REVIEW: LOS SUCESORES DE LA BESTIA - EXOTIQUE

 

LOS SUCESORES DE LA BESTIA - EXOTIQUE (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Casa de Músicos Estudio, by Ing. Roque Reymundo.

Mixing and mastering at Casa de Músicos estudios by D-Alien and Roque Reymundo.

Arte de Tapa: Isb666

Track list:  1- Angel (map), 2- Este es el Final, 3- Sexonauta, 4- El Phooka es Frank Sinatra, 5- Diabulus, el maligno, 6-Casino (el hombre alado), 7- Capitán Petardo, 8- El sonido del amor, 9- Calmante, 10- Hijos del Viento, 11- Vertigo, 12- La bestia, 13- Ya es hora, 14- La arena es de oro en Las Vegas

Really enjoyable CD this one !! Why? Because of the different that all the tracks are one from each other. The basic sound here is psychodelic, full of seventies sounding electronic effects, psychodelic atmospheres, some funky stuff, influences from a lot of different music styles (I can hear, psychodelic rock, funk, hardcore, reggae and many more, some calypso among them). One thing that I like about this guys is that they have hooks in their songs but they don´t achieve that through easy melodies but with interesting arrangements instead. Purists will hate this album, open minded persons not. The sound is really good and this is quite difficult because of the quantity of different instruments that are used here (specially the winds section sounds really good). Favorite tracks: "El Phooka es Frank Sinatra", "Casino (el hombre alado)" and "Hijos del Viento". Contact: www.exoticorock.com.ar or sucesoresdelabestia@yahoo.com

REVIEW: LEVIFER - TRIBUTE TO THE SUPREME BEAST

 

LEVIFER - TRIBUTE TO THE SUPREME BEAST (Devil´s Arts Prods., 2001):

Technical data:

Produced by Devil´s Arts Prods..

Track List: 1- Evocated Goat, 2- From the depths I invoked you, 3- Majesty´s Kingdom, 4- My Lord of Darkness, 5- Black´s Soldiers, 6- Levifer, 7 - Infernal Crypt.

This is fast, raw, dark, black metal coming directly from Perú. The music contained on this tape is pure unholiness but it has one big difference with some of the bands of the style…the guitar sound is more fat and they have interesting melodies like on "Majesty´s Kingdom" and this duo (Levifer on guitars, bass and vocals and Jose on drums) sound really tight, like they have rehearsed a lot. They have also some slow passages and more variety. It is good to see bands like this one in an oversaturated scene that sometimes offers quantity and not quality. Favorite tracks: "My Lord of Darkness", "From the Depths I invoked you". Contact: kdevilsartsprod@hotmail.com

REVIEW: LEGION - CONQUEROR

 

LEGION - CONQUEROR (Dark Horizon Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Centurion Studios, March 1997.

Metal Grip Photo by Tracy Smart.

Track list:  1- Centuries, 2- Predominant Will, 3- Trust in Fate (One´s Own Undoing), 4- Discern, 5- Evergrey, 6- Plague of Indifference, 7- Infested Earth, 8- Curtains

This is a Legion recording from 1997 and it has two bonus tracks: "Infested Earth" from"Blissful Misery" demo (1994) and "Curtains" from "Legion" demo (1992). The music here is bestial death metal of the most brutal type (say in the way of bands like Sinister, Grave or Altars of Madness-era Morbid Angel) with some great riffs like the one at the end (6:36) of "Centuries" over which a good solo is played. The speed here is really fast in some parts (with lots of double bass in some places) and in other parts they prefer to use the riffs in a different way to make the heaviness prevail instead of the mere speed (for example on the beginning of "Predominant Will" with double bass drumming, melodies and riffs). The two bonus tracks don´t have the good sound that the rest of recording has (eventhough it is quite good for being demos from 1992 and 1994) and I prefer the tracks from 1997 instead. Favorite tracks: "Predominant Will", "Discern" and "Trust in Fate". Contact: : www.geocities.com/darkhorizon666

REVIEW: KUAFÖR CENGIZ - ISTAMBUL HATIRASI

 

KUAFÖR CENGIZ - ISTAMBUL HATIRASI (Independent, 2001):

Track list: 1- 666th Government, 2- Atomic Scrap metal Dealer, 3- 5 times Coca Cola, 4- Lemon Pharmacy, 5- There ´s brotherhood in the town of Fatih, 6- Constipations from Bread Products, 7- Memories from Istanbul, 8- There´s no place like Mc Turkey, 9- Brother Saban´s Tea Garden, 10- Black White (colors of Besiktas football team), 11- The Smoke is Great, 12- Winch, 13- Again we are in a crisis.

Hailking from Turkey this band plays a style that I would define like death/grind/black metal with a really raw sound and some crazy ideas (like the slower parts on "Atomic Scrap metal Dealer"). They have a great sense of humor as can be seen in the live version of "5 times Coca Cola" or "There is no place like Mc. Turkey". Their music is powerful and can not be classified as fast or slow because there are parts that can be put into this categories and within the same tracks. Really gutural vocals in some places and black metal / grind like vocals in another and also spoken vocals…I like the different vocal types here. There are also certain interesting guitar arrangements in between grind parts that give a lot of originality to this band like the use of cleaner guitars. It is good to see bands doing great music from countries so distant from ours. Favorite tracks: "Lemon Pharmacy", "There is Brotherhood in the town of Fatih" (some crazy guitars here) and "Brother Saban´s Tea Garden". Contact: www.kuaforcengiz.com or al_bayrak@hotmail.com

REVIEW: KAOS RISING - WIPED AWAY

 

KAOS RISING - WIPED AWAY (Independent, 2001):

Track list:  1-  Social Parasite, 2- Wiped Away, 3- Pierced Through, 4- Mouthfull of Shit, 5- Suffer Beyond me.

Modern death/hardcore metal from Chicago, with extremely heavy guitars and a drum sound that made me remind of Sepultura (the snare drum sound). Two types of vocals: one really growling and other more in the black metal vein. Good guitar rhythms and riffing, depressive melodies and great solos. Multiple changes within a song and some keyboards used to create atmospheres. All this can be found in this recording. It is interesting to see how this guys manage to deliver all this agression without going to the faster part of the specter. I would like them to continue exploring riffs like the one at 1:00 of "Pierced Through" or the one at the beginning of "Mouthfull of Shit" (before the faster part enters). Favorite tracks: "Wiped Away" and "Mouthfull of Shit". Contact: www.kaosrising.com

REVIEW: JAMES COLEMAN:THEREMIN - ZUIHITSU

 

JAMES COLEMAN:THEREMIN - ZUIHITSU (Sedimental Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Engineered by Mike Caglianone at Studio 7ª West.

Mastered by Peter Warren at Moon Hill Studio.

Artwork by Sofia Göthlin.

Track list: 1- this Castle Keeps Me, 2- Burial of the Combs, 3- Katydid, 4- Muddy Kemaris, 5- Lady of the Combs, 6- Flying Water Shrine, 7- Each Spire an Animal, 8- Events at the Laurel Pond, 9- Zwittering Maschine, 10- Tsunekos Dream, 11 - The Singing Sword, 12- Sticks & Stone I, 13- Sticks & Stones II, 14- Kokin Mystery Birds, 15- Released to the Stars.

James Coleman has composed this pieces for free improvisation and improvisational chamber music whose main instrument is the theremin and also using percussion, trumpet, saxophone, cello and vocals. The fifteen tracks contained here are really explorations of sounds and atmospheres done by an interesting group of musicians. The interesting here to pay a lot of attention is the use of dynamics here, going from really strong sounds in "Lady of The Combs" for example to really subtle and almost inaudible textures like in "Burial of the Combs". Experimentation arrives at its climax on tracks like "Events at the Laurel Pond" with some percussion (again, strong and subtle at the same time) and Coleman doing some weird sounds with his instrument. For people that like musicians that break boundaries. Favorite tracks: " Lady of the Combs", "Zwittering Maschine" and "The Singing Sword". Contact: www.zuihitsu.net

REVIEW: INTHYFLESH - REHEARSAL TAPE 2001

 

INTHYFLESH - REHEARSAL TAPE 2001 (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Evening Studio .

Track List: 1- Harvested by Pride and Glory, 2- Victory Shall be Ours !, 3- An Epilogue in Ruins

It is always good to see extreme music bands coming from different parts of the world. In Thy Flesh comes from Portugal and their music is very raw black metal the way the style was done in the beginning of the nineties but with more precission in the execution of their instruments. All here is darkness, starting with the short introduction of "Harvested by Pride and Glory" and the band seems to be really accurate and rehearsed (as this is a rehearsal tape). I would like to see what this guys can do within a studio and with a higher budget…they may even turn up sounding much more heavier. Judging by this tape this band must be a killer live act. Contact: inthyflesh@iol.pt

REVIEW: IMMEMOREAL - TEMPLE OF RETRIBUTION

 

IMMEMOREAL - TEMPLE OF RETRIBUTION (Blackend Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded in Studio mega March 27 to April 2, 2000.

Mixed 23-27 April 2000 by Bullen and Immemoreal.

Track list:  1- Intro - Duce the Chaos, 2- Curse of Cjaos, 3- A Nightmare Scenario, 4- Triumphant Grasp, 5- Intro - Duce the Power, 6- My Will to Power, 7- By The Sunset, 8- Temple of Retribution, 9- 19.1.20.1.14, 10- The Unholy (Intro), 11 - Blazing Glory, 12 - In Dark, 13- Armageddon Blade, 14 - Immemorial Ages, 15- Outro

Bestial death metal with subtle underlying melodies and a great sound (fans of At the Gates, check this release). The first thing that amazed me here was the number of intros (there are three) that were made by Morfeus of Limbonic Art fame, then another good surprise was the drumming of Wouthan that has quite more variety than most of death metal drummers out there (good use of bass drum and cymbals, specially when he uses the Ride). Also the guitars are quite diferent from what one could expect: they are not so fast in some parts and the riffs are more rocking instead of being twisted and they are used in lot of places to create melodies that help to distinguish the band from others of the style. Favorite tracks: "Triumphant Grasp", "By The Sunset" and "Temple of Retribution. Contact: www.blackendrecords.com 

REVIEW: ILLDISPOSED - KOKAIINUM

 

ILLDISPOSED - KOKAIINUM (Diehard Music, 2001):

Technical data:

Produced and Mixed by Jan Borsing at Borsing Recordings.

Mastered by Jonas Friis at Feedback Studios

Layout by Søren Granhof Schjøtt

Track list:   1- A warm welcome, 2- Just like a clockwork, 3- Richard Scarry, 4- Illdisposed, 5- Forever Young 2001, 6- Intellargent, 7- Kokaiinum, 8- A girl and her boss, 9- Fear Bill Gates

Since the beginning of the nineties Illdisposed has been crushing the death metal scene. This time the album is called "Kokaiinum" and they show a mix of death metal with industrial shades (in the vocals specially) with big heavier than hell guitars and an amazing drums sound. The perfect combination between fast and heavy rhythms with intense musicianship and interesting melodies. This band has the advantage over much of the bands in the same style that they are constantly trying to be original in their material and they don´t loose any strength because of that. Check songs like "Just like a clockwork" to see the mechanical sound that charachterizes this band (full volume required here and watch your windows and glasses). Favorite tracks: "Richard Scarry", "Forever Young 2001" and "Kokaiinum". Contact: diehard@diehardmusic.com or www.diehardmusic.com

REVIEW: GROG - ODES TO THE CARNIVOROUS

 

GROG - ODES TO THE CARNIVOROUS (Shock Wave/Warpath Recs., 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Floyd Studios - January/February 2001

Produced and Engineererd by Nuno A. Loureiro.

Mixed and Mastered by Nuno A. Loureiro and Grog.

Cover, Design and Illustrations by V.J.

Track List: 1- Ode to the Carnivorous (Prelude to Brutality), 2- Corpse Reanimation (The Mutants Revenge), 3- Fornicators Delirium, 4- Dead Art Collector, 5- Cult of Blood, 6- Terrified, 7- Necrogeek (The Doctor´s Diary), 8- Realm of the Soulless, 9- Raped by a Virgin, 10- Narcissistic Skinblade Reflection.

It is good to see that death/grind bands that are surfacing nowadays are getting better. This time is the turn of Grog from Portugal, and their style is really fast and raw death/grind with a really guttural vocalist and fast drums. Eventhough originality is not their best point, they are really solvent in doing their style and they have some interesting ideas , like for example the riffs with pinch harmonics on "Fornicators Delirium" (0:27). They have achieved a good sound that is much better than in some of the bands of the style where you have a ball of noise. Here, each instrument is adecuately mixed and that adds to the final result. Favorite tracks: "Dead Art Collector" (with blast beat included), " Cult of Blood" (with some of the most interesting guitar riffs) and "Necrogeek". Contact: warpath@wanadoo.fr

REVIEW: GODLESS WICKED CREEPS - SMILE

 GODLESS WICKED CREEPS - SMILE (Sedimental Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Jailhouse Studios, Horsens, Denmark.

Produced by Tommy Hansen.

Track list:  1-Bad Brains, 2- Coward with a gun, 3- Kid Death, 4- Perfect Day, 5- Liar, 6- Voodoo Girl, 7- Born To Lose, 8- Deal With the Devil, 9- Barnyard Balls, 10- Teenage Cowgirl, 11- Shotgun Baby, 12- Smile, 13- Death Becomes me, 14 - My Liquor

This is a quartet from Aarhus, Denmark whose style can be described (as they would like to do) as Punkabilly. And in fact I think is the best way to describe their music: a mix of rockabilly and punkrock (check for example "Voodoo Girl" that is one of the songs where this mix is more evident). There are also here some psychodelic elements like for example on the beginning of "Liar". Other tracks like "Born To Lose" are more punk than rockabilly, but the tracks that I liked most is where the combination of those styles is more explicit. Check this band because they can be a world wide success if managed correctly. Favorite tracks: "Coward with a Gun", "Liar" and "Deal With the Devil". Contact: www.diehardmusic.com

REVIEW: GOAT SEMEN - PROMO 00

 

GOAT SEMEN - PROMO 00 (Devil´s Arts Prods., 2001):

Track List:  1- Goat Semen, 2- Madre Muerte, 3- Sodom Graves, 4- Warfare Noise, 5- At Luzbel´s Behest

They called this Southamerican Terrorist Black Death metal. They come from Perú like Levifer, but this band is less refinated and has not the same quality as Levifer does, eventhough the style is similar. Here the emphasis is on speed (blast beats everywhere) and the sound quality is not really good. In fact this band will be better if they would put more originality in their material (like for example they did on some parts of "Madre Muerte") and if they get a better sound (eventhough this is a promo), specially on drums and guitars. Favorite tracks: "Sodom Graves", "Madre muerte". Contact: goatsemen@hotmail.com or kdevilsartsprod@hotmail.com

REVIEW: GALAPAGOS - DESPUES DE LA TORMENTA

 

GALAPAGOS - DESPUES DE LA TORMENTA (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mastered at Tec-Son on june 2000, Buenos Aires.

Recording Engineer: Gerardo Boya.

Cover Artwork by Sebastián Ántola.

Track list: 1- Levántame, 2- Viento, 3- ¿Qué tendrás?, 4- El dragón, 5- No hay lugar, 6- En la Inmensidad, 7- Miedo, 8- Para Ella, 9- La Marcha, 10- La Marcha (Parte II), 11- Demonio, 12- Después de la Tormenta

Hard rock in the vein of bands like Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and other seventies icons (also I find some Kiss and AC/DC in there too) are what Galapagos shows us on this recording. A difference with those bands is that this band prefers to rely on a mid range vocalist, Daniel Carneglia, instead of a high pitched one. The songs here are short, carefully constructed and they are energeticly based heavily on the guitars of Sebastián Ántola and Tuki Sáenz. There are also some blues shades here too, like on "¿Qué Tendrás?" with a bluesy rhythm and some leads that remind of the style. It is good to listen bands of this style that is not as common here in Buenos Aires. Favorite tracks: "El dragón", "En la Inmensidad" and "Para ella". Contact: galapagosrock@yahoo.com

REVIEW: EXIDIA - FROM THE DEEP

 

EXIDIA - FROM THE DEEP (Independent/ Kick Promotion Agency, 2001):

Technical Data:

Produced by Exidia

Cover Concept: Exidia

Track List: 1- Proud Now I Wander, 2- The Infection, 3- From the Deep, 4- My Suicide

This another demonstration that not only power metal bands are coming from Italy. In Fact Exidia is a band of brutal and fast death metal. This MCD has all the elements that fans of the style love: Guttural vocals in the vein of Morbid Angel, fast rhythms with crunchy power chords, double bass drumming. The sound is fairly good, in fact I would change a little bit the mix in the guitars, where the rhythm guitar is a little bit low and some leads are mixed high and that gives the sensation that they are hanging on the edge. "From the Deep" is mya favorite track here with double bass drumming and bass rhythm in the beginning before the guitars enter (also there is some interesting guitars at 0:50). For death metal addicts. Contact: www.catsoundstudio.com/Exidia or madfucker@libero.it

REVIEW: ERNESTO DIAZ INFANTE & CHRIS FORSYTH - WIRES AND WOODEN BOXES

 

ERNESTO DIAZ INFANTE & CHRIS FORSYTH - WIRES AND WOODEN BOXES (Pax Recordings, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded by Ross Bonadonna at Wombat Recording Co., Brooklyn.

Mixed by Chris Forsyth and Ross Bonadonna.

Score drawing by Ernesto Díaz-Infante

Track List:   1- NYC Journal excerpt (2000), 2- Metallic Strands…, 3- Sound is good all the time, 4- Straight to it, 5- Pulled Wires, 6- Passing one Another, 7- Knock on Wood, 8- Cut and Dried, 9- To place in, 10- Trace out motion

This is a CD full of duet experimentation between Ernesto Díaz-Infante who plays piano, acoustic guitar, toy piano and small percussion and Chris Forsyth who plays electric guitar, piano soundboard and small percussion. In fact here you will find dissonant chords played by Diaz Infante whil Forsyth experiment with sounds and noises in tracks like "NYC Journal excerpt". Or maybe Forsyth and Diaz Infante experimenting with acoustic and electric guitar at the same time like on "Metallic Strands…" where the search for new sounds and textures between the two instruments is really interesting, specially because of the interaction and coherence among them. This is a recording for lovers of experimentation. Favorite tracks: "Metallic Strands", "Pulled Wires" and "Trace Out Motion". Contact: www.paxrecordings.com

REVIEW: ENDORPHINE - ENDORPHINE

 

ENDORPHINE - ENDORPHINE (Independent / Kick Promotion Agency, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed at Jumping Spider´s by Maddalena Bellini.

Artwork by Temno.

Track List: 1- Dust Rivers, 2- Cynic Show, 3- Nectar, 4- Dear Old Friends.

Endorphine plays extremely technical thrash /heavy metal with influences from eighties thrash bands like Annihilator, Testament, etc. Four songs are presented here, one of them an instrumental ("Dear Old Friends") full of thrashy rythms and certain elements and rhythm changes that most metal bands have forgotten (there are certain changes that I would like to listen more often in bands of all metal substyles). I must praise the work of the rhythm section, specially the drums of Peppe Iovine, that avoids certain cliches favoring an original approach to the instrument. Favorite tracks: "Cynic Show" and "Nectar". Contact: www.endorphine.3000.it or madfucker@libero.it  

REVIEW: EN DECLIN - EN DECLIN

 

EN DECLIN - EN DECLIN (Independent, 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded live at the Outer Sound Studio

Produced by En Declin, G.Orlando, M.Pagliuso

Track List: 1- Night, 2- Time, 3- Flyer, 4- At my Suffer, 5- Still Remain, 6- Fail once for all, 7- To founder, 8- The end is mine.

Really interesting work by this italian band. Mixing death/black metal with a great combination of gothic vocals (clean and melodic) and black metal (screaming ones) voices. Intensive use of clean guitars to enhance the dark feelings, like in the beginning of " Time". One really positive point about this CD is the great sound that this band has achieved in the studio, specially the drums that are really well mixed and that allows the listener to hear all the arrangements that Cristiano Loddo makes with his instrument. Another thing that is interesting is the constant change of riffs and rhythms that are done within the songs and that makes more interesting the final result. Favorite tracks: "Flyer", "Still Remain" and "The End is Mine". Contact: casuc@inwind.it

REVIEW: DARKNESS ETERNAL - DAWN OF THE SUFFERING

 

DARKNESS ETERNAL - DAWN OF THE SUFFERING (Dark Salvation Prods, 2000):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Engineered by Stew Kirkwood. Recorded at Rabbit Hunchback Monkey Studios.

Mixed by Stew Kirkwood and George Velaetis.

Graphic Design by Carol Pylypow

Track List: 1- The Final Conquest, 2- Jesus Bleeding, 3- Mass Suicide, 4- Dawn of the Suffering, 5- The Burning Waters of Acheron, 6- Impeccable Doom, 7- Shadow of the Scorned, 8- Black Pentecost, 9- Abandon Divinity, 10- Unrepenting Malice.

Brutal death metal with slower parts (almost doom in many places). In fact I find that this slower parts and rhythm changes is what Darkness Eternal should exploit to distinguish themselves. George Velaetis knows how to develope some interesting guitar riffs and drum patterns. There are clear differences in the sound between the tracks: in fact, "Jesus Bleeding" is muddier than for example "The Final Conquest". One thing that got my attention is that the booklet says that the songs here were written between 1997 and 2000, so there are some differences in the material. Points to remark: use of great changes and clean parts followed by faster ones like on 1:52 from "Jesus Bleeding". I would like to listen more recent material to see the evolution that this one man band has suffered. Originality within death metal´s realm. Favorite tracks: "Mass Suicide", "The Burning Waters of Acheron". Contact: darknesseternal666@hotmail.com

REVIEW: COOPER - ACTIVATE

 

COOPER - ACTIVATE (Suburban Recs., 2001):

Technical Data:

Mixed by Frank Reijgersberg and Michael Schoots. Engineered by Frank Reijgersberg

Executive Producer: Michael Schoots

Graphics and layout: The Hague, Robert Muda

Track List: 1-Mirror, 2- Whatever Reason, 3- Hello, 4- No Clue, 5- New Age Crap, 6- Numb, 7- Too much on my mind, 8- Yeah!, 9- Doesn´t Matter, 10- Wrapped, 11- Girlfriend, 12 - Sister of Mercy.

Simple and efective rock and roll in the vein of Foo Fighters is what we have here. A lot of punk rock influences are shown here, for example on "Whatever Reason". What this guys have is a lot of pop sensibility because all the songs stick inmediately to your ear through those hooky melodies and the way the songs are created: in the style verse-verse-chorus-verse that is so friendly to the ear. Those looking for experimentation and dark atmospheres will not find them here. But if you like happy music and easy to listen songs will be delighted. Favorite tracks: "No Clue", "New Age Crap" and "Girlfriend". Contact: www.suburban.nl or info@suburban.nl

REVIEW: BY THE GRIEF - AS ONE

 

BY THE GRIEF - AS ONE (Nocturnal Music / Kick Promotions Agency, 2000):

Technical Data:

Recorded, mixed and mastered at West Link Studio - Cascina, Pisa (11/12/99-22/12/99)

Executive Producer: Richard Damien

Graphics and layout: Claudio "Baro" Baroncelli

Track List: 1- As One, 2-Revelation, 3-Fan the Flames, 4- Ray of Sun, 5- Scornriver, 6- Frail, 7- Disconnect the Power, 8- Life Functions Terminated.

Clean guitars open the first track of this CD, "As One", entering into climatic death metal after a while. The music in this CD brought images to my mind of (check this out): Testament, Paradise Lost (certain climatic guitar phrases) and Atheist (specially on the vocals). This italian quintet are extremely technical and they know how to construct a song with extreme musicianship without loosing their power. The use of clean guitars, original riffing (listen to "Revelation") and screaming vocals are the main features of this release. "Fan The Flames" is one of the top moments where the Atheist/Paradise Lost combination gets to its climax (the vocals are really original here). A good album for fans of technical metal full of ideas. Favorite tracks: "Fan The Flames", "Scornriver" (with piano touches) and "Disconnect the Power". Contact: www.nocturnalmusic.com or madfucker@libero.it

REVIEW - BETO VAZQUEZ INFINITY - BATTLE OF VALMOURT

 

BETO VAZQUEZ INFINITY - BATTLE OF VALMOURT (NEMS Enterprises, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Estudios El Zoológico, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Max Ditamo and Fabio Lione recorded at La Nave de Oseberg Studios and Tarja Turunen and Jörg Michael recorded at Finnvox Studios.

Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios. Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios

Cover Illustration by Sebastián Castiñeiras.

Track list:   1- Battle of Valmourt (vocal duet version), 2- Promises Under the Rain (version without lyrics, 3- Multimedia Track

This is a preview of the Beto Vazquez Infinity debut album with different versions of songs that will be appearing on that recording. As we can see there are a lot of guests musicians here, for example Fabio Lione (Rhapsody / Athena/Vision Divine) and Jörg Michael (Stratovarius) on vocals and drums respectively on "Battle of Valmourt" or Tarja Turunen (Nightwish) on the choruses on "Promises Under The Rain" (I would like to listen to the version with the full lyrics to listen the complete results). Beto Vazquez Infinity´s material is really original, including flutes and female vocals within an atmospheric heavy metal context, played with good musicianship and plenty of ideas. I think this is fresh air for the stagnant heavy/power metal scene from Argentina. Contacts: nems@nems.com.ar

REVIEW: AURORA BOREALIS - NORTHERN LIGHTS

 

AURORA BOREALIS - NORTHERN LIGHTS (Diehard Music, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Nightsky Studios, Oct-Dec. 1999

Engineered and Produced by Ron Vento. Mastered at IQ Studios

Front Cover Art: Jay Marsh

Track List: 1-Thrice Told, 2- Enter the Halls, 3- Images in the Nightsky, 4- Draco, 5-Sky Dweller, 6- Hydrah, 7-Dream God, 8- Hydrah, 9- Dream God, 10- Distant. European bonus tracks: 11- War of the Rings, 12- Offerings of Jade and Blood, 13- Constellations Embellished with Chaos, 14- Aggressive Dynasty, 15 - Calm Before the Storm.

I published the review of this CD some issues back when Ron Vento sent me the CD. Now the guys in Diehard Music have issued this great album but containing five bonus tracks for Europe. The music is fast, direct black/death metal with good fast drumming with lots of double bass patterns. Interesting guitar riffs, specially the more original ones like on "Enter the Halls" (0:19) or the beginning of "Hydrah". The bonus tracks here are not so good sounding on the guitar like the rest of the recording but they have killer drumming (listen to the beginning of "War of the rings") and an interesting bass sound. Here the mix is lacking a little bit of depth on the guitars but the songs are really good ones and it shows the evolution that Aurora Borealis has gone through. Contact: www.diehardmusic.com or diehard@diehardmusic.com

REVIEW: AT VANCE - DRAGONCHASER + EARLY WORKS CENTER

 

AT VANCE - DRAGONCHASER + EARLY WORKS CENTERS (NEMS Enterprises, 2001):

Technical Data "Dragonchaser":

Recorded and Mixed by Olaf Lenk at Guitarland Studio.

Produced by Olaf lenk and Axel Thubeauville.

Artwork: Cristoph Berch

Track List:  Dragonchaser: 1- Dragonchaser, 2- Ages of Glory, 3- Crucified, 4- Beethoven 5th Sinfonie, 5- Heaven Can Wait, 6- The Winner Takes it All, 7- My Bleeding heart, 8- Two Kings, 9- Too Late, 10- Ases Death.

Early Works Centers: 1- Falling One by One, 2- Fortuneteller, 3- You´ll Survive, 4- The Guide, 5- My one and only love, 6- Tales of Mystery, 7- Out of Reach, 8- Your Love, 9- Kiss of Death, 10- Burning My Heart, 11- Memories, 12- Winter, 13- Tears of Pain, 14- Take My Heart, 15- Desperado

This is a 2 CD set containing the new At Vance album called "Dragonchaser" and the first one that was unavailable and is called "Centers". It is interesting to see in this package the evolution that the band has suffered since their first recordings. From all the power/heavy metal bands that surfaced in the latest years in the scene I think At Vance is one of the best (along with Symphony X). With the Malmsteen-like guitars of Olaf Lenk the tracks in Dragonchaser are much better sounding than the ones in "Heart of Steel", eventhough they are not so original. I prefer those tracks where originality surfaces, like for example on "Crucified" where they break part of the power metal structure favoring a more direct approach. For lovers of rarities: Dragonchaser includes an ABBA cover (it seems that this people are really fans) "The Winner Takes it All" and a version of Beethoven´s Fifth Symphony. The tracks in "Centers" are more direct in some aspects, with less arrangements and the mix is not as good as in "Dragonchaser", but you can listen perfectly Lenk´s guitar and the great vocals (that here sound sometimes like Joe Lynn Turner and sometimes like Graham Bonnett), the drums are a little bit thin for my taste here and it seems that for theirs too because they have changed that in the next recordings. Favorite tracks: " Crucify", "Ases Death" and "Ages of Glory". Contact: nems@nems.com.ar

REVIEW: ATTRITION - EPHEMERA

 

ATTRITION - EPHEMERA (INCIDENTAL MUSIC VOL.II) (Invisible Recs., 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded on location at The Cage - March-Dec 1993.

Remastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage, January 2001.

Art: Mark P. Lomax. Design by John Bergin,

Track List: 1- The Long Wait, 2- A Great Desire, 3- The Big Lie, 4- Wetenscap (Dream #9), 5- Lang Zal Jij Leven

This Attrition CD is completely different from "The Hidden Agenda". Where in that recording rhythmic patterns and bass drum were all over the place, here you have more atmospheric sounds, and climatic work. This are soundscapes made by the total experimental brain of Mr. Martin Bowes who si in charge of all the music here. Fans of this kind of electronic music will be delighted (perhaps this will be a little dark from them because of the heavy use of keyboard chords to create obscure atmospheres and the use of industrial sounding drums). Very interesting but for open minded persons. Favorite tracks: "A Great Desire" (with noisy intro followed by electronics) and "The Big Lie" (like a science fiction movie soundtrack). Contact: www.attrition.co.uk or www.invisiblerecords.com

REVIEW: ATTRITION - THE HIDDEN AGENDA

 

ATTRITION - THE HIDDEN AGENDA (Invisible Recs., 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and mixed at The Cage - 1992-1993.

Produced by Martin Bowes and Mark Beswick.

Remastered by Martin Bowes at the Cage, 2000.

Art: Mark P. Lomax.

Track List: 1- Lip Sync (Xenophobia Edit), 2- Agenda Station, 3- The Deadline, 4- This Great Design, 5- Sister Teresa, 6- The Silent Mind, 7- The Cage, 8- The Mercy Machine, 9- The Next Day (re-visited), 10- His Latest Flame, 11- Lip Sync (reprise), 12- The Third House, 13- A Wing and a Prayer.

Well, in fact I like this kind of music: electronic sounding with lots of electronic and programming that is not designed to dance and shake your body. This is done to experiment with sounds that are not so common (eventhough "Lip Sync" would not be out of place in some weird rave). The voice here reminded me in some places of the guy in Rammstein, but this was recorded when that band didn´t even exist. There are a lot of industrial sounds here butthe fundamental here is the sound of electronic drums with that interesting ganme of female and male vocals that make the sound darker. I don´t know what Attrition is doing nowadays but I would like to listen new material from them to see how they have evolved since this CD. Contact: www.attrition.co.uk or www.invisiblerecords.com

REVIEW: ARCHAEAN HARMONY - NIHILITY MUNDANE SOUL

 

ARCHAEAN HARMONY - NIHILITY MUNDANE SOUL (Solemn Music, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Temple Studios, 15-18 July 1999

Sound Engineered and mixed by David Vella.

Produced by David Vella and Archaean Harmony.

Logo, Artwork and Design: C.J.Zarb

Track List: 1- Nihility Mundane Soul…Eschatology berft, l´Apostasy, 2- Metabolism Under the Ascending Moon Part I, 3- Metabolism Under the Ascending Moon Part II, 4- Venery Dreams.

Climatic black/dark metal band with really subtle elements !. This is the rerelease of the "Promo 99" from this killer band and as it says on the booklet, it is not a reflection of the new directions Archaean Harmony is working now. Main charachteristic of this recording: lot of keyboards, playing chord progressions, interludes; excelent guitars (killer melodies through the four tracks, interesting acoustics, excelent solos), played in a really subtle way, emphasizing the atmosphere of the music; some electronic drums that sound a little bit thin in some places but it helps also to generate the "Archaean Harmony sound". This is totally recomendable for fans of original music, elaborated black metal, and fans of atmospheric music too. A must. Favorite tracks: All four. Contact: http://go.to/solemn or solemusic@hotmail.com

REVIEW: AMBEON - FATE OF A DREAMER

 

AMBEON - FATE OF A DREAMER (Transmission/NEMS Enterprises, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, Produced and Mixed at the Electric Castle by Arjen Lucassen.

Mastered by Sascha Paeth

Layout by mail@dresham.de

Track list: 1- Estranged, 2- Ashes, 3- High, 4- Cold Metal, 5- Fate, 6- Sick Ceremony, 7- Lost Message, 8- Surreal, 9- Sweet little Brother, 10- Dreamer

This is a project that originally Arjen Lucassen planed as another Ayreon album, but finally he decided to do it different when he listened to 14 year old Astrid Van Der Veen who sings through all this album. In fact her excellent vocals are close to the tone of Annekke Van Giesbergen (The Gathering) but they are used in quite a different manner. Lucassen´s music is more calm and introspective on this album than in his work with Ayreon like showing a side that he had not shown before in his other project. As always there are a lot of keyboards but here they have the role of enhancing Astrid´s vocals which are the axis around which this CD spins. Another positive fact on this album is the great sound that Lucassen has achieved this time. Favorite tracks: "High", "Sick Ceremony" and "Surreal". Contact: nems@nems.com.ar

REVIEW: AEON - DARK ORDER

 

AEON - DARK ORDER (DeathVomit/Necropolis Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Courthouse Studio, Östersund, Summer 2000.

Produced by Johan Hjelm. Engineered and mixed by Johan Hjelm.

Cover artwork and layout by José Montemayor.

Track list:  1- The Return of Apolluon, 2- Eternal hate, 3- With Blood they Pay, 4- The Awakening, 5- Bloodlust, 6- Hell Unleashed.

Powerful album from this death gods ! The first things that take your attention here is how well mixed the guitars are, specially the rhythmic ones that are a kick in your face. The sound, to give you an idea is like having a mix of Morbid Angel and Fear Factory and throwing this into a brutal death metal machine. There are some interesting lead guitars phrases thrown into this mix too (there is a killer solo in "With Blood they Pay" with good legato technique and some tapping too). There are no subtle things here, everything here is designed to crush you like a one thousand ton hammer (ten ton hammer is for Machine Head, so I think One thousand ton hammer is more apropriated for Aeon). Fans of brutality will have orgasms here !!. Favorite tracks: "With blood they pay", "The Return of Apolluon". Contact: www.necropolisrecords.com

REVIEW: 500 FT. OF PIPE - DOPE DEAL

 

500 FT. OF PIPE - DOPE DEAL (Beard of Stars Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Produced,Recorded, Mastered and Mixed by Kris Shier for Hire and 500 Ft of Pipe.

Track List: 1- Detroit City (Never Done Me No Good), 2- 77 Burnout, 3- Not your Mule, 4- Dope Deal, 5- 420 To Go, 6- Big brother, 7- D.E.A., 8- Sunshine Superman, 9- Wear it Out, 10- We Blew the Whole Thing Up.

Stoner rock !!! Yes, this type of crude rock with psychodelic influences and drug inspired lyrics is what 500 Ft. Of Pipe does….and they do it really good ! As any band of the style should have, this band has a definetly seventies sound through all their recording. I liked a lot the guitarist that sometimes sounds like Tony Iommi because of this muddy sound that his guitar has and some licks that involves bending and legato that the Black Sabbath guitarist does sometimes. The music here is rocking and definetly takes you back to an era where the feeling was completely different from nowadays and there was a look for experimentation. A thing that caught my attention is that this is a trio consisting of a guitarist, a drummer and a keyboard/singer (his vocals are in the way of Corrosion of Conformity/Down singer Pepper Keenan) and that gives a special sound to them. Favorite tracks: "Sunshine Superman", "Dope Deal" and "We Blew the Whole thing Up". Contact: www.vinylmagic3.it

REVIEW: 2 TON PREDATOR - BOOGIE

 

2 TON PREDATOR - BOOGIE (Diehard Music, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded by Tue Madsen at the Ant-farm Studios, Ärhus/Denmark, April 2001

Engineered/Mixed/Mastered by Tue Madsen at the Ant-farm Studios

Produced by Tue Madsen and 2 Ton Predator

Art Direction and layout: Søren Granhof Schjøtt

Track List: 1- Boogie, 2- Duct Tape History, 3- Broken Bond, 4-Pumpjack pleasure, 5- Hail from Sweden, 6- Freak 2000, 7- Downright Evil, 8- 4 Tounges Strong, 9- Turning Point, 10- September Flu, 11- Last Boost, 12- Empty Chambers.

This is powerful metal in the vein of Machine Head or Sepultura but much more aggressive. Some elements of death metal and hardcore surface her and there but the interesting thing here are the rhythms that go far beyond speed. There are certain elements that reminded me of Pro-Pain but in fact this is really different from that. 2 Ton Predator has an interesting point in the vocals of Mogge who is a really flexible screamer (going from melodic lines a la Phil Anselmo to a deeper growling). A killer guitarist is another column of 2 Ton Predator with rhythmic riffs, favoring good taste. Songs like "Pumpjack pleasure" are ideal for the moshpit !! Favorite tracks: "Duct Tape Story", "Pumpjack Pleasure" and "Downright Evil". Contact: www.diehardmusic.com or diehard@diehardmusic.com  

INTERVIEW WITH SACRED SIN

Portugal´s metal scene is growing stronger every day and here we have one of the main exponents of that scene, Sacred Sin. Jose Costa, bassist and vocalist of the band talked with us:

Do you consider yourself a progressive death metal band or is this term a little bit too narrow to describe your music?

Well I always defined SS as a extreme Metal band. We have a very vast number of influences that goes from one side of the Metal spectrum to the other. We love such different bands as IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER, MERCYFUL FATE, CELTIC FROST, ACCEPT, DARK ANGEL, SAVATAGE, POSSESSED, HELLOWEEN, etc . We have our roots in the 80´s thrash, we have the intense and brutal Black / Death Metal touch, lots of atmosphear and melodic leads and different kinds of vocals as the concept of the song demands. The mixing of all this styles came in a very natural way when we are doing the songs.

What can you tell me about "Translucid Dream Mirror"?

It was recorded between December 2000 and January 2001. It includes 13 new tracks plus a cover from SLAYER «Evil has no boundaries».

Finally on this last album we had the time to do all that we imagined when recording the songs, instead of doing a more simple and direct aproach as the previous records. All the concept of our music is much more clear now because we had enough studio time to let all the ideas flow and we were carefull on the mixing so you can actually listen to all that.

Normally our songs had all lyrics in English, including sometimes a part in Portuguese or Latin. On this album I used different languages because sometimes I feel that a certain part or a song would sound better in that language. There are various reasons for that. Like in "La clef des grands misteres" it should be mostly in French because the inpiration came from there, with writer Elifas Lévi. In "Zukunft Kenntnis" it was a question of sound, and German language did suit perfectly in that part. But on "Malificent Genii" the part in Spanish came because the lyrics were inspired by a medieval Spanish tale. The Latin used in "Mei lacrimae in tenebrae" and "Transmutations (sphera lunae sepiternum...)" was a question of sound. And finally on "The shadow gate" the end is in Portuguese because it was written like that from the begining and I though it should be better to keep it like that.

Which do you think are the main differences between "Translucid..." and "Anguish...I harvest"?

If you listen carefully you will notice that this album is just as fast and brutal as our old songs, the main difference is that now we could have more time to produce the vocals so I could put on all my ideas, and also we gave more freedom to the keyboards to expand in our music. The overall result sounds much more dark and melodic but it still aggressive and extreme as before.

What can you tell me about the "13th Cave" Studio? Is that your own studio?

Yes we used mainly our studio the «13th Cave» owned by Pedro Miguel the guitar player and engineer of this album. Only for the drums we had to go record at «Overhead studio». We have improved a lot the studio equipment this last months, as for the recording of «Translucid» we had to rent some necessary material. At this moment the studio is much more independent and we plan to make the next album there too.

How do you see your evolution since you released your first promo tape in 1991?

Puff... we had passed through a lot since those days ! In terms of music and influencies the band is still tied to it's roots, but there was evolution in many ways. We had several line-up changes through the years and that also causes some changes in the way we sound. But if you get to listen all our albuns you easily trace the basic lines of our music style. I always intend to make diferent things in each album, yet we have big efford so that all should sound in place in our music.

Why did you choose Demolition Records to release "Translucid..."?

They offered us the best conditions, and respect our scheadule and plans for this album. We had different offers from other labels but with DEMOLITION Rec. we are free to decide upon the band and our music.

Are you touring to support the release of "Translucid..."?

Yes, we did a few shows in April, and we had to cancel some shows due to an accident we had with our van. From September to December we have more shows in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and Germany. Our new live show is very powerful and we have been getting great response.

I found great the inclusion of keyboards which sound like the ones they use in bands like Dream Theater doing melodies, solos and other stuff. Was this an intentional addition or is it the way the songs came out?

Thanks for your appreciation. Yes we planned to use a lot more keys on this album. We allow the keyboarder to let his inspiration flow on the songs and this is the way it came out ! We have been using keys in our music since our first recording but for this album they are not only giving atmosphear to the music, but often the keys have a independent role, expanding the songs to other horizons.

There are some guest vocalists in "Translucid..." like Carla Mourao or Leen Van Damme...Why did you choose to include them?

They sounded good for those parts. It's a question of finding the best way to fullfil an ideia for a song or a part. Beside female voices there are also other male voices that made comtribution on some songs, and for the same motive: acheive the best for each part of the song.

Do you have plans to release your material like the "Promo Tape 91", "The Shades Behind" EP or "The Other Sides" tape on CD?

Yes, as a matter of fact we do. The plan is to include all that plus both our albuns «Darkside» and «Eye'm'God» and videos in one package double-cd edition. It's all planned since Summer to be released under the name of «Mastery of holy imperial art», but so far the label have been delaying it. The package is really cool and it's to be sold at the price of a normal cd.

What do you think about other portuguese bands like Moonspell or Inthyflesh?

Moonspell is very important to our national scene. They are the biggest Metal band in Portugal, and got a lot of attention in the international scene, and that it's good for all other Metal bands here. Fortunatly we have a lots of cool bands just waiting for a chance to grow. Here the economic conditions dictate a lot of restrictions in some terms, but we got lots of promising musicians working hard to get some success for their projects.

Do you think that your music style is better received in Europe than in the USA? Why do you think is that?

The new album was distributed in the US in October, so it's still to soon to make a definite comment on that matter. Anyway, for the reactions we had so far from our older releases, usually in Europe we get the best reception.

Some final thoughts?

I want to thank you, first of all for this nice interview. All into Metal music should have a listen to our new album to check it out ! Don't loose the chance to hear our «brutalized Heavy Metal» ! Anything more about the band you can look in www.sacredsin.org . Keep extreme and stay Metal !

SACRED SIN - DISCOGRAPHY

The Shades Behind - CD

Darkside - CD

Eye M God - CD

Anguish...I harvest - CD

Translucid Dream Mirror - CD

ACTUAL LINEUP

José Costa - bass and vocals

Nuno Goncalves - guitar

Pedro Miguel - guitar

Danilo Wavick - drums

Tiago Loureiro - keyboards

REVIEW: UNDROP - UPROOTED

 

UNDROP - UPROOTED (Locomotive Music , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded in Undrop Govardhan Studios, Vrajamandala, Spain.

Mixed in kirios Studios, Madrid.

Produced by Tomas Rundquist

Cover Art / Design: Undrop, Locomotive.

Track List: 1-Lion, 2-Lets Take a Trip Down Memory Lane, 3-Moonlike Face, 4-Cyber Head, 5-The Mine Field, 6-1+1=3, 7-Elevation, 8-Without Roots, 9-Ragga, 10-Go Beyond Matter, 11-Calling Gopinath, 12-Live Today, 13-Crazy 4 U, 14-Positive !, 15-Mashed Potatoes Part II

A strange band. This the way I would define Undrop. While listening to their music some names came into my mind: Nirvana (listen the vocals in "Lion" specially when he screams Lioooon !!!) , The Police, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Adrian Belew, Beatles, some old style jazz guitarist (Charlie Christian?) and many many more. The result here is a really melodic album with an emphasis on hooks and in harmonies (some of them more weird than what one should have expected...heavy use of flat fifths in some choruses and prechoruses). Listen to "Moonlike Face" for to see what I am talking about, they start with a simple punk style and then they gate into a more interesting poppish/ grunge style or maybe check the opening of "Cyber Head" with the use of tremolo bar in the guitars and clean arpeggios through the verses. There is also a use of MIDI Guitar in there that sound almost like a keyboard in some parts like in "1+1=3". Interesting. Favorite tracks: "Moonlike Face", "Elevation" and "Without Roots". Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: TROLL - UNIVERSAL

 

TROLL - UNIVERSAL (Voices of Wonder / Head Not Found , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Frogner Jern&Metall - February 2000.

Fiddled and Fixed by Sensei Ursus Major - Mastered by Neon Heart Inc.

Cover Art / Design: Enclave Design.

Track List: 1- Intro: My Sulphur Lover, 2- Rex Lamictal, 3- Sannhetens Plagiat, 4- President Besters Alimony, 5- Intermission 666, 6-Entering the Fluid Oxygen, 7- Color of Evil, 8- Fields of a new Sun, 9- Outro: Please the Pain

This is kind of a norwegian supergroup formed by Nagash (Covenent, ex Dimmu Borgir) who is called here Notorious Nagash and Hellhammer (Mayhem and a thousand more projects) with the help of Sinister Minister Twice, Sensei Ursus Major and Amon-D. The music contained here is almost indescriptible...a kind of death/black metal with a lot of industrial touches (in the background there are always present some weird noises and the vocals are completely deformed by effects). Songs like "Sannhetens Plagiat" are really chaotic and congruent at the same time (in fact this one has an interesting "calm" part before entering on the main riff) and the lyrics in third track are in Norwegian. I find this interesting because of the difference between this project and the others that this guys have, this is kind of weirder ( the more similar track to mayhem for example is "President Besters Alimony" but with vocals that are completely different). Fabvorite tracks: "Sannhetens Plagiat", "Entering the Fluid Oxygen" (reminded me of The Kovenant more electronic sound) and "Fields of a new sun". Contact: www.vow.dk 

REVIEW: ULVER - PERDITION CITY

 

ULVER - PERDITION CITY (Jester Recs. , 2000):

Technical Data:

Conceived, performed and recorded by Trickster G. And Tore Ylwizaker.

Mixed by Tore at Beep Jam Studio

Cover Art Concept: Esben Johansen

Track List: 1- Lost in Moments, 2- Porn Piece or the scars of cold kisses, 3- Hallways of Always, 4- Tomorrow never knows, 5- The future sound of music, 6- We are the dead, 7- Dead City Centres, 8- Catalept, 9- Nowhere/Catastrophe 

WARNING: This is not a metal album. And certain close minded fans of Ulver´s release "Nattens Madrigal" will be more horrified with this "Perdition City" than with its predecessor that was also swimming in the seas of electronics. For me this release is as excellent as all Ulver material and one thing that I like from this guys is that they do what they want without thinking about what people would say about them. The material in "Perdition City" (which was financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Affairs) is, like the subtitle says the music for "an interior movie" and that is how one must listen to this. There are no signs of black metal here, just excellent compositions with the use of keyboards, saxophones, guest musicians and female vocals. Anything here is done to give life to that movie: from the jazzy sounds of "Lost in Moments" to the techno like "Tomorrow never knows", to the clean vocals in some places , to the almost ambient beginning in "We are the dead". Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.jester-records.com 

REVIEW: TRANSILVANIA 666 - IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE

 

TRANSILVANIA 666 - IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE (Locomotive Music , 1999):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Box Studios, Madrid, Spain - July/September 1999.

Engineered by Sergio Marcos

Cover Art / Design: Carlos Diez.

Track List:

CD 1: 1-Run To the Hills (Avalanch), 2-Flight of Icarus (Tierra Santa), 3-Charlotte the Harlot (Lujuria), 4-The Evil that Men Do (Azrael), 5-Wasted Years (Skunk D.F.), 6-Wrathchild (Grass), 7-Fear of the Dark (Demonios), 8-Revelations (Twilight)

CD 2: 1-Strange World (Mago de Oz), 2-The Trooper (Easy Rider), 3- Phantom of the Opera (Ankhara), 4-Powerslave (Pyramid), 5-Running Free (Tea), 6-Holy Smoke (Aerobitch), 7-Moonchild (Sentinel), 8-Children of the Damned (Dracon)

This is an Iron Maiden made by Spanish bands and the really interesting thing here is that each band interprets the Iron Maiden classics in really personal versions. For example Tierra Santa starts their cover of "Flight of Icarus" in a very slow way, very different from the opriginal, or Aerobitch makes a punk rock version of "Holy Smoke". I think this is much better than doing the classics in the exact same way than Iron Maiden did. It is good to see that the song choice has taken tracks from Paul Di Anno´s years in Iron Maiden. Obviously there are results that are better than others, for example Azrael make a good version of "The Evil That Men Do" (a little bit more thrashy), on the other side there is Skunk D.F. with a really modern version of "Wasted Years" (the vocals miss some of the feeling here). A very tasty tribute with excellent versions like "Strange World" done by Mago de Oz or "The Trooper" done by Easy Rider (perhaps the vocals here are a little bit thin for my taste). Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: SUPERKOLLIDER - SUPERKOLLIDER

 

SUPERKOLLIDER - SUPERKOLLIDER (Wonderdrug Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at New Alliance Studios.

Engineered by Ken Cmar & Ethan Dussault

Produced by Ken Cmar, Ethan Dussault & Superkollider

Cover Art / Design: Duncan Wilder Johnson,  Shaun Mc Carthy and Mimi Boudreau.

Track List: 1-Resolution, 2-Transmission, 3-Mean, 4-Element, 5-Boldface, 6-Painstaking, 7-Human, 8-Blood, 9-Coffee, 10-Lust, 11-Hindsight, 12-Springtime, 13-Sleep

Looking to the over of the CD I expected a more pop sounding band or something more ethereal, but here is Superkollider making me eat my thoughts. Why? Because they make a really modern sounding metal (don´t worry !! This is completely different from bands like Limp Bizkit, no hip hop here). The band that came into my mind more often when listening to this was The Almighty in their heaviest format ("Crank" era), I think specially in the vocals parts and the hooks. The riffs are a cross between metal, hardcore and alternative music with a really fat sound in the guitars. Songs like "Transmission" and "Mean" have enough power to shatter your ears with their crushing riffs and fans of metal and hardcore would most likely be satisfied with this band. Songs like "Element" take a more metal approach in the vein of say Soulfly or Roots-era Sepultura. The thirteen songs here are totally certifuing that you will bang your head along them. Favorite tracks: "Transmission", "Painstaking" (really Almighty) and "Human". Contact: www.wonderdrugrecords.com and www.superkollider.com

REVIEW: STRATUZ - SPIRIT SEDUCTION

 

STRATUZ - SPIRIT SEDUCTION (The LSP Company , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mixed by David Hernandez at Jam Studios, Caracas / Venezuela.

Mastered by manuel Amengual.

Cover Art / Design: Franklin Berroteran.

Track List: 1- Oh, Ala, Ojalá, 2- Swift Death, 3- Mula, 4- Sleeping Sins, 5- Into the Darkness, 6- Welcome to the Circle, 7- The Last Angel, 8- Return of the Souls, 9- Spirit Seduction

What a contrast !! This CD starts with an introduction with acoustic guitar and harp that sounds a little bit eastern sounding, a little bit latin, before getting into an extreme death metal track. This is death metal directly from Venezuela and they are really powerful, using double bass drumming through all the CD, original riffs and some percussion that enhances the feeling of the CD (like perhaps Sepultura, but more agressive, more guttural, more death metal). Another thing that I like from Stratuz and that I think they should make a trademark of it are the guitar solos that are melodic an technical giving another dimension to the tracks, also there are riffs like the odd-time in "Sleeping Sins" (2:29) that can be very important for Stratuz as an element of identity. To have more elements to consider, check the climatic "Into the Darkness" with excelent riffs and drumming and above all excelent sound (a characteristic of the whole release). Favorite tracks: "Swift Death", "Welcome to the Circle" and "Return of the Souls". Contact: www.lsp-company.com

REVIEW: STEN SANDELL TRIO - STANDING WAVE

 

STEN SANDELL TRIO - STANDING WAVE (Sofa Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Tracks 1 and 5 Recorded live at Blå, Oslo (November 1999) by Bjørn Magne Idland.

Tracks 2, 3 and 4 Recorded live at Munch-museet (October 2000) by Thomas Hukkelberg.

Produced by Sandell Nilsen-Love and Berthling. Co produced by Ivar Grydeland, Ingar Zach and Thomas Hukkelberg.

Cover Painting: "Flag IV" by Terry Nilssen-Love 

Track list: 1-Mural, 2-Standing Wave, 3-Axel, 4-Edvard, 5-Elongate

The Sten Sandell trio is formed by three great musicians: Sten Sandell on piano, Johan Berthling on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. From chaotic experimentation to jazz style phrases, this trio follow their path to explore new dimensions. I think this guys are taking as a basis a free jazz style format and starting from there are doing research and exploration on new possibilities. Improvisation and an open mind are essential here. What amazed me most here is the great coherence that all the material has, specially on "Mural" that is a full speed track with great piano lines and an amazing base conformed by Berthling double bass and Nilssen-Love´s drums. "Standing Wave" starts with Nilssen-Love´s drum experimentation before getting in a weird sounding passage with Sandell playing only vey high and very low notes and Berthling extracting sounds from his double bass. After this the trio gets into a textural piece with Sandell playing cascades of notes (Gyorgy Lygeti came to my mind). I specially liked here the longer pieces because surprise strucks you from every corner of this tracks. Once more: open your mind and listen carefully to this awesome musicians. Favorite tracks: "Standing Waves" and "Edvard". Contact: www.norcd.no/sofa or sofa@norcd.no

REVIEW: SPIRITUAL ECLIPSE - AMARANTH

 

SPIRITUAL ECLIPSE - AMARANTH (Hailstorm Prods. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded in Five Records Studio - San José (May 2000)

Produced by Spiritual Eclipse.

Track list: 1-Sangue di lupo, 2-Manifesto, 3-Lamentations of the Lingering Soul, 4-Circle of VII

Interesting band of death/black metal from California. "Sangue di Lupo" is called the first track of this CD and it shows all the main features of the band: interesting riffs, melodies, speed in some places, brutality in others, various types of vocals (one growling type and another of the screaming kind). On the second track, "Manifesto", an acoustic intro opens the gates for a doom rhythm and intro, before getting in a full speed death metal track with an interesting riff at 1:29 (I want to hear more riffs like this one in the music of this guys). What I find more interesting in this band is their use of melodies in places where one would not expect it and the use of very slow passages like the above mentioned mixed with hyper speed blasts. Also, another feature to remark is their use of acoustic guitars and whispering vocals. I think they have a good mixture between brutality and elaboration, a godd equilibrium... My favorite tracks: "Lamentations of the Lingering Soil" (strange vocals in there, full of anguish), "Circle of VII". Contact: http://members.nbci.com/SE7777 or spiritual_eclipse@hotmail.com

REVIEW: SOILS OF FATE - SANDSTORM

 

SOILS OF FATE - SANDSTORM (Retribute Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mastered at Subsonic Studios.

Produced by Soils of Fate

Cover Art: Jocke

Track List: 1-Life Hijacker, 2-Sandstorm, 3-.44, 4-Stripped Humanity, 5-Half My Blood, 6-Blunted on Reality, 7-Assassins

Form the first pinch harmonics of the beginning riff of "Life Hijacker" until the end os the recording you will find death metal here !!! With extremely guttural vocals that are  almost a growl and make some rhythmic patterns in some places with short words, manic solos that could be longer for my taste and great riffs like on "Life Hijacker" (2:17) or "Sandstorm" (1:51) that I think is the point that the band has to explore deeper in the future, killer double bass drumming ( the bass drums sound quite electronic, maybe they are triggered or something like that I think) with our friend Jocke at the top of his posibilities. There are some odd tempos too, like in "Sandstorm" (0:50) and blast beats (just mention this for the fans of speed). The overall sound is good and I would have mixed the guitars a little bit higher with a little bit more of edge and presence....the best here is the bass sound that is really killer through all this release. I would point out songs like "Half My Blood" or the beginning of " Blunted on reality" that are paths for the band to follow in the future. Favorite Tracks: "Stripped Humanity", "Life Hijacker" and "Half My Blood". Contact: Retribute@aol.com or http://come.to/soilsoffate

REVIEW: SKYFIRE - TIMELESS DEPARTURE

 

SKYFIRE - TIMELESS DEPARTURE (Hammerheart Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Abyss Studios,

Produced, Engineered and mixed by Tommy Tägtgren and Skyfire

Layout / Design: Chrille Andersson.

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- Fragments of Time, 3- The Universe Unveils, 4- Skyfire, 5-Timeless Departure, 6- Breed through me, Bleed for me, 7- Dimensions Unseen, 8- By God Forsaken, 9- From here to Death.

This is one of the albums of the month. One word comes to my mind when listening to this CD: grandiloquence !!! There are only few bands that can make a record like this mixing black/death metal with such perfect clasical orchestrations. It seems that this band has taken the best of the genres, you can listen black metal through all the album, power metal in the keyboards of "Skyfire". I really think that Martin hanner and Andreas Edlund that are in charge of the guitars and keyboards here are people that can be considered keyboard/guitar masters, in total command of the music of Skyfire and in complete control of their instruments. It is amazing the contrast between Henrik Wenngren´s raw vocals and the subtle and sublime orchestration that the other guys construct around him. This CD will be a classic !!. Contact: http://listen.to/skyfire or www.hammerheartamerica.com or info@hammerheartamerica.com 

REVIEW: XENOMORPH - BANEFUL STEALTH DESIRE

 

XENOMORPH - BANEFUL STEALTH DESIRE (Independent, 2001):

Track List:1- Dragon´s Breath, 2- Post-human (The X-morph Deathcult), 3- Blood of the Stars, 4- Storm Innocent Eve, 5- On the Most Blackened Wings, 6- Bestia Infernali, 7- Last Contribution to Art, 8- Once Upon Armageddon.

Judging for this recording Xenomorph is the ideal band to start to hit your head and fists against the wall ina a frenzy. Take Fear Factory, put something of bands like Aeon and The Forsaken, mix it with some Carcass and Death and you will have an approximate idea of how this band sounds. Xenomorph exudes agression and brutality through every pore of their skin, retaining some subtle elements like the ska-like passage in "Dragon´s Breath" (1:27) or the guitar passage in "Blood of Stars" (1:25). The main element here is the killer drummer who is really tight and is a master of double bass drumming. Listen this release and feel the fury !!!!. Favorite tracks: "Post-human...", "Storm Innocent Eve" and "Bestia Infernali". Contact: www.x-morph.com

REVIEW: WITCHFYNDE - THE AWAKENING

 

WITCHFYNDE - THE AWAKENING (Demolition Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Foundry Recording Studio

Cover Artwork by Mike Schindler at Dragon Design

Track List: 1- Hell Hath No Fury, 2- Death of Innocence, 3-Vampyre´s Tale, 4- Blessed Be, 2- To the Devil a Daughter, 6- The Awakening, 7-Unholy Shadows, 8- Astep Closer (To Hell), 9-Unknown Soldier, 10- Ghost Dancer

Power/thrash metal in a real pure format!! It has been a lot of time since the last time that I heard an album like this one. All the elements that were really popular in the late eighties in the thrash/power metal scene are hear: crunchy rhythms, good vocals, guitar solos, twin guitars, thrash drum patterns. There are also some subtle moments like on the darker "Vampyre´s Tale" or in the Iron Maiden-like "Blessed Be" (it reminded me of "Remember Tomorrow"). The difference between this guys and the actual power metal scene is that Witchfynde goes to the rawer side of the style instead of using (or abusing) the neoclassical influences that so popular seem to be in the style nowadays, and prefer to use darker melodies, less high-pitched melodies (sometimes similar to those of Vicious Rumours Carl Albert). Interesting release from a style that has not dissappeared. Favorite tracks: "Hell Hath No Fury", "Vampyre´s Tale" and "Unknown Soldier". Contact: www.demolitionrecords.com

REVIEW: WAR - WE ARE... TOTAL WAR

 

WAR - WE ARE...TOTAL WAR (Orion Music Entertainment/Necropolis Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Tracks 1-7 recorded at The Abyss - Nov. 1996. Produced by WAR and Petr Tägtgren.

Tracks 8-14 recorded at The Abyss - Oct. 1997. Produced by WAR and Mikael Hedlund.

Cover and Album design by Blackmoon

Track List: 1- Satan, 2- I am Elite, 3- Total War, 4- The Sons of War, 5- Revenge, 6- Reapers of Satan, 7- Satan´s Millenium, 8- War, 9- Rapture, 10- Ave Satan, 11- Soldiers of Satan, 12- 666, 13- We are War, 14- Bombenhagel.

This is a kind of supergroup of the scandinavian black/death metal scene. Joining efforts here are Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, The Abyss, etc.), It (Vondur), Blackmoon (Necrophobic, Dark Funeral, Infernal), All (Vondur) and Mikael Hedlund. This album compiles the best tracks of War´s two releases called "Total War" and "We are War". Extremely fast and raw tracks full of blast beats and All´s screamin anguish vocals. It and Blackmoon grind through all the recording with their chainsaw-like guitars.while Peter Tägtgren drums furiously breaking your neck with his blast beats. The seven last tracks have a different sound (I like more the way the guitars sound on the seven first tracks, they are better mixed). Also this CD includes a cover track of Sodom´s "Bombenhagel" in a ripping version. Favorite tracks: "I am Elite", "Reapers of Satan" and "Ave Satan" (it sounds like old Venom !!!).  www.necropolisrec.com

REVIEW: VORE - LORD OF STORMS

 

VORE - LORD OF STORMS (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Aaron Allen at Buzzwo Studios.

Produced by Aaron Allen and Vore

Artwork and Layout by Odis Holcomb

Track List: 1- Veils of Oblivion, 2- Godslayer, 3- Host of Abomination, 4- To Be a God, 5- Lurker Above, 6- Lost Nation, 7- Agony, 8- Opaque, 9- Primordial Conquest, 10- Forging a new Vision

Death metal with excellent guitar riffs that put the accent on the rhythm instead of the speed. I can listen in this guys some influences of thrash metal, some of old death metal bands like Entombed or Dismember, and some stuff of bands like Pantera or doom metal bands. All this influences are thrown in a mixing machine and adding some identity, here is Vore´s music. It is interesting how this guys are proving something that I think is like an axiom....that in most of the cases a good riffs ends up being heavier than a blast beat or some riff bassed only in one note speed runs. The sound of this release is good specially on the guitars and vocals, I would have mixed different the drums and put them a little bit more in the front, but the overall mix is good. Favorite tracks: "Godslayer", "Lurker Above" and "Opaque" (an instrumental with acoustic guitar...most death metal bands would have shaken with fear just imagining putting something like this on their albums). Contact: www.vore.org