REVIEW: GURKKHAS - A LIFE OF SUFFERING

 

GURKKHAS - A LIFE OF SUFFERING (Morbid Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at LB Studio

Sound Engineers: Stephane Buriez, Francois Jazmin

Artwork: In Deed Hell

Track List: 1- Born on a Day of War, 2- Tears of Blood, 3- A Life of Suffering, 4- Kukri, 5- The Day of Battle, 6- Legacy, 7- If I Should Die, 8- Chronicles of Chaos

Directly from France we have this powerful death metal beasts!!! In their style of the most brutal death metal, this guys are kings!! Fast rhythms with modern riffs sounding extremely DEATHLY!! Two things to point out....the great and modern sound that this guys have achieved on this recording. In fact this gives an extra flavour to their music because being so fast and brutal, it needs a very clear mix to be fully appreciated. The main theme around which the songs spin is WAR....that is the content of Gurkkhas tracks... and the music is something that fits the lyrics perfectly, explosive, powerful and extremely brutal. Guttural vocals, riffs that are fast and have a good guitar sound in order to achieve better resyults...a killer fast drummer, all this elements and more are combined here to made this music that I would label Battle war metal. Favorite tracks: "The Day of Battle", "If I Should Die" and "Chronicles of Chaos".Contact: www.multimania.com/gurkkhas

REVIEW: GROOVE GARDEN - SOULFOOD

 

GROOVE GARDEN - SOULFOOD (Soulfood Music., 2001):

Technical data:

Produced by Soulfood

Track List: 1- Chamber 12 Edit, 2- Chamber 13 edit, 3- Chamber 11 remix, 4- Chamber 14 remix, 5- Flamenco Soul, 6- Radiant Minds remix, 7- Tulku´s Palace remix, 8- Sky Spirit Remix, 9- Manitou edit, 10- Peacekeeper edit, 11- Evolution edit.

This CD consists in tracks from differnt styles. There are four tracks of Wingmakers who play a strange mix of electronics, world beat and tribal chants (with some female vocals here and there to add more mystery to this mixture). After that we have one track from flamenco guitarist Pedro Cortez, combining his guitar with some sitar or instrument like that, with excelent duet phrases and a great spanish feeling through the whole track. Then, Entering Dreamtime showcases their chants and a lot of keyboard progressions in a style more eastern sounding with some tribal percussion and melodies thata re typical from Middle Eastern cultures, mixed with some electronic effects. After this, is the turn of Sky Spirit, a project consisting in a lot of flute melodies, and this is the quieter part of the recordings. The last project to be featured here is Steve Kuether´s tranquility who takes us to songs based on piano, almost new age sometimes, full of phrases and melodies of great beauty. Favborite tracks: "Chamber 11", "Flamenco Soul","Tulku´s Palace" and "Evolution". Contact: www.soulfoodmedia.com

REVIEW: GONORRHOEACTION - PROMO DISFIGURED AFTER BUTCHERY

 

GONORRHOEACTION - PROMO (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Gonorrhoeahersalroom - May 01

Track List: 1- Cunt Cutlet, 2- Pile Into Piles, 3- Backdoor Convulsion, 4- Nature Warning / Human Extinction, 5- The Torturer, 6- Mucous Gulch Contaminated with Haemorrhoids, 7- We Will Never Sit Down To Piss

This is death grind in all its aspects !! The band starts at total speed with "Cunt Cutlet" with their fast riffs and two types of vocals unleashing all the sonic madness. I think this could be more appreciated with a better sound (here is a little bit opaque making all the instruments sounding too much in the background) and I think that next time this is the main point to look at, because the compositions are good, having some catchy rhythms and a lot of changes. And here is what I like most from Gonorrhoeaction...the multiple riffs within the same song structure, combined with their power and the two voices...one more gutural and the other one more screaming...in the vein of old Napalm Death. There is a Malignant Tumor cover called "Nature Warning/Human Extinction"...This is grind that in the future can shatter the world. Favorite tracks: "Pile Into Piles" and "The Torturer". Contact: www.gonorrhoeaction.de

REVIEW: GODLESS TRUTH - SELF REALIZATION

 

GODLESS TRUTH - SELF REALIZATION (Shindy Prods,, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Exponent Studios

Produced and Mixed by Roman Slavic and Godless Truth

Artwork by Zig and Deather.

Track List: 1- Ninetyseven, 2-Worthless Human Being, 3- Disdain, 4- He´s not, 5- Constructing the Future, 6- Next Step, 7- Isolated Victim, 8- Predetermined Disfiguration, 9- I take your life, 10- Crooshpetz

Fucking death metal at its best!! Heavy as hell, extremely huge guitars and killer drumming (since the beginning of the first track) with technical guitar riffs in the vein of the most potent Morbid Angel (also I find some Benediction and Suffocation influences here and there...but with a more modern sound that allows the guitar to sound much bigger than in the aforementioned bands). There is a lot of speed here but the main feature is the heaviness of the tracks. I have to congratulate this guys because of the sound that they have achieved on this release, it is cristal clear and makes the results much more effective than would have been with a worse sound (for example it is great to listen the bass suporting th guitar riffs while not missing a beat of the bass drums). Please, check this band because you will not be dissapointed. Favorite tracks: "Disdain", "Next Step" and "Predetermined Disfiguration". Contact: www.shindy.cz

REVIEW: GARDEN OF DELIGHT - RADIANT SONS

 

GARDEN OF DELIGHT - RADIANT SONS (Trinity Recs,, 2000):

Technical data:

Produced by God

Recorded and Mixed by Artaud

Artwork by Artaud and Johnnie Clappe.

Track List: 1- Chaos A.D. (R.O.C.A.N.), 2- Agony, 3- Obsessed, 4- Sharcah, 5- Astral Traveler, 6- Twilight, 7- Last Day on Earth, 8- Astral Traveler (Radio Edit)

Interesting band from Germany that mixes gothic elements with some from different styles such as industrial. While listening to this CD come to my mind bands like Rammstein, Nine Inch Nails and others fom dark and mechanical styles. The combination of clean and heavy guitars as well as the electronic elements used along with the keyboards are what give this sensation of being in the presence of a gothic/industrial/ metal band. The voices are in a medium and low range adding depth to the music of the band, plus there is a female guest vocalist too to add the higher range to the vocal side. If you like this coimbination of dark melodies, heavy guitars and spectral keyboards then this is yours. Favorite tracks: "Agony", "Obsesed" and "Twilight". Contact: www.garden-of-delight.2xs.de

REVIEW: GALLOPING CORONERS - DANCING WITH THE SUN

 

GALLOPING CORONERS - DANCING WITH THE SUN (Neurot Recordings, 2000):

Technical data:

Mixed by Nemes Lazslo

Artwork by Barcsik Geza.

Track List: 1-Conjuring Up The Wonder Stag, 2- Inspiration, 3- Dancing With The Sun, 4- Crystalling Desire, 5- Tiny Red Dragons, 6- A Fairy Tale Playground, 7- Spinning Into Joy, 8- Fire Full Dance, 9- The Life Of The Spherics, 10- With My Ancestors, 11- Huns IN Budapest, 12- Magus Star

Where do this guys come from?? They come from Hungary and their real name is Vágtázó Halottkémek which means Galloping Coroners in english. This guys have been in concert with bands like Today is the Day, Neurosis and Voivod. But they make a music completely differnt from all this bands. In fact this is more climatic and almost acoustic in all its integrity. The music has eastern european influences and some folk influences too. While the tracks may be rhythmic enough to dance along them, they have some experimental quality in them, such as certain guitar lines that are weirder and have this eastern flavor on them. Sometimes the music here is more ambient using the instruments to create sounds in order to make the tracks even more weird. The lyrics are completely in hungarian language and that adds the special touch to this awesome recording.. Favorite tracks: "With My Ancestors", "Inspiration" and "Spinning Into Joy". Contact: www.neurotrecordings.com

REVIEW: FLESHLESS - NICE TO EAT YOU

 

FLESHLESS - NICE TO EAT YOU (Obscene Prods., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Hostivar Praha.

Recorded and Mixed by Jakub and Zdenek Sikyr

Artwork by Jiri Lhota

Track List: 1- Nice to Eat You, 2- The Body bag Blues, 3- Culture Meat, 4- Noise Part III, 5- Red Stars Hypocrisy, 6- Where´s Mine Resurrection, 7- Defy the Fear, 8- Headscratcher, 9- A Roadkill Recipe, 10- Breathe and Bleed, 11- HRBitov (Root Cover)

Obscene Productions brings us this brutal band from their homeland the Czech Republic. This band is completely inmersed in the style that we call brutal death metal and they do it very fluently. The thing tat helps a lot is the guitar sound that is really fat (they have a lot of bottom end and is mixed very loud). Plus the guitars, apart from being extremely heavy, make a lot of changes in the tracks. This death metal is extremely technical and seems to be very popular in the Czech metal scene. It is always good to see in tracks like "Culture Meat" or "Where´s Mine resurrection" how this guys have enough technical skills to play this complicated brand of music, specially the killer drummer who is a machine behind his kit. My favorite tracks are those in which there are more changes and technical stuff, like "Breathe and Bleed" or "Culture Meat". Contact: www.obscene.cz

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