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