REVIEW: NASTY HABITS LIVE ON 88.9 WERS

 

NASTY HABITS LIVE ON 88.9 WERS (Corrosive Recordings, 2002)

Produced by Eric Fernald and Matt O´Dette

Recorded Live at Wers, Boston

Bands: 1-Haste, 2- Origins, 3- Eighteen Visions, 4- Shadows Fall, 5- Knut, 6- Cephalic Carnage, 7- Unearth, 8- God Forbid, 9- Poison the Well, 10- All that Remains, 11- Candiria, 12- Killswitch Engage, 13- The Dillinger Escape Plan

This is a must for every fan or collector of the bands mentioned above: here there are tracks that were recorded live at 88.9 WERS studios in Boston. This thirteen tracks were recorded live and they show us the energy that this bands are capable of developing on a live situation. In fact all the songs here sound more powerful than in their respective studio versions. Here you have thirteen great bands from the heaviest styles in the world. My absolute favorite here is Candiria because I like the many changes that their music have and the technical skills that this guys have. Also I loved the God Forbid track where they show their powerful modern death metal in an extremely raw way. Bands like Knut, Cephalic Carnage or Unearth will cruysh your brain with their powerful music. I hope the guys from WERS will continue releasing this compilations of the bands that play in their Studios because they are essential for any metal fan

Favorite tracks: Candiria - "Mathematics"; God Forbid "Amendment" and Eighteen Visions "She´s a Movie produced masterpiece".

Contact: www.wers.org

REVIEW: NARGAROTH - RASLUKA PART II

 

NARGAROTH - RASLUKA PART II (No Colours Recs., 2002)

Tracks: 1- Introduction...IN Stillem Gedenken; 2- Und Ich Sahe die Sonn nimmer heben; 3- Abschiedsbrief des Prometheus; 4- ...Vom Freien Willen eines Schwarzen Einhorns

Extremely raw black metal (because of the guitar sound that is really distorted, almost industrial) but yet melodic (incredible riffs with a lot of melodies). The main thing here are the atmospheres created by the guitars that contrast a lot with the screaming vocals that are typical of black metal bands. The sound is a little bit muddy but I think that this can be a little better by mixing everything a little bit louder. The fierst track is an intro that creates a dark environment in which the other three tracks are developed. There are some interesting rhythm changes, for example in the third track....in which the change is not abrupt but a progression from the original rhythm accelerated a little bit. This band is great for lovers of raw black metal with melodies.

Favorite tracks: "Und Ich Sahe die Sonn Nimmer Heben"; "Abschiedsbrief des Prometheus".

Contact: www.no-colours-records.de

REVIEW: MYTILE VEY LORTH - MYTILE VEY LORTH

 

MYTILE VEY LORTH - MYTILE VEY LORTH (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Mytile Vey Lorth

Recorded by Living Rhythym Studios

Artwork by Sharron

Tracks: 1- Visions, 2- Journey of the Demon, 3- Emotional Suicide, 4- Betrayed and Taken, 5- Beyond the Bitter Mists, 6- Burnt Waters

What a good album !!! Mytile Vey Lorth´s music goes from death to black metal to orchestral to doom all within the same track and that makes this band extremely interesting to listen to. Particularly I liked the heavy parts with Lily Davis melodic vocals because they were unexpected (usually the female singer of a black/death band sings only in the calm parts). It is really interesting that despite having many changes in the tracks the band manages to create a really coherent structure going from fast to calm, from raw to orchestrated within a few seconds. I would use a little bit more the bottom end range of the guitars and would have mixed a little bit louder the bass to have a more devastating sound (but this have the problem that some frequencies cancel one with each other so it can be very difficult to achieve). An essential band from Australia. This guys deserve to be in the top of death/black metal scene.

Favorite tracks: the five contained here, but I want more!!!!!

Contact: www.mytileveylorth.com

REVIEW: MISTWEAVER - DREAM´S DOMAIN

 

MISTWEAVER - DREAM´S DOMAIN (Medusa Prods./Dragon Design, 2001)

Produced by Mistweaver, Angel Redondo and Xavi Varela

Recorded at Talastudios

Artwork by Mike Schindler of Dragon Design

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- ...And A child Shall Lead Them; 3- A Withered Rose For the Dead in Sin; 4- the Call, 5- Ritual of Death, 6- The Night is My Guide, 7- Dream´s Domain, 8- The End is Near; 9- Into the Lake of the Burning Sulphur

Amazing band from Spain in the melodic death metal style ( some influences of early Tiamat) with extremely heavy riffs and arrangements combined with keyboards. This guys have excellent guitar riffs (they are somewhat twisted combined with the drums and the keyboards changing the structure of some of the tracks). The guitarists know how to develope excellent guitar melodies to make things more complex and interesting. The guttural vocals are a really great contrast to the more melodic background (there is plenty of keyboards for those like me who love the sound of keys clashing against heavier than hell guitars). A great surprise is the track "The Call" which is an acoustic, almost medieval piece with keyboards and flute over an acoustic guitar and the female vocals of guest musician Begoña. This track gives a little rest before getting back in full shape with the great "Ritual of Death". Killer release.

Favorite tracks: "..:And a Child Shall Lead Them"; "The Call" and "Ritual of Death".

Contact: www.dragondesign666.de

REVIEW: MALKAVIAN - DEMO 2002

 

MALKAVIAN - DEMO 2002 (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Malkavian

Recorded by Malkavian

Artwork by Sbodoz and Kura

Tracks: 1- Sunburnt, 2- Grabbed By the Neck, 3- Ira, 4- Vampires, 5- Epilogue/ Alba, 6- U, 7- The Human Basher

Malkavian is a brutal grind/death band !! Through the seven tracks contained here you will find extreme speed and brutality, guttural vocals, hyper fast blast beats and everything that you can call extreme !!! The sound , even a bit muddy, is surprisingly good (the recording was done in a four track portastudio) . Tracks like "Grabbed by the Neck" have parts that are not so extremely fast and that I feel are one of the best things in Malkavian´s music. Check for example the rhythm at 0:24 of "Ira" that goes immediately to a slower more crushing style riff until the end of the track to see the variations in speed that this band can do. The seven tracks contained here are short and the whole CD lasts fifteen minutes. If you like extreme grind with many interesting ideas, then check Malkavian.

Favorite tracks: "Vampires", "Ira" and "The Human Basher".

Contact: www.malkaviangrind.cjb.net

REVIEW: MAGGIE NICOLS / CAROLINE KRAABEL / CHARLOTTE HUG - TRANSITIONS

 

MAGGIE NICOLS / CAROLINE KRAABEL / CHARLOTTE HUG - TRANSITIONS (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced by Martin Davidson

Recorded by Martin Davidson - London June 4, 2001

Artwork by Martin Davidson, Charlotte Hug and Caroline Kraabel

Tracks: 1- Undercurrents (For Paddy Ben Pan), 2- Lullaby For Clement; 3- Broken Bridges, 4- No Now, 5- Hymn Indoors, 6- Coming Out, 7- Up To Earth

This is a trio consisting in Maggie Niccols in voice (who also tap dances in the live presentations), Caroline Kraabel on alto saxophone and voice and Charlotte Hug on viola. The music here is completely experimental and improvisational with complete open mind by this great trio of musicians. The main thing here is the contrast that the three instruments (voice, sax and viola) create in the listener ears. It is easy to identify who is playing each part and how well the three interact. Nicols, Kraabel and Hug doesn´t use any conventional structure to create their music, I think that the music flows free from their imagination, going from the more melodic to the chaotic in the same track. If you are capable of listening music with a completely open mind for something that is innovative then you can check this one.

Favorite tracks: "Lullaby for Clement"; "Hymn Indoors" and "Up To Earth".

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: MACHETAZO - TRONO DE HUESOS

 

MACHETAZO - TRONO DE HUESOS (Razorback Recs., 2002)

Produced by Machetazo and Paco Liaño

Recorded at Estudio Treboada

Artwork by Nor Prego, Venagruesa Prods.

Tracks: 1- Banquete Funerario, 2- Garrote Vil, 3- Enterradas en el jardin, 4- Un vestido de Pellejo Humano, 5- Purificación a Través del Dolor; 6- La Flema; 7- Engendro, 8- Trono de huesos; 9- Bolsas con Sangre, 10- Yo Fui un Canibal Adolescente; 11- Lepra; 12- Ataque Simio, 13- Ace of Spades; 14- Los Cuentos del muñón Gangrenoso III

Here is the latest album from this cult death/grind band directly from Spain. The music is extremely brutal but despite this brutality we can feel some thrash influences (check for example the first track "Banquete Funerario" to listen some of the riffs and drum beats). The guitar riffs are always fast as hell and in some places they are more rhythmic (usually when the drums start playing a slower rhythm) There are a lot of blast beats and guttural vocals making this one of the most brutal releases of the year. The sound of the recording is really good one, specially concerning the drums that are recorded clearly and loud (as it should be). Also, the vocals are guttural but at the same time clearly (I mean that you can discern what the lyrics are about, specially if you speak spanish). As I said before....one of the most brutal releases of the year !!!

Favorite tracks: "Enterradas en el Jardin"; "Purificación a Través del Dolor" y "Trono de Huesos".

Contact: www.razorbackrecords.com

REVIEW: LUNATIC GODS - THE WILDERNESS

 

LUNATIC GODS - THE WILDERNESS (Shindy Prods, 2001)

Produced by Hirax and Lunatic Gods

Recorded in Studio Exponent, Sulekovo

Artwork by Milan Hrabovsky

Tracks: 1- Curse, 2- Tormenting World; 3- Fallen Beauty; 4- Doomsday; 5- Battlefield of Life; 6- Dance of Salome; 7- Stone; 8- Mystic Way; 9- Bemidbar I; 10- The Wilderness; 11- Bemidbar II

In one of the first issues of Music Extreme I reviewed both previous Lunatic Gods releases. Since then I was waiting their new release. Now, after some lineup changes here they are again. Their complex style is here again (this time even with more arrangements on the songs), and they have two improvements: one, the sound which is much better (the keyboards sound bigger and so do the drums and the guitars) and the second ones is that they have complemented their technical skills with a more aggressive approach which I like a lot. The vocals are great Horar and Emil are like day and night vocally speaking and they complement very well one with the other (there are interesting contrasts between the more guttural vocals and the more melodic ones). There are a lot of clean guitars parts that work really well with the keyboard progressions and melodies in ordeer to create new sides to lunatic Gods music. This is one step forward from this amazingly great band.

Favorite tracks: "Tormenting World"; "Battlefield of Life" and "Mystic Way".

Contact: www.shindy.cz or www.lunaticgods.sk

REVIEW: LORD WIND - RITES OF THE VALKYRIES

 

LORD WIND - RITES OF THE VALKYRIES (No Colours Recs., 2002)

Produced by Darkens

Tracks: 1- Winged Helmets; 2- the Ancient Beginnings; 3- Prophecy of the Norns; 4- Father of Wisdom; 5-Atlantean Monument; 6- Rhinemaidens Lamentation; 7- Dance of War; 8- Horn of Summoning

Lord Wins id a project of Darkens from the almighty black metal band Graveland. But the music here is completely different from this band. In fact here we have climatic orchestral pieces with big influence from nordic music. In fact listening to this CD is like walking in an ancient dark forest full of pagan myths and beings. The compositions have a great feeling with those chants that can be listened almost through all the CD and the combination of ancient sounds with this keyboard melodies. There is a lot of use of minor tonalities in the tracks and that makes the feeling of the music contained here darker or more sad. This is great music to listen with your eyes wide shut and I think it would be a great soundtrack for some ancient-times movie. One of the recordings of the month.

Favorite tracks: The whole CD. I liked a lot the compositions. This music and orchestration showcases the skills that Darkens has .

Contact: www.no-colours-records.de

REVIEW: LOL COXHILL - SPECTRAL SOPRANO

 

LOL COXHILL - SPECTRAL SOPRANO (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced by Steve Beresford

Mastered by Dave hunt

Artwork by Monkey Design

Tracks: CDI : 1-Autumn in New York; 2- bad Boy; 3- Strictly legal; 4- Vermilion Sands; 5- Not the North; 6- Three go To letchworth; 7- Embraceable You/Quasimodo; 8- Union Dues; 9- Turned Out Nice Again; 10- Happy Birthday Bob Cobbins; 11- I Thought About You; 12- Aquaslide; 13- Experiments With temperature; 14- Two Out of Three; 15- Messin With the Man;

CD 2: 1- Abrief Introduction To Sax; 2- Magic Buffalo; 3- Uptown Top Ranking; 4- Perdido; 5- Out of Nowhere; 6- Brits Abroad; 7- Tourism in Crisis; 8- Verstehen und Sprechen; 9- Murder In The Air; 10- Sweet Hawaiian Kisses; 11- Victory Walk; 12- C.A.K.; 13- Resonance; 14- Introduction to the Orchestra

Here is Lol Coxhill´s latest offer. This is a compilation of Impriovisations that this great musician did with his sax (his main instrument) and other musical instruments like piano. The music here goes from jazz, to ambient , to sponteneous, to electronic. It is interesting too to see the big quantity of musicians that have worked with Coxhill through all the years helping him to develope differnt sides of his musical personality. The music contained on this two CDs is of esentiall listning for every musician who wants to know something about improvisation. Coxhill can do from hyper fast sax lines to sustained notes, to shrieaking sounds in order to develope the idea that he has in his mind. It is great to see that this superb musician has always a new desire to explore and break boundaries. A must.

Favorite tracks: All. This two CDs show us why this superb musician is a master of experimental and improvisational music.

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com