REVIEW: LIFEND - ENTWINED EMOTIONS

 

LIFEND - ENTWINED EMOTIONS (Independent, 2001):

Track List: 1- First, 2- Wait in Silence and Die, 3- This Cold Life, 4- Violence in Music

A magnificent keyboard introduction leads us into the world of the music of Lifend. This is an italian ban thart makes a music that we can call death/black/gothic metal, that was formed in 1999 (under the name My Dark Side before changing their name to Lifend on September 2001). Thir music is heavy and extremely dark and melodic at the same time. And they rely heavily on the use of keyboards (Davide is great in making all the melodies tha make so special their music) that contrast with the crushing guitars (who also make sad melodies in the vein of early My Dying Bride). One thing that I would like to remark is the great combination of vocals...there are two types of male vocals (one more gothic and the other more death/black metal) and also a female vocalist called Sara who has a really personal vocal style and adds a great contrast to the music. I can define Lifend´s mnusi as Light nad Darkness, that is full of contrasts between the instruments and the voices. A great first step for this band. I hope to listen more of their music in the future. Favorite tracks: "This Cold Life" and "Wait in Silence and Die". Contact: www.lifend.cjb.net

REVIEW: KOAN - FRONTIERS

 

KOAN - FRONTIERS (Red Stream, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded by Spher

Art by Steve Miller / Extremities

Track List: 1- Transe in (Forest), 2- Innocent, 3- Unfolding Spaces, 4- Neon Dreams, 5- Underwaters, 6- Looking for the frontiers, 7- Disintegrating, 8-Chaos, 9- Transe Out (rain)

Koan´s music is really weird. Full of electronics and ambient parts with some vocals, and heavy use of keyboards and programming. In fact the vocals here are used as another instrument. That is, the voices here are doing melodies in order to make the result stranger and sometimes they are harmonized in order to create some weird chants (sometimes kind of gregorian, sometimes kind of tribal). There are some electronic drums that give rhythm to some of the tracks contained on this CD. If you like experimental music and electronics with innovative composition, this can be yours, if you don´t like it, probably you will hate it. Favorite tracks: "Unfolding Spaces", "Looking For the Forntiers" and " Chaos". Contact: www.redstream.org

REVIEW: KENT CARTER - BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL

 

KENT CARTER - BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data

Recorded at the music room of the Chateau de Maignelay (except 12 recorded at a radio station in Paris)

Recorded by Daniel Deshay and Kent Carter.

Mastering and design by Martin Davidson

Track List: 1- Cello Solo: Pinch, 2- Dance Two: Rhapsody, 3- Play Time, 4- Stretch, 5- Bass Time For Max, 6- Chateau de Maignelay, 7- Other Fingers, 8- Cello Solo 2: Beginnings, 9- Michala Dance, 10- Bass Suite Nº1: Fingers, 11- Beauvais Cathedral, 12- Thumps, 13- Steps, 14- Tarragona

Free Improvisations done by cello and double bass master Kent Carter during 1974 and 1975 , recorded at the Chateau de Maignelay. This are spontaneous ideas that MR. Carter had in his brain while playing in that moment. You can listen a lot of variations in his music, going from melodic lines using the lower spectre of the instrument sound to some high pitched sounds. But it is incredible how coherente and yet experimental is the music that Kent Carter does...how he has in mind certain structures nad he constantly uses them and breaks them and puts them together in a different way creating a collage on its own. While being certainly strange in some moments, the music here is not as difficult for the normal ear as sometimes improvised or spontaneous music can be. In fact the sound of the cello and double bass is so warm and the mastery of the instrument that Carter has are enough to guarantee a great result. Favorite tracks: "Cello Solo 1: Pinch", "Bass Suite No 1" and "Tarragona". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: JUDAS PRIEST - DEMOLITION

 

JUDAS PRIEST - DEMOLITION (Atlantic Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Silvermere Sound and Riverside Studios

Mastered by Jon Astley

Produced by Glenn Tipton.

Track List: 1- Machine Man, 2- One on One, 3- Hell Is Home, 4- Jekyll and Hyde, 5- Close To You, 6- Devil Digger, 7- Bloodsuckers, 8- In Between, 9- Feed on Me, 10- Subterfuge, 11- Lost and Found, 12- Cyberface, 13- Metal Messiah

Judas Priest is back !!! Again with Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals (this time more confident and with a more personal voice). I think that Judas Priest is one of those bands that does not become stagnant even if they have their own style and even if they are a legend. So, this time,as happened with the previous CD "Jugulator", Judas Priest has a definitely more modern sound, specially on the guitars and in tracks like "Machine Man" or "One on One" (thefirst two of the album) they have achieved a heavier result (obviously diehard Halford fans will say that they don´t like it and that Rob Halford should come back). But the good thing is too see a classical band evolving and doing it better with each album creating always great melodies for their songs (eventhough there are not much guitar solos here and I would like to listen them because Tuipton and Downing are killer guitarists). The sound is great here and they sound as a classical and at the same time new band. Favorite tracks: "One on One", "Jekyll and Hyde" and "Feed on Me". Contact: www.judaspriest.com

REVIEW: INTERNAL SUFFERING - PROMO

 

INTERNAL SUFFERING - PROMO (Independent, 2001):

Track List: 1- Mighty Triumphant Return, 2- Summoning The Ancient Ones

Internal Suffering is a band completely dedicated to the most extreme kind of death metal....yes the one with hiperfast blast beats and extremely guttural voices, with fast guitar riffs in the vein of the first Cannibal Corpse´s albums and some breaks and stops typical of the genre. There are some guitar riffs that are original like on "Summoning the Ancient Ones" where they throw some pinch harmonics within one riff but perhaps this could be more appreciated doing some combination with slower parts and some deeper riffs. This guys are recommended for the ones who love extremely fast and brutal death metal in all its variations. Contact: www.zonaunderground.com

REVIEW: INFERNAL LEGION - SCULPTURED HUMANS

 

INFERNAL LEGION - SCULPTURED HUMANS (LSP Company, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed at the Sound Shape Studios

Recorded and mixed by Frans V. Steembergen.

Frontcover by Kris Verwimp

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- F.T.W., 3- Dead in my own reality, 4- Sculptured humans, 5- Under Influence of Sickness, 6- Gift of Destruction, 7- Melancholy Reigns, 8- A Forgotten World

Hyperfast black thrash metal is the music that this band called Infernal Legion does. Why am I saying this? Well, it has the vocals that are typical of black metal but instead of using the fast one note progression riffs that most bands use, this band prefers to use some thrash rhythms and breaks like on 2:02 of "F.T.W." where the drums play the rhythm while the guitars remain sustained before getting into full speed mode again. There are clean guitars intros in some places, like in the beginning of "Dead in my own reality" and a lot of changes that gives a lot of interesting qualities to the tracks. Plus the combination of old school sounding riffs with modern sound will be loved by nostalgics and lovers of black metal and thrash equally. The power of thrash metal is back but has evolved a lot! Favorite tracks: "Gift of Destruction", "Melancholy Reigns" and "Dead in My Own Reality". Contact: www.lsp-company.com

REVIEW: IAN SMITH - DAYBREAK

 

IAN SMITH - DAYBREAK (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Red Rose, London

Recorded, Mixed and Edited by Dave Hunt. Produced by Steve Beresford.

Artwork by Marina Tadeu and Sebastian Smith.

Track List: 1- Daybreak, 2- Falange, Falanginha, Falngeta, 3- Carpe Dentum, 4- There We Are, 5- Coffee, 6- Blás, 7- Function of the Organ, 8- Don´t Even think About It, 9- Closely Linked, 10- Air Apparent, 11- Sometimes, 12- Hidden, 13- Windsurfing, 14- Go On

As always, Emanem Disc brings us improvisational and spontaneous music recorded by great musicians. This time is the work of great trumpetist Ian Smith (who also plays the flügelhorn) and who is joined here by great guitarist Derek Bailey (I commented some collaborations of this excellent artist on previous issues), Trombone master Gail Brand, Oren Marshall on tuba and Veryan Weston on chamber organ. The music here is an exploration into the combination of sounds that this musicans can achieve, sometimes in duet form, sometimes in trio, and sometimes all together (there is also one solo piece by Veryan Weston where he explores the possibilities of his instrument). The result is very spontaneous, going from organized chaos to melodic within the same track but without losing control. The thing that I like more from this type of recordings is that they "catch the moment" in which the recording was done...and that is something that can not be reproduced again on another recording done a different time. This guys have a lot to offer . Favorite tracks: "There We Are", "Carpe Dentum" and "Windsurfing". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: HOLLENTHON - DOMUS MUNDI

 

HOLLENTHON - DOMUS MUNDI (Napalm Records, 1999):

Technical data:

Recorded at Vato Loco Studio

Recorded, Mixed and Edited by Martin Schirenc

Cover Concept and Layout by Martin Schirenc.

Track List: 1- Enrapture - Hinc Illae Lacrimae, 2- Homage - Magni Nominis Umbra, 3- Vestige - Non Omnis Moriar, 4- Lure - Pallida Mors, 5- Interlude - Ultima Ratio Regum, 6- Reprisal - Malis Avibus, 7- Premonition - Lex Talionis, 8- Eclipse - Vita Nova

On last issue I reviewed Hollenthon´s latest album "With Vilest of Worms To Dwell", and it was an album that I really loved. It was like a soundtrack for a movie (this comparison that is immediately brought to your mind has made some stupid power metal journalist to ask Martin if he feels related to Rhapsody because of the term Hollywood metal used to describe the music of the italian band). And here is Hollenthon´s prior album , the amazing n"Domus Mundi". This recording is somewhat more crude than "With Vilest..." even if there is a lot of orchestration too, but there are certain elements that are less subtle as the vocals and the guitar sound (in some parts of the first track the guitars reminded me of Celtic Frost´s "To Mega Therion" because of their sound). But Martin obviously knew what he wanted before recording "Domus Mundi" and this is like the seed of what "With Vilest..:" would achieve, this is like a diamond that has to be a little polished (not that much because you have wonders like "Homage- Magni Nominis Umbra" with its oriental melodies and harmonies or "Lure- Pallida Mors" with its guitar melodies and gregorian chants. This was a great first step on Hollenthon´s career. Favorite tracks: "Homage - Magni Nominis Umbra", " Premonition..." and "Eclipse - Vita Nova". Contact: www.napalmrecords.com or www.hollenthon.com

REVIEW: HEAVEN´S BURNING - FREE AGENTS

 

HEAVEN´S BURNING - FREE AGENTS (SOUL´D HERE) (Cosmic Pageant Prods., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded in San Diego, CA

Engineered by Jeff Sers

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- Moonpools, 3- Monday, 4- Shake This World, 5- Holes In the Skies, 6- Butterfly Psychosis, 7- Gun In Your Purse, 8- Good, 9- Intermission, 10- Day on My Skin, 11- Strip Me Down, 12- Reprise

Heaven´s Burning is a female duo consisting in Angela Santiago Chung in vocals, guitars and bass and Kristy Jones also in vocals, guitars and bass. The music here is alternative rock with a lot of melodies and hooks and the main carachteristic are the vocals of Angela and Kristy. There are shades of some bands of the seventies and eighties in there that are thrown into the mix to obtain Heaven´s Burning Music. My favorite tracks are the darker ones like for example "Shake This World" with its slow beginning along the beautiful vocal line made by Angela. Lovers of melodies that are somewhat dark and somewhat depressive but at the same time beautiful, here is for you Heaven´s Burning. Favorite tracks: "Shake This World", "Good" (some Nirvana influence in there) and "Strip Me Down". Contact: www.heavensburning.com

REVIEW: GURKKHAS - A LIFE OF SUFFERING

 

GURKKHAS - A LIFE OF SUFFERING (Morbid Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at LB Studio

Sound Engineers: Stephane Buriez, Francois Jazmin

Artwork: In Deed Hell

Track List: 1- Born on a Day of War, 2- Tears of Blood, 3- A Life of Suffering, 4- Kukri, 5- The Day of Battle, 6- Legacy, 7- If I Should Die, 8- Chronicles of Chaos

Directly from France we have this powerful death metal beasts!!! In their style of the most brutal death metal, this guys are kings!! Fast rhythms with modern riffs sounding extremely DEATHLY!! Two things to point out....the great and modern sound that this guys have achieved on this recording. In fact this gives an extra flavour to their music because being so fast and brutal, it needs a very clear mix to be fully appreciated. The main theme around which the songs spin is WAR....that is the content of Gurkkhas tracks... and the music is something that fits the lyrics perfectly, explosive, powerful and extremely brutal. Guttural vocals, riffs that are fast and have a good guitar sound in order to achieve better resyults...a killer fast drummer, all this elements and more are combined here to made this music that I would label Battle war metal. Favorite tracks: "The Day of Battle", "If I Should Die" and "Chronicles of Chaos".Contact: www.multimania.com/gurkkhas