REVIEW: TIERRA SANTA - SANGRE DE REYES

 

TIERRA SANTA - SANGRE DE REYES (Locomotive Music., 2001)

 

Tracks: 1- David y el Gigante, 2- La Ciudad Secreta, 3- Pegaso, 4- Juana de Arco, 5- La Sombra de la bestia, 6- Dos Vidas, 7- La Armada Invencible, 8- El Laberinto del minotauro, 9- El Amor de mi Vida, 10- Mi Tierra, 11- Sangre de Reyes

Here is the new release from Tierra Santa and it is not a big change from their previous album "Tierras de Leyenda". In fact they have not changed a little bit. Only the sound here is better but the compositions have one BIG INFLUENCE: Iron Maiden. There are some beautiful keyboards in the tracks and I think they should use them more to make compositions with more identity. The choruses have hooks and are done in the traditional Maiden way...like hymns to sing with your fist in the air. One thing to point out: Arturo´s excellent guitar solos. Favorite tracks: "Juana de Arco", "El Laberinto del Minotauro", "David y el Gigante". Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com

REVIEW: GALILEO BROTHERS - THE DANCING LAWN

 

GALILEO BROTHERS - THE DANCING LAWN (Carbon 7 Recs, 2001)

Produced by The Galileo Brothers

Recorded at Panama City, IZMR, Culver City and the Chapel of Our Lady of All Saints, Oxford and At Eastcote Studios.

Art Direction: Austin Horn

Tracks: 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, 12-, 13-

The Dancing Lawn is a really experiment in melodies done by a group of great musicians (thewre are so many in this recording that I can not mention them all) whose main direction is given by The Galileo Brothers. The influences here range from jazz to some blues, to some new age stuff. And there are a lot of instruments that you will not expect here like xylophone, banjo, marimbas, etc, etc. The music is very beautiful and you can fnd from some strange musical phrases that you will have to listen carefully to understand completely to really easy listening parts. There are thirteen tracks here and all are played by different musicians: this means that the music has a lot of diversity among the tracks. Each of the tracks is played by many musicians giving you the idea of little orchestras playing each of the compositions. Favorite tracks: "8", "11" and "13". Contact: www.carbon7.com

REVIEW: SWAN CHRISTY - TODAY DIED YESTERDAY

 

SWAN CHRISTY - TODAY DIED YESTERDAY (Black Lotus Recs., 2001)

Produced by Nikos Nikoloudias

Recorded at Studio 5 and Studio Live

Artwork by Set (Spiros Anton.)

Tracks: 1- Today Died Yesterday, 2- Resurrection if possible, 3- One foot in the grave, 4- here comes...!, 5- My Home (Away from home), 6- No More Everything, 7- Night Flower, 8- the Benefactor

This is a really good recording starting with a song that has a riff similar to the one on Judas Priest "A Touch of Evil" but adding to it a lot of keyboards and arrangements. Then enters an interesting vocal part accompanied only by keyboards before the whole band enters together. There are a lot of duets between male and female vocals and there are also a lot of changes in riffs and rhythms. It is interesting how this band experiments with different sounds and with silences...maybe leaving onlky the bass and drums and then the keyboards play a little phrase like in some parts of "Resurrection if possible". The guitars have a really heavy sound an they are played really proficiently making Swan Christy´s music really heavy and at the same time climatic. There are guest vocals by Ferdy from Rough Silk, Spiros from Septic Flesh and Sakis from Rotting Christ. Favorite tracks: The whole album.

REVIEW: STEVE BERESFORD / PAT THOMAS / VERYAN WESTON - 3 PIANOS

 

STEVE BERESFORD / PAT THOMAS / VERYAN WESTON - 3 PIANOS (Emanem Disc, 2001)

Editing and Mastering by Martin Davidson

Recorded at Gateway Studios, July 23, 2001

Cover by Veryan Weston

Tracks: 1- Acorn, 2-Atlas, 3- Hogarth, 4- Flaxman, 5- Fremantle, 6- Vigilant, 7- Rippleway, 8- Elgar, 9- Western, 10- Bermondsey, 11- Thornton Heath, 12- Speedwell

Amazing trio of pianists and excellent improvisers. The music here is really melodic at times and really dissonant in certain passages (I can listen a lot of diminished chords played here and there and a lot of altered chords too). It is incredible how well this three piano masters interact, doing sounds and progressions that are not common and doing certain harmonization in certain notes here and there. New boundaries are broken by this three musicians who play their instruments with a lot of love and squeeze them in order to get all the sound possibilities from them (even doing percussion on the instrument). There are alot of exotic scales played in the trio improvisations, and the duets are fantastically constructed. I specially love the moments in which the threee play all together!!. Favorite tracks: "Atlas", "Thornton Heath" and "SPEedwell". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: STATE OF THE UNION - 2001

 

STATE OF THE UNION - 2001 (Electronic Music Foundation, 2001)

Produced by Elliot Sharp

All Profits Go to the National Coalition Against Censorship

What are you going to say when I tell you that this are three CDs? And what are you going to say when I tell you that this three CDs have a total duration of 171 minutes? And what are you going to say if I tell you that there are 171 tracks here? And then...what are you going to say if I tell you that each of the tracks here are performed each by a different artist? I am sure that you would be at least surprised. Well, then listen to this collection of CDs...the music is extremely experimental, full of electronic sounds combined in millions of different ways, and the good thing is that each track sounds completely different one from another...from almost noise to melodic there is everything here. There are sounds that come directly from great musician´s mind like the ones of Joey Baron, Benjamin Chadabe, Bruce Bennett and many more. If you like spontaneous music, intuitive music, improvisation and experimentation, this is for you!!!!!. Contact: www.cdemusic.org/emfmedia

REVIEW: SPIRITUS MORTIS - FORWARD TO THE BATTLE

 

SPIRITUS MORTIS - FORWARD TO THE BATTLE (Independent, 2001)

Mixed by Spiritus Mortis

Recorded at Treenikämppä Studios

Tracks: 1- Forever, 2- Beware of the Quiet One, 3- In Pouring Rain, 4- Sweet Oblivion, 5- Sleeping beneath the Lawn, 6- In Between

An excelent opportunity to know something about the music of Finland´s Spiritus Mortis. This is HEAVY METAL! I am putting this with capital letters because this is heavy metal done with a lot of conviction and without falling in the cliches that a lot of the bands in the scene have. IN fact this band has a wider range of influences appart from classical metal bands. I can listen something that is similar to Danzig, and something close to Slayer on "Sleeping Beneath the Lawn" or Black Sabbath on "Sweet Oblivion". The singer has a lot of identity and puts a lot of strength through all the tracks. I like this band a lot and I think they deserve a much better sound and hopefully they will get it on their next release, Totally recommended. Favorite tracks: "Beware of the Quiet One", " In Pouring Rain" and "In Between". Contact: www.metalprovider.com/spiritusmortis

REVIEW: SOUL EMBRACED - THIS IS MY BLOOD

 

SOUL EMBRACED - THIS IS MY BLOOD (Solidstate Recs., 2002)

Produced by Brandon Ebel

Recorded by Ray Brooks and Jonathan parker

Layout and Design by D. Clark

Tracks: 1-I fade Away, 2- The Scorn of Death´s Kiss, 3- Helpless in Wither, 4- Angels with Raven Hearts, 5- Evolver, 6- End what has begun, 7- Buried In, 8- The Cold Stares of Dead Eyes, 9- My Name is Legion, 10- Scars Remain, 11- Still as You, 12- Kingdom of Shadows, 13- Leech

As always, Solidstate Records delivers crushing bands. This time is the turn of Soul Embraced a band that plays an extremely heavy kind of music, sometimes death, sometimes modern metal, always estremely heavy. The guitars have an amazing sound that I liked a lot going from being a wall of sound to extremely clean when the vocals are whispering. But what makes Soul Embraced unique is the combination of this sound with killer solos and complicate riffs. Another thing that I have to remark is the drummer with its machine like sound that is fundamental to Soul Embraced´s compositions. The vocals are really deathly going from screams to growl and making the overall sound a really anguished one. This is one band that can be fundamental to the metal scene in the future. Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.solidstaterecords.com

REVIEW: SINMASTERS - CRASHING DOWN

 

SINMASTERS - CRASHING DOWN (Actcom Recs, 2001)

Pre-Mastered by Oldhouse

Cover Photo by Qumma

Tracks: 1- Crashing Down, 2- Peeping Tom (Manic Mort Mix), 3- Crashing Down (i mix)

This is a mini CD from this eclectic band called Sinmasters. The music on this CD can not be labeled in a simple way. Imagine certain riffs that wouldn´t be out of place in a band like Rammstein, then add some vocals closer to Marilyn Manson combined with others closer to Type O Negative or Moonspell. Then add a drum machine playing rhythmic beats and put a lot of electronic elements. Then you will have some idea of what Sinmasters music is about. This CD has three tracks: two of them are different mixes from the track called "Crashing Down" and the third one is a mix of a track called "Peeping Tom". Great one for lovers of electronic, mixed with gothis metal and industrial. Favorite track: "Crashing Down (Single Mix)". Contact: www.actcom.fi

REVIEW: SCHOLOMANCE - THE IMMORTALITY MURDER

 

SCHOLOMANCE - THE IMMORTALITY MURDER (The End Recs., 2002)

Engineered by Greg Roller

Recorded at Caravell Recording Studios

Graphic Design by Scott Crinklaw

Tracks: CD I: 1- Part I. Absence / Contorted Porcelain - faced bitch, 2- Part II: Childless One / the Body as Sulphur Stench, 3- Part III - Matriarch, 4- Part IV: her Iniquity Uncovered / The Eastern Trinity Unexplained, 5- Virus ( the Theft of Knowledge), 6- Companionship and Philosophical Fire (The Third), 7- Bedevilment and Bewilderment (Reality Greets the Moral Whore), 8- The Next Step (For the Sake of the Greater Whole)

CD II: 1- Replacement..., 2- The Next Step (For the Sake of the Greater Whole), 3- Nothins is For, or About you, 4- Part I. Absence / Contorted Porcelain - faced bitch, 5- As if I were Beautiful, 6- Part II: Childless One/ the Body as Sulphur Stench, 7- And Yet we were dead, 8- Part III - Matriarch, 9-How Familiar I am, 10- A Riddle, 11- Part IV: her Iniquity Uncovered / The Eastern Trinity Unexplained, 12- Additons

This is a masterpiece !! This work consist in two CDs with a lot of incredible music. The music here is extremely elaborated and it is incredible how open minded seem to be the guys in Scholomance adding a lot of influences to their music but mantining always the dark aura that surrounds them. It is also amazing how technical and well rehearsed they are...they go from catchy rhythms to complex solos and melodies, then back to another rhythm and maybe adding a keyboard solo to spice things up. The main thing is the quality that this music has!!!There are like a hundred minutes of pure music in the highest level. The second CD is an instrumental one and really rich in harmonies. The CDs come with a great booklet with all the lyrics and a beautiful presentation that matches perfectly the concept of the music here. One of the albums of the month. Favorite tracks: The whole album!!!!!!!!!. Contact: www.theendrecords.com

REVIEW: SANATORIUM - INTERNAL WOMB CANNIBALISM

 

SANATORIUM - INTERNAL WOMB CANNIBALISM (Forensick Music, 2001)

Cover Artwork by Zig

Tracks: 1- Symtoms/Intro, 2- Postmortal Gorephobia, 3- Killing, 4- That Cunt name is Heather, 5- Intravenous Ejaculation, 6- Penis Epidermis Inflammation, 7- the False Prophet, 8- Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, 9- Dunwich Morgue, 10- dead Virgin Whore, 11- Internal Womb Cannibalism, 12- Final Goremageddon - Outro

This is pure brutal death/gore metal that reminded me of early Cannibal Corpse recordings like "Butchered at Birth" or "Tomb of The Mutilated". There are two type of riffs one that are more original like the ones at 1:15 in "Postmortal Gorephobia" and are better cosntructed and others that are full speed runs played over blast beats. Don´t expect subtle things here, this guys have come to crush you with their brutality. The vocals are extremely guttural and there is also a strange vocal effect like some gurgling or something like that which follows some of the rhythms. Tracks like "That Cunts Name is Heather" show all this elements within the same song structure. For death fans. Favorite tracks: "Killing", "Penis Epidermis Inflammation" and "Dead Virgin Whore". Contact: www.forensickmusic.com