REVIEW: 7TH NEMESIS - PROMOTIONAL CD

 

7TH NEMESIS - PROMOTIONAL CD (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: 7th Nemesis

Tracks: 1- 7th Banner, 2- Omega Dei, 3- Phoenix Resurrectio

Cover Art by 7th Nemesis

This is extremely brutal death metal played with a lot of technical skills and with some modern guitar riffs with pinch harmonics that are played here and there in order to add a different feeling to each part. Through the three tracks that the band presents on this CD they show no mercy for the listener, going at full speed and full brutality without hesitation. The drummer here is killer with the double bass works and with the rhythms that he creates besides the fastest parts (he prefers adding heaviness instead doing only blast beats). The vocals are of two types: the guttural one and the more screaming type, both of them adding a lot of brutality to each of the track. The thing that I have to remark is the good sound that this recording has despite being a promotional CD....this good sound also gives a lot more of brutality to the music because you can clearly feel the power of the guitars and the drums!!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.7thnemesis.fr.st

REVIEW: VORACIOUS HATE - ACT FOUR

 

VORACIOUS HATE - ACT FOUR (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Voracious Hate

Tracks: 1- Eye For an Eye, 2- Sign V, 3- Die Plage, 4- Degree of Sadness

Cover Art by Voracious Hate

Recorded at KST Studio

I have to remark that this band has changed its name to Encounter because of the change in the music that is evident on this MCD (on the previous album this band was a straight forward death metal band). The entrance of Peter Rung on vocals has given more strength to the songs here that are pure metal !! Voracious Hate music is really heavy but yet has a lot of melodies and the addition of Peter has added new sides for the band to experiment and it also has added a lot of power, having vocals that will not be out of a place in a thrash or power metal band having a harsh voice but at the same time having a lot of melody. The guitars here sound better than in the previous album. Now I hope to listen some new stuff from Encounter soon!

Favorite tracks: The four are really good tracks

Contact: www.voracious-hate.purespace.de

REVIEW: VORACIOUS HATE - THE DEPTH OF HUMAN NATURE

 

VORACIOUS HATE - THE DEPTH OF HUMAN NATURE (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Voracious Hate

Tracks: 1- The Depth of Human Nature, 2- Feigned Security, 3- Healed Soul, 4- Opiate of the Mass, 5- When Insanity Commands, 6- Tempting Poetry

Cover Art by A. Rung

Recorded at Atlas Tonstudio

It is amazing the decision that this band has made of changing their style (an obviously the name of the band). This album is a pure death metal album but with a lot of melodies such as the ones you can listen in "Healed Soul". In fact this band´s music is complex death metal with many melodic riffs and changes (I would really like them to do this kind of riffs in the new incarnation of the band with the addition of the more melodic vocals of Peter Rung....that would be great). This band is brutal but has at the same time really good musicianship that allows them to create this really good compositions with many changes and moods using guitars that play melodies and heavier than hell riffs with a lot of soul in them. A really good band that is evolving to new levels.

Favorite tracks: "Feigned Security", "Healed Soul" and "Tempting poetry"

Contact: www.voracious-hate.purespace.de

REVIEW: VLE - BOOK OF ILLUSIONS - CHAPTER I AND II

 

VLE - BOOK OF ILLUSIONS - CHAPTER I AND II (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: The VLE

Tracks: Chapter I: 1- Kano, 2- Freedom to Fly, 3- Behold the Night / Beyond Sunsets, 4- Timeless, 5- 3 in 5, 6- Drift, 7- Stark

Chapter II: 1- Kano, 2- the Dancer, 3- Trilogy of the I, 4- AMIntro, 5- AMTheme, 6- Scotland, 7- A Scene from a Tree, 8- In Silence, 9- Stark, 10- A Fortunate Reversal

Cover Art by The VLE

This is with no doubt one of the best releases of the year. Vle´s music can be described as Dark Experimental Soundscapes. And this is a well definition because despite being of extreme beauty, Vle´s music is extremely dark. And it really kicks ass with the dynamics of this compositions that gare made with keyboards and computers following the instinct of the composer The Vle...every musical piece here is improvised and The Vle has done a great job in creating the melodies and passages that we can listen here. Every soundscape here is completely different from the other and each one is a musical world in its own. After doing all the compositions, Michael molina recorded the real drums for this amazing release. Now The Vle has ready the third and last chapter of the Book of Illusions trilogy and I am ready and willing to listen to it. I say it again....this is one of the best releases of the year.

Favorite tracks: Both CDs are amazing. One of the best releases of the year

Contact: www.mp3.com/vle or ovle25@hotmail.com

REVIEW: VICIOUS CIRCLE - VICIOUS CIRCLE

 

VICIOUS CIRCLE - VICIOUS CIRCLE (Nightmare Records, 2002 )

Produced By: Steve Cichon

Tracks: 1- the Winner, 2- In Your Hands, 3- Never Run Away, 4- Hanging By a thread, 5- Hallucinations, 6- Rocks That Make The mountain, 7- Peace lady, 8- No mans Land, 9- Every Dog, 10- Gun To the Head, 11- What Ever You Do, 12- Vicious Circle

This CD opens powerfully with "The Winner" a really heavy tune full, of crushing guitars and the mid ranged vocals of the only composer and musician here, Mr. Steve Cichon. Through the twelve tracks that we can listen here, Cichon shows us all his potential as songwriter and guitarist going from powerful and rocking tunes to more calm songs that showcase his skills as a composer. Here we have many different moods through all the CD. A thing to remark of this CD is the really good mix and production that it has letting the listener hear every detail (specially when he uses clean guitars and after that starts a heavier part. This CD is a must for lovers of good songwriting and composition with heavy guitars and interesting soloing.

Favorite tracks: "The Winner", "Hanging By a Thread" and "Gun To the Head"

Contact: www.nightmare-records.com

REVIEW: TIME OF ORCHIDS . MELONWHISPER

 

TIME OF ORCHIDS - MELONWHISPER (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Mike Barile and Time of Orchids

Tracks: 1- Empress Curfew Inviolate, 2- Age gracefully, 3- Thread of the Dream, 4- Ulcer, 5- Laugh Track, 6- Party favors, 7- Scalex Throne: Shame of Heaven, 8- Graduation Day, 9- Son, I Saw It

Cover Art by Patrick Soriano

Recorded at Purple Light Studio

This band is extremely experimental: here you have nine tracks of experimentation with different sounds (clean guitars or extremely distorted ones), different rhythms (each of the tracks have many tempo and rhythm changes, some of them are unbelievable), different kind of vocals (from clean ones to distorted ones to screaming ones). Here we have a band that is not afraid of trying something new on each track: from atmospheres in tracks like "Age Gracefully" to brutal experimentation in "Thread of the Dream". In fact this guys also have great technical skills and they are extremely well rehearsed in order to play this material that is complex and fascinating. They don´t forget also the heavy elments in their music such as distorted guitars crushing rhythms and extreme vocals. A must. 

Favorite tracks: The whole CD. This is a must for lovers of something new.

Contact: www.timeoforchids.com

REVIEW: THYRFING - VANSINNESVISOR

 

THYRFING - VANSINNESVISOR (Hammerheart Records, 2002 )

Produced By: Daniel Bergstrand

Tracks: 1- Draugs Harg, 2- Digerdöden, 3- Världsspegeln, 4- the Voyager, 5- Ångestens Högborg, 6- The Giants Laughter, 7- Vansinnesvisor, 8- Kaos Återkomst

Cover Art by Niklas Sundin

Recorded at Dug Out Prods.

This band has established themselves as one of the main viking metal bands in the scene. I think the main point in their music is the balance between the fastest parts similar to the ones in black/death metal with ancient melodies (the keyboardist is killer). The guitarists are extremely tight and another important side of thyrfing´s music is the interconnection between this two musicians doing the riffs and interacting a lot in the melodic sections where one plays the melody while the other harmonizes or does a good riff. I have to remark again the keyboards that are essential to Thyrfing´s sound adding this ancient spirit that their music needs along with the vocals (that in the parts when they make melodies are really ethereal). Daniel Bergstrand´s production has also enhanced the results that the band got in the studio making the music shine. Pure epic viking metal !!

Favorite tracks: The whole CD. It is a future classic

Contact: www.hammerheart.com

REVIEW: THROCULT - HUNTED

 

THROCULT - HUNTED (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Dave Otero and Throcult

Tracks: 1- Kill or Be Killed, 2- Hunted, 3- Eclipse of the Blood Moon

Cover Art by Nick Jackson

Recorded at Hellion Studios

Throcult´s music is extremely dark. And at the same time they are extremely powerful. They have put together a lot of the black metl atmospheres with some of death metal riffs. In fact, the black metl side is more evident in the vocals and in some of the fast riffs (this guys have rehearsed a lot to put together the riffs so precissely being them so fast). The MCD starts with "Kill or be killed" a track with hyper fast riffs and a lot of keyboards progressions and one thing that is fundamental: a really memorable chorus. One thing that I have to mention are the keyboards: this guy is risponsible for a big part of the darkness that this recording has. In fact, when he enters with his keys doing some chord progressions or interacting with the guitars, you can feel the darknes, the loneliness and obscurity that they want to transmit (check the beginning of "Hunted"). A band to be followed closely.

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.throcult.com

REVIEW: THE LAST WINTER - IRA

THE LAST WINTER - IRA (Spreadit Agency, 2002 )

Produced By: The Last Winter

Tracks: 1- Crashing the Altar, 2- Dark Immortal Eyes

Cover Art by the Last Winter

We have here two tracks from the italian band The Last Winter. Their style goes somewhere between the paths of death metal with some black metal elements and modern guitar riffs. The sound of the band is really intense, specially the guitarists that are extremely creative in the way in which they compose the riffs that are the center of The Last Winter´s music. There are a lot of parts that show that the band has a lot of technical skills, like the tempo changes, the depressive melodies, the guitar arrangements and the breaks. I would like to listen more of this band that has a lot of musical qualities and deserves a full length release right now !

Favorite tracks: Both

Contact: thelastwinter@hotmail.com

REVIEW: THE FOCUS QUINTET - 1-8 IN 1

THE FOCUS QUINTET - 1-8 IN 1 (Sachimay Records, 2002 )

Recorded By: Ross Bonadonna

Tracks: 1- Dedicated, 2- Foreward, 3- Acknowledgments, 4- Contents, 5-List of Plates, 6- Introduction, 7- Body, 8- Index

Mastered by Sasha Victory

This is a new kind of experimental band that has in its lineup two musicians that we have mentioned several times before: Ernesto Díaz-Infante and Chris Forsyth. This duo is restless and when they finish recording one CD they start making another one. This time they jhave Jeff Amal on percussion, Dan Dechellis on piano and keyboards and Anita Dechellis on voice forming The Focus Quintet. The music here is sometimes dissonant, but most of the time is very peaceful and I specially love the moments in which Anita´s voice create some atmosphere reaching notes that one is not accustomed to listen. Here we have great experimentation but it seems to me that the quintet´s main objective is to create atmospheres while experimenting (in fact some of the atmospheres have something dark in them as you can check in "Acknowledgements"). A new experimentation album by great musicians.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.sachimayrecords.com