REVIEW: ANATHEMA - RESONANCE I

 

ANATHEMA - RESONANCE 1 (Peaceville Recs., 2001):

Track List: 1- Scars of the Old Stream, 2- Everwake, 3- J´Fait une promesse, 4- Alone, 5- Far Away (acoustic), 6- Eternity (part 2), 7- Eternity (Part 3) (acoustic), 8- Better Off Dead, 9- One of the Few, 10- Inner Silence, 11- Goodbye Cruel World, 12- Destiny, 13- The Silent Enigma (Orchestral), 14- Angelica (live in Budapest 1997), 15- Horses, Video enhanced track - Hope

This is a must for Anathema fans...a compilation of the band´s more climatic moments...the ambient side of Anathema, including some rarities like the acoustic version of "Far Away" or "Eternity (Part 3)" also in an excellent acoustic version or the orchestral version of "The Silent Enigma" that were previously available only in Germany and Japan (six tracks of rarities). Also this CD includes a live version of "Angelica" recorded live in Budapest in 1997. This is a CD to lay down and listen with your eyes shut letting the music transport you to Anathema´s ethereal world. Plus you have here the Pink Floyd covers "Goodbye Cruel World" and "One of the Few", plus another cover "Better Off Dead". Relax, lost soul, and let Anathema embrace you with their dark wings. Favorite tracks: "The Silent Enigma", J´Fait Une Promesse" and "Destiny". Contact: www.peaceville.com

REVIEW: AKERCOCKE - THE GOAT OF MENDES

 

AKERCOCKE - THE GOAT OF MENDES (Peaceville Recs., 2001):

Track List: 1- Of Menstrual Blood and Semen, 2- A Skin For Dancing In, 3- Betwixt The Iniquitatis and the Prostigiators, 4- Horns of Baphomet, 5- Masks of God, 6- The Serpent, 7- Fortune My Foe, 8- Infernal Rites, 9- He Is Risen, 10- Breaking Silence, 11- Initiation, 12- Ceremony of Nine Angles, Video Enhancement for "Infernal Rites".

Akercocke is a really original band...in fact I could not have said this by listening to the first track, but it is a completely different band from the second track until the end of the CD. And they are really powerful !! Is it correct to call them industrial melodic brutal death metal? (what a name!...I hate labels). They have elements of each of this styles: The guttural vocals like the ones used in death metal bands, a lot of electronic elements (courtesy of Martin Bonsoir), and a lot of melodies in many of the parts (and in the vocals too in some choruses). I think that this two last elements are what make the Akercocke sound really original...killer guitar riffs with natural harmonics thrown here and there...electronics and keyboards used to enhance the power of the tracks, original melodies, extremely fast solos, some more calm moments like "Fortune My Foe"... And this guys are going on tour with Katatonia...what a team !!!! A must. Favorite tracks: "Horns of Baphomet", "Masks of God", "Infernal Rites". Contact: www.peaceville.co.uk or www.akercocke.com

REVIEW: ABOMINATTION- RITES OF THE ETERNAL HATE

 

ABOMINATTION- RITES OF THE ETERNAL HATE (Destroyer Recs., 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Da Triba Studios - Sao Paulo, Feb. 2000

Engineered and Mixed by Tchelo Martins. Mastered at Estudio Zappa.

Cover Artwork by Marcello Possa.

Track List: 1- Rites of the Eternal Hate, 2- Abominattion...of Creation, 3- Real Glory Revealed, 4- Diabolical Redemption, 5- Burn on Behalf of God, 6- Hated by the Flames, 7- the Emptiness of the Flesh, 8- Smell of Death

Black/death metal from Brazil with some good ideas (like for example the riff and changes at 0:47 in "Abominattion...of Creation") and a poor sound quality, specially on drums and guitars. This is raw and extreme black metal with some death influences in some of the riffs and some slower parts like the one in the break at 1:20 of "Real Glory Revealed" ( I think this guys should do more parts like this one because I think is where they can find their own identity). There are extremely fast guitar solos and an anguished vocalist who contributes to the dark feeling of the whole CD. I find interesting some thrash metal parts that are here and there in a lot of the tracks here and which I think should be more used. A good overall result. Favorite tracks: "Diabolical Redemption" (with some odd tempos), "Hated by the Flames". Contact: www.destroyer.com.br

REVIEW: VII ARCANO - INNER DEATHSCAPES

 

VII ARCANO - INNER DEATHSCAPES (Warlord Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at outer Studios, Rome by Giuseppe Orlando - Nov. 2000

Recorded, Mixed and Edited by Giuseppe Orlando and Max Pagliuso.

Logo, Artwork and Layout by Morbid.

Track List: 1- Intruding, 2- Anticlockwise Cycle of Dying, 3- Of Suicidal Age, 4- The Inner Deathscape, 5- Echo Calling, 6- Fog path, 7- Release Into Anguish, 8- Necrotica Art - The Performance, 9- Streams of Paranoia, 10- Descending

Interesting technical death metal band from Italy, in the vein of In Flames and Samael. This is a band with a lot of melodies and ideas going on. In fact the main thing here is the combination between this guitar melodies and some thrash metal rhythms with a vocalist reminiscent of Slayer´s Tom Araya (obviously more growling and with more variations). There is a really good double bass drumming work here and there are also a lot of tempo changes that give the band a lot of personality. I think that this is one of the bands that creates the missing link between modern death metal and old school thrash metal (there are a lot of old school riffs that were sorely missing in the metal scene of this days...and here they are). The vinyl version includes a cover of Kiss "Love Gun". Favorite tracks: "Of Suicidal Age", "Echo Calling" (with catchy riff), "Necrotica Art..." (again killer opening riff). Contact: www.warlordrecords.com and www.viiarcano.com

REVIEW: ZA FRUMI - ZA SHUM USHATAR UGLAKH

 

ZA FRUMI - ZA SHUM USHATAR UGLAKH (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed in Stockholm 2000.

Engineered by Za Frumi.

Track list:   1- Intro, 2- Dushatar, 3- Za Kala, 4- Za Shulg, 5- Nudertogat, 6- Albai, 7- Vrapogat, 8- Interludium, 9 - Za Ismael Kala (Act I), 10 - Za Ismael Kala (Act. II), 11- Knish Requiem (Outro).

This is a conceptual album narrating an epic story about the orc leader Uglakh and his compatriots. Much in the vein of Lord of The Rings or the "Planet of Adventure" saga. The curious thing here is that the lyrics are in a strange language (in fact they are not lyrics, they are dialogues between the creatures that are the protagonists of this history), the one used by the characters and the booklet has the translation to english. The music here has something tribal (like on "Dushatar" with tribal percussion), something atmospheric (there is heavy use of keyboards and clean guitars and also female vocals like on "Albai"). It is like listening to the soundtrack to a science fiction movie. It is an interesting concept to create a history and then put music on it in order to make the listener see an imaginary movie. I have never before listened something like this, full of battle noises and all the sounds that you would hear in the cinema, plus the voices of this creatures. Favorite tracks: "Nudertogat" and "Albai". Contact: zafrumi@hotmail.com

REVIEW: WARMTH IN THE WILDERNESS : A TRIBUTE TO JASON BECKER

 

WARMTH IN THE WILDERNESS : A TRIBUTE TO JASON BECKER (Lion Music, 2001):

Track list:  CD 1: 1- A little ain´t enough, 2- Altitudes, 3- Eleven Blue Egyptians, 4- A Jam for Jason, 5- Higher, 6- Becker Ola, 7- Dogtown Shuffle, 8- Go Off, 9- Hammerhead Shark, 10- Jasin Street, 11- If you have to shoot…, 12- Baby´s on Fire, 13- Sensible Shoes, 14- ESP, 15- Air. CD 2: 1- Opus Pocus, 2- Mandy´s Little Throbbing Heart, 3- Blue, 4- It´s Showtime, 5- Becker´s Bolero, 6- Lydiás House, 7- Drop in the Bucket, 8- Forcefield, 9- Urmila, 10- Black Station Jam, 11- Hawking, 12- Primal, 13- Rain, 14- Concerto, 15- Tell the Truth, 16-Outro Jam.

This is for me (and because of my love for Jason Becker´s music) one of the album of the year. Hear there are, 31 tracks cellebrating the music of Jason Becker, the great guitarist, the great composer, the great man. This album is full of great musicians and it would be unfair to mention some of them and not mention them all, but because of the lack of space I will mention some of the contributors to this great recording: , Chris Poland, Vinnie Moore, Marty Friedman, Steve Morse, Phantom Blue, Carina Alfie, Rolf Munkes, Torben Enevoldsen, Paul Nelson. And there are many many more playing through the songs here. The material is based basically on the "Perpetual Burn" and "Perspectives" solo albums, on the two ecellent albums that he did with Cacophony and on the album Jason did with David Lee Roth, plus there is some original material here too!!! This is a must for every guitar freak !!!. Favorite tracks: The whole 2 CD set !!!.Contact: www.lionmusic.com

REVIEW: VEIL OF SORROW - DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART

 

VEIL OF SORROW - DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART (Demolition Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, mastered and mixed at Studio Soundcreation, May 2000.

Engineered by Per Ryberg.

Produced by Veil of Sorrow

Layout by Lars Jamne / Oskorei Graphics: mail@oskorei.com

Track List: 1- In The Midnight Hour, 2- Soulcaptive, 3- The Dark Within, 4- Scars, 5- Shades of grey, 6- Remnants of a Dying Sun, 7- Well of Broken Wishes, 8- Silent Fall, 9 - Disconnected, 10- Words mean nothing

I have only read about this band and I had not listened to them before. It is a pity because they are a great band ! Melodic gothic metal with melancholic vocals and original guitar riffs. What is more important about this band is that they create SONGS without loosing their power. The influences here come from the side of Amorphis, My Dying Bride, the heaviest Anathema (also I find something of Katatonia in there too). In fact is an excelent mix of influences that all together makea great recording. One thing to point out is the excelent work of the guitarists…the leads have enchanting melodies and the rhythms are crushing !! I hope to listen more from them soon. Favorite tracks: "The Dark Within", "Shades of grey" and "Remnants of a dying sun". Contact: veilofsorrow@hotmail.com

REVIEW: VALHALLA - BEYOND THE UNDERWORLD

 

VALHALLA - BEYOND THE UNDERWORLD (Laute Records, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded in Power Jevosound Turbo 2000 3D Plus Studios - Sept.99-Abr.2000.

Recorde, produced and mixed by Valhalla.

Artwork: Iñigo Martínez.

Track list: 1- Aliens, 2-Rohirrim, 3- Eclipse, 4- Shadow of the King (Part I), 5- Medieval Feast, 6- Guardians of Metal (Re-Edited), 7- Metalopolis (orc. Version)

It is quite funny to have two different bands with the same name in the same issue and so different in musical style…this is Valhalla from Spain and their style is progressive power/heavy metal with abundance of keyboards and in the vein of bands like Rhapsody (with less barroquism) , Helloween or Stratovarius. Here we have two excellent guitarists, Mikel Martinez and Ignacio Garamendi who are the basis of the band, and great musicians on the bass, keyboards (there are excellent passages of unison between guitar and keyboards) and drums. All the elements that you like or hate of this style are here: speed with drumming galloping, clean vocals, melodies, etc. etc. I would like them to get a little bit away from their influences and I think they are going to achieve this through time. I recommend this album to fans of the style. Favorite tracks: "Rohirrim", "Shadow of the King" and "Metalopolis". Contact: valhalla@guardiansofmetal.com

REVIEW: VALHALLA - NORTHMAN

 

VALHALLA - NORTHMAN (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded in an eight track demo machine, April 2001. Produced by Valthor.

Design by Martin Kainbrecht

Track list: 1- Phönix Aus der Asche, 2- Undead Life, 3- In the Shadows, 4- Northman, 5- Of Mortals and Gods, 6- The Legacy, 7- Where the Soul was Given, 8- Runes of Death, 9- A……r, 10- Remember your ancestors, 11- The Sword of My Father, 12- Die Heerscharen Meines Volkes, 13- Der Wed des Nordmannes, 14- Thunderbay, 15- Victory.

From Austria comes this trio that makes a music reminiscent of eighties thrash (in fact the three bands that came into my mind were Celtic Frost, Sodom and Coroner…what a great mix!!!) but with some keyboards on it and diverse atmospheres….some of the tracks are heavier, shorter and more concise like "Undead Life" with screaming choruses, some of them are more climatic, like the instrumental "Northman" (based almost in its entirety in keyboards with some epic melodies) or "The Legacy" (with acoustic guitar and keyboard and vocals that are really adequate) that is one of the most interesting tracks here. The sound is not so good but it is because the CD was recorded in an eight track demo machine, and I think that the result would have been better in a studio. I hope they get a deal with a label to solve this point. This is an album for people that like memorable songs and variety. Favorite tracks: "Phönix Aus der Asche", "Of Mortals and Gods" and "The Legacy". Contact: valhalla-metal@gmx.at

REVIEW: ULFHETHNAR - BEYOND THEIR MORTAL BOUNDARIES

 

ULFHETHNAR - BEYOND THEIR MORTAL BOUNDARIES (Dark Hidden Prods., 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded during Ulfhethnar´s 13th moon, with total contempt and hate.

Track list: 1- Ave Satani, 2- Cold Fields, 3- A Call for the Rising Mists, 4-Fenriz Stamm, 5- Winter Darkness, 6- the Eternal Silence, 7-Epilogue.

This is black metal directly from Argentina !!!!!!!!! The music here is inspired by bands like Dark Throne, Gorgoroth and Ulver ("Natten Madrigal" era), that is the most raw and full of hate kind of black metal. Speed. Raw guitar, hyperfast blastbeats and screaming vocals are here all over the place. The guitars sound is quite thin and they play fast one note riffs in the tradition of say "Panzerfaust" (that is fast, raw and primordial riffs), maybe the band with a better mix can make them sound fatter to enhance the final result. There are some interesting breaks like at the end of "Cold Fields" (2:06) and I think that this guys should use more things like this in the future or things like tempo changes for example. For black metal fans. Favorite tracks: "A Call for the rising Mists" and "Fenriz Stamm". Contact: ulfhethnar88@hotmail.com