REVIEW: BARATHRUM - SAATANA

 

BARATHRUM - SAATANA (Spinefarm Recs., 1999)

Produced by Barathrum

Recorded at Tico Tico Studios

Artwork by Tom Harkonnen

Tracks: 1- Introitus, 2- Satanick alert, 3- Dark Sorceress 2; 4- Boundless Arts; 5- Beltane; 4-Helluva Agitator, 5- Melancholy, Infinity, Agony; 6- Regent of Damnation; 7- Countess Erzebeth nadasdy; 8- Sacrilegium; 9- Saatana; 10- Dark Sorceress (Autumn Siege); 11- Necromantical Ritual; 12- Salubele

Is Barathrum a black metal band? Of course ! But they have many elements that make them different from many of the bands of the same style that are nowadays in the underground. First of all their songs have many hooks (yes, I think that this is one of the main points of their music....check the choruses and bridges of their songs to see what I am talking about). The guitar riffs have many elements that they use very effectively instead of simple speed and aggression. The vocals are clearly black metal and they are clearly screamed adding a lot of atmosphere to the tracks. Many of the tracks here are mid tempos (check "Dark Sorceress 2" as an example). If you thought that black metal was running out of originality, check Barathrum´s music and realize that you have been mistaken!

Favorite tracks: "Statnick Alert", "Melancholy, Infinity, Agony" and "Regent of Damnation".

Contact: www.spinefarm.fi

REVIEW: APRIL ETHEREAL - ADVENT

 

APRIL ETHEREAL - ADVENT (Conquer Recs., 2001)

Produced by Jerzy

Recorded in Catacomb Studio, Warsaw

Artwork by April Ethereal

Tracks: 1- Her Silent Cry at Dawn; 2- The First Step into the Unknown; 3- Departure; 4- The Repose; 5- Hologram; 6- The Last Glance Into her eyes; 7- Truth; 8- Epilogue

Looking at the cover I was waiting a gothic band !! Wrong!!! April Ethereal is a band taht knows how to mix the most extreme brutality with a lot of changes and interesting arrangements (the short piano part in "Her Silent Cry at dawn" is amazing). There are some keyboards that contrast a lot with the brutal vocals making the music of this recording sound more weird. The drummer uses a lot of snare drum patterns combined with some double bass and speed fills. There are interesting acoustic guitar pparts that add the melody that the tracks deserve. This is one of the recordings ofd the month. For fans of brutality with an interesting twist.

Favorite tracks: "The First Step into the Unknown", "The Repose" and "Truth".

Contact: www.conquerec.com

REVIEW: APHASIA - ARCANE IN THALASSA

 

APHASIA - ARCANE IN THALASSA (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Aphasia, Jean Francois Dagenais and Jean Francois Girard

Recorded at Pierr Remilliard´s Studio, Quebec

Artwork by Yvon D´Anjou

Tracks: 1- Devastating Wind; 2- Merging Process; 3- Passion of Time; 4- Beyond the Infinite Horizon; 5- Learning From the Unknown Image; 6- Cries from Despair; 7- L´Absolu Ment; 8- Stormbound

Here is Aphasia´s newest offering. This is the succesor of their "Beyond the Infinite Horizon" MCD, and they have evolved a lot since then. They have not changed their approach to music (which is death metal with technical black metal influences), but they have improved a lot the technical side and the sound of the release. Specially the drums have a much better sound than on their previous effort. Steph´s guitar lines are brutal and at the same time capable of adding some subtle arrangements to the tracks, like on "Merging Process". It seems to me that the music of this band is ideal for a live show. Brutality with a lot of original ideas.

Favorite tracks: "Devastating Wind"; "Passion of Time" and "Cries from Despair".

Contact: http://listen.to/aphasia

REVIEW: ANYONE - ANYONE

 

ANYONE - ANYONE (Roadrunner Recs., 2000)

Produced by Rick Parashar and Riz Story

Recorded at London Bridge, Seattle

Artwork by Riz Story

Tracks: 1- Giving Thrills, 2- Don´t Wake Me, 3- Lazy hazy, 4- Whole World´s Insane, 5- Hitches, 6- Slaves (Part 12), 7- Real, 8- Fly, 9- Turnaround, 10- Running Dry, 11- Drops of Miracle, 12- She, 13- Peace Love and Toxic, 14- Dear Sylvia, 15- Kissing God, 16- Wait Until Morning

The music that this band makes is really weird, sort of a fusion between new metal and some alternative band like for example Jane´s Addiction (I am saying this mostly because of the vocals. The guitars are heavy, specially on the choruses and they play dissonant phrases here and there like bands in ths tyle of Korn could do (but they are completely different from this band). Here there are a lot of maniac guitar solos and guitar atmospheres. I don´t like too much the vocals...I think that a stronger vocalist or someone with a different range could have given the band a needed extra power. One of the fundamental things here are the choruses which have a lot of hooks (almost poppish in some songs).

Favorite tracks: "Whole world´s insane", "Hitches" and "Drops of Miracle".

Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: ANTHRAX - RETURN OF THE KILLER A´s

 

ANTHRAX - RETURN OF THE KILLER A´s (Spitfire Recs., 2000)

Produced by Anthrax

Mastered by George Marino

Artwork by Tim Gabor

Tracks: 1- Bring The Noise, 2- Only, 3- Potters Field (remix), 4- Ball of Confussion, 5- Crush, 6- Room For One More, 7- Inside Out, 8- Hy Pro Glo (remix), 9- Fueled, 10- Among the Living, 11- Got the Time, 12- Indians, 13- Antisocial, 14- I´m The Man, 15- Madhouse, 16- I Am The Law

This is a compilation of Anthrax main tracks through their whole career (except for their debut "Fistful of Metal") with some rarities like a couple of remixes and the "Ball of Confussion" cover. There are elements from their Joey Belladona era like "Indians", "I am The Law" or "among the Living", that 15 years later are still crushing. And, obviously there are a lot of tracks from the John Bush era, like "Only" , "Room for One More", "Fueled" or "Hy Pro Glo". I would have added "Metal Thrashing Mad" to make this a complete compilation with material from all the releases.

Favorite tracks: The whole CD. Anthrax is a classic band and here you have a lot of their best material.

Contact: www.spitfirerecords.com

REVIEW: ANNIHILATOR - NEVER, NEVERLAND - REMASTERED EDITION

 

ANNIHILATOR - NEVER, NEVERLAND - REMASTERED EDITION (Roadrunner Recs.)

Produced by Glen Robinson and Jeff Waters

Recorded at Vancouver Studios

Artwork by Len Rooney Creative

Tracks: 1- The Fun Palace, 2- Road To Ruin, 3- Sixes and Sevens, 4- Stonewall; 5- Never, Neverland, 6- Imperiled Eyes, 7- Kraf Dinner, 8- Phantasmagoria, 9- Reduced to Ash, 10- I Am In Command, 11- Kraf Dinner (demo); 12- Mayhem (demo of "Reduced to Ash"), 13- Freed From the Pit (demo of "Road To Ruin")

Here is a completely remastered edition of Annihilator´s second album. After appearing in the thrash scene with "Alice in Hell" this band developed their own style on this recording. Replacing Randy Rampage on vocals with Omen´s Coburn Pharr the band gained an extra edge and added some interesting hooks to the vocal lines. Also here is more clear the combination of clean and distorted guitars that made Annihilator famous. The thing that make this album interesting for those who have the original one are the demo tracks that are contained here, some of which ended as different songs on this album. An essential album in the history of metal.

Favorite tracks: "Stonewall", "Imperiled Eyes" and "Phantasmagoria".

Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: WINDS - REFLECTIONS OF THE I

 

WINDS - REFLECTIONS OF THE I (The End Recs., 2002)

Produced by Andy Winter

Recorded at Top Room Studio

Artwork by Travis Smith

Tracks: 1- Clarity, 2- Realization, 3- Of Divine Nature, 4- Transition, 5- Passion´s Quest, 6- Reason´s Desire, 7- Premonition, 8- Remnants of Beauty, 9- Existence, 10- Continuance, 11- Predominance, 12- Inception Perspective, 13- In All Reflections, 14- Bloodstained and Sworn, 15- Mirrored in Time, 16- An Eternity of Dreams

I can not start the review in a different way: Andy Winter and company are really fantastic musicians ! In fact the music here is a mix of elements from many different styles, combined in such a great way that you will not believe it. This CD is a step forward compared to "Of Entity and Mind" (all the tracks of this MCD are here too...they are five) which was an amazing album too ! There are the omniprescent keys played by Andy Winter and there are violins, cellos and violas playing great melodies in all tracks. Jan Axel Von Blomberg (Hellhammer) is a great drummer who can show more variotions of his styles here than in many of his other projects. There are elements of classical music which I loved combined with metal in its purest forms. Lars Eric Si´s vocals are great and fir the music perfectly. This is with no doubt a masterpiece. Favorite tracks: The whole CD. It is really amazing !Contact: www.theendrecords.com

REVIEW: VIU DRAKH - DEATH RIFF SOCIETY

 

VIU DRAKH - DEATH RIFF SOCIETY (Moonstorm Recs., 2002)

Produced by Björn Langkopf

Recorded at Berno Studios, Malmö

Artwork by Olli

Tracks: 1- Death Riff Society, 2- Demon Dance, 3- Mutant Gods, 4- Bush, 5- Peaches and Cream, 6- Caravan, 7- Blade Spirits, 8- Worst Disease, 9- Dead or Alive, 10- As the Dormant Awakes, 11- Silver, 12- Ace of Spades

Viu Drakh´s music is extremely heavy. This, combined with the great sound that this recording has make a crushing combination. And they are really brutal. Their brutality relies in three elements: the guitars which are heavier than hell, the drums (this guy is a really machine man with an excellent sound) and the bestial vocals that make the music blast your brain with its strength. Starting with a melodic mid tempo in the first track (the title track) this guys start changing rhythm and speeding up showing their fierce music to the listener with no mercy. The combination between the guitars and the bass is crushing, using both of them very low riffs that sound better in this style of brutal music. People who like brutality and want a release with a great sound that make the results better should check this release with no doubt. Favorite tracks: "Mutant Gods", "Caravan" and "As the Dormant Awakes". Contact: www.moonstorm.de or www.viudrakh.de

REVIEW: VACANT STARE - VINDICATION

 

VACANT STARE - VINDICATION (Copro Records, 2002)

Produced by Andy Sneap

Recorded at Philia Studios

Tracks: 1- Obscured, 2- Inertia, 3- A Head Start, 4- Patience, 5- Where I stand, 6- Come Face Up, 7- Halving the Fuse, 8- Prognosis, 9- Seeds of Unrest, 10- 1 A.M.

This CD starts with an electronic drum beat and soon you find yourself in the eclectic world of Vacant Stare. This amazing guys combine with no problem riffs that could be from a death metal band, some modern metal breaks, clean vocals and screaming ones (the vocalist is really good with the melodies that are not what one is accustomed to listen) . This release has a great sound with all the instruments and vocals mixed clearly. The guitar sounds change all of the time adding some effects to it and playing from crushing riffs to sustained notes to open chords to some short solos, to some Voivod type riff. This is a band that deserves to be known because they are of great quality. And they seem to be really openminded adding a lot of originality to their music. Favorite tracks: "A Head Start", "Where I Stand" and "Seeds of Unrest". Contact: www.coprorecords.co.uk

REVIEW: TWOTHIRTYEIGHT - REGULATE THE CHEMICALS

 

TWOTHIRTYEIGHT - REGULATE THE CHEMICALS (Tooth and Nail, 2002)

Produced by James Wisner

Recorded at Wisner Productions

Artwork by Chris Staples and Twothirtyeight

Tracks: 1- The Hands of Men, 2- There is no Dana, 3- Coin-Laundry Loser, 4- The Sticks are Woven in the Spokes, 5- This Town Will Eat You, 6- The Spoiled One, 7- Les Wirth, 8- Moving Too Far, 9- Songs Will Write the Words, 10- Ears and Fingers, 11- Indian in your Eyes

The first thing that got my attention is the huge sound that this CD has (despite not being an ultra heavy band ). The clean guitars are really well mixed in great combination with the bass and the arrangements can be heard in all their magnitude. Twothirtyeight´s music relies heavily on melodies (made by the guitars or the vocals) but it seems to me that this melodies are not happy. In fact I feel there is some dark or sad element in their music. I can not say what it is but I can feel it. Maybe Vocalist Chris Staples melodic lines are dark (sometimes he reminded me of The Cure´s Robert Smith). A good option for those who like very melodic music with some interesting twist. Favorite tracks: "There is No Dana", "This Town Will Eat You" and "Moving Too Far". Contact: www.toothandnail.com