Cd recensies

Review Suomi Finland Perkele Magazine (SF) August 1998:
The music of these Dutch called Tremor brings the listener to the brim of profound questions. If you take influences from every source imaginable, will the result be plagiated mish-mash or something completely original? I'd say the latter. Tremor is extremely hard to describe with just words, they  have such an array of stuff in their music. There's a shyly singing, thin-voiced female soprano Carlien Stadhouders, whose voice is used wisely but sparsely mainly to create haunting, ethereal moods. There's a hammond organ, violins, a viola, a cello, a piano, a growling cookie monster as the 2nd male voice, a clean male voice, some gurgling wah-wah pedal effects, guitar soli that bear an uncanny resemblance to the sound of Iron Maiden of old, swaying rhythms, lyrics based on English folklore, folkish acoustic guitarparts, a choir and gorgeous melodies and to crown the whole thing, they even toast in the last song! All of the above elements have somehow been mixed into a balanced mixture. The best aspect in Tremor is the moods they can create with their songs. In spite of the young age of the musicians (the youngest member is just 16 of age) and the fact that this is their debut album, their sound is pretty professional. Songwriter Martijn van der Bliek can write some very original atmospheric metal and the drummer Jeroen Simons is really good, although he could get away with a bit less cymbal work, at times he sounds like Gene Hoglan of Death fame. If I should compare Tremor with such established Dutch atmospherical metal bands as Within Temptation, Celestial Season or the Gathering, I'd say that the diversity Tremor can display leaves all the aforementioned bands in shame. It's a wonder that Tremor doesn't have a recording deal yet. If moody metal piques your interest, Tremor's CD can be obtained for $15 (US). Rating: 8,5/10  (Mape).
 

Review Tracks of Creation (CA) issue 3:

This CD introduces us to a young band from the Netherlands. Having released 3 demo tapes since 1994, Tremor has now decided to produce a full-fledged album. Including a female vocalist, the band consists of 6 members. The introductory track on this CD, a drum solo entitled "Cadentz", is quite unexpected in the midst of the ubiquitous acoustic guitar solos prefacing many doom-style albums in recent memory; it seems to make a bit of a statement: the listener should prepare for something original.

The album evolves into an eclectic mixture of rhythms and melodies making up 8 tracks in total, and spanning 38 minutes. Some of the songs combine overlaid male and female vocal tracks with acoustic guitar, drum, and synth accompaniment, developing a dreamlike, relaxed atmosphere. Other tracks bring a gloomier, harder dimension to the music with slow tuned-down guitars, and forlorn vocals in the vein of My Dying Bride or perhaps even Type O Negative. Still other songs bring to the foreground agile, intricate guitar riffs reminiscent of NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden. The vocals range from gothic spoken-word, to a fairly harsh doom / death style and include stereotypical angelic female singing. Throaty spoken-word vocals and occasional high-pitched choruses in the background (which reminded me very much of Mercyful Fate) in addition to a piano and organ accompaniment lend a gothic / celtic element to the music. The overall stylistic sense that I perceive in "A Storm is Brewing" is that this album adroitly brings together metal, celtic, doom, death and a kind of 70's influence that is sometimes pastoral and sometimes a bit new wave.

 I found that I enjoyed this album much more the second time I played it, on my stereo, than the first,  when I listened to it with headphones on. Perhaps this is indicative of a somewhat weak production  since such weaknesses tend to be brought out by headphones. It's also the kind of album that tends to get better as one listens to it more. Overall, in spite of some production issues, I would say this album is enjoyable to listen to and portends a bright future for these talented folks. In case any record labels are listening, I think this band deserves some attention; they've got talent and originality, but they could use some money to get better production (which is all-important for this kind of sound) and perhaps a little more direction and structure as well. (Vladimir Levin)

Review Eternal Frost Webzine (USA) issue 3:

If there is such a thing as progressive death/extreme metal, TREMOR would probably fit that bill. A Storm is Brewing is a mixture of traditional heavy metal and death metal elements that combines for an interesting listen. "Romantic Images" is a song that leans more toward the pure metal spectrum of Tremor's music, with all clean male vocals and just a "heavy metal" feel.

Tremor started out as a death metal band, but by the time they released this CD, they had dropped most of the death metal elements and opted for a cleaner sound. I was surprised, therefore, to hear some growling on the third track, "The Witch-Hunt". I had only thought this album was okay up until now. Naturally, I like the songs with the death vocals mixed in. "The Witch-Hunt" starts out with slower, kind of doomy riffs and some dialogue vocalized so it sounds as if a sample is being played (this is very well done!). Then the real song begins. "A Voyage" has some cool double-bass parts, but is unfortunately clean-vocal dominated, although the clean female vocals are most welcome. That's the only downside to this CD, really. If this band had gone in the opposite direction, this would be so much better, but as it is, I only like about half of it. "Gentle River" is another of the better tracks. It features female vocals sung over slow music. Death vocals eventually join the mix. This is easily my favorite song. It's quite melancholic.

If Tremor lessened the amount of clean male vocals, they could be a very cool band, somewhat in the style of later Amorphis. Not that Tremor would be a replica, but just in that style. They're quite different from Amorphis. "Shocks" utilizes a string quartet, which, blended in with the traditional metal instruments, makes for a good song. I think this band is talented and worth checking out, even though this review seems a bit negative. Music like this tends to sink in very slowly for me. I hope they add more death vocals in the future. (goden).

Review Mindview Magazine (B) issue 42:

This CD has really surprised me ! On their first, self produced & released CD, the Dutch band Tremor proves to be a band that possesses a tremendous amount of musicality and originality. When you look at the overall age of the bandmembers, around 20 years, this is even more impressive. The CD starts with an instrumental drum-track, "Cadentz", which reminds me of "Bonzo’s Montreux" by John Bonham. On the following tracks they play a mixture of metal and dreamy, classical like pieces with a perfect balance between electric and acoustic guitars. Their sound bends a little towards bands like The Gathering and Orphanage. The highlight of "A Storm is Brewing" is without a doubt "Gentle River". The song starts relaxed with only vocals of singer Carlien Stadhouders, who might sing with a little more conviction now and then. When in the second part of the song the electric guitars return, an impressive piece of music is born. Especially the battle between the female vocals and the heavy grunt of Oscar Postema, who also excels in using his normal voice, are breathtaking. In "Shocks", the exceedingly beautiful instrumental closing song of the album they even used a string quartet. (JG) 85
 

Review Stormwatch Magazine (USA) issue 1:

This is a talented group from the Netherlands that possess a great amount of diversity. They play a blend of atmospheric, NWOBHM, and doom metal, with a lot of quirks on the side (for example, the amazing opening tribal drum-fest of "Cadentz"). There are all different styles of vocals, from whispers and growls to female vocals and higher-pitched male singing. The influences are all over the place, far too many to list here. I think the band is definitely at its best when playing slower, atmospheric rhythms and acoustics as well (the beginning of "A Voyage"). Plus there are some parts in the middle of some of the songs where the band is just saturated in ethereal beauty ("A Voyage", "Romantic Images"). I think this will appeal greatly to fans of atmospheric metal, gothic, doom, and even new age. Beautiful songs like "The Beloved Ones" will remain inside your head for quite sometime after you hear them. Check this out. 4 out of 5 (Azzie)
 

Review Victim in Pain magazine (B) March-April 1998:

I recently received this CD from the Dutch metal band Tremor, and I must honestly confess that this CD hasn’t been out of my CD player yet. A very good one! The music these gentlemen and lady make is of an exceptional quality. In my point of view they can easily compete with bands like Within Temptation and The Gathering. The music is also in the same vain as is with the bands mentioned before. For people who are in this type of music, this CD is certainly well worth checking out! Especially “Romantic Images” and also “Gentle River” are far above average. On top of that is the very good production of this CD. I would like to say to Tremor: Keep on doing with what you’re doing now, and we’ll be hearing much more from you in the future. More products like this should be put in the market! (Filip)
 

Review Noot (NL) issue 4, September 1997:

Lately I missed one editorial meeting, you know where the demo’s and CD’s (which are to be reviewed) are distributed, and where you still have a chance to say what you would like to listen to. One day later, around midnight, our chief editor stands on my front-door. On his face is a sinister grin, in his hand he holds the debut CD of Tremor. He pushes the CD in my hands, and with the words: Listen and Review ! he leaves into the dark shade of the nightly town. There I stood, with a CD from a band which name made me expect the worst, and although well-taken care of, there where a little too many gothic letters on the booklet. Listen and Review ! What a job for someone who, due to lack of hair, never had a chance to start headbanging. Well, I started listening. Hm, here and there it certainly is heavy, but the production is clear and the dynamics are OK. It is not a huge wall of sound, thank goodness. Well, let’s Listen again. After several times of listening to the album, the music starts to live. The atmosphere from "dungeons & dragons, gloom & gothic" dominates. Sometimes it also reminds me of what Pink Floyd did in the late sixties. Several songs are based on English traditionals, and the other songs are certainly influenced by them. The first song on the CD is an instrumental with only drums and percussion, which is very special ! This immediately shows us the place of the drums in the other songs, prominent but not disturbing. The vocals, and especially the thin female vocals together with throat devastating grunts are sometimes extremely beautiful. It’s a shame that the pronunciation of the English is not always that good. Musically speaking everything is in order: the production is in balance, the arrangements are good, howling guitars and violins, and gloomy lyrics. In brief, when this is your type of music, this CD is certainly worth considering. (SN).

Review Aardschok (NL) issue. 12/97:

Ever more often bands switch with their debut from a demo to a CD. The self producing and releasing of CD’s is nowadays almost as cheap as recording and releasing a demo-tape. And afterall you are being taken more serious with a CD than with a demo. However it is difficult to see such a CD as a product with full value. The recording budget is most of the times as low as with a demo, through which the quality in comparison is less. Because of that, a good demo is usually an average CD, simple because of the higher standards that are used for CD’s. Demo-CD or a CD with full value that was my debatable point with the debut CD of the Dutch Tremor. On their own they recorded eight tracks including an intro. Tremor is a band that consists of five gentlemen and a lady. The music is usually doom orientated, but now and then I also hear some progressive metal pieces. The keyboards, grunts, metalvoice and female singer are the usual ingredients of the genre: classical, spherical, aggressive and melodic. Luckily Tremor regularly impresses me with some very special doom pieces, which show that the band is capable of doing beautiful things. The songs "Romantic Images", "Minstrels" and "Shocks" (with violins and cello) have very beautiful melodies and sometimes surprising vocal parts. Tremor has enough quality to become a surprising band, unfortunately some of the arrangements are not sounding that tight. The drummer is an excellent musician, but sometimes it looks as if he’s playing for his own sake, which is not good for the band and the songs. Singer Carlien sounds a little inexperienced, but she manages to give the songs a fairytale-like feeling. Another disadvantage of the CD is that it was recorded and mixed in nine days. In a way of production you can compare this CD with a good demo. Tremor deserves a compliment regarding their fresh ideas, and when they are willing to make the songs a little shorter and less complex, I will be expecting to hear much more of them. (Anthony van den Berg)