REVIEW: UNDROP - UPROOTED

 

UNDROP - UPROOTED (Locomotive Music , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded in Undrop Govardhan Studios, Vrajamandala, Spain.

Mixed in kirios Studios, Madrid.

Produced by Tomas Rundquist

Cover Art / Design: Undrop, Locomotive.

Track List: 1-Lion, 2-Lets Take a Trip Down Memory Lane, 3-Moonlike Face, 4-Cyber Head, 5-The Mine Field, 6-1+1=3, 7-Elevation, 8-Without Roots, 9-Ragga, 10-Go Beyond Matter, 11-Calling Gopinath, 12-Live Today, 13-Crazy 4 U, 14-Positive !, 15-Mashed Potatoes Part II

A strange band. This the way I would define Undrop. While listening to their music some names came into my mind: Nirvana (listen the vocals in "Lion" specially when he screams Lioooon !!!) , The Police, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Adrian Belew, Beatles, some old style jazz guitarist (Charlie Christian?) and many many more. The result here is a really melodic album with an emphasis on hooks and in harmonies (some of them more weird than what one should have expected...heavy use of flat fifths in some choruses and prechoruses). Listen to "Moonlike Face" for to see what I am talking about, they start with a simple punk style and then they gate into a more interesting poppish/ grunge style or maybe check the opening of "Cyber Head" with the use of tremolo bar in the guitars and clean arpeggios through the verses. There is also a use of MIDI Guitar in there that sound almost like a keyboard in some parts like in "1+1=3". Interesting. Favorite tracks: "Moonlike Face", "Elevation" and "Without Roots". Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: TROLL - UNIVERSAL

 

TROLL - UNIVERSAL (Voices of Wonder / Head Not Found , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Frogner Jern&Metall - February 2000.

Fiddled and Fixed by Sensei Ursus Major - Mastered by Neon Heart Inc.

Cover Art / Design: Enclave Design.

Track List: 1- Intro: My Sulphur Lover, 2- Rex Lamictal, 3- Sannhetens Plagiat, 4- President Besters Alimony, 5- Intermission 666, 6-Entering the Fluid Oxygen, 7- Color of Evil, 8- Fields of a new Sun, 9- Outro: Please the Pain

This is kind of a norwegian supergroup formed by Nagash (Covenent, ex Dimmu Borgir) who is called here Notorious Nagash and Hellhammer (Mayhem and a thousand more projects) with the help of Sinister Minister Twice, Sensei Ursus Major and Amon-D. The music contained here is almost indescriptible...a kind of death/black metal with a lot of industrial touches (in the background there are always present some weird noises and the vocals are completely deformed by effects). Songs like "Sannhetens Plagiat" are really chaotic and congruent at the same time (in fact this one has an interesting "calm" part before entering on the main riff) and the lyrics in third track are in Norwegian. I find this interesting because of the difference between this project and the others that this guys have, this is kind of weirder ( the more similar track to mayhem for example is "President Besters Alimony" but with vocals that are completely different). Fabvorite tracks: "Sannhetens Plagiat", "Entering the Fluid Oxygen" (reminded me of The Kovenant more electronic sound) and "Fields of a new sun". Contact: www.vow.dk 

REVIEW: ULVER - PERDITION CITY

 

ULVER - PERDITION CITY (Jester Recs. , 2000):

Technical Data:

Conceived, performed and recorded by Trickster G. And Tore Ylwizaker.

Mixed by Tore at Beep Jam Studio

Cover Art Concept: Esben Johansen

Track List: 1- Lost in Moments, 2- Porn Piece or the scars of cold kisses, 3- Hallways of Always, 4- Tomorrow never knows, 5- The future sound of music, 6- We are the dead, 7- Dead City Centres, 8- Catalept, 9- Nowhere/Catastrophe 

WARNING: This is not a metal album. And certain close minded fans of Ulver´s release "Nattens Madrigal" will be more horrified with this "Perdition City" than with its predecessor that was also swimming in the seas of electronics. For me this release is as excellent as all Ulver material and one thing that I like from this guys is that they do what they want without thinking about what people would say about them. The material in "Perdition City" (which was financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Affairs) is, like the subtitle says the music for "an interior movie" and that is how one must listen to this. There are no signs of black metal here, just excellent compositions with the use of keyboards, saxophones, guest musicians and female vocals. Anything here is done to give life to that movie: from the jazzy sounds of "Lost in Moments" to the techno like "Tomorrow never knows", to the clean vocals in some places , to the almost ambient beginning in "We are the dead". Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.jester-records.com 

REVIEW: TRANSILVANIA 666 - IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE

 

TRANSILVANIA 666 - IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE (Locomotive Music , 1999):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Box Studios, Madrid, Spain - July/September 1999.

Engineered by Sergio Marcos

Cover Art / Design: Carlos Diez.

Track List:

CD 1: 1-Run To the Hills (Avalanch), 2-Flight of Icarus (Tierra Santa), 3-Charlotte the Harlot (Lujuria), 4-The Evil that Men Do (Azrael), 5-Wasted Years (Skunk D.F.), 6-Wrathchild (Grass), 7-Fear of the Dark (Demonios), 8-Revelations (Twilight)

CD 2: 1-Strange World (Mago de Oz), 2-The Trooper (Easy Rider), 3- Phantom of the Opera (Ankhara), 4-Powerslave (Pyramid), 5-Running Free (Tea), 6-Holy Smoke (Aerobitch), 7-Moonchild (Sentinel), 8-Children of the Damned (Dracon)

This is an Iron Maiden made by Spanish bands and the really interesting thing here is that each band interprets the Iron Maiden classics in really personal versions. For example Tierra Santa starts their cover of "Flight of Icarus" in a very slow way, very different from the opriginal, or Aerobitch makes a punk rock version of "Holy Smoke". I think this is much better than doing the classics in the exact same way than Iron Maiden did. It is good to see that the song choice has taken tracks from Paul Di Anno´s years in Iron Maiden. Obviously there are results that are better than others, for example Azrael make a good version of "The Evil That Men Do" (a little bit more thrashy), on the other side there is Skunk D.F. with a really modern version of "Wasted Years" (the vocals miss some of the feeling here). A very tasty tribute with excellent versions like "Strange World" done by Mago de Oz or "The Trooper" done by Easy Rider (perhaps the vocals here are a little bit thin for my taste). Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com 

REVIEW: SUPERKOLLIDER - SUPERKOLLIDER

 

SUPERKOLLIDER - SUPERKOLLIDER (Wonderdrug Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at New Alliance Studios.

Engineered by Ken Cmar & Ethan Dussault

Produced by Ken Cmar, Ethan Dussault & Superkollider

Cover Art / Design: Duncan Wilder Johnson,  Shaun Mc Carthy and Mimi Boudreau.

Track List: 1-Resolution, 2-Transmission, 3-Mean, 4-Element, 5-Boldface, 6-Painstaking, 7-Human, 8-Blood, 9-Coffee, 10-Lust, 11-Hindsight, 12-Springtime, 13-Sleep

Looking to the over of the CD I expected a more pop sounding band or something more ethereal, but here is Superkollider making me eat my thoughts. Why? Because they make a really modern sounding metal (don´t worry !! This is completely different from bands like Limp Bizkit, no hip hop here). The band that came into my mind more often when listening to this was The Almighty in their heaviest format ("Crank" era), I think specially in the vocals parts and the hooks. The riffs are a cross between metal, hardcore and alternative music with a really fat sound in the guitars. Songs like "Transmission" and "Mean" have enough power to shatter your ears with their crushing riffs and fans of metal and hardcore would most likely be satisfied with this band. Songs like "Element" take a more metal approach in the vein of say Soulfly or Roots-era Sepultura. The thirteen songs here are totally certifuing that you will bang your head along them. Favorite tracks: "Transmission", "Painstaking" (really Almighty) and "Human". Contact: www.wonderdrugrecords.com and www.superkollider.com

REVIEW: STRATUZ - SPIRIT SEDUCTION

 

STRATUZ - SPIRIT SEDUCTION (The LSP Company , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mixed by David Hernandez at Jam Studios, Caracas / Venezuela.

Mastered by manuel Amengual.

Cover Art / Design: Franklin Berroteran.

Track List: 1- Oh, Ala, Ojalá, 2- Swift Death, 3- Mula, 4- Sleeping Sins, 5- Into the Darkness, 6- Welcome to the Circle, 7- The Last Angel, 8- Return of the Souls, 9- Spirit Seduction

What a contrast !! This CD starts with an introduction with acoustic guitar and harp that sounds a little bit eastern sounding, a little bit latin, before getting into an extreme death metal track. This is death metal directly from Venezuela and they are really powerful, using double bass drumming through all the CD, original riffs and some percussion that enhances the feeling of the CD (like perhaps Sepultura, but more agressive, more guttural, more death metal). Another thing that I like from Stratuz and that I think they should make a trademark of it are the guitar solos that are melodic an technical giving another dimension to the tracks, also there are riffs like the odd-time in "Sleeping Sins" (2:29) that can be very important for Stratuz as an element of identity. To have more elements to consider, check the climatic "Into the Darkness" with excelent riffs and drumming and above all excelent sound (a characteristic of the whole release). Favorite tracks: "Swift Death", "Welcome to the Circle" and "Return of the Souls". Contact: www.lsp-company.com

REVIEW: STEN SANDELL TRIO - STANDING WAVE

 

STEN SANDELL TRIO - STANDING WAVE (Sofa Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Tracks 1 and 5 Recorded live at Blå, Oslo (November 1999) by Bjørn Magne Idland.

Tracks 2, 3 and 4 Recorded live at Munch-museet (October 2000) by Thomas Hukkelberg.

Produced by Sandell Nilsen-Love and Berthling. Co produced by Ivar Grydeland, Ingar Zach and Thomas Hukkelberg.

Cover Painting: "Flag IV" by Terry Nilssen-Love 

Track list: 1-Mural, 2-Standing Wave, 3-Axel, 4-Edvard, 5-Elongate

The Sten Sandell trio is formed by three great musicians: Sten Sandell on piano, Johan Berthling on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. From chaotic experimentation to jazz style phrases, this trio follow their path to explore new dimensions. I think this guys are taking as a basis a free jazz style format and starting from there are doing research and exploration on new possibilities. Improvisation and an open mind are essential here. What amazed me most here is the great coherence that all the material has, specially on "Mural" that is a full speed track with great piano lines and an amazing base conformed by Berthling double bass and Nilssen-Love´s drums. "Standing Wave" starts with Nilssen-Love´s drum experimentation before getting in a weird sounding passage with Sandell playing only vey high and very low notes and Berthling extracting sounds from his double bass. After this the trio gets into a textural piece with Sandell playing cascades of notes (Gyorgy Lygeti came to my mind). I specially liked here the longer pieces because surprise strucks you from every corner of this tracks. Once more: open your mind and listen carefully to this awesome musicians. Favorite tracks: "Standing Waves" and "Edvard". Contact: www.norcd.no/sofa or sofa@norcd.no

REVIEW: SPIRITUAL ECLIPSE - AMARANTH

 

SPIRITUAL ECLIPSE - AMARANTH (Hailstorm Prods. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded in Five Records Studio - San José (May 2000)

Produced by Spiritual Eclipse.

Track list: 1-Sangue di lupo, 2-Manifesto, 3-Lamentations of the Lingering Soul, 4-Circle of VII

Interesting band of death/black metal from California. "Sangue di Lupo" is called the first track of this CD and it shows all the main features of the band: interesting riffs, melodies, speed in some places, brutality in others, various types of vocals (one growling type and another of the screaming kind). On the second track, "Manifesto", an acoustic intro opens the gates for a doom rhythm and intro, before getting in a full speed death metal track with an interesting riff at 1:29 (I want to hear more riffs like this one in the music of this guys). What I find more interesting in this band is their use of melodies in places where one would not expect it and the use of very slow passages like the above mentioned mixed with hyper speed blasts. Also, another feature to remark is their use of acoustic guitars and whispering vocals. I think they have a good mixture between brutality and elaboration, a godd equilibrium... My favorite tracks: "Lamentations of the Lingering Soil" (strange vocals in there, full of anguish), "Circle of VII". Contact: http://members.nbci.com/SE7777 or spiritual_eclipse@hotmail.com

REVIEW: SOILS OF FATE - SANDSTORM

 

SOILS OF FATE - SANDSTORM (Retribute Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded and Mastered at Subsonic Studios.

Produced by Soils of Fate

Cover Art: Jocke

Track List: 1-Life Hijacker, 2-Sandstorm, 3-.44, 4-Stripped Humanity, 5-Half My Blood, 6-Blunted on Reality, 7-Assassins

Form the first pinch harmonics of the beginning riff of "Life Hijacker" until the end os the recording you will find death metal here !!! With extremely guttural vocals that are  almost a growl and make some rhythmic patterns in some places with short words, manic solos that could be longer for my taste and great riffs like on "Life Hijacker" (2:17) or "Sandstorm" (1:51) that I think is the point that the band has to explore deeper in the future, killer double bass drumming ( the bass drums sound quite electronic, maybe they are triggered or something like that I think) with our friend Jocke at the top of his posibilities. There are some odd tempos too, like in "Sandstorm" (0:50) and blast beats (just mention this for the fans of speed). The overall sound is good and I would have mixed the guitars a little bit higher with a little bit more of edge and presence....the best here is the bass sound that is really killer through all this release. I would point out songs like "Half My Blood" or the beginning of " Blunted on reality" that are paths for the band to follow in the future. Favorite Tracks: "Stripped Humanity", "Life Hijacker" and "Half My Blood". Contact: Retribute@aol.com or http://come.to/soilsoffate

REVIEW: SKYFIRE - TIMELESS DEPARTURE

 

SKYFIRE - TIMELESS DEPARTURE (Hammerheart Recs. , 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Abyss Studios,

Produced, Engineered and mixed by Tommy Tägtgren and Skyfire

Layout / Design: Chrille Andersson.

Track List: 1- Intro, 2- Fragments of Time, 3- The Universe Unveils, 4- Skyfire, 5-Timeless Departure, 6- Breed through me, Bleed for me, 7- Dimensions Unseen, 8- By God Forsaken, 9- From here to Death.

This is one of the albums of the month. One word comes to my mind when listening to this CD: grandiloquence !!! There are only few bands that can make a record like this mixing black/death metal with such perfect clasical orchestrations. It seems that this band has taken the best of the genres, you can listen black metal through all the album, power metal in the keyboards of "Skyfire". I really think that Martin hanner and Andreas Edlund that are in charge of the guitars and keyboards here are people that can be considered keyboard/guitar masters, in total command of the music of Skyfire and in complete control of their instruments. It is amazing the contrast between Henrik Wenngren´s raw vocals and the subtle and sublime orchestration that the other guys construct around him. This CD will be a classic !!. Contact: http://listen.to/skyfire or www.hammerheartamerica.com or info@hammerheartamerica.com