
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: France | |
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Music by 1984 Lyrics by 1984 |
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Tracks: 1- Manifeste 2- Simple D´Egout Part I 3- Simple D´Egout Part II 4- Colere Violence 5- Gruyere 6- Spiderman |
I expected more of a heavy metal band here but I was completely wrong because 1984 is pure heall unleahsed in its most brutal form. Starting with crushing riff in "Manifeste" the band soon goes into a more mayhemic part with screaming vocals that go beyond the metal core music and straight into the most brutal death metal. The good thing is that the band uses fast parts but also more mid paced ones with utter heaviness where the drummer shows his skills with double bass. The vocals are really extreme with this guy screaming at the top of his lungs and it seems that he is going to fall dead immediately because of the effort he is doing. The sound of the recording is raw but powerful as this band must have in order to transmit all their brutality. Pure bestiality coming directly from France |
| Cover Artwork by: 1984 | |
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Produced by 1984 |
Contact: www.1984.ouvaton.org |
| Label: Casket Music |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: UK | |
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Line Up: Glen Korner- guitars, vocals Stephen Clements- guitars Russ Wark- bass Ben Sleeman- drums |
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Music by 5th Man Down Lyrics by 5th Man Down |
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Tracks: 1- Still 2-Wasted Time 3-I Cried 4-Silence 5-We Break Down 6-Why? 7-Feel 8-Who Am I? 9-Speak My Sanity 10-The Drift |
This is with no doubt aggressive metal. You know it from the start because of the huge guitar riffs that deliver rhytyhmic and powerful guitar riffs. then comes a voice that is really energetic, in the middle way of Anthrax´s John Bush and some of the most powerful grunge giving a copmpletely different feeling to the music adding melodies but without loosing any of the power that the band has. The music here is trully memorable due to the killer riffs combined with vocal harmonies that stick in your mind really soon. The rhythms are fast and furious and the rhythm section is really solid with that modern metal feeling where the rhythms are syncopated and leave a lot of space for the guitars and the vocals. I have to remark the killer sound that this recording has, specially in the really well mixed guitars and in the vocals that sounds crystal clear and right in your face. This is emtal for the 21st century !!!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Giles Sleeman and Russ Wark | |
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Recorded at Dreamcatcher Studio Produced by Dave Eve, Nell Korner and 5th man Down |
Contact: www.5thmandown.co.uk or www.coprorecords.co.uk |
| Label: PCS Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Marc - vocals Markus - guitars Maik - guitars Wilko - bass Ruven - drums |
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Music by Adjudgement Lyrics by Adjudgement |
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Tracks: 1- The Obituary of Happiness 2-Pompous Ass 3-Scream Inwards 4-War is a Market 5-The License 6-Rival Firm 7-... 8-Tongue Tied 9-Safe 10-Strategic Silence 11-Fairytale 12-TV 290 13-Just Another Victim |
Some bass and drums open up "The Obituary of Happiness". Then comes the rest of this pòwerful aggressive machinery called Adjudgement. The music here is pure agonic aggression full of huge guitar riffs and extreme screaming vocals. There is a certain hardcore feeling in some of the rhythms and riffs but the band is much more than only one style. they have some thrash metal influence in some of their guitar riffs but with the really modern guitar sound that this band has the result is an aggressive extreme metal band with killer compositions. The drumming here uses a lot of cymbals in olrder to add even more aggression to the music, and the bass has a clean sound taht contrast with the huge distortion of the guitars (and at the same time gives a more definite sound to the rhythm section). The album is really well mixed with clear sound and making the guitars sound huge. The thirteen songs here are pure aggression and if played at a loud volume they will definitely blow you away. |
| Cover Artwork by: Trecktor | |
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Recorded at Tank Studios Produced by Doerge/Hennig / Adjudgement |
Contact: www.pcs.rockt.de or www.adjudgement.de |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Sebastaian - guitars Steffen - bass Susan - keyboards E.H. - drums Martin -vocals |
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Music by Aeon of Fear Lyrics by Martin and Sebastian |
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Tracks: 1- Gedankenwege des Hasses 2-Aeon of Fear 3-Frozen Eyes 4-Dream 5-Mein Zerschmettertes Herz 6-Lust in Shadows of Light 7-Geisteskinder |
I did not expect all this brutality !!! Just listen "Gedankenwege..." and you will be blown away by the balck metal intensity of Aeon of Fear. The thing that makes this band different from most of the bands of tyhe style is their sound that is really more brutal with huge guitars (while other bands used less loud guitars) combined with the amazing keyboards played by Susan that add a dark feeling but don´t substtact energy to the rest of the band. Agonic vocals are essential here to achieve the right black metal feeling and they are of the shrieking type that turn your mind into dark ashes with their unholiness. There are some riffs that have more of a thrash metal influence but played with more aggression and brutality fitting perfectly the balck metal feeling. as I said before, here is very important the sound that the band has and the mix is really loud here emphasizing the bestiality of the band. Pure darkness revealed to humanity but with more brutality than most of the bands in the style !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Aeon of Fear and Blue Studio | |
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Recorded at Obscure Infinity Studios Produced by Aeon of Fear |
Contact: www.aeonoffear.com |
| Label: Spreadit Agency |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Maurizio Gioli - vocals Mirko Marchesini - guitars Denis Forciniti - guitars Mattia Cingano - bass Paolo Veronese - drums |
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Music by Airhead Lyrics by Airhead |
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Tracks: 1- Under Attack 2-Suicide Note 3-Claustrophobia 4-Alcathrash 5-Devour Me 6-In Your Name |
Pure eighties thrash metal !!!! Airhead is a band that keeps their music faithful to trhe music that bands like Exodus or Death Angel have created in the middle eighties. Here we have really fast riffs and classic thrashy rhythms played in a really solid way where the main element is speed and technique. The vocals are raw and reminded me a little bit to early Death Angel. there are climatic moments generated by the guitars in tracks like "Under Attack" where the guitar plays a short melody before the rest of the band counterattacks with all their fury. The rhythm section is solid and manages the style perfectly showing that they can play really well this compositions that are sometimes truly complicated in somee of the breaks and drums passages. the sound is raw and brings to my mind the late eigthies sound but with more modern guitars. Thrash is back in its original format thanks to bands like Airhead !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Leonardo Finetti | |
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Recorded at Aton Studio Produced by Fabio Lentola |
Contact: airhead@infinito.it |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Mike Krutsinger - guitars, bass, drums Paul English - vocals |
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Music by Mike Krutsinger Lyrics by Paul English |
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Tracks: 1- The Fabrication of Gold 2-The Forest´s Silhouette 3-The Essence of Emotion Restored 4-The Verses of Nonexistence 5-The Insects of the World 6-The Preponderance of Gold |
"The Fabrication of Gold", a dark atmospheric intro, opens this release before the raw guitars enter creating compositions that take elements from death metal and black metal doing an intelligent fusion of both styles. Here you have a release that is at the same time crushing and atmospheric, combining really heavy and raw guitars with passages full of darkness. Paul English´s vocals are really extreme fitting really well the huge riffs that Mike Krutsinger delivers in tracks like "The Forest´s Silhouette". Growls and screams take you to a different world full of darkness and cold passages. The drumming is direct leaving more space for the guitars and the vocals that are essential here to create the Alchemy feeling that this musiucians want. The combination of aggression and climatic moments, even using repetitive ideas, is a signature sound here. The recording has a raw sound that lets you feel all the power that this band can generate. |
| Cover Artwork by: Alchemy | |
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Produced by Alchemy |
Contact: intothepaulymonium@hotmail.com or bilug@centurytel.net |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: France | |
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Music by Ambryo Lyrics by Ambryo |
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Tracks: 1- Save Me 2-Mal / Heureux? 3-Le Bonheur 4-Lost 5-Futur? 6-Les Autres... 7- Zarb I? 8-Ungaresca 9-Dark Days 10-V-nerf |
Ambryo is pure madness from the first seconds of "Save Me" up to the end of this recording. The band has influences of both the most extreme hardcore and pure death metal. If you like fast crushing guitar riffs then Ambryo will satisfy your needs with their speed and aggression. The vocals are really deathly of the most anguished type and they interact in tracks like "Mal / Heureux?" with a clean voice that adds a more climatic (sort of new metalish) feeling to the music. Some vocals are in french adding an original feeling to the music, because the language sounds completely different from english. the guitars play fast and rhythmic riffs and sometimes also some more hardcore and furious rhythms that are the trademark of the band. The sound of the band is trully modern adding to their classical influences a modern guitar sound and also original vocals that go beyond all styles. THe recording has a realy good sound, specially on the guitars that sound really crushing and fat. An original yet violent release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Ambryo | |
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Recorded at Studio Tac Produced by Ambryo |
Contact: http://ambryo.free.fr |
| Label: Sleaszy Rider Recs. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Norway | |
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Music by Ancient Lyrics by Aphazel |
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Tracks: 1- Trolltaar 2-Nattens Skjønnhet 3-Eerily Howling Winds 4-Det Glemte Riket 5-Huldradans 6-Paa Evig Vandring 7-Fjellets Hemmelighet 8-Algol 9-Sweet Leaf |
This is not a new album by Ancient but a collection of hard to find releases such as the "Trolltaar" MCD and the "Det Glemte Ricket" EP with some bonus tracks when Aphazel was only with Grimm on vocals and drums. this is pure norwegian black metal in its best format with all the elements that made this style almost a myth. Here we have agonic vocals mixed with viking-type epic voice in the vein of Ved Buens Ende and bands of that style and we have the more climatic elements developed by Aphazel´s guitars and keyboards. And we have Grimm destroying his drum kit with primitive and fast rhythms. There is a cover of Black Sabbath´s "Sweet Leaf" that adds the final touch to this collecible rerelease. the sound of the recording is raw as it was used in that era of primal black metal. A must have for black metal lovers. |
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Produced by Ancient |
Contact: www.sleaszyrider.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Music by Androvirus
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Tracks: 1- Té 2-Rumour 3-Sint 4-Test 5-New Inww 6-004 |
Androvirus is pure experimentation with sounds and noises through seven intense compositions. Androvirus explores different sounds and also some rhythms, such as in "Rumour" always searching for new combinations to develope their ideas. Mechanical sounds interact heavily creating complex atmospheres that surprise with originality and with innovation. I have to remark that three of the tracks here are really long and you will not bore yourself because there is a constant change of atmosphere in the tunes so you will keep your attention to see what si coming next. pure experimentation in a weird solo project. |
| Cover Artwork by: Androvirus | |
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Produced by Androvirus |
Contact: http://androvirus.noweb.org |
| Label: Galy Records |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: France | |
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Line Up: Blacknight - guitars, b. vocals Infurya - drums Khayr - vocals, bass |
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Music by Khayr (2,3,4,5,6,7,9), Blacjknight (8), Infurya (1) and Khayr/Blacknight (10) Lyrics by Khayr, exc. 1 by Blacknight/Infurya, 5 by Khayr / Blacknight and 8 by Blacknight |
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Tracks: 1- The Arrival 2-Against you all... 3-Set Me Free 4-Dark Soul 5-My Rage of Berzewrker 6-La Mort Reine Du Monde / Howlz from the North 7-Hair 8-Ways of the Mask (Poetic Wind) 9-Shiva...God of Destruction 10-La Malediction Finale |
"The Arrival" is a long dark intro with deep and extreme voices that opens this bestial black metal album. the music of the band is really raw and extremely fast with devastating guitar riffs and bestial drumming. If you listen the tracks here you will be blown away by blast beats played with a lot of precission and with fast accelerated thrash balck emtal patterns that this guys play with total accuracy. The riffs are raw and fast. the vocals are really black metal but with more aggression than most of the bands of the style, adding a certain death metal tonality to the voice. What I really liked a lot here is the good sound that the recording has, distinguishing of other bands of nthe style that prefer a poorer sound. And that good sound gives even more aggression to the band´s music. Pure black metal the way it must be done: with blasphemy and pure aggressive power. |
| Cover Artwork by: Michael Knight | |
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Recorded at Wild Studio Produced by J.F. Dagenais and Anhkrehg |
Contact: www.anhkrehg.com or www.galyrecords.com |
| Label: Displeased Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Line Up: Peter Bjärgö - instruments, samples, programming, vocals Ann-Marie Thim - choir Stefan Eriksson - choir, percussion Ceciliaa Bjärgö - choir |
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Music by Peter Bjärgö |
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Tracks: 1- In Search of the Divine 2-Le Serpent Rouge 3-Cathar 4-Under the Sun 5-Amber 6-Seductive Flame 7-Serpents Dance 8-The Passage 9-The Nemesis |
We have reviewed previously some Arcana release and this is their sixth album. Peter Bjärgö is the main composer here and the music here can be called something like gothic or medieval soundscapes. Yes, this are atmospheric compositions that have a definite ancient sound that includes dark keyboards and some gregorian like voices doing passages that sound extremely dark but at the same time have strong feelings. There is also a lot of climatic instrumentation but the most characteristic has typical isntruments that couls be found in the dark ages music. The percussion in the track "Le Serpent Rouge" is almost tribal and transport you to the times of the end of the roman empire and into the medieval times. If you close your eyes you can easily transport yourself with Arcana´s music. plus, there is a lot of good compositional skills and good musicianship that allows this musicians to create this amazing soundscapes. One of my absolute favorite bands of this style !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Agnieszka Szuba | |
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Recorded at Erebus Odora Produced by Peter Bjärgö |
Contact: www.displeasedrecords.com or www.erebusodora.net/arcana |
| Label: Ark Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Conrado Videtta - vocals, guitars Alfredo Notarloberti - violin Cecilia Videtta - vocals Riccardo Sabetti - bass, guitars Alessio Sica - drums |
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Music by Argine Lyrics by Argine |
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Tracks: 1- Radjodramma 2-I Nostri Occhi 3-Girotondo 4-Le Luci di Hessdalen 5-La Danza deo Pensieri Notturni 6-Lucente Anima 7-In Silenzio 8-Infinito Spazio 9-Coriandoli 10-Spina Nel Fianco 11-Lamento Funebre 12- Punti Invisibili |
THis is pure melody done with incredible musicianship and also with a lot of strength. This band has definitely a folk feeling in their music and they are really rocking. I liked a lot the combination of male and female vocals here that is a trademark of Argine´s music. There is heavy use of violin lines which are essential to achieve the exact feeling of the music here. There are acoustic guitars all over this album and they contribute a lot to create the atmosphere that this type of music must have. If I had to define the music hewre with a couple of words I would say "beauty" and "climatic" because Argine music has this two elements being extremely beautiful and at the same time climatic and kind of mysterious, specially in tracks like "I Nostri Occhi". "Girotondo" is pure aggression with distorted guitars showing that all the tracks here are different one from the other. A must have for any lovers of clever compositions and melodies with power.. |
| Cover Artwork by: Rossana Rossi and Corrado Videtta | |
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Recorded at Four Brothers Studio Produced by Argine |
Contact: www.argine.net |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: France | |
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Line Up: Lasticot - guitas Leniaf - bass Grums - vocals, programming Tintin - drums |
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Music by Ascaris Lyrics by Ascaris |
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Tracks: 1- Swallow 2-ascaris 3-Gripes 4-Cover All 5-Fear of Tomorrow 6-La Cat 7-A Force 8-Al azif
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Ascaris is a good mix of pure death metal and brutal death metal with some hardcore elements in the msot rhythmic parts. They start climatically in the beginning of "Swallow" before they unleash all their brutality. Let´s say that the band is 80% death metal and 20% hardcore, because the sound is completely deathly, specially some of the vocals that are really guttural. the good thing is that despite being extremely brutal the band adds some climatic elements in the middle of their compositions that gives a different atmosphere to their music and at the same time adds originality. The riffs are fast and furious and interact heavily with the rhythm section that sounds aggressive and solid. As I said before the band has guttural vocals but they also have a screaming one that adds a different feeling to the music, being deathly but more agonic. the sound of the recording is loud and direct making the music even more aggressive than with a more polished sound. A brutal and aggressive release ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Ascaris | |
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Produced by Ascaris |
Contact: www.ascaris-hxc.com |
| Label: AGD Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Robert Gonnella - vocals Michael Hoffmann - guitars Scholli Scholz - guitars Ufo Walter - bass Frank Nellen - drums |
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Tracks: 1- The Club 2-No Fear 3-Raging Mob 4-Bushwhackers 5-Not With Us 6-Psycho Terror 7-Go insane 8-Real Friends 9-The Price of Power 10-Thunder and Lightning 11-Jin Tien Shen Huo 12- I Swear |
This is the comeback of an eighties thrash metal legend !!!Assassin is one of those bands that left their mark in the mid eighties setting the path for other bands of the style, specially of the most extreme thrash metal. And here they are back with original member Michael Hoffmann also played in Sodom and original singer Robert Gonnella to deliver eleven original tunes. Plus, here there is a version of Thin Lizzy´s "Thunder and Lightning" that is a welcome addition to the band´s set. the music is pure eighties thrash but with some more modern sound than in the band´s previous releases. Gonnella´s vocals are as powerful and original as always being of the most extreme thrash vocalists of that era, screaming at the top of his lungs most of the time. The rhythms are really eighties thrash but they have been actualized in order to not sound outdated. This is a killer come back from a band that was one of the legends in german thrash metal !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Sven Vüllers | |
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Recorded at ATM Studios Produced by Michael Hoffmann |
Contact: www.assassin-online.de |
| Label: Equilibrium Music |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Ataraxia Francesca Nicoli - vocals, flute Vittorio Vandelli - guitar, b. vocals Giovanni Pagliari - piano Riccardo Spiaggiari - drums, timpani, bells, chimes
Autunna et sa Rose Sonia Vicentin - soprano Simone Montaari - cello Disorder - piano, vocals |
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Tracks: ATARAXIA 1- Strange Lights 2-Shelmerdine 3-Bonthrop 4-tu Es la Force du Silence 5-Ophélie 6-Faust in una Sala Maledetta 7-Seas of the moon 8-Les Tisseuses Lunaires 9-Veules Les Roses 10-Fuga trionfale 11-Oduarpa 12- Medusa
AUTUNNA ET SA ROSE 1-L´Art et la Mort 2-Caresses Aux Coeurs 3-Gentiane Percluse 4-La Morte di Virginia 5-Slow Rai 6-Reose Jaune de Novembre 7-Vergänglichkeit 8-LAndschaft der Vergangenheit 9-Canzona 10-Egypt 11- Temps Fumé |
I have listened Ataraxia many times before and saw them live and I know what they are capable of doing: killer ethereal melodies, amazing guitar arrangements delivered by Vittorio Vandelli, climatic moments. And I specially love Francesca´s voice full of feeling and melody and with an amazing technique that allows here to deliver incredible lines. Besides she has a really particular voice that is deep and low in some parts being the heart and soul of many of the compositions. Each one of the track is full of atmospheres and you can feel the melancholy dripping on each minute. And the combination of beauty and melancholy is one of the trademarks of this killeritalian band Autunna et sa Rose amazed me because I have never heard their music before. Opening with Simone Montanari´s cello in "L´Art et la Mort" this band shows that their music is one of the more climatic experiences ever. And there is heavy experimentation here too with melancholic sounds and melodies. The piano is essential in tracks like "Caresses Aux Coeurs", a composition that can even make you weep with all the sadness. Sonia Visentin is an amazing soprano with vocal lines full of incredible feeling besides amazing technical skills. Her voice is full of beauty and is essential for Autunna et Sa Rose. A wonderful album. A split CD full of beauty, good musicianship and extremely melancholic and introspective moments. |
| Cover Artwork by: Nuno | |
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Recorded at San Ruffino and San Michele´s Church Produced by Equilibrium Music |
Contact: www.equilibriummusic.com |
| Label: MOMT Records |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.K. | |
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Line Up: Graham Rayner Christian Weber |
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Music by Audio War Lyrics by Audio War |
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Tracks: 1- Negativity 2-One Drug 3-Super Freak 4-Retro Life 5-Analyze 6-Criminal 7-Money Shot 8-Dirty Link 9-Breaking Down 10-Audio Crash |
Audiowar is a truly original band in the industrial / ambient vein. their music despite being of this style is really aggressive because of the sudden bursts of sounds in tracks like "Negativity". Here we have also some more accesible tracks such as "One Drug" that ahs a rhythm close to dancing beats but with a distorted background that makes the tune really dense and heavy. The industrial sounds are the main thing here creating atmospheres that seem to come from an apocalyptic world full of machinery. The music is original and there is a constant search for new sounds through heavy experimentation but without leaving the aggression behind. A release that surprises with the atmospheres and with the heavy interaction of sounds, samplers and noises. |
| Cover Artwork by: Audio War | |
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Mastered at Metarc Studios Produced by Audio War |
Contact: www.audiowar.co.uk |
| Label: American Line Prods |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Mexico | |
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Line Up: Alehandro M. - guitars Jesus M. - vocals Christian R. - guitars Antonio O. - drums Alberto O. - bass |
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Music by Christian R., exc. 9 by Alberto O. and 10- by Judas Priest Lyrics by Jesus M and Alberto D., exc. 10 by Judas Priest |
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Tracks: 1- C.O.M.A. 2-Metal legions 3-The Shining 4-Beholding Remains 5-Fear Hunter 6-End of Eternity 7-Warcall 8-Conquest Heir´s 9-A Final Breath 10- Breaking the Law (Judas Priest cover) |
The good thing about this band from Mexico is that they combine succesfully all the brutality that is possible with good musicianship thatt is evident from the starting with "Metal Legions". The band is pure death metal with some thrash metal influences in the guitar riffs and on some rhythms. And this guys know how to combine the most brutal music with some more climatic moments created by the guitars that in some places do melodies and in others do some riffs that would not be out of place in a power metal band. There are good solos that are another sample of the good musicianship of this guys being fast and original and being like an idea within the main idea of the songs. the vocals are really extreme, in the death metal style but with a certain thrash feeling in them. The sound of the recording is good and it has nothing to envy to some of the main bands of the style. Pure aggression created with good technical skills and musicianship. |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
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Recorded at M.A.T: Studios Produced by American Line Prods |
Contact: www.alprods.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: France | |
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Music by Balaam Lyrics by Psycho 666 |
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Tracks: 1- Funerals of the fallen angel (intro) 2-Mother with teh tears of blood 3-Departure towards death 4-The turn of the shadow 5-Support the war against christianity 6-In nomine Balaam 7-Fuck you...Jesus Christ 8-Perversion of Whore 9-Infernal Decline 10-Requiem of Melancholy (outro) |
A long dark introduction creates the perfect atmosphere for Balaam to unleash their extreme unholy black metal. This is really savage and raw black metal with ultra fast blast beats and agonic screams that turn everything to darkness. The compositions are really effective and violent unleahsing all the darkness that Balaam is capable of releasing. There are good rhythmic riffs combined with the fastest ones that are notes runs in the classic black metal way interacting with the mayhemic drumming that is another of the essential elements here. The band sounds really tight, specially in some breaks taht need of good technical skills to be played as tight as this band does. The sound is raw and brings to my mind classic early nineties black metal but with a more modern mix. This is pure unholy black metal of the msot balsphemic kind. |
| Cover Artwork by: Jonathan Pontieu | |
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Produced by Balaam |
Contact: www.balaam-black.tk |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2002 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Line Up:
Hække - bass |
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Music by Barck Lyrics by Barck |
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Tracks: 1- Deliver This 2-At Full Sail 3-DeeDs 4-I don´t Fuckin´Mess You, Bitch! |
The first thing that will got your attention is the CD envelope, made of some strange plastic material full of colours. Then comes the music of the band that is heavy rock / metal with crushing guitars and with an extreme and original vocalist. the guitar riffs are trully rhythmic and with a modern metal feeling and sound that makes the songs really powerful and designed for the mosh pit. The vocals are really maniac in some parts and in others are more melodic reminding me a little bit to Mike Patton. The rhythm sectioon plays a fundamental role here creating the structure over which the guitar riffs are played (there is really tightness between the guitars and the rhythm section here). The sound of the recording is really good with a mix that lets you listen perfecly all the isntruments and feel the power that drips from the guitars. An original release with modern sound. |
| Cover Artwork by: Barck | |
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Produced by Barck |
Contact: www.barck.dk |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Line Up:
Hække - bass |
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Music by Barck Lyrics by Barck |
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Tracks: 1-Tuned Tonight 2-Half Delight 3-The Rock'n'Fuckin Roll Disaster 4-At The Bulldog Moon 5-Bazooka El Pony
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"Tuned Tonight" starts with a truly aggressive riff and crushing drumming that is one of the trademarks of this danish band. The music is modern heavy rock/metal with certain electronic elements in some parts and with aggressive features such as the crushing riffs and the screaming vocals that have a melodic side that is essential for the identity of this band. The five songs here are aggressive and the band shows that they are solid and really well rehearsed here. the songs are memorable, mostly due to the good work of the vocalist that creates catchy lines that soon stick in your mind. The sound is loud and clear and the guitars shine here. Pure power coming directly from Denmark ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Barck | |
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Produced by Barck |
Contact: www.barck.dk |
| Label: Intuitive records |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Line Up: Laszlo Kovacs Ervin Lázár Ildiko Ungváry Ivan Vincze |
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Tracks: 1- 14 August 2-Summer-Swings and Jumps 3-23 September 4-17 Maj 5-Mo-Nu-Ment 6-28 Juli 7-Taking a Walk 8-Presentiment 9-Tutti e Soli and One conductor 10- 27 Juli 11-Always Slow 12- Bird of Passage |
This is pure intuitive music, full of improvisation and spontaneity. Here we have amazing musicians that interact between them in an amazing way creating pasages that despite using heavily experimentation and improvisation are really coherent and also they explore without falling into chaotic musical pieces. I am really amazed by this musicians that are constantly exploring new sounds with their instruments yet retaining a "group spirit" that allows them to interact in a really amazing way. the compositions here have melodies but also have background sounds and some noises and percussive sounds that surprises the listener constantly. One good thing is that the booklet comes with full explanations about intuitive music, with web links to sites where there are explanations of this type of music, so the booklet is really instructional for people that would like to know more about Intuitive music. I recommend this to all people interested in boundaries breaker music. |
| Cover Artwork by: Ervin Lazar | |
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Produced by Janos Vetö |
Contact: www.angelfire.com/ut/irecords |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Music by Benevolence Lyrics by Benevolence |
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Tracks: 1- The Suicide Pillars 2-Never Stop Screaming 3-Reduced to Nothing |
Crushing death metal from the first second to the last of this three devastating tracks. You can not have a voice that is more guttural than the one in Benevolence, reminding me in some parts to the almighty Autopsy. This band is fast but the emphasis is on heaviness because here you have some more mid paced rhythms that are the ones that unleash the more brutality. But we have also here some blast beats in the vein of the most brutal death metal band. The guitar riffs are devastating and the downtuned guitars sound like a crushing atom bomb that turns your brain into ashes with their intensity. the sound of the recording is raw but loud emphasizing the guitar parts and the rhythms and letting you feel all the brutality of Benevolence. Bestial death metal that blows you away and leaves you wanting more compositions from this band |
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Produced by Benevolence |
Contact: exhumed@flash.net |
| Label: Cold Meat Industry |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Music by Beyond Sensory Experience Lyrics by Beyond Sensory Experience |
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Tracks: 1- Pursuit of Pleasure 2-Affection / Devotion 3-Anything Golden 4-Code of Sexual Morality 5-The Trade 6-Youth Duality 7-The Lickerish Quartet 8-Advanced Human Sexuality (AHS) 9-Craving the Touch 10-Hold your Breath and Close your Eyes |
there are times when the name of the band fits perfectly the music that they do. Beyond Sensory Experience is one of this cases, because their music goes beyond all senses and lets your imagination fly with the different moods that they have created here. Atmospheres are the main thing here, from the opening with "Pursuit of Pleasure", a dark depressive tunes with slow piano phrases up to the climatic, more orchestral "Affection / Devotion". Every composition here is atmospheric and dark with a strong sadness and despair element. There are some voices here and there, always spoken giving an even more sad feeling to the music. The ambient music delivered here is really of killer quality as most of the Cold Meat Industry catalog is. There is plenty of experimentation here using samples and infinite types of sounds always surprising with good musisicianship and imagination. |
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Produced by Beyond Sensory Experience |
Contact: www.coldmeat.se or www.bse.se |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: | |
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Line Up: Toppy Pissie Auza |
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Music by Biopsycunt Lyrics by Biopsycunt |
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Tracks: 1- In Pussy 2-Cocksucker 3-Lick her Clitoris 4-Molest 5-Nymphumania |
Biopsycunt is pure porn grindgore with fast and furious bursts of sound with an extremely raw and deathly sound. they are ultra fast, tey are pure grindcore and they are pure bestiality. The blat beats are the esence here along with the cahinsaw like guitars. The vocals can not be more guttural, sounding like another distorted instrument while spitting the porn lyrics. HEre everything is pure madness unleashed and each tune is faster than the previous one (this drummer is extremely fast and chaotic). The sound of the recording is extremely raw, specially on the guitars that sound distorted and with a sound that looks like using a distortion pedal plus the amps distortion to achieve this wall of sound. Pure bestiality. |
| Cover Artwork by: Biopsycunt | |
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Produced by Biopsycunt |
Contact: www.biopsycunt.cjb.net |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2002 | |
| Country: Australia | |
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Line Up: Matt Williams - vocals jamie Page - guitars Dave Harrison - bass Simon Wisniewski - drums |
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Music by Black Steel Lyrics by Black Steel |
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Tracks: 1- Breaking the Chains 2-Time Marches On 3-Destructor 4-Hell´s Gates 5-Bonded by Steel 6-Rise Up 7-Vengeance of the Damned 8-Hall of Fire 9-Too Wild to Tame 10-Forever (The Sands of Time) |
Heavy metal with a definite european feeling is what Black Steel creates here. The music is powerful and with a definite Helloween flavor but with a lot of identity. The vocals are really original, not being the typical of the styles because they are kind of more rough and they don´t abuse the high pitches. One remarkable thing is that most of the tunes here are truly memorable due to excellent and catchy choruses. there is good double guitar work and killer solos. the rhythm section is really solid making this a potent release. The sound is good and direct making this album an enjoyable heavy metal release. Pure metal in the european way but coming directly from Australia. |
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Produced by Black Steel |
Contact: www.blacksteel.com.au |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2003 | |
| Country: Australia | |
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Line Up: Matt Williams - vocals jamie Page - guitars Dave Harrison - bass Simon Wisniewski - drums |
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Music by Black Steel |
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Tracks: 1- Battle Call 2-We Are One 3-The Power 4-Heart of a Lion
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This is a MCD by this pure heavy metal band with certain power metal touches. Kicking off with "Battle Call" the band shows soon their trademarks: powerful riffs, fast rhythms and good twin guitars that create the main melody of the song. A solid rhythm section is essential here, specially in the fastest parts where we have good double bass drumming that emphasizes the guitar riffs. The vocals are original and memorable making this four tracks easy to follow. But the main thing here is the guitar work with virtuosism and hard work showing that this guys have a lot of technical skills besides having melodies that stick into your mind because of their epic quality. This "Battle Call" is an other good release by this pure metal band. |
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Produced by Black Steel |
Contact: www.blacksteel.com.au |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Australia | |
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Line Up: Matt Williams - vocals jamie Page - guitars Dave Harrison - bass Simon Wisniewski - drums |
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Music by Black Steel (1), Thin Lizzy (2) and Saxon (3) |
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Tracks: 1- Relentless Force 2-Emerald 3-Power and the Glory |
THis single opens up with the title track, a tune that starts clamly with clean guitars and a heartful voice before it gets into the full heavy metal mode with the characteristic Black Steel riffing. Here we have good vocal harmonies delivering pure heavy metal melodies and a tight rhythm section adding a lot of power to the music. The Saxon and THin Lizzy covers are really enjoyable, being faithful to the original versions but with a more modern sound such as the one that Black Steel has. A good single that makes us wait for the next release by this band from down under. |
| Cover artwork by Dragon Designs | |
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Produced by Balck Steel |
Contact: www.blacksteel.com.au |
| Label: Northern Silence Prods |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Line Up: Hugin - vocals, guitars Isaz - female vocals Huul - bass |
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Music by Blodarv Lyrics by Hugin |
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Tracks: 1- Soulcollector 2-Sealed in Black with Silver Stars 3-Beyond Life 4-Those Who Speaks iN minds 5-Night Terror 6-Kaldet Fra Fjeldet 7-Den Rode Sten 8-Forseglet Forevig 9-Nitivia Amlech 10-Langt Væk Fra Livet 11-Empty Fucking Life |
A cold and dark opening starts the tune called "Soulcollector" before the black metal storm comes down blowing everything away. The msuic here is black metal of the rawest type with influence of the norwegian scene and with climatic moments that turn everything into darkness. Fast guitar riffs are used here in many parts to add aggression and in others to add ome dark haunting melody that makes the tune really unique when compared to the others, as it happens in "Soulcollector". One trademark here is the combiantion of Hugin´s anguished voice in the typical black metal style with Isaz female vocals that are melodic and haunting (they do many phrases together giving a special duality to the music). Another climatic elements appear in the beginning of "Sealed in Black..." but tehya re just a contrast with the mayhemic black metal that will come after. The drumming is really intense here using blast beats and some rhythms that are accelerated thrash. Black metal with original elements with emphasis on blasphemy and aggression but also on climatic moments. |
| Cover Artwork by: Hugin | |
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Produced by Blodarv |
Contact: www.blodarv.com and www.northern-silence.de |
| Label: Breath of Pestilence |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Line Up: Hugin - all instruments, vocals Isaz - female vocals |
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Music by Hugin Lyrics by Hugin |
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Tracks: Side A 1- Langt Væk Fra Livet
Side B 2-Death of Linaria 3-Beyond Life
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Here we have a three song EP by this extremely aggressive black metal danish band. Two of the tracks, "Langt Væk Fra Livet" and "Beyond Life", are also on their "Soulcollector" album. And we have a track called "Death of Linaria", and this is the core of this release dedicated to the queen witch Linaria Amlech who died by her own hand in 2002 (you can even read her Last Letter on the envelope of the recording). The music here is extremely dark black metal where the combination of the more extreme voice with Isaz cold, dark melodies is one of the trademarks. Fast guitars are essential too and they are combined with more climatic passages in order to add even more darkness to the music. This "Beyond Life" was a prelude of the storm that later came down with the extremely aggressive "Soulcollector" release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Hugin | |
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Produced by Blodarv |
Contact: www.blodarv.com |
| Label: Obscure Prods. |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Poland | |
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Line Up: BLOODTHIRST Slayer - drums Nightal - bass Rambo - guitars/ vocals Kura - guitars
EBOLA Mihu - guitars Shyha - bass Ronve - vocals M. - drums |
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Tracks: Bloodthirst: 1- United by Hell of Night 2-Paradise is Covered by Death 3-Warriors of Hell 4-Hateful Antichristian Thrash 5-Woman of Dark Desires
Ebola: 6- Christ Impaled 7-Burning Garments of Jehova 8-Legion 9-Karmageddon Warriors 10-Chrzescijanstwo Musi Umrzec
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Bloodthirst opens this split CD with full force with "United by Hell of Night",a tune that has a definite early death metal / thrash feeling. The music here is pure aggression with fast and furious guitar riffs and extreme vocals. This vocals are not of the guttural kind but of the screamiung type, reminding me to a more extreme Kreator. The band has strong eighties influences in the rhythms used but they have a modern sound on guitars and specially on drums with emphasis in the bass drum that is evident on all the compositions. Then comes Ebola a band that is pure classic death metal with growling vocals and guitar riffs that emphasize heaviness and not only speed. THe band has a lot of double bass drumming and intelligent rhythmic patterns that add more brutality to their music (don´t get me wrong, there are also ultra fast rhythms here, such as in "Legion"). As I said before, the vocals are really extreme with a growling sound taht gives more aggression to the music and that workd in an interesting way with the rhythms created by the rest of the band A killer deathly split CD !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Klaudiusz Witczak | |
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Recorded at Polysound Studio (Ebola) and Migdal Mobile Studio (Bloodthirst) Produced by |
Contact: http://bloodthirst.metal.pl and http://ebolahorde.w.interia.pl and obscure_prod@o2.pl |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Line Up: Christian Sindermann Anders Trans Søren Skouboe Claudio Wolff Sebastian Wolff |
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Music by Brudevalsen Lyrics by Brudevalsen |
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Tracks: 1- Nothing Left 2-Loss 3-Dirt in the Ground 4-These Tragedies 5-In this World (dirt covers beauty) |
Brudevalsen surprised me starting really climatically with a truly atmospheric part in "Nothing Left" and then suddendly turning into a more violent part with crushing guitars. THis band is full of energy and they develope memorable songs here that take elements froma lternative music and from modern metal creating a powerful mix . It is funny that the cleaner vocals reminded me to Nirvana or Alice in Chains because they are really deppressive and at the same time extremely powerful. And this vocals turn into more extreme ones of the screaming type in the most extreme moments. The guitars sound powerful in the heavier riffs and extremely climatic in the moments where they develope calmer atmospheres. And there is a piano here that is one of the main elements in the music adding incredible arrangements to songs like "LOss" and also adding a more deppressive feeling to the music. There is a cover of Tom Waits´s "Dirt in the Ground" done in the Brudevalsen way that is like the strawberry to the cake here. We would really love to listen more from this truly original Danish band soon !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Brudevalsen | |
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Produced by Brudevalsen |
Contact: www.brudevalsen.dk |
| Label: Lifeforce records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
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Country: Germany
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Music by Heaven Shall Burn and Caliban |
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Tracks: Heaven Shall Burn 1- Unleash Enlightment 2-No One Will Shed a Tear 3-Nylædd Von 4-If this A Man 5-Downfall of Christ 6-Destroy Fascism
Caliban 7-The revenge 8-Arena of Concealment 9-One Day 10-A Summer Dream 11-One More Lie |
HEaven Shall Burn opens this split CD with their original mix of metal and hardcore that hasbeen labelled in the scene as metalcore, a style that both bands in this split represent. The music has a trully extreme quality with fast riffs, iontense drumming and agonic vocals. HEaven Shall Burn shows why they are one of the most aggressive bands in the scene with their crushing guitar riffs and with the intense double bass drumming that is one of the trademarks here. The band is extremely solid and that is evident in the combiantion of guitars and rhythm section that is one of the most powerful tools that this band has to crush the listener. The vocals are extreme of the screaming type adding a more deathly feeling to the music. I have to remark the excellent sound that Heaven Shall Burn has on their six compositions. Then comes Caliban kicking off with the powerful "The Revenge", a tuned destined to be a classic in the metalcore scene. Despite being quite similar to the style of Heaven Shall Burn the guys in Caliban have theior own identity using completely different riffs that have sort of a thrash / heavy feeling but played with pure metalcore sound. And the vocals are extreme most of the time but also there are intense melodic parts where this guy shows tht he can sing powerfully and not only scream at the top of his lungs. The sound of the guitars is loud and they are essential to unleash all the power of this band along with the drumming that has plenty of double bass and cymbals use that makes this an extremely aggressive release. |
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Recorded at Rape of Harmonies and Principal Studios |
Contact: www.lifeforcerecords.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U,S,A; | |
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Line Up: John Ruszin - guitars Gary Billings - vocals Byron Nelson - drums Paul Balestrieri - bass Scott Stallone - keys, programing |
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Music by Carfax Abbey Lyrics by Carfax Abbey |
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Tracks: 1- The Healing 2-Second Skin 3-My Little Sister 4-Son 5-Flush to the Floor 6-Spitshine 7-Gifted Life 8-The world will have to Wait 9-Losing Face 10-Love Hate Kind 11- Ketamine |
"The Healing" surprises with its electronics sound and the combination with powerful guitars that give a strong rocking feeling to the music. It amazed me the key role that the keyboards have here orchestrating in a really original way the music and creating interesting and powerful passages. The band has a killer vocalist called Gary Billings who is really melodic but that is full of power and delivers incredible vocal lines through all this album. One of the main key elements here is teh combination of powerful rhythms with climatic vocals as in "Second Skin" where there is a really catchy chorus that is extremely memorable and turns the composition into a possible hit. There is a lot of originality in the compositions and I find some elements that reminded me of all Queensryche but with more emphasis on electronics and keyboards. An album that constantly surprises with the killer quality of its compositions and with the multiple ideas that each of them has. |
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Recorded at Found Sound Studios, Euroviral Studio Produced by Carfax Abbey |
Contact: www.carfaxabbey.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Emilio Trillo - vocals, guitars Fabio Colucci - bass Daniele Belardo - drums |
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Music by Carnal Rapture Lyrics by Carnal Rapture |
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Tracks: 1- Next Darkest Dream 2-Collecting Scars |
"Next Darkest Dreams" starts with a killer twisted rhythm where the bass and drums interact tightly playing odd time rhythms. Then comes the guitars playing a heavy riff in that odd timing too creating a unique musical piece full of aggression and originality. the first thing that got my attention here is the good musicianship that this trio has that allows them to create extremely original releases full of intense musical phrases and with complexity. Just check the tempos and the bass arrnagements in the first tracks and you will see that this band has nothing to envy to bands like Atheist or Sadus. The band is not exactly death metal but it has really extreme vocals interacting cleverly with the twisted riffs and rhythms. Two tracks left me wanting more from this crushing band |
| Cover Artwork by: Daniele Belardo | |
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Recorded at Subbass Studio Produced by Carnal Rapture |
Contact: esseti1@inwind.it |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Manuel Arlotti - drums Capu - bass Christian Conti - guitars T - vocals Marco Righetti - guitars |
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Music by Marco Righetti Lyrics by T (2-4) and Christian Conti (1) |
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Tracks: 1- Corrosive Masochism 2-Wings of Torment 3-Undead 4-When the Gates are Open |
Carnality delivers here their new MCD with their powerful and intense death metal sound that mixes extreme brutality with more technical parts. Fast rhythms are mixed with slow ones that add even more heaviness to the music if that is possible. I have to reamrk the guitar sound that is extrmely heavy (downtuned guitars are essential here to achieve this sort of wall of sound that this guys have achieved here). the vocals are extremely guttural as this type of music must have taking this already hyperbrutal band to the limit with the growls and screams. I ahve to remark also the killer work of the rhythm section that is extremely solid (I really liked the drums patterns with good use of ride cymbal, interacting cleverly with the guitars and bass). Good brutal death with a lot of technical skills !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Marco Righetti | |
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Recorded at Fear Studios Produced by Carnality |
Contact: www.carnality.it |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Line Up: Tobias - vocals, guitars Henke "Hellfire - guitars Simon - bass Mr. Vanha - drums |
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Music by Carneous Lyrics by Carneous |
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Tracks: 1- Desertsand 2-Forged 3-Come Into Our Void 4-Dismembered Reality |
Carneous is pure brutality from the first second to the last. They are extremely brutal death metal with crushing guitar riffs and with intense drumming where the ride and double bass drums are the most used feature to unleash all teh aggression. If you want extreme vocals Carneous has plenty of them, really of the screaming type and doing screams over the riffs. the band is tight and that becomes evident when they do multiple changes in rhythm, such as in "Desertsand" where tey are constantly changing from one riff to the other without mercy. As I said before, the drummer is intense with killer use of ride cymbal and bass drums but also playing precise fast rhythms with the snare and hihat making the rhythm section one of the main elements here. The brutality of the music here makes almost imposible to listen the album at a loud volume without demolishing the walls of your house. There are some short climatic moments that are like the calm before the storm and add a lot of identity to the music. Pure brutality coming directly from Sweden ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Carneous | |
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Recorded at Carneous rehearsal studio Produced by Carneous |
Contact: www.carneous.se |
| Label: Schwarzdorn Prods. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Swawa - all instruments and vocals |
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Music by Swawa Lyrics by Swawa |
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Tracks: 1- Boten Asgards 2-Jeg lagde Meg Sa Silde 3-Last Words 4-Das Lied 5-Warrior and Man 6-Sohn der Morgenröte 7-Heldentod 8-Die Garten der Feen 9-The Lady of the Wood 10-Ungehorsam 11-Invictus |
"Boten Asgards" starts preciously this recording full of haunting melodies and nordic folk sounds. This is an absolutely acoustic release wher the main thing are the female voices delivered by the almighty Swawa. All the compositions here are melancholic and climatic and you will surely know that they reflect the feelings in Swawa´s heart. Melodies are all over here played by the guitars, by the celtic har pand by flutes and keyboards, embellishing each of the tunes and making each of them a unique experience. The acoustic guitars are essential here creating the main atmosphere and giving a sort of ancient folk atmosphere to the music. The vocals are in different language: english, norwegian and german giving a special feeling to each of them because of the distinctive sound of each language. With no doubt the most introspective and beautiful release of 2005. |
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Produced by Swawa |
Contact: www.schwarzdorn.de |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Michael Smith - vocals Chris Petersen - guitars Sam Chatham - guitars Val Rakhmanov - bass David Dahir - drums |
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Music by Chris Petersen and Cellador Lyrics by Chris Petersen and Cellador |
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Tracks: 1- LEaving All Behind 2-Seen Through Time 3-Forever Unbound 4-No Chances Lost |
Pure metal the way it must be done. That is, using melodies but never letting them make the music sound lame. So, here this guys have taken pure heavy metal and power metal and even added some thrash in the most aggressive parts and they have delivered this four compositions in a truly european way (I mean, european bands have a particular sound that makes their music really special sounding) full of good guitar riffs and epic melodies. There is good msucianship here and I specially liked the guitar work with its solos and double guitars arrangements thata reminded me to the best Helloween in some parts. The sound is direct and loud adding even more power to the music. Pure heavy metal the way it was meant to be. |
| Cover Artwork by: Chris Petersen | |
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Recorded at Cellador Headquarters Produced by Chris Petyersen |
Contact: www.cellador.com |
| Label: Regain Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: | |
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Line Up: Sweden |
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Music by Centinex Lyrics by Centinex |
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Tracks: Chapter I - Visions of Armageddon 1- Victorious Dawn Rising 2-Purgatorial Overdrive 3-The Destroyer 4-As Legions Come 5-Sworn
Chapter II "Earth Inferno" 6-Synthetic Sin Zero 7-Flesh is Fragile 8-Wretched Cut 9-Deconstruction Macabre |
Without any prolegomena the band kicks off with the bestial "Victorious Dawn Rising" a pure death metal tune with huge guitars and devastating drumming. Centinex is pure hatred and violence unleashed over mankind. Their music is pure death metal but with a killer modern sound in the guitars and the drums that gives special intensity to their music. the songs are constructed cleverly around a main guitar riff and soon evolve into other rhythms using tempo changes and breaks but always sounding like a natural evolution within the song. The vocals are really guttural in the death metal vein and it is used to emphasize the rhythms with good growling lines. I have to remark the excellent drummer here that amazes with souble bass drumming and with rhythms that crush you but at the same time allows the evolution of the guitar parts and the bestiality of the vocals. Centinex has done one of the albums of the year !! |
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Recorded at Black Lounge Studios Produced by Centinex |
Contact: www.regainrecords.com and www.centinex.org |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.S.A> | |
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Line Up: "The Butcher" Bob Macabre - all instrumente, vocals and programming |
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Music by "The Butcher" Bob Macabre Lyrics by "The Butcher" Bob Macabre |
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Tracks: 1- Suicidal by Romaniac 2-Festering Pit of the Dead 3-Chainsaw Amputating Exhumed Limbs 4-Corpse Stuffed With C-4 5-Gutted Nun on a Meat Hook 6-Peeling Off her Skin 7-Bludgeoning Brutality 8-Bleeding on the Autopsy Table 9-Repugnant Obsession 10-Cadavermin |
Pure brutality with extremely fast tempos and ultra bestial guttural vocals. The band delivers here riffs that have a certain primal thrash feeling but they are much more violent and brutal than in that style. There is really fast drumming that sounds programmed but fitting the bestiality of the music. The rhythms are ultra heavy delivered by the guitars tyhat are cleverly combined with the vocals following a coherent line. The sound of the recording is raw and direct giving more brutality to the music. Chainsaw Dissection is an extremely bestial band of the old school style but with some more modern elements that turns their music into a more brutal sounding death. |
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Produced by Chainsaw Dissection |
Contact: www.chainsawdissection.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Music by J. Lovelace Lyrics by J. Lovelace |
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Tracks: 1- How we Met 2- Fire Proof 3- Insomnia |
This is not what I call extreme music but I could not let the opportunity to appreciate a good release pass. This is a mixture of hip hop with other styles such as jazz, where there is strong emphasis in the melodies and also in the rhythmic quality of the vocals. The three tracks here have sort of a main melodic line over which the vocals are developed but the main thing are the rhythms developed. I find some elements of soul and jazz too that combined with hiop hop sounds like a really good idea. A good release in this style
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Produced by E-Sharp |
Contact: www.charismaticmusic.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Line Up: Andreas Helsing - vocals Nicklas Hovberg - all instruments |
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Music by Nicklas Hovberg Lyrics by Children of War |
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Tracks: 1- Scarspangled 2-Son of Suns 3-Would you be My bride |
Here we have this three track CD from this dark and deppressive band coming directly from Sweden. Opening with keyboards in the beginning of "Scarspangled" the band soon turns into a more aggressive sied with extreme black metal vocals that contrast with the slow melodies developed by the guitars. The rhythms turn faster and then death metal vocals enters to contrast heavily with the more climatic parts. Raw guitar riffs are the essence here being really fast in the msot brutal aprts and turning into dark melodies when the band needs a more atmospheric apporach. Electronic drums give a mechanical feeling here that adds even more originality to the music and gives sort of a cold feeling to the music. The vocals are really extreme here going from black screams to deathly growls within the same compositions. But the essence here is the originality of the riffs that turn into unexpected parts such as the ones in 1:50 of "Son of Suns". The sound is raw and direct making you feel like in a lvie situation. This three tracks left us wanting more from this crushing band. |
| Cover Artwork by: Children of War | |
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Recorded at BBY Studios Produced by Children of War |
Contact: www.childrenofwar.biz |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Arne Sieck - guitars, vocals Simon Asleben - guitars Hauke Schultz - bass Andreas Steltner - drums |
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Music by Children of Wrath Lyrics by Children of Wrath |
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Tracks: 1- Intro 2-Souls of Atrocity 3-Born to Die 4-Call of Sin 5-From Hate to death 6-the Dirge 7-Until We Die 8-Sinister Child 9-Fear 10-Suicide 11-Northern Warheads |
This band starts aggressively showing why they are a really solvent death/thrash metal band. Here you have really extreme vocals in the vein of bands like Carcass with heavy use of thrash riffs combined with faster parts that give more brutality to the music. The guitar riffs are complex and are the center of this band´s music changing pace many times within the same composition. The drumming is really aggressive and combines double bass drumming with more thrashy rhythms that leave more space for the guitars to develope their ideas. The sound is direct and powerful, specially on the guitars that cut your brain open with sheer intensity. An album that ombines pure thrash with some more deathly elements into the identity of Children of Wrath. |
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Produced by Steve Quellmalz |
Contact: www.cow-metal.de |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Gordon - vocals Christopher - guitars Stephan - guitars Daniel- drums |
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Music by Code of Honour Lyrics by Code of Honour |
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Tracks: 1- Prepare for Death 2-Driven By hate 3-Predator Among Prey |
"Prepare for death" opens brutally this MCD with a killer riff that soon turns into a more devastating one when the bestial vocals enter. the band´s music can be defined as extreme metal with death metal influences and also with some metal core parts. The rhythms are fast and combine more syncopated patterns with faster deathly rhythms in order to display all the aggression tat the band can unleash. The guitars are the essence here being fat sounding and developing the thrash-like riffs that in many parts add the heaviest of feelings to the music. The vocals are really growling and this guy roars through the three track making each of them a brutal tune full of extreme voices and aggression. The drumming is really intense and changes tempo and rhythmic qualities in many parts of the same composition making you follow all this changes with interest. the sound is direct nd loud with a good mix in the instruments, specially in the guitars and in teh vocals that are mixed really loud. An extremely pwoerful release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Code of Honour | |
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Recorded at Ris-Studios Produced by Code of Honour |
Contact: www.codeofhonour.de |
| Label: Season of Mist Recs. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
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Line Up: Scott Jeffreys - vocals Steve Shelton - drums Gary Rowells bass Brian Shoaf - guitars Shawn Mc Coy - guitars |
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Music and lyrics by Confessor |
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Tracks: 1- Sour Times 2-Hibernation 3-Condemned (demo 1990-remastered 2005) 4-Sour Times (radio Edit) 5- The Last Judgement (video) + Enhanced CD |
After a long hiatus Confessor is back with a new EP that is a preview of a new album that is going to be released this year. I have to say that I always liked the music of the band and I have in my collection a copy of their "Condemned" album. It is great to see the evolution of the band that shows again all their technical skills but with a much more modern sound. The vocals are superb as always creating those lines that are so typical of Confessor´s music that give a lot of identity to their music. The guitars sound really heavy and they deliver clever riffs that are always twisted but extremely tight with the rhythm section. the sound of the recording is clear and loud with really good production. Plus, this EP has a video recorded in 1996 and also some pictures and screensavers. A collectible release for any lover of metal |
| Cover Artwork by Mike Bohatch | |
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Recorded at Osceola Studios Produced by Dick Hodgin |
Contact: www.season-of-mist.com or www.confessorband.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Music by Corrision Lyrics by Corrision |
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Tracks: 1- Scarification 2-Mondrian Face 3-Finally Found |
Three tracks are enough to show that this band is an extremely powerful out fit with strong emphasis on heavy riffs and electronic sounds. Sort of a heavier Nine Inch Nails but with a lot of identity in their music. If I had to describe the music I would say that this is pure industrial metal because of the combination of aggression with programmed drums and electronic sounds. The vocals here have a climatic role being of the whispering or spoken type and generating melodies in the choruses. And they are processed in order to fit the music perfectly. The programmed drums are used in a way that is essential here because they are powerful and at the same time really emchanical creating the cold feeling of industrial machinery. This release leaves you wanting more from Corrision, a band with a lot of originality and that explores a style that has a lot to offer. |
| Cover Artwork by: Corrision | |
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Produced by Corrision |
Contact: www.corrision.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Netherlands | |
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Line Up: Maja - vocals Paul K - guitars Donna - bass Peter - drums Paul v L - synth |
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Music by Paul Kusters, exc 3 by Kuster / v. Leipzig, 4 and 7 by v Leipzig |
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Tracks: 1- THeir River 2-A Quick Bite 3-Take Me With You 4-Sleepless Nights 5-The Curtains Close 6-Come to Me 7-Leaves 8-Spring 9-A New Dawn 10-Pictures of Debris |
This is a really colimatic release full of incredibly dark atmospheres. Maybe I can define this as gothic music but I think Crystal Entity goes beyond this style including some metal in the heaviest parts being a much more aggressive bands than most of the before mentioned style. What really amazed me first is the voice, really deep and climatic fitting really well the music and adding a deep dark feeling to the compsoitions. Then the combination of atmospheric keyboards with powerful guitars which is one of the trademarks here creating the environment over the clever melodies are developed. the rhythm section is solid and their role is to emphasize the guitars and generate some atmospheres. The sound is direct and polished and all the isntruments are clearly mixed letting you appreciate all the melodies and arrangements created here. A good release with good songs and a lot of personality. |
| Cover Artwork by: Crystal Entity | |
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Produced by Crystal Entity |
Contact: www.crystalentity.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Line Up: Daniel Heiman - vocals Mikael Dahl - guitars Jonathan Nyberg - guitars Claes Wikander - bass Stefan Svantesson - drums |
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Music and lyrics by Mikael Dahl, exc. 5,7,10 lyrics by Andreas Götesson |
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Tracks: 1- The Charioteer 2-Confessions of the Maker 3-Northern Rage 4-The Fools Ballet 5-The Terror 6-Panic 7-White Wolves 8-The Burning Vision 9- Revolution in the Shadowland 10-Terminal Voyage 11-Silent Angel |
Pure melodic heavy metal with intense compositions that are in the epic vein. THis guys have taken the best of eighties and nineties metal and have put them together into their own style. THe main thing here are the guitars that deliver good riffs in a relly powerful way. The vocals are essential here because they create incredible harmonies and melodies (the way the vocal harmonies are done gives Crystal Eyes a definite european feeling. And the vocals are extremely memorable (you will find yourself singing the choruses along the music). Here we have also a really solid rhythm section. The use of clean guitars is a wellcome feature here too adding some calm moments before the band continues creating their majestic music (as an example you can listen the title track, a sure hit in the heavy metal world). I have to remark the incredibly good sound that this band have achieved with the help of Andy La Rocque inw hose studio they have recorded this album. Pure metal with memorable ideas !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Mattias Noren | |
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Recorded at Los Angered Recordings Produced by Mikael Dahl and Claes Wikander |
Contact: www.crystaleyes.net and www.heavyfidelity.com |
| Label: Metal Mind Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Poland | |
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Line Up: Paulina Maslanka - vocals Jarek Baran - guitar Piotr Szymanski - bass Piotr Wojcik - drums Jakub "Cube" Kubica - keyboard
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Music by Delight Lyrics by Delight |
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Tracks: 1- Anew 2-More 3- Emotune 4-Your Name 5-Set Me Free 6-The Pact of Silence 7-All that´s in me 8-About You 9-Bare Tree 10-Sleep 11-Enough |
Showing that power can be achieved through extremely rhythmic heavy riffs and through incredibly powerful melodies the Polish band called Delight unleashes here eleven tracks full of power and melody. One of the main elements here are Paula Maslanka vocals, full of feeling and melody and full of power and aggression when is needed. the guitar riffs are another of the essential tools here to achieve the Delight sound, creating heavy riffs and also some haunting melodies (or adding some clean parts in some of the compositions). The keyboards embellish every song here adding harmonies and arrangements to the music and making each tune a unique experience in melancholy and energy. And here we have also the video for the song "Emotune", a beautiful piece that developes melodies until it reaches a climax. A killer band that will soon be more recognized in the metal scene due to their talent. |
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Produced by Delight |
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| Contact: www.delight.art.pl | |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Rowdy Mütze Piper - vocals Rowdy Rocket - Guitar Rowdy Bad Bone - guitar Rowdy Roll - bass Rowdy Chambers - drums |
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Music and lyrics by Delirium Tremens exc. 10 by Guns N´Roses |
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Tracks: 1- Fucking Amazing 2-Worship Satan 3-Death from Behind 4-Rot in Hell 5-Follow Us if you Want to Die 6-Twisted Mind 7-Balls of Fire 8-Army of Death 9-War Machine 10-Paradise City |
Pure thrash metal unleashed with total power through ten tracks full of fast riffs and intense drumming. With influences of bands like early Exodus and early Death Angel but with that special sound that german bands have this band shows how to be extremely aggressive and at the same time deliver intense compositions. the vocals herea re pùre eighties thrash metal adding more to the feeliung. The good thing is that the sound is modern creating a new sound for classic thrash metal style. The drumming is fast and furious being one of the main elements here, while the guitars construct many direct riffs in order to develope killer ideas through all the album being the heart and soul of the music. The Guns´N´Roses cover is pretty faithful to the original version but addinf the thrashing feeling of Delirium Tramens music that takes the tune to the extreme. Pure thrash metal the way it must be done with a retro feeling but with a modern sound !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Zombie and Axl | |
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Recorded at Rosenguarz Tonstudios Produced by Michael Hahn |
Contact: www.delirium-tremens.de |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
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Line Up:
Boris - Bass |
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Music by Demenxia Lyrics by Demenxia |
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Tracks: 1- Intro 2-Ritual Slaughter 3-Next Victim 4-Sheep of Circumstance 5-Uprising 6-Decomposing (demo) |
A pure brutal release !!! Here we have a band that takes the most extreme elements of death metal and then adds some dark touches in the black metal vein. We have here a drummer that is extremely brutal and manages perfectly all the elments of both styles mentioned before and delivers them with utter aggresion. Here we have also really extreme vocals that give the more deathly feeling to the music taking each passage to the extreme ! the guitars are raw and aggressive, being the core of Demenxia´s music. The songs are really extreme but the good sound taht this recording has makes everything rigt in your face (the demo track has a slightly lower quality in sound) and each of the tunes here are like a kick in your face becasue of the aggression tat this band delivers. A band whose sound brings to your mind all the aggression and hate that is possible in this world or beyond. |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
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Recorded at Produced by Demenxia |
Contact: www.demenxia.8m.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Mr. Bloodkill - vocals GrindBlater - guitars Onkel Kusse - bass Snake - guitars SRC - drums |
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Music by Demolition Inc Lyrics by Demolition Inc |
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Tracks: 1- FunBoys 2-Loathe Entirely 3-Monkey Mountain 4-Overloard of the Underworld |
The first thing that I thought while listening this album is how well the name of the band fits the music of this album. Combining death metal with modern metal and some thrash elements then band manages to create a devastating album whose main element are the guitar riffs that construct really brutal parts interacting with a really solid rhythm section that is almost like a machine playing interesting heavier than hell patterns. The vocals are really extreme, more of the agonic type emphasizing the violence unleashed on this album and fitting the most powerful riffs. I have to remark the excellent sound that this recording has, specially on the guitars that sound direct and extremely heavy emphasizing the aggression of the music. I don´t want to be redundant but this is with no doubt a demolishing release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Mads Jensen | |
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Recorded at Borsing Recording Produced by Demolition Inc. |
Contact: www.demolitioninc.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Scott Staszak - vocals, rhythm guitar Steve Beaudette - lead guitar Mike Mendenhall - drums Jasmin Hadzialijagic - bass |
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Music by Desolate Sky Lyrics by Desolate Sky |
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Tracks: 1- Line of Fire 2-Vengeance Is Mine 3-No Reason At All 4-Blessed With Pain |
Desolate Sky opens up with "Line of Fire". it is funny because you start listening some percussive sounds really low mixed and you think "well, this has not good sound"....but that is a trick and soon teh whole band enters with good sound and full force in this pure heavy metal style. My absolute favorite track here is "Vengeance is Mine" with a killer metal riff and a lot of rhythm that will surely keep you headbanging. The guitars here are heavy and well mixed with a strong sound that gives more power to the riffs that are the main element here and also adding solos at full speed with a lot of technical skills. The vocals sound similar to the ones in Judas Priest but with more middle ranges, fuill of power and memorable melodies. And the combiantion of the riffs and vocals make each of the four tunes recorded here extremly memorable and I promise you will sing the choruses along with the recording soon. pure heavy metal with strong emphasis on good songs. |
| Cover Artwork by: Desolate Sky | |
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Produced by Desolate Sky |
Contact: www.desolatesky.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Austria | |
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Line Up: Andreas Danzer- Vocals Nikolaus Vuckovic - Guitars Christian Novak - Guitars Peter Knall - Bass Michael Pawlowitsch - Drums |
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Music by Devanic Lyrics by Devanic |
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Tracks:
1. You Will See |
Devanic opens up with a sure hit in the death/thrash metal style. this track is called "You Will See" and it has all the elements that can take the band to the top of the list of bands in the style: that is, catchy guitar riffs played full of aggression, extreme vocals and memorable elements that stick into your mind soon making the tune instantly recognizible. Here we have good original guitar riffs that are the main element in the music. We have also intense drumming that combines cleverly elements from death metal and also from eighties thrash and even some power metal in some patterns making Devanic´s sound so unique. Then we have really extreme vocals of the growling type that emphasize the heaviness of the tunes. I really liked some breaks such as the one in the middle of "You will See" that have clean guitars that change the overall feeling of the composition progressing then into another crushing riff that is the bridge between this part and the main idea of the songs. A band that has a killer sound and does really extreme music but with the best kind of song development !!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Devanic | |
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Produced by Devanic |
Contact: www.devanic.com |
| Label: Toast and Jam Recs. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
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Line Up: Doug Theriault - sensor guitar controlling live electronics |
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Music by Doug Theriault
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Tracks: 1- ...Insensite Domain 2-Exeberence Decriet 3-Shelf 4-liet 5-Allophone 6-Crete 7-Phono-T-1# 8-Summitaritize 9-Sop 10-Sonikrak 11-Eleven... 12- Photo-Selective Translucien |
Here we have amazing experiomentation with sounds and electronics constructing weird soundscapes through all the compositions of this album. Here we have sounds that when are put together in the correct way achieve full coherence and create passages full of originality. Doug Theriault uses a sensor guitar that triggers this sort of sound and he manages this noises, sound lines perfectly keeping everything under control but surprising constantly. And all the sounds that are delivered here, besides being spontaneous, have the quality of fitting really well the wave of other sounds that Theriault has delivered previously. The compositions here have no limits regarding to experimentation and Theriault constantly surprises with new ideas and sonoric experiments. An album for lovers of experimental music and originality. |
| Cover Artwork by: Shane | |
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Recorded at Studio LTR Produced by Doug Theriault |
Contact: www.tandjrec.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Netherlands | |
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Line Up: Aldo Hook - vocals Jaco Dekker - guitars Isaac Delahaye - guitars Steven Engel - bass Arien Van Weesenbeek - drums |
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Music by Down till Dawn Lyrics by Down till Dawn |
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Tracks: 1- And then there were none 2-World Weaver 3-(in)habit 4-The Pain 5-Horned is the Hunter |
We have here some ex-members from the legendary Threinody and also from the killer God Dethroned besides other great musicians, so, that is aggression guaranteed. And they not dissapoint with the beginning with "And then there were none" a crushing tune with a pure thrash metal guitar riff but with a memorable chorus. And this choruses are the main thing in Down till Dawn´s music making each tune completely memorable and adding a lot of identity to the music. If I had to label the band I would say tat their music is a mixture of thrash metal, pure heavy metal and also some death metal elements. the vocals are raw and aggressive but in some parts they also do epic melodies that reach the climax in the choruses. The guitar riffs are extremely heavy and are an essential part here (also adding climatic parts such as in teh beginning of "World Weaver"). The sound is good, direct and aggressive making this five song CD an extremely powerful release. Pure power in five compsoitions full of energy !! |
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Recorded at Frnaky´s Recording Kitchen Produced by Berthus Weterhuys and Down till Dawn |
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| Contact: www.downtilldawn.com | |
| Label: American Line Prods |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Mexico | |
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Line Up: Antonio Farfan - bass Troll - drums Jorge Gonzalez - vocals Enrique Daniel - guitars |
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Music by Anfonio Farfan Lyrics by Jorge Gonzalez |
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Tracks: 1- Warfare Graves 2-Brutal Execution 3-GRind Down Enemies 4-Born to Kill 5-Warlike Cannibalism 6-Fire Discipline 7-Troops of Chaos |
Some screams coming from sort of a horror movie opens "Warfare Graves" before drowned in Blood unleashes all their brutality on that track. the music here is the most brutal death metal with extremely guttural vocals and intense guitar riffs. Do you want double bass drumming? Here you have plenty of it along with blast beats and killer drumming patterns. When you combine this rhythms with the fast guitar riffs that are the center of the compositions you find yourself in the core of the Drowned in Blood sound. The riffs are fast and furious with a really good sound on the guitars na defective breaks and tempo changes that shows the technical skills that this guys have. The vocals are extremely guttural turning the music into the most brutal experience. The sound is loud and clear and I recommend always this type of sound to bands of this style to make their guitars sound huge and their drums to have pure power (so, Drowned in Blood is a good example of killer sound). Pure bestiality coming directly from Mexico !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Federico Ruiz | |
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Recorded at Esfera 3 Studios Produced by Drowned IN Blood |
Contact: www.alprods.com |
| Label: Thundering Records |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: France | |
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Music by DSK Lyrics by DSK |
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Tracks: 1- Death K. (video) 2-Alive But Broken 3-My Fist 4-My Eyes are Corrupted 5-En la Ciudad 6-Repudiate 7-Introduction to Not 8-Suffer is Mine 9-....with my organs 10-Death K. 11-The Shell 12- Policy of Worst 13-Walls of Confinement |
DSK is pure brutality. Some issues back we reviewed one of their previous releases, but this one has increased the level of aggression and taken it to new limits. the band is pure death metal in the vocals but the guitar riffs in tracks like "My Fist" take a more rhythmic approach and suddenly turn into blast beats. The band has a lot of strong rhythms in their music and they combine them succesfully with the most extreme parts . The drumming here is almost beyond belief. the fastest parts are extremely precise with amazing double bass drumming and intense patterns. The vocals are extremely guttural but at the same time emphasize clearly the rhythms. the sound of the recording is really loud. The cover of Napalm death´s "Walls of Confinement" is a welcome surprise on this recording being like a gift o the band to the lovers of brutality. And we have here also a video of the track "Death K." as a bonus too. DSK is pure brutality guaranteed and on thi album they show it again. |
| Cover Artwork by: DSK | |
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Produced by DSK |
Contact: www.ultradsk.com or www.thundering-records.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2002 | |
| Country: Austria | |
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Music by Elymas, exc. 13 by Festering Flesh Lyrics by L.Odius, exc. 5,13,14 by Malachuth |
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Tracks: 1- Intro 2-Frozen Night of Fullmoon 3-Unholy Lords Shall Live 4-Rememberance at the Ancient Gods 5-Serve Satan 6-Dusk of Time 7-War Against the Christianity 8-Symphony of Darkness 9-Storms from the Black Abyss 10-War Against the Christianity Pt II 11-Dusk of Time Pt II 12-Outro 13-Festering Flesh 14-I wear the cron of Malkuth 15- I wear the crown of Malkuth |
An intro coming from beyond the grave opens this album before the black metal armageddon is unleashed by this band. This is pure black metal of the rawest type full of unholy screams and ultra fast rhythms. If you like blact beats you have plenty of them here setting the ultra fast and dark pace that most of this compositions have. If you like slower rhythms then you have the funerous "Unholy Lords Shall Live" that turns into a faster rhythm later. The guitars are extremely raw here and they have a chainsaw like sound taht nreminded me to early nineties black metal demos, giving that dark underground feeling to the music. The vocals are of the scremaing trollish type used in norwegian black metal, spitting with anger the lyrics. The sound is extremely raw and it is buried in the mix. I think with a louder and clearer sound this guys can achieve better results. Pure blasphemic black metal for lovers of the darkest of extreme styles. |
| Cover Artwork by: Susi Castella Macek | |
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Produced by Elymas |
Contact: www.elymas.at |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Adam Fenwick - vocals , bass Chris Dalton - guitars Jerry Barkedale - electronics, guitar, programming Andy Feldman - drums Mandy Fahey - synth, keyboards |
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Music and lyrics by Empyrean Sundeer, exc.9 by Jerry Barkedale and Mary Liz |
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Tracks: 1- Intro 2-For the Broken 3-Fabric of Existence 4-Eyes of Winter 5-Stitches 6-Suicide 7-Last One Standing 8-Apocalyptic Love 9-When you Walk Away 10-The Human Virus 11-She Stood for Violence 12- Fabric of Existence (Schwanetugel remix) |
A climatic opening leads directly into "For the Broken" a track really difficult to describe, withe electronics and with trully rhytyhmic vocals that have a certain punkish or hardcore attitude. There is also some gothic feeling in the music too giving Empyrean Sunder a trully original and weird sound, There is heavy use of keyboard here and that is another essntial feature in this band´s music. The rhythms are quite simple and leave a lot of space for the vocals and thekeyboards to create the main arrangements and melodies of the tunes. There are some electronics here and there that give an industrial feeling to some of the parts. An original band witha unique sound and memorable tunes. |
| Cover Artwork by: Jerry Barkedale | |
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Recorded at Canyon Studios Produced by Empyrean Asunder |
Contact: www.empyreanasunder.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: France | |
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Music by Epheles Lyrics by Epheles |
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Tracks: 1- Le Deuil Des Innocents 2-L ´Oeuvre Unique 3-La Symphonie Des Ombres 4-La MArche Des Oubliés 5-Sous Le Voile de L¨Eternité 6-Ultima Venia 7-Au Seuil Du Néant |
Epheles is pure mayhemic black emtal unleashed. This is pure aggression and chaos coming directly from France and showing that this coutnry has nothing to envy to the rawest norwegian black metal bands. If you like chainsaw like guitars playing the fastest of guitar riffs then epheles is definitely your band. If you like screams in the rawest oif the balck metal styles then you should check this release. If you want blast beating drums here you have plenty of them. Despite all this aggression unleashed the band also manages to construct some dark atmospheres that give a different dimentsion to the music keeping it really extreme. The sound of the recording is raw and the guitars have a chainsaw like sound that gives an underground feeling to this music. pure unholy black metal coming directly from hell |
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Produced by Epheles |
Contact: ephelesnephtys@aol.com |
| Label: Sonic Age Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
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Line Up: Jioti Parcharidis - vocals Theodore Ziras - guitars Spyros Kabasakalis - drums John Kostis - bass |
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Music by Theodore Zira Lyrics by Jioti Parcharidis |
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Tracks: 1- Spirit Raven 2-The European Lie 3-Trumpets of Old 4-Crown Seeker 5-Modern Times 6-Hellenic Spirit 7-By Neptune´s Hand 8-Spirits by my side 9-Brighter Hellas 10-Weeping of a Stone 11-Uniquitous 12- Byzantine Heritage |
Pure heavy metal full of virtuosism with incredible guitar parts coming by the hand of theodore Ziras is what Euroforce delivers here. With killer vocals and good melodies Theodore has constructed twelve tunes full of powerful riffs and good solos that show all his skills with the isntrument. The rhythm section is extremely solid, knowing all the tricks and patterns of the style and delivering them perfectly showing that this style needs of killer skills to be played correctly. Most of the tunes here are memorable due to the melodies and also to the catchy choruses that soon stick into your mind. the band has a definitive european sound with strong german influences. the sound of the recording is crystal clear and powerful with all the isntruments well mixed. Pure virtuoso heavy metal !!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Musicforward | |
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Recorded at Magic Sound and Unting ground Studios Produced by Theodore Ziras |
Contact: www.sonicagerecords.com |
| Label: Painkiller Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Belgium | |
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Line Up: Fabrice Maggio - vocals, guitars, bass Pascal Moraux - guitars Julien Francois - drums Frederic Kienen - bass |
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Music by Ex Delirium Lyrics by Ex Delirium |
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Tracks: 1- The generation H 2-The New Gods 3-Transhuman Technologies 4-Slow Passage 5-Dramatic Edge 6-Noosphere 7-DEath Online 8-The Balck Spring 9-The Paradoxical Double Face 10-Armageddon IH |
"The Generation H" opens in a really doomy dark way this album before getting into a more straight thrash metal rhythm, showing that Ex Delirium is a band that combines aggression with extremely dark feelings. The band has a definitive eighties sound with some shades of bands like Celtic Frost in some of the tunes. But their sound is really original and aggressive combining powerful guitar riffs with a programmed drum that gives a colder feeling to the music. This band has solid ideas and they have put them really well in their compositions. Here we have vocals that have that raw quality that some thrash metal singers used to have in the past making this a good combination for Ex Delirium´s music. I liked a lot the guitar work with the original riffs and specially the short solos on tracks like "The New Gods" where the band shows their identity full of dark feeling. the sound of teh recording is raw, specially on the drums and in some guitar parts giing a live show feeling to the music. An original band that combines succesfully classic elements and newer ones. |
| Cover Artwork by: Fabrice Maggio | |
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Produced by Ex Delirium and Painkiller recs. |
Contact: www.painkiller.be |
| Label: Spreadit Agency |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Tiziano Marcozzi - guitars, vocals Alessandro Crocce - guitars Piero Arioni - drums Gino PAlombi - bass |
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Music by Tiziano Marcozzi Lyrics by Tiziano Marcozzi |
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Tracks: 1- Where Darkness is Always Pregnant 2-The Illusory Ground of Betrayal 3-Duality Conflicts 4-Turmoil |
Pure metal! Here we have an italian band that developes through this album four tunes that are pure metal with some thrash influences and an extremely heavy sound in the guitars. The songs are fast and have a classic metal feeling but combined with this modern sound it developes into the Exiled on Earth sound. The singer reminds me of some eighties thrash metal band because he is raw and effective. Plus here the main thing are the guitar, and I liked a lot the guitar solos which have really good note placement and are like a mini song within each of the composition. Here we have multiple rhythm and tempo changes and the compositions are complex and effective. There are some death metal like riffs like the one in 3:14 of "The illusory ground of betrayal" and that adds another dimension to this band´s music. Here we have pure and powerful metal !!!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Antonio Mascelli | |
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Produced by Exiled on Earth |
Contact: Riskbreaker74@hotmail.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Finland | |
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Line Up: Luciferase: Hell - vocals Risto Hämälainen - guitars, programming Juuso Hänninen - guitars Tuomas Yli-Kovero - bass Harri Hakala - drums
Exit Wounds: J. Lahikainen - vocals K. Pyyhtinen - bass S. Manninen - guitars B. Niininen - drums |
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Music by Exit Wounds (1-5) and Risto Hämäläinen (6-10) Lyrics by J. Lahikainen (1-5) and Hell (6-10) |
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Tracks: Exit Wounds 1- Enemy of the World 2-Plastic Coffin 3-Devil´s Black Angels 4-Bloodfeast 5-Obscene Art of Killingwork
Luciferase 6-Intro to Embrace 7-Embrace the Inherenet 8-Decay and Immorality 9-Bitter Hopes 10-Misery Ritual |
Exit Wounds open this split CD with their brutal and technical death metal. This guys are really bestial and at the same time have a lot of technical skills that allows them to do multiple changes and breaks on each of their compositions. This technical component does not go against the brutality of the band, cause they are extremely bestial. The vocals are guttural and there are also some of the screaming type taking the music to the extreme. The drumming is amazing, really tight and precise and extremely brutal. Then comes Luciferase that also shows extreme brutality but mixed with a lot of original and technical parts that makes the lsitening here really enjoyable. THere is a lot of double bass drumming here which I liked because it shows the technical skills that this guy has. The guitars here do interesting soloing in many parts besides doing the riffs that are the core of Luciferase´s music.Here we have Risto Hämäläinen who sings in Therion´s live shows !! The vocals here are also really extreme , of the guttural and growling type and also with some of the most screaming kind. There are a lot of tempo and rhythm changes and many breaks where the band shows how extremely tight their playing is and how good rehearsed they are. The sound is really loud and direct fitting really well the music of both bands. This is a killer split for lovers of technical brutal metal music,a nd this two bands have put on this split ten compositions of a great quality.
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| Cover Artwork by: Jukko Siikala | |
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Recorded at Studio Red House (Luciferase) and Studio Livsfara (Exit Wounds Produced by Exit Wounds and Luciferase |
Contact: www.luciferase.net and www.exitwounds.web.cjb.net |
| Label: Spreadit Agency |
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| Year: 2003 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Fabio Lentola - All Instruments |
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Music by Fabio Lentola |
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Tracks: 1- Part 1> One 2- Part 2: Confused 3-Part 3: Memories 4-Part 4: Forget the Time 5-Part 5: Strange But Real 6-PArt 6: Flowing Memories |
Fabio Lentola is a well known guitarist and producer from Italy. We have reviewed from him his Anarchy X band where he does Queensryche covers and now we have this solo album. Here the beautifula nd climatic "PArt 1" opens this recording with a lot of keyboards that have a majestic feeling and then comes Lentola´s guitar doing some melodies over this main strcuture before the rest of the isntruments enter the song. The music here is based on guitar but the good thing about Lentola is that he not only has really good technique but also extremely good taste in the melodic lines that he constructs here and in the multiple arrangements that the music has. Just check "Part 2 - Confused" to see how well developed are the compositions here, in the vein of great guitarists such as Tony Macalpine but with heavier tunes and with his own identity. The six songs here are cleverly constructed and this gives you the will to listen this recording over and over again discovering constantly new elements. Here we have a guitar wizard with killer song construction. |
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Recorded at Aton Studios Produced by Fabio Lentola |
Contact: www.fabiolentola.tk |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Canada | |
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Line Up: Christine Apro - vocals, bass Norm Apro - guitars Adam Hancock - drums |
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Music by Faces of Black Lyrics by Faces of Black |
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Tracks: 1- Thorn in My Side 2-Bashed 3-Log Jam 4-Panic and Alienation 5-The Jull 6-The Gooch 7-Glutton 8-Deceived |
A good rhythmic riffs starts "Thorn in My side" a rocking tune with climatic vocals and good melodies. The music here is heavy rock with interesting female vocals that are the soul of the music along with the guitar riffs that are rocking and furious. The rhythms are rocking and direct and the band sounds solid while developing the compositions, sounding really full despite being a power trio. My absolute favorite is the wild "Bashed" with a powerful starting and a rhythmic riff that shows power and originality. Christine Apro has a good voice that fits perfectly the music and at the same time gives a wild feeling, sort of punkish to some parts. The sound of teh recording is direct and there are no overdubs here giving the listener the feeling of being in a live concert by this band. pure energy into eight great compositions. |
| Cover Artwork by: Faces of Black | |
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Recorded at Sea of Shit Studios Produced by Scott Henderson |
Contact: www.facesofblack.tk |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Hungary | |
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Line Up: Helonh - vocals Devüllh - guitars Damnath - guitars Xullhem - bass Spirit - drums |
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Music by Fagyhamu Lyrics by Fagyhamu |
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Tracks: 1- Twilight of Sullen Hell 2-Ashes Vortex 3-Frostashes / Introduction |
Coming directly from hungary here we have a band that unleashes tthe more bestial and blasphemic black metal in the rawest type of black metal possible. The opening with "Twilight of Sullen Hell" shows all the aggression and bestiality of this darker than hell band. Here we have blast beats, ultra fast guitar riff and extreme vocals in the raw black emtal style. The guitars sound raw and deliver riff after riff clashing with the drumming and interacting with the fast rhythms developed by the drummer. The vocals are of the trollish type that pagan black emtal bands should use in order to transmit their lyrics in the darkest way possible The sound is raw but clear making the instruments fully audible but keeping that dark feeling that an extreme black metal release must have . This are three tracks of pure blasphemy created by the dark minds of Fagyhamu. |
| Cover Artwork by: Fagyhamu | |
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Recorded at Makó Produced by Fagyhamu |
Contact: http://fagyhamu.uw.hu |
| Label: Source of Deluge recs. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Guardian - vocals, guitars, synths and programming Ari (session) - drums, bass, synths, b. vocals |
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Music by Guardian, exc. 1,8 by Ari Lyrics by Guardian (3,4), grieflord (2,9) and Hellquin (6,7,10) |
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Tracks: 1- The Gate 2-A Kingdom´s Lost Beauty 3-The Ancient Realms 4-An Angel´s Requiem 5-Bleeding Rose 6-Dream in Beautiful Slumber 7-Mournful Abyss 8-Tribute to Resurrection 9-Prophecy of Salvation 10-Forgotten Past |
Pure epic black metal !!! This band whose main brain is Guardian unleashes fast and furious guitar riffs and bcombine them with epic climatic keyboards that are a trademark of Far Beyond´s music. The riffs are original and they are not a bunch of notes thrown at high speed. Instead, they are cleverly constructed in order to develope and aggressive yet atmospheric structure for the compositions. There is also interesting use of climatic clean guitars in the end of "A Kingdom´s Lost Beauty" that are the clam after the storm. The use of some emlodies combined with the keyboards and riffs are what makes the tunes really memorable, such as in "The Ancient Realms" where you will find yourself following the mood of the song. The vocals are most of the time extreme but there is also use of clean guitars in some parts in the viking metal way, that is doing epic melodies that are also another memorable feature here. The sound of the recording is good, specially in the combination of guitars and keyboards that is the essence here. One of the releases of 2005. |
| Cover Artwork by: T.Brunner | |
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Recorded at AriMusik Produced by Guardian |
Contact: www.far-beyond.com or www.sod-rec.de |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Mark Wenger - vocals Rita Weldinger - guitar, b. vocals Chris Amos - bass, b. vocals Angie Cioka - drums, b. vocals |
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Music by Fear 44 Lyrics by Mark Wenger |
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Tracks: 1- Factory Defect 2-Been Here Before 3-Not Right 4-Bloody nightmare 5-The Way 6-Guinea Pig 7-Secrets 8-On My Own 9-Shallow 10-The End |
Powerful drums and bass opens up "Factory Defect" before the whole band enters with sheer violence. Mark Wenger´s vocals enter the tune ina really extreme way that gives a strong metalcore feeling to the music screaming with violence while the guitars unleash their rhythmic guitar riffs. Here we have really intense drums that works a lot along with the guitars in order to construct the heaviest of rhythms possible. The songs main element are the guitar riffs that sound really crushing while delivering intense rhythms. The vocals are really original, managing a wide range, from really extreme to melodic (just compare "Factory Defect" with "Been here Before") The sound of the recording is really loud and I specially liked the raw sound of Angie Cioka´s drums and the fat guitars unleashing crushing riffs. Pure aggression in ten devastating tunes ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Mark Wenger and Ken Pedersen | |
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Recorded at Basement Floor Studios Produced by Fear 44 and Tim Miskimon |
Contact: www.fear44.com |
| Label: Lifeforce Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Matthias von Ockl- vocals Norman Lonhard - drums Bartosz Wojciechowski - bass Markus Ruf - guitars Patrick Hagmann - guitars |
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Music by Fear My thoughts Lyrics by Fear My thoughts |
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Tracks: 1- Intro 2-Windows for the dead 3-In the Hourglass 4-My delight 5-Sweetest Hell 6-Dying Eyes 7-Sadist Hour 8-The Masters call 9-Ghosts of Time 10-Satisfaction Guaranteed 11-The Fighting 12- Trying to Feel |
A dark intro with distorted voices and sounds open up this album before the band enters with their combination of swedish death metal and metalcore that has become the trademark sound of this band. With the best of sounds the guitars open fire with ultra fast riffs in "Windows for the dead" interacting cleverly with the bestial double bass drummer Elements of bands of great quality like In flames, Dark Tranquillity or At The Gates are her combined with a more brutal apporach that makes Fear My Thoughts sound really original. That is, we have here some melodies taht are developed within a death metal context and with violent riffs surrounding them. The vocals here are really extreme giving a deathly feeling to the music but also adding in some parts a more metalcore approach and also doing sopme choruses with harmonies. I have to remark the good sound that this recording has where every instrument is perfectly mixed in order to add the most bestial power to the music. I think this is the sort of sound that all metal bands are searching to achieve. A killer combiantion of brutality and melody !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Peter Hoffmann | |
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Recorded at Hansen Studios Produced by Jacob Hansen and Fear My Thoughts |
Contact: www.lifeforcerecords.com and www.fearmythoughts.com |
| Label: Carbon 7 Record |
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| Year: 2005 | |
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Line Up: Henry Krutzen - keyboards, tenor sax Alain Lemaitre - bass Alexandre Moura-Barros - guitars Richard Redcrossed - vocals, lyrics |
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Music by Finnegan´s Wake Lyrics by Richard Redcrossed |
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Tracks: Disc 1 1- The Voyage of Maeldun 2-Back On 3-Fata Morgana 4-Olinda 5-Mercurial 6-Tapioca com Pimenta
Disc 2 7- Moondogging 8-Anemia 9-Brasil, RN 10-Wenceslas Shorts 11-Datcha 12- Morituri te Salutant 13-Bon Voyage |
This is a double CD from this amazing band that combines classical isntrumentation with rock elements always showing a lot of personality and originality. Starting with "The Voyage of Maeldun" where some violin and flutes start playing melodies and then a full rock band enteers doing killer rhythms. Then comes a solo guitar playing really technical solos that fit perfectly the structure of the msuic delivered here. And all the tunes here are excellent for improvising and experimenta nd also for shoewing that classical isntruments fit perfectly the environment created by a rock band and viceversa. It is amazing to listen the completely different compositions thata re recorded on this two CDs that show that this guys have no limits in their imagination to make this amazing combinations of sounds. there is virtuosism here and that is shown in the melodies and the solos that are all over this recording. I would not doubt to say that this is ana lbum that appeals to any music lover of any style. |
| Cover Artwork by: Flavio Freitas | |
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Recorded at MEgafone Studios Produced by Henry Krtzena nd Carbon 7 |
Contact: www.carbon-7.com |
| Label: Pogo records |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: France | |
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Line Up: Bruce vocals Nobru - bass DD - guitars, b. vocals Gael - guitars, b. vocals Gulien -* sample jerome - drums |
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Music by Flesh 77 Lyrics by Flesh 77 |
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Tracks: 1- Toxic Trace 2-Over Game 3-Keep out 4-Qui Sont ils? 5-Spectral K 6-Helero 7-Enfance 8-Use your Brain 9-Le Magicien 10-Take No. |
Opening with a crushing riff in "Toxic Trace" the band shows how their music is at the same time brutal and original. Mixing shouting growling vocals and modern elements , mainly in the guitar riffs Flesh 77 has achieved here ten compositions of pure power. The music here is extremely shattering with full powerful guitar riffs and with a combiantion of brutal vocals and then some more cliamtic ones that add a darker feeling to the band´s music. The rhythms here are of the type designed for headbanging and that becomes evident from the first trck up to tyhe end of the recording. I have to remark that this recording has really good sound, specially on the guitars that sound here really huge and that are the center of each of the compositions. A killer combiantion of aggression and brutality in a modern format. |
| Cover Artwork by: Flesh 77 | |
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Recorded at Studio de L´Ombre Produced by Flesh 77 |
Contact: www.flesh77.com |
| Label: Prog Rock Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Bill Ayasse - violins, mandolin, percussion Steve Uh - guitar, keyboards, violin Nick Lieto - vocals, keyboards, piano, trumpet, flugelhorn Andrew Sussman - bass, cello, vocals James Guarnieri - drums, percussion |
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Music and lyrics by Lieto, exc. 7 by Sussman |
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Tracks: 1- Eternal Optimist 2-Fortunate Observer of Time 3-Reluctant Observer 4-No Regrets 5-Resign 6-You´re Still Sleeping 7-Abyss of Dissension 8-Release |
After listening their previous "Creatures" album I was overwhelmed by the good songs that this guys create with their killer musicianship. This "Fortunate Observer..." is even better with more complex compositions that despite their changes and multiple phrases soon will stick in to your mind due to the killer memorable melodies. The keyboards are essentials here as also the guitar lines are delivering the main structure of the music, while the vocals and vocal harmonies add the flesh and spirit to the music. It is amazing to see thow this guys use their extreme musicianship to experiment but always within a song context creating passages of absolute experimental madness such as in the end of the opener "Eternal Optimist" but always keeping the song´s spirit in mind. I can not remark enough the multitude of ideas that this guys can develope through all this album, but I warn you, expect to be overwhelmed by the quality of this musicians. Lovers os progressive music should buy this album right now !!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Jess Rizzutti | |
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Recorded at Captain Cabeza Studios Produced by Bill Ayasse |
Contact: www.progrockrecords.com or www.froggcafe.com |
| Label: Sleaszy Rider Recs |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
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Line Up: Dimitris - vocals, keyboards Jim Tott - lead guitar, b. vocals Panos - bass Johnny X - guitars Spyros - drums |
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Music by Funeral Revolt Lyrics by Funeral Revolt |
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Tracks: 1- Meta Data 2-Six Was Nine 3-Fear Formula 4-Battle Art 5-Chapter Zero 6-Pistol Silhouette 7-Mind Stitch 8-The Perfect Sin 9-We Maximize 10-But Not Forgotten
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Funeral Revolt is a band whose style is difficult to define because of the mixture of elements. After a long intro called "Meta Data" the band starts showing different elements of their musical personality: that is heavy guitar riffs, amazing dark keyboards, death metal vocals. And this is quite weird because this guys have song structures that can be defined as gothic or even industrial in some parts but this deathly vocals contrast heavily giving a lot of identity to the band´s music. the good thing about Funeral Revolt´s sound is that the tunes are memorable because of all the arrangements that are created here. the sound is also original because the heavy guitars are really distorted and the drums sound mechanical and cold. This is a really original release with aongs that defy your imagination |
| Matered by: John Rivers | |
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Recorded at Woodbine Studios Produced by Funeral Revolt |
Contact: www.sleaszyrider.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Alex Moschini - vocals, bass, keyboards Massimo Cappelli - vocals, guitars Alessio Viani - lead guitars Sergio Leonetti - drums |
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Music by A.Moschini, exc. 5 by M. Cappelli |
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Tracks: 1-Take me now or go 2-I Cry Alone Tonight 3-The Sweet Sound of the Hard Falling Rain 4-If you Walk Away 5-No more lonely days, no more lonely nights 6-Your Dreams |
G.L.A.S. is pure rock with strong emphasis on melodies and in some vocal harmonies that are the core of the music here along with the rocking riffs. Here we have memorable songs with a certain AOR feeling in some parts. Besides, the songs are really well constructed in order to be memorable and climatic. The rhythms are direct letting a lot of space for the vocals to create their melodies. And the vocals are essential because they are clean yet with a lot of energy and they deliver the melodie that make each of this six compositions truly memorable. There are some calmer parts full of feeling that constitute another of G.L.A.S.´s trademarks. Pure rock with definite emphasis on good songs. |
| Cover Artwork by: G.L.A.S. | |
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Recorded at Mardi Gras Studios and Audax Vincit Produced by G.L.A.S. and Andrea Roventini |
Contact: www.glasweb.it |
| Label: Worldchaos Prods. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Finland | |
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Line Up: Psycho G - vocals Juho Raiha - guitars Juho Matikainen - guitars Jukka Salonen - bass Jarmo Juurikka - drums Jenni Kemppaonen - keyboards, piano |
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Music by Gloria Morti Lyrics by Gloria Morti |
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Tracks: 1- Xanadu 2-Ephemeral Lifespan 3-The EnNightenment 4-The Suffering of the Lambs 5-Pulchritude of Rotting 6-In their Dreaded Howling 7-The Orphanage 8-Abattoir 9-Cliffs of Geburah |
I expected sort of a gothic band here but I was completely wrong because Gloria Morti unleashes the msot brutal music on Earth. The first thing that got my attention is how good the sound of this recording is making the guitars sound crushing and the vocals, which are extremely guttural, sound right in your face with all their bestiality. Plus, the band has keyboards and piano that orchestrte and arrange all this brutality adding a dark and melancholic feeling to the music. This release has a definite nordic feeling, not only because of the quality of the musicians but also because of the dark atmosphere that most of the album has. It is incredible the killer drumming here full of double bass drumming and also with intrincated patterns that show killer technical skills. The keyboards orchestrating the tunes are essential because they give a lot of personality to the band´s music. the sound, as I said before, is huge and many bands of this style should check Gloria Morti in order to learn how they must sopund. |
| Cover Artwork by: Jarno Lahti | |
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Recorded at Soundtrack Studios Produced by Eikind |
Contact: www.world-chaos.com and www.gloriamorti.com |
| Label: Armageddon Music |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Netherlands | |
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Line Up: Lord Arydon - guitars, vocals Count August - bass, vocals Delilah - female vocals Bastard - drums |
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Music by Goddess of Desire Lyrics by Goddess of Desire |
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Tracks: 1- Awakening the Gods 2-March to Meet 3-Dead End Street 4-Holy War 5-Bloodstained Sight 6-Awaken pagan Gods 7-Demolition 8-Victory is Mine 9-Scream for Metal True 10-Booze 11-Nothing´s Free 12- Majesty of Metal |
Pure heavy metal with a strong eighties feeling is what this german band delivers on this album. Their music is strongly influenced by classic metal bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and many more but they have achieved a good modern guitar sound. There are more extreme moments in tracks like 5 where the band gets into a more doomy/death part with a more extreme voice (this track is more eighties thrash metal also in some of the riffs and rhythms). And the voice here is one of the elements that gives more identity to the music, being really heavy metal but with a rawer characteristic that turns the music closer to thrash metal in some parts. This guys uses most of the time a middle range voice that is at the same time powerful and melodic. The guitar riffs, despite having the eighties feeling are original and modern and here we have also interesting guitar solos full of feeling and energy. The sound is raw, taking you also to the eighties and feeling like pure classic bands. pure classical heavy metal with an amazing eighties sound ! |
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Mastered by Slaya Produced by Remco Bouwens and Goddess of Desire |
Contact: www.armageddon-music.com |
| Label: Nuclear Blast |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
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Line Up: Chris Boltendahl - vocals Manni Schmidt - guitars Jens Becker - bass Stefan Arnold- drums H.P. Katzenburg - keys |
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Music by Grave Digger Lyrics by Chris Boltendahl |
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Tracks: 1- Passion 2-The Last Supper 3-Desert Rose 4-Grave in the No Man´s Land 5-Hell to pay 6-Soul Savior 7-Crucified 8-Divided Cross 9-The ight Before 10-Black Widows 11-Hundred Days 12- Always and Eternally |
Aftyer the previous "Rheingold" and the live album recorded in Wacken we have now the new Grave Digger album. here we have all the essntial elements that this classic band has: from the crucnchy guitar riffs, to the pure and catchy heavy metal rhythms that are an essential element of the band and the characteristic voice of Chris Boltendahl which is one of the unique elements of this band. As always the songs sound extremely epic with tha german feeling that Grave Digger has and with those melodies that soon stick in your mind. there are plenty of arrangements here and there are also the solos done by Manni Schmidt, a guy whose arrival to Grave Digger some years ago has brought even more quality to the music. A good album for the career of this classic band that album after album show that they are a powerful outfit with killer tunes. |
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Produced by Chris Boltendahl |
Contact: www.nuclearblastusa.com |
| Label: Nuclear Blast |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Stefano Fiori - vocals Lukas Flarer - guitars Harry Klenk - bass Sabine Mair - keyboards Moritz Neuner - drums Eric Right - guitars |
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Music by Graveworm Lyrics by Graveworm |
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Tracks: 1- The Machine 2-(N)utopia 3-Hateful Design 4-Never Enough 5-Timeless 6-Which Way 7-Deep Inside 8-Outside Down 9-MCMXCII |
"The Machine" opens fire here showing why Graveworm is one of the top bands in the Italian death/black metal scene. First of all you will be surprised by the huge sound that this recording has. Then you will find out that the band´s trademark is here reaching new levels: that is, the combination of the aggressive guitar riffs with the orchestrating keyboards are reaching their climax on this album. Here you have nine tunes full of aggression and brutality played with a lot of musicianship and showing that besides being extremely aggressive the band has a lot of musicianship that allows them to create this compositions full of orchestration and arrangements. Here we have the combination of deathly growling vocals and screaming black metal ones that is another of the trademarks of this band. There are also the calm moments that give an atmospher of darkness to the music but cleverly combined with the most aggressive parts. The sound of the recording, as I said before, is impressing, really polished and loud and with a mix that emphasizes each note played on this album. A must have. |
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Recorded at Stage One Studios Produced by Andy Classen |
Contact: www.nuclearblastusa.com or www.graveworm.de |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Russia | |
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Music by Grenouer Lyrics by Grenouer |
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Tracks: 1- Mercenary Fields 2-Sex Optica 3-The Choice of Flesh 4-The Last Bullet Magic 5-Crash Crash Crash 6-Clonetwigs 7-Sheitan 8-Communist Skinhead 9-A Farewell to Arms |
Coming directly from Russia this band shows soon that they deserve ta place in the top names of death metal style. Their music si extremely aggressive with a combiantion of thrash rhythms with deathly vocals and including even more brutal parts that give a definite death metal feeling to the music. I have to remark the originality of the guitar riffs that make the tunes really memorable and interact cleverly with vocals and rhythm section, such as in the great "The Last Bullet Magic", a tune that is destined to be a death metal classic in the vein of the most extreme Entombed. The rhythm section is extremely tight and I like a lot the double bass drumming that many of the compositions here have. The songs are memorable and extremely aggressive including even some blast beats and ultra fast parts but combined with slower yet heavier ones. the sound of the recording is clear and loud and enhances the performance of this killer band. If you like extreme music you must buy this one. |
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Produced by Grenouer |
Contact: www.grenouer.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 200 | |
| Country: Russia | |
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Music by Grenouer Lyrics by Grenouer |
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Tracks: 1- All Along the Runway 2-Powdering Squeeze 3-Devil´s Eye |
The opening in "All Along the Runway" with a crushing riff and a devastating rhythm sets the pace for the whole MCD. There are some melodies done by the guitar in "All Along the Rumway" that make the tune memorable and give a dark atmosphere to this brutal song. The three tracks here have a lot of brutality but at the same time have a lot of originality with the typical Grenouer sound. This MCD is a good complement to listen along with "Presence with War" so as to have a bigger dose of Grenouer´s sound. This MCD has a direct and really loud sound that is ideal to play at full volume because you can feel in your chest the guitars riffing and the drums pounding with uttermost power. An intense MCD that gives a sample of the sound of this crushing band. |
| Cover Artwork by: Grenouer | |
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Recorded at Produced by Grenouer |
Contact: www.grenouer.com |
| Label: Nuclear Blast |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Line Up: Joacim Cans - vocals Oscar Dronjak - guitars Stefan Elmgren - guitars Magnus Rosen - bass Anders Johansson - drums |
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Music by Hammerfall Lyrics by Hammerfall |
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Tracks: 1- Secrets 2-Blood Bound 3-Fury of the Wind 4-Hammer of Justice 5-Never, Ever 6-Born to Rule 7-The Templar Flame 8-Imperial 9-Take the Black 10-Knights of the 21st Century |
This is the new band of this already classic band that is one of the risponsibles of bringing back pure heavy metal to the scene after the chaotic early nineties. Here we have the typical sound of Hammerfall in ten tracks of pure heavy metal in the vein of the band´s previous recordings. Here we have Oscar and Stefan´s guitar riffs tht are the core of the music here and we have also Joacim´s particular voice creating melodies and singing powerfully the lyrics. The songs as always are not that original but are powerful and well developed showing that the band has good musicianship and ideas. Most of the tunes here have been designed with epic melodies and for headbanging while listening the album or while watching them being played in a Hammerfall show. We have Venom´s Cronos as a guest in "Knights of the 21st Century", a song that is over twelve minutes and where the band shows all the elements that are characteristic of their sound. A good album by this already classic band that shows that pure metal is still alive and kicking |
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Recorded at Lundgaard Studios Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind |
Contact: www.nuclearblastusa.com |
| Label: Holy Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Francia | |
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Line Up: Deinos - bass Arixon - vocals Thomas - drums Lafforgue - vocals, guitars, winds Roques - guitars and strings |
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Music by Hantaoma Lyrics by Hantaoma |
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Tracks: 1- Vent Follet 2-Malombra 3-Hantaoma 4-Maluros 5-La Ronda dels Mòrts 6-PAra lo Lop 7-Cancon dels Segaires 8-Negra Sason 9-A la Montanha 10-Flama |
Members of Stille Volk have formed a killer metal band in the form of Hantaoma !! That sounds weird but the music here is pure metal with melodies and with really extreme vocals that give sort of a deathly feeling to the music. The good thing is that there is also some of the uncommon instrumentation taht Stille Volk has in their music such as the bag pipes or winds instruments and some typically folk melodies. And this combination of melodies with crushing guitar riffs is one of the main elements in hantaoma´s sound. It is remarkable how well the songs are developed showing that despite being aggressive the band has good musicianship and plenty of ideas. The drumming is intense and there are plenty of double bass drumming parts in tracks like "Vent follet" that add aggression to this promissory band. If you liked Stille volk and you like metal then you will surely love Hantaoma |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
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Produced by Hantaoma |
Contact: www.holyrecords.com or www.stillevolk.com |
| Label: Sonic Age Records |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
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Music by Hellfire Lyrics by Hellfire |
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Tracks: 1- Fallen mary 2-Road to Hell 3-The House 4-Needledance 5-Twist of Knife 6-Wired tale 7-Deadly Lullaby 8-Insidious Treat 9-Defection 10-The Answer |
Hellfire is pure power metal with strong guitar sound and fast riffs and rhythms. This guys have mastered ll the elements of the style, from the high pitched scream in the beginning of "Road to Hell". Here we have galloping rhythms and guitars that deliver riff after riff with good technical skills and also deliver solos that give a virtuoso feeling to the music. There is some Mercyful Fate / King Diamond influence here and there in the harmonized voice but the band is mroe of pure power metal style. The rhytm section is solid and well rehearsed making this compositions really solid and fluent. The vocals are usually in the middle range, let´s say in the range of rob halford and ocassionally uses more high pitches. The album is clearly mixed and that adds more energy to the music. If you like power metal then this is the album for you. |
| Cover Artwork by: Musicforward | |
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Produced by Hellfire |
Contact: www.sonicagerecords.com |
| Label: Intuitive Records |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
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Music by Henrik E. Rasmussen |
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Tracks: 1- Postcardcomposition 2-Columns 3-Reflection Over a landscape of NEutral Sterility 4-Take Off Fantasy 5-Dreamdance 6-Soundparticles 7-Soundparticles
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Henrik Ehland Rasmussen is a master in piano improvisations and here that becomes evident from the beginnign with "Postcardcomposition" where Henrik shows his talent as a solo improviser. multiple piano phrases are here developed by Rasmussen and in other compositions he interacts heavily with other improvisers tht are also extremely talented. The seven compositions that this album has lets you explore the world of intuitive improvisation that this musicians manage perfectly. here you have interaction of the piano with percussion, with flute and voices and with many other instruments, keeping the overall feeling of the compositions really coherent due to the master hand of Rasmussen who is the composer of six of the tracks. All the tunes are spontaneous and were recorded live and that amazes me most because they are of great quality and the experimentation never becomes chaotic. Master improvisation in seven pieces full of virtuosism. |
| Cover Artwork by: Intuitive records | |
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Produced by Henrik Rasmussen and Intuitive Records |
Contact: www.angelfire.com./ut/irecords |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Adranor - vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, drums programming Moha - guitars |
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Music by Adranor Lyrics by Adranor |
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Tracks: 1- Heruka: L´incontro 2-Adhes: L´uccisione di Auxim 3- Xeime ed Eracli: Il reme di Ilmar 4-Monrgh: Le Due Spade 5-Takar: L´Enigma 6-Heruka: Il Retorno |
Heruka is a one man black metal band that combines climatic elements with utter aggression. Adranor is the brain behind all the music on this album and he has here only the help of Moha doing some guitar parts. "Heruka: L´Incontro" starts calmly with keyboard and nature sounds before the black metal mayhem is unleashed. Then comes the ultra fast rhythms full of double bass programmed drums and fast guitar riffs. The thing that I loved here is the combination of keyboards and black metal aggression. That is the keyboards orchestrating every ultra fast riff and making the msuic darker besides aggressive. The msuic here has sort of an epic nature too thanks to the keyboards and some melodies that contrast heavily with the rawest guitars and drumming. the voasla re of the black metal trollish type and we have here also spoken guitars which are essential for the main atmosphere of the music. the good msuicianship is evident in teh orchestration and in the parts where the guitars and keyboards interact heavily. Italian black metal rules and Heruka is one of the main exponents of the style. |
| Cover Artwork by: Adranor and Francesco Ciulla | |
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Recorded at Petit Studio Produced by Adranor |
Contact: www.heruka.it |
| Label: Nuclear Blast |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
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Line Up: Peter Tägtgren - guitars, vocals, keyboards Lars Szöke - drums Mikael Hedlund - bass |
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Tracks: 1- Born dead 2-Buried Alive 3-Eraser 4-Stillborn 5-Slave to the Parasites 6-New World 7-The Abyss 8-Dead Sky dawning 9-The Departure 10-War Within |
The new Hypocrisy album is a blast !! I have already listened a couple of the new tunes in the Wacken Open Air Festival and they continue the path that the band has established in the last years. opening with the climatic "Born Dead" the band soon gets into tracks like "Buried Alive" that show all the power fo this swedish death metal outfit. The riffs are extremely powerful as always and at the same time they show that the band continues to evolve really well developing their technical compositions in a consistent way. The combination of extremely aggressive parts and more climatic ones "Buried ALive" is my absolute favorite here because it has all the elements that have made this band famous and shows all the power that this band can unleash. The sound of the recording is killer as we expect from Peter and the Abyss Studios tat are a guarantee of blasting sound, specially on guitars and drums. A band that has become a deathly classic. |
| Cover Artwork by: Thomas Ewerhard | |
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Recorded at Abyss Studios Produced by Tägtgren / Hedlund |
Contact: www.nuclearblastusa.com |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Belgium | |
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Line Up: Guy de Craemer - guitar Korneel Lauwereins - guitar Miquel Ryde - drums Simeon Aneca - vocals Tom Trancez - bass |
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Music by I Witness Lyrics by I Witness |
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Tracks: 1- Destroy to Create 2- Inner Demons 3- Last Phoenix to Rise 4- REvelation Revolution |
I don´t know why I expected a hardcore band here but I was completely wrong. I Witness is a band that has elements of death emtal and also some eighties thrash influences in some of their riffs. With growling vocals the band has a definite deathly sound but cleverly combined with other styles in order to develope the I Witness sound. One surprising thing is the role of the guitars: they not only construct the crushing riffs that are the heart and soul of the music here but also deliver some melodies and solos that give to the muic here a really original sound (including some twin phrases and also some pure heavy metal riffs). I really love rhythms like the ones in 3:56 of "Destroy to Create" full of aggression and designed for a crowd to mosh along with them. THe rhythm section is tight and they cleverly have developed this sort of rhythms but always leaving space for the brutal vocals and the guitar riffs. The sound is direct and raw and I would like them to mix a little bit louder the guitars to give even more power to their music. A truly aggressive release. |
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Produced by I Witness |
Contact: www.iwitness.be |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Erik Fransson - vocals Sergio Occhipinti - guitars Emiliano Tidona - bass |
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Music by Illogo Lyrics by Illogo |
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Tracks: 1- Zymotic Zinc Grapes 2-Gravita 3-Impulso 4-Isteresi |
This italian band is really weird. First of all they don´t have a name and Illogo is just an expression to refer to themselves. And their music has a certain deathly feeling on it because of the growling guttural voice but with heavy use of disonances in the guitar riffs and constructing weird atmospheres. This is with o doubt a release that is at the same time extremely aggressive and original and it is not for lovers of easy lsitening music or for straight forward styles. there is a dark feeling through all this recording and most of the time the guitars play this dissonant notes that I mentioned or drones or repetitive phrases developing atmospheres. tehre are some samples and noises here and there adding even more to the weird feeling of the recording. If you want something trully original I recommend Illogo´s music but you have to be pretty open minded to like this recording. A trully original release full of innovative ideas. |
| Cover Artwork by: Illogo | |
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Produced by Illogo |
Contact: www.illogo.net |
| Label: Dawn of Sadness Recs. |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
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Line Up: Marco Vitale - voice Giovanni Notarangelo - vocals Sara Tenaglia - vocals Lorenzo Rinaldi - guitars Riccardo D'Andrea - guitars Maurizio D'Apote - bass Francesco Papparella - drums |
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Music by In Tormentata Quiete Lyrics by In Tormentata Quiete |
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Tracks: 1- La Realtá 2-Zeus 3-Phatovarva 4-Chiaroscuro 5-Nel Regno Dell'Evo 6-L'Albero 7-Rosso Sangue 8-Piccole Variazioni 9- Nell'Essere |
An extremely climatic release that combines moments of pure aggression with more climatic ones. THe combination of crushing balck emtal moments with melodies delivered by amazing female and male voices is one of the trademarks here. This vocal work adds a lot of feeling to the music and also makes this realease a really beautiful one with enchanting melodies that have a distinctive italian feeling (not only because of the language the songs are in but also because of the type of melodies). There are clean guitars and also acoustic parts creating an even more melancholic atmosphere here and surprising constantly with the melodies that are developed. And there are more aggressive tracks, such as "L´Albero" with more balck metal screams and more intense drumming and full of orchestrating keyboards. And this parts give the powerful side to In Tormentata Quiete´s musical personality. The album has good sound, and every instrument has the oportunity to shine (just check the bass in the middle of "L´Albero" and you see how this bass is doing clean slapping). A must have for any lover of black metal with good musicianship and original ideas. |
| Cover Artwork by: Luca Antoniazzi | |
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Recorded at Fear Studio Produced by In Tormentata Quiete |
Contact: www.dawnofsadness.com or www.intormentataquiete.net |
| Label: Raw Nerve Promotions |
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| Year: 2003 | |
| Country: U.K. | |
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Music by Incandescence Lyrics by Incandescence |
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Tracks: 1- Day one, the wanderer returns 2-Throwing everything you have to the monster and still not being sure who won 3-The broken hut of silence within the morning solstice 4-The stars take shape and the patterns mean something after all 5-Moth Eaten Sunn (Tangaroa Remixed) 6-Walking the corridors in the building that houses the final obstacle in life 7-Pure hypnosis amongst the chaos 8-These good people (The Gathering remixed) 9-Thrown through natural hyperspace continuum |
Incandescence is a pure experimental project with strong emphasis on atmospheres. here we have Paul Priest who is also a member of Tangaroa and other bands creating all this ambiental tracks full of a dark oppressive feeling. The music here has a cold feeling, mostly because of the use of background sounds and programmed drums The music is extremely experimental with many ideas and sounds flowing on each of the compositions and with heavy use of electronics. there are a couple of really long compositions where Incandescence shows how an idea evolves into another fluently and without sounding incoherent. Paul Priet is completely in control here of every note played and every sound delivered and he combines many of them in order to achieve the exact desired atmosphere. And here we have a remix of the track by the Gathering called "These Good people" pretty different from the original version, done in the Incandescence way. A trully innovative release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Incandescence | |
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Produced by Incandescence |
Contact: www.rawnervepromotions.co.uk or www.soundclick.com/incandescence |
| Label: Raw Nerve Promotions |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.K. | |
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Music by Incandescence Lyrics by Incandescence |
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Tracks: 1- Prelude to First Orbit 2-Icicles and the new Dawn 3-A Cold Announcement 4-Charging robots on a Dying Warfield 5-Moldovia and Denmark notice every single sound 6-Making up for time lost because of others 7-Ten ways to alter time 8-Meandering through memories of war 9-Hopscotch, shuffle and strife 10-Electronic Maths 11- Off Kilter Tranquility at 6am 12-Madness reprise |
Here is the second Incandescence album and the madness continues. As the previous one, this is a really experimental release. Here I noticed that there is a lot of differences among the compositions in the album. While we have a dark atmospheric opening with "Prelude to First Orbit" on the second track "Icicles..." we have experimentation with noises and repetitive sounds. As the album progresses the compositions become more complex and weird, such as "Charging robots..." . This is an album where the listener keeps all his senses to see what is coming next on the heavy allucination of sounds that is presented here. it is an ideal album to listen in the darkness trying to identify every sound. This are over fifty minutes of experimentation and you have to be really open minded to love this album. Open minded people should like this one. |
| Cover Artwork by: Incandescence | |
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Produced by Incandescence |
Contact: www.rawnervepromotions.co.uk or www.soundclick.com/incandescence |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
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Line Up: Justin - guitars Matt - vocals Engelke - rums Shane - bass |
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Music by Into the Grey Lyrics by Into the Grey |
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Pure energy unleashed. That is how you can describe Into the Grey´s music. This is pure death metal with strong nineties influences but with a definite 21st century sound. Do you love extreme vocals? This guys have really guttural and growling ones that come from beyond the grave. And the good thing is that this guys have created compositions where they show their huge technical skills. Mainly the drumming is technical and intense with killer ride cymbal patterns and amazing double bass parts. the guitars sound loud and low tuned constructing a wall of brutality that is one of the main elements here. The sound is good and direct letting you feel the violence unleashed by the instruments. Into the Grey is a good option for lovers of the most violent death metal with technical parts and killer musicianship. |
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Recorded at Mattress Shack Studios Produced by Into the Grey |
Contact: www.intothegrey.net |
| Label: Independent |
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| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Canada | |
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Line Up: John Devadasan Perinbam - vocals, keyboards Rob Gravelle - guitars Steve Mercer - bass, b. vocals George Nesrallah - drums |
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Music by Ivory Knight Lyrics by Ivory Knight |
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Tracks: 1- Up from the Ashes 2-Borderline 3-Holy martyr 4-Unconscience 5-Introspective 6-The Unseen Enemy 7-In Fog I walk 8-Theater of the Insane 9-Eleven 10-WAiting for Tomorrow Pt. 1 Someone´s Calling Pt. 2 In Eternal Silence Pt. 3 One Life to Live |
We have here the new Ivory Knight album, and this is a band that we really like because of their classic heavy metal feeling with some progressive elements. The opener "Up from the Ashes" is pure metal in the vein of classic bands like Iron Maiden but with the Ivory Knight touch that is essential here to add a lot of identity to the music, John Devadasan perinbam´s vocals are another of teh trademarks here, full of personality and being powerful when needed and more subtle in the most peaceful passages. Tracks like "Borderline" are metal classics now because of their memorable riffs and melodies and will get sticked into your mind even when the album ahs finished. The guitar riffs are essential here and they intereact really well with the rhythm section showing that they can be imaginative and powerful. The progressive parts such as the combination of guitars and keyboards in "Borderline" are a trademark of Ivory Knight´s sound and this guys ar |