REVIEW: KOTIPELTO - WAITING FOR THE DAWN

 

KOTIPELTO - WAITING FOR THE DAWN (Century Media Recs. , 2002)

Produced by Timo Kotipelto

Cover by Derek Riggs

Tracks: 1- Intro; 2- Travel Through Time; 3- Beginning; 4- Lord of Eternity; 5- Knowledge and Wisdom; 6- Battle of the Gods; 7- Beauty Has Come; 8- Vizier; 9- Chosen by Re; 10- Waiting for the Dawn; 11- Arise; 12- The Monument of the Nile

Here we have the first solo album by Stratovarius frontman Timo Kotipelto. And here we have many famous musicians helping him on this recording. Jari Kainulainen (Stratovarius) on bass, Michael Rome (Symphony X) on guitars; Roland Grapow (ex Helloween) on guitars; Janne Wirman (Children of Bodom, Warmen) on Keyboards and many more. Here Kotipelto and company have developed a great album with many Stratovarius elements but with really strong songs and a great sound. I like specailly the way in which Kotipelto uses his voice because he has much more variations than many of the top singers of the style. Here we have also acoustic parts where he can sing and make harmonized choruses. If you like Stratovarius you will surely like this CD a lot. Also if you like heavy metal with European sound here you have a great release.

Favorite tracks: "Travel Through Time", "Chosen by Re" and "Arise"

Contact: In Southamerica: www.centurymedia.com . In Europe: www.centurymedia.de

REVIEW: KATAGORY V - PRESENT DAY

 

KATAGORY V - PRESENT DAY ( Independent, 2001)

Produced by Curtis Morrell and Katagory V

Recorded at Streamline Sound

Cover by Chris Maggio

Tracks: 1- I live On; 2- Evil Princess; 3- The Call of Midnight; 4- The Beginning of our End; 5- Steel Dungeon; 6- Morning Light; 7- The Forsaken; 8- Negative Attraction; 9- Present Day; 10- One Second Warning

Katagory V plays pure heavy metal and they have achieved their own identity while doing this. I can feel some speed metal and thrash metal influences (specially in the vocals and vocal harmonization which I liked a lot) well mixed here with classic heavy metal in order to obtain Katagory V´s own sound. And that is what is special here....while most of the bands try to copy a certain band that is more famous, Katagory V prefers to develope their own identity and play it heavier than most of this bands. I like a lot the guitar players here which are really technical and do many solos (I would like more solos !!!) and amazingly heavy riffs such as the ones in "I Live On" (this track is really powerful and deserves to be a classic metal track in the future). Here we have many changes on each track and an excellent sound that makes the results better and more clear. Katagory V rules!!!

Favorite tracks: "I Live On"; "The Call of Midnight" and "Morning Light"

Contact: www.katagory5.com

REVIEWS: KAOS RISING - WELCOME TO THE VIOLENCE

 

KAOS RISING - WELCOME TO THE VIOLENCE (Independent , 2002)

Produced by Kaos Rising

I have reviewed previously the demo from this powerful band called "Wiped Away" and I have to say that they have progressed a lot since then. First of all the sound is much better on this, their debut full length album. Their music is extremely powerful and instead of using hyper fast riffs to achieve this they use a lot of rhythmic ones which gives us a much more brutal result. From the first explosion of sound in "" we get into a nigtmare of ultraheavy riffs with amazing drum rhythms that takes us into a world of pure heaviness and brutality. This is a ten track CD designed to blow your brain into pieces with brutality. Kaos Rising rules in the brutal music world !!

Favorite tracks: Tracks number 5, 8 and 9

Contact: www.kaosrising.com

REVIEW: JOHN RUSSELL - FROM NEXT TO LAST

 

JOHN RUSSELL - FROM NEXT TO LAST (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced by Martin Davidson

Recorded by Martin Davidson

Cover by Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Jambridge; 2- Back Seat Witch; 3- Truckinge; 4- Psiotic; 5- Bye; 6- Mopomoso 2002

This CD presents us some improvised acoustic guitar solos from guitar master John Russell. The recordings here are from December 2001 to February 2002 and are a showcase of spontaneity in Russell´s playing. Here Russell shows us many different aspects of his musicl personality: from the softer side in many places of " Jambridge" to the more frenetic one in places of "Truckinge". This man knows how to extract millions of different sounds from his guitar : from noises, to soundsthat are almost imposible to discern and to melodies that are really dissonant. The last track, "Mopomoso 2002" is from a concert where Rusell improvised his music and you can listen how does his music changes in different environments (the first tracks where recorded at Martin Davidson´s house). This is an album with plenty of improvisation and experimentation.

Favorite tracks: "Mopomoso 2002"; "Truckinge" and "Jambridge"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: JACK FROST - SELF ABUSING UGLYSEX UNGOD

 

JACK FROST - SELF ABUSING UGLYSEX UNGOD (W.A.B.Recs. , 2002)

Produced by Boban Milunovic

Recorded at Boom Room Studios

Tracks: 1- Mother Mary Sleeps With Me; 2- One Hundred Percent Pain; 3- Unseen Insane I; 4- The Dance; 5- Some You; 6- Last Monday; 7 It All Means Nothing To Me; 8- El Funeral del Dictator

Here we have Jack Frost´s latest offering and I must say that is an excellent album that shows us all the elments that are main features of this band´s music. Here we have the dense guitar riffs combined with one guitar melodies in the vein of "Icon" era Paradise Lost. The music is incredibly darka nd full of deppressive melodies that fill all the tracks. Darkness arise on each of the songs contained here, specially when the depressive vocals enter. The recording has a really good sound that makes the music very direct and very effective when transmiting the feelings to the listener. Jack Forst are very tight as a band and that is shown through all the tracks on this recording. I think that fans of dark music with a big metal sound will be delighted by this CD.

Favorite tracks: "Mother Mary Sleeps With Me"; "The Dance" and "Some You"

Contact: www.wabrecords.org

REVIEW: INTERNAL SUFFERING - CHAOTIC MATRIX

 

INTERNAL SUFFERING - CHAOTIC MATRIX (DispleasedRecs. , 200)

Recorded at Sirio Productions Studios

Cover by Sho

Tracks: 1- Intro; 2- Chaotic Matrix; 3- Colossal Vortex; 4- Lurking Monstrosity; 5- Cosmic Ancient Mountain; 6- Reborn in Victory; 7- Cataclysmic Origin; 8- Vatican Bombardment; 9- Destroyer Entity; 10- The Antiquary Horror; 11- Decapitation of the Weak

Speed and brutality are the two main ingredients here. Here you have this guys hailing from Colombia and playing the most hyperfast death/grind. The vocals are extremely guttural as in grindcore bands and there are different types of them. The guitars play interesting riffs that are more in the death metal vein while the drummer makes blast beats in many places (there are places where he seems a drum machine playing hyper fast double bass patterns with a really tight sound). This guys really devastate the listener in the faster parts having no mercy through all the recording. One thing that I would like them to change is some effects that they use in the vocals which makes them less clear and I think that beeing clearer they will gain a lot in brutality. Internal Suffering is brutality guaranteed for the listener.

Favorite tracks: "Colossal Vortex", "Reborn in Victory" and "The Antiquary Horror"

Contact: www.displeasedrecords.nl

REVIEW: ILLOGICIST - POLYMORPHISM OF DEATH

 

ILLOGICIST - POLYMORPHISM OF DEATH (Independent , 2002)

Produced by Illogicist

Recorded in Nov. 2001

Tracks: 1- Warped, 2- Visions of Decay; 3- Grimaces

Illogicist is a death metal band from Italia. And they play really good death metal with certain thrash elements in their riffs. Also there are some influences from old school death metal which I think fits this band perfectly. The rhythms are really fast and they are devastating for the listener . Combined with the deathly vocals here we have a really powerful band. The sound of the three tracks contained here is really good despite being an independent production. Also the drummer is a deadly machine, specially when he enters in the faster parts with the ride cymbal or when he uses a lot the hihat making the songs even heavier. Check this underground act, I think we will know more from them in the future.

Favorite tracks: The three tracks are really good

Contact: www.illogicist.com

REVIEW: HOLY MOSES - DISORDER OF THE ORDER

 

HOLY MOSES - DISORDER OF THE ORDER (Century Media Recs. , 2002)

Produced by Andy Classen

Recorded at Stage One Studio

Cover by Stephan Hagenow

Tracks: 1- Intro; 2- We Are At War; 3- Disorder of the Order; 4- Break the Evil; 5- Deeper; 6- Hell on Earth; 7- I Bleed, 8- Blood Bond; 9- 1.000 Lies, 10- Princess of Hell; 11- Verfolgungswahn; 12- Heaven vs. Hell

Here is Holy Moses new album!!!! After last year´s "Master of Disaster" MCD which marked the return of Sabinna Classen´s band to the arena !! Now we have this "Disorder of the Order" With twelve brutal tracks with many ideas going on through each of the songs this another Holy Moses masterpiece ("the track "Disorder of the Order" is a new classic!!). This new era of Holy Moses has an interesting change in the guitar sound that has become more brutal. Sabina´s vocals are as brutal as ever and this time he changes it a lot through all the track (in some of them she seems to be in real pain and in anothers she is full of anger and hate !!!). I liked a lot Julien Schmidt´s work on drums which is really brutal and has a great sound through all the recording. Also a welcome addition is Andreas Libera on bass who supports in a great way the bottom end sound of the band. A devastating release from this crushing band !!!

Favorite tracks: All this CD is an extreme experience of brutality. One of the records of the month.

Contact: www.holymoses.de or in Southamerica www.centurymedia.com in Europe www.centurymedia.de

REVIEW: HIDDEN - SPECTRAL MAGNITUDE

 

HIDDEN - SPECTRAL MAGNITUDE (Red Stream Recs. , 2002)

Produced by Hidden

Tracks: 1- Hidden (Unknown and Nameless); 2- Formation of the Universe; 3- Ice Crust of Wek; 4- Geochemical primates; 5-Time As Eternity IN the Cosmos; 6- A Bounded Span of Time; 7- Macronucleus Chromosome; 8- Spectral Magnitude; 9- Supercluster

Here we have a band with a lot of changes (each tracks is completely different from the other going from extremely fast death metal to slower and calm passages almost doom in some places). Hidden seems to be obsessed with outer space as they show it on the lyrics of this CD and in all the artwork contained on the booklet. The guitars are complex and play from faster one note riffs to clean arpeggios that are the key feature on this CD and construct the different atmospheres that the listener can feel within each of the songs. The singer is brutal and gives a deathly feeling to all the songs with his screaming and whispering vocals. The mix is a little bit low for my taste and I think that this guys should mix the guitars a little bit louder and have the snare drum sound a little bit more fat in order to achieve a better result. The rhythm part of the band is really solid and helps the rest of the band to develope their style which is a great combination of brutality and good arrangements.

Favorite tracks: All the CD is amazing because of the change of atmospheres and feelings.

Contact: www.redstream.org

REVIEW: HELLION COLLECTION VOL. 3

 

HELLION COLLECTION VOL. 3 (Hellion Recs. , 2002)

Produced by Hellion Recs.

Tracks: CD1: 1- ENSLAVEMENT OF BEAUTY - Dainty Delusive Doll; 2- SINS OF THY BELOVED - Forever; 3- THRESHOLD - Light and Space; 4- ERIK NORLANDER - Rome is Burning; 5- SEVENTH KEY - Only the Brave; 6- REPTILIAN - Steel of the Dagger; 7- HELLOISE - Children of the Night; 8- RING OF FIRE - Face the Fire; 9- NIGHTMARE - Cosmovision; 10- AKASHIC - The Fire of Temptation; 11- BEFORE EDEN - Fallen Angel; 12- STEEL WARRIOR - Your Majesty´s Return; 13- INSANIA - The Right to Be Free; 14- SKYCLAD - The Wickest Man in the World; 15- DARK FUNERAL - The Arrival of Satan´s Empire

CD 2: AFTER FOREVER - Ex Cathedra; 2- AFTER FOREVER - Monolith of Death; 3- LACRIMOSA - Liebespiel; 4- WITHIN TEMPTATION - Ice Queen; 5- LOVE LIKE BLOOD - Injustice; 6- LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE - Morning...Grey; 7- CENTURY - Lost; 8- LANA LANE - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; 9- CHANDEEN - Ginger; 10- AMBEON - Ashes; 11- RPWL - Cymbaline; 12- EVERON - Fine With ME; 13- ALEX MASI - Blue Morning Blue Day; 14- SYRENS CALL - Storm; 15- EDENBRIDGE - Starlight Reverie; 16- TRISTANIA - The Modern End

CD 3: Video tracks: 1- PAIN OF SALVATION - Ashes ; 2-THEATRE OF TRAGEDY - Cassandra (live)

Here we have a compilation that is composed of three CDs...two of them are full with audio tracks from amny differnt bands and the third one has two videos. I like the way this compilation is done because they have chosen bands from many different styles going from power / heavy metal as Helloise or Steel Warrior, to more symphonic artists like Erik Norlander or Lana Lane, also balck metal with bands like Dark Funeral and Enslavement of Beauty and gothic like Century or Chandeen. Tyhe overall result is really good and I think it is a good sample of the catalog that Hellion Record has. If you want to have a taste of which is the sound of each of the bands mentioned above then I strongly recommend tcompilation.

Favorite Bands here: Sins of Thy Beloved, After Forever, Tristania, Dark Funeral, Lacrimas Profundere, Within Temptation, Erik Norlander, Century, Chandeen, Pain of Salvation

Contact: www.hellionrecords.com