REVIEW: VALHALLA - DESTINATION DAY

 

VALHALLA - DESTINATION DAY (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded on eight track demo machine June-July 2000.

Front and Back cover by Bernhard Kast.

Track List: 1- destination Day, 2- Stronger Than Ever Before, 3- Die For The Gods, 4- the Burning Force, 5- The Power of Steel, 6- For Glory, 7- Banished in Hell, 8- Sacred leather, 9- Mights of All Storms, 10- RagnArök, 11- Eternal Night

Detination Day is the third Valhalla demo and it features a much better sound than in the two previous recording. In fact most of the tracks here are from those previous albums, but they have improved a lot the sound by recording them again on an eight track demo machine. The sound is still raw and with quite a lot of melodies. Valthor´s vocals sound here like a mix between Cronos (Venom) and Tom Angelripper (Sodom) giving their particular style of metal his particular touch. Favorite tracks: " The Burning Force", "The Power of Steel" and "Die For The Gods". Contact: www.truemetal.org/legion-of-eternity

REVIEW: VALHALLA - BY THE GODS

 

VALHALLA - BY THE GODS (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded on eight track demo machine.

Produced, mixed and engineered by Valthor

Cover by Luca Giordano.

Track List: 1-Heroes of Desolation, 2- Eternal Night, 3- the First Dominion, 4- Arrows of Chaos Part 1, 5- Die for the Gods, 6- Mights of All Storms, 7- Sword of Dawn, 8- Bring Forth The King, 9- Into My Destiny, 10- Blacknight Warrior, 11- Sacred Leather, 12- Ragnarök

This was the second step in Valhalla´s career. And it was a step forward in their sound and their compositions. Twelve tracks of their blend of thrash and death metal with their particular influences and keyboards. In fact, this is the first Valhalla recording that features more keyboards and orchestration. The overall sound here is better than in "Thoughts of Glory" and the songs are better composed and they have put an emphasis on some arrangements that could not have been done without the keyboards. Favorite tracks: " Eternal Night", "Die For The Gods" and "Into My Destiny". Contact: www.truemetal.org/legion-of-eternity

REVIEW: VALHALLA - THOUGHTS OF GLORY

 

VALHALLA - THOUGHTS OF GLORY (Independent, 1999):

Technical data:

Recorded at Styria Records International.

Mixeed and Engineered by Michael Kackl

Design and Layout by Kurt HB, Alex S and Valthor.

Track List: 1- Ride The Storm (Intro), 2-Messiah, 3- For Glory, 4- Stronger Than Ever Before, 5- Silver Halls, 6- The Power of Steel, 7- Ancient Gods Calling (Outro)

This is Valhalla´s debut demo. And it shows the embryo of what was going to come later in albums like "Destination Day" (with tracks rerecorded) or "Northman" (their best album for my taste). That is a thrash/death metal with influences of great bands like Celtic Frost, Sodom and Coroner. This was a good first effort and only a prelude of what was going to come later. In fact this album does not feature keyboards as they would use later in "Northman" for example. This first album is really raw and powerful. Favorite tracks: " For Glory", "The Power of Steel" and "Messiah". Contact: www.truemetal.org/legion-of-eternity

REVIEW: UMBAKRAIL - IN UNITY "PAIENNE

 

UMBAKRAIL - IN UNITY "PAIENNE" (Deadsun Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed by S´aam ed .

Front Cover by Allan Lee.

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- On Blaspheme Mes Rois, 3- Mélants Néants, Desastres Et Soumissions, 4- In Our Hearts, 5- Like an Orckean Hunger, 6- Dome, 7- The Pagan Ceremony, 8- In Unity "Päienne"

What is this? This is black metal with a distinctive saturated sound and electronic drums. The ideas here are really good but I think that the guitar sound which is terribly saturated in combination with some electronic hihat parts ruin some parts that would have been better with a different sound. In fact some interesting guitar rhyths suddenly get lost when the blast beats or parts with more hihat appear. S´aam ed the only man behind Umbakrail has many good ideas as is shown for example in the keyboard parts in "On Blaspheme Mes Rois" which plays a simple melody over the fast rhythms before getting into a more mid paced part at 1: 32 or in the many different types of vocals that are used through the recording. I think that he must change the guitar sound in order to obtain better results...maybe the frequencies of the hihat and guitar cancel each other, I don´t know. Favorite tracks: "In Our Hearts", "Dome" and "The Pagan Ceremony". Contact: www.deadsun.multimania.com

REVIEW: TRIBUTO A RATA BLANCA - LA LEYENDA CONTINÚA

 

TRIBUTO A RATA BLANCA - LA LEYENDA CONTINÚA (Nems Enterprises, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at La Nave de Oseberg by Martín Toledo, Diego Martinez and Sebastian Manta. Except bass, drums and rhythm guitar on "La leyenda..." recorded in Caverrock Studios by Tero Kinnunen

Mix and mix production: Piet Salck, power House Studios, Germany

Mastering by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios

Cover and Logo: Eric Philippe

Design and Layout by Andrea Yeber

Track List: 1- Rompe el Hechizo (Azeroth), 2- Los Ojos del Dragón (Humanimal), 3- La Misma Mujer (JAF), 4- Guerrero del Arco Iris (Beto Vazquez Infinity), 5- Herederos de la Fe (Devenir), 6- Asesinos (Lörihen), 7- El Sueño de la Gitana (Saúl Blanch), 8- Agord la bruja (Jeriko+Walter Meza), 9- Jerusalem (Presto Vivace), 10- Abrazando al Rock´n´roll (Rosacruz), 11- Chico Callejero (Selidor+Mario Ian), 12- Mujer Amante (Barrozo, Perini, Takara, Bistolfi, Leonetti), 13- Sólo para Amarte (Coria, Lis, Scarcella, Marian, Sánchez), 14- La Leyenda del hada y el Mago (Giardino, Barilari, Johansson, Vuorinen, Nevalainen, Vänskä)

Like in all tribute albums or compilations here we have different results depending on the song that was chosen to cover and of the band that is doing it.

Here we have fourteen Rata Blanca classics and I must say that here I am getting subjective: I like more the first Rata Blanca album and the "Entre el Cielo y el Infierno" one. And I like more the bands that have chosen not to cover the song in an almost identical way than the original. That is why I like more tracks like "La misma mujer" done by JAF who has a completely different type of voice than the original singer Saul Blanch. Eventhough the same happens with "Chico Callejero", I find that the result is not as effective as in the aforementioned song, I think that here the vocals doesn´t achieve the power that the songs deserve. On "El sueño de la Gitana" original singer Saul Blanch does an almost exact version than the original. Another of my favorites is "Agord, la Bruja done by Jeriko and Horcas singer Walter Meza. This is a musically very even tribute. Favorite tracks: "La Misma Mujer", "Agord la Bruja" and "Jerusalem". Contact: www.nems.com.ar

REVIEW: TRAIL OF TEARS - PROFUNDEMONIUM

 

TRAIL OF TEARS - PROFUNDEMONIUM (Scarecrow Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at jailhouse Studios, Norway.

Produced by Hans Eidskard and Trail of Tears.

Design and Layout by travis Smith.

Track List: 1- Countdown to Ruin, 2- Driven Through the Ruins, 3- Fragile Emotional Disorder, 4- Profundemonium, 5- Sign of the Shameless, 6- In Frustration´s Preludioum, 7- In Frustration´s Web, 8- Released at Last, 9- Image of Hope, 10- Dissapointment´s True Face, 11- The Haunted

Trail of tears is one of the Norwegian revelation bands. Their sounds is a climatic death metal with female vocals in the way that Tristania did in their first recording. The vocals of Ronny Thorsen are pure death metal, prefering to be effective and clear than guttural and Helena Michaelsen´s ones (she was replaced by Cathrine Paulsen) are the perfect contrast, destiling passion and pain (and using very effectively her middle range instead of abusing the highest notes she can reach). Obviously here we have a lot of keyboards and orchestrations that construct effectively the songs interacting with the heavier guitars and the voices. This is what I would call a very baroque death metal release, full of ornaments and arrangements. Favorite tracks: "Driven through the Ruins", "Sign of the Shameless" and "Image of Hope". Contact: www.redheaven.com .

REVIEW: TED KILLIAN - FLUX AETERNA

 

TED KILLIAN - FLUX AETERNA (pf MENTUM, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Fusion Post Productions.

Mixeed and Mastered by Jeff Kaiser, March/April 2001

Design and Layout by Ted Killian.

Track List: 1- Hubble, 2- Leaving Medford, 3- Cauterant Baptism, 4- Last Sparrow, 5- Recurvate Plaint, 6- Nocturnal Interstices, 7- Reverse Logics, 8- Convocation Solitaires, 9- Gravity Suspended, 10- Flux Aeterna

Really atmospheric use of electronics and guitar on this recording by master Ted Killian. It is interesting to see how this man creates certain waves of sounds, some of them more rhythmic, some of the more melodic, some of them more noisy and he starts to put one over the other to create this unique pieces. In my mind this is like the sea...when one wave dissapears then another one comes to replace it without leaving any holes. Here is the same...you have one sound in the background...then another one covers it gently and the first one stays in the back or goes away. If this sound dissapears, another one takes it places letting silence appear only to remark the dynamics. Ted Killian is really experimenting here and I love guys like this one who have the mind so open to achieve this results. Ten tracks of exploring new soils in the musical world. Favorite tracks: "Leaving Medford", "Recurvate Plaint" and "Reverse Logic". Contact: www.pfmentum.com

REVIEW: SUMMON - BAPTIZED BY FIRE

 

SUMMON - BAPTIZED BY FIRE (The Plague, 1999):

Technical data:

Recorded at Laud Studio.

Produced by Tim Lau and Summon

Digital Rendering and Art Execution by Michael Riddick.

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- Sons of Wrath, 3- Visions of Apocalyptic Grace, 4- Baptized by Fire, 5- The Silence of Chaos, 6- Dark Descent of Fallen Souls, 7- Realm of No Return, 8- Burning Black Desire, 9- Beyond the Gates of Storm, 10- Eve of Anti Creation, 11- Eternal Darkness, 12- Outro

I reviewed Summon´s latest offering on last issue of Music Extreme. This time I have in my hand Summon´s previous album "Baptized by Fire". And I can see that the band has not evolved too much since this release. Is that good or bad? That is up to you. Here is their extreme and brutal fast death metal with some black metal parts. Here is also that machine like drummer who does not miss a beat and plays extremely fast blast beats and interesting double bass patterns. Here are the guttural vocals that are so important in this style to transport you directly to hell. And here is also the really good sound that this recording has, were you can clearly listen everything that is going on while this guys play their instruments. I would compare this to albums like "Blizzard beasts" by Immortal but with a better sound. I can do an equation: speed + brutality + intense musicianship = Summon. Favorite tracks: "The Silence of Chaos", "Realm of No Return" and "Eve of Anti-Creation". Contact: www.hammerheart.com

REVIEW: SERBERUS - OUR DYING GRACE

 

SERBERUS - OUR DYING GRACE (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Hellion Studios.

Produced by Dave Otero

Collage Layout by Nick Jackson.

Track List: 1- Prologue, 2- Our Dying Grace, 3- Dark Dream, 4- Ancient Throne, 5- Curse The Gods, 6- Multimedia Section: 2 live videos, the In Eternity EP in MP3 format, biography, discography, reviews, interview, lyrics, etc.

This is one of the best sounding black metal bands that I have listened in a while. In fact I think we could call the Serberus style as black/death metal because they have elements of both styles while retaining original ideas, specially in the guitar riffs (check the ones in "Our Dying Grace" with twin bridges to see why I am saying this and check the final part that is really slower with intriguing melodies and an extremely dark aura). "Dark Dream" starts fast and melodically in a way that wouldn´t be out of place in bands like In Flames or Dark tranquility. The main attraction in the band is how intersting their riffs are and how catchy are the choruses ( I can relate this to bands like Samael or Carcass whose choruses you can sing or scream along while remaining brutal) and this giives a lot of originality to the music. Plus this CD has a multimedia track were you can see two live videos of the band and check all the data, reviews, and the "In Eternity" EP in mp3 format. Favorite tracks: "Dark Dream", " Our Dying Grace" and "Ancient throne". Contact: www.serberus.com

REVIEW: SAREPTA - SOULSCARS

 

SAREPTA - SOULSCARS (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed by Boban Milunovic at Noise Art Studio.

Artwork by pascal, hannes and Leonam by.

Track List: 1- Lying Face Downward, 2- Stress Accelerator, 3- Fear Rush, 4- Blood, tears and Hate, 5- Hungry, 6- Revolution Train.7- Blackground, 8- Assholes First, 9- Lustheide, 10- The Clutter in your mind, 11- Awake, 12- Vempires, 13- Soulscars, 14- Vulgar Speech

This is what I call a powerful album. This is death metal with a modern sound (it is what Machine Head would do if they play more death like music). Full of intense riffs, excelent guitar solos and melodies. Remember what you felt the first time that you listened to "Burn My Eyes"? Well, this is the feeling that I got here...I crancked my stereo to a loud volume and let Sarepta hit me in the face !! How can a band blend melodie and riffs so intense in such a perfect way? There are also some Prong influences here and there and maybe some Fudge Tunnel and Slayer, all mixed up and surfacing with Sarepta´s identity. Here there are fourteen tracks of pure metal made by a band designed to crush the world. Do you want power? Here is Sarepta. Favorite tracks: "Fear Rush", "Revolution Train" and "Assholes First". Contact: www.sarepta.net