REVIEW: SHIP OF FOOLS - LET´S GET THIS MOTHER OUTTA HERE

 

SHIP OF FOOLS - LET´S GET THIS MOTHER OUTTA HERE (Peaceville Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Peaceville Recs.

Tracks: 1- Diesel Spaceship, 2- L=SD2 , 3- Where is Here, 4- First Light, 5- In the Wake Of, 6- From Time, 7- Passsage by Night, 8- Western Lands, 9- Guidance is Internal, 10- Video CDRom track: L=SD2

Here we have tracks coming from the two albums that this really interesting band released for Peaceville´s sister label Dreamtime Recs in the early nineties. For those who doesn´t know the band it features Les Smith on keyboards who is now playing on Anathema and used to play in Cradle of Filth. The music here is instrumental an full of interesting arrangements, most of them done by the keyboards. Here you can appreciate how this guys were exploring sonic boundaries while developing each of their compositions. This can be trully heard on this CD that feature amazing moemnts from this glorious band. The songs have been mixed by Les Smith to give a more perfect sound and show the world Ship of Fools music in all its magnitude and with better sound. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.peaceville.com

REVIEW: SFQ - THIRTEEN RECTANGLES

 

SFQ - THIRTEEN RECTANGLES (Bruce´s Fingers Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Simon H. Fell

Tracks: 1- Start Frame + soft hard (interpolation 1), 2- Rectangle 1, 3- Rectangle 2, 4- Rectangle 3, 5- Rectangle 4 & 5, 6- Rectangle 6, 7- Rectangle 7, 8- Soft Hard (interpolation 2), 9- Rectangle 8, 10- Rectangle 9, 11- Rectangle 10, 12- Rectangle 11 & 12, 13- Rectangle 13, 14- Soft Hard (interpolation 3)+ end frame

Cover Art by Simon H. Fell

Recorded at Gateway Studio 

Here we have new experimentation from Simon H. Fell and friends. This time the context is closer to standard jazz and makes the experimentation and improvisation a little bit more accesible to ears that are not accustomed to them. Here the piano played by Alex Maguire is playing improvised lines and melodies while the winds section is doing the most extreme sounds. Simon Fell´s double bass pays from walking bass lines to improvised phrases interacting really well with drummer Steve Noble (who is the one that changes rhythms really often here taking the band to new rhythmic lands). It is incredible how this musicians can experiment freely and at the same time don´t loose control of what they are playing, being really coherent and full of virtuosism.

Favorite tracks: "Rectangle 2", "Soft Hard (interpolation 2)" and "Rectangle 6"

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

REVIEW: SERIAL BUTCHER - GENOCIDE LANDSCAPE

 

SERIAL BUTCHER - GENOCIDE LANDSCAPE (Independent, 2004)

Produced By: Serial Butcher

Tracks: 1- A First Grade Teacher´s Pulpification, 2- Hospital Hecatomb, 3- Cum/Gut Expulsion, 4- Where is the rest of Me?, 5- Mangled in the Mortuary, 6- Brutally bashed Baby Boom

Cover Art by Serial Butcher

Brutal as fuck band coming directly from Belgium!! This guys have designed this six compositions in order to make your brain blow into pieces. Each of the tracks here is a showcase of pure brutality in its heaviest form. Here we have blast beats, hyper fast riffs and rhythms, crushing guitar sound with a lot of bottom end (the bass is crushing too), extremely guttural vocals. And the six tracks are bestial ! One thing that got my attention is that in many parts the guitars play slower riffs letting the vocals and the drums breath a lot or they sustain some chord while the other guitar works a lot with other riff or witha solo like on the devastating "Cum/Gut Expulsion". This is brutality in its purest forms but done with many elements that will surely get your attention.

Favorite tracks: "Cum/Gut Expulsion", "Mangled in the Mortuary" and "Hospital hecatomb"

Contact: www.serialbutcher.com

REVIEW: SEAR BLISS - FORSAKEN SYMPHONY

 

SEAR BLISS - FORSAKEN SYMPHONY (Red Stream Records, 200)

Produced By: Sear Bliss

Tracks: 1- Last Stand, 2- My Journey To the Stars, 3- She Will Return, 4- the Vanishing, 5- The Forsaken, 6- When Death Comes, 7- Eternal Battlefields, 8- Enthralling Mystery, 9-The Hour of Burning

Cover Art by Kris Verwimp

Here we have a great combination of raw and unpolished aggressive black metal with excellent melodies and orchestration. This two different styles contrast a lot on this recording because Sear Bliss has no desire to mix them in any other way. This is like a game of collission between styles that make this hungarian band unique. Here we have the raw sound of the guitars play the fastest parts along with the bestial drumming and then on the slower parts the guitar start doing more melodic riffs and the keyboards orchestration enters adding a darker side to Sear Bliss music. Plus here the band uses a brass section and tuba in order to achieve even darker passages than before and they have succeeded with that. Sear Bliss is a band that has all the elements of black metal and have retained the spirit of this kind of music while searching for something new.

Favorite tracks: "The Forsaken", "She Will Return" and "Enthralling Mystery"

Contact: www.redstream.org

REVIEW: ROB ZOMBIE - THE SINISTER URGE

 

ROB ZOMBIE - THE SINISTER URGE (Universal, 2001)

Produced By: Scott Humphrey and Rob Zombie

Tracks: 1- Sinners Inc., 2- Demon Speeding, 3- Dead Girl Superstar, 4- Never Gonna Stop, 5- Iron Head, 6- (Go To) California), 7- Feel So Numb, 8- Trnasylvanian Transmissions Pt. 1, 9- Bring Her Down, 10- Scum of the Earth, 11- House of 1000 Corpses

Cover Art by Rob Zombie

Recorded at the Chop Shop 

Here we have Rob Zombie´s latest adventure. This time we have the extra attraction of having many guests on this album. Here are Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee and Kerry King helping Rob in some of the tracks. The album shows us Rob Zombie doing the same thing that he is doing since White Zombie´s "La Sexorcisto...", that is rhythmic tracks with heavy guitars and his voice over them. The sound is better than in previous albums, specaially on guitars. For fans of Rob Zombie and White Zombie.

Favorite tracks: "Demon Speeding", "Iron Head" and "Feel So Numb"

Contact: www.robzombie.com

REVIEW: REQUIEM - THE ARRIVAL

 

REQUIEM - THE ARRIVAL (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Arto Räisälä and Teemu Hänninen

Tracks: 1- Arrival, 2- Revival, 3- Broken Alliance, 4- Whispers, 5- The Invisible Touch, 6- Forgotten path, 7- Halls of Eternity, 8- Liquid Hours, 9- Masquerade

Cover Art by Jason Juta

Recorded at Watercastle Studios

This is a pure heavy metal band with an epic feeling on each of the songs. The sound of the band reminds me of the band Stratovarius and some Helloween or Yngwie Malmsteen influences. The riffs are typical of the style and there are many interesting keyboards passages that give a different harmony to each of the tracks. The guitar solos are musical pieces within the compositions and add interesting moments to the tracks. Plu I have to remark the good arrangements that the keyboards do with chord progressions or with solos and melodies. The singer Jouni Nikula is really good at reaching the pitch that is needed for each of the song and he also has harmonized his voice here. The mix is really good and the CD has been mastered at Finnvox Studios achieving a great sound.

Favorite tracks: "Broken Alliance", "Forgotten path" and "Liquid Hours"

Contact: www.requiem.kpnet.com 

REVIEW: PSYCHOTROPIC TRANSCENDENTAL - AX LIBERELD...

 

PSYCHOTROPIC TRANSCENDENTAL - AX LIBERELD... (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Psychotropic Transcendental and Kuba

Tracks: 1- Ax Libereld, 2- Dirigah nax Ma-zarthilag, 3-Raxus Mahad Kirdail, 4- Sabagih Har Sabagihed, 5- Hava kirr Nax Lanamar, 6- Garmed Il-namars, 7- Or navorunas

Cover Art by Psychotropic Transcendental

Recorded at Cyberstudio

The guys at Psychotropic Transcendental are absolutely crazy! And they reflect this madness in their music. Their music is heavy and at the same times has many different changes and mood (as you can listen in "Dirigah Nax..." where they go from heavy metal to some noise parts in the middle). The band has a really versatile singer who can play from the more melodic lines to the dirtiest and noisiest ones. The guitars play similar phrases within each song giving a strange feeling to the listener and making the melodies enter into his brain. There are a lot of climatic parts that are really calm like the one in the begining of "Raxus Mahad..." with eerie guitar melody and some harmonic while the vocals do some melody that add a lot to the ethereal quality of the music. A must for people that want something new.

Favorite tracks: All the ones on this CD

Contact: www.psychotropic.pl

REVIEW: PREVAIL - RANDOM KILLERS

 

PREVAIL - RANDOM KILLERS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Prevail

Tracks: 1- Murderer Song, 2- The Son of Man, 3- The New Messiah, 4- Human Virus, 5- Prey Song, 6- Random Killers

Cover Art by Simone Pittaluga

Recorded at Nadir Studios 

Prevail is a brutal band with many rhythm changes on its music and utter heaviness in their riffs and drumming. One thing that got my attention while listening the first seconds of this CD was the really good sound that this recording has, specially on the drums that sound like bands of the style of Fear Factory or even Pantera (that have more money for production). Then comes the composition. This guys have here six brutal yet technical compositions with influences ranging from thrash metal to modern metal (in the sound, I liked a lot the clean bass sound doinfg slapping and popping in tracks like "Random Killers"). The riffs are twisted and are well developed merging one with the other like a natural progression. The singer is really versatile like a much more brutal Burton C. Bell but with a thrasher side. If you like brutality with quality, check Prevail.

Favorite tracks: "Murderer Song", "Random Killers" and "Human Virus"

Contact: www.prevail.3000.it

REVIEW: PETE LARAMEE - ALONE BUT NOT LONELY

 

PETE LARAMEE - ALONE BUT NOT LONELY (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Pete Laramee and John Grant

Tracks: 1- Call the Feds, 2- The Rope Swing, 3- Adena Watson, 4- Charlie Brown Wins the Lottery, 5- La Media Gringa, 6- Too Much Eggnog, 7- Split Personality, 8- Walking the Walk, 9- Survivor

Recorded at Cyberella Studios 

Pete Laramee is a guitar virtuoso who also plays in the great progressive metal band Kurgan´s Bane. Here he shows a different side of his musical personality, an instrumental side full of great melodies and virtuosism. On this CD Pete is joined by Sonus Umbra´s rhythm section (Jeff Laramee on drums and Luis Nasser on bass) on most of the tracks to develope nine tracks of great compositional and guitar work. In some parts Pete´s guitar is crying and in others he is expressing a lot of different moods with his instrument. There are beautiful acoustic moments like the ones in "Adena Watson" where there is an appearence of Kurgan´s Bane´s vocalist Lisa Francis doing some background chants. The main thing here is the good taste that Pete has for soloing and for composing beautiful melodies through all the tracks. Really inspirational for guitar players and lovers of instrumental music.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.kurgansbane.com

REVIEW: PAUL ROGERS - LISTEN

 

PAUL ROGERS - LISTEN (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Listen 99, 2- Listen 99 Bis, 3- Listen 99 Ter, 4- Listen 89

Cover Art by Debra Franses-Bean

Recorded at Theatre P Scarron (1999, May 1) and Sir Walter Scott (1989, October 8)

I really liked this recording a lot. I love the way the doube bass sounds while playing solos. And here Paul Rogers gives us fiour lessons on how to improvise and solo with this instrument. By doing a lot of arpeggios, phrases and constant rhythm changes, Rogers opens his mind to let the ideas flow to the listener´s ears. Each of this solo pieces is a catalog of new sounds and atmospheres that can be created with the double bass. In a way, Rogers is a researcher that is trying always to find something new on his instrument and so he goes from the softest of the melodic parts to the wildest bass solo within the same track. A must for improvisers of any instrument.

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com