REVIEW: SUMMON - FIRE TURNS EVERYTHING...BLACK

 

SUMMON - FIRE TURNS EVERYTHING...BLACK (Blackened Moon Recs., 1996)

Produced by Summon

Tracks: 1- Intro/Blind Shadows of Darkness, 2- Enter Into Eternal Oath, 3- Eve of AntiCreation,4- Praising to a Blackened Moon, 5- Burning Black Desire, 6- Tales of Immortality, 7- Outro: Forest of Dark Spirits

As many of you may know this is Summon´s first album. Summon is a great black metal band whose latest two albums I have reviewed in past months. And here I have in my hands the first ones. They are Classics of the black metal style. This band starts with an intro before getting into their full speed full of hate black metal with really raw guitars. When compared to their other albums this is the one that has the least good sound (despite being all the instruments really clear in the mix). The best thing for me are the guitar riffs which are killer and have a lot of power and desire to crush the listener. This album is a black metal classic along with their next one. A great band full of darkness. Favorite tracks: "Enter Into Eternal Oath", "Tales of Immortality" and "Eve of AntiCreation". Contact: www.blackenedmoon.com

REVIEW: SQUAD FIVE-0 - SQUAD FIVE-0

 

SQUAD FIVE-0 - SQUAD FIVE-0 (Tooth and Nail Recs., 2002)

Produced by Barry Poynter

Artwork by Rose Wind Jerome

Tracks: 1- I don´t want to change the world, I just want to change your mind, 2- Make you a star, 3- Make you dance, 4- Screaming With the Sirens, 5- Piece of the Dream, 6- Underground hearts, 7- The Adolescent Night, 8- Turn It Up, 9- Don´t come Runnin, 10- No Tomorrow, 11- Crystal Coastline, 12- Wasted (With You), 13- Get Away

Dirty rock´n´roll with some interesting punk and Hanoi Rock / L.A.Guns influences. It´s been a lot of time since I listened a band like this one. They play rock and roll with a lot of attitude (specially on the vocals which I liked a lot). The guitar riffs reminded me a lot of what Tracii Guns and company did on their debut album or in "Cocked and Loaded". There are cool solos and a lot of melodies and above all I liked the choruses which are the main point of this songs...it is like you are waiting the chorus to arrive !! Rock´n´roll!! This band rocks!! Favorite tracks: "Screaming With the Sirens", "Turn It Up" and "Wasted (With You)".Contact: www.toothandnail.com

REVIEW: SLICK SHOES - SLICK SHOES

 

SLICK SHOES - SLICK SHOES (Tooth and Nail Recs., 2002)

Produced by Neil King

Tracks: 1- My Ignorance, 2- Pass me By, 3- Friday nite, 4- Ten Ways, 5- Alone, 6- I knew, 7- Remember, 8- So Much More, 9- 1 A.M., 10- No More Words, 11- 1000 Times Before, 12- 151

Melodic punk rock with strong emphasis on the vocals melodies. One thing that I like from this recording is how good the band has achieved the vocal harmonies in the choruses and the bridges of their songs. And the melodies are catchy but they don´t make the listener feel tired like in bands like Rancid or Blink 182 (that is my opinion). Another thing that distinguish this band is the guitar sound that is different from what bands of the style use. And that is really good because the guitar is one of the main ingredients of their music. This is Slick Shoes fourth release and they are getting succesful (they toured a lot in support of their previous album). The album will be on the streets on April 9th. Favorite tracks: "Pass Me By", " So Much More" and "1000 Times Before". Contact: www.toothandnail.com

REVIEW: SIX FEET UNDER - TRUE CARNAGE

 

SIX FEET UNDER - TRUE CARNAGE (Metal Blade, 2001)

Produced by Brian Slagel and Six Feet Under

Recorded at The Factory Criteria Studios

Artwork by Paul Booth

Tracks: 1- Impulse To Disembowel, 2- The Day the Dead Walked, 3- It never Dies, 4- The Murderers, 5- Waiting For Decay, 6- One Bullet left, 7- Knife, Gun, Axe, 8- Snakes, 9- Sick and Twisted, 10- Cadaver Mutilator, 11- Necrosociety

Strangely this CD starts with a mid tempo track. And it is one of the best tracks of the CD...and maybe a good option for Six Feet Under to add more variations to their music. As everybody knows Six Feet Under´s music is pure death metal in the vein of Cannibal Corpse (Chris Barnes previous band). And the music here is brutal and deadly, but it has one problem: there are not much variations and I think that the musicians are good enough to do it better. One of the main problems is Barnes himself who sings very similarly since his first recording with Cannibal Corpse "Eaten Back To Life". Maybe a little variation would do some good to the music. The sound of the recording is really good specially on the killer drumming and on the guitars that are devastating. Favorite tracks: "Impulse to Disembowel", "The Murderers" and "Cadaver Mutilator". Contact: www.metalblade.com

REVIEW: SHADEWORKS - SOOTY LIMBS

 

PRESS RELEASE:

SHADEWORKS - SOOTY LIMBS (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Shadeworks

Recorded at the Shade Studio

Artwork by Gib, Fae and R-NO

Tracks: 1- Sooty Limbs, 2- Blind Healing, 3- Terra, 4- Silky Birds

What a great release. But it left me wanting more songs!!! I want more !! Form beginning to end you have to recognize Mr. Nicolas Arnaud´s talent. He is the only man behind Shadeworks. And he is only helped in this recording by the wonderful female vocals that Mae sings here. The tracks have a lot of great elements: I will make a list: interesting riffs, great melodies, many atmospheres (in fact Arnaud in some places creates melodies with the bass and then the guitar plays a solo or does another melody), good guitar solos and the excellent vocal performance that Mae does in all the recording. There are many atmospheric moments, specially when the vocals are combined with keyboards or some melodic line. One more thing: I want more !!! Favorite tracks: The whole MCD: A lovely ethereal yet heavy release. Contact: anicolas777@lycos.com

REVIEW: SEPULTURA - NATION

 

SEPULTURA - NATION (Roadrunner Recs., 2001)

Produced by Steve Evetts

Recorded at AR Studios, Rio de Janeiro

Artwork by Shepard Fairey

Tracks: 1- Sepulnation, 2- Revolt, 3- Border Wars, 4- One Man Army, 5- Vox Populi, 6- The Ways of Faith, 7- Uma Cura, 8- Who Must Die?, 9- Saga, 10- Tribe To a Nation, 11- Politricks, 12- Human Cause, 13- Reject, 14- Water, 15- Valtio, 16- Bela Lugosi´s Dead, 17- Annihilation, 18- Rise Above, 19- Revolt (demo), 20- Roots Bloody Roots (live)

Here we have Sepultura´s latest offering. This time the Brazilian guys have continued the path started with their previous recording, "Against". That is adding some simpler elements in the songs. And obviously there are Derrick Greene´s vocals which are notoriously different from Max Cavalera´s ones. They have more of a hardcore flavor. The CD has some high points and some not so high (in fact I think that the simpler tracks are not so effective as the other ones and could be from other band different from Sepultura). A step forward but I think they have to recover the spirit of the last three or four albums with Max. Favorite tracks: "The Ways of Faith", "Who Must Die?" and "Reject". Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: SCREAMING AFTERBIRTH - PUKE PILE

 

SCREAMING AFTERBIRTH - PUKE PILE (United Guttural Recs., 2001)

Tracks: 1- Entangled in Entrails, 2- Stump Fucked Piss Flaps, 3- Open Pussy Surgery, 4- Anal Volcano, 5- Completely Stuffed Bitch, 6- Writhing and Contorting, 7- Cottage Cheese Between her Legs, 8- Epidurial Emissions, 9- No Orifice Shall Remain, 10- Mongloid Whore, 11- Puke Pile, 12- Stabbing Faces and Kicking Guts

The Music that Screaming Afterbirth makes can be described as Bestial Death Grind. Yes, it is incredible the wild brutality that this guys have transmitted to this CD. In fact this must have been one of the most brutal releases ever. Fast as hell riffs with blast beats vocals that go from screaming to guttural, then back to screaming. The guitars have been tuned down a lot to make the riffs much more crushing and it really amazes the rhythmic riffs which are like a hammer in your brain. One of the main things here is the amazing drummer who is killer in the blast beats and even has sometime to add some interesting patterns to the guitar riffs while kicking the double bass drums. Extremely brutal !! Favorite tracks: "Writhing and Contorting", "Completely Stuffed Bitch" and "No Orifice Shall Remain". Contact: www.unitedguttural.com

REVIEW: RAIN FELL WITHIN - REFUGE

 

RAIN FELL WITHIN - REFUGE (Dark Symphonies Recs., 2002)

Produced by Rain Fell Within with Ron Vento

Recorded at IQ Studios, Clinton, MD

Artwork by Mike Riddick and Erika Swinnich

Tracks: 1- Torn Apart, 2- In the Knowing of You, 3- The Child Beneath, 4- In My Dreams, 5- Save Your Soul, 6- Winter´s Embrace, 7- Into the Tower, 8- Sirens, 9- Burned Away, 10- Passing Time

How wondeerful can be a female voice?? I don´t know, but I can mention many female vocalists that I really love: Kari Rueslåtten, Tarja Turunen, Erika Swinnich. This women have voices that can be as delicate as cristal and as powerful as a thunder. And Rain Fell Within have two great vocalists: Dawn and Laurie who sing duets in many parts of this CD. Rain Fell Within´s music is played with the heart, brain and soul from this amazing musicians, having a key role the omnipresent Keyboards and the heavy guitars. How heavy can be a band without being brutal? Well, Rain Fell Within is heavy as hell and yet they are extremely subtle with all their dark melodies. The sound of the recording enhances a lot the results. One of the albums of the year !! Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.darksymphonies.com

REVIEW: PREJUDICE - REALITY

 

PREJUDICE - REALITY (Firebreath/T.E. Recs., 2000)

Produced by J.P. and Prejudice

Recorded at Art Sound Studios

Artwork by Kris Verwimp

Tracks: 1- New Breed, 2- Act of Despair, 3- Deformity, 4- Disctated lives, 5- Embrace, 6- Betrayed, 7- In-Vitro, 8- Shadowed Thoughts, 9- Vicious Conduct, 10- Nuclear Malediction, 11- Spheres

Prejudice is one of the best metal bands ever coming out from Belgium....that is for my taste. I really like their brutality and the good sound that this recording has. They have complex riffs and many riffs on each track courtesy of Tuni, a great guitarist who sometimes uses a seven string guitar that adds a lot of bottom end to the riffs. Also there is a killer drummer here whose double bass drumming can be listened really clearly (I liked a lot the way in which the bass drum is mixed). The music is extremely brutal and that does not mean fast. In fact this guys go for extreme brutality without abusing blast beats and things like that (in fact the drummer makes some interesting technical things that make the result better). There are multiple changes in some tracks like on "Embrace", sort of a mix between brutal death metal and free jazz. An excelent release from an excelent band!! Favorite tracks: "Deformity", "Betrayed" and "Nuclear Malediction". Contact: www.prejudice.be

REVIEW: PHILIP GAYLE / RICHARD CHOLAKIAN - HUD PES

 

PHILIP GAYLE / RICHARD CHOLAKIAN - HUD PES (Yabyum Prods., 2000)

Produced by Philip Gayle

Recorded live by Marco Saenz at Aztlan Recordings

Tracks: CD 1: 1- Sick Bones, 2- OK (part 1). CD 2: 1- OK (part 2), 2- Available Jones

Amazing duet improvisations of this two great musicians !! Philip Gayle is joined here by percussion master Richard Cholakian for a serie of duets. Here we hacve in two CDs four extreme and spontaneous tracks. Some called this intuitive music and I think this is a great term top classify the music that Gayle and Cholakian make. It is increedible to see howgood this two guys interact. It seems like there is a mental conection between them. They explore their instruments in all the possible ways. Experimentation at its best. Favorite tracks: "OK" (thius track is the best...is divided in two parts, one on each CD and the total duration is almost 78 minutes)Contact: www.philipgayle.com