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Empyreal Destroyer -
demo (Self-released) Review by James Young |
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For anyone who’s ever wondered what it would sound like if
Mayhem and Dragonforce had a jamming session, today may be
your lucky day. Empyreal Destroyer, who formed as recently as
April of this year, claim to bring together death metal, power
metal, hair metal and black metal (and Dragonball Z for some
reason…the more the merrier I suppose). For sure, the mood of
these four tracks is most definitely black metal, with the
raw, uncompromising vocals of Devastator and enough riffs to
provide an ample necro flavour. It’s the frantic solos which
bring England’s fastest rising power metal outfit to mind,
most memorably on ‘Cyclonic Beast’, the solo of which could
easily feature in a Dragonforce album, the fret coverage of
The Shadow Venger (the guitarist, ahem) easily rivalling that
of Herman Li or Sam Totman. ‘All Shall I Conquer’ likewise
features an insanely fast intro section that shows a major
Dragonforce influence, although it must be said that the
fairly grim atmospheres of both of these songs negate any
‘happy’ vibes that may creep their way into the sound, so
don’t go expecting twenty minutes of flower metal, because it
simply is not here. Also impressive in a genre defying way is
the interchangeable drumming of Niyil-ka, who can be heard
beating out a thrashy snare assault one minute and Children Of
Bodom-style double kick triplets the next. The production job
is extremely well done, perhaps detracting from the black
metal ‘cult’ value, but as the mighty solos are given
precedence through such a good sound, I doubt anyone will
mind. In fact, this is an extremely enjoyable demo, and I have
only one complaint in the form of the bonus video for the
thrashy opener ‘Chaos Torrent’. What appears to be a cameraman
chasing a drag queen through a forest is hardly exciting, and
I feel this is a missed opportunity for the band to sport some
live footage which would have made the listener feel closer to
the band. Apart from this, I can’t see why open-minded fans of
black metal, thrash or Dragonforce (solos) wouldn’t lap this
up. Still can’t see the Dragonball Z connection mind…
www.myspace.com/empyrealdestroyer
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www.empyrealdestroyer.co.uk |
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Harm – Devil (Sublife)
review by Chris Davison. |
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Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting this! Harm are a Norwegian
four piece outfit, and from the album cover, some sort of
monochromatic Satan figure, the jagged pseudo-gothic lettering
and the album title, I had pretty much come to the conclusion
that this was going to be more of the Scandinavian horde doing
that lo-fi Black metal nonsense that they seem to be so fond
of. Thank fuck they aren’t like that at all. Impressively, the
band says that within only six days of posting some audio on
their website, they were downloaded more than four thousand
times!
This is downright dirty, groove laden, Bay area influenced
thrash metal. From Norway. It |
only
seems fair, given the amount of downright awful American bands
that have aped their better Norwegian counterparts that those
pesky Viking folk should be allowed to get their own back –
except in a typical ruthless display of Nordic efficiency,
these long haired thrashing types have only gone on to make a
debut album many times better than many pumped out by their
trans-atlantic
counterparts. If you took the best parts of the last couple of
Exodus albums, poured in some liberal doses of the better
parts of neo-thrash acts like The Haunted, drizzled a soup-con
of the dangerously deathrash-like elements of One Man Army and
the Undead Quartet and rounded all that off with a garnish of
some technical guitar parts that reminded me greatly of
Decapitated, then you’d be halfway to understanding what this
band is all about.
All the composite parts are there – the incisive,
tight-as-fuck guitar melodies and those thrash chugga-chugga
chords, the pounding, driving rhythmic drumming and the
seek-and-destroy basslines. The vocals are, to be fair, more
rooted in the modern extreme spectrum, sounding as they do
like Peter Dolving with a burning candle shoved up his jacksy,
but the main, solid core of this band is good old fashioned
denim und leather thrash. Thrash with a capital “T” even –
none of your hardcore influenced eyeliner and boo-hoo lyrics
nonsense here, thank you very much.
In terms of stand out track, I have to point to “Reflection”,
which marries a completely dizzying guitar melody, 80s thrash
chug-a-long and tip to the top tappety-tappety cymbal work. I
kid you not, fellow thrashers, when I tell you that this is an
album of the same quality as “Tempo of the Damned” and “The
Gathering”. Just as soon as this lot manage to get themselves
seen and heard at a major festival, the record labels are
going to be in the hunt. With a white-hi-top baseball booted
foot, they’ve just kicked their way into this years top five
releases thus far. Get yourself this album – call it a present
from Harm, to you, the discerning rivet-head.
www.harm-online.com |
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Huorn - The Fallen
(Self Release) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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Quality wise, this isn't a bad recording at all considering
it's a live recording. I don't mean live as in gig, but rather
the band record everything simultaneously. There is very
little in the way of vocals other than the odd growl or roar,
or at least that are audible most of the time. While classing
themselves as black metal, songs like "Harrower of the Dark"
are more akin to the epic doomier bands, with some very
intricate and fast guitar riffs. "Myths of Murk" has a very
early Dimmu feel about it, perhaps it's the buzzy sound that
they managed to achieve on this recording, but somehow it
works giving it a rather early 90s atmosphere. The odd roar
that is heard is pleasant, but I think that having full and
audible vocals would go a
long way to improving the song overall, which I'm told was
more owing to a lack of vocalist at these sessions, rather
than lack of lyrics, hence only Jack's backing vocals being
recorded. Beautifully epic is "Old Man Willow", where Mark's
drum fills add further dimensions to the song that simple
timekeeping would never be able to achieve. Jack and Harry's
guitars also do plenty of meandering and come up with some
awesome melodies. There are 2 versions of "The Winter River"
here, with the other being the final track on the CD. There
are far more vocals here than on any of the previous tracks,
along with the song being full of hyperblasts and tremolo
picked riffs, which have me thinking of the few songs of
Immortal that I know, and maybe a little Bathory
for good measure. The title track "The Fallen" seems rather
slow in comparison, but that's just the guitars, because the
kick drum isn't able to let up and keeps up a relentless
barrage on your ear drums. Perhaps it's owing to the slightly
tinny sound, but very little of what Dom plays on his bass is
clearly audible, but at the same time his presence is always
felt as the songs are never lacking in depth. The extremely
fast "Dark Secrets" is filled with impressive riffs that
still manage to cut through the blasting and then slow down to
play soothing melodies before joining once again the melee of
the blasting drums.
The last three tracks however were recorded live at a gig with
Isabelle on vocals and from a comment you can hear from a
member of the audience, she's doing the death growls and not
some diva-esque soprano just for added atmospherics.
Her presence is immediately felt on "And So, Before Long",
where her growls compliment the guitar melodies with their
extreme harshness. I've just realised that the opening riff on
"Dark Secrets" reminds me a bit of something by Mekong Delta
that I can't quite remember the name of right now. This
version actually sounds faster than the "studio" version, but
then again that's not surprising when you consider that bands
tend to be having more fun when on stage and adrenaline can
help get those extra BPM out of a drummer rather easily. There
are also plenty more growls here, as Isabelle sings the
sinister lyrics. Again I prefer this version of "The Winter
River", but being a vocalist might have me being slightly bias
towards preferring complete songs to their instrumental
versions. The vocals here also ebb and flow with the
constantly changing music, while never becoming clean when the
guitars do, to give it that abrasive edge that it would lose
if they did. She's also able to growl rather quickly when the
pace dictates that she does so.
So all in all, not too shabby as a demo recording and just to
get the music out to interested listeners, but when they
eventually get around to doing this again properly in a
studio... This should be awesome and shall get these guys
noticed rather quickly in the black metal community.
www.myspace.com/huorn |
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Isole – Throne of
Void (I Hate Records) review by Chris Davison |
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Ah, the return of Isole has come at last. I reviewed their
debut album some little time ago, and I was beginning to
wonder if there was going to be a follow up opus. I had kept
abreast of the news from the I Hate website, and kept seeing
that the new batch of albums was being delayed due to
technical issues, which only meant that I had to wait even
longer with my fingers crossed that they would send the album
my way!
Their first long player, “Forevermore”, was a dreamy Solitude
Aeturnus-esque slice of classy doom. While a great album, it
was, at times, a bit too somnambulistic for me after repeated
listens. I was extremely excited then, to read the
accompanying blurb that said that |
this is
a much darker and heavier album than its predecessor. However,
after having received a fair few of these industrial
propaganda sheets, I remained a little sceptical as to whether
of not this group of Swedish doom-heads could, in fact,
deliver the goods.
They haven’t lied. If “Forevermore” was the sound of doom gone
dreamy, then this is the sound of the same band producing
turbulent, sweat inducing nightmares. Seven truly epic
compositions writhe and pitch restlessly in disturbed fashion.
Bryntse (vocals) has retained that ethereal vocal style, yet
seems to have tempered it with a much bleaker, distant
quality. His guitars, when combined with those of fellow
six-stringer Crippa (who also shares vocal duties), are almost
the perfect blend of Solitude Aeternus, Candlemass, and most
strikingly this time round, Solstice. If “New Dark Age” was
ever going to have a spiritual successor, then this is it.
Jonas provides a rock steady drum beat throughout (and check
out the simple yet all too effective little cymbal work about
3:30 through “Dreams”), but the real lynch pin here is the
driving bass work provided by Henka. This is as lean bass
playing as you will find from this style of metal; everything
he plays propels the composition, and unlike many of his
bass-playing peers, there are no extraneous fills, no attempts
to wrest control of the music away from the band in typical
Butler-aping fashion.
Unlike many bands of the genre, Isole could quite easily have
a much broader appeal than many of those that are likely to
find approval from the strict doom fan. While slow-and-heavy
fans are likely to find their nirvana here, fans of classy
trad metal are also going to find something to nod their heads
to in their more reflective moments, too. I can only hope that
Isole can get themselves on a relatively high profile tour
with one of the “bigger” names in the doom field. As heretical
as it sounds, I think that on a tour with Candlemass, Isole
could quite easily hold their own. A great leap forward for a
great band, and the second great release of the year from
I Hate records…
www.forevermore.se |
www.ihate.se |
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Joe Stump –
Neo-Classical Guitar 2: Instructional Guitar DVD (Shred
Academy) By
Ryan Ogle |
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If shred is dead, then Joe Stump is Dr. Frankenstien. This
Berklee School of Music professor and all around bad-ass has
set out to spread his six-string street smarts and fretboard
wizardry to the masses with this latest edition to his
Neo-Classical line of guitar videos. Three-chord hacks and
poseurs beware; this lesson is for seasoned soloists only.
Prof. Stump pulls no punches and lets the fur fly right away
with his opening demonstration of the techniques to follow.
I’ve been playing for a decade and a half now and the first
five minutes of this DVD almost made me sell my axe and take
up cross-stitch. However, I swallowed my pride, tuned my
fiddle and put my learning cap on and I’m better off for it |
| today.
The lessons are fairly easy to follow as the laidback Stump
sits in front of a wall of Marshall cabinets demonstrating the
lick of the minute first at 90 miles an hour then again at his
top speed of 590 MPH; each run his followed by Joe’s trademark
‘COOL!?!’ as if to ask the viewer if he had mastered the idea
yet. As effortlessly as Joe pulls off these near impossible
licks, his heavy South-Bronx accent and charismatic
personality made for a relaxed atmosphere and eased up the
learning process. As a bonus treat, Stump takes the viewer
through Ritchie Blackmore’s “Neo-Classical Shred Fest” and one
of his own tunes too. This DVD is highly worthwhile for
shredders of the intermediate to advanced levels, but you
better be ready for a challenge, Stump-style.
www.shredacademy.com |
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Kayser – Frame the
World… Hang It On the Wall (Scarlet) Review by Samuel
Munch-Petersen |
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“No boundaries and no limits… and that goes for everything” is
the statement apparently brought forward by the band when they
got together in mid 2004. This is Kayser’s second album (their
first being; Kaiserhof) and I can say that this album starts
punchy, starts full and starts with a determination and
understanding of direction that I haven’t seen in a while. The
tracks are methodically planned out and have been worked
through beautifully. A favourite already creeping into my
brain is track two; Lost in the Mud, which I have to say
sounds like a tame Slipknot song. Kayser have been likened to
the likes of Megadeth (very much so on the vocal front and
pure grunge metal that seeps through), Black Sabbath (I can’t |
personally see the relation) and Slayer (again I can’t see the
likeness). All in all, at the moment Kayser are doing a good
job of keeping my attention.
The music itself is like I said; punchy, full and crisp. This
is the type of metal I like myself , the type where vocals can
be heard or mildly discerned through the growling or ever
changing guitar rhythms. Heavier less comprehensive vocal
metal I enjoy too, but this has a certain simplicity to it. The
album continues to impress and actually begins to sound
slightly like Symphony X (at least like The Odyssey album) and
I’m loving it. The guitar work and drums seem completely in
sync and the bass is not too heavy and yet not too passive to
just fart along like a wet snot.
The album was mastered by Goran Finnberg who has
dabbled with the likes of In Flames, Soilwork and At the
Gates. The artwork was designed by Niklas Sundin who guitars
for Dark Tranquillity and has set up Cabin Fever Media for
doing such wonderful album cover designs.
Unsurprisingly this Swedish metal band are made up from a
selection of rag tag members of other bands which has recently
had a reshuffle from what I’ve got here from the info in front
of me. The members don’t stray too far from home; Spice (ex
Spiritual Beggars) vocalises skilfully, Jokke Pettersson (new
addition) adds to the guitar repertoire, Swaney (Mattias
Svensson of The Defaced I take it) gives his own spin on
guitars, Ewil Sandin plays the bass with extreme rhythmic
capability and Bob Ruben drums with excellent parity.
Kayser are a band to be reckoned with, a band to be listened
to and a band worth going to see live. If you love Megadeth,
Symphony X and even Slipknot sounds then try them out. You
won’t be disappointed.
www.kayser1.com |
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More Than Dust -
Demo (Self Released) Review by Marco Gaminara |
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| This four piece out
of London shall more than likely go a long way with their song
writing ability. Granted, some additional layers of guitar
when recording would have fattened out the sound and leave it
sounding as powerful as it ought to be. Alex's riffs are
strong, as are his rhythm changes, it's just that doubling
them up would add a whole new dimension to their sound. With
that in mind, the drumming is solid but not spectacular and a
definite increase in the use of the double kick pedal shall
add to the heaviness, granted Joel isn't to blame for this as
he didn't actually play on the demo. The bass is very low in
the mix and doesn't quite punch through like it ought to for a
band with a single guitar, but that said Tom's
playing is solid and extremely tight. Josh's vocals are an
additional strongpoint as they fit in with their sound
perfectly. Their sound is in the middle ground between thrash
grooves and hardcore syncopation, and said vocals contain the
right amount of hardcore aggression along with throaty thrash
growls thrown about for good measure. The four song demo
starts off with "For The Faithless", where the choppy guitar
rhythm is counterpoised by the drums which have a timing
signature all their own. I enjoyed "Arise" the most, with its
bends and sustains and spat out vocals giving a great raw
feel. "A Thousand Words Unspoken" is more mid-paced and
straightforward in its approach, showcasing thrash
sensibilities. Final track "Survival Tactic" opens with an
clean guitar interlude which morphs into quickly played
triplets accompanied by simple timekeeping and some angry
shouting by Josh. All in all, there's plenty of potential here
that shall definitely be honed into an excellent band with
some great songs and riffs. Definitely something to look out
for in the future.
www.myspace.com/morethandust
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