REVIEW: FLOWING TEARS - SERPENTINE

 

FLOWING TEARS - SERPENTINE (Century Media Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Waldemar Sorychta

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Starfish Ride (for a million dollar handshake), 3- Serpentine, 4- Children of the Sun, 5- The Marching Sane, 6- Breach, 7- Portsall (departure song), 8- Justine, 9- The Carnage People, 10- Merlin, 11- Cupid of the Carrion kind, 12- For Tonight

Cover Art by Axel Hermann

Flowing Tears has the strange characteristic of being a band that can be epic and deppressive at the same time. It is this feeling that makes this band´s music so interesting. The mix of sad and enchanting melodies with the heavy guitars that leave a lot of space to develope interesting ideas is essential for Flowing Tears identity. The band has achieved a point where you listen just a few seconds and you know that it´s Flowing Tears music. And one of the things that make this happen is the powerful voice of Stefanie Duchene which is really melodic but has a lot of strength and energy to deliver. The mix by Waldemar Sorychta has again found the perfect balance between heaviness and beauty, this delicate equilibrium that Flowing tears manage so good. A must

Favorite tracks: A must. All the tracks are fabulous.

Contact: www.centurymedia.com

REVIEW: FANGORN - FANGORN

 

FANGORN - FANGORN ( G.U.C. Productions, 2002 )

Produced By: Fangorn

Tracks: 1- Paradies, 2- Pfeffer, 3- Phoenix, 4- Freudentanz, 5- Steinheit, 6- Verdammt, 7- Fluss, 8- Koma, 9- Felsen, 10- Herz, 11- Fährmann

Cover Art by Fangorn

Recorded at: Digidirt Studios

Fangorn is a band that sounds really european. With complex songs and many guitar riffs they sound like a mix of Dark Tranquility, Death, Sentenced and bands in that style. But this band has a lot of identity. With the interconection between the male and female vocals (this one are not in the vein that one is accustomed to listen to, in fact I think the range of this woman is a mezzo soprano and sounds really great here), the multiple rhythm and riffs changes. Here we have to point ourt the excelent guitar work with atmospheres, melodies and utter heaviness in the riffs. The sound of the recording is really good and make the results even brighter. Most of the songs here are sung in german and that adds a strange feeling and a lot of heaviness to the music. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD.

Contact: www.guc-area.de

REVIEW: EXSECRATUM - ADITUS

 

EXSECRATUM - ADITUS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Exsecratum

Tracks: 1- The Mighty Frost of North, 2- Wandering Sons of the Obscure throne, 3- Northern Supremacy, 4- The Light of Unholy Souls, 5- A Breezing Vision of Damnation

Cover Art by Lord Azazel

Recorded at Silver Poddu Studios

This CD starts with some noises and storm sounds in the beginning of "The Mighty Frost of North" before getting into the purest and raw black metal. Here we have the elements of this style: fast guitars with a raw sound, fast drumming and screaming vocals. There are also the riffs in which the guitars are used to create fast melodies ovber which are spitted the hateful lyrics. One thing to remark is the full speed of this release which doesn´t slow done through the whole CD. There are some rhythm changes in tracks like "Northern Supremacy" from one fast riff to another. The sound is fairly good and maybe the guitars and drums can be mixed a little bit better to achieve a bigger black metal sound. This is a CD full of hatred and blasphemy!!!! 

Favorite tracks: "Northern Supremacy", "The Light of Unholy Souls" and "A Breezing Vision..."

Contact: exsecratum@hotmail.com

REVIEW: EVENT HORIZON - FROM BEGINNING...TO END

 

EVENT HORIZON - FROM BEGINNING...TO END (Spreadit Agency, 2002 )

Produced By: Event Horizon

Tracks: 1- From Beginning...to end, 2- Darkning Light, 3- King of Unknown Land, 4- Flight of Fantasy, 5- Take me Out (new version)

Engineered by Gianluca Amendolara

Recorded at Studio Avatara

This is one of the most powerful and imaginative progressive metal bands I have ever listened. Their music has a lot of ideas and at the same time has a lot of power (here is essential the role played by the heavy guitars and the powerful vocalist who adds a lot of energy to the lyrics and not only melodies as most singers in the style do). Here we have musicians that are really virtuosos, specially the keybaord player who does a lot of arrangements and solos through all the recording. An example of this aspects that I have described is the fast song called "Flight of Fantasy", closer to power metal but with much more arrangements and changes that most of the bands of the style do. A must for lovers of melodies and ideas in a heavy context. 

Favorite tracks: The five tracks here

Contact: www.eventhorizonband.com

REVIEW: ERNESTO DÍAZ-INFANTE & CHRIS FORSYTH - MARCH

 

ERNESTO DÍAZ-INFANTE & CHRIS FORSYTH - MARCH (Pax Recordings , 2002 )

 

Produced By: Ernesto Díaz-Infante and Chris Forsyth

Tracks: 1- 13 = Parts 1 to 13

Cover Art by Maria DumLao

Recorded at Wombat Recording

Here we have the new duet album with the two great guitarists and musicians Ernesto Díaz-Infante and Chris Forsyth whom we have listened in numerous projects as Rev. 99 and All Time Present (this one is reviewed on this issue). On each track here Díaz-Infante and Forsyth develope new ideas and sounds that one may never have imagined could come from a guitar, piano or drum. Some of this sounds are more melodic and some of them are closer to noise, but each one has the trademark of the duo experimentation. Sometimes the improvisation (adorned with some vocals) becomes more weird and loose and sometimes more coherent but this guys are breaking sonic boundaries all the time. As I said with the previous album: fans of experimentation should check this one. 

Favorite tracks: "Part 3", "Part 6" and "Part 8"

Contact: www.paxrecordings.com

REVIEW: ENID - ABSCHIEDSREIGEN

 

ENID - ABSCHIEDSREIGEN (CCP Recs., 2000 )

Mastering By: Claus Prellinger

Tracks: 1- Erinnerungen, 2- Weg Der Weisung, 3- Reverie of Youth in Spheres of Dream, 4- Meer Der Einsamkeit, 5- Zug der Vergessenen Reiter, 6- Bondage´s Coronation, 7- Herbststurm, 8- Whispering of Goodbye

Cover Art by Florian Dammasch

Recorded at CCP Studio

Starting softly with a piano intro on the first track "Erinnerungen", this CD changes fastly its pace getting into some of the best progressive black/death metal I have ever listened. Full of different arrangements, orchestrations, melodies and keyboards progressions and many more ingredients, Enid music is a pleasure for the ears of those who want powerful music and at the same time want to be surprised with new things. In fact here we have excellent piano parts, male and female choir melodies, amazing orchestrations. All of this is complemented with screaming vocals, fast drum parts, heavy guitar parts. This is with no doubt one of the albums of the month!!!! 

Favorite tracks: All the tracks. This is a masterpiece

Contact: www.ccprecords.com

REVIEW: ENDRAUM - IN FLIMMERNDER NACHT...

 

ENDRAUM - IN FLIMMERNDER NACHT... (Danse Macabre Rec., 1993)

Produced By: Ensraum

Tracks: 1- Ouvertüre, 2- Schatten Der Nacht, 3- Albatros, 4- Orthosia, 5- Nostalghia, 6- Krumme Schatten im Stummen Muster, 7- Hommage, 8- Dämmerung mein Lichterkranz, 9- Demeter, 10- Zerdrückte Kehle

Cover Art by Endraum

Recorded at Weisser Herbst Studios

This is quite an old release but I want to review it because of the beauty and magnificence of the music contained on this CD. The music here is really atmospheric and ethereal where the main thing are the keyboards arrangements and the female vocals which are really dark and deppressive. There are also some ethnic elements such as the percussion in some tracks. But everything here is done in order to achieve the darkest music possible. And Endraum does it through the melancholic keyboards and the whispering vocals that you can listen all over the place. This is a classic.

Favorite tracks: All the CD.

REVIEW: EMPTINESS - NECRORGY

 

EMPTINESS - NECRORGY (Independent , 2002)

Produced By: Emptiness

Tracks: 1- Necrorgy, 2- Subhuman Submission, 3- Our Hatred of Generosity, 4- Lead Us Sathanas, 5- Last Echoes Before Nothingness, 6- Xenophobia, 7- Supremacy, 8- Shemamforash, 9- Eternal Rising

Cover Art by N. Daemon

Recorded by Jeremy

Emptiness is a band whose music can be described as black/death metal with an extremely raw sound combined with a lot of keyboards in some parts (in fact Nerath Daemon who plays guitars and keyboards here is playing also in Enthroned). I am putting black/death to describe Emptiness music here because I think that this band has elements from both styles in their compositions, beginning with the vocals that are a combination of the more guttural voices in death metal with the screaming ones used in balck metal. Then come the guitar riffs, here we have the fastest ones that play some melody with one note progressions are closer to black metal and the more rhythmic and crushing ones are closer to death metal. I would like the keyboards to be a little higher in the mix to add a new dimension to Emptiness music. This CD also contains the "Eternal Rising" MCD recorded in the year 2000. Fans of black and death check Emptiness!

Favorite tracks: "Subhuman Submission", "Lead Us Sathanas" and "Supremacy"

Contact: www.emptiness-oficial.be.tf 

REVIEW: ELENIUM - THEM USED GODS

ELENIUM - THEM USED GODS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Elenium

Tracks: 1- Demigodlike, 2-Outside View, 3- Inbred Infinity

Cover Art by T.R.

Recorded at Sonic Pump Studios

Here we have this band that plays what I would call extremely progressive death metal. The music here has deathly vocals and also a clean melodic singer who adds a lot of melodies here, plus Elenium has an incredible keyboardist. In fact the first track opened with sorto of a run that could be used in a neoclassical metal album, and this sort of phrases are really well mixed with more crushing rhythms, tempo changes and breaks (like the one at 3:12 in "Demigodlike" where the bass is lef alone with the drums before the whole band enters with keybaords playing at top speed). I really enjoy the combination of heavy guitars and amazing keyboards solos that this band does (this guy Johannes is killer). The sound of the whole MCD is great and this is one band destined to be sitting in the throne of extreme metal really soon!

Favorite tracks: The three tracks here are wonderful

Contact: http://elenium.tripod.com

REVIEW: DYNAMIC LIGHTS - RESURRECTION

 

DYNAMIC LIGHTS - RESURRECTION (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Dynamic Lights

Tracks: 1- Breath of the Earth, 2- Breath of the Sun, 3- Awakening / Consciousness, 4- Deception / Revenge, 5- CD Rom Video Section

Cover Art by Raffaele Mariotti

Recorded at Castriota Studios

Dynamic Lights is a progressive metal band of top quality as you can listen on this CD. Their complex arrangements, changes and amazing vocal harmonies are the main features here. Plus they have a heavy guitarist whose melodies and solos are essential to Dynamic Light´s sound (as also are the excellent keayboards parts). Also we have a killer rhythmic section with a bassist that can play from melodies to rhythm with great skills and a drummer who plays lot of interesting patterns and complex rhythms To sum up, we have here great musicanships who know how to play this amazing compositions full of elements (each time that you listen the songs you find something new that you had not heard before). If you liek bands like Dream Theater then you must listen Dynamic Lights

Favorite tracks: All the CD. Amazing!!

Contact: www.dynamiclights.net