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| AFTER ALL – Cult of Sin (CD) | Belgium | June 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Speed / Thrash Metal | Running time: 48:43 (Tracks: 12) + bonus video | ||
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Again a new album from Belgium's most fanatic thrashband After All. I reviewed their latest album "This Violent Decline" in November 2006 (see Archive CD/DVD reviews) and I was very enthusiastic about that album. It was, compared with their earlier releases, a big step forward musically and especially vocally. Singer Piet Focroul has always been the weakest member of the line up but on "This Violent Decline" he was singing much better! Well this new album is a logical follow up to their latest releases and production wise the album sounds awesome! Superb production again by the band & Dee J who also produced the last album. Because of my good review from their latest album the band sended me this new one. Luckily because Dockyard1 Records is one of the labels that only send promo's as I-Pool downloads these days and we as MMM team don't like to cooperate with that kind of promotion (I can speak for most of my reviewers). After All has grown the last few years as a band; their music is very Bay Area orientated and the band doesn't use the lower gears….. It's all full speed ahead just like all the 80's thrash bands did in the past. This is again a very good album with some great songs like; 'Devastation Done', 'My own Sacrifice' & 'Embracing Eternity'. If you like their last 2 albums than you can buy this one blindly! Because this album is not much more spectacular than his predecessor my rate will be a little lower this time but I think the band will not complain about that J Special to this album is the fact that the band has some cult guest musicians on some of the songs; 'Land of Sin' (Andy LaRocque), 'Embracing Eternity' (James Rivera), 'Betrayed by the Gods' (Juan Garcia, Bernie Versailles, Joey Vera). As a kind of hidden track Dio's |'Holy Diver' is added as last song. Check it out!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.afterall.be
Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/afterallmetal |
85/100 |
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| ALVERG – Elde (CD) | Norway | June 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 58:44 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Beautiful Norway! A country one must at least see once in his lifetime. A country that gave us so much beautiful music. Music where you sometimes can feel the nature woven into it. It's no difference with Alverg a band that gives birth to their debut release "Elde". Signed by Karmageddon Media at the beginning of this decade but never released anything on that label because of the bankruptcy shortly after. As said the beautiful nature of Norway is one of the biggest influences in the sound of Alverg. A sound that is somewhat of laid back. As if peddling through the fjords alone on a beautiful autumn day the music ripples forth. Even the faster parts seem well balanced. Comparisons with the debut album of Kampfar can be made and even in times "For all Tid" from Dimmu Borgir comes in mind. This is said just to give you an impression of the somewhat calm sound Alverg produces although an overall melancholic feel took a hand of me listening to this album. Favourite song must be "Svarthammern" which has a great repetitive riff in it and some beautiful acoustic parts. Throughout the end a beautiful lead part sends me once again to a place I like to live in the near future. After this the grand piano melodies of "Towards the kingdom of Alverg" kick in. Final song of the album with clean sung parts in it. "Melancholy still my desire, sweep me away into the vale of thine" I thought. Still thinking if I must write that this is easy-listening black metal or heavy, dramatic stuff where you can dangerously get pulled in when listening to… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.alverg.com
Recordlabel: http://www.soulsellerrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/alverg |
79/100 |
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| CAGE – Science of Annihilation (CD) | USA | June 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Power Metal | Running time: 55:33 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Cage is a band from San Diego, California, USA and exist since 1992. It was in 1998 when CAGE released their first full-length cd appropriately called "UNVEILED". This album was more a kind of progressive metal album. They began writing for their follow up cd right before they played the 1999 DYNAMO Open Air festival. CAGE added powerhouse drummer Mikey Niel to the band to increase the power and speed of the group. This proved to be an excellent move, as his impact was a key factor to the success of their second release "ASTROLOGY". The band released their 3rd cd "DARKER THAN BLACK" in early 2003. This was my real first acquaintance with Cage and man I was blown away by their power!! US metal as it should sound!! High pitching vocals, double bass drums, screaming guitars combined with some rawer, deathmetal-a-like parts in Sean Peck's vocal range! Excellent album that could nearly reach the ultimate high score! "Darker Than Black" saw CAGE playing faster and more aggressive songs. For the 1st time ever, vocalist Sean Peck combined clean, power, black and death metal vocal parts on the songs WHITE MAGIC, CHUPACABRA and SECRETS OF FATIMA. The cd also included the road-tested classic metal anthem KILL THE DEVIL. Upon its release, Darker Than Black was hailed as an instant classic by many of the metal industry leading magazines and webzines worldwide by getting dozens of perfect reviews and scores and especially the metal hungry army of loyal CAGE fans. The more curious I was after there last album "Hell Destroyer" (2007) which I unfortunately never received from the band or their label L Luckily I had the opportunity to see the band live twice last month (see Live Reviews) and they blew me away with their power and musicianship! Drummer Mikey Niel was already replaced by ex-Psychotic Waltz drummer Norm Leggio. Singer Sean Peck gave me the new cd during one of the shows last month and after hearing a few of the songs already live my expectations where even higher for the complete album. Well finally here it is! From the first till the last note its US METAL how it should be! I already saw a lot of reviews of the album and most of them compare "Science of Annihilation" with the Judas Priest classic "PainKiller". Well forget that; "SoA" is much much better!! This album is full of great compositions (which I can't say from all the PainKiller songs)!! Sean Peck is doing a hell of a job and musically this is superb!! One of the best albums of 2009 till now and it will be difficult to find a better one I'm afraid!! Compliments guys!! US-metal rulessssss!!! Buy or DIE!!!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.cageheavymetal.com
Recordlabel: http://www.musicbuymail.eu MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/cageheavymetal |
98/100 |
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| CARBON 9 – The Bull (CD) | USA | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Modern Metal / Industrial | Running time: 54:29 (Tracks: 16) | ||
| Personally I never had heard of CARBON 9 before, but they really surprised me with this album "The Bull". The band exists of Stacey Quinealty (vocals, programming), Danny Cistone (backing vocals, performance art), Darwin Devitis (guitar, backing vocals), Omar D Brancato (bass, backing vocals) and Matty Milani (drums, backing vocals). CARBON 9 plays a mixture of Modern Metal with an Industrial twist. If I'm right the band released their debut album "COTM" in 2004, so "The Bull" must be their second album. These guys recorded 15 tracks for this album. One of those 15 songs is a cover, which is DANZIG's "Mother" of the self-titled debut album of DANZIG. And it's a very nice done industrial version of it. There are a few songs on this album which I totally don't like and those songs are "What Is It We're Made Of", "Crawling Over Me" and "Tongues". After "Tongues" you'll get a kind of hidden track, which isn't very interesting either. The album was produced by Quinealty himself and mixed by Frank Gryner (ROB ZOMBIE, A PERFECT CIRCLE, COAL CHAMBER, TOMMY LEE) and sounds marvellous. The best songs on "The Bull" are in my opinion "My Friend", "Somebody Like Me", "Mother" (of course), "Butterflies In My Head" (superb), "This Life", "I'm Not Broken", "Loving You" and the semi-ballad "Lonely In Love". Go check these songs, they are awesome. This is a very nice acquaintance for me. Very interesting band. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.carbon9.com
Recordlabel: http://www.worldsound.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/carbon9 |
84/100 |
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| DEMOLISHED - Defleshing the Innocent (CD) | Belgium | June 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 25:23 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| Demolished is a fairly new death metal band from Belgium. They formed in 2005 and are now releasing their first album "Defleshing The Innocent". This cd contains 6 songs that one can label as old school death metal with just that bit of extra brutality and I must admit that the concept realy works out great. The old school sound of guitar and vocals always sounds great to me and the musicians are technical enough to make it interesting but aren't playing to technical to make it boring for an old school fan like me. We get pounding drums without the constant blastbeats to support the great riffing and the old schoolish grunt accompanied with the occasional scream. If I have to say anything bad about this album is that it really just is a bit to short. Even though I rather have a short good album than a longer one with the same amount of good songs and some additional fillers 25 minutes just isn't long enough to me, but hey that's why they invented the repeat button right? To all the old school death metallers out there: support your underground and go buy this, you won't regret it ! | |||
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visit their website: http://www.demolished.be
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/demolishedbe |
87/100 |
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| EAR DANGER – Raw & Real (DVD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 13:44 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| I got this 4 track disc of EAR DANGER from Mario with no biography, cover etc. And the next thing is, that I couldn't play it in my regular CD-player. So it had to be a DVD. Anyway, for some more info about the band I had to search on the internet. EAR DANGER is a Dutch band who was formed in the early eighties and has had many line-up changes in the three years of their existence. They've released two demo's at that time (in 1981 and 1982), which I don't know. The band has been re-formed since, I guess 2006 or 2007, and released the "Shock & Awe" demo. The current line-up of EAR DANGER exists of Leon Lohmann (vocals), Karina Wolf (lead guitar), Ivo Metz (rhythm guitar), Matt Verschoor (bass) and Dick Vijgen (drums). Original members are Matt and Dick. The four live songs on this DVD, which is titled "Raw & Real", are "Give 'em Hell", "Beelzebub's Friend", "Burn At The Stake" and "Shock & Awe". All those songs are filmed from just one point. With EAR DANGER you get back into the eighties again, because they play traditional Heavy Metal. It all sounds nice, but actually it's nothing really special. Lohmann is a reasonable singer and the musicians are okay too. I guess this DVD is just for promoting themselves for clubs, magazines etc. and I think it's not for sale. Just a nice band to see when they are playing at your local club. That's all. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.eardanger.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/eardangermetal |
68/100 |
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| EDGE OF SERENITY – The Chaos Theory (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 47:18 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Under the supervision of vocalist/guitarist Wietze Halma, a new Dutch band was formed in 2007. The band was called Edge of Anger at that time. Since then they've produced two demo's which were nicely reviewed by the press. In March 2009 the band decided to rename themselves into Edge of Serenity. Their demo's still stand fierce in my personal collection so I was really looking forward to their full length 'The Chaos Theory'. They recorded the album in the middle of 2008 at the German Spacelab studio's. Did the music evolve with the name change? Definitely YES! Edge of Serenity creates a subtle mixture of melodic death metal with a progressive twist. The songs are finished and well thought through. To be honest, I can't name a bad song on this record. The way Edge of Serenity works is really suiting the songs. The refrains with grunts and clean vocals are catchy and the biggest plus goes out to the harmonic instrumental parts. Very well written and extremely addictive. They have a good ear for the theatrical aspect. Special mentioning goes out to the guest vocalists on the record. Judith Stuber (Everon, Satyrian) took op the lead vocals on 'Born to fall apart.' And Tony J.J.'s (Icon in Me, ex-Mnemic) voice really suites the song 'Endless brutality.' Edge of Serenity already shared the stage with giants like Slayer, Aborted and Death Angel and I think that with this album they can tour a lot more. With 'The Chaos Theory', Edge of Serenity have proven to be a force to be reckoned with. All the hard labor of the past is finally paying off and resulted in an excellent album. Definitely the biggest surprise for me this month. If you are into melodic death, heavy or power metal, please give this album a try. You most certainly will like it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.edgeofserenity.com
Recordlabel: http://www.romulusxrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/edgeofserenity |
88/100 |
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| EUREKA – Shackleton`s Voyage (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Progressive Rock | Running time: 51:14 (Tracks: 15) | ||
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The album Shackleton`s Voyage from Eureka tells us the story about Sir Ernest Shackleton`s expedition to Antarctica in the period between 1914 and 1916. A total of 28 adventurers wanted to be the first to cross Antarctica in 1914, but their ship Endurance sank just one day's sail from its extension. The crew had to face all kind of deprivations, but finally all 28 seamen survived. Sir Shackleton became a hero and is considered, along with Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott, the most important Antarctica pioneer. The story of Shackleton is told by 15 songs on the album. Musically, Shackleton`s Voyage operates at the interface of progressive / symphonic rock, but it has also some Celtic influences. The guitar work can be compared with Mike Oldfield. The most of the songs on this concept album are instrumental and mostly played by multi-instrumentalist Frank Bossert, who is also the founder of Eureka. He had been singer, guitarist and bassist in a couple of rock bands before he decided to built his own studio in Husum, Germany. Bossert has recorded this album together with 5 guest musicians of which Billy Sherwood (former Yes) is the most well-known. The songs are connected by a narrator, the voice of British actor Ian Dickinson. The photographs on the album`s cover are original from the expedition. Shakleton`s Voyage is the fourth album release of the Eureka project. The previously released albums were Eureka (1997), The Full Circle (2002) and The Compass Rose in 2005. It`s a well produced album, but for the fans who like heavy and more adventurous symphonic rock, it is maybe too calm. I expected also a more adventurous album, the story is spectacular enough for this, but finally, the album can fascinate me. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.eureka-music.de
Recordlabel: http://www.insideout.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/eurekashackletonsvoyage |
77/100 |
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| GRAVE CROSS – Let it be Darkness (CD) | Mexico | June 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 23:50 (Tracks: 5) | ||
| Grave Cross originates from Mexico and this is actually a self financed work distributed by Blower Records (only 500 copies available). The band tries to recreate the original N.W.O.B.H.M. feeling in its early and obscure form. The thing is that the guys do a good job. "Let it be Darkness" does not have an original sound but the band succeeds in what it wants to present. This demo could actually fool one if told that this was an old recording from 1982. "Staking the Vampire" is probably the best song among the 4 ones (the fifth is an outro). It's a fast paced tune with a great riff. If you are into the revival of the N.W.O.B.H.M. sound you should check Grave Cross out (and North Americans White Wizzard too). | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.blower-records.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/gravecross |
73/100 |
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| HADES – Bootlegged in Boston 1988 (DVD) | USA | June 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Power / Speed Metal | Running time: Documentary + (Tracks: 7) | ||
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Finally after several months I was able to review this DVD from one of my all time favourite US metal bands; HADES!! My DVD player was broken and on my laptop the sound wasn't working so I had to wait till I had a new DVD player….. Was it all worth the wait?? When you compare it with today's DVD recordings; NO! When you see it as youth sentiment; YES!! The DVD is called "Bootlegged in Boston 1988" and a bootleg it is! The recordings are very amateurish and the sound quality is also mediocre but who cares? I don't because to see & hear one of my all time favourite singers, Alan Tecchio, is always a party to me! Luckily I have seen the band also several times in the late 80's and the band will also do a reunion show at the next Keep it True festival in April 2010 (Germany). Hopefully they will play "Process of Assimilation" at KIT XIII. Im asking Alan Tecchio for more than 20 years now and hopefully this time he will listen to me, hahahaha. The DVD is nevertheless fun to see and to dig some old memories. And the setlist is of course great; "Opinionate!!'', "The Leaders", "Diplomatic Immunity", "In the Meantime", "Aftermath of Betrayal", "I too Eye" & "Nightstalker". Just for Hades fans!! The DVD also includes a nice documentary filmed during the recordings of their "The Downside" album. Now im still hoping that Alan Tecchio will also reunites with Watchtower and Power someday which where his best bands in my opinion (hint) | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.danlorenzo.net/hades
Recordlabel: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hadesusa |
Production 45/100
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| ICON IN ME – Human Museum (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Modern Thrash Metal | Running time: 46:45 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This is the debut album of this Swedish/Russian thrash metal band ICON IN ME which started out in August 2007. In November of that same year work started on their debut fullsize album recording under charge of well known producer Jacob Hansen (Destruction, Mercenary, Raunchy, etc.). Also a lot of guest musicians were invited to participate on the album, among them Steve Smith (ex-Nevermore, Testament), Flemming C. Lund (The Arcane Order, Invocator), Andy Solvestrom (Within Y, Evildoer, Cipher System). Eventually the album got mixed by Jacob Hansen. Early July 2008 ICON IN ME played their first show, opening the Moscow show for Machine Head. At the same time the video of the first single 'That day, That sorrow' was shot. The music of ICON IN ME is really hard and aggressive mostly, with a superb production, great songs that are mostly not to difficult and straight forward thrash metal in your face. From the intro of 'Dislocated' to the end of 'Avoiding The Pain' this album keeps thrashing, with some great riffing, and real heavy drums and the sometimes screaming and sometimes clean vocals by Tony JJ (Mnemic, C-187, MAN). Their musical style could be compared to that of bands like Hatesphere, Mnemic or The Arcane Order, not a bad debut at all, really a band to keep an ear on in the future! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.iconinme.com
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/iconinme |
78/100 |
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| INSANITA – Crimson Messiah (CD) | United Kingdom | June 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 58:00 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This is the second cd with their Scottish thrash metal of Insanita, featuring Allan Scott and Ciaran Wright, formerly of Agankast. The band started out in the summer of 2007, and released 2 albums so far, their debut 'Thrill of the Kill' and now the follow up 'Crimson Messiah'. Insanita plays pure old school thrash metal, and they are very good at it too, fast, aggressive and heavy! The band plays as tight as a ducks ass, great riffs with thunderous drums and flying guitar solo's (listen to 'Breaking Down The Walls), this is how thrash metal should be made. These guys really know how to handle their equipment, and write great thrash anthems, I really couldn't find any bad or even less songs on the album, it rules from beginning to end! This album rages from beginning with 'Abaddon', to end 'The Killing Time' and even extra track 'The Day We Died'. Only remark could be that a better production would be welcome for the next epos, although it sounds really oldschool this way. | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/insanitamusic |
76 /100 |
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| IQ - Frequency (CD) | United Kingdom | June 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Progressive Rock | Running time: 62:02 (Tracks: 7) | ||
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IQ is a progressive rock band that was founded in the early `80`s by guitarist Mike Holmes and keyboard player Martin Orford. They recruited bassist Tim Esau in 1981, followed by vocalist Peter Nicholls and drummer Paul Cook in 1982, when they released their first cassette album 'Seven Stories Into Eight'. Constant gigging throughout the UK led to them becoming a regular fixture at London's legendary Marquee Club. IQ belongs to a melodic progressive rock scene, together with bands like Marillion, Pallas and Pendragon. In 2000, I saw IQ live in 013 in Tilburg when they promoted their album 'The Seventh House' and this was one of the best concerts I ever visited. Their new album 'Frequency' is their tenth studio release. Since the release of their previous album 'Dark Matter' in 2004, some changes in the line-up have been taken place. Drummer Paul Cook has been replaced by Andy Edwards (ex-Robert Plant Band) and also keyboard player Martin Orford has left the band. He preferred a solo career and was finally replaced by Mark Westworth (Darwin`s Radio). The new album 'Frequency' sounds quite the same qua style as what IQ has released before. You can see this as a point of criticism, but it's not meant like that. The production of the album is great again and when the cd starts, you immediately know that you're listening to IQ. The arrangements of the songs are great again and the musicians reach a high level. The characteristic elements like Peter Nicholls's voice and Michael Holmes's guitar work are great again. Even the replacement of Orford by Westworth seems to be passed smoothly. All in all, this is a good album, in my opinion almost every fan of IQ will appreciate this album, I'm convinced of that. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.gep.co.uk/iq
Recordlabel: http://www.insideout.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/iquk |
85/100 |
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| IRON FIST – Kick Your Ass (MCD) | Norway | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hard Rock / Glam | Running time: 15:07 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| With the band name IRON FIST I immediately had to think of course of MOTÖRHEAD, because of their album "Iron Fist" (1982) and the song itself, which is a real classic. But musically this band from Norway doesn't really sound exactly like MOTÖRHEAD. Only on the first song of this 4 track EP, "Kick Your Ass", which is a real kick ass rock 'n roll song, they sound a bit like MOTÖRHEAD, but it reminds me more of Dutch speedrockers PETER PAN SPEEDROCK. On the other three tracks, which are "Naked", "Holy Moses" and "Show Me", it's more a mixture of AC/DC and Glam Rock. I don't know when the band was formed, because there's not much information about the band on their website and MySpace page. And the short biography tells that the members of IRON FIST, which are Bobby (vocals), Bender Midiman (guitar), Kaw (guitar), Jonkis (bass) and Kniksen (drums), are well-known members of the bands LUXUS LEVERPOSTEI and NOBODIES (of which I reviewed their album in May of 2008). Productionwise this EP sounds good enough. Anyway, my conclusion is that IRON FIST is not a very spectacular band, but it all just sounds nice enough to be curious for the full length album which will be released in the summer of 2009. The best songs of this nice EP are "Kick Your Ass" and "Show Me". Truthfully I prefer NOBODIES more. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ironfistband.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ironfistrock |
74/100 |
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| ISTHAR – Chaos Death Reincarnation (MCD) | The Netherlands / Germany | June 2008 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 22:12 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| After releasing 'Isthar' in 1998, 'The weak will Perish' in 2000 and 'Among the Ruins' in 2006 the Dutch/German band Isthar went back to the Excess Studios in Rotterdam in 2008 to record this 3 song EP 'Chaos Death Reincarnation'.The title of this EP refers to the titles to the three songs on this blackmetal piece. The strange thing about this band is that they have 2 bass player (a five string and a ten string bass) and only one guitarist. But it doesn't add anything. The sound is good and they have a kick ass drummer but I soon got bored by the singer and the guitar riffs. The singer doesn't scream like a lot of black metal singers but grunts like a death metal singer but in a boring way. The songs are only interesting because the drummer plays very well and he's the only one who varies a lot. But the EP is a recorded as a sort of trilogy and that worked very well. The three songs are connected with spherical dark interludes, which work very well. The idea is good but the musicians just aren't good enough to make it interesting for me. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.isthar.info
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/istharmetal |
71/100 |
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| JADALLYS - Labyrinthes (CD) | France | June 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Alternative Metal | Running time: 53:52 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Sometimes, just sometimes you'll catch up with something special that comes out of nowhere..... It reminds me of going to London for a Girlschool concert and been blown away by a support act called Die So Fluid. This time a beautiful digi pack of Jadallys reached me wanting to be reviewed. Jadallys.... never heard off ......bio in French .....o no, not really my second language ..... alright, put it on in my car ......hey great sound .... Well to make it short, I lik this stuff ! First let me introduce the band. Jadallys was formed in 2000 and is founded by singer Selene, guitarist Tino and bassist Ded. After some changes the fourth member nowadays is Tibo on drums. "Le Silence" in 2004 was their debut album. This one "Labyrinthes" is their second. Their music is very hard to categorise because it's a variety of many influences. (something they have in common with, for example, Die So Fluid) It is also the main reason for me to categorise them as "alternative". (hope the band don't mind) In their own words they say that they follow their own and original music path and I certainly can find myself in their opinion. The music combines spacy elements, sound effects and groovy guitar riffs all based on a heavy foundation with poetical lyrics and psychedelic spheres creating a strange kind of dark, mystic universe. Selene has a great voice with which she fully varies and she uses it in a theatrical intense way which fits perfectly in the songs. Some songs need some listening because they are experimental and complex but after that you know one thing .... this is original and good stuff ! Using the French language is something that works with what band brings, but could be a barrier for global success. Maybe that's the reason that they only perform in France and this album now finally reaches Holland (hey, it isn't that far ...) because it came out in 2007 ! Overall the album is filled with good, balanced heavy stuff alternated by "Enfant de Personne" which is a beautiful ballad. Personal favs are hard to mention but opener "Mer Aimante", follow up "La Complainte de Judas" "Nuit" and "K" are definitely worth to mention. Don't let the French language frighten you for listening to this album (I myself can't make any chocolate of it either, should have paid more attention at school ...) because it is a damn good one for people who like some experimental, theatrical heavy stuff. Essentiel ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.jadallys.com
Recordlabel: http:// www.underclass-music.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jadallys |
90/100 |
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| JOSE DE CASTRO – Live (2CD) | Spain | June 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Guitar Rock | Running time: 88:02 (Tracks: 16) | ||
| José De Castro, a Spanish guitarist from Madrid, has been playing the guitar since he has been 10. In 2002 José released his first instrumental album "Un Poco De Lo Mio", written, arranged and produced all by José himself. That cd contained 9 songs with a rock sound, but also with funk, pop and fusion elements. In 2004 José released his second solo album "Music Guitar Box". On this album he got the help from talented musicians like Simon Phillips and Melvin Davis. His second album had again influences from funk, fusion, blues, country and rock. His third album "Conversation" was released in 2006, with once again different styles. Recently his first live cd was released, which was recorded on the 21st and 22nd of November 2007 in Leganes, Madrid. This double live set recalls some of the best of De Castro's music from his three studio albums. Different music styles can be heard like rock, fusion, funk, country and blues, and all songs are always topped off by beautiful guitar solo's from José. His guitarstyle can be seen as a mixture of guitarists like Scott Henderson, Michael Landau, Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Denander and Richie Kotzen. Great songs, great guitarplaying!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.josedecastro.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/josedecastromusic |
82/100 |
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| KAZUTO – Greet With Delight / Double Edge (CD-Single) | Japan | June 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Metal | Running time: 9:37 (Tracks: 2) | ||
| Kazuto Ishida is a very talented guitarist from Japan. He personally likes hardrock, metal, instrumental rock and especially neo-classical metal. He mainly composes instrumental guitar music for his solo project, although he recently formed a melodic metal band with a female vocalist. On his 2-track cd single are 2 fast and furious instrumental melodic shred metal songs. It are two happy sounding songs with a lot of melody, but played in a fast tempo also. A mix of neo-classical and melodic shred, reminding me of Jorge Salan (for the melodies) and Joe Stump/George Bellas (for the fast tempo). Kazuto is a very good, technical guitarist, who plays with a lot of melody and emotion. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.kazutoishida.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kazutoishida |
88/100 |
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| KINGDOM COME – Magnified (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Rock / Hard Rock | Running time: 46:20 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| KINGDOM COME was formed in 1987, and at that time the band existed of Lenny Wolf (vocals), Danny Stag (lead guitar), Rick Steier (guitar), Johnny B. Frank (bass) and James Kottak (drums). This line-up only lasted two albums, namely the debut "Kingdom Come" (1988) and "In Your Face" (1989). And these are the only two albums I had of KINGDOM COME before this new album was released, because I didn't follow them after these two albums. And especially their self-titled debut album is a real classic one, although "In Your Face" is a fantastic album too. On those two albums, with great songs like "Living Out Of Touch", "Pushin' Hard", the beautiful ballad "What Love Can Be", "Get It On", "Do You Like It", "The Wind", "Highway 6" and "Perfect 'O'", KINGDOM COME sounded just like LED ZEPPELIN. And at that time of the release of "Kingdom Come" the band were called "Kingdom Clone" by the press. Anyway, if I'm right, "Magnified" is the eleventh studio album of KINGDOM COME. All the songs are written and played by Lenny Wolf. Only the guitar solo's are done by Eric Foerster, except on the songs "Over You" and "Unwritten Language", on which Lenny is doing the solo's himself. I have to admit that I really had to get used to this album, because the songs on "Magnified" don't come near the level of the songs on the first two albums. But after several times listening to it, the album grows in a positive way. My favourite tracks are the solid rock songs "So Unreal" and "Hey Mama", which are great songs ala LED ZEPPELIN again. Other songs which are good too are "Living Dynamite", "No Murderer I Kiss", "Sweet Killing" and the last track "Feeding The Flame" which is a bluesy ballad. There are four ballads on this album of which I like "24 Hours", "Unwritten Language" and the just mentioned bluesy ballad "Feeding The Flame" the most. The other ballad "Over You" sounds dull in my opinion. But all those ballads can't compete with the superb ""What Love Can Be". The current line-up of KINGDOM COME exists of Lenny Wolf (vocals, guitar), Eric Foerster (lead guitar), Frank Binke (bass) and Hendrik Thiesbrummel (drums). Lenny Wolf still is a fantastic singer who still sounds like ZEPPELIN's Robert Plant. My end conclusion is that "Magnified" is a good KINGDOM COME album, but, although I don't know all the previous albums so far, I'm convinced that the first two albums are still their best ones. If the whole album "Magnified" had songs like "So Unreal" and "Hey Mama" it had a higher rating. Beautiful album cover by the way. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.kingdomcome.de
Recordlabel: http://www.planet.tt MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lennywolf |
82/100 |
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| LOAD – Flames In Seconds (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Rock | Running time: 47:04 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| LOAD is a four piece band from Steenwijk/Meppel, Holland consisting of Annalies Groen (vocals), Freek Gielen (guitar), Pieter Dingerdis (bass) and Wouter Bakker (drums). "Flames In Seconds" is the second full length album of LOAD released by the band themselves. Their debut album "Desirous" was released in 2004. Although the band is influenced by bands like METALLICA, PEARL JAM, ALTER BRIDGE, THE GATHERING and FOO FIGHTERS, to me LOAD reminds me the most of Holland's best female rock singer ANOUK. Not strange, because Annalies Groen also sounds very much like Anouk Teeuwe. The production of "Flames In Seconds" isn't that bad, but it could have been a little bit better. And that's my only complain about this album, because the songs are really good anyway. The album features most of all solid rock songs like "Goodbye", "Sin", "Runnin' Away", "Destruction" and "Control". But there are also some quieter songs on it as well like the semi-ballad "One Day", "What Comes Around", "Sometimes" and "Fallen" (with 7:49 minutes the longest track on the album). Although it's just like I'm listening to ANOUK it's a fantastic album. Very good rock band with lots of potential. ANOUK has a real competitor in LOAD. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.load-music.nl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/loadspace |
80/100 |
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| LOSSFEA – Lightning In The Dark (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 47:00 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| LOSSFEA is a band from the region of east frisia in northern Germany. These 4 guys are influenced by hardrock and heavy metal from the '70s and '80s. LOSSFEA was founded in 2004 under the name "Drifter" by Guitarist Marco Harms and Drummer Benjamin Lemberger, who had already made music together before. Singer and Guitarist Henning Sievers came along soon. The line-up was then completed by Bassist Tilman Eilers, who was replaced by Arne Sievers in 2006. As "Drifter" they played many shows all over Germany with bands like Kaizers Orchestra, Goose, Turbostaat, Mob Rules, Lord Bishop Rocks, Ten Tonne Dozers and many more…As they recorded their first record, they decided to give the band a new name. The boys found out that there are a lot of bands with the name "Drifter", which also caused mistakes in the past. After lot of talking they followed the suggestion of Drummer Benjamin. At the Omas Teich Festival 2008 they announced then their new name LOSSFEA. Now this is their debut album 'Lightning in The Dark', with 8 rock/metal tunes in the vein of Y&T, Saxon and Maiden, only…not as good. Musically it sounds ok, but their singer is really not the best vocalist around, also their songs aren't all too strong, or original, some are even boring (nighttrain). Production could also be a lot better, although for a self produced it's ok I guess. Sometimes it all sounds a bit too familiar, as if…no I won't say it. Wait and see what their next effort will bring us, and give them the advantage of the doubt, cause there is potential in this band, it just didn't came out this time. | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lossfea |
68/100 |
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| MAIM - From the Womb to the Tomb (CD) | Sweden | June 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 35:27 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| In the death metal world things become more and more technical and only a few bands continue making old school death metal. Every once in a while one can stumble across a rare gem and this cd is one of those. Maim are a new band from Sweden who seem to agree with me that the old school Swedish death metal is about the best you can get. Starting with an intro from a cult horror movie we get pounding death metal that sounds like it's made 20 years ago: great riffs, pounding drum without blast beats all accompanied by the filthiest vocals I've heard in long while. Even the production sounds old school, whether this was meant to be or just done because of budget problems I'll probably never know but I don't care. All of this just makes for an ideal mix between Autopsy and Sepultura in their death metal era. I just hope these guys aren't just a one hit wonder or a gimmick because I definitely wan't to hear more of this. To all you old school death metal fans: go buy this! | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.soulsellerrecords.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/maimdeathmetal |
93/100 |
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| MILES BEYOND – Discovery (Promo CD) | USA | June 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power / Heavy Metal | Running time: 20:17 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| In October 2005 I already reviewed the debut album of this band. I was very positive about them and compared their music with Iron Maiden, Dokken, Y&T and also Liege Lord. Well after this promo cd my opinion didn't change a bit; the band still plays highly influenced Maiden Metal which is of course a compliment because there are just a few bands that have the musicianship to 'imitate' Iron Maiden (Bruce Dickinson era). I even think that this promo is much more Maiden than their debut album because most of the other influences are gone. The band is still looking for a label so don't hesitate to contact them if you see possibilities for this awesome band! "Oh Well, wherever, Wherever you are, Miles Beyond is gonna get you, No matter how far"…….. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.milesbeyond.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/milesbeyond |
80/100 |
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| MOONSTONE PROJECT – Rebel On The Run (CD) | Italy | June 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Rock | Running time: 52:14 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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The second album that is released under this project name. In 2006, the album "Time To Make A Stand" was released and it achieved great comments in music press. Must say I haven't heard that cd. Listening to this one, all beautiful words on the bio lose their meaning and I am listening to a groovy rock album filled with all kinds of musical influences, not necessarily having anything to do with rock, let alone Classic Rock.
But seeing the list of guest musicians, one would be inclined to believe that this is a mindblowing rock disc : James Christian (House Of Lords) and his wife , the lovely Robin Beck, Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice (Deep Purple) Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep)…need I go on? There's a big "BUT". This music resembles the variety in styles that I heard in the seventies, listing to the likes of Santana, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull. Add a bit of Lenny Kravitz, and there you are: this is Moonstone Project. I must say that James Christian is casted perfectly for his role on this cd; he sounds just great! "Rebel On The Run" is in my opinion the best track on this cd, together with "Shooting Star". Very bluesy tracks with a good feel of rock, with added ingredients. Overall, the album disappoints me a bit, carrying such big rock names in the line up but releasing a seventies-like album that does not use the talents of the musicians participating… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.moonstone.it
Recordlabel: http://www.blisteringrecords.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/moonstoneproject |
68/100 |
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| MYSTIC PROPHECY – Fireangel (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Metal | Running time: 46:10 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This is the 6th album of the German powermetal lot Mystic Prophecy. They had a couple of line up changes in between albums, and band leader/vocalist R.D. Liapakis had to find new musicians for this album after the same problem in 2006 when Firewind's Gus G. and drummer Dennis Ekdahl left the band. So, that leaves me with their latest album filled with power metal-to-the-bone. Power metal is OK to me when I can hear a distinct melody and when the vocals are real textlines that are sung. Mystic Prophecy have a good name in powermetal-land, and I must say they surprised me with "Demons Crown", although the shouting vocals may be left behind. Musically this is quite OK, counting that double bassdrums are almost the standard. As for the guitarwork, it's as heavy as it can get, certainly not a virtuoso but in this genre I haven't found any virtuosos yet. As the cd progresses, speed is getting faster and faster ("We Kill You Die") and I seem to lose track of what is happening. I hear no original things I haven't heard with other bands. Textwise, I am falling asleep with so much lack of interesting subjects. This cd will probably be popular with fans of the genre, but musicwise it cannot keep my attention. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mysticprophecy.com
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mysticprophecy |
60/100 |
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| OHMPHREY – Ohmphrey (CD) | USA | June 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Jazz / Rock / Fusion | Running time: 64:06 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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What happens when five great musicians locked themselves in a studio for two days, fueled by nothing but pizza and their shared musical vision?
If you're the super jam band OHMphrey, the result is an electrifying fusion debut flush with so much creative currency that its vibrant music buzzes with musical surprises, intense improvisation and even instrumental virtuosity.
OHMphrey, the brainchild of three members of the Chicago-based jam-band Umphrey's McGee (keyboardist Joel Cummins, guitarist Jake Cinninger and drummer Kris Myers) and OHM guitarist Chris Poland, a legendary player who's perhaps best known for work with headbanging pioneers Megadeth, and bassist Robertino Pagliari (a.k.a. "Pag"), unleashes their improv-heavy self-titled debut – a record that assimilates not only disparate musical genres but the individual playing styles of everyone involved. The result is a jam session that breaths music. Although…..you must be a bit into the experimental fusion and jazzrock a bit to appreciate what is going on here. I think that musician readers will find this an appealing project to listen to. Jamsessions often bring surprising tunes, and recording these to release them on a cd must be a heavenly outcome, in this case for fans of both bands because they really are complimentary to each other. Not my cup of soup, but for the right crowd, this is a jewel. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.magnacarta.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ohmphrey |
75/100 |
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| PAIN OF SALVATION – Ending Themes on the two deaths of…. (2DVD) | Sweden | June 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: more than 260 minutes!! | ||
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As far as I know this is the second DVD from these Swedish progmetallers! I only have their "The Perfect Element part 1" CD and never bought any of their latest album simply because this is to me a real LIVE band! I've seen the band a few times on stage and they are magnificent! When I heard about a new live DVD I asked the promoter in Holland (thanks Frank) to send me a copy of it and he did! It's a double DVD; on DVD 1 you find a documentary of the band on the road and also backstage. The band is followed during their 2005 European tour and you will find a lot of recordings/shots from my homeland The Netherlands. There are also a lot of other interesting parts on this DVD with a "making of", "sneak preview", " commentaries" and a lot of other interesting stuff! DVD 2 is much more interesting and contains a show that was filmed on 2 March 2007 at the Paradiso venue in Amsterdam. The band plays a mix of all their albums and also the regular covers of Frank Zappa (Dancing Fool) and Leonard Cohen (Disco Queen). It's all filmed very clean and not overproduced as you see a lot these days. The sound quality is great and that's also very important of course! This is a very nice compilation of PoS stuff and if you're not familiar with the bands music; check this out! If you only like the standard metal stuff than please don't check it out; Pain of Salvation is a very technical band with some real interesting & refreshing progmetal! Not for short-sighted metal fans. On DVD 2 you will also find a lot of extras like a quiz, deleted scenes, sneak previews, casting try outs, et al…… A great DVD which will be in my DVD player regularly!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.painofsalvation.com
Recordlabel: http://www.insideout.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/painofsalvation |
85/100 |
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| POINT BLANK - Execution (CDemo) | Finland | June 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Thrash / Death Metal | Running time: 18:31 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| Point Blank is a fairly new death-thrash band from Finland. They were formed in 2005 and after some line-up changes they released their first demo in 2007 (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews). This demo contains 4 tracks and that is enough to give you a decent view of the band. I can't say this is bad but I don't find it that good either. To me the most important part of a metal song is the riffs, a good riff can make me go crazy and when supported by some good drumming and decent vocals you got yourself a good song. The band has the drumming and the vocals down. Unfortunately these songs are lacking the good riffs to make it good. In the 4 songs I heard 2 riffs that got my attention, one in the first and one in the last song. You can hear that these guys are good musicians but as many boring technical bands have shown us before: technique isn't everything. I wish the band the best of luck in their future song writing and I hope they prove me wrong when they release their first album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.pointblank-band.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pointblankmusic |
60/100 |
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| PRODIGAL EARTH – Zenith II Zero (CD) | Cyprus | June 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 53:45 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Prodigal Earth is a relatively new Cypriot band formed by members of the well known Arryan Path (some of them can also be found in the Diphtheria line-up). For those familiar with the Arryan Path sound, Prodigal Earth is quite similar but with a less epic metal approach. For those who don't have a clue about these bands I would describe the music as melodic power metal loyal to the European sound. The impressive thing is that Prodigal Earth doesn't sound like any other band of the genre, presenting a unique blend. The songs vary from mid tempo like "Crossroads" to galloping ones like the anthemic "Broken World" with a couple of heartbreaking ballads in between. Vocalist Nicholas Leptos is fabulous as always, singing passionately and reaching the higher notes with his unique colour. To me "Zenith II Zero" sounds fresh and melodic, a musical proposal you shouldn't miss. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.prodigalearth.com
Recordlabel: http://www.pitchblackrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/prodigalearth |
88/100 |
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| PROJECT A – Kiss and Confiscate (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Rock | Running time: 37:11 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| PROJECT A is a Dutch Rock band who was formed in 2005. At the end of 2006 the band released their first demo album "Tender Light" followed by the single "Divine" in 2007. Last year (2008) PROJECT A decided that it was time to release a full length album, so "Kiss And Confiscate" is the debut album of the band. The line-up of PROJECT A exists of Ferry van der Woude (vocals), Mathijs Koudijs (guitar), Michiel Brankaert (guitar), Lars Geuskens (bass) and Michiel Korsten (drums). PROJECT A plays radio friendly Rock with sometimes funky influences ("Break My Fall"). All ten tracks on this debut album are listening very easily away and are really good songs. The band exists of fantastic musicians, especially the guitarists, and Van der Woude is a good singer. "Kiss And Confiscate" opens with the solid rock song "John Doe" followed by catchy songs "Tender Light" and "Case 69" (great guitar solo). Also "Summer Again" sounds very familiar in my ears. This is really a rock band who can reach a wide audience. In my opinion songs like "Tender Light", "Case 69" and "Summer Again" are songs which easily can get radio airplay. PROJECT A is a band for anyone who likes bands as RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, KANE, INCUBUS, RACOON, BON JOVI. Strange that a band with such good album has to release their album themselves. Isn't there any record label interested in this band?? | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.project-a.org
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/projectatheband |
79/100 |
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| RAIN – Bang Bus – Limited Edition (DVD) | Italy | June 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 4:35 (Tracks: 1) | ||
| Last April I reviewed Rain's "Dad is Dead" album which the band gave me during their small tour with misfit Blaze Bailey. The band also gave me an exclusive, limited edition (10 copies) DVD with the video clip of one of the "Dad is Dead" songs named 'Bang Bus". Well after seeing the video I long for more…..not only musically but also naturally, hahahaha. Nice sluts are used in this video and I advice the band to print some DVD's and send them around to the TV stations that are willing to play metal these days. Next time I want to be part of that Bang Bus guys! You can c(o)unt me in!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.raincrew.com
Recordlabel: http://www.auralmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/raincrew1980 |
--/--- |
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| REPOMEN – Roadkill (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Stoner Rock | Running time: 27:54 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| REPOMEN, from Eindhoven Rockcity, Holland, was formed after the demise of Stoner Rock band BOREHOLE in 2007. So, REPOMEN exists of former BOREHOLE members Roel Aben (guitar), Mo Truijens (guitar) and Miriam Bekkers (drums) with Peter van Elderen (vocals, bass) of PETER PAN SPEEDROCK. "Roadkill" is the debut album of REPOMAN and was released in 2008. After it was first released only on vinyl, now the CD-version is available as well. The band recorded eight great Stoner Rock songs for "Roadkill". "Black Hole" reminds very much of a band like KYUSS, it's a great song with a fantastic groove and catchy vocals. Of course Peter's voice is very recognizable. The music is very heavy, raw, dirty and loud. Especially the first three songs, "Orange County Raceway", "Black Hole" and "Jesus Chrysler Superbuick" are really strong. "Dia De Los Muertos" isn't bad, but it's my less favourite track of the album. "Roadkill" has a great sound and especially the bass sound is very HEAVY. "All Systems Go" and "Adrenaline" are some nice songs as well. But "Miranda Warning" (with some spacey guitars halfway the song) and the last track "Wrecking Ball" are two other strong songs. Anyway, REPOMEN delivers a fantastic debut album with "Roadkill", which tastes for more. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.the-repomen.com
Recordlabel: http://www.suburban.nl MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/repomenrocks |
88/100 |
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| RESURRECTURIS – Non Voglio Morire (CD & DVD) | Italy | June 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 41:26 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Such a strange country when it comes to metal: "Italy". I have never heard a "normal" sounding band coming from this country (except Necrodeath) Besides them and maybe a few other there also hasn't really came much quality from the "cerulean blues". I am afraid Resurrecturis won't change much about this. I really like it when a band tries to be different soundwise. Resurrecturis although sound completely odd throughout the most of their songs. For example: The first song starts with a blastbeat and some good grunts but later on we hear a woman singing, a bad Metallica imitation: "Calling our names" and some clean vocals with an Italian accent written all over it, some metalcore parts, etc. Why is it so difficult for Italian bands to stick to one sound and produce something normal sounding? It makes the record sound inconsistent. Sometimes great:"The Origin", sometimes bad: The Artist" Resurrecturis can celebrate their 20 year existence next month but to me it's like having a band for almost 20 years and still don't know which style you want to play. And that's a pity because the bandmembers know how to play their instruments and "Non Volglio Morire" is blessed with a good production. The label sent us the complete version of the cd with DVD. And this DVD has a professional video clip where most bands will be jealous of, a making of, gallery and some live stuff. Work done by professional people and a label that seems to fully believe in the band. I think this band has almost everything to become much bigger if they could just stick to one style. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.resurrecturis.com
Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/resurrecturis |
65/100 |
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| SACRED DAWN – Gears Of The Machine: A New Beginning (CD) | USA | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: US Metal / Power Metal / Prog Metal | Running time: 57:07 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| SACRED DAWN is a four piece band from Chicago, Illinois, USA who was formed in 2005. On this debut album "Gears Of The Machine: A New Beginning", which originally has been released in 2006 (and in 2008 released on Nightmare Records), the line-up of SACRED DAWN exist of Lothar Keller (lead vocals, guitar), John Vitale (guitar, backing vocals), Joey Vega (bass) and Brad "Sabbath" Sabathine (drums). But according to their official site and MySpace page the line-up has been changed in the meantime, because Michael Carpenter is the new guitarist and Eddie Foltz is the new drummer of the band. With the first track of the album "(Worlds Apart) The Desire" I had to think of the early FATES WARNING and IRON MAIDEN, great song. The music of SACRED DAWN exists of different styles of metal. There's some Power Metal, US Metal and Prog Metal influences. The band has in Keller a very good and varied singer. Sometimes he sings low, but can also sing high. I don't know the reason why Vitale and Sabathine have been replaced, but Vitale is a great guitarist and Sabathine is a very technical drummer. So, the band recorded twelve self penned songs and one cover, which is the last track of the album and is a nice version of "Devil Went Down To Georgia" of the CHARLIE DANIELS BAND. In my opinion the best songs of this album are "(Worlds Apart) The Desire", "Master Of Thought", "I'm The One", "Walls Of Jericho", "Asmodeus" (great drums) and "Soldier's Plea". If you like bands as FATES WARNING, DREAM THEATER, IRON MAIDEN, NEVERMORE etcetera, then SACRED DAWN is absolutely a band worth checking out for you. The band started working on their second album in March of this year. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sacreddawn.com
Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sacreddawnmusic |
83/100 |
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| SAIDIAN – Evercircle (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Melodic Power Metal | Running time: 56:02 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| SAIDIAN is a German five piece band existing of Markus (Engel) Engelfried (vocals), Rodrigo Blattert (guitars), Stephan Lüddemann (bass), Bernd Heining (drums) and Markus Bohr (keyboards). The band was formed in 2004 by keyboardplayer Bohr. So far SAIDIAN has released two previous albums, which are "…For Those Who Walk The Path Forlorn" (2005) and "Phoenix" (2006). Now three years after "Phoenix" these Germans released their third album "Evercircle". For me, "Evercirlce" is my first acquaintance with the band, and I must say that when I heard the first song "Out Of The Shadows", I immediately had to think of HELLOWEEN. Also Engelfried sounds very much like Michael Kiske, although it sounds like he's not always singing in tune. But "Out Of The Shadows" is a fantastic melodic power metal song. Second track of the album is "Tokyo", and is in my opinion one of the less songs, because it sounds pretty much the same all the time. "Solomon's Dance" is a song which also reminds me a bit of DREAM THEATER. Musically the band exists of good musicians anyway. Best songs are "Out Of The Shadows", "Solomon's Dance", "Pale Moon Rider", "Stroke Of Genius" and "Sign In The Sky". If you're a fan of the period of HELLOWEEN with Michael Kiske and you like DREAM THEATER, then you will like this band too. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.saidian.de
Recordlabel: http://www.blisteringrecords.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/saidianband |
76/100 |
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| SCROTUM – Osculum Scrotum (MCD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 21:18 (Tracks: 5) | ||
| I got this cd from Mario and thought; what the fuck is this! I listened to it and got the humour of songs like 'hard menstruating cuntcore', 'granny's pusscunt', 'fontanel fucking', 'beerhunter' and 'osculum scrotum'. Oldschool deathmetal with raw vocals and kick ass drums. But there was something missing. So I tried to figure out what. Then some friends called and then I knew. BEEER!!!! So I went to the Bockenrijder and had some trappist met (note Mario: Belgium beer with sirop). After a few beers I walked home which took me a while and listened to Scrotum again. Yes!!! This is the right time to write the review. This is the way to enjoy and appreciate Scrotum.These former members of Sinister and Judgement Day know how to play but they don't take themselves to seriously like so many bands do. And wait for the hidden track. Hilarious. Can't help it but I can't stop smiling now. Finally a band who gets it. And guys, that bbq looks good. (I'm not waiting for an invitation. Or am I !!!) | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.scrotum.tk
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73/100 or
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| SLOUGH FEG – Ape Uprising (CD) | USA | June 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 37:33 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Slough Feg has been around for many years. During its career the band has ventured across many different sounds and styles, always heavy but with a 70ies attitude. In my opinion the band reached its creative peak with the unsurpassable "Traveller" album. Right after this masterpiece the band diminished the power metal elements and went for a more psychedelic 70ies approach. The albums that followed, "Atavism" and "Hardworlder" (you can find a review written by me on this site) are great albums but clearly inferior to the perfect 10 which is "Traveller". "Ape Uprising" is a mix between "Atavism" and "Hardworlder" only a bit doomier the Sabbath way. Folk elements are once again present. The album has brought once again great controversy among the fans but I find it strangely attractive. I have been a Slough Feg fan for so many years and I believe that I will always find the band's works familiar sounding and endearing. This IS a classic Slough Feg album so I urge the fans to check it out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sloughfeg.com
Recordlabel: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sloughfeg |
80/100 |
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| STEADLÜR – Steadlür (CD) | USA | June 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Glam / Sleaze Rock / Punk | Running time: 36:29 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| The latest rock sensation from Atlanta, Georgia, USA is called STEADLÜR and released their self-titled debut album on Roadrunner Records. STEADLÜR was formed by the brothers Philip and Dallas Anthony. The line-up of STEADLÜR exists of Philip Anthony (lead vocals, guitar), Thomas Gonzalez (guitar, vocals), Daniel Bruce (bass, vocals) and Dallas Anthony (drums, vocals). STEADLÜR plays a mixture of Glam/Sleaze Rock and Punk. Think of bands like MÖTLEY CRÜE, SUM 41, KISS, BLINK 182, SLEEZE BEEZ, GUNS 'N ROSES, POISON, THE OFFSPRING etcetera. Believe me, there's really no weak song to find on this debut album. All songs are so fuckin' catchy. If you have heard this album for the first time, you wanna hear it over and over again. It's very addictive. The average running time of the songs is about 3 minutes. And because the songs are so catchy, I'm sure STEADLÜR will also win lots of young female punk- and glamsters as their fans with this album. "Bumpin'" (great video, see their MySpace page) is the first single of this fantastic debut album, but there are much more single candidates to find on this album. And that's why I think this is gonna be a very successful album. Can we talk about "the next hype"….I don't know, but what the fuck…..it just sounds GREAT. Philip Anthony is a good singer, Gonzalez is a very skilled guitarist and the band has a very fine rhythm section. Although it's very hard to pick some favourites, because all songs are brilliant, I would say my favourites are "Poison" (kicks ass), "Bumpin'", "Turn It Up", "Whiskey And Women", "Time", "Barely Breathing" (great riff) and "Livin' A Lie". SUPERB debut album guys. We're gonna hear more of this band in the future that's for sure. I don't know if they will get that BIG, but time will tell. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/steadlur |
85/100 |
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| STORMNATT – The Crimson Sacrament (CD) | Austria | June 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 45:14 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| At first I thought this would be a Norwegian black metal band because of the name but they come from Austria. I didn't have a bio of them and the cd cover is completely unreadable. Very annoying. The album is recorded in the Necromorbus Studio and the sound and mix are good. The vocals by Mord are typical black metal screams and nothing special. In the eight song, 'Upon the shores of solitude' he screams in a very stupid and ridiculous way. If it's done just for fun it's okay but if he is serious about it, don't do it again. The eight songs on this album all sound pretty similar and although they all have catchy melodies you can easily hum along with, like 'Soul 'Murder Ceremony' and 'The Omega Illumination', it starts to bore me after a while; But that has to do with the typical black metal way the guitar player Antimessiah plays. He doesn't vary enough and because they only have one guitar player it all sounds alike after a few songs. Too bad. And the tempo is constantly the same. Eight songs with the same mid tempo pass is enough to completely loose my concentration and I had a hard time listening to this album to the end. The true blackmetal fan will love this but I don't. | |||
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Recordlabel: http:// www.ashenproductions.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/stormnatt |
73/100 |
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| STREAM OF PASSION – The Flame Within (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 54:39 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| It's lonely at the top so they say. Well in Female fronted Gothic metal it's just gonna be even more crowded every month. With the release of "The Flame Within", Stream of Passion also climbs the stairs to the top of this genre with seven miles boots on. With a new line up they deliver a very fine album with a fantastic production. The band sounds very thight, full of energy and passion based on a solid and sometimes pretty heavy foundation. Opener "The Art Of Loss" is a fine diamond to begin with. The song combines everything the band wants to bring you. Heavy, orchestral and symphonic melodies are forged into catchy metalsongs filled with cool guitar riffs which are sometimes supported by piano and violin. It took the band four years to come up with a successor for "Embrace The Storm", but they spend their time well. All songs are based around the beautiful voice of Marcela Bovio and she accelerates in every track of the album. She gathered around her a very fine bunch of musicians where she can be very proud on. Personal fav is "A Part Of You" which is led in by a very heavy riff which reminds me of early Savatage. The band has even succeeded to stream Radiohead's "Street Spirit" in a passionate heavy way. Overall the songs offer enough alternating to keep your attention. Sometimes a bit dreamy but then followed by some shredding guitarwork. So to become to the final question; is there a future for them without masterbrain Lucassen himself ? Yes, there is no doubt about it. I guess Mr. Lucassen is going to be very proud about what his former partners in passion are letting loose on the Gothic Metal scene with this strong album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.streamofpassion.com
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/streamofpassionband |
85/100 |
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| SUTUANA – Perdutamente (CD) | Italy | June 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Heavy Metal / Rock | Running time: 51:42 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| 'Endless love for music and fun.' This is what the promotional information paper stated. Love for music is definitely important as well as the fun factor, but when it comes to making music it also has to be appealing. To me, music is a beautiful form of art which can get to you, or not. For me, this Sutuana album doesn't. I've listened to this album for numerous times now and it is hard to lay my finger on it. The eighties rock is certainly not bad, but doesn't stand out from the countless other bands that also play this kind of music. You have to give them one thing though, and that is that they are surprisingly original. They don't stick with the traditional hard rock sound and use all kinds of influences in their music. Also the lyrics are sung in Italian which gives it a certain vibe. Conclusion: Sutuana is an original band an I am sure they will convince on stage, but with this album they haven't exactly caught my attention. Compliments on the artwork. If you are into this type of music it is really worth the purchase. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sutuana.it
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sutuana |
60/100 |
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| THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE – Welcome To Bloodshed (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Death Metal. | Running time: 41:14 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| The Lucifer Principle is a band that is fond to be of the limelight. The 2007 release "Pitch Black Dawn" was a debut not without merit which received overall good critics. With the new album the band will enter the premier league of death metal. "Welcome to Bloodshed" tells the story of a city that at first sight is friendly and welcoming but in reality is nothing more then a town full of murderers and violators. Made me think of one of Stephen King's books called: "Storm of the Century" Within the music there is surely just as much going on as in the town itself. You can blame The Lucifer Principle for being: melodic, catchy, groovy, brutal and their bio says you can even dance to their music. A lot of influences but still remarkable easy to listen to. This is because the song itself is standing central. The band never silts up in ordinary chaos or shoreless guitarplaying. All tings like for example guitarsolo's, the clean sung parts in the opening song serve the song. Besides this the band still uses a contra- bass which contributes to the overall heaviness of the record. Nice to hear the bass solo in the last song "Basement" with double bass drums underneath it and the guest vocals from Henri Sattler from God Dethroned in "Bond of Supremacy" As said there is so much to enjoy on this album that the concept really fits the music. Mix and mastering were in the hands of Jochem Jacobs from Textures while the band themselves produced the record. And I must say it sounds great. The band likes to call their music "Stompin' death metal" something that really comes forth with such a production. The band is also signed to Jagermeister for the Dutch demolition tour alongside The Monolith Deathcult and Deadcell. The future is looking bright for The Lucifer Principle! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.theluciferprinciple.nl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tlpmetal |
85/100 |
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| THORNIUM – Mushroom Clouds and Dusk (CD) | Sweden | June 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 36:49 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Aahhhh….Thornium. Wasn't that the band that released a little cult album back in the day? The 1995 album "Dominions of the eclipse" never got the attention it deserved. Mainly because of the overkill of releases in the black metal scene from the mid nineties. It finally got the well deserved re-release last year (also on vinyl!) by the Kneel before the masters throne label. It wasn't until 2007 that the band chose to wake up from their hibernation and sign a 3-record deal with the mighty Soulseller records in 2008. At the time being Thornium only consists of one member: Thyph and besides that some live-members including Ulverheim who also played on the debut album. So what can we say about the new album? While the debut album was at times comparable to the first two Satyricon albums, "Mushroom clouds and dusk" is standing with both feet in 2009 but hasn't forgot it's nineties roots. This means much better use instruments, great production, stronger songmaterial fortunately never too clinical sounding. The material is mainly played at full speed with hints from Dark Funeral and the later Mayhem (guitars). Besides this the songs are full of really good guitar solo's. For example listen to the solo in the first song "Doden" (hear, hear!) or the mighty leads in "Horns and hoofs" The minor use of keys contribute to the evil atmosphere that is present during the whole album. Some people are talking about the 3 wave of black metal knocking at our doors. It is with this kind of releases I believe that black metal is resurrecting again. Go see them live in autumn with another cult band from Scandinavia: Black Crucifixion and the Dutchmen from Heretic. Welcome back Thornium! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.thornium.com
Recordlabel: http://www.soulsellerrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thetruethornium |
82/100 |
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| TYR - By the Light of the Northern Star (CD) | Faroe Islands | June 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Folk / Viking Metal | Running time: 43:17 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Viking metal band Tyr has released yet another album with the pagan heritage of their home country, The Faroer Islands, as the main theme. I never really was a fan of these guys but their live performance last month did make me look forward to this new album. Tyr always seemed to distinguish themselves from the other pagan bands by playing slower songs with an actual meaning in the lyrics and not just party music made for drunk moshpits. They also use a more folklore in their choice of instruments and sound. The new album has the same sound as the previous ones but has a bit more drive and faster songs. Also most of the songs are sung in English this time instead of in the band's native language. Overall this is not a bad record but I expected more from this band. Main problem for me is the guitars that sound as if they are replaced by a keyboard with a folk sound. If they would change the guitar sound and the lyrics we would have a very decent epic heavy metal band but now it's a record for the fans only. I'll never become a fan of this type of music and certainly not on cd because these guys just belong on stage with music that is meant to be played live. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.tyr.net
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tyr1 |
61/100 |
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| UFO – The Visitor (CD) | United Kingdom | June 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 42:24 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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UFO have released their latest studio effort, the third album featuring guitarwiz Vinnie Moore. After "The Monkey Puzzle" I doubted if the band were able to pursue their career but after listening to "The Visitor" I know for a fact that this is not an issue anymore. Vinnie wrote over 30 tracks that Phil added lyrics to, and 10 tracks out of eventually 13 were selected to be put on the album, be it that the recordings were done in various places in Germany, England and the USA. Bassplayer Pete Way suffers from a liver disease and was not available in the recording process. The UFO that we all knew from the legendary years has changed. The new album contains some great classic rock tunes with a big bluesy influence which is proven in opening track "Saving Me", but don't let this track fool you; there is some real rock 'n roll here, as well as Mexican and honky tonk influenced rocksongs. One should be impressed with the diversity of the songs and the professionalism this band still has to offer. What can I say? Vinnie Moore is a different player and composer than mr Schenker but that doesn't mean UFO can't put out good albums anymore! Guitarwise, Vinnie is just as good a master in what he does as mr S. and I commend him for being able to write such great songs for such a great and legendary band! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ufo-music.info
Recordlabel: http://www.spv.de |
88/100 |
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| ZERSTORER – Declaration of War (CD) | Germany | June 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Death / Grind Metal | Running time: 37:08 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Zerstorer, which means destroyer in English, is a three piece metal band hailing from Germany. For over a decade they are producing filthy, extreme and foremost brutal death metal with thrash and black influences. Since their formation in 1998, singer/guitarist Kremator is the only original band member left. He is also the main songwriter and finally found the time to come up with the second Zerstorer album 'Declaration of war.' I am not acquainted with their debut album 'Panzer Metal' so I will review their latest effort purely based on this particular CD. After hearing the first four songs I can only come to one conclusion: Now this is brutal! Songs like 'Metal Terror' and Hatred Rising' are straight forward compact tracks that makes you want to wreck things. You can really feel the aggression and hatred within the music. To me, the most interesting songs are in the middle section of the record. 'Pick Axe Blasphemy' and 'Total Frost' both have killers mid-tempo thrash riffs which will do excellent at a live show. Zerstorer tries to capture the brutality that once was created by bands like Abominator, Gospel of the horns and Destroyer 666. Although their tracks are brutal, they can't quite measure up to the previous mentioned bands. Not YET, that is to say. 'Declaration of war' is an interesting album with a good vibe, but for me it is hard to listen to it again and again. Why? Almost all of the songs are built upon one or two riffs. This way it is hard to stay focused and it tends to get a little dull at times. Nevertheless Zerstorer delivered a nice Death/Grind record and if they focus a little bit more on the diversity on the next album, I think they will get noticed a lot more. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.ashenproductions.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/zerstoererpanzermetal |
70/100 |
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| 69 CHAMBERS – War On The Inside (CD) | Switzerland | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Metal / Rock | Running time: 55:44 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| 69 CHAMBERS is a Swiss Rock/Metal trio which was formed in 2001 by Nina Treml. In the past the band had several line-up changes and they recorded a demo and an EP so far. The line-up on this full length debut album "War On The Inside" is Nina Treml (vocals, guitar), Maddy Madarasz (bass, backing vocals) and Michi Brugger (drums). The album features 13 songs and has a very good production, which was done by Tommy Vetterli (Coroner, Kreator). "War On The Inside" is a very varied album. It features metal, rock, doom and pop. Most of the songs are very accessible and catchy, and that's why I think this band can reach a wide audience. Nina Treml is a good looking woman (she's on the album cover as well), a fantastic songwriter and a great singer with a very catchy voice. Sometimes 69 CHAMBERS reminds me of bands like SLUNT, GUANO APES and CRUCIFIED BARBARA like on "The Day Of The Locust". "Judas Goat" is a heavy doom song with some faster metal parts. The last song of the album, "A Ruse", is an acoustic one. Anyway, very interesting and promising band with a fantastic debut album. I would say check them out yourself if you're curious about 69 CHAMBERS. I'm sure we're gonna hear more of this Swiss trio in the future. My favourite songs are "The Day Of The Locust", "Bloodaxe", "Thinking About You", "Return Of The Repressed", the semi acoustic "Wind Feeds Fire" and "Dead Letter Office". Let's hope they will come over and do some shows in Holland, so we can go see them live. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.69chambers.com
Recordlabel: http://www.silverwolf-productions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/69chambers |
80/100 |
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| AGATHODAIMON - Phoenix (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Dark Metal | Running time: 63:00 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Germany's leading dark metal band Agathodaimon have finally released their fifth album '"Phoenix", 5 years after their latest record. The fact that it took the band over 4 years to complete this album makes people expect an album that sounds complete and well thought off. After the first spin of this cd I wasn't convinced that the band actually needed 5 years for this but after I gave it a few more turns the album did grow on me. What you can hear is a great mix of all different styles raging from gothic to black metal. Musically the album always has a dark lingering feeling about itself and the combination of 3 types of vocals makes the layering complete. Even though I'll never be a black metal fan and therefore never like the screams that form the main part of the vocals I must admit that they fit perfectly with the music and work together with the deep booming clean vocals and the occasional grunts as a harmony. This album is quite long and needs attention to be appreciated completely but someone who is willing will enjoy this record a lot. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.agathodaimon.de
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/agathodaimon |
72/100 |
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| ALESTORM - Black Sails at Midnight (CD) | Scotland | May 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Scottish Pirate Metal | Running time: 46:19 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| After the success of their first release a lot of people where looking forward to the second album of Scottish pirate metallers Alestorm. The band, only started in 2006, are growing to become a very successful project with their first headlining tour coursing through Europe right now. The new album delivers us more of the same songs about pirates but definitely has a different sound than the previous. The album has a more bombastic sound and puts more attention on the keyboards. This change is really for the better as the band created 10 great songs on this cd. Those songs can actually be divided into two types. First of we have the happy folkisch songs that will do great live and create great atmosphere no doubt. On the other hand we have the more bombastic songs that could have easily figured in a pirate movie soundtrack. The vocals are as usual very fitting with the music but not that good in technical quality, although nobody will probably care as the total package is really good an this music will be loved by fans and probably will create a great live show. Recommended for the fans of power and folk metal. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.alestorm.net
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/alestorm |
87/100 |
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| BAI BANG – Are You Ready (CD) | Sweden | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hard Rock / Glam Rock | Running time: 33:54 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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BAI BANG is a Swedish melodic Rock band who exists, looking at their discography, at least since the mid/late eighties. So far they have released the following albums "Enemy Lines" (1989), "Cop To Con" (1992), "Riding High" (1996) and "Attitude" (2001). In 2006 there was also a compilation album released titled "Best Of Bai Bang". So, after eight years BAI BANG releases their fifth studio album titled "Are You Ready". Anyway, the line-up of the band is: Diddi Kastenholt (vocals), Pelle Eliaz (guitar), Joacim Sandin (bass) and Jonas Langebro (drums). Well, it's just a shame they came up after eight years with only 10 songs with a total running time of just 34 minutes. I would say these guys are influenced by bands like DEF LEPPARD, GUNS 'N ROSES, RATT, BON JOVI etcetera. It all sounds nice, but nothing special. Kastenholt is a good singer but not a very notable one. Besides nice rockers like "I Love The Things You Hate", "Born To Rock" and "Party Queen", there's one ballad on this album, which is "Only The Best Die Young". And that's a real cliché ballad if you ask me. On this ballad, Ryan Roxie (ALICE COOPER, ELECTRIC BOYS) is doing a guest solo. Anyway, like I said before, it all sounds nice, but it's not very original. It's like I've heard it all before. If you like the above mentioned bands, then check this band out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.baibang.se
Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/baibang |
74/100 |
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| BLOODBOUND – Tabula Rasa (CD) | Sweden | May 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic Metal | Running time: 40:56 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Bloodbound was formed in 2004 by guitarist Tomas Olsson and keyboardist Fredrik Bergh. After the recordings of a demo, which was sent to several labels, they signed a deal with Metal Heaven. Their first album "Nosferatu" from 2006 was a straight up power metal release. Their second album with new vocalist Michael Bormann (Jaded Heart, Bonfire) was a more catchy melodic metal album. For the release of their third album "Tabula Rasa", vocalist Urban Breed (Tad Morose, Pyramaze), who also sung on their first album, returned to Bloodbound. For me, Urban fits much better for the music of Bloodbound than Michael Bormann. He gives them a more powerful touch. The songs on "Tabula Rasa" are a mix of melodic and power metal with a progressive touch also. "Book Of The Dead" was a bit a disappointment for me, but their new album is much better again, as good as their debut "Nosferatu". Most of all, their "new" sound reminds me of the latest Nocturnal Rites albums. Released by the excellent new record label Blistering Records from Sweden, which also released the new Lion's Share album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.bloodbound.se
Recordlabel: http://www.blisteringrecords.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bloodboundonline |
83/100 |
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| BLOOD RED THRONE - Souls of Damnation (CD) | Norway | May 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 38:44 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| 2 years after their latest record Norway's leading death metal act Blood Red Throne has released a new album, 'Souls of Damnation'. It's funny how a death metal band coming from a country that has produced so many legendary black metal bands can become such a hit in the scene. The fact that the band sounds as every decent death metal band should sound probably is the main reason, although the reputation of some of the band members might have something to do with it also. This new album is a logic successor to the previous albums and contains everything a good death metal album needs: great riffing, pounding drums and awesome vocals. Add some nice solo's and a bass player that actually adds something to the music and you got yourself a kick ass death metal album. The black metal roots tend to come out from time to time on the album with some more harsh vocals and a more raw sound in the guitars but that really doesn't annoy me in the slightest even though I can't stand black metal. If you're a death metal fan you should have been looking forward to this one for months, so go buy it! | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.earache.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bloodredthrone666 |
93/100 |
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| CARNEIA - White Coma Light (CD) | Belgium | May 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Alternative Metal | Running time: 57:27 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Carneia is an alternative metal band that started out in 2007 and is inspired by bands like Tool. And you can hear that. The band is Jan Couldron – vocals, Thomas Combes – guitar, Jille Vandromme – guitar, Terence Gevaert – drums, Kristof van Iseghem- bass. I can`t find a lot of info about the guys themselves so I don`t know what they did before Carneia except that Carneia rose of the ashes of the heavy rock band Kyunin. This is their first full length album and was recorded at the end of 2007. The songs are well written and it sounds like the band put a lot of thought in it. It sounds like the band members are playing together for years. But the production could have been a lot fatter. But the comparison with Tool you can't deny but it isn't irritating or less than Tool because the guys really can play and write songs and the singer Jan can sing. He is really very good and sings with a lot of feeling. But the rest can play the music with a lot of sphere and tension and I think this is a band that will do very well on festivals. I can't find a bad thing on this cd. Well done guys!! The only reason I give this cd a 75 is because I'm not a fan of the genre and I think that people who are will give it a much higher score. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.offerandumrecords.be
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/carneia |
75/100 |
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| CIRKUS – Let The Madness Begin (CD) | Sweden | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Glam / Hard Rock / Southern | Running time: 34:08 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| CIRKUS is a Swedish four piece band existing of Roux'd (vocals), Snetan (guitar), Maston (bass) and Ric (drums). According to their biography, their former three EP's "Let The Madness Begin Part 1" (2005), "Shut Up N' Suck" (2006) and "Metal Head" (2007) were very successful. Personally I doubt if these EP's were successful, because what CIRKUS is presenting on this full length album "Let The Madness Begin" isn't very special. It's more moderate 80's style Glam or '70's Hard Rock. Most of the songs are more of the same and very dated. By the way, all bass parts on this album were played by someone called Dee. The album starts with the annoying intro "Let The Madness Begin" followed by "Thashy". "Everlong Lasting" sounds nice, but takes to long (6:01) if you ask me. "Walking Diesese" and "Crazy" are two nice Southern Rock songs and on these songs they remind me a little bit of RAGING SLAB and LYNYRD SKYNYRD. CIRKUS also recorded one cover on their album, which is T-REX's "Get It On". This version doesn't add anything to the original version and sounds just nice. In my opinion the best songs are "Walking Diesese" and "Crazy". All with all I only can say that CIRKUS is just one of those many moderate bands. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.cirkusmusic.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/cirkusmusic |
65/100 |
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| COVERED CALL – Money Never Sleeps (CD) | SwedenE | May 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Hardrock | Running time: 42:18 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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"Covered Call" is an investment term, which is appropriate since several of the band members have day jobs as stock traders. The first thing I noticed about Covered Call was their powerful vocalist. He sounded familiar and then I read the band's biography and it turns out that their singer is Thomas Vikstrom, who sang on Candlemass's underrated "Chapter VI". He sings with so much power and conviction that his voice alone is enough to make this album worth your time. "All Because of Me", "Shine" and the title track are sounding great because of Vikstrom's amazing voice. But on the other hand, the album as a whole sounds very 80s, the production is OK but I miss something. I miss a spark, caused by excellent songs, with guitar solos that we also know the 80s rock had…. The band obviously is inspired by bands like Thin Lizzy and Bon Jovi but unfortunately Covered Call fails to produce an album with constant quality songs. The above mentioned, plus the ballad "Anything You Want" stand out between the rest but 4 songs out of 11 is not enough for a rating in the highest ranks.. Oh…almost forgot…what a horrible cover art ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.coveredcall.se
Recordlabel: http://www.blisteringrecords.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coveredcall |
70/100 |
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| CRIMSON FALLS - Fragments of Awareness (CD) | Belgium | May 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal / Metalcore | Running time: 44:29 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Fragments of Awareness is the new album by one of Belgium's finest brutal bands Crimson Falls. The band plays a mix of death metal and brutal metalcore and delivers a solid album as a follow up to their hailed debut " The True Face of Human Nature". On this album the band sounds more mature which relates to the complexity of the songs. Allthough the concept of the bands remains the same: brutal metalcore riffs that flow neatly into breakdowns all supported by a sickinly fast and technical drum and a brutal mix of vocals that range from deep grunting over squeals and very high screams. The songs on the album vary between old school hardcore and brutal death metal but mostly linger somewhere in between. I'm not the biggest fan of metalcore and again I'm thankful for the 'With All Due Respect' intermezzo and the short length of the album because after a while it all becomes a bit of the same old and even though I'm still overwhelmed by the fast technical drumming and the great vocals I start to get a bit bored. The fans of this genre probably won't have this problem and I do advise everyone who's into brutal death metal and metalcore to check these guys out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.crimsonfalls.com
Recordlabel: http://www.genetrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/crimsonfalls |
74/100 |
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| DARK THE SUNS – All Ends in Silence (CD) | Finland | May 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Melodic Dark Metal | Running time: 45.00 (Tracks: 10 | ||
| Dark the Suns play Melodic Gothic/Death Metal which gets his Darkness from the voice of Mikko Ojala. This guy is also the main man in the band because Dark the Suns was originally founded as Mikko's solo project in 2005. He made a demo called "Sleeping Beauty", took care of all the instruments and got himself a deal with Firebox for two albums. After putting a band together the first result was there in 2007 with their debut album " In Darkness Comes Beauty". This is their second one and i must say it isn't bad at all. The album is full of energetic melodies creating a dark, melancholic atmosphere which sounds even catchy. It sometimes reminded me of the old Theatre of Tragedy. The voice of Mikko creates a malaise feeling over the songs, but it has lack of variation. Sometimes it works brilliant like in "All Ends in Silence" (when you hear the man whisper/speaking "I grieve in darkness ......" you really get the feeling your are completely desperate and left alone in some finish forrest), but during the album it makes the songs exchangeable. That is a pity because the sound is great and the band is very well capable of playing this stuff. If you are into some melodic mid tempo mournful stuff with a light touch which is well produced than this is something for you. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.darkthesuns.com
Recordlabel: http://www.firebox.fi MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/darkthesuns |
71/100 |
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| DEREK SHERINIAN – Molecular Heinosity (CD) | USA | May 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Progressive Rock | Running time: 39:48 (Tracks: 9) | ||
|
Derek Sherinian may be synonymous with keyboards, his name commands respect amongst the guitar and bass set. In the past, Sherinian has recruited Yngwie Malmsteen, Slash, John Petrucci, Tony Franklin, Billy Sheehan, Steve Lukather, Rusty Cooley and of course, Zakk Wylde to his ventures. These guys are not the least in todays music business so one could easily think this is a musical masterpiece. That would be the case, seeing Zakk Wylde, Tony Franklin and Virgil Donati in the list of musicians. Sherinian also played in Dream Theater (oh…did I say something new? J) And for the fans of progrock, his sixth soloalbum is a killer! Musical structures are very intelligent ("hard to follow", some might say) and the musicianship that is displayed here is simply phenomenal. Some might say they miss vocals but I fail to see where vocals could add anything useful to Dereks music. I also hear an astonishing Zakk Wylde ("Primal Eleven"…WOW!! But he should stay away from doing any vocal parts) and I could go on forever. Fact is that this keyboard orientated album has (I would say) equally important guitar parts which gives this album a lot of aggressiveness…and I love it ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.dereksherinian.com
Recordlabel: http://www.insideout.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dereksherinian2008 |
90/100 |
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| DESERT SIN – The Edge of Horizon (CD) | Austria | May 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Melodic Heavy Metal | Running time: 52:55 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| A melodic metal band from Austria? You probably mean Germany right? No. This band is definitely from Austria and goes by the name of Desert Sin. This heavy melodic metal group started out nearly a decade ago under the name of SICK-U-R and released two demo's under that name. Especially the last one 'Zero Hour' was very well received by both critics and fans. With this demo, the band decided to recruit an extra guitar player. The line-up then was, and still is: Sandro Holzer on vocals and guitar, Stefan Entner on guitar, Rainer Fischer on bass, Roman Fischer on keys and Herald Vogl on the drums. Finally they have released their debut album on the Pure Steel Records label which is called 'The Edge of Horizon.' It is always nice to see a band who took their time before releasing an album. Nowadays a lot of bands seem to skip the demo period and come up straight with a full length. Often with a lack of qualitative material. No, not Desert Sin. They are now picking the fruits of their labor and can be very proud of their first full length. The music can best be described as melodic heavy metal with a symphonic twist. The album contains everything you can expect within this kind of music as well as the lyrics. The biggest plus of this band is probably the use of extremely catchy melody lines in combination with the ear-catching refrains. Personal favorites already are 'The Summoner' and the title track 'Edge of Horizon.' Also worth mentioning is the powerful voice of singer Sandro Holzer. Let's hope he knows all the cliché poses on stage so the picture is complete. Desert Sin certainly put Austria on the metal map! Nice record. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.desertsin.net
Recordlabel: http://www.puresteel-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/desertsinband |
82/100 |
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| DISBELIEF – Protected Hell (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Death / Groove Metal. | Running time: 48:09 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| "Protected Hell" is Disbelief's 8th studio album in 12 years. A very productive band one could say. In the 19 years that the band exists they spent most of their time under the big names in the metalscene. Sure they released some quality albums in nineties but somehow they never seemed to be picked up by a larger public. I don't think "Protected Hell" will change that although I do think that the fans of the band will have a perfect addition to their collection. The new album is produced by Michael Mainx, mastered by Tue Madsen and sounds great! Precisely the powerful production this kind of music needs. How does Disbelief sound like? Well this is Death Metal with lots of groove parts. Catchy song material and one of the most important things these days: recognizable songs. Its obvious that nowadays lots of albums sound the same. And its not possible to keep songs apart. Disbelief manages that problem perfect. A song like "Nemesis Rising" will not leave your head for days. Such a powerful chorus, and ditto screams because that's another strong thing about this record the vocals are drenched with hate. Karsten "Jagger" Jager must be really frustrated when the vocals were recorded. Other thing that must be mentioned are the bass parts. They really rumble its way through the record contributing to the massive sound of the record. Strong song material, fantastic production, good musicianship, Why isn't the score a little bit higher? Simply for the same reason why I don't know that Disbelief doesn't play the major league. Maybe it's the same reason why Job questions God: Job asks: "I have always been an good servant but you gave me a thousand horrible diseases and all because you had a bet going with the Devil"? "All I want to know God is: Why me?" Job waits and just when he's about to convince himself that God is not going to answer a thunderhead forms into the sky, lightning flashes and God answers: "Well Job there's just something about you that pisses me off"! Job deserved more just like Disbelief does! (note: I'm no preacher) | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.disbelief.de
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/disbeliefmetal |
78/100 |
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| DRONE - Juggernaut (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Thrash / Speed Metal | Running time: 43:17 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| If you are into the music of Machine Head you might want to give this album a try. As a matter of fact, Drone can be seen as this band's little brother. Drone first was noticed when they won the international Wacken Metal Battle in 2006. As winners they were offered to record their excellent debut album "Head-On Collision". I remember that when I bought this album, I was very impressed with their sound. The subtle mixture of Bay Area bands like Testament and the slightly modern twist of Machine Head has proven to be a successful combination. Mind-blowing riffs with unexpected breaks and killer vocals have made this album, at least in my opinion, one of the best debut albums of 2006. After the release Drone started touring and played all across Europe amongst Overkill and many others. Their reputation was growing quickly and the reviews were positive. I was really looking forward to this follow up album 'Juggernaut.' Luckily Mario has send me this promo so I can even give my opinion about this highly anticipated record. I can honestly say that Drone has done a nice job with this record, but I also have some mixed feelings. The song structures are a bit more complex and so are the breaks which brings a lot of variation. Although I sometimes get the feeling that they focus to much on the inventive parts rather than on the actual song itself. This makes it sound a bit to forced and that is a shame. I can conclude that 'Juggernaut' is not their best effort so far, but nevertheless it is a great album which has a lot to offer. I am sure that they will gain a lot of (young) fans when they go on tour with Ektomorf supporting this album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.droneband.de
Recordlabel: http://www.wackenrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dronemetal |
82/100 |
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| EPOCHATE – Chronicles Of A Dying Era (CD) | Italy | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Industrial Rock / Metal | Running time: 43:10 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| EPOCHATE was formed in 2008 by Victor Love (DOPE STARS INC.) and Noras Blake (SPINEFLESH, EDENYZED). And I must admit, I was really surprised by this fantastic album. From the first song "Chronicles Of A Dying Era" until the last one "Of Shade And Light" this is a very fascinating album. EPOCHATE's music is very varied and difficult to classify. Their music is a mixture of Industrial, Rock, Electronica and soundtrack music. These two Italians recorded 9 tracks for this debut album and are both multi instrumentalists. Victor Love is the singer and plays guitar, synthesizer, drum machine and orchestral programming. And Noras Blake plays synthesizer, drum machine, orchestral programming, samples and backing vocals. Anyway, there's a lot of atmosphere on this album and really there's no song that bores me. When I listened to "Chronicles Of A Dying Era" I sometimes had to think of bands like DIE KRUPPS, OOMPH and WHITE ZOMBIE (of their "Supersexy Swingin' Sounds"). Okay, EPOCHATE is less heavy, but it all sounds fantastic. Some favourites are: "1600 A.D.", "Substania", "Creators", "Needle Hive" and "Introspection". Even the two songs "Substania" and "Needle Hive" are both songs which could be successful in the alternative dance circuit, because of the beats. The album has a very good production, which was done by Love himself. Very interesting album of these Italians. If you are curious yourself, check them out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.epochate.com
Recordlabel: http://www.subsoundrecords.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/epochate |
84/100 |
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| ETHAN BROSH – Out Of Oblivion (CD) | USA | May 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Rock / Metal | Running time: 44:15 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Ethan was born in New York, but grew up in Israel where he learned to play both electric and classical guitar. On his first solo album "Out Of Oblivion" he demonstrates that he's a very skilled acoustic and electric guitarist. His guitar style is very melodic, with nice themes and without shredding too much. Guest musicians on his album are Mike Mangini (drums) and the guitarists George Lynch, Greg Howe and Joe Stump. Ethan's songs are most comparable with stuff from guitarists such as Vinnie Moore, George Lynch, Joe Satriani and Tamas Szekeres. Art work was done by Derek Riggs and the album was mixed by Chris Tsangarides, so not only the songs are great but also the presentation of the album is excellent! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ethanbrosh.com
Recordlabel: http://www.magnacarta.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ethanbrosh |
87/100 |
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| FAIRYLAND – Score To A New Beginning (CD) | France | May 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Symphonic Metal | Running time: 49:47 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Fairyland was formed in 1998 by keyboardist Phillippe Giordana together with bassist/drummer Willdric Lievin. After a few demos their music evolved more and more into epic fantasy material. Willdric left the band in 2003 and at this moment Phillippe is the only one left in the band. For this album he hired a whole bunch of musicians to complete this third album which is also the end of the Osyrhia trilogy. On this one the masterbrain worked with several vocalists and that surely ads an extra dimension to this kind of music. Packed in a beautiful album cover which makes you longing back to the good old days of vinyl, the mastermind brings us an imposing, bombastic masterpiece which is filled with virtuous guitar leads and symphonic keyboard melodies. He gathered himself with some skilful musicians and the sound of the album is produced very well. Overall I have nothing to complain about this album. It listens away pretty easily and the songs are yet even ingenious as catchy. The two instrumentals "Opening Credits" and "Rise of the Giants" are nothing less than mini soundtracks. Best songs, when I have to name some, are "Master of the Waves" (with a bombastic orchestral opening), "A Soldiers Letter" (catchy as hell, sing a long !), "Godsent" (with spoken words) and the fast "The Gates Of Morken:" The only disadvantage is that I hear some Nightwishcopy back in a few songs, but hey, you can't have everything. It's a great accomplishment when you are able to fulfil your ideas combining so much instruments and vocals to one solid sounding album. Fans of Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire, Symphony X etc. certainly will like this stuff. Chapeau ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.fairyland-metal.com
Recordlabel: http:// www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/fairylandfantasia |
85/100 |
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| GRENDEL- A Change through Destruction (CD) | Finland | May 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 47:45 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| According to their bio these guys are the new Amorphis. I don't see that at all. They call their music melodic death metal but they should call it poppy death metal or pop metal. They were in the Finnish charts in the first week of the release and I can totally understand that. It is radio music. Nothing wrong with that if you like that genre. They started in 1999 and released several demo's so they are experienced enough. This is their second cd and it's not really my thing. It's to poppy for me. The first song 'One Desire' is also the best song. I like the grunts and even the catchy refrain but after that it all sounds the same to me. The clean vocals by singer Mikko Virtanen and even the grunts aren't bad but the rest of the cd sounds like one song. The songs are very catchy but a bit of a bore. But I know there are a lot of people who like this genre and even I can see myself singing along with the radio but nothing more than that. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.grendelband.com
Recordlabel: http://www.firebox.fi MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/grendel |
65/100 |
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| GRENOUER – Presence With War (CD) | Russia | May 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 43:00 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Formed in 1992, in the heart of the Western Ural Mountain Range of Russia, life for Grenouer began as a Brutal Death Metal outfit. And following the usual array of demos, the band were hauled into Moscow to record their debut 'Border of Misty Times'. Three full lengths followed and proved equally succesfull, and having evolved from the death metal formula to a redefined and hard to categorise original take on the genre. The band released last year their fifth album ' TRY' which was a re-release of album number four to a world wide market and is available for the first time outside their native Russia. The band are currently signed to the Spanish label Locomotive. This is their 6th album, or actually their fifth, but anyway their latest effort, and should appeal to fans of Meshuggah, Pantera, Faith No More, Clawfinger according to the info. After a short military intro 'Mercenary Fields' sets in, a good and heavy song, with grunting vocals and a very good and heavy production. Grenouer delivers a good album overall, but the only bad thing they better had left out, is the Recoiler Remix of 'Clonetwigs'. Instead they better had put a song like 'Sex Optica' on it, nice up tempo and heavy. The lyrics handle mostly about army life and war as far as I understand it, and the album sounds really groovy, not the most original sound, but then again who is these days. Some real heavy songs like 'Clonetwigs' (the original, NOT the remix) or 'The Choice Of Flesh' make the album a good average metal album, also through the heavy production. No real surprises, except for a negative one in the form of the mentioned remix, also 'A Farewell To Arms' isn't a real song but more of an outro, after which you better stop listening, for the only thing left is the remix, and it brings the album down. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.grenouer.com
Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/grenouer |
72/100 |
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| IN SOLITUDE – In Solitude (CD) | Sweden | May 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 36:30 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Swedish powerhouse In Solitude was formed in the dawn of the new millennium by 5 young but talented musicians. This is the band's debut album. "In Solitude" is a recording of pure heavy metal with a great deal of authentic 80s feeling. The first band that comes to mind as an influence is Mercyful Fate. Actually the band's sound is a mix of King Diamond, Heavy Load and Mercyful Fate pretty much in the same vein as their fellow countrymen Portrait. Music made with love and respect towards their icons. Traditional heavy metal albums made with the 80s recipe are hard to come by and this is one worth checking out. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.puresteel-records.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/insolitudeheavymetal |
80/100 |
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| KATEDRA – Ugnikalnis (CD) | Lithuania | May 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 40:13 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| This is the fourth album by long existing metallers Katedra from Lithuania, as they started out already in 1986! The band played a lot of live performances on festivals, local as well as abroad, and build up a good reputation. At the end of 1990 their debut album 'Mors Ultima Ratio' appeared and was sold out in only 2 weeks time. In '92 their second album 'Natus in Articulo Mortis' came out and was praised by reviewers worldwide. In 1994 the band broke up for about 5 years, to be reborn in 1999. After some line-up changes and performing some festivals over the years, and even appearing in German scary movie "Rats 2", they released their third album 'III' in 2006 when they also celebrated their 20th anniversary. In 2008 the band signed a contract with Atra Musica Records company for the release of their new fourth album 'Ugnikalnis' (Volcano). Katedra makes very strong metal, and they are really skilled musicians, their new album sounds very mature and heavy. Also the album has a good production, only thing is that the vocals are all in Lithuanian language, can't make anything of it, but then again, it isn't really disturbing cause the music speaks for itself! Great album from a great band, just give it a try, they know their metal! Their music has a bit of everything, thrash metal, classic heavy metal, there's even an instrumental track on the album, it makes it all more diverse, and it doesn't get boring at all, very enjoyable album! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.katedrainrock.com
Recordlabel: http://www.atra-musica.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/katedrainrock |
79/100 |
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| LION'S SHARE – Dark Hours (CD) | Sweden | May 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Melodic Metal | Running time: 44:07 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Lion's Share returned to the musical front in 2007 after six years of silence with the powerful album "Emotional Coma". Away with sweet melodies, welcome to the power. The power is also the main dish on the new Lion's Share menu; guitarist and bandleader Lars Chriss got Patrik Johansson on vocals and he is one of the main characteristics on the album. A powerful voice, guided by powerful guitar riffs and a pounding rhythm section are the ingredients of "Dark Hours". "Judas must De" kicks off, and it is not surprising that the band also shot a video for this song. I must admit that certain parts of songs reminded me of other bands, like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and a couple of others. In "Heavy Cross To Bear", Johansson sounds a bit like Dio, where on other songs I feel he's more resembling Tony Martin. Michael Romeo was also invited to do a guest solo and it quite fits into this album. I haven't found any flaws on this album, so all powerfreaks, go to your shops and buy this one. It's a killer album! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lionsshare.org
Recordlabel: http://www.blisteringrecords.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lionsshare |
87/100 |
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| LONG DISTANCE CALLING – Avoid The Light (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Post Rock / Prog Rock / Psychedelic | Running time: 54:54 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| LONG DISTANCE CALLING is a German band which, although I have never heard of them before, really surprised me with their second album "Avoid The Light". In 2007 these Germans released their debut album, called "Satellite Bay". The band exists of David Jordan (guitar), Florian Füntmann (guitar), Jan Hoffmann (bass), Janosch Rathmer (drums) and Reimut van Bonn (ambience). As you can see there's no singer in the band. That's because L.D.C. is a complete instrumental band. Only on the fifth track "The Nearing Grave" there's some guest vocals from Jonas Renkse (KATATONIA). On "Satellite Bay" it was Peter Dolving (MARY BEATS JANE, THE HAUNTED) who did some guest vocals for L.D.C.. All songs on "Avoid The Light" are fantastic compositions and have all a very long running time. The shortest song takes 7:13 minutes ("Black Paper Planes") and the longest track takes 12:16 minutes ("Apparation"). And believe me, although these are all instrumental songs (except "The Nearing Grave" (7:42) of course), they really don't bore one moment. While listening to LONG DISTANCE CALLING's music, I personally had to think of PINK FLOYD many times. It's absolutely a very relaxing album with some heavier moments with great riffs as well, like "Black Paper Planes" and "I Know You, Stanley Milgram!" (10:20). Great album guys. It's almost like I'm listening to a soundtrack album. If you want to hear a brilliant album, don't avoid this one. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.longdistancecalling.de
Recordlabel: http://www.superballmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/longdistancecalling |
89/100 |
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| MASAAKI WATANUKI – The Beginning of The New Period (MCD) | Japan | May 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Guitar Rock / Metal | Running time: 19:05 (Tracks: 5) | ||
| Masaaki Watanuki is another talented guitarist from Japan. In the past he played with Zard, a very famous Japanese artist. Masaaki also wrote some songs for Zard and some of them were hits in Japan.He also played with Kohshi Inaba, the vocalist of the B'z (a very famous Japanese rock band) on his solo concert tour in 2004. "The Beginning of The New Period" is Masaaki's first instrumental solo release, filled with 5 tracks. The first two tracks "Journey To The Promised Land" and "My Scare" are two nice melodic-neoclassical instrumental metal tracks in the style of Vinnie Moore, Michael Schenker, Kiki Loureiro and Uli J. and Zeno Roth. The third song "Ratrace Waltz" is a nice classical piece played by electric guitar. The last two songs "Memory of Silence" and "Tender Rain" are (as the titles already tell) two calmer songs, with a nice balance between acoustic and electric guitar. It are also the most emotional songs of this EP. Without any doubt a very good instrumental release by Masaaki, who also plays in the hardrock/metal band Absolute. | |||
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Visit their website: http://blog.livedoor.jp/masaaki_watanuki/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/masaakiwatanuki |
88/100 |
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| MEMORIAL - In The Absence Of All Sacred (CD) | Denmark | May 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: (neo) Thrash Metal | Running time: 42:34 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| After 10 years of hard work and tons of line-up changes Danish thrash metal band Memorial released a demo in 2007 which led them to some more live work and a European tour. The name they made on stage got these guys a record deal so they are now releasing their first full-length album " In The Absence Of All Things Sacred". The album starts of with a heavy doom riff which sounds nice and makes me expect more of this, but the intro is completely misplaced compared with the rest of the album. What follows is fast and aggressive neo-thrash metal with some progressive elements and a hint of death metal influences. The music is hard and brutal, the vocals are raw and there are a few solo's to link everything nicely together. Everything is there for me to like this music but I still find that something is missing and I guess that missing link is just originality because this just sounds like all the other new 'thrash' metal bands. If you like bands as Lamb of God you'll love this but if you're into old school thrash, don't bother you'll be disappointed. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.memorial.dk
Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/memorialonline |
59/100 |
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| NACHTGESCHREI – Am Rande der Welt (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Folk Metal | Running time: 46:39 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Nachtgeschrei is one of the few folk metal bands that actually play more metal than folk. The music can be compared to similar bands like Schandmaul and In Extremo. The main difference is that Nachtgeschrei has the ability to find the right balance between the instruments which makes it an guitar orientated album with simple, but effective straight forward songs. The band can write compact, catchy songs that contain an optimistic vibe. What else is there to say about folk metal? Not so much that isn't already said before. Except for the fact that the best way to experience this music, is to hear it at a festival or concert. And based on the few live clips I saw of Nachtgeschrei, it is more than worth it. With 'Am Rande der Welt' the band has delivered a really great album. And make sure to check out their MySpace page for more information. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.nachtgeschrei.de
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nachtgeschrei |
80/100 |
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| OSI - Blood (CD) | USA | May 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Progressive Rock / Pop | Running time: 47:41 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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OSI (Office of Strategic Influence) is the band which has been formed in 2003 by Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) and Kevin Moore (ex Dream Theater and ex Chroma Key). The music of OSI can be best described by: You love it or you hate it. I'm still not convinced what to choose. It took Matheos and Moore more than a year to create "Blood". Because of the distance between these two musicians, a lot work has been done by e-mail. Moore and Matheos took care of the album`s production themselves, while the mix was done with Grammy winner Phil Magnotti. Before the release of Blood, OSI recorded 2 other albums, "Office Of Strategic Influence" in 2003 and "Free" in 2006. The drums on these two albums were perfomed by Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater); on the new album Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) is responsible for the drums. There is also a guest appearance by Mikael Kerfeldt from Opeth, and I wonder why he isn`t singing all the songs on "Blood". Moore`s voice is quite tedious, but the vocal perfomance of Kerfeldt on Stockholm is great! The musicians on this album are very talented, but the music on "Blood" is quite "difficult". The music alternates between atmosphericly dense and agressively demanding elements. One moment you listen to a heavy guitar, while some moments later, you can hear some kind of dark ambient "house" music. But it has to be said that the musicians are very talented and I think that maybe there will be a lot of people who will like this album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.osiband.com
Recordlabel: http://www.insideout.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/osiband |
68/100 |
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| PARAMITE – Demo 2008 (CDemo) | The Netherlands | May 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 12:48 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| Paramite is a thrash metal band formed in September 2008 by four young thrashers from Holland. These guys are all into old school 80's thrash metal and had enough of all those new (or NU) metal bands who seem to dominate the scene in their eyes. Paramite was created to make the music they love, and to show everybody that old school thrash is still alive! As their influences they name the old school metal bands from the German thrash scene, the American thrash scene and all other thrash bands around the world. This demo starts with an intro after which 'Worldwide Death' sets in, a great thrash song, no doubt, and real old school too. Only thing is the production, it sounds like a rehearsel tape or something, but it is a demo so, hopefully next time a serious studio would be nice. Nevertheless it show's what these guys can do, just like in the next songs 'Human Parasite' and 'Hopeless Prospects', it really breathes that 80's underground atmosphere, a band to keep your eye (or ear) on in the future! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/paramitethrash |
77/100 |
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| SAGA – The Human Condition (CD) | Canada | May 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Progressive Rock | Running time: 47:16 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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"The Human Condition" is Saga`s 31th release but it`s the first album with the new vocalist, Rob Moratti. In autumn 2007, Saga`s original vocalist Michael Sadler decided to leave the band. It was no farewell in anger or about musical differences, but he had a strong desire for new challenges. Saga immediately started a global search for a new frontman and in January 2008 they found Rob Moratti. Moratti was the lead singer of Final Frontier, also from Canada. His voice is different than Sadler voice, but the other band members were enthusiastic, so after some auditions they chose him as their new frontman. With Moratti as their new band member, Saga got together in december 2008 to finalize the songs for the new album. The Human Condition was produced by Saga and mixed by Pat Regan in California in February 2009. This album has a central theme, but this time Saga does not want to dissect the story behind the album. The Human Condition has become a versatile album with heavy rock parts, but also very fascinating progressive elements. Of course, I focused myself on the performance of Rob Moratti and in my opinion his voice matches good with the music! The arrangements are once again of a high level, as we can expect of Saga. I personally prefer the more uptempo songs, like the first (The Human Condition) and the second song (Step Inside). It took several sessions before I could appreciate the ballads but that`s normal when you listen for the first time to a progressive/symphonic rockalbum. This is a must for every progrock fan! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sagaontour.ca
Recordlabel: http://www.insideout.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sagaca |
90/100 |
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| SANDSTONE – Purging the Past (CD) | Ireland | May 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Hardrock | Running time: 70:53 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| When I read the promotional package which stated that this band is interesting for fans of Iron Maiden, Guns 'n Roses, Queensryche and Megadeth, I couldn't wait to give this album a try. As a big admirer of these giants it is always nice to hear a somewhat related band to these styles of music. Unfortunately this time the promoter was a bit to enthusiastic with mentioning these names. The new Sandstone album 'Purging the past' sounds nothing like the previous mentioned bands. In fact, the only thing Sandstone and Megadeth have in common is the typical thin guitar sound. Okay, forget the comparisons and let's focus on the actual Sandstone album and the band itself. Sandstone is a four piece rock/metal band from Northern Ireland. They got together in 2003 and immediately started writing and recording their first material. A few years later their debut album 'Tides of Opinion' came out and got very well reviewed. Now it is 2009 and their second effort 'Purging the past' has just been released on Casket records. I've listened to this album for numerous times now and it simply doesn't get to me. Sure, the songs are not bad and especially the opening track is a beauty, but the songs in general are not that special to me. Ballads are very well represented on the album which makes it an inconsistent hardrock album with a lack of velocity. Don't get me wrong, I am not the kind of hardrock fan that wants everything to be heavy and fast, but with this album it is hard to stay focused on the songs. Another factor is the voice of singer Sean. Either you like it or you don't. On the other hand I have to say that Sandstone is very catchy at times. Especially the solo's an harmonic parts are very well written. Unfortunately these moments don't last the entire song. A band with great potential, but not on this album. Not yet… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sandstonerocks.com
Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk |
65/100 |
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| SARKE – Vorunah (CD) | Norway | May 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Black / Thrash Metal | Running time: 37:29 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| This is no less than an all- star project with two well known persons contributing the Norwegian black metal scene. Formed in 2008 by its namesake Sarke (Khold, Tulus, Old Man's Child) and quickly thereafter joined by Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone). The band now gives birth to their debut album: "Vorunah". Musically it doesn't differ that much according the latest Darkthrone albums. Sarke is also dirty as fuck and dwelling in the same depths as Hellhammer. A region this guys seem to like concerning the last couple of years. Mostly mid tempo but fast in the last track "Dead Universe" . The recordlabel likes to speak of soundscapes the band produces. Mainly because of the haunting keyboard parts that sometimes seem to come right from seventies prog records from Goblin or Black Widow. It immediately gives the band their "own" sound. On one hand oh so simple but on the other hand catchy and damn effective. Some tunes are nesting in my head for days now. They won't leave, I'm sure about that. It also marks the statement that the music one makes easily relates to the environment you live in. Concerning Sarke and Norway. Norway is a beautiful land but can also be very dark and scary. Sarke confirms that by playing filthy music with vast and enchanting keyboard parts. With Nocturno Culto on board there is much to enjoy lyricalwise. What do you think of oneliners like: "You're on me like an old mans dog" or "I'm old I'm dying, Hell can wait, I'm always late" and so on. Sarke has already played the Inferno festival in Norway and will play at Wacken in August. A chance to finally see one half of Darkthrone live on stage after the Satyricon gig at Wacken a few years back. The live line up includes more people that are well known in the Norwegian metalscene. Hope they will do a club tour after these festival appearances because this music will sound best in a sweaty and filthy small club. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.indierec.no MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sarkeofficial |
84/100 |
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| SERPENT STEEL– Cries of the Dead (CDemo) | The Netherlands | May 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 6:01 (Tracks: 1) | ||
| Serpent Steel is still a very young but also a very sensational new heavy metal band from The Netherlands!! They exist since 2007 and their goal was to play heavy metal the way it was meant to be. "Cries of the Dead" is a totally 80's sounding heavy metal song. With harmonic guitar duels together with pounding bass licks and balls to the walls drums, combined with sceaming melodic vocals. In the middle of the song is a slower part, like Manowar's "Battle Hymns". Serpent Steel is a very good 80's influenced heavy metal band, dynamic but melodic too. For a first recording, it sounds good, although with a better production it would be even better. On their myspace page are also 2 other (live) songs and 2 live clips too. Check them out a.s.a.p!!! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/serpentsteel |
91/100 |
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| SIRENIA – The 13th Floor (CD) | Norway | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Gothic / Metal | Running time: 56:21 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| SIRENIA is a Norwegian Gothic/Metal band and was formed in January of 2001 by Morten Veland (formerly of TRISTANIA). Recently the band released their fourth album "The 13th Floor", which is actually my first acquaintance with SIRENIA. So I searched a little bit on the internet to find some more info about the band. So far the band had released the following albums "At Sixes And Sevens" (2001), "An Elixir For Existence" (2003) and "Nine Destinies And A Downfall" (2007). And in 2004 they also released the EP "Sirenian Shores". The band had several line-up changes in the past, especially with their guitarists and female singers. After the album "Nine Destinies And A Downfall" female singer Monika Pedersen left, so Veland had to search again for a new female singer. Finally he found in Spanish beauty Ailyn (real name Pilar Giménez Garcia) a perfect singer. I don't know how former female singers Henriette Bordvik (2002-2005) and Monika Pedersen (2006-2007) are sounding, but Ailyn has a very beautiful voice. Veland played all the guitars, bass, keyboards and programming on this album. So the current line-up exists of Ailyn (vocals), Morten Veland (guitar, vocals), Michael S. Krumins (guitar) and Jonathan A. Perez (drums). Session bass player Kristian Olav Torp will play with SIRENIA at their live shows. I like all songs on "The 13th Floor". It's just traditional Gothic with classical influences, lots of choirs, beautiful vocals, grunts, screams etcetera. It all sounds very catchy and it's a pleasure to listen to songs like "The Path Of Decay", "The Mind Maelstrom", "The Seventh Summer" and "Led Astray". The second track, "Lost In Life", which is a great song too, is in my opinion the most commercial sounding song on the album. Anyway, "The 13th Floor" is a beautiful album. The digi-pack version, which I have, contains three bonus tracks, which are a radio mix of "The Path To Decay", and instrumental versions of "The Mind Maelstrom" and "Winterborn 77". If you like bands like WITHIN TEMPTATION, NIGHTWISH, DELAIN, EPICA etcetera, you will like SIRENIA too. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sirenia.no
Recordlabel: http://www.nuclearblast.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sirenia |
87/100 |
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| SONS OF SEASONS – Gods of Vermin (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Melodic Power Metal | Running time: 64:53 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Sons of Seasons is a new band formed by Kamelot and Doro member Oliver Palotai (keyboards, guitars). The band also features Metalium vocalist Henning Basse. The label presents S.O.S. as a dark symphonic group and I slightly disagree. In my opinion the music could be best described as dark melodic power metal with progressive overtones. The symphonic elements are not abundant in a way that can determine the band's sound. The album is quite heavy with interesting parts. It reminded me of late Kamelot but with a rougher edge. More like a cross between Kamelot and Brainstorm. The beautiful Simone Simons of Epica participates in one song. This is an effort worth checking out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sonsofseasons.com
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sonsofseasons |
75/100 |
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| SUBMISSION - Code of Conspiracy (CD) | Denmark | May 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Thrash / Death Metal | Running time: 52:12 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| At first I didn't know what to think of this cd. It blasts out of my speakers and its an incredible dynamic album. Its a mixture of Soilwork, In Flames and Arch Enemy and is played very well. The drummer Morten Lowe Petersen is incredible. One of the best drummers I've heard lately. And the guitar solo's of Christopher Kjeller Petersen are also a delight for my ears but I don't know what to think of the singer Lasse Sivertsen. The thrash metal screams start to bore me after a while and the clean sing-along parts aren't really an ear pleaser to me. Listen to 'Imaginary Freedom' and you know what I mean. It's a bit over the top. Don't get me wrong, the clean vocals are good and if they would have used that in a few songs it would be great but not in every song and not the way they do it. It's a bit to sing-along happy times for me. Too bad because these guys have a lot of potential The title song 'Code of Conspiracy' is musically a very good song and the guys did write and play an excellent album. Different vocals next time!!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.submission-ragecage.dk
Recordlabel: http://www.blisteringrecords.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/submissionragecage |
79/100 |
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| THE GATHERING – The West Pole (CD) | The Netherlands | May 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Crossover / Atmospheric Rock | Running time: 54:17 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| A new singer, a new beginning for The Gathering. After the departure of Anneke (van Giersbergen) the band seriously doubted if they should continue. Fortunately they didn't stop but chose to move on. The search for a new singer was quickly settled. Silje (Wergeland, Octavia Sperati) entered the band and so the recording of 9th studio album: "The West Pole" could begin. First of all one would ask, if there are much differences between Serje and Anneke? From my point of view I would say: "No" Their fan base should not be afraid that Silje has a complete different voice. In many songs the two are not very different from each other. Overall Silje sounds more charming if you ask me. So to me the change of a new singer turned out very well and it would rather be weird if the fans won't except Silje. Over to the sound of the new album than! "The West Pole" is a more open and direct album than "Home" which was more introvert. It seems that The Gathering took influences from several albums in their discography put it into a blender and created this new various sound. Because of the diversity Hans (Rutten, drummer) would -as stated in the interview in this month's edition- rather call their sound: crossover. Something I could easily agree with. From the trip-hop song: "No Bird Call" to the beautiful piano driven song "You promised me a Symphony". From the more atmospheric rock oriented song "Treasure" to the post influences in "No one Spoke". This album has so much ingredients that it pushes the limits of diversity and you don't get bored easily. Lyrical wise "The West Pole" tells us something about a fictive state through different moments in time. And while this is not a concept album there seems to be somewhat of cohesion in between the songs. "The West Pole" will be released on the first of May and people who buy the album right from the bands own label Psychonaut records may get something extra while some packages will include "The City From Above" EP a shirt or a compass. Maybe you can find the West Pole with it! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.gathering.nl
Recordlabel: http://www.psychonautrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/gatheringofficial |
85/100 |
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| THE ORANGE MAN THEORY – Satan Told Me I'm Right (CD) | Italy | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Extreme Metal / Hardcore | Running time: 42:08 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| THE ORANGE MAN THEORY is an Italian band from Rome and were formed in 2003. The band exists of Gianni Serusi (vocals), Gabbo (guitar & backing vocals), Cinghio (bass & backing growls) and Tommaso Moretti (drums). In 2007 they released their debut album "Riding A Cannibal Horse From Here To…", which was recorded by Steve Austin. Now their second album "Satan Told Me I'm Right", which was produced by Steve Austin again, has been recently released in March. The album features eleven songs and is a mixture of extreme metal songs with a hardcore/noisecore style vocals. But there are also some clean vocal moments on this album as well (like in "Meet Uncle Terror"). A song which totally doesn't belong between all this noisy hyperactive music is the acoustic "A Rational Mind". Although I can listen to this type of metal once in a while, I don't like all the songs on this album. But the few songs I like are "Straight To Extinction", "Gavino Is Back In Town", "Savage But Focused" and "Meet Uncle Terror". In May the band is doing a short European tour with DISBELIEF and BLEEDING EYES. They are doing three gigs in Holland. One of them is in my hometown on May 10th. Then they play at the Little Devil, Tilburg. If you're interested go see them. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.theorangemantheory.com
Recordlabel: http://www.subsoundrecords.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theorangemantheory.com |
74/100 |
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| THORONDIR – Dusterwald (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Pagan / Viking metal | Running time: 27:59 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Thorondir is typical example of jumping on the bandwagon while a trend is already set . Nowadays people get buried under pagan/viking metal bands. Why begin another one and record an album while your not ready for it. Could anybody please tell me the purpose of this? This band was formed in 2007 and had problems finding a rehearsal room. I can definitely hear that. But why bring out an album this soon then? "Dusterwald" sounds uninspiring, it lacks power. Viking metal needs power, passion and pride. Thorondir has none of them. The biography says that Thorondir wants to distinguish themselves by using melodic guitar parts, death grunts and gentle keyboard melodies. All beautiful words. But please pratice what you preach. In some of the songs the guitar parts are played false. I could go on and on telling you what a disappointment this album is to me but I'm not going to ruin my mood today. One advice for the band: "Please use that new rehearsal room as much as you can and come back with a proper studio album over lets say 3 years. Fourthy points are given the intro, the hilarious band photo's and the length of the album (28:00) | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.thorondir.de
Recordlabel: http://ccpcom.window.hl-users.com/ MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thorondirmusic |
40/100 |
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| THUNDER – The EP Sessions 2007-2008 (CD) | United Kingdom | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 73:48 (Tracks: 16) | ||
| In 1990 I bought THUNDER's fantastic debut album "Back Street Symphony". But somehow after that brilliant album, I never really followed their career. So, I don't know any other albums of the band. I also saw THUNDER just once at the BOSPOP FESTIVAL in Weert (July 9th, 2004). What I liked about THUNDER on their debut album are the fantastic melodic rock songs and especially the superb vocals of Danny Bowes. He's a great rock singer. In 2000 the band broke-up for the first time, reunited again in 2002, but on January 28th, 2009 the band announced their definite split up. As the title says, all songs on "The EP Sessions 2007-2008" were recorded during both years and is just a compilation of the three 6-track EP's the band offered to their fans at that time while they were writing the album "Bang!" (2008). It's ten new written songs on this album, two re-worked songs, which are "Yesterday's News (Naked Version)" and "I Believe (Missionary Position Version)" and four live tracks. Three of those live tracks, "Dirty Dream", "What A Beautiful Day" and ""Last Man Standing", are songs from the album "Robert Johnson's Tombstone" (2006). Really, songs like "Survivor", "Yesterday's News", "Chain Reaction", "Midlife Crisis", "Make My Day" and "Bette Davis Meltdown" are all fantastic rock songs in the well known THUNDER tradition. "I Believe", "So Sad Today" and "Only You Can Make Me Cry" are beautiful ballads. During the existence of THUNDER, the band always had a fairly consistent line-up of Danny Bowes (vocals), Luke Morley (guitars, vocals), Ben Matthews (guitar, keyboard) and Gary "Harry" James (drums). Chris Childs (formerly of THEN JERICHO), who joined THUNDER in 1996, is the band's third bass player. To bad one of England's best rock bands definitely quits. Anyway, this is a very interesting compilation for anyone who likes good quality rock music and for all THUNDER fans who don't have those earlier released EP's. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.thunderonline.com
Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thunderonline |
86/100 |
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| UL MIK LONGOBARDEATH – Bonarda Bastarda!!! (CD) | Italy | May 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Rock 'n Roll | Running time: 49:58 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| UL MIK LONGOBARDEATH is an Italian five-piece band from Milano. The band exists of Ul Mik (vocals), Ul Robert (guitar), Ul Marco (guitar), Ul Teo (bass) and Ul Giurgin (drums). I hope I'm right with this, because all information in the booklet of this CD, on their official website and MySpace page is written in Italian. And I can't read fucking Italian, guys. Haven't you ever thought about it to write everything in English?!!!! Not everyone can read Italian. What bothers me the most is, they are singing in Italian as well. What the fuck are they singing about? Anyway, "Bonarda Bastarda!!!" is the third full length album of these Italians and was released in 2008. Musically there are just a few songs which sounds nice, but most of the songs are really crap. Songs which are nice are "Barbapedana 3000", "Mariuccia" and "Ul Giuvan Rockenroll", which is a medley of "Johnny B. Good" (CHUCK BERRY), "Born To Be Wild" (STEPPENWOLF), "Whole Lotta Rosie" (AC/DC) and "Born To Raise Hell" (MOTÖRHEAD). But really, the rest of the songs are worthless. I couldn't listen to this album more than 3 times. Then I already knew, this isn't a band for me. Only interesting for Italians I guess. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.longobardeath.it
Recordlabel: http://www.angermusic.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/longobardeath |
40/100 |
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| VALINOR – Hidden Beauty (CD) | Poland | May 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Symphonic Black Metal | Running time: 33:56 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| This album has already been released in 2006. And according the myspace page of the band they already released a follow up to this album in 2008. You ask us what's the point reviewing an album that is already been out for 3 years. The answer is simply: Every release deserves to be reviewed, new or old we don't care. Something I do care for is the ridiculously bad written biography of the band. It is well known that most Polish people don't speak or write English very well (ask Mario) but this tops everything. A few examples: "The group cames from Debica and it has been less known face on a native musical stage" or "But they it were not unfortunately commensurate to situation in team" and so the biography goes further. Grammatically a mess. Lyrics are lacking so I can't tell you if they are as bad as the biography but titles as "A Hand Of A Dead" don't predict much hope. Over to the music now since that is more important than words in my opinion. Valinor plays symphonic black metal with lots of melodic parts in it. The band operates with two guitarists but unfortunately they are too low mixed in the sound which is dominated by drums, vocals and keyboard parts. Something positive is that Valinor knows how to write a compact song although their sound is done by others far more better. It is with the instrumental songs: "Hidden beauty" and the epilogue where the skills of Valinor come flooting. Both pieces are very dramatic sounding and I hope the band will continue writing songs in this style in the future. For know this record is o.k. but will easily drown in the shitload of releases concerning our beloved scene because of the absence of originality. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.valinor.com.pl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/valinorband |
65/100 |
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| WINTERBORN – Farewell to Saints (CD) | Finland | May 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 55:36 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| I had the opportunity to review the debut album by Winterborn a couple of years ago (please take the time to find and read that review). The debut was a fine album of progressive power metal and I am happy to see that the band continues its heavy metal saga by releasing a successor. Things are not different. "Farewell to Saints" is at least equal to "Cold Reality". No major changes. All the factors that made the debut a very interesting listen are present. Thus I will give this one the same grade. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.winterborn.info
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/winterbornband |
83/100 |
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| WOLFCHANT – Determined Damnation (CD) | Germany | May 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Dark Metal | Running time: 61.09 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| Since 2003, Wolfchant are trying to prove that the proverbial "Metal Hammer" is not just hanging in Scandinavia. In their own words they also say they do that successfully. Are they ? According to Massacre records they play Dark Metal, but you can also categorise them under Pagan/Viking/Black etc. because they have influences of them all. After releasing "Bloody Tales of Disgraced Lands"(2005) and "A Pagan Storm"(2007) this one is their third album. With an album cover that makes you think that the new King Diamond album has arrived, they release 12 (14 when you get the special edition like me) new extreme metal tracks in a, nowadays, overcrowded genre. The band blends some classic Black Metal vocals with fast and Epic guitar riffs. Well, for the Black Metal vocals of Lokhi you have to like them, for me it is to much hearing them one hour after each other, they began to long me to some better understanding and varied vocals. The clean back vocals play also a significant role, especially during the sing-along choruses where the Epic feeling is underlined. The band uses some non-metal instruments like flute, mouth harp, tambourine and accordion and this creates a Celtic/Pagan atmosphere. The tracks have enough variation in them themselves, but they are to similar to each other. I often hear to many times the same structure in the songs. Also the production sounds a bit dull and monotonous to me, which doesn't help either. Best tracks for me are the more epic "Fate of the Fighting Man", the pretty good "A Raven's Flight" and "Never to Drunk" which i think this is going to be a live killer for their kind of crowd. When you get your hands on the special edition, then you can call yourself one lucky metalhead because the last bonustrack is "Warcry" and that (more metal) song is the one that I like most. Coming to the question if they are successfully or not, well they might, but I have my doubts about it. To me it is just to average. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.wolfchant-metal.com
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wolfchant |
68/100 |
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| ANDROMEDA – The Immunity Zone (CD) | Sweden | April 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 66:34 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| The career of this Swedish prog metal quintet started when guitarist Johan Reinholz submitted the demo "Welcome To Forever" to the record label War-Music. Soon after that the recordings of their debut album "Extension Of The Wish" started, and that album was released in 2001. Later that year the vocals were re-recorded with new vocalist David Fremberg. "Extension Of The Wish" was re-released by French label NTS with two bonus tracks. Some time later Andromeda started the recordings of the second album "II=I" which was released in 2003. "Chimera", their third album was released in 2006, one year later followed by their live dvd "Playing Off The Board". Now they finally are back with their fourth studio album "The Immunity Zone". Their new effort is a bit darker and heavier than their previous albums, but still maintaining the intricacies, finesse and melodies so characteristic of the band. The songs are mainly played in mid-tempo, but show lots of changes in rhythms and moods. David Fremberg is singing more versatile like ever, Johan (guitars) and Martin (keyboards) divide the guitar and keyboard parts into a great prog metal sound. Sometimes crazy ideas, complex playing, melodic touches, emotional vocals ; that's the way prog metal should be played!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.andromedaonline.com
Recordlabel: http://www.silverwolf-productions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/andromedaonline |
86/100 |
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| AVIAN – Ashes and Madness (CD) | USA | April 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 54:32 (Tracks: 10) | ||
|
Avian is the brainchild of guitarist and composer Yan Leviathan. The band released the debut album "From the Depths of Time" in 2005. The album featured Lance King (Balance of Power, Pyramaze, Gemini etc.) on vocals and Dave Ellefson of Megadeth fame on bass. Jonah Weingarten on keyboards completed the puzzle. The debut was a well received work of melodic power metal. In 2009 Leviathan and his personnel present a second album following the same recipe. "Ashes and Madness" is a fine album of American melodic metal. To be honest I was beginning to grow very tired of all these Europower releases. The power metal genre needed a solid American approach. This album has a genuine 90s power metal feeling but doesn't sound dated. Most songs scream Savatage and I very much enjoyed it. Not many bands can reproduce the Sava-sound. Leviathan's work is excellent (loads of fast and melodic solos!) and King is precise as always, hitting his trademark high notes with ease. I say go for it without any hesitation. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.avianband.com
Recordlabel: http://www.silverwolf-productions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/avianband |
83/100 |
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| CHAOSWAVE – Dead Eye Dreaming (CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Thrash Metal / Prog Metal | Running time: 62:42 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| This album "Dead Eye Dreaming" of Italian five-piece band CHAOSWAVE is a very nice acquaintance to me. Already with the first time listening to "Dead Eye Dreaming" I liked this band. Anyway, CHAOSWAVE was founded by Danish guitarist Henrik "Guf" Rangstrup (who's living in Italy since 2002) in the summer of 2003. In 2004 the band released a self titled 4-track demo and their debut album "The White Noise Within" was released in 2005. And with that debut album CHAOSWAVE got very good critics. And I can understand it completely why. In my opinion CHAOSWAVE is absolutely one of the better Italian metal bands that I know. The line-up of the band is Giorgia Fadda (vocals), Fabio Carta (vocals), Henrik Rangstrup (guitar), Michele Mura (bass) and Raphael Saini (drums). As you can see CHAOSWAVE has two singers, a female (Fadda) and male (Carta), and that alternation between them sounds fantastic. The band also exists of very good and technical musicians. The band produced this second album themselves and was mixed by Andy LaRocque (KING DIAMOND). Also guitarist Steve Smyth (NEVERMORE, TESTAMENT, VICIOUS RUMORS) is doing some guest leads on a few tracks. Musically CHAOSWAVE reminds me very much of a band like NEVERMORE. But sometimes I also hear a little bit MORBID ANGEL (because of the blast speed drum parts) and DREAM THEATER influences as well. Well, mostly it's Thrash, but you can say that it's sometimes Prog Metal too. "Anothter Lie To Live In Vain" is a short instrumental one, which is more a kind of intro for "Blind Eye Focus". Most of the songs are really fantastic. My favourite songs are "10 Years Of Denial", "Fork Tongues And Foul Times", "How To Define A Race", "Dead Eye Dream", "Rise", "Picture Perfect", "The Evident" and the bonus track "From The State To The Storm". Fantastic Italian band. "Dead Eye Dreaming" is a very good melodic Thrash album. Check them out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.chaoswave.it
Recordlabel: http://www.silverwolf-productions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chaoswave |
85/100 |
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| CHRIS LANEY – Pure (CD) | Sweden | April 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Hard Rock / Melodic Metal | Running time: 44:38 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Chris Laney is a Swedish producer, songwriter and musician and "Pure" is his first solo effort. He has worked with bands like Candlemass and Europe. In this case he has gathered several friends and managed to present an interesting album. "Pure" is a hard rock album bordering on melodic metal with Laney handling all guitars and lead vocals. There are some contemporary sounding tunes like the first song "Situation" but "I Dunno" is a hard rocker in the Def Leppard vein while "Make you Cry" brings Guns 'n Roses to mind. You will also find some Dokken and Bonfire in the album and other familiar rocking sounds that make it a work worth listening to. Laney's voice is not the best around but is exactly what this type of songs need. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.chrislaney.com
Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chrislaney |
78/100 |
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| CLAIRVOYANTS – Word To The Wise (CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic Heavy Metal | Running time: 50:37 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| The Clairvoyants are an Iron Maiden tribute band since 2001. Through the years they became the most popular tribute band in Italy. They always play a lot of gigs and already supported many wellknown bands. With 'Word To The Wise" they released their first own album, with 9 original compositions and one Iron Maiden cover. Guest on this album are Andre Matos (majestic vocals on "Hallowed Be Thy Name") and Oliver Palotai (keyboards) from Kamelot, Doro. On their album, Clairvoyants pay tribute to Iron Maiden with their own written songs, without copying them too much. Of course there are some clear Iron Maiden influences like the twin guitar leads (for example the opening track "Journey Through The Stars"), but all in all they are a very good melodic heavy metal band! Most of all, Clairvoyants reminds me most of all of Dawn of Silence from Sweden. That's also a band with several Iron Maiden influences, and they also got a powerful vocalist like Clairvoyant's Gabriele Bernasconi. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.clairvoyants.it
Recordlabel: http://www.valeryrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/clairvoyants |
81/100 |
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| CRIMFALL – As The Path Unfolds …. (CD) | Finland | April 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Epic Folk Metal | Running time: 46:50 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Finland ……. Ah, what a country that must be nowadays …… What I am trying to say is, that that country has a whole bunch of brilliant bands coming out of the woods that are ready to conquer the world with heavy shit. Crimfall is the name this time and what a debut album they are letting loose on our tender metal souls. Crimfall is a brand new shining star at the horizon, founded in 2007 by masterbrain Jakke Vitala. His vision it was to realize powerful; yet melancholic compositions with both beauty and power. He found both contrast and variance in his chosen companions on vocals in Mikko Häkkinen and Helena Haaparanta. For this album he gathered Henri Sorvali (Finntroll) and Janne Jukarainen (ex-Naildown) to fill in the bass and drum parts. Musically they define their music as Epic Folk Metal. I think it is even much more than that. It's bombastic, theatrical, symphonic, monumental and whatever more; it is just overwhelming and they are getting away with it ! Just put on the cd, lay yourself back in your lazy couch, put on your headphone, close your eyes and opener "Neothera Awakening" leads you into battle. You can almost see yourself back in the Middle Ages, marching in the frontline onwards to a glorious overcome . This certainly can compete with the better movie soundtracks. "The Crown of Treason" follows and makes you aware of the great capacities of Helena who can compete with the best ones in the female fronted genre like Tarja (ex-Nightwish) and Floor (ex-After Forever) immediately followed by the horrifying screams and growls of Mikko who sounds like he is coming right out of Hades where he has been chased by Hela herself. The track is lead out by a crackling fire where a blacksmith is forging the crown. To be honest, it took a few times to get used to the black metal screams of Mikko. Mostly it works like in "Ascension Pyre" and "Non Serviam" (which opens with snorting horses and the clutching of swords) but sometimes it is just to much and it could work against them by fans of this genre. Follower "Wildfire Season" starts folky and turns into such a catchy song that makes you want to pogo and tear down the house ! Brilliant ! It is hard to choose other favorites because the disc is filled with highlights. But track that deserve it to be mentioned are "Where Waning Winds Lead", "Shadow Heart" (Say hello "Phantom of the Opera") and the folky "A Hundred Shores Distant", I just can't get enough of it. In "Aubade" they integrated a beautiful arranged resting point, sung by the angelic voice of Helena. With a huge, resonant production, the album is also masterfully mixed as all of the disparate instruments are clearly audible at all times during every passage of music – drums, bass, guitars, violin, cello, accordion and all the other orchestrations combine at various points to great effect, and never to excess. Well not all is that original (influences of Nigthwish, After Forever, Therion and Epica you hear all the way), but the album listens away very easily because the songs are just very strong and so perfectly performed with female singer Helena who makes here entrance into the premier league of female singers. I think this album has the potential to be accepted by fans of for example Turasis/Finntroll adepts as well as the Nightwish/Epica gothics. Man, I certainly love this mixture of soundtrack/bombastic, epic folk stuff. As The Path Unfolds ….. is definitely a debut classic. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.crimfall.com
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/crimfall |
88/100 |
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| CRIMINAL – White Hell (CD) | Chili | April 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Death / Thrash Metal | Running time: 50:10 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Criminal is a thrash metal band from Chili which was formed by ex-Pentagram mastermind Anton Reisenegger and guitar player Rodrigo Contreras. Since their debut 'Victimized' in 1994 the band has always been very popular in thrash loving South America where they shared the stage with legends as Sepultura and Kreator. 4 years after their last album they are now back with 'White Hell'. The last few years I bought a lot of cd's from relatively unknown South American bands who play old school thrash metal the way it should be played even though their bands never existed in the 80's. Needless to say I was expecting a lot from this release the first time I gave it a spin. I was very surprised when after the first few songs I heard a completetly different sound than I was expecting. Criminal does not play old school thrash metal but has created a refreshing own mix of thrash and death metal combined with some hardcore influences that would make even me a metalcore fan if those bands played it like that. The songs are hard and fast with great technical riffs and an occasional breakdown. The drums are pounding and the vocals are great and fit right into the whole. This is the best mix of styles I heard in a long time, some of the songs are plain thrash metal, others has pieces in them that could have come right from At The Gates 'Slaughter of the Soul' and others are more metalcore sounding but way better than what is played these days. This is an album for thrash and death metal fans who like a modern sound and who aren't afraid of some expiriments. If you want pure 80's thrash go buy something else, there are plenty of South American bands who offer quality but if you like something with a bit more variety you should check this out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.criminal1.com
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.com MySpace: www.myspace.com/criminal |
79/100 |
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| DENIED – New Army for the Old Revolution (CD) | Sweden | April 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 44:03 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Before the actual review I would like to give the reader a tip: Listen to the album repeatedly. It can…no, it WILL grow on you. After two years of writing and recording this second Denied album saw the light in 2008. Unlike the band name this CD cannot be denied by the audience. It al begun when guitarist Andreas Carlsson formed the band in 2003. Nearly two years later their debut album '7 Times your Sin' came out on their own label and a handful of shows followed with this release. With a steady line up the band quickly started writing for their follow up album that is being reviewed here: New Army For The Old Revolution. This album is a huge difference compared to the previous one. And in a good way…You can hear that these guys have worked a lot on the material before putting in out there. The booklet shows a pentagram, as well as on the disc itself. If you add the fact that this band is from Sweden you would expect black/death metal. But no, as soon as the opener: 'The Black Room' was blowing through my speakers only one name came to mind: Pantera. The band is obviously inspired by these pioneers and even the singer reminds me of Phil Anselmo. Sometimes he tries a bit to hard which is absolutely not necessary since he has a unique voice of his own. Denied has managed to create an interesting heavy album with good diversity and catchy songs. The length is suitable except for the fifth track 'Lazarus' which is way to long. Special mentioning goes out to the track: '3 Degrees of Evil'. It has been stuck in my head for days. What a riff! This will do great at a live show as well as several other songs. If you are into Pantera or Anthrax during the John Bush era you should give this album a try. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.deniedworld.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/deniedworld |
82/100 |
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| DRIVE BY WIRE – Between Oceans (CD) | The Netherlands | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Stoner / Psychedelic Rock | Running time: 56:09 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| DRIVE BY WIRE is a Dutch Stoner band formed in 2005 by Simone Holsbeek and Alwin Wubben. In 2006 the band released their self titled debut album, which got very good critics. This second album titled "Between Oceans" was released in October of 2008. The current line-up of DRIVE BY WIRE exists of Simone Holsbeek (vocals, guitar), Alwin Wubben (dirty low guitar), René Rutten (bass; THE GATHERING) and Remco Cornelissen (drums). For their live shows Maz is playing the bass guitar. Some influences of the band are KYUSS, BLACK SABBATH, SONIC YOUTH, PJ HARVEY etc. The music is heavy, low, slow and psychedelic. I like Simone's voice, but I must admit that she's not always singing in tune on the first couple of songs. I'm not always in the mood for this type of music, but for me, it's a nice album to listen to once in a while. The songs I like the most are "Slow Colour" (5:42), "Between Oceans" (10:48), "Fire Inside" (6:19) and "Soil (Seven)" (11:15). "Low Rider" and "El Medano" are very short instrumental songs, and actually I don't understand the added value of these songs. They don't add anything. Anyway, if you like the above mentioned bands and also HAWKWIND, ASTROSONIQ etc., I'm sure you are very happy with DRIVE BY WIRE's second album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.drivebywire.nl
Recordlabel: http://www.konkurrent.nl MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/drivebywire |
75/100 |
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| ELDRITCH – Livequake (2CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Michel van Hassel |
| Style: Progressive Power Metal | Running time: 117:05 (Tracks: 24) | ||
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This band that was formed way back in 1991 is a constant factor in the world of progressive metal. Now after seventeen years they thought the time was right to put out a live-album. This album was recorded in the Music Street Live club in Pisa on the 22nd of March 2008. This is a small club that holds 400 people but works out great for the sound and atmosphere. Songs of all seven studio-albums are represented on this release. What to say about a band that has been around for such a long time? If you listen to the songs it's obvious that this band is very experienced. The album is divided in two sections with cd number 1 containing songs of the last four albums and cd number 2 consisting of songs of the first three albums. Apparently the digi-pack goes with a dvd that holds the complete show. Because I didn't receive the dvd I'll stick to the cd's. The present line-up holds two of the original members, namely Terence Holler (vocals) and Eugene Simone (guitars). The rest of the band consists of Rob "Pek" Proietti (guitars) , Raffahell Dridge (drums) and John Crystal (bass). Because nowadays the band doesn't have a keyboard-player, veteran band-member Oleg Smirnoff appears on the second cd to play the keys. The older stuff is a bit more powerful but still most of the songs are filled with great guitar-playing and drums that fill all empty spots in the songs. To sound of the recordings is good so if you're a fan of Eldritch you'll love this album and for the people that don't know Eldritch it's a nice way to get to know the material of this band. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.eldritchweb.com
Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de MySpace: http//www.myspace.com/neighbourhell |
83/100 |
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| END - The Never Ending Whirl of Confusion (CD) | France | April 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Progressive Metalcore | Running time: 37:55 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| Hailing from France this relatively new band End. Has just signed with Metal Blade records and is working on their first album. To give us a little taste ahead the band is re-releasing their EP 'The Never Ending Whirl of Confusion' together with 2 new tracks to be released on their album. It's quite hard to describe the sound of this experimental group of musicians. It's actually to dark and to heavy to be considered metalcore but it doesn't really fit any other genre either. The music is dark, chaotic, progressive and very expirimental at times but a other times also very soft and gentle. Even though it's easy to tell that we are dealing with some very talented musicians I don't like the whole. As a fan of the more direct genres I have grown a dislike for technical and experimental stuff, I rather have an easy riffs that blows my head off than this kind of music. I do believe that with lots of succesfull bands in this type of music the band will find plenty of fans who will enjoy their music. | |||
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Visit their website: http://end.1.free.fr
Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/end1freefr |
51 /100 |
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| ENSOPH – Rex Mundi X-ILE (CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Metal / Gothic / Industrial / Ambient / Prog Metal | Running time: 54:42 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Personally I never had heard of ENSOPH before. The band from Venice, Italy exists of N-Ikonoclast (vocals), Xraphael (guitar, samples & programming), KKTZ (bass), Next-X@nctum (Keyboards) and Xenos (drums). ENSOPH was formed in 1997 and has released several albums so far. Anyway, "Rex Mundi X-Ile" starts with the industrial instrumental "Evil Has Found A Servant" followed by "Dance High & Shine, Shiva!". Musically it sounds very interesting, just as some other songs like "The Whore & The Ashetist", "Thir(s)ty Pieces Of Silver" and "Disciplina Arcani (Un Canto Per L'Esilio)". But where I really break down on are the vocals. Okay, the vocals on this album are very varied, just like the music, but I really don't like the main vocals. It's just like Gollum (LOTR) is singing, hahahahahaha. Production wise is all sounds fantastic, and as I said, musically it all sounds nice and there are really some interesting songs on this album. These Italians also recorded a well done cover version of ALICE IN CHAINS' "Would", which is a bonus track on the album and one of the best songs of the album. If the whole album was sung with this type of vocals I liked it much more. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ensoph.it
Recordlabel: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ensoph |
70/100 |
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| FREDDIE – Freddie (CD) | Russia | April 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Symphonic Rock | Running time: 54:41 (Tracks: 25) | ||
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Freddie: Strange name for a band? That was my first thought when I got this album from a friend. He asked me to review this album which he got from his Russian neighbour.
When I opened the package I was totally surprised!! I didn't see many cd's that are so perfectly designed as this one! Is this the future of the Russian rock scene? I really hope so! This limited digipack cd consists of: 1. rock suite "Freddie" - one CD, playing time 54 min. 2. digipack designed by artist, 4 pages, folded 3. storytelling comics-style booklet, colorful, glossy, 32 pages, excellent drawed!! Freddie is a kind of project of Pushking's main man Konstantin "Koha" Shustarev. Rock suite "Freddie" was born in 1997. It happened on a rainy day when Koha was walking towards his home on the Basil Island through the Summer Garden. Suddenly the sky was yawn and cosmic information blasts stroke him. A melody appeared in his mind, which later became the base for this rock suite. His spirit was open and Koha new that a new project was born and it was dedicated to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (R.I.P.). For ten years after this day the thought of recording "FREDDIE" has never left Koha. Several musical and text demo versions of the suit were made. In the year 2000 a demo version of the suite was presented to several Moscow music companies with the aim of further recording, getting financial support and bringing the product to the Russian music market. But the suit did not get the interest and understanding that it deserved and was put on a shelf. Only in 2005 Koha again turns to the idea of final recording of "Freddie" and its' release. Kelly Keeling, famous American rock musician, who at the time came to Russia on a private visit and also recorded a song "Soldier Song" together with "Pushking", which was later included in their English album "No Comment", convinces him to do it. Finally in 2006 after finishing recording another English album "Village Songs" Koha and his musicians begin to work on their 10-year old dream - recording rock suite "Freddie". What is this many years' work about? About Freddie Mercury and his life, of course viewed through the understanding of a Russian musician and Russian poet. For the whole suite Freddie Mercury is shown as simply a Pale Man, a man with a pale face, and his real name is being told in the very end. God and Devil, Angels and Death, Demons and Souls of musicians, his friends who have left this world, and Freddie himself - these are the characters presented in this play. It is not just a story; it is a musical play, a thriller as they say now. There is a battle between God and Demon, between Angels and dark forces, and of course you cannot say that there is a happy end. The bright side wins, but it is not a story and we all know what the ending is. The rock suite consists of three separate tracks that slowly go from one to another and create a unified music field. First massive, aggressive chords agitate the listener and prepare for the energetic, major understanding. But they are followed by a soft and tender melody similar to the spirit of the early Freddy Mercury's works. The whole album is a combination of things that cannot be put together: rock, blues, classic orchestra, brass sections, and opera with mezzo-soprano of a merited singer of Russian Federation Galina Sidorenko. And male parts that are all performed by Koha impress you with the variety of timbres. Personally I never was such a great Queen adorer but what Koha shows on this album is musically very interesting for every Queen fan! Musically its all played perfect and this album could be a start for a new musical if you ask me! Not only the music but the whole idea about this "tribute to Freddie Mercury" is complete for a rock musical! And if they rent the designer of the album for the stage design than they are already complete! All Queen fans should give this album a try; you will not regret it! Perfect album with an excellent designed digipack. Especially the drawnings is the lyrics booklet are awesome! Compliments!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.pushking.eu
Recordlabel: http://www.pushking.eu MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pushkingofficial |
90/100 |
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| HATESPHERE – To The Nines (CD) | Denmark | April 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Death / Thrash Metal | Running time: 34:34 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Most persons would have called it quits after the departure of their whole band. Not founding member Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen from Hatesphere. He recruited new musicians and made a sort of second beginning. Sure it isn't easy to replace old vocalist Jacob Bredahl. He was one out of a thousand in the metal scene but new squaller Jonathan "Joller" Albrechtsen does not disappoint. He leaves a mature impression alternating between screaming vocals and deep death grunts. The band has decreased nothing on brutality comparing the vocals. Then the music: Hatesphere has always been a band that mixed death metal with thrash, some core parts and having melody in their sight. The "new" Hatesphere musical wise is nothing different. Apart from the vocalist one can discuss the importance of the roll of the new musicians. I mean they are as good or as bad as the other ones. And although the quality is a bit better (and more aggressive) than on their later releases this is done so many times before that you can ask your self if this is enough for you to buy this album. On the other hand most of the songs have ferocious guitar solo's and aggressive drumparts. Hatespheres knows this style to perfection. I know that Hatesphere was one of the first bands with a more hardcore look and performance on stage playing this kind of metal but I doubt if this will be enough for the kids to buy this record. To me "To The Nines" is just a good tight played death/thrash record with some outstanding songs and some average ones. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.hatesphere.com
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hatesphere |
77/100 |
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| HEAVY WATER EXPERIMENTS – Heavy Water Experiments (CD) | USA | April 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Rock | Running time: 61:30 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Formerly known as Imogene, Los Angeles based Heavy Water Experiments (HWE) have just released their debut CD 'Heavy Water Experiments'. The band consists of David Malbye (Vocals, Guitars, Basses and Keyboards) and Roberto Salguero (Drums and Percussion). Recent additions to the live ensemble are: Rebecca Black on keyboards/vocals and Rick Staggs on bass. David Melbye is also responsible for the production of the album. Malbye and Salguere have been active in other bands (Ludivine, Fuzz Beloved, Zanzibar and El Salvidor) before they decided to start HWE. I have mixed feelings when I listen to this album. I listened it many times but I'm still not able to express an unambiguous opinion. Sometimes I think that I'm listening to a brilliant album but on the other hand there are also moments that I can't keep my attention on it. But I `m convinced that there will be a lot of people who will like this album. What I appreciate is that HWE uses special instruments (like the 8-string bass guitar) to perform their music. The music on HWE sounds innovative and original and what I also want to mention is the vocal performance on this album. This is of a high level. If you like "dark" music with a psychedelic character, than it's worth to listen to this album but I`m still not sure about my opinion of this album....... | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.heavywaterexperiments.com
Recordlabel: http://www.intrepidsounds.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/heavywaterexperiments |
65/100 |
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| INFERNO – Pompa Magna (CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Sci-Fi Grind 'n' Roll. | Running time: 43:35 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| Do androids have sex in electric cars? Well, I don't know. Maybe Fox Mulder (X-files) can answer this question? He wanted to believe. What I do know is that Inferno's music is as weird as their song titles. Their self proclaimed term: Sci-fi grind 'n' roll is a perfect translation for this kind of music. Influences come from everywhere. Jazz, Techno, Grind, Rock and Roll. You name it and its there. With such numerous styles on one album one could easily think that Inferno is only a crucible of different styles with no real songs. Wrong thought! The band managed to write real songs on their debut album "Pompa Magna" Most of the songs have an obvious beginning and end. Cool choruses can be found and the band knows that it's not clever to place their feet on the gas pedal all the time. How does this all sound? As said on their myspace page this is the soundtrack for; Suicidal superfast car races, Incredible invasions, Yourself caught in a nightmare coming true. The soundtrack for a new David Lynch film is one I would like to include. As for the Sci-Fi parts; they sound almost the same as in The Locust, (another weird band playing in the same vein) You know a cheap, but funny synthesizer sound as in eighties cartoons like Transformers. Favourite track of the album is the title track which has a strong chorus and all the other above mentioned ingredients in it. Give this a try if you dig bands like; Genghis Tron, Dillinger Escape Plan and Fantomas. When I listen to this kind of music I sometimes think that metal is comparable to technology. "It's going too fast for mankind" But I think that's just what Inferno wants! "The truth is out there" | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.infernogrindnroll.com
Recordlabel: http://www.subsoundrecords.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/infernogrindnroll |
79/100 |
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| ISOLE – Silent Ruins (CD) | Sweden | April 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Epic Doom metal | Running time: 53:50 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Outside the first signs of spring can be seen. Inside its still queen winter who refuses to leave because "Silent Ruins" from Isole plays through my speakers. For quite a few years Isole is a classic doom band on which lovers of the genre can rely on. Four full-length albums in five years. A high level of production. Fortunately it has no consequences for the new album: "Silent Ruins". The album opens with the epic "From the Dark" which sets the tone for the coming 50 minutes. Minutes of doom comparable to their great ancestors Candlemass and Solstice. Especially the vocals are like these two bands. There's nothing wrong with this. Although for me it's the only small flaw on a further very strong record. If Isole could get rid of this little complaint nothing lies in their way trading in the footprints of these giants. Maybe I am complaining too much about this but in some of the songs I automatically think that Messiah Marcolin is singing. On the other hand maybe this is the style of singing that belongs to this kind of doom, like grunts belong to death metal. Outstanding songs on the album are "Forlorn" where some fast double bass can be heard such as a beautiful guitarsolo at the end of the song, the peaceful short acoustic track "Peccatum" which leads to the album closer "Dark clouds" that because of the death grunts takes you back to the older albums of the band. In April the band will play in Europe in the smaller venues. Be there if you want the winter to stay a little longer. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.forevermore.se
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/isole |
80/100 |
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| JORN – Live in America (DVD) | Norway | April 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power Metal / Rock | Running time: 1:25:30 (Tracks: 15) | ||
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What to tell about Jorn Lande which I didn't tell before? Everybody who knows me knows that I'm probably one of the biggest Jorn fans on this earth (I even named my son after him :) This man shocked the hard rock audience years ago with Ark, Beyond Twilight & Millennium, all great bands he sang in (beside the dozen projects he was part of). Most well-known is Jorn for his part in Masterplan. He recorded two great albums with Masterplan but finally decided to go his own way with his solo project simply named: JORN. He already recorded several albums with his solo project and now finally here is his first DVD.
This DVD is recorded on the 16th of September 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA during his performance at the ProgPower USA festival. I had the luck to see Jorn 3 days before these recordings at the Biebob, Vosselaar in Belgium with an equal set list. The set list consist of a lot of songs from his solo albums but also some cover songs from Dio (Straight through the Heart), Thin Lizzy (Are you Ready & Cold Sweat), Deep Purple (Perfect Strangers) and as bonus a Whitesnake medley. Of course a bit pity because he already had enough songs from his own bands/projects to play. On this DVD he only plays 1 Masterplan song (Soulburn), 1 Beyond Twilight song (Godless and Wicked) and not even 1 song from the legendary Ark albums??? Nevertheless this is a great DVD with Jorn singing better than ever!! Hope to book Jorn in the near future to headline one of my next editions of the Mario's Metal Meeting festivals!!! Check this well (not over-) produced DVD out!! Jorn rules!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.jornlande.com
Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/realjorn |
88/100 |
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| MANIC MOVEMENT – Dark Glitter (CD) | Belgium | April 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 49:23 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Suddenly, they are back: Manic Movement from Belgium And back they are indeed !
Formed by Oliver Wittenberg back in 1993 they came up with two melodic death metal albums as "Thousand Sufferings"(1999) and "Future Dreaming Self" (2001). After that it became quiet around this band. Until now ………… According to themselves they "switched to female vocals, creating more accessible songs and expanding their musical spectrum". A mouth full of telling they sound completely different nowadays. 'Dark Glitter' is the name of their new album, and that is just what you can expect of the music they'll bring to you. It has become a very atmospheric, melodic and sometimes a bit dark album. The first band that came up in my mind by instrumental opener "Face Your Mirror" was Nemesea, but further on the songs sometimes get much poppiër, a bit like Xandria ( "Voices") does . The songs are very well performed and the band has succeeded in songs with a character. It never gets dull, so they ask for your attention. Mostly the album listens away pretty easily. Overall the album has catchy gothic rockers like "Army of Agony" and "Sleeping Beauty" with good, emotive guitar solo work by Frédéric Ost. Virginia's voice sounds a bit fragile because she operates in the higher regions. It certainly works on this album and fits perfectly in songs like "Vanity" but a bit more variation hurts nobody. I think that she, after some touring, will be able to get that thing right, she certainly has it in here. The keyboard melodies are dominant in songs like "Hollow Hearts" but they give more colour to the songs so they can develop themselves to classics. "This Sweet Indifference" I like to mention because this one is heavier, darker and combines melody and brilliant axe work with pounding drums to a spherefull song, just the way I like it. The album also features a cover of Sting's "Russians". Well, covers mostly doesn't add something to the original. This time it is the other way around. Forget Sting's version, because this one is so much better! Manic Movement has succeeded in given this song a more dramatic feeling combined with just the right, a bit heavier, sound and it really gets you, makes you even shiver. When you have those great capacities as a band in you, the future can be yours, even in a genre with so much competition. Gladly they will perform on MFVF7 but I hope to see them much earlier. Well done ! P.S. thanks to Shiver Records for sending me a real copy of this cd without lousy voice-overs. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.manicmovement.be
Recordlabel: http://www.shiver-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/manicmovement |
82/100 |
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| MANUFACTURER'S PRIDE – Sound of God's Absence (CD + DVD) | Finland | April 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Atmospheric Death / Thrash Metal | Running time: 59:23 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Manufacturer's Pride originates from the ashes of an underground band called Product Of Rage. This group was disbanded after the recording of their first album due to a lack of motivation. The first Manufacturer's Pride release saw the light in 2007 and received good reviews in Finland's underground metal scene. I haven't heard the debut album myself but based on their second effort 'Sound of God's Absence' that is about to change. The subtle combination of death metal grunts and modern thrash music is catchy. Also the atmospheric doom elements are quite unique in this genre. Most of the songs reminded me of the older Machine Head and Killswitch Engage albums but yet a bit more theatrical. The image of the band (according to their live performances and website) is dark and dangerous. The music on the other hand is quite accessible. 'Sound of God's Absence' is not a revolutionary album, but just a solid metal record with great variety and a decent production. The first pressing of this album is a digipack limited to 1000 CD's and contains a bonus DVD. On the DVD you will find 2 promo video's, a full length gig (60 min) and a 'Making of Dahlia' clip which makes it an interesting package. Check out their MySpace page to listen to the new tracks. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.manufacturerspride.com Recordlabel: http://www.offrecords.fi MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/manufacturerspride |
75/100 |
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| MELY – Portrait Of A Porcelain Doll (CD) | Austria | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Metal / Gothic / Doom / Prog Metal | Running time: 41:32 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| "Portrait Of A Porcelain Doll" is the fourth album of Austrian band MELY. The band is formed in 1999 and exists of Andreas Mataln (vocals, guitar), Peter Lengfeldner (vocals, guitar), Martin Mataln (vocals, keyboards, synthesizer), Daniel Huber (bass) and Harnes Ganeider (drums). Their debut album "There Are Days…" was also released in 1999, followed by albums like "…Reel Through My Wave" (2003) and "…Leave And Enter Empty Rooms" (2007). Well, "Portrait Of A Porcelain Doll", which is my first acquaintance with MELY, is a real beauty, because every time I listen to it, the album GROWS. Anyway, MELY is playing very atmospheric and melodic Dark Metal/Gothic with also Doom and Prog Metal parts. Musically they remind me very much of bands like MY DYING BRIDE, TIAMAT etc.. Just listen to songs like "Grown For Doom" or "Hell Low" and you know what I mean. Really, all nine tracks on this album are all brilliant compositions. Also the production, which is done by Mario Lochert and Andreas Mataln, is very good. "Portrait Of A Porcelain Doll" is with songs like "Of Doubts And Fears", "Grown For Doom" (beautiful), "Bricks Against Porcelain Dolls", "Hell Low" (beautiful and very catchy) and "Sweet Six Feet" really a recommendation if you like the above mentioned bands. A very good album and most of all a very interesting band. My compliments guys, for releasing such a wonderful album. By the way, on March 29th 2009, they played at the W2, Den Bosch with DORNENREICH and AGALLOCH. To bad I couldn't go, because I would love to see this band. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mely.at
Recordlabel: http://www.silverwolf-productions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/melymyspace |
88/100 |
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| NASTY IDOLS – Boys Town (CD) | Sweden | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Sleaze / Glam Rock | Running time: 47:06 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Armed with scarves, make-up, hairspray, bleached and black hair with influences of bands like KISS, SWEET, NEW YORK DOLLS and ALICE COOPER, Swedish Glam / Sleaze Rock band NASTY IDOLS was formed as a five-piece band in the summer of 1987 by singer Andy Pierce and bassist Dick Qwarfort. So far these Glam boys have released the following albums: "Gigolos On Parole" (1989), "Cruel Intention" (1991), "Vicious" (1993) and "Heroes For Sale" (recorded in 1995, but finally released in 2002). The albums "Cruel Intention" and "Vicious" are both re-released in 2002 and 2006. And the 2002 album "Heroes For Sale" was re-released in 2006 as well. The band also has released two compilation albums, which are "Best Of Nasty Idols" (2002) and "The Swedish Sleaze Collection" (2006). During the existence of the band there have been many line-up changes. And in 1995, after the recording of their fourth album "Heroes For Sale", they decided to split up. At that time Pierce started his new band MACHINEGUN KELLY. In 1998 they did a reunion gig and in that same year Pierce also released his solo album "No Place For Late Regrets". And in 2004 Andy started another new band called UNITED ENEMIES. But in 2006 NASTY IDOLS finally re-united again in the "Vicious" album era line-up, only not with Stanley on drums. So, the line-up of NASTY IDOLS on this new album "Boys Town" is Andy Pierce (vocals), Peter Espinoza (guitar), Dick Qwarfort (bass) and Rikki Dahl (drums; UNITED ENEMIES). "Boys Town" opens very strongly with songs like "Rock Out", the title track and "Method To My Madness". Real traditional Glam ballads on this album are "Nite Like This" and "It Ain't Easy". These two ballads really sound like how a Glam ballad supposes to sound. What else can I say, the band has the looks, the album is very good produced and features twelve fantastic songs. "Boys Town" is just a marvellous glam/sleaze album. My favourite songs are "Rock Out", "Boys Town", "Method To My Madness", "Crashlanding", the catchy "7 Year Itch" (this is gonna be a real Glam classic), "Evil One" and "It's Not Love". | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.nastyidols.com
Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thenastyidols |
85/100 |
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| RAIN – Dad is Dead (CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / True Metal | Running time: 57:01 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Rain was already formed in 1980 and finds his definitive line up in 1998 with Alessandro Tronconi (vocals), Luciano Tattini (rhythm guitar), Alessio AMOS Amorati (lead guitar), Gianni GINO Zenari (bass), Andrea MARIO Baldi (drums). At the end of 1999 / beginning 2000 Rain produces the album Bigditch 4707. This album of 10 tracks is pure heavy metal from the eighties, it contains also a multimedia track with the bands biography and picks. Today all copies are sold out!
In 2002 the band finds its first deal for two albums with the French label Deadsun Records, and in May 2003 a multimedia EP with two songs was released: Headshaker and Only for the Rain Crew, title track and leading track of the full length released in September 2003. HEADSHAKER contains 11 tracks and a brand new multimedia part. I already reviewed the "Headshaker" album in March 2005 after the band gave me a copy during their performance at the Warm-up show of the Keep it True festival in 2004. I was during that time especially impressed by their singer Alessandro Tronconi!! He took the band to a higher level.
Last month I saw the band finally again during their trek with ex-Iron Maiden miscarriage Blaze Bailey at our local 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands. I was surprised because the band brought a new singer with them; Il Biondi. Luckily this new singer was live nearly equal to Alessandro Tronconi. Great show the guys played over there and after the show I had a lot of fun with a few of the guys (Thanks for the explanation of the song titles Amos :). The band did recognise me from the 2005 review of their "Headshaker" album and gave me a copy of their latest album "Dad is Dead". Funny to notice that this is their first album after so many years and the follow up to "Headshaker"!! This well produced album sounds great and is totally what I expected to hear; great true metal played with good musicianship and, as said, a good new frontman! All powerful songs and as last song a cover version of THE CULT cover "Rain". Not really a true metal song but in the Rain version it DOES sound True!!. If you're into true metal in the vein of bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden and also Jaguar; check them out! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.raincrew.com
Recordlabel: http://www.auralmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/raincrew1980 |
80/100 |
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| RED BURNS BLACK – Set this Night Alight (CD) | United Kingdom | April 2009 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Rock | Running time: 43:26 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Red Burns Black was formed to bring back the music and feeling that once was created by Guns 'n Roses and later Velvet Revolver. The music is as you would expect: sleazy hard rock with that typical raw edge which makes you want to drink, jump and party. When you read the biography, listen to the album or watch their performance videos, you immediately know that the best ability of this band is to play live in front of an audience. These songs are begging to be played live! Formed only in 2006, the band quickly became popular in the local scene because of their energetic performances. For two years straight the band toured up and down the country spreading their music. Meanwhile they were played on several radio stations, reviews were placed in magazines and word to mouth still continued to spread around. Now, after nearly three years of writing and playing experience the debut album is a fact. Did they manage to capture their live sound on this album? Unfortunately the answer is no. Don't get me wrong, the songs definitely rock. It's just that it doesn't come to life on the record which is a shame because of the qualitative good material. The opener "Fear love hate fight" is a straight forward rocker in the likes of the previous mentioned bands, as well as the tracks "Rip you up" "Lady" and "O so fine." The inevitable (semi)ballad "Sweet love of mine" shows the excellent song writing skills of the band and the great potential. Nevertheless, this album is a nice introduction to the world and if they spend more time on the production for the next album, Red Burns Black is definitely a force to be reckoned with. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.redburnsblack.co.uk Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/redburnsblackrock |
80/100 |
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| SHENANIGANZ – Open Your Eyes Or Cover Your Head (CD) | Germany | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hard Rock / Rock | Running time: 53:54 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| Exactly one year ago I reviewed the debut album of SHENANIGANZ, titled "Four Finger Fist Fight". I was really surprised by that album, that's why it got 92 points from me. And now SHENANIGANZ have released their second album "Open Your Eyes Or Cover Your Head". My expectations were high too this time, but I was a little bit disappointed, because not all the songs, instead of the songs on their debut album, are very strong. Okay, the album grows a little bit after a few times listening, but it's a much less album. Anyway, the band still exists of Georg Raig (vocals, guitar), Daniel Rehbein (guitar, vocals), Tobay Reich (bass) and Dom Rehbein (drums). Musically there's nothing changed, because it's still kick ass rock 'n roll what these guys are playing. And they still remind me of bands like BOOZED, JET and AC/DC. The album, which is fantastic produced, opens strong with tracks like "Roses Are Red", "The Cost Of Rock", "Merry-Go-Round" and "We Are The Underground". But this time there are some less songs on the album like "Because I Am", "Change" and "Bavaria". And the hidden track, which you get after "Nowadays", is totally crap. "Open Your Eyes Or Cover Your Head" is just a nice album, but in my opinion their debut "Four Finger Fist Fight" is still their best so far. The best songs are: "Roses Are Red", "The Cost Of Rock", "Merry-Go-Round", "We Are The Underground", "Girl In The First Row" and "Way To Go". Please on the third album more songs like these ones, guys!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.shenaniganz.de
Recordlabel: http://www.silverwolf-productions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/badassrocknroll |
74/100 |
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| THANATOS – Justified Genocide (CD) | The Netherlands | April 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash / Death Metal | Running time: 47:17 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Thanatos...an illustrious name that has been haunting the Underground Metal scene since 1984..
Im the proud owner of an original copy of their first demo "Speed Kills"! After several demo tapes and line-up changes, Thanatos released two classic Thrash/Death Metal albums in the early 1990's: 'Emerging From The Netherworlds' (Shark Records/Cargo 1990) and 'Realm Of Ecstasy'( Shark Records/Cargo 1992). In 1992 Thanatos split up due to a variety of reasons but was revived in 1999 by founding member Stephan Gebédi, featuring a new line-up that included members from Sinister, Houwitser and Cremation. The third Thanatos album, 'Angelic Encounters', was released in 2000 by Hammerheart Records, followed by even more live shows. In 2002 the band recorded four new songs and two covers in a small 8-track studio to attract some interest from record companies. Baphomet Records/Red Stream released these recordings as the 'Beyond Terror' Mini CD. Thanatos signed a recording deal with Greek label Black Lotus Records in 2003, resulting in the release of 'Undead.Unholy.Divine.' the next year (see Archive CD/DVD reviews). While recording their fifth full-length 'Justified Genocide' the band was informed of Black Lotus Records' bankruptcy and the album was put on hold. In 2009, a quarter of a century after the band's first incarnation, 'Justified Genocide' finally is released by a partner closer to home. The quartet signed a deal with Holland based Deity Down Records. 'Justified Genocide' was recorded at Excess Studio in Rotterdam, Netherlands and mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath, Moontower) at Unisound Studio in Sweden. This is the bands 5th album in their 25th year celebration and this is again a damn good one! Musically I always named bandleader Stephan Gebedy the "Dutch Chuck Schuldiner" especially because they nearly started at the same period and their music was very comparable in the first years of both bands. When Death changed their music into a more technical direction; Thanatos stayed true to their roots. The band still plays a mix of (old) Death & (old) Kreator. This album sounds extremely aggressive and it was a good choice from Deity Down Records to release this album! This is a must have for all old-school thrashers/deathmetallers! The CD contains 2 bonus tracks: 'An Jesus Wept' (released on vinyl in 2006) and 'The Burning of Sodom' (originally from Dark Angel) | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.thanatos.info Recordlabel: http://www.deitydownrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thanatos666 |
85/100 |
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| THE BURNING – Rewakening (CD) | Denmark | April 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Thrash / Death Metal | Running time: 47:06 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| The Burning from Denmark ended 2008 by winning 'Best live band 2008' where they beat bands like Hatesphere and Volbeat. Not bad. So I really was curious how this second release recorded in the Kohlekeller studio's would sound. The first song 'it came from the north' blows out my speakers and I liked what I heard. Singer Johnny Haven has a great grunt and also screams his guts out. So it was varied enough. The production is good but after a few songs I started to get bored. It all sounds great but not spectacular. I also started to miss a second guitarist. Rasmus Vinding sure knows how to play the damn thing but it all sounds to thin. The bass sounds great the way it's distorted and let's me forget the lack of a second guitarist a bit but not completely. Drummer Toby Hoest plays efficient but nothing special. And even Johnny's screams started to bore me. His grunts are much better. So my end conclusion is: well played but nothing spectacular. Maybe they must get a second guitarist and Johnny must improve his screams. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.theburning.dk
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theburningdk |
73/100 |
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| THE TEMPLE OF NOW - Two Worlds (CD) | USA | April 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Melodic Rock | Running time: 65:05 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| Last month I reviewed the album Obvious from multi-instrumentalist Calie Cox. This was one of the two albums which he released in 2008, and in my opinion, it was a good album. Cox is active in the music industy since the 80`s. He played in different bands (Crystal Sphere, Piranha) before a calm period started in his musical career. Cox restarted his career in 2008 by releasing his solo album Obvious and the start of The Temple of Now. Cox founded The Temple of Now with his friend Dave Baxley (Keyboards, Moog Taurus Pedals and Drums) and they are both responsible for the composition of the songs. Baxley has been mainly active as audio engineer, but he played also in some other bands (Azure). The album 'Two Worlds', which is produced by Cox and Baxley, starts excellent with 'Another Day'. This song is directly my personal favourite, especially the guitar solo is great! 'Another Day' is one of the best songs that I heard in months! The guitar work stays on a high level during the whole album and it contains ballads as well as more up tempo songs. You can compare the music on this album with Cox`s solo album Obvious, but the influence of Baxley is noticeable if you compare both albums. Especially the keyboards plays a more prominent role on Two worlds. The lyrics on the album handle with the fact that the most of the people face "two worlds". An example is that a lot of people are not aware that there is more happening in the world than that they witness in their daily lives. Quite heavy stuff! | |||
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Visit their website: http://cdbaby.com/cd/templeofnow
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thetempleofnow |
81/100 |
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| ULYSSES – The Gift of Tears (CD) | The Netherlands | April 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 61:52 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Ulysses comes from the Netherlands. "The Gift of Tears" is the band's third release. The first one was "Eclectic" in 2001 and the second one "Symbioses" in 2003. The band plays progressive metal with many progressive rock elements. The cd is consisted of 7 quite lengthy compositions. The thing with songs that exceed the 8 minute barrier is that although they contain many themes, they tend to tire the listener after a while. This is probably the only serious drawback in this album. The five musicians are excellent and quite experienced. Guitar and keyboards keep the leading roles. If you like progressive metal influenced by Genesis, Rush, Kansas and ELP then perhaps you should check Ulysses. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ulysses-online.nl
Recordlabel: http://www.symbiosesmusic.nl MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ulyssesnl |
77/100 |
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| VALOUR – Valour (CD) | United Kingdom | April 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Metal | Running time: 48:48 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| VALOUR is a five-piece band from Berkshire, England and exists of Sean Easton (vocals), Chris Merton (guitar), Mike Grey (guitar), Jake Rhodes (bass) and Mark Frost (drums). I can't find any information about when VALOUR was formed. There's no biography of the band on their MySpace page at all. This self titled debut album features ten songs and starts with the middle age style instrumental "Midnight Heartache Pt 1". "Midnight Heartache Pt 2", which is the last track of the album, starts just like part 1 with acoustic classical guitar. But after 2 minutes you'll get some white noise until 7:10 minutes before it ends with a instrumental Thrashy one. I don't like such songs with long silences or irritating noises. But that's my only complain about this fantastic album, because songs like "Orchestra", "Bracknell Aristocracy", "Worth Fighting For", "Die @ My Hands", "Roses", "Glory Euphoria", "Holy F" and "Love The Ride" are all brilliant compositions. The album has a very good production, which was done by Chris Coulter. The band exists of very good musicians and Easton is a fantastic singer. Very interesting band. If you are curious about VALOUR, check them out yourself on their MySpace page. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.bertus.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/valour05 |
82/100 |
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| WATERLAND – Waterland (CDemo) | Portugal | April 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Symphonic Power Metal | Running time: 76:34 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| Waterland is a project which was created by Miguel Gomes in 2007. Miguel Gomes is the guitarist of Oratory, a power metal band from Portugal. For his Waterland project, Miguel got the help of the singers Marco Alves (ex-Oratory) and Bruno Gomes. Waterland plays symphonic/melodic power metal. Most of the time they try to sound like Freedom Call from Germany, but I also can hear some Stratovarius influences. Musically it's not that bad, although I've heard many better bands lately. The weak points of Waterland are both vocalists, which can't convince me that much. Surely a point to work at. The guitar parts and keyboards of Miguel are good, the production of this demo also could be much better. Maybe they can arrange that in a good studio. | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/waterlandband |
64/100 |
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| WICKED WALTZ – Chapter 1 (MCD) | USA | April 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Melodic US Power Metal | Running time: 24:31 (Tracks: 4) | ||
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In the year 2004, guitarist Micah Nicholson started a long and very challenging journey in finding the right heavy metal band for him. Micah moved to Mobile, Alabama from Baltimore, Maryland and immediately started scouting the music stores in the area. After finding ads and cycling through numerous musicians through the years, it wasn't until he ran into Jeff Q. on boards, Wyatt on the bass, and Jason Blaze on drums. Together the four formed the foundations and the glue of Wicked Waltz. After several singers and lead guitarists, it was Jamie on lead and Jason R. on vocals who came to Wicked Waltz to finish the lineup. So far the biography according their MySpace site. Wicked Waltz has delivered a very fine piece of US metal in a way I like it most! Straight in your face powermetal in a way bands like Pyramaze, Metal Church & Icarus Witch made fame with. This 4 song EP is blessed with a very nice production and it makes me long for more!! Only little complain is the europower feeling that I got during the second song 'A Heart that cannot Bleed'. This is the weakest song of this album but still 1000 times better than the original europower metalbands! Hope this band finds a decent label soon! Check them out if you're an US Metal Maniac just like me!! Great stuff! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.wickedwaltz.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wickedwaltz |
92/100 |
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| ZIPPO – The Road to Knowledge (CD) | Italy | April 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Stoner Rock | Running time: 59:19 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| This is completely different music then the usual death metal that Mario sends me but my scepticism was quickly replaced by a brand new feeling. I liked it. Hahaha !!! This is the second cd by this band from Pescara Italy. The band is: Dave- vocals, Sergente -Guitar, Devis-guitar, Stonino-bass and Ferico- drums ;They have a self produced debut album recorded 2006 named 'Ode to Maximum' and since then the sound got heavier, darker and more psychedelic .This second piece is recorded and mixed in Italy and mastered in California by John Golden at Golden mastering Studio (Neurosis, Melvins,Primus). After this Silvio leaves the band due to personal reasons and is replaced by Devis. In summer 2008 Zippo signs a deal with Subsound records. Now something about the cd. It's a conceptual work inspired by the highly discussed book by Carlos Castaneda' The teachings of Don Juan' (1968) a true report of his experiences with a Yaqui Indian . I think they really captured the feeling of the journey in their songs. You can almost taste the peyote yourself !!! But you don't have to be stoned to enjoy this. I'm not. Some songs are really psychedelic but not over the top while other songs are melancholic and dark. And a song like Lizards can't be wrong is like a mantra. Perfect for yoga lovers. But most importantly, the cd really rocks. Very good vocals and although the cd lasts an hour it is varied enough to keep me interested. Well done. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.zippoband.it
Recordlabel: http://www.subsoundrecords.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/zippomusic |
86/100 |
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| ANTHIMOS MANTI – Alligator Lick (CD) | Greece | March 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Rock/Metal | Running time: 45:40 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| I didn't receive a biography of this Greek guitarist, and I also couldn't find much info at his mypsace page. There were some reviews, but these ones were written in Greek language. So, this is the debut instrumental album of Anthimos Manti, a virtuoso guitarist from Greece. On his debut album "Alligator Lick" are 14 hot instrumental songs which showcase his guitar playing. For a guitar freak like me, it's always fun to listen to interesting instrumental guitar albums. And yes, I also liked Anthimos album very much! The songs have influences from different guitarists like Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Kosta Vreto and Kiki Loureiro. Sometimes complex, sometimes shredding, sometimes emotional, but Anthimos always plays very melodic too. That's the way I like it!! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/anthimosmantis |
84/100 |
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| ARCTIC FLAME – Declaration (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: US Metal | Running time: 48:40 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| My first acquaintance with US Metal band ARCTIC FLAME was on Mario's second festival MMM2 on November 9th 2008. Before MMM2 I never had heard of ARCTIC FLAME before. My impression of ARCTIC FLAME at MMM2 was not that big. Just a nice band to see once. I didn't like all the songs they played, but I remember I liked the singer anyway. The line-up of ARCTIC FLAME is Dave Lowe (vocals), Rod Mariani (guitar), Steve Demalion (guitar), Jon Norberg (bass) and Mike Paradine (drums). So far they have released a 5-track EP and their full length debut album "Primal Aggressor" (2006). And now here's ARCTIC FLAME's second album titled "Declaration". After several times listening to "Declaration" I must say it's a reasonable album. The second track "Blind Leads The Blind" for example just takes to long and is pretty boring. And "Shadow Of A Broken Man" only gets more tempo at the end of the song. The band has in Lowe a good singer with a wide range. The production is okay and the cover of the album is fantastic. The best songs on "Declaration" are in my opinion the opening track "The Unknown God", "Lords Of The Wasteland", "Disciples Of The Flame", "Desert Moon" and "Declaration". If you're into US Metal then check this band out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.arcticflamemetal.com
Recordlabel: http://www.puresteel-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/arcticfire |
75/100 |
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| BULLDOZER BREED – Bulls In A Mosh (CD) | The Netherlands | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Thrash Metal / Metal | Running time: 38:14 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Well, although this product of Dutch trio BULLDOZER BREED is packed in a DVD box, it's just a normal CD with ten tracks. The band, originating from the Eindhoven area, started in 2004 and exists of Jorik (vocals, bass), Willem (guitar) and Bart (drums). The three members have previously been, or are still part of bands such as ELEGY, IMITALLICA and RATcom. Anyway, I've seen the band just once a couple of years ago as the support act of PETER PAN SPEEDROCK at Nirwana, Lierop (January 26th, 2006). What I remember is that they didn't impress me that much. And now three years later I have to review BULLDOZER BREED's debut album "Bulls In A Mosh". To be honest, I'm still not impressed that much by this band. Okay, there are really some nice moments on the album, with some great riffs, but some songs are just to simple to me ("Visions Of Violence" (with guest vocals of Eline Otten), "An Evening With Satan" and "Übercrusher"). For example, I only like the last part of "Übercrusher", the first part is so simple. Musically it's Thrash or very simple Metal they are playing. The most notable song on the album for me is "Tonight We Will Ride", which is really a great song (the best). The production is nice, but could have been better, especially the drum sound. The best songs are in my opinion the Thrash songs "The Beast Is Back", "Bottom Of Life" and "Bolker" and of course "Tonight We Will Ride". Not that bad, just nice enough to listen to once in a while. If you're interested in BULLDOZER BREED, just check them out yourself. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.bulldozerbreed.nl
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bulldozerbreed |
70/100 |
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| BURNING POINT – Empyre (CD) | Finland | March 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 46:01 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Finnish powerhouse Burning Point has released a series of fine power metal albums during the last 10 years. I was curious to see if "Empyre" would follow the path carved by the three previous releases. It seems like the band has done it again. The new recording is in the same vein as the oldest material and fortunately is not like most Finnish bands that follow gothic and Nightwish-like trends. The Burning Point style is influenced by bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Accept with a result similar to Primal Fear and Hammerfall. Catchy choruses, fine solos, great rhythm guitar and a very fitting production. This album is not for those who seek for innovations and contemporary music. It is made for those who appreciate good old fashioned (but with a modern edge) European power metal. The press release states that the special cd edition features some cover versions with high profiled guests! Very interesting indeed! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.burningpoint.net
Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/burningpointband |
80/100 |
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| CALIE COX - Obvious (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Melodic Rock | Running time: 65:16 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Calie Cox is a multi-instrumentalist coming from Sacramento, USA. He has been active in the music industry since the 80`s. Cox founded 3 bands during his career: Crystal Sphere (when he was 16 years old) together with Marc Curry and Aaron Abeyta ( who was later active in NOFX), Piranha (1985-1989) with members who joined Tesla and Kaleidoscope, and finally his first independent project, The Big Bang (1989-1995). This last band produced two songs which made airplay in Sacramento, but I`m not familiar with one of these three bands. Reading his biography, it seems that Cox restarted his musical career in 2008. Together with keyboardist Dave Baxley, he founded The Temple of Now which released the album "Two Worlds". Calie Cox also released his solo album "Obvious" in 2008. This album is not bad at all! "Obvious" contains some ballads ("Midnight's Dreaming" en "The morning After"), but it has also some heavier songs like "Spellbound". I have only one point of critisism and this relates to the poor production. The music on this album is heavy, melodic rock with a powerful but a little bit special voice. When I heard Cox`s voice for the first time, I thought that I heard Geddy Lee (Rush). You love it or hate it, I prefer the first option. Remarkable is that Cox plays all the instruments which you hear on this album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://cdbaby.com/cd/caliecox
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/caliecox42 |
78/100 |
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| CHICKS WITH GUNS – On Your Mind (MCD) | Sweden | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Sleaze / Glam Rock | Running time: 14:45 (Tracks: 4) | ||
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Swedish Sleaze/Glam Rock band CHICKS WITH GUNS was formed in 2006 and in that same year the band released a two track demo called "It's Not Enough". Red Pulse Records was interested in CHICKS WITH GUNS and wanted to make an EP with those boys. The band started with the recording process of the EP in March of 2008 with a new fabulous line-up which exists of Karl-Wilhelm Arvidsson (vocals, guitar), Teddy Skoglund (guitar), Kristoffer Johnsson (bass) and Linus Fritzson (drums). This "On Your Mind" EP, which is released in December 2008, features 4 new self penned songs, which are titled "Love At First Sight", "Bullshit Boulevard", "On Your Mind" and "Love Is A Game". It's not very original but it sounds nice. The best songs are "Love At First Sight", "Bullshit Boulevard" and "Love Is A Game". The guitar solo in "Love Is A Game" sounds a bit like an Ace Frehley (KISS) solo. The title track of this EP is a bit less. If you like bands as MÖTLEY CRÜE, DANGER, GIRL, KISS etc. you will like these glamboys too. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.redpulserecords.se
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chickswithgunsonline |
76/100 |
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| CORNERSTONE – Head Over Heels (CD) | Austria | March 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Melodic Rock | Running time: 34:55 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Before commenting on this album: this Austrian band has nothing to do with the Cornerstone that some of you will know featuring Doogie White! Judging by the package that their promotion company sent around, this is the next hit band for the next decade. Signed by Ohio based Atom Records, somehow this Austrian lot managed to convince some people that they are bound to take the world by storm. Musically, I cannot think what made them decide to shout out this loud about this band. Of course I gave the cd multiple spins. I am hearing some talented musicians, a female singer with a nice, poppy voice, but I am missing out on one important factor: ROCK! And this factor cannot be caused by a distorted guitar, but the feel of the songs must breathe rock. And that is not what I experience when listening to this band. Reading other comments really makes one laugh; comparing this singer to Heart's Ann Wilson is ridiculous when hearing a ballad ("Crises"). Anja Schirmer doesn't have an inch of Ann Wilsons power and colourful voice. No, this band is being hyped, but for all the wrong reasons. Talent and potential in the rock scene will be recognized by music fans but never dictated by a marketing machine. Our eyes are being fooled, our ears speak the truth. This is hitparade stuff. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.cornerstone.at.tf
Recordlabel: http://www.atomrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/cornerstoneaustria |
60/100 |
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| CRUCIFIED BARBARA – 'Til Death Do Us Party (CD) | Sweden | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Metal | Running time: 40:24 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| CRUCIFIED BARBARA is an Swedish all girl Metal band who was formed in 1998. The line-up of CRUCIFIED BARBARA is Mia Coldheart (vocals, guitar), Klara Force (guitar), Ida Evileye (bass) and Nicki Wicked (drums). In 2005 they've released their debut album "In Distortion We Trust" (re-released in 2007 with bonus DVD). These good looking ladies have played with bands as BACKYARD BABIES, MOTÖRHEAD (they even have covered "Killed By Death"), JON OLIVA'S PAIN. Recently CRUCIFIED BARBARA released their second studio album, which is titled "'Til Death Do Us Party". This second album is recorded by Jocke Skog (CLAWFINGER) and produced by Mats Leven (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, AMASEFFER etc.) and sounds fantastic. The band reminds me sometimes of a much heavier version of the early SAHARA HOTNIGHTS (also from Sweden) like on "Can't Handle Love" and "Rats". Coldheart is a very good singer and sometimes her voice reminds me of SLUNT's Abby Gennet. Anyway, "'Til Death Do Us Party" features eleven fantastic Metal songs with still a lot of melodies. The first single of the album is "Sex Action" and is a very catchy song. "Jennifer" is a semi-ballad and is a duet with Mats Leven. It's a nice song but not one of my favourites. On "Dark Side", which is one of the heaviest tracks on the album, MOTÖRHEAD's Phil Campbell is doing a guest solo. All with all "'Til Death Do Us Party" is a very good album with fantastic songs like "Killer On His Knees", "Pain And Pleasure", "Sex Action", "Dark Side", "Blackened Bones" and "Feels Like Death". Well done ladies. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.crucifiedbarbara.com
Recordlabel: http://www.gmrmusic.se MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/crucifiedbarbara |
85/100 |
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| CRUSHING JACKHAMMER - Time To Thrash (CDemo) | The Netherlands | March 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 23:28 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Hailing from The Netherlands Crushing Jackhammer is a new band playing old school thrash metal, not to be original but just for the fun of it. When you listen to their cd you can hear that they enjoy playing this music but if they like it so much I wonder why they recorded this record? The sound quality is absolutely awful, I heard better productions while listening to demo's. Maybe they try to make it sound 80's and all but to me it just sounds like the entire recording is made out of a fish tank. The instruments sound mute and the vocals are nothing more than a moan in the background. Anyway the songs itself are a proof that the band doesn't play this music to be original cause I probably didn't hear any riff that I didn't hear before on some thrash record. Overall the band isn't that bad but I guess they should have just concentrated on playing live. On a stage 80's thrash always sounds great if the crowd is good so I think they might turn out to become a great hit with a nice live reputation but I wouldn't recommend them to bring out more records until they've improved their recording and song writing quality. | |||
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Visit their website: http://crusjack.hyves.nl/
MySpace: www.myspace.com/crushingjackhammer |
50/100 |
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| DYSFUNCTIONAL BY CHOICE – Travelling In Travel (CD) | France | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Alternative Metal / Hardcore / Industrial | Running time: 37:17 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| I never had heard of DYSFUNCTIONAL BY CHOICE before. But this is a very interesting band from Paris, France. The band was formed in 1996 and exists of Julien Chaillou (vocals), Vincent Bertellin (guitar), Julien Hekking (guitar), Fabien Carouge (bass) and Francis Caste (drums). The band has released four self-produced EP's in the past and "Travelling In Travel" is their first full length album. Musically DYSFUNCTIONAL BY CHOICE reminds me the most of a band like HELMET. On this album are some instrumental parts (some with voices on the background) like "Fog", "Optimum", "Iced Bed" and "C Ut". But the real songs like "Alert", "Travelling In Travel (Out Of Trap)", "Non Reached Lights" and "Gotham" are really fantastic, with some great guitar riffs. Those mentioned songs are the best tracks of the album. In my opinion "Sleep & Learn" is very monotone and boring and "Pimple" is pretty much a noise/industrial song. The longest track is the last song "Underworld" (7:47), which is a nice song but not one of the best. But all with all, "Travelling In Travel" is a very good album which I would recommend if you like bands as HELMET and TOOL. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.dysby.com
Recordlabel: http://www.drakkar.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dysby |
80/100 |
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| ETERNAL – Start Of A New Era (MCD) | Sweden | March 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic Hard Rock / Metal | Running time: 17:54 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| These guys from Sweden began to play melodic hard rock in the early 80's, some of them together and some of them in other bands. In the 90's most of the members did some recording projects together and also played together in some coverbands. After a lot of years playing in coverbands, they got tired of that and decided to play and make their own style of hard rock again. In 2007 they finally started the band Eternal. A first result of their recordings it the mini-cd "Start Of A New Era", on which are 4 songs. They still play 80's inspired Swedish melodic hard rock/metal like Europe, Glory, Treat and The Poodles. All 4 songs have interesting guitar/keyboard parts, and also the vocalist, Christer Gärds, sings very good with a kinda melodic-raw voice like Peter De Wint (ex-Mystery, Affair, CrossFire) and Jakob Samuel (The Poodles, ex-Treasure Land, …). Eternal is a very good "newcomer" for the Swedish melodic hard rock/metal community!! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/eternalsweden |
85/100 |
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| GROUND OF RUIN – Cloacked in darkness (MCD) | Ireland | March 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Death / Thrash Metal | Running time: 22:50 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| Labelled as black thrash metal by themselves. Ground Ruin sound more like a melodic death/thrash metal band to me. This four track mini CD shows a band that has some potential concerning their sound but has to do a little more to really outshine within this scene. Instrumentation and production are o.k. Artwork and lyrics are also more than o.k. Maybe the band should do better to sound a little bit more dirty. This will fit their image and lyrical theme better. But hey, maybe that's too personal and this is something you like. Fans of the Gothenburg sound from the mid nineties who also love some thrash should be aware of this. Record labels: check this out. I have heard bands that are less good gettin' a record deal! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/groundofruin
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75/100 |
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| HEINRICHREICH/TARANIS – Ancient Will (Split CD) | Ireland / Belgium | March 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Black Metal & Black/Thrash Metal | Running time: 43:19 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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What do you get when you cross a Belgium band with an Irish band who's founding member originally comes from Slovakia? This interesting split release off course! Aren't split releases something from the past I hear you ask? Surely, there were more of them released in the eighties and nineties but I think it is a great way for a band to display their sound to the public and on the other hand what is more fantastic than an album with two bands playing completely different styles but both sound great? In the underground split albums are still released on a wider schedule and so these two bands thought to combine there forces together… Let's start with Heinrichreich that kicks of on this release. This is a real two headed monster for me. On one hand I hear a lot of good ideas but on the other hand some ideas are totally shit! Imagine a guitar tone that is alright, a drumcomputer which sounds awful, some keyboard and folk passages that are well thought while other are way too happy sounding and last vocals that sound more than o.k. One can say that this album sounds deformed at some parts but beautiful during others. I really like the guitar riffs on the first two songs and some of the keyboard parts so this is something that Mr. Heinrich must continue with. Things to get rid of are that ridiculous sounding drum computer and some of cheap sounding folk passages coming right out of his Casio keyboard. For now you get the benefit of the doubt Mr. Heinrich but next time I want to see some development on the above mentioned things! Side B to speak in old school terms introduced me to old school black/thrash band: Taranis from Belgium that sounds much more outgrown than Heinrichreich. Obviously there's nothing original sounding here but the dirty old school sound that Taranis present here is something I really admire. Especially the in vitriol drenched vocals which reminded me a bit of the older Absu. Be damned this is good! Together with the vocals throw some old school metal riffs in the blender unfortunately with some cheap sounding drums and voila here we have the sound of Taranis. Totally early Bathory worship! Look out for their new full length on Iron Pegasus which should be released around this time. Wimps or posers: Beware! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.heinrichreich.com
Recordlabel: http://www.ironagerecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/heinrichreich MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/taranisvl |
77/100 |
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| HELLBIKE – Hellbike (CDemo) | The Netherlands | March 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Hard Rock / Heavy Metal | Running time: 11:00 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| Hellbike is a relatively new band, and really got fired up in 2007, this is their demo 3 track cd which tells us something about this band. Looking at the artwork and considering the band name, you get the idea this is Biker Party band, and they really would do great on such I think. Their music is a mix of Motorhead and AC/DC with some southern influences, while their singer sounds a bit like Brian Johnson. The production could be a lot better, but then again it is a demo, it does show the capacity of this band. The demo starts with the song 'Play Me', which is a heavy rocker, with some real nice guitar work in there, and my personal favourite track. 'Ready To Rumble' is up next, also a nice up tempo rocker, which even reminds just a little bit of Thin Lizzy, really cool solos here again. This is the stuff that got big in the eighties, or maybe even seventies, so this is nothing new or totally different, just nice and recognisable and fun! The last song 'Little Big Man', is a slower one, kind of a ballad almost, but nicely done, although I like them better doing the faster tracks. This demo makes me wanna know what they could do in a real studio, so hopefully they will get signed soon, so I don't have to wait too long for a full cd of this HELLBIKE! I bet they will be a blast live too, so I know I'm gonna ride my bike to where they play, are you? | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hellbike |
77 /100 |
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| HERMAN FRANK – Loyal To None (CD) | Germany | March 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Hardrock / Metal | Running time: 47:07 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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People who have never heard of Herman Frank will probably be below 25 years old. This man has served his guitar duties in Accept and Victory for ages, and is now a renowned producer (Saxon, Nikki Puppet) with his own recording facilities. Apparently, Herman felt the urge to release something of his own again, and after listening to this cd, I cannot blame him. He gathered some friend musicians to do the trick, amongst who are drummer Stefan Schwarzmann (Helloween) and vocalist Jiotis Parachidis (Victory). Forty seven minutes is however not very long; if it had been up to me, I would have put another song onto the album. Rest assured…this is my only criticism. The result is one big pile of power!! Heavy double bassdrums, heavy and mean guitar riffs and a voice that really fits 100% into the songmaterial. Jiotis is to Herman Frank what Rob Rock is to Impellitteri. He never lets down, has a huge amount of aggression in his voice and he obviously has a lot of fun with his Victory and Running Wild buddies. Herman (his grey heir gives away a bit of his age) must be a happy and smiling man, after having recorded and produced such a classic album. I can only salute him for staying true to his feel of music and bringing so many people the power of this album. A job well done, Herman! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.hermanfrank.com
Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hermanfrank |
91/100 |
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| ICON X – Memento Mori (CD) | Sweden | March 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Folk | Running time: 51:15 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Ok, I give up! "Memento Mori" from Icon X is indeed the strangest album I have ever reviewed in my 15 year old career as a reviewer. This is a one man project lead by the strange folklore figure of the man who calls himself Icon X. On the Icon X myspace page I read that Icon X used to play for a Swedish band called Wizz which released and album back in 1984 (nice album by the way…). Icon X sings in latin (!!!) and the album contains folk music with bagpipes and other traditional instruments. I really can't see why a heavy metal of hard rock fan should be interested in this album. Check it only if you are totally into folk music. I am sorry but I cannot give it any score at all. It is completely out of my league. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.iconx.se
Recordlabel: http://www.talkingmusic.info MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/iconxmusic |
?/100 |
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| IRON FIRE – To The Grave (CD) | Denmark | March 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 55:00 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| This is already the third IRON FIRE album I get to review, after 'Revenge' and 'Blade of Triumph', and again they didn't disappoint me. After the release of 'Blade of Triumph' , the band embarked on a European Tour supporting U.D.O. and Primal Fear. One of the tour's highlights was the Christmas Festival in Germany when they performed along Saxon, WASP and Doro. However, the band did not rest on it's laurels and the members focused on writing new material for the upcoming album 'To The Grave'. Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Pretty Maids, Illdisposed) was responsible for the production once again, and did an outstanding job if you ask me, the album has a real heavy production. This is power metal as it should be, heavy riffs and pounding rhythms with Martin Steene's voice topping it off. Strong songs like 'Kill For Metal'(a classic for sure) or 'To The Grave' or 'The Kingdom', not a bad song to find on the album, most tracks are uptempo and very powerful, just the way it's supposed to be. It's clear to say that IRON FIRE is one of the greater power metal bands around between Manowar, Dragonforce and Hammerfall, maybe even the better one…And indeed nothing new or original to be found here, that is true, but they do what they do best, make powerful power metal with all clichés on board, while others tend to forget how power metal should sound after their second album, IRON FIRE still has the fire burning with their fifth album! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ironfire.dk
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/officialironfire |
85/100 |
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| KINGDOM – Kingdom (CDemo) | Belgium | March 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Sludge / Doom Metal | Running time: 41:26 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| What shall we do with the drunken sailor? Early in the morning? Take him and shake him and try and wake him? Well it sure takes a while for Kingdom tries to wake me. The first minutes are only feedback. Like it or not. After this the band gets his greatest influences from Cult of Luna. Not that weird. Some of the members from Kingdom are also in AmenRa, a Belgian band which toured several times with this famous British band. Since I am a big fan of both bands you don't see me complaining. I like my sludge/ post-core the way Kingdom serves it: stretched out, heavy and beyond, way beyond your feelings as a human. Early in the morning? It can't be early enough even when I am drunk as hell! 40 minutes of quality atmospheric sludge, and that for an EP only. Take your advantage of it! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.kingdomcomes.be
Recordlabel: http://www.genetrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kingdomcomes |
79/100 |
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| LAMB OF GOD – Wrath (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 44:52 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Aaaargh…..this fifth album of LAMB OF GOD, titled "Wrath", is just AWESOME. To me, LAMB OF GOD is a mixture of bands like PANTERA, TESTAMENT, SLAYER and MESHUGGAH. Anyway, the band started in 1990 under the name of BURN THE PRIEST, and released only one self titled album in 1999. After that album they changed their name into LAMB OF GOD and since then they've released the following albums: "New American Gospel" (2000), "As The Palaces Burn" (2003), "Ashes Of The Wake" (2004) and "Sacrament" (2006). Before I got "Wrath" to review, I only had their previous album "Sacrament", which is a KILLER album too. Especially since the albums "Ashes Of The Wake" (which I know a little) and "Sacrament" LAMB OF GOD definitely belongs to the top of the "new" generation metal bands. Well, "Wrath" is LAMB OF GOD's first release on Roadrunner Records outside of North America.
This album KICKS ASS with it's killer riffs, fantastic grooves and superb drum work. What a beast drummer Chris Adler is. Not to mention both guitarists Willie Adler and Mark Morton. And Randy Blythe is just the perfect singer for LAMB OF GOD. Really, there's no weak song on "Wrath". Songs like "In Your Words", "Set To Fail", "Contractor", "Fake Messiah", "Broken Hands" or "Reclamation" are all brilliant modern Thrash songs. Also the production, which is done by Josh Wilbur, is fabulous. Well, as you will understand, "Wrath" is a real recommendation and, in my opinion, already one of the best metal albums of 2009. By the way, the limited edition digipack version features two bonus tracks ("We Die Alone" and "Shoulder Of Your God"). BUY OR DIE. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lamb-of-god.com
Recordlabel: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lambofgod |
95/100 |
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| LOST LEGION – Glory or Death (CD) | United Kingdom | March 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 54:00 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Initiated under the name 'The Clan Of Steel' in 1998 by brothers Adam (guitar) and Frank Allain (guitar) to create heroic heavy metal songs inspired from great literary works of the fantasy genre, particularly the works of David Gemmell, fusing elements of classic metal bands like Manowar and Judas Priest with contemporary acts such as Blind Guardian. The band released a demo tape, with songs such as 'Blademaster' and the band anthem 'The Clan of Steel' which still form a core part of The Lost Legion's repertoire today. Shortly after followed by the concept EP 'The Wanderers Tale', after which the project is left aside for years. Then in 2003 Mark Harrington (Bass) and Tom Williams (vocals) joined the brothers to revitalise the project, soon after followed by Sterghios Moschos (Drums) to complete the line up. It is during this period that it is decided to change the name of the band into 'The Lost Legion' as it fits the load better. All songs handle about Heroism and tragedy, exultance and sorrow, the clamour of battle and the deathly calm that follows. Lost Legion sees themselves as the vanguard of powerful, epic and stirring warrior metal. 'Glory or Death' is their debut album, produced by Martin Bell at Audiogogue Studios. To start with the production, it sounds a bit flat unfortunately, which doesn't do the album any good. Although filed under Power Metal, the power lacks a big part of the album. There are really good ideas on the album, but overall it sounds a bit dull, to dramatic maybe. Songs like 'Carnage On The Walls Of Delnoch' or 'The Last Scion' are great, and most songs do have good guitar work in them, which with a good production would have given this album a higher score, but unfortunately it isn't so. Some of the songs tend to be very long, and drag on and on, a bit more variation would be welcome, or stick to shorter ones. But one thing is for sure, with a stronger and more powerful sound it would be so more energetic and better sounding. Hopefully with their next release it will happen, because they do have potential. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.ironagerecords.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thelostlegion |
68/100 |
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| LUNATICA – New Shores (CD) | Switserland | March 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Symphonic Metal | Running time: 50:02 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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It's funny when you realise that nowadays, a lot of bandnames end with –ica. Metallica (plus all the spin-offs in coverbands), Magica and Lunatica are three names I spontaneously came up with. However, these bands have musically nothing in common. Swiss lot Lunatica have just released their 4th album, without guitarist André Leuenberger, who was replaced by live-stand-in Marc Toretti. Under productional charge of Sascha Paeth (who needs no further introduction), the band recorded this album in Wolfsburg. I was unfamiliar with the three previous albums so I was totally unbiased and curious about this female-fronted band. I must admit, I expected their music to be gothic-like. Listening to the album made me realise I was totally wrong. Lunatica makes melodic metal with a heavy edge, right beside the smoother female vocals of Andrea Dätwyler. The album itself has no songs that really stand out, but it never bores. I quite liked the opening song "New Shores" but also John Payne's contributions (where does he find the time, being quite busy with his Asia band?). The album reminds me a little of the debut album of Echoes Of Eternity, be it less dark. Quite nice to listen to, though. Judge for yourself if this is your genre. I read a few reviews done by colleagues, but calling this album dull sells the band short. The Japanese market gets (again) a bonustrack, "Timekeeper". | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lunatica.ch
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lunaticametalk |
78/100 |
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| MIND ODYSSEY – Time to Change It (CD) | Germany | March 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 44:06 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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German power metal band Mind Odyssey kicked of its career during the early 90s. In a two year period the band released two albums of high octane melodic European power metal. "Keep it all Turning" and "Psychoschizophenia" can be listed among the best albums of the genre. After a 4 year break the band returned with a new line up (including Victor Smolski on guitar) and released two albums in two years. In my opinion, "Signs" and "Nailed to the Shade" are inferior compared to the first two albums. Then came the split. 10 years later the band returns and seems willing to make it work once again.
"Time to Change It" is a fine melodic metal album. The trademark high pitched vocals of band leader Mario Lemole are present (Glen Hughes meets Rob Halford) and so are the brilliant guitar themes by Smolski. This comeback album is obviously better that the last two efforts and puts the band back on track. For those who are not familiar with the band's sound, I would describe its style as a mix between Rage, Helloween and Judas Priest. In this album you will find memorable choruses, interesting compositions with the right length (an average of 4 minutes) and fine musicianship. Modern European power metal needs albums like this. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mindodyssey.de
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mindodyssey07 |
80/100 |
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| MINDWARP CHAMBER – Delusional Reality (CD) | USA | March 2008 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Power / Progressive Metal | Running time: 61:15 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| I already reviewed the bands debut MCD "Skeptics Eye" in January 2008 so for a bio I advice you to take a look at that review. I was already impressed by their debut MCD and rated it with 80 out of 100 points. The band didn't have any line-up changes since their debut which is to my opinion the strong power of bands like Mindwarp Chamber. Musically they made a lot of progression and in my earlier review I named bands like Forte, Damien Thorne & Rival as bands to compare MC with. Well this album is much much more progressive and do remind me to bands like (early) Queensryche, Symphony X & Dream Theater but than in a heavier edition. Musically its superb and singer Scott Huffman is one of the best vocalist I discovered the last few years! Compliments!! Unbelievable that this band is still on such a small label. There is also not 1 weak song on this album! The shortest song of the album is already 6:10 minutes but none of the songs gets boring at all! With a good label and the right distribution this band will be FAMOUS!! Mark my words! Symphony X & Dream Theater watch out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mindwarpchamber.net
Recordlabel: http://www.netherworldrecords.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mindwarpchambermusic |
95/100 |
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| MINISTRY - Adios… Puta Madres (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Industrial Metal | Running time: 62:24 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| I was a bit surprised to see a new cd of industrial metallers Ministry come out since they split up last year but when I looked a bit closer it just turned out to be a live album of their farewell tour. Last year I had the luck to see one of these concerts at the graspop festival and it blew me away. Being this the farewell tour the entire cd is made up of classics and gives a nice overview of the industrial part of their discography which is always good for people who don't know the band yet. The biggest problem is that this cd doesn't bring the band's awesome live reputation any justice. Yes the songs are great, the sound is brilliant and you can feel the atmosphere but Ministry is one of the most hard, brutal and especially intense live acts I have ever seen and it's practically impossible to capture all of that on cd. I hope they will release this on DVD as well so we can once more enjoy the great visual show which will bring everything just a bit closer. For the people who have seen the band, try this cd out and just close your eyes and imagine you're at a show. For the people wanting to get to know them I suggest you buy the normal albums or wait for the DVD if it ever comes out cause to hear Ministry live you actually have to see them as well. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ministrymusic.org/
Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ministrymusic |
79/100 |
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| NASHVILLE PUSSY – From Hell To Texas (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hard Rock / Southern Rock / Speedrock | Running time: 38:54 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Well, I must admit that NASHVILLE PUSSY belongs to one of my favourite bands for years. I have all their albums and I just love their 100% kick ass rock and roll music. On February 1st, 2009 I saw NASHVILLE PUSSY for the fifth time live (at the Effenaar, Eindhoven). They were supporting THE SUPERSUCKERS on their European tour, and in my opinion NASHVILLE PUSSY blew THE SUPERSUCKERS completely away. On that evening I wanted to buy their brand new album "From Hell To Texas" but they didn't sell it yet. I was really looking forward to the new album, so I'm glad Mario send me this fifth studio album to review. Anyway, for everyone who doesn't know NASHVILLE PUSSY, the band started in 1996 and they have released the following albums "Let Them Eat Pussy" (1998), "High As Hell" (2000), "Say Something Nasty" (2002) and "Get Some!" (2005). All those albums are fantastic. Since the album "Get Some!" the line-up of NASHVILLE PUSSY exists of Blaine Cartwright (vocals, guitar), Ruyter Suys (guitar), Karen Cuda (bass) and Jeremy Thompson (drums). Cartwright has a very recognizable voice. Suys is a great guitar player and Cuda and Thompson are a fantastic rhythm section. Also this new album, which features twelve tracks, has some very catchy songs. "From Hell To Texas" was recorded at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio in Texas, produced by Daniel Rey and sounds great. Danko Jones is doing guest vocals on "I'm So High". "Lazy Jesus" is a song with harmonica (done by Gordie Johnson) which is a nice song, but not one of the best. Although I like all twelve tracks, my favourites are "Speed Machine", "From Hell To Texas", "Drunk Driving Man", "Ain't Your Business", "The Late Great USA", "Pray For The Devil", "Stone Cold Down" and "Gimme A Hit Before I Go". This album just grows every time you listen to it. Well, with "From Hell To Texas" NASHVILLE PUSSY again delivered a fantastic rock and roll album. Go see them live if they come back this Fall because they are a real energetic live band. NASHVILLE PUSSY kicks ass. Great album cover by the way. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.nashvillepussy.com
Recordlabel: http://www.spv.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nashvillepussy |
88/100 |
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| NATAN – Het Zicht Van De Dood (CD) | Belgium | March 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Melodic Black / Folk metal | Running time: 49:50 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| With "Het Zicht van de Dood" Natan released their debut full- length album after an EP, a split and some demos. This 6 piece Belgian horde plays black metal with folk influences and surprises me with this mature album. Blastbeats go hand in hand with beautiful calm acoustic folk driven intermezzos. Influenced by the mid nineties black metal bands from Norway like Satyricon and Enslaved (listen to the song "Doodsfeest" which honours the "Frost" album from this mighty Viking horde). Besides this we can't forget to mention the father of black metal bands from Belgium: Ancient Rites. These are only influences because the band truly has an own identity which is a big plus in these days where copy cats rule the land. The lyrics which are sung in the Dutch language fit the band well and show that there's nothing wrong with using this language in black metal. In interviews the band stated that by using their mother tongue it's easier to express things. A thing more bands seem to eager with. Lyrical themes are very diverse on this album. Genk (the bands hometown) and its environment seemed a perfect lyrical inspiration concerning that it probably was originated as a Celtic village and converted to Christianity in the 10th Century just like most of the surrounding villages. Other subjects concerning the lyrics are the average ones of: pride honour and war. The production sounds raw but organic which is a good thing dealing the kind of black metal the band plays. Only small complaint I have is the drums that sound too sterile if you ask me. Sometimes I can't hear if they are played by a human or a machine, especially in the faster parts. Look out for two hidden tracks. One before the first song and one after the last. There's something in the water in Belgium concerning the number of quality releases unleashed upon mankind the last couple of years. It makes the wait for the new Ancient Rites a little bit more bearable. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.ironagerecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/natanhorde |
81/100 |
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| NO REMORSE NO RETREAT - To Glory We Ride (CD) | United Kingdom | March 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 46:54 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| No Retreat No Remorse is a new band from The United Kingdom. With "To Glory We Ride" they made their first full length cd. I guess the band members are big fan of Manowar since they obviously are trying to make the same type of epic heavy metal as the kings of metal do. Unfortunately they don't quite succeed in this. After the first time I heard the cd I couldn't find anything really good about so I decided it just needed to grow on me but I guess it never did as the most positive thing about the entire record is the great artwork. I just don't like this cd at all, the music is repetitive, uninspired and just plain boring. Almost every song has the same type of riff and probably the exact same basic drum part. The vocals aren't that good either and the lyrics prove once and for all that only Manowar can get away with 10 songs consisting of battle stories and hails. In the middle of the cd a folkisch tune is heard probably because that genre seems to be quite popular and hey it remembers the listeners about the brave Vikings right? This band might be fun to watch live once they get the crowd going but on cd I wouldn't waste my money on it, there are way better bands to discover. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.noremorsenoretreat.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.ironagerecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/noremorsenoremorse |
62/100 |
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| RAIMUND BURKE – Into My Arena (CD) | Germany | March 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Hardrock | Running time: 59:20 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Raimund started playing the guitar back in 1984. Since then he played in several (especially hardrock) bands. In 2005 he released his first instrumental solo album "Get It", which received several good reviews. That same year he also released "Christmas In Rock". "Into My Arena" is his new solo album. For this album he did the following things : composing, arranging, playing all instruments, programming, recording, mixing, producing, artwork, website and distribution. On "Into My Arena" are 9 instrumental songs and 2 with vocals, perfomed by Michael Keuter. The instrumental songs range from rock till progressive rock/metal. Also other influences like blues can be heard. Raimund is surely is a very talented guitarist, and also the 2 songs with vocals are very good bluesy, hardrock songs. He's a guitarist who plays a lot with emotion and uses many melodic themes, all the way. Well done Raimund!! | |||
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Visit his website: http://www.raimundburke.de
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/raimundburke |
79/100 |
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| SABINAS REX – A Rock Opera (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Symphonic Rock | Running time: 34:27 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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This album is some kind of a summary of a Rock Opera where Sabinas Rex is currently working on. The album contains 8 marvellous songs and I cannot wait until Sabinas Rex releases their complete album. The final album will contain 20 songs, but when you listen to this album, it sounds if the album is already complete. The arrangements of the songs are diverse, heavy parts are alternated by atmospheric keyboard parts. In the past, a lot of rock opera`s have been released, but in my opinion the quality of these albums was not always good. But I`m very enthousiastic about this album! The lyrics of the songs are related to Kings, Barbarians etcetera, all kind of medieval topics. Sabinas Rex is a project founded by Vlado Kormos (Keyboards, Programming, Production) and Jana Steiger (Vocals). They have gathered a band that is able to create a very nice atmosphere. The band, consisting of 3 members, is reinforced with four additional musicians. Together with five vocalists, they have created this cd. The nationality of the musicians is diverse, they come from the USA and some countries in Europe. I have only one point of critisism about this album and this is about the production of the album. The production is not always clear and hopefully the producer will improve the mixing of the instruments when he is finalizing the final album. But I`m very curious to the moment when the rock opera is ready. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sabinasrex.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sabinasrexopera |
87/100 |
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| SAVIOR FROM ANGER – Lost in the Darkness (CD) | Italy | March 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 49:33 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Italian power metal band Savior From Anger makes its first full length appearance with this album. All the members have previous experience with numerous bands from Italy and particularly Naples which is the band's hometown. When I first saw the band's name, Vicious Rumors came immediately to mind (cause of the same titled song from the "Welcome to the Ball" album). The band also mentions Vicious Rumors as an influence so I had high hopes for "Lost in the Darkness". The band indeed delivers power speed metal influenced by the American school. Razor sharp guitars, high pitched vocals, double bass, frantic solos. Heathen, Laaz Rockit, Vicious Rumors style. This is rare for an Italian band since most of them prefer the Europower symphonic sound. The compositions are heavy and aggressive but in my opinion the production lacks that extra volume that would help this kind of songs sound more powerful (especially on the drums department). Nevertheless this an album that deserves the attention of those seeking high octane power metal delivered the American way. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.marcoruggiero.com
Recordlabel: http://www.rockitup.org MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/marcoruggiero |
78/100 |
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| SCHIZOPHRENIC VOICES – Tesno (CD) | Germany | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Progressive Metal / Rock | Running time: 40:24 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Well, I never had heard of this German band SCHIZOPHRENIC VOICES before. They were formed in 2004 and released a 5-track demo "P.M.P. (Progressive Metal Punk)" in that same year. Now four years later SCHIZOPHRENIC VOICES released their full length debut album titled "Tesno". And to tell you the truth, this band is really working on my nerves. This debut album features eleven tracks, and there is no complete song which I really like. I couldn't listen to this album more than twice. What a crap, those songs are so irritating. Okay, the members can play their instruments well and the production is okay too. But those songs…………..sorry I have to go to the toilet now to vomit. If you have some money left, please don't buy this shit, buy another album or go to the movie or whatever. Nobody can convince me that he or she really likes this album. If so, then you're schizophrenic too, hahaha. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.schizophrenic-voices.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/schizophrenicvoices |
25/100 |
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| S-CORE - Gust of Rage (CD) | France | March 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Metalcore | Running time: 46:54 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| The more brutal form of metalcore is very popular these days and so new bands are arriving in the scene very quickly and in large number. Although I never liked metalcore but as a death metal fan I must admit that sometimes there are bands that tend to surprise me with albums leaning very closely to actual brutal death metal and a very nice overall sound. One of these is S-Core, a band from France who recently released their second full length after an EP in 2001 and their debut in 2003. The album contains a mix of brutal death metal with the technical aggression and melody of metalcore which sounds pretty good. I still don't like the brutality for brutality's sake (and perhaps because it's popular?) but these guys can get away with it nicely in my opinion since they obviously thought about the concept and made some very good songs with nice overall structure. Just when the album becomes a bit boring due to lacking variety there's a nice acoustic interlude to charge up the batteries and get going again. This album makes me want to check these guys out live cause the energy they must be showing on stage could be very overwhelming. For fans of the more brutal work. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.processengaged.com
Recordlabel: http://www.drakkar.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/scorepower |
62/100 |
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| SCREAMER – What Excites You (CD) | USA | March 2008 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Power Metal / Rock | Running time: 43:46 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Screamer form Wisconsin, USA, already exist since early 1987; guitarists Ron Valeo and Mike Schantek formed the band. Short after that Paul Bigalke joined on bass and Kevin Litz on drums as well. Singer Bill Carter joined the band shortly after. They wrote the music for their first release during 1987 and self released a two part
cassette tape demo of eight songs. That demo was packaged as 'Target Earth' on New Renaissance records in 1988. The band split up after a few years of supporting that record and every member went his own way. About two years ago they started talking again and thought it would be interesting to see what another Screamer record would sound like…. That question is answered with this new album "What Excites You". So nearly 20 years after their debut the band releases his follow up. This is again a self financed release but it sounds very good productionwise! I'm not familiar with their debut album but what I hear on this record sounds very nice! Expect a mix of US metal combined with more rock orientated tunes. In most press releases the band is compared as a mix of (old) Judas Priest & (old) Dokken and I can live with that comparison. Personally I also hear great guitarplaying in the vein of Georg Lynch which is of course a compliment. Only complain I have is the fact that all the songs are played in the same tempo which is a pity and can sound boring to some listeners! Next time a bit more variation please! Check them out if you're into the above mentioned bands! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/screamertargetearth |
75/100 |
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| SIKH – One More Piece (CD) | France | March 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Nu Metal | Running time: 42:17 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| I will say it right away. Nu metal is not really my thing. Bands like Slipknot, Deftones, Korn, Fear Factory were never in my top 100 list. But if you are into that music you must really listen to this French band Sikh. "One More Piece" is there second album and it's a very good representative of the genre. I must say it's a very varied cd. The singer Kal shouts, grunts, whispers, sings, raps like he did it all of his life. The bass is very dominant but has a good groove and the guitars play that typical staccato rythm that we know so well with other nu metal bands. The songs are varied too .Like the song, 'Ballad of the Harmless' and yes, it's a ballad. I don't like it very much. But the next song, 'Psychotro' kicks ass. It's all pretty varied but never dull except for the ballad. They did a good job with this cd but like I said, nu metal is not my thing. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sikhmusic.net
Recordlabel: http://www.drakkar.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sikhmusic |
80/100 |
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| SON OF ERIC – Epiphany (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Mr. Globbetrotter |
| Style: Alternative Rock / Metal | Running time: 34:55 (Tracks: 9) | ||
|
Son of Eric is the name of Torok lead vocalist Bryan Erickson's new band. Now that Torok is on a indefinite hiatus Son of Eric has become the main focus for Bryan musically. Son of Eric's debut full length CD is titled 'Epiphany' and is due to be released via Nightmare Records and Sugar Shack Records. For the recording of 'Epiphany' along with handling the vocal parts Bryan is playing all of the rhythm guitars, bass guitar and all of the piano/synth parts. All of the drum tracks are played by veteran session drummer Greg Morrow.
For this project guest lead guitar players are participating on each track. Mike Torok of Impaler and Torok fame plays the guitar solos on the tracks "Blind Man", "Good Bad Ugly" and "High Plains Drifter". Shrapnel shredder Todd Duane is featured on the tracks "The Truth", "Black Rain Falls" and "Born". John Lyell guitarist, composer and producer is featured on the track "Fierce". Matt Graunke from the band Menace is featured on the track "Lost & Never Found"
The result of putting together so many people into one project is that it causes a lack of stability. Not all songs are even strong, and here and there I get the impression that these guys came together in a garage to do some jamming. Productionwise, I must say that I'm not fond of the way the drums sound, nor am I a fan of Erik's voice. So I can only recommend Torok fans to check out this album. People who aren't familiar with Torok and who appreciate transparent songwriting and melody better leave this one alone. Check out their MySpace page if you are in doubt. I for one don't believe in big masses of fans for this music. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.torokmusic.com/son_of_eric.htm
Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sonofericband |
51/100 |
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| THE ETERNAL - Kartika (CD) | Australia | March 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Dark / Gothic Metal | Running time: 50:41 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Australia….Down Under …..Men at Work ? Ah well, forget about them, now they have The Eternal ! The Eternal was formed in 2003 from the ashes of Cryptal Darkness. After completing a demo they scored a deal with Firebox records from Finland (!) Well Firebox had a good nose for this one, because they had to look far across their borders to sign this band. Their debut album "The sombre light of Isolation" was released in 2004, followed by "Sleep of Reason" in 2005. Well, a busy band indeed. Directly after touring the planet, supporting bands like HIM and Opeth, they entered the studio to create Kartika out of their touring demos. And the result is there. Influences of bands like Anathema, Paradise Lost and Katatonia are mentionable to their kind of music. The album starts with an atmospheric intro to lead you into "Silence". After hearing this song (first it reminded me a bit of Theatre of Tragedy's "Music") you know what you are going to get. An excellent mixture of gothic, progressive rock with a touch of doom that needs your attention. Overall it is relaxed but intense listening music that even sometimes is very catchy. The band has succeeded very well in adding elements to the music to make it sound very expressive. Although the keyboards play a prominent role in their music, this time they also put in other instruments played by guests like a mandolin (Duncan Patterson) and a hammered dulcimer (Nicholas Albanis). The Russian guest vocalist Emily Saaen puts in even more drama to the songs. Singer/guitarist Mark Kelson has a very warm and expressive voice which fits perfectly in the dramatic sound of the band. The album brings enough variation with emotive songs like "Brighter Day" and "Walk beside You" alternated by catchy gothics like "Illuminate" and "Means for an Ending". The oriental influenced epic "Blood" is my fav by far. This is just that kind of song that, although is clocks 9.37, you want to hear again yet every time discovering some new wonderful arrangements in it. To be honest the album could be a bit soft to some metalheads but if you are looking for a diverse rock/metal band with a taint of darkness then this is something to check out. The first pressing edition comes with a 6-track bonus disc so if when you're interested, don't wait to long. Firebox took care of a professional cd-package with an album cover that gives you the right feeling of the music that is inside. Still not convinced ? Check out the bands site because they are going to hit the stage live very soon (April in Holland/Belgium/Germany), just right in your neighbourhood. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.the-eternal.com
Recordlabel: http://www.firebox.fi MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theeternalband |
83/100 |
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| (THE EXALTED) PILEDRIVER – Metal Manifesto (CD) | Canada | March 2008 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash / Humor Metal | Running time: 43:35 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Piledriver (Why the band is now named The Exalted Piledriver is a mystery to me)? Yes the mighty Piledriver that delivered 2 classic albums in the 80's ("Metal Inquisition" in 1984 & "Stay Ugly" in 1986). Musically maybe not the greatest releases but original as hell and full of great metal humor!! I really loved both albums very much and was surprised that the band reunited a few years ago and even did a (small) European tour with as highlight a spot on the Keep it True festival bill!! The band blew me away live and I thought this was a once-only reunion tour?? Well forget it; the band continues where they stopped in the late 80's. The music is still recognizable even if it all sounds a bit more modern these days. Maybe that has to do with the fact that Neil Kernon (Nevermore/Queensryche/Cannibal Corpse) mixed this album? Nevertheless an album that overruled my expectations! Fav. Songs: 'Unsuck my C*ck' & 'I'm the One'. Buy or Die by the hands of the mighty Piledriver!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sofa-q.com
Recordlabel: http://www.northernstormrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theexaltedpiledriver |
88/100 |
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| TOBY KNAPP – Misantropy Divine (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: U.S. Complex / Power Metal | Running time: 55:09 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| "Guitar Distortion" was Toby's debut full length album in 1993. It was an instrumental guitar album in the vein of Marty Friedman, Joe Stump and Tony MacAlpine. Many of these guitarists were discovered by Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records. Toby's first album was released by Shrapnel Records, another U.S. label (Wild Rags) released a following EP "Infinite Opposition" in 1996. In the late 90's, Toby joined the U.S. power metal band Onward, with who he released several albums. His second solo album "Polarizing Lines" was released in 2005, three years later followed by "Misantropy Divine". His new solo album ranges musically from pure power, speed/thrash metal to fusion and jazzy stuff. All music was written and performed by Toby and the lyrics and vocal melodies were written and performed by Deen Sternberg (Into Eternity, Within Another). Deen has a typical U.S. metal voice, which he demonstrates on the U.S power metal songs "Flies", "Entity Unseen" and Rhinecliff Bridge". The other songs are mainly instrumental, complex compositions. All the instruments are played by Toby, and he also sings on the last/bonus track of the album, "Misantropy's Reprise", which sounds bombastic/furious/almost black metallish by moments. For fans of bands such as Apocrypha, Cacophony, New Eden, Destiny's End and Onward. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.tobyknapp.ryasrealm.com
Recordlabel: http://www.rockitup.org MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/knapptoby |
77/100 |
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| UNLIGHT – Death Consecrates with Blood (CD) | Germany | March 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 45:57 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Unlight started out in 1997 and this is their fourth cd although the info sheet from Massacre says it's their third. Strange. The info sheet also says that Unlight has a highly original sound adding old school thrash metal and death metal parts. Yeah right!! It's pretty straight forward black metal with a thrashy riff now and then but it's not original at all. Every song is written the same way. A standard guitarriff with melodic, calm pieces. The song 'Becoming the Ungodly Sin' is interrupted by a girl moaning and gregorian singing in the background. Very childish. And none of the songs stick. I'm not impressed by Blaspherion, Lord Grond, Tartaros and Necron. Better luck next time although I think this is all they can do. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.unlight.org
Recordlabel: http://www.massacre-records.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/unlightblackmetal |
70/100 |
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| V.A. (Various Artist) - GUITARS THAT ATE MY BRAIN (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Rock / Metal | Running time: 62:10 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| "Guitars That Ate My Brain" is a Magna Carta compilation cd on which are 12 instrumental songs from today's most accomplished metal axe grinders. This project was coordinated by Ron Thal aka Bumblefoot (Guns N' Roses). There are a few guitarists on this compilation who specialize in recordings like these, most of these guitarists play in metal bands, and rarely we hear them on instrumental songs. There are a few well known guitarists (James Murphy, Chris Poland) on "Guitars That Ate My Brain", but also less known guitarists (Kris Norris, Paul Waggoner). The styles vary from jazzy stuff till progressive metal. All guitarists are well skilled and very talented, technical players. Some songs are very complex, but the guitar playing is all the way very good!! | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.magnacarta.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/magnacartarecords |
79/100 |
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| VANDERBUYST – Vanderbuyst (MCD) | The Netherlands | March 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 11:42 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| VANDERBUYST is a brand new Dutch Hard Rock powertrio existing of J.A. Jonkman (vocals, bass), Willem Verbuyst (guitar) and Barry van Esbroek (drums). All three members share their passion for classic Hard Rock with straight in your face guitar riffs, powerful vocals and lots of guitar solos. In the Spring of 2008 it led to a jam and since then VANDERBUYST was born. In September of 2008 VANDERBUYST entered the Void studio in Eindhoven for recording this 3-track EP. Jonkman and Van Esbroek both also are playing in THE FLYING TYGERS and Willem Verbuyst was one of the guitarists of the legendary POWERVICE (R.I.P.). This EP is produced by Selim Lemouchi, the other guitarist of POWERVICE, and sounds very good. The songs on this EP are titled "Devil's Pie", "Filthy Love" and "December" and are all fantastic songs. Lemouchi can be heard on this EP too, because he's playing the third guitar solo on the up tempo rocker "Filthy Love". What else can I say, I'm very impressed by this fantastic new band. If you are interested in this EP of VANDERBUYST, it can be ordered through the internet. So check their MySpace page or contact them at vanderbuyst@gmail.com. Fantastic EP guys. | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/vanderbuyst |
80/100 |
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| WIZARD - Thor (CD) | Germany | March 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Speed / Power Metal | Running time: 49:29 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| AAARRRGGHHH, Just been hit right in the face by a destructive hammer that listens to the name of Mjölnir. Indeed the hammer of the mighty norse god Thor ! This is the right stuff dudes ! Man what a great album Wizard made this time. Fore those who haven't heard from them until now here follows a short bio. The band celebrates this year their 20th anniversary with their eight studio album. It all began in Germany with Michael Maass (guitar) and Sören van Heek (drums) later on joined by Volker Leson (bas) and Sven D'Anna (vocals). Michael left the band in 2004 and Dano Boland replaced him. In 2007 Michael returned and the band continued with both guitar players. From the start on the band plays speed/power metal at it's finest. No doubt that if someone speaks of true metal, don't look any further, this is it ! After honouring the Gods Father Odin in 2003, now it was time for his son; the God of Thunder; The Mighty Thor. Well, to be honest, when the lyrics are about the Norwegian Mythology, and especially about Thor, I'm interested. (Hey, who doesn't know "The Mighty Thor" from Marvel Comics) The band did well to go on with both guitar players. The twin axework is definitely an improvement. The album is "in your face" and blows you away right from the beginning. Andy Horn (recordings) and Achim Köhler (mix and mastering) did a tremendous job in the studio and gave this album exactly the sound and feeling that belongs to this kind of epic stuff. The album is full with brilliant axework, mystic lyrics, epic choruses and thunderously vocals like Thor is spreading the word himself. Aggressive speed metal songs like "Utgard (False Games)", "Resurrection" and "Lightning" are alternated with epic, powerful ballads like "Serpents Venom" (suberb !) and "The Visitor". Wizard has succeeded in writing choruses that you just can't get out of your (headbanging)head. I just can't wait when this band is coming to Holland for an evening of serious headbanging metal. Marvel Studios has pinned 2010 a movie about The Mighty Thor. They are still searching for someone to play the leading role, but the sound track is already right here. So guys, send this record in and there is a good change you can say goodbye to the financial crisis that hits the world nowadays. Up to Hollywood ! Fans of Helloween, Gamma Ray and Manowar sure are going to like this, but even if you aren't into these bands you should give this one a change. Wizard is more catchy and I think this album can be welcomed by any other kind of metalhead. In the meantime I plunge myself back into Northern Mythology, getting my arse back into Valhalla ! "I am Thor, the mighty god, the lord of rain and storm, now feel the fire, for feast it shall be warm"……………….. Yeah !!!!!!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.legion-of-doom.de
Recordlabel: http:// www. massacre-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wizardband |
93/100 |
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| WOLVES OF HATE – Battle Hymns and War Songs (CD) | USA | March 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Black / Viking Metal | Running time: 37:18 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Wolves of Hate is formed in 2006 in Colorado by Scott Schultz/ Bass, Peter Slivkanch/ Guitars, vocals, synth and Rodd Hamann/ guitars.They play very simple pagan/viking metal. Simple in there music and lyrics. It's dull and not convincing at all. Now and then they use synths for a better sphere but it's all very average. Not for me. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.ironagerecords.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wolvesofhate |
62/100 |
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| ALLTHENIKO – Devasterpiece (CD) | Italy | February 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 49:00 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This is the second album of this great Italian three piece band, after I reviewed their debut album I was very anxious to hear what they would do on their follow up. I can tell you they didn't disappoint me at all, their sound is a bit matured, and the production is superb on this album. They added a bit more power metal into their great thrash, which makes it even better. Great songs, with lots of heavy riffing and furious solos, but with a lot of melody still in there. They really have that '80's feel in their music, which is a good thing, some songs remind me of early german speed metal, like the song 'Thunder And Steel'. Other highlights are, the heavy 'Rise And Fall', 'Metal Unchained' and 'Erased', I especially like 'I'm a fuckin' Zombie', hilarious! One thing you will feel listening to this album is absolutely 'Feel The Power', like the song says. Also a little semi acoustic intermezzo on the album called 'Devasterpiece', this is a very true metal album, these guys know how metal should sound like. Also Dave's vocals are something special, a bit screamy and high in the vein of Peavey (Rage), but it absolutely suits the music well. This album will appeal to the thrash metal maniacs as well as more classic orientated metallers. Now it's time to see these guys play live over here, maybe sometime on Mario's Metal Meeting? (hint)! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.allthenikometal.com
Recordlabel: http://www.mygraveyardproductions.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/allthenikometal |
85/100 |
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| ANAL NOSOROG – Condom of Hate (CD) | Russia | February 2008 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Grind Core | Running time: 46:07 (Tracks: 25) | ||
| Anal Nosorog is well known name in the grind scene. This band from Russia plays dirty rotting grind mixed with groovy trash and punk riffs. As every grind album, this CD contains 25 songs to blow you away. The singer uses a pitch and the music is very heavy. The production of this record is good…..enough for grind. The music of this record is good and definitely real grind…brutal filthy and humorous. Bloody screams and filthy noises make this record in my opinion worth wile to check! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.analnosorog.com
Recordlabel: http://www.xtreemmusic.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/analnosorog |
70/100 |
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| BAD HABIT – Above and Beyond (CD) | Sweden | February 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Hard Rock AOR | Running time: 46:29 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Swedish powerhouse Bad Habit returns after 4 years of silence with the successor to the 2005 album "Hear-Say". The band has been around since the 80s and is considered as one of the most respected AOR artists from Sweden. "Above and Beyond" will satisfy the AOR fans cause it contains flawlessly executed music, beautiful compositions, catchy choruses and fine melodies. The band doesn't stick to AOR though. It rocks harder in many tunes such as "I Believe" thus spicing things up. I think it is on the same level as "Hear-Say" and guarantees a pleasant listen. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.badhabitvip.com
Recordlabel: http://www.aorheaven.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/badhabitvip |
78/100 |
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| BLEED INTO ONE – The Scars Remain (CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Hardcore | Running time: 38:34 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| BLEED INTO ONE is a five piece Hardcore band from Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany. The band was formed in 2002 and exists of Alex (vocals), Michael (guitar), Stephan (guitar), Mike (bass) and Markus (drums). If I'm right B.I.O. already released an album and a split EP (with TEAMKILLER) before. So "The Scars Remain" is the second album of the band and it features 13 fantastic old school hardcore songs. According to their bio BLEED INTO ONE demonstrate how refreshing hardcore can be in 2008. Well, it's far from refreshing, because we have heard it all before, but it just sounds great. To me, B.I.O. remind me very much of bands like MADBALL, CRO-MAGS, BIOHAZARD et cetera. The album has a good production and I really can't find any bad songs on it. Most of the songs on the album have a fantastic groove. The band exists of good musicians and Alex is a very good singer for a hardcore band. Well if you're into old school hardcore, check this album out and listen to great songs like "Too Late", "Quest For Perfection", "Matter Of Time", "Can't Leave It Behind", "Leave A Mark" and "Figure It Out". Fantastic hardcore album. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.demonsrunamok.de
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bleedintoone |
86/100 |
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| BREAKDOWN – Time to Kill (CD) | Brasil | February 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 34:00 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Since this album has been recorded in 2007, I guess it finally made it to Europe by a rowing boat ploughing it's way across the Brazilian Amazon .,,, But nevertheless it was worth it ! For those who are into some good old eighties thrash metal in the style of Kreator/Dismember with some snuffs of (old) Sepultura this is something for you. "Time to Kill is Breakdowns debut cd after done some demos like "Disgrace". Breakdown has been formed in 1998 by Leo "Breakdown". After some line up changes the band further has Danilo on bass and Leonardo on drums. This album is 100% pure thrash in the eighties style. Even the production is like you are thrown back in the oldies, but hey, why bother, those where the days ! Of course it is not all that original, but those young dudes have the "thrash" heart in the right place. Filthy vocals, crushing guitars and ripping solos with enough variation is what you can expect. The album is released by Unsilent Records who are doing nice things in the Brazilian underground. Personal fav: "And the Attack doesn't stop", indeed, no need to say more ….. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.breakdown.com.br
Recordlabel: http://www.unsilent.com.br MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/breakdownsp |
74/100 |
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| CARRION – Evil Is There! (CD) | Switzerland | February 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 70:37 (Tracks: 17) | ||
| This is not some new band playing thrash the oldschool way, this IS the original thing from the eighties. The original 1986 album re-released on cd by Blower records with some extras as well in the form of the '85 demo, and some live tracks from '86. Carrion started out in 1985 in Switzerland, after they recorded their demo, they got an offer from Gama Records and signed. The band recorded 'Evil Is There!' at the Gama in-house-recording studio 'Spygel-studio' in just five days. After that, they became friends with fellow-Swiss thrashers Messiah, who came to one of their shows in Basel, which they recorded with an old portable cassette-deck, off which the live bonus tracks are. The record itself was not a big success as they earned a devastating review in the then biggest mag 'Metal Hammer' with one point out of seven. They didn't play a lot of shows, as it was really difficult to get concerts with this extreme kind of music, back in the days. After some time they searched for a new singer, so original singer/axeman V.O. Pulver could concentrate more on his guitar playing. A new singer was found in Andre Grieder, who joined Carrion and soon afterwards V.C. Andreatta (guitar) left the band. This all led to the decision to rename the band into 'Poltergeist', but that is a completely different story. Well about this album, it's simply fabulous, expect real old school thrash/black metal, with satanic lyrics in the vein of old Sodom, Destruction and Venom. It just can't miss with song titles like 'Shark Attack', 'Antichrist', 'Demon's Child' and 'Evil Is There', all great original stuff. The production isn't really up to date, but that's just how it was back then, and I can only say I love it! I missed them in the eighties, but lucky me, Mario sent me this cd, now I can go look out for the original vinyl version! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.vopulver.com
Recordlabel: http://www.blower-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/carrionevil |
87/100 |
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| CHINA BLUE – Twilight of Destiny (CD) | USA | February 2009 | Jordy Brouwers |
| Style: Melodic Rock | Running time: 55:38 (Tracks: 12) | ||
|
"Twilight of Destiny" is China Blue`s debut album. This sounds strange when you know that they are active since the 80`s. The band was founded by Eric Ragno (keyboards) and his best friend Tom Gasbarro who was responsible for the lyrics. They wrote some songs together but the reason that it took so long before this album was released is a little bit unclear. In the mean while, Ragno continued is musical career in bands like American Angel and Takara. But everything changed in 2008 when Ragno played some old demo`s for his friend Michael Riesenbeck, who advised him to restart China Blue. This happened and together with 5 experienced musicians (like Tony Mills (TNT; vocals) and Josh Ramos (The Storm; Guitar)), Twilight of Destiny was recorded and released at Frontiers Records. When you listen to the album, you can hear influences from Journey and Toto. The album is compiled of songs which were written in the 80`s, but it contains also new material. You might expect that it sounds outdated, but that`s totally not true, the album gives a fresh impression. Twilight of Destiny contains ballads and more up-tempo songs. Personally, I prefer the uptempo songs, especially with good guitar work. All in all, it`s quite a good album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.chinabluemusic.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/chinabluebluemusic |
72/100 |
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| DAWNFADES - Anger Management(CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Kay Vloeberghs |
| Style: Metal / Hardcore | Running time: 48:55 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| “Anger Management” reminds you of bands like Sepultura if the clean vocals didn’t mess things up… They’re basically shit and composed badly. On the other hand you have the well performed grunting of singer Hardey. The voice of Hardey isn’t perfect, at all. But it has his charm, only too bad that you can hear his strong German accent… But anyway, the album lacks a lot to be called a great album. I expected more when I got this good looking digi-pack of the cd, it is by the way only available in this digi-pack. Too bad, because music wise it’s not bad at all. You can figure out the tip I can give them, if they’ll listen that is, is to get rid of the clean vocals and have something recognizable in their sound. Because even when you take out the clean vocals it’s still nothing “special”. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.dawnfades.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dawnfades |
60/100 |
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| DECEMBER'S COLD WINTER – Ablaze all Shrines (CD) | Costa Rica | February 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Melodic Death metal | Running time: 48:11 (Tracks: 7) | ||
|
Costa Rica the land where one can see wild animals on the street and which has the greatest population of birds in whole North- America. I know that the land has a strong dedication to metal. The latest Iron Maiden concerts were completely sold out but I have never heard any bands from "The rich coast" So December's Cold Winter is my first acquaintance with metal coming from this country. It strikes me that the winters in Costa Rica are not cold at all. It's 28,00 C in winter so the choice for the band name is rather strange. Maybe they long for a real cold winter? The music presented on their second album "Ablaze all shrines" is typical "melodic death metal" with lots of twin guitarparts. Think of a mixture of the Gothenburg scene from the mid nineties and the American death metal scene this because of the use of a more brutal, deeper grunt and heavier sound during the songs. The band members know how to play their instrument and the production is acceptable although I would love to hear the bass guitar more prominent in the mix, but that's more of a personal matter. The songs are all long (most of them clock above the 6 minutes ) but that's not a real problem to me. The band tries to keep them interesting by putting variation in them. We can't say that this is something groundbreaking though. Therefore this sort of music is done too many times (and better) by other bands. But if you like this kind of metal maybe this is something you can at least check out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.decemberscoldwinter.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/decemberscoldwinter |
70/100 |
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| DEEPLY CONFUSED – Isolated (CD) | Canada | February 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 28:08 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| This is a very good French Canadian band from Canada. They play thrash / technical death/traditional metal with some keyboards for an ambient/eerie feeling. The two founders are Stephan Filion (guitar) and Gabrielle Morin (excellent drums). They where joined by Philip Chown (bass), Pat Deno (guitar ) and Yan 'Klimbo' T. Pat Deno is now replaced by Fred Bergeron. They know how to write very well structured and varied songs and obviously know how to play their instruments. Even the solo's fit perfectly and add something extra to the song. I would love to see them live sometime. This is really a band with a lot of potential. The only thing I don't like that much are the vocals. They would be much better off with someone who can sing/grunt a lot more varied then Klimbo. He doesn't add anything to the songs. I even prefer listen to the songs without vocals. Yan 'Klimbo' T is a good grunter but for an average death metal band and not for Deeply Confused. They deserve better. But I like them a lot and can't wait to hear some new material from them. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.deeplyconfused.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/deeplyconfusedofficial |
86/100 |
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| DEVAST – Art of Extermination (CD) | Sweden | February 2009 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 23:40 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Devast started in 2006 but are no strangers in the scene. All the members have played in many bands. This album contains 8 tracks of furious death metal. That keeps nothing to your imagination. All though it's not clear to me if Deepsend records released this album, but they did produce it. The guitar riffs are very technical and progressive and the drums are pounding through every song like a train that cannot be stopped. The singer has a filthy rotten grunt that is well listenable. The composing of the songs reminds me a lot of band like Hate Eternal etc. which brings me to the production and it kicks ass. All the songs have a great variety and don't bore me. This record is a must for fans of technical and brutal death metal! Check out their myspace and order it. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.deepsend.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/devast |
78/100 |
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| DRAGONSFIRE – Visions Of Fire (CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 45:00 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Founded in 2005 Dragonsfire came up immediately with a live set of more than 100 minutes, and played many gigs in that year. Dragonsfire went to the "Kohlekeller studios" to record their first 5 track ep, 'Burning For Metal', in a professional surrounding. This gave a first impression of the sound of Dragonsfire, and resulted in some good reviews in the media, like Metal Hammer (and of course Mario's Metal Mania; see Archive CD reviews 2007). The next three years, the band used to play shows, to get well known in a larger area. And now it was time for a next album, 'Visions Of Fire', by this band from Hesse, Germany. The music of Dragonsfire is very powerful and melodic, with a lot of energy. Only thing you have to like, or get used to, is Herbert's vocals, cause he is not the kind voice you would expect with this music. At first I didn't like his voice at all, but after listening a few times, I think I got used to it. actually it fits their music although I had expected a much more cleaner voice to this kind of metal. Strong songs, not really all that original, but well performed make this a reasonable good album. Especially in their up tempo songs I like em a lot, like opener 'Devil's Road', 'Wings of Death' and 'Dragonsfire Rockxxx'. Also the traditional metal anthem isn't missing in the form of 'Rebellion-The Kingdom Of Heaven', and even a kind of semi ballad isn't forgotten with 'The Other One'. A very diverse album, with a lot of variation in the music, you will not get bored by this one. Also the production sounds very good and powerful, that helps a lot, and the artwork is also nicely done, they definitely spend some time and work on this effort and it shows! Let's hope and see if they stand out among the great amount of new bands in this genre of metal. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.dragonsfire.de
Recordlabel: http://www.puresteel-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dragonsfiremetal |
78/100 |
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| ECLIPTICA - Impetus (CD) | Austria | February 2009 | Frans Neelen |
| Style: Melodic Power Metal | Running time: 46:27 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Ecliptica was formed in 2005 by guitarist Markus Winkler. In 2007 they released their debut EP called "The Awakening" which opened some doors for them. While promoting it resulted in winning the "Metal Battle Austria 2007" which made it possible to play Wacken. The music is basically influenced by bands as Maiden and mostly 80s Power Metal bands. With Ecliptica they launched their debut album at the end of 2008. In the appearance of Thomas Tieber and Elisabeth Fangmeyer they have a male and female voice in the band and that is a good idea. Nevertheless a good idea does not always mean it works out well. After the "Impetus" intro the cd starts with "My Paradise" and in this song the voice of Tomas does not impress me. In the following songs he definitely sounds better (especially in the faster ones) but he certainly has to work on it in the more melodic parts. Elisabeth sounds to flat al the way and she doesn't lift the band to a higher level. According to the band's site, she has left the band and they are looking for a new female singer. Well, I certainly hope they find the right person with more vocal talent for the job because their music is ok. It took a few times listening, but the songs have enough variation to grab your attention. Songs like "Old Man Memories"(intro by Maiden ?), "Jester in the Ballroom (heavier) and "Black Swan (epic) are good enough wanting you to hear them again. For a debut album the sound is okay, only the guitars should sound a bit more powerful. The rest of the band are fine musicians and they do their job well. The band has the potency to grow and if they find a good female vocalist, a fine future can become theirs. References are bands like Blind Guardian and Kamelot. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ecliptica.at
Recordlabel: http:// www.frontiers.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/eclipticaaustria |
77/100 |
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| EKPYROSIS – All You Can Eat (2CD) | Austria | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Power Metal / Thrash / Prog Metal | Running time: CD1: 41:31 (Tracks: 8) & CD2: 40:42 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| EKPYROSIS is a five piece band from Austria and was formed way back in 1988. So far the band has released the following albums: "Last And Only" (1995), "Grey" (1999), "After War" (2003) and "Irrational" (2005). And EKPYROSIS' fifth album, which is a double album, is titled "All You Can Eat". Although the band exists for a very long time, I must say I never had heard of them before. Anyway, the line-up of the band is Christian Gruber (vocals, guitar), Mario Scheiber (guitar, backing vocals), Thomas Prethaler (bass), Helmut Winter (drums) and Richard Edlinger (keyboards). Their former albums were released on labels like Mausoleum Records and a sub-label of Nuclear Blast. But now the band has released "All You Can Eat" all by themselves. After listening several times to this double album, I must say that it's musically very okay. The band exists of very good musicians and they have some very good and interesting songs on "All You Can Eat" like "Earth – Bound", "The Art Of Living", "Yellow Eyes", "See You Again" and "Destination". All those songs are on CD1, and that's the most interesting CD to me. The songs on the second album are in my opinion much less. Okay, the ballad "Dear Sophie" is nice done. The weakest link of the band are the vocals of Christian Gruber. He doesn't really convince me with his vocals. To me he sounds very monotone and boring. The band has a wide variety, because they have Thrash, Power Metal and even Prog Metal songs. Personally I think that just one album instead of a double album would have been a much better choice. Anyway, if you are interested in EKPYROSIS, then check them out. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ekpyrosis.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ekpyrosismusic |
73/100 |
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| ETRUSGRAVE – Masters of Fate (CD) | Italy | February 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 52:54 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Etrusgrave is the band that Italian guitarist and former Dark Quarterer Fulberto Serena formed some years after his departure from this epic progressive metal legend. The band had issued two demos in 2004 and 2007 and I was fortunate enough to listen to the first one. I was amazed because I realized that the old Dark Quarterer spirit was still present. Since then I waited for a full length release. I feel the greatest respect for Gianni Nepi (Dark Quarterer leader) and Fulberto Serena as musicians and I believe that the first two Dark Quarterer albums remain unsurpassed since Mr. Nepi has chosen a more progressive rock approach for his later releases. Mr. Serena revives the old material through Etrusgrave and delivers lyrical progressive epic metal that gives you the goosebumps. I travelled through time, back to the days I first listened to Dark Quarterer. The Etrusgrave music gave me the same feeling. Hammerhead's vocals are very close to Mr. Nepi's own, the whole atmosphere, the sound, the playing is Dark Quarterer to the bone. This music flows in Mr. Serena's blood and I am glad he finally delivered it to the world once more. This is definitely one of the best albums for the year 2008. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.mygraveyardproductions.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/etrusgraveband |
90/100 |
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| FISCHEL'S BEAST – Commencement (MCD) | USA | February 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 34:33 (Tracks: 5) | ||
|
Fischel's Beast? Never heard of them? Neither did I. Till bandleader Barry Fischel contacted me and told me that he was one of the founding members of the legendary, and much to underestimated, Sentinel Beast!! Yes, the band with the legendary "Depths of Death" album! This band split up years ago and did a reunion tour last year in a nearly complete new line-up; only singer Debby Gun seemed to be from the original line up left. Pity enough I wasn't able to see them at the KIT 10 festival because I became a father just 3 days before the festival so I had to let it go……. Barry decided after that (he was not in the reunion band also) to use the stuff the band recorded years ago for the follow up album after their great debut. "The groups first mission was to FINALLY record the material that would have been Sentinel Beast's second album, had the group stayed together. This Mission done, the group is now creating their OWN sound and are already working on new material". Musically this mini album sounds good and is indeed good follow up stuff after Sentinel Beast's first release. Hopefully Barry will find a decent recordlabel where he can release this stuff. This is straight in your face oldschool thrash!! Fuck off with all todays retro-thrashbands if we still have the original acts doing their jobs this great! Check them out if you're into US thrash! You wont regret it!! Thrash played in an oldschool way with a lot of Iron Maiden, Exodus & Hirax influences. On two songs ex-Savatage guitarplayer Chris Caffery is doing some solos! Good album Barry; congratulations! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/fischelsbeast |
85/100 |
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| GRAVE DIGGER – Ballads Of A Hangman (CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 41:36 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| GRAVE DIGGER is a German Power Metal band which exists since 1980. During their long career the band has had several line-up changes, but the current line-up on this thirteenth studio album is: Chris Bolthendahl (vocals), Manni Schmidt (guitar), Thilo Hermann (guitar), Jens Becker (bass), Hans Peter Katzenburg (keyboards) and Stefan Arnold (drums). I must admit that the EP "Pray" and this album are my first acquaintance with GRAVE DIGGER. I knew the band's name of course since the eighties. Perhaps I have listened to one of their first albums in the eighties. I can't remember that anymore, because that's a long time ago. But if I did, I never had the need to buy any of their albums. In my opinion there were always much better bands and albums. Anyway, now I have listened several times to "Ballads Of A Hangman" and I must admit it's not a bad album. The band exists of good musicians, the production of the album is okay and there are some real good power metal songs on it as well. But I don't like Bolthendahl's voice very much. Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad singer, I just don't like it that much. Notable is power ballad "Lonely The Innocence Dies", which is a duet with Veronica Freeman of BENEDICTUM. Nice song, but not one of the best songs if you ask me. In my opinion the best songs are: "Ballad Of A Hangman", "Sorrow Of The Dead", "Grave Of The Addicted", "Into The War" and "Stormrider". All with all a nice Power Metal album, though I wouldn't buy it myself. If you're a fan of GRAVE DIGGER, I'm sure you want to have this new album in your collection too. So, check it out yourself. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.grave-digger-clan.com
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/gravediggerclan |
74/100 |
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| GRAVE DIGGER – Pray (CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 16:27 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| Before the new album of German Power Metal band GRAVE DIGGER would be released, they've released this 4-track EP "Pray". Only the song "Pray" will be on the new album "Ballads Of A Hangman" (see also reviews). The version of "Pray" on this EP is an extended version. The other three songs are non-album tracks, which are "Overkill" (yes….a cover of the all time MOTÖRHEAD classic), "My Blood Will Live Forever" and "When The Sun Goes Down". To me, the best song on this EP is by far the killer version of "Overkill". Very well done. I'm not a big fan of Chris Boltendahl as a singer, but I like his vocals on "Overkill". All other songs are in my opinion just nice metal songs. So, I would only recommend this EP to real GRAVE DIGGER fans. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.grave-digger-clan.com
Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/gravediggerclan |
70/100 |
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| GRIMLORD – Blood Runneth Over (CD) | Poland | February 2009 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 44:00 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| From Wroclaw, Poland comes this fairly new band, which already released five demo's, and now got their debut album out. The band was formed by Barth La Picard, who is their rhythm and solo guitarist, vocalist and plays even some keyboards and only survivor of the original line-up. Barth is responsible for the lyrics and main composer of Grimlord, with Lukass on drums and Orson on bass guitar. Besides being the main man in Grimlord, Barth is also the weakest link in the form of his vocal capabilities in this band. His accent sounds terrible when singing in English language, and he certainly isn't the best singer at all. Aside from that the band deliver's some great, interesting, nice music on their self produced debut album. The album starts off with an instrumental piece called 'March of Martyrs', which sounds really eighties and is done really well, some Maiden influences can't be mistaken. The title track is up next, great compositions, with superb playing from this band, nice guitar work especially. Songs like 'Crawler'(with some funny film dialogues in there), 'Grey Eminence' or 'Resting Place' all stand out, the quality of the music is great, although with a better singer they would score much higher. Also the production could be better, but for a self produced album it sounds fine, it really shows the skills and capacity of this band. They got it in them to get far, but not with Barth singing, he doesn't do their music justice, cause there is really not a bad song on the album. So with a new singer on their next album, and a proper production, they will definitely score much higher! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.grimlord.eu
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/grimlordbreslau |
71/100 |
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| GUNSLINGER – Earthquake in E Minor (CD) | United Kingdom | February 2009 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 25:27 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| All right; it was Thursday (22-01-09) evening and I was going to the pub and there was playing a band called Gunslinger. The first thing I thought was o well another unknown shit band. But then I heard that the bass player/singer (Alan Davey) played in Hawkwind. After seeing the show I bought their record and I must say it rocks. This record contains 11 tracks of pure metal in the style of Motorhead. The guitar sounds the same as Motorhead. And the drums are also pounding through every song. The singer has the same voice as Lemmy. All the songs are very groovy and keep my head shaking. The production of this album is good. If somebody would have given me this record and say that it's the latest Motorhead back in their old years…I would believe it! They don't have a label but you can check out their myspace to listen or order. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.gunslinger.org.uk
MySpace: www.myspace.com/alandaveygunslinger |
80/100 |
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| HELLISH WAR – Heroes of Tomorrow (CD) | Brazil | February 2009 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 64:28 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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True metallers Hellish War have been around since the mid 90s. They come from Brazil, a country that greatly supports traditional and true metal and released a debut album called "Defender of Metal" in 2001. 7 years later the band presents its second step. "Heroes of Tomorrow" is a highly enjoyable album of European oriented classic heavy and power metal. I could easily characterise them as the Brazilian Marauder since they have common sound with these Greek metal heroes. Accept, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Manowar is the blend that forged the Hellish War sound but the guys are no copies. Their music is authentic, delivered with passion and energy. This is a great effort and in my opinion we owe Hellish War our support. They have earned it with the honest and heartfelt music they deliver. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.mck.com.br
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/warhellishwar |
80/100 |
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| HEMORAGY – Jesus King of Wine (CD) | France | February 2009 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 35:21 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| JESUS CHRIST……this band sucks. This trio from France are trying to make heavy metal but I must say that this really sucks. A terrible vocal and a very bad production of the record, all right, there is one good thing about this album and that is that the musicians are trying there best…but even then it sounds horrible! I can understand why they don't have a record label. If you're looking for the worst album of the year you should check this out! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.hemoragy.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hemoragy |
30/100 |
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| HIGH TENSION – The High Tension Legacy (2CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Power Metal / Glam Rock | Running time: CD1: 78:29 (Tracks: 19) & CD2: 62:30 (Tracks: 16) | ||
| Well the title of this double CD speaks for itself. On "The High Tension Legacy" you will find the first three studio albums the band HIGH TENSION had released in the mid 80's. Those albums are titled "Warrior" (1985), "Under Tension" (1986) and "Masters Of Madness" (1987). "Under Tension" and "Masters Of Madness" are together on the first CD and their debut album "Warrior" is, together with six unreleased bonus tracks, on the second CD. Well, there's no official website or MySpace page of HIGH TENSION on the internet. Luckily there's some info about the band in the booklet. HIGH TENSION is a German metal band who was formed in 1981 by the brothers Weisshaar. The line-up of the band on the debut album was Armin Weisshaar (vocals, guitar), Tommy Dierstein (guitar, backing vocals), Joe Weisshaar (bass, backing vocals) and Dirk Beermann (drums). But after the debut album Beermann left and Marco Roth became the new drummer of HIGH TENSION. The band recorded their fourth album, simply titled "4" in 1992 and after that album the band stopped. But the Weisshaar brothers united forces with drummer Harald Rapp and guitarist Jens Harn with whom they recorded a new album which was meant to be released in 2004. But so far it hasn't been released yet. Anyway, the material on this "The High Tension Legacy" albums sounds nice, but VERY DATED of course. Especially when you don't know the band from the 80's period like myself. I don't like all the songs, but there are some nice songs on it. Musically HIGH TENSION plays a mix of Heavy Power Metal and Glam Rock. The riff of the song "Hot Legs" sounds like MÖTLEY CRÜE's "Too Young To Fall In Love". However it's all not sounding very original, the songs I like are "Wind Me Up", "Rock 'N' Roll Rebel", "Work Hard, Die Young", "Lady", "Kings And Queens", "Crazy World", "Stiletto Heels", "Sweet Fourteen", "In Time" and "Touch Of Steel". All with all a nice double album to listen to once in a while. If you're into 80's Metal/Glam then check this band out. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.blower-records.com
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73/100 |
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| INQUESTED – The Red Chambers (CD) | Norway | February 2009 | Sammy De Maere |
| Style: Progressive Thrash Metal | Running time: 45:00 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| The debut album of Norwegian outfit Inquested is a very good album for fans of a more light version of thrash metal. It's not an all out thrash assault but a more complex mix of all sorts of influences. There are of course passages on this album that are thrash metal, to me they sound in the vein of old Testament with just great riffs who make me bang my head wether I wan't to or not. On the other hand we can here some more melodic progressive sounds and the solo's on this album sound as if they are taken from a powermetal album. The trained listener will also discover the groove of Pantera in there. Overall it is quite easy to see that we are dealing with talented musicians who all seem to have other influences and who managed to mix all of this into a very nice album. If you're more in to all out thrash metal don't go after this, if you like some more complex things this will very well be your thing, I know I liked it a lot. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.inquested.com
Recordlabel: http://www.mondongocanibale.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/inquested |
78/100 |
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| KAJAJA FORCE-TEK – Energy Metal (CDemo) | USA | February 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Thrash / Black Metal | Running time: 15:13 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| This sounds like some sort of parody on the black metal scene made by thrash metal fanatics who smoked too much pot (or are there more people that know what or who a Kajaja is without surfing on the internet?). Imagine Municipal Waste playing poor black metal. I mean the guitars don't level with the drums during the blastbeats, the vocals are weak and the songtitles like: "Good guys wear black" and "Dead to Me" also aren't promising or funny. What's the point releasing this kind of music. I mean, Black metal fans will not buy this stuff because it has absolutely no spirit or atmosphere in it and trash metal fans won't like it either because of the bad mixture of the two styles. Please guys stick to one style and let the combination of black and thrash over to masters like Absu and Toxic Holocaust. | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kajaja
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48/100 |
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| KREATOR – Hordes of Chaos (CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 38:30 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Kreator was, and still is, one of my alltime favourite thrashbands! The bands second album " Pleasure to Kill" is still one of the best thrash albums ever made!! The band delivered several great albums in the past but after a while they made a wrong move in their music probably due to the throat problems singer Mille was having for several years. Gladly the band (and especially Mille) found their way back to the top and delivered some fine albums the last few years. Before I listened to this album I already heard a lot of positive things about it. Well, they are true! This album is again a classic one full of speedy thrashsongs with the typical voice of Mille Petrozza. Also founding member Ventor (Jurgen Reil; drums) is doing a great job! This album has a pure sound which was created by not using to much high tech stuff in the studio. Personally I like this sound and it gives the album a special vibe! Only little complain I have about this release is the short running time of 38 minutes which is to short if you ask me. Furthermore this album has everything a good thrash album needs and im glad Kreator is really back this time!! Super geiles album!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.kreator-terrorzone.de
Recordlabel: http://www.spv.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/officialkreator |
88/100 |
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| MASHA – Demo 2008 (CDemo) | Japan | February 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Instrumental Neo-Classical Metal | Running time: 11:16 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| Masha is a 23 years old songwriter/guitarist from Japan. He's influenced by melodic metal, classical music, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Zeno Roth, Uli Jon Roth, J-pop and other kind of music. On this solo demo of him are 3 instrumental songs. Masha played all the instruments himself. The 2 first songs, "Forever More" and "What A Game!" are 2 fast instrumental neo-classical metal compositions, influenced by guitar heroes like Malmsteen, Impellitteri, Kelly Simonz (also a guitarist from Japan), and the Roth brothers. The third song "Aria" (Fairy's Song) is a variation of a theme by J.S. Bach, played in the Uli Jon Roth style. All 3 songs let hear that Masha is a very talented songwriter/musician! His guitar playing is phenomenal, and I can't see why he will not be famous in the near future! | |||
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MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/masha1987x |
92/100 |
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| MASQUERAGE – Moonlight Time (CD) | Finland | February 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic Hardrock / Metal | Running time: 35:47 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| This Finnish heavy/hardrock band exist since 2000. Since then, they have released one promo cd ("After The End" in 2005), their debut album "Work-Holic-Fool" in 2006, a dvd ("Live-Holic-Fool") in 2007, and now their second album "Moonlight Time". Their singer Kimmo used to sing in Celesty, a powermetal band from Finland, and also the other members of Masquerage have years of experiment with all kinds of music projects. What we get here on their second self-financed album, is a mix of 80's hardrock and Finnish melodic (power) metal. There's a lot of variety in tempo, of which I personally prefer the faster Edguy-ish songs like "Doctors Order" and "Better Liar". I also like the sing-along choruses, the high pitched Kiske-ish vocals and the guitar and keyboard parts/solo's. Certainly not bad for an independent release, this kind of mix of bands like Edguy and Axxis. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.masquerage.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/masquerage |
80/100 |
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| MORTIFILIA – Embrace (CD) | Czech Republic | February 2009 | Corinne van den Brand |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 34:51 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This is a band from the Czech Republic and they play melodic death metal with swedish influences. That actually says it all I'm afraid. But first some info about the band because they are not well-known. Although their info sheet says that they are at the top of the european death metal scene. Okay??? Whatever. They started out in 1999 and released their first demo (In your Head) a few weeks later. The second demo (Care of Gomorrah) was released a year later and in 2002 they released their third demo (Christhunt). They played up to 150 times in the Czech republic and other countries and where signed with the spanish Mondongo Canibale Records. Their first album "Redemption" was released in 2005.This 'new' album 'Embrace' is recorded in 2007 so it's almost 2 years old. They compare themselves with bands like Dismember, Unleashed and At The Gates and it's true. But I prefer to listen to those bands then to Mortifilia. Not because they suck but because the original bands are better. It isn't a bad cd but it doesn't add anything to the death metal scene. I like the musicianship from these guys and the vocals are very good and I like the melodic parts and the more thrashy parts in their songs but like I said, it's not special enough to even want to listen to it again. And their cd cover is hidious. My god, I seldom saw anything this ugly. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mortifilia.cz
Recordlabel: http://www.mondongocanibale.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mortifiliacz |
68/100 |
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| NATHANIA – The Weight Of Obligation (CD) | Thailand | February 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic Progressive Power Metal | Running time: 45:33 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Nathania from Thailand was formed by guitarist and mastermind Tony Yaspan. In 2003 they released their first EP, one year later followed by their self financed album "Liberty Bell Rang". With a new line-up and some new influences they recorded their 2007 promo cd, on which were 4 fast melodic progressive metal songs. Recently they released their second album, "The Weight Of Obligation". On this album are especially fast power/thrash metal songs, but now and then there are also a few calmer parts, like the ballad "Light My Way". Besides that, several songs also got some progressive metal elements. Musically they remind me of Adagio, Symphony X, Angra and Nocturnal Rites. All the songs have great guitar solo's from Tony Yaspan and Sc. Sang, and their new Swedish vocalist Daniel Sandberg sings like a mix of Michael Vescara, James Hetfield and Johnny Lindqvist (Nocturnal Rites). Well done Tony and co! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.nathania-music.com
Recordlabel: http://www.metalfarmrecords.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/vrnathania |
80/100 |
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| PITIFUL REIGN – Visual Violence (CD) | United Kingdom | February 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 37:54 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| With the thrash revival going on at the moment Ed Repka is again a busy man. The man made some of his best drawings in the eighties that decorate all the classic, mostly thrash albums in that period. Now that thrash is somewhat of "back" most of the bands contacted Ed again to draw their album cover. And again the covers look great and represent the longing for the eighties. Because that's what I think this revival is all about: "A longing for the good old times" So much bands but absolutely no one that really does something new besides the "old" bands like Testament, Death Angel and Exodus who all showed progress on their latest albums. But for most of the newer bands: It has all been done numerous times in the past, only thing different is that the production is better most of the times. The same counts for Pitiful Reign a young band from the United Kingdom that play thrash in the style of Testament (Practice what you Preach era). The album is produced by my favourite bass player: Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, ex Testament etc.). With this album the man shows his skills as a producer and will be ask for more production jobs in the near future. He delivers some great work here. So, good produced thrash metal with a typical urgency to the eighties. The beginning of "Malevolent Butcher" sounds just as the beginning of "The thing that should not be" from that other band from the Bay Area. And so on there are numerous ruminated riffs and vocal parts that can be heard throughout the album. They all know how to play their instruments, the riffs and solo's are o.k., so there is enough to enjoy on this album. Conservative as hell and I hope the next album will show some progression to a sound that doesn't copy old bands but has an own face. For now Pitiful Reign is here to bring their beer–fueled thrash mayhem to the rest of the world. Didn't I hear that somewhere before? | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.pitifulreign.co.uk
Recordlabel: http://www.punishment18records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pitifulreign |
75/100 |
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| PLANET STORM – Alone (MCD) | Sweden | February 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic Progressive Metal | Running time: 18:20 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| Planet Storm is the project of Swedish guitarists Ronny Blylod (ex-DestyNation) and Johannes Forsberg (ex-Amethyst). Together they started to write some material which resulted in this ep. They recruted other musicians to play on this ep, most famous of these is Anders Zackrisson (ex-Nocturnal Rites vocalist). Their ep "Alone" starts with a very interesting melodic progressive metal song "Beyond The Horizon", with great guitar/keyboard solo's and excellent vocals of Anders. The second song and title track "Alone" is a well played ballad, and the third song "Universe" is a solid instrumental progressive rock song, with nice guitar/keyboard interactivity. There's also an acoustic version of "Alone". Planet Storm is certainly a very talented band, with excellent musicians and a magnificent vocalist! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.planetstorm.se
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/planetstorm |
88/100 |
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| POINT BLANK – Gatling Gun Manifest (MCD) | Finland | February 2009 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 12:50 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| Point Blank was founded in 2005. This is their first demo and I must say it kicks ass. It's a self financed record of three songs. Normally I wouldn't be to enthusiastic about three songs but this band reminds me a lot of nineties death metal. Straight in your face death metal with deep grunts and heavy guitar riffs combined with a solo to give it the extra feeling. The drums are groovy and straight in your face. The sound reminds me a bit of Benediction (old). The production is also very nineties….good but not like we hear it these days anymore. If you like old school death metal then you should check their website and order it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.pointblank-band.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pointblankmusic |
70/100 |
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| RENEGADE – Straight To The Top (CD) | Italy | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Metal | Running time: 40:58 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| RENEGADE is, just like ANGUISH FORCE and DOGS 'N BONES, an Italian metal band. The band was formed in the summer of 2005 and exists of Stefano Senesi (vocals), Roberto Mannini (guitar), Damiano Ammannati (bass) and Andrea Ammannati (drums). If I'm right, "Straight To The Top" is the second album of the band. In 2006 these guys released their album "Too Hard To Die". Anyway, on this second album "Straight To The Top" you will find nine songs. And to tell the truth, most of the songs are very simple and not notable. To me, Senesi is one of those thousand moderate metal singers in the world. Okay, the band exists of good musicians and the production of the album is also okay. But I think there's nobody waiting for a band like RENEGADE outside Italy. Well, after several times listening to "Straight To The Top", my conclusion is that I only like the fast title track "Straight To The Top" (the best song), "Nasty Boy Blues" and "Kid The Hurricane". Although the title of the album is called "Straight To The Top", they won't reach the top with this album….even not in Italy. Sorry guys, but to me RENEGADE is not a very spectacular band. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.mygraveyardproductions.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/renegadefansclub |
63/100 |
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| ROBERT BERRY – The Dividing Line (CD) | USA | February 2009 | Ad van Osch |
| Style: Melodic Rock | Running time: 50:02 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| The first line on the biography of ROBERT BERRY says "Robert Berry is one of the most well known musical talents of the San Francisco area". Well, personally I never had heard of ROBERT BERRY before. But according to his biography Berry has a very long music career. He started in the mid 70's with a super group called HUSH (three albums released), sung and played bass & guitar in the progressive rock band 3 (with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer) with whom they released just one album "To The Power Of Three" (1988). So far BERRY has released the following solo albums "Pilgrimage To A Point" (1993), "In These Eyes" (1994) and "Takin' It Back" (1995). So, after thirteen years BERRY is back with his fourth solo album titled "The Deviding Line". ROBERT BERRY also sings in the band ALLIANCE (with members of BOSTON, NIGHT RANGER and SAMMY HAGAR). Anyway, after several times listening to this album, I must admit that ROBERT BERRY really is a great songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. On this album, which is produced by Berry himself, he's playing all the instruments, except on the song "A Life Worth Livin'" where he got help from David Lauser (drums) and Gary Pihl (guitar). Besides being a multi-instrumentalist Berry is also a fantastic singer. All eleven tracks are very strong and catchy compositions and a pleasure to listen to. Some of my favourite tracks are "The Dividing Line", "Listen To The People", the beautiful "Faith", "This Life", "Young Hearts" and "Life Is On fire". "The Dividing Line" is a very good melodic rock album, which I really can recommend if you're into high quality AOR music. Oh yeah, as a bonus there's also a multimedia video of the song "Wait" on this album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.robertberry.com
Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/therobertberry |
84/100 |
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| ROBIN BECK – Trouble Or Nothing (20 year anniversary album) (CD) | USA | February 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Poprock | Running time: 67:34 (Tracks: 15) | ||
|
"First Time" is a song we all now, that was sung by the lovely Robin Beck for a Coca Cola advertising campaign. It made Robin famous overnight, and what followed was a music career that kind of stopped in the mid nineties, due to the birth of daughter Olivia. Robin became a fulltime mom, while husband James Christian had put House Of Lords to sleep and had set up a music company in California. Apparently, Universal Music, who hold the rights to the original album, didn't feel like re-releasing it and Robin decided it took too long and/or costed too much money so she'd better re-record the whole album, adding a few extra tracks to it and release it on her own brand new label, Her Majesty's Music Room. For starters: a job very well done ! The album has a magnificent sound, and Robin's voice sounds like she almost hasn't aged over the years. Comparing voices would lead you to the likes of Ann Wilson and Lana Lane. Other than that, she does have a real sound of her own, and also lots of power that is gently laid into all tracks that were on the original release, this time recorded using hubby's House Of Lords musicians. The four new tracks kind of fit in automatically as there are no drastic changes. Tommy Denander co-wrote the new songs and handled the guitarparts which again has been done brilliantly. For all lovers of AOR, poprock and bands like Heart should have a listen! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.robinbeckrocks.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/robinbeck |
90/100 |
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| SARA LEE – Damnation To Salvation (CD) | Finland | February 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 46:18 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| This is the second album of Finnish outfit Sara Lee (no link with the coffee guys) since they began in 2000. The cd is said to be gothic metal, but after hearing this cd, I would leave out the gothic part. It is dark, ambient metal, made by guys that wear make up and thus try to look gothic. The tracks have quite a dark atmosphere, and it is certainly not an album that will get you in a happy mood. I even hear some proggy influences like Symphony X in their music! Vocalist Joonas does not really have the kind of voice that keeps your ears near the speakers; in fact, halfway the cd he starts to sound boring. The production of the album is the biggest thumbs up of this album. The mix is very balanced, and so is the production. If only a producer could get more out of these guys…I have the impression that they are holding back and leads to the assumption that in a live setting, I would even enjoy their performance (if I leave out the darkest pieces and the useless grunts on the album). | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.saraleeweb.com
Recordlabel: http://www.firebox.fi MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/saralee |
60/100 |
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| SAXON – Into the Labyrinth (CD) | United Kingdom | February 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 50:15 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Another release from one of the most legendary NWOBHM bands ever! Nearly 2 years after their previous release " The Inner Sanctum" Saxon strikes back with another 'more than nice' album! Opener "Battalions of Steel" is a pure oldschool classic Saxon song and reminds me a lot to the earlier years of the band. "Live to Rock" is the first single of the new album and a real sing-a-long song (which I don't like mostly) but this time its a reasonable one. Singer Biff Byford's voice is getting better and better every year so I'm curious what his voice will bring in the future! "Demon Sweeney Todd" is a very fast full speed ahead song with great guitar parts and is one of my personal favourites of this new album. "Valley of the Kings" is also a fast song with some slower parts but with some great shredding parts! "Slow Lane Blues" is as the title says a slow song with a lot of blues elements. "Crime Passion", "Voice", "Come Rock of Ages" & "Protect Yourselves" are all typical mid tempo Saxon songs as we are used from the band for years. "Hellcat" is 200% pure Rock 'n Roll! Great song! Last song "Coming Home" do remind me to Motorhead's "Whorehouse Blues"; not a good BUT a funny song; nothing more nothing less. Overall this albums sounds great but I must admit that the first (read faster) songs made me long for more. Pity there are not more faster tracks in the second part of the album. Nevertheless again a nice album which every Saxon fan should have in his collection! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.saxon747.com
Recordlabel: http://www.spv.de MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/saxon747band |
80/100 |
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| SPLIT HEAVEN – Psycho Samurai (CD) | Mexico | February 2009 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power / Speed Metal | Running time: 39:41 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Split Heaven was formed in 2003 by Pedro Zelbohr (Guitar) & Tomas Roitman (Drums). After recording 2 demos ("Lightstorm" & "R.I.P.") and a few line-up changes they signed to Asenath Records where they released their debut album "Split Heaven". After that they signed to Blower Records and this is their first release on this great underground label. The band makes melodic powermetal with a very reasonable singer. When you compare them with their labelmates from Voltax & Strikemaster than it suits me that Split Heaven is not one of the many typical retro thrashbands of which dozens appear these days. No, the band is much more melodic and has some very good musicians on board! The band do of course remind me to the mighty 80's when this kind of bands where playing everywhere. Gladly still a lot of newer (younger) bands dare to bring out this kind of metal. Bands to compare Split Heaven with are; Icarus Witch, Riot, Metal Church. Gladly the band found their own style and uses besides the regular powermetal also some progressive elements in their songs! This is a damn good album which surprised me positive!! Hope to see the band someday live! Check them out if you're into 80's speed & powermetal | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.splitheaven.net
Recordlabel: http://www.blower-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/splitheaven |
92/100 |
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| STEAL YOUR CROWN - Steal your Crown (CD) | Germany | February 2009 | Kay Vloeberghs |
| Style: Hardcore | Running time: 20:54 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Steal Your Crown sounds like any other hardcore band; trying to make it to the top; talking about the old school and having lots of movie quotes in their songs. Surprise surprise, yes it’s one of those bands! Don’t get me wrong, I love hardcore music. But there are a lot of shit bands out there saying they’re the best things out there. Now I’m not talking about Steal Your Crown, the band has its charm. Especially the vocals who remind me very much of Roger Miret from Agnostic Front. But as I said, it’s just another band full of cliché aspects in their songs without having anything special to show. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.demonsrunamok.de
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/steelyourcrown |
65/100 |
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| STRIKE MASTER – Inflexible Steel (MCD) | Mexico | February 2009 | Dennis van Dommelen |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 34:45 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Nice little EP from this Mexican band which production wise remembers me of 'Kill 'em All' from Metallica. This band wants nothing more then to play old school thrash/speed metal and besides that kill some posers (always a cool thing to do). Strike master released a full length in 2006 and this year another full length will see the light of day. Until then this EP (with the most ugly artwork I have ever seen) fills the gap nicely. Besides the four new songs -which on the first one Kenny Powell from Omen does a guest solo- you get 3 live tracks that sound o.k. but the band would do good to get an extra guitarplayer. So almost 35 minutes of old school thrash/speed metal mania that doesn't sound original anywhere but is so fucking delicious and corny (in a good way!) that for one time this is not a problem for me. Now bang that head that doesn't bang! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.strikemaster-attack.com
Recordlabel: http://www.blower-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/strikemaster666 |
78/100 |
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| THE KRIS NORRIS PROJECT – Icons Of The Illogical (CD) | USA | February 2009 | Mr. Globetrotter |
| Style: Metal | Running time: 55:09 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| Kris Norris was the man from Darkest Hour, in which he was a decent guitarplayer. The album that he has just released as a project that bears his name is a strongly guitar orientated release that starts off with four instrumentals. As a guitarist fan, normally something to look out for. But along the way of listening to this cd, I got more and more disappointed. Category? More noise than music. It takes until track number 5 ("Ghostly Shell Removal") to finally get some vocals, because the first 4 tracks left me with the idea "some nice licks but where is this all leading to". Then vocalist Randy Blyth (Lamb Of God) opens his mouth. And that is all he does, actually. Man…this is what you call singing?? It immediately erases the memory of the few nice licks and almost ruins the pleasure of listening. But to my surprise, "Wound Of Amfortas" comes along. To me, by far the best song on the album, even if it lasts less than a minute. This song has so much structure, melody and originality that no other song even comes close to this one, qualitywise. If I would have to compare it with a similar style, I'd say Tony MacAlpine. Great song. Unfortunately, this quality does not repeat itself on this album, so my message is: listen before you buy. If you are a Darkest Hour fan, you'd probably disagree with me in the first place so these fans will probably enjoy the album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.krisnorris.com
Recordlabel: http://www.magnacarta.net MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/krisdh |
50/100 |
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| THEOCRAZY – Mirror Of Souls (CD) | USA | February 2009 | Ronny Elst |
| Style: Melodic / Progressive / Power Metal | Running time: 68:02 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Theocrazy began life as a one-man band, as the project of vocalist/guitarist Matt Smith, who played and sang everything on the self-titled debut album. "Theocrazy" was released at the end of 2003 on the small MetalAges Records label. It got fantastic reviews (see Archive CD reviews 2004) and worldwide acclaim within the metal community. Since then, drummer Shawn Benson and guitarist Jon Hinds joined the ranks, and the band started playing shows locally and working on new material. And now, after years of hard work, Theocrazy is proud to release their second album "Mirror Of Souls" on Ulterium Records. The new material features the same high quality songwriting that made the debut album so memorable. Theocrazy still plays a mix of melodic, "happy" power metal and progressive metal elements. Massive choirs, bombastic orchestral passages, huge choruses, epic arrangements, great vocals and fantastic keyboard/guitar leads are all characteristic for Theocrazy's music. For fans of Kamelot, DragonForce, Edguy and Elegy. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.theocracymusic.com
Recordlabel: http://www.ulterium-records.com MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/theocracyband |
86/100 |
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| UNITOPIA – The Garden (2CD) | Australia |