| ABIGAIL'S MERCY – Salvation (CD) | England | July 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 51:51 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Abigail's Mercy was formed a couple of years ago. Named after the story 'The crucible' by Arthur Miller, they became a female-fronted gothic metal band. In 2004 the band released an EP which was a success. One thing led to another and not much later the band started to record their debut album, which became the album that is reviewed right here. Salvation. They were then signed up to Casket Records. The album opens very strong with the straight forward gothic rocker 'to hell with angels,' and continues to be a very diverse gothic album. Not just pure traditional gothic metal is to be found here. Take for example the song 'Meaningless' This song has some serious metal riffs that makes me think of Iron Maiden's '2 minutes to midnight.' This is a compliment of course . In another review I've done, I wrote that most gothic acts are far from original, and it is hard to stand out of the rest. That was the case for that particular CD, but it goes also for Abigail's Mercy. In fact, I think that Salvation is an album that is above average. The female vocals are switching with the male vocals, who aren't grunting. The male vocals are also clean, and that is rare these days. The music is also different. The don't confine to a certain style. They mix it all together and the result is very sufficient. Listening to the album, bands like Lacuna coil, an a little less Nightwish comes to mind. For a debut album they did a great job. And if they can hold this level for the next records, the band will have a auspicious future. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.abigailsmercy.co.uk
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk |
82/100 |
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| ABSOLUTE STEEL - Womanizer (CD) | Norway | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Party Metal/ Hardrock | Running time: 40:57 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Absolute Steel was formed by Andy Boss (lead guitar), Dave Bomb (lead guitar) and K2 (vocals) in 1999.The metal of the 80`s has always been a perfect formula for a good party, according the band and Absolute Steel wanted to maintain this tradition. Joined by various drummers and bass players, AS released a demo-album, and a single on their own in 1999-2000. They were quickly picked up and signed by the Norwegian label Edgerunner Records, and released their debut "The Fair Bitch Project" in 2002. On the tour they were joined by bassman Dr. Schmutz and drummer Rick Hagan, who soon became permanent members of the band. This is the bands second album and their first on Black Lotus Records. The band calls their music "partymetal" and I have to admit; if you are at a party and as drunken as hell; you'll probably like their music..........If you're sober and know a bit about music, you'll agree with me that this is crap!! This way you can call any jocular hardrock/metal band a party band! Sorry guys but if I want to party I will rather invite a band as Tankard or Gun Barrel. The guitarparts on this album are nice but the rest of the music is laughable. Maybe next time better??? | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.absolutesteel.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ |
45/100 |
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| ADOR DORATH - Symbols (CD) | Czech Republic | August 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Sympho Black/ Doom Metal | Running time: 43:08 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Ador Dorath is a band from the Czech Republic. They began to play Moonspell covers in 1998, and now they have established themselves as a full grown band with two full length releases. The first one came out in 2004, and was called "Adon Nin Edeleth Ador Dorath". Now they are back with there second one that is reviewed right here. "Symbols." When I started listening to this album, I was kind of disappointed by the music. It was all chaotic, and yet far from exciting. Just standard metal with a lot of breaks. I didn't expect that, according to the great promo material that they have send me. But as I listened further, the songs became more and more interesting. Unlike other bands, Ador Dorath has saved the best songs for last. What a complete turnover! The style is described as Sympho black doom-metal, but they prefer to label themselves as obscure psychotic mysteries considering lyrics and mood. And you know what? I totally agree. The good songs make up big time for the first ones. Overwhelming sounds, great riffs and a mysterious atmosphere. The best way to listen to this album is with a headphone. Then you can here the sounds of nature that fill up the empty spaces. Do yourself a favour and step into the world of Ador Dorath. Not just for metalheads, but for all people who see music as a form of art… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.adordorath.com
Recordlabel: http://www.shindy.cz/ |
88/100 |
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| AFTER ALL - This Violent Decline (CD) | Belgium | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Speed / Thrash Metal | Running time: 38:41 (Tracks: 11 + 1 videoclip) | ||
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One and a half years after the release of "The Vermin Breed" (see Archive CD/DVD reviews), Belgian thrashers After All are back with "This Violent Decline". The new album was recorded by Dee J. at Hype Studio in Mechelen, Belgium. For the mix After All headed up to Gothenburg, Sweden to work with Fredrik Nordström (In Flames, Arch Enemy, Soilwork) at Studio Fredman. Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Hatesphere) gave the album its final polish. On the new album, After All have continued with their typical style: heavy thrash riffs combined with catchy melodies and choruses, merged together in powerful and compact songs. I was already enthusiastic about their latest release "The Vermin Breed" but the only thing that disturbed me a lot was the moderate singing of singer Piet Focroul. Well on this album it sounds like he has read my (and possible a lot of other) review(s)! The vocals are sounding much better & more professional than ever before and they even remind me (in combination with the music) to US-metal bands like (old) Testament & Exodus. This album is sounding great & in combination with the good songs and musicianship its probably one of the best European releases this year!! Compliments guys! Check this album out! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.afterall.be/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ |
90/100 |
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| AHAB - The Call of the Wretched Sea (CD) | Germany | October 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Doom Metal | Running time: 1:07:38 (Tracks: 7) | ||
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Ahab is a rather new band, founded by members of groups such as Midnattsol and Endzeit. This is its debut album right after the release of a demo called "The Oath". Although the German metal scene is not so famous for its doom bands, Ahab look determined to succeed in their country and furthermore seek fame beyond its borders. The originality of this concept album comes from the story that it's about. I personally don't remember another album inspired by Herman Melville's book "Moby Dick". The name of the band (taken from the Captain Ahab character) and the cover of the record (the legendary Moby Dick whale smashing boats full of whalers) work as an introduction for the story that unfolds through the seven songs of the album. The band's music can be categorized as funeral death doom. Dark, crawling rhythms, haunting death growls and bizarre chants set the scene of this nightmare. I have to say that the atmosphere is quite fitting to the whole story and although I am not the one you would call an expert on death metal, I found some very interesting parts in this recording. Their extra slow music reminded me of early Cathedral (with a tiny bit of Amorphis, especially the vocals) and will definitely appeal to the fans of the genre but I have to admit that I eventually got tired of the ever going ultra low tempo | |||
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Visit their website: http://ahab-doom.de/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com/ |
68/100 |
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| A NEW DAWN - Promo 2006 (CDemo) | The Netherlands | October 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 16:30 (Tracks: 3) | ||
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A New Dawn was founded in 1997 as a project of guitarist Elbert de Hoog. The first release is a demo with three songs of Elbert's previous band Featuring Frantic and also two cover songs. After this release, Elbert started a new band called Mental Captivity, which forced A New Dawn to take it slow for a while. Meanwhile, Elbert was still writing music that wasn't in the style of his band. In 2003 the teamed up with singer Sanne Kluiters to record a new E.P. called 'the wisdom of hindsight.' This E.P. contained also original songs as well as covers. To promote this record, a new band was formed. The band consists of Sanne Kluiters (lead vocals), Monica Janssens (bass and vocals/grunts), Willem Cremer (guitar), Gijsbert Spek (drums), Josta Kluiters (vocals) and Elbert de Hoog (Guitar). A New Dawn is not a project anymore. It is now a full grown band with a brand new release. 'Promo 2006' With this record, A New Dawn gives us two new songs and a re-release of live-favourite 'Victimless Tragedy.' If you listen to the song, you know why. In fact, all the songs on this record have great live potential. Special mentioning goes out to the opening track 'Ascension.' I can easily say that this song is one of the most bombastic and interesting songs in the genre that I've heard until now. This composition has a great building from beginning to end. The riffs are heavy and the music reminds me of Iron Maiden at a certain point. A New Dawn has the gift to combine classic (heavy) metal riffs with a theatrical atmosphere. You can compare it to After Forever, but then a bit more metal orientated and with more variety and melody. I truly believe that when they record a full length album with a clear production, they can have a promising future. Especially when they continue to write songs like the ones on this Promo CD. If you are into Gothic/heavy/classic or even thrash metal, I could advise you to give this album a try… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.anewdawn.tk
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85/100 |
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| ANUBIS GATE - A Perfect Forever (CD) | Denmark | April 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive / Power Metal | Running time: 59:41 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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In 1984 Jesper M. Jensen (bass) and Henrik Fevre (guitar, vocals) formed their first metal outfit together called V-axe. The original drummer was soon replaced by Per M. Jensen (drums, vocals), who already played with Henrik in the guitar/drums duo Black Mercyful. In 1986 the band split both as a band and as friends, mainly because Henrik wanted to pursue other musical influences far from heavy. Jesper and Per stuck together and in 1987 they started up the local heavy metal band Extreme Feedback, which included both Morten Sørensen (vocals - later on he began playing the drums) and Kim Olesen (guitar). In 1989 Per and Jesper then went onto thrash metal band Invocator, with whom they released a couple of demo's as well as the worldwide well-received album "Excursion Demise", year 1991. After having been in Invocator till the early nineties, Jesper returned to Aalborg in Northern Denmark. Morten and Jesper began to write new matrial. In the melodic heavy metal style, with proggy/power metal sound to it. They recorded a demo, and needed extra members for a band. An appropriate singer was found in Torben Askholm, who had been a part of the Danish metal scene for many years, first with the thrash metal act Prophets Of Doom (released an album in 1989) and then with the progressive metal band Northern Empire (two demos in the early nineties). When the band had enough material for a full length album, they decided to visit Hansen Studio's in Denmark, under the guidance of producer extra-ordinaire Jacob Hansen (actually ex-band mate of Jesper's from the Invocator days). The band plays a mix of progressive & power metal which suits me very well! It all is produced very well and this is, again, a damn good release from Locomotive Records (Kragens, Benedictum, Mago de Oz, EasyRider). The album has a lot of variation; from prog-songs (Future without Past), ballads (Curfew) but also up-tempo songs (Children of the Pauper King). This is no junkfood for the standard metal(lica) fan; check this band out if you want! You will be surprised by this original band which can not easily be compared with another band. Great musician & great singer!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.anubisgate.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
81/100 |
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| ARCTURUS - Sideshow Symphonies (CD) | Norway | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 50:36 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| In 1987, death metal band MORTEM was formed by Steinar Johnsen a.k.a Sverd, Jan Axel Von Blomberg a.k.a. Hellhammer (MAYHEM, WINDS, THE KOVENANT, MEZZERSCHMITT), and Marius Vold. They released the demo tape, "Slow Death", which later appeared as a 7" EP on the French underground label Putrefaction Records. MORTEM changed their name to ARCTURUS in 1990, as they wanted to play a different style of music. Marius soon departed and Steinar dropped the guitar to concentrate on keyboards. After, again, several line-up cahnges & releases they were signed to Season of Mist and recorded their debut record for this French label. This is my first acquaintance with this band and I was very positive surprised!! The band plays a very weird mix of black- & progmetal that suits me very well; especially because of the "clean" vocal parts & great production! Its impossible to compare this band with any other band because they make some fuckin original metal! This is melodic prog/death/blackmetal with a lot of vocal tour de forces!! Comparable with: a mix of Spiral Architect, Voivod, Dimmu Borgir. Check this album/band out!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.arcturus.no/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.season-of-mist.com/ |
85/100 |
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| ARMISTICE - Roots of Evil (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 40:01 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Armistice was founded in 1992, and has already released 5 CD productions, of which this is the latest, and supported bands like Tankard and Tom Angelripper live. The music of Armistice is devoted to classic speed and thrash metal in the style of bands like Exodus, Annihilator and Slayer. This is a great album, although devoted to classic thrash metal, this doesn't sound out of date or anything, this is well produced great sounding trash metal! Not that it's renewing, or original, but it has some great riffs, and reminds me a bit of Kreator too in some parts. I love it, some really aggressive tracks like 'Return of the Aggressor' and some funny lyrics like in 'Doggy style'. Also on this CD you'll find two music clips, one is a video for the song 'Trail of Fear', and the other one is a cover version of 'Sympthon of the universe' filmed live, this is a good one too. I like it a lot, definitely a band I would like to check out live on stage! |
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Visit their website: http://www.armistice.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.meier-dini.de/ | 75/100 |
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| ARTERY ERUPTION – Gouging out Eyes of Mutilated Infants (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time: 32:20 (8 tracks) | ||
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Holy fucking Moses!!! If this isn't brutal! Very low tuned guitars and ultra-speed drums making me gasping for air!
The production is not the finest I ever heard (that also for the playing skills) but if you're listening you can feel some true aggression! In the slow parts you can feel your stomach and that's what I like…
If I look at the artwork I'm not really impressed and I think that the band members will say "what did we when we were young?" after twenty years. I'm not very shocked but I can imagine a lot of people will be (maybe that's the intention?).
If you're trying to shock people do it with your music to be terrible tight and brutal! On this CD it's not always that way……
I think if Artery Eruption can grow if they're going to work on their sound and playing skills (a better sound can make you play better too). What I try to say is that they can give us more because you can hear there's more! It's not bad but give me some more guys! The sick intro's are making the thing complete and the result after ten years playing and a new revamped line-up it's taking place in the guttural death scene! A must for the extreme death metal fan! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.arteryeruption.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.goregiasticrecords.com/ |
65/100 |
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| ASCENSION THEORY - Answers (CD) | USA | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 46:04 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Ascension Theory is a new name for many, but not for all of us. Vocalist, guitar and bass player Leon Ozug and keyboardist Tim Becker come from Aztec Jade. Drummer Chad Lenig is a friend and they have asked them to add organic drums on "Answers", their second album. Their debut "Regeneration", had drums out of a box. Just like with Aztec Jade you are getting quite subdued but very well written and constructed progressive rock/metal. If you love Pink Floyd and other bands like them you will probably love the structured songs, the well thought out songs and the sublime production. If you are looking for a blast to happen once in a while: wait until you hear track six "The Way Of Death". That is when Beverly Luse takes over the vocal duties and the music gets a little more aggressive, I mean, adventurous. A house beat and progressive metal, that does go down well. For the rest the album never really sparkles, but you know, it doesn't matter, because this is definitively good enough to listen to more often. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ascensiontheory.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com/ | 73/100 |
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| ASSAILANT – Nemesis Within (CD) | Sweden | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 48:28 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Assailant is a new band from Umea, Sweden. I don't know what's in their water, but there are a lot of bands in that town. Think of Naglfar, Nocturnal Rites, Persuader and Savage Circus, plus a lot more. Assailant is a little different from all of them. They know how to make aggressive (Finnish style) metal mixed with melody and melancholy. The voice really complements the musical aspirations this band show. The songs are well thought of and for a debut there is nothing that you can call below par. The good thing about "Nemesis Within" is the constant quality it gives. You can hear the despair in the voice, the frustration in the music, the determination of the band. No, the songs are not groundbreaking or freshly new, but what this album gives you is the feeling that you are right in the middle of it, that you are part of the whole process. That to me is a huge achievement and something to treasure. If they can improve what they do on this debut album in the future, I predict them to become household names. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.assailant.se/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ |
67/100 |
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| ASTRAL DOORS - Astralism ( CD) | Sweden | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Classic Heavy Metal | Running time: 54:58 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Astral Doors is one of the classic metal treasures of the moment. Why? Because they know how to mix Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath with Dio and Deep Purple. Especially the 1.90 meter long fabulous singer Patrik Johanson is a real gem. His voice is a perfect mix of Tony Martin, Ronnie James Dio and himself, not only in sound but also in power. That makes him the perfect man for this kind of music. "Astralism" is the third attempt of the band to assume world domination. And it surely is the one that is most equipped to succeed. After their adequate 2003 debut album "Of The Son And The Father" the band followed with the much improved "Evil Is Forever" in 2005. Nobody could have imagined that they could keep up this speed in improving themselves, but they are proving everyone wrong. Musically the songs are much more powerful than they have ever been before. Their mix of classic metal with modern sounds has been written to perfection. Not only that, the production is superb and adds another dimension to this music. I can vouch for them coming much more in contention with how Astral Doors sound live. Yes, I have seen them, at Sweden Rock in 2004. There Patrik Johanson showed the audience that he does know how to put on a show and let his voice do the talking. He's doing the same on "Astralism". He is loud, hard, soft, calm and very outspoken when he needs to be. As you have gathered by now this is a really good album and every lover of good old metal should listen to it. Even better, go out and buy it! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.astraldoors.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ | 89/100 |
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| ASTRAL DOORS - Raiders of the Ark (mini-CD) | Sweden | May 2006 | Suzanne Smaling |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 17:57 (Tracks: 5 & 1 videoclip) | ||
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Astral Doors is a great metal band from Sweden. In 1998 they started as a project which grown out to this band. And in March of this year they released there third album, Astralism. But before this release they also released this promo record: "Raider Of The Ark".
From the very first minute that you have this CD in your player a blast of music comes out! Because of that the first impression is … WOW!!! This sounds very good! From the beginning to the end. Your can hear influences of Dio, Black Sabbath and Rainbow very clearly. This CD rocks. The CD contains a video clip from the last tour.
Singer Patrik Johansson voice is comparable with Ronnie James Dio's voice. This promo-CD contains only unreleased tracks and previous released tracks in Japan. In the summer and fall 2006 Astral Doors will go and tour with Blind Guardian. If you have the opportunity to check this band out, just do it! Because they are really great! |
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Visit their website: http://www.astraldoors.com Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ | 83/100 |
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| ATTACKER - The Unknown (CD) | USA | April 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash / Speed Metal | Running time: 47:47 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Its been more than 1 year ago that Attacker drummer Mike Sabatine gave me a promo CD with 3 songs of this new album on it (see Archive Reviews). Well finally after a long time the 4th full length CD of this great & sympatethic band is a fact! On their latest album "Soul Taker" singer Bob Mitchell was sometimes singing nasal and did remind me to an US variation of Udo Dirkschneider (Accept). After all a bit strange because on stage he is always singing his balls of (or maybe there are already off and is that the reason for his high pitching vocals ON stage....). Well, that little problem is nearly solved on this new album; Bob is singing much better than on their "Soul Taker" album! The first songs 'This is Power" is already a classic one that should be in their live-set on the upcoming European tour in September!! The engineering & mixing of the album was done by Mike Sabatini himself and I have to admit that it sounds great! But as usual I always have some (little) complains; personally i'm not upset about most of the delivered guitarparts; some songs dont have solos and some solos are a bit scrappy. Pitty, especially when you know that they have two great guitarplayers in their ranks. Another little complain is the (only) boring song: 'Devils War". Nevertheless, this is a great album that will visit my CD-player regularly! See you guys in September!!! Cheers! |
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Visit their website: http://www.attacker.tv Recordlabel: http://www.sentinelsteel.com/ |
85/100 |
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| AVALON – The Richie Zito Project (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: AOR | Running time: 53:35 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Richie Zito has always been a writer of commercial songs that have a little of a rough edge. He has written for some of the biggest names in the AOR world, including Foreigner. The opening song "Blue Collar" proves that. The rest of the album has the same kind of quality musically. Vocally Richie has recruited some big names to sing his songs. Joe Lynn Turner, Eddie Money, Joseph Williams, Philip Bardowell, Hugo Valenti, Danny Vaughn, Giorgio Moroder, Richie Kotzen and Eric Martin are the people that sing this album to it's full potential. All these ingredients should make an absolute corker of an album, but somehow it isn't. It's good, but just not good enough to be top of the bill. If you are an AOR fan you will undoubtedly love the whole album, but after a while you might want it to grab you some more. That's what it is lacking now, unfortunately. But I will stress that Avalon is a good album. Just not the bees knees. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
68/100 |
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| AVIAN - From The Depths Of Time (CD) | USA | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Progressive Power Metal | Running time: 55:04 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| If you don't know who Dave Ellefson is, you have been living on a different planet for the last 20 years or so. He is the bass player on "From The Depths Of Time". Guitar player Yan Leviathan started Avian in 2002, after he went to see Prog Power III in the USA. Now, just three years later, he has finally got it right and has been able to put a first album together. To cut to the chase: this is melodic power metal to make you happy whilst using some progressive influences. It is not exactly rocket science what these guys do, but they do know how to put together some good tunes, and because the production is very full indeed. It all ties in very well. The high pitched voice of Lance King only adds to the feel of the album. The real good thing about "From The Depths Of Time" is that the band has varied with tempos. Not too much and definitely not enough, but it does add that little extra power to the songs, especially when drummer Jonah Weingarten gets to use his double bass drums. Of course the bass player is good, he really knows how to complement the music and give it the drive it needs. All together this is a good album, that will appeal to power, heavy, progressive and melodic metal fans. Yes, to all of them. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.avianband.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com/ | 75/100 |
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| AXXIS - Paradise in Flame (CD) | Germany | May 2006 | Peter BigAlke |
| Style: HardRock | Running time: 59:00 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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Axxis are alive and kicking! Anyone interested in this band, should stop reading and get a hold on this CD immediately.
For those, that never ever heard about this band, here`s a short overlook about the history of Axxis. It all begun in 1988 with just one song (Tears of the trees), that was send to EMI twice. The first try wasn`t succesfull but the second one was sheer enthusiasm. Early 1989 saw the release of "Kingdom of the night", which became a record breaker as the best sold debut of a hard rock in Germany. 1990 was the year that the simply called "II" album came to see the light. After that I lost interest in the band for various reasons. 16 years later I have the great pleasure to find the band` s 11th CD in my mail box. Did I miss something important or could it be possible to find another diamond like "Living in a world" or "Rolling thunder" on this disc. The answer is yes and no. Axxis are still a solid rocking band, nothing more, nothing less. Any of the 14 tracks is a let down, but there` s something missing. The whole CD is a well designed product without any hooks and magic moments. You can listen to it whilst cleaning your dungeons of steel, it`s quite alright when you` re havin` a cup of coffee or something else. The production is bombastic, there`s a female singer accompanying Bernhard Weiss. A hell lot of keyboards can be heard, there`s some nice guitar playing, the drummer and the bass player do what get they get paid for. All in all, Paradise in flames is to perfect. For all of you Axxis fans out there, you know, what do to do. The rest of you, save your money better records to be released this years. |
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Visit their website: http://www.axxis.de Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de | 50/100 |
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| BABYLON MYSTERY ORCHESTRA – The Great Apostasy (A Conspiracy Of Satanic Christianity) (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: White Metal | Running time: 58:16 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| If you want to tell a story you try and research as much as you can as to get enough inspiration and to make sure that you get all your facts right. You also ensure that what you have conceived is well documented on paper to allow the audience to read everything with you and comment on the story you have put down. Especially if you are tackling a lot of issues in Christianity that most of the followers would not dare to touch. Think of paedophile and gay priests. Babylon Mystery Orchestra, none else than Sydney Allen Johnson, has done just that, and he has done that brilliantly. Musically however he doesn't live up to the rest. He starts and ends with two memorable songs, "Holy Ghost" and "Antichrist Superczar". You can hear the effort he has put in to make the music match the story and he just about gets there. Must be difficult if you are playing every single instrument yourself, but he tries. Unfortunately for him everything in between those songs is very poor musically. You can hear that he is a reasonable guitar player, a bog standard bass player and a very limited drummer. Therefore the music never even comes near the intensity an impact of the lyrics and quite frankly misses any sort of the class you expected after seeing the booklet and reading the lyrics. That is quite a pity, because if this would have been great music he would have had a killer in his hands. Now it's just a dud. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www. babylonmysteryorchestra.com /
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52/100 |
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| BARBARITY – Enough Graves for Everybody (CD) | Russia | November 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time: 35:30 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Barbarity was founded in 2002. After some rehearsals the band recorded their debut "The wish to bleed" by More Hate Productions in 2004, followed by a 4-way split. In 2005 they released their second full-length "Hell is here" by Blacksmith Productions. "Enough graves for everybody" from 2006 is their third album. Brutal and heavy is exactly what it is. All songs have a good sound and the music is fast and groovy. The brutal and even filthy voice of the singer reminds me of Mortician. Everything sounds good, but not original. So what! In this case it doesn't matter. The album is well produced, well done! The cover 'Troops of Doom' by Sepultura even sounds a hundred times heavier than the original. If you like bands like Malignancy, Mortician or better said: Death metal, then go ahead and buy this album. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://barbarity.artpodval/ru
Recordlabel: http://www.blacksmithprods.com |
75/100 |
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| BATTLEROAR - Age of Chaos (CD) | Greece | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: True Epic Metal | Running time: 58:18 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Battleroar is a traditional epic metal band formed in Athens in September 2000. The band names bands such as Manilla Road, Omen, Cirith Ungol, Brocas Helm, Jag Panzer and Heavy Load as their main influences. The band's name was in fact taken from the lyrics to Heavy Load's song "Singing Swords" ("I loved the battleroar"). Their debut album, the same-titled BATTLEROAR was recorded in spring 2003 and released at the end of August of the same year by the Greek label Omicron Music. September 2004 saw Battleroar joining forces with Black Lotus Recordsand they started the preproduction of the forthcoming album titled "Age of Chaos". I had the luck to see the band a few times on stage by now and I have to admit that live, they are much better than on CD. Mainman Marco is an Italian and he has a very nice voice and musically it all sounds okay but I have to say that its not all very unique what they do on this album. They play standard heavy metal which is more appreciated in countries like Germany, Greece & Italy. No bad album at all but I prefer their live performances. Check them out! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.battleroar.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ |
65/100 |
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| BEAUTIFUL SIN – The Unexpected (CD) | Germany | August 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 46:05 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Beautiful Sin is the newest band of the legendary heavy metal drummer Uli Kusch. Although an introduction is not necessary in this case, I will mention his musical history briefly. He started his career with the metal band Holy moses, and recorded several albums with them. Later he joined the power metal band Gamma Ray, and after that the well known band Helloween. With those bands he recorded some all-time classic heavy metal albums. The last few years he was booking success with Masterplan. And now there is his new band. Beautiful Sin. The idea came in the year of 2004, when Uli came in contact again with the Belgian vocalist Magali Luyten. He had worked with her before in 2002, while he was producing the demo of her band at the time. That demo never became released by any record company. However, the contact remained, and ended up into this collaboration. Together with Masterplan's Axel Mackenrott (keys), Jorn Viggo Lofstad (guitar) and Steinar Krokmo (bass) the line-up was completed. And now their debut album "The Unexpected" is available. Although the title is 'The Unexpected,' this is an album that you can expect from Uli Kusch. High level power metal songs with a melodic sound. The bands consists of five great musicians, so no complaints about the sound or the technique. Listening to the CD, you can tell that there are two members of Masterplan involved. Still they maintain a unique style. The main reason is the female vocals. Listen for example to the opening track "Lost," and the following song "This is not the original dream." These two songs will remain in your head for a long period of time, and the rest of the album also. My special attention goes out to the track "Pechvogel (unlucky fellow). This is a Dutch word, and it is humoristic to see this on a German Metal album. Way to go Magali. Fast, slow and mid-tempo songs are making the debut of Beautiful Sin worth listening to. Heavy/power/melodic fans will like this album for sure. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ulikusch.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.com/ |
85/100 |
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| BEFORE SILENCE - The Ultimate Nothing (CD) | Belgium | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: --:-- (Tracks: 7) | ||
| I hate it when I have to review a Belgian band that is not very good. Because I live only a few kilometres from the border I would rather say good things about them. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Before Silence has released "The Ultimate Nothing" themselves, and quite frankly I can see why there is no record label that will do it for them. They start off well with "Salvation", an up tempo track with a lot of interaction within the band. It gives you a first impression that is very positive. Only, the production is the real let down for Before Silence. They have put the keyboards on top of the rest of the band, and that is rather annoying. They keep that up for the whole album, which makes that a rather fine song like "The Screaming Wolf" doesn't get it's rightful award. Not only that, after those two songs everything starts to sounds similar to the rest and boredom sets in. It never gets really bad, but it never comes above mediocre either, which is a pity. These guys have released this one too early. They need to write more diverse songs and let someone with two really good ears produce their next effort. I bet you they will come with a killer record. Please do so guys. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.beforesilence.com/ | 45/100 |
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| BEFORE THE DAWN - The Ghost (CD) | Finland | August 2006 | Saral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 40:48 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Before The Dawn saw daylight in 1999 and was originally the solo project of Tuomas Saukkonen. He made the first demo all by himself and for the second one he had a friend of him playing the drums. First line-up was gathered so that BTD could perform live. Now 'Before the Dawn' has two line ups; the line up for live performance is Lars Eikind (bass), Juho Räihä (guitar), Joel Mäkinen (keyboards) and Tuomas Saukkonen and the line up for studio recordings is just Tuomas Saukkonen if my information is correct. Tuomas has written all the music and lyrics by himself and then he asked some musicians to come and play the stuff he had written. The result is a typical Finish product in which you can hear that he has been influenced by In Flames and some harder gothic rock. I have to say that I like this CD for its easy listening factor. The CD lacks fancy riffs but it's surprisingly dynamic and quite varied. All by all this is a good, not great, release from Before the Dawn. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.beforethedawn.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
75/100 |
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| BEJELIT - Age of Wars (CD) | Italy | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash / Power Metal | Running time: 45:51 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Bejelit was born just for fun in 1999 from an idea of the guitarist Sandro Capone and the former singer Fabio Privitera. The main goal was just to play their own music for fun, and sometimes some good covers. After some months with the very first line-up the band began to have new ideas and new goals so in 2001 the line-up changed with the arrivals of Giorgio Novarino at the bass and with Sandro's brother Giulio Capone at the drums and keyboards.
With this members, Bejelit recorded their very first demo cd called Bloodsign and decided to write their lyrics mainly about the Kentaro Miura's masterpiece "Berserk". After this cd the band started to work on the new stuff and with the arrival of the second guitar player Alessandro "Azark" Azara the band was ready to record the new promo cd called "Bones and Evil". This cd contained the three tracks from the "Bloodsign" cd and three brand new tracks. After, again, a line-up change signed their first record deal with U.S. in 2003. The band entered the studio to record their first full lenght album called "Hellgate" but then after some delays and problems the album wasn't published in more than a year. Bejelit cut the deal with U.S. in August 2004 and after one week signed the new record deal with the newborn label Battle Hymns which in fifteen days published the album and distribuited it thank to the Self Distribution. "Hellgate" received only positive reviews and the comments were amazing! The sales were great too and in a time of Mp3's, free download and p2p, Hellgate was one of the best seller album of an italian metal band! Bejelit started to work on the new songs for the next album in the spring of 2005. During this recordings singer Fabio quit and they had to stop the recordings till the end of 2005 when singer Tiberio Natali joined their ranks. Well finally; here's the new album! Bejelit plays a mix of traditional powermetal with a few modern elements. To compare the band with another band is difficult because they have an original sound. Personally I would call it a mix between Manowar, Vision Divine & Iced Earth but with a raw singing frontman (who's pronunciation isnt that good). Nevertheless; this is a very good album; well produced and with a very nice lay-out. Musically I didnt bore myself for one minut! And thats a compliment! This is a must! Check them out! |
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Visit their website: http://www.bejelit.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.old-ones.net/ | 85/100 |
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| BENEDICTUM - Uncreation (CD) | USA | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 53:29 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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BENEDICTUM are: Veronica Freeman - vocals, Pete Wells - guitars, Chris Morgan - keyboards, Jesse Wright - bass and Blackie Sanchez - drums. While 'Uncreation' represents BENEDICTUM's first entry into the metal sweepstakes, the band's tandem driving force, vocalist Veronica Freeman and guitarist Pete Wells, has put in plenty of time slugging it out in the trenches perfecting their chemistry. Pete and Veronica have known each other for over 10 years. They were both in a band called Malady for several years and when that came to an end they stayed together and started looking for an all new crew. After completing the line-up, guitarist Craig Goldy of Dio fame, encouraged the group to produce a demo with the promise to pass it on to some of his industry contacts. Craig loved their sound but thought they needed better production and hooks so he recommended Jeff Pilson (ex-Dio, Dokken). Armed with an album quality 3-song demo, it did not take long for BENEDICTUM to garner the attention of several interested labels, including the powers-that-be at Locomotive Records (Astral Doors, Kragens, EasyRider, Prong, Tierra Santa) who signed the band only weeks later. After the Kragens CD, this is again a very good album from Locomotive Records! Benedictum have the luck to own a "real" female frontwoman who really can sing! No, not a gothic kind of singer, Veronica Freeman has a very powerfull voice of which a lot of male competitors will be jealous!! Its easy to see who her main influences are; there are 2 Black Sabbath covers on the album; both from the Ronnie James Dio period; 'Heaven & Hell' and 'The Mob Rules'. Well, she sings both songs excellent! Musically the band is also very good and the CD sounds perfect too! This band should tour Europe very soon when its up to me; together with labelmates Kragens & EasyRider!! The last female singers with such a power in their voices I can remeber are Leather Leone (Chastain), Nathalie Geyer (Mystery Blue), Kimberley Gros (Sinergy) and Dawn Crosby (R.I.P.) (Detente, Fear of God) This is a damn good album! |
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Visit their website: http://www.benedictum.net/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
85/100 |
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| BEN JACKSON GROUP - All over you (CD) | USA | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Hardrock | Running time: 46:58 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Ben Jackson is the old guitarist of US-metal legends Crimson Glory. This is Ben's seconds solo album after the "Here I come" CD. The Ben Jackson Group plays standard hardrock and this has nothing to do with the once mighty Crimson Glory! So if you expect something in the vein of the old CG; forget about it! This is a reasonable album especially when you compare it with the awefull solo album of old Crimson Glory singer Midnight. The production & sleeve of this solo album are both very good but musically they cant impress me at all! The latest rumors are that CG are back together so i'm very curious if they can deliver such highlights as "Transcedence", "Astronomica" and "Crimson Glory". Hope this will turn out better because i'm very disappointed in the solo-stuff Ben Jackson & Midnight delivered till now!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.benjacksongroup.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.escapimusic.com/ |
60/100 |
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| BEYOND TWILIGHT - For the Love of Art and the Making (CD) | Denmark/Sweden | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 37:52 (Tracks: 1) | ||
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Since the very beginning in 1990 they had a few changes to find the right line-up. Since 1996 the band has stuck together through rough times and good times. 2006 marks the 10 year anniverssary of Beyond Twilight. The band members are still the same today except from extension of extra guitarist (and super producer) Jacob Hansen (Invocator) in 2004. And in 2006 Björn Jansson (Tears Of Anger) became their new lead singer. It would become a great task to replace his great predecessors Jorn Lande & Kelly Carpenter but he is taking his job seriously! Actually Finn Zierler is the only one guy behind it all but even though he would very much like the public to know that Beyond Twilight is a band not a solo-project. This album is not a follow up to the success of "Section X". "For The Love Of Art And The Making" is even more complex, darker, heavier, faster, more cinematic and more aggressive than anything they've done before! The album is full of "hidden" details for true Beyond Twilight fans. 1 track of about 40 minutes devided into 43 sections. What about the album & the band; you can say lots of good & bad things about Finn Zierler; fact is that he is a very great musician that delivers, again, a superb progressive album which a lot of bands only can dream (wet) about! This well produced album is even to complex for a lot of prog fans I suppose but I love it nearly as much as I loved "The Devils Hall of Fame" and "Section X". This is again a damn good album that should be in every progmetal fans CD-rack!! Only little complain is that I dont like all the changeovers in the 43 parts. This probably has to do with the structure of the album; even if you play the album in shuffle; there is still a musical & textual connection between all the parts. So when its up to originality; this album should become the maximum rate. But i'm sure Finn & the other guys will still like my rate of this superb album :) | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.beyondtwilight.com
Promotion: http://www.silentplanetpromotions.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com/ |
85/100 |
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| BIDERBEN - Out Of The Lies (CD) | Italy | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Punk Rock/ Eclectic Metal | Running time: 36:30 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| I like this. Why? Because you never know what's coming next. Biderben starts off with the pure Green Day/Black Train Jack track "Virtual Insanity" and follow that one with "Lose Your Illusions", which could come off a System Of A Down album. During the rest of the songs you even hear ska, some nu-metal and whatever else comes by. That is dangerous, but okay, as long as the influences support the songs. And they do, very much so. These Italians know how to write a good album. They also understand that if you are so diverse you can't keep the listeners guessing too long, so they have not made the album very long. Well done, because that leaves people hungry for more. You would think there is no criticism to be found on "Out Of The Lies". You'd be wrong. The pronunciation of the English language is below par and the production of the album is not crisp enough to make every song reach it's maximum effect. But then again, it now is a CD that you love hearing, because it is organic. This is perfect for a vinyl album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.biderben.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/ | 78/100 |
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| B. IMPATIENT - Intensity (CD) | Germany | October 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Pop/Rock | Running time: 51:36 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| Only 3 months after they got together in the beginning of 1999, they recorded their first demo 'Turn of the Tide', which was followed by their 'Cross-section' demo in 2002. After some line up changes, they recorded 'B.Impatient' demo in 2003, and 'B.Impatient Volume 2' in 2004. And now this is their full length debut album, 14 songs more than 50 minutes, so it really is full length. What can you find on this album? Not really metal that's for sure, but more rock in the style of Guano Apes, their singer Brigitte even sounds a bit like Sandra in some songs (especially in 'Enemy'), and also some Skunk Anansie influences can be heard here. So is it a bad album? Not at all, it's actually a really good album, which will probably get lots of airplay, and maybe even gets in the charts if they are lucky. So if you like the bands mentioned here you will love this band, and they seam to have a real good live reputation, so I'm curious about that. But it's not really metal to me, although I do like 'em, but that explains the rating maybe a bit more… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.b-impatient.de
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotiverecords.com |
65/100 |
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| BISHOP OF HEXEN - The Nightmarish Compositions (CD) | Israel | August 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Symphonic Black metal | Running time: 49:27 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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"Bishop of Hexen" was formed in late 1994 early 1995, in Ramat-Hasharon, Israel and consists of Seelenfolter (bass) , Van Helsing (drums) , Dimrost (keyboards) , Lord Koder (vocals) , Ariel E (guitars). Nine years after their first album 'Archives Of An Enchanted Philosophy' was released Bishop of Hexen is back with their second release 'The Nightmarish Compositions'. The album is a great atmospheric black metal album and I wouldn't be surprised if a song of this album would serve as a soundtrack for some new horror movie. The albums starts of with a creepy intro and then blasts into Dimmu borgir mode. Although still heavily trusting on the keyboard for the melody and structures they have really improved since their previous album. The vocals range from growling to screeching and sometimes to clean theatrical singing. This band has improved a lot since their latest album and I think that we, for the symphonic black metal scene, can put them right up on the highest scaffold together with Dimmu Borgir. This is a great release and I hope that their third album won't take that long to make as this album because i hope to hear from them soon. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.bishopofhexen.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.ccprecords.com/ |
85/100 |
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| BISS - Face Off (CD) | Germany | May 2006 | Peter BigAlke |
| Style: HardRock | Running time: 41.25 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| "Biss", "Joker in the desk" and now "Face off". Biss, the third one. Which means, after Fernando Garcia(CD1), Michael Bormann(CD2) the band behind mastermind Doc Heyne is proud to present the third singer. This time it is Marc Storace (Krokus) together with some new musicians from Vandenberg and Vengeance. Also I wouldn`t call myself the worlds greatest hard rock fan, I can listen to this kind of music if it`s really hard and really rocking. Face off is one of this few records that really proofs to be hard as rock. It`s not only Marc Storace or the new musicians or anything else. Each of the 10 tracks has got it`s own atmosphere. You like it hot and steamy? Breathless is the right track for you. You`re in a moody situation? Then try Pyromania. If you miss the big times of Krokus, there`ll be more than 2 songs to bring back memories of times long gone. Believe me. Ok, not everthing that glitters is gold. Which means, there are some weak moments, like for example 'Raise the hammer'. Average Bon Jovi combined with a touch of Journey. 'Big life' is also a let down, teethless, near the freezing point. This are just 2 tracks, 8 are over the top. All in all, "Face off" is worth to be checked out and maybe you like the tracks that I didn`t like? | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.b-i-s-s.com Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.aorheaven.com | 70/100 |
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| BITTER HÆRVEST – Wilt (CD) | The Netherlands | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Doom/Gothic/Death | Running time: (Tracks: 8) | ||
| As the name of this Dutch ensemble suggests Bitter Hærvest is not a happy bunch of guys. Initially started in 1999 as a melodic death metal band, but through the years and line-up changes they have progressed into a band with many faces. Yes, a bit like Opeth are, only they musically don't fit that category. They don't fit any, to be precise. You hear the death metal grunt, the progressive rhythms, the gothic melancholy and the doom atmosphere. Does that render a recipe for success? Maybe, but not surely. It does mean that people have to take a close listen to what Bitter Hærvest are up to. They say they have worked on "Wilt" for two years and it shows. The songs are very well written, flow from one feeling into the other and take you, the listener, on a journey through dark spaces and melancholic landscapes. Normally there is some disappointment when a band releases an album themselves, but that's not the case here. Unless you want to call the clean voice of Philip K.F. Hölzenspies the one thing that lets "Wilt" down. Don't think lightly about Bitter Hærvest, but don't let them drive you away. Stick to them and they will start sticking to you. | |||
| Visit their website: http://www.bitterharvest.net/ |
73/100 |
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| BLACK MAJESTY - Silent Company (CD) | Australia | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 59:15 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Woooow, what a difference! One hour before reviewing this second full length album of Black Majesty I also reviewed the second album from another Australian band Black Steel. I subscribed Black Steel as a moderate band with a moderate production but I cant say any of these things about Black Majesty!! This is a killer album!! I also had the luck to see the band twice on stage during their performances at last years Headbangers Open Air and the HOA afterparty at the Headbangers Ballroom in Hamburg, both in Germany. This band kicks ass on stage too!! "Silent Faces" is the follow up to their "Sands of Time" debut album. Frontman John Cavaliere has a superb voice and is probably the best singer from Australia these days. He can be subscribed as a mix of David Coverdale, Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio (he even looks a bit like Dio:). Musically it also sounds perfekt and the band demonstrates some extraordinary musicianship. The music can be subscribed as a mix of Dungeon, Edguy, Iron Maiden, Dio & Queensryche. Very good album with a great production from an excellent band!!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.blackmajesty.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de/ |
90/100 |
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| BLACK STEEL - Hellhammer (CD) | Australia | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power / True Metal | Running time: 54:21 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Black Steel were formed in early 2000 in the city of Perth, Australia. The bands first album "Destructor" was already released in 2001. In 2002 they signed a recorddeal with Adrenaline Records/Steelheart Records. "Hellhammer" is the second full length album of the band. Black Steel plays, according to the bands biography, true metal with ball-tearing speed and mid-paced assaults but also some hymn-like ballads in the vein of bands like; Manowar, Accept, Iron Maiden & Judas Priest. This is food for the die-hard true-metal fan but personally i have a few complains: Not all the songs are from the same level; some of them are very weak and standard. I also have to complain about the moderate production and about the moderate singer. Musically it all sounds okay but I expected a lot more from these guys. Nect time probably better?? |
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Visit their website: http://www.blacksteel.com.au Recordlabel: http://www.adrenaline.it/ |
70/100 |
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| BLISSED - Corrosive (CD) | USA | November 2006 | Saral Otgonbayar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 44:44 (Tracks: 12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blissed is a hard rock band formed in New York in 2002 by members David Pearson (Vocals, Guitar), Jeff Miller (Guitar, Vocals), Nathan Kojak (Drums), & Geoff Breen (Bass, Vocals). "Corrosive" is their second release. The band plans to release HD videos & continue with their heavy touring schedule in support of this latest release. If you hear "Corrosive" for the first time you wouldn't think that Blissed had a christian background but you can interpret the lyrics any way you want and maybe find some piece referring to some god. First of all I would like to make my comments about the cover of this album. The designer must've thought that he wasn't dealing with a rockband but with a boyband. The music itself I have mixed feelings about. I like some songs but then on the other hand some songs sound like the singer tried too hard to make it sound right. With a better production and a better singer this cd would've been alot better. Now it's just under average for me. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Visit their website: http://www.blissed.biz
Promotion: http://www.silentplanetpromotions.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.kr-records.net/ |
49/100 |
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| BLOODTHORN - Genocide (CD) | Norway | June 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black / Death Metal | Running time: 42:54 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Bloodthorn is a well known name in the death/black scène. They released there first demo in 1996 and their debut album ("In the Shadow of your Black Wings", Seasons of Mist) in 1997 after that they released 2 more albums and one split cd.
Their new album "Genocide" released by Morningstar Records is a masterpeace (Its about time they released a new album, since it been 5 years ago!). It contains 9 songs of pure black/death metal ,the songs are very fast and furious. I must confess it`s got a very oldschool sound and its an album that contains a lot of power and variety. This will be the first Bloodthorn album featuring guitarist Ihizahg (ex-Perished and live guitarist for Mayhem). All thow he now is an official member he`s always been working with Bloodthorn. If you like Dark Funeral / Krisiun you`re gonna enjoy this album. If you want more info about Bloodthorn`s new album and gigs, check out their website |
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Visit their website: http://www.bloodthorn.net/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.plastichead.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.morningstarrec.com/ | 80/100 |
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| BLUDGEON – World Controlled (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Death Metal/Metalcore | Running time: 37:25 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Bludgeon was first introduced to the world in 2002 with the album "Crucify The Priest", a very well made but very safe death metal album that never goes out of bounds. Mister Manowar had by that time already taken control over the band, adding them to his 'Magic Circle'. On "World Controlled" it seems he has even taken over musically. Death metal? Not really. Not any more. It's more like a mix between metalcore and mediocre Pantera. It never gets very bad, but like on their debut the whole thing never gets exciting, never blows your mind. The songs are short and well made, could sometimes even be quite good, if Bludgeon would decide to let go of their restraints. Unfortunaltely they haven't, so we're stuck with an album that is going nowhere. What a pity. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.bludgeon.tv/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.magiccirclemusic.com/ |
62/100 |
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| BOX EDWARD - Moonfudge (CD) | England | November 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Guitar Virtuoso | Running time: 43:31 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Edward Box started playing guitar at the age of 14. In 1990 he formed his first band XLR8R, a progressive metal outfit. Positive reviews for the 1995 "Inner Oceans" debut album came quickly and the band supported the likes of Thunder as well as playing dates in the UK and Europe. In this period Ed's reputation as a guitarist grew, with his ability being singled out for special mention in Total Guitar, Guitarist and Kerrang magazines. From the ashes of XLR8R and two other local bands, Box co-founded ARCH STANTON. Adopting a more traditional pop/rock style, the band soon attracted positive feedback for the quality of the songs and Edward's distinctive vocals. Due to poor management and the growing tide of apathy that beset the Newcastle music scene, ARCH STANTON disbanded and Ed decided to pursue a solo career. Ed's first all instrumental demo was so well received by the guitar press that he decided to compose some more tracks and these formed the basis of the "Plectrum Head" album in 2002. "Moonfudge" is Box's second solo work. From the beginning of Jack in a Box, you can't help but noticing the similarities between Box's style and the one of guitar master Vinnie Moore (especially in albums such as "Out of Nowhere" and "Meltdown"). Groovy rhythms with bluesy influences from Hendrix and Deep Purple and not the average neoclassical playing that most guitarists prefer. His skills and styles are quite noticeable and vary from mid tempo bluesy travelling melodies to heavy metal Judas Priest and Maiden-like riffs. "Moonfudge" is a very enjoyable listen and to be honest, ages have passed since the last time I had a blast with an instrumental album | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.edwardbox.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com/ |
84/100 |
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| BULLET - Heading for the Top (CD) | Sweden | October 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Heavy Metal / HardRock | Running time: 41:19 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Swedisch heavy metallers Bullet started their career in 2002/03 to play true heavy metal in the vein of bands like Judas Priest and Accept. No nonsense pure headbanging music. I was possessed by this band when I saw them play at the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival in Hoorn 2003. So pure and traditional heavy metal you will see nowhere these days. The first single "Heavy Metal Highway" 2003 and "Speeding In The Night" mcd 2003 sounds like a copy of Judas Priest and Accept. Singer "Hell Hofer" sounds like the voice of Udo Dirksneider and Brian Johnson (AC/DC). Their newest full lenght album sounds even more like bands as AC/DC and Rose Tattoo and offcourse still Accept, more the oldschool hardrock 'n' roll - sound of the late 70's & early 80's. Not only the music sounds great and give you the taste of the old days. Band members: Hell Hofer (vocals), Hampus Klang (lead guitar), Erik Lamstrong (lead guitar), Lenny Blade (bass), Gustav Hjortsjo (drums) look like Loudness & Judas Priest in the early 80's. Bullet from Sweden will take you back in time and if you listen to these Scandinavian boys you will forget the new century and you will remember 1983 as yesterday. BULLET ROCKS YOUR SOCKS OFF !!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.bullet.nu
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.suburban.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.blacklodge.se |
75/100 |
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| CANNIBAL CORPSE - Kill (CD) | USA | April 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 42:17 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Mostly I try to put a little history/biography of a band in my reviews but this time I wont do that; just because i suppose that every self-respecting deathmetal fan knows who Cannibal Corpse is. This is the bands 10th release since they formed in 1988 and this album, "Kill", was recorded with producer Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL/ex-MORBID ANGEL) at Mana Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida. Well, I can be short about this release; "Kill" is as heavy as f*ck!!! The album sounds great and is full of fast, agressive songs which we only expect from Cannibal Corpse! I can talk longer and longer about this release but I want to be short about it: Buy this album if you're into old-school deathmetal!! And if you want to see them on stage soon in Europe; they are headlining the No Mercy festivals this easter! Be there and see/hear if i'm right!! Magnificent!!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.cannibalcorpse.net/ Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de/ |
90/100 |
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| CARNAL GRIEF – Nine Shades Of Pain (CD) | Sweden | November 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 44:00 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Carnal Grief was formed in 1997, and released some demos 'Embraced by the light'in 1997, 'Cradlesongs' in 1998 and 'Wastelands' in 1999 before they got out their debut album 'Out of crippled Seeds' in 2004 on Trinity Records Hong Kong. This is their second album, and a killer one too! Their sound is comparable to bands like In Flames, At The Gates and even The Haunted, fast and furious yet melodic. Not that they do anything that isn't done before, but they do it exceptionally well, great quality band with real good production of this album. On the album you will find great songs with furious guitar work, melodic death as it should be, in between some rest points, like the instrumental song 'Elsewhere' and some intro's, to catch your breath. Favourites are 'Catatonic', 'Chronolies' and 'Tin Winged Angel', Swedisch Death like a swiss clockwork! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.carnalgrief.com
Recordlabel: http://www.gmrmusic.se |
89/100 |
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| CASINO 66 – Deliver Light (mini-CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Glam/Sleaze Rock | Running time: 18:02 (Tracks: 5) | ||
| Casino66, a glam rock band from Malmo, Sweden. The band was formed in 2003 in Vaxjo, but decided to move south to Malmo in the summer of 2005.They did about 50 live shows, at places such as KB Malmo, Stengade 30 Copenhagen, Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg, Nalen in Stockholm. Great Glam/Sleaze Hardrock if you like bands as Guns "N" Roses, Black Crowes, The Darkness, Queen, Dogs DÁmour, Thin Lizzy and Rolling Stones. Raw but clean sleazy hardrock to the bone! I like this Swedisch band, maybe I'll try to get them overhere. We need more Sleaze in Holland !!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.casino66.net/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl Recordlabel: http://www.deadvibrations.com |
75/100 |
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| CASUS BELLI - In the Name of the Rose (CD) | Greece | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 41:48 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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CASUS BELLI were formed in 1997 by guitarist Panos Arvanitis and vocalist Panos Dedes. Since 1994 Arvanitis and Dedes had collaboration with another band, which was formed by Arvanitis and called Condemnation. In1993, Condemnation had already released a record through an independent record company. When Panos Dedes came back from England where he was chosen by JUDAS PRIEST among the last 25 for the position of vocalist ( which was won by Tim "Ripper" Owens), he met Arvanitis and they both begun to write CASUS BELLI first songs.
In 1998, CASUS BELLI released their first demo entitled "Promo One", featuring P. PEAVY WAGNER (RAGE) in a couple of songs which achieved several great reviews. After the joining of keyboardist Bob Katsionis, drummer Fanis Balikos and bassist Fotis Anagnostou the basis of the band was built. In November of 2001 CASUS BELLI released their debut album entitled "Mirror out of Time". In 2005 Casus Belli did sign a contract with Limb Music and in that same year the band with Frank Huber (Valley's Eve) on the drums, records "In the name of Rose", produced by R.D.Liapakis (Valley's Eve, Mystic Prophecy). This album is already more than a year old but still worth reviewing! The band plays pure powermetal in the vein of bands like; Riot, Liege Lord, InnerWish & lots of other traditional powermetal bands. The production of this album is great and musically its all high standing! It even inclines to the US-metal direction but I have to admit that there are also a few weak songs on this album (for example: "Edge of a Knife"). Nevertheless a good album which I will listen again & again!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.casusbelli-band.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de/ |
80/100 |
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| CELLADOR- Enter Deception (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 44:27 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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CELLADOR was founded in 2004 with the intent of introducing aggressive European influenced melodic speed/power metal to the Midwest USA, where the style is relatively nonexistent. CELLADOR spent most of 2004 writing, rehearsing and, by March 2005, began playing live. In May of 2005 Cellador released the demo "Leaving All Behind". Metal Blade's Brian Slagel offered the band a contract making them Metal Blade Records first USA based power metal signings in years.
Cellador is a young band with good musicianship and songs. This album is produced by Eric Rutan (ex-Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal) and it sounds damn good for a deathmetal-producer! Musically the band reminds me a lot to a band like Dragonforce and I have the feeling that a lot of labels are looking for this kind of metal because Dragonforce is a very, very popular band at the moment! This is also a full speed ahead album which is build up around great refrains, breaks and a very good singer. Summarized; A very good album if you're into Dragonforce and (old) Helloween-a-like metal. I Liked it anyway! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.cellador.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de/ |
85/100 |
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| CHARLIE ADLER - Our world is far more chaotic than we dreamed (CDemo) | The Netherlands | June 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Mathcore /Metalcore/Death metal | Running time: 7:14 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| Charlie Adler started back in 2003 as a project. After some changes in the line-up Charlie Adler became more serious. Which has resulted in the upcoming debut album. Now let's get to this CD. I like the music they're playing but the voice of the singer is really annoying it's like he's trying to scream but didn't yet succeed in scraping his throat. Then on the other hand the grunts are very good. So if they could kick out the singer of this band and search a new, better one, this music would sound great. I even hear some influences of my favourite dutch band Textures which I really enjoy. No I can only say that this is a mediocre demo and that I'm not really looking forward to hearing their full album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.charlieadler.nl/ | 40/100 |
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| CHRIS CAFFERY - W.A.R.P.E.D. (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Suzanne Smaling |
| Style: US / Heavy Metal | Running time: 1:12:35 (Tracks: 15) | ||
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Everyone knows Chris Caffery from his work with Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He also contributed on Zak Stevens' Circle II Circle's albums "Watching in Silence" and "The Middle of Nowhere". His first CD was called "Faces" and released in 2004 with a bonus CD called "God Damned War". And now there is another CD, W.A.R.P.E.D, it is a pitty that this new CD contains al songs of the bonus CD "God Damned War". That means that this CD contains only 5 new songs instead of 15 new songs. And that is pitty. The song "Iraq Attack" is a Doctor Butcher cover from 1992 and it contains guest vocals of Jon Oliva (Savatage, Jon Oliva's Pain). Brian Gregory (Doctor Butcher) plays bass on this song. Chris played all electric and acoustic guitar on this album and he also sang all lead and backing vocals. Further, on this album Chris express his 'anger' in his lyrics about America and the several wars over the world. His voice is pretty raw which gives the songs an extra dimension. The songs are in Savatage style. The Savatage fans will like this album a lot I think. I hope that the Chris Caffery fans can 'receive' a completely new album when the next solo album comes out. The CD sounds pretty good and all the credits go to Chris, he wrote all songs (except "Iraq Attack"), produced the album with Black Lotus Records (who dont exist anymore nowadays....). | |||
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Visit his website: http://www.chriscaffery.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/ |
70/100 |
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| CIRCLE OF PAIN – Classic Live Tunes (Double Live CD) | Germany | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Classic Heavy Metal | Running time: 98:51 (Tracks: 23) | ||
| Circle Of Pain is one of those old fashioned German heavy metal bands that has never gotten the grasp of writing very good songs. Before they were known as Tipsy Slut. Well, at least the new name is more appropriate. As Circle Of Pain they have released one studio album and a double CD before this. I don't know them, and quite frankly I will stay away from them as far as possible. As mentioned the songs they play are very poor, very much childish and unfinished. The venue they recorded this at was at most half full, if the applause on the discs is anything to go by. On top of that they have the classic irritable German voice that goes right through your spine and which you either love or hate, nothing in between. Unfortunately for them I am with the latter category. This live album of Circle Of Pain should do well in the S&M circuit, if people wish to be tortured by music. I understand fully well that this band will have fans on their side, but I can't make anything else of this review. Oh, and the Südhessen Symphonic Orchestra seems to be playing along with the band, but that never shines through, unfortunately. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.circle-of-pain.de /
Recordlabel: http://www.zyx.de/ |
40/100 |
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| CIRCLE OF PAIN - Classic Live Tunes (DVD) | Germany | October 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Melodic Heavy Metal | Running time: 170 min. (Chapters: 11) | ||
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Circle of Pain is a German sextet that released its rather successful debut album "Paradox of Destitution" back in 2001, after a couple of mini cds. The band's music can be categorized as melodic heavy metal with various influences that include Gamma Ray, Helloween and Pink Cream 69. "Classic Live Tunes" is actually the whole "Paradox of Destitution" album performed live and with orchestral arrangements by the Sudhessen Symphonic Orchestra. This is without a doubt an interesting and uncommon recording. The band's material is well executed since all six musicians appear quite the professionals and the Orchestra enforces all songs with an escorting but also significant role. The band also issued this "Classic Live Tunes" DVD. This fine release includes some live performances taken from the extensive "Paradox of Destitution" tour and allows you to visualize what you hear on the double cd. It also contains lots of bonus material such as backstage footage, TV appearances, photo galleries and live cover versions of hit songs like "Because the Night", "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and "Doctor, Doctor". Another quite interesting release from this band and I firmly believe that they have more great things to show us in the future. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.circle-of-pain.de/
Recordlabel: http://www.zyx.de/ |
82/100 |
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| CIRCULUS – Clocks Are Like People (CD) | England | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Folk (No Metal) | Running time: 42:13 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| I am quite sure that the name Mario's Metal Mania will give people an inkling of a suggestion of the kind of music that is reviewed here. Well, not to everyone, because the Medieval fantasists of Circulus are more in league with Blackmore's Night than with metal. Did I say medieval? Then what the hell is that synthesizer doing on this album. Yes, the music you get to hear is pleasurable, but definitely not metal. Not even if you widen your boundaries as far as you can. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.circulus.org/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com// Recordlabel: http://www.riseaboverecords.com/ |
65/100 |
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| COALITION - Tortured by Eternal Dream (CD) | Belgium | July 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 53:16 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Little to nothing I knew about this band called 'Coalition', and I live in Belgium myself, shame on me, until I received a copy of their latest album called 'Tortured by Eternal Dream'. This is the second album from the Belgian group, consisting of Sckib (guitar), David (vocals), Céline (bass), Arnaud (Drums), and I must say that they did a great job. The songs on this record are death metal with a very high headbang factor and also contain catchy riffs so it's kind of listening to deathmetal from the 80's. The metal created by Coalition on this album provides us also with slower passages with an equal amount of power as the faster passages. The vocals provided by David Remy are near perfection, he has his voice perfectly under control and he refrains from sounding monotone. What I do miss on this album is the occasional solo so keep it in mind for next time guys. This is a very promising album but they still can't match up with Aborted but I hope to hear from them again soon. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.coalition.be.tf
Recordlabel: konklav records (no website available) |
80/100 |
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| COSTE APETREA - Trickster (CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 53:22 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| Coste Apetrea, a man with a musical history the length of an expensive shopping-list. Maybe some of you proggies may know him for the work he did with Samla Mammas Manna. The man did acoustic jazz, fusion, prog, Zappa-like stuff...a musical wonder on wheels. Again Lion masters to capture something phenomenal, this time in the form of instrumental prog-rock ,think Planet X but only with a Latin/folk feel to it and a little bit more experimental. This CD needs listening to more than one time before you get it I think, but believe me, it does the trick. Apetrea is not only a good performer and writer, most stunning I think is the way he handles sphere. For all you older prog-heads, this must be...well...music to your ears. To all you younger proggies I would say: listen to this and you will find something completely new, but so classic. To all Zappa fans....just buy!! The best I've heard so far in 2006, killer album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.coste.se
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com |
95/100 |
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| CREECH – Take it All (mini-CD) | Australia | August 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Heavy Rock | Running time: 26:20 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| Creech started out as an English band in 1999, but moved to Australia in 2002. Before they moved country Creech recorded their first 6 track E.P. in July 2001 titled "Arrogant Call". The E.P. debuted at number three in the local Virgin Charts. This tells you something about the musical direction of this band, this is a band with hit potential and airplay possibilities. When you listen to this second E.P. you hear influences like Nirvana and even a bit Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters, not really my kind of thing, but they do it well. The cd starts off with "Tell me Somthin" which really rocks actually, but the second song sounds like the title "Far Too Sober" although some nice arrangements in there it doesn't really rock for me. As the back cover says PureRock, they don't really make it happen, it all sounds a bit to popular, but then again, if that's their goal, they are doing a great job. When you listen to the third song "Maia's Teething" this could have easily fittet on any Nirvana album, therefore not very original, but a real good clone, it has the right Nirvana feel. Next up is the title track of their first E.P. "Arrogant Call", which is another song with airplay possibilities if you ask me, after this we get "Take It All" the title track, a bit more rockin, but not really the pure rock I was expecting, but also some nice guitarwork in here, which probably makes it the best song on here for me. The last track "Donald" gave me a feeling of 'where have I heard this before' so not all that original but definitely a band with a lot of hit potential, who can become big with the right people behind them if you ask me. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.creech.com.au
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65/100 |
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| CREMASTER - Boletus Satanas (CD) | Poland | May 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Deathmetal | Running time: 37:39 (Tracks: 24) | ||
| What a noise! This Deathmetal band from Poland is together now for only for 5 years. I don't like this kind of death metal, very chaotic, with to many breaks & grooves. To modern sound with many Nu-metal influences from bands like System Of A Down. Maybe you can hear some influence from Polish Thrash Metal Legends "Acid Drinkers"? But that's the only positive thing about this band, for me it's totally crap, I'm sorry! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.cremaster.prv.pl
Recordlabel: http://www.conquerec.com/ | 30/100 |
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| CURT SHAW - Idem (CD) | USA | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Instrumental (guitar) | Running time: 44:21 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Curt Shaw is an american guitarplayer who played already guitar when he was 8 years old (or young.) Curt name Elvis, Rush, Steve Vai, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Metallica & King Diamond as his main influences. He also appreciates a lot of other styles, doenst matter if its bluegrass, country, deathmetal or even bongo-playing! This is a fully instrumental CD (except for a few background messages) and the album is well produced. This is a good album in the vein of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore and Marty Friedman. The only difference between these guitargods and Curt Shaw are the song structures; some of Curt's songs sound a bit messy and I failed to hold my attention because of this. So this is a good album but it has not the quality of the real guitar heroes. The next album will probably sound a lot better, I count on that! |
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Visit his website: http://www.curtshaw.com/ |
71/100 |
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| DARK LUNACY – The Diarist (CD) | Italy | November 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 58:09 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Normally you expect Frontiers to bring you music in the heavy rock/AOR/melodic metal style. Well, for once they have changed their tune. Dark Lunacy is more like Soilwork than you would expect. Not only musically, also vocally. These guys (and one girl) started in 1997 and were heavily influenced by Therion. That has been changing over the years. After a while you can hear the songs going from their direct death metal association towards the more epic and choral music that they played in former years. That is a good thing, because it ensures that "The Diarist" is not a boring listen. The first three songs ('Aurora', 'Play Dead' and 'Pulkovo Meridian') are straight forward and very heavy. They come blasting into your ears and give you the impression you are in for a very fast roller coaster ride. That changes with the title track, which has a strange (I presume Russian) start and has that moving quality, which draws you into it. It is soft, like a ballad, but it definitely isn't one. That is for first 30 seconds of the next song, 'Snowdrifts'. After that time they start banging at you again, only now you start hearing the epic influences this band is known for. The bulk of the sounds however are pure and raw, without any extra baggage. It is also the time when you start realising that the production of "The Diarist" is very good indeed. It is heavy and open at the same time, which allows all the sounds to come through accordingly. However, on the whole this album is a melodic death metal album through and through. If you like the bands I referred to, please, have a listen. You'll like what you hear. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.darklunacy.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
73/100 |
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| DARK SKY - Living and Dying (CD) | Germany | May 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Melodic Rock / Metal | Running time: 47:54 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Dark Sky has been around for quite some time now. They go back as far as 1982, starting out as a demo-band (like everyone else). Winning some talent-competitions, disbanding, coming back together, people in, people out and so on, finally resulting in the release of their first full-length album "Believe it" in 1998. From then on the band seems to do well and now is back with their third release "Living and Dying". The name Dark Sky doesn't come to mind when you listen to this album, it's very positive and happy music. The cd has 3 strong opening songs, nothing new under the sun, but certainly in your face. Very nice choirs in the chorusses, nice guitar solo's, nice altogether. But after those first three songs they can't seem to keep my attention, only again with the 11th song "Light up the Darkness" which sounds more in the vain of the openeners. The ballads are sweet like honey, sometimes reminding me of Sherrif, but don't make me cry at all. Don't get me wrong, everything on this cd sounds very convincing and is mixed very neat. It's that this band sounds like it's missing that edge that bands like for instance Firehouse and more of those bands, do have. Nevertheless, I would say for you melodic-rock maybe even AOR listeners, give this band a try , because even though it didn't make me a fan I caught myself singin' along some of those catchy chorusses. |
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Visit their website: http://www.dark-sky.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.aorheaven.com | 68/100 |
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| DATURA - The Darkest Hours (CD) | France | August 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Death / Thrash Metal | Running time: 36:36 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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France can offer us some good stuff again!! After a demo they came with their first full length in 2004 and I must say that it sounds not bad!
The band is formed at the end of 2001 and I think it's time to put an English part on their site!
I wonder what they are doing at the moment cuz I think I want to hear more of this band.
They play very brutal but it's not only pumping it up…..they are making good dynamic compositions! Maybe the vocals can use a bit more variation but I don't bother much. Sometimes I can compare the voice of Dying Fetus or Suffocation of this record! A few comments to the recording is the guitar sound…..next time make it a bit more brutal cuz it sounds a bit too thin…..just make the sound a bit more greasy and you will blow everything away! And a bit more drums would be nice! Sometimes (mostly fast parts) I can't hear any snare and the bass drum has to be shoved up too! The playing skills are present in this band and that's what we want to hear isn't it? Nice artwork by the way! I like it when a band give some attention to the lay-out; it's a way to present yourself so if the lay-out's good you are more curious what's inside of it and this band has got it! Cheers! | |||
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Visit their website: http://daturaweb.free.fr/
Recordlabel: http://deadsun.free.fr/ |
73/100 |
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| DAVY VAIN – Davy Vain (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 47:31 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| As soon you hear the first tones of "Davy Vain" you know it's him. His voice is so distinctive it is scary. The music definitely is not. It also is not very heavy. Don't get me wrong, this is not a laid back album, it just is more rock than his band Vain is. That is not a bad thing, but it does mean that you need more than one listen before the songs start getting to you, before you hear what's in the music. In the old days I would always appreciate that, because that meant that you were listening to an album that will stay interesting for a long time to come. I still think that way, unfortunately the musical market does not. The attention span of the audience has shortened dramatically, so you have to impress first time around. In Davy Vain's case it is a blessing for him that he mainly will have the older youth (30+) as his audience, and they still have the patience to listen to music more than once. They will hear well written and played poppy rock songs mixed with a few heavier tracks. If you like the Vain album "On The Line" you probably will like this one as well, but don't take that for granted, because the band album is a lot heavier. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.davyvain.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
73/100 |
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| DAWN OF RELIC - Night on Earth (CD) | Finland | June 2006 | Wiliam Nijhof |
| Style: Melodic Thrash / Death metal | Running time: 29:29 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Hell yeah! That's the main thing I can say about Dawn of Relic's new CD Night on Earth.
Dawn of Relic is a band from Finland. They released their first demo in '93 and their second in '97. Their debut album One night in Carcosa was released in 1998 by Wicked World.
After their debut, they released two more albums, both by Seasons of Mist, who now also released their latest CD. If you like bands in the line of 'Children of Bodom' and 'In Flames' you're going to love this one. The album has got a lot of thrash riffs and a lot of oldschool shit in it. The members are not afraid to use guitar solos in their songs and I personally miss that in a lot of bands. The production of this CD sounds really good. This new album contains 8 songs. The first song begins with an instrumental intro that runs over in the second song. All songs have a lot of variety in it, and they sound fucking good… If you want more info about Dawn of Relic's new album and gigs, check out the website. |
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Visit their website: http://connect.to/dor Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.season-of-mist.com/ | 80/100 |
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| DEATH BY DAWN - One Hand One Foot - and a lot of teeth (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Death / Thrash Metal | Running time: 46:52 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Death by Dawn history starts when Pippo Colapinto has to leave his home country Italy to stay out of the hands of lady Justice.. He threw all his belongings in his car; a toothbrush and a drumkit and headed for Germany because he thought he could find a band and a job easier over there. Well, he preferred a band, coz in Italy he already played in "Ossian" and "Sacral Death" and playing in a metal band meant everything to him. After several bands he met Gino Core Leone who had played in bands like "Mad Max" and "Mirage" with which he recorded several albums, but at this stage Gino was considering playing metal more as he hobby. But Gino was an experienced bassplayer and the two of them started to write new songs. Lots of line-up changes followed, but they didn't seem to findanyone with the right attitude and skills. Then a guitarplayer called markus joined them and the first songs were written in no time. All they needed now was a shouter, but again they couldn't find no-one that fitted. Meanwhile Pippo was working in The Netherlands and there he had a longhaired collegue of whom he was sure he had seen somewhere before. One day he saw the tattoo of the guy and he asked him what the drawing meant. "It says Pestilence," the guy answered: "one of the bands iI used to sing in." Pippo couldn't believe his luck and asked Martin immediately to join Death by Dawn but he refused. He didn't want to have anything to do with the "whole shit musicindustry." Pippo didn't give up though. "The boys now had sufficient material to enter a studio, but they still didn't have a singer. Once again Pippo asked Martin and this time he decided to do it. But only to help Pippo out for one time, coz the two of them became good friends in that period. Martin didn't want to join the band, only to sing in the songs. So at Martin Hantuliks Tanztee studio in Rheine, Germany, Death by Dawn recorded their first 5-track demo. A new singer came and a few gigs followed, but the band wasn't satisfied with their vocalist and after the second demo he left the band. Now they had the problem again of finding a replacement and they had some shows to do in Italy and Germany. And again Pippo asked Martin and again he decided to help them out. Martin learned all the tracks in a couple of days and together with Italian deathsters Mutala they absolved the shows. During those shows Martin had so much fun that he informed the rest that he would join them permanently. Rapidly new songs were written and the the 3rd demo "Dedicated to the oppressed" was finished at the end of 2003. After a few demo's and line-up changes the band finally recorded their debut album lately. Singer Martin van Drunen is a very wellknown deathmetal vocalist (Pestilence, Asphyx, Boltthrower) and still owns his typical grunts! But dont ecpect anything in the vein of the bands mentioned above; Death by Dawn plays a mix of thrash & deathmetal which is not sounding very original. It;s the throat of Martin van Drunen that makes the difference with a lot of other thrash/deathmetal bands. Its not fair to compare Death by Dawn with Martin;'s older bands but in the back of my head, I did. Nevertheless; this is a very nice death 'n roll album and i'm curious if the band will make it with this kind music. Just check them out if you're interested! |
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Visit their website: http://www.death-by-dawn.de/ Recordlabel: http://www.stf-records.de/ | 70/100 |
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| DEADSTAR ASSEMBLY - Unsaved (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Industrial | Running time: 51:52 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| Deadstar Assembly is an Industrial band from America. The band was founded in 2001 and released one self-titled album before this one that is reviewed right here. When I heard the first song (Unsaved pt.1), one word came into mind. Aggression. Pure aggression. A rawer version of the industrial songs of Marilyn Manson who is obvious a major influence to this band. If it's not by song, than it's by looks. The band Mudvayne also comes to mind. As the album proceeds, the songs get more and more melodic, but maintain that aggressive feeling. Deadstar Assembly is able to write catchy songs. But unfortunately that doesn't last the entire album. The record as a whole sounds kind of average to me. I'm sure this album will find it's way to a young audience. Fans of Manson, Murderdolls and Mudvayne should check this out. Not really my thing… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.deathstar.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.thealabel.com/ |
70/100 |
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| DEGREE ABSOLUTE - Degree Absolute (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 57:16 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Degree Absolute was formed in 1999 around guitarist/singer Aaron Bell, an experienced musician. The band is completed by bassplayer Dave Lindemann and drummer Doug Beary. This debut album is a good one. The musicianship is very skilfull and professional. The songs are cool, heavy and somewhat progressive. Now the recordcompany says it's somewhere between Fates Warning's semi progressive melodies and...Watchtower's technical skills...the Fates Warning bit is indeed sometimes very noticable, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that this band has any of skills of Watchtower. There's however one song in which this band attempts to head in the direction of Watchtower. The comparison to bands such as Symphony X comes lots closer I think. The vocals are not that strong, I think. With a more powerfull singer (maybe even some background vocals) this cd would have been lots better. However..don't mind me yapping on about comparrisons and different singers. To make a long story short...It all sounds good (also thankx to brilliant producer Neil Kernon) but not that exiting or refreshing, which in my humble opinion is still the idea behind progressive music. Anyway...for progmetal-heads, have a listen you might enjoy it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.degreeabsolute.com
Recordlabel: http://www.intromental.com/sensoryrecords |
77/100 |
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| DELTA - Apollyon is free (CD) | Chile | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Neoclassical Heavy Metal | Running time: 70:07 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This young Chilean band was formed in 2003 and this is the bands debut album. Delta plays neoclassical metal with some progressive metal elements and they do remind me to a band like Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. Good technical metal with great guitar-solos, nice work in keyboards but with a moderate singer. I think that this band has the opportunity to become great but before that; they have to search for another (read: better) singer and spend some more time on the production of the follow-up album! Nice band; check them out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.deltachile.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.risestar.cl/ |
70/100 |
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| DEMONBREED - Closer to God (CD) | England | July 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Heavy/Thrash Metal | Running time: 44:59 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Demonbreed was formed in late 2003 and consists of Mike Hatchett (vocals), Phil Simmons (Guitar), Stu Davey (Bass), Jimmy Searles (Guitar), Ben Moss (Drums). In 2004 a promo CD was recorded called 'Middle Finger up' which resulted in the recording of "Closer to "God" in 2005. Most of the songs on "Closer to God' are listenable but on the other hand the the riffs get boring really fast and what's up with song 2,3,8 having the same "drum" intro it sounds like your gonna play the same song all over again that's no good. They should've spent more time in the studio because you can hear that the sound is not of good quality. It's not all negative, I do like the vocals, they give a nice touch of hardcore/metalcore to their music you should keep that but all the rest can go. So for now you'll just have to accept this negative review and I hope that the future makes room for improvement for this band. This album will go straight to my closet and become a dust collector. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.demonbreed.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk/ |
47/100 |
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| DESTYNATION - Rising Up (CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 54:07 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Destynation rose from the ashes of the swedish powermetal band Eternia in February 2005. The band is located in the city of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.
In July 2005, only five months after the start, Destynation signed a worldwide deal with SONIC AGE RECORDS. So this is Destynation's debut album and its a damn good one (as most of the Sonic Age bands). A lot of magazines & webzines compare the band with Hammerfall but I dont agree with them at all; Destynation has a singer that can really sing (Hammerfall has not) and the band is not singing the typical Helloween sing-a-long happy-metal. The band plays powermetal in the vein of bands like DragonForce, Dream Evil and Nocturnal Rites and have a great singer in their ranks; Anders Haggkvist, who reminds me sometimes to Joey Tempest (Europe). To me this is not a typical Sonic Age Records band but it suits me that they have signed a band that rises above the mediocrity of similar bands. Good choice, good album. Check them out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.destynation.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.sonicagerecords.com/ |
90/100 |
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| DEVILYN – 11 (CD) | Poland | October 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Technical Death Metal | Running time: 25:28 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Devilyn started in 1992 under the name Cerebral Concussion, in 1994 they released their first demo (The Rule). In 1996 they changed the name in Devilyn and signed a two-album contract with Listenable Rec. Their debut album "Anger" was well received in the world wide metal scene and followed by a tour with Cannibal Corpse and Krabathor.
In 1999 they released their second album "Reborn in pain". The year 2000 was another important break in band's life. Three members left the band. Instead, two new faces came to Devilyn: Basti (drums) and Dino (guitar) were the new ones. With the arrival of these two the band changed their style to a more brutal and technical side of death metal. The band received new help, from M. Wardzala, which led to a new contract, with Plastic Head (Blackend). By the end of the year 2001 they released their third album "Artefact". This album has been getting everyone on their knees from the beginning, bringing Devilyn back on track and proving that there is a lot to expect from this band.
In 2004 they signed up with Conquerer Rec. and last year they released "11". This new album is a very technical and brutal death metal album with a lot if variety in it. The guitars have a very flaming sound and the drums are very straight to the point. The brutal voice of the singer gives it the finishing touch. You'll like this if you're into Vader, Trauma, Krisiun, Visceral Bleeding or better said: if you like fast and technical death metal…..as I do. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.conquerec.com
Recordlabel: http://www.devilyn.metalkings.com |
80/100 |
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| DEZPERADOZ - The Legend and the Truth (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 50:30 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| Every now and then your attention is caught by an album that has no single weak moment. This is what happened to me when I heard the second album of the band Dezperadoz, which is called 'The legend and the truth".This concept album tells the story of Western hero Wyatt Earp and his tumultuous life. The brain behind this all is guitarist/singer Alex Kraft. The Onkel Tom (Angelripper) guitarist sees music as an adventure that can be experienced in a certain concept. Which in this case, is the Wild West. It was in the year of 1999 when they released their first album, 'The dawn of Dying'. That is when this new musical world has begun. Now it is 2006, and the band is back with a second record. Along with Guitarist Dennis Ward (Pink cream 69), Drummer Sascha Tilger (Tom Angelripper, Tyrant eyes), and Bassist Alex Weigand, Kraft has managed to make this original album. The music can be described as straight out Heavy Metal that has an western flair to it. At first I've had my doubts about this slightly 'unusual' combination, but as soon as I pressed the play button, my doubts were washed away because of the pounding metal that reminded me of the later Motörhead albums, in combination with the catchy melodies and the diversity of Alex Kraft's voice and the songs. Also the pompous extra sounds contribute a lot to the atmosphere of the album. When you listen to a concept album, you often have to pay good attention to the lyrics to understand the story. Dezperadoz has made it easy for you. As soon as the intro starts, they'll take you away 125 years ago, and they're telling you the truth…of a legend. In my opinion, this album is easy to listen to and before you know it, the ride is over. The diversity of the album keeps it fresh and exiting. Fast and heavy songs are going hand in hand with mid tempo song structures, and even some ballads. The music, the lyrics and the right atmosphere are the ingredients for this killer album! The first Desperadoz album 'The dawn of dying' certainly wasn't bad, but this time the band has really outbid itself. Not just for metal heads, but for Rock lovers in general. Do yourself a favour and listen to this record. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.dezperadoz.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ | 90/100 |
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| DISARMONIA MUNDI - Mind Tricks (CD) | Italy | August 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 45:28 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| "Mind Tricks" is already the third release of this Italian band 'Disarmonia Mundi' which was formed back in 1999 and consists of Claudio Ravinale (vocals), Ettore Rigotti (guitars, drums, vocals, keyboards) & Speed Strid (vocals). I didn't even hear one word from them untill now although one of my favourite bands is Soilwork and the vocalist of Soilwork is also the vocalist of 'Disarmonia Mundi'; shame on me. This band is kind of a mixture between In Flames, Children of Bodom, Killswitch Engage and offcourse Soilwork. In fact the band is so similar to Soilwork that if i didn't know the name of this band i would've guessed that it was a new Soilwork album. Some people may consider this as a flaw but I think it's great considering that I am a die hard Soilwork fan. So what do you get when you buy this cd well you get 11 great songs with mighty and catchy riffs and vocal à la Soilwork. This band is now definetely one of my favourite bands and I will try to get my hands on all their other cd's. This band is great!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.disarmoniamundi.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.scarletrecords.it/ |
90/100 |
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| DISSIMULATION – Prakeikimas (CD) | Lithuania | August 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black/ Thrash Metal | Running time: 41:08 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| Dissimulation was formed in 1993 and plays old school black thrash metal. The band has a cult status in their home land Lithuania. They released their first demo tape in 1997 and their first 7"EP in 2000 by Ledo Takas Rec. Their debut LP/CD Maras was released in 2002 by the same label. According to the dictionary 'dissimulation' is a form of deception in which one conceals one's true feelings or intentions. Well I'm not going to dissimulate about "Prakeikimas", their latest album from 2005. After a two minutes too long during intro, the band kicks off with an oldschool thrash song. It doesn't sound very original, but I can deal with that. I'm kind of an oldschool boy myself. Positive about this album is that it is a real timesaver; after listening to this first song, you've heard the rest, the 5 remaining songs sound exactly the same. To complete the bummer the last song, that starts very promising, does not end after 4,5 minutes as it should, but runs over in an outro of more than 5 minutes. Still I recommend it, if you like bands that sound like Absu at their worst. | |||
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Recordlabel:
http://www.ledotakas.net |
60/100 |
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| DRACONIAN - The Burning Halo (CD) | Sweden | November 2006 | Saral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Doom metal | Running time: 54:00 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Draconian was formed back in 1994 ,when Johan Ericson (drums, vocals), Andy
Hindenäs (guitars) and Jesper Stolpe (bass, vocals) joined forces as
KERBEROS, a melodic heavy/death metal ensemble with black metal influences.
Seven months later, lead vocalist and poet Anders Jacobsson joined the band,
which then changed its name to what it is today. Draconian is definetely one
of the best doom band's out there. Why Draconian is so special is just because there is a perfect combination between Anders Jacobsson's growls and the spoken word vocals of Lisa Johansson's. Many other bands have used the death metal/gothic combination, but with the darkness and epic sound of Draconian it really works well. I've been long awaiting this album and I hope it will surpass their previous album in excellence. This isn't actually a total new release because "Serenade Of Sorrow", "The Morning Star" & 'The Gothic Embrace" were all on 'The Closed Eyes Of Paradise' demo from 1999. Offcourse these songs were all enhanced. "On Sunday They Will Kill The World" is a cover of Ekseption from 'Ekseption 3' which dates back to 1970! While "Forever My Queen" is a pentagram cover from 1972. I was rather surprised that i heard an ekseption cover on a doom album but they managed to do a really good job in covering it. This is an excellent release although I had hoped that there would've been more songs coming from draconian and not just covers. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.draconian.se/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com/ |
90/100 |
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| DREAMLAND - Future's Calling (CD) | Sweden | May 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 49:33 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Dreamland started years ago under the name Infinity. They earned a slot at Sweden Rock with the demo "Crystal Age" which made even the prodigy-spoiled Swedish audience look up and listen to this fresh approach to Heavy Metal. The demo was followed up by the single "The Call" in 2002. They called – and Joacim Cans listened. The Hammerfall singer took the promising band under his wings and helped them clear their hassles. Finally the band decided on the name Dreamland and recorded the song "Falling Higher" in the fall of 2002. This was the foundation for a lasting co-operation, and they went back into Joacim Cans "Moonshine Studios" in October 2003 to record some more songs. After much songwriting throughout 2004, this is where another influential figure in Swedish metal enters: Andy LaRocque (King Diamond) split the recording duties for their first full album with Joacim Cans; Andy recording drums, mixing and mastering and Joacim recording vocals, bass & guitars and adding his vocal chords to the background vocals. "Future's Calling" is a very nice album in the vein of bands like Hammerfall, Iron Savior but do remind me even more of German bands like Heaven's Gate and Chroming Rose. Musically it's not all very original and you can share this kind of metal under the name 'Happy Metal'. Dreamland has the luck to have a very good singer in their ranks and thats why they rise above the mass of Happy-metal bands that are active these days!! When in studio in Gothenburg not only Andy LaRoque but also Fredrik Nordström and Snowy Shaw of Dream Evil were convinced of Singer Joacim Lundberg's abilities and asked him to sing on the upcoming Dream Evil album. Conclusion; Nice album, good singer, well produced!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.dream-land.nu/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com | 72/100 |
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| DRY KILL LOGIC - Of Vengeance and Violence (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Tsatsral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Metalcore | Running time: 52:48 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Dry Kill Logic first saw daylight in 1992 but they spent 8 years as an
unsigned regional act before finally hitting their stride with the 2001
release of the band's debut album ,'The darker side of Nonsense'. They spent
twelve months touring with the likes of Spineshank, Fear Factory and Kittie
which and soon afterwards the band was branded as a headliner. Their
previous album 'The dead and the dreaming' proved that they weren't just
another metalcore band trying to sell their merchandise without really
caring wether it is good or bad and now with their latest release 'Of
Vengeance and Violence' they prove that they are one of america's best kept
metalcore secret's. If you compare Dry Kill Logic to other bands they're really more heavy some songs even have that death metal edge. My favourite song on this album is definetely '4039' because it reminds me of Killswitch Engage which is one of my favourite bands of all time. I really enjoyed this cd and it's definetely going to be in my list for best cd of the year. This was an excellent release and i hope to hear from them soon!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.drykilllogic.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.repossessionrecords.com/ |
90/100 |
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| DRY KILL LOGIC - The Magellan Complex (CD+DVD) | USA | August 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Nu metal | Running time: 11:16 (CD) + 25:53 (DVD) | ||
| Dry Kill Logic was formed in 1995 in Westchester, New York and consists of Cliff Rigano (vocals), Jason Bossi (guitar), Danny Horboychuk (bass) & Phil Arcuri (Drums). I don't understand the purpose of this cd. The first two songs are covers the first song is a Guns 'n Roses cover of 'It's so easy' and the second song is a Danzig cover of 'Dirty black summer'. The only 'Dry Kill Logic' song is 'From victim to Killer' and I must say it's just above average. The DVD also contains three songs 'The Magellan Complex', 'Paper Tiger' and 'DKL in N.O.L.A.'. The purpose of this cd is beyond me so if you see it don't mind buying it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.drykilllogic.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.psychodramarecords.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.repossessionrecords.com/ |
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| DUNGEON - Resurrection (CD) | Australia | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 50:30 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Dungeon's 16 year long history began in August 1989, in the outback town of Broken Hill. What started as humble jam session in a high school hall eventually turned into a world-class, international touring machine and one of the biggest Australian heavy metal bands of all time. Formed by singer and guitarist 'Lord' Tim, Dungeon relocated to Sydney in 1992 and eventually singed a world-wide publishing deal with BMG Australia which led to the release of the Changing Moods demo EP (featuring drumming virtuoso Virgil Donati). The band's first official album, "Resurrection", was recorded which further raised Dungeon's profile (along with new bassist Brendon 'Dakk' McDonald). With the release of their 2002 release, "A Rise To Power", Dungeon went from strength to strength with national tours with Edguy, Doro and Destruction, and another change of guitarist with Stuart Marshall taking over from Dale Corney. 2003 was a landmark year for Dungeon, who signed a priority deal with heavyweight metal label, Limb Music Products. In 2004, Dungeon began recording the follow up album to "A Rise To Power" entitled "One Step Beyond" (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews), and also simultaneously re-recording their 1999 debut, "Resurrection" with the current line-up and modern production values for a proper world-wide release through LMP. Last year (2005) Dungeon announced that Stu and Glenn would be leaving the band, and that Lord Tim had chosen to dissolve Dungeon and concentrate on LORD, which was originally a solo side-project, but would now continue on as a full band where Dungeon left off. Well, last year I already reviewed their latest album "One step Beyond" And I wasnt really positive about that one. I named them a kind of bad replica of Helloween. After listening to this re-released & re-recorded debut album of the band I have to swallow my words!! This "older" stuff is very good and much more agressive than their later stuff and I think it was a good choice to re-release this album!! Pitty that the band doesnt exist anymore these days! Nevertheless; I enjoyed to review this great album and its a worthy addition to my CD collection! Check them out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.dungeon.cd/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de/ |
85/100 |
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| DYECREST - This Is My World (CD) | Finland | May 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Melodic Heavy Metal | Running time: 44:01 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Dyecrest is a Finnish band founded back in 1993. The group started its career under the name of Fairytale and changed it to Dyecast in 2001 after some line-up changes. Dyecast recorded its debut album "The Way of Pain" in 2004 after winning a contest held by Noise Records but was forced to change its name once more due to legal reasons. I have to admit that the music of Dyecrest is quite confusing since I can't really decide in what genre it belongs. But after all they come from Finland, a country with many special and strange bands so I guess that this difficulty of mine is somehow normal. The style is obviously modern with a progressive touch and lots of melodic parts. They reminded me of late Amorphis and Conception but I don't think that Dyecrest sound like any other band in particular, their music is quite original. The powerful and melodic vocals of Kimmo Blom seem to be the band's strongest point along with the lead guitar skills of all three (!!!) guitar players. I really enjoyed "Banished" (maybe their most power metal like song), "My Only Sin" and "Failed One". The cover artwork could have been much better though. |
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Visit their website: http://www.dyecrest.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ | 66/100 |
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| EDEN'S FALL - Harmony of Lies (CD) | USA | May 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Melodic Thrash Metal | Running time: 43:22 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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After parting ways with their original singer and guitarist in April 2000 founding members Ray Smith(drum), Tony Gronowski(guitar), and Dan Gronowski (bass) quickly recruited guitarist Rob Aquino into the band, finding a new singer though was not going to be easy. After three months of posting ads and auditioning singers that just didn't seem to fit in, lead singer John Barr answered their ad in a local music magazine. With the line up solidified Eden's Fall was officially formed in august 2000. This is, as far as I know, the bands first full length album and its a damn good one! The album is mixed by Dan Swano (EDGE OF SANITY, BLOODBATH, PAN THY MONIUM) and mastered by James Murphy (TESTAMENT, DEATH, OBITUARY) and it sounds awesome for a self-financed/released CD. The bands plays a kind of melodic US-thrashmetal and do remind me to a lot of bands; Sacred Reich, Forbidden, Testament & Division. Singer John Barr has a powerfull, raw voice thats fitts perfekt to the thrashy songs and musically it also all sounds great; good compositions!! Personally I prefer singers with high-pitching vocals but thats not always necessary to deliver a good album. Eden's Fall proves it!! Check this band out!!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.edensfall.com/ | 88/100 |
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| ELDRITCH - Neighbourhell (CD) | Italy | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive / Power Metal | Running time: 45:24 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Back in 1991, vocalist Terence Holler, guitar player/songwriter Eugene Simone and drummer Adriano Dal Canto established ELDRITCH from the remainders of their former band ZEUS. The target was to mix the influences of bands like QUEENSRYCHE, ANNIHILATOR, CORONER and FATES WARNING with own ideas to create a new, original sound. Already the first demo "Reflections Of Sadness" was received very well by the media, and 1992 the line-up was completed by Martin Kyhn (bass) and Oleg Smirnoff (keys). With their tape "Promo Tracks 93", ELDRITCH introduced themselves to the musical world as a real band, and the music publisher Limb Music Publishing included them in their roster. It was Limb Schnoor himself who made it possible for them to release their debut album "Seeds Of Rage" on InsideOut Music in 1995. This album was followed in 1997 by "Headquake". In 1998 ELDRITCH released "El Nino" - the band presented itself even more multi-faceted. There were not only influences of DREAM THEATER, QUEENSRYCHE and FATES WARNING, but clearly harder and thrashier passages which remind you of METALLICA, CORONER, ANNIHILATOR, and even PANTERA. In the meantime, keyboarder Oleg Smirnoff had been replaced by Sean Henderson, and drummer and co-founder Adriano Dal Canto had to leave due to health problems, too. But the band landed a more than equally matched substitute: Dave Simeone who had honed his skills for a long time in the United States. During the years after, they concentrated on songwriting and a label change. With the release of "Reverse" in May 2001, it became evident that ELDRITCH couldn´t be compared with a conventional Metal band. With Rob 'Peck' Proietti, the line-up was reinforced with an additional rhythm guitar. During the next three years, ELDRITCH prepared for the next level. Again, it was time for changes: Sean Henderson (keys) and Martin Kyhn (bass) left the band due to personal reasons, so the remaining members decided to carry on without a keyboarder and to recruit a female bass player, Lisa Oliviero, which was a temporary solution until the discovering of the young and talented John Crystal. Lisa gave a great hand but she had to return to her former band Icycore (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews). Finally, the Italians signed a new deal with LIMB MUSIC PRODUCTS and polished up the material for "Portrait Of The Abyss Within" (see also Archive CD/DVD Reviews) Well finally here's the bands 6th release "Neighbourhell". After listening to the album several times I have to conclude that I personally prefer their 5th album "Portrait of the Abyss Within" much more than this new album. "Neighbourhell" is again a real technical masterpiece with a lot of great compositions and it sounds awesome. The reason I prefer the predecessor has to do with the more clean sounding songs and the overall production of that album. The new album has some rawer songs that dont fit to their roots. Nevertheless this is, again, a great album by these Italian progmetallers and I hope to see the band live on stage soon in the very near future! Check them ou!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.eldritchweb.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de/ |
81/100 |
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| ELIZIUM - Angel of Mistrust (CD) | The Netherlands | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Epic / Gothic Metal | Running time: 48:38 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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This is the debut album by the Dutch gothic epical metal band Elizium. When Peter Berends, Peter Roge and Gerard Manoch started Elizium back in 1991 it was clear a vision had to be translated to sound. The first two years consisted mainly of line-up changes and playing covers of other bands, but then the music started to get shape.
Most of the songs were based on lyrics with themes about fantasy, glory, love and a small spark of hope and needed a distinct sound to translate it to an audience. Especially when keyboards and samples were introduced it contributed to the epic characteristic "Elizium" sound.
After that Elizium became quickly familiar in the local underground scene and the first demo was recorded; "War and Knowledge" (1995). In 1996 the band members went their separate ways and Berends, Roge and Manoch individually played in several other bands,only to find out they each missed the atmosphere and belief they had in Elizium.
Thus after three years they decided to bring Elizium back again. Soon after that Erik Dijkstra joined on keyboards.
In 2002 Marco Snoek replaced the former bass-player and became a member of the current line-up.
In 2003 the recordings of the "Angel of Mistrust" demo-cd were finished and received enthousiastically by hundreds of people.
2005 was an important year for Elizium. After a period of relative quietness, due to the tragic death of an important person to Elizium, named Peter Deurloo, a record contract was signed at German STF-Records. It was then decided to release this full demo including four extra songs to distribute worldwide. Personally I had never heard of this band from my homeland The Netherlands and I was surprised also to receive this album from a German recordlabel. Epic & Gothic metal are not really my thing but I have to admit that this album sounds pretty good! Not the standard female gothic voices & choirs you are used to with this kind of music. Singer Peter Berends has a good throat and productional it all sounds very good. Only complain is the less variation of speed in the songs otherwise I would have rated it a lot higher. Pitty that there will be no follow-up to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy otherwise these guys should have written the music for that movie if it's to me! If you're into gothic/epic and also sick of all the Tanja's, Sharon's, Anneke's and other female gothic singers, check out this band! They have my blessing!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.elizium.nu/ Recordlabel: http://www.stf-records.de/ |
75/100 |
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| ELVENKING - The Winter Wake (CD) | Italy | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Folk Metal | Running time: 51:48 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Elvenking is folk metal band that has been around since 1997. On the first two albums "Heathenreel" and "Wyrd" they play a softer kind of elfish metal that misses power. Well, they have made up for that loss, because "The Winter Wake" has more power than it should. No, they have not gone over the top, but their brand of music has lost most of the real soft melodic edge that it had, even with the prominent place the violin takes on this album. It now is much more direct, less fluffy and that does make a huge difference. Especially to their old fans, because they need time to adjust to the new style. They will succeed, because the difference is not that immense as I write here. No, you can still hear Elvenking, only now they have mixed their sound with the more powerful effects of Skyclad. And it works, because the more you listen, the more you get sucked in. Elvenking know how to execute good folk metal and have found themselves on "The Winter Wake". | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.elvenking.net/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ | 75/100 |
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| ENEMIES SWE - Behind Enemy Lines (CD) | Sweden | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Sleaze Rock | Running time: 43:51 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Good sleaze never gets dull. That is a fact. Bad sleaze rock is absolutely boring. That is also a fact. So the question always is if this is a good album or not. Well, Enemies Swe has certainly listened carefully to all the right bands, as to make this debut album as worthwhile as possible. In my opinion they have succeeded and that is a feat they can congratulate themselves on. This has power, guts, determination and a drive that is never ending. All these qualities make "Behind Enemy Lines" a real good party album, because that is also a major decisive factor when deciding if a sleaze band has what it takes: you need to be able to party to their album. Well, my wife has been trying to get me to stay out of the curtains, let go of the ceiling lights, put down the broomstick and stop diving over the couch. She has failed every time, because it is impossible to sit still to Enemies Swe. At least she is thankful to them for not making the album more than 44 minutes. She wouldn't survive otherwise. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.enemiesswe.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ | 78/100 |
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| ENTER MY SILENCE – Coordinate: D1SA5T3R (CD) | Finland | July 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 35:25 min (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Started out in 1995 as a band called Captivity, they made two demos under that name and changed their name to Enter My Silence late '98. They released a promo mini-cd called "Sophia's Eye" in '99 and their debut album "Remotecontrolled Scythe" in 2001, and now their second full length album after 5 years. They did take their time, and it shows good structured songs and a well produced album with a great sound, not that renewing at all, but still great music. Influences you hear are In Flames and Pantera, from which they used a riff in the song '9mms to Deliverance'. They do sound quite melodic, just listen to songs like the titeltrack and 'The paradox of two' , but also brutal like the start off of the album 'Thin red line' . So if you are into melodic death metal this could well be your band, it's hardly original but what they do, they do it excellent! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.entermysilence.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.jmt-music.net |
70/100 |
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| EVIL ONE - Shades of Life (CD) | France | July 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 43:29 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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This melodic metal band from Paris was formed in 1997. So far they have released four CD's. The evil one, (1998) Dark Flames, (2002) Below (2004) and their latest album which is reviewed here, Shades of life. Their music has gone through a natural progression over the years. Since Below, they have decided to work with female vocals through the voice of Lead Vocalist Klaair. This is a big difference in comparison with other similar bands.
Someone has named the style Gothic Trash before, and I totally agree with this. Although there are also death en heavy metal influences on the album, Trash metal with gothic parts are the most common styles. The guitar sound is very thin, but that doesn't bother me. Evil one, together with other bands like Megadeth, prove that you can make a heavy album without a heavy distorted guitar sound. Back to Shades of Life then. The album consists of ten songs, and they sound as a whole. The style is earlier described, although I think that Trash metal is the most prominent style on the album. There are some brilliant riffs within the songs, which make your head wants to bang.. That, of course, is always a big plus. The compositions are original. Normally the songs are purely trash, death, gothic or heavy metal. Evil One combined these styles into songs that you don't get tired of. The album has caught my attention, which is not always the case nowadays. Listen for example to the title track 'Shades of life, 'or 'World collapse : Part 1.' These songs have riffs that will stay in your head for days and days. I like this album. It is totally my type of music. I was not familiar with the band until this point, but I will certainly check out their back catalogue. When they get a better production on the next album, I think that Evil one's fifth CD is going to be a smasher. Great! | |||
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Visit their website: http://evilone.music.free.fr/
Recordlabel: http://deadsun.free.fr/ |
85/100 |
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| EXAWATT - Time Frames (CD) | Italy | July 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Progressive Power Metal | Running time: 67:33 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Exawatt is an Italian progressive metal band with a story that begins 15 years ago. Singer Luca Benni founded the group along with drummer Stefano Coletti in 1991. Many demos and promos followed but Exawatt wouldn't release their debut until 2005, failing to make their appearance during the heyday of the progressive genre. "Time Frames" is a progressive metal album with many symphonic elements. Exawatt is a band clearly influenced by Classical music and composers like Giuseppe Verdi (they even use a part from "La Forza del Destino" in the opening track). Though not as heavy as Symphony X for example, the band has an obviously milder sound. All musicians are truly excellent but the leading role belongs to the keyboards, played by virtuoso Andrea Corsetti. The man uses a variety of sounds and playing styles, creating some very interesting parts. The main feature of the album is a nostalgic feeling or a sense of melancholy if you prefer. The whole atmosphere somehow reminded me of Dream Theater's "Awake" although Exawatt has a more European oriented sound. I don't know what the future holds for this talented quintet but I believe they deserve your attention for a start. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.exawatt.it/
Recordlabel: http://deadsun.free.fr/ |
78/100 |
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| FACEWRECK - Daily Hustle (CDemo) | The Netherlands | May 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Hardcore | Running time: 19:30 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| This is the second release of this band, founded in 2002 with members of I-Reject, Deadweight and Dead By Dawn, and it's not a bad one although it has some surprises. The CD starts with an intro after which the first song 'You missed again' starts, this song has a lot of variation in it and is actually quite original, but they really go loose on the second track 'wake up' which even reminds me a bit of Agnostic Front. Next up is 'Wait & See', what a cool song this is, again lots of variation and fast and slow parts in it, can be compared with Madball, Agnostic Front and even D.R.I. in my opinion, great stuff! The big surprise starts with song number 4, this one does not belong on this cd, it's a hip/hop rap song called 'Kwaad' done by a friend of them (Kankah D.), they would have scored much higher if they had left this out! But luckily for me, the next song is absolutely the best on this cd, it's 'Bringin' it back' and it blew me away, after this we get the next surprise, it's the title track of this CD and sounds quite good, but unfortunately it lasts too long and gets a bit boring in the end. So if they leave these surprises out next time and instead put some more songs like 'Wake Up' or 'Bringin' it back' on it, they would make me very happy, and a lot of people with me I think... | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.facewreck.nl/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.scenestarbookings.com/ | 70/100 |
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| FALCONER - Northwind (CD) | Sweden | November 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Folk Heavy Metal | Running time: 54:21 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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Pleasantly surprised I was when I put on this new Falconer cd, I didn't know this band and this is already their fifth album. They have been around since '99, and did already four albums before this one. When they recorded their demo in '99 and sent it out, Metal Blade showed interest and got to sign them. In 2001 their self titled debut album was released with Mathias Blad, a local musical artist, on vocals. "Chapters from a Vale Forlorn" was their second album released in 2002, also with Mathias on vocals. After they played some festivals (a.o. Wacken), Mathias left the band due to lack of time and Kristoffer Gobel from the band Destiny stepped in. The concept album "The Sceptre of Deception" came out in 2003, followed by "Grime vs. Grandeur" in 2005 after some line up changes. By the end of 2005 Mathias returned to Falconer, and in 2006 "Northwind" saw the light of day. Falconer has a real refreshing sound, with clean vocals by Mathias, it's a bit strange combination to some maybe, but it works and sounds really good! The album has 14 tracks on it, and sounds real diverse with real fast songs like 'Northwind', "Blinded" and 'Perjury and Sanctity' but also some kind of ballad 'Long gone by' and everything in between. Great musicianship to find here, it takes some time getting used to maybe but it's great stuff, I like it anyway. For those of you who don't know them give it a try and you won't be disappointed, if you're into this kind of metal! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.falconermusic.com
Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de |
85/100 |
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| FAIR WARNING – Brother's Keeper (CD) | Germany | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Metal | Running time: 70:23 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Five years ago Fair Warning decided to quit. Damn! What a waste. From the time they were called Zeno they have produced good melodic music. FW even has four albums to their name, none of them are bad! It was just that the songs got more and more pre fabricated, which killed the initial spontaneity of the band. Now they're back, because singer Tommy Heart felt it was time to start again. When that word came out, everyone was hoping for an album that would blast them into their rightful place in melodic metal. Fair Warning has listened! They have tried to recapture the enthusiasm of their debut and frankly, they have come real close. The big difference is that they have grown as songwriters. Therefore you get an album with well written and superbly executed melodic metal. It is heavy, it rocks, but you can sing along whenever you want because that essential bit of commercial feeling is in there as well. Just listen to the first song "Don't Keep Me Waiting". That sums up everything that Fair Warning stands for and that makes "Brother's Keeper" an absolute must for the fans of good clean musical fun. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
82/100 |
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FAIR WARNING – Fair Warning (CD) FAIR WARNING – Rainmaker (CD) |
Germany | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Classic Heavy Metal | Running time: 47:36/64:52(Tracks: 12/15) | ||
| Fair Warning is releasing a new album called "Brothers Keeper". To celebrate this, Frontiers is re-releasing the first two albums of the band. You know what you get. Good music that is well written and aptly executed by the musicians. Old fashioned German metal with a pleasant voice in front. Hints of Dokken and Queensryche atre mixed in there and that makes these albums very enjoyable to listen to. The self titled first album is the heaviest of the two, because they were just going for broke, the intensity with which this melodic rock is played reminds me (yes, again) of Dokken in their "Tooth And Nail" period. "Rainmaker" is also good, but you can hear that Fair Warning has decided to put in some more melancholic spots. Thankfully they have still put the emphasis on the heavy stuff, which makes this another great listen. If you have never heard this band before, listen to these, their best two albums as far as I am concerned. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.fair-warning.de/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
78/100
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| FAIR WARNING – The Call Of The East (Live In Japan) (DVD) | Germany | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Metal | Running time: 120 minutes (Tracks: 23) | ||
| How do you review a concert that a band has done 13 years ago? That's a difficult one, until you watch the concert. Yes, the hair is out of date, but the music isn't. No, not even today. This is a band that does know how to rock and play. Not to bring on a show, because the musicians sometimes look as if they have a broomstick up their bums. They are very static. The singer isn't. He runs around and is really enjoying the concert. As is the audience. Many small Japanese are singing along. It is good to hear the band even play a Zeno song. As you know, Fair Warning is the follow up to Zeno. Besides the concert there are some extra's. Acoustic live songs and a great rendition of the Mother's Finest classic "Mickey's Monkey". All together makes this DVD into a good one for the fans. The other people I would advise to get "Brother's Keeper"first, and after that their debut album "Fair Warning". If both of those appeal to you, find the rest of the albums and of course, this DVD. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it |
67/100 |
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| FALLEN SANCTUARY - Theories of Ruin (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US / Progressive Metal | Running time: 54:11 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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After struggling for years with dead-end bands, brothers James Dezarn and William Dezarn decided to create a band that fulfilled their own vision of an original take on traditional Heavy Metal with modern Underground Metal influence. Thus Fallen Sanctuary was born in the late summer of 2001. At that time with James being a Drummer and William being a Bass player and, more recently, a Vocalist, writing their own songs was a new and exciting challenge. The first several months progressed as a maddening flurry of study, practicing, and writing, culminating in summer, 2002, as a 4 song demo entitled, "Malevolent Symmetry." The next 2 years saw many gains and a few setbacks. Difficulties in adding guitar players to the mix were not aided by the high standards and the desire to maintain some level of control in the direction of the writing. It became steadily clearer that the brothers were not going to find the situation they wanted by introducing new guitar players into the band. That, mixed with escalating excitement about guitar and the significant gains in ability that they had made, fueled the decision in mid 2004 to switch full-time to guitar. Fallen Sanctuary had finally come full circle to where it was always meant to be. Despite not having found a drummer or bass player at the time, they recorded their first full-length album "Theories of Ruin" during the first half of 2005, performing all instruments, even the drums and bass, and recording it in their own project studio. The band is looking for permanent members to complete the line-up so they can play live and also to get some more interest by recordlabels. "Theories of Ruin" is an independently released album which to my opinion should be promoted under the real die-hard US-metal fans . This is a damn good album and it needs some more attention because the whole album is recorded, produced & performed by only 2 guys (brothers) . These guys manage to record an album of which a lot of "complete" bands can be jealous! For a self produced album it also sounds very good. The music sounds more like a mix of (old) US-metal but with a lot of progressive elements in their songs. Bands to compare Fallen Sanctuary with are to my opinion; Sanctuary (and thats not because of the bandname!), (old) Death Angel, Katagory V, Division & a lot of other US bands. If you're into older US-metal; you should check this album out & order it at their website! This is food for US-metal fans! Also some extra attention to the recordlabels because this bands deserves it to be signed soon! | |||
| Visit their website: http://www.fallensanctuary.net |
92/100 |
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| FATT MATT – Atomic Thunder (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 43:28 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| When I got this cd, I thought who the Hell is Fatt Matt? Well he's the man behind dr. Mastermind and Wild Dogs. He also has his own label USMetal, and this is his latest achievement, when you first listen to this cd, you won't know what hit you! This album is full of power and energy, made by true metal maniacs who already earned their stripes in the eighties. Joining Matt on this album are Kurt James (Neil Turbin) on guitar, and Bryce van Patten (Jesters moon) on drums. Powerfull drums, screaming guitars and voice of the master himself, which sounds still really great, no doubt about it! If you're into eighties metal like Saxon, Metal Church, Wild Dogs, The Rods you will love this album definitely. Also found on the album is the Alice Cooper classic "Elected" where Matt shows where his roots lie, and done really well. Great songs like 'Atomic Thunder', 'Man on the Mountain' and 'Crash and Burn' which is a real speed killer track, and also on the album is an instrumental "Dance of the Demons' showing the capability of these musicians, superb I love it, just get it and listen for yourselfs. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.usmetal.com |
91/100 |
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| FLESHGRINDER - Coroner's Inquest Suit (CD) | Brasil | July 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Gore/Grind | Running time: 39:40 (Tracks: 18) | ||
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After putting this record in my CD player I had a nostalgic feeling…I ran to my LP collection and checked my Reek of Putrefaction (collector's item) of Carcass and what do you think? No scratch!!!
I don't listen to this music very often but I know the feeling and that's something I recognized by Fleshgrinder. If they had played several years ago they would just fit in between the names like Carcass, Impetigo and name a few more?
It's not very original but that's not the intention of these musicians if you ask me…..they're playing what they like and they're like what they playing!
Just blowing out their aggression on this way is better than beating up old humans on the street! I like the Blood Puss and Gastric Juice cover of the band Pungent Stench! (unfortunately not every tone is correct). That's some nice old stuff to play if you like this style! The artwork…..It's very brutal, rotten, bloody but I think the members of this band belong to the sweetest people walking on this earth! Why they try to shock with this sort of 'art' while you can make it even harder without all the blood? I think you have to stimulate the imagination of mankind……nothing's more brutal then the thing you can't see! For all the Gore grinders: GET THIS FUCKING RECORD!!!!!!!!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.fleshgrinder.deathgrind.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.goregiasticrecords.com/ |
68/100 |
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| FORETOLD - Factor (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 43:29 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Foretold was founded in 1999 and went through several name changes, and a series of singers before they came up with this one. They have already released a 4 track demo "return to zero" in 2002 under the name Altered States. Early 2004 they found a new singer in William Nijhof (also reviewer for MMM), which made their definite line up complete, then they also changed their name into Foretold. Early this year they recorded a full album "Factor", this is the first I heard of them, and it's a fucking brutal killer piece! This is old school death metal the way I like it, it even reminds me a bit of Cannibal Corpse. The long death grunts of William are brutal, and some nice guitar riffs are on this as well, it sounds real tight. This contains 7 studio tracks and 2 live tracks, and has a well done booklet, although the track listing on the back isn't quite correct, but on the inside the lyrics are in proper order, except for the 2 live tracks, but who cares. You don't hear me complaining with this music, it's great just listen to songs like 'In gods hell', 'In for the kill' and 'I am the way', with some genius arrangements in them. Also the live tracks are very brutal in your face, with a clean sound, we need more of this! Well as soon as I get the chance I will go check 'm out live, which will probably be at the Tilburg Headbangersfest. So if your into this kind of old school death metal come check 'm out on September 30 in Tilburg!(see LIBForetold was founded in 1999 and went through several name changes, and a series of singers before they came up with this one. They have already released a 4 track demo "return to zero" in 2002 under the name Altered States. Early 2004 they found a new singer in William, which made their definite line up complete, then they also changed their name into Foretold. Early this year they recorded a full album "Factor", this is the first I heard of them, and it's a fucking brutal killer piece! This is old school death metal the way I like it, it even reminds me a bit of cannibal corpse. The long death grunts of William are brutal, and some nice guitar riffs are on this as well, it sounds real tight. This contains 7 studio tracks and 2 live tracks, and has a well done booklet, although the track listing on the back isn't quite correct, but on the inside the lyrics are in proper order, except for the 2 live tracks, but who cares. You don't hear me complaining with this music, it's great just listen to songs like 'In gods hell', 'In for the kill' and 'I am the way', with some genius arrangements in them. Also the live tracks are very brutal in your face, with a clean sound, we need more of this! Well as soon as I get the chance I will go check 'm out live, which will probably be at the Tilburg Headbangersfest. So if your into this kind of old school death metal come check 'm out on September 30 in Tilburg (see LINKS) |
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Visit their website: http://www.foretold.nl/ | 87/100 |
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| FOREVER SLAVE - Alice's inferno (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 54:08 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Forever Slave was formed in 2000 by Lady Angellyca (vocals) and Servalat (guitar). Together with the other band members, they wanted to make a conceptual album. The result is "Alice's Inferno". A dramatic story with various elements in the music that defies the term 'Gothic metal.' After three well received demo's is this the first full length album of the band, and they can be proud of the result. The compositions are strong and have a great sound. Which is very clear and full. The story that is told is fascinating and it suites very well with the music. The combination of the clean vocals and the grunts work out great. Although there are some moments that really characterize the sound of Forever Slave, it is yet far from original (not the lyrics, the music) . In the past few years, we were overwhelmed with Gothic releases and some of them have managed to stand out of the rest. In my opinion this album isn't one of them, but it's certainly not a bad record. Originality is not always a must when it's played right. It is a Gothic album with a good vibe, and I would like to make my compliments for the storyline. If you're into bands like Nightwish, After forever and Within temptation, I would like you to give this album a try. It is worth it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.foreverslave.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddon-music.com/ | 78/100 |
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| FORSAKEN - Dominaeon (CD) | Malta | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Doom Metal | Running time: 53:42 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Forsaken, consisting of Leo Stivala (vocals), Albert Bell (bass), Sean Vukovic (guitars), Mario Ellul (Keyboards) and Simeon Gatt (drums) has remained one of the most consistent and long-standing bands in Malta's underground scene throughout its ten-year existence. The band started out as progressive metallers Blind Alley and the initial line-up, formed in September 1990, featured Leo Stivala (vocals), former Fall Out keyboardist Cay Schembri, Kevin Azzopardi (guitars), Simeon Gatt (drums) and Tony Azzopardi (bass).
The band adopted the epithet Forsaken shortly after the recruitment of ex-Kremation and Vandals bassist Albert Bell in July 1991. The new line-up set about writing new material that displayed an array of influences amongst the plethora of sub-genres in the Heavy Metal scene. After one demo and a few songs on split-albums the band released in February 1997 its long-awaited debut CD entitled "Evermore" on Storm Records. On the 4th January, 2001, Daniel Magri, the band's longest serving guitarist, passed away after a long and courageous battle against Cancer. Daniel's contribution to the band was indeed outstanding. He had helped to re-orient the band's sound after his recruitment in 1992 and had been instrumental in the composition of several of Forsaken's most memorable tracks. In Februari 2002 Forsaken opened a new chapter in their eventful history with the release of a three-track demo simply titled "Demo 2002". Shortly after despatching the demo to various labels, the band was approached by Golden Lake Productions (Scotland, UK) with a concrete offer for a new record deal. The band's record deal with Golden Lake saw the band release a MCD entitled "Iconoclast" toward late summer 2002. This was soon followed in 2004 by the full length release "Anima Mundi" (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews) on Golden Lake Productions. The next release on Golden Lake was the re-release of the "Evermore" CD, which was re-mastered and released in January 2005 and is limited to 1000 copies only. November 2005 sees the release of the brand new Forsaken album "Dominaeon" Well this is my second acquaintance with these Maltese doommasters on CD and, again, I can be very positive about this album! The production is superb and the lay-out/sleeve (made by Jowita Kaminsky) of the album is also great! The band has found a more personal style in their music. Their latest album "Anima Mundi" sounded as a mix of Candlemass & Solitude Aeturnus. On this album they have a more own style which suits me perfect! In a few songs they use some choir arrangments and they fit perfect in their doomy style. I was already a fan during their latest release and their shows at the KIT & HOA festivals in Germany but this album beats it! Great and original doommetal album! Check it out!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.forsakenmalta.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.goldenlakeprods.co.uk/ |
90/100 |
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| FROM BEHIND - Game Over (CD) | England | August 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 44:20 (Tracks:10) | ||
| So many plusses for recent releases by Lion Music, it had to go wrong somewhere. And so it does with this album by From Behind called "Game Over", if it was up to me it really is game over. Though the band is filled with well-known British names such as Nicky Moore and Many Charlton (Nazareth, Mammoth, Samson), it gives us no guarantee for a classic hard-rock killer. The great achievement of this album maybe is the fact that this album has not one decent song on it, so the band is very stable in that way. Here and there the riffs sound like I've heard them before. Production is really bad. I hoped for an approach more like Wolf Mother is doing, but no.... All in all this cd really is below average and that's really sad coming from people who've done cool stuff in the past. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com |
40/100 |
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| FRONTSIDE – Twilight of the Gods (CD) | Poland | October 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Thrash / Death Metal | Running time: 52:07 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Well well, another band from Poland. And what a band!!!!!!!! Frontside started 11 years ago, they've had a steady line up for all these years. The band released their first demo in 1994, followed by two more. From 2000 till 2003 they released three MCD's. In 2004 they signed up with Regain Rec. and released their debut "Forgive us our Sins". That album was already released in 2002 in Polish. In 2004 they released the album "Twilight of the Gods", again in Polish. That same album is now released in English by Dockyard 1, which is a very smart move of these guys because this album contains everything a good metal album should have. The guitars are straight in your face with riff influences of Slayer, Dismember and a lot of N.Y. hardcore. The entire album sounds great and the variety in it is brutal. The variety in the vocals -from brutal to clean to screaming- completes the album. Well done! This album was well thought off, every song sounds great and leaves nothing to your imagination. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.frontsiderocks.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com |
90/100 |
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FURZE - Trident Autocrat (MCD) FURZE - Necromanzee Cogent (CD) |
Norway | July 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: CD 72:31 (Tracks: 6), MCD 27:17 (Tracks: 7) | ||
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Furze was founded in 1992. Founder Woe J. Reaper got through a lot of band members before he
decided to handle everything on his own. Furze has spread a lot of demos in very limited numbers.
The first official release was the 7 inch EP 'First Feast for Freedom', from the year 2000.
The same year 'Trident Autocrat' was released by Apocalyptic Empire Records. 'Necromanzee Cogent' followed three years later. "What the fuck is this….?" That's the first thing I thought when listening to these two albums. They both sound very dark, sick and have a very old black metal sound (think about old Burzum). Dark lyrics with a kind of filthy and chaotic sound. With chaotic I mean there are a lot of weird sounds throughout the songs. If you like anything but standard shit, you better check out one of these CD's, or even better…both. Furze is weird, extreme…and just the way I like it. | |||
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Recordlabel:
http://www.apocalypticempire.com |
80/100 |
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| GATE OF DARKNESS - Elmulas (MCD) | Hungary | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Gothic / Doom Metal | Running time: 17:34 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| Gate of Darkness is a gothic/doom metal band from Hungary that was formed in the beginning of 2001. This is the bands latest MCD and this one is self-financed. Musically they cant really impress me; the band plays a kind of Anathema/My Dying Bride music that is not devoted to me. Its not bad and productional it all sounds okay but i've heard it all so many times before. The band also uses a drum computer on this album and I hate it when a band does this. Sorry guys but this is not an album to raise above the mediocrity. | |||
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Visit their website: http://gateofdarkness.fw.hu/ |
50/100 |
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| GODS OF FIRE - Wrath of the Gods (CD) | USA | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Classic Heavy Metal | Running time: 53:07 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Never heard of this band? Neither did I. Gods of Fire exist since 2002 and delivered only a 3-song demo in the beginning. While selling this demo during their concerts they took the attention of producer Wharton Tiers (Biohazard, Helmet & White Zombie). The band decided to use Wharton's services and recorded this first full length album with him at his Fun City Studios. The band is most wellknown in the NYC region because of their powerfull, un- ironic metal shows (which contains several costume changes, epic images and a few female back-up singers / dancers known as "the Fire-ettes". GOF plays powerfull oldschool sounding true metal with a lot of good musicianship. Because of a pressure of time I review this album more than a year later after I got it and thats really a shame because this is a very good album that will be loved by a large group of true-metalheads! Hope to see this band someday at one of the German festivals because they belong overthere!! Check them out, you wont regret it!!!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.gods-of-fire.com/ | 78/100 |
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| GRAVEDROID - Tremors in Time (MCD) | The Netherlands | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: True / Dark / Heavy Metal | Running time: 8:44 (Tracks: 3) | ||
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Gravedroid is a really new band that was formed only about 1 year ago in the North of The Netherlands. This is already the second release for these shockrockers after the release of their debut "Rebellious Obsession". The band plays a mix of true, dark & modern metal. In their biography they promise to bring a spectacular live-show on stage with some extravagant outfits. According to the pictures on their website it all sounds surprising.... Musically it all sounds very nice but not that spectacular as I was hoping for. This CD is also available for free download on their website, so check them out. I think that the band has the capability to grow and i'm sure they will make it when time is right.... Compliments have to be given for the fabulous lay-out & info sheet of the band; they both look awesome! |
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Visit their website: http://www.gravedroid.nl/ |
65/100 |
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| GRAVE FLOWERS - Incarcerated Sorrows (CD) | Sweden | April 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Doom Metal | Running time: 1.00:10 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Grave Flowers started back in 1993 and used to be a one man band, namely Matte Andersson. Luckily for him and us he recruited a second man to help him. His name is Jason Jansson and together they have fabricated this very melodic kind of Doom Metal that you will find on "Incarcerated Sorrows". They did write it all, but they did not record it all. The drums were not done by a drum machine, as they did use on their debut album "Solace Me", which was released in 2000 via Serenades Records. No, they asked Jacob Bäckman to do that for them. He did a good job, as did Matte's wife Elena Andersson, who added the very purposeful used keyboards. All this together has turned "Incarcerated Sorrows" into a very pleasant listening experience. You can hear some Type O Negative in the atmosphere that is created. You can hear "Mandylion" era The Gathering in the riffing. Not that Grave Flowers has copied those bands, not al all, but they have captured all those ingredients needed to make a proper doom album. On top of all that Matte has a very pleasant clean voice. A lot of doom singers are very bad or can't keep the notes right. Matte does not have that problem. At least, not much. He sometimes comes close to singing false, but always manages to find his way back. And that, as they say, is the icing on the cake. If you do love doom, but not the raunchy type, try this. You might like it. I do. |
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Visit their website: http://www.graveflowers.net/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.firebox.fi/ |
73/100 |
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| GRENOUER - Try (CDemo) | Russia | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Death / Modern Metal | Running time: 10:48 (Tracks: 3) | ||
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Grenouer was already formed in 1992 in the city of Perm, Russia. After recording a demo in 1993 the band released their first full length album in 1996 by Metal Agen Records. At that time Grenouer was one of Russia's leading deathmetal acts. After, again, a few releases (4 full length albums) the band more and more developed an own style. The band combines deathmetal these days with a mix of modern techmetal. On the demo is a sticker with the text: "Demo of the Month" in the French HardRock Magazine. Well, I dont give a damn about that; to me it sounds crap and i'm sure that the real die-hard deathmetal fans will agree with me. This is food for Slipknot & Korn fans and not for MMM readers!!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.grenouer.com |
45/100 |
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| GUN BARREL - Bombard Your Soul (CD) | Germany | October 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Heavy Metal / HardRock | Running time: 50:05 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| German hardrockers Gun Barrel from Koln start their career in the year 2000. Playing pure hardrock/heavy metal in the vein of bands like Rose Tattoo, Motorhead and AC/DC. Party "N" Roll is their statement and if you prefer headbanging above everything else, you have to listen to Gun Barrel. Pure Hardrock/Power/Heavy Metal for traditional fans of this style of music. Unfortunately these kind of bands are never playing in The Netherlands, I don't know why? Maybe because we only have fans of mainstream heavy metal bands and or noisy black and/or death metal ? German got a new party band in the name of Gun Barrel, and I can only say you 1 thing: This band sounds great! Great singer, perfect musicians. All with the right spirit and I will say to every fan of Helloween, Rage, Rose Tattoo, Motorhead and Accept buy or die !!! ROCK "N" ROLL WITH MANY POWER METAL INFLUENCE !!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.gunbarrel.de
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de/ |
80/100 |
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| GURD - Bang! (CD) | Switserland | October 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Trash Metal | Running time: 51:08 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Legendary swiss Trashers GURD, V.O. Pulver (Vocals,Guitars), Franky Winkelmann (Bass, Vocals), Mauro Casciero (Drums) and Pat Müller (Guitars,Vocals), who just had their 10th anniversary back in 2004, are delivering their long awaited 8th longplayer. The album was recorded at V.O.'s and Franky's Little Creek Studio in Gelterkinden. This is the first time I've heard about this band and they said they were legendary? There aren't many legendary swiss metal bands except for Samael and Celtic Frost but this group definetely isn't one of them. There is nothing that makes this band special they just produce pure headbang songs that would've been good for live shows back in the nineties but now the young generation likes to headbang more to nu-metal en metalcore. I believe that this band is stuck in the nineties and needs to move on and be innovative and come up with some original material becuase this isn't going to cut it anymore. I'm not saying I don't like it I thinks its good music but the youth of today would like stuff to be more up tempo. This is a good release but a bit outdated. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.gurd.net
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com |
70/100 |
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| GUT - Shrubbery (mini CD) | USA | November 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Cross Over | Running time: 18:33 (Tracks: 5) | ||
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This is a stoner/hardcore/thrash band from Boston U.S.A.!
Never thought they'd play this music….if you hear the name "Gut" you start thinking in direction grind-core, crust-core so…..kind of surprising!
If you read their Bio it's not very surprising anymore…..every member's got his own influences and I think the results can be very diverge! Shrubbery is recorded in 2004 by Darris McFarland Count Trackula Studio and I'm thinking about Monthy Python every time when I hear or read the word shrubbery…..maybe their name comes from that????? I hear a lot of guitar licks that sound very nice and I think the band's full of good ideas…. What couldn't find was real groove…..the band sounds a bit angular; they want to play it too fast I think….I don't say it's bad! Not at all! I just want to give 'Gut' a bit feedback so maybe they can improve their playing because it is possible! They are making a mix with some very interesting musical ingredients and it gives good possibilities for making it only better!!! I think the vocals is too much the same…it could use some more variation. I see they played a lot in and around Boston so they made the scene there; I hope they will play much further in future! Play on dudes!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.bostongut.com/
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65/100 |
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| H.A.T.E. - Demo 2005 (CDemo) | USA | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 24:22 (Tracks: 6) | ||
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H.A.T.E. is actually a resurrection of Greg Wagner's (Breaker, Shatter Messiah, ex- Archetype) late 80's project by the same name, which was a top-drawing regional act. The band is currently recording their debut album in Curran's Smiley Sounds Studios. This is the studio of guitarist Curran Murphy (Shatter Messiah, Nevermore, Annihilator) who is also a member of H.A.T.E. these days. The genre of H.A.T.E. is classic / 1980's heavy metal. The production of this demo is a bit raw but that fits perfekt to Greg's voice; sometimes hoarse and also sometimes screaming like hell! This is, again, a project/band from Greg Wagner and I hope he will break through soon with one or more of his bands because this multi-talented musician deserves it! Good demo guys!! |
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Visit their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/halfwayattheend/ |
75/100 |
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| HAUTEVILLE - Relief Data Incomplete (CD) | France | August 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Rock | Running time: 44:49 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| I don't know what's up with Lion Music at the moment, but they seem to have caught a great number of artists that do make some outstanding music. As is the case with this cd by France's Hauteville...WOW, totally up my alley. Fantastic, me being a fan of progressive rock and AOR, it's a real treat. Influences varying from Gowan to Madonna, from Hughes Thrall to Tori Amos. Seems like this cd has something for everyone. Good solid musicianship and outstanding vocals by female vocalist Lydie Gosselin. Really...for AOR and melodic rock lovers, dig into this, it will definately not dissapoint you. Highlights: Monster, Pefectablism, Relief Data Incomplete | |||
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Visit their website: http://groupehauteville.free.fr/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com |
85/100 |
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| HEARTBREAK RADIO - Heartbreak Radio (CD) | Sweden | May 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: A.O.R. / Melodic Hard Rock | Running time: 46:52 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Although Heartbreak Radio is a relatively new band (or more of a project if you prefer) of the Melodic Hard Rock genre, it is consisted of quite experienced musicians from other Swedish bands like Prisoner and Last Autumn's Dream. Two singers share the vocals while Mikkey Dee (Motörhead) and Magnus Rosen (Hammerfall) handle the drums and bass. The band was formed during 2004 and released this self titled cd in 2005 for the AOR Heaven label (a division of Metal Heaven). The group's music is quite enjoyable and radio friendly Hard Rock with uplifting songs and a couple of ballads. In many cases they reminded me of fellow Scandinavians Wig Wam. The musicianship is excellent and so is the production. Not the breakthrough kind of stuff but a reliable listen when you need to cheer up. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.aorheaven.com | 72/100 |
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| HELLCITY 13 - Idem (CDemo) | Finland | April 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Sleaze / Pop / Gothic / Hardrock | Running time: 11:58 (Tracks: 3) | ||
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Hellcity 13 is a new, sensational band from Finland that plays dark and beautiful streetrock.
You can describe this band as a Sleaze/Pop/Gothic/Hardrock band in the vein of bands like; The Rasmus or HIM. From the opening track "In Your Eyes" you can easily understand that Hellcity 13 is a band that writes very impressive and catchy melodic rocktracks. The female backing vocals makes everything complete. Personally I'm not that much into music like Gothic/Pop/Rock, it all sounds normally to sweet for mebut the sleazy attitude from "Hellcity 13" makes it okay for me. The 5 guys & 1 girl in the band look very glam and that's what I like especially about them! I saw they have toured with a great band like Gemini5. Anyway I'm curious about their full lenght album. It's not really my style of rockmusic but definitely not that bad. When they will play in my neigbourhood, I will check them out for sure! I heard they have a very impressive live performance. |
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Visit their website: http://www.hellcity13.com/ |
65/100 |
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| HERO - Bless This Nation (CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Modern Metal | Running time: 35:21 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Hero is a relatively new Swedish band founded by guitarist Michael "Hero" Hjelte and bass player and producer Bjorn Sundstrom accompanied by two members of the legendary Swedish metallers Veni Domine; Brothers Torbjorn and Thomas Weinesjo in particular. "Bless this Nation" is the band's first release through the independent Good News Music label. Although the expectations seem high, the result fails to meet them in most cases. Hjelte is a good guitarist, you can tell by the majority of his solos and some really good riffs, but most of the songs sound indifferent and too contemporary for my taste. The band tries to deliver a somehow modern metal with some late Pantera elements and a couple of nu moments. Hjelte also handles the vocals, not the best thing to do in my opinion since his voice sounds quite flat and ordinary. Hero will appeal to most fans of the modern metal sound but have nothing to say to a fan of classic or traditional heavy metal. Note that the lyrics are Christian related. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.heroesplace.com/
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51/100 |
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| HIRAX - Thrash 'till Death - Live in concert (DVD) | USA | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Speed / Thrash Metal | Running time: --:-- (Tracks: 28) | ||
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Singer (and friend) Katon W. de Pena of Hirax did send me this DVD last month. The band reunited a few years ago and is still struggling to find a permanent line-up. (Read the interview I did with Katon a while ago) Hirax delivered a very good live registration from their show at last years Minneapolis Mayhem Festival (USA). Don't expect a 20 camera shot, high professional DVD with dolby surround quality or anything in that way. This is a more than reasonable live registration filmed by a few camera's and probably mixed with a Pinnacle homestudio. But does that care?? Not at all!!! This is the best way to promote real true metal with a pure & raw recording. Listening & watching this DVD gave me a real live-feeling that I dont have with other, overproduced, DVD's. There are also some live-shots on the DVD of other performances they played in 2003/2004/2005. Personally I love the Bangh Your Head Festival clips (on one of them Jack Starr from Virgin Steel has a guest performance) because I visited the 2003 edition of BYH! Every self respecting, die hard truemetal fan should have this DVD!! Check it out and order it!!! You're not only supporting Hirax with this DVD; you're supporting the whole underground scene! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.hirax. org/ Recordlabel: http://www.blackdevilrecords.com/ | 86/100 |
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HOLY MOSES - World Chaos (CD) HOLY MOSES - Queen of Siam (CD) |
Germany | July 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 49:23 (Tracks: 13), 1:09:47 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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What to tell about Holy Moses? Nothing when its up to me because when you're not already familiar with this German cult thrashband you should be ashamed!!! After the re-releases of "Finished with the Dogs" and "The New Machine of Liechtenstein" lately we got, again, two great re-releases this time. The "Queen of Siam" CD has the "Walpurgisnight" demo as a bonus and on the "World Chaos" album you will find a few live songs from several Wacken Open Air appareances the band played in the past (2001, 2003 & 2005). If you dont have this albums yet; run to your local record store and buy them a.s.a.p!!!! This band deserves it to be sponsored by you!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.holymoses.de/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddonmusic.com/ |
--/--- |
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| HORRIFIED - In The Garden Of Unearthly Delights (CD) | Greece | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 70:25 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| Let's start with a correction: this is not a new album. No, this is a re-release of their 1993 album, with as added extras the songs from the 1990 EP "Eternal God" and the 1992 7" "The Ancient Whisper Of Wisdom". And by Jove this is certainly old. You can hear the way death metal used to be written, played and recorded. And how many have the guts to use the flute when they feel like it. Horrified do. The production is not as we are used to nowadays, no; it is a lot simpler and less layered. That makes this a very honest album and I would say not a very bad one. Actually, when I keep on listening to this it keeps growing on me. It will never become mind blowing or superb, but it does become a very pleasant album. If you can say that about death metal, that is. Horrified know how to mix death with melody and grunt with female vocals. Sometimes very subtle, sometimes in your face, but always in the right tone for the song. That on its own is a merit. For a low budget recording, which this originally must have been, this sounds more than adequate. If you like death metal and have never heard of Horrified, here is your chance to find the first three recordings on one album. Don't miss it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.horrified.info/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ | --/--- |
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| HOUSE OF SHAKIRA – Live At Firefest 2005 (DVD) | Sweden | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Rock | Running time: Just over an hour. (Tracks: 10) | ||
| I always look forward to DVD's of bands that have made good CD's, but of whom you expect to have just that little when they play live. House Of Shakira is such a band, and they don't disappoint on this DVD. Their kind of Melodic Rock is very well equipped to keep your attention the whole time long. Even live they know how to sing together in tone! What is very surprising is that their former singer Mikael Eriksson is standing on the stage with them. That's something you don't see often. The songs span their whole career and give you a good picture of what House Of Shakira stands for: very well played and sung Melodic Rock. The music is catchy, most of the time they play fast and when needed they know how to slow down without getting boring. If you want to be able to swing, dance or headbang to music, here's your chance. Unfortunately the concert only lasts 10 songs, and that is way too short for me. At that point I put my attention to the extras. The four videos you get to see all stem from the time that the band was still called The Station, the time that the already mentioned Mikael was their singer. The other extra is a very short, very much summarized biography. For a band that has been together almost twenty years they could have gone into detail a lot more, as to give you an insight to all the things they have experienced over the years. They must have tons of footage to use for just such a cause. Alas, they don't, and now you have learnt some things about House Of Shakira, but not nearly enough. Thankfully they have a real English woman telling the story, so at least you don't have to annoy yourself over the awful dialects you sometimes hear. All put together I think this is a very good DVD, but they should have done a lot more to make it really worth your while. All together you just have over an hour of material, and for a first major DVD release that is way too short. That takes ten points off my grade. Only if they sell this for the same price as a CD "Live At Firefest 2005" will be worth your money. Any more and they will be overcharging. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.house-of-shakira.nu/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com/ |
73/100 |
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| ICARUS WITCH - Capture the Magic (CD) | USA | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Heavy Metal | Running time: 40:15 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Two young metal fans who felt completely estranged by what had become of the "heavy metal" scene in the past decade, decided that, rather than complain about the trendy bands they didn't like, they would form an original band writing & performing with the soul of the early masters. Jason Myers brought his experience as an A&R rep to his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along with his bass and a name that had mystically come to him in California: Icarus Witch. The types of bands Jason had been looking to sign seemed few & far between on these shores. It was a revelation when his friend (& original Witch drummer) Keith Hurka handed him a demo CD of a mind blowing, undiscovered vocal siren by the name of Matthew Bizilia. Myers & Bizilia quickly formed a powerful alliance and set about the task of building the ideal metal machine.
After a while a young shredder from the Guitar 9 school, named Steve Pollick rose above the fray, bringing his 6 string to the mix. Together with producer Eric Klinger (Pro-Pain) the new team decided to lay down a 4 song demo to help them look for a deal later on. Much like what had happened to their heroes Queensryche 20 years prior, this demo took on a life of its own and was released internationally through Magick Records (see Archive Reviews).
Last year I was already blown away by their great "Roses on white lace" EP and so I was very curious about the bands first full length album! After listening to the album several times I have to be honest and I have to say that i'm a bit disappointed. I had the same feeling 20 years ago after Queensryche released their first full length album after their fabolous debut EP! This album is still very, very good but my expectations where much higher. Complain is the fact that most of the songs are all played on the same level/speed. And thats not a plus! The CD is nevertheless very good and contains some guest appaerances of Frank Aresti (Fates Warning) on 1 song (The Ghost of Xavior Holmes) and also of George Lynch (of Lynch Mob, Dokken) on S.A.T.O. (an Ozzy Osbourne cover). The album is also obtainable as a double CD edition with a lot of bonus tracks (the EP, some covers & an enhanced videoclip). If you're into real US-metal; just check this band out! Or even better; They plays next month at the Headbangers Open Air festival in North Germany. So grab your money and travel to this fabulous festival!!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.icaruswitch.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.remedyrecords.de/ | 80/100 |
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| I FARM – IV (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Hardcore / Crossover Punkrock | Running time: 33:10 (Tracks: 14) | ||
| This is a new band to me, never heard of before, and that's a shame, cause they kick ass! This is already their fourth full length album as the title says, why I missed the first three, I don't know cause I shouldn't have. Bands that come to mind when you listen to this album D.R.I., Prophagandhi, Adrenalin O.D., and even S.O.D. yes, also Meshuggah because of the complexity and weird breaks in some of the songs, a real work of art. You have to maybe listen to it a few times to appreciate it, but it will certainly never get boring, well except for the cover that is, no piece of art there. But it's all about the music, they fire off with "Hung By The Bootstraps" and until 14 tracks later "Knucklehead", my personal favourite, blows out the speakers it's all fuckin killer! But as I've said earlier, this needs a few times to listen to, so if you get through this a couple of times, you won't be disappointed! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ifarmrock.com
Recordlabel: http://www.gokartrecords.com |
85/100 |
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| INDUKTI - S.U.S.A.R. (CD) | Poland | May 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 47:43 (Tracks: 7) | ||
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INDUKTI is the induction of five minds, it is the musical conglomeration designed to stimulate the imagination and to draw forth the exceptional experiences and unique emotions.... need I say more? Wow, what a pleasant surprise this cd is. The band refers to Tool as an influence and that's clear, but this band, to me, is more sparkling, more melodious...more my cup of tea. Very skilled musicians and excellent songwriters. They know how to grab your attention and not let it slip away till the very end of the CD. A smooth balance between acoustic (guitar, violin and harp) and electric instuments without loosing the flow of the songs. The vocals are provided by Riverside's Mariusz Duda, who emphasizes the melancholic, psychadelic sphere of the album even more. A double plus is the lack of guitar solo's, which makes this band even more unique. A nice extra is also a videofile of the track "Mantra". The only remark I have is that although the production is very clear and bright, the louder parts could have sounded a bit more bombastic now and then, but that doesn't influence my conclusion about this debut album of the Polish outfit. To all out there that want to hear something fresh and skillfull, Tool-ish or even Pink Floyd-ish, get your hands on this album. |
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Visit their website: http://www.indukti.art.pl/ Management: http://www.intromental.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lasercd.com | 90/100 |
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| INGRAVED - Hatred from the Outside (CD) | Italy | November 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Death metal | Running time: 36:29 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Ingraved was founded in 2001 by Antonio (vocalist), Gianluigi (guitarist), Damiano (guitarist), Mario (drummer) and Sandro (bass player). After a three track demo, the 'From The Eyes Of Pain' and 'Complete Domination' MCD's were released. Meanwhile, there were some line-up changes and sadly Damiano De Parigi died in a car accident but after a mournful break, Ingraved decided to continue its activities. There are nine death metal tracks on this album and i have to say that they are good but they lack alternation maybe their source of inspiration ran dry. I must say I like the interlude that "Too evil too Dead" begins with it reminds me of Impaled. If Ingraved puts a bit more effort in their songs they might become a great band. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ingraved.com/
Recordlabel: http://deadsun.free.fr/ |
70/100 |
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| INNER WISH - Inner Strength (CD) | Greece | July 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 55:19 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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In 1995, Thimios Krikos (guitar) and Yiannis Papanikolaou (vocals) got together in a cellar to emulate their idols. They were soon joined by guitarist Manolis Tsigos. The result was INNERWISH, as the guys called themselves.
The line-up was completed by with Pavlos Balatsoukas on drums and Alexis Levenderis (bass) and in July 1997 they began recording their debut album, "Waiting For The Dawn", which was released in May 1998. But not every member of the band was happy with the musical direction they were going it, and singer Yiannis, drummer Pavlos and bass player Alexis soon took their leave, to be replaced by Panagiotis Myolonas (vocals), Antonis Mazarakis (bass) and Fotis Giannakopoulos (drums). In March 2001 INNERWISH released a "split CD" entitled "Realms Of the Night" with their compatriots, Reflection. In2002 together with two new band members, Babis Alexandropoulos (vocals) and Terry Moros (drums) they entered Athens's "G-Studios", in order to record their second album, "Silent Faces" (see Archives CD/DVD reviews). Under the guidance of the successful producer, R.D. Liapakis (Valley's Eve, Mystic Prophecy, David Chastain, Jack Starr's Guardians of the Flame) the material was formed into what it is today. Well here's Innner Wish's latest masterpeace. Again the album is produced by R.D. Liapakis and it sounds awesome! This is how a metal album should sound! Musically the band is still influenced by bands like Jag Panzer, Riot & Fifth Angel but who cares?? Jag Panzer is one of my alltime fav. bands so i'm not complaining about that!! I only have one little complain about this album and thats the fact that singer Babis isnt singing as good as he did on the "Silent Faces" album. Thats a pity because thats the only negative thing about this album. I had the luck to see these guys live at the Headbangers Open Air festival last year in Germany and on stage this band is also very good! Check them out but also listen to their second album "Silent Faces" and you will agree with me that this band has the potential to break through in the metalscene!! Great album!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.innerwish.gr/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de |
88/100 |
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| IRON FIRE - Revenge (CD) | Denmark | June 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 55:25 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| This band was started by Martin Steene (Force of Evil) back in his school days, and this is their third full length release after 5 years. They released their first album 'Thunderstorm' in 2000 and the follow up 'On the edge' in 2001. This third album could be seen as their come back record, and what a come back it is! It's the first album I heard of them, and I love it totally, this is heavy power metal as it should be, very melodic and powerful. Influenced by bands like Helloween, Manowar and Mercyful Fate they have managed to create their own unique sound. Well structured songs with mind blowing guitar work, and great vocals by Steene, it's a pleasure to listen to. The album starts off with "Winds of rage", which sounds just like the title says, "Ironhead" is next up to bang your head off and with "Metal Messiah" you get a more slower, doomy feel, but real heavy. All kinds of songs on this album, even a kind of ballad "Ice-cold Arion" well sung by Steene, lots of variation and power in the songs. I just can't get enough of it, these guys know how to do it, also a nice booklet in here with pictures by Hank Shermann. This record should be in every true heavy metal collection! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ironfire.dk/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com/ | 90/100 |
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| JOHN WAITE – Downtown (Journey Of A Heart) (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 51:38 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| John Waite is very famous. He started in the 70's with The Baby's, with whom he recorded several very good albums and scored some major successes. He also did very good stuff with Bad English and in his solo career. There he also had some great single successes. And he made one record with Dutch super guitar player Adrian Vandenberg, but that album is locked away somewhere. What a pity. The musical style he has always played is AOR/Melodic Rock. Only his last two solo albums are soft pop records, and quite frankly a bit disappointing. Now he has made a sort of 'Best of', and he has taken the time to re-record everything. What you hear now are very bare versions of old songs, plus the addition of the new "St. Patrick's Day" and the Bob Dylan song "Highway 61". Is it good? Well, that depends. You have to be delighted that he has taken the time to give everything a new lease of life and not just use the easy road and use the old versions. On the other hand, all those old versions ("Missing You", "Isn't It Time", "Headfirst", "When I See You Smile") are so much stronger and more powerful. And sometimes hardly recognisable. Let's put it this way: this album is purely for the people who are familiar to John Waite. For those who only know his greatest hits, he needs to do a proper 'Best of' album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.johnwaiteonline.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
73/100 |
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| JORN - The Duke (CD) | Norway | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 44:30 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| What can you say about Jorn Lande that is not known? That he is one of the best metal vocalists around? That he has a voice that is a bit of David Coverdale mixed with Glenn Hughes? No, you all know that. The best thing about him is that he does love to play the music that fits his voice perfectly. Good old fashioned hard rocking heavy metal with lovely guitars, pounding bass and hard hitting drums. With Masterplan he fills in what Roland Grapow comes up with and there is no denying he does that brilliantly. Jorn however is pure himself and Jorn Viggo Lofstad, because together they write every song, and they love the melodic touch that compliments the voice. Not only that, they never get it wrong when it comes to writing good stuff, because there is always a very high quality when these two Jorns get together. Of course this is no different on "The Duke". You will not find any lesser songs, let alone fillers. That is not done when Jorn Lande is involved. Together with Viggo they are a very strong team and are damn good at making you experience the music. You do get pulled into it and once that is the case it is very hard to let go. Especially a superb song like "End Of Time" does bring that on, which makes this anthem a classic in the making. The melody on it is so catchy that it keeps on haunting your mind for days. The only thing you can do is play "The Duke" again, so the other songs get the chance to catch up. Very clever…. And absolutely class! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.jornlande.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ | 83/100 |
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| JOSH KRAMER OF SAINT - Live in Germany (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 51:51 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| 80's Christian heavy metalband Saint was formed in the late 1970's as a band called "The Gentiles". They released an EP called "Saint" and longplayers like "Warriors Of The Son" (1984), "Time's End" (1986) and "Too late for living" (1989). They split up somewhere in the early 90's and came back together in 1999. Saint plays strong fast heavy metal with a killer singer. With a lot of speed and aggression, it sometimes sounds a little close to speed metal. It's traditional true US gospel metal with a little bit influence of doom and second wave of britisch heavy metal of bands like: Judas Priest, Satan and Blitzkrieg. After some albums in the late 90's and the beginning of the 21th century (The Perfect Life (1999), In The Battle (2004), Warriors Of The Son (2004), Live 05 (2005), The Mark (2006)), Saint is back to rock you till heaven. I love bands who are honest in what they believe and I really love to see them live somewhere in Europe. This live album in Germany takes you back in time with classic Saint songs like: In The Night, Too Late For Living, Warriors Of The Son and Ryders. Respect for this guy from America and his German guest musicians Patrick Fuchs (IVORY NIGHT; gitaar), Tilmann Ruby ( Gitaar), Carsten Kettering (IVORY NIGHT; bass), Stefan Lang (ADORNED GRAVES; drums). Great live album, just like you have been there in the crowd, it gives you a great taste of that special evening in the land of heavy metal. Wish I was there !! Saint plays great true metal, if you like Christian lyrics or not, you will love it !!! Every heavy metal freak must have this album, it's one of the best live albums from the last three years ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.saint777.net/
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85/100 |
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| KAMPFAR – Kvass (CD) | Norway | August 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Viking Black Metal | Running time: 46:00 (Tracks: 6) | ||
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Kampfar is a well known name in the metal scene. Vocalist Dolk released his first MCD (Vinterlanded, Hammerheart Rec.) in the early years of the ninetees with the band Mock. Dolk said goodbye to his bandmates in 1994 and recruited guitarplayer Thomas for his new found band Kampfar. Together they recorded a new MCD "Kampfar" in the same year, although a handnumbered promotape with the same title was already distributed in 1993.
Anyone who can shine a light on this mystery…be my guest and enlighten me. My guess is Dolk already started this MCD on his own and they finished it together. Thomas' Folk influences and Dolk's Black Metal sound combined, delivered two full-length albums; Mellom Skogkledde Aaser (1997) and Fra Underverdenen (1999). The public had to wait until 2003 to see this band perform live for the first time, then joined by bass player Jon and drummer II13. Now in 2006 Kvass is released by Napalm Records. The entire album contains strong songs with powerfull atmospheric parts and a lot of variety. From groovy to fast on to melodic and so on. A good album which holds your attention. Do not put this album in your CD player when you got work to do, because you cannot do anything else but listen to it. Very well done!!!! | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.kampfar.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com |
85/100 |
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| KATHAARSYS - Portrait of Wind and Sorrow (CD) | Spain | November 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Black metal | Running time: 1:05:30 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| Kathaarsys is a Spanish black metal band which was formed back in 2002 beginnig from the ashes of the Gothic-Doom band Elsenor with the idea of making an original and high quality music project. "Portrait of Wind and Sorrow" is there debut album which they released themselves back in 2005 but now they are part of Silent Tree Productions. I must say that black metal isn't one of my favourite genres but now that I've heard this album I'll definetely start listening to black metal more often. Maybe I like it that much because Kathaarsys isn't totally black metal it's kind off a mixture between black and death metal and they even use clean vocals in there songs what really sets them apart from the rest. Like almost all the black metal albums 'Portrait of Wind and Sorrow' starts with a brief atmospheric intro which directly which is then shot to hell in an eruption of rapid notes and smashing percussion. Next to their up-tempo black metal you can also hear that this band was influenced by folk music. | |||
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Visit their website: http://kathaarsys.sadixmo.com/index2.htm
Recordlabel: http://www.silenttree.cjb.net/ |
80/100 |
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| KEEP OF KALESSIN - Armada (CD) | Norway | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Black / Death Metal | Running time: 49:54 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Keep of Kalessin spawned back in 1994, under the name Ildskjaer, by hand of Ghash and Obsidian C. , later joined by Vyl and Warach. The band´s Black metal is inspired by the work of fantasy of the American writer U. Le Guin ´The Earthsea Quartet´.
After releasing 1 demo, the debut album ´Through times of war´ was recorded in summer 1997 in Brygga studios, Trondheim. A couple of years later the quartet returned with ´Agnen. A journey through the dark´, again recorded in the much appreciated Brygga studio.With this second album the band actually took much distance from the now trendy Norwegian Black metal style, picking up influences from the Thrash and Death metal genres thus establishing a rather Swedish oriented sound.
In the year 2000 the line-up split due to personal reasons, but guitarist and songwriter Obsidian C. wouldn't let that stop him. He continued to make Kalessin-style music and developed his own style even more. This ultra-fast, brutal and yet melodic style needed a drummer, but he was unable to find one that could keep up with his riffing. Almost three years would pass and then he was offered the job in Satyricon. As soon as he was a part of Satyricon he was also in contact with one of black metal´s fastest and most brutal drummers, Frost! Frost heard the new Keep Of Kalessin material and immediately said yes when Obsidian C. asked him to do the drumming on his new EP. Touring with Satyricon also made it possible for Obsidian C. to recruit the legendary Attila Csihar who did the vocals on Mayhem´s ´De Mysteriis dom Sathanas´. The three piece line-up recorded the "Reclaim" EP, released in 2004 and put the band into the Elite black metal scene of Norway, but due to the distance between Frost, Attila and Obsidian C. this line-up couldn't last. He has teamed up with early Kalessin drummer Vyl and found a perfect replacement for Attila as well as a new bassplayer. Together with lyricwriter from the Reclaim EP, Torstein Parelius, Obsidian C. has for the past two years been working on the new album entitled "Armada". Idea behind the new album is to bring Keep Of Kalessin even further into the Elite ranks Norwegian metal along with bands like Emperor, Satyricon, Immortal, Mayhem and Dimmu Borgir. Well I think this will be no problem at all! This is a damn good album!! It's more technical than most of todays blackmetal bands deliver; probably because Keep of Kalessin isnt a pure blackmetal band to my opinion. They have a mix of black, death & thrashmetal that suits me very well! I'm not really into blackmetal anymore these days but I can tell you this album kicks some serious ass!! Great album!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.keepofkalessin.no/ Recordlabel: http://www.taburec.com/ | 88/100 |
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| KINGDOM COME – Ain't Crying For The Moon (CD) | Germany | November 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Heavy Rock | Running time: 62:40 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Kingdom Come has been going on for a long time. Not only that, they have always been called a Led Zep clone. Some people think that that has ended with "Ain't Crying For The Moon". Well, I don't agree. It still has all the ingredients that Zeppelin used all those years ago, Lenny Wolf has just added some more metal to the sound. Yes, of course he is still Kingdom Come. Now more than ever, because he has literally played all the instruments on this album, except for some piano, cello and a few guitar solo's. This is a lot more heavy and bluesy than the old Kingdom Come, but also a lot more nondescript. It never comes through completely. Also the songs haven't got that classic quality which will make you remember them for the rest of your life. That doesn't mean that this album is bad. No, definitely not. If you are not known with Kingdom Come and just want a blues metal album, you can surely find some nice tunes here. However, if you're looking for the pure quality of Kingdom Come of old, you will be disappointed. I am. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lennywolf.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com / Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
65/100 |
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| KRAGENS - Seeds of Pain (CD) | France | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash/Power/Speed Metal | Running time: 42:55 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Kragens was founded at the end of the year 2000 in NICE France by Cedric (ex STRUTTERS, THORIUM) and Ludwig, both guitarists, joined later by vocalist Renaud ESPECHE (ex DEMON EYES, LYNX). They quickly found their creative process as they composed their first metal tracks together : more power, more melody, classical influences. This style was enforced by the Denis arrival, bassplayer (LYNX) and Oliver the powerful drummer (ex ACE, DIRTY SIDE, TRIBAL, SLAM). "Seeds Of Pain" is the bands second album and it is mixed by Tue Madsen, who gives the huge sound of the bands Aborted, The Haunted, Ektomorf or Mnemic... The band plays metal in a way i like it very much; sometimes thrashy as hell but also sometimes like it was made in the 80's! Expect a mix of speed, power & thrashmetal with a great singer (which has a very wide range). Only little complain is the pronunciation of the singer. This is a damn good album and I hope to see this band live soon (maybe with labelmates EasyRider). Bands to compage Kragens with are; Nevermore, Dream Theater, Shadowkeep mixed with a lot of thrash elements and some grunts! Check them out!!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.kragens.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
85/100 |
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| LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE – Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts (CD) | Germany | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Dark Metal | Running time: 47:24 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| This is the seventh album of Lacrimas Profundere. I don't know why, but it my first for them. Quite frankly, I am glad I finally have come to know them, because this is very good. In case they are new to you as well: take Type O Negative and mix it with Billy Idol and Within Temptation. That will give you a clue where to place them. Of course the fans will disagree, but that is what I hear in the music on "Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts". And as I said, I like it. A lot. It has everything that dark or gothic metal should have. The licks, the dark voice, the melancholy and the drama. Coming back to the influences: I hear Type O Negative in the voice and the guitar sound and riffs. I hear Billy Idol in the choruses and the vocal lines. I hear Within Temptation in the light that shines through the darkness of the music. All together they make Lacrimas Produndere. I now am obliged to go back album by album, to see if they always have been this original and good. Somehow I think they have. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lacrimas.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com |
78/100 |
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| LAST CRACK - Burning Funkhouse Live (CD & DVD) | USA | June 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: "In your Face" Metal | Running time: 76:00 (Tracks: 16) | ||
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Soon after their formation in '87, Last Crack signed a deal with the legenday metal label Roadrunner Records. Their debut "Sinister Funkhouse" was full of chunky riffs, squaling solo's and powerful vocals. It was raw, heavy....it was unique. The second album "Burning time" was released in '91 did very well, with their video Energy Mind called "best song of the ninetees" by Metal Maniacs mag.. The futue looked bright for this band, unfortunately soon after the release of this album the band parted ways.
This excellent live album marks the return of Buddo, Last Crack's enigmatic frontman. The music is raw, in your face. You can feel the energy dripping from this disc. Production for this album was in hands of John Machnik and guitarist Paul Schluter and boy have they done a killer job, everything is just crystal clear, sometimes when you close your eyes you actually feel like being in that crowd on that night in Madison. The band recently played on the Headway Festival in Amstelveen, Holland, why...beats me, it's definately not progressive...it's just...raw. I did not watch the DVD that's included in this packet, simply because I already had such a terrific experience listening to this album that I did not wanna spoil that feeling. Take it from me, if you want energy and edge in your player...buy this one. |
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Visit their website: http://www.lastcrack.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.rokkerrecords.com/ | 93/100 |
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| LEE Z - Shadowland (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive Metal / Rock | Running time: 47:00 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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The Story of Lee Z from Greven near Muenster, Germany started 1988 with the aim to play the first class Progressive Rock. Lee Z performed a couple of local shows at the time an soon raised the attention of producer and Mad Max drummer Uwe Starck. The result of their collaboration was Lee Z«s first album "Primetime" which saw the day of light in 1989 and totally sold out at the time. Original guitarist Manfred Kubillus and drummmer Jens Uwe Rahe had to leave the band due to problems with their schedules and were replaced my "Dixie" Voss on drums and Peter Pauliks on guitars. Their first album with Lee Z was called "Timeline" and hit the shelves in Japan. The band«s third album "Time Will Tell" was released in Germany on Inside Out/SPV in 1995 and again saw Lee Z massively touring. Another four years passed, the vocal job went over from Thomas Zink to Peter Pauliks and the band released their 4th album up to today:"Alive". "Shadowland" is the title of the the latest CD of the band. This is my first acquaintance with Lee Z and I was very positive surprised by their musical qualitys!! Musically this album sounds perfect and the band is also blessed with a very good singer! Their music can be compared with bands like; DREAM THEATER & also some THRESHOLD. There are a few songs on this album that have some hit-potential because they are very accessible for a bigger audience. This album will visit my CD-player regularly, thats for sure! Awesome!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lee-z.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.escapimusic.com/ | 90/100 |
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| LE MANS – Rebel Action (CD) | Sweden | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 37:25 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| I don't know, but somehow Le Mans just doesn't have what it takes. The individual ingredients however suggest otherwise. They have a female singer with a distinctive voice. The play rock that has a slight independent feel. They have a sound that is right for the people who don't want to rock full blast, but who prefer to have the subdued kind, where the outburst that occur once in a while make you go out of your head for a little while. Unfortunately, Le Mans has forgotten to put those explosive bits into their music. The other flaw I find is that the songs are under par. They don't have the class to shine, they are too much alike, they are not individually distinguishable. Therefore "Rebel Action" is a title that doesn't fit the music. This is not rebel enough and the action is lacking. Sorry. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lemans.se
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.suburban.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.ultrachrome.se |
45/100 |
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| LE MANS – Rolling The Stones (CD single) | Sweden | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 6:54 (Tracks: 2) | ||
| Le Mans is good when you only have to hear two songs of them. That's why the single "Rolling The Stones" is a good first listen. You know they can play, you know it fits. The remix of "Clash" confirms that. The only drawback is that the music never comes to life fully. It just crawls along. As you will read in the full album review this is not just an issue on the single. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lemans.se
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.suburban.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.ultrachrome.se |
45/100 |
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LEX TALIONIS - The Supreme Aggression (CD) LEX TALIONIS - Inhuman Violence (CD) | France | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Grindcore | Running time: 32:44 (Tracks: 8) & 29:14 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| I don't care how other people call this, to me this is pure extreme metal. Fast, furious and all overpowering. Not only that, it seems nobody ever heard of these French dudes before, and if you like grindcore, you should have. And because they are about to release their third album in the near future, they need to be sure that people know who Lex Talionis are. That does explain why "The Supreme Aggression"(2002) and "Inhuman Violence" (2003) have been re-released by Deadsun Records. The production on both albums is very good, which makes it easy to hear every instrument, every blastbeat and every throat sound that comes out of the, eh, vocalist. I don't know why this has not caught on before. Maybe because this was not released outside France before. They should have done that globally, who knows, it might have scared of the bird flu. Oh, I must not forget to mention that they do love the addition of electronics and that these guys are proud of not using a real drummer. Just so you know why this all sounds so bloody tight. If you want an organic band, these guys are not for you. If you don't care and just want to hear the world fall apart, this is. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lextalionis-metal.com/ Recordlabel: http://membres.lycos.fr/deadsun/ | --/--- |
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| LIBERTY N'JUSTICE – Soundtrack Of A Soul (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: White Metal | Running time: 65:53 (Tracks: 18) | ||
| Liberty n' Justice is a white metal band that is new to me. That's always fine by me, because I like to find and discover new musical boundaries. In the booklet it says that the band is Justin Murr, with a little "HELP" from his friends. That is true and becomes very clear if you see the extensive list of people involved in this album. It is called "Soundtrack Of A Soul", but that is not completely correct. A soundtrack implies a coherent sound and a set of songs that try to tell you a well thought story. Unfortunately that is not the case. No, this album full of well written and executed melodic rock is more a collection of different songs with different vocalists. Nothing wrong with that, especially not if the music you get to hear is very divers and always in tune with the voices used. Think of people like Sebastian Bach, Oni Logan (Lynch Mob), Leif Garrett, Scott Wenzel (White Cross), Tony Harnell (TNT) and Mark Slaughter, which are the most famous among those of us who are not deeply embedded into the white metal scene. The rest of the people are just as famous to those who are. All together this is a very enjoyable album, which is easy to listen to and never goes too deep into the Christianity to start annoying the atheists among us. Good fun. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.libertynjustice.net /
Promotion: http://www.silentplanetradio.com/ |
68/100 |
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| LUCA TURILLI – The Infinite Wonders Of Creation (CD) | Italy | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Epic Metal | Running time: 50:45 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Mister Turilli is a very busy man. He is the main writer of Rhapsody and he has his own project on the side called Dreamquest. The review of their album is also on this site. On top of that he still has time for a solo career. "The Infinite Wonder Of Creation" is the conclusion of a trilogy, which was started with "King Of The Nordic Twilight" in 1999, followed by "Prophet Of The Last Eclipse" in 2002. It has to be said that he has a superb finish for these three albums, because this one is one cut above the rest. Musically it is more sound than he has ever been before. You can hear that he has not had to compromise on the music, that he has let all his boundaries go. That is something you always have to do in a band situation, and "The Infinite Wonder Of Creation" is a telltale sign that Luca Turilli is at his best when let loose. To cut a long story short: if you are a big Rhapsody and/or Nightwish fan and can't wait to hear new stuff, just get this album and enjoy it to the full. Of course the music has the more bombastic Italian influences than that of his Finnish counterparts, but that's understandable. The songs are even better than what Nightwish or Rhapsody normally come out with. What makes the comparison to the Fins so striking are the voices of Olaf Hayer and Bridget Fogle. The latter is a real find, someone who does a lot of opera work and is the proper gem of the album. The collaboration between male and female voices are very similar to how they are used in Nightwish, of which mister Turilli is a big fan! Don't get me wrong, this is no copy, no, this is better than the original. Why? Because Luca is a better songwriter and can mix his Rhapsody and personal influences in the music he so loves. He has done so and therefore has come out with one of the best albums of 2006. Certainly the best Luca Turilli has ever made. | |||
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Visit their website: http://lucaturilli.net/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.magiccirclemusic.com/ |
89/100 |
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| LUCA TURILLI'S DREAMQUEST – Lost Horizons (CD) | Italy | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Symphonic Electro Metal | Running time: 48:18 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Luca Turilli is a busy man. He has Rhapsody and a solo career, and now he finds time to rid himself of the ideas he can't use for those two. His carrier is Dreamquest. He is very secretive about who are in it, but one thing is for sure: Bridget Fogle does the singing and Luca is only the keyboard player here. Of course he has written the lot and keeps complete control, but he lets others do the work. When you see the name Luca Turilli on an album, you know it's good. Well, not always. This isn't. "Lost Horizons" is heavy metal with a lot of electronics and industrial influences, but it is not very consistent. The sound of the songs is going all over the place and the songs themselves are not as impressive as we are used to when it comes to Luca Turilli. Maybe I am being more critical than when this would be someone unknown, but that's not intentional. I don't know, I just can't seem to get the vibe of this album. For me it is a bouncy record of a band that still has to find it's real direction. It never flows, you always have to readjust. The comparisons with Therion, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson and others like them are inevitable. How good Luca might be, to get into their league with this kind of music does take more effort and experience than he has right now. Undoubtedly he will get there and will deliver a very good second album, which he is writing as you read this. Dreamquest wish to play the festivals in the summer of 2007 with two albums in their pocket. Let's see if they succeed and if they are any good. | |||
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Visit their website: http://lucaturilli.net/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.magiccirclemusic.com/ |
67/100 |
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| LUNAFIELD - Diva (CD) | Germany | August 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Black Death Metal | Running time: 50:26 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Hard drums and melodic riffs are entering my ears and blow up my brain cells!!!
This is the first time I heard this band and I must say that it's very catchy…..
What I really like is the guitar sound! It's not a standard sound which I heard so often that I could puke it out on the pavement!
But no! Luna Field gives me an original sound and that's what my ears like to hear!
The production is made by Alex Krull (Atrocity/Belphegor) so that's the reason of the good sound on this record!
Luna Field is founded in 1998 and they are taking their time to make a good product, that's for sure! The band got in the studio in April 2004 and after signing a deal with Black Lotus Records 'Diva' came out in June 2005.
I think it's really good to think about making a good composition and it's even better to work it out till everything's perfect…..that is what they do! This is a not – standard band and I think if they keep on going like this they can come real far!!! This is their second album (their first is called 'Close to Prime' – 2003) The combination of the compositions with the intro's and of course very good playing skills will keep your attention the whole record! You can't ignore it and when you hear it you want to turn it real loud! I hope they are live as good as on record cuz that will make this band killer! Diva is the result of real hard working and I think they deserve a high grade for this killer record and everyone who reads this: " move your ass to buy this brain blowing piece of work!!" | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.lunafield.de/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/ |
85/100 |
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| LUNATICA - The Edge Of Infinity (CD) | Switzerland | August 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Melodic Metal | Running time: 54:20 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Lunatica, brought to life in 1998, released their debut album "Atlantis" in 2001, which gave them a good base in their homeland, Switserland. The follow-up "Fables & Dreams" brought them even more "fame" on home soil. The album is still amongst the top 100 best selling album charts...in Switzerland. To be honnest, I'd never heard of them before, and propably nor will I in the future. Produced by "sir" Sascha Peath (Rhapsody (of fire), Kamelot), the production ofcourse sounds great. Some guest-heavyweights are showing their licks 'n tricks on the album, such as: John Payne (Asia) and Oliver Hartman (Avantasia), but it doesn't make my heart tick any faster. Sure the songs are played well, solo's are flashy, drums sounds tight and neat and all that shit. Still to my ears this cd lacks imagination and passion!! | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.lunatica.ch
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it |
60/100 |
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| MACHINE CALLED MAN - 2.004 (Promo CD) | USA | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Thrash / Power metal | Running time: 20:53 (Tracks: 4) | ||
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Machine Called Man was formed in June of 2002 and immediately began writing and recording. Combining aspects of power, progressive, thrash and melodic death metal, the band has spawned a dynamic form of music centering around textural complexity. The first full-length demo recording released by the band in September of 2002 received rave reviews from webzines and reviewers worldwide and caused a reaction in the underground metal scene winning the approval of fans around the world. As a result the band decided to proceed with the recording of a full-length debut album that would feature all the material from the demo as well as new tracks. Perennial lineup problems as well as constant changes in schedule caused the recording sessions to be delayed severely. Ultimately the recording, mixing and mastering process was to take over a year. With 2005 rapidly approaching and the mixing sessions nearing completion, Machine Called Man made the decision to have Netherlands-based mastering engineer Eddy "The San" Doorn put the finishing touches on the new record. Ed's mastery was just what the music needed and after the final finishing touches were added Machine Called Man's debut album '2.004' was finally completed and ready to be unleashed on the world. Machine Called Man sended me a promo-copy of their latest album but with only 4 songs (out of 10) on it! Pitty because I have to listen to a full length album before I can give a honest opinion about it! I'm used to it that labels like AFM records and (sometimes) Metal Blade put commercial breaks in their promos and I didnt expect this kind of actions from a self released album from a, till now, unknown band. Pitty again because the music on this promo sounds excellent and with an album full of these kind of songs I would have given it an very very high rating! MCM plays typical US-metal in a way I like it most; fast, furious and agressive!! The production of this album sounds very good too. Expect a mix of thrash & speedmetal but with a lot of progressive parts in their songs. The music sounds like a mix of bands like; Forbidden, Control Denied, Lethal, Vicious Rumors but without the high-pitching vocals. Singer Norman Skinner has a raw, but extreme agressive voice which fits perfekt to the music. I'm not gonna rate this album because of the reasons I mentioned above............ |
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Visit their website: http://www.machinecalledman.com |
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| MAD MAX - In White (mini CD) | Germany | November 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: AOR/Hardrock | Running time: 19:08 (Tracks: 6) | ||
| German melodic hardrockers Mad Max started their somewhere in the 80's, but unfortunaly you can't find any information about their old days on the internet anymore. Very strange because Mad Max was one of my favorite German melodic hardrock bands from my youth! I still remember they played at the Dynamo Open Air Festival 1987 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands to promote their latest longplayer "Night Of Passion" released in the year 1987. Mad Max was one of the biggest hair metal bands from Germany those days and I still listen to their old material a lot. Some time ago, I heard they still excised but not like in the old days. Mad Max played very soft Christian pop/ rock. This is not the Mad Max I like ! Night Of Passion was the perfect German hair metal album for me, their latest album released in 2006 "In White" is even to sweet for me ! Not metal at all, just a very soft pop/rock album with Christian lyrics. It's not bad at all but if you like their old material, you will be disappointed. It looks like Mad Max wants to forget their old days and make a brand new start ? Strange because Mad Max was never that brutal/satanic or what. Mad Max is still a great band with a great singer and great musicians. But why would they wanna forget their glory days, I don't know ? Because Mad Max was and is still one of the biggest poser legends in Germany ever !!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.madmaxmusic.de/124.php
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com / Recordlabel: http://www.aorheaven.com |
70/100 |
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| MAGO DE OZ - Madrid las Ventas (Promo CD) | Spain | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Celtic Heavy Metal | Running time: 17:55 (Tracks: 3) | ||
| MAGO DE OZ is one of the most popular original bands from Madrid, Spain. Their creative and distinctive blend of Heavy Metal and Celtic styles, plus dynamic in-your-face performances, have won them acclaim from both fans and press. Playing to sold-out audiences throughout Spain and South America, they are consistently found on the Top 10 Charts. I already bought their legendary "Finis Terra" album, released May 2000 which went GOLD before that year ended. Musically, MAGO DE OZ manage to offer all to the best. The reason I bought their album was their great performance at the 2002 Bang Your Head festival appearance in Germany. Drummer Txus formed MAGO DE OZ in the mid 80's. After a successful tour, the band started recording their second album. The Rock Opera "Jesus de Chamberi", produced by Alberto Plaza and Mago de Oz, was released in 1996 by their current label, Locomotive Music. This was followed by another tour throughout Spain, playing to sold-out audiences. Their third album, "La Leyenda de la Mancha", was released in 1998. Influenced by Cervantes' Quixote, this innovative album showcases powerful guitar riffs, Celtic melodies of bagpipes, flute and violin, and a great production. 2000, May 19th was released their album called `Finis Terra´. This is a double album, recorded in studio, with 20 tracks. This 3-track promo CD is just a small part of their latest release "Madrid Las Ventas" which is original a double CD/DVD. The 3 live tracks on this promo are all sounding good and I know that the band is great on stage, so I hope to receive a full length CD/DVD also for a review someday! If you like a mix of Heavy metal with Celtic metal and you dont care about the Spanish language; you should check out this great band!! I'm already a big fan since their BYH performance in 2002. If you dont like live-albums; you should at least check out their "Finis Terra" album and you'll understand what I mean! | |||
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Visit their website: http://magodeoz.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
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| MANNHAI – Hellroad Caravan (CD) | Finland | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Stoner Rock | Running time: 44:36 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Mannhai's "Hellroad Caravan" is their fourth album and I regret to say their first for me. I definitely want to find out what they used to do before. This is brilliant. I know the singer Pasi Koskinen is new, at least for Mannhai. He used to sing for Amorphis, but I must say, he sounds a lot better here. As you would expect from a stoner band there is nothing new under the sun, because the recipe for stoner is quite well known by now, but they do give the whole thing such a fine feeling. The good thing about Mannhai is that they keep everything very much up tempo, which avoids boredom setting in, or your interest fading. You just can't keep from grooving and swinging with them. If you like bands like Dozer and Orange Goblin you should check these guys out. I know I am glad I did. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mannhai.com /
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ |
82/100 |
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| MASTER - Four more Years of Terror (CD) | USA / Czech Republic | April 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 61:12 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Introducing Master to the deathmetal audience is not necessary; if you dont know deathmetal guru Paul Speckmann and his main band Master; you can better stop reading this review! Master already exist for years and started as an US band. After some problems in his homeland; Paul decided to move to the Czech Republic. Overthere, Paul created a totally new Master line-up which is as good as his former US-edition! Master is famous because of their typical style of deathmetal; oldschool deathmetal with swinging riffs and Paul's typical voice. This album is, again, a very good album in his tradition and it will not disappoint any Master fan at all! Dont expect any refreshing elements in Master's music; this is food for real die-hard Master fans! Check it out & buy this album!! You wont be disappointed! Personally I prefer this stuff much more than his other band Krabathor. |
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Visit their website: http://www.master-speckmetal.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.twilight-vertrieb.com/ |
80/100 |
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| MEDEA - Room XVIII (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Rock Opera | Running time: 1:01:45 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Medea is the solo project of Casual Silence keyboard player Henry Meeuws. Henry gathered many musicians from the Netherlands metal and hard rock scene that participated in bands such as Mennen and Ayreon and set to record this concept album. The story is set in Amsterdam during 1912 and involves a schizophrenic man and a young pianist. As you can easily understand the album is full of dialogs between the characters involved and has a rather theatrical approach. Although the story seems quite interesting, the music is a mesmerizing keyboard dominated progressive blend with both male and female vocals, perfectly executed but not so interesting as far as it concerns my personal taste. It sounds weak and somehow boring to my ears. The Medea style will be definitely appreciated by progressive and rock opera fans. They would rank it much higher than I did. |
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Visit their website: http://www.casualsilence.nl/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ | 55/100 |
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| MENNEN - Freakalive (Live CD) | The Netherlands | November 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 46:27 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Mennen from The Netherlands started their career in 1994 to play real strong hardrock. Band leader Joss Mennen just left his old metal band "Zinatra", a very soft melodic hair/pop hardrock band from the late 80's early 90's. Joss wanted a new band more heavier and modern but still with the old sleazy spirit of the legendary Zinatra. Yes, that was his idea and he made it happen. Mennen got a hit single with "River Of Tears" at one of Hollands most commercial radio stations. They toured everywhere in the world with many great and big bands like: Harem Scarem, Scorpions, Gotthard, Grip Inc, Molly Hatched and Avalon. Worked with even bigger bands like: Metallica, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Scorpions. You can say Mennen is the best, biggest and most commercial Dutch hardrock band of today. "Freakalive" is a great strong live album with a flavour taste of the old days. Guitar player "Eric van de Kerkhof" and Drumplayer "Fon Janssen" are great musicians and guys but the band will never be complete without the biggest hair metal rocker from my home town Tilburg "Alex Jansen" on bass and the most sleaziest hairspray hardrocker in The Netherlands "Joss Mennen". Mennen rocked like hell and played all their classics and even a golden oldie in a brand new more heavier jacket "Two Sides Of Love" from Zinatra's most classical album "The Great Escape" released in the year 1989/90. Freakalive is one of my favorite hardrock albums of the year 2006 . I can only say one thing Joss and his band are still rock 'n'roll deep in heart and they prove it here for more than 100%. Freakalive......Awesome shit ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.mennen.net/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl// Recordlabel: http://www.armageddonmusic.de/ |
95/100 |
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| MORNING - Hour of Joy (CD) | The Netherlands | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Progressive / Gothic Metal | Running time: 59:55 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| I don't know whose voice it is that does the opening speech, but Morning needs to make sure that next time they use someone who has less of a Dutch accent. It is very annoying. As is the music. Sorry, but this does not fit. I can't get rid of the feeling that this is a band that has been pulled out of their rehearsal room, just because they make a mix of gothic and progressive music and have a good looking front woman. The sound is poor, the mix not even, the music dull and the voice not spectacular. I was hoping to be more positive about "Hour Of Joy", but the truth of the matter is that the title does not do the record justice. If you play progressive music you have to have a very good sound, very tight sounding instruments and a drummer that is tighter than a duck's *ss. I regret to say that Morning lack all of these. Black Lotus calls female singer Saskia van Heugten the new amazing voice in the scene. I beg to differ. She has a good voice, but nothing spectacular. The quality of the songs also is very poor. They don't flow, are not finished. I don't know how much time Morning had in the rehearsal room and in the studio, but it clearly was not enough. This is only interesting for those who never have heard of The Gathering, Within Temptation, After Forever and Epica. Do you know anyone? I don't. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.morning.nl/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ | 35/100 |
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| MOTORJESUS - Deathrider (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Hard Rock 'n Roll | Running time: 52:34 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Arising from the Band "The Shitheadz", founded in 1992 by Guido Reuss (Guitar), Mark Neschen (Bass) and Oliver Beck (Drums), the lineup rotation with Christoph Birx (Vocals) and Andreas Peters (Lead Guitar) in 2000 led to a stylistic change from previously Hardcore Metal towards the current, powerful Mixture of Metal and classical Rock. On April 19th 2004, the debut album is released, whereas the existing band name becomes a victim to censorship in among other countries as the USA, forced to go under the pseudonym X-Headz. Mid 2005, the preparations for the second, fuel loaded opus were made, the indispensable theme being a name change, since more and more factors as international censorship and the with musical misunderstandings afflicted name made an international release impossible. In 2006 they finally change their name into Motorjesus with a new round on April 21st 2006 with its second power package "Deathrider". This album really rocks your balls out of your pants! This is pure Rock 'n Roll! Locomotive Records delivered a lot of great bands during the last years and this is one of them! Motorjesus plays rock with a modern touch; so no jocular hardrock but real swinging Rock 'n Roll. The band has a great singer in their ranks and it was a welcome variation to review this album! In other reviews they are compared with bands like Spiritual Beggars and Metal Hippie Blood but to be honest; i'n not familiar with these bands so I cant confirm this. Just check them out!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.motorjesus.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ | 79/100 |
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| MSG - Tales Of Rock 'n' Roll (Twenty-Five Years Celebration) (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 70:19 (Tracks: 19) | ||
| Michael Schenker is a phenomenon. He started with "Lonesome Crow", the very first Scorpions albums. After that he went on to join UFO and gave them the best time they ever had. He started on their "Phenomenon" album in 1974 and finished with them after five superb studio LP's in 1979, on the brilliant live collection "Strangers In The Night". After he left them he started his own band, MSG. The first four albums are classics: "MSG", "MSG II", "One Night At Budokan" and "Assault Attack" still are real gems. Since then he has kept on going with MSG, under his own name and once again with UFO, on the fabulous "Walk On Water", which was released in 1995. The following two attempts, "Covenant" and "Sharks", lacked the real class of "Walk On Water" and the relationship with UFO ended again. Now in 2006 it has been 25 years since MSG started, and Mr. Schenker has found a new singer called Jari Tiura. He sings most of this album and I must say, he does not disappoint. Neither does the music, because it has been a long while since I have heard Michael write such mind boggling songs and produce this kind of swinging hard rock. Not only that, finally his guitar solos are a par above the rest again, as they always used to be. He always has had his own very distinctive style, which doesn't allow itself to be copied. Heavy and melodic at the same time, but always in tune with the song. What makes this album into a must have for the fans is that every singer that has ever graced his presence within MSG has returned to sing a song on "Tales OF Rock 'n' Roll". Let's summarize, shall we: this will never surpass the first four albums of MSG, but it does get very near them. So, if you love Michael Schenker and his particular type of hard rock, such as he has been making for over 30 years, you should run to the shop and get these Tales. You will not be disappointed. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.michaelschenkerhimself.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddonmusic.de/ | 87/100 |
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| MSOD - Metal Symphony of Darkness (Mini-CD) | USA | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 13:22 (Tracks: 3) | ||
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Formed in 1995 this band has forged its way into the metal community. Through years of hard work and sweat (and many line up changes) They have put there throne for all to see.
Sharing the stage which such bands as Iced Earth, Testement, Overkill, WASP, YJ Malmsteen, King Diamond, ProPain, Joe Stump, Manowar to name a few. In 2001 the band had the opportunity to record with industry engineer/producer LANCE DEAN who has credits with Soulfly, Lynch Mob, and the last two Megadeth albums. The finished product Entitled "MasterMind" was MSOD's first CD to receive airplay on both college and syndicated network stations. After a three year break-up MSOD has re-surfaced stonger and more powerful than ever. The new line-up which is now a power trio consists of GREG GRUBEN vox/guitar (ex- Icarus Witch), KEITH HURKA drums (ex- Icarus Witch), and DAMIAN BONADONO bass. This 3-song EP sounds very good and musically they do remind me a lot to Iced Earth. Singer Greg Gruben's voice even sometimes sounds like ex-Iced Earth frontman Matthew Barlow. Musically it all sounds a lot heavier than the later Iced Earth (and also Icarus Witch) stuff. Funny to review this album because last week I also reviewed the latest Icarus Witch album, the old band of Greg & Keith. Personally I even prefer this album above the new Icarus Witch album. Hopefully the band will release a full length album soon! Check them out!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.myspace.com/MSOD | 86/100 |
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| MY INSANITY - Scattered Soul puzzle (CD) | Germany | May 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Modern/ Industrial Metal | Running time: 49:33 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| My first encounter with the band called 'My insanity' , never heard of them before, and I don't think there are going to be further encounters. I don't like this band, well I don't like the vocalist, the riffs are okay. One thing I definitely do not like is the fact that their English accent is not that good. If they can't manage to sing proper English I suggest that they continue to sing in their native language, German. Well now that I got that of my chest let's get to the music. The vocals sound like a bad combination between Sentenced and the new Samael which I cannot come to appreciate. So I suggest they find another vocalist. I can be wrong about this because this genre is not quite my cup of tea. Of all the mediocre songs on this album the one that could captivate me the most was '3 Monkeys'. According to me this album isn't worth buying just download it when you have nothing to do. For this mediocre album you can expect a mediocre score. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.my-insanity.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.season-of-mist.com/ | 40/100 |
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| MYSTIC CIRCLE - The Bloody Path of God (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black / Death Metal | Running time: 41:52 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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I have to be honest about Mystic Circle; it's a band that never caught my attention.
Optimistic as I am, I thought their new album The Bloody Path of God might make a difference. Well, it didn't. After listening to it, I'm still not very interested. Mystic Circle is a trio from Germany. They released their first demo in 1994, followed by two more demos. In 1997 their debut album Morgenrote (last episode) saw the light, after that they released five more albums and one single CD. The Bloody Path of God, released by Dockyard contains twelve songs. Originality was definitely not on top off the list when composing this album. For example; the last song on this album is the Celtic Frost cover Circle of the Tyrants. Need I say more? Unfortunately all other songs sound very much alike. The same riffs, the same structure, the same style. Variety isn't something Mystic Circle seems to be very keen on. And then there's that annoying keyboard throughout every song. The album doesn't strike me as very technical, but if you like bands that sound a little too much like Dimmu Borgir for my taste, you will love it. |
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Visit their website: http://www.mystic-circle.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ | 60/100 |
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| NAER MATARON - Discipline Manifesto (CD) | Greece | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 59:11 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| At the end of 1994 Morpheas and Lord Alatoth decided to create a band that would play extreme Black Metal and the band's lyrical theme would be the glorification of the ancient Europe. Naer Mataron came to light. Together they released the demo "The Awakening Of The Ancient Greece" which received many excellent reviews. In 1997 the promo-tape "The Great God Pan" is being released. With this promo-tape Naer Mataron are signed to Black Lotus Records. Kaiadas and Lethe are the new members of the horde and Lord Alatoth is being kicked out as his ideas in general, are no longer satisfying for the band. In 1998 the debut CD of Naer Mataron hits the market. It is entitled "Up From The Ashes" and contains seven powerful songs. "Up From The Ashes" receives many good reviews and Naer Mataron are starting to create a great name among the Black Metal society. Many live shows made with bands such as Rotting Christ, Order Of The Ebon Hand. After 2001, two years of work and philosophy and the "Skotos Aenaon" CD is a reality. This release is the one that created the big and strong number of devoted fans of Naer Mataron. After, again, a few line-up changes Naer Mataron are entering the Praxis Studio, in order to record their third CD entitled "River At Dash Scalding". During the winter of 2004 Naer Mataron prepared the recordings of the new album "Discipline Manifesto". Well this is the bands latest (5th) release and its a shame that the production of this album sounds so bad. Pitty, because with a good production this could have been a very good pure blackmetal release! Now it is very difficult to give the album a positive review and thats the reason I cant promote this album. If you're into bands like Darkthrone and Gorgoroth and dont care about the bad production, you'll probably love this album. Sorry guys, next time some more attention to the album sound and I will swallow all my critics about Naer Mataron. Real die-hard blackmetal fans: check this album out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.naermataron.com Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ |
60/100 |
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| NEGATOR – Die Eisernen Verse (CD) | Germany | July 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 40:25 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| This 5 man band released their debut album in 2004. 'Die Eisernen Verse' is their second and it's released by Remedy Records. This new CD contains nine songs of pure black combined with a lot of power and variety. Negator sure knows how to play black metal. This album reminds me of bands like Emperor and Ancient, which is really not too bad in my opinion. It's a shame I never heard of this band before, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open for them. Love to see them live in the future. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.negator666.de
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.remedyrecords.de |
80/100 |
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| NICODEMUS - Vanity is a Virtue (CD) | USA | May 2006 | Peter BigAlke |
| Style: Progressive / Gothic Metal | Running time: 51:41 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| What have we got here? Nicodemus? Never ever heard of! Also the band, better to say the project of Christopher Morris, released 2 CDs since its founding in 1998, Nicodemus didn`t tortured my ears so far. Maybe the first aural offerings were a mix between Dimmu Borgir and King Diamond, this one can` t be filed under "Dark Metal" or anything else.Neither can`t Nicodemus proclaim to be unique in one way or another. Try to image a mix of gothic, progressive, some aggressive singing here and there and to this add a little bit Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy and maybe Tiamat (Judas Christ). Call it what you want, but it isn`t really heavy metal. From time to time, I can listen to songs that got more keyboards than any Tangerine Dream LP/CD. But not for more than 50 minutes. Christopher Morris and the rest of the band are well talented musicians, no words about that. But, does creativity mean, that from track 1 to track 7 the ingredients are always the same? Exactly after less than 1 minute you can hear the first keyboard attack, you know when the singing is this or that way, you can tell how the guitars will sound and so on and so on. If you think I`m wrong, give this record a chance and listen to it in your favorite shop. If I wrote rubbish, don`t hesitate to tell the world about it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.nicodemus.us/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.sonicagerecords.com/ | 30/100 |
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| NIGHTMARE VISIONS - III (MCD) | UK | April 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Doom / Death Metal | Running time: 26:19 (Tracks: 4) | ||
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Formed in the mid 90's and with many line up changes in the past, three current members are the heart of Nightmare Visions. They already released two albums and played with Paradise Lost, Benediction, Saxon, Hecate Enthroned. They compare theirselves with bands like; Opeth & Amorphis. I only know the older Amorphis stuff and I must agree that they DO sound like them. I also hear some (old) Paradise Lost & (old) My Dying Bride elements back in their music. Productional it all sounds okay but it does not sound original at all! Check them out if you're into this kind of metal. Nice mini-album; nothing more, nothing less! |
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Visit their website: http://www.nightmarevisions.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html |
66/100 |
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| NIKKI PUPPET - Puppet On A String (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 33:11 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| This German Melodic Hardrock band from Hannover was founded in autumn 2003 by Christor and Nicki under the band name Hungry. In 2004 they found in Herman Frank (Accept & Victory) a producer. They changed their band name in "Nikki Puppet" and recorded a 4 track demo. The release of this demo received very positive critics. You can describe "Nikki Puppet" as a modern traditional hardrock band. Influences of bands like Scorpions, Lita Ford, Girlschool and Doro (solo) with sometimes more a rock 'n' roll taste and a very few modern metal breaks and grooves. Catchy songs like "Puppet On A String", fast songs like "Ignorance" and the little bit more slow hardrock songs with a modern taste like "Stand here this way". There is also a very sweet and over the top ballad "Grumpy Face". Maybe not everything sounds perfect for me but I like "Nicky Gronewold" (vocals). She's got the same type of voice like "Maryann Scandiffio" (Blacklace), Doro Pesch (Warlock) & Lee Aaron, a typical female 80's hardrock voice. The guitars/bass/drums & vocals sounds a little low but still very traditional. Nikki Puppet is a must for fans of traditional hardrock with great female vocals and a modern hardrock taste. I already saw them in 013 club Tilburg, The Netherlands as support of MSG and they really rocked very hard !!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.nikkipuppet.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddon-music.com/ | 75/100 |
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| NOISE FOREST - Morbid Instincts (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 44:36 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Noise Forest is a band from Northern Germany and they've been busy in the metal scene for quite a while now. 'Morbid Instincts' is their third album. Their first album was 'Mortal machines' en their second album 'Zero Existence'. According to me Noise Forest is kind of a mixture between hardcore and death metal. When I listen to Noise Forest it's like I'm listening to Bolt thrower, except that Noise Forest is just a little bit harder. The first song is cramp and that directly sets the mood for the entire cd. Too bad that there isn't much place for new elements. The most remarkable songs are 'Past Redemption', 'Flag', 'Dead from the neck up', 'Devil's workshop' and 'Tragedy'. 'Morbid instincts' is nothing new. If you like death metal with some hardcore influences, then this is something for you. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.noiseforest.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddon-music.com/ | 70/100 |
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| OBSCENITY - Where Sinners Bleed (CD) | Germany | August 2006 | Saral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Death metal | Running time: 45:28 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Obscenity have been playing classic Death metal since their formation in 1989 and with this, the band from Oldenburg, Germany are known as one of the founders of this brachial scene. Obscenity is: Oliver jauch (vocals), Marc Andree Dieken (Drums), Hendrik Bruns (Guitar), Alexander Pahl(Bass) & Jens Finger (Guitar). The old – school death metal of this band is very well played, the songs are very technical and never get boring and sometimes the songs contain "thrashy" riffs, which makes it extremely pleasant to listen to. The production is also of a high standard taking care of eventual complaints about the recording. Obscenity is not so innovative but they seem to not care about this rather unimportant fact. Obscenity presents you forty minutes of blasting and gutwrenching death metal. This is an impressive album so if you like classic Death metal it'll just take five minutes of your time to buy this cd in your local record store. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.obscenity.de/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armegeddonmusic.de/ |
85/100 |
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| OBTEST - Is Kartos I Karta (CD) | Lithuania | July 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash / Black Metal | Running time: 43:27 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Obtest have been started in late days of 1992, inspired by the then new and challenging Black Metal explosion, particularly in Scandinavia. Bands like Enslaved, Grand Belial's Key, Mayhem, and Darkthrone had a huge inspirational effect on the youngsters. However, the fascination of the music they have been initially involved into Metal and grown up with [Iron Maiden, Manowar, Slayer, AC/DC, Death, Grave] has never faded away, and that's perhaps the explanation of the evolution Obtest music has gone through years.
Obtest sound has gone even more purified and closer to traditional Heavy Metal than ever before, not forgetting about the fast intense riffing and thundering rhythmics as well.
Lyrically the band was always very loyal to Heathen, historical, war and mythological themes, in spite of the musical changes. Written and sung in native Lithuanian, lyrical part of the band is always translated internationally, as Obtest consider it very important for others to know what they are signing about. This is the bands 3th album but my first acquaintance with them. During the course of writing the initial title was changed into "Ið Kartos Á Kartà" [From Generation To Generation], what perfectly sums up the idea behind the music and lyrics of current album. Listening to their music you can still hear their black/deathmetal history back in their songs. But personally i'm glad tha band decided to go a more heavy metal direction bacuase this album sounds pretty good and has some great guitar riffing parts that suit me very well (as a heavy metal adorer)!! The band has a quit unique style of metal nad its difficult to compare them with other bands. This has, offcourse, also to do with their Lithuanian singing aprts. Are the songs are full speed ahead which is to my opinion also a plus! If you like fast speed/trashmetal with a few blackmetal elements; you should check out this original bvand from Lithuania. They deserve it. Good album that will visit my CD-player regularly! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.obtest.lt/
Recordlabel: http://www.ledotakas.net/ |
83/100 |
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| ONE INCH MEN - Red (CDemo) | The Netherlands | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Stoner Metal | Running time: 15:11 (Tracks: 4) | ||
| First off I wish to thank One Inch Men for sending such a good sounding own release. That is not always the case, and it speaks in their favour. As does the packaging, because it is well presented. Their website says they play stoner metal, but that's not all. This is just a bit more explosive, just a bit more volatile. That makes this Stoner METAL. And it is good. These four songs have come out really good. Well written, with a good beginning and a proper ending. In between they rock you from one side of your room to another. The voice of Mario completes the picture, because it has just the rough edge it needs to prevent the music becoming standard. All in all I think this is a band that can go far, if they are picked up by the right people and singed to the right record label. On the basis of "Red", they definitely deserve to have all those things. | |||
| Visit their website: http://www.oneinchmen.com/ |
80/100 |
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| OTEP - House of Secrets (CD) | USA | May 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Nu Metal | Running time: 35:18 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Otep is a gang of four: Otep, the vocalist, Karma Cheema on guitar, Brian Wollf bangs the drums, and bassist Evil J are the newest heads of this ever growing Creative Hydra. After their debut album 'Sevas Tra' Otep is back with 'House of Secrets' their second release filled with despair, paranoia and depression. I've rarely heard such a magnificent album which is a merge of maniacal and panic influences combined with musical diversity. Sometimes you feel like you're listening to slipknot while the other moment you're listening to a soft ballad filled with paranoid lyrics and desperate vocals. It won't surprise you that this band was influenced by many genres; take bass player Evil J for instance he's an expert if it comes to jazz, and the number 'Suicide' is based on Dante's Inferno and it's not denied that Slayer was a big influence too. I love this album; this album is definitely one of the top albums in my chart this year. If you don't have this album already get your ass to the record store and buy it, you won't regret it. |
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Visit their website: http://www.otep.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.capitolrecords.com | 90/100 |
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| OUT OF THE LAIR - Psychotears (CD) | Greece | April 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 38:05 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Heavy metal band OUT OF THE LAIR was founded in September of 1995, by Spyros (guitar – vocals), Dionysis Nikolaidis (Drums), John Ayiub (guitar) and Nikos Fronimos (bass) in Thessaloniki, Greece, under the name WOLVERINE.
In March 2000, after 1 demo and a few line-up changes, the band was renamed to OUT OF THE LAIR and was formed by Spyros, George and Dionysis. January 2003, OUT OF THE LAIR entered the ROCK SOUND STUDIOS (Exhumation, Homo Iratus, Into The Gore, Nemesis) to record their first official self-financed album named "PSYCHOTEARS". The album is produced and mixed by OUT OF THE LAIR and George Prigos (Less than Human, Homo Iratus, Into The Gore) and mastered at Mix Studios, by Fotis Demertzis (Homo Iratus, Psycho Choke, Disembowel). This debut album has been released in the Fall of 2003 for promotional reasons only. After some good reviews and discussion with many record companies, OUT OF THE LAIR inked with DEAD SUN RECORDS from France. The album has been released worldwide in the dawn of 2006. Musically it all sounds okay; pure straight in your face heavy metal/speed metal which do remind me to other Greek bands like Airged L'amh & Innerwish. I also hear some influences from German thrashbands like Kreator & Angeldust. Singer Spyros has a nice voice but has the problem that his pronunciation is not that good. The other musicians are also all doing their jobs very well and it suits me to hear a lot of twin-guitar solos & double-bass drums! On two songs; 'Psychotears' and 'Out of the Lair' you can hear backing vocals by Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ). This is a very nice album, especially when you know that it is released for the first time in 2003. True metal at its best!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.outofthelair.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.deadsunrecords.com/ |
82/100 |
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| PATHS OF POSSESSION - Promises in Blood (CD) | USA | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 48:10 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Started in 1999 by Randy Butman, Jay Fossen, and Richard Brunelle (ex-Morbid Angel guitarist), Paths of Possession plays a solid mix of traditional heavy metal with influences of melodic Swedish death metal. Personally I also hear a lot of Bay Area parts back in their songs! Paths of Possession independently released their first CD "Legacy In Ashes" in 2000 but their next release wasn't until 2003, which was a split EP with Dark Faith titled "The Crypts Of Madness" which is where George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher (Cannibal Corpse vocals) first entered the band. In 2004 Richard Brunelle was replaced by current guitarist Jack Goodwin and current member Nick Goodyear stepped in to take over drumming duties. 2005 saw Paths enter Mana Recording Studios/Razzor Media in St. Petersburg, FL to record "Promises in Blood", their first full length in five years, with renowned metal producer Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, Soilent Green, and Into The Moat). "Promises in Blood" was mastered by Alan Douches, best known for his work with artists such as Nile, Sepultura, Hatebreed, Clutch, Unearth, The Misfits, Mastodon, Shadows Fall, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, and Earth Crisis just to name a few. This is a well produced deathmetal album but to be honest; its not all sounding to original. I heard it all before but I know that the die-hard deathmetal fan will love this album because musically its a very good album after all. Bands to compare Paths of Possession with are: Benediction, Cannibal Corpse, Infernal Majesty, God Dethroned & lots of other deathmetal bands. If you're into real old-school deathmetal, you'll have to check this band out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.pathsofpossession.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de/ |
70/100 |
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| PENTACLE - Under the Black Cross | The Netherlands | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Thrash / Death Metal | Running time: 41:32 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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The dutch Pentacle was formed in the winter of 1989/1990 when Mike (guitar), Wannes (bass/vocals) and Marc (drums) joined forces. Entangled in the growing urge to inspire their own roaring metal quest, Pentacle soon developed a highly ambitious conspiracy; forging twisting death metal rhythms and haunting doom chords in the archaic traditions of the crafts.
The band released several demo's nad delivered several songs for compilation-albums.
In March/April 1996, Pentacle's ranks of the depraved were joined by axewielder Edwin, to create an even heavier and deadlier storm of slashing metalscythes. The year 1997 started with the departure of this second axewielder Edwin as he wasn't able to commit himself to the band anymore. The band continued to spread their mayhem as the everlasting ancient lineup, the threepiece. In the meantime gigs were done with bands as Obituary, Katatonia, Immortal, Cannibal Corpse, Emperor, Hades Almighty, Marduk, Desaster and In The Woods... . Several compilation CD's have been desecrated through Pentacle's contributions.1998 awaited the new album "...Rides the Moonstorm". Damnation Records was chosen to unleash their new release which is available on CD and DOLP. For this purpose the band recorded at Harrow Productions, Losser, Holland 9 tracks, of which 8 compositions are of their own and a cover of Chile's own Death Metal Gods Pentagram, called "Spell of the Pentagram". Later, in 2000, original drummer Marc left the band unfortunally. Marc wasn't willing to do shows anymore. He has been replaced by Robert. After having done gigs in Italy and Germany, it was decided that the band needed another second Axe-maniac. The search for such an addition was very short. Mike's brother Alex joined the band after a small test period. After he had gotten his baptism of fire in Switzerland, he became a full member of the band. In 2004, the much delayed Possessed tribute ("Seven Gates of Horror") has been released through the Dutch label Karmageddon Records.
At the end of 2004, Pentacle entered Harrow Productions again to record 11 songs. The band recorded 8 tracks for the album on the German label Iron Pegasus Records, called "Under the Black Cross". After so many years of active service, the musical concept of the band is still firmly rooted in the golden '80's, though remains far from being a mere copycat of the forefathers of extreme Metal. They started performing their music when only a selected ( and loyal) audience still was interested in this honest style of music. Others sailed the seas of successive trends. Pentacle didn't. The band name hallowed cultbands as Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Messiah, Slaughter (Can.) and a lot more of these kind of bands as their main influences. Personally I also want to add Obituary to this list because of the typical voice of frontman Wannes. This is a damn good album that suits me much more than the deathmetal from nowadays!! The band will headline the Tilburg Headbangers Fest later this year (30/09/06), so if you have the possibility to be there, check them out! Live on stage this band is even much better than on vinyl/CD!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.pentacle.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.iron-pegasus.com/ |
85/100 |
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| PERSUADER - The Hunter (CD) | Norway | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 55:04 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Right, let's get thrashing. And let's go at it right. That is just about the message that Persuader are trying to make. No new kind, but old fashioned style thrash with a normal singer in front. The songs they have written definitely fit all these criteria. Some of them are very good, some are okay. Some are not so good, but hey, who is able to write a complete album without any songs that don't hit the spot. Especially not on your debut, because that is what "The Hunter" is. It was originally made in 2000. This is a re-release. Their latest product is "When Eden Falls". This album has just been released. In between (2004) they created "Evolution Purgatory". "The Hunter" is a very good first album for any band. The songs they have written have got a start, a body and an end, whilst they never bore you. That is not easy, but Persuader manages to get it right. Although I say this is pure thrash, it sometimes also is heavy metal. "Secrets" is a sedate song that breathes atmosphere and splits "The Hunter" perfectly in two. As an added bonus you find two songs of the "Visions And Dreams" demo the band did. That is when you really hear what these guys are made of. I must admit I never heard of Persuader before, but that is going to change. "The Hunter" made me do it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.persuader.nu/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ | 78/100 |
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| PERSUADER – When Eden Burns (CD) | Sweden | August 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 50:28 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Started out in 1997 Persuader brings out it's third release "When Eden Burns", after "The Hunter" and "Evolution Purgatory". As this is the first I hear of them, I can't tell you anything about the first two releases, but I can tell you about this one, and this rocks big time! If you're wondering what they sound like, after reading they play power metal, I can tell you think of Hammerfall's first two albums with the vocals of someone like Martin Steene. This is how power metal should sound like, like Hammerfall but WITH power, which Hammerfall lost over the years. This is a very heavy and divers album, starting off with "Twisted Eyes" , in my opinion one of the strongest songs on the album, they blew me right away, what a power! I must say not everything sounds totally original like "Slaves of Labour" for instance, gives me a feeling of 'where have I heard this before' but it's so well done, it's not annoying. The production is also perfectly done, the power really comes out, listen to songs like "Sending you Back" or ""Judas Immortal", great stuff and well performed on here. If you like your power metal powerful, you can purchase this one blindly, you won't regret it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.persuader.nu
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com |
87/100 |
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| PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES - A foot full of Bullets (CD) | England | June 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Punk Rock | Running time: 47:17 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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This band needs no further introduction I think, they are around since the late seventies and were at the beginning of the punk era. This is their first proper album in eight years or so, and they did a good job too. The album starts with some tunes in the good old way, listen to 'My unlucky day', although overall the album sounds well produced, this is a good thing. The lyrics are funny as hell, just listen to 'Traffic jam man' and their ballad on the album, the last song 'All about love' it's hilarious. But they didn't forget the real stuff, like the song 'Distorted view', it reminded me even a bit of GBH! Also on the album a soccer song 'Smiling through the tears' of which they also made a video. England is gonna win this time if you ask me, cuz they have a great band with a great song behind them. Although I hate soccer I like this one, better than what we have in Holland with Corry Konings, I'll think we're never gonna win this way…If you're into this kind of music you won't get disappointed by this album, but since they have some troubles with their record company I think it won't get easy to get a hold of a copy, see their website for details. |
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Visit their website: http://www.testtubebabies.co.uk/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ | 78/100 |
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| PHOENIX - Dying to find Myself (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Christian Rapcore | Running time: 28:37 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| First of all I would like to thank Jesus for giving me this CD, just joking. I'm not informed about this whole genre that Phoenix produce called christian rapcore this is a totally new genre to me. Normally I dislike rap very much because I think this is a genre that doesn't really care about spreading a message or making music they just care about making big money and showing off. This band on the contrary has a message and I appreciate what they are trying to achieve : a combination of different genres and they did a good job. The only song that didn't work for me was " blood flow" with the techno sound added to it. At first I didn't like this album because it was rap but now that I heard it through I've come to like it. The only downside to this cd is that it would've been alot better if more tracks were added or if the tracks were longer. These guys did a good job but still I like the usual metal more. This is always gonna be a genre that I won't listen to this much. | |||
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Visit their website:http://www.phoenixhiphop.com
Promotion: http://www.silentplanetpromotions.com |
70/100 |
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| PHOENIX MOURNING – When Excuses Become Antiques (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Emotional Metalcore | Running time: 54:13 (Tracks: 13 ) | ||
| The first thing I should point out is that the grunt does need some experienced ears. It will not be to everybody's taste. The clean vocals sound a bit like Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory. So does the music, with times. It is heavy and melodic interwoven and that makes it an interesting mix of music. Like I mentioned in the style section, it is metalcore, but the one kind that doesn't try to blast you off your feet, that stays away from adoring Slayer to openly. Here you can hear Fear Factory, Trivium and Killswitch Engage jamming with Keith Kaputo and Life Of Agony. Does sound interesting, does it not? It is, and you find yourself listening to this album with very astute interest, only to find out that they keep repeating themselves throughout the whole of "When Excuses Become Antiques". 54 minutes then becomes a very long time. Then again, Phoenix Mourning has not written any bad songs. They sound great and the intensity is only emphasized by the melodic undertone in the music. It is just that for me, they might have recorded just a little bit less. 40 minutes max. That would have increased my rating by 15 points. Please don't that keep you from checking out Phoenix Mourning, because they are a good band with good music. And that's what counts. | |||
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Visit their website: http://myspace.com/phoenixmourning
Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de/ |
67/100 |
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| PSYLENCE - Through Distorted eyes (CD) | England | June 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Nu Metal | Running time: 38:58 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| This is the debut album of this band, formed during the summer of 2003, they wanted to create a band that would sound fresh, building on their influences but not sticking to the expected sound. In September 2004 they released a 6 track ep "Schematic", and in 2005 they re-entered the studio again to complete what had become the final version of "Schematic", the vocals were re-recorded, with added layers and melodies and 4 more tracks added to make this debut album complete and re-titled to "Through distorted eyes". Well about this album, it's blasting away with 'pay on demand', the drums sound almost mechanical, but I don't like this kind of singing it's a bit annoying. But there are some good songs on this cd; I like the guitar work in some parts like in 'ninety 8', but the frustrating thing is that there are some irritating samples in the songs. The song 'Equality'starts off by a quote from Martin Luthor King's speech, this song has some airplay possibilities if you ask me, but it's not my cup of tea. If you like a modern sounding band with some screamy vocals here and there, and some hit potential this could be your band, but definitely not mine. The good news is that decks/samples/keys man Nick left the band and the newer material is more guitar orientated, so I'm awaiting their next release, which will hopefully be better, cause there are good musicians in this band, just listen to 'Deep within' for example. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.psylence.co.uk/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk/ | 65/100 |
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| PURE INC. - A New Days Dawn (CD) | Switzerland | June 2006 | Suzanne Smaling |
| Style: Hard Rock / Metal | Running time: 45:16 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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This is the third CD of the four headed Swiss hardrock/metalband Pure Inc. But it is the second CD which is released outside Switserland. Last year with Easter was the first time the band played here in the Netherlands. With Circle II Circle, Masterplan and Rob Rock the came to Weert. There I met the music of Pure Inc. and I was impressed by this young band. The played a great gig.
This second CD sounds the same as the CD Pure Inc. and that is great. They just blew out of the speakers. Singer Gianni Pontillo is a great vocalist. And with this CD Pure Inc. wants to show that they grew up and that they are more experienced now. In a little while they will support Motorhead in Switzerland and after that they will go and tour through Europe again. If you have the chance go and check them out. |
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Visit their website: http://www.pureinc.net/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ | 81/100 |
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| PUSTULATED - Haematoma (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time: 26:57 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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What can I say? I want to cry if I hear this sort of crappy compositions! If I hear a good part (yes there are) it's fades away in a murmur of things I can't describe…..it's not tight at all and sometimes I'm surprised when a 'song' abruptly ends!
Unfortunately I didn't hear a lot good parts except in their cover Cut into Pieces by Vengeance Rising; A better composition than the rest on this rehearsal (I don't even want to call it a record because of the bad sound).
How the hell they got a contract in the first place? Maybe they should be asking them selves!
It's not that there no skills at all….But I will advise Pustulated to get more structure in their compositions and very important: work on your sound as well playing and for recordings! Yeah, maybe I don't get it and maybe the band doesn't care for these things at all but if you send your stuff away you know you got 50 % chance to have a good review but you've got also 50% in the opposite! Keep on practising! | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.goregiasticrecords.com/
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48/100 |
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| PUTRID PILE - The Pleasure in Suffering (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time: 31:39 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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What a sound! You can hear it's recorded with a drum machine (hope 'Putrid' can find a human drummer who can do this part) but when hearing 'the complete thing' you don't mind at all…..this is death-metal just how it has to sound…
A very interesting part of this record is that it's made by one man who played and programmed everything on his own.
The vocals are heavy and remind me a bit on the first 'Skinless' album although I like the grunts more 'clean' than on this record (A few guests appear on this record and that's what I call a scene….you have to do things together and support each other!).
You can hear the influences of the death metal greats like Cannibal Corpse and Deicide in the guitar parts and drum parts as well. The artwork's made by no one less than Chris Moyen and I don't think I have to say more about that to the real death metal fan (look at the art of Incantation/Dismember etc). The lyrics are based on inner thoughts that result in killing, dead bodies and other extreme thoughts that every human will have in their brains (don't deny that! You know you are!). This is a high-class death metal product so I hope they will come overseas very soon to perform this bloody thing! Get me more! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.putridpile.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.goregiasticrecords.com/ |
78/100 |
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| RA'S DAWN – Scales of judgement (CD) | Germany | October 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 42:50 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Ra's Dawn is a new power metal band from Germany, founded in 2001 and this is their debut album. They already released two demo cd's 'Solar Force' in 2002 and 'Unveiling the Grotesque' in 2004. And now their debut album, power metal with some Egyptian influences. It's not something completely new, and if you are wondering what they sound like, bands like (old) Iced Earth and Fates Warning come to mind. Nonetheless this is all done very well, with great songs like 'Anubis', 'Flame of War' with a classical part in there, and 'Exodus'. This is a band with great potential, and a very familiar sounding voice, like Paul Stanley or Matthew Barlow are on vocals. This is a band to keep a close eye on, or ear if you like…Also the production is done really well on this album, and a nice titties cover to get the attention, not that they need to do that which such music, but it helps I guess… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ras-dawn.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.metalheaven.net |
82/100 |
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| RAZORDOG - Lucy Fairy's Club (CD) | France | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Industrial Metal | Running time: 50:44 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Chris Menta is a French musician who likes to go about his projects alone. Razordog is such a project and he has done everything on "Lucy Fairy's Club". I just can't get my head around the question whether I really like it or not. All he does is very adventurous and heavy, that is very sure, but it never really takes off full blast. You never get the idea that you are about to get blown away. He always puts on the brakes just before he is supposed to go into overdrive. It all just keeps on floating in mid air. That does not mean that the album is boring, far from it. But it also isn't the cracker you want it to be. It is stuck in the middle. The Ministry fan in me wants him to go full throttle and forget the consequences. The Medicine adept in me says he is doing the right thing and that he could even lose some of the heaviness shown. Like always the truth is in the middle. It is very likely that record labels have the same feelings about Razordog, which makes it appropriate that this is released under his own flag. As long as it doesn't keep him from making music with Razordog, because it is intriguing and magnetic. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.razordog.maylar.net/ | 70/100 |
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| REEL - Modus Operandi (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Industrial Metal | Running time: 59:34 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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Reel was created at the end of 1993 and after a couple of supportslots to Godflesh and Nerve, the German record company Ausfahrt recognized their talent. Now 13 years later they've released, if I can count it right, their 6th cd. Something I can't come to appreciate is the fact that techno music is mixed with my precious metal and 'Reel', like many others, didn't convince me either. When I listened to the songs I kind of got the feeling that I ended up in some kind of B-action movie and the vocals aren't all that too. This is one of these cd's I listen to once and then put aside. If you're into industrial I strongly suggest that you download this CD first and then, if you like it, buy it because this baby is nothing compared to Rammstein or Ministry. |
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Visit their website: http://www.reel.nl/ | 30/100 |
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| REKUIEM – Time Will Tell (CD) | England | July 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 58:20 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Rekuiem was formed in Wolverhampton in 1979 by singer Mike Reid, ex -ARS guitarist Steve Slater, bassist Gordon Denny and drummer Karl Wilcox. They were famous in the Midlands clubs and support Jameson Raid and Budgie. After some self - financed 7" singles in 1980 and a three track demo, Reid was leaving his place in the band for Tresspass frontman Steve Mills. The band folded in 1984. All members were going their own way. In the year 2006 they were back and released their debut album "Time Will Tell" and it sounds more than perfect for me! One of the best melodic hardrock/heavy metal bands of the last century. High standing hardrock/heavy metal in the vein of melodic hardrock bands of the mid 80's. Nice clean vocals, nice guitarwork ( sometimes even acoustic),bass and drums not to forget. I like this kind of hardrock very much and it's sad but true there are not many bands who make this kind of high quality heavy metal in the mid 80's style. Rekuiem is a must for fans of Diamond Head, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Hammerfall, Y&T and Malmsteen. Great production and well studied musicians to be short . Everything you need for melodic hardrock. Even Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne were very enthusiastic about this record, maybe because they've released one of the most perfect Paranoid covers on this cd ever! I'm looking forward to see this British band live on stage, I will bang my fucking head off! Yeah!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.rekuiem.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.majesticrock.com/ |
85/100 |
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| REPUGNANT - Epitome of Darkness (CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time: 43:18 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Goddamn! This is fucking good! If this is only the debut album what can we expect later???
Total damnation???? After destroying all my furniture I had to hold my breath for a while!
It's pure aggression mixed up with good playing skills…..just what I needed!
As the label already presents the band, "this is probably one of the best death-metal records since the mid nineties" and it's true! It's bloody fucking true! I can't wait to see them play live!
This is a record full of good compositions (good solos) and a real good sound and that's what a band needs to blow you away!
The vocals are not just ordinary death-metal but they're different, not as usual……it reminds me a bit on the vocals of the German band Sodom. More than 40 minutes death-metal and I don't get bored at all; songs with a beginning and an end and I give an advise for the metal minded fuckers all over the world: GET THIS FUCKING CD AS FUCKING SOON AS FUCKING POSSIBLE!!!!!! I think I made my mind clear haven't I? | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.soulsellerrecords.com/
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90/100 |
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| RESISTANCE - Lies in Black (CD) | USA | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Thrash / Power Metal | Running time: 28:26 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Resistance was born out of paul, matt, dan and e.f.'s love for heavy music and their desire to once again become creatively involved in it. Their friendship and musical experience began in their formative high school years. During this time these core members played in several bands together and evolved into a cohesive unit.
After years of playing together and recording, the four friends became disillusioned by the music scene towards the end of the 90's. Eventually paul, matt, dan and e.f. parted ways and began exploring different paths in their lives. At the onset of the new millennium the four came together again with a renewed musical passion and a new vision. Still unhappy with the current popular trend of heavy music (nu-metal) the name resistance was chosen as a statement of their philosophy to resist popular trends and write music for themselves. Paul's brother tim was then selected as the vocalist for resistance as the group saw a fresh untapped talent in him. As the bands popularity grew so did a problem with tim's voice and it was discovered that he had developed nodes on his vocal chords. A very tough decision was made that it would be in tim's best interest to step down and not continue. The decision was fully supported by each member and tim's contributions are still a part of resistance.
In a twist of fate a new vocalist (robby hett) fell into their laps and quickly proved to be a viable new member. Robby has a raw voice which fits good to the agressive thrashmetal the band delivers. The band plays real US-thrashmetal in th vein of bands like; Eternal Nemesis, Exodus, Death Angel, Violence and especially Atrophy! This album sounds very good and reminds me a lot to the 80's! And thats a compliment! The only little complain is the short running time (less than 30 minutes) but that will probably be better now because the band signed to Lion Music Records lately. Check out this good band & order this album! |
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Visit their website: http://www.resistancemetal.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com/ |
80/100 |
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| RESISTANCE - Trauma (CD) | Belgium | October 2006 | Tsatsral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Death Metal / Metalcore | Running time: 40:14 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| With trauma Resistance (The Belgian group not the american version which has the same name) releases their first album into the world and I must say that if they spent a little more time on it, it may have been alot better. They were formed in the middle of 2003 when Benoit (bass), vincent(drums), stephane(Guitar), Oliver(Guitar) and singer Xerus came together to start a band. A year later they released their first and last demo 'Unknown fear' and with this release they managed to score alot of gig's. I wouldn't say that this band is metalcore like they say they sound more old school death metal and in some songs they sound like Slayer. I think this is a good starting album and I mean by that that there is alot of improvement needed. I'm not saying that 'Trauma' is a bad album i'm merely saying that it doesn't stand out from all those other 'Metalcore' bands. One thing I definetely like is the exterior of the album, maybe if i'm in a cd store and i hadn't received this album i would've bought it just for the cover.This isn't a release that shocked me it's just an ordinary 'Metalcore' release nothing more nothing less. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.resistanceonline.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.suburban.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.apacheproductions.be |
70/100 |
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| REVELATION PROJECT - Revelation Project (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 71:25 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Revelation Project is a band based in Alden, New York. Led by guitarist and composer Graeme Swallow, the group created this album of keyboard driven Progressive rock-bordering-on-metal music similar to Dream Theater in 2005. Acting as a regular band and not as project, like their name suggests, Revelation Project delivers a clear Christian message through its music and lyrics. The songs are full of biblical references and the whole album is actually a concept about humanity's end time as seen through the eyes of a man who was convicted in prison for believing in Christ. You shouldn't expect hard metal parts or fasts songs in this record. The album is consisted of many atmospheric and mid tempo parts, instrumental breaks and narrations. I believe the fans of progressive music (not to mention all the White music fans) will find it quite interesting, besides the musicianship is excellent and the lyrical approach quite unique. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.revelationproject.com/
Promotion: http://www.silentplanetradio.com/ |
72/100 |
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| SABATAN – Fire Angel (CD) | Spain | November 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Classic Heavy Metal | Running time: 61:11 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| These Spaniards have been going for 11 years. And they are not signed at all. That could mean two things: one, they are so good and original that no one dares to take them in. Two, they are just not good enough to get a deal. Unfortunately for Sabatan the latter applies to them. This is classic Spanish heavy metal, brought in rather well written songs. However, they have forgotten that one of the principles of making a very good metal album is that you start and finish in synchronisation, not one after another. Also, you have to make sure that what you play is so well executed that every sound is in contact with all the sounds around. (Just listen to their fellow Spaniards Silver Fist, and you will know what I mean.) On these counts Sabatan also fails. On the other hand, this enthusiastic attempt to make an album has got that je-ne-sais-quoi factor, because it does keep your attention all through the album. It is as if you keep on wondering when the amazement of what you hear and feel will turn into pure adoration for "Fire Angel". Alas, that moment never comes. At least not with me. I like this, but only if I see these 61 minutes of metal as a demo of a band that still has a way to go. And after 11 years, I doubt if they will get much further. | |||
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Visit their website: http://one.xthost.info/SABATAN/
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55/100 |
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| SACRED OATH - A Crystal Revision (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US / Speed Metal | Running time: 52:05 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Sacred Oath was originally formed in 1985 in Bethel Connecticut by founding members Rob Volpintesta (guitar/vocals) and Pete Altieri (bass). They began to write their own music right away and found drummer Greg Kallas. Sacred Oath soon recorded their first self-titled demo and in 1987 Greg Kallas left the band and was replaced my long time friend and band artist, Kenny Evans. The band added second guitarist Wayne Christiano and quickly recorded a 5-song demo entitled "Shadow Out of Time". Soon after the release of "Shadow Out of Time" the band was signed to metal indie label Mercenary Records and did some regional touring of the east coast and Midwest.
Wayne Christiano was replaced by guitar player Glen Cruciani and the final line-up was complete. They entered the studio again and recorded the classic "A Crystal Vision". Due to serious problems with Mercenary, Sacred Oath saw many delays with the release of the album, but it was released in 1988 and later it was released on CD. By the time the CD was out, Sacred Oath was no more. Unfortunately the band broke up in December 1988 and took a long while off playing together before re-entering the studio 10 years later in 1998 to re-record the "A Crystal Vision" CD with the help of Sentinel Steel Records. The new material was released along with the original recordings with a killer 12-page booklet that documents the band history. In the summer of 2005, the band decided to record some of the old material that never found it's way to a national release. With Rob, Kenny, and Glen still living in Connecticut, but Pete residing in Illinois - the tracking has been going on via the United States Post Office. "A Crystal Revision" is a classic one; real old school US-metal with high pitching vocals. Singer Rob Volpintesta do remind me to singers like King Diamond, Jim Gillette (Nitro) and also a little bit like Larry Portelli (Blessed Death). High pitching vocals the way I like it most!!! Musically they can be compared with bands like; Attacker, Ruffians, Flotsam & Jetsam and a lot of other US-bands form the 80's. The only negative about this album is the very, very moderate production!! Okay, it sounds 80's but with a good production this album should have been rated much higher!!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sacredoath.net/
Recordlabel: http://www.angelthorne.com/ |
81/100 |
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| SACRIFICIUM – Escaping the Stupor (CD) | Germany | August 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Thrash / Death metal | Running time: 46:07 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Sacrificium was founded in 1993 as a thrash metal band. Soon after that, they changed their style and since then they blast with might in the death metal scene. The first demo CD was released in 1996, followed by the demo tape Mortal Fear in 1998 which was very well spoken for. In 2002 they released their debut album "Cold black piece of flesh" (Whirlwind Rec.), which was well received in the death metal scene, myself included. Their second album "Escaping the Stupor" (Black Lotus Rec.) dates from 2005. A furious and fast album, technical, but powerfull. The singer and backing vocalist grunt and scream like they're being butchered into pieces (Hell Yeah!!!). Sacrificium managed to keep every song interesting, which is not easy in this genre. They even have an instrumental song (track 7, Tremendum) which is great. Everything sounds good, from the riffs, drums and solos to the production of the CD, very nice. If you like Entombed, At the Gates, Obituary…you're definitely going to enjoy this masterpeace. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.sacrificium.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com |
90/100 |
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| SATURNUS - Veronika Decides To Die (CD) | Denmark | June 2006 | Suzanne Smaling |
| Style: Melodic Doom Metal | Running time: 57:60 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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I didn't knew the band Saturnus at all. The CD really surprised me in the positive way this mostly because I am not a doom metal fan, but they really, really impressed me! Like said before it's doom metal but also very melodic. And that makes the CD very interesting. Singer Thomas has a good grunt but also melodic voice. This third CD sees the light after the last release, "Martyre", 6 years ago. In these 6 years it has been a come and go from band members, but with this CD Saturnus is back with a very strong record. The official release date is 22nd May 2006. Saturnus invited Michael Denner (Mercyful Fate, Force of Evil) for the solo of 'Descending'.
The album title "Veronika decides to die' is inspired by Paulo Coelho novel of same name. The CD is produced by Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, Morbid Angel etc) and the artwork is done by Travis Smith. A lot of people think that Saturnus sounds like the old work of Anathema. So if you like Anathema in the time of 'Eternity', then you definitely have to check Saturnus out! The CD sounds pretty sad, like sad something happened during the writing. And because doom metal is al little bit slower has it a special sound. The guitar work is very strong and melodious … very tuneful. Like said before, this CD is a bit slower, but he is not boring for a second, so the band did a very good job on this CD! Saturnus says: "Light up the candles, lean back in the most comfortable chair and let Veronika Decides To Die take you to places that no man has gone before … enjoy the journey!" |
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Visit their website: http://www.saturnus.dk/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl Recordlabel: http://www.firebox.fi/ | 86/100 |
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| SCHANDMAUL - Mit Leid und Seele (CD) | Germany | July 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Folk Metal | Running time: 68:46 (Tracks: 17) | ||
| At first I must admit that I was a little sceptic about this unusual style. I've had never heard of Schandmaul before. As always, I read the biography of the band before I listen to the actual CD. The biography says that the band started out as an acoustic folk project in 1998. Acoustic folk on Mario's Metal Mania? That can't be happening. And indeed. As I read further, I saw that the acoustic guitars were quickly replaced by electric ones. So it became a thing we call folk metal. And since then, they have released several CD's and even DVD's. Now then. Their newest album is called "Mit leid und Seele". When I was listening to it, I quickly came to a conclusion. This is a live band! With all these instruments and song material, they can create one hell of a show. That is also the reason why they are so popular. They decided to become a real band instead of a project, because of the respond on their live performance. You can tell that by listening to the album. It has a great live vibe. A lot of bands try to capture that vibe, and Schandmaul has managed to do so. As folk is known for, it can make you cheerful. The typical folk tunes combined with metal sounds is working out very good. The first time I listened to it, I wasn't totally convinced. That's what you get when you expect real 'metal.' But something forced me to listen to it again. Songs such as 'Der Untote' and 'Feuertanz' are great compositions with a positive vibe. I wouldn't call it party metal, but you'll get the idea. Fast songs, mid tempo songs and even some ballads are present on the album. This combination keeps it alive, and have that constant live feeling. I can't wait to see this band on stage. For traditional metal fans, this is probably not your thing. But for the people who are open-minded, give this album a try… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.schandmaul.de/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.fame-recordings.de/ |
75/100 |
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| SEARING I - Bloodshred (CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Trash / Death Metal | Running time: 42:33 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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Searing I was formed in 1999 in Uppsala, Sweden. They're not new in the metalscene. The members formally had a death metal band called The Prophecy. Before releasing this album they made 4 demos. This debut album 'Bloodshred' was released by Black Lotus Records. They signed for three albums in total. The five members of Searing I play hard and fast ''in your face" trash /death metal. The singer Andreas Öman has a great trash throath and obviously likes to scream. The guitar riffs are very fast and technical. Every song on this album sounds the way that modern trash should sound like. A furious album which you're going to enjoy if you like bands like The Haunted, Grip Inc and Hatebreed. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.searingi.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com |
85/100 |
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| SENCIROW - Perception of Fear (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 43:31 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Sencirow is a promising band from Germany. Although the guys have been around since 1996, they had to wait for 10 years and several demos before signing their first contract with the AFM record label and have their debut cd released. Better late than never I say. The Sencirow style can be characterized as teutonic power metal with modern production and tons of melody mostly due to a great twin guitar attack. They are in league with bands such as Rawhead Rexx, influenced by acts like Accept and Judas Priest. Their music will definitely make you wanna headbang and play some air guitar while in your room or car… All four guys are perfect in their fields but it think that the drumming needs some variety and fresh ideas, far from the boring teutonic and eurometal standards. |
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ | 82/100 |
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| SERPENT'S KISS - Serpents Kiss (CD) | England | June 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Melodic Power Metal | Running time: 40:51 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Serpents Kiss are a melodic power metal band from the north of England, originally started in 2000 as a 3 piece band they already have two (demo) CD's out; "Winters Eve" released in 2001 and "Distant Shores" released in 2002. On these demo's they used a drum computer since they didn't have a drummer at that time. In 2003 a second guitarist joined the band, and the singer left the band, after that they recruited a real drummer and two! female lead vocalists in this line up they recorded this CD, and it's absolutely fabulous! I just love the twin guitar sound and double lead vocals, it's sounds very original, with very good composed songs. Lot's of variation in the music, very melodic and powerful songs, some reminded me of early Chastain, while the vocals did bring back some Rock Goddess memories. When the term power metal is used many people think of bands like Hammerfall, in my eyes this is much better than Hammerfall, it sounds less childish like their latest releases, more mature and technical! When you listen to songs like 'Strider', 'Kingdom' and 'Winters Eve', you won't get bored, many breaks and changes, and superb twin guitar work, you just got to listen to this! |
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Visit their website: http://www.serpentskiss.co.uk/ | 92/100 |
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| SHARK ISLAND – Gathering Of The Faithful (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Poprock | Running time: 48:18 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| According to the biography this is one of the best unsigned bands Los Angeles has ever had. Ratt and Guns 'n Roses are supposed to be amongst their fans during the 80's, when they played about five times a week. Well, that might be so, but I am afraid that the reunion of this band doesn't bring those fans back. The music is okay, but nothing special. It is a poppy kind of rock that does sound good, but never rings any bells. You never get the feeling you are listening to a very good and inspired band, a bunch of men who allegedly have been the motor for so many other musicians to get started. It just toggles along and makes you wish that the album was finished. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sharkislandmusic.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
57/100 |
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| SHATTER MESSIAH - Never to play the Servant (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Modern Thrash Metal | Running time: 59:17 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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Bandleader Curran Murphy played technically demanding songs
on numerous tours as a member of NEVERMORE ("Politics Of Ecstasy" and
"Dead Heart In A Dead World" tours) and ANNIHILATOR (performing on the
"Waking The Fury, "Double Live Annihilation" and "All For You" albums
and tours), Curran Murphy stepped out of the shadows of
these acclaimed acts to form his own band, SHATTER MESSIAH.
SHATTER MESSIAH's sound is an intense mixture combining Curran's
hardcore metal roots with classic thrash and power goth, resulting
in compositions of over the top aggression and melodic skill. To be able to complete the band he had in mind, Curran required a vocalist for SHATTER MESSIAH that could literally sing anything, from demonic growls to a melodious angelic choir, piercing highs to earth shattering lows. Just as Curran began to think that this vocalist did not exist, Greg "Wags" Wagner (BREAKER; ex-ARCHETYPE) auditioned for the position, and Curran knew that he had finally found the singer that would put no limits on his musical vision. The next piece that needed to be added to this complex musical puzzle was a drummer that could play the blazing, seemingly inhuman drums required for this band. Robert Falzano (a virtuoso hand picked by drum god Mike Mangini to replace him in ANNIHILATOR) was asked to join the band, along with whom came longtime friend and bass player Ron Boisvert. This is a short bio according the bands website! Personally i'm already a big fan & friend of singer Greg Wagner for years now and Greg pleased me with all his musical experiences & projects during the last 4 or 5 years.That was also the reason I already reviewed the bands demo in 2004 and I also tried to help the band finding a good recordlabel. Unfortunately that didnt work out but I was sure that sooner or later a label would pick up this high quality band! Well finally the German Dockyard label did. A very good choice when its up to me! When you expect music in the vein of Greg's older (progressive ) band (like Archetype); than I will have to disappoint you! Shatter Messiah plays a mix of old speed/thrashmetal but with a very modern touch! Bands to compare Shatter Messiah with are most likely; Nevermore, Pantera, Kragens but also some Annihilator. Offcourse you hear a lot of Annihilator elements back in their songs but dont expect a rip-off off this band! SM has found his own style in todays modern metal scene and I hope the band will make it because with their qualitys they deserve it! This is a damn good album; great production & great musicianship! Hope to see the band soon on stage in Europe!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.shattermessiah.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ |
91/100 |
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| SHE'S CHINA - Odyssey to Mars (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive / Symfo metal | Running time: 64:00 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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She's China has been around for quite a while, releasing several abums, though I had never heard of them....until now. "This is the first time that she's china is a real band, six hippies making music together and having fun, fun, fun. We don't care if we are trendy or not. all we like to do is giving you a little peace of our heart", is what lead-vocalist Sherman Noir has to say about the band, which in the case of this CD sounds like that's exactly the case, though i don't hear no real hippie elements. "Odyssey to Mars" sounds like something you might have heard before...think Bowie, think Pink FLoyd....less mindblowing, but...I don't really mind, this album contains solid, strong songs. The mood is more 70's than 60's and the laid-back atmosphere really got me. Hammond here, mellotron there, it has most of the classic ingrediënts, but in a very commercial, almost easy listening kind of way. Sometimes I am even reminded of Spock's Beard or Star Castle. The voice of Noir is pleasant, not high, almost a smoother version of John Wetton. The only downer for me are the lyrics. I mean, if it really is an "Odyssey to Mars" the lyrics could have had a little more depth. Highlights: 'Odyssey to Mars', 'Space Between the Heavens', 'Shine On', 'Shadows on the Moon'. So for all of you into "light" prog/sympho, check this abum out, I know I am glad to have it in my collection. |
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Visit their website: http://www.shes-china.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.point-music.com/ | 82/100 |
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| SHINING STAR - Enter Eternity (CD) | Greece / USA | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Neoclassical Progressive Metal | Running time: 47:22 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| SHINING STAR is the brainchild of a Brazilian guitarist named FABIO ROCHA. In 2001, Fabio decided to do a song oriented album that wasn't instrumental and put out his first album with another Brazilian, vocalist NANDO FERNANDES and brothers Andrea Busic on bass Ivan Busic on drums, both of (DR. SIN) DR SIN well known internationally for it's release with Michael Vescara (ex-vocalist of OBSESSION / LOUDNESS / YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and others) Fabio put this group togther and called it FABIO ROCHA's SHINING STAR....the album's title was "FATAL MISTAKE" FATAL MISTAKE garnered fantastic reviews internationally even though it was only released officially on Megahard Records in Brazil, this was the start to inroads Fabio would make with his music into North America and Europe. Vocalist Lance King leaves Balance of Power in 2003 and Frontline Records (BOP's south American record label and Fabio's new label) asks Lance if he would like to record an album with Fabio. Lance agreed and Frontline asked Lance also to produce and mix the album in Minneapolis. Lance chose to work with his long time friend Todd Fitzgerald who had mixed the last 4 Balance of Power albums. They finished the work and when it came time to pay the studio bill..... Frontline never sent the money.... Now almost 3 years after Lance began recording the SHINING STAR, the band and Lance have worked out the details and this album will see the light of day finally! Lance King is a very good singer and a workaholic too! He is doing a lot of projects/bands, runs his own recordlabel and is a very good producer too! This is a very good neoclassical album with great musicianship. The band sometimes sounds very commercial but this is not disturbing at all. To compare this band with another band is very difficult because it all sounds pretty original. Expect a more commercial edition of Queensryche/Dream Theater/Kamelot/Balance of Power. Check this album out!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.myspace.com/ShiningStar7 Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com/ |
80/100 |
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| SHOOTING STAR - Circles (CD) | USA | August 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Melodic Hardrock | Running time: 52:00 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with the name Shooting Star but as it turned out the band has a huge history starting with the self titled debut back in 1980. The first four albums even managed to climb a bit up the U.S. top charts. The group returned in 2002 with the album "Leap of Faith" after a ten year break and, as it seems, it's here to stay. There is no doubt; this record was a very pleasant surprise to my ears. Shooting Star delivers great melodic hard rock with great skills and feeling (let alone the production which is absolutely perfect). Their sound is quite near some other American hard rock legends such as Survivor and Night Ranger but some Deep Purple influences (mostly Gillan era) are more than obvious. Kevin Chalfant's vocals (you might know him from his participation in Two Fires and The Storm along with guitar hero Josh Ramos) sound as a mix between Ian Gillan and Jimi Jamison, an explosive combination I might add. Energetic songs like the guitar driven "I'm A Survivor" or melodic tunes like the bluesy mid tempo "Borrowed Time" are definite winners. Although I haven't managed to hear any previous albums by Shooting Star, I will surely do in the near future after listening to "Circles". | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.shootingstarmaniacs.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
88/100 |
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| SILENCER - Death of Awe (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Modern Thrash Metal | Running time: 37:50 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| SILENCER formed around the year 2000 and released an EP "Kosmos" that year. A few years later (2002) they released another EP "Structures". The band plays a kind of modern thrashmetal which is normally not my fav. kind of metal. So its difficult for me to compare them with other bands in their genre. Musically it sounds like a mix of Nevermore & Machinehead but with a much more rawer (hardcore-a-like) vocals. This is the bands first release for the Belgium Mausoleum label. Because that label never sends me any of their releases (not even after several request); I was glad that the band did send me a copy of the album . As told already, musically its not really my cup of tea but I can assure you that this band has a lot of musical qualitys. Metalheads that are into a more refreshing thrashmetal variant will adore this labum. Just check this band out; you will not regret it!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.silencer.cc/
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78/100 |
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| SILVERPILL – Demo 2006 (CDemo) | Israel | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Heavy Metal | Running time: 21:41(Tracks: 5) | ||
| Silverpill is an Israeli band that has been going since 1998. It has taken them eight years to get a demo to our office. As soon as you start the listening to Silverpill you do know it is a demo. The voice is too much forward in the mix, the music is not produced dynamically enough. That's not a problem when you're listening to a demo, because they are usually made with the minimal use of cash and resources. It doesn't mean that you can't hear what Silverpill is about. You can, and they are an old fashioned heavy metal band with melodic influences. That is also where they fall short, because their songs are just that little bit to mediocre to stand out. No, this is not bad music, this is quite good, but it never pops up and rears it's head above the great ocean of other trying bands. This will undoubtedly mean that they will not be discovered by a record label that has international potential. Also, after eight years of trying you would expect them to be further in their musical writing skills. Don't be put off by this and order the demo if you love your metal with some melody and personality. | |||
| Visit their website: http://www.silverpill.net/ |
65/100 |
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| SINOCENCE - Black still Life Pose (CD) | England | July 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Heavy / Nu Metal | Running time: 1:08:01 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| 'Black still Life Pose' is the debut album of Sinocence consisting of Moro (Vocals, guitar and piano), Anto (Lead Guitar), Kaxxx (Bas, vocals), Davy (drums). They released their first demo "Acceptable Level of Violence" at the start of 2004 and not long after that they started writing the next demo "The beautiful Death Scene". Ultimately in August 2005 they released their first full-album containing then fully remixed & remastered tracks from both 'AVOL' and 'TBDS'. The band has an amount of live experience and they could even support Machine Head during it's tour through Northern Ireland. There's a strong Heavy Metal base running through the entire album especially on tracks like ''Beneath The Halo'' and I can appreciate that but I hope that Sinocence will search for a better singer than Moro, because I don't like his voice, simply limit Moro to guitar and hire a more capable vocalist. The slower songs I like most on this album they allow for variation and in 'psycho' anto goes off on a very impressive solo. So if you like metal with hard rock influences then this is definitely something for you. I don't say you'll love it but you'll come to appreciate it. Good job lads. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.sinocence.co.uk
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.coprorecords.co.uk/ |
75/100 |
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| SKW - Alter Ego (CD) | Italy | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Modern / Crossover Metal | Running time: 41:16 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| When you hear the start of "Alter Ego", you can't stop thinking that this is the Italian version of a mix between Fear Factory and Pantera. Only without the pure quality these bands have. That changes on the title track, which has more of a Roots era Sepultura attitude, mixed with some Red Hot Chilli Peppers in the guitars. As you understand, these guys are not straight forward. That is good, because that means that you are not very easily bored by the same kind of music. And although SKW lack the pure quality of their peers, they definitely have something going for them. They have an open sound, which prevents the music from running you down completely. You can now listen to it and absorb what is happening, without hitting a brick wall at 100 mph. The third song on the album is "This Time". This IS a real gem and should be heard by everyone who loves good music. Every song has a connotation with a band that is big, but SKW always gives it a nudge in their own direction. And if you love a good cover, listen to "Smalltown Boy". It has never sounded this heavy. Lovely. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.skw.it/ Recordlabel: http://membres.lycos.fr/deadsun/ | 73/100 |
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| SLAMER - Nowhere Land (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: HardRock | Running time: 62:13 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Guitarist Mike Slamer started his carreer in 1976 in a band named City Boy. 1983 he decided to start the melodic hardrock band "Streets" together with Steve Walsh who just left the legendary aor/hardrock band Kansas. He really makes a name for himself with the bands Steelhouse Lane & Seventh Key. The two first Steelhouse Lane records 'Metallic Blue' en 'Slaves Of The New World' were a must for every fan of melodic AOR & hardrock. Mike Slamer also worked with many great acts and musicians. Example: female hardrock vocalist Fiona, Michael Sweet ( Stryper) and American Glamrockers Warrant. The Year 2006 was the release of a great melodic hardrock album called "Nowhere Land" a longplayer who sounds like Glam & AOR Hardrock of the mid 80's till early 90's. For me this is the perfect music to relax, nice melodic hardrock with clean vocals, good clear productions and songs like: 'Strength To Carry On', 'Runaway', 'Jaded' and the catchy songs 'Not In Love', 'Nowhere Land' en 'Higher Ground'. The jazzy parts in the music sounds even a bit like American Jazz Glamrockers Extreme but also some parts of Nightranger, Honeymoon Suite, Firehouse, Winger and Nelson. Great album if you ask me and probably one of the better AOR records of the year 2006. This album takes you back to 1986. Oldschool AOR/Glam/Hardrock of our youth and better more of these great kind of bands then less, GREAT MUSIC !!! | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it |
90/100 |
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| SOLEFALD – Red for Fire (CD) | Norway | October 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black Folk Metal | Running time: 54:24 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Solefald was founded in 1995 by drummer Lazare and vocalist Cornelius, both known names in the metalscene; Lazare has credits with Borknagar and Carpathian Forest and Cornelius with Monumentum. They released a demo called "Jernlov" and that brought them a record deal with Avantgarde Music. Iin 1997 they released their debut "The Linear Scaffold". Their second album "Neonism" was released in 1999. To years later they changed from label to Century Media and released their third album "Pills against the ageless ills". In 2003 there was another album released "In Harmonia Universali". In 2004 they returned to the studio and released therir new album "Red for Fire" last year with the smaller label Seasons of Mist. This new album sounds very unexpected, all songs are very different in style. For example, the first song sounds very Folkisch and the second song has a thrash metal sound, the fourth song is instrumental and the seventh song is a poem! Solefald has used several guest musicians for this album. The entire album is dark and stuffed with several of instruments that gives it a little bit of medieval sound. This combined with the different kind of vocals during the entire album, with raw guitar sounds and flaming drums makes an album you'll love or you'll hate. Just check it out yourself. This is just part one of an "Icelandic Odyssey", the release date of part two "Black for Death" is still unknown, but it should be out later this year. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.solefald.org
Recordlabel: http://www.season-of-mist.com/ |
75/100 |
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| SPAWN OF POSSESSION - Noctambulant (CD) | Sweden | November 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time: 41:33 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| If you like brutal technical death metal this is a must! Spawn of Possession raised from the ashes in february 1997 and after 3 years they recorded their first demo called 'The forbidden' and they had good responses. A year later they recorded the 2nd demo 'Church of Deviance' and then they got signed to 'Unique Leader Records' and in june 2002 they recorded their debut-album 'Cabinet'. A few tours in Europe, USA and again Europe (No Mercy and support Cannibal Corpse) made them do almost 100 gigs! 'Nocatambulant' is recorded in February and march 2006 and the band's signed by 'Neurotic Records', they releasing the record too. They're playing technical and melodic too and I don't have to say much about their playing skills…….they're just fucking good!!!! This album contains a lot of variation; Fast parts, mid-tempos, acoustic stuff, twin-guitars and more to make this a great fucking band!!!!! This record is a masterpiece so go fucking get it! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.spawnofpossession.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.neurotic-records.com/ |
97/100 |
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| SPEKTR - The Near Death Experiences (CD) | England | August 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Experimental Black metal | Running time: 47:22 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Wow! I'm surprised! This is a very interesting piece of work! It's a studio project and they're having a lot of influences which have taken its own shape……
The two-member-band's formed in 2000 and this is their second album full of strange intro's (at the beginning you only think: "What the hell is happening here????!!!) and weird sounds what brings you in strange spheres.
It's more than music! It really runs through more life at once….you're getting connected with more vibrations just like the description they are giving to their project.
In the bonus video part (running time is included this part) I've seen a clip full of strange images which are very related to their strange way of combining music and I only get more surprised when I hear some jazzy drums combined with black metal guitar riffs!!!! O yeah! They can play…that's for sure!! I think we can put this name in the same list as Mayhem and Emperor as you look at the playing skills and compositions. The sound is very Black Metal (personally I like the real fat muddy sound but I know that Black Metal has a real old school sound in most works) and I know for sure this record can't be missed in a good collection in this style. A pity the album came out one day too early……(05/06/06) if they had waited for just one day………..So Black Metal scumbags! You heard me!!!! Go and get one!!!!! | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk/ |
78/100 |
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| SPHERE OF SOULS - From the Ashes.... (CD) | The Netherlands | June 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 58:13 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Sphere of Souls was formed by vocalist André Vuurboom following his departure from Sun Caged in May 2004. Former Autumn Equinox bassist Kees Harrison was soon recruited to the line-up, closely followed by André's former bandmate, ex-Imperium drummer Patrick Gerritzen. Joost van den Broek, who had also recently left Sun Caged, soon expressed a keen interest in the project, offering his services as keyboard player and producer for the band's first album. Guitar virtuoso Anand Mahangoe agreed to contribute solos. I already reviewed an album of this super-guitarist a few years ago (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews) and I can tell you that he is one of the best guitarplayers in Europe!! André soon began writing material. Demos were sent to the other band members on a regular basis, with Kees visiting on a number of occasions to add bass tracks. At this point the band was still without a rhythm guitarist for the album. A suitable candidate was soon found in former Imperium guitarist Rob Cerrone. In February 2005 Sphere of Souls began rehearsing as a four-piece (minus Anand Mahangoe and Joost van den Broek). However, it soon became apparent that Patrick Gerritzen was not going to be able to combine his other commitments with the band. In late March 2005 he was replaced by Kees's former bandmate, ex-Autumn Equinox drummer Ruud van Diepen. Sphere of Souls' debut album 'From the Ashes...' was recorded between May and September of 2005 at Rotterdam's Excess Studios and the home studios of Joost van den Broek and Anand Mahangoe. At the end of 2005 Anand Mahangoe, who had contributed solos to 'From the Ashes...', became a permanent member of Sphere of Souls. Later on Sphere of Souls signed to the Finnish progressive rock and metal label Lion Music. The official release party for 'From the Ashes...' was held at Plato in Helmond, the Netherlands, on Friday, 12 May 2006. Joost van den Broek, who does not usually perform live with Sphere of Souls, also joined the band on stage for the performance. I took the chance to visit this gig and I didnt regret it at all! I was already a fan of Andre's voice during his Sun Caged period So I was very curious about seeing the band on stage! Live, Andre had some voice problems in the beginning but later on he revenged! But back to the album: A few years ago when Andre left Sun Caged I was wondering why because Sun Caged was nearly breaking through in the prog-scene. By now I know a bit more why he left (watch out for the interview I will do with Andre soon) and i'm sure he wont regret his decision. Sun Caged sounded like a very good Dream Theater- a -like progmetalband. Sphere od Souls on the contrary is even more progressive and can be compared with bands like Fates Warning & Spocks Beard. The CD had a lot of variety in the songs; some brilliant prog compositions but also a few serious ballads ('Loss': dedicated to Andre's father). Normally i'm not a big progmetal fan (thats why I recruited Sieges Even frontman Arno Menses for reviewing this kind of metal) but when they are as heavy as this album i'm always interested in doing a review now and then. This is a damn good album that will visit my CD player regularly!! Check this band out (on CD & Live!!). You want regret it! Brilliant album!! One of my 2006 highlights!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.sphereofsouls.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com/ | 95/100 |
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| SPIRITUS MORTIS - Fallen (CD) | Finland | August 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Doom Metal | Running time: 41:35 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Spiritus Mortis is considered the first doom metal band to come out of Finland. Formed back in 1987 with several demos in their account, the band made its self titled debut seventeen years later (!!!). The reasons behind this huge delay were many (constant line up changes among others). The founding core of brothers Jussi and Teemu Maijala established a steady lineup in 2000 and where determined not to let the chance pass them by once more. The band arrived among the current traditional doom revival era and made quite an impact with its debut. "Fallen" isn't far from the sound introduced in "Spiritus Mortis". The solid doom riffs inspired by Black Sabbath and Candlemass are here and so are the distinctive vocals of Vesa Lampi (melodic but yet harsh), the man who brought a gasp of fresh wind with his arrival in the Spiritus Mortis camp. The band is clearly influenced mostly by the sound of the 70ies; Black Sabbath, Pentagram and Deep Purple appear as the obvious godfathers of the Spiritus Mortis music. The addition of some keyboard themes just proves that. Fortunately the songs aren't mile-long and the listener won't get bored listening to their monolithic tunes and riffs. Forget all the hippie-like bullshit that the current music status serves us a true doom. These Finnish guys surely know the way to do it right. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.spiritusmortis.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/ |
85/100 |
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| STIGMA - The failure of me... (CDemo) | Norway | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Melodic / Melancholy Metal | Running time: 39:02 (Tracks: 9) | ||
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Stigma?? No, this is not a solo album by Agnostic Front guitarplayer Vinnie Stigma.....Stigma is a band from Trondheim, Norway which was formed in 1999 as a "one man band". Later on founder Stig Rune Robertsen formed a complete line-up for the band. This is the bands fifth release and it is released on Tyntis Records. The band subscribes their music as melodic melancholy metal with some progressive elements. Well, I have to agree with this description but I also have to say that the album sounds a bit boring to me. Musically it all sounds okay but the vocals and production of the album are very moderate. Even the King Diamond cover 'Welcome home" cant change my opinion about this album. The band takes the risk of getting lower review ratings with their words: "We do what we do best rather than trying to please the reviewers". I think this is a good and above all, honest note which I can appreciate much. Nevertheless; next time better guys! |
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Visit their website: http://home.no/stigmas/ |
55/100 |
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| STRANGE LAND - Blaming Season (CD) | USA | June 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 89:00 (Tracks: 8) | ||
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Strange Land are a three piece who certainly like to make a lot of noise with their cerebral progressive rock/metal.....well, I said noise? Yes but I meant it in a good way"....is what progressiveworld.net had to say about this Wisconsin based outfit.
I'm really sorry to go right against this comment. I wish it where noise honnestly. Maybe this band sounds a lot more convincing live but this CD doesn't work it for me. To start of, vocals are not that strong, the songs seem to have no punch-line, the production of the album is very "demo" like and propably worst of all, the drums seem flow, I can't find one single steady beat. However, all's not negative. Some songs have real good riffs (especially clean ones) or parts which sometimes remind me a bit of Psychotic Waltz or Mekong Delta. Apart from that, this is not top notch prog-metal and therefore I can't come any higher than.... |
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Visit their website: http://www.strange-land.net/ Recordlabel: http://www.nightmare-records.com/ | 55/100 |
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| SUDDEN DEATH – Unpure Burial (CD) | USA | July 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Death / Trash metal | Running time: 42:45 min (Tracks: 10) | ||
| This is the debut album of Sudden Death, a new death trash band from the USA, at least to me they are new. The thing that comes to my ears first is the absolutely great drum sound on this album, but also some negative points concerning the singing, one time screamy, then grunty and also an attempt to sing with a normal voice. Listen to 'My Left Shoulder' , not really my kind of singing. They are influenced by bands like Pantera, Sepultura (in their Chaos AD time), and it's actually a very divers album, as if they are still looking for their own sound. It's a bit of a mix of all kind of different styles, but that doesn't do the band any good, there are some convincing songs on the album like 'BTK' but that's not enough to do it for me. Hopefully by the next album, they do find in which direction they want to go, cause they know how to handle their instruments and they did sign a two record deal with locomotive, so I just wait for the next one, cause this one isn't gonna make it for them I think, but hey, maybe I'm wrong… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.suddendeath.biz
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotiverecords.com |
55/100 |
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| SUIDAKRA – Caledonia (CD) | Germany | November 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Pagan Death Metal | Running time: 50:02 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Suidakra started in 1994 as a pure death metal formation, but have in all the years learned how to mix the pagan and folk interests into their music. On "Caledonia", their eighth album to date, they have again mixed all their influences in a proper way. And because this band has been going for so long, it doesn't matter what I think or write. The fans will buy this album regardless. Thus the fact that I feel that the songs are a tad on the easy side, will not bother them. They will not care that I believe that they have not taken enough time to think the whole thing through. Who cares if my opinion is that the songs are bog standard, but could have been more impressive. Even if I do say that Suidakra are the lesser brothers of Primordial will not make them twitch one way or the other. Of course this is good music. Of course the songs are well played. Of course the production is of a reasonable standard. Of course this sounds like Suidakra. That's the problem I have with "Caledonia". I believe they could have done a lot better. The ideas are there. It's the execution of them that's letting the whole thing down. But like I said, the real fans don't give a monkey's uncle. It's just the reaching of new fans that will fail. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.suidakra.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddonmusic.de/ |
60/100 |
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| SUMMONING - Oath Bound (CD) | Austria | June 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 69:10 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Summoning was formed in 1993 by Silenius (Michael Gregor), Protector (Richard Lederer) and Trifixion (Alexander Trondl.) Their main influence was fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien, on which a lot of the lyrics are based. After a few demo's and a full album in 1995 (Lugburz), the band parted ways with Trifixion because of the constant struggling that was going on in the band. From then on, no new members were brought to the band. Even to this day, Silenius and Protector are Summoning and they're still bringing out records frequently. The music evolved over the years. Every album seemed to be more epic and illusive than the previous one, and so the 'middle earth' adventures were told within the music in a much more bombastic way. Now we have the latest album Oath bound. My first acquaintance with the band was their 2001 album Let mortal hero's sing your fame, and I must say that this album is very similar to Oath bound. But not in a negative way. The style may be the same, the atmosphere isn't. This is not a so called easy listening album. It has to grow within the times that you listen to it. The best way to do this, is to read the lyrics along with the music. It is the total concept that makes Summoning so unique. Songs as 'Across the streaming tide' (already a personal favourite) and 'Land of the dead,' proves that Summoning hasn't lost their incredible urge to experiment with sounds and atmospheres. Although the guitars have a more prominent position on the record than in the past few years, the keyboards dominate the album, which makes it more adventurous. Fans of Summoning can buy this album with their eyes closed. Black metal mostly isn't my kind of music. But the music of Summoning is different. Great album from a qualitative great band. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.summoning.info/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com/ | 85/100 |
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| SUNSTORM - Sunstorm (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: AOR | Running time: 52:59 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Sometimes you receive an album that blows you away. Unexpectedly. Well, Sunstorm has made just that kind of album. In fact the band is Joe Lynn Turner with some session musicians. The first one is Dennis Ward of Pink Cream 69 fame, and he is also the producer of "Sunstorm". Uwe Reitenauer, Chris Schmidt and Jochen Weyer are the other people who musically have made this into such a strong album. The songs are leftovers from JLT's 1985 "Rescue Me" album. They have been spiced up, with some help by Jim Peterik. The result is one of the best AOR/Melodic Rock albums to be heard in the last decade. JLT has the voice of an angel, and because he never has to scream on "Sunstorm" (as he does in the Hughes/Turner project), he shows he still has one of the best melodic voices in the world. This rocks, this is moody, this is pulling you in by the hairs on your neck that are standing up. This is phenomenal. Let's put it this way: if they do not make another Sunstorm album they're out of their heads. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.joelynnturner.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
87/100 |
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| SUPREME LORD - Kill your Enemies (CD) | Poland | November 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death metal | Running time: 45:49 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Kill! Death! Besides Vader, Yattering and name a view there's another brutal smashing death-metal band from Poland!
Supreme Lord recorded their first demo called 'At the black moon night' in 1995 so they exist for quite a while!
They are still building on the English part for their site but if there's someone who knows their language they can check out their site!!! These guys are unstoppable and stay straight on the Death-metal path and there aren't many bands who can say that! 'Kill your enemies' is recorded in 2003 at Zielona Gora/Swiebodzin, Poland and this is a very high-rated death-recording!!!! If you'll ask me this is the new 'Dawn of Possession' (Immolation) and that is meant as a compliment!!! The vocals are very 'possession' orientated and the guitar riffs are composed in Hell if you ask me! I like it! This record is another piece of jewellery in my treasury!!! Looking forward to new material of these guys. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.supremelord.com/
Recordlabel: http://www.conquerec.com/ |
81/100 |
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| SUPPURATION - Pain and suffering (CD) | Colombia | August 2006 | Jacob Rooth |
| Style: Brutal Death Metal | Running time:21:20 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| Suppuration is extreme……no doubt about it! The logo reminds me on what was the name of that band????!!!! What I hear is 2 guys full of aggression and they spit it out in many extreme ways. Only one thing…I can't hear real structure in this recording and in most moments I hear one guy playing guitar (the guitar parts are not very good mixed and the sound's terrible) and one guy drums and grunts (pushing the guitars away because of the mix) but not together as you know what I mean. It's like I hear two different boys in two different boy rooms. The drums are real fast but it's only fast! Some rests between the fast parts and that's it! I can't make anything of this boys! Sad but true! What more can I say? | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.suppuration.fly.to/
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55/100 |
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| SVARTSYN – Bloodline (CD) | Sweden | July 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Black Metal | Running time: 55:15 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Svartsyn was founded in 1991. They called themselves Chalice at that time, but after some line up changes the three remaining band members decided to change their name into Svartsyn.
They released their first demo in 1995, followed by their debut album 'The true legend' (released by Folter Records) in 1996. This new album 'Bloodline' was already recorded in 1998, but not released until 2005 by Sound Riot. The first thing that struck me was that it didn't sound like a lot of the new shit on this rotten planet. A welcome change to hear a band that is not trying to keep up with modern black metal (new Cradle of Filth for instance, not really my favourite). Furious, evil, strong and never a dull moment, that's 'Bloodline'. All songs are old and re-recorded, but nevertheless a great album that every "true" black metal fan should check out. I personally hope to hear a lot more of this band. | |||
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Visit their website:
http://www.myspace.com/svartsynband
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.soundriotrecords.com |
80/100 |
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| SWAN CHRISTY - A Decent Album (CD) | Greece | April 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Industrial Metal | Running time: 49:06 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| How do you describe Swan Christy's music? Now there's a challenge. Why? Because they have a good way of mixing industrial music with melody. Not only that, they know no boundaries. It is therefore very unfortunate that we have to categorise the music, because I would love to copy the record company and call it 'Swan Christy's musical orgies'. This is their fifth full length album and Swan Christy is on their own personal planet. They start off with "Rehearsal Recording", which is a very sedated, calming song. That continues on "Who Knows", but at least you can hear a beat now. Do not expect fast rhythms, pounding drums or screeching guitars, because you will not hear them. Just synthesizer sounds and the likes. This is definitely not an album for the heavy music lovers, but for the people who love to take a breather and relax to alternative music, and not the muck they play on most radio stations. This is just right, because it doe demand your attention, but it will give you enough space to drift away and let all your stress and frustrations go. I can understand that this might get to you after a couple of songs, but at least try and see if you can feel the vibe these Grecians are sending. You might just love it. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.swanchristy.com Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ |
77/100 |
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| TANKARD - The Beauty And The Beer (CD) | Germany | July 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Thrash Metal | Running time: 45:57 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Tankard started in Frankfurt 1982 as a schoolband by "Andreas Fritz Johannes Geremia" (Gerre). they released fifteen studio albums since 1986 and many demo's, samplers, video's and other rare stuff. I'm sure most of you bangers have seen Tankard for many many times in the past 26 years. Tankard is a real live band who play real metal straight from the heart. True honest Metalheads who play real metal because they love it. Since the very first time I saw Tankard live somewhere back in the 90's I enjoyed every gig! So many expression & atmosphere. Tankard still lives after more than 25 years. The New album is just like always back to basic, oldschool thrashmetal in his most honest way. Maybe it's even better than the old classics, but I'm not sure because they released so many great records in the past. The New album just in a few words nice artwork fast mid and up-tempo speed/thrash metal in the vein of bands like Laaz Rockit, Forbidden and Exodus but with lot more fun lyrics about drinking beer and having fun. Gerre the most sleazy crazy thrashmetal singer who's voice is gonna be better and better every year! Tankard released with Beauty and the Beer one of the best traditional metal albums of 2006. People who still live in the mid 80's and who are still searching/ waiting for some new classic oldschool thrash metal records……Be Ware Tankard is back and better then ever before Metal to Metal !!!Buy Or Die don't miss this great headbang album. I'm sure you will love It ! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.tankard.org/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ |
90/100 |
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| TEMPLE OF BLOOD - Prepare for the judgement of Mankind (CD) | USA | March 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: US Power / Speed Metal | Running time: 42:10 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Temple of Blood was formed in late 2001 by lead guitarist/vocalist Jim Mullis backed by percussion phenom Lance Wright (Spinecast) and veteran metal bassist Garth Lovvorn (Fleshtized). Temple of Blood began cutting their teeth live in mid-2002 with a set consisting mainly of covers ranging from classic Heavy metal bands Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, and Iron Maiden to late 80's Thrash titans Testament and Annihilator. In early 2004, Jim's long time friend Matt Barnes joined on lead guitar, adding the much-needed final component to a band who is determined to make waves in today's Metal scene.
Temple of Blood is centered around powerful music and descriptive lyrics. Their lyrical inspiration is derived from the virtues of Christianity which has influenced their lives.
Well personally I dont give a **** about the lyrics a band is singing about; if its white- or blackmetal, there is a freedom of speech so everybody can do it his own way. Metal is metal; thats all that counts for me. About the album: Damn, i'm so glad that there are still new bands (Temple of Blood, Mythiasin, Powervice) who know how to make real metal these days! This is the kind of metal I live for; high pitching vocals, great guitarparts & double bassdrums. If you're also like me into the 80's speed/thrashmetal, you should have this album in your collection!!! Its a must! Expect a mix of: Forbidden, Deadly Blessing, Ravensthorn, Watchtower, Hirax & Toxik. The high pitching vocals of the singer do remind me sometimes to the legendary Larry Portelli (Blessed Death). As a bonus there is a Deadly Blessing cover 'Deliver us from Evil' on the album with original Deadly Blessing singer Ski on vocals! Killer track!! Check out this selfreleased & financed superb CD!! Temple of Blood should play one of the mighty German festivals this summer when its up to me!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.templeofblood.net/ |
93/100 |
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| TEN - The Twilight Chronicles (CD) | England | November 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Melodic Hard Rock | Running time: 1:13:38 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Ten is one of my favourite UK bands in the melodic metal and hard rock genre and no one can deny that albums like "The Name of the Rose", "Ten" and "Spellbound" have become real classics. The band was formed in 1995 by the multitalented Gary Hughes and ex Dare and Asia guitarist Vinny Burns and quickly became one of the leading bands of the genre. For six years things were absolutely perfect in the Ten camp but right after the release of "Far Beyond the World" in 2001, Vinny Burns left the band. This was quite a blow and Ten didn't release an album till 2004. "Return to Evermore" was a good album but nowhere near their previous masterpieces as Burns' absence is more than obvious and Hughes seemed to spent most of his energy and inspiration on other projects like Bob Catley and Once and Future King. "The Twilight Chronicles" is an album with the classic Ten sound but falls in the "Return to Evermore" category. It is still a great listen but I am certain that all the die hard Ten fans like myself expected something better and more inspired. The heavy parts are harder to come by, giving way to slower and mellower tunes. Although the album is easy and pleasant to listen to, I couldn't find any hits or tracks destined to be classics as in previous Ten releases. It wouldn't sound as a surprise if I told you that "The Twilight Chronicles" is inferior to both Once and Future King albums. In conclusion, this is a not to miss release for all the band's fans but not recommended for a listener who wants to discover the Ten sound. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ten-online.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
72/100 |
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| THE ABSENCE - From your Grave | USA | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Melodic Death Metal | Running time: 42:24 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| In the Fall of 2001, long time friends Patrick Pintavalle and Jamie Stewart grew tired of the stagnancy of their previous efforts with various bands and the demise of the once powerful Tampa Bay metal scene. Initially, The Absence was started as a means to exercise their love for European styled metal, especially Scandinavian. After a year or more of trying to find people and getting nowhere, the two were approached by grind drummer Justin Grant. With Patrick playing guitar, Jamie on vocals and Justin now on drums, they started going through old riffs that Patrick and Jamie had used two years earlier. While doing this they met with various guitarists and bassist before landing with Christopher Tolan on guitar. In the spring of 2003, Patrick and Jamie found themselves with a dilemma- inner conflict within the band and a distaste for the direction they were headed. The two tried their hand at a new band with Patrick's long time friends Peter Joseph on guitar and Jeramie Kling on drums. After a benefit performance with Six feet Under for Metal guitar hero James Murphy, Patrick and Jamie finally decided to officially part ways with Christopher, Justin and Chris, which left them the task of finding new members yet again. The two thought to ask Jeramie and Peter from their previous efforts to possibly join the Absence. After a month or so the band found the perfect addition to the band in Nicholas Calaci on bass guitar, thus solidifying their already devastating line up. With a new, more powerful line up, a better attitude and a blistering array of new material, the five made their come back in the Fall of 2003. Finally, with a strong, solid lineup and an arsenal of new material, they entered famed MORRISOUND STUDIOS in February of 2004. This is the bands first full length album and its released on Metal Blade Records. This album only contains good songs in the typical US-deathmetal style. Musically its all sounding great and I was surprised by the musicianship of this, for me, new band. Especially the profusion of guitarparts suits me very well. If you're into real US-deathmetal you should check out this great album!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.theabsence.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.metalblade.de/ |
80/100 |
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| THE DEAD MUSICIAN - React then Act (CD) | France | October 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Black metal | Running time: 51:47 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| This band is so unknown that I even couldn't find a website of them. This is one of the worst albums I received since I started reviewing for MariosMetalMania. I know you musn't expect too much from black metal bands but this cd really tops them all. It lacks originallity and even decent guitarplaying ship. The riffs are very simple, the singer sounds like a cat being sucked up a vacuum cleaner, the drum isn't of a high standard and I seriously suggest them to change their logo into something more readable. This is all I have to say about this band of beginners I even suggest that they wait like five years to come forth with an album and spend that time on practicing every instrument. | |||
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Recordlabel: http://www.altsphere-prod.fr.st
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30/100 |
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| THE DICTATORS - Viva Dictators / Live (CD) | USA | April 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Punk / Rock | Running time: 1.00:50 (Tracks: 17) | ||
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Guitar player "Ross The Boss" was the big man behind "Manowar" & guitar player at albums like 'Battle Hymns', 'Into Glory Ride', 'Hail To England', 'Sign Of The Hammer', 'Fighting The World' and 'Kings Of Metal'. He has played in a New York Punk/Rock band before his "Manowar" carrier called "The Dictators". The Dictators were formed in 1974 with the following members; "Top Ten Kempner, Ross "The Boss" Funichello & fronted by indefatigable ex-roadie and wrestler " Handsome Dick Manitoba (aka Richard Blum). They played loud/noisy/dirty/streetpunk/rock 'n roll and recorded some albums like; ators - "Go Girl Crazy" (1975); "Manifest Destiny" (1977), "Bloodbrothers" (1978) and "Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke" (1981). When "Ross The Boss" finished his "Manowar" career in the late 80's, he did some guest guitarsolo's on albums from bands like Dawnriders and Majesty. He was bored and tried to get new life in his old band "The Dictators". This live CD can described as a best-of CD of this New York Punk/Rock band. The Dictators are a must for fans of bands like; The Ramones, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols and all early "CBGB" bands !!! Simply no-nonsense punk/rock ''n roll these days; this music sounds even a little bit childish. Maybe if you listen to bands like Green Day & Sum 41 you can hear where they've got there influences from (Oldschool American punk/rock). Punkrockers who got the real rock 'n roll spirit will love songs like; "New York, New York", "Haircut And Attitude", "Baby Let's Twist", "Weekend" ,"Faster & Louder" and my favourite songs on this album; "I Am Right", "Stay With Me" and the last song on this live CD "Cars and Girls" sounds just like a mix between The Ramones & The Beach Boys". All songs got the same level (17 fast rock 'n' roll songs inclusive some very easy sing-a-long lyrics). All ingredient you need for real street punk!!! Great shit if you ask me! |
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Visit their website: http://www.thedictators.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.escapimusic.com/ |
80/100 |
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| THE ELYSIAN FIELDS - Suffering G.O.D. Almighty (CD) | Greece | May 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 37:46 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| It's been a while since their latest release '12 Ablaze'. There's been no changes in the line up, the Greek band still consists of Bill A. (vocals and bass), Michael K. (Fx and programming) and Marinos A. (Gitar and piano). There's one thing that has changed since their latest release and that a minus point for me on this album, what some fans may disagree on. They choose to give a more eminent place to the electronics. But after all death metal with a powerfull grunt still is the main idea in numbers like 'Unleashing the propaganda' and 'An Overture Of Sorrows Unfolding'. The violin has disappeared on this album, and traded places with some harmonious electronic sounds. The band even uses a higher tempo and they have made sure that their brutal sound remained. Some passages come close to blastbeats and black metal so I'm shure that dark metal fans will also like this album. I like this album, although if they would drop the electronics it would've even sounded better. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ | 80/100 |
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| THE ORDER – Son Of Armageddon (CD) | Switzerland | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Classic Heavy Metal | Running time: 41:10 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Gurd is a band that I am not very well known with. Quite a pity, because the connection between that band and this debut of The Order is striking. Guitarist and band leader Bruno Spring comes from Gurd, as do some of his helpers on this album. That explains why Andrej Abplanalp and Mauro Casciero have made the same move. What do we get? Well, good music, that much is sure. Vocalist Gianna Pontillo (Pure Inc) uses his voice better than he ever has done before. He sounds like a mix between Marc Storace (Krokus) and Don Dokken, and moves in all the directions the latter used to use. What an addition he is to the musical side of The Order. On "Son Of Armageddon" you hear the staccato riffs that usual come from Annihilator, mixed with the groove and melody from Dokken (yes, again). In the softer songs you can hear just about every good old fashioned heavy metal band that has ever been around. Does that matter? Hell no, because they give everything their own interpretation and they never cease to amaze. It makes this album one to listen to as often as possible, one to treasure until the next one comes along. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.theorder.ch/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ |
85/100 |
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| THE RESTLESS BREED - Hiding In Plain Sight (CD) | England | August 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 68:07 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| Aberdeen's nwobhm band The Restless Breed exist since 1980 as a young school band by the name Saracen. After some letters from another band called Saracen they changed their band name in Blaze. The band played traditional nwobhm with lots of great melodic hardrock influences.This band was just one out of the dozens, but only a few bands were reaching the top playing this kind of music. The Restless Breed was much more melodic than all others, like bands who are more inspired by American hardrock bands like Teaze and Riot. This band was different from the rest, this band played great melodic heavy metal in the vein of Diamond Head, Saxon & Demon. Even though they can support a band like Diamond Head (Aberdeen Scotland, 1984) they never got a chance to break through. Still I think many oldschool hardrock heavy metal bangers will be in extase if they listen to this cd with classic hardrock songs. The Restless Breed sounds like a mix between old American hardrock bands like Boston, Y&T, Riot and Teaze and old Britisch bands like Demon, Saxon, Chinawhite and Diamond Head. Great Hardrock without any excuse. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.therestlessbreed.com
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82/100 |
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| THE TRACEELORDS - The Ali of Rock (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Bart Verkeyn |
| Style: Pop / Punk | Running time: 45:45 (Tracks: 16) | ||
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In case you haven't noticed it yet their name 'The Traceelords' comes from the pornstar Traci Lords. Zappa once asked the question 'Does humour belong in music?' If you think the answer is yes then the Traceelords is definitely something for you. The Traceelords don't bother you with lyrics that are difficult to understand so you'll only have to listen to each song once. Their music is a fun mix op 80's pop and punk with a rock 'n roll vibe. The Ali of Rock is a CD that makes you laugh every now and then without becoming irritating. The main reason why it doesn't become irritating is that they often add like for example a whistle or an accordion. The lyrics are mostly about relationship problems an contain sentences like "I love you. You love me. We're a happy Family. Please kill me! The intention of The Traceelords is just to put fun in every song and not make every song melodramatic like many other bands do. I liked this cd but I prefer melodramatic music that contains more feeling and less humour. Conclusion : The perfect album for couples who don't understand each other anymore. |
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Visit their website: http://www.traceelords.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de | 60/100 |
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| THOU ART LORD - Orgia Daemonicum (CD) | Greece | May 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Satanic Death Thrash | Running time: 36:26 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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This is the second album since their resurrection 3 years ago, and the fourth in total, of this project band formed by The Magus (Necromantia, bass vocals) and Sakis (Rotting Christ, guitars vocals). The reason to do this project was simple, they wanted to play fast, loud, extreme intense raw in your face satanic death/thrash like a tribute to the spirit of the 80's.
With this album they wanted to return back to the basics like Venom, Possessed, Slayer, Bathory, Sodom and even Morbid Angel, all the bands that influenced them to begin with. When you listen to the album you can't miss these influences, it does bring back the spirit of the 80's a bit, but if you expect to hear a perfectly produced sounding album, you're wrong, but that wasn't their intention at all, just raw and powerfull, pure, satanic, extreme metal. On the album you'll find guest appearances by members of Ravencult, Negative Creeps, and a cover of Onslaught's classic 'Power from Hell' which sounds real good actually. The cover is a piece of art itself, done by German artist Timo Wuerz, so if you're into this kind of metal get this album cause this one's with true heart and soul for the classics of this genre, just listen to 'possessed / the legion', 'Hecate Unveiled'or the title track. The drums on this album were performed by Themis of Rotting Christ, and fits in real well. Well if you're into this old school stuff, this is your album, get it, but if you're more into well overproduced and modern sounding metal, you probably won't like this one… |
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Visit their website: http://www.thouartlord.tk/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ | 75/100 |
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| THUNDRA – Worshipped by Chaos (CD) | Norway | August 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Black metal | Running time: 57:59 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Thundra was formed in 1998 as a project between Harald, (ex-Enslaved) Stein (ex-Einherjer) and Nils (Synth). When Harald and Stein parted ways with their main bands, they allowed themselves to complete the band's line up and turning this into a real band. In 2000 they released their first album on Spinefarm records. This album was called: "Blood of your soul." And now, a couple of years later we have their second album. "Worshipped by chaos" opens with a typical black metal track, which is called On Thorns. My first impression was good. Great vibe, great production. But after the album was proceeding I was missing something. Most of the songs have a couple of good moments (Shattered Senses, At Autumn's fall), but the songs as a whole don't give me that special feeling I get when I listen to a good song. It sounds very disorderly. It is not catchy. It is an album that has to grow during the times you listen to it. That's fur sure. But after a few times I sill didn't get the right vibe. When you're into experimental, melodic black metal, I can advise you to check this album out. The variety is really big. I like black metal, but this just isn't my thing. Sorry guys! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.thundra.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/ |
65/100 |
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| TIERRA SANTA - Mejor Morir En Pie (CD) | Spain | July 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Power Metal | Running time: 41:47 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Tierra Santa is one of Spain's leading heavy metal bands. Since the debut "Medieval" in 1997, the band has released a total of seven full length albums including "Mejor Morir En Pie" (translated "Better to Die Standing"). Many refer to them as the Spanish answer to Iron Maiden, because of an obvious similarity in many cases, but I think this comparison is far from doing them justice. Tierra Santa has its own musical identity that all of the fans of traditional heavy metal should discover. "Mejor Morir En Pie" follows a slightly different road compared to the band's debut (and my personal favourite). It is more melodic and polished and less epic and raw. Don't get me wrong, some epic elements are still there, just not like in the previous albums. But it's still a great and inspired listen, influenced by Iron Maiden, Dio and other legends of the past. Besides the four musicians are together since the beginning so you can't expect many changes. The sound is devoted to the traditional 80's heavy metal standards, blended with some hard rock elements. And let me tell you, there are only a few bands that can deliver such an authentic 80's feeling as Tierra Santa. Don't miss this great album just because the band sings in Spanish. Heavy metal is a universal language! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.tierra-santa.net/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://eng.locomotive.es/ |
86/100 |
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| TITANIUM BLACK - Bleed for You (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / Progressive Metal | Running time: 52:32 (Tracks: 14) | ||
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This debut album for Titanium Black is the brainchild of New York native Terry Michael LeRoi. When world famous producer Michael Wagener (Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Queen, Motley Crue) received a demo from Titanium Black's singer/songwriter Terry Michael LeRoi he knew exactly what Titanium Black would become. Michael signed on within days of receiving the demo and the result was Titanium Blacks' debut release" Bleed for You". This is one of the first metal albums that is recroded in 5.1 surround sound quality. The album consist a lot of guestmusicians but who cares? This album sounds very good & contains a lot of great compositions! Singer Terry LeRoi had a great & powerfull rock/metal voice which fits perfect to the bands music. Bands I was thinking about during the review of this album: Queensryche, Dokken & Savatage. Because Terry LeRoi also runs one of the biggest companies for body-art; this album also contains a real titanium piercing ring. When you hear the price of the album and you know that there is also a ring added to the CD; you cant complain about the price :) This is food for especially Queensryche fans thats where disapointed by the bands latest releases. Titanium Black will not disapoint you, I can assure that! Awesome album!! Check them ou!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.titaniumblack.com
Promotion: http://www.leroi.com/ |
88/100 |
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| TOKYO DRAGONS - Give me the Fear (CD) | UK | April 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 59:15 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Great to see that there are real new hardrock bands in the vein of old bands like; Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Riot, Kiss and Motorhead. Tokyo Dragons starts 25 years too late but still rocks your socks off ! No Nonsens Rock 'n Roll. Singer Steve Lomax even sounds a little bit like Paul Stanley ( Kiss). Maybe some people will say this band is far from original, the production sounds just like in the late 70's/ early 80's. There are only a few people who are still waiting for bands like Tokyo Dragons. Personally i'm very glad that there are still real Hardrock bands who got the old spirit. Every Hardrocker wants to bang his neck & sing as loud as he can when they hear 'Do You Wanna?', 'Chasing The Night' or 'Come on Baby'. Hardrock is reborn with new bands like The Darkness and now Tokyo Dragons. It all sounds well-known, no grunts and/or other modern influences. This is what we need, clean screaming / high vocals, rough guitar work with busty solo's & great backing vocals by the rest of the band. I like this CD very much and I'm looking forward to see them somewhere live on stage. Maybe they can do some shows with the Dutch band Powervice? Hardrock is not Dead, but still lives in the hearts of many traditional headbangers!! Keep On Rocking Guys!! |
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Visit their website: http://www.tokyodragons.com Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.escapimusic.com/ |
80/100 |
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| TOURETTES SYNDROME - Sicksense (CD) | Australia/Germany | October 2006 | Tsatsral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Different metal | Running time: 44:09 (Tracks: 11 + 3 video tracks) | ||
| I must say that this band has on original name but i hope that no one of this band has this syndrome. Tourettes Syndrome is originally Australian (I think) but the possibilities as a metal band in Australia are very small I think so they did a good job moving to Northern Europe. 'Sicksense' is there world wide debut and they released their album with the support of the German label Armageddon music. They play a mix of nu-metal with some goth influences which is not quite my cup of tea but i can appreciate it. It's not because i don't like it that this band won't make it, they've just started their band and i believe that the market for this kind of music is big and that they will achieve alot. But for now they can't convince me that this is a good album. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.tourettessyndrome.de
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddon-music.de/ |
75/100 |
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| TRAVERS & APPICE - Live (CD) | USA | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Blues / Rock | Running time: 78:30 (Tracks: 12) | ||
| It also says: Featuring T.M. Stevens, on the album. Pat Travers and Carmine Appice have come together in 2004 to make "It Takes A Lot Of Balls". To go and describe the careers of all these guys goes a little too far, because they all have been around more than once and have all released a whole lot of stuff. Now there is live album, and you can hear the experience oozing out of it. This is straight forward hard rocking blues-rock, edging on metal. It rocks like hell, it gets your feet going and it makes you feel happier than you have done in ages. Pat and Carmine both do the singing, and even T.M. gets a song to his own. It just adds to the experience of this live show. Don't expect any overdubs or so, because they have not been used. This is honest, this is pure. This is how you should feel live music. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.pattravers.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.escapimusic.com/ | --/--- |
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| TRIGLAV - When the Sun is rising above the Earth (CD) | Ukrain | August 2006 | Saral Otgonbayar |
| Style: Black/Folk Metal | Running time: 45:48 (Tracks: 7) | ||
| First of all this is the band with the most unreadable logo ever made, so my sincere apollogies if I have mistaken myself in writing your logo. Triglav is: Arius (guitar) Alafern (guitar, bass, violin, keyboards, vocals) Morok (guitar). In the extreme symphonic black metal that Triglav produces they use a variety of musical instruments to support their music and the keyboards play a big role in creating the musical atmosphere, which at sometimes leans towards power metal, but yet with all those attributes I cannot be impressed by their music, with that I'm not saying that their music is bad I mean by that that they have a long way to go before becoming a great Black metal band. Lack of a good production is the reason why the guitars sound a bit messy and that a shame because the music isn't that bad. The best song on this album is '...And The New Dawn Is Not For Everyone' because that's where black metal shines through the most. If you like folkish metal combined with black metal screams then you will appreciate this album. In my opinion this is a mediate album that needs a lot of improvement before it can stand on the same level as the greatest black metal bands. | |||
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.ccprecords.com/ |
60/100 |
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| TYR - Eric The Red (CD) | Feroe Islands | June 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Epic Folk Metal | Running time: 1:10:38 (Tracks: 12) | ||
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Tyr originate from the Feroe Island complex, not a common place for heavy metal. This cd was actually issued back in 2003 as a self financed release and gained some success in the underground. Their debut "How Far to Asgard" surfaced a year earlier. After signing a new record deal with Napalm, the band decided to change the artwork and reissue it with a couple of extra tracks, hoping to reach a wider audience. Tyr present a style influenced by bands such as early Manowar and Bathory, similar to Britain's Solstice (especially New Dark Age era). Mid paced epic metal with a great deal of folk elements. A very interesting thing about them is that their lyrics are written both in English and Danish (or so it seems), a rather uncommon feature that helps them sound even more epic and unique. The vocals are absolutely fitting and the rest of the musicians appear more than adequate. The only drawback of this release is its length because 71 minutes of mid tempo metal will eventually tire the listener. I had a blast until the ninth or tenth song. Then for the rest of the album the band tends to repeat itself. |
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Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com/ | 77/100 |
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| TYR - Ragnarock (CD) | Feroe Islands | October 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Epic Folk Metal | Running time: 1:00:45 (Tracks: 16) | ||
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Ragnarok is the third studio effort of this band. The site contains a review of their previous album "Eric the Red" written by me so I advice you to read that article first, before continuing with this one. This will help you get some biography facts and the musical direction of the band. One of the band's strongest points remains its epic lyrics, tales about the Viking legacy, mythological Gods and beings, battles and heroic deeds. On this album, Tyr sounds more mature that on the "Eric the Red" one. All the musicians appear very improved (I really liked the guitar leads) and the songwriting is far more professional. They even speed up a bit. Don't be misled; the band's established folk metal style is always present and so are the great vocals. Not to mention the epic element, the band's trademark throughout its entire career. All those who liked "Eric the Red" will definitely love "Ragnarok". The album is probably a concept one, having many introductions and instrumental breaks | |||
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Visit their website: http://tyr.net/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.napalmrecords.com/ |
81/100 |
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| TYSTNADEN - Sham of Perfection (CD) | Italy | July 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Gothic Metal | Running time: 46:10 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Don't let the Swedish band name fool you. Tystnaden is a band from Italy, and the name is inspired by all kinds of Scandinavian bands that they liked. Bands such as In Flames, Dark tranquillity and Sentenced for example. The band was founded in 1998, and about one year later they decided to add female vocals to the band. The two track demo 'Tystnaden' came out in 2000, and the record was highly acclaimed by the international press. After some changes in the line-up, Tystnaden began to write for their next record, which came out in 2003. This MCD called 'Fragments' caught not only the attention of the international press again. This time also Limb music Productions was interested in the band, and they soon collaborated. In 2005 they recorded songs which would finally end up being their debut album 'Sham of perfection.' Gothic albums nowadays are mostly choir or synthesiser orientated. Tystnaden has all the right ingredients that defy the term Gothic metal, but they are much more metal orientated. The sound is aggressive and the vocals are straight in your face. The female vocals reminds me of Floor Jansen of After Forever. They have the same powerful voice. The songs contain a lot of tempo breaks, which is good for the variation of the album. In comparison to other similar acts, Tystnaden brings more differences within the songs. The name Nightwish comes to mind, but also their In Flames inspiration is retraceable. I can't tell you my favourite songs on the album, because I can't make a choice. Every song has one or more parts that I like, and mostly all the songs are qualitative good compositions. When you see the artwork and the band name, you expect songs of a minimum of seven minutes. This is not true. They can write compact songs with much power in them. Tystnaden is here to stay! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.tystnaden.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.hardlifepromotion.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.limb-music.de |
88/100 |
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| UDO - Mission No. X | Germany | April 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 47:25 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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Udo Dirkschneider has been active in the music scene for an awful long time and certainly has earned his place in eternal metal history. His very distinctive voice and the good music he made over the years are above reproach. Although it must be said that in the latter years he has made a number of average albums. Predecessor "Thunderball" started the improvement the band needed. It was a first step onto the right track (except "Trainride To Russia", what a monster), U.D.O. now seems to have found his way again. The sound is back to that of the glory days of Accept. Heavy, clear and very much recognisable. The songs have become more direct, sound less complicated and therefore more powerful than they have done for years. This makes "Mission No. X" a heavy metal party album. Take note, not everything is super. "Eye Of The Eagle" is a power ballad that only starts to work when Udo shouts. His clean singing voice is just plain off tone and irritating. The same goes for "Cry Soldier Cry", a very good made war song. His voice on this is so bad it is really too much to bear. Only when others join in you start to lose the urge to vomit. On the rest of the songs he thankfully shouts his lungs out and makes up for those mistakes. "Shell Shock Fever", "Stone Hard" and especially "Mad For Crazy" show that you can not rule out U.D.O. yet. Songs with a difference are also on hand. "24/7" is one to sing along to, comparable to "Metal Heart" and "Balls To The Wall". The difference between those three is that "24/7" never gets that childish feeling of the old songs, always stays a good tune. "Mean Streets" even has a bit of a rap going on. That doesn't work, but fortunately the spoken part does, which saves the song. You might get the feeling that I actually like "Mission No. X" and I must say you are not wrong. This is old fashioned heavy metal that grabs you by the throat and makes you shout. Lovely! |
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Visit their website: http://www.udo-online.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.afm-records.de/ |
82/100 |
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| UREAS – The Naked Truth (CD) | Denmark | July 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 39:20 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| If you have been through life like the people of Ureas, than it is normal that you want to write all your troubles into songs, to air them to the world and through that medium let everybody know and feel your pain. That is what Ureas have done. Ureas is Heidi and Per Johansson, who you might know from Fate. Here they have made an album that is very impressive indeed. They certainly know how to mix heaviness with feelings, as the opener "Intoxicated" shows. The only pity is the fade out at the end of the song, never my favourite, because then it sounds as if you didn't know how to finish the song. Sorry, just nitpicking. There just is not a lot to criticize on "The Naked Truth". The voices compliment the music perfectly. The harder male voice and the very fragile sounds are a complete contrast, which only adds to the intensity of "The Naked Truth". This is very heavy indeed, not because they go full throttle, but because the production of it all has been perfectly executed. If you are not afraid of listening to music that is not exactly straight forward, where intelligence has been used in writing the songs and where your ears and mind really need to take time to let it all sink in, than listen to "The Naked Truth". I know I make it sound like a very complex album, but it is not. Ureas just knows how to put an IQ into good and simple heavy metal. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.ureas.dk/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
75/100 |
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| V8 WANKERS - The Demon Tweak (CD) | Germany | May 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Rock 'Roll | Running time: 42:18 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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This is the third full length CD from these Wankers, founded in 2000, they played live with a.o. Motorhead, Rose Tattoo, PPS and Nashville Pussy. So in case you're wondering what they sound like, I'll say this, if you like four mentioned bands you'll love this too, I know I do! They show their love for American muscle cars and rock 'n'roll in all thirteen tracks on this cd, just listen to 'Road 2 Ruin', 'My motor burns' and 'Possessed by rock'n'roll' real badass, souped up rawk & roll! I don't think they have ever played live in Holland yet, but when they do, I'll be sure to check 'm out, they seem to kick ass live, I believe it! There is not a bad song on this CD, and if you get the limited version you get a bonus 'homemade'n'great' DVD with it, which has all video clips, interview and live performance from 'Metal Bash 2004', that should be fun. Well as this was the first album I heard from these guys, it made me curious after the first two albums so I'm gonna check them out too. One thing I have to say though, beware when you play this in your car stereo, you just might loose your drivers licence (at least in Holland) if you haven't got your right foot under control… |
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Visit their website: http://www.V8wankers.de Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.ruderecords.de | 85/100 |
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| VADER - Impressions in Blood (CD) | Poland | October 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 37:18 (Tracks: 11) | ||
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VADER formed in 1986. In 1993 they released their debut album titled "The Ultimate Incantation" (Earache) which has since become one of the milestones of European death metal. These were also the first brutal sounds from behind "the Iron Curtain" which reached the audiences all over the world. Communication breakdown with their label led to the termination of the contract with Earache and the 1994 release of two then-underestimated albums: "Sothis" (Repulse) and "The Darkest Age - Live '93" (Baron).
The 1995 contract with German System Shock/Impact Records allowed them to develop further. The success of three subsequent outings: "De Profundis" (1995), "Future of the Past" (1996), and "Black to the Blind" (1997) backed with super-intense shows activity (more than 350 concerts within 3 years!) slowly but surely contributed to the band's growing profile and increasingly enthusiastic press coverage. VADER stopped being perceived as a mere curiosity from a former Communist country and became one of the leading European death metal bands. In the meantime, Hammerheart Records re-released two early demos - "Necrolust" (1989) and "Morbid Reich" (1990) - as "Reborn in Chaos". Later on the band released several other stuff which i'm not going to name all because otherwise the review will overrun. From the beginning of 2006 VADER was preparing stuff for the next studio album entitled "Impressions In Blood". On April/ May the band once again entered Hertz Studio to record 10 new songs and a bonus track "Raining Blood" (which will be featured on the Japanese edition exclusively). The band also recorded a video-clip for "Helleluyah (God Is Dead)". I've been a fan of Vader since their "Morbid Reich" demo tape (1990) and visited the band regularly during their tours in Europe. Because most of their latest albums didnt sound that good; I refused to buy them. Well that problem is solved; their new album sounds great and it was a pleasure to review this album!! Vader (gladly) never did any refreshing things during all these years and thats a plus when its up to me! The band still plays their typical deathmetal and gladly they do it again now with a well produced album!!! This is Vader the way most of their fans like them!! Superb album!! | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.vader.pl
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.suburban.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.regainrecords.com/ |
89/100 |
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| VANGUARD - Succumbra (CD) | Finland | May 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Dark Metal | Running time: 44:50 (Tracks: 9) | ||
| Finland normally supplies us with some good music. Whatever kind they might make does not make a difference. That also goes for Vanguard. They started in 1999 and have only released this debut album in 2005. We now feel deeply ashamed not to have heard "Succumbra" when it just had been released, but there you have it. We are making up for it now, and it is very pleasant. Although, pleasant may not be the right for this slightly depressive music, that has melancholy and sadness written all over it. Not too explicit, though, which prevents any suicidal effects taking place whilst listening to Vanguard? No, you always hear and/or hear a glimmering of hope. Combining those two ingredients is really hard, so well done to these Fins. They have made an album that contains well written songs, good instrumentation, proper production and an overall feel of quality. The use of a violin and the very good interaction between very rough male grunts and angelic female vocals emphasise those points. What I am trying to say is that every fan of dark, melodic and gothic metal should give "Succumbra" a little bit of your time. I am quite sure that you will like what you hear. I do. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.vanguard.fi/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddon-music.com/ | 82/100 |
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| VENTURIA - The New Kingdom (CD) | France | July 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Metal | Running time: 44:49 (Tracks: 8) | ||
| Wow...walk back to my cd player and turn up the volume a notch. It's the debut cd of France's new prog-metal sensation "Venturia". I think the Lion label caught a real good one here. A mix between Prog- metal, pop and fusion, played and sung brilliantly. All musicians are very gifted, so are singers Marc Ferreira and Lydie Robin. Catchy verses and refereins constructed around very solid, sometimes brute, sometimes jazzy or poppy prog-metal. Yeah sometimes you might think hey...Dream Theater, but let me ashure you that these guys...and girl have a more diverse sound than that. Maybe even so that this band can go for a single version of one of the songs and give "real music" (prog that is!!!!!!!) some airplay on prime time radio. Highlights: 'New Kingdom' and 'Candle Of Hope Through A Night Of Fears'. people trust me...this one you can buy blindly. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.venturiasite.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com |
89/100 |
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| VICTORY - Fuel To The Fire (CD) | Germany | June 2006 | Marco van Empel |
| Style: Hardrock | Running time: 52:21 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| The Story begins in 1984, when guitarist Tommy Newton and bassist Peter Knorn were busy preparing for a new album by their band Fargo. Impressed by the compelling material, Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell took charge of the group's fate, advancing the studio costs and hiring an American producer. Just two days later, the sensational enlistment of the internationally renowned vocalist, Charlie Huhn, was announced. The result of the studio sessions was dispatched directly to David Krebs', a big producer of bands like Aerosmith & The Scorpions.They moved to Los Angels to work witch Michael Wagener. The band name was changed in Victory and they went touring in States. Victory was born, they played 60 shows in the US with lots of positive critics and released theird debut album in 1985 called "Victory". In 2005 they released their 13th studio album and it rocks like never before. Oldschool hardrock in the vein of bands like Y&T, MSG and Dio.The whole album sounds just like in 1987/88 with a very few modern touches. Brilliant traditional hardrock with the spirit of the good old days. The band got some backing vocals just like many bands in the 80's. Songs like "Take The Place", "Don't Tell No Lies", "Rock The Neighbours" and every other track on this CD brings you in extase. Very strong musicians who keep strong & believe in the faith of oldschool hardrock. I think most fans of real traditional hardrock love this CD. This is a fact that only German metal fans/ bands believe in real traditional hardrock.Victory got the same level as bands like Accept, Sinner, MSG & Y&T but they never got a real big name in The Netherlands to shame. This band got class and released with "Fuel To The Fire" one of the best hardrock albums of 2005. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.victory-music.com Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://armageddonmusic.de/ | 90/100 |
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| VIGILIA MORTUM – Bloody Remorse (CD) | Russia | November 2006 | William Nijhof |
| Style: Death Metal | Running time: 27:01 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| The band Vigilia Mortum started in 1994 under the name Manuscript. Under that name they released 2 demos and 2 MCD's. In 1996 they decided to change their name into Vigilia Mortum. In 2005 they released their debut album "Bloody Remorse" by Blacksmith Productions. This album contains 10 tracks of old school death metal. They call it brutal death metal themselves, maybe this is a Russian term, because it doesn't sound very brutal to me. It is supposed to be their first full-length CD, but it gives the impression of a demo. None of the songs on this album is very spectacular or even "original". The production is very simple and doesn't sound very powerful. Maybe the last song -the AC/DC cover T.N.T- gives a bit of comfort? False hope, even this song isn't very well performed. In my opinion you'd better spend your money on something else. If you like bands that try to sound like Castigate, old Benediction or Morbid Angel at their worst, then go for it. | |||
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Visit their website:
www.vigiliamortum.com
Recordlabel: www.blacksmithprods.com |
60/100 |
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| VIRUS - Sick of Lies (CD) | Germany | April 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Melodic Metal | Running time: 45:14 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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It is always very dangerous to call yourself melodic modern metal, as the record company does call Virus. Yes, it is modern, yes it is metal, but is it melodic? Well, it is, but it is not the classification it deserves. Sedated sounds more like it. It is like they have not made their mind up what kind of music they wish to make and therefore do not have the guts to go ahead full throttle. Virus lacks musical sincerity. Their website confirms this, as does "Sick Of Lies". It seems that Virus have been trying a number of different metal styles to find themselves. This has been the case since 2000, when they started and it seems they haven't found their ground yet. That reflects in the recordings you get on "Sick Of Lies". The album never has the determination or stamina of a totally dedicated band. The songs don't have that overpowering feel or sensation in them. The production is too laid back, to suppressive to let the music blast out. And that is a pity. Because these people sound like good musicians. The singer is probably a very good front man. My major concern is that if you do not know what kind of music you wish to play, how true are you to the one you are playing? Well, my ranting tells you one thing: thinking about these issues is more interesting than the music. Sorry. |
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Visit their website: http://www.virusmusic.de/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.bertus.com/index2.html Recordlabel: http://www.lionmusic.com/ |
55/100 |
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| VOODOOCAKE - Fetishist (CD) | Switzerland | October 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Alternative Rock | Running time: 39:43 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| This is not for the straight forward metal fans or rockers. No, this is for the people who love the alternative scene, who dig Sub Pop music and such. These Swiss dudes have put together an album that is soft, hard, mellow and rough at the same time. You hear heavy guitars and sweet high pitched voices at the same time. You also hear a flute or a Hammond Organ, followed by an old fashioned synthesizer. This is full of surprises. But is it good? I don't know. After a number of listening sessions I am still in turmoil. It does intrigue me, but it never blows me away. It keeps me on my toes, but it never fully comes to life. That makes this a difficult album to review. The quality of the songs is unquestionable, the musicians are all very good and this really is a band you are listening to. That makes the scale tip to the positive side. If you wish to be fully engulfed by an album which never gives away all it's secrets, give Voodoocake a try. If you are an old fashioned rocker or metal head, let this one slip by. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.voodoocake.ch/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.locomotivemusic.com/ |
60/100 |
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| WALTARI - Blood Sample (CD) | Finland | June 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Heavy Rock | Running time: 79:00 (Tracks: 17) | ||
| Waltari has always been an outsider. That is one thing that will never change. They gained their first acclaim when they released the single "So Fine" in 1993. A song that mixes metal and house beats, with added female vocals. Waltari still mix everything together into a mix that is unique, but can also get very tiring. You either love it or hate it. There is no in between. I love it, because they always come up trumps with very well written and played songs. They also have a knack to stay within certain boundaries, or at least giving you the impression that they have done just that. Their explorations usually go from pop rock to extreme metal, without ever going over the top. A bit like System Of A Down are able to do, but Waltari do it the old fashioned way and they generally keep the tempo down a lot more that SOAD. You have to give them credit that they have succeeded in making a whole coherent album, but they have not done the best of jobs when it comes to the sensation of a full album. It is too much of the same all over. That means that they have narrowed down their possibilities on "Blood Sample". They have forgotten that exploring is the way to find new territory. There are hardly any real outbursts, it doesn't go all the way often enough. You have to wait until track five, "New York", before that happens. If they would done more of those songs, it would have lifted the whole album. This is not the full Waltari, this is too limited. That does mean that the feelings I experience are not all over the place, as I am used to with this band. That makes "Blood Sample" an okay album, not a good one. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.waltarimusic.com/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.dockyard1.com/ | 65/100 |
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| WARMACHINE - The Beginning of the End (CD) | Canada | May 2006 | Kostas Kounadinis |
| Style: Progressive / Power Metal | Running time: 44:19 (Tracks: 10) | ||
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Warmachine is a promising band from Toronto, Canada (not to be confused with the French thrashers Warmachine) that has been around for more than ten years. Their debut "The Beginning of the End" came after a series of demos that achieved worldwide critical acclaim and gave the band some fame in the underground metal circa. The band delivers traditionally oriented heavy power metal, blended with some contemporary elements. Judas Priest seems like an obvious influence and the same goes for Iron Maiden and Metallica. The vocals are strong and melodic but the best part in the Warmachine music is the twin guitar attack that produces some fine solos and riffs. Dave Ellefson of Megadeth fame co-produced the album (along with Murray Daigle) and also laid some bass lines in three songs. "Forgotten Demise" is a surely a winner with its great chorus and a guest solo by Ralph Santolla while "Taunted Souls" and "Eye for an Eye" are quite close. I am sure that we will hear more from this evolving group of fine musicians. |
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Visit their website: http://www.warmachineonline.com/ Recordlabel: http://nightmare-records.com/ | 79/100 |
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| WEDNESDAY 13 – Fang Bang (CD) | USA | October 2006 | Robin van Tilburg |
| Style: Horror Punk | Running time: 41:32 (Tracks: 13) | ||
| Wednesday 13 originally emerged during the late '90s as the frontman of the notorious horror punk/metal band Frankenstein Drag Queens. They released five full-length albums in the same amount of years. After the band was disbanded, he teamed up with Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison to form the Murderdolls. They made one album in 2002, called Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls which was a huge success by a young audience. Because of the Murderdolls, Wednesday 13 has became a well known name in the rock/metal world. It was a good time for him to launch a solo career. Now he has a new record out, called "Fang Bang". To be honest, I was never to fond of the music this man created. It is never bad, but somehow it doesn't get to me. This is a solo album, but it also could be the next Murderdolls record. The differences are minimal. Both have that primitive punk sound with a raw metal edge to it. Once again, It's not bad…but still. Than we have the song titles. 'Morgue than words,' 'Till death do us party' and Buried with children.' Wednesday 13 is the comedy version of the Misfits, a band that is obvious the biggest influence on present horror-punk bands. Nevertheless this album contains a lot of catchy songs that have great live hooks and melodies. But I've heard this so many times before, and better. If I want to hear horror-punk, I will put on an old Misfits album. I'm sure that this album will find it's way to the Wednesday 13 and Murderdolls fans, but this just isn't my thing… | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.wednesday13.com/
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtraderecords.com Recordlabel: www.rykodisc.co.uk |
70/100 |
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| WEINHOLD – Below the Line (CD) | Germany | July 2006 | Kees Schijven |
| Style: Hard Rock | Running time: 1:12:38 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| Weinhold is the band of Jutta Weinhold, who has been around since the late sixties, she has an incredible musical career. Doing different kinds of music like blues and stuff, but were we could know her most from would be as the voice of Zed Yago in the begin years of this band. She left Zed Yago in 1990 to start her own solo career, after some different other projects the first Weinhold CD came out in 2004. So this is the second CD from Weinhold and I must say after listening to it a few times, I like it! It has a lot of variety, and is well played dramatic hard rock which sometimes remembers of Black Sabbath actually and that's not a bad thing! For example 'Storyteller' or 'Fire No Water'. Jutta sings like a female Dio, a really great voice. Also in some songs, she really sounds just like Ann Wilson of Heart, especially in the ballad 'Eternity'. There are some really heavy songs on this album, which makes it a strong divers album, good quality music to enjoy here, produced by no one less than Lars Ratz and co-producer Michael Ehre, both of Metalium. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.jutta-weinhold.de
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://www.armageddon-products.com |
75/100 |
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| WETTON DOWNES – Icon I – Never In A Million Years (Live CD) | England | November 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Progressive Pomp Rock | Running time: 60:27 (Tracks: 15) | ||
| How do you review a live album of two mastodons who have earned their keep for more a staggering 25 years and whose sound has changed just as much as the colour of their hair. Geoffrey Downes (keyboards) and John Wetton (bass) are two of the founding members of Asia, and until today you can hear that that is the kind of music they love to write and play. They are currently touring with the original Asia line up (with Steve Howe and Carl Palmer). On their own "Never In A Million Years" album Downes and Wetton do play a lot of old Asia stuff plus a whole set of latter songs written by these two giants. They are accompanied by John Mitchell on guitars and Steve Christey on drums. The live performances are without exception exceptional and very enthusiastic. You don't get to hear a few tired old men. On the contrary, these people show that they have been able to keep their fires burning during all those years, and that commands respect. If you love the bombastic sounds of Asia go and hear this live album and get your appetite up for more. If you succeed, look for "Icon II – Rubicon". | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.geoffdownes.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
75/100 |
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| WETTON DOWNES – Icon II - Rubicon (CD) | England | November 2006 | Wim van Grunsven |
| Style: Progressive Pomp Rock | Running time: 50:27 (Tracks: 10) | ||
| If you can still find new ways of playing an almost extinct kind of stadium pomp rock after more than 25 years, you must have that music in every artery and vein in your body. Wetton and Downes definitely have that, because they have done just so, together with the same guys who played on the live album "Icon I". And what is more surprising is that "Rubicon" never gets dull, never gets boring. Yes, it does go quiet at times, the sedation sometimes is on the edge of going too far, but then these guys get back on rocking form and come back to the middle. You can hear that these men know what they're doing. Don't expect anything that will sound new, just listen for what is good. There is enough of that going around for 50 minutes. The songs are epic in structure, grand in orchestration and superb in execution. The biggest wow factor of Rubicon, however, is Dutch. The Gathering singer Anneke van Giersbergen shows her enormous vocal talent on two songs, 'To Catch A Thief' and 'Tears Of Joy'. Especially in the first song she gives you an inkling of why may consider her to be the best female singer the Netherlands have produced in centuries. She usually doesn't sing this high, but pulls it off brilliantly. On 'Tears Of Joy' she sings in her usual voice, and the subdued power is astonishing. All together they provide the icing on the cake for a very good album, which has all the classic qualities you would expect from these guys. Respect. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.geoffdownes.com
Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.roughtrade.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.frontiers.it/ |
78/100 |
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| WOBBLER - Hinterland (CD) | Norway | May 2006 | Arno Menses |
| Style: Progressive Rock | Running time: 56:50 (Tracks: 4) | ||
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The band was formed in the idyllic Norwegian countryside, not too far from the great waterfalls of Hønefoss, in the spring of 1999 with a burning desire to create or perhaps recreate some of the musical expressions of the early seventies,-specially in the use of the instruments of that time and the somewhat "strange" compostions of the progressive rock scene from 1969 - 1974. Hinterland is really a fantastic debut coming from the plains of Norway, another price-winner coming from the Laser's Edge label, formed around keyboard-wizard Lars Fredrik Froislie (White Willow). A fine portion of good ol' retro prog, influenced by Italian bands like Banco, Balleto di Bronzo and PFM, but also noticable are inluences of Gentle Giant. All ingrediënts are there, mellotron, analogue synths / mini moog, Hammond C3, pumping drums, driving bass and beautiful guitar-lines. The album starts with the 40 second lasting "Serenade for 1652" intro followed by the almost 28 minute "Hinterland", of which the begin reminds me of "Tarkus" (ELP), again followed by calmth, a down to earth feeling in which the mellotron makes you feel like being right in the seventees again. Like this the mood changes from time to time, working its way to climaxes, keeping it fascinating....ending again with which it has started off.....the mighty Hammond. "Rubato Industry" sounds like real retro-prog should sound and in its most classical form, dominated by fantastic keyboard-parts. With the instrumental "Clair Obscur" Wobbler keeps us on the edge of our seats for 15 minutes. The mellotron again does a fine job as well as piano and a flute (played by Keith Einarsen, also White Willow). After a mere 4 minutes, a wall of keyboards comes down on you again, ending this masterwork as it began. This album is a true diamond, even the production breathes seventees. So, if you like prog with lots of mellotron, moog, arps and Hammond.....it belongs in your collection. |
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Visit their website: http://www.wobblermusic.com/ Management: http://www.intromental.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.lasercd.com/ | 90/100 |
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| WOLFCRY - Warfair (CD) | Greece | February 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy / Power Metal | Running time: 49:48 (Tracks: 11) | ||
| The Hellenic Heavy-Power Metal band of WOLFCRY was formed in September 1992 by Andreas "The Wizard" immediately after the split-up of the band VANGUARD. Due to several personal problems and line up changes the band went through a non-creative period of almost 4 years! In August 1996, Andreas decided to renew and reform the band to record the debut demo called "The Ivory Tower". After a couple of years of intense rehearsing and song writing, they recorded their first album called "Power Within". The album was released from the local label "Black Lotus Records" in 2001. In December of 2002 the band with the same line-up entered once again the studio, this time for the recording of their second album entitled "NIGHTBREED" which also released from "BLACK LOTUS RECORDS" in June of 2003 and made the band one of the most successful ones from Hellas in their music genre. In 2005 two new members joined the band John B. on the second guitar and Nick "Peper" Zanninello on keyboards. With the solid older line up, along with the two new members the band entered the studio in the summer in order to record its third full length album entitled "WARFAIR". The band plays heavy/powermetal but in a very moderate way. They cant convince me of their qualitys. Its not sounding bad at all but i heard this all before several times and mostly with a more powerfull and clean production than on this album. I know a lot of bands that deserve a recorddeal instead of this moderate kind of bands! It counts me that Black Lotus Records has a lot of these (mostly Greece) bands in their ranks and I hope that the label will look over the Greece borders in the future before contracting these kind of bands. Reasonable album from a reasonable band; nothing less, nothing more............. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.truemetal.org/wolfcry/ Promotion The Netherlands: http://www.rockinc.nl/ Recordlabel: http://black-lotus-recs.com/ |
55/100 |
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| ZED YAGO - The Invisible Guide (CD) | Germany | May 2006 | Mario van Dooren |
| Style: Heavy Metal | Running time: 50:37 (Tracks: 13) | ||
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Back in1986 Zed Yago was formed with the intention to bring back lost fantasy to all mankind. There was a female singer named Jutta, guitarist Jimmy, who is the main songwriter and musical director, guitarist Gunnar, bass man Tatch and drummer Bubi. These musicians called their band SEDJAGO. After a while Jimmy changed the name into ZED YAGO, because of worldwide release. In 1987 the first album called " From over yonder " had been released and became record of the month in the German " Metal Hammer" magazine. In 1988 Zed Yago signed up a major deal with BMG. The band recorded their second album named " Pilgrimage ". At the end of 1989 the problems inside the band grew bigger and bigger, and it finalised with the leaving of drummer Bubi and guitarist Gunnar. Zed Yago tried again with a new member. 1990 Jutta left ZED YAGO and started her own carrier. So they took a break for a few years. In-between the following years guitarist Jimmy met a lady called Yvonne, who wanted to learn to play guitar. During these lessons Jimmy found out that this lady is a brilliant singer! So he started again writing new songs. He never lost contact to drummer Bubi, and so, back in 1997 they started again. In this year bass man Tatch left the band. Jimmy and Yvonne wrote more and more excellent songs, and always thought about a new Zed Yago. Then, at the end of 2002, the old record company SPV Steamhammer released the " Best of ZED YAGO " album. Jimmy met Hansi Kecker, a brilliant Hammond player and keyboarder. This line-up started rehearsing and they found out that this is perfect now. This is the bands latest album and the first one with the new line-up. The band still play their typicall kind of rock in a way they already did years ago. So musically its not all refreshing but it's performed very reliable. Singer Yvonne has a powerfull voice and has a reasonable pronunciation for a German singer (especially when you compare her with Doro Pesch). Personally I like this album and i'm also assured that the German audience will love this! Only little complain are the few sing-a-long songs on this album. Otherwise the rating would have been much higher....... Outside of German it will be much more difficult; just take a look at Doro, whats her status outside of Germany?? Conclusion: Very nice album for die-hard truemetal fans . And Germnay is filled with this kind of "metal-lovers" !!! Hope to see this band someday on one of the German festivals. | |||
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Visit their website: http://www.zed-yago.com/ Recordlabel: http://www.twilightzonerecords.com/ | 70/100 |
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