REVIEW: SERPENT - ART OF WAR

 

SERPENT - ART OF WAR (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Serpent

Cover Art by Serpent

Tracks: 1- March To Death, 2- Art of War, 3- Panzar, 4- Spanish Inquisition, 3- Behind the Cross

Here we have this killer swedish band whose music can be described as some sort of death/thrash metal. Here we have interesting and fast riffs but what I liked most are the shouted choruses like the one in "Art of War" that are the guys, Sin and Tyr, shouting "Art of War" very violently. There are some intereting melodic riffs in sort of a black metal style with some keyboards that I think are played by Raven (I would like the keyboards a little bit louder here). And one think I think this guys must use on every song are the killer solos. I think this is a distinct characteristic of Serpent´s music along with the keyboards in tracks like "Spanish Inquisition". A very violent release with some beautiful elments. Really contrasting.

Favorite tracks: "Art of War" and "Behind the Cross"

Contact: http://fade.to/serpent

REVIEW: SEMEN DATURA - THIS LOVE IS DEAD

 

SEMEN DATURA - THIS LOVE IS DEAD (CCP Records, 200)

Produced by Semen Datura

Cover Art by Copo 2000

Tracks: 1- This Love is Dead, 2- Bishop of Blood, 3- Scream, 4- Price of liberty, 5- Rabenmensch, 6- Ouellen, 7- Follower, 8- Finalergeist, 9- Die Rache Ist Mein, 10- Hear the Blade Rings

Here is this powerful release that I would define as a mix of metal, rock and gothic music. Here we have the crushing riffs that this band makes in the songs, then we have some rocking riffs too that give a lot of hooks to each song. And then there is the combination of male and female vocals that add a lot of melodies and atmosphere to the music. The guitars sound really raw (and maybe that is a little bit weird for a band of this style) but they sound great and very clear also in the clean parts and in the melodies. The production is really clear and you can listen every note, every drumbeat and every vocal line. A heavy and melancholic release.

Favorite tracks: "This Love is Dead", "Rabenmensch" and "Die Rache ist Mein"

Contact: www.semendatura.com or www.ccprecords.com

REVIEW: SAURGA - DØDSLÆNGSLEN & KALDET

 

SAURGA - DØDSLÆNGSLEN & KALDET (Nox Infandus Records, 2001)

Produced by Saurga

Recorded at Low Pain Recording

Cover Art by Mortifer / B. Pedersen

Tracks: 1- Drømmende Længsel; 2- Under en Crimson Måne, 3- Om Nat I Stilhed, 4- Dødslængslen & Kaldet

Here we have four tracks from this Danish duo consisting of Mortifer on keyboards, percussion and vocals (and she composed all the music here) and Harnas who does vocals here. The four tracks are really calm and dark. There are keyboards all over the place which play dark chord progression giving the basement for the melancholic and spoken vocals. There are some changes in the music but most of the time is really relaxing and enchanting for all your senses. There are some flute (I think is some sort of typical flute) that Mortifer plays in some pasages that add a lot of sadness and sorrow to the songs. This music is a reflection of a beautiful and sad soul.

Favorite tracks: The four contained here are pieces of dark beauty. I liked them a lot.

Contact: www.saurga.subnet.dk

REVIEW: RESURRECTED - BUTCHERED IN EXCREMENT

 

RESURRECTED - BUTCHERED IN EXCREMENT (Perverted Taste Records, 2002)

Produced by Resurrected

Recorded at Prolog Studios

Cover Art by David Bollt

Tracks: 1- The Beginning of Terror, 2- Dripping With Blood, 3- Deadly Lessons, 4- Wait To Suffer, 5- Macabre Fuckfest, 6- Infecting the Crypt, 7-Ophidicism, 8- Entangled in Madness, 9- Butchered in Excrement, Conquered Suffering

An eerie introduction starts this CD and then gives place to the devastating music of Resurrected. This band is brutal as fuck !!! And that does not mean that they are playing fast all the time....check as an example the killer beginning in "Wait to Suffer " to listen the ten ton heavy riff with an interesting double bass drum part that the drummer repeat in other parts of that track. Yes, they can play fast too but they prefer to rely on more effective riffs and then doing a blast beat here and there. The vocalist is guttural and he is risponsible of a lot of the brutality that this band has. The guitars are really well combined with the bass and drums creating the demolishing sound of Resurrected.

Favorite tracks: This release is brutal as hell. One of the most devastating releases in 2002

Contact: www.pervertedtaste.de or www.resurrected.de

REVIEW: RAVINE - DEPARTURE

 

RAVINE - DEPARTURE (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Ravine

Recorded at Eastcoast Studio

Cover Art by T. Öhman

Tracks: 1- Eclipse, 2- Towards 1000 Seas, 3- Departure - A Dream of Death

This is an excellent band with many ideas. Their music is extremely dark black metal with amny melodies and changes. And they also have some thrash metal elements that combined create great tracks. The main thing here is developing a dark atmosphere with the guitars (they play a lot of melodies and riffs in some sort of mid pace tempo). The vocals are trollish as in many black metal bands but this are more expresive (sort of a mix between a black metal band and Carcass to give you an example). The mix of the album is really good making all the melodies darker and pointing out all the atmospheres that the band wants to create. It is a pity that the recording has only three tracks because it leaves you wanting more

Favorite tracks: The threee contained here are amazing !!!

Contact:

RAVINE

Kirkkojärvi 431

49400 Hamina

Finland

REVIEW: PAYSAGE D´HIVER - STEINEICHE

 

PAYSAGE D´HIVER - STEINEICHE (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Paysage D´Hiver

Cover Art by Paysage D´Hiver

Tracks: 1- Die Baumfrau, 2- Der Baummann, 3- Der Baum, 4- Deja Vu

This is a CD of climatic black metal. First of all I have to say that most of the music here is ruined by the lack of a good sound that would help to listen better the different atmospheres that the band wants to create. The music is good, specially on the mid tempos but is barely audible iun many places (for example on the fastest parts). The guitars make interesting melodic passages that create a dark atmosphere on each of the tracks contained on this cd. This guys must rerecord this one and add a better mix in order to have better results becuase the music is really good and it deserves a better mix..

Favorite tracks: "Die Baummann" and "Der Baum"

Contact:

Tobias Moeckl

Muristrasse 74

3006 Bern

Helvetia

REVIEW: OBITUARY - CAUSE OF DEATH (REMASTERED EDITION)

OBITUARY - CAUSE OF DEATH (REMASTERED EDITION) (Roadrunner Records, 2000)

Produced by Scott Burns and Obituary

Recorded at Morrisound Recordings

Cover Art by Michael Whelan

Tracks: 1- Infected, 2- Body Bag, 3- Chopped in Half, 4- Circle of the Tyrants, 5- Dying, 6- Find the Arise, 7- Cause of Death, 8- Memories Remain, 9- Turned Inside Out, 10- Infected (demo), 11- Memories (demo), 12- Chopped in Half (demo)

Here we have the remastered edition of Obituary´s second album. Here is more evident the remastering than in the "Slowly We Rot" remaster. Here the guitars and drums are clearer than in the original version. Musically we have a great evolution in Obituary´s music with the addition of James Murphy on guitars (he plays killer solos through all the recording instead of Allen West´s fast runs of the first album). Here you can listen the change that this man brought to Obituary´s music by listening the original demos of some of the tracks contained here and comparing them to the final versions that finally made to the album. This is the album that catapulted Obituary´s career to the top of the death metal scene and you can find the reasons just listening to it.

Favorite tracks: "Infected", "Find the Arise" and "Memories Remain"

Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: NECROPHOBIC - BLOODHYMNS

 

NECROPHOBIC - BLOODHYMNS (Hammerheart Records, 2002)

Produced by Necrophobic and Tomas Skogsberg

Recorded at Sunlight Studios

Cover Art by Sebastian Ramstedt

Tracks: 1- Taste of Black, 2- Dreams Shall Flesh, 3- Art of Rebellion, 4- Shadowseeds, 5- Mourningsoul, 6- Helfire, 7- Cult of Blood, 8-Roots of Heldrasil, 9- Blood Anthem, 10- Among the Storms

Necrophobic is a powerful death/black metal band with interesting thrash touches. Here we have their powerful new album which was recorded on the mythic Sunlight Studios where the nineties scandinavian death metal scene developed. This time they have ten powerful tracks that are extremely fast and really powerful. Tobias Sidegård´s vocals are powerful as hell going from screaming to guttural but always adding power to the tracks. Also thumbs up for the killer drummer Joakim Sterner who can be clearly listened on this album (this CD has a great mix....Tomas Skogsberg is a genius doing this). The tracks here have subtle melodies as the ones you can hear in "Shadowseeds" which create a darker mood that is great in Necrophobic hands.

Favorite tracks: "Dreams Shall Flesh", "Mourningsoul" and "Shadowseeds"

Contact: www.hammerheart.com

REVIEW: NÆRVÆR - SKIFTNINGER

 

NÆRVÆR - SKIFTNINGER (Prophecy Prods. , 2000)

Produced by Hans Eidskard and Nærvær

Recorded at Jailhouse Studios

Cover Art by Terje Sagen, Geir Solli and Companions in Art

Tracks: 1- To plan, 2- Døse Dager, 3- Vi Såkkeland, 4- 92-Tid-99, 5- Nummen, 6- Bob Dylan is the Fucking King, 7- Sug 99, 8- To Oyer..., 9- ...To Hav, 10- En Lonesome, 11-15 = Bonus tracks

Here we have an extremely atmospheric release with a lot of different textures on each of the tracks that are on this CD. Going from the almost ambient with lots of keyboards in "To Plan" to the weirder track "Døse Dager" with some drums and slide guitar on it. Here we have a great thing that is that each track is a world on its own and then you have lots of different moods here. Main composer here is Terje Sagen who is the only musician that appears on all tracks here and whose mind has created this wonderful album. He also plays guitar and many instruments here which allows him to express all his ideas on this eclectic CD.

Favorite tracks: The whole CD is amazingly weird. I like musicians who put originality as a top priority.

Contact: www.prophecyproductions.de

REVIEW: MOTÖRHEAD - HAMMERED

 

MOTÖRHEAD - HAMMERED (Metal Is Records, 2002)

Produced by Thom Panunzio and Motörhead

Recorded at Henson Studios and Chuck´s House

Cover Art by Joe Petagno

Tracks: 1- Walk a Crooked Mile, 2- Down the Line, 3- Brave New World, 4- Voices from the War, 5- Mine all Mine, 6- Shut Your Mouth, 7- Kill the World, 8- Dr. Love, 9- No Remorse, 10- Red Raw, 11- Serial Killer

Here we have Motörhead´s new album and we have no surprises. Fans of the band will love this recording and detractors of the band will hate it as they always do. Here are all the elements that have made the band famous....their simple but effective riffs...their rock and roll attitude...Lemmy´s vocals and the raw guitar sound (all of this are trademarks of the band). Comparing to their previous albums "(We are) Motorhead" and many more this one has a little bit more polished production and they have put more emphasis on the choruses (as you can check since the beginning with "Walk a Crooked Mile"). Another step in Motörhead´s career.

Favorite tracks: "Brave New World", "Shut Your Mouth" and "No Remorse"

Contact: http://www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com/