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