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Twisted Into Form -
Then Comes Affliction To Awaken The Dreamer (Sensory Records)
By Joe Florez |
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I had no idea that
this was a Norwegian super group comprised of former Spiral
Architect members current Extol drummer. Not a fan of Extol,
but loved SA. However, I had no clue whatsoever that this was
in the works, so curiosity prevailed and I had to check it
out. What I heard was not too pleasing to the ears. Well, mine
anyway. The guitar licks during “Enter Nothingness” were
consistently nagging until the wacky change ups occurring at
different points of the song in which they get very jazzy and
progressive. The drumming didn’t stimulate the mind much and
as far as the vocals went they were just there. There was no
life to them. The wildest part of this song and most of the
others is that the |
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compositions are remarkably short and to the point. Under five
minutes is what they strive for with the exception of a few
that go over six. “Instinct Solitaire” seemed like a bunch of wankery as the
performances just go on and on with no point. A cool solo is
inserted, but that too gets way too flashy for its own good. I
loved the bass grooves thrown into “Torrents” and that is the
only reason why I liked the song. I hate to really harp on a
disc especially like this since all of the artists on here
play with integrity, intelligence and class, but it’s the
writing in my eyes that makes this release a bore. I do see
and hear potential, but a lot of reworking and fine tuning is
going to be needed in order to survive on disc number two.
There are too many technical bands/albums out there vying for
your attention. A lot of the beats, breakdowns and such seem
to be misplaced a lot of the time. Cynic this is not, nor
later era Death, Spastic Ink, Gordian Knot…you get the idea. I
may be wrong here and some folks may dig this, but I have
heard better that has held my attention span for the duration
of their offering.
www.twistedintoform.no
| www.lasercd.com |
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Tyr - Ragnarok
(Napalm Records) Review by Steve Green |
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I really liked Tyr's debut album
Eric The Red, but I felt the band didn't really let go. A year
on, I still can't put my finger on what I think is missing
from the album, I guess it's just a feeling of restraint.
Excuse the analogy, but it's like being constantly on the
verge of an orgasm, but without the arrival of the money shot.
A great feeling for a while, but not for a whole hour. So have
the band stepped things up a level with Ragnarok? Because of
the added vibrancy to the sound, I have to say yes. Although
I'd still like vocalist Heri Joensen to develop a more
sinister side to his range, as, please forgive me for this, he
sounds like a Viking/Doom cousin of the Proclaimers. If you
know the Scottish twins that make up the |
Proclaimers, you'll know exactly
what I mean. But all joking aside, Tyr are superb at what they
do. Epic slabs of Nordic/Faroese folklore, all wrapped up in a
doomy-folky shroud and with a sound that is instantly
recognizable as their own.
And as it's difficult to say what was missing from their debut
album, it's equally difficult to pinpoint why I like Ragnarok
so much. It's an album that takes an age to get to grips with.
16 songs is a lot to absorb and it does take a good dozen
listens to even begin to appreciate the amount of work the
band have put it to this opus. The rocking and uplifting
Brothers Bane is instantly likeable and accessible and the
multi layered chorus is pure Viking nirvana. Well worth
raising a glass or two in it's honour. In complete contrast,
The Ride To Hel, works well within the context of the album,
but take it away from that environment and it wouldn't work at
all. I guess my point is that Ragnarok is not about individual
songs, it's about listening to, and appreciating the album as
a whole. Although I'm now going to contradict myself and say
Part V - Grimur A Midalnesi & Wings Of Time are my favourite
tracks, mainly because of their rousing choruses.
Tyr are not a band for instant gratification. Like a good
wine, or even a good woman, they are worth investing a lot of
time with (Shit, I hope that doesn't sound sexist)
www.napalmrecords.com |
www.tyr.net
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Våld - Boycott Your
Life (Treason Troops) Review by James Young |
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I have been on a hunt for a new and exciting grindcore band as
of late - there has been very little to keep my passion for
the genre alive and I have found myself rather disillusioned
with the scene as a whole recently. Things looked a whole lot
more promising however when Våld’s creation ‘Boycott Your
Life’ was sent to me for review. Tingling with excitement at
the self-described ‘Brutal motherfucking metal massacre’ that
I was about to hear, I must say that when I played the album,
I was a little disappointed. The Finnish quartet’s second
release lasts for half an hour and blends grindcore, crust and
noise in such a way to be both intriguing and unfortunately
rather tedious at the same time. |
To be fair, there is a lot going for the band - the production
is perfect for a grindy crust album, with a rumbling bass,
tinny drum sound , growling guitars and vocals fierce enough
to inspire fear into the bravest of men. Three members of the
band get behind the microphone at various points, and it’s
impossible to tell whether G.G., Nick or D. take on different
styles or overlap, but nevertheless, to use the term
‘abrasive’ to describe the sound is an understatement. Whether
using a throaty shout, as can be heard on the oddly catchy
‘Fuck Fashion’, or screaming like a nutter in ‘War’ (although
I could have chosen from many examples), I was always happy
with the vocal chord damage that went into making this disc.
Add to that the fact that many of the tracks are extremely
listenable, and you would think you’re onto a winner. The
first few tracks for example are amongst the best found on the
album, delivering everything I was hoping for, kicking off
with a blazing drum intro to opener ‘Boycott Your Life’ which
leads into a grinding passage full of Nick’s up-tempo guitar
riffing and the punky ‘oom-pa’ drumming of Kenzo. ‘Min Revolt’
and ‘Here In The Darkness’ glide past with as much subtlety as
you would expect from a grind crust outfit, resembling the
likes of Rotten Sound and Extreme Noise Terror. However, a
distinct lack of blastbeats (or any at all come to think of
it) gives a fairly narrow range of grinding possibilities, and
things get slightly repetitive over the next few tracks. Even
more worryingly, ‘No Future / Nothing’ and ‘Waiting For The
Angels To Cry’ even hint at noisecore, with expansive riffs
and harsh vocal lines enough to make the grind purist frown.
Despite this slight break from the standard sound of the
album, I found it harder and harder as the album went on to
distinguish between songs, and I must confess to feeling a
little bored as time went on. The forty-nine second ‘Once
Again’ is an exception to the standard sound of the album,
with some groovy hooks and enough punked-up crust to make your
hair curl, whilst closer ‘Dark Clouds’ slows things down
slightly to create a bold and forceful finale to the disc.
A harsher reviewer in a desperate need for a play-on-words may
say ‘Boycott This Album’, but it really isn’t that bad. It
could have done with a bit more variation and imagination to
be sure, but this doesn’t stop the general madness and vocal
ferocity shining through. Just don’t buy it expecting a
life-changing listen.
www.vald.info |
www.myspace.com/valdpunk
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Verismo – City Of
Kings (Self-Released) By Ryan Ogle |
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Based out of Brooklyn, NY, this power trio boasts quite a
cultural background with members hailing from Italy, Hungary
and The Philippines. Before you envision some wild menagerie
of worldly influences twisted into one ball of sonic
diversity, you might hold on to your passport a little longer.
The band’s name itself may conjure images of the brutally
realistic and oftentimes violent style of opera for which the
moniker is derived but this influence is lacking as well. What
Verismo is, however, is a high-energy, straight-forward heavy
rock act who have done well to cement a sound that is
distinctly its own. Elements of thrash and punk’s heavier side
gives City Of Kings that nice, warm pissed-off vibe that |
saves
the album from the long reaching arms of aural redundancy.
While some of the disc greeted me with that ‘yeah, this is
cool, but I’m not busting any nuts over here’ feeling; other
moments, such as the gloomy-acoustic-cum-neck-snappin’-thrash
tune “Moment Of Clarity” or the street-wise opener “Enemy”
gave me something to band my head about. At the end of the
day, I found City Of Kings to be a good listen with plenty of
kick ass guitar and mad-as-hell vocals to sink your teeth into
but as a whole, this pony never really gets out of the gate.
www.versimetal.com
| https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/verismo |
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Winter’s Verge -
Another Life…Another End (Self-released) Review by James Young |
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The symphonic prog-tinged power metal that Winter’s Verge
generate may be ground trodden on by a fair few in the past,
but hailing from Cyprus, not particularly renowned for music,
let alone epic fantasy metal, you simply have to sit up and
take notice. These guys obviously take influence from the
usual list of Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Rhapsody et al, and
whilst not wholly original in this respect, have put out a
cracking album in the form of Another Life…Another End. The
first thing that struck me was the sheer talent from each of
the five members - most of them have experience from playing
in other bands in Cyprus (make of that what you will), and
there is a dazzling display of skill on every track. Maturity, |
far
beyond many mainstream acts, is found in the way in which very
few of the songs follow a verse-chorus-verse-chorus formula,
giving an unpredictable quality to the album that you will be
feeling to the bitter end. Vocalist George is quite simply
gifted - with ample opportunities to show his range of
high-pitched yelps and clean melodic styles, he continually
impresses and could be placed alongside some of the best in
the genre. There are no less than three numbers which could
qualify as ballads, or very gentle tracks, and I could swear
that his sublime voice gets better with each listen. One of
the few faults I did find with this disc was the production -
it is not the best I have ever heard. It is extremely brave to
record such a busy mix of sounds, and things do get a bit
messy at times, usually when guitar, bass and Stefanos’
ambitious keyboard spots all collide. This happens most
noticeably on otherwise outstanding track ‘Exile’, where there
is a rather uncomfortable shift between symphony and solo
which could have done with a bit of cleaning up. In a
similarly frustrating way, the double kick drums, which
Andreas seems perfectly capable of playing, are lost
completely at times, taking the pounding rhythm of ‘A Secret
Once Forgotten’ as an example. George’s voice is also rather
under-produced, and although staggeringly good, could have
done with a bit of tweaking at times. I’m aware this may sound
nit-picking, but when you think of what this band could be,
nay, will be, when these sound issues are sorted out, it is a
very promising thought indeed.
This is a concept album, and despite owning the lyrics and
reading over them many a time, I haven’t really got much of a
clue what the story is about - a summary would have been a
nice addition to the booklet guys! Nor did the spoken word
‘Intro’ help things out much, but I gather that the plot is a
rather tragic love story that involves the death of a wife and
the husband’s quest to join her, resulting in his own death -
jolly, eh? Onto the music itself, ‘Eternal Damnation’ and
Exile’ contain just the right amount of keyboard-mashing
symphony to be impressive without being pretentious or cheesy.
Stefanos’ busy key tinkling reminded me of Power Quest’s Steve
Williams in speed and forward-thinking, bringing a rather
upbeat mood to the pretty depressing subject matter. The
ballads can be fairly melancholy, ‘Hold My Hand’ taking us on
a slow-paced ride, but ‘Can You Hear Me’ delivering the mellow
piano, guitar and orchestral build-up into an inevitable
guitar solo from Periklis the size of Cyprus (not the best
example I know, but hey, it’s relevant). The atmosphere is
taken to another level in the spookily grand Emperor-style
symphonic sections of ‘A Secret Once Forgotten’, which really
brings out the epic side of the band, whilst ‘My Winter Sun’
shows the great interaction between band members in the
intense guitar-keyboard duel that takes centre stage mid-song.
And of course there’s nothing more jolly to end everything
with than a song called ‘Suicide Note’, an acoustic led
misery-maker that’s as depressing as it is impeccably
delivered.
Let’s hope that unlike the rather final subject matter that
this disc is crammed with, there is plenty more to come from
this band. Given a tighter production and a similar display of
skill, there’s no way that Cyprus will be able to contain this
bunch - what a scorcher!
www.myspace.com/wintersverge |
www.wintersverge.com
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Xasthur- Subliminal
Genocide (Hydra Head Records)
By: Dave Schalek |
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The increasingly influential and prolific Malefic demonstrates
yet again why, in the end, the only relevant art form left
will be suicidal black metal as envisioned by a master. As
humanity’s ever-increasing slide into barbarism, suicide, and
ultimate self-destruction continues to play out on the evening
news, Xasthur’s latest release, “Subliminal Genocide”,
provides the perfect musical accompaniment to our collapse as
a species as well as our despoilment of the planet.
Released on Hydra Head Records along with help from Azentrius’
Battle Kommand Records, “Subliminal Genocide” delivers the
trademark sound of Xasthur with a distinctive |
flourish. The droning riffs, tortured howls, simple drum
patterns and tempos, and subtle melodies that are familiar
from past releases are present, but are backed by a powerful,
yet still dreadfully raw, production that allows Malefic’s vision of
darkness to rise to prominence.
At the forefront of “Subliminal Genocide”, perhaps more so
than from earlier output, is the now prevalent use of melodies
and harmonies brought out with spoken word interludes deeply
growled in the far background, acoustical guitars played
slightly off key and skewed, and the use of keyboards. The
fuzzed out riffs, simple tempos, and other aspects of raw
black metal are still prominently displayed, but the use of
these other techniques truly envelops the listener in a sense
of despair, foreboding, and darkness.
Xasthur is truly that band that best encapsulates these
feelings of utterly bleak darkness, more so than other masters
of the USBM scene, such as Leviathan and Nachtmystium, that
tend to play a more traditional style of raw, black metal.
Xasthur tends to focus upon malevolent emotion, brought about
by atmospherics, rather than the more traditional, raw and
brutal elements of black metal. To that end, Malefic has
succeeded beyond perhaps any other black metal release this
year, and has produced a masterpiece of dark emotion.
Essential.
www.hydrahead.com
| www.battlekommand.com |
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Zero Hour - Specs Of
Pictures Burnt Beyond (Sensory)
By: Joe Florez |
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I was more than
impressed with the last two efforts from this U.S. group. They
managed to take progressive metal to new and exciting heights
by being bold, heavy and exciting. Now, they strike back with
number four and some things have changed. For instance, they
have a new singer. It’s their third one and this time out it’s
former Power Of Omens Chris Salinas. He is good, but not
great. “Face The Fear” starts out with great intensity and
Chris hitting high notes. But, it doesn’t take long before the
problems set in. It slows down just two minutes in and drags
for a while. It’s actually boring, but picks up some steam
eventually. It’s technical as hell, but fails to impress
because a lot of the riffs are repetitive and really go |
| nowhere
unlike the previous discs. There is a ton of filler on here
and that’s because it’s nine minutes long. Unfortunately, I
wasn’t all that thrilled by the second cut “The Falcon’s Cry.”
I did like the fact that they took a more mature approach to
the song writing by not making every note heavy and fast, but
this one also drags through the mud at a snails pace and not
leaving much room for excitement. Lots of intricate
performances are showcased here, but not enough fireworks go
off. The title track manages to spark some interest as the
guys get back on track like they did in the past. It’s mid to
faster paced with exciting performances all around and there
is no slack to pick up. Intricate as hell as usual, but more
than satisfying…finally. I was expecting so much more from ZH, but was left with egg on my face for the
most part. I know it’s important to try new avenues, however
it doesn’t mean that you can’t be adventurous. This isn’t what
I was expecting, but perhaps now that they have found a new
singer they can write better material the next time out since
they will be much more comfortable with each other by then. I
will say that the production is stellar and the drum recording
sounds phenomenal.
www.lasercd.com
| www.zerohourmetal.net
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