REVIEW: THE GLASSPACK - POWDERKEG

 

THE GLASSPACK - POWDERKEG (Small Stone Recs., 2002)

Produced by The Glasspack

Recorded at The Musueum, Louisville

Artwork by Mike Saputo

Tracks: 1- The Glasspack Song, 2- Shut up and Ride, 3- Mrs. Satan, 4- Whiskey House, 5- Sleeping Pills, 6- Mopar Fire Paint, 7- The Heebeegeebees, 8- Back Seat Whore, 9- Demolition Derby, 10- Jjim Bean and Good Green

Woooooww!! How great is the beginning of this CD !! It is a burst of power that starts"The Glasspack Song"....full energy and power on this short instrumental song that is almost an anthem of this band!! The band plays extremely crushing and distorted rock!!! The vocals are strange sounding really dirty and sometimes screaming at the top of the lungs. What I like most is the combination of the guitars and bass sound that make a real wall of sound. And this is the main point that make the songs here so heavy and dense....this sort of sound mix is heavier than hell. But the band has also some more rocking side and they show it to the listener on every track. I feel some Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath influences here and there but the band has its own identity. Lovers of this doom heavy rock style will surely like this one. Favorite tracks: "The Glasspack Song", "Whiskey House", "Demolition Derby". Contact: www.smallstone.com

REVIEW: THE BLAMED - GIVE US BARABBAS

 

THE BLAMED - GIVE US BARABBAS (Tooth and Nail Recs., 2002)

Tracks: 1- The Lonely Zagreb, 2- The Jealous Answer, 3- 1200 Stares, 4- You Not Me, 5- So Depraved, 6- Open Mouth, 7- In Szentendre, 8- Fictionary, 9- Cyclical, 10- Prayer for the Dead, 11- Positive, 12- Instrumental Until We Die, 13- Best in Show

This is a raw punk band with great sound in all the recording. In fact I liked the guitars and bass which add some power to this band that most of the punkish bands out there do not have. The sound is raw and at the same time is modern. This guys do not rely their music exclusively in the seventies. In fact they have a very modern sound and that is much better than just imitating the sound of their icons. The guitars are for me the best here because they give a lot of energy to the band and make their music really wild !!! Favorite tracks: "1200 Stares", "So Depraved" and "Prayer for the Dead". Contact: www.toothandnail.com

REVIEW: TEARABYTE - EMBRACE OBLIVION

 

TEARABYTE - EMBRACE OBLIVION (Screaming Ferret Wreckords, 2002)

Produced by Al Mead and Kevin Mead

Recorded at Intelecon Digital Studios

Artwork by Kevin mead and Lomy Chiv

Tracks: 1- Road Rage, 2- Embrace Oblivion, 3- Strike The Enemy, 4- Tear it up, 5- One More Day, 6- Under the Sand, 7- Lash of the Gash, 8- It´s all a Lie, 9- Price of Evil, 10- Screaming Pig, 11- Pissing Contest, 12- Spear of Destiny, 13- Ring of Fire

This is a band that is extremely heavy. And that doen´t mean that they are extremely fast. In fact they prefer to not abuse the fastest parts and they use a lot of mid paced parts and riffs. The vocals reminded me of Grip Inc´s Gus Chambers, specially on tracks like "Embrace Oblivion". The main thing here are the songs and they are really heavy. But they also have memorable choruses and great solos. There are killer melodies and the riffs are very original on most of the tracks. I would like the band to mix the guitars a little bit louder (so the hihat doesn´t opaque certain frequencies). Great songs !! Again, I think the main point here are the killer riffs that give the band a lot of identity (sometimes they have great thrash metal influences). I recommend this one. Favorite tracks: "Embrace Oblivion", "One More Day" and "Screaming Pig". Contact: www.screamingferret.com

REVIEW: TANGORODRIM - UNHOLY METAL WAY

 

TANGORODRIM - UNHOLY METAL WAY (Aggressor Prods., 2000)

Produced by Tangorodrim

Recorded at Head Lee Studios

Artwork by Akonith

Tracks: 1- Morgoth, 2- Unholy Metal Way, 3- Blind Aggression, 4- Alcoholic Desescration, 5- Palewoods, 6- Bestial Sleep

Tangorodrim is a band that plays a mix between black and death metal with some eighties influences (They have a certain Celtic Frost flavor which I liked a lot). There are six tracks here which have no mercy for the listener. They crush your brain with their killer riffs track after track. I liked very much the drumming which is more than blast beats (even if they use blast beats in some parts like the beginning of "Blind Aggression"). The sound is good but I would have liked the drums a little bit louder (specially the snare drum that is a little bit opaque). The guitars are crushing and make really good riffs (there are certain riffs which are clearly rocking but played with a very low and fat sound like the one in the beginning of "Palewoods". A great album !! The recording is from 1999 so I would like to listen this guys new material. They rule ! Favorite tracks: "Unholy metal Way", "Palewoods" and "Bestial Sleep". Contact: www.aggressorprod.com

REVIEW: SUMMON - DARK DESCENT OF FALLEN SOULS

 

SUMMON - DARK DESCENT OF FALLEN SOULS (Blackened Moon Recs., 1996)

Produced by Summon and Rob Tylah

Artwork by Erich S. Wilkinson

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Dark Descent of Fallen Souls, 3- Eve of Anticreation, 4- Beyond the Gates of Storm, 5- Necromantic Lust, 6- Midtro, 7- Under the Midnight Shadow, 8- Silence of Chaos, 9- Sorrows of Moonless Night, 10- Outro

This is Summon´s second album. After their debut that we have just reviewed they reached new depths of unholiness with this "Dark Descent of Fallen Souls". This album is a great step forward comparing to the previous one. It has better sound and better ideas in the riffs and the tracks. In fact I think that this is the recording where Summon found their own identity mixing their black metal with some death metal and thrash elements that amke the music more interesting. As always Xaphan and Necromodeus are screaming at the top of his lungs adding a barbarish and evil edge to Summon´s music. A black metal classic. Favorite tracks: "Under the Midnight Shadow", "Eve of Anticreation" and "Beyond the Gates of Storm". Contact: www.blackenedmoon.com

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