REVIEW: HYADES - NO BULLSHIT...JUST METAL

 

HYADES - NO BULLSHIT...JUST METAL (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Hyades

Tracks: 1- Burning, 2- Sharpen the Iron, 3- Night Time Remorses, 4- Rush of Deathbringers

Recorded at Flying Studio

Here we have pure metal with some thrash topuches that makes Hyades music even more powerful. This is heavy metal for lovers of bands like Running Wild, Blind Guardian, that is those bands that add to their classical metal some epic choruses and some thrash metal guitar riffs. There are many "german" touches like the harsh vocals and the choruses with the fast double bass drumming in tracks like "Rush of Deathbringers". There are good guitar melodies and solos that add a different flavour to the songs. Here we have four tracks that show what european pure heavy metal is about and we hope to listen more from this metal band soon.

Favorite tracks: "Sharpen the Iron" and "Night Time Remorses"

Contact: www.hyades.6go.net

REVIEW: HELLBLAZER - PROMO SUMMER 2002

 

HELLBLAZER - PROMO SUMMER 2002 (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Hellblazer

Tracks: 1- Four, 2- Foul is Fair and Fair is Foul, 3- Witsore, 4- Born To Beg, 5- The Cleveland Torso Killer

Cover Art by Hellblazer

Hellblazer is a band that mixes succesfully death metal, with other extreme styles. For example in "Fouls is Fair..." the band starts with a riff that is hardcore almost punk and they use a lot of wah wah in some places adding a different sound to their brutal metal. The riffs are not common for a death metal band  The vocals are extremely guttural and add a lot of brutality to the music being really coordinated with the original riffs that the guitarists play. The sound of this recording is raw and tat makes things more brutal, because despite being raw the sound doesn´t lack quality to make Hellblazer one of the most bestial bands in the scene.

Favorite tracks: "Fouls is Fair...", "Norn to Beg" and "The Clveland Torso Killer"

Contact: hblzr@web.de

REVIEW: HEAVEN´S CRY - PRIMAL POWER ADDICTION

 

HEAVEN´S CRY - PRIMAL POWER ADDICTION (DVS Records , 2002)

Produced By: Heaven´s Cry

Tracks: 1- 2k Awe Tick, 2- Masterdom´s Profit, 3- A New Paradigm, 4- Divisions, 5- A Higher Moral Ground, 6- Komma, 7- Remembrance, 8- One of Twenty Four, 9- Waves, 10- The inner Scream remains, 11- Beds Are Burning

Heaven´s Cry is what I would define as an extremely progressive metal band. Here we have a band that uses many different tempos, riffs changes everywhere, odd time signatures and many different sounds, specially on the guitars and the keyboards.  Here we have a singer in the vein of masters like Geoff Tate and others of the style, really versatile and that can sing over all the multiple changes and has a vocal range of various octaves that allows him to do this correctly. But the main thing here are the endless guitar riffs and keyboards phrases that interact really well here and fit perfectly all the spaces that the complex rhythm section leaves them to explore. A must for lovers of bands like Dream Theater, Queensryche, Fates Warning.

Favorite tracks: "A new paradigm", "Komma" and "The inner scream remains"

Contact: www.dvsrecords.com

REVIEW: GULU LOCUS - CHOCOL-HATE

 

GULU LOCUS - CHOCOL-HATE (Nocturnal Music, 2002)

Produced By: Rich D, Nocturnal Music and Gulu Locus

Tracks: 1- Chocol-Hate, 2- I Belong To Extinction, 3- T.N.T., 4- Control?, 5- L.a.s.t. (Mary Quant), 6- Lesson 1: Disturbing, 7- Hurricane, 8- Lesson 2: You are Dead, 9- happy Noise Days

Cover Art by Claudio Baroncelli

Recorded at Associazione Audiodinamica

Pure brutality is what Gulu locus delivers on this albums. Here we have a band that plays death metal but with more rhythmic riffs and a really modern sound. The compositions here are powerful and each of them are designed to be played in front of a crowd of moshing people. The vocals here are extremely brutal giving the death metal feeling to the tracks. The compositions here have a lot of different riffs and variations that change the mood of the song while surprising the listener. There is plenty of fast parts with excellent drumming (this guy is like a machine behind the drum kit). Here we have an extremely powerful band. Check Gulu Locus.

Favorite tracks: "Chocol-hate", "Control?" and Hurricane"

Contact: www.nocturnalmusic.net or www.kickagency.com

REVIEW: GROSSMEMBER - LEAVE US ALONE

 

GROSSMEMBER - LEAVE US ALONE (Bizarre Leprous Prods., 2002)

Produced By: Grossmember

Tracks: 1- Rotting on the Cross of lies, 2- Sadness in your eyes, 3- Leave Us Alone, 4- War Time, 5- Living on the Knees, 6- Boneyard, 7- Mind Collapse System, 8- Life Like a Nightmare, 9- False Unity, 10- Blind Fear, 11- Find Your Own Way, 12- Money Its your Fucking Religion, 13- An Impulse to Create, 14- A Better Tomorrow, 15- Consequence, 16- State of Depression, 17- Working Class Hero, 18- Revenge of Jeff Colby, 19- War System, 20- Al Bitch Gestapo, 21- Useless Human Object, 22- Lack of Activty, 23- Witches, 24- The Choice...

 Recorded at Hertz Studio

Pure grind is what we have here with certain death metal touches in the slower parts. Grossmember´s tracks are short and ultra fast with hyper fast riffs and a fat guitar sound that make things more extreme. Here we have a band that mixes blast beats with more hardcore or thrash beasts adding a lot of interest to their music and taking grind to new places. The tracks here are short and well developed with good drums patterns athat show that despite being extremely fast this band has the technical skills required to create good extreme music. Extra points for this album is the really good sound that it has and that allows to listen clearly each of the instruments here. 

Favorite tracks: "War Time", "False Unity" and "Useless Human Object"

Contact: www.bizarreleprous.cz

REVIEW: GRAVE - BACK FROM THE GRAVE

 

GRAVE - BACK FROM THE GRAVE (Century Media, 2002)

Produced By: Tomas Skoksberg

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Rise, 3- Behold the Flames, 4- Dead is Better, 5- Receiver, 6- No Regrets, 7- Resurrection, 8- Below, 9- Bloodfed, 10- Thorn to pieces

Cover Art by Jacek Wisniewski

Recorded at Sunlight Studios

Grave is back!! Brutal as always the swedish band delivers here their new extreme studio album since their previous "Hating Life" from 1996. Here we have all the elements that ahve made the band famous. Powerful extreme vocals, huge guitar riffs with many mid paced parts, classic whammy bar solos along with amazing double bass drumming. Everything here is designed to give each composition more brutality than the other. Plus here we have the master Tomas Skoksberg behind the mix and that gives extra power to the guitars and the drums that sound heavier than in any other Grave album. This is the new album with great songs from this brutal swedish band. A classic.

Favorite tracks: "Behold the Flames", "No Regrets" and "Resurrection"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com