REVIEW: SPONTANEOUS MUSIC ORCHESTRA - SME PLUS EQUALS SMO

 

SPONTANEOUS MUSIC ORCHESTRA - SME PLUS EQUALS SMO (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Recordings made in London by Martin Davidson on January 25, 1975 at St John´s Smith Square and Januay 24, 1974 at Little Theatre Club.

Editing, Mastering and Design by Martin Davidson

Artwork by Margaret Richards.

Track List: 1- Plus Equals, 2- SMO at LTC

In 1974-75, John Stevens had to present his compositional works at the St. John ´s Smith Square and at the Little Theatre Club concert and he decided to present it in a really radical format: with the Spontaneous Music Orchestra. This Orchestra was formed with the 10 musicians that were part od the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and adding to the eleven other great musicians. The first tracks here is almost 40 minutes long and is formed by three different pieces: "Search and Reflect", "Sustained Plus" (which is more than 23 minutes long) and "Free Improvisation". Here all and each of the musicians of the orchestra have the space that they need to showcase their habilities as solo improvisers and their skills in the orchestra interaction. In fact, the first part, "Search and Reflect" was design to see how the musicians listened to and reacted to each other before evolving into something else. I have the idea that if you put together two different people to improvise they will always achieve very different results without repeating themselves. Here, with 21 musicians at the top of their possibilities we have some spontaneous interaction at its maximum level!!. Favorite tracks: All the track "Plus Equals". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: SOFA / NORCD - SAMPLER

 

SOFA / NORCD - Sampler (Sofa Recs. / NORCD, 2001):

Track List: 1- Løpsk (Veslefrekk), 2- Dog (Ingar Zach / Ivar Grydeland), 3- No Way Out (Paal Nilssen-Love), 4- Axel (Sten Sandell Trio), 4- Who grew too (what) (Close Erase, 5- Third Scan (Tony Oxley Project I), 6- Mir (No Spaghetti Edition), 7- Stryfro (Karl Seglem/Arve Henriksen/Terje Isungset), 8- Horizontal Rain (Derek Bailey/Ingar Zach), Tor med Hammaren( Terje Isungset)

This CD is a compilation of great norwegian artists from both labels NorCD and Sofa Records. Both labels are focused on artists who play what we call intuitive, spontaneous and improvisational music. Here we have excelent artists that we have reviewed before (and some of them interviewed), like Paal Nilssen-Love, Ingar Zach/Ivar Grydeland, Tony Oxley project 1 and No Spaghetti Edition. Plus we have other very interesting musicians that are from the NorCD catalog like Veslefrekk (very ambient music with some weird sounds), Close Erase, an interesting combination of improvisation in piano and drums (is excelent to listen the drums breaks while the piano does some beautiful and frenetic phrases), Karl Seglem/Arve Henriksen/Terje Isungset who make a total mad percussion piece combined with some vocal phrases that are fundamental here or Isglem with his track "Månedans" with a very unconventional sound of guitar, bass and drums. For improvisation fans. Contact: www.norcd.no or http://sofa.norcd.no

REVIEW: SLAYER - GOD HATES US ALL

 

SLAYER - GOD HATES US ALL (American Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Warehouse Studios. Mixed by Sean Beavan

Produced by Matt Hyde

Artwork by Louis Marino.

Track List: 1- Darkness of Christ, 2- Disciple, 3- God Send Death, 4- New Faith, 5- Cast Down, 6- Threshold, 7- Exile, 8- Seven Faces, 9- Bloodline, 10- Deviance, 11- War Zone, 12- Here Comes The Pain, 13- Payback

Slayer is back after "Diabolus In Musica" offering us the same musical violence as always, but this time with a few surprises. Yes, Slayer has incorporated a more modern sound to his music, even adding some touches of modern metal here and there. But don´t worry, that does not mean that Slayer has become a less heavy band...NO! they are heavy as always but they ha modernized their style (they have evolved....this is a word that some people fear a lot !!) . The speed is here, the always anguished and demonic vocals of Tom Araya are here too, the frenzied guitars of Kerry King and Jeff Hanemann are in all the tracks as wild as always. And Paul Bostaph is as always a drumming nightmare with his hyper speed double bass filling all the spaces. Well, what else can I say? This is Slayer, as heavy as always but with some differences.

REVIEW: SILENCER - KOZMOS

 

SILENCER - KOZMOS (NTT Records Group, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Hellhole, January 2001.

Track List: 1- Mourning Star, 2- Kozmos, 3- Easter Island, 4- Missing Hope, 5- Industrial Command

Well, what we have here??? This is heavy/thrash metal in the vein of old school thrash (I mean bands of the late eighties) but with a really modern sound and some nineties influences too. I liked a lot the vocalist who has a lot of strength and sings with a vocal range that is completely appropriated for the band´s music (he does not abuse of the high pitched vocals, prefering to use a more mid range type of vocals which fit much better...I think he is somewhat close in range an inflexion to Anthrax´s John Bush but quite more aggressive). This type of bands are sorely missed in the metal scene nowadays, because they have good riffs, great guitar solos and thundering drums. It is good to see that Silencer´s songs despite being powerful have enough hooks to let the choruses and melodies stucked in your mind. They have excelent atmospheres for example in "Easter Island" which is an instrumental interlude and in the beginning of "Missing Hope" (thumbs up for the guitarists in the vein of old Annihilator). Favorite tracks: "Mourning Star" and "Missing Hope". Contact: www.silencer.cc

REVIEW: SIGNS OF DARKNESS - BEYOND THE AUTUMN LEAVES

 

SIGNS OF DARKNESS - BEYOND THE AUTUMN LEAVES (LSP Company, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, at Music House Studio.

Mixed by Mark, Wouter, Joris

Artwork by Mighty Kris Verwimp

Track List: 1- Prologue, 2- Ad Noctum, 3- The Last Shinning Moon (Beyond the Autumn Leaves), 4- Poet Winter, 5- Intermezzo, 6- She´s the mirror´s opposite end, 7- Stars in the Nocturnal Sky Are a Thousand Screams in the Ruined Rosegarden, 8- The Sadness of Night, 9- Epilogue

Black metal with a female vocalist (Sarah) who makes a big contrast with male voices. The original thing about Sarah is that she sings different from most of the female singers out there. In fact, she uses a lot her middle range and does not use too much vibrato on his voice.The band has a killer drummer which allows thm to do the really fast parts without missing the tempo. It is good to see that Joris, the bassist and vocalist knows how to make hooks together with the guitars in order to create interesting parts along with his vocals. There are some parts of clean guitars with an omnipresent keyboard/piano that makes Signs of Darkness Music really melodic and obscure, yet heavy. The music has a lot of changes and that is good for my ears that find it more interesting (check the bass interlude at 2:41 of "Poet Winter" followed by a real melodic part, just to have a sample). Favorite tracks: "The last Shinning Moon...", "Poet Winter" and "Stars in the Nocturnal Sky,..". Contact: www.lsp-company.com

REVIEW: SEYMINHOL - NORDIC TALES

 

SEYMINHOL - NORDIC TALES (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, mixed at Kirk Prod. Studio by Gilles "Warrior" Kaufmann.

Cover: Gregory Lê

Track List: 1- Part 1: Immortal Lords, 2- Part 2: Berserker, 3- Part 3: Back of Thunder, 4- Part4: Into the winds of Chaos

A classical guitar introduction opens this CD from this French band of heavy metal, before getting into a slow part with some melodies that lead into a heavier segment. The singer Kevin Kazek shows here that he is a really clean vocalist (with this I meen that he can do some intrincate vocals without distorting his vocal range....in fact one of the main elements of Seyminhol´s music are the vocal harmonies). He is in the vein of singers like Timo Kotipelto from Stratovarius but with a vocal range that relies heavily on the middle range instead of the higher pitches. This MCD has four tracks and the lyrics are about Nordic Culture, really epic. Talking about epic...the tracks here have a lot of qualities that make them sound really epic, like the guitars that play melodies and the rhythms that are thought to sound very omnipotent (I like that the guitars have a really raw sound not typical for the style). Favorite tracks: "Part 1: Immortal Lords" and "Part 3: Back of thunder". Contact: www.chez.com/seyminhol

REVIEW: SEPTICEMIA - HOPELESS AGE

 

SEPTICEMIA - HOPELESS AGE (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michael Bösl, Thomas Löffler and Septicemia.

Recorded, mixed and mastered at Crossfade Studios, Vien.

Cover: Bobby Spiess

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- Enter Me, 3- Distress of Night, 4- Hopeless Age, 5- Coming of Chaos, 6- God Save The Queen, 7- Deeper, 8- Origin of This World, 9- Get through the Opposite, 10- Possessed by Bloodlust, 11- Morbid Cry, 12- The Arrival

Septicemia is a band that comes from Austria and they make an interesting blend of very technical black and death metal (also there are certain slow parts almost doom on "Hopeless Age"). I find since the beginning of "Enter Me" a band completely compenetrated in their riffs that are sometimes fast as hell and sometimes more mid paced adding a thrash flavor to the songs here (like some of the riffs that you can find in"Distress of the Night" for example). IT is interesting how this band changes rhythms very often within the same song, but that doesn´t mean that they play one riff two times and then they change it. No, they have a lot of ideas and they develope them into the tracks that we can listen here, that is they have a perfect connection among their ideas using a riff or drum pattern until they decide it has to be changed or transformed into another idea. The vocals here are guttural adding the perfect atmosphere to the tracks. I would like the band to mix the whole recording with a different drums sound that sometimes is a little bit opaque (I like the way the bass is mixed, you can listen it even in the fast parts). This is a good option for death metal fans looking for great ideas. Favorite tracks: "Hopeless Age", "Origin of this World" and "Possessed by Bloodlust" (killer opening riff). Contact: www.septicemia.start.at

REVIEW: SATANIC SLAUGHTER - THE EARLY DAYS: DAWN OF DARKNESS

 

SATANIC SLAUGHTER - THE EARLY DAYS: DAWN OF DARKNESS (Necropolis Recs, 2001):

Technical data:

Tracks 1-12 Recorded at Unisound Studios with Dan Swanö

Tracks 13,18-21, 24 recorded at Unsound Studios, 1995

Artwork by.José Montemayor

Track List: 1- Immortal Death, 2- Forever I Burn, 3- Dark Ritual, 4- Into the Catacombs, 5-Breath of the Serpent that Idles The Cold World, 6- On Black Wings, 7- Nocturnal presence, 8- Legion of Hades, 9- Divine Exorcism, 10- I´ll Await my Lord, 11- Embraced by Darkness, 12- Domine Lucipheros, 13- Intro, 14- Hatred of God, 15- Servant of Satan, 16- Satanic Queen, 17- Demons Feast, 18- Forever I burn, 19- Legions of Hades, 20- Breath of the Serpent, 21- Immortal Death, 22- Land of the Unholy Souls, 23- One Night In Hell, 24- Dark Ritual, 25- Forever I Burn

Satanic Slaughter is the band that eventually gave birth to what now is called as Witchery. Sounding as a more primitive version of that band, Satanic Slaughter made its huge impact on the Swedish underground. The music is at the same time similar but rawer than Witchery´s, with those great guitar riffs that the band has and a lot of the elements of death/thrash/black metal that we are accustomed to hear on their CDs. There are 25 tracks here from different eras of Satancic Slaughter ´s career. I prefer the newer ones better because they sound much better and they have more mature ideas. As always Richard Corpse and Jensen shine with their guitars which are the fundamental ingredient here. It is a cool decision by Necropolis Records to rerelease thios recording that is a fundamental aprt of the history of swedish death/black metal. Favorite tracks: "Into the Catacombs", "Breath of the Serpent...." and "I´ll Await My Lord". Contact: www.necropolisrec.com

REVIEW: RHYMES OF DESTRUCTION - A SUN REVOLUTION

 

RHYMES OF DESTRUCTION - A SUN REVOLUTION (Shiver Recs,, 1999):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed by Jeroen Debonnet and Rhymes of Destruction

Recorded and Mixed at SAD Studios

Artwork by Grafische Technieken

Track List: 1- Prologos - Mobilmachung, 2- Onherbergzaamheid, 3- Intermezzo#1 - Obsessed by the Cruelty of Daylight, 4- Cynische Onsterfelijkheid, 5- Intermezzo #2 - Annoying Purity, 6- Leven in Het Teken Van Vooruitgang, 7- Intermezzo#3 - The Decline of Civilisation, 8- Terugkeer Naar Het Einde Van De Cirkel, 9- Intermezzo #4 - Destruktionstrieb, 10- Chaos and Disorder: A Sun Revolution, 11- Intermezzo #5 - Birth: A Disaster Theory, 12- Vreugde

Rhymes of Destruction is a band from Belgium that makes a strange kind of music. I can not label it relating it with some particular style such as black metal, death metal, etc. Rhymes of Destruction has certain black metal riffs but the vocals are completely different from those of this style and the guitars sound fatter and completely different too. There are interesting rhythm changes here and parts full of melodies, clean guitars and interludes with whispering vocals. Also, the use of a drum machine (really well mixed) contributes to the mechanical feeling of the tracks and to a certain industrial feeling (even if the music is completely differnet from this style too). I can feel that this guys have great musical skills because of the quality of the tracks which are sometimes very complicated. Favorite tracks: "Onherbergzaamheid...", "Leven In Het Teken..." and "Terugkeer Naar Het...". Contact: http://bewoner.dma.be/rhymes

REVIEW: SALACIOUS GODS - SUNNEVOT

 

SALACIOUS GODS - SUNNEVOT (Cold Blood Industries, 2001):

Technical data:

Engineered and Mixed by Berthus Westerhuys

Produced by The Satanic Twins

Artwork by.Jacek Msniewski

Track List: 1- Nebel (Intro), 2- Manifest of the Phantoms Fasade, 3- At The Sound of the Midwinterhorn, 4- Twaeduster Facht, 5- Spirits of the Eldergods Domain, 6- Soulbite, 7- Testify My Vanity, 8- Dead, Spectral Wolfmoon, 9- Prolongation, 10- Sunnevot

Well, many people mention countries like Norway or Sweden to mention countries whose scenes are full of black, death and many other metal styles. But they forget two countries: Holland and Sweden. In fact, Salacious God is a killer black metal band coming from The Netherlands. And they are crushing. Having all the characteristics that have made bands like Dimmu Borgir famous but retaining certain raw aspects in their sound, Salacious Gods have achieved with "Sunnevot" a great result. This is an album darker than death, totally blasphemic, and with great musicians working at full speed. One extra point is the excellen packaging that this album has containing all the lyrics plus excellent photographs of the members of the band. Can we call this epic black metal? I think so, because of the use of keyboards to accentuate the musical passages that add an extra flavor to the tracks. An interesting point are the guitars here which play some fast lines but also some more rhythmic riffs like in 2:43 "Twaeduster Facht". Lovers of black metal here is a new demon to keep the blasphemy alive!!!!. Favorite tracks: "Manifest of the Phantoms Fasade", " Twaeduster Facht" and "Testify My Vanity". Contact: www.coldbloodindustries.com