REVIEW: BOLT THROWER - HONOUR, VALOUR, PRIDE

 

BOLT THROWER - HONOUR, VALOUR, PRIDE (Roadrunner Recs., 2001)

Produced by Bolt thrower and Andy Faulkner

Recorded at Sable Rose Studios

Artwork by Jan Meininghaus

Tracks: 1- Contact- Wait Out, 2- Inside the Wire, 3- Honour, 4- Suspect Hostile, 5- 7th Offensive, 6- Valour, 7- K-Machine, 8- A Hollow Truce, 9- Pride

This is Bolt Thrower´s latest opus and it marks a new step the band´s career. In fat is the first record with Dave Ingram on vocals. And the music is crushing as always, but Dave gives the final touch sounding more powerful than his predecessor Karl Willets. One thing that I liked here a lot is the drumming, is like more spatiated on tracks like the opening "Contact - Wait Out" relying heavily on the double bass and the ride cymbal. As always the tandem conformed by Jo bench on bass and Gavin Ward and Martin Kearns on guitars is demolishing and are the ones that create the main structure of the tracks here. War metal at its best !!! Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: BOLT THROWER - MERCENARY

 

BOLT THROWER - MERCENARY (Roadrunner Recs., 2000)

Produced by Bolt Thrower and Ewan Davies

Recorded at Chapel Studios, Lincoln, England

Artwork by Peter Archer

Tracks: 1- Zeroed, 2- Laid To Waste, 3- Return From Chaos, 4- Mercenary, 5- To the Last..., 6- Powder Burns, 7- Behind Enemy lines, 8- No Guts, No Glory, 9- Sixth Chapter

This is Bolt Thrower previous album, but I have to review it because it is the end of the chapter with Karl Willets on vocals (now the vocalist is the ex Benediction vocalist Dave Ingram). The music is really potent as always, slower than on their first albums and more focused in death metal with crushing riffs and a lot of rhythm changes. The sound is good here, but I have to admit that I would like them to mix in a different way the snare drum, like louder. On this release they are using more bottom end (Jo Bench is crushing as always on the bass) than in for example "For Victory...". there are some riffs that are more original than others like the ones you can listen on songs like "Mercenary" and I think the band is getting better with time doing this type of music. Favorite tracks: "Laid To Waste", "To the Last..." and " "Behind Enemy Lines". Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: BLASTMAT - THEME FOR A DYING WORLD

 

BLASTMAT - THEME FOR A DYING WORLD (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Blastmat

Recorded at Barn Owl Studios. Engineered by Kerry Gollareny

Artwork by Blastmat

Tracks: 1- New Messiah, 2- Desensitized, 3- Lives for lies, 4- Theme for a dying world, 5- Taliban Fight Song, 6- Church and state, 7- You and Yours, 8- Fire in the city, 9- Jesus Saves, 10- It all comes down, 11- Dog Eat Dog

Take a little bit of hard rock, add some metal then add a lot of hardcore and punk and then you´ll have a close idea of how does Blastmat´s music sound. I enjoyed a lot the tracks contained here because of the choruses that the tracks have and I liked the simple and effective riffs (really hardcore) that Andy Reitano makes with his guitar. Here you will have from catchy songs to some that are much faster (like "Lives for Lies") and everything in between. The main thing here are the rhythms which are designed to make the people jump and to sing along with the band. The sound is a little bit muddy but this guys can solve that in the future adding more time to the mix. A good one for lovers of hardcore and similar styles!! Favorite tracks: "Lives for lies", "Taliban Fight Song" and "Jesus Saves". Contact: http://members.aol.com/blastmatcthc

REVIEW: BLACK MASS - TO FLY WITH DEMONS

 

BLACK MASS - TO FLY WITH DEMONS (Elegy Recs., 2001)

Produced by Black Mass

Artwork by Curtis Harris

Tracks: 1- Altar of Ill Repute, 2- Scource of Hell, 3- Continual Darkness, 4- Invocatium Satanas, 5- Weltering in Sin, 6- Parallex Profanity / To Fly With Demons, 7- Feast of Souls, 8- Kill them in Hell, 9- Abyssmal Torment

Mayhemic death/Black metal !!! This is what we have here: this is a combination of the most brutal death metal vocals with violent black metal riffs and the brutality of death metal patterns in the drums (that get into blast beats in a lot of places). The guitars sound like a wall of sound, with great riffs that are very rhythmic in a lot of parts. There are some short guitar solos that are really well placed and give the melodic element to the tracks contained here. The vocals are really guttural and fit the brutality contained on this recording perfectly. Lovers of death / black metal will fell in love with this band !! Favorite tracks: "Scource of Hell", "Weltering in Sin" and "Kill Them in Hell". Contact: www.usblackmass.com

REVIEW: BIOTECH - NEW WORLD DISORDER

 

BIOTECH - NEW WORLD DISORDER (Silver Music., 1999)

Produced by Biotech

Recorded at Sliver Music, parma

Artwork by Matteo Pretti

Tracks: 1- My Last Days (it will come), 2- S.K. 99, 3- Wile

The music of this CD goes in the way of bands like Sepultura and Fear Factory with some riffs that are different from those bands (they are quite more twisted and have many breaks through the same song). This recording has a really good sound and that makes the music to be more appreciated. The vocals are quite similar to the ones of Machine Head´s Rob Flynn: there are interesting things that I would like the band to explore more: like the solo at 2:30 of "My Last Days" which makes a great contrast with the rest of the music. I would like to listen a full length of this guys or to listen what are doing nowadays, A REALLY POWERFUL BAND !!! Favorite tracks: "S.K. 99" and "Wile". Contact: www.youngmusic.com

REVIEW: BETHLEHEM - SCHATTE AUS DER ALEXANDER WELT

 

BETHLEHEM - SCHATTEN AUS DER ALEXANDER WELT (Red Stream Recs., 2001)

Some Tracks: 1- Maschinsohn, 2- Somnambulism in Maschinenzimmer 30, 3- Mein Kuss erstickt im Imperativ, 4- Mary Samaels NFB 418, 5- Dunkle, kalte Materie, 6- Das 4. Tier Ass den Mutterwitz, 7- Roast, Wahne tote Gleise, 8- Tod einer Dieselkatze, 9- Aus dunkler Ritze fruchtig Wahn + A LOT OF BONUS TRACKS !!

This is a masterpiece !!This is an amazing CD ! !In fact this is a double CD !! The first one, called "Das Grauen" has 18 tracks (one of them that is thirteen minutes long is hidden and you have to wait until the cd counter goes to track number 66)!!! How can I describe this jewel? Well, first of all this is extremely climatic, combining the most beautiful and melodic moments with extremely heavy parts full of crushing riffs. The tracks here have complexity and are made in a way that they are interconnected between them. There are plenty of spoken partd, because this was conceived to be a theatrical piece. There are choruses that are greatly harmonized in a way similar to gregorian chant. Also...do you want some electronics? Well here you have them in some tracks. DO you want slower tracks? You have them. Do you want fdaster ones? Here they are. Do you love atmospheric parts? Here you will be delighted !! Are you a lover of keyboards and piano? Here you have plenty of them, including intros, solo passages and more. The second CD called "Der Dorsch" is more orchestral and it is like a movie soundtrack with all the elements described above and many more. THE CD of the MONTH!!!!!!!! Favorite tracks: The whole CD. This is the record of the month an probably of the year. Contact: www.redstream.org or www.alexanderwelt.org

REVIEW: BATHTUB SHITTER - WALL OF WORLD IS WORDS

 

BATHTUB SHITTER - WALL OF WORLD IS WORDS (Farewell Recs., 2001)

Produced by Bathtub Shitter

Recorded at LM Studios

Artwork by Osho and Henmarer

Tracks: 1- Wall of World is Words, 2- Wrinkly Wall, 3- Light Out, 4- M.A.D.S., 5- New Clear War, 6- We The Helpless, 7- Imitation of Life, 8- Fuck You

Bathtub Shitter is a culkt band in the grindcore underground. And here they are with this offering that includes three covers: one from Holy Moses, one by Scum and another one by Extreme Noise Terror. As you may know Bathtub Shitter has no mercy for the listener and they play ultrafast and brutal grindcore. Here is no exception. Starting with the title tracks they push the accelerator and go at top speed through the whole recording. The sound is clear enough to listen to all the instruments (even if I would have mixed differently the drums which are a little bit buried in the mix, except for the cymbals). A classic band that is as brutal as always. For lovers of extreme grindcore with original ideas and some death metal touches. Favorite tracks: "New Clear War", "Wrinkly Wall", We The Helpless". Contact: www.plastic-bomb.de

REVIEW: ARCHETYPE - DAWNING

 

ARCHETYPE - DAWNING (CDM Prods., 2002)

Produced by Ed Tomecko and Chris Matyus at Audioworks

Recorded At JGRS - Massillon, Ohio

Artwork by Chris Kallias, Chris Matyus and Tony D´Atri

Tracks: 1- Final Day, 2- Hands of Time, 3- Dawning, 4- Dissension´s Wake, 5- Inside your Dreams, 6- Premonitions, 7- Visionary, 8- Arisen, 9- The Mind´s Eye, 10- Years Ago

Archetype is one of the first bands that I interviewed for Music Extreme like one year ago or something like that. Now, I have received their latest opus, called "Dawning". Archetype´s music is what I called progressive: they have a lot of elements of heavy metal, of progressive rock and and there´s something also that reminded me of thrash classics like early Flotsam and Jetsam (certain vocals lines or crushing guitar riffs). In fact they are really eclectic and that makes tracks like "Years Ago" which is over twelve minutes, so interesting. The vocals are not what you expect of bands of the style....in fact, they are really melodic in places but they have always a lot of aggression that makes the result here really powerful. Also we have an extra point: the sound in this recording is really killer!! (also another thing that gives a lot of power to the tracks is the guitar sound which is really heavy and the way in which the drummer accentuates the riffs). A must for any metal fan. Favorite tracks: the whole CD. Contact: www.archetype1.com

REVIEW: AFFLUENT OF STYX - THORON

 

AFFLUENT OF STYX - THORON (Inner Cellar Prods., 2000)

Produced by Affluent of Styx

Recorded at Ender´s Inner Cellar

Artwork by Ender and Darx

Tracks: 1- Tue Ne le Divin Enfant, 2- Condamnation de la Trodecte, 3- Ad Usque Terras Mors, 4- Phusis, 5- Rapax Ataraxia, 6- Fardeau Miserable de la Genese Divine Fleaulienne

Here we have Affluent of Styx, a band of death/black metal extremely brutal and with some subtle elements. There are also some riffs that could be labeled as black metal, specially on the fastest parts where they are one not runs creating melodic background. I like specially riffs like the one at 2:16 in "Tue Ne le Devin Enfant" that reminded me of early Celtic Frost. There are a lot of keyboards on this recording that make the sound of the band much more interesting (and less raw). The vocals are extremely guttural and are mixed very low, so sometimes you confuse it with the music that is behind them. The best thing here are Ender´s riffs and solos which are original.The intrerludes here are really cool and melodic and give a lot of breath to the music contained on this album. Favorite tracks: "Condamnation de La Trodecte" and "Phusis". Contact: www.affluent-of-styx.com

REVIEW: ABADDON INCARNATE - NADIR

 

ABADDON INCARNATE - NADIR (Sentinel Recs., 2001)

Produced byMieszko Talarczyk and Abaddon Incarnate

Recorded in Soundlab Studios, Sweden

Artwork by Paul Mc Carroll for Unhinged Art and Design

Tracks: 1- I Will nail you in, 2- False, 3- They use dark forces, 4- Unclean, 5- Aeons of Our Dying, 6- Throne of the whore, 7- Funeral procession, 8- Traumatic Stress Solution, 9- Hunger Allowed No Choice, 10- Transgressor, 11- Victory or Annihilation, 12- Scene of the Crime, 13- Progeny, 14- Where´s my axe?, 15- Come Onto Me, 16- She Hates With a Marble Heart, 17- Seditious Thoughts Part 1, 18- Seditious thougts Part II, 19- Judgement was Passed before, 20- Hamunaptra (City of the Dead), 21- Bonebag, 22- ....And Then The World Bleeds, 23- Pogrom, 24- Rot

Abaddon Incarnate is a grind band from Ireland. The first thing that got my attention from this CD is how good it sounds. Th sound here is crystal clear, even in the fastest parts with blast beats. The music is extremely brutal full of fast parts and great riffs like the ones in "Aeons of Our Dying" (which are the riffs that I prefer, not so fast but much heavier). The band is really tigfht and you can notice that in the blast beats parts with breaks like the ones in Throne of the Whore" where everything is completely under control, despite being fast and complicated. This is a CD for grindcore fans and also for death metal ones because it has all the features that they love. Favorite tracks: "Judgement Was Passed before", "She Hates With a Marble Heart" and "Funeral procession". Contact: www.sentinelireland.com