REVIEW: THE KNUTS - PALAST DER WINDE

THE KNUTS - PALAST DER WINDE (Independent , 2000)

Produced by The Knuts

Cover Art by Alexander Görisch

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Die Mutter aus Kalkutta, 3- Popo-Club, 4- Geschwitzt, geschlitzt, gespritzt, 5- Palast Der Winde, 6- Summer of (66) 69, 7- Da ist was faul...Johannes Paul, 8- Hacken Bis Zum Abkacken, 9- Bodo Tanzt Den Pickelnascher, 10-Daddy Cool, 11- Die Teppichmilbe, 12- Der Bauer und das Liebe Vieh, 13- Du stinkst, aber Ich Liebe Dich, 14- Der Einsame Angler am Sumpfe Der Menschwerdung, 15- Land Der Liebe 2000, 16- Ballade of Rosi S., 17- Eine Neue Leber ist Wie Ein Neues Leben

Looking at the cover you don´t give much for this guys music. But listening to the CD is completely different. That is death metal with a lot of hardcore touches and interesting guitar riffs with many great melodies like in the song "Popo-Club" (so, don´t get fooled by the cover of this CD). The music here is powerful and raw with great work by the guitarists who work really well and develope the songs along with the drummer who does a lot of double bass drumming and also hits a lot his cymbals in order to add more heaviness to the tracks. The singer is in the vein of Sodom´s Tom Angel Ripper but a little bit more deathly. Tracks like "Geschwitzt..." are pure energy and almost grind in some parts (there are some really short tracks with grind bits). A really multiphacetic band full of power.

Favorite tracks: "Popo-club", "Der Bauer und Das Liebe Vieh" and "Eine Neue Leber ist Wie Ein Neues Leben"

Contact: theknuts@web.de

REVIEW: SYSTEM OF A DOWN - TOXICITY

 

SYSTEM OF A DOWN - TOXICITY (American Records, 2001)

Produced by Rick Rubin and Daron Malakian

Recorded at Cello Studios

Cover Art by Mark Wakefield

Tracks: 1- Prison Song, 2- Needles, 3- Deer Dance, 4- Jet Pilot, 5- X, 6- Chop Suey!, 7- Bounce, 8- Forest, 9- Atwa, 10- Science, 11- Shimmy, 12- Toxicity, 13- Psycho, 14- Aerials

Here we have this band that is a sensation in the metal world and here you understand why. In a world full of Korn´s clones and bad copies and power metal repetitive bands here we have a band that is original and really powerful at the same time. Here we have Daron´s guitars that are crushing and at the same time melodic in many places, then you have the amazing Serj Tankian´s vocals which are the heart and soul of System of a Down´s music adding a lot of interesting melodies to the powerful music. Surely you have seen the "Chop Suey!" or "Aerials" video on MTV and many places. Well, here you have fourteen tracks in a similar vein.

Favorite tracks: "Aerials", "Needles" and "Bounce"

REVIEW: SPIRITUAL - ICELAND

SPIRITUAL - ICELAND (SS Productions, 2002)

Produced by Spiritual

Cover Art by Spiritual

Tracks: 1- When The Moon Shines, 2- Mistica Atmosfera, 3- Within Eons of Darkness, 4- From My Soul..., 5- Travel of the Dreamkeeper, 6- Lost Kingdom of Mag Rein, 7- Nocturnal Sea

Here we have this black metal band with interesting instrumental passages. The CD starts in a typicl black metal style with fast and furious riffs and screaming vocals, and then it surprises you with an instrumental track full of keyboards, then you have a lot of black metal again and then comes "Travel of the Dreemkeeper" which is an instrumental with acoustic guitars. I like a lot how this guys use really raw guitars and dark and melancholic keyboards progressions in tracks like "Lost Kingdom of Mag Rein" with a short keyboard interludes that continues in a fast part with interesting drumbeats. This guys have a lot of ideas and put them on each of the tracks that are here. And I like this because it gives a lot of originality to the band. Original black metal for lovers of the dark side !!

Favorite tracks: "When The Moon Shines", "Within Eons of Darkness" and "Travel of the Dreemkeeper"

Contact:

SS Productions c/o Berto Mattia

Via Fossalta, 86

35026 Conselve

ITALY

REVIEW: SPIRIT CORPSE - LOVE IS A GRAVE

SPIRIT CORPSE - LOVE IS A GRAVE (STF Records, 2002)

Produced by Spirit Corpse

Recorded at DocMaKlang Studios

Cover Art by Sorsha Fauré

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- The Prophet, 3- Black Angel, 4- Funke der Lüge, 5- Inferno, 6- Alice, 7- Love is a grave, 8- Herrscher der Lüfte, 9- Spirit Corpse, 10- Outro

This guys are really weird....after a long introduction with keyboards and orchestration comes the first track "The Prophet". I expected a straightforwar death metal band and I was wrong because they start with sort of a heavy rock riff and start a rocking song. Then comes the next song which is a great mix of death metal vocals and heavy metal (check the epic chorus !!!) with keybaords parts !!. They call their style Zombie metal!!! The great thing about Spirit Corpse is that you never know what to expect from them. They change easily from song to song....going from melancholic tracks like "Funke der Lüge" (in this track they play a clean guitar solo over a heavy guitar riff that sounds amazing) to more brutal ones like "Inferno". If you like bands that mix a lot of styles with originality always witha lot of power then you should check Spirit Corpse.

Favorite tracks: "Black Angel", "Alice" and "Spirit Corpse"

Contact: www.spirit-corpse.de or www.stf-records.de

REVIEW: SOLAR DAWN - EQUINOCTIUM

 

SOLAR DAWN - EQUINOCTIUM (Mighty Music, 2002)

Produced by Tommy Tägtgren

Recorded at Abyss Studios

Tracks: 1- Deicidal Beliefs, 2- Punished By Silence, 3- Spellbinder, 4- Deep in Mourning, 5- Artistic Blasphemy, 6- Vulturous Need, 7- Broken-winged, 8- Autumns.

This is one of the best CDs I have listened in a while. The perfect mix of melody and brutality (all of this multiplied by the great production by the amazing Tommy Tägtgren). I read that Solar Dawn make a well balanced mixture of death, thrash and heavy metal and I think this is the best way to describe their music. The vocals of death metal, along with some of the furious and fast riffs of the style, then some guitar riffs and breaks in the thrash metal style and then they add a lot fo guitar melodies and clean vocals in a more heavy metal vein ( a great combination of brutal and clean vocals are essential in Solar Dawn´s music). The guitar sound is extremely brutal and along with the excellent drummer they achieve this great recording that every metal fan should listen.

Favorite tracks: All the CD....perfect combination of aggressive and melodic side

Contact: www.mightymusic.dk

REVIEW: SMIRNOFF - INHUMAN TORTURE

SMIRNOFF - INHUMAN TORTURE (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Smirnoff

Cover Art by Smirnoff

Tracks: 1- Inhuman Torture, 2- Lionels Passion (Braindead Part II), 3- Airplane Accidents, 4- If you Survive, 5- The Agony of Dying, 6- Warriors of Metal

The guys in Smirnoff have achieved a lot of brutality on this recording. Full speed and brutal riffs are all over this recording. This guys have made one of the top underground brutal releases of the year. Labels who release brutal bands music check this guys !! Thir music is simply devastating and I lie a lot the riffs in the style of "Airplane Accident" (0:58) really rhythmic and brutal at the same time followed by a frantic guitar solo. The vocals are really guttural as this style demands and they make a lot of screaming and brutal shouts in certain parts like on rhythm changes adding a lot of heaviness to the tracks here. This is brutality at a top level!!

Favorite tracks: "Inhuman Torture", "Lionel´s Passion" and "If you Survive"

Contact: www.smirnoff-metal.de.lv

REVIEW: SINPHONIA - WHEN THE TIDE BREAKS

SINPHONIA - WHEN THE TIDE BREAKS (Lucretia Records, 2000)

Produced by Kristian Gislason, Morten Uldbæk, Brian Søgaard Jespersen and Sinphonia

Recorded at Birdland Sound Facilities

Cover Art by Martin The Madman

Tracks: 1- Medusa, 2- Lost, 3- Moonstruck, 4- Blear The Hideous, 5- Beyond the Clouds, 6- Path of Life, 7- Adyssey, 8- Now and Forever

The music here is powerful and combined with certain melodies reminds me a little bit of certain The Gathering but Sinphonia is completely different prefering to add a lot of heaviness and more darkness to their music: Monika´s vocals are extremely melodic and add a lot of personality to the band because she has a special type of voice and she knows how to combine it perfectly with the music that the rest of the band does. Also I have to remark the great contrast between the technical heavy guitar riffs and the keybopards which are fundmanetal to create Sinphonia´s music. This guys have a lot of technical skills that they use to create the songs and they achieve great results. This is a must for any metal fan.

Favorite tracks: All the CD is magnificent.

Contact: www.lucretiarecords.com

REVIEW: SILENTIUM - INFINITA PLANGO VULNERA

 

SILENTIUM - INFINITA PLANGO VULNERA (Spikefarm Records, 1999)

Recorded at Studio Watercastle

Cover Art by Janne Matti Nurminen

Tracks: 1- Solicitude, 2- Forever Sleep, 3- Redemption, 4- Autumn Heart, 5- Whatever The Pain, 6- Maiden of the Forest, 7-Requiem, 8- With Blood Adorned, 9- At the Dawn of Wept, 10- Solicitude

Silentium is a band from Finland and they play extremely melancholic music with heavy guitars and a lot of melodic arrangements. This guys have reached a perfect balance between power and melody. The arrangements here are complex and they use heavily thekeyboards in order to achieve the harmonies that they want. The music on this CD has been mixed in the Finnvox Studios and you can feel that in the quality that the sound has letting us hear every arrangement that this band makes, letting as listen the beauty of Tiina´s vocals in all its splendour and letting us listen all the melodies perfectly. This is a must for people who love this kind of metal.

Favorite tracks: "Autumn Heart", "Redemption" and "With Blood Adorned"

Contact: www.spinefarm.fi

REVIEW: SHADOWS FX - SHADOWS FX

 

SHADOWS FX - SHADOWS FX (Impact Records, 2001)

Produced by Luiz Silva and Ricardo Mattos

Recorded at M&C Studios

Cover Art by Henrique Oliveri

Tracks: 1- They Dig my Grave, 2- Blood Street, 3- Tomorrow´s Desolation, 4- Finis Glori Mundi, 5- Death Penalty, 6- Death Lament, 7- War Feelings

This is a brazilian death thrash metal band whose music has a lot of aggression and melodies in the vein of some Scandinavian bands. But Shadows FX has achieved their own identity by adding a raw sound to their music. The tracks on this CD are dripping energy and brutality but interesting mixed with guitar melodies that make A lot of atmospheres and moods in the tracks. Another thing which I liked are the guitar solos that are technical and prefer adding melodic phrases than being hyper fast and demential. This brazilian band has also made a really beautiful instrumental in the vein of bands like Testament that is called "Finis Glori Mundi" and shows us a more subtle side of the band´s music. Lovers of the style will surely like this one.

Favorite tracks: "Blood Street", "Death Lament" and "Tomorrow´s Desolation"

Contact: lushadows@hotmail.com

REVIEW: SHADEGROWN - IN A COLD WINTERNIGHT

 

SHADEGROWN - IN A COLD WINTERNIGHT (Independent , 2002)

Produced by Shadegrown

Cover Art by Shadegrown

Tracks: 1- I am the Shadow-Walker, 2- A Dream of How All Dies, 3- I Drown in Shadows, 4- IN a Cold Winternight

Andreas "Shade" Pross is the composer and executor of all the music contained on this CD. The music can be classified in a sort of epic death/ black dark metal with a lot of atmospheres and keyboards. Great keyboard lines are what give a lot of originality to the music on this CD, along with the many different vocal moods that Shadegrown achieves on each of the tracks. Here we have spoken vocals, growling vocals, a screaming one too, and below them the heavy guitars mixed in a really original way with the keyboards. A really interesting project. I hope to listen more from Shadegrown soon.

Favorite tracks: The four tracks are magnificent, specially the combination of heavy guitars and keyboards

Contact: shadegrown666@uboot.com