REVIEW: SHADOW - SHADOW

 

SHADOW - SHADOW (Century Media - 2001): Debut recording from this Japanese band dedicated to the more melodic branch of death metal (something In Flames, Dark Tranquility or Arch Enemy, bah, the Gothemburg sound). The first thing that surprised me were the guiter arrangements (really good solos too!!!) and how good the drummer, Mitsuhiro Enomoto, is. The vocals are similar to the ones of Jeff Walker in the last recordings of "Heartwork" or "Swan SongIf I had to synthesize the main features of this band in only one song, that would be the first "The Arrival at the Last Quarter", listen how good are the solos, please!!!!, what melodies, what arrangements. Tha band is really tight and you can see that in the faster parts played with total precission. "Lunar Eclipse" is the next song and it shows the same face of this band, melodies, arrangements and power everywhere. The CD was recorded in the Free People Studios from Japan and mastered in the Finnvox Studios de Helsinki (I understand why thay got this great sound). The CD also has the curiosity of preseenting one female death metal vocalist: Tokiko Shimamoto, who is specatcular all over the record with her rotten vocals. Favorite tracks: "The Arrival of the Last Quarter", "Eden", "Observes from Satelite". Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

REVIEW: SEX MUSEUM - SONIC

 

SEX MUSEUM - SONIC (Locomotive Music - 2000): This spanish band with eight previous recordings discos (only "Sparks" and "Sum" are still available), shows us in this work their way of doing a very psychodelic hard rock. Very interesting (it made me remind those americans Raging Slab, because of the guitar rythms ). Also, apart from the furious guitars, in this recording is remarcable de keyboard and Hammond work by Marta Ruiz, burying deep under the songs to surface in the less expected moments with that seventies sounding instrument (listen to "PVC" and see that when you expect only the bass to sound, then it appears the keyboard with its particular sound). The overall sound is good and this is due to the production of guitarist (he plays with fuzz too!!) Fernando Pardo who knew how to extract the best from each instrument to arrive to this final product. The vocals from Miguel pardo are really good knowing how to give enflexions to them to adjust to the adecuate atmosphere. Favorite tracks: "We Can Move", "I Walk Alone" and "PVC". Contact. www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: REPROBATION - THE COLOUR OF GORE

 

REPROBATION - THE COLOUR OF GORE (Forever Underground Recs. - 2001): Mini-CD from this guys dedicated to the most pure gore/grind/death. The six songs presented here are short and effective, in the vein of bands like Carcass or Incantation (mainly in the sound). A great effort from this band, which I think should use more of those crushing riffs that they use sometimes to avoid the fastest parts , making more original the compositions. I like a lot the work of Rob Whitworth and Shawn Connors on guitars with those pinch that they throw in the middle of the riffs. To remark also are the more rhythmic parts in the tracks (Mike Rees on drums). This band, with a little bit more of experimentation could be a big hit in the underground. Favorite tracks: "Butchered Souvenirs", "Sins of the Sick" and "Fuck the Rotted Meat" . Contact: www.foreverunderground.com or www.geocities.com/reprobation or Beaner666@aol.com

REVIEW: RELENTLESS - EXPERIMENT IN EXCREMENT

 

PRESS RELEASE:

RELENTLESS - EXPERIMENT IN EXCREMENT (Butchery Music - 2001): I remember that one of the first interviews that I did for Music Extreme was with Robban Kanto, guitarist from the band Azure. Well, I have received this tape from one of his bands called Relentless, where Robban plays bass. The tape has four tracks and the music that Relentless does is the most bestial grind/gore with extremely fast riffs, blast beats and guttural vocals. (to compare to a band, I would say that they are in the same vein as Reprobation): i liked a lot some of the more crushing riffs and some of the riffs that are in places where there is a drum break. There is also a riff in the first song "Kicked Down and Hacked up" that is an unison between guitar and bass that sounds really interesting. The sound is good, maybe the hihat is a little bit in the front in the mix, and that turns a little bit chaotic the tracks.The lyrics are a catalog of rotten bodies and vowels, with titles as "Experiment in Excrement, "Spinal Leucotomy" or "Luscious Discharge of Fetid Defecation". Contact: www.butcherymusic.dir.bg or butcherymusic@yahoo.com or www.relentless.com or relentless@swipnet.se

REVIEW: RED HARVEST - NEW WORLD RAGE MUSIC

 

RED HARVEST - NEW WORLD RAGE MUSIC (Nocturnal Art Prods. - 2001): Really fast, really powerful, with a black metal touch (there are certain Emperor shades in the faster riffs), with an industrial touch too, with a lot of death metal. We can describe this CD of the band Red Harvest in this way.. Interesting guitar rhythms (flattened by the spectacular sound that this production has, really one of the best that I have listened in bands of this style). "Ad Noctum", "Move or be moved", choose the song that you like and fall over your ass because of the power that your speakers will throw to you. "Swallow The Sunis an apocalyptic song with trance like middle part that transports the listener to a grey and machinal world. "Pity The Bastard" with an impressive work from the drummer, superhuman and crushing, with all the speed. Lovers of power and aggression, this is your stuff. Favorite tracks: "Pity The Bastard", "Absolute Dunkel:Heit" and "Terrorsonic Zoidiac". Contact: www.redharvest.com or www.nocturnalart.com 

REVIEW: QUARK 7 - ONCE UPON A CRIME

 

QUARK 7 - ONCE UPON A CRIME (Black Cat Distribution - 2000): This band is preesented as France´s answer to Dream Theater. Nevertheless, I think that both bands are quite different. Quark 7 has for example a different approach to guitar parts, see the guitar parts of Mikael Fitrzyk, the phrases are done in more open chords, and John Petrucci would have played instead riffs with one note progressions. Also, the drumming are different than those used by the american band, here the breaks and patterns are more influenced by the most elaborated progressive rock bands of the seventies, like Yes, King Crimson, Focus. Another difference is that Quark7 uses less keyboards. This band is formed by four virtuosos that are all the time getting the most from their instruments but giving more importance to the actual composition than to doing simple pyrotechnics (all that they do is done to make the song better). But the prize here is for Mikael and his spectacular guitar parts, that guides the music of Quark 7 . Listen to songs like "Will to Live" or the acoustic interlude "Remember" to see what this man can do. Lovers of progressive rock or metal will be really happy with this recording from France. Favorite tracks: "Conundrum", "Rage part one" and "Mystery". Contact: quark.rock@free.fr or http://quark.rock.free.fr

REVIEW: PRIMAL FEAR - NUCLEAR FIRE

 

PRIMAL FEAR - NUCLEAR FIRE (Nuclear Blast - 2001): This is the band of ex Gamma Ray, Ralf Scheppers and the guitarist from Sinner, Matt Sinner. And this is already their third recording. What we find here is what we could find in their first two records but better done (in fact I didn´t like too much their last record "Jaws of Death"), that is a heavy metal in the vein of de Judas Priest (Scheppers is everytime more similar to Halford) but with a little touch of german power metal, esentially in the choruses. The music is not too original, but is really powerful. Lovers of good heavy metal will be completely satisfied with this CD. "Kiss of death" is a really powerful song of the kind that you sing with a fist in the air, a heavy metal hymn. The discharges have no rest: "Back from Hell" (withScheppers singing at the maximum of his possibilities) , "Now or Never", "Fight the Fire" (to tell some names of the songs) with galloping drumming, breaking guitar sound and the lungs of Scheppers spitting the lyrics. Recommended to lovers of heavy/power metal. Contact: www.nuclearblast.de

REVIEW: PLACENTA - CONDEMNED

 

PLACENTA - CONDEMNED (Meathook Recs. - 1998): Hardcore/death !!!!! Is the first thing that comes to my mind when I listen to this guys! Played ina a twisted way and witha a wall of sound. The vocals are in the delicated thread that divides the more powerful hardcore from death metal. The work of the band here is very good, specially the Larry Sweet (very original in his way of playing, specailly in the double bass parts and in his use of the snare). "Act of Rage" is one of my favorite tracks from this record because is the one where you can hear the band at it s most. "Cause and Effect" opens with Sweet playing with all his power before the guitars enter. Who said that hardcore and death can´t be original? Take a look at Placenta!! I would really like to see what this guys are doing now since three years have passed since this release and it would be interesting to see the evolution of the band. Favorite tracks: "Act of Rage", "Disgusted with Humanity" and "Ode to the Nightstalker" (where they describe the deeds of Richard Ramirez, a serial killer of the eighties in the USA who killed thirteen persons and left Los Angeles in total panic). Contact : meathookrecords@mediaone.net or www.meathookrecords.com

REVIEW: [o3] - WITHOUT FACE

 

[o3] - WITHOUT FACE (Guano Recs. - 2001) : From Estonia comes this CD conformed by four tracks, from this trio. The sound of the band is not conventional, specailly the way in ehich Roby plays the guitar. "No face" starts with a really interesting sound from the band (I like the way the cymbals and the hihat sound, like for example in a Queensryche, really well equalized) to enter in a furious track to bang your head to. The style of this band can be described as metal with a modern and original sound. "What About", the second track, starts with a clean part, with Roby singing in a very subtle way, entering more heavily later and returning to subtle again.Can we say that this band makes progressive metal? Yes, I think so. "Invisible Game" starts with a strong guitar riff sort of a new metal band but played with a heavier sound. Interesting. To end this MCD the band has recorded a Judas Priest cover , "Saints In Hell" (yes, the one in the classic "Stained Class") but very different from the original (purists won´t like this). Contact: www.o3.ee or o3@o3.ee .

REVIEW: NOCTUARY - WHEN FIRES BREED BLOOD

 

NOCTUARY - WHEN FIRES BREED BLOOD (Lost Disciple Recs. - 2000) : As a lot of you may know, Noctuary was the first band that I interviewed for Music Extreme. And this choice was not casual because this band has the fame of being one of the bests in their style of brutal death/black metal brutal. When one listens to this CD you understand that that fame is coimpletely justified, because of the power that this guys have in their music. It is not only speed or power, as you can see since the beginning with"Clouds Donning the Black Sky". In the eight tracks here (organized in five chapters on this CD) we can see a lot of arrangements, breaks, rhythm changes, etc. …my definition is that this band knows how to use the charachteristic elements from the style, plus they know how to use spaces and silences that are so useful in music. Listen to "…And Hate Embraced The Night" to see the quality of this band, to see how subtle can be their arrangements, or to "Vengeance Before Valor" to see how they do those guitar solos and how tight the band is in the faster parts. This is a record that you must have in your collection or shoot yourself.. Contact: www.lostdisciple.com or ALHuman@aol.com .