
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Pagan/Viking Metal qualities. And if you like any of the
above, then you are going to love Arkona. From a personal
point of view, I find Arkona's music utterly addictive as
you never know what comes next as there are so many twists
and turns throughout each song. And when you are listening
to something like the 15 minute epic Na Moey Zemle (which
translates as In My Land) every style imaginable within the
Pagan realm is crammed into the songs long duration. The
song also features a huge list of guest musicians from the
likes of Skyforger, Månegarm, Obtest and Heidevolk. But one
song doesn't make an album and fortunately, Goi, Rode, Goi!
is chock full of Pagan delights. Quite simply, this is an
utterly essential purchase for fans of the genre.
www.napalmrecords.com
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Diablo Swing Orchestra
- Sing Along Songs For The Damned And Delirious
(Ascendance Records) Reviewed By Steve Earles |
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I really loved the debut album from Diablo Swing Orchestra,
The Butcher’s Ballroom, and Sing Along Songs For The Damned
And Delirious continues in the same wild musically eccentric
vein. Opening track A Tapdancers Dream sound like a heavy
Henry Mancini jamming with Tom Waits! While A Rancid Romance
does exactly what it says on tin! Diablo Swing Orchestra
play from the heart, and with great skill and dexterity.
Clever, but not in a widdly, musical wanking for the sake if
it. Rather, their musical eccentricity serves the song at
all times. In all honesty, while I can identity some of
their influences, they sound like no other bands, rather
they sound like a crazed tour of every musical genre in
Europe. |
Some brilliant riff amongst the musical pan-dimensional
schizophrenia. I love ‘em, and anyone with a sense of
adventure and fun will too!
www.ascendancerecords.com |
www.myspace.com/ascendancerecords |
www.myspace.com/diabloswingorchestra |
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Hail Of Bullets
- Warsaw Rising (Metal Blade) Review by Steve Green |
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Ok, I'm only 42 years young and I think senility has set its
sites on me already. I was sure I'd reviewed this EP, from
war obsessed Dutch metalheads Hail of Bullets, but with no
review to be found on my hard drive, it's time for round 2.
This EP features 2 new tracks, the colossal
deathly title track, which just bulldozes everything in its
path, the slower, but with a very cool thrash mid-section,
Liberators and a pulverising cover of Twisted Sister's
Destroyer, which is bull-crushingly heavy and totally
annihilates the original. Adding more value for money are 3
live tracks, recorded at Party San Open Air. And these are
Red Wolves Of Stalin, Nachthexen and The Crucial |
Offensive, all of which can be found on last
years debut, …Of Frost and War.
Whether you consider this a nice introduction to the band,
or a cool stop-gap until the next album, you won't be
disappointed.
www.myspace.com/hailoffuckenbullets |
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Kvist - For Kunsten Maa
Vi Evig Vike [re-issue] (Peaceville) Review by
Crin |
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A welcome re-issue from one of the most outstanding Norwegian
Black Metal bands of them all. Kvist came and went in the
blink of an eye. A mysterious entity that released one album
in 1996 and disappeared into the smog of ash and murder.
This is a beautifully majestic symphonic album that manages
to steer clear of the pomp and keyboard overload of Dimmu
Borgir and somehow retain a massively ruthless guitar sound.
The keyboards are kept to a minimum and yet somehow this
massive guitar sound has a unique and enchanting spell to
weave about your emotions. The Black Metal vitriol is both
fast and dynamic and yet the whole spitting rage is tempered
by the wonderfully rich arrangements |
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and easy to grasp melody. This is like a fine whiskey that
will blow your head off without ripping the hell out of your
insides. Musically primitive, unbelievably simple, and yet
oozing stability and finely tuned guitar arrangements. Lush
strident guitar tones sweep fierce riffs at your ears like
hellish icy shards raining down from a holocaust blizzard.
This is an absolute credit to the genre and a true classic
of the Black Metal movement. Like a fine wine, albums like
this will never date and if you have not already heard this
then you should dip your head in a bucket of priests piss in
shame.
www.peaceville.com |
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Leaves' Eyes - Njord
(Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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Can I ever say anything bad about Leaves' Eyes? Not really, although this
album, their 3rd full length, isn't as immediate as its predecessors.
With a new rhythm section onboard and a long 3 year gap since their last
album, then obviously some things are going to change and although I
can't quite put my finger on it, things are a little different this time
around.
One thing that hasn't changed, is Liv Kristine's love of her Norwegian
heritage, nor have her world class vocals. I swear she gets better with
every release, and this fact is justified very early on with My Destiny,
which was the 1st single off of the album. It's ridiculously catchy and
this familiar style makes up about 50% of the album, the other half of
the album
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features a more mature sound, less reliant on the symphonic
traits of old and heads in a slower, steadier direction, which (thankfully) still
retains the trademark Leaves' Eyes sound.
So once again, Leaves' Eyes have produced an outstanding album and one I
feel has more longevity than anything they've ever done before, mainly
as there's a more diverse feel to this album. I love the new mature
direction and I just hope we don't have to wait another 3 years to
hear something of a similar stature.
www.napalmrecords.com |
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Saltatio Mortis - Wer Wind Sat
(Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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I'm sure I've got Saltatio Mortis' Erwachen album somewhere in my
collection. From memory, I think they were a medieval influenced band,
but it seems that over time, those influences have been replaced by a
more mainstream sound. And it's one that's pretty sterile. Not even a
guest appearance from Metal Queen Doro Pesch can save this from being
anything other than mediocre. When the band focus on the medieval side
of their sound, such as La Jument De Michao, then I love them, even if
I'm not particularly keen on the vocals. And it's the vocals and the
vocal melody lines that kill this for me. Unfortunately, this album is
aimed solely at the German market and the occasional use of
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authentic instrumentation isn't enough to save it.
www.napalmrecords.com
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Schelmish - Die Hassliehen Kinder
(Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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Following on from the review above, Schelmish are yet another
band who've gradually moved away from their Medieval roots
and the new watered down version of the band doesn't really
do it for me I'm afraid.
Ok, I'm repeating myself again, but I love Schelmish when
the bagpipes are flowing, but the rigid Germanic tones and
the occasional foray into a very weak style of Punk simply
aren't my cup of tea. The main difference between Schelmish
and their label mates Saltatio Mortis though, is that I can
see the appeal of Schelmish, even though I've not really
clicked with the album. I guess the inclusion of a few songs
in English has helped a little, but to |
perfectly honest, the overall feel of the album is too wishy
washy. There's no real bite to any of the songs and while
the bagpipes are superb, especially on the rather splendid
For The Clansmen, I'd rather listen to the likes of
Wolfenmond or Scotland's finest, Saor Patrol to get my
bagpipe fix.
In a word, disappointing.
www.napalmrecords.com
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Switch Opens - Self
Titled (GMR Records) Review by Steve Earles |
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Now, the late 19th century style illustration on the cover of
this fine CD give little indication of the music contained
herein (though it does fit in with the bands name). I
expected it to be in the Hawkind vein, but actually its very
much in the vein of Spice-era Spiritual Beggars, somewhat
heavier but decent fare. Excellent melodic vocals, strong
riffs, and a steady groove. But bearing in mind the band
hails from Sweden, and the album was recorded in Stockholm,
the deviation from the now being flogged to death Stockholm
Sound is to be applauded.
Express Death is moody and atmospheric, featuring a killer
bass line. Yeah, groove is all |
important. Pyramids has an almost doom metal heaviness to
it-slow and ominous-which is as it should be. Paper Wall has
a more uptempo sound, but still heavy. Terra Incognita just
pounds, and the album ends in fine style with the aptly
named The Electric Hour.
www.switchopens.com |
www.myspace.com/theswitchopens |
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Syrach - A Dark Burial
(Napalm) Review by Steve Green |
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My lateness with this review isn't really down to lack of time, it's more
to do with my lack of enthusiasm for this particular album. Doom is the
musical choice on offer... except that this isn't a particularly slow or
doomy album. Frontman Ripper (Olsen, not Owens) has a deep, gutteral
kind of voice and I'm not really latching onto that either. His voice
suits the music perfectly, but nothing really hits the mark with me on
the 1st couple of numbers. Thankfully, the pace finally begins to slow,
but only for the first 3 minutes of the title track, A Dark Burial. From
this point on though, things improve dramatically. Does someone wave a
magic wand and all of a sudden every fits into a place, or is it simply
a case of
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getting used to Syrach's sound and accepting that this isn't
really a Doom album? Not really as after a couple of very good numbers,
I'm backing to hating track 5, In Darkness I Sigh and there's not much
to say about the mainly instrumental album closer Ouroboros.
www.napalmrecords.com |
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Taake - Over Bjoergvin
Graater Himmerik
[re-issue] (Peaceville) Review
by Crin |
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Originally appearing in 2002, this Taake release is
basically what you would expect from a Taake album.
Meandering raw primitive arrangements that freeze your mind
with caustic riffs and uplifting piano twists. The Taake
sound is one very much woven in the distinct Norwegian style
similarly harnessed by the early works of Old Mans Child,
Windir, Kvist, to name a few. The music is endowed with a
progressive touch, with Enslaved articulate song creativity
on albums like, Monumension, and Blodhemn, equally more
impressive than the standard orthodox Black Metal style.
This release is far more fluent than the 1999 debut,
Nattestid Ser Porten Vid. The vocals here are quite scathing
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Garms spitting rage vocal rasps. Certain tracks like, 1V,
have that Hoest trademark jamming guitar strumming section.
He has an ear for melody and this is worked into the music.
Norwegian Black Metal is a classy genre teeming with good
bands and great bands. Taake are of the latter category and
although the music at times requires patience to unravel the
twisting arrangements, the music nonetheless will be exposed
as a pure strain of the purest Black Metal of them all.
Incidentally, Bjoergvin is a former name of Bergen. The
meaning of the title is ''Heaven Cries over Bjoergvin
(Bergen)
www.peaceville.com |
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The 11th Hour - Burden
of Grief (Napalm Records) Review by Chris
Davison |
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What is the epitome of “the 11th hour”? A well worn turn of
phrase, it isn’t really generally until our own times of
desperation that we realise how well turned the word-smithery
at play is. Those final few moments before the end, the lull
before the storm – or, in the case of this album, the final
few moments of a dying man. Is there anything that could be
more doom?
Principally the work of well-known metal merchant Ed Warby (Gorefest,
Demiurg) and the seemingly ubiquitous Rogga Johannson, this
platter sees a departure from their usual genre of
preference, death metal. With delicate arrangements,
lashings of frail sounding yet |
tasteful clean vocals along with full-bodied, rampant death
roars, this is a prime slab of death/doom. I have opined at
length before about the dangers of this splicing of the
genres; the cloying, hand-wringing over dramatic delivery,
the obnoxious weeping and self-pity. This is not one of
those inferior deliveries – this is more attuned to
portraying the fury and frustration of grief.
Delicate piano and clean, tolling drums lend further
atmosphere to the proceedings. The cool, calculated
production is full and booming at places, but sophisticated
enough to allow the more considered moments of clarity and
calm to provide real dynamism when contrasted with the
furious, harsh more “metal” sections. A well written, well
played and excellently produced prime slice of misery, then?
Oh yes. Cut me a thick slice of that particular grief-pie,
vicar.
www.napalmrecords.com |
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