REVIEW: MOURNING BELOVETH - DUST

 

MOURNING BELOVETH - DUST (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed from 29 may to 4 june, 2001 at Academy Studios.

Mixed, recorded and produced by Mags

Artwork by Sofía: lopezsofia@yahoo.com .

Track List: 1- The Mountains are Mine. 2- In Mourning my Days, 3- Dust, 4- Autumnal Fires, 5- All Hope is Pleading

Dooom!!!!! Here is Ireland´s main exponent of this style. There are shades of Paradise Lost, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed and Trouble here. Anguish, despair and sadness is the general feeling here, and the music is the best way to communicate it. Slow riffs and melodies, anguished vocals (Darren is a killer vocalist, I think he is the one with the anguished voice and Frank, the guitarist is who provides the death growling) are the key elements here. Nothing here shows happiness, all hope is lost. All five tracks here are long and they totalize more than sixty minutes of obscure feelings. Favorite tracks: "Autumnal Fires", "All Hope is Pleading". Contact: mourningbeloveth@ireland.com

REVIEW: MOTHERCARE - FUSOKU NO KIGEN

 

MOTHERCARE - FUSOKU NO KIGEN (Independent/ Kick Promotion Agency, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at No Brain Studios (drums) and Bunkker Studios (everything else).

Edited and Mastered by Mike at Bunkker Studios

Produced by Mirko and Mothercare.

Track list: 1- Mugon, 2- Deceit, 3- Dog, 4- Onslaught, 5- Elucidation, 6- Deceit (live), 8- Game Over (live)

This is extremely agressive music that this italian band describes as being somewhere in between Napalm Death and Slipknot (I think that this is a fair description (the sound is closer to Slipknot, specially the drums) and some riffs are closer to Napalm Death or some other death metal bands. The first thing that got my atention is the mix on this album…it is really good and has nothing to envy to those of the bands that are more recognized. The drums are up in the front (they sound almost electronic, almost industrial) and there are some interesting double bass patterns and the bass is really tight with the rhythmic parts. Good guitarists in the vein of Andreas Kisser, Dino Cazares or Robb Flynn and extremely agressive vocals. This MCD contains two live tracks that are really showing what this guys can do live and that is kicking your ass with all their power (eventhough the sound here is not good at all compared to what they achieve in the studio). Favorite tracks: "Deceit", "Dog" and "Elucidation". Contact: mauro.z@easynet.it or madfucker@libero.it

REVIEW: M.D.U. / SALE HOPE - SPLIT CD

 

M.D.U. / SALE HOPE - SPLIT CD (Trouduc Recs., 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mixed at Pourrisound Studio Tampax by Scotch Burne.

This is a split CD consisting on 24 tracks by M.D.U. that conform the "Les Bijoux de la Castafionstormofzenorth" and seventeen tracks of Sale Hope called "J´ai les kros". The music here is the most brutal death/grind (despite the cover art that seems from a band of a total different style). All the tracks presented here are short and full of bursts of energy and blast beats and also full of a somewhat special sense of humor. The sound is fairly good, specially on the M.D.U. part of the split (to say something, the sound is not like in the last Gorerotted album but it is not bad either because you can distinguish really well all the instruments). Obviously the better part here is when both bands play that are not as fast as the blast beats as in the beginning of "Troudball King". Favorite tracks: M.D.U. "Paco Rabanne dans ma ligne mire", "8 questions psycho-test pour savoir si tu es un gros PD". Sale Hope: "Groove Gars groove gay", "Oh, une trace de pneu sur la grande Bleu!". Contact: mdu66@netcourrier.com

REVIEW: MAJESTY - KEEP IT TRUE

 

MAJESTY - KEEP IT TRUE (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded by Jochen Weyer. Mixed and Mastered by Jochen Sachse at House of Audio Studios.

Produced by Majesty.

Cover Artwork by Ingo Zadravec.

Track list: 1 - Keep it True, 2- Strong as Steel, 3- Hail to Majesty, 4- Son of Metal, 5- Into the Night, 6- Metal Force, 7- We will ride, 8- Last Revolution

I though that Majesty was going to be a band similar to Hammerfall when I looked at the cover and read some song titles, but in fact this is different: in fact I think that this guys have a different background: while most power/heavy metal bands seem to be influenced by Iron Maiden or Helloween, I find the sound here closer to Raven, Anvil or Manowar (in fact, part of the responsibility lies on singer / guitarist/ Tarek "Metal Son" Maghary, whose vocals are in the middle range explored by the bands mentioned before, instead of the Michael Kiske-type of high-pitched vocals). The difference with those bands is the use of keyboards that make chord progressions in a more modern way. The guitar riffs are totally influenced by eighties metal as it is shown in "Strong as Steel". In fact, I would recommend this to heavy/power metal fans who are searching metal in its purest form regardless of originality, but don´t expect high pitched vocals here (some people criticize it). Favorite tracks: "Son of Metal", "Into the Night". Contact: Monarchs@gmx.de or www.clik.to/Majesty

REVIEW: LUCIFUGUM- INSTINCT PREVELANCE

 

LUCIFUGUM- INSTINCT PREVELANCE (Dark Horizon Records., 2001):

Track List:   1- On Search of My Soul, 2- Bringing by Rain, 3- The Mysterious Garden, 4- The Sabbat, 5- Wolves, 6- (Songtitle in Russian), 7-  (Songtitle in Russian), 8- (Songtitle in Russian), 9- (Songtitle in Russian), 10- 7:06

This is raw, primitive black metal from the dark lands of Ukraine. This CD released by Dark Horizon records is a collection of two of Lucifugum´s early demos "Path of Wolf" and "Fire of Hatred for Sky". The music contained here is pure holochaust in the vein of Dark Throne but embellished with some keyboards and acoustic guitars that help Lucifugum to show the feeling of darkness that they are evoking here. The sound here is quite primitive and I think is better on "Path of Wolf" (I think that they are using a programmed drum on the tracks in "Fire of Hatred for Sky" and that is not so evident on the tracks in "Path of Wolf"). I find interesting the mix of extremely raw parts at full speed and screaming with the more atmospheric passages of keyboards and guitar melodies (and slower parts that sometimes are more effective). For fans of Lucifugum and black metal this is a must. Favorite tracks: " Bringing by Rain", "The Sabbat " (excellent keyboards in the background) and "Track number 7". Contact: www.geocities.com/darkhorizon666

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