REVIEW: FEAR FACTORY - DIGIMORTAL

 

FEAR FACTORY - DIGIMORTAL (Roadrunner Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Ocean Studio. Mixed at Sol 7 Studios.

Produced by Rhys Fulber and Fear factory.

Artwork by Tom Jermann

Track List: 1- What Will Become?, 2- Damaged, 3- Digimortal, 4- No One, 5- Linckpin, 6- Invisible Wounds (Dark Bodies), 7- Acres of Skin, 8- Back the Fuck Up, 9- Byte Block, 10- Hurt Conveyor, 11- (Memory Imprints) never End, 12- Dead Man Walking, 13- Strain Vs. Resistance, 14- Repentance, 15- Full Metal Contact

Fear Factory has become a cult band within the metal realm after their first two albums "Soul of a New Machine" and "Demanufacture". This time we have here their newest offer called "Digimortal"....thi album follows the path of albums like "Demanufature" being heavier than "Obsolete". As always the band is helped by a great production to achieve the heaviness and mechanical sound that is their main characteristic. In "Digimortal" the band explores their heavier side (the contrary than they did in "Obsolete" where they explored their more melodic sound. As always Dino Cazares guitars are exptremely heavy and combined with Raymond Herrera´s mechanical drums give the band its true identity. Obviously one of the main points here are Burton C. Bell´s vocals which are really original diferentiating Fear Factory from their imitators. Plus this record includes four bonus tracks. Favorite tracks: "Damaged", "Linckpin" and "(Memory Imprints) Never End. Contact: www.fearfactory.com

REVIEW: FATAL PORTRAIT - AN ELUSIVE INSTINCT OF LASCIVIA

 

FATAL PORTRAIT - AN ELUSIVE INSTINCT OF LASCIVIA (Downfall Records, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded in the beginning of 2000

Track List: 1- Invocation, 2- Five Dimmensions of Pleasure, 3- Drowned in Your Eyes, 4- Where my Eagerness Died, 5- Cantabria Under Siege, 6- The Mirror´s Miracle, 7- Rapture Among the Idols, 8- Winter and My Grief, 9- Thus Tragedy Speaks

Satanic black metal...the name can full you a little bit eventhough the band plays that style. Why? Because the band is not a raw black metal band like Dark throne could be, even if they are really fast in some places and they have black metal riffs played over hyper fast blast beats. This band has a big difference, and that is their keyboards player who was recently added to the lineup and is constantly doing some bases to the tracks adding a lot of colour to the songs. Also the band has certain breaks and changes that are not typical of a black metal band and a lot of guitar melodies. For example when they start the melody at 1:49 in "Five Dimmensions of Pleasure" where the guitars are playing their melodies over a good drums pattern while the keyboards make an interesting chord progression before getting into a break and into a fast part again. A good definition would be Cantabrian black metal to give the band the identity and recognition that they deserve. Favorite tracks: "Drowned in your eyes", "Cantabria Under Siege" (a long track and the most complicated) and "Winter and My Grief". Contact: downfall_records@hotmail.com

REVIEW: ETOILE NOIRE - SLEEPING BLACK EYES

 

ETOILE NOIRE - SLEEPING BLACK EYES (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed by F.Milanesi and P.Scotti at Kobal Studio and by R.Bascetta and A. Tedeschi at Akustika Studio

Logo by Roberto Toderico.

Track List: 1- Ascension, 2- Sleeping Black Eyes, 3- Eyelids Covering Mirror, 4- Melt, 5- Point of No Return

What a strange mix! This guys come from italy and their music is like a mixture of gothic rock, punk rock and straight forward rock and roll (there are certain arrangements that would not be out of place on a metal band like the beginning of "Eyelids Covering Mirror"...really gothic). The first track here, called "Ascension" is really the hit, because is simple, potent and has the hooks needed on the chorus to make the song stuck in your mind. The vocals are sometimes really late seventies punk rock, and that is really curious for me because it makes a contrast with other parts where the singer uses a deeper voice more on the gothic vein. There are certain acoustic passages like the mentioned beginning of "Eyelids Covering Mirrors" and some use of violin .This is original. Favorite tracks: "Sleeping Black Eyes" and "Eyelids Covering Mirrors" . Contact: www.etoilenoire.net

REVIEW: ESPERANZA - ESPERANZA

 

ESPERANZA - ESPERANZA (Jester Records, 1997):

Technical data:

Recorded at GL Studio, Grindvoll.

Produced by Borge Finstad and Esperanza

Artwork by Subtopia

Track List: 1-Edna and Friends, 2- The Farao Was a Spy, 3- Niobad, 4- Wandina, 5- Cyber Jungle 2, 6- Ramayana, 7- The Basement, 8- Area s4, 9- Cartoon U.F.O., 10- Khalid & Habib meets tsee-ni-lao-lio-bala, 11- Journey, 12- Aglaria Pidhol Garia Ananus Qepta, 13- Ursa Minor, 14- Chichen Itza, 15- A Dive From the Cloud, 16- The Longing Fly

Those who loved Ulver´s latest album "Perdition City" Will surely like this CD. Thos who don´t like that kind of music will not. Don´t expect here crushing guitar riffs with distorted guitars and blast beats...here you will find electronics, keyboards and drum machines. The music is very experimental, diving deep in the electronic nature of the sounds to conceive this sixteen tracks that have each one its own identity. Despite being experimental the music here is full of melodies and is not threatening to ears that are not accustomed to this style. The more accessible thing here are the drums patterns which are not playing odd time signatures and so are easy to listen. Favorite tracks: "Chichen Itza", " The Farao Was a Spy" and "Cartoon U.F.O". Contact: www.jesterrecords.com

REVIEW: ENSOPH - BLEEDING WOMB OF ANANKE

 

ENSOPH - BLEEDING WOMB OF ANANKE (Beyond Prods., 2001):

Track List: 1- Shattered Void, 2- The Spyral Stigmata, 3- I (Be & Will Be), 4- Tanz der Erinnerung, 5- In The Blossom of Inertness, 6- Aletheia, 7- Amber Shrine, 8- The Ivory Ouroboros, 9- The Bleeding Womb of Ananke, 10- 7 volte 3 (E´un sole ermetico)

Ensoph ´s music is really difficult to label...it is not black metal (although in the fastest parts it may seem that it is), not gothic. It has a lot of variations and experimentation going on. There are different type of vocals, from a very deeep one (male vocals, courtey of Nicola) to another one that is really like a demonic shriek (this is an extremely original type of vocal...really horrifying!!...and it comes from a female singer called Anna who also plays flute ), and a lot of whispers. Plus there are a lot of effects and keyboards that are one of the main points of Ensoph ´s music. What makes this recording so original is the combination of all this types of vocals with some heavy and clean guitars and all the keyboards, flutes and electronic effects (in fact this three last items are constantly making melodies and arrangements to embellish the compositions of the band). A must for extreme music lovers. The original version comes in a four folders digipack with a twenty pages booklet . Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.beyondprod.com

REVIEW: ENS COGITANS - HEART OF THE WAY

 

ENS COGITANS - HEART OF THE WAY (Nostradamus Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Red Rose Studios

Produced by Michael Antonov and Ens Cogitans

Artwork by Ilya Trusov.

Track List: 1- Stone Mill, 2- Fire from Within, 3- Search of Kalokagathy, 4- Hart of the Way, 5- As The Heartbeat Vanishes, 6- Through the Moonlight

On their previous album, Ens Cogitans reminded me as a mix of the Paradise Lost of "One Second" and the Apradise Lost of "Host". That is a band with certain electronic elements but still very heavy and gothic with their own identity. This time this guys have changed their sound and their music has become more technical. There are multiple passages withinm each track going from the most calm parts with keyboards, clean guitars and whispered vocals to heavier parts with distorted guitars, more dynamic voclas and interesting drum breaks and tmpo changes. One thing that I must remark is the interesting work of the bass player who contributes a lot to the final result doing a lot of arrangementes (the bass is mixed really loud on this CD). This is one of the best bands that I have listened from the Russian metal scene. Favorite tracks: the whole album. Contact: http://nostradamusrec.euro.ru.

REVIEW: ECZEMA - SOLEDAD, EL LLANTO DE LA MUERTE

 

ECZEMA - SOLEDAD, EL LLANTO DE LA MUERTE (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Estudios El Jardín Paramétrico

Produced by Michael Antonov and Ens Cogitans

Artwork by Ilya Trusov.

Track List: Soledad, el llanto de la muerte: 1- El tiempo, 2- Un instante..., 3- Un recuerdo, 4-...una eternidad, 5- El miedo

Al otro lado del Espejo: 1- Esencia de odio, 2-Crees despertar, 3- Sacrilegio a Vivaldi II 

Here we have in one CD the two latest works of this Spanish band. They are called "Soledad, el llanto de la muerte" (Loneliness, the cry of death with one 29 minutes track divided in five parts) and "Al otro lado del espejo" (The other side of the mirror"). This band is a very good example of the new scene that I would like to call Iberic extreme metal scene. Eczema makes a technical kind of death/black metal (there are elements of death metal in the guitars riffs which are more rhythmic, say in the vein of Death and also a lot of black metal in the vocals and certain melodies). What I like from this guys is that they use speed as a complement and not as their main element. They have a profound sense of what is constructing a track and they have structured their songs really well while using a lot of different parts within the same track. There are also a lot of guitar melodies which help to make the songs more interesting , and also millions of rhythm changes (excelent!!!). This is another of my favorite CDs of the month. Favorite tracks : The whole CD. Contact: ivaneczema@yahoo.com

REVIEW: DIVINE RAPTURE - PROMO 2001

 

DIVINE RAPTURE - PROMO 2001 (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Dimensional Sound Studios.

Engineered and Mixed by Erik Rutan

Mastered by Colin Davis.

Track List: 1- Affliction, 2- Funeral Mist, 3- My demon, your dove

Divine Rapture comes back after their debut album (which was a demo CD with different versions of six tracks) with this brutal tracks that maybe will be part of their next full length. The music is even more brutal than on the "Divine Rapture" CD... and the mix is much more clear. They have chosen Morbid Angel/ Alas guitarist Erik Rutan to engineer and mix their new tracks and he has done a good job making the sound like a mix between modern death metal bands and clasical bands like Dismember, Morbid Angel or Disincarnate. The three tracks contained on this promo CD are full speed and brutality, with some original touches like the more rhythmic stuff and the guitar riffs. I am waiting for their new full length for this year. If it is like this three tracks, it will be like an atom bomb. Contact: www.divinerapture.net

REVIEW: DIVINE RAPTURE - DIVINE RAPTURE

 

DIVINE RAPTURE - DIVINE RAPTURE (Hrborrah Records, 1999):

Technical data:

Recorded at Silent Studios.

Mixed by Justin Anthony Madax

Produced by Divine Rapture and Justin Madax

Artwork by Mike Hrubovcak.

Track List: 1- Desirous Nonsubsistence, 2- Purging thy Torrents, 3- Black Moon Harvest, 4- Unyielding Presence, 5- The Well of Enlightenment, 6- A Glimmer From beneath, Raw Primal Versions: 7- Black Moon Harvest, 8- Desirous Nonsubsistence, 9- Purging Thy Torrents, 10- Unyielding presence, 11- A Glimmer From Beneath, 12- Multimedia track

This is Divine Rapture´s debut album that contains six tracks from a demo in its Original Versions and in its Primal Raw Versions, where the first ones are better sounding than the second ones. The music is a modern death metal in the vein of the fastest Morbid Angel with good and fast solos  (some of them done with Harmonizer, like the ones in "Purging Thy Torrents") and emphasizing the more rhythmic side of their musicl personality (some riffs are great for seeing the band live in front of stage diving crowd). There is also a powerful and growling vocalist and some melodies that are thrown here and there and help the tracks to have their own identity ("Black Moon Harvest" is a total death metal hit)The sound is not so good, specially the drums are a little bit opaque, but considering the one that they have achieved in their new material they have solved easily this problem. Favorite tracks" "Black Moon Harvest", "Unyielding Presence" and "A Glimmer from Beneath". Contact: www.divinerapture.net

REVIEW: DISINTER - DEMONIC PORTRAITURE

 

DISINTER - DEMONIC PORTRAITURE (Morbid Records, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Studio One

Mastered at JEM Studios

Engineered by Chris Djuricic and Disinter

Artwork by In Deed Hell

Track List: 1- First and Last In Battle / Strength and Honour, 2- An Eternity of Pain, 3- The Hunter´s Moon, 4- Where We Are Mortal, 5- Woven with pestilence and War, 6- What Once Was, Again Shall Be, 7- Cyclopean Ruins, 8- Upon The Winds of Vengeance, 9- Whirling Spectral Voices, 10- Demonic Portraiture

Some issues ago I reviewed the previous album from this death metal machine called Disinter. Now is time for their latest opus "Demonic Portraiture". The first thing that I notice is that this time the sound is much better than in their previous effort making the tracks more effective. The music is still hyper speed death metal with melodies here and there, and extremely technical (those super fast guitar melodies on the first track for example are really difficult to do while beig coherent with the rest of the band). This CD contains ten tracks of this crushing band, and all of them are extremely brutal but at the same time they have some subtle riffs and certain melodies that make the things more interesting (also there are interesting drum patterns like the one at 1:19 from "An Eternity of Pain"). Lovers of brutality, here is smething for you !!Favorite tracks: "An Eternity of Pain", The Hunter´s Moon" and "Whirling Spectral Voices". Contact: www.morbidrecords.de