REVIEW: GODLESS - LET THERE BE DARKNESS PROMO

 

GODLESS - LET THERE BE DARKNESS PROMO (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Chris Muimbwa and Nick for ''Useful Bass Production''

Engineered by Nick Georgiou in Studio ''N''

Tracks: 1- Godless, 2- Hordes, 3-Tale of a Gothic Cathedral, 4- Heavens Final Failure

This is death metal with interesting riffs and some epic parts and a sound that reminds me of late eighties/early nineties death metal bands like Morbid Angel or maybe Asphyx. And despite coming from Greece it has no similarity to all the famous underground greek bands. This recording is a rough mix four track of the Godless CD "Let there Be Darkness" which has seven trckas (61 minutes) of pure death metal!! The good thing here is that despite being a raw one man band (Chris Muimbwa is behind all the music here except for the lead guitar) Godless music has place for melodies in the guitar riffs that make a really interesting contrast with the rawer parts. Chris vocals fit the music perfectly and he has imagined very interesting phrases like the ones at 2:17 of the track "Hordes" which is really crushing. Even if I like the four tracks my absolute favourite is "Tale of A Gothic Cathedral" which is more than fourteen mnutes long and it has a lot of changes and different parts and sounds. I would really love to listen the other three tracks that are not contained on this promo. A death metal band designed to blast youFavorite tracks: The four contained here. Contact: godlesstheband@yahoo.gr

REVIEW: GENOCIDIO - REBELLION

 

GENOCIDIO - REBELLION (Destroyer Recs., 2001)

Produced by Ciero and Genocidio

Recorded at Da Tribo Studio

Artwork by Marangoni Junior

Tracks: 1- Rebellion, 2- Reflexion of Down, 3- Hidden Army, 4- Nephilins, 5- Lost Children, 6- As The Gods, 7- Dominion, 8- Harvest of Souls, 9- Social Sterility

Brutal Death Metal directly from Brazil !! The music here is raw with a great sound specially on the guitars which are really clear and crushing at the same time. The band really likes speed but also they like to make breaks like on the second track "Reflexion of Down". The vocals here are really guttural and they are mixed very well with some reverb on them that makes the result better. There are a lot of interesting drums patterns where the main feature is the double bass which is really up on the mis as I like. The main thing here is power...and this band is really powerful doing a great job. A killer work also by the bass player who accentuates in an interesting way the drum beats as can be heard in "Nephilins". This CD contains a Napalm Death cover "Social Sterility" taken from their classic "From Enslavement to Obliteration". Favorite tracks: "Hidden Army", "Lost Children" and "As The Gods". Contact: www.destroyer.com.br

REVIEW: FLOTSAM & JETSAM - MY GOD

 

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM - MY GOD (Metal Blade Recs., 2000)

Produced by Bill Metoyer and Flotsam and Jetsam

Recorded at Vintage Recorders, Phoenix, AZ

Artwork by Bryce Prevatte

Tracks: 1- Dig Me Up To Bury Me, 2- Keep Breathing, 3- Nothing To Say, 4- Weather To Do, 5- Camera Eye, 6- Trash, 7- Praise, 8- My God, 9- Learn To Dance, 10- Frustrate, 11- Killing Time, 12- I.A.M.H.

It is a pity that this band has always been recognized for being the band where Jason Newsteed used to play, even if he played only on their first recording "Doomsday For the Deceiver" before going to Metallica. Flosam and Jetsam has changed a lot since that times (but they have not changed their thrash spirit). One of the main changes were Eric A.K.´s vocals which are not as high pitched as they used to be....then the guitars have a much more modern sound and they are much more fat. Also they have mixed their thrash roots with a lot of the modern styles that arised in the metal scene, and they have obtained a new Flotsam and Jetsam´s sound (the evolution of Bill Metoyer´s mixes has been crucial here). This is a really underrated band which deserved a better destiny because of their great quality. Favorite tracks: "Keep Breathing", "Weather To Do" and "Frustrate". Contact: www.metalblade.com

REVIEW: FATIMA HILL - AION

 

FATIMA HILL - AION (Worldchaos Prods., 2002)

Produced by Ajio Kino

Recorded at Crew Studio, providence Studio and Studio Ride.

Artwork by Takamichi Koeda

Tracks: 1- Ares Dragon, 2- Babel Dune, 3- The Black Bat, 4- Aeon, 5- Ultimata, 6- Other, 7- Stigmata, 8- The Song for Beatrice part 3 / the Se ven Songs

Fatima Hill is one of the best bands to come from Japan (I also like a lot other Japanese bands like Sigh or Manipulated Slaves). They are a heavy metal band with many elements of eighties thrash and a lot of keyboards and orchestration. On this recording they feature eight elaborated tracks which are a big step forward from their previous album )specially in sound, I consider this one much better).I liked specially the way in which Takamichi Koeda´s keyboards are mixed up in the front and the combination that he does when the guitars make the more melodic solos (Takamichi orchestrates the solos with interesting passages). Yuko´s vocals are great and she does not abuse the high pitched tones, using a lot of vibratos in the phrases. The recording is really well mixed and that adds a lot to the final result. If you like classical metal with some new elements, then check this band. Favorite tracks: "The Black Bat", "Ares Dragon" and "Stigmata". Contact: worldkdm@syd.odn.ne.jp or www.fatima-hill.com

REVIEW: ELECTRO HIPPIES - THE ONLY GOOD PUNK

 

ELECTRO HIPPIES - THE ONLY GOOD PUNK (Peaceville Recs., 2002)

Recorded at Lion Studios, Sound Project and Live at Planet X 15/04/89

Tracks: There are 40 tracks on this release from this underground cult band taken from many of their now unavailable recordings.

How can I define Electro Hippies music for those who don´t know them? Well, let´s say that they have a lot of hardcore elements, a lot of grind in some of the tracks too and some death in many of the vocals. Let´s say as an anecdotic thins that Carcass bassist and vocalist, Jeff Walker, Did the vocals on the first Electro Hippies demo. So, this band is a brick in the extreme music wall of history. All the tracks here are taken from their late eighties releases which now are unavailable. They have in this recording a really raw sound that fans of the style would love (even if the songs here have been mixed much better than in the original releases). It is really great to see the evolution of this band going to their most extreme side (which can be listened in the live recording with a lot of grind parts and blast beats in tracks like "So Wicked" or "Profit"). The tracks are short and they are a burst of energy. Favorite tracks: "Things of Beauty", "Meltdown (live)" and " Sometimes I´m so Glad". Contact: www.peaceville.co.uk

REVIEW: DREAM THEATER - SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

 

DREAM THEATER - SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE (Elektra, 2002)

Produced by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci

Recorded at Bear Track Studios

Artwork by Dung Hoang

Tracks: CD 1: 1- the Glass Prison; 2- Blind Faith, 3- Misunderstood, 4- The Great Debate, 5- Dissapear.

CD 2: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (I: Overture, II: About to Crash, III: War Inside My Head, IV: The Test that Stumped them All, V: Goodnight Kiss, VI:Solitary Shell, VII: About to Crash (reprise), VIII: Losing Time/Grand Finale)

I remember some 12 years back in time buying the first Dream Theater album "When Dream and Day Unite" and thinking what a great band they were despite the recordings lack of good sound. Then came "Images and Words" and that album blew my brain !!! IN fact, Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands because they can mix perfectly the more melodic passages with some that are really heavy and they have great technical skills whioch allows them to add a lot of interesting passages and breaks to the songs that other bands can´t. I didn´t like that much "Falling Into Infinity"...but then came "Metropolis Part.2...." and the change of keyboardist and I thought they had returned to the good path !!. This new album, "Six Degrees..." is in the vein of "Metropolis" but a little bit heavier in some places. As always, this guys have a lot of imagination and incredible solos....this time Jordan Rudess shines more than on the previous album. This is a two CD pack where the second CD is comprised of only one 42 minutes long song (the title track) divided in eight parts where this guys show why they are one of the best bands in the world. Favorite tracks: As always Dream Theater delivers the best....the whole album is a masterpiece. Contact: www.dreamtheater.net

REVIEW: DOWNER - DOWNER

 

DOWNER - DOWNER (Roadrunner recs., 2000)

Produced by Bob Marlette

Recorded at Blue Room Studios

Artwork by Pushead

Tracks: 1- Flex, 2- Bi-Furious, 3- Last Time, 4- Savior, 5- Weed Eater, 6- Mud Bath, 7- Born Again, 8- Speed teeth, 9- Punching Bag, 10- Ventilation, 11- Curbed

Downer´s music reminds me in some parts of a much heavier Creed mixed with some grunge elements and some drops og gothic music. In fact what sets this band apart is the heavier sound of the guitars which are really fat and add a lot of heaviness to the tracks contained on this CD. The vocalist is really good and uses a lot of middle range vocal lines in a really melodic fashion (despite sounding quite similar in many of the tracks). The band has a cool drummer who accentuates correctly the guitar riffs and make the tracks rhythmic and at the same time very hard. Favorite tracks: "Last Time", "Born Again" and "Ventilation". Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: DOOM - TOTAL DOOM

 

DOOM - TOTAL DOOM (Peaceville Recs., 2001)

Recorded at Birdsong and Rich Bitch

Produced by Doom

Tracks: There are 37 tracks from two classic Doom albums here.

37 tracks of energetic hardcore grind- death !!!! This is really pure and raw music from this classic band from the eighties. The tracks are form two classic recordings from this band: "War Crimes (Inhuman Beings)" and " Bury the Debt (Not the Dead)". There are tracks that sound better than others but the main thing here is the heaviness and power of their simple music. The songs are really short (less than one minute in many of the tracks). Some songs are more punk than others, some are pure grindcore like for example "Circles" (that reminded me to early Napalm Death or some things from Terrorizer). A great album for those who want to know the origins of this kind of really extreme music. Favorite tracks: "A Means To an End", " Days Go BY", "Money Drug" and "Phobia for Change". Contact: www.peaceville.co.uk

REVIEW: DEICIDE - DEICIDE (REMASTERED EDITION)

 

DEICIDE - DEICIDE (REMASTERED EDITION) ( Roadrunner Recs., 1990/2001)

Produced by Deicide and Scott Burns

Recorded at Morrisound Recording

Artwork by Ira Rosenson

Tracks: 1- Lunatic of God´s Creation, 2- Sacrificial Suicide, 3- Oblivious to Evil, 4- Dead by Dawn, 5- Blasphereion, 6- Deicide, 7- Carnage in the Temple of the Damned, 8- Mephistopheles, 9- Day of Darkness, 10- Crucifixation

It´s been more than twelve years since this recording was originally released. And this is still a classic of brutal satanic death metal. In fact listening to this you can see why Deicide has become a legend in their style. And you can realize how many bands have copied their style. Glen Benton´s vocals are extremely brutal screaming blasphemy after blasphemy and praising Satan. The sound is much better than in the original recording and here you can appreciate a lot of Steve Asheim´s killer drumming and the Hoffman brothers killer guitar tandem with crushing rhythms and frenetic guitar solos that set a standard (along with Morbid Angel) to death metal style. Favorite tracks: The whole CD....it is a true classic. Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: DAEMUSINEM - DAEMUSINEM DOMINE EMPIRE

 

DAEMUSINEM - DAEMUSINEM DOMINE EMPIRE (Cold Blood Industries, 2002)

Tracks: 1- Daemusinem, 2- Domine Empire, 3- Throne of Illusions, 4- Witch´s Dream, 5- Killers of the Wood, 6- Burning Soul, 7- The Key of the Realm of Deads, 8- Silence in the Water Mother of Life

This is a great album. In fact I would label Daemusinem´s music as death/black metal but with riffs that go beyond what is typical in those styles. Some of the riffs are kind of thrashy, some of them are more like power metal. And there are also some keyboards that give the atmospheric touch to Daemusinem´s music. The tracks are really well developed and they have a lot of interesting riffs even in the fastest parts. And there are changes in which the vocals change doing some melodic part or where they speak some part over the keyboards chord progressions. This band is really original and at the same time very powerful. Favorite tracks: "Throne of Illusions", "Killers of the Wood" and "The Key of the Realm of Deads". Contact: www.coldbloodindustries.com