CRITICAL UPDATE 3, 2006
Between a
rigorous study schedule, computer crashes, new computers and such, I have had a
buttload of delays and destractions
to getting these reviews on the internet. My apologies
to all who have been waiting. As a result many of these reviews
are short but from the heart. As always I hope quality makes up for any
of my deficiencies. Thanks to my son, criticalnate,
I now have a myspace mirror site which has some
interesting things not available here. You can find it at www.myspace.com/criticalmetal.
Finally, I have three copies of Green Carnation’s The Acoustic Verses to give away. Send an e-mail to criticaltom@juno.com . The first three will receive the CD.
Reminder: my rating system is totally arbitrary. An album is given a number between
1-10 based on my emotional and somewhat intellectual response to the music.
BANDS
REVIEWS: THE ABOMINABLE IRON SLOTH, AGALLOCH, BAL SAGOTH, BEYOND
FEAR, BLACK CRUCIFIXION, TOMMY BOLIN, DISSECTION, EDDIE LEEWAY’S
HAUNTED HARDCORE, ELVENKING, ENFORSAKEN,
ENOCHIAN CRESCENT, ENSLAVED, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM,
GIANT SQUID, GORGOROTH, IHSAHN,
JOTUNSPOR, JUNGLE ROT, LOUDNESS, MANNGARD, METAL CHURCH, MONSTER MAGNET, OBLOMOV,
OF GRAVES AND GODS, PHARAOH, PLACE OF SKULLS, THE QUILL, SADUS,
SAHG, SEVEN WITCHES, SHE SAID DESTROY, SINISTER, SPEED, STARKWEATHER, THINE EYES BLEED concert review, UPON INFLICTION, VOIVOD, WOLVERINE,
YYRKOON.
REVIEWS
THE
ABOMINABLE IRON SLOTH “s/t”
(9 tracks. 26.7 minutes). GOODFELLOW RECORDS.
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
Aside
from the strange song titles and the funny name, The Abominable Iron Sloth have some chunky grooves that are bound to please a
cross-section of stoner, doom, and hardcore fans. On the one hand their heavy as mud, sludgy
riffs don’t drag, they push like Crowbar. Nevertheless, there is a wall-of-sound
atmosphere to their music which causes me to think of Spaceboy
and Monster Magnet. The vocals
are what makes them sound hardcore (kind of like Leechmilk and similar bands). It is a pretty interesting album for several
reasons, including the fact that (1) it is different from many, (2) it is
doom/sludge and yet driving and powerful, and (3) incredibly
strange songs like “Parasite Hilton and other Flaws Inherent to Wealth”.
AGALLOCH “Ashes Against the Grain” (60 mins). THE END RECORDS.
Rating: 8.5. Country of
origin:
I
always get excited when a new Agalloch CD
arrives. I will never forget what a
powerful experience it was when I first heard Pale Folklore. It was so fresh, so different, off the beaten
path, dark, atmospheric, and so on. I
started telling everybody about them.
The same was true when Of Stone, Wind, and Pillor
and then The Mantle came out.
All great stuff. Over the four year interval since their last
release I began to worry that there would not be another—and that would be a
real tragedy! But alas, they are back
with another wonderful album.
If
I were to try and describe their sound I would first have to say that it is
both familiar and unique. Then I would
say that if you can remember the mood of the first three Opeth
albums (Orchid, Mourningrise, My
Arms, Your Hearse), Amorphis Tales from
a Thousand Lakes, mixed with Viking metal like Vintersorg,
and some obscure minimalistic noise, you would have a
general idea of this band. The overall
mood is bleak and dramatic in an inspiring way.
I do not think I am overly stating the case that when you hear their
music you may be able to imagine cold, snowy landscapes. I think they should call their style “bleak
metal.”
Ashes
Against the Grain is, in my opinion, a very
successful continuation of Agalloch’s previous
work. It is not a repeat, nor is it a
huge step in a different direction. It
is the result of four years of work.
Unlike bands who churn out new albums every 12 months, this band takes
their time. So like a fine wine this
album has been fermenting until just the right time. I wish them a lot of success, but I hope we
can keep them to ourselves because this is one band that is definitely too good
for the mainstream.
BAL SAGOTH “The Chthonic Chronicles” (12 tracks.
60 mins.) CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
Bal
Sagoth are fun to listen to because they are, to me,
a combination of Therion’s majestic sound
(though keyboards take the place of orchestras), triumphalistic
black metal chaos similar to Emperor or Dimmu
Borgir, and epic fantasy metal like Battlelore (complete with narration). I don’t have all of their albums, but the
ones I have are very exciting to listen to.
The Chthonic Chronicles, like earlier BS albums, draw the
listener in to a story. The music
carries you along. If you lay back and
close your eyes you can see trolls and fairies, demons, wizards, and great
battle scenes. The downside is that the
songs can begin to sound too much alike.
But with song titles like “Six Score and Ten Oblations to a Malefic
Avatar” how can you go wrong? If you
have never heard Bal Sagoth,
you do not know how metal can be both heavy and fun at the same time.
BEYOND
FEAR “DTO”
(12 tracks. 47.33
mins).
SPV
Rating: 7.5. Country of
origin:
All
I need to say is that Beyond Fear is the new band fronted by Tim “Ripper”
Owens. To me, he has one of the most
powerful voices in heavy metal. That is
why he was able to rise out of relative obscurity to take over Rob Halford’s spot in Judas Priest (a fact that is very underappreciated).
But you know that already, don’t you?
How about Winter’s Bane?
That was also a great album full of original material from Ripper’s
pre-Priest era. And what about Iced
Earth’s The Glorious Burden?
Wasn’t Ripper’s vocal delivery on that album just what Iced Earth
needed? So you can imagine my excitement
about receiving this new album. Well, as
far as vocals go, Rippers new band and new album totally kill. He sounds as good as ever. In terms of sound, the band cranks. Both of these elements get high scores. But in terms of songwriting, Beyond Fear is
not as strong as I had hoped. Don’t get
me wrong, there are some excellent riffs and some really interesting lyrics as
well. But what is less impressive is the
fact that a few songs on this album were obviously written to demonstrate
Ripper’s ability to write and perform on a level with Judas Priest. Songs like “Scream Machine” and “The Faith”
are examples of this. While they sound
totally Priest-like in name and in sound, I think that overall Ripper is above
this. He is an intelligent, honest, and
straight-forward person. And when he
writes songs about things he cares about (e.g., “And … You will Die”, “Dreams
Come True”, etc.), he writes really well.
Finally, don’t take this review as negative, Beyond Fear is a great
listen, but I personally would like for Ripper to leave Judas Priest to the
past and focus on his own style.
Click here
for the BEYOND FEAR INTERVIEW
BLACK
CRUCIFIXION “Faustian Dreams” (9 tracks.
35.5 mins). PARAGON RECS
Rating: 8. Country
of origin:
Irony. Though Black Crucifixion
should probably be labeled a gothic band in the vein of Type O Negative
and Moonspell, this new album sounds like a
more legitimate bid at the early Celtic Frost sound than the new release
by Celtic Frost. Unlike CF’s lackluster
2006 release (“monotonous theist”), Faustian Dreams hearkens back to the
days of To Megatherion and especially Into
the Pandemonium, this is especially so in vocalist Forn’s
imitation of Tom G. Warrior’s moaning vocal style (as heard on Pandemonium). The influence of early Frost on this band’s
new gothic direction makes for a very interesting listen. The more I hear it the better I like it.
TOMMY
BOLIN “Whips and Roses I” (10
tracks. 78 mins).
SPV.
Rating: 7.5. Country of
origin:
Okay, so I don’t know everything. I had never heard of Tommy Bolin.
Only being moderately acquainted with Deep Purple, I didn’t know he replaced Richie Blackmore in 1975.
Apparently his funky American style did not sit well with die hard Purple fans,
thus his stint in the band was brief. But at the same time he had also
produced a solo album and maintained a solo career. He produced another
solo album, toured, and died of a drug overdose. The story is so
typically 1970’s. And so is his style. Back in those days guitar
effects were minimal and musicians had to depend more on musicianship
than tricks, and like a lot of 1970’s guitar heroes, Tommy Bolin was a
consummate musician as is demonstrated on this CD. Thanks to SPV this
1970s guitar meister who collaborated with such
legends as David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes will not
completely disappear from memory. With songs like “Fandango,” “Wild
Dogs,” “Savannah Woman,” and others, fans of classic guitar rock have some new
old music to enjoy. As to his style, people who like Satriani
and Vai’s funkier moments will totally “dig it man”.
DISSECTION “Reinkaws” (11 tracks.
43 mins). THE END RECORDS.
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
This
band is legendary, you know. Hailed as
among the founders of the Gothenburg scene, but also troubled with inner band
strife and incarceration. This new album
was supposed to mark the triumphant return of this highly praised and highly
criticized band after an 11 year absence.
But alas, with the conclusion of the 2006 tour Dissection will be
disbanded. Reinkaws
is musically a bit surprising, but not in a bad way. The music has lost any Gothenburg sound and
has a colder, spacey sound which compliments the lyrical content, which is both
astral and satanic. But like a number of
other reviewers I have to question whether one should praise or support the
music of a convicted murderer, especially when the lyrical content espouses
murder and hatred. One might play it off
as fantasy except for the fact that Jon Nödtveidt,
who basically is Dissection, is, as I have already pointed out, a convicted
murderer. Maybe he really believes his
own lyrics.
ELVENKING “The Winter Wake” (11 tracks.
51.6 mins). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 7.5. Country of
origin:
This
is my first time to hear Elvenking. Normally I expect to hear this kind of music
from Napalm Records or Limb Music Products. But with Elvenking
Candlelight gets into epic fantasy metal.
Fans of Battlelore and Rhapsody
who do not know this band should give them a listen. The Winter Wake is basically a metal opera
that leans on the power metal side, though there are choral moments and
orchestrated parts. Avantasia
comes to mind as another point of comparison.
In addition to the traditional power metal instrumentation (guitars,
drums, bass, light keyboards), the most stand out additional instrument is the
violin. It carries most of the melodies
and often doubles the guitars. And then there is “On the Morning Dew”, a ballad
with Blind Guardian like qualities.
All in all it is a solid album, but I think typical of the genre.
ENFORSAKEN “Sinner’s Intuition” (8 tracks. 38.8 mins). CRASH MUSIC.
Rating: 9.5. Country of
origin:
Okay,
you know that certain labels have a sound associated with them. When you say “death metal” and “Crash Music”
in the same sentence you have a particular sound in mind—or at least I do. And, I must add, that there is a certain
level of quality you come to expect from this label. Well, as far as I am concerned, Enforsaken are at the top of the list. They have “the sound” but they also have a
lot to distinguish them. First, they do
have an uncompromising brutality characteristic of their genre. This is expected. But above and beyond that, they have some
excellent musicianship uncharacteristic of their genre. What I mean can be understood via a
question: when you listen to a brutal
death metal album, can you distinguish the bass guitar from the six
strings? Usually not. Here there is a clearly defined bass which
operates like a bass guitar and not a shadow of the six stringers (folks, this
is musically correct). Kudos to Eric Kava.
Next, are the vocals. While Steven Sagala
gives us a gruff death metal growl about 95% of the time, he also sings in some
spots. Also, while being gruff, he is
understandable. Another
plus. Drummer Dan Swanson does
not limit himself to double-bass and cymbal work, he shows himself at home on
the skins (meaning that he could play another genre of metal as well). And finally, Guitarists Joe DeGroot and Steve Stell clearly know how to
play punishing death metal riffs and also excellent diverse solos. This band is a prince among death metal
albums. They clearly go for the heavier
stuff, but also temper it with a real understanding of musicality. They even add a touch of thoughtfulness to
their lyrics, though they are absolutely death metal type lyrics. This is definitely one of the top death metal
albums of the year.
Rating: 8. Country
of origin:
The Black Church Psalmbook
could rightly be subtitled “Church Boys Gone Bad” because it seems rather clear
to me that at least some of the members are quite familiar with church from the
lyrics and arrangement of this CD. For
instance, the nine songs are divided in a liturgical pattern: Songs 1-3 under the heading “I. Our Life in Wormwood
Christ”; songs 4-6 under “II. Our Life in His Kingdom”; and 7-9, “Our Life in Servitude”. The three-fold structure with three subpoints—in this case, songs—should not be lost on the
reader. I could say a lot more but this
example will suffice. What it reveals is
that Enochian Crescent have purposefully crafted their latest album in a manner
similar to the black mass. Usually it is
hard to take bands with evil lyrics seriously, but usually a band has not
worked so hard to create a “worship program” so thoroughly antithetical to
Christian worship. I don’t mean to
overanalyze, but it seems to me that this warrants an interview. Hopefully I will be able to arrange one.
Musically
this album is great.
ENSLAVED “Ruun” (8 tracks.
46 mins.) CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 9. Country
of origin:
Ever
progressing, ever morphing, Enslaved has to be one of the most successful bands
at maintaining their essence while progressing. With Ruun
Enslaved sound ever more progressive while maintaining a decidedly Norwegian
(dare I say “black metal”) sound.
Imagine how Enslaved would sound like playing Rush and Voivod (especially Angel Rat) covers and you
will get a feel for this stunning album.
Of course the sound is not too different to that of Below the Lights
and the award winning Isa.
It may seem like Enslaved have become the latest “bandwagon” band, the
one that everyone is supposed to say nice things about in order to sound
important. But the truth is, this band has been out there for a long time doing their
thing, not bowing to the trends. Now
that the Dimmu Borgir’s
and Mayhem’s have kind of lost their adolescent intrigue, people are now
starting to warm up to Enslaved’s
more “grown-up” sound. I thought Frost
was a cool album, Mardraum intriguing, but with these last three Enslaved have become absolutely
engrossing.
Click here
for the ENSLAVED INTERVIEW
EVENT
HORIZON “Naked
on the Black Floor” (9
tracks. 43 mins.). CRUZ
DEL SUR.
Rating: 7.5. Country of
origin:
Event
Horizon is an Italian power metal band with a contemporary edge. They can be compared to number of acts signed
by Limb Music Products (e.g., Gothic Knights). Catchy riffs and tenor male vocals are the
basis of this band. They have, however,
some electronic under girding which is not omnipresent, but rather fades in and
out like In Flames has been using since Clayman
came out.
FLOTSAM
AND JETSAM “Live in
Rating: 7.5. Country of
origin:
Flotsam
and Jetsam have managed to stake out a lengthy career as
GIANT
SQUID “Metridium Fields” (8 tracks.
1 hr). THE END RECORDS.
Rating: 9.5. Country of
origin:
Let
me introduce to you what may get my vote for best album of 2006. Metridium
Fields is simply unbelievable.
Founded by a husband-wife team Aaron and Aurielle
Gregory (both play guitars and sing), the musicality of this band is a rare
treat, but definitely worthy of the same label that houses other genius bands
like Virgin Black and Sculptured.
When listening to this band one is tempted to compare them to bands like
Madder Mortem, Sculptured, Autumn Tears, and—believe it or
not—System of a Down. What a
combination, eh? You’d better believe
it. They can be heavy and harsh and they
can be moody and bluesy. The
mythological and nautical themes may also call to mind Mastodon. Needless to say, I think very highly of this
disc and hope you will to.
GORGOROTH “Ad Majorem
Sathanas Gloriam” (8 tracks.
31.56 mins). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 7.5. Country of
origin:
The
newest from Gorgoroth is classic Gorgoroth: a harsh Norwegian soundtrack packed with
satanic and Nietzschean themes. Over the years this band has taken their
sound from rather average black metal and refined it into something brutal and
devastating. This, their newest and
arguably tightest album, displays a brutality and heaviness only equaled by
elite black metal bands like Immortal, Marduk,
and Dark Funeral. There isn’t
really much more to say. If you know
their music you will be quite pleased with Ad Majorem
Sathanas Gloriam. If you don’t know their music—beware! It is chilling.
IHSAHN “The Adversary” (9
tracks. 50 mins).
CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 6.5. Country of
origin:
I found myself having very mixed reactions to this CD. The reasons are
many and complex. Where to begin? First of all, it is an
improvement in my opinion over Prometheus: the Discipline of Fire and Demise,
the final Emperor album. Second, it exhibits Ihsahn’s
talent for complex layered music. Third, it expands his range with some
occasionally softer, more often prog-metal stylings. But overall I found myself wanting to like
it more than I actually did. I have seen some low ratings on this album
which I imagine are motivated by the disappointment of Emperor fans hoping for another Anthems … or IX
Equilibrium. Well, it ain’t gonna happen. I believe that era is over. And I
think that this is the reason Emperor is no more (they had become a Ihsahn project with Samoth and Trym serving as studio
musicians). And Ihsahn could only reproduce the
same formulas he had created on IX Equilibrium but they became repetitive and
overly complex. As for this new direction, I welcome Ihsahn’s
foray into newer territory with the hope that in time he will create something
which I will find more enjoyable. This album is, in my opinion, a step in
that direction, but I do not consider him to have arrived at it yet. This
doesn’t mean that the album doesn’t have some interesting moments—it does,
especially the song “And He Shall Walk in Empty Space.”
JOTUNSPOR “Gleipnirs Smeder” (7 tracks
35.2 mins).
CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 8. Country
of origin:
Jotunspor touches on the “ethnic” in black metal. The name, title, and lyrics are all Norwegian
and Old Norse. I suppose one could argue
that the new wave of black metal was born in
JUNGLE
ROT “War Zone” (11 tracks.
31.9 mins.) CRASH MUSIC.
Rating:
7. Country
of origin:
In
my last update I voiced (in written form) my approval of Crash Music’s signing
Jungle Rot and re-issuing their Darkness Foretold E.P. Now I am happy to preview their newest album,
War Zone, their fifth official release and the second on Crash. What we find here is what Jungle Rot has
become known for: traditional American
death metal. In fact, everything about
this CD is just what you would expect from music to lyrics to artwork. No surprises and no letdowns.
LOUDNESS “Rockshocks” (16 tracks. 1 hr. 19 mins). CRASH MUSIC.
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
If
MANNGARD “Circling Buzzards” (). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
It
is always interesting to note when a band has based their lyrical concept on
some form of literature. In this case, William Faulkner. It would also be interesting to know how
Faulkner would have reacted their interpretation. Oh well … So Manngard
are a Norwegian death/hardcore band, a rarity.
Also rare is the 12 string bass played by their bassist, though I am not
sure if it was utilized throughout.
There are elements of black metal as well (mostly in the vocals,
occasionally in the riffing), you would expect such from
Rating: 9. Country
of origin:
I don’t think
MONSTER
MAGNET “25
Tab” (4 tracks. 56.2 mins). SPV
Rating: 5. Country
of origin:
I
believe this is a re-issue, but I am not sure.
I find Monster Magnet’s music interesting, but when a song goes on for
32+ minutes like the title song here does with the same exact bass line, I
begin to understand why people need to be “mellow” in order to listen to
it. But I do appreciate the 70’s classic
rock, Black Sabbath and Steppenwolf (spelling?) riffage. But I can
also appreciate the fact that there are probably a lot of people out there who
can appreciate this band more than I can.
My disc only has four tracks and shows no sign of the listed bonus track
“Spine of God (Live)”. I am not sure if
that is because my disc is a promo, or maybe the song is not tracked.
MONSTER MAGNET “Spine of God” (4 tracks.
56.2 mins). SPV
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
Also
a re-issue, I believe. Spine of God
is more accessible than 25 Tab, calling to mind bands like Kyuss, Goatsnake,
and Place of Skulls. MM’s 1970’s driven rock is, I think, a fair representation
of that sound. One can imagine hippies,
drugs, and motorcycles—or VW vans!—riding in the
OBLOMOV “Mighty Cosmic Dances” (9 tracks.
). DEEPSEND
RECORDS.
Rating: 9. Country
of origin:
At
least once a year I will receive a CD from an Eastern European band which
totally excites me. This year it is Oblomov’s Mighty Cosmic Dances. As the CD title may suggest, there is the
element of spacey keyboards, and also programmed drums, but the sound is
intense, fast black metal. Bands like Aurora
Borealis and early Arcturus are good
points of comparison. Along with the use
of spacey effects, the band also makes use of other “non-traditional” heavy
metal instruments such as the saxophone (real) and synthesized sounds like
bassoon and oboe. This gives the band
another dimension and inspires comparisons with
PHARAOH “The Longest Night” (10 tracks. 53 minutes).
Rating: 7. Country
of origin: . Release date: .
The
latest from Pharaoh reminds me a great deal of Iced Earth’s Night of
the Stormrider album. It is a mixture of classic power metal, epic,
and a little thrash (but not nearly as much as Iced Earth did). I would call it a blend of Iced Earth and Iron
Maiden, though Swedish and German power metal bands are their nearest
cousins. It has been about two or three
years since their last release and it sounds to me like the band has spent the
time upping the level of their songwriting.
PLACE
OF SKULLS
“The Black is Never Far”
(13 tracks. 45.9 mins). EXILE ON MAINSTREAM.
Rating: 8.5. Country of
origin:
This
CD has “classic” written all over it. I
enjoyed Place of Skulls’ last release, Nailed, but The Black is Never
Far has the band in top form. I can
think of a dozen or so other bands that play this kind of music, but I cannot
think of another album that I like as much.
Now if you were to ask me what it is that makes this album so great I
would have to say that it just is. I
think the songs are just great. Are they
different? Not really. But in the course of a band’s career, it will
make some albums which are more likeable than others. Such is the case here. To me their music is best described as 70’s
rock meets stoner doom. 70’s rock is
great because bands just played guitar music.
Many of those bands had an epic song here or there. Later metal bands have occasionally caught on
to this. One good example is Amorphis’ My Kantele. And I think that is what I really like about
this album. Yes, it is definitely more
metal than 70’s rock, but the spirit and soul of 70’s epic rock pervades the
album. I guess another way of thinking
about it is that all the songs are filled with purpose, and none of them seem
geared towards radio play.
But
I think this album is exceptional also because of the fact that it is a concept
album. Without lyrics I cannot put the
whole thing together, but if song titles are any indication, then all is fairly
clear. Song one is “Prisoner’s Creed”
and the last song is called “Changed Heart.”
In between are songs like “Darkest Hour”, “We the Unrighteous”, and “Lookin’ for a Reason”.
The final song, by the way, quotes heavily from the New Testament
book/letter of James, and thus “Changed Heart” is an appropriate title. While the album is called The Black is
Never Far, clearly there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Victor Griffin and company have, in the final
analysis, given us a grand expression of doom musically, and hope
lyrically. And like I said, it has
“classic” written all over it.
THE QUILL “In Triumph” (12 tracks.
51.75 mins). SPV
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
If
find it difficult to settle on how to describe bands like this. Is it stoner rock or classic rock? The boundary is a little hard to
determine. What do you say about a band
that might fit in a category somewhere between Cathedral and Guns N’
Roses and who could tour with the likes of Clutch or Queens of
the Stoneage?
I guess you could begin by saying that they have a broad appeal. The music is high energy, blues driven, and
generally fast, but not what I would call heavy. It has a kind of live sound, meaning that the
album sounds like the whole band recorded it at once rather than individually
(I feel the same about Mastodon’s Leviathan album). The band look and the song topics call to
mind 80’s metal and worship of Whitesnake and Hendrix. This is one of those bands that if you happen
to like the bands I have compare them to, you will likely get into this album.
SADUS “Out for Blood” (11 tracks.
55.6 mins). MASCOT/THE END RECORDS.
Rating: 8. Country
of origin:
My
first impression of Out for Blood was that Sadus
were trying to out destruct Destruction.
And I thought they had pretty much succeeded in doing so. I think this album is a great 80’s thrash
album. Production-wise it sounds like
the reconstituted Destruction—thrash with death production. But then again, we are talking about Sadus, an American thrash band with a twenty plus year
history and plenty of critical acclaim of their own. So we can mention briefly their similarity to
the European thrash bands like Destruction,
SAHG “Sahg I” (10 tracks.
48.3 mins). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 9. Country
of origin:
Sahg is an exceptional new project featuring members of Gorgoroth, Manngard,
and Audrey Horne. Sounds
like a strange combination, but it works very well. Olav Iverson on guitar, vocals (Audrey
Horne, Enslaved), Thomas Totthagen on guitar,
King (formerly of Gorgoroth) on bass, and Kvitrafn (Gorgoroth) on
drums. But whether you admire these bands
or not, you cannot know what Sahg is like simply from
knowing where these guys come from. This
album is like nothing any of them have done. Sahg is a 70’s rock,
semi-doomy, band which fans of Grand Magus, Place
of Skulls, and Abdullah will greatly appreciate. For me, bands like this are either very
interesting or boring. Sahg are definitely in the “interesting” category.
SEVEN
WITCHES
“Second War in Heaven”
(14 tracks. 57 mins). CRASH MUSIC.
SEVEN
WITCHES “City of
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
This
re-issue of Seven Witches’ first two albums are a must have for fans of 1980’s
inspired American heavy metal. Aggressive but also commercial. Occasionally the band reaches even further
back to the 1970s for a classic rock sound (e.g., “Nightmare (the Devil
Inside)”). These albums have been a rare
commodity until now. Crash Music is
releasing these two albums to coincide with the release of their sixth album (Amped) released earlier this year by Candlelight
SHE
SAID DESTROY
“Time Like Vines” (10 tracks. 45 mins). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
I
really like the technical guitar playing of this death metal album,
it reminds me of a little known Australian band called Ethereal Scourge. But the deeply muffled, guttural vocals with
largely indistinguishable lyrics and shrieks I don’t care for. The musicianship, in fact, is quite good in
all respects and I would say this band will have a great fan base if they do
not already. But the vocals belong in a
B movie or a mall-core band.
SINISTER “Afterburner” (8 tracks. 44.9 mins). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 8. Country
of origin: The
Despite
their break-up in 2003, this brutal death metal band from
SPEEED “Powertrip
Pigs” (11
tracks. 40.1 mins). CRASH
MUSIC
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
Speed
is
STARKWEATHER “Croatoan”
(8 tracks. 54.1
mins.).
CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 8. Country
of origin:
This
highly acclaimed and very hard to categorize band from Philly is often lumped
in with hardcore which, I assume, is partially deserved. However, the band really defies simple categorization
simply because they incorporate such a variety of sounds and techniques into
their music. They could actually be
classified in a number of other categories as well. The fact that they often play very slow,
crushing music brings with it the temptation to throw out words like doom, but
by this I mean doom in the Crowbar (once referred to as grindcore, btw) vein.
And vocal-wise, while reasonably thought of as hardcore, the gruffer
sections could fit black metal. There may be more than one vocalist—I tried in
vain to locate such information on the internet—because the range of vocal
styles range from folk (clean and weird) to shrill (often more so than
hardcore, much like black metal). And of
course, the diversity of vocal styles is commensurate with musical diversity,
as I have already hinted. Some people
will find the diversity unsettling, but I think that they are refreshingly
different and the music is interesting.
I tend to find hardcore boring, but this is not boring.
THINE EYES BLEED concert review. On Tuesday, June 27,
criticalnate and I descended to the Hi-Fi Buys Coca Cola Amphitheatre in the
UNEXPECT “In a Flesh Aquarium” (10 tracks.
1 hr). THE END RECORDS.
Rating: 8.5. Country of
origin:
We’ve
all heard that there is a very fine line between insanity and genius. It could not be more true
than here, for when you hear this music, you will think that the brains behind
this music are either quite insane, or rather highly gifted. Is it opera, Broadway musical, or three-ring
circus? Or how about a
combination of all three. It
features a chorus of voices: harsh male,
chorus, and a quite beautiful operatic female lead. She sounds exactly like the soprano on Believer’s
Dimensions album. In fact, the
complexity of the music here is definitely reminiscent of Believer’s radical
rhythms. Which subgenres of heavy metal
are represented in their sound? Well,
here’s my opinion: progressive,
progressive death, black, acid, opera—think Spiral Architect meets Primus
meets Mayhem (Blasphemer era) in terms of music, Asmegin
musically and vocally, and perhaps Nightwish
vocally. Perhaps it is best to describe
this album as a heavy metal “Nightmare Before
Christmas” kind of soundtrack.
UPON INFLICTION “To Escape is to Suffer” (11 tracks.
35.9 mins). CRASH MUSIC.
Rating: 8.5. Country of
origin:
This
is what I would call a text-book death metal CD. First are the crushing original riffs. Second is the crisp production. I am quite distressed about the fact that I
have misplaced this disc, because I want to hear it again. It is definitely one of the best death metal CD’s coming from one of the premier death metal labels
in the
VOIVOD “Katorz”
(10 tracks. 45 mins). THE END RECORDS.
Rating: 9. Country
of origin:
I
hope that Voivod will continue on in some form, but
it is with Katorz that an era comes to an end
with the passing of guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’amour. Remarkably, his guitar parts for this album
were put together with demos he and the band had made before entering the
studio. You might not have figured that
out if I hadn’t told you, because the band has done an incredible job of
embellishing the material with their respective voice, bass, and drums. Don’t misunderstand, these are not rambling
guitar riffs were are talking about, but completely written songs from
pre-production demos. And these songs,
according to the band, were conceived in the excitement which followed their
last tour when the band felt energized and refreshed. It is hard to know if these songs would have
been different if Piggy would have lived to re-record them in a studio with a
producer. But hearing them in this form,
I imagine that they could have sounded the same. The highlight of the CD is the advance
release track “X-Stream” which features Voivod at
their finest high speed groove. But also
to be found on the album are the bands quirky, often strange, cosmic and punk influenced metal. It is a great album. And though I am sure he didn’t plan it this
way, it is a great final chapter for Piggy.
RIP.
VREID “Black Brigade” (8 tracks. 42.2 mins). CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 8.5. Country of
origin:
Even
though one is tempted to compare Vreid to early Bathory because they have an excellent capacity for
recreating Quorthon’s primitive sound (riffs
and drum beats), this band does have a trademark sound all their own. They proved it last year with Kraft
and have done it again with Pitch Black Brigade. Along with their fierce black metal anthems,
the band also has found a way to do minimalistic
electronic sounds which carry the same somber mood.
WOLVERINE “Still” (9 tracks.
52 mins.) CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 7. Country
of origin:
When
The Window Purpose came out a few years ago I was entranced by this
band. It is not often that a prog-metal band inspires me as much as that album did. The depth of emotion and musical power was
quite exceptional in my opinion. Their
next album, Cold Light of Monday, never made its way to me. With this album Wolverine has maintained the
emotion I remember from TWP, but not quite the intensity. Still moves the band to more commercial
waters. It reminds me a bit of the
Gathering, only with male vocals. In
other words, mood is very important.
This is not to say that there aren’t moments of intensity, there
are. But these moments are not as heavy
as their earlier stuff in my opinion.
Still it grows on you and is appropriate music for the more reflective
moments in your day.
YYRKOON “Unhealthy Opera” (13 tracks. 48.5 mins). OSMOSE/THE END
Rating: 9. Country
of origin:
I
guess words like “powerful” and “brutal” can be a little overused, but what
other words are adequate for describing Yyrkoon’s
punishing death metal sound? It is as
merciless as death metal can possibly be.
All this is tempered with some very nice soloing. At times they remind me of Carcass,
but they are more brutal and less commercial than later Carcass. Yyrkoon do have
their occasional mellow side. “
ZYKLON “Disintegrate” (10 tracks.
45 mins.) CANDLELIGHT
Rating: 8. Country
of origin:
With
their third release Zamoth and company remain
consistently focused on brutally heavy, riff-oriented death metal. No fan of Zyklon
will be negatively surprised or disappointed with what they find here. Zamoth, unlike some
heavy metal musicians, has done his experimenting with other bands (e.g., Mindgrinder, SCUM, etc.) so that this band
will always be what the fans have come to expect. Enjoyable, but I will say that Mindgrinder is my favorite Zamoth
project. The only other thing to mention
here is that I, like others, will voice my disapproval at the band’s choice of
name. It is one thing to name a band
after an instrument of death (e.g., Iron Maiden), it
is another to take the name of a chemical used for the purpose of
genocide. Regardless of the band’s
intentions, it comes across as approving of the use of Zyklon
B by the Nazis. The use of this name is
in bad taste to say the least.