REVIEW: SAREPTA - SOULSCARS

 

SAREPTA - SOULSCARS (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed by Boban Milunovic at Noise Art Studio.

Artwork by pascal, hannes and Leonam by.

Track List: 1- Lying Face Downward, 2- Stress Accelerator, 3- Fear Rush, 4- Blood, tears and Hate, 5- Hungry, 6- Revolution Train.7- Blackground, 8- Assholes First, 9- Lustheide, 10- The Clutter in your mind, 11- Awake, 12- Vempires, 13- Soulscars, 14- Vulgar Speech

This is what I call a powerful album. This is death metal with a modern sound (it is what Machine Head would do if they play more death like music). Full of intense riffs, excelent guitar solos and melodies. Remember what you felt the first time that you listened to "Burn My Eyes"? Well, this is the feeling that I got here...I crancked my stereo to a loud volume and let Sarepta hit me in the face !! How can a band blend melodie and riffs so intense in such a perfect way? There are also some Prong influences here and there and maybe some Fudge Tunnel and Slayer, all mixed up and surfacing with Sarepta´s identity. Here there are fourteen tracks of pure metal made by a band designed to crush the world. Do you want power? Here is Sarepta. Favorite tracks: "Fear Rush", "Revolution Train" and "Assholes First". Contact: www.sarepta.net

REVIEW: RUNE - RUNE

 

RUNE - RUNE (Crucial Blast Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Danger Room by Chris Commons

Cover Artwork by Germ?.

Layout by Dave

Track List: 1- Call of Hearts, 2- Four Season Landmark, 3- 106 Degrees

What a noisy guitar !!! This sounds like they are overdubbing a lot. Great, I like it ! And it sounds different from what one is expecting . This grind/death metal band has a big contrast within their sound which I like: this extremely loud and distorted guitars colliding with the clean bass and the extremely clean drums (they sound like in a band like for example Rage Against the Machine, spexially the snare drum).. I think the heavier parts are where this guys make breaks in their musics and there are a lot of them or on the midpaced tempos where the guitars and bass play in unison its lowest notes. The vocals are closer to death metal than to grindcore...in fact they sound like old Obituary in some parts. This is a three track EP and the three track are powerful and noisy at the same time. Recommended for fans of the styles (more death metal than grind). Contact: www.morenoise.com/crucialblast

INTERVIEW WITH ETOILE NOIRE

 

How would you define Etoile Noire´s music?

Ferruccio Milanesi: We usually define our music simply "gothic rock", because it's a very general definition: magazines call in this way really different bands, from MARYLIN MANSON to MISSION, to LACRIMOSA, to 69 EYES and we thought it could include also our music.

But it's really hard to find the right definition: probably "rock", with no other adjective, could be the best, because we have various influences, from gothic to stoner rock, punk and metal.

Pasquale Scotti: Yes, our promo starts with "Ascension", aggressive and direct, to finish with "Point Of No Return", with a melodic and calm first part soon becoming red-hot and with a painful atmosphere.

I think the key of our music is "Melt", fusion of dark/gothic and desert rock with a marked tendency to '70 rock.

Has the promo "Sleeping Black Eyes" been well received by the media?

Pasquale Scotti: "Sleeping Black Eyes" has received till now many reviews: the greatest part of them have really appreciated our attempt of mixing different styles, of doing something that could be considered our personal way of making music with something original. Only some of them, even if giving good opinions about our work, has lingered too much over on our yearning for '80 dark music: we're really honoured for they compared us to CHRISTIAN DEATH, but we don't think that it's a good comparison, because it's enough to listen to "Melt" or "Sleeping Black Eyes" to understand that we have a different approach, more rock oriented.

Ferruccio Milanesi: In general, media has been divided in two groups: the open-minded have listened to music we play, judging it for what it is, the others listened but were waiting something they wanted: so we were too dark for metal magazines, too metal for dark ones, too obscure for rock, too rock for gothic.

This is not a problem for us, because don't want to be a gothic band at any cost, to make a copy of any band of the past, or play what they expect from us to be sure they'll appreciate. We want only to be a straight rock 'n roll band, playing what we want, and we decided in this band to be free, so if a stoner riff could be good with a darkwave bass, or a straight rock song after an acoustic part with a violin, I think we have to ask nobody to do this. If people will apreciate (as many are doing) we are happy but if some magazine wants the same pre-cooked soup we are not the right band for it.

Are you planning to release a new album in 2002?

Ferruccio Milanesi: Yes, we hope that our first album will be out before the end of this year, but till now we have not found the right label for us and we're still searching

It seems to me that Pasquale´s vocals have something of a punk influence. Am I correct?

Pasquale Scotti: I don't think so... or I've not thought it till today. I listen so much to punk music but I'm strongly bound to dark rock and gothic. If your opinion about my voice is referred to its being really direct and sometimes filthy, and to the screaming, yes, you're right and I'm happy for this.

How is the process of composing all Etoile Noire´s songs?

Augusto Maiolini: There's no particular procedure, at least concerning the songs that started from my ideas: what I try to do is simply to transfer my grudges, my suffering into the songs I write. I think there's no procedure, this is what you have inside yourself and that's enough.

Ferruccio Milanesi: Usually one of us proposes an idea, and we work all togheter to arrange the song and to make it always better. Composition is for us a work that should be done with the contribution of every member of the band: each one has his own ideas and influences, and that's the way to make our music not unidimensional but the mix of different genres that is our characteristic.

Which are your plans for this year?

Alessio Sica: Our plans are to intensify live activity and at the same time to continue working on new songs: we do love live dimension and we find it's the best way to test new songs and find the best arrangement.

Which are the styles that have influenced more heavily Etoile Noire´s music?

Augusto Maiolini: As far as I'm concerned I'm influenced by every musical genre. Every music that succeed in being expressive could influence me. Music is evolution, not bound to a specific musical style. There are band I listen to more than others, as KYUSS, MOTORPSYCHO, PINK FLOYD, but I'm also interested in bands with a more modern attitude such as MASSIVE ATTACK or PORTISHED. I think that ETOILE NOIRE will be modern and people will like them as long as nobody will be able to define us and enclose in the ghetto of a single style.

Ferruccio Milanesi: I listen to a great variety of music, classical and rock, dark, every kind of metal from glam to grind, punk and industrial. I try to be open-minded, even if obviously I've my preferred styles and bands. I think Etoile Noire has to thank for its music at the same time BLACK SABBATH and CHRISTIAN DEATH, MOTÖRHEAD and KYUSS, CURE and MISFITS, CULT and JOY DIVISION, just to mention some.

How was your work in Amok´s "Ethereal traveller"?

Pasquale Scotti: AMOK was a collaboration between ETOILE NOIRE and our friend ALESSANDRO IZZO, a really talented artist doing electronic music. This project has been our way to attempt different genres and has received receive good consent from listeners and magazines.

The band split up because we listen to electronic music but we don't like too much to play it. But probably in the future we'll resume it, maybe we'll release something, because AMOK's promo "Ethereal Traveller" was really well reviewed by magazines.

What can you tell me about your collaboration with the dark/folk band Argine?

Ferruccio Milanesi: I joined ARGINE in 1998, and till now there has been a great collaboration: we've issued a live Lp, a mcd and the second album, not mentioning various tracks for compilations. We've played live in many italian cities and in Switzerland and I think they are a band with great chances for the future, even if they've been too often limited by labels with too underground attitude who didn't promote, distibute and reissue when necessary. They are finally returning to their post-punk origins and this is a good thing for me because they're coming out of the restricted scene of apocalyptic-folk and trying to reach the world outside. Yet, playing in aggressive way is surely more natural for me, while playing in acoustic concerts was sometimes hard. Probably we'll play live as ETOILE NOIRE togheter with them in some dates.

Alessio Sica: I was enchanted by that kind of music, so when ARGINE contacted me to play on "Luctamina In Rebus" album I did it with great pleasure. After some months they asked me to join the band and I accepted at once, above all cosidering the artistic quality of Corrado Videtta and his band.

What can you tell me about the other members projects?

Pasquale Scotti: I and Ferruccio have formed in 1998 ANIMA IN FIAMME, band dedited to neoclassic dark music, with the use of piano, cello, violin, harp and sometimes contaminated by industrial influences. We've released many tracks for compilation all over the world and the first album "Sub Occasum Solis" for French label PRIKOSNOVENIE.

Ferruccio Milanesi: Music is my life, and my work, so I play also as session bass player in various bands, and unfortunately they're not always playing music I like. I hope in the future I will dedicate all my time and eneregy to my projects, with no need of doing something else.

Yet, I love collaborations, and when some guy of a band I like asks me to play in a song or to work togheter I can't help accepting.

Something more that you want to add?

Ferruccio Milanesi: We really thank you for the interest you have shown in on our music and for the space you give us on your magazine.

If all the people working in extreme and underground music would seriously work and with devotion as you music such as dark, metal and punk could be not only a drop in sea of indifference.

Contacts: ETOILE NOIRE, c/o Ferruccio Milanesi, Via G. Jannelli 45/D, 80131 Naples, Italy

etoilenoire@katamail.com

www.etoilenoire.net

ETOILE NOIRE - DISCOGRAPHY

Sleeping Black Eyes - promo CD (2001)

 

ACTUAL LINEUP

Ferrucio Milanesi - bass

Pasquale Scotti - vocals, acoustic guitars

Augusto Maiolini - guitars

Alessio Sica - drums

REVIEW: RISING MOON - EUROPEAN ALIENS

 

RISING MOON - EUROPEAN ALIENS (Metal Fortress Entertainment, 2001):

Technical Data

Recorded at Temple of Noise Studio, Rome

Track List: 1- Brutal Katatonic(a), 2- Roswell File, 3- Alien Coil, 4- Temperatures, 5- Division Abductions

Can we mix extreme brutal fast death metal with a lot of guitar melodies and some riffs that can sound really power metal? Yes ! And here we have the prove. From Italy comes Rising Moon and this is a demonstration of the mix that I told before.  This is a band that will kick you in the stomach with their powerful sound and their furious blast beats while having in some tracks (for example on "Roswell Fire") some interesting riffs that wouldn´t had been out of place in Carcass masterpiece "Heartwork". In fact I think that this is the path the band has to explore more in the future...those guitar melodies and the way in which one guitar plays a rhythmic riff while the other one makes some melodies over it are what can give the band the opportunity to be a unique name in the death metal scene. Favorite tracks: "Roswell Fire" and "Temperatures". Contact: www.risingmoon.it

INTERVIEW WITH DICHOTIC

Dichotic´s music has been defined as death metal, avant garde and a lot of different styles. What lies behind the music of this young candians from Halifax. Vocalist Raland Kinley helped us to clear our minds.

Even though Dichotic's music seems to be related to death metal, it seems to be difficult to describe it. How would you describe your own music?

Well, we do play death metal. Although we try not to do what other bands are doing or what we have done in the past. I guess it's "original". That's the best way to describe Dichotic's music.

Can you tell me about the beginning of the band and its evolution through time?

Dichotic has existed in one form or another since 1993. There were a few lineup and band name changes before the Dichotic that exists today came to be. The band was never really intended to be a serious thing. Before recording "Collapse Into Despair" in 1998, the band had already demoed some of its material under a different moniker, but those demos were never shopped to labels. There is acually an MP3 from a demo called "Essence" (recorded in 1996) included in the multimedia section of "Lowest Common Denominator" (recorded in 1999). "Essence" was done before either myself (vocals) or bassist Scott Armstrong were in the band.

The current lineup features Neil Grandy on drums, Scott Armstrong on bass, Raland Kinley on vocals and Richard Guy on guitar. Jeff Calder also played guitar on "Collapse..." and "Lowest...", but he has since left the band.

We just write music and record CDs for fun. It's not a money-making thing at all, and we're well aware that no label of any consequence willl ever sign us. Dichotic will go on as long as we're willing and able to play.

Is the way you make the compositions conscious (for example you say...let´s do a really heavy song, etc.) or they are basically made through jamming?

Richard and Scott tend to write all the music. Scott usually writes a full song all at once and we just learn it. Richard usually has a few riffs, and writes more riffs and structures the music during practices. I write the lyrics and figure out the vocal patterns. We only write heavy stuff, but we always try to do something different.

Another question related to composition...When the riffs are composed, are they all put together into one song or maybe you mix the riffs and parts into different songs?

Usually, we only have enough new riffs to write "the next song". However, if a particular riff won't fit into a song we're writing, the riff will either be scrapped or it could appear in a future song.

I have read in Dichotic´s web page about your touring... Which are your plans of touring to support the new record that will come up soon?

Heh...we don't really tour. Dichotic is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We live too far away from any of the major music scenes, and we all have careers and school to attend to, so there really isn't time or money left for touring. We do play a lot of local shows and a few road shows every year though.

Which are the main differences between "Lowest Common Denominator" and "Collapse Into Despair"?

"LCD" is less accessible than "CID". As a result, I would say that "LCD" is more original and has better ideas. "LCD" also sounds a lot more like what we really sound like. So the main differences are: "LCD" has better music and better sound than "CID".

Since "Collapse Into Despair" was released on October 1999...In which state is now the composition of the new album? Will it be released through Discorporate Music? (In this question I confused the names of the CDs…I am an asshole)

Um...actually, "CID" was released in September of 1998. Our latest CD, "LCD", was released in October of 1999. The next CD is a work in progress. It will be released on Discorporate Music, but it's far too early to speculate on a release date.

How do you see " Lowest Common denominator" and "Collapse into Despair" in the distance? Is there something you would have change?

I think we will try to perfect the production of our next CD. The music is quite solid on both of our previous releases, but we have never achieved the perfect sound we're looking for. There are not too many skilled producers who have worked with heavier bands in Halifax, so it's hard to get the sound you want sometimes.

Are there any words that you can say to your fans from Argentina?

Hmmm...I didn´t know we had any fans in Argentina. Although we appreciate support from people no matter where they are from.

 

DICHOTIC - DISCOGRAPHY

Collapse Into Despair - CD (1998)

Lowest Common Denominator - CD (1999)

Neoblast Compilation´99, contributed with "Precise"- CD (2000)

ACTUAL LINEUP

Neil Grandy - drums

Scott Armstrong - bass

Raland Kinley - vocals

Richard Guy - guitar

INTERVIEW WITH ESO-CHARIS

 

1- Why did you decide to form Eso-charis being members of Living Sacrifice?

Well, just to clear that up, eso-charis was formed in 1995, way before Arthur and i had anything to do with living sacrifice. we worked on the album for a little over two years and then recorded in 1997 with barry poynter. he had just finished working on the living sacrifice "reborn" album. we toured semi-heavy for the album, which was released on bruce fitzhugh (LS) label, seize the day. we broke up while we were wrapping up a month long european tour. arthur an i joined living sacrifice about a year later. The album was shelved again for a couple of years until solid state asked if they could release it for a third and final time....(the second release was to a european label, day-glo).

2- Are you satisfied with the way "Eso-charis" (the album) came out? Is there something you would like to change?

i would love to change the lyrics. if i could turn back time, they would be completely re-vamped. we were all really happy with the outcome of the album, especially considering that we recorded it in 3 days essentially, with one extra day to mix. i would have loved to spend more time. But it was expensive.

3- Are you planning some touring to support the album?

We did when it was released in 1998. we aren't planning on doing any shows to promote the re-release. we have been defunct for too long to try something like that.

4- How different is the music on the album compared to the one on the four song demo?

The same songs that appeared on the 4 song demo were re-recorded for the full length. some of the structures changed and the recording was about a jillion times better, but it is the same songs. how the heck did you know about the demo? we only sold those at local shows.

5- Why did you choose originally the name Elliot before changing it to Eso-charis?

Arthur and i were watching E.T. late one night, and we thought that the little boys name from the movie would make a good band name. he was really emotional and misunderstood, so he embodied all of the characteristics of the music we wanted to play. we had to change the name when another band of the same name started to become quite popular. i love the name Eso-charis about 100 times better anyway.

6- Is your main objective to write songs with hooks or the main point in Eso-charis is the energy within each track?

We always wrote whatever came out naturally. Gosh, we never tried to write hooks. i think that our main objective was to make every part of the song give maximum impact...no filler. That's why it took almost 3 years to write 8 songs. geez.

7- Why did you choose Barry Poynter to record the album?

Well, that was bruces idea. like i said earlier, he had just finished recording the "reborn" album and and everyone was obviously really happy with the way it sounded. it was located in little rock , so it wasn't a far drive and we could crash at bruce's place while we recorded. convenience was the key. zao came into the studio a few months after us to record the "blood and fire" album. eso-charis was the second metal band that barry ever recorded. i think he did great.

8- Are you planning to release new material on 2002?

Nope. We arent together and havent been for several years. our final release was in 2000. it was a seven inch with the last 2 songs we ever wrote. 10 songs in 5 years....what a run! it was released on deadself records. we recorded those songs for 3 months just to make them perfect. It is by far the best stuff we ever wrote. Good luck getting a hold if it though. it went out on print about 3 days after it was released. it was called "setting roots for the winter" and the songs were...'house left empty'.....'the absolute progress of a nothing day'. maybe you can find them on ebay or something.

9- Which are the band main influences?

ummm.....smashing pupkins....fugazi....angel hair....living sacrifice..the movie "singles"...alice in chains....honeywell...benchmark.....strongarm....quicksand...c.s. lewis ....blahblahblah..

10- Something more to add?

check out our new bands:

cory - the jade syndicate, welton

matthew - unwed sailor, snailhuntr, living sacrifice

jayson - the handshake murders

arthur - living sacrifice

here are a few links to find these bands:

www.treeofwoe.com

www.esocharis.com

www.livingsacrifice.com

www.unwedsailor.net

www.un-recordings.com

www.therecordcollection.com

www.weltonrock.com

ESO CHARIS - DISCOGRAPHY

4 Song Demo - demo (1998)

Eso-Charis - CD (2001)

REVIEW: REPROBATION - THE COLOUR OF GORE

 

REPROBATION - THE COLOUR OF GORE (Forever Underground Recs. - 2001):

Produced by Mike Sheffield and Reprobation

Photography by Jessi Virtuosio

Track list: 1- Sins of the Sick, 2- Butchered Souvenirs, 3- Crippled Minions, 4- Fuck the Rotted Meat, 5- Lament Suffering, 6- Entropy

Mini-CD from this guys dedicated to the most pure gore/grind/death. The six songs presented here are short and effective, in the vein of bands like Carcass or Incantation (mainly in the sound). A great effort from this band, which I think should use more of those crushing riffs that they use sometimes to avoid the fastest parts , making more original the compositions. I like a lot the work of Rob Whitworth and Shawn Connors on guitars with those pinch that they throw in the middle of the riffs. To remark also are the more rhythmic parts in the tracks (Mike Rees on drums). This band, with a little bit more of experimentation could be a big hit in the underground. Favorite tracks: "Butchered Souvenirs", "Sins of the Sick" and "Fuck the Rotted Meat" . Contact: www.foreverunderground.com or www.geocities.com/reprobation

REVIEW: PROFANITY - SLAUGHTERING THOUGHTS

 

PROFANITY - SLAUGHTERING THOUGHTS (Cudgel Agency Recs. , 2000):

Technical Data:

Recorded at the Brickhouse Studio (August-September 2000) by Albrecht Felsenstein and Profanity.

Produced by Profanity

Cover Art and layout by Profanity

Track list: 1-During the Hours of Darkness, 2-Drowned in Dusk, 3-Soultornado - Hate Burn inside, 4-The Springs Within, 5-Giants of Void Vortex, 6-Soulitude, 7-Strangulated with Thoughts, 8-When Colour Becomes Pallor

Germany´s Profanity have made a really heavy album. Death/thrash metal is the music they play full of souble bass drumming and no subtle things. Music design to crush you down like a ten ton hammer smashed on your head. Thomas Sartor vocals are guttural but at the same time understandable and fit perfectly the mood of the music that the band makes. It is amazing to see that this is a trio, because they have a really full sound, in fact I think that Martl has to make a lot of speed picking on his bass as a second guitar would do to fill every space. Profanity is a band designed to kick your ass and it seems to me that they have achieved their goals with this album (see "Drowned in Dusk" or "Soultornado-Hate Burn Inside" just to name a couple of the tracks presented here). Don´t ask melodies, don´t ask keyboards or female vocals. If brutality and power is what you wnat here is Profanity. Favorite Tracks: "Drowned in Dusk", "The Springs Within" and "Soulitude". Contact: www.profanity.de

REVIEW: PRIMAL DAWN - PRIMAL DAWN

 

PRIMAL DAWN - PRIMAL DAWN (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Salt Studios, Dublin.

Design by ADS, Dublin.

Track List: 1- Absorbing the Lies, 2- Let them Die, 3- Blood of The Land, 4-Pull the Trigger

Death metal directly from Ireland!!! I have read good reviews about this guys and they are fair. They are a crushing band and on this MCD they show a lot of brutality. Some of the recording reminded me of the german band Profanity which I think have in mind the same thing as this guys: pure brutality and heavy as hell music. What makes this guys so fucking heavy? First and main reason is the guitar sound which is like the sound you get cranking a Marshall amp up to 11 and cutting the middle ranges...that is a bigger than hell wall of sound!! . Also the interaction with the bass who is playing similar lines in a lower range. Then the drummer who is killer (I think that with a better sound here the results will be heavier). Finally the growling vocals of Mr. John Mc Ghee who adds the final touch to bring this unholy band to the fron of the death metal scene. Favorite tracks: "Absorbing the Lies" and "Blood of The Land". Contact: primaldawn@hotmail.com

REVIEW: PETTALOM - THE WINE OF THE NIGHT

 

PETTALOM - THE WINE OF THE NIGHT (Demise Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Voicing Studio.

Produced and Mixed by Alan de Augustinis and Celso Veagnoli

Design and Layout by Sergio Oliveira.

Track List: 1- Beyond The Castle´s Door, 2- Ashes Garden, 3- Berenice, 4- Irate Lizard, 5- Dungeon, 6- Feelings Buried Alive, 7- Serenade To A Sleeper Fairy, 8- Celibate, 9- Sons of The Light

Since I listened this CD for the first time in Orion Music Entertainment´s shop, I loved it. I think this is the perfect combination of operistic vocals with a really heavy music and instrumental harmonies. First of all I liked the keyboards and pianos which are used in a different way than in most of the bands (sometimes closer to jazz) playing arpegios instead of the usual chord progressions. Then I liked the changes in rhythms that the band has within each of the songs that are multiple (and this showcases the skills of the musicians of the band). And then I loved the omniprescent vocals of Kátia Santana who sounds like a very dark Tarja Turunen (Nightwish) but with a different approach (she uses more her middle range), contrasting with Marcos Riva´s vocals who are deep, sometimes almost spoken (like in bands as Moonspell for example). Also you have to check the guitars who play fast riffs and great solos having a great interaction with the keys and the vocals. One of the most promising bands this year. Don´t lose a step of this guys and girl. Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.demise.com.br