REVIEW: REFRACTORY - BLACK MAGIC FOREST

 

REFRACTORY - BLACK MAGIC FOREST (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Rape of Harmonies Studios

Produced by Ralf Müller

9-10 Recorded live at the Schloss / Freiberg

Track List: 1- Invasion, 2- Black Magic Forest, 3- Bloody Crack of Dawn, 4- Fucking Christ, 5- Deep In My Soul, 6- Hallucinations from Evil, 7- Visions of a Burning Sky, 8- History of War and Fire, 9- Black Hordes, 10- Execution

How peacefully starts this recording...with the sound of nature and an intro with acoustic guitars and keyboards. Then the keyboards volume goes up and you start listening a baby crying in the background and some voices. And then the band enters with its black metal.at half speed before getting in full speed. One important thing here are the melodies created by the guitars and the progressions that the keyboardist is doing in the background. There are two types of vocals here: one is more high pitched than the other that is similar to death metal bands. The tracks are very fast with a lot of blast beats but with original guitar riffs like the ones in "Black Magic Fores". There are great moments where the guitar plays some chords along with the keyboard with a more syncopated rhythm and the vocals adapt also that rhythmic structure ("Black magic Forest").The sound of this recording is in overall good but I would have mixed a little bit louder the snare drum and the bass drum (the cymbals and hihat are loud enough).Favorite tracks "Bloody Crack of Dawn", "Visions of a Burning Sky" and " Black Hordes (live)". Contact: refractory@gmx.de

REVIEW: RANDY COVEN - THE BEST OF RANDY COVEN

 

RANDY COVEN - THE BEST OF RANDY COVEN (Koch Recs,, 2000):

Technical data:

Produced by Randy Coven and John Stix

Produced for re-Issue by Dave Squillante

Artwork by Brad Wrolstad.

Track List: 1- Funk Me Tender, 2- Yesterday, 3- Tree, 4- Toronto Blues, 5- Manhattan Mama, 6- Great Necks, 7- Strange Cat, 8- 10000 Notes, 9- Au Privave, 10- Angry, 11- I Wish, 12- Two Girls, 13- S-Bass Secrets, 14- Minute Mouse, 15- E-11, 16- Monday

Everyone knows that Randy Coven is a great bass player...he has show this on his solo albums and in works with guys like Steve Vai or his band Holy Mother ...or even playing live with Yngwie Malmsteen. This time what we have here is a compilation of his best solo tracks...coming from his solo albums "Funk Me Tender" and "Sammy Says Ouch!". There are plenty of guest musicians here like Steve Vai ( "instantly recognizible on "Funk Me Tender"), Vito Bratta, Blues Saraceno or Al Pitrelli to name just a few. Randy shows all his skills through his compositions and through some covers like The Beatles "Yesterday" ...obviously played with bass (a great version). And he also shows that as every good musician should be, he is really open minded and knows how to play in many different styles (Check for example the acoustic and almost country "Tree"). This is music for lovers of virtuosos and instrumental music. Favorite tracks: "Funk Me Tender", "S-Bass Secrets" and "Manhattan Mama". Contact: www.randycovensite.com

REVIEW: POP MUSIC FAVORITES

 

POP MUSIC FAVORITES (Ubus Records, 2001):

Track List: 1- Live Snowbox (XV Parowek), 2- Signal Failure (Maximal), 3- Kill To Radio (Sickness), 4- Parenchyma Na Koniu (Rare Parts), 5- Somebody Put Something in My Soma (Dischotic Symphony), 6- New Tribal Warning (Hated principles), 7- Backstreet´s Back (Andy Kisaragi), 8- The Drying Foetus Mimics Me 2 (Careplace), 9- The Boy Who Lay Down and Died/ Happy Birthday Mary Bell (13RXTNLE), 10- Right Out There (Dichotic Symphony), 11- Landscape Negative (K:V:T Clocking), 12- Squid Camera (E.Victor C.), 13- Scald (D.S.A:), 14 - 4Rhodes (Andy Kisaragi), 15- Martha Ann Johnson (Mantichora), 16- Shadow of Air (Cesium), 17- Full Body Contact Sports (Robert Warner), 18- Higher Than You (13RXTNLE), 19- Flux (Telesmata), 20- Ring of Fire (Dichotic Symphony), 21 - Akty (Zenial), 22- Profound Lack of You (Andy Kisaragi), 23- Wild Flower (13RXTNLE), 24 - A View of Modern Industry (Humanextermination Project).

Here we have 24 tracks of totally experimental music, going from ambient to electronic, to noise...every style is represented here. All this compiled by Robert Kasch, the man behind Telesmata and Ubus Recs. Here we have different kinds of experimentation. I will describe some of them. Most of you know telesmata from the reviews that I did of the latest works of this project: well Telesmata focalizes its experiemntationa round some instrument (like the weird Bullshit Grinder). Here there are bands and projects that depart fropm that. For example Maximal is an almost ambient project with interesting atmospheres and some experimentation within this calm context. Other band that surprised me is Sickness with its noisy and industrial sounds pouring all over the track. Rare Parts is an almost ambient band but with some elctronic touches that are the main experimental device on this track. Dichotic Symphony is one of the projects contained here which is closer to noise doing hasrh sounds and experimenting twisting them up to when they are almost chaotic. Favorite tracks: "Backstreet´s Back", " Full Body Contact Sports" and "Right Out there". Contact: http://homestead.com/ubus/main.html

REVIEW: PERVERSIST - NECROPHILHARMONY

 

PERVERSIST - NECROPHILHARMONY (Grodhaisn Prods., 2001):

Track List: 1- Consequence of Malformation, 2- Body Devourer, 3- Genetic Code Eraser, 4- Bells of Insanity, 5- Natural defense System, 6- Viva la Corrida, 7- Necrophilharmony, 8- Waiting for Judgement Day, 9- Faceless Dead, 10- Suicidal Self immolation

What this band does is old school brutal death grind. They have the advantage of having a really good drummer among them who also has a very clear sound throughout the whole recording. The guitars here are really brutal and they use a lot of guitar riffs that are extremely heavy (the guitars have a lot of bottom end and the mid ranges totally cut), some of them at extreme speed. Also the guitarists love to throw some pinch harmonics here and there on their riffs to add some different taste to them obtaining more variations. The voclas are really guttural in the vein of the more bestial death metal. One thing that got my attention was the acceleration on the track "Necrophilharmony" because it goes from slow to fast very progressively, changin the tempo gradually and that is not very common. Total brutality on this recording!! Favorite tracks: Body Devourer", "Bells of Insanity" and "Necrophilharmony". Contact: grodhaisn@seznam.cz

REVIEW: OBSCENE EXTREME 2001

 

OBSCENE EXTREME 2001 (Obscene Productions, 2001):

Track List: 1- Decrepit Crescendo (Exhumedd), 2- Ruptured remains (Regurgitate), 3- Untitled (Groinchurn), 4- Ozing Molten Gristle (Haemorrhage), 5- Where´s Mine Resurrection (Fleshless), 6- To Give (Lykathea Aflame), 7- Skin N´Bones (Driller Killer), 8- Hyperspace Souls (Ingrowing), 9- Irrumatrix (Isacaarum), 10- Peeling Off The Epidermis (Sanity´s Dawn), 11- Sick, Sick I´m so sick (Sanity´s Dawn), 12- Morte de Tossico (Cripple Bastards), 13- Fields of Repulsion (Viu Drakh), 14- Asphyxiate on Blood ( Desecration), 15- Isolated Victim (Godless Truth), 16- God Faith prostitution (Pathology Stench), 17- Loss of Identity (Cerebral Turbulence), 18- Yes! Legitimate (Cerebral Turbulence), 19-Harsh Future (Cerebral Turbulence ), 20- Stop Viagra - Smoke Pot (Utopie), 21- Fucking Shit (Inhume), 22- The Seat of... (Imperial Foeticide), 23- I´m (Anasarca), 24- Permanentni Manikura ( Grind 6.4), 25- Putrid Autopsy (Maledictive Pigs), 26- Cunt Slime (Ahumado Granujo), 27 - Cold Turkey (Ahumado Granujo), 28- The Truth Hurts (Abortion), 29- Pneumothorax (Bizarre Embalming), 30- Postmortal Goreaphobia (Sanatorium), 31- The Postman (!T.O.O.H.!), 32- Buried Belief (Pigsty), 33- So Fuckin cool (Human Error), 34- Freeedom-Criminal Suicide (Needful Things), 35 - Project Terror (Irritate)

This is a compilation of many differetn artists from genres that go to death metal, to brutal death metal to black metal to grindcore. There are very well known bands here like Exhumed, Groinchurn and Cripple Bastards, some that I know for reviewing their material like Sanity´s Dawn, Ingrowing and some who I did not know like (Needful Things, or Maledictive Pigs. As on every compilation here you have different levels in all the bands and their music, some of them better than the others. The most known bands have better sounds than the less known ones but that does not mean that they are better in fact there are some almost unknown bands that have a lot of quality here and that I would like to listen with a better production (like the one bands like Exhumed or Ingrowing have). An excellent compilation of sick music with a total emphasis on brutality. Favorite tracks "To Give" (Lykathea Aflame), "Hyperspace Souls" (Ingrowing) and "Isolated Victims" (Godless Truth). Contact: www.obscene.cz

REVIEW: NO FEAR - OUR SAYING

 

NO FEAR - OUR SAYING (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Track Records Prods. Studios.

Produced by No Fear. Mastered at Nautilus Mastering

Artwork by Massimiliano Ricciardo

Track List: 1- Born from Fire, 2- Virus of Silence, 3- Free as the Wind, 4- Virtual Life, 5- Fake Madness, 6- Moon bluff, 7- Ghost Town, 8- Business Man, 9- Point of No Return, 10- Our Saying

Directly from Italy comes this heavy metal band with a really heavy sound on the guitars and a powerful vocalist who has a wide vocal range, called Dario Tirolongo. Are you thinking about bands like Rhapsody or something like that? Forget it !! This is much much heavier and this music can be reproduced live (while the one made by the band mentioned before needs of countless samplers). Here the music is epic but really rocking at the same time (there are certain guitar riffs that sound like a hard rock band but they sound differently because they are played with a much more heavy guitar sound). There are some tracks that start slowly and get heavier after a few moments and one of the things that I favoured is that the band does not abuse some heavy metal cliches that we all know. A promising metal band. Favorite Tracks: "Virus of Silence", "Fake Madness" and "Point of No Return". Contact: http://nofear.freeweb.org

REVIEW: NAHEMAH - CHRYSALIS

 

NAHEMAH - CHRYSALIS (Iberian Moon Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Dark mansion Studios.

Mixed and Mastered at the Doom Pit Studios

Artwork by Daniel Gil.

Track List: 1- Ochre Mantle Star, 2- Sibylia, 3- Autumn is My Sin, 4- Bloodstained Carnival, 5- Thy Quivering Wings, 6- The Teardrop Fall, 7- From the Temples High, 8- Ligeia (Immortality Through Crime), 9- A Crystal Delirium

This is one of the albums of the month! Heavy and subtle at the same time, sometimes black metal, sometimes heavy metal....with spectacular keyboards that are the main point here...the ones that set Nahemah apart from any other band in the genre, when combined with the heavy and distorted guitars (which play excellent melodies within their riffs) thay arrive to its climax, being original, melodic and having a lot of strength at the ssame time. The vocals are really multifacetic and they reflect what that specific part of the song means...that is they are sometimes really rotten, really guttural or really screaming , sometimes they are whispering and sometimes thay sing melodies. Thumbs up for the guitarists who have achieved originality in their riffs and melodies even in the fastest parts, playing original lines even when the drums are doing some similar rhythm as a blast beat. This is an album that I think will please those who like this type of extreme music or those who love good musicianship and excellent instrumental passages. A must. Favorite tracks: "Autumn is My Sin", "A Crystal Delirium" and "The Teardrop Fall". Contact: www.afaland.com/nahemah

REVIEW: MYOPIA - CONCENTRATION OF SUFFERING

 

MYOPIA - CONCENTRATION OF SUFFERING (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Ear Art and Baker Street Studios

Mastered at Baker Street Studios

Artwork by Markus Jacobson

Track List: 1- Self Inflicted Slavery, 2- Salvation In Death, 3- Twisted Ffate, 4- Acts of Futility, 5- Coerced Sympathy, 6- Onward To Extinction, 7- Concentration of Suffering, 8- Scarred From The Inside

Here we have a powerful band that makes with total conviction their death/grind style. Lovers of the style will surely like this one...it has all the elements that they love: guttural voices, hyperfast riffs over blast beats, cool breaks, a killer drummer, fat sounding guitars. They alos have some killer riffs: My personal favorite are the ones in the fifth track called "Coerced Sympathy" where there is a cool break at 1:45 before the band gets into the full speed mode again. The sound is really good and the mix is a good one too where you can listen clearly all the individual instruments even in the fastest parts. A good option for grinders and deathsters. Favorite tracks: "Salvation In Death", "Coerced Sympathy" and "Acts of Futility". Contact : http://listen.to/myopia

REVIEW: MY INSANITY - SOLAR CHILD

 

MY INSANITY - SOLAR CHILD (Season of Mist, 2001):

Track List: 1- Monument, 2- Cosmic Orgasm, 3- Bound and Lost, 4- Failed Experiment I, 5- Failed Experiment II, 6- Mirrors, 7- Solar Child, 8- Dead Season, 9- Twin, 10- Kings of Plush, 11- Infinity, 12- Sunday

From the first few seconds when you start this CD it impacts the strength that this band has, and how they have achieved a great mix of brutal and subtle moments. This is one of those bands that knows how to do excellent songs...and this is what this is all about: Songs. That is tracks whose music is sometime gothic, sometimes death but structured in a perfect way, designed to have a beginning and a perfect conclusion that closes the history within that track. Sometimes heavy as hell, sometimes full of melody (two types of vocals are used here for those who like melody there is one really good and moody vocalist, for those lovers of the death like growls there are vocals like that in some places too). There are also a lot of vocal harmonies in the choruses and for lovers of melody and harmony the guitars and the keyboards are permanently looking for new melodies to put in this great songs. Totally recommended. Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.season-of-mist.com

REVIEW: MURDER - FROM DEEP INSIDE

 

MURDER - FROM DEEP INSIDE (Lixo Sounds and Discos, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Cuarto Estudio by Diego Vanegas

Bass and Drums recorded at Organic Sound

Artwork by Diego Vanegas

Track List: 1- Unspatial Warriors, 2- De Nuevo en pie, 3- From Deep Inside, 4- Directo al Corazón, 5- Insinuación, 6- Substancies Travelling, 7- Atentado (Noche Sin Luna), 8- In the Middle of the Night, 9- Pecado y Castigo, 10- En Silencio, 11- Beyond 2012

Power / thrash metal directly from Colombia with a really modern sound and some new metal influences in some aprts. The first thing that gets my attention here is the great guitar sound and the diversity of the vocals used (from heavy metal, to some voices more like rap and others more death metal). I liked a lot this band, because they are original and they have a lot of influences whicha re not evident, like Carcass, Machine Head, New Metal bands and At the Gates. All this influences are totally mixed in order to get an original resulta. Half of the tracks here are in spanish. Tu remark again, the vocals interplay, specially thumbs up for Daniel Vazquez who creates different moods with his vocals and congratulations to the guitarists and the drummer who have achieved a great sound (there are great rhythms and solos too). Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: http://listen.to/lixo