REVIEW: INKBLACK - PSYCHODRAMA

 

INKBLACK - PSYCHODRAMA (Independent., 2000)

Produced by Inkblack

Recorded by Bas

Tracks: 1- Inside Your Mind, 2- the New Brood, 3- Battle Calls

A clean guitar arpeggio playing a haunting melody starts this CD and gets heavier pretty soon witha n interesting break that turns into something that I would call trance death metal. I put the word trance because the rhythm here is slow and catchy and can put your mind into a trance with some hypnotic charachteristics. Along with some slithering guitar melodies that are played here and there to make the tracks more diverse, we have different types of vocals and good guitar riffs. I would like them to mix maybe the guitars (specially the rhythmic) and fundamentally the bass a little bit louder to add some bottom end to the music. The main thing here is depression , achieved by the melodies and atmospheres created by this musicians. Three tracks are not enough and I would like to listen more from them. Favorite tracks: the three contained here

REVIEW: HONEY BARBARA - I-10 & W.AVE

 

HONEY BARBARA - I-10 & W.AVE. (Emigre Recs., 2001)

Produced by Honey Barbara

Recorded at home in San Antonio, Texas

Tracks: 1- Famous Animal, 2- Bad Day, 3- Sleep Late, 4- Beddie Bye, 5- Beat Again, 6- Killer duds, 7- Low Birth, 8- Invisible, 9- Eye on You, 10- How Bright The Sky, 11- Pards, 12- All Fall Down, 13- Come Away, 14- Ambush Chorus, 15- Solid Return, 16- Arabesque, 17- Renata

Honey Barabara makes really atmospoheric music, where the emphasis is on the climatic passages and in the arrangements. The band is a trio in which each musician plays a variety of instruments. In fact the main thing here are the keyboards and the atmospheric. Also, there are a lot of processed guitars that make the tracks more weird. The vocals are almost whispering and they are sometimes melodic, but not in the typical way...their melodies are twisted and make the songs even more weird than before adding them. I like experimentation and here you have a lot in the keyboards, in the guitars and on percussion. Each track here is a world on its own and all of them are completely different one from each other. If you have an open mind, this is for you. Favorite tracks: " Ambus Chorus", "Beddie Bye" and " Eye on You". Contact: www.emigre.com

REVIEW: HOMICIDE HAGRIDDEN - DEAD BLACK SUN

 

HOMICIDE HAGRIDDEN - DEAD BLACK SUN (Kick Promotion Agency, 2001)

Produced by Homicide Hagridden

Tracks: 1- Dead Black Sun, 2- Arena´s Sky, 3- Constriction, 4- the Way To love

This is a band from Torino, Italy with a lot of ideas. I would call their music style as progressive death thrash metal. Progressive because of all the changes and original parts that the music contained here have. Death because of the vocals that are in the vein of later Carcass or Kreator and some Destruction. Thrash because of certain riffs and drums patterns and because of the sound, that specially on the bass sound really thrashy. There are four powerful tracks here and the rhythmic riffs played with a lot of power and strength are the main thing here. The sound of the recording is really good and it is original because they are not trying to sound like the most famous bands out there. And the clarity of the mix helps a lot to communicate what the band is trying to show. I would like to listen more from this band , maybe a full length release soon!! Favorite tracks: " Arena´s Sky" and "Constriction". Contact: www.kickagency.3000.it

REVIEW: HIMINBJORG - HAUNTED SHORES

 

HIMINBJORG - HAUNTED SHORES (Red Stream Recs. 2001)

Tracks: 1- The Aves, 2- War, 3- The Haunted Shores, 4- Of Desire and Lust, 5- The Eternal, 6- Lonely, 7- The Voices of revenge

Himinbjorg is a killer band that is always on the edge between black and death metal with incredible song structures and amazing melodies (I love the way one of the guitarist plays them while the other makes this heavy riffs that are the core of the tracks contaied here). And here lies the main element in Himinbjorg´s music: they are not doing hyper speed and furious riffs all the time....they prefer diversity adding slow riffs in a lot of parts and some clean vocals followed by some melodies. Then they change to faster rifffs and more brutal vocals. But they are not afraid of using this diverse styles. And this is one of the main points here: Diversity (checkas an exmple the track "War" and listen the way they combine from screaming vocals to vocal harmonies in a few seconds). There are a lot of clean guitars here and there (like on "The Haunted Shores") that embellish the songs. If you want great metal with a lot of ideas then check Himinbjorg. One of the best CDs of the month. Favorite tracks: The whole CD. Contact: www.redstream.org

REVIEW: GHOULS - PROMO 2000

 

GHOULS - PROMO 2000 (Independent, 2000)

Produced by Ghouls

Recorded at Outer Sound Studios

Tracks: 1- Divine Chosen, 2- I´m The Living Swear, 3- Eternal Damnation

Crushing death grind, directly from Italy. The music here is pure death metal in its most purest form without any mercy for the listener. In fact it starts at full speed on the first track and it continues like that through the three tracks contained here. The main thing here is power and brutality and this guys achieve it through their fast riffs and killer drum patterns. The vocals can be screaming ones or more guttural depending on the riff that is played behind (in the fastest they use the screaming vocals and when they turn more rhythmic they use the guttural one). For fans of extreme brutality. Favorite tracks: "Divine Chosen" and "I´m The Liing Swear"

REVIEW: GHOLES - EXTRAIT CD 2000

 

GHOLES - EXTRAIT CD 2000 (Independent, 2000)

Produced by Gholes

Tracks: 1- Who Would Die for Me?, 2- Same, 3- Dried Up Tears

This is metal done with excellent musicianship that I would label killer death metal with some black metal touches and with interesting keyboards and melodies (in fact I loved the combination of the melodies done by the guitarists and the ones made by the keyboards giving the tracks a unique atmosphere and feeling). Both guitarists are excellent here and they shine through their solos and complex riffs that are the core of the tracks here. I would love to listen more music from this band. Favorite tracks: The three contained on this CD. Contact: GHOLES, 125 Rue Circé, Les Comores III, (34090) Montpellier, FRANCE

REVIEW: FINIDI - LIFE IS A PRISON

 

FINIDI - LIFE IS A PRISON (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Finidi and Aki Peltonen

Recorded at Studio Sound Doctor

Tracks: 1- Screams of Wrath, 2- I am You, 3- Things that Exists

Furious death metal with killer riffs and vocals that reminded me in some places to early Enslaved material (despite the completely different music that they play). This is what I call death/thrash metal because of the influence that both of this genres have in Finidi´s musc (cool solos nad guitar riffs come directly from mid eighties thrash but with a modern sound an ellaborated in such a way that fit perfectly Finidi´s style....the guitarist is killer). There are multiple changes within the same song structure giving a lot of diversity within the same track. A great effort of this finnish band. Favorite tracks: "Screams of Wrath" and "Things that Exist". Contact: www.geocities.com/finidi_11/website.html

REVIEW: ESQARIAL - DISCOVERIES

 

ESQARIAL - DISCOVERIES (Empire Recs., 2001)

Produced by Esqarial

Recorded at Fonoplastykon Studios

Artwork by Lud

Tracks: 1- World in Flames, 2- Kill all of them, 3- Travel in Lust, 4- Sacred War, 5- Nightmare, 6- Unreal, 7- Atlantis, 8- New Land, 9- True Lies, 10- Guitar Explosions

Extremely technical death metal. I must admit that this is one of the styles that I like most. And Esqarial is a great exponent of this kind of music. Using riffs that need to have a lot of knowledge of the instruiments to be played correctly. And this music needs a lot of rehearsal to make the band sound really tight. And Esqarial is really tight, going from extremely melodic parts to parts that are technically complex and then going to a crushing and more simple rhythm structure. All within the same song. In fact I think that the award to best musicians of the year go this guys with no doubt and specially to the guitarists which are responsible of the excellent riffs and the killer solos that are on this recording. There is also a multimedia part on this CD: an excellent one. This is one of the CDs of the month. Favorite tracks: The whole album is amazing. Contact: www.empire-records.com.pl

REVIEW: EMBRYONIC CELLS - NECRO-REVELATION

 

EMBRYONIC CELLS - NECRO-REVELATION (Independent, 2001)

Recorded at Roaside Studios

Artwork by La Vache Folle

Tracks: 1- Necro revelation, 2- Guilty Crowd, 3- A Next Day

It is a pity that this CD has only three tracks. How well this guys combine their aggression and heaviness in the vein of Carcass with more atmospheric passages (created in a very intelligent way by the guitarist who has a great knowledge of note placement). The drummer is really a good one and knows how to play from straightforward rhythms to more complicated ones without difficulties. There are two types of vocals on this recording: one more guttural and other more screaming and that helps to add more variation to the tracks (even if the tracks are vary different one from another because of the great guitar work). If you like this type of death metal, then this is your band. Favorite tracks: The three contained here.

REVIEW: EMBRYO - THE SOURCE OF HATE

 

EMBRYO - THE SOURCE OF HATE (Kick Promotion Agency, 2001)

Produced by Embryo

Recorded at Far Fen Go Studios

Artwork by Giancarlo Capra

Tracks: 1- Drowning in Blood, 2- Hate Within, 3- Choice of Pain, 4- The Butcher´s Lullabye, 5- Painting the end

This is brutality and melody in the exact proportion to do an excellent album. In fact this is a MCD whose main charachteristic are the riffs that Embryo´s guitarists play with a lot of musicianship. One important thing here are the keyboards which are fundamental to give to the tracks the atmosphere that they nedd. And they add a lot of originality too. The voclas are in the vein of Kreator´s Mille Petrozza but more distorted. I really liked this band and recommend itto open minded death metal fans. Favorite tracks: "The Butcher´s Lullabye", "Choice of Pain" and "Drowning in Blood" Contact: www.kickagency.3000.it