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Quills - Quills (Galy)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Blowing by in under eight minutes is the debut MCD from Quills
(not to be mistaken with Swedish prog/doom band The Quill), a
Maryland-based hardcore side project of sorts featuring
members of such diverse groups as Swarm Of The Lotus, Misery
Index (notably Jason Netherton), and Ruiner.
A rather typical take on modern hardcore/metalcore minus the
heavy use of breakdowns, Quills also tends to remind me of
such notables as GBH and a cleaner sounding Septic Death for
those of you that go way back. Quills self-proclaimed motto is
“keep it short, keep it fast”, and that’s exactly what they
do. The self-titled MCD consists of eight songs, |
averaging under a minute, that blow by with some up-tempo,
near blast beat, driven hardcore (guitar sound is rather
typical of hardcore) with a few slower moments interspersed to
keep it all fresh and interesting.
Pure hardcore’s really not my thing, but there’s enough of a
metal influence (without most of the annoying wankery present
in most metalcore) here to keep me interested, and I’d look
forward to a proper, full-length from this project. Not bad.
www.galyrecords.com
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Skid Row - Revolutions
Per Minute
(SPV)
By: Joe Florez |
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Original members Scotti Hill, Dave “The Snake” Sabo and Rachel
Bolan are back with new drummer Dave Gara and Johnny Solinger
leading the way on vocals for his second effort with the
group. The comeback record “Thickskin” was an ok effort at
best. It had too much of an alternative feel and not as much
rock. While it wasn’t a great release, I did see some
potential. Now with round two in the new millennium, the boys
tear shit up with a better product.
“Disease” already proves to be a solid number as everything on
here is tougher, meaner and leaner. This one deserves to be
cranked up to 11. Everything about this song reeks of |
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loudness. The guitars wail and scream, while the drumming is
ruthless and Johnny sings his little heart out. The great
thing is that there are some decent melodies thrown into the
mix to make this a vicious, but memorable cut. “Another Dick
In The System” is low down, dirty rock with a killer rhythm
section that just moves and grooves from start to finish.
There’s a blues vibe thrown into the mix just to rough things
up a bit. After delivering two rowdy tracks to the masses, SR
shakes things up just a wee bit by serving up something that
is more melodically guitar driven with spikes of energy
inserted when needed. “Pulling My Heart Out From Under Me” is
a really good composition that mixes subtly with minor bouts
of rambunxiousness. Just when you
thought it was safe to get back into rough and rugged rock
mode, the gang throw us all for another loop as they serves up
a country track in the form of “When God Can’t Wait” which is
nothing short of rockabilly. I can totally see and hear Mr.
Solinger doing this because I can’t imagine Sebastian ever
doing something like this. This CD is just a smorgasbord of
sounds as we also get a touch of punk with the comical “White
Trash.” I think I really enjoyed this disc about as much as
the older material, but in a different light. The good ’ol
days were soaked in pop/glam/rock while this is more lewd and
crude and exploding with a lot of bad attitude. I’m digging
this one a whole hell of a lot.
www.spv.de |
www.skidrow.com |
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Striborg -
Embittered Darkness/Isle De Morts (Southern Lord)
By: Dave Schalek |
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Hideously grotesque, harsh black metal from Tasmania?! That’s
exactly what Striborg happens to be, as the one-man project of
a troll-like being named Sin-Nanna. Southern Lord releases the
latest full-length from this creature, entitled “Embittered
Darkness”, as well as the 1997 demo “Isle De Morts”. The two
releases combine for 16 songs and over 75 minutes of
exceptionally harsh, very thinly produced raw black metal.
“Embittered Darkness” is first and I was immediately making
comparisons between Striborg and the last two masterpieces of
Black Funeral. Very thin guitars consisting of mostly simple
riffs, a total absence of melody, and skewed and dissonant
tempos are |
combined
with very harsh, troll-like vocals to produce some truly
grotesque black metal. In addition, a few acoustical guitar
passages overlying the raw aspects make an appearance, as well
as some rather strange ambient moments. However, there seems
something lacking here that I can quite put my finger on. For
example, although Black Funeral is a very harsh listen,
there’s enough weirdness going on in the songs to hold your
interest, although getting through an album in one sitting is
difficult. Many of the signature elements from Black Funeral
are present on “Embittered Darkness”, but the songs seem to
fail to really hold my interest for a long period. After a
couple of tracks, the thin music seems to fade in the
background. Perhaps with some more sophistication in songwriting, Striborg will equal the qualities that elevate
Black Funeral.
So, with these thoughts in mind, I listened to “Isle De Morts”
to see what stylistic changes took place in a nine-year
period. Essentially, the earlier material has a more typical
take on raw black metal, with a slightly thicker guitar sound,
a faster tempo, and lower pitched vocals more reminiscent of
Darkthrone, rather than the emulation of Black Funeral. The
material is certainly nothing terribly surprising, but
competently done.
So, a mixed review seems to be in order. As mentioned, perhaps
some better songwriting would do Striborg well. Incidentally,
Sunn O)) pays homage to Striborg with the track “Sin Nanna”.
www.southernlord.com
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The Meads of
Asphodel - In The Name of God.... Welcome To Planet Genocide
(Firestorm Records) Review by Steve Green |
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It's taken a long time, but I
think The Meads of Asphodel have finally come of age. I've
been a fan since their demo days, and have liked every
release, but I've always felt that as the band progressed,
they've faltered slightly after each, for want of a better
phrase, "breakthrough album". With, in my opinion, The
Excommunication of Christ and The Mill Hill Sessions being
their best work so far. New MCD In The Name of God....
eclipses everything the band has done before and hopefully
heralds a new dawn that see will them signed to a label of
significance soon.
Free from the shackles of Supernal, a label which the band
outgrew, this new MCD feels |
fresh and vibrant from the off. A
maelstrom of sounds, including hellish screams, everyone's
favourite thicko George W, mixed with a Winston Churchill
speech, are beautifully serenaded by guest vocalist Susan
Millar's dulcet tones on opener Psalm 364. I know I'm biased
towards female vocalists, but Susan Millar and backing
vocalist Lindsey Brackey add such a different dimension to The
Meads sound, they do sound like a band reborn.... that is
until the gnarly vocals of Metatron drag us back to the sewer
with the wonderfully titled My Beautiful Genocide. The song is
catchy as fuck thanks to J.D. Tait's tagline of "Murder is my
God" and the happy vibe deflects from the songs darker subject
matter. The crazy song titles and infectious grooves continue
with "A Baptism in the warm piss of slaughtered children" and
despite outlandish time changes which really shouldn't exist,
it's impossible not to be sucked into the joyous and uplifting
sounds my speakers spit forth with glee. The female vocals
return for The Man Who Killed God which add a Pink Floyd, Dark
Side Of The Moon lushness, the harshness of the music is toned
down to an almost psychedelic vibe, maaaan. And yet again
despite the madness of placing this in the middle of carnage
and hatred, it works, and works well. This is a band who are
not afraid to take risks and the rewards are the audible
treats, that benefit you the listener.
March Towards Annihilation is a proggy instrumental (with
keyboards courtesy of Sigh's Mirai) that gives way to a
Discharge medley of Hell On Earth and Blood Runs Red, which as
you'd expect are rawer than wanking with sandpaper. (Something
I have to admit I've not tried). An electronic trip-hop beat
signals the beginning of the final chapter, Aborted Stygian
Foetus and sees the band head in yet another direction and one
that doesn't really get going. It's a shame the MCD ends in
such a subdued fashion, but there's more than enough material
to keep the listener happy. There's also a ridiculous hidden
track tacked at the end of the cd, I've only listened to it
once as Metatron's drunken ramblings are too bizarre for an
innocent country boy such as myself.
All in all, this is the dogs bollocks. Grab yourself a copy at
www.themeadsofasphodel.com |
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| The Wake - Death-A-Holic
(Candlelight USA)
By: Jesse Ketman |
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Despite it’s relatively low population, Finland has
increasingly become more or less a bastion for all kinds of
rippin’ new metal. Be it the extremely popular COB or operatic
metal-gods Nightwish, the quality of many Finnish acts of late
have won my heart, not to mention my mp3 space. However,
nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught of terrible
beauty that is The Wake. I’m not going to beat around the bush
in any sense on this one: bands like this are why I listen to
metal. Drawing more of a comparison to Shadows Fall than
anything else in my mind, The Wake still pave a path that is
all their own, and exude levels of energy one might find in a
nuclear reactor. For those of you that enjoy your |
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Enemy, try to recall the very first time you experienced Wages
of Sin. Not only is Death-a-Holic comparable, but in my mind it flat-out
dominates even that opus. Worthy of note, as well, is that
this is only the band’s second album (first being Ode to My
Misery, 2003). That being said, the musical chemistry of this
band is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Every song is a
crescendo of modern metal sensibilities tinged with just
enough hardcore elements for it to straight up spit on the
guidelines of what metal is, shortly before wiping it’s arse
and tossing it at an emo kid. I could go on, but I’m sure
you’re getting the point that this is a fish-in-a-barrel
review, and as such, I leave you with these parting words: Go
buy Death-a-Holic. Now.
www.thewake.com
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www.candlelightrecordsusa.com |
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Tommy Bolin - Whips
And Roses II (SPV) review by Joe Florez |
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Well, it’s a second serving of unreleased material from this
highly underrated six stringer. The first volume was dished
out just a mere few months ago and now we get 12 more goodies.
“The Grind” is a combination of blues and glam with a hint of
psychedelic. Tommy not only plays, but he sings as well and
when you hear this it has a T. Rex flavor. I am not a huge fan
of Tommy’s when it comes to his singing, but musically it’s
not bad. “Crazed Fandango” is my cup of tea. It’s a
combination of funk and urban sounds with some jazz thrown in
for extra kick. The sax is rockin’ as the axe work is groovin’
and movin’ with no end in sight. What I like most about this
is that it comes across more or less as a jam |
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session
than a structured piece of work. The bass licks on here get
down as well as some added percussion. While a song like “Sooner
Or Later” has a rock beat, it’s the retro 70s funk that keeps
me interested from start to finish. While Vol. 1 was decent, I
like this more… a whole hell of a lot more. As usual, the man
doesn’t remain in one genre for too long as he has A.D.D. and
bounces around left and right which will have you constantly
guessing where it’s going next. I’m not too sure how many more
gems are locked away in the vault, but let’s keep these
unreleased goodies to a minimum. I’m sure that there is enough
material out there to keep ‘em coming left and right much like
Elvis, TuPac and Biggie Smalls. I don’t want this man’s
reputation to be tarnished for being a whore who dishes albums
out ruthlessly long after his death. These recordings are
special and those who like this music will have a good time
with them like myself.
www.spv.de |
www.spvusa.com
| www.tbolin.com |
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Twilight Ophera/Order of the Sanguine Diadem –
Descension (Low Frequency Records)
Review by Sam Thomas |
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I am struggling to
get to grips with the business of who exactly is the band
behind this album. According to the press release, “This year
humanity shall fall into its lowest depths as Twilight Ophera
has joined forces with the Order of the Sanguine Diadem to
create the threnody of man, “Descension” ”. However, when I
looked at the line-up of each band, they appeared to be
identical, so I am at a complete loss as to what’s going on.
Nothing new there then. There is no obvious demarcation
between tracks, and the website doesn’t help either. The only
clue is that track six is called “Sanguine Diadem”, but there
doesn’t seem to be any significant difference between this and
the preceding tracks. |
Having
said all of the above, this doesn’t feel like a split album.
It feels more like a metal version of “Stars in their Eyes”,
as the band perform in various personae on various tracks,
sometimes showing a distinct split personality within tracks.
The problem with this is that you tend to spend all your time
trying to guess who they’re going to be next, and totally fail
to get into the mood at all. Mostly they’d like to be a
Finnish Dimmu Borgir, but there are so many influences
(Nevermore, Charon, To/Die/For, in fact most Finnish bands)
that every time I listen I hear someone else. There are some
particularly dodgy clean vocals, including some that
(mercifully briefly) sound like Arcturus on a bad day.
Examining the lyrics didn’t help me either: they’ve been
written in some derivative of English which has then been
translated by a mechanical process and then translated back
again. I had to resort to an online dictionary to find the
meaning of some words (shades of Tiamat!) but I’m sure that
“eidolon” will crop up any day now in the pub quiz. Meanwhile,
I’m still struggling with “Some perdure in sanitys scion”.
Overall, this is very much a “Spiritual Black Dimensions” era
Dimmu Borgir alike, with all the keyboards and vocals typical
of the genre. If they’d stuck to that, it would be fine, and,
although I don’t want to stop bands from experimenting, and
certainly don’t want all music to be cloned copies of existing
albums, I’m afraid to say that as soon as they deviate from
that path, they seem to lose their way and just end up in an
amorphous mess. And now they’ve got me using big words as
well! Basically, these are a perfectly talented band of
musicians, who just need to focus on one direction and stick
with it.
www.twilight-ophera.com |
www.lowfrequencyrecords.fi |
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