
| Label: Victory Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Nick - bass Jake D. - drums Wil - vocals Angel - guitars Jake W - guitars |
|
|
Music by Aiden Lyrics by Aiden |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Knife Blood Nightmare 2-The Last Sunrise 3-Die Romantic 4-Genetic Design for Dying 5-Breathless 6-Unbreakable 7-It´s Cold Tonight 8-Enjoy the View 9-Goodbye We´re falling fast 10-THis City is far from here 11-See you in hell... |
Aiden´s music can be defined as a combination of many different styles. The most evident ones are rock, metal, punk and gothic. The songs here are powerful but the mian thing is that they have melodies that turn them into potential hits because of the memorable choruses and Wil´s memorable voice. The guitars are loud and aggressive and they sound compact playing killer rhytmic riffs that are the trademark of the band´s music. The rhythm section is solid and delivers a good basement for the rest of the band to deliver their music. I have to remark the good sound that this recording has that givesthe music a much more powerful feeling. Pay attention cause maybe you will soon listen Aiden´s music in the radios or in music TV. |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
|
Recorded at Robet Lang Studios Produced by Steve Carter |
Contact: www.victoryrecords.com and www.aiden.org |
| Label: For 4 Ears records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
|
Line Up: Tetuzi Akiyama - acoustic guitars Jason Kahn - percussion, analogue synthesizer |
|
|
Music by Tetuzi Akiyama and Jason kahn
|
|
|
Tracks: 1- Akiyama / Kahn 2-Akiyama / Kahn 3-Akiyama / Kahn 4-Akiyama / Kahn 5-Akiyama 6-Kahn 7-Akiyama / Kahn 8-Kahn 9-Akiyama |
Here we have interesting duets and solo pieces by two masters improvisers. I have to say first of all that my absolute favorite pieces of this albums are the duets oines where this musicians reach their compositional and improvisational climax. It is amazing to listen Kahn construct the atmospheres in tracks like the opening one while Akiyama delivers sounds with his acoustic guitar. Akiyama uses some nteresting arpeggios and lines to fit perfectly what Kahn does with the synth and percussion, using slides too in order to achieve the perfect feeling for each improvisation. Compared to albums from other improvisational artists this one has the characteristic of being a really atmospheric and calm album where both musicians experiment with different textures but without showing how many sounds they can put within a second. THis is an ideal album to lsiten with the lights out to feel each of the sounds that this guys have created here and enjoying the ethereal world of this amazing duets. |
| Cover Artwork by: Jason Kahn | |
|
Produced by Jason Kahn and Tetuzi Akiyama |
Contact: www.for4ears.com |
|
|
|
| Label: Independent |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: MIsanthrop - vocals Niddhogg - guitars Aargandvain - guitars Trakon - keyboards Desideria - bass Hordas - drums |
|
|
Music by Amok Vedar Lyrics by Amok Vedar |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Verfall 2-Schwarze Flut 3-Glückseligkeit 4-Menschenstaub 5-Sine Nomine 6-Glaubensfluch 7-Wiedergeburt 8-Feuersturm 9-Suizid |
Amok Vedar is a band from Germany that evolves with each album. When comparing this one to the previous one you can find true evolution in the compositions and also in the band playing. There are more technical parts on this album than in the previous one showing that the band has improved and rehearsed a lot in the meantime. This band has been accused of being similar to Dimmu Borgir and that is pure bullshit I can find the Amok Vedar sound on this album and they have achieved a unique sound in their music, very different from the norwegian band. Just check "Schwarze Flüt" to see how this band goes beyond most bands of the style. The tunes are extremely fast and climatic keeping the underground black metal spirit but adding more good musicanship to it. The keyboards contrast heavily with the fast drumming and the fast guitar riffs giving the dark spirit that the music here has. The vocals are really black metal showing aggression and fitting the darkness that the rest of the band creates. The album has a loud sound that I really liked because it allows the listener to listen perfectly each instrument. Amok Vedar is a band that evolves on each release and as the good wines becomes better with time. |
| Cover Artwork by: Fabian Ling | |
|
Recorded at TTS Studios Produced by J.R.F. and T.W. |
Contact: www.amokvedar.de |
| Label: Metal Blade |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
|
Line Up:
Johan Hegg - vocals |
|
|
Music by Amon Amarth Lyrics by Amon Amarth |
|
|
Tracks: 1- An ancient sign of coming storm 2-Where death seems to dwell 3-Fate of Norns 4-The Pursuit of Vikings 5-Valkyrias Ride 6-The Beheading of a King 7-Arson 8-Once Sealed in Blood |
Amon Amarth have established themselves in their own brand of death/ black metal creating albums like this one. That is albums that have aggressive and dark tunes with some influences of viking metal but also with some death metal riffing that is their trademark. The tunes are well developed as always, being close to the ones in theiur previous album in quality and sound, showing that the guys are effective,a aggressive and at the same time are tight as hell. The rhythm section is really solid as always delivering the fast rhythms and the multiple aptterns that each song here has. And the vocals are loud, clear and really extreme as always being one of the trademarks of the band. My absolute favorite track is "Where death seems to dwell" a tune with aggression but also with killer drumming and an interesting guitar background melody. I have to remark the good sound that this album has, specially on the guitars and the drums making this one mof the best mixed Amon Amarth´s album. A band that ahs become already a classic of extreme music! |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
|
Recorded at Berno Studios Produced by Amon Amarth |
Contact: www.amonamarth.com and www.metalblade.com |
| Label: Century Media |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden / U.S.A./Germany | |
|
Line Up: Angela Gossow - vocals Sharlee D´Angelo - bass Michael Ammott - guitars Daniel Erlandson - drums |
|
|
Music by Arch Enemy Lyrics by Angela Gossow |
|
|
Tracks: 1. Enter
The Machine |
Well, well, here we have the new Arch Enemy album. As always this will ahve people saying "Oh, this is not like thefirst two albums" and bullshit like that. Well, wake up !, bands evolve and transform themselves. And Arch Enemy´s quality is always ina high level. Here you have Michael Ammott´s superb riffing and also you have that rhythmic tandem composed by Sharlee and Daniel that delivers extremely aggressive rhythms all the time. I really like Angela´s vocals and for me they have become an essential part of Arch Enemy´s sound giving a lot of identity to the band´s music.The sound is huge having that powerful sound in the guitars and also in the drums that sound almost like if you were standing besides the PA system of the band. A classic band that delivers good albums with strong compositions. |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
|
Recorded at Produced by |
Contact: www.centurymedia.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.K. | |
|
Line Up: David Rain - vocals Gary Adoryan - guitars Peter Dohy - drums Kris Rain - guitars |
|
|
Music by Arrows Lounge Lyrics by Arrows Lounge |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Face the Sky 2-Your Eye of the Storm 3-Down.Here.Paradise 4-As Long as you Can breathe 5-Worstward Ho |
Arrows Lounge is a pure
rocking machine with good rock and roll guitar riffs and clever vocal
work. The rhythms here are direct and leave a lot of space for the vocal
work and for the guitars to develope solos. The music has influences of
seventies and nineties rock having a really modern sound. The vocalist
is really full of power and his voice has a certain raw quality that
fits the music of the rest of the band. The guitars are the center of
the music here playing good riffs with a twist that makes them effective
and direct having the power that this style of music needs. The sound is
loud and clear making each composition really effective.
|
| Cover Artwork by: Gabor Radó | |
|
Recorded at Cowshed Studios Produced by Arrows Lounge |
Contact: www.arrowslounge.com |
|
|
|
| Label: |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Switzerland | |
|
Line Up: Gier - vocals Ketz - bass Swart - guitars Baal - guitars Hysteria - keyboards Ork - drums |
|
|
Music by Atritas Lyrics by Gier, exc 7 and p by Dr. Knill |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Evil Calling 2-the Devils Throat 3-Black Sunday 4-Mongrel monument 5-Thou Shalt Suffer 6-Where Witches Burnt 7- My mortal Flesh 8-Narrow refuge 9-I´m the Vanity 10-Last Sheep Smashed |
Atritas is a band that delivers an extremely dark type of balck metal with strong emphasis on the contrast between the aggressive guitars, vocals and drumming and the majestic keyboards. Coming directly from Switzerland this band shows how to create interesting black emtal tunes with really good musicianship and with multiple arrangements that make this band really original. The guitar riffs here are aggressive and fast but the band uses also many guitar arrangements that add a more melancholic feeling to the music. The vocals are of the black metal style fitting well the music. And there is also a type of voice that is deeper and that is used in the darker aprts to emphasize the atmospheres. The band sounds really well rehearsed and that becomes evident when they do some killeer tempo changes in tunes like "Black Sunday". The cover art fits really well the music of the band being dark and enigmatic. |
| Cover Artwork by: Jimmy Wyss | |
|
Recorded at Iguana Studio Produced by Atritas |
Contact: www.atritas.ch |
| Label: Stygian Crypt Prods. |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Russia | |
|
Line Up: Sergey Berdyshev - drums Marina Kogan - vocals Arseny Samenikhin - keyboards Felix Vigorov - bass Yury ketov - vocals, guitars Grigory Shubin - guitars |
|
|
Music by Autumn Lyrics by Autumn |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Aurora Postera 2-Radi Etih Glaz 3-The Conqueror of my heart 4-Hungry Heart 5-Black Wings 6-Hymn to the insane |
Coming directly from Russia this band delivers here 6 tracks of pure melancholy and sorrow. Here every note is played to fill the lsitener with sadness. The music has elements of doom but it goes well beyond this style adding also some elements of gothic and folk too.Here we have plenty of clean guitars that interact with bass lines that develope melodies all over the tunes. There are also acoustic guitars that embellish the tunes making them shine with melodies and dark passages. The vocals are of the type that is used in pagan metal bands to emphasize the mood of the compositions. This voice is deep and delivers arcane melodies that will surprise the listener with beauty and sadness. There is also a female voice whispering and adding a different texture to the music. The keyboards have an essential role here embellishing each passage while the guitars develope melodies that will reach your heart for sure. Pure sadness. |
| Cover Artwork by: Autumn | |
|
Produced by Autumn |
Contact: http://stygiancrypt.cjb.net |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Lebanon | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Balder Lyrics by Balder |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Elvidnir 2- Magician, musician and Poet 3-Moon |
Extremely dark and climatic music is what this one man band delivers here. Three tracks played with acoustic instruments and with a whispering voice that sounds extreme at times giving sort of a black metal feeling to the music and mysterious in other parts giving a deeper feeling to the tunes. the tracks here sounds like recorded live in a rehearsal room in one take and that gives a spontaneous feeling to the music. This is a musician that delivers here three tracks full of darkness and surprises because of the strange way in which the tunes are recorded. |
| Cover Artwork by: Balder | |
|
Produced by Balder |
Contact: www.breidablik.cjb.net |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Belgium | |
|
Line Up: Bert - drums Claude - bass Phile - vocals Tim - guitars |
|
|
Music by Bataklan Lyrics by Bataklan |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Just a Blaze 2- The Klan Pt. 1 3-Doesn´t it seem 4-Creation of a dark side 5-All venom Spread 6-One Eye Taken |
Bataklan is pure speed and aggressiona nd that is evident from the first seconds of "Just a Blaze" when the band enters at full speed delivering all their aggression. Phile´s vocals are intense and of the agonic type giving that deathly feeling to the music. Here we have multiple riffs changes and alos amny breaks and tempo changes that give a structure to the compositions that needs of good technical skills to be played as tightly as this band does. The guitars are loud and the riffs are complex emphasizing the heaviness of the music and not only the speed. The rhythm section is tight as hell and they are a duet of death delivering the multiple rhythms that are created here. The sopund is raw and direct making this album an experience in brutality. Pure aggression and brutality. |
| Cover Artwork by: Bataklan | |
|
Produced by Bataklan |
Contact: www.bataklan.be |
|
|
|
| Label: Victory Records |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Dan Briggs Blake Richardson Tommy Rogers Paul Waggoner Dustie Waring |
|
|
Music and lyrics by Between the Buried and Me |
|
|
Tracks: 1- All Bodies 2-Alaska 3-Croakies and Boatshoes 4-Selkies: The endless Obsession 5-Breathe In, Breathe Out 6-Roboturner 7-Backwards Marathon 8-Medicine Wheel 9-The Primer 10-Autodidact 11-Laser Speed
|
Between the Buried and Me is a band that goes beyond all style but always keeping extreme aggression to deliver it to the listener. Here we have a band tat has elements of death metal, also some black emtal runs, some hardcore rhythms and also some pure heavy metal or power metal arrangements.Obviously the band has extreme technical skills that allows them to play multiple tempo changes, breaks and multiple arrangements such as some melodies and harmonies and also some thrash metal riffs. The vocals are really extreme, msotly of the death metal style but not too much guttural preferring to use a more direct and bestial style of voice. There are incredible solos created by the guitars and the keyboards that show a lot of virtuosism. This band is extremely original and they deliver really complex and bizarre arrangements all voer the eleven tracks that this album has. One of the albums of 2005. |
| Cover Artwork by: Wes Richardson | |
|
Recorded at The Basement Studios Produced by Between the Buried, Jamie King and Matthew Ellard |
Contact: www.victoryrecords.com and www.betweentheburiedandme.com |
| Label: Ketzer Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Perú | |
|
Line Up: Hector Corpus - all instruments, vocals |
|
|
Music by Hector Corpus Lyrics by Hector Corpus |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Rites 2-From the Darkness 3-Apocalyptic War II 4-Enter Two Forces 5-The Sect 6-Possessed Minds 7-HArlots of Satan 8-Slaves of Evil 9-Condemneds |
This band combines pure thrash metal riffs with a black metal voice creating tunes thata re full of aggression and darkness. There is a combination here of fast riffs with rhythms that could be used in a moshpit and also with fast balck metal runs and blast beats. The vocals are extremely black metal giving the more extreme feeling to the music. The guitars cosntruct also some melodies here and there that have an old school black metal feeling sort of in some old Bathory tune. And the guitars have a really raw sound that is not out of place in a primal band like this one. The sound is moody and maybe with a better mix in the guitars the result could be even more aggressive. A release with a lot of variations between compositions and moods. |
| Cover Artwork by: Hector Corpus | |
|
Produced by Hector Corpus |
Contact: www.ketzer-records.de and http://es.geocities.com/blackangelperu |
|
|
|
| Label: Independent |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Vince DeVicenzo - vocals, guitars David Crabtree - bass Jeff Kmiec - drums |
|
|
Music by Vince DeVicenzo Lyrics by Vince DeVicenzo |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Every LittleTHing 2-Can´t Let Go 3-Desire 4-You´re Better Off Now 5-Stars 6-Gypsy 7-Baby 8-Shallow 9-Fantasy Girl 10-War 11-Cherry 12- Magic |
Pure rocking tunes is what Blue Rage delivers here. The compsoitions her are memorable, maybe because of the well constructed song structures that soon stick intop your mind. This power trio shows that they are really solid in delivering good tunes with a cetain heavy metal feeling in them.Vince De Vicenzo´s voice is truly original and personal with a certain Biff Byford sound. And he delivers good melodies in the music making the songs even more memorable. That is evident in tunes like "Can´t Let Go" where he delivers good powerful lines. The rhythm section delivers good rocking patterns over which the guitar unleashes good riffs. And if you like more calm tunes you have "Stars", a sort of mid tempo with clean guitars, memorable vocal harmoniesand a good guitar solo, full of feeling that will stick in your mind due to the melodies. The sound of teh recording is crystal clear and that makes the listening more enjoyable. Good rock and roll with powerful tunes !!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Anthony Tuccito | |
|
Recorded at Soto Sound Studios Produced by Blue Rage |
Contact: www.blueragerockband.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
|
Line Up: Andreas - bass Konstantinos - guitars Koumis - drums, vocals |
|
|
Music by Blynd Lyrics by Blynd |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Circle of Life 2-Embraced and Abandoned 3-My Sanctuary 4-Eternity 5-Blynd Visions |
"Circle of Life" opens climatically with clean guitars and some background atmospheres that shows that Blynd is a band that can unleash heavy tunes but keeping a dark atmosphere in the compositions. Heavy guitar riffs are combined here with melancholic and climatic vocals showing a band that is really solid and heavy. The drumming is intense and fast, setting the pace of the tunes while the guitars add the heart and soul of the music. There are tempo changes here that are one of the essential elements in the music, showing good musicianship besides aggression. The vocal lines are carefully developed comstructing passages that turn into a climax on each compositions. the bass surprises with some slapping in tunes like "Circle of Life" adding complexity and changes to the music. the band is well rehearsed and it has good technical skills. Five tunes that leave you wanting more from this killer band. |
| Cover Artwork by: Blynd | |
|
Recorded at Mario Mashturis Studios Produced by Blynd |
Contact: www.blyndband.tk |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
Line Up: Tomas Borgogna - vocals Pierpaolo Buzzi - guitars Luca Bordin - bass Roberto Milani - drums |
|
|
Music and lyrics by Borgogna, Buzzi, milani, Bordin (1-3), Blanco, Borgogna, Buzzi, Milani (4) and Borgogna, Ghelma (5) |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Too much Love 2-Power 3-Two times is Tough 4-Leave Me Alone 5-Angel |
Here we have the new album from Italy´s Borgogna. The band continues in the path of pure hard rock with strong eighties influences and killer melodies. The guitar riffs are strong and direct being the soul of the band´s music. Borgogna´s vocals are strong and melodic but full of power too making this a band that can play without the top bands of the style without being ashamed. One of the best things here is that everything is about songs and each song has enough melodies and hooks to stick into your mind, specially the choruses. I have to remark that the band has improved in sound having this time a much better mix than in their previous release, specially in the guitars and the drums. Pure killer rock !! |
|
Recorded at American Coffee Studios Produced by Borgogna |
Contact: www.borgognamusic.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Brutart Lyrics by Brutart |
|
|
Tracks: 1- ISrafel 2-Sarajevo 94 3-She´s Lost Control 4-They Don´t Know |
Brutart delivers a style that can be defined as a mix between pure metal and death metal and including some oriental sounding guitar melodies. The guitars play intrincated melodies and also heavy riffs that have a lot of aggression and at the same time add a dark atmosphere to the music. The riffs go from fast rhythms to more rocking ones but all of them played with a huge sound. Tracks like "Sarajevo 94" are more dense and contrast with teh faster ones (but they keep the eerie eastern atmosphere that the msuic here has). The vocals are of the best type that can exist for an extreme band, that is close to, for example, Gorefest.The cover of Joy Division´s "She´s Lost control" adds a bonus to the music because it is really different from the original version. The sound is direct and loud adding more aggression to the band´s music. An aggressive yet original release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Robert Ilovar | |
|
Recorded at DB Recordings Produced by Brutart |
Contact: www.brutart.com |
| Label: Nuclear Blast |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
|
Line Up: Leif Edling - bass Messiah Marcolin - vocals Mats Björkman - guitars Lars Johansson - guitars Jan Lindh - drums |
|
|
Music by Leif Edling Lyrics by Messiah Marcolin |
|
|
Tracks: 1-Black Dwarf 2-7 Silver Keys 3-Assassin of the light 4-Copernicus 5-The Man Who Fell from the Sky 6-Witches 7-Born in a Tank 8-Spellbreaker 9-The Day and the Night 10-Mars and Volcanos |
This is the newest
Candlemass album and here we have this band back again to deliver their.
The opening with "Black Dwarf" can not be better showing the band at its
best and being a strange tune because of its fast pace. Messiah
Marcolin´s vocals are in top form and add that particular sound to the
band´s music. All the classic elements of the band are here: the mid
tempos, the slow riffs, the rhythms that despite being slow are heavy as
hell, Messiah´s vocals. One of my absolute favorites here is "Seven
Silver Keys" with amazing vocals and this dark feeling that any
Candlemass recording must have. A band that continues to delvier good
releases without dissapointing their fans.
|
| Cover Artwork by: Candlemass | |
|
Produced by Candlemass |
Contact: www.candlemass.se or www.nuclearblastusa.com or www.nuclearblast.de |
|
CARPATHIAN FOREST - DEFENDING THE THRONE OF EVIL |
|
| Label: Season of Mist |
|
| Year: 2003 | |
| Country: Norway | |
|
Line Up: Tchort - guitars Hellkommander Nattefrost- vocals Bloodperverter - guitars, b. vocals Vrangsinn - bass A. Kobro - drums |
|
|
Music by Carpathian Forest Lyrics by Carpathian Forest |
|
|
Tracks: 1- It´s darker than you think 2-Skjend Hans Like 3-The well of all tears 4-Put to Sleep Like a Sick Animal 5-Hymne to Døden 6-Ancient Spirit of the underworld 7-Spill the blood of the lamb 8-One with the earth 9-Christian incohernt drivel 10-The old house on the Hill 11-Nekrophiliac / Anthropophagus Maniac 12-Cold Murderous Music |
Carpathian Forest is one of the most bestial black metal bands from Norway The riffs are fast and they combine the faster ones that are more typical of pure black metal bands with some more mid-paced with a certain rocking feeling that are a trademark of this band´s sound (like the ones at 2:23 of "Skjend Hans Lik"). The vocals are really extreme, in the black metal style, but of the type that seems to be coming directly from hell also using some deathly growls in some parts. The rhythm section is solid and the good thing is that this guys do not abuse blast beats and cliches of the style. The sound of the recording is loud and direct and that is another difference that this band has when compared to other bands of the style that have a more muddy mix. Carpathian Forest, along with bands like Emperor or Enslaved are now classics of the norwegian black metal style. |
| Cover Artwork by: Carpathian Forest | |
|
Produced by Carpathian Forest |
Contact: www.tnbm.tk and www.season-of-mist.com |
|
CESSATION OF LIFE - THE GLORY OF THE WORLD IS PASSING |
|
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Chris Violence - vocals Travis Anderberg - guitars Justin Harrison - bass Ron OStlund - drums |
|
|
Music by Cessation of Life Lyrics by Cessation of Life |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Blindsight 2-In Vain 3-The Second Death 4-Stick With Me |
Cessation of Life delivers here four tracks of pure powerful metal with certain modern thrash / speed metal influences. The music here is powerful and carefully constructed and the band delivers powerful guitar riffs and interesting rhythms that makes each of their compositions a killer experience in crushing metal. The vocals are really strong, reminding me to John Bush in some aprts but always having a lot of personality and giving an extra push to the band´s music. The guitars are the core here constructing powerful riffs that crushes the listener with their intensity. "IN Vain" is their most aggressive track here full of speed and brutal vocals. ANd it is evident that the rhythm section is extremely tight while listening to the double bass drumming, to the crushing bass lines and to the breaks and tempo changes. The sound of the recording is loud and cleargiving extra points to the band´s music. Pure power and aggression ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Garry Sharpe-Young | |
|
Recorded at Media One Studios Produced by Cessation of Life and John Seymour |
Contact: www.cessationoflife.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Finland | |
|
Line Up: Toni Huhtiniemi - guitars Arto Vesander - drums Aleksi Ahonen - vocals Julle - bass |
|
|
Music by Chaos Creation Lyrics by Aleksi Ahonen |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Allu´s Speach 2-Primal Uprising 3-Arms of Oblivion 4-D.F.A. 5-Mindfuck |
This band is pure thrash metal with strong eighties influences. I have to say that I really dig this type of music and I feel the metal world needs more bands of this style. The music has influences of bands like Exodus, Overkill and classic bands of the thrash emtal style. Here we have fast and furious guitar riffs played really tight and we have also intense drumming with all teh elements of the style. The vocals are raw and aggressive as this style must have and they add a lot fo aggression to the overall result. The choruses are of the shouted type in the vein of "Bonded by Blood" or "Pleasures of the Flesh" . This has the favorable consequencve of having really memorable choruses shouted at the top of this guys lungs. The band sounds tight and well rehearsed and that is essential in the style to have good results. The sound is good and raw and it has that eighties feeling, maybe adding some bottom end to the guitars and the bass could add even more aggression to the music. Pure thrash the way it must be done. |
| Cover Artwork by: Arttu Juntunen | |
|
Recorded at Joutseno Mediapaja Produced by Chaos Creation |
Contact: www.chaoscreation.net |
| Label: Fossil Dungeon Recs. |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Chirleison Lyrics by Chirleison |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Medea 2-A Whisper 3-Canzone Per Anceo 4-Rosary 5-I Doni 6-Reveil 7-Autrefois 8-Delicate Magnetism 9-Strings |
Chirleison is a band full of melancholic melodies whose compositions are full of beautiful arrangements and passages that need of really good musicianship to be effective. It is amazingthe female voice that we have here, cause it goes direct to your heart and can make you feel pure melancholy. The vocal work is extremely important on thi release, spcially the use of harmonies. And the vocals deliver incredible melodic lines here constructing the heart and soul of the compositions. There is also plenty of acoustic guitar her played with really good taste and creating the exact atmosphere to let the voices do their job. There are also keyboards that deliver chord progressions and passgaes hat develope the dark and sad mood that most of the compositions her have. An album that is a must have to any music lover. |
|
Produced by Chirleison |
Contact: www.fossildungeon.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Andi - vocals Hu:f - guitars Sven - guitars Uwe - bass Krumb - drums |
|
|
Music by Coal Mine Canary Lyrics by Coal Mine Canary |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Bad Attitude 2-Soul Tattoo 3-Your Way Isn´t Mine 4-Walking on Wounded Feet 5-Dreamland 6-Noisy Room 7-Before 8-My Private Handkerchief 9-Unbelievable 10-Fly Away 11-I Am the One 12-Holding On 13-Love is A Battlefield |
"Bad Attitude" opens up powerfully this release with a killer riff that shows that this band is an extremely aggressive heavy rock band. THe band has that rhythmic type of riffs that bands like Black Label Society have. That is, extremely rhythmic riffs with a certain southern feeling in them and played with a huge guitar sound. I have to remark the role of the singer here that is extremely powerful delivering crushing vocal lines. Here we have a rhythm section that is extremely solid and that delivers powerful rhyythms always leaving place for the guitars and vocals to do their job. I have to remark that this band developes carefully each of the songs here constructing thirteen memorable tunes that you can listen over and over again and you´ll never have enough. The sound is raw and I specially liked the way the guitars sound, huge and with a lot of bottom end. A must have for those who love the combination of hard rock with heavy metal done with good musicianship. |
| Cover Artwork by: Coal Mine Canary | |
|
Produced by Uwe Hein |
Contact: http://cmc.free-25.de |
|
COLD COLOURS-HAVE YOU SEEN THE GHOST OF JOHN? |
|
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Finland | |
|
Line Up: Jutta - guitar, vocals Sanna - bass, vocals Sami - drums |
|
|
Music by Sami (1), Jutta (2) and traditional (3) |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Still 2- Iggypopgoeshell 3- Haunting Bells |
"Still" opens this recording with an hypnotic beginning where the drums and the guitars construct a repetitive passag that leads to a really interesting guitars and to the wonderful vocals delivered by Jutta. I would like to describe Cold Colours with just one word: beauty. And I can add more words to continue describing it: enigmatic, full of textures. The music here transports you to the ethereal world of this finnish bands whose music is powerful and original . Jutta manages her vocal range to fit perfectly the music adding a lot of personality to the band. Sanna does interesting rhythmic lines with the bass fitting well the drums and the guitars alike and constructing a killer botom end for the music. "Iggypopgoeshell" is a different tune that starts rocking and then turns into a more hypnotci part showing the different sides of Cold Colours musical personality. Three tracks left us wanting more |
| Cover Artwork by: Cold Colours | |
|
Recorded at Produced by Cold Colours |
Contact: www.coldcolours.tk |
| Label: Ketzer Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Brazil | |
|
Line Up: Lord Mantus - strings and programming Devasth - vocals and programming |
|
|
Music by Darkest Hate Warfront Lyrics by Garhard III |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Infernal Baptism (intro) 2-Order of Battle 3-Satanik Annihilation Kommando 4-Satan´s Kult of Terror 5-Scourge of Wormkind 6-Final Solution 7-Dirty Fullfillment 8-POssessed by Fire 9-Purification BY Hatred 10-The Aftermath (outro) 11- |
One of the most bestial black metal bands on Earth, Darkest Hate Warfront unleashes here eight tracks plus an intro and an outro full of unholy blasphemies, fulkl of ultra fast drumming and faster than the speed of light guitar riffs. Here we have pure black metal vocals delivering aggression and darkness with no mercy for the listener. the blast beats are an essential part of the music here and they are all over the compositions. The band sounds tight and really over the top and there are really interesting double bass parts like the ones in 2:40 of "Satan´s Kult of Terror" where the guitar delivers a dark melody that adds a different feeling to the music. the sound of teh recording is raw but really loud giving a more extreme feeling to this devastating band. Pure crushing black metal that devastates the listener with pure aggression. |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
|
Recorded at Fast Forward Studio Produced by Mantus and Devasth |
Contact: www.ketzer-records.de |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Netherlands | |
|
Line Up: Dolf Van Heugten - keyboards, b. vocals Jacobus Lodewijk - drums Nick Josephu - bass, b.vocals Robertus Fransiscus - guitars, vocals |
|
|
Music by Day Six Lyrics by Day Six |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Age of Technology 2- Lost Identity |
THe opening of this recording can not be better, with a strong guitar riff and plenty of keyboards. Day Six is a progressive metal band so you can expect plenty of amazing musicianship here. And thi guys do not dissapoint delivering good compositions full of clever arrangements created mainly by the guitar and the keyboards. Here we have powerful guitar riffs and interesting melodies created with heavy and also clean guitars showing killer musicianship. The rhythm section is solid and the good thing is that it is really well mixed allowing you to listen everything the bass is doing (the role of the bass is essential here) and the different drums patterns. And the vocal lines are superb adding a dramatic feeling to the music and showing all the different types ofvocal harmonies that this guys can do. The tunes are complex and full of arrangements that show all the skills tha this guys have. A promo that leaves you wanting to listen more music from this amazing band.. |
| Cover Artwork by: Day Six | |
|
Produced by Day Six |
Contact: www.day-six.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up:
Vocals-Jesse Nicholson |
|
|
Music by Dead 7 Lyrics by Dead 7 |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Fold your hands 2-Told me how to live 3-Wall panel 4-Without you |
Dead 7 is a band that combines violently elements of modern metal with crushing death meal parts showing that their main goal is to reach the listener with full aggression. The main thing here are the rhythms. They are constructed having the mosh pit in mind and I can assure you that this guy can make a hll of a pit in a live show. The vocals go from screaming at the top of his lungs to doing some fast rhythmic phrases that turns the music into pure violence. And the singer also can do good climatic melodic lines with a certain deppressive feeling in them. The guitars sound huge and the guitar riffs are rhythmic, interacting really well with the rhythm section and creating a wall of sound taht is a trademark of the band´s music. I have to remark that this release has a good mix that adds even more aggression to the music because the isntruments are right in your face with their crushing power. Pure aggression. |
| Cover Artwork by: Dead 7 | |
|
Produced by Dead 7 |
Contact: www.dead7.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Decision to hate Lyrics by Decision to hate |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Destroy All Organic Forms of Life 2-Useless Life 3-God Hates His Angels 4-Black Winds of Human Ashes |
Decision to hate goes for the throat from the beginning with "Destroy all..." showing an interesting combination of brutal death metal vocals with fast thrash guitar riffs. The music here is fast and aggressive with interesting guitar riffs that, as I said before, have a thrash feeling in them but with a death metal sound with more bottom end, showing complexity in the riffs besides pure aggression. NA dthe good thing here is that the band has really good technical skills and that is evident on each composition through the guitar riffs, through the drumming patterns that do not abuse speed and prefer to use more clever rhythms. The vocals are sometimes more of the guttural type and sometimes more of teh Carcass type giving a lot of variation to the music. I really liked "USeless Life" where there is plenty of double bass drumming and there are good thrashing riffs that makes this tune the best for my taste. The sound is direct and clear and adds extra points of violence to the band´s music. Lovers of death metal should check this right now! |
| Cover Artwork by: Chris Moyen | |
|
Recorded at Turnip-Music Studio Produced by Deciion to hate |
Contact: www.decisiontohate.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Jessie Parliman - screams, growls Shawn Shannon - bass Kelly O´Rafferty - guitars Kenny Donovan - drums |
|
|
Music by Despondency Lyrics by Despondency |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Designer Bloodlust 2-Post Mortem Sodomy 3-Fistsfull 4-Voluntary manslaughter 5-Lost Cause 6-Gift of Rot 7-Suicidal Slut |
"Keep murder brutal" is an adecuate title for this recording where everything is about pure brutality and aggression. This band has developed here one of the ehaviest recordings of the year full of a huge guitar sound with incredible bottom end that sounds like a hammer through your brain. And when combined with the bass guitar we have a blasting sounds that can be compared with a tsunami of heavy distortion. the vocals are extremely guttural and they are combined with another voice more of the screaming type that is used in gore metal bands. The drumming is intense with good ride cymbal patterns and heavy use of the other cymbals to add more mayhem to the music. There are incredible breaks and changes in tracks like "Suicidal Slut" that show that the band is well rehearsed and really tight. The sound of the recording is raw and direct with an in-your-face sound that makes the tunes really effecive in pulverizing the listener. Pure bestiality !!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Anthony and Charles Roark | |
|
Produced by Despondency |
Contact: www.despondency666.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Ditchwater Lyrics by Ditchwater |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Cloned Individuality 2-Have you Ever 3-What do you wnat from me now 4-Can´t Take it with you |
Ditchwater is a band that with each new recording shows a good progression delivering their own style. When comparing this new release with the first one thta I reviewed some years ago I find a lot of improving, specially in songwriting. This guys have taken elements from modern metal and combined it with some classical bands like Anthrax and also added some rocking melodies to their music and put all of thi into good songs. Just check "Have you Ever" and try to deny that this guys deserve to have a good recording contract because they have a lot of potential. It is imposible to deny it. The combination of huge heavy guitars with amazing vocals is the heart and soul of the music here. I specially loved the climatic voice that are all over the songs here because it manages to deliver good melodies fitting really well the rest of the music. The guitars sound huge and they play a lot of chords that elave space for the voice to do its work. A band that is all about powerful songs and that on each release climbs up one step ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Ditchwater | |
|
Produced by Ditchwater |
Contact: www.ditchwater.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
|
Line Up: Klaudia Santos - vocals Christoffer Sevaldssen - guitars Carsten Hansen - bass Alison Davis - drums |
|
|
Music by Down Edge Lyrics by Klaudia Santos |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Emergency Break 2-Waiting 3-Stop (Live) |
Down Edge is a band that combines aggressive tunes with melancholic vocals. Just take elements of aggressive rock and metal, some grunge and add some gothic feeling to it and you have an idea of how the band sounds. Klaudia Santos voice is really amazing giving the more climatic and melancholic approach to the music while Christoffer´s aggressive riffs give the more powerful side to the music interacting really well with the rhythm section to deliver the essential rhythms that the music here has. I specially like when the guitar and the bass delviers similar lines giving a lot of bottom end to the music. A Track like "Waiting" have a mysterious feeling on it and here Klaudia uses a different approach to her voice being deeper and completely different to all female singers out there being really original (in tracks like the live "Stop" some vocals reminded me to Stone temple Pilots!!! That is really weird !!).Three tracks, including a live one, leave you wanting to listen more from Down Edge. A killer combination of styles ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Down Edge | |
|
Produced by Down Edge |
Contact: www.downedge.dk |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: | |
|
Line Up: John Petrucci - guitars Mike Portnoy - drums John Myung - bass Jordan Ruddess - keyboards James La Brie -vocals |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The root of all evil 2-The Answer Lies Within 3-These Walls 4-W Walk Beside You 5-Panic Attack 6-never Enough 7-Sacrificed Sons 8-Octavarium |
Here is the latest Dream Theater album and it has many similarities with the previous one "Train of Thoughts". I think that the band got back in track after the weak "Falling into Infinity". they don´t move that much from album to album but they alway surprise with good songs and virtuosism. Jordan Ruddess and John Petruccdi interact heavily as they do always (including also the Liquid Tension Experiment albums) and James La Brie does his acrobatics with his voice. The rhythm section does a master mclass in od times signatures and delivers the solid rhythms over which the melodies are developed. A band taht continues delivering good albums. |
| Cover Artwork by: Hugh Syme | |
|
Recorded at the Hit Factory Produced by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci |
Contact: www.dreamtheater.net |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
|
Line Up: Dionysus - keyboards Melkarth - drums Voldred - guitars Archon - guitars Angmar - vocals Faethon - bass |
|
|
Music by Dusk Eternal Lyrics by Dusk Eternal |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Visions and the dreamer 2-Storming the Walls of Heaven 3-Serenity is Mine 4-Your Dark path 5-Fire Steel Will |
Dusk Eternal starts with full aggression and blasphemy this release with the full speed of "Stormng the Walls of Heaven" showing that the band can be fast and aggressive and at the same time have a technical kills that set them apart from the band of the style. THe guitar riffs are raw, fast and complex being the soul of the band but there are also some interesting keyboards that orchestrate the tunes and add the dark atmosphere that this band needs. The rhythm section is solid and has good ideas as is shown for example in "Fire Steel Will" which is the most climatic tune with a great bass line and drumming that leaves a lot of space for the guitars and the keyboards to develope their ideas. The vocals are really balck emtal in the fastest parts and in the slower one they are deeper and more climatic, sort of agonizing ones fitting really well the mood of teh compositions. A blakc metal band that you have to have in mind because I think they will be a big name in the style in the future. |
| Cover Artwork by: Dusk Eternal | |
|
Recorded at Active Studios Produced by Dusk Eternal |
Contact: dusketernal@hotmail.com |
| Label: Threeman Records |
|
| Year: 2003 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
|
Line Up: L.G. Petrov - vocals Uffe Cederlund - guitars Alex Hellid - guitars Peter Stjärnvind - drums Jörgen Sandström - bass |
|
|
Music by Entombed Lyrics by Lars G. Petrov |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Retaliation 2-The fix is in 3-Incinerator 4-Children of the underworld 5-That´s when I became a satanist 6-Nobodaddy 7-Intermission 8-Young and dead 9-Descent into inferno 10-Public Burning 11-Flexing Muscles 12-Skeleton of Steel 13- Night for day |
I really like Entombed first three albums but I think that after "Wolverine Blues" they have stagnated a little bit in that sort of death´n´roll style that thy developed. That is not good and also not bad because there are plenty of bands that get a sound and repeat it over and over again with good results. Entombed continues being a powerful band that delivers ood songs on its style, maybe abusing sometiems of this sound. Lars vocals are aggressive as always as is evident in "The Fix is In" for example". The rest of the banc continues delivering good rocking riffs and rhythms through thirteen tunes. A classic band loved by many and ahted by others. You decide. |
| Cover Artwork by: Entombed | |
|
Produced by Entombed |
Contact: www.entombed.org |
|
EQUAL VECTOR - CHRONICLE AND A PRESENCE |
|
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
|
Line Up: Louie Hatzimichalis - vocals Peter Politis - guitars Theodore Pegousis - drums John Katsiafliakas - bass Vagelis Kakarougas - drums |
|
|
Music by Equal Vector Lyrics by Louie Hatzimichalis |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Reminiscence 1 2-Effigy (Standing Still) 3-Chronicle and a Presence |
This is pure progressive metal full of arrangements and interesting guitar riffs that are the esence of the music here. Full of complex passages the band shows that they have plenty of virtuoso skills as is evident on the tune "Chronicle and a Presence" But above all the good thing is that this guys manage to put all their virtuosism within eah composition and still have strong songs thata re truly memorable The vocals reminded me to Fates Warning´s Ray Alder, that is with killer note palcement, really clean voice and with interesting use of high pitches. The combination of guitars and keyboards is another essential feature here creating both of the instuments interesting melodies and arrangements through the compositions (one intro and two full ones). The rhythm section is tight and they have a lot of virtuosism in their playing that allows them to go beyond their rhythmic role and add arrangements to the compositions or do tempo changes and breaks really fluently. The sound of the recording is crystal clear with nothing to envy to top bands of thi style. We want more songs from this amazing greek band ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Equal Vector | |
|
Produced by Equal Vector |
Contact: equal_vector@hotmail.com |
| Label: Deadsun Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
|
Line Up: Efthimis V. (vocals) Fokion S. (guitars) George A. (guitars) Miltos D. (bass) Dimitris K. (drums) Akis P (keyboards) |
|
|
Music by Ethereal Blue Lyrics by Ethereal Blue |
|
|
Tracks:
1. Your Mechanical Ego |
Having the word "Ethereal" in their name I expected a really climatic band, but Ethereal Blue surprised me showing how they can be extremely brutal and at the same time have climatic arangements and really good technical skills. Imagine a really crushing death metal band having also some black metal influences and at the same time having keyboards that orchestrate all passages. Here we have really aggressive guitar rifs as the ones that open up "Destination: Denial" and at the same time we have clean ones doing rhythms and melodies in the same tune. There are multiple changes in moods and tempos on each tune showing vistuosism and a lot of imagination. And we have guttural vocals combined with screaming ones and at the same time with clean ones in the darkest passages (just check the melancholic beginning of "Transplanted Images"). The rhytm section delivers breaks and changes in a really solid way showing that they are extremely well rehearsed and that they have plenty of technical skills. One of my favorite releases of 2005 !!!!!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Ethereal Blue | |
|
Produced by Ethereal Blue |
Contact: www.etherealblue.org and www.deadsunrecords.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Austria | |
|
Line Up: Kulla - vocals Jimmy - bass Igor - guitars, b. vocals Michi - guitars Stoffl - drums |
|
|
Music by Eventide Lyrics by Eventide |
|
|
Tracks: 1- See you in Hell 2-Pain Addicted 3-Taste the Blade 4-Rebuilt the Wick |
Eventiude delivers pure metal with a modern sound and with a certain thrash feeling in some parts. If you could combine bands like Brainstorm and Reckles Tide you will have a small idea of how Eventide sounds. Their riffs are pure power unleashed and they are the center of the band´s music. The rhythm section is solid as a rock and they leave space for the guitars and vocals to develope their ideas. There is eighties european metal influences here but they have been clverely combined with modern sound and a lot of identity to achieve Eventide`s sound. I have to remark the good vocalist that the band has because where others just do melodies and high pitches this guy just things his lungs off fitting the music but at the same time adding more aggression. The four songs are carefully constructed showing power and good musicianship at the same time. A pure metal release that surprises on each tune because of its intensity and aggression. |
| Cover Artwork by: Michael Sauermoser | |
|
Recorded at W.I.C.C.A. Production Studio Graz Produced by Eventide and Peter Droneberger |
Contact: www.eventide.at |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Belgium | |
|
Line Up: Cindy Baert - vocals Alain De Block - guitars Stephan Noens - drums Guy Van Campenhout - guitars Dominic Heynderickx - bass |
|
|
Music by Alain De Block and Everglow, exc. 4 by Guy Van Campenhout and Everglow Lyrics by Cindy Baert |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Loneliness 2-Forever 3-Turn Back Time 4-Mystery 5-The Escape |
We have reviewed a couple of years ago the previous release by this band from Belgium. And this new one is a good step forward for them. Kicking off with the powerful "Loneliness" the band shows that they are a powerful machine of aggressive metal combined with climatic moments and with Cindy Baert´s beautiful voice to make things even better. Alain and Guy have managed to sound really tight delivering a wall of guitar that is devastating showin that they are the aggressive side of Everglow`s soul. The keyboards here have created cliamtic passages that are interacting all the time with the most aggressive ones givinf that special sound that Everglow´s music has. "Forever" is the sure hit here because of Cindy´s vocals and because the chorus is extremely memorable and the song builds into a climax. The sound on this recording is direct and loud giving bonus power to the guitars and the rhythm section. The perfect combination of pure heavy metal and amazing dramatic melodies. |
| Cover Artwork by: Cindy Baert and Guy Van Campenhout | |
|
Recorded at Ward Van Iseqhem´s home studio Produced by Everglow |
Contact: www.everglow.be |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: U.K. | |
|
Line Up: Matt Drake - guitars, vocals Ol Drake lead guitar Mike Alexander - bass Ben Carter - drums |
|
|
Music by Evile Lyrics by Evile |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Killer from the deep 2-Dawn of Destruction 3-Prophecy 4-the Living Dead 5-All Hallows Eve 6-Torment |
"Killer from the deep" shows the aggression of the band from the first second showing the good interaction betwen the guitars and the rhythm section from the first notes. The music has a certain thrash feeling with fast rhythms that have a modern feeling despite a certain eighties thrash influence. The drumming is fast and intense keepign the fast tempo of the tunes here. The guitars unleash fast guitar riffs all over the six tracks contained on this album. There are some tempo changes that are welcome here making the tunes original and variated. There are fast guitar solos that show another dimension of Evile´s music and showing how you can add good solos even in the faster parts of a tune. The vocals are raw, in the eighties thrash style giving this kind of feeling to Evile The sound of the recording is huge and direct, specially on the guitars, making this album an extremely crushing experience. A trully aggressive band from the U.K. !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Lee Gaskins | |
|
Recorded at Performance Studios Produced by Alan Smith |
Contact: www.evile.co.uk |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Eric Cooley - bass M. Violet - vocals Greg Forschler - guitars Joel Bergstrom - keyboards Shaun R. - drums |
|
|
Music by Fear of Dolls Lyrics by M. Violet (1,2,3,5) and Greg Forschler (4) |
|
|
Tracks: 1- She Lives Alone 2- Sister Mary´s Scar 3-Saint Dymphnae 4-Sanguine 5-Scissors |
Fear of Dolls is an extremely original band and we have proved this when reviewing their previous release "Lullabies for aborted children". This new release that we are reviewing now continues in the same path, exploring new sounds, melodies and arrangements without thinking about boundaries and typical structures. Starting with the climatic "She Lives Alone" the band shows from the beginning that their goal is to surprise and to construct dark atmospheres and dense passages with their instruments. Showing really good musicianship the band creates intrincated partts where everything is pure originality. I really love M. Violet´s voice that is delicate and deep and fits the eerie atmosphere that the music here has. THe guitars are a key instrument here constructing passages of pure distortin and then creatting clean arpeggios, depending on the mood of the songs. The rhythm section is really unconventional creating uncommon patterns through all the composition. If you are looking for something truly original with a lot of experimetnation I suggest you to check Fear of Dolls. |
|
Recorded at Gravel Voice Studios Produced by Fear of Dolls |
Contact: www.fearofdolls.com |
| Label: Crash Music |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Eric A.K. - vocals Mark Simpson - guitars
Edward Carlson - Guitar |
|
|
Music by Flotsam and Jetsam Lyrics by Eric A.K. |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Requiescat 2-Straight to Hell 3-Parasychotic 4-Bleed 5-Look in his eyes 6-Childhood Hero 7-Bathing in Red 8-Nascentes Morimar 9- Out of Mind hidden track |
Flotsam and Jetsam, a name that is a clasic since the release of 1986´s "Doomsday for the Deceiver", an album full of speed/thrash metal riffs and aggressive songs. As happened with many bands of the style after the arlym nineties they were relegated to a more underground level. That is not band if you think that by doing this they can do the music that they want without having to sound like the band of the moment. the band has achieved with "Dreams of Death" a darker sound that I find really interesting, constructing solid compositions with a sound that has evolved becoming heavier with time. the guitars sound huge and deliver crushing thrash riffs that are the main ting here along with the really intense drumming that sets the pace of the songs. The guitars also deliver good melodies and guitar solos when the sogs need it and they do it really fluently and with full power. There is an instrumental called "Nascentes Morimar" where the band shows a different side of their musical personality but they soon return to the Flotsam sound that thrashers love. A classic band that still can blow your brain with their music. |
| Cover Artwork by: | |
|
Recorded at Produced by Mark Simpson and Tom Giatron |
Contact: www.crashmusicinc.com and www.flotsam-and-jetsam.com |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Kai Hansen - guitars, vocals Henjo Richter - guitars, keyboards Dirk Schlächter - bass Daniel Zimmermann - drums |
|
|
Music by Gamma Ray Lyrics by Gamma Ray |
|
|
Tracks: 1- My Temple 2-Fight 3-Strange World 4-Hell is thy home 5-Blood Religion 6-Condemned to Hell 7-Spiritual Dictator 8-Majesty 9-How Long 10-Revelation |
Gamma Ray as Kai Hansen´s previous band, Helloween, are bands that will not surprise anybody with any new elements but taht always give their fans what they want. Is that good or bad? As most of the time happens in music, that depends on the listener´s taste. I personally think that the power metal genre has been stagnant for some years now and it needs some fresh ideas to arise from the ashes. Here we have all the elements of this incarnation of the band: the fast precise riffs, Hansen´s harsh voice, the melodies that are essential in this style of music and the double bass drumming in the fastest parts. The sound of the recording is good due to the good production. A band that continues delivering music for their fans in their own style. |
| Cover Artwork by: Henjo Richter | |
|
Recorded at Hansen Studio Produced by Dirk Schlächter and Kai Hansen |
Contact: www.gamma-ray.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
|
Line Up: Jocke - vocals Micke - guitar Jonas - guitar Mattias - bass Mojjo - drums |
|
|
Music by Grindnecfks Lyrics by Grindnecks |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Dead by Dawn 2-Messenger of Death 3-Retaliation 4-A Devil´s Deal |
Grindnecks is pure violence unleashed starting with pure anger in "Dead by Dawn" the band shows that their ultimate goal is to crush the liatener with their fast rhythms and intense riffs in the thras/death metal vein. Here we have a band with fast guitar riffs played with a sound with a lot of bottom end that makes the overall sound a wall against which the lsitener will bang his/her head. Here we have Jocke a vocalist that is full of power and that sounds really pissed off on all tunes. Here and there we have some guitar solos that add a different feeling to the music, always fitting the overall sound. The drumming is really intense with plenty of fast passages and multiple breaks, and I loved this thrash style with heavy use of snare drum and that combination with almost blast beats. The sound of the recording is direct and extremely loud letting you feel the ferocity of thi banf like a raazor over your skin. This band is the ultimate aggression !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Danjel Garpebring | |
|
Recorded at Evil Grill Studios Produced by |
Contact: www.grindnecks.com |
|
GWYNN AP NUDD - 3 TRACK CD |
|
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Slovenia | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Gwynn Ap Nudd Lyrics by Gwynn Ap Nudd |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Mistake 2- Against Us 3-Fuck the Police |
A slapping bass phrase opens this recording in a sort of new metal fashion before heavier guitars enter with full intensity showing that Gwynn Ap Nudd is a really extreme band. "Mistake" is a really weird opening for this recording with this rhythmic riffs that get into breaks and then kick off into a death metal tune full of innovative ideas such as some clean guitar phrases. The rhythms here are original and unconventional and the drumming is what sets up the pace here with this patterns that give a lot of identity to the band. The guitars sound huge in the heaviest parts and they also add some weird ideas such as in "Against Us" when the vocalsenter and they deliver sort of a melodic riff below then following the rhythm of the rest of the band. The tunes here are extremely original and leave you wanting to lsiten more from this killer band from Slovenia. one of the most original releaes of 2005. |
| Cover Artwork by: Gregor Morel | |
|
Produced by Gwynn Ap Nudd |
Contact: http://gwynnapnudd.aza-ms.si |
|
GWYNN AP NUDD - 4 TRACK CD |
|
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Slovenia | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Gwynn Ap Nudd Lyrics by Gwynn Ap Nudd |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Somnambulism 2-Psycho 3-Pussy 4-Contra |
Coming directly from Slovenia Gwynn Ap Nudd delivers here four intense tracks with huge heavy guitars and intense drumming. This guys are really deathly but they play sort of a more rhythmic death metal with strong emphasis on guitars that emphasize heaviness instead of speed. there are complex rhythms here and they are played really correctly by this band that sounds extremely tight. The vocals are pure death metal being really extreme but loud and clear letting you appreciate all the lyrics. The guitars are extremely original and interact cleverly with the drumming that is solid and metronomic. The sound of the recording is loud and direct letting you feel all the power unleashed by this extremely aggressive band, with the guitars sounding right in your face and the drums and bass pounding through your brain with full intensity. A crushing band. |
| Cover Artwork by: Gregor Morel | |
|
Produced by Gwynn Ap Nudd |
Contact: http://gwynnapnudd.aza-ms.si |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
Line Up: Roberto Zoppi - guitars, vocals Andrea Conti - guitars Daniele Mulatieri - bass Davide Feroldi - drums |
|
|
Music and lyrics by Roberto Zoppi , exc. 1 by Andrea Conti |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Harmless 2-Face My Strength 3-Rain 4-My Secret Face |
Hand of Doom delivers here pure thrash/death metal with fast and aggressive guitar riffs and with agonic screams. The band sounds really tight and that is essential to achieve all the aggression that this band wants to transmit to the listener. the rhythm section is solid as a rock and they deliver fast deathly rhythms at full speed with good interaction between bass and drums. The guitars deliver riff after riff, changing and evolving through the compositions showing good musicianship besides utter aggression. And the vocals here are full of anger and agression giving an even more deathly feeling to the music with the screams at the top of the lungs that this guy delivers here. If you like death metal or thrash metal you can not miss Hand of Doom because they will blow you with their aggression. |
| Cover Artwork by: R. Zoppi, Hod nad Fanti Grafica | |
|
Recorded at the Hand of Doom Studios Produced by hand of Doom |
Contact: www.handofdoom.it |
| Label: Nuclear Blast |
|
| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
|
|
|
|
Music by In Flames Lyrics by IN Flames |
|
|
Tracks: 1- F(r)iend 2-The Quiet Place 3-Dead Alone 4-Touch of Red 5-Like you Better dead 6- My Sweet Shadow 7-Evil in a Closet 8-In Search for I 9-Borders and Shading 10-Superhero of the computer rage 11-Dial 595 Escape 12- Bottled |
This is In Flames latest release (well, they have a new DVD out now) and it shows that the band has set comfortably in their style of swedish death metal. This album has certain similarities with the previous "Reroute to remain" showing the technical skills of the band and all their aggression and also showing some improvement in sound as they do from album to album. Anders vocals are as always fluctuating from the lung spitting screams to the clean voices that deliver different atmospheres to the music and that makes many of the tunes really memorable. There are plenty of electronic elements in some of the tunes too but the guitars continue having that crunchy deathly sound that they got since the band´s beginnings. A band that delivers always good recordings with a strong personality and great musical skills and always evolving slightly to avoid stagnation. |
|
Produced by In Flames |
Contact: www.nuclearblastusa.com and www.inflames.com |
| Label: Abacus Recordings |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A.-Canada | |
|
Line Up:
Gabriel McCaughry - Vocals |
|
|
Music by Ion Dissonance Lyrics by Gabriel McCaughry |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Play Dead and I´ll play along 2-Oasd 3-Cleansed by Silence 4-She´strycnine 5-Nol-Solaris 6-Lecturing Raskolnikor 7-You´re not carving deep enough 8-Shut up I´m trying to worry 9-Signature 10-A prelude of things worse to come |
Ion Dissonance delivers here ten tracks full of virtuosism and full of incredible technical skills.This is pure aggression and brutality but done with amazing musicianship where there are complex tempo changes, multiple breaks and incredible guitar riffing. The vocals are really extreme adding the ultimate death metal feeling to the music and showing a lot of brutality. But the main thing here is how this guys manage to deliver tightly the intrincated passages that are created here. The drums sound almost like in a band like Fear factory but playing more complex patterns and interacting heavily with the guitars and the bass. Each tune here is extyremely twisted and has many elements that makes the music here really enjoyable while you discover all the elements delivered by the band. the sound of the recording is HUGE !!! letting you feel the band whilke they rip your flesh with teir intensity. One of the best combinations of brutality and technical skills ever delivered !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Ion Dissonance | |
|
Produced by Ion Dissonance |
Contact: www.id357.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
Line Up: MArcello Arisi - drums Maurizio Vaiani - vocals Pietro Marchetti - bass, b. vocals Fabio Gatta - guitars, b. vocals Massimo Valcarenghi - guitars, keyboards |
|
|
Music by Jenny´s Joke Lyrics by Jenny´s Joke |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Trip Song 2-A Pig in the Rain 3-Talking About her ghost 4-Girls With Black Hair 5-THe Gift 6-The First song of the year 7-Sea Horse 8-Red 9-Ninth Scene 10-Revolver |
Jenny´s Joke is a band of the type that surprises with clever and climatic arrangements all the time. "The trip Song" opens up this album with clean guitars and a memorable chorus that makes you keep on singing the tune long after it has finished. The guitars are essential here in constructing the climatic passages that sometimes are more introspective and ometimes are more direct but always surprising. The melodies delivered here are another essential side of the band´s music: Maurizio Valani´s voice constructs lines that are deep and clean and that takes the lsitener into the ethereal world of Jenny´s Joke. To give you an example you have to take the most melancholic and climatic parts of the music of bands like Coldplay or Radiohead (and even the deepest R.E.M.) to have a small idea of how the band sounds like. This is with no doubt one of the most climatic releases of the year. |
| Cover Artwork by: Oriana Valesi | |
|
Recorded at B3 Studios Produced by Jeny´s Joke |
Contact: www.jennysjoke.too.it |
|
JESS ROWLAND - SCENES FROM THE SILENT REVOLUTION |
|
| Label: Pax Recordings |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
|
Line Up: Jess Rowland - all isntruments, programming, videos, vocals Colleen Nagle - drums on "The Barbie Explosion" Chris Craig - solo guitar on "Vendicam" |
|
|
Music by Jess Rowland Videos by Jess Rowland |
|
|
Tracks: CD 1- Om 2-Bird Signs 3-Invisible / Anymore 4-I was only dreaming 5-Self-Adhesive Office Cubes 6-Valis Interlude 7-Signs 8-Vendicam 9-Happy Flowers 10- Ashcroft vs. the Space Librarians (ACLU edit) DVD 1- Mc Donaldland is changing 2- The Barbie Exploion 3- Ashcroft vs The Space Librarians |
This is a killer package that consists in one audio CD and a DVD full of the amazing compostions created by Jess Rowland. Here Rowland shows that his imagination in creating sounds and musical passages has no limit and that he can achieve great results with every instrument and also with vocals. There is heavy use of sound samples here and also of diffferent textures that can give an introspective feeling to some of the tracks here and also an industrial one to some others. The main thing here is that Rowland manages to experiment heavily while retaining coherence and creating enjoyable compositions where he delivers infinite sounds within a compositional structure that acts like sort of a content wall for the experimentation. It is amazing to see how Rowland plays with music and images in the DVD that for me is the climax of this musical package. He knows how to achieve different moods, from cray and maniatic improvisations to sad passages such as the ones in "Invisible / Anymore" or the feeling of sixties / seventies film music in the beginning of "I was only dreaming" that soon turns into a more mechanical tune due to the heavy use of electronics. An album/DVD that is essential for any lover of experimental music and innovative ideas. |
| Cover Artwork by: Chris Woods | |
|
Produced by Jess Rowland |
Contact: www.paxrecordings.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
Line Up: Alessandro parogi - vocals Antonello Collini - guitars David Carretti - drums Massimiliano Dionigi - bass |
|
|
Music by Juglans Regia Lyrics by Juglans regia |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Il Prosimo Errore 2-Magnifica Ossessione 3-Riflessi 4-Il Vento 5-L`ultimo respiro 6-Quel che sembra... |
Juglans Regia is back with another recording fullof progressive metal with virtuosism and solid songs. Here we have strong heavy guitars that deliver powerful riffs and we have really good vocal work where there are plenty of harmonies. the main thing here is the complexity of the tracks that show virtuosism but at the same time show that this guys know how to construct really good songs. There are good breaks and tempo changes all over the somngs here but always done within a song context."Il Vento" is a really extense composition full of melodies and virtuosism and with many chages that keeps you guessing what is coming next. "Magnifica Ossessione" has incredible bass work in many parts and is one of my absolute favorite tunes here. The lyrics are in Italin language so, those of you accustomed to english lyrics will find this weird, yet effective. A band that shows taht progressive metal does not end in Dream theater and the twor or three best known bands. |
| Cover Artwork by: Simone Cocco | |
|
Recorded at Pianeta Music Produced by Juglans Regia The album is 5 euros or 7 dollars, post included |
Contact: www.juglansregia.com |
| Label: Nuclear Blast Records |
|
| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Canada | |
|
Line Up: Maurizio Iacono - vocals J-F Dagenais -guitars Stephane Barbe -bass |
|
|
Music by Kataklysm Lyrics by Kataklysm |
|
|
Tracks:
|
Here we have the latest Kataklysm release (they will release their newer album on February) and as always they never dissapoint. As always they are really brutal with crushing guitar riffs that follow closely the drums pace in order to make rhythms more effctive. And we have Maurizio´s growling vocals that also have a role in getting the ultra brutal sound of the band also emphasizing some phrases. Do you want double bass drumming? Just check tunes like "The Night they Returned" and you will have plenty of it. And also if you want speed you have many of it through all the tunes. Each second here is full of aggression and brutality and the huge guitar sound has a lot to do with that creating a huge wall of sound along with the bass. Lovers of this kind of precise, razor-sharp death metal will love this one. |
|
Produced by Kataklysm |
Contact: www.nuclearblastusa.com and www.kataklysm.net |
|
KOBOLD - SCHERBENGESCHÖPFE |
|
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Olli - drums Christian - guitars Simon - guitars Florian - vocals Hendrik - bass |
|
|
Music by Kobold Lyrics by Kobold |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Setting to Die 2-Breathcollector 3-Scherbengeschöpfe 4-Lost 5-I Am For Ever |
Kobold unleashes on this recording five tunes of pure aggression and brutality with ultra fast parts and a true death metal feeling. Every note here is played to create extremely brutal tunes. here we have some blast beats but also here we have mid tempos and slow tempos that add a dense feeling to the compositions. The band delivers a lot of tempo changes on each tunes and that makes their music even more enjoyable because it keeps your attention in the song structure. The drumming on this album is really precise with a very particular sound, specially on the bass drums (combined with the bass guitar it leads to a trully particular sound). The band is tight and they deliver intersting passages where both guitars interact cleverly and fit the rhythm section with good technical skills. The vocals are extreme, sometimes more guttural and someitmes more of the agonic type changing the mood of the compsoitions. A recording that crushes you from the first second to the last. |
| Cover Artwork by: Kobold | |
|
Produced by Kobold |
Contact: www.kobold-musik.de |
| Label: SPV Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Mille Petrozza - guitars, vocals Jörg Ventor Reil - drums Christian Giesler - bass Sami Yli-Sirniö - guitars |
|
|
Music by Kreator Lyrics by Mille Petrozza |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Enemy of God 2-Impossible Brutality 3-Suicide Terrorist 4-World Anarchy 5-Dystopia 6-Voices of the Dead 7-Murder Fantasies 8-When death takes its dominion 9-One evil comes - A million follows 10-Dying Race Apocalypse 11-Under a total balckened Sky 12- The Ancient Plague |
Kreator is a band that despite multiple line up changes and also multiple experimentation in the thrash realm (think about "Renewal" and "Endorama") has always kept a high degree of quality in their releases. This "Enemy of God" is a release that is closer to "Violent Revolution" than to "Endorama", going for the throat and creushing the listener from beginning to end. Mille´s voice has become more agonic with the years and that is evident here since the start with the title track. The band is as solid as always and I want to remark the guitar work that goes beyond boundaries with Sami doing really good solos on the tracks and both guitars developing the Kreator trademark riffs. A classic thrash band that continues to deliver good quality releases. |
|
Produced by Mille Petrozza |
Contact: www.kreator-terrorzone.de |
| Label: Independent |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Pete Laramee - guitars Lisa Francis - vocals Luis Nasser - bass Jeff Laramee - drums |
|
|
Music by Kurgan´s Bane Lyrics by Kurgan´s Bane |
|
|
Tracks: 1- I´m alive 2-Override 3-Mirage 4-Surface 5-Asstro 6-Time Has Come 7-Signal to Noise 8-The Spectator 9-Regret 10-Martyr
|
After reviewing the previous Kurgan´s Bane album and the Pete Laramee solo albums we wanted to listen more from this amazing musicians. And her they sent us their latest work where they show again all their amazing musicianship. Kicking off with "I´m alive" the band shows improvement when compared to their previous album specially in sound. Pete´s guitars sound crystal clear when used clean and really powerful when distorted (and with an amazing sound in the solos). And Luis Nasser´s bass is loud here and pounding through all the compositions showing how good he is in keeping the rhythms along with Jeff Laramee´s drumming. The drumming is intense and innovative and I really like the way in which the hi-hat and the ride cymbal are mixed, really clean, letting you feel all the arrangements created by this rhythm master. Lisa Francis voice is clean and powerful and fits perfectly the music of this progressive powerful band and adds a lot of melodies showing good taste and a lot of power giving a bonus of intensity to the music. As I said before, the sound is crystal clear and really loud letting you listen every note and every beat that is played here perfectly. A must have for lovers of good musicianship and good compositional skills ! |
| Cover Artwork by: Keight Newing | |
|
Recorded at Secret Sound Studios Produced by Kurgan´s Bane |
Contact: www.kurgansbane.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
|
|
|
Music by La Mamoynia Lyrics by La Mamoynia |
|
|
Tracks: 1- I stand alone 2-Ich bin Niemand 3-Nightmares i´m hiding from 4-Kenurghia Avghi 5-Ipocrisis 6-Links 7-Kammeno charti 8-And nothing more for yu 9-Agapi, ti megali leksi 10-Hated for Seeing deep in the eyes 11-Something that does not exist |
After their previous La Mamoynia I knew what to expect here: truly original music full of industrial passages and heavy experimentation. Here we have the elements that are the trademark of the band but taken to upper boundaries: electronic drums, samples, industrial noises and heavy experimentation with electronics. We have the cold vocals here delivered with a lot of intensity transporting the listener to the strange world of La Mamoynia. There is a lot fo originality here and the band is comfortable in this kind of experimentation whose only limit is to have a song format in order to give coherence and structure. The keyboards played in the background in tracks like "Ich bin Niemand" add also a different feeling to the music adding some melodies to the mechanical feeling in an eerie way. the sound of the recording is crystal clear and each sample and sound is perfectly mixed showing that this guys have carefully recorded this songs. A must have for lovers of experimentation with electronics and originality. |
| Cover Artwork by: Marco Colombo | |
|
Recorded at Produced by La Mamoynia |
Contact: www.lamamoynia.com |
|
LEFT IN RUIN - CURSED |
|
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A: | |
|
Line Up: Dann Coburn - vocals John Dearry - guitars Jason navarro - guitars Jeff Uberti - bass Ryan Vandeberghe - drums |
|
|
Music by Left in Ruin Lyrics by Left In Ruin |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Hands Down 2-Medicate the Snake 3-Rib of Man 4-Labored Tenfold 5-Freestyle 6-Alcohol and Razorblades 7-Trick |
Left in Ruin is a band that combines in theior music different influences raging from pure rock to punk and hardcore and also some thrash and modern metal. And they have put all this influences here in seven compositions thata re bursts of pure energy where the band delivers fast riffs and intense drumming. The guitar riffs are furious and fast emphasizing the rhythm section work and making each track an expeirence in violence. the vocals are of the extreme type and this guy seems to be spitting his lungs because of the effort he is doing to scream this lyrics. the songs are well developed with some changes that partially change the mood of the songs but always keeping the coherence and the ultra aggresive style that is a trademark of this band. A band that lovers of extremely aggressive music should check right now. |
| Cover Artwork by: Left in Ruin | |
|
Recorded at Audiolux Studios Produced by Left in Ruin |
Contact: www.myspace.com/leftinruin_detroit |
| Label: Stygian Crypt Prods. |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Russia | |
|
Line Up: Sever - all instruments, programming |
|
|
Music by Sever Lyrics by Sever |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Source 2-the Sacrament 3-Vast Homeland 4-Old Hill´s Memories 5-Slovisha 6-Getting Dark 7-The twilight thiickened with Sadness |
Passages of wonderful beauty is what you will find here. This album is full of amazing folk tunes with that eastern european sound that gives you an idea of woods or huge plains with pagan people riding horses and stuff like that. Here we have Sever, a great musician who delivers here seven amazing compositions where the melodies and the rhythms transport the listener to ancient times and that also surprises wityh the amazing melodies that are carefully developed here. Keyboards and other instruments are played here in order to achieve the best result and the musicianship here is really good as it is evident on each of the tunes. This is an ideal album to listen with your eyes shut and letting your imagination flow. As I said before this is an album where the first word that comes to your mind while listening to it is pure beauty. A must. |
| Cover Artwork by: Sever | |
|
Produced by Sever |
Contact: http://stygiancrypt.cjb.net and www.liholesie.com |
| Label: Stygian Crypt Prods |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Russia | |
|
Line Up: Dmitry Zamaruev - vocals Sergey Galushko - guitars Yuriy Sveshnikov - bass Tatiana Voitenko - keyboards Dmitry Paltsev - drums Svetlana Hodyakova - b. vocals |
|
|
Music by Little Dead Bertha Lyrics by Little Dead Bertha |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Without Hope 2- Raven 3-I don´t Believe 4-My Evil Wish 5-Last Way to Nowhere 6-Force and Brave 7-Way of Blind 8-Requiem |
Some time ago we reviewed the previous LIttle Dead Bertha album and now we have this one that shows some progression, specially in sound that sounds louder and more compact. The music is really original as it was evident on the previous one, having that combination of death/black metal with melancholic parts full of eerie melodies. Here we have the growling and the deep gothic vocals deivered by Dmitry combined with Svetlana´s enchanting voice that shows again the contrast between the different elements that the music here has. The band shows good musicianship on all tunes and that is specially evident in the fastest parts where they sound solid and fluent. The rhythm section sounds tight and allows the band to deliver good arrangements over the main basis of the tunes. The sound i really good with a good mix that lets you appreciate all the arrangements created here and all the small phrases and harmonies that are all voer the place. A band that deserves to be one of the top names in the style soon. |
|
Recorded at DS Studio Produced by Sergey Galushko |
Contact: http://stygiancrypt.cjb.net |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Lupara Lyrics by Lupara |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Dante´s Screams (intro) 2-Discrimination Pours 3-Whore of India (segue) 4-They Call me Disease 5-The old Man 6-Bells (outro) |
Lupara is the baby of ex-Broken Hope main man Jeremy Wagner. Here the music is not pure death metal as in his old band. In fact I find here an interesting combination of death metal with hardcore and with modern metal that gives Lupara a really original sound. Do you want double bass drumming? Here you have it, combined with rhythmic guitar riffs whose main feature is utter heaviness. If you like extreme vocals you have here of the growling type and also some guttural roars that show the deathly part of Lupara´s music. But the main thing here are the rhythms that are carefully developed, where each note is crushing as a hammer blow to your brain. I have to remark the killer sound that this release has making it even louder and heavier smashing your skull with pure aggression. the perfect blend between metalcore and death metal !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Mircenia Gabriel Eftemie | |
|
Recorded at Mercenary Digital Studios Produced by Scott Creekmore and Lupara |
Contact: www.lupara1.com |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
|
Line Up: Nina Björk Eliasson - vocals Mette Stig Nielsen - piano Helene Jerg - cello Lonnie Svilling - flute Karina Agerbo - flute |
|
|
Music by Madam Press, exc. 12 by Carl Bergstrøm Nielsen
|
|
|
Tracks: 1- Lærkekvartetten 2-Arietta 3-Amerikanske billeder a) Mikroskopiske Bevægelser b) Lyset Bagved c) Rytmiske Spejlinger 4- Tolv Toner 5-Flygelsonatine 6-Små skridt 7- Duet 8-Lydlandskab 1 toner 9-Lydlandskab 2 støj 10-Lydlandskab 3 intonation 11-Lydlandskab 4 klang 12- Vild Protest 13- Postludium |
Madam Press is a quintet from Denmark created by five talented women whose main goal is to experiment within coherent musical structures. In fact, the first thing that struck me when comparing Madam Press´ music with other improvisational outfits was the emphasis that some of the musical pieces here have in achieving melodies and twisting them beyond recognition. That is, while other improvisational musicians try to extract sounds from their instruments this woment try to shape this sounds into some strange melodies thata re essential in their music. There is a lot of spontaneity here and that becomes evident from the first minute to the lst one of this recording. I have been gratefully surprised by the amazing voice that Nina Björk Eliasson has, using it like another instrument and adding sort of an ethnical feeling to the improvisations. Mette Stig Nielsen is an expert in adding dissonances to the music playing chords that will surely struck your ears but tht when combined with the other instruments constitute a really coherent musical form. And a lot of the better things here are created with the good interaction between the five musicians (or four in the case of the quartets) where they achieve the greatest levels of inspiration and show how you can add rhythmic phrases, melodies and sounds creating amazing musical compositions full of coherence and virtuosism. |
| Cover Artwork by: Poul Weile | |
|
Recorded at The Carl Nielsen Academy Produced by The Carl Nielsen Academy |
Contact: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/irecords/ |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Canada | |
|
Line Up: Aaron Hawkins - vocals Roger Cranford - guitars Matt Snow - bass Brad Walsh - drums |
|
|
Music by Magnus Rising Lyrics by Magnus Rising |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Levitate 2-Blood Donation 3-Hang Onm 4-THe Possession of Saul Stone´s Soul 5-From the Ashes 6-Someone Died |
Opening with a sure hit called "Levitate" Magnus Rising fastly shows that their music is all about pure metal and pure powerful guitar riffs. The guitars deliver with a crushing sound rhythmic riffs that are the trademark of this band´s music. Aaron hawkins adds mlodies with his unconventional voice adding a lot of identity to the music because he has a unique type of voice to deliver the lines that the band needs. The rhythmic section is direct and solid constructing a tight skeleton over which the guitar adds the flesh of Magnus Rising´s music. Despite being a pure heavy metal band the band sounds heavier than most of the bands of the style and that is due to their use of crushing rhythms and also due to the avoidance of genre cliches. Yes, this guys prefer to use heavier rhythms intstead of galloping and runs thata re more typical. The sound of the recording is loud and direct and is essential to add more aggression to this already extremely powerful band. Pure metal unleashed in an original way. |
| Cover Artwork by: Mike Martin | |
|
Recorded at Record Time Productions Produced by MAgnus Rising and KEvin Pinhorn |
Contact: www.magnusrising.com |
| Label: Independentn |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Tony - guitars Josh - vocals Pat - bass Dave - drums |
|
|
Music by A.C. Tomaselli Lyrics by Josh Herter |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Flesh of God 2-Eighty- five Percent 3-Salvation (in a dying world) 4-Unrighteous Path 5-Stillborn Nation |
Malicious Damage is a band that will decapitate you with their intensity without any contemplation. Their music has elements of both death metal and thrash metal and also some small hardcore elements in some specific parts. Here we have even some old school death emtal guitar riffs thata re combined with fast drumming which sounds really precise, with a programmed like sound. The vocals here are really extreme of the screaming type with some ocasional growl and also some background shut that emphasizes some of the lyrics. The rhythm section is really tight and they leave plenty of space for the guitars to develope the crushing riffs that are the main identity of the band. the sound of the recordin is huge and raw giving that old school feeling but at the same time keeping the power taht the band unleashed here. A crushing band with an old school feeling that suits them really well. |
| Cover Artwork by: A.C. Tomaselli and Andy Christ | |
|
Produced by Malicious Damage |
Contact: www.maliciousdamage.net |
| Label: Basement Apes Industries |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: France | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Membrane Lyrics by Membrane |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Utility 2-Crash 3-Neurones 4-Virus 5-Dirty 6-Magic Hours |
Membrane kicks off with the fast and powerful "Utility" with direct and aggressive riffs. The guitars here deliver rocking riffs with a huge and distorted sound that gives the music a really wild extreme metal feeling. The vocals are of the screaming type with a certain industrial influence that gives an even more extreme feeling to the music. The rhythms are extremely heavy with some new metal influence but played more aggressively than in bands of this style. And the rhythm section is extremely tight making the overall result really heavy and sounding like a crushing wall of power. the sound of tyhe recording is direct and loud with huge guitars that are the core of the music here. A powerful release with different influences that make this truly enjoyable. |
| Cover Artwork by: twilightcolors.com | |
|
Recorded at Rec Studio Produced by Membrane |
Contact: www.blindprod.com and www.basementapesind.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Estonia | |
|
Line Up: Port - drums Orc- growls Doomhand - bass Uziel - guitars, growls Sorts - guitars |
|
|
Music by Nihilistkrypt Lyrics by Nihilistkrypt |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Summoning 2-Brainbow 3-Expired 4-Virus: Human 5-Enjoy the Violence 6-I Hate Everything 7-Thoughts of a Misanthrope 8-Rebellion Against Thee 9-Execution of the last priest |
Pure brutality coming directly from Estonia. The good thing about this band is that they use guitar riffs and rhythms that are much more original than the ones used by most of the bands of the style getting closer to heavy metal riffing despite the brutality that they develope. The vocals here are extremely guttural and they give the ultra brutal feeling to the music. To give you an idea it is like crossing the most brutal Morbid Angel with bands like Dark Tranquillity or In Flames and adding also some thrash metal to the mix. The guitars work here is spectacular being original and technical at the same time and showing that this band can develope multiple ideas within each composition. there is virtuosism in the arrangements and also in the aggressive rhythms. The sound is direct and well mixed with emphasis on the guitars and the drums that sound almost like if they were right beside you. One of the albums of 2005. |
| Cover Artwork by: Luix | |
|
Recorded at Krypt Sudio Produced by Nihilistkrypt |
Contact: www.nihilistkrypt.net |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Jonas Janssen - guitars, b. vocals Fabian Swars - bass, b. vocals Benjamin Marschner - guitars, vocals Michael Zettl - drums |
|
|
Music by Novembers Fall Lyrics by Novembers Fall |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Novembers Fall 2-Brutal Truth 3-Life Between Tiles 4-Warcult 5-Dropped to Death 6-Alter Ego (bonus) |
This band delivers violent death/ black metal with some good arrangements and melodies that give a lot of identity to the band´s music. If you like growling vocals you will surely like this album and it is amazing to see how this guy can change from the growling voice to a more melancholic one within the same song. And there is also a screaming voice more of the black metal type. The guitars here are really good and I like that this guys do a lot of solos here and there and also some clean parts that give a darker feeling to the music. The atmosphere of the tunes is another trademark of Novembers Fall´s music being really melancholic at times, really dark in others and really aggressive in others. There are many clean passages that are extremely sad, such as the ones in the beginning of "Brutal Truth" adding a more deppressive mood to the music. The sound of the recording is loud and clear and adds some more heaviness to the music. A crushing combination of aggression and darkness. |
| Cover Artwork by: Marcel best | |
|
Produced by Novembers Fall |
Contact: www.novembersfall.com |
| Label: Roadrunner Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: John Tardy - vocals Donald Tardy - drums Trevor Peres - guitars Allen West - guitars Frank Watkins - bass |
|
|
Music by Obituary Lyrics by John Tardy |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Redneck Stomp 2-On the Floor 3-Insane 4-Blindsided 5-Back Inside 6-Mindset 7-Stand Alone 8-Slow Death 9-Denied 10-Lockjaw |
Obituary is back !!! Her we have the expected album from the death metal gods from Florida. And we have all the elements that ahve made their work so special. Don´t expect anything new. Their music is still the pure death metal that is characteristic of theband with a louder sound than in their fist albums but close to the one in "World Demise" for example. Lovers of the band will be delighted with this new release but I don´t think that they will gain new fans, except fopr death metal fans that have never listened their music. Here we have John Tardy´s agonic voice screaming the lyrics and showing that he is in top form to deliver death metal. And we have the tandem of Trevor Peres and Allen West (he was fired from the band after the Wacken concert) delivering riff after riff of deathly aggression. Obituary is back !! |
|
Produced by Obituary |
Contact: www.obituary.cc and www.roadrunnerrecords.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
|
|
|
Music by Ordained Lyrics by the Reverend |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Diary of Jack the Ripper 2-Sealed with a Fist 3-Mortimus Grimley 4-Flow to Hell 5-SINvocation 6-Beloved 7-Grimley´s Tale 8-Lovette 9-Film at Eleven 10-Possession is 9/10 the law 11-unholy Blasphemies - Dark Assembly Mix 12- Who was Jack? 13- All in Vein |
Here we have a killer compilation of tunes from all of Ordained`s releases from 1997 up to 2004. And it is really good to lsiten the evolution of this powerful thrashing band going from the primitive almost rocking metal sounds of 1997 represented for example here by "Flow to Hell" up to the pure thrash of "The Diary..." from 2003´s "Altar Ego" the band shows a lot of progression, not only in style but also in musicianship delivering on each release better riffs and arrangements. the reverend´s voice is always there being the core of Ordained´s music and giving a lot of identity to the music. Thirteen tracks show the different lineups that Orfained had through all the years and you can listen the differences and the musical changes when the line-up was evolving into the actual one. A great compilation of metal tunes that are a testimony of this band´s hardwork in the underground and of the good compositions taht they deliver constantly. |
| Cover Artwork by:Ordained | |
|
Produced by Ordained |
Contact: www.ordained.net |
| Label: GUN Records |
|
| Year: U.K. | |
| Country: 2005 | |
|
Line Up: Nick Holmes - vocals Aaron Aedy - guitars Greg Mackintosh - guitars Steve Edmondson - bass |
|
|
Music by Greg Mackintosh Lyrics by Nick Holmes |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Don´t Belong 2- Close your eyes 3-Grey 4-Redshift 5-Forever After 6-Sun Fading 7-Laws of Cause 8-For All you leave behind 9-Accept the Pain 10-Shine 11-Spirit 12- Over the madness |
The new Paradise Lost album finds the band exploring the path that they have followed since their "One Second" album. THe album shows similarities with albums like "Believe in Nothing" or "Symbol of Life" and one step higher in quality than their worst album that was "Host". The band continues constructing songs that have this gothic feeling with some electronic influences but without forgetting heavy guitars. There is not that much change when compared to the latest two albums but it is the style that the band has been forging step by step. lovers of the band will surely like this one. |
|
Produced by Paradise Lost |
Contact: www.paradiselost.co.uk |
|
PESTNEBEL - IN DEN SCHWARZEN ABGRÜNDEN DER EWIGKEIT |
|
| Label: Warfront Prods. |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Pestlord Tairach - vocals, guitars, bass Nebeltroll - drums, b. vocals |
|
|
Music by Pestlord Tairach, exc. 9 by Nebeltroll Lyrics by Tairach, exc. 5,8 by Nabeltroll |
|
|
Tracks: Side 1 1- Aus den Nebeln der Ewigkeit 2-In den Schatten des Winters 3-Darkness in my Fate 4-The Goddess and the Blackstorm 5-Grabeskälte
Side 2 6- Goatspawn Incantation 7-Descent to teh Fogrealm 8-König Pest 9-Sunset Over the Ocean of Melancholia |
Pestnebel is pure aggressive and raw black metal coming directly from one of the lands where this style has become more popular: Germany. A dark intro leads us directly into what Pestnebel does best, that is, crushing skulls with black metal ferocity. The music here is fast and furious full of fast blast beats and with chainsaw like guitars that deliver aggression with each note that is played here. the vocals are agonic, of the black metal type, and it will fill your soul with all the hatred that this guy spit. THe drumming is really fast with blast beats, double bass and a lot of cymbals use that create some mayhemic moments. The sound of the recording is really raw giving that underground black metal feeling to the recording. Pure darkness unleashed over mankind !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Pestnebel | |
|
Recorded at Panzerklang Studios Produced by Pestnebel |
Contact: www.warfront.de |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
|
Line Up: Tryfon - guitars, vocals Panos - bass Evangeloss - guitars Tasos - drums |
|
|
Music by Plaything Lyrics by Plaything |
|
|
Tracks: 1- No reasons left 2-Number 3-Take 4-Use Me |
Four tracks are enough to show all the power that Plaything can unleash. Starting with the crushing riff of "No Reasons Left" the band shows soon some trademarks: The huge guitar sound, the important role of the bass guitar and the deppressive dark vocals that contrast with the crushing sound of the guitars. The music can be described as pure metal with influences of many different styles such as grunge, stoner rock and alternative music but always with a huge amount of powerful riffing. The rhythm section is really rocking and, as I said before, the bass plays an important role creating amazing lines and also doubling the guitars to create a sound that is bigger than a tsunami wave. The vocals have a melancholic feeling in them that fits really well the music and add some melodies that make the tunes memorable. A really rocking release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Plaything | |
|
Recorded in Studios Esoteron Produced by Plaything and Vangellis Apostolakis |
Contact: plaything@freemail.gr |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Greece | |
|
Line Up: Tryfon - guitars, vocals Panos - bass Evangeloss - guitars Tasos - drums |
|
|
Music by Plaything Lyrics by Plaything |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Heaven 2-Katherine has left the bed |
"Heaven" opens up this MCD with a differnet sound than the one that we listened on the previous plaything recording. This track has a huge emphasis on vocals that sound desperate in many parts and full of sorrow in others. The rhythms here are straight and direct right in your face. The second track "Katherine..." opens up acoustically and I think that here is where the Plaything sound of this recording is different than the previous one: this is completely acoustic. On "Katherine" we have clean guitar arpeggios and acoustic bass lines that embellish everything and also we have some piano arrangements. There is really good taste in both tracks and they leave you wanting to listen more acoustic tunes from this interesting greek band. An original and beautiful release with killer vocals. |
| Cover Artwork by: Plaything | |
|
Produced by Plaything |
Contact: plaything@freemail.gr |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: |
|
|
Musicand lyrics by Profanation, exc. 5 by Exciter and 10 by Ulcerous Phlegm |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Absentminded 2-The Drowning Red 3-Delicacies of Human Flesh 4-Psychopathic Serenity 5-Pounding Metal 6-Dawning Day 7-Choir of the Damned 8-Feasting on Knights 9-Dead Body Fuck 10-Consequence |
Some time ago we reviewed
the previous album from this german death grind machine called
Profanation. And now we have in our hands the follow up called "Dead
Body Fuck". From the beginning you can feel that this is an album
designed to crush the listener into fucking pieces. It is amazing how
this guy manages to deliver incredible double bass patterns while the
guitars develope crushing riffs with heavily downtuned guitars that
sound extremely fat. The good thing is that the band has become more
compact when comapred to the previous release and that adds more
heaviness to their music. for example, it is amazing how compact is the
tandem between the guitars and the bass creating a panzer division of
distorted sound. The vocals are really guttural in most of the parts but
there is also a clearer type of voice and another one that is more ofn
the grindcore type. The sound of the recording is much better than in
the previous release and that adds more bestiality to the music and the
cover of Exciter`s "Pounding Metal" adds some bonus points to the album.
Pure brutality unleashed !!
|
| Cover Artwork by: | |
|
Recorded at Powerrocker Studios Produced by Profanation |
Contact: www.profanation.net |
|
|
|
| Label: Independent |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Sweden | |
|
Line Up: Johnny - guitars, vocals Danne - bass Swaniz - drums Dan - guitars |
|
|
Music by Quadruple Lyrics by Quadruple |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Threat Within 2-Actors 3-Ideology of Death 4-Powers of Belief 5-Bound to Crack 6-Flashback 7-Way of Man 8-Pathetic 9-Wake Up in a Coma 10-Psychopath |
Quaduple combines
succesfully old school thrash metal wit modern metal and also some pure
heavy metal in this powerful release. here we have fast guitar riffs
combined with slower ones that have more heaviness. the vocals are
powerful and reminded me a little bit to Rage´s Peavey Wagner, that is,
a guy that can spit his lungs out but at the same time knows how to
deliver good lines in a really thrash metal fashion. Th eguitars do a
really good work here delivering crushing riffs with a more modern sound
that is what sets Quadruple apart from many bands of the style. And
there are also some cool rocking aprts, for example in the solo of "Threat
Within" that gives a lot of fresh air to the music. The drumming is
intense, really thrash most of the time but also delivering patterns
that leave more space for the guitars to do their work. The sound is
loud and direct emphasizing the heaviness of the music. This is what
modern thrash should be.
|
| Cover Artwork by: Matthias Bengisson | |
|
Recorded at Roasting House Studios Produced by Quadruple |
Contact: www.quadruple.org |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Brandon S. - guitars, bass, all instruments, vocals |
|
|
Music by Brandon S. Lyrics by Brandon S. |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Task 2- Companionship 3- Rainwound 4-Oppressing the Past |
Rainwound is completely different from Bradon S´s other band, Satanic Dirge. the music here is more melodic and it also has a certain black metal feeling but it has more climatic and melancholic moments showing the brighter side of the musical personality of this musician. Here we have acoustic guitars, keyboards and heavy orchestration in tunes like "The Task" showing good musicianship and innovative ideas. the compositions here are long and they give enough space to develope multiple ideas that constantly surprises the listener. Just check the calm "Companionship" that slowly builts into a melodic climax and that also uses sort of a heavy metal riff and then a more black emtal one to add aggression to the tune.The sound here is not that direct and loud as in Satanic Dirge and I would mix everything louder, specially the drums that sound a little bit in teh background. Pure originality and imagination. |
|
Produced by Brandon S. |
Contact: http://groups.myspace.com/rainwound |
| Label: Tuba Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Norway | |
|
Line Up: Sfinx - vocals Küth - drums Zet - guitars, vocals Jon - bass Magnus - keyboards, b. vocals Sareeta - violins, b. vocals |
|
|
Music by Ram-Zet Lyrics by Ram-Zet |
|
|
Tracks: 1- the Final thrill 2-Left Behind as pieces 3-Enchanted 4-Ballet 5-And Innocence 6-Born 7-Lullaby for the Dying 8-Closing a Memory |
Ram-Zet is a band that is
extremely original and whose music can be described as a comnbination of
many different styles such as death metal, black metal thrash metal and
even some gothic in the more climatic parts. The band has really huge
guitars that play fast machine like guitar riffs and they have a guy
behind the drumkit that si really a beast delivering intense patterns
through all the songs. And they have the voice of Sareeta that delivers
incredible lines sounding melodic yet extremely powerful. her voice
contrasts heavily with the more deathly one that spits the lyrics with
pure hatred. Plus she plays the violin too adding a melancholic feeling
to the calmer parts and delivering incredible lines and arrangements.
Here she contrasts with the huge rhythmic guitars that create riffs
designed to crush humanity (Check "The Final Thrill" to have an idea).
The sound of the recording is loud and really well mixed making the
result even more effective and making this album one of the albums of
2005.
|
|
Produced by Ram-zet |
Contact: www.ram-zet.com |
|
REBELLION - SAGAS OF ICELAND - THE HISTORY OF THE VIKINGS VOL. I |
|
| Label: Massacre records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: |
|
|
Music by Rebellion Lyrics by Rebellion |
|
|
Tracks:
1-In memoranduum Lindisfarnae |
This is good old heavy metal with strong eighties influences but also with power metal sound and with a modern sound in the guitars and the drums. the main influences here are of bands like Blind Guardian, Rage, Running Wild and Grave Digger (there are former Grave Digger members on this band, so this is logic). You can not deny that you are listening to a german band....they have that characteristic sound, specially in the vocals and the choruses that set this style apart from any other form of heavy metal. The guitars deliver fast riffs and also they do good solos on many of the tracks adding virtuosism to the music. I really like that this guys do not abuse the galloping and cliches of the style because this adds extra points to the overall result. The sound of the recording is really compact and every instrument is clearly mixed and the band as a whole is really tight. Pure german heavy metal of the best quality. |
| Cover Artwork by: Thomas Ewerhard | |
|
Recorded at Produced by |
Contact: www.rebellion.st and www.massacre-records.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Canada | |
|
Line Up: Chuck - vocals Krisz - drums Louicifer - guitars Sebass - bass |
|
|
Music by Revulva Lyrics by Revulva |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Swallowing death 2- Hordes of Reason 3-REvulva 4-Hate 5-Never Vote (for an Asshole) 6-G.E.G.E. 7-Polishit 8-the Real Me 9-They will cum (they will die) 10- Flames Never Die 11-The Basement Crew /Crackhead (live) 12- Ugly Eyes (live) |
I have never heard of this amazing band before but it is great to have crossed my path with this release. Fast and angry guitar riffs are delivered here with the support of a crushing drummer that delivers interesting patterns with full intensity through all the release adding double bass and killer ride cymbal arrangements. The vocals here are really extreme screamed with full aggression and anger. The good thing is that the tunes here are extremely memorable due to teh combiantion of rhythmic riffs with aggressive vocals. The guitars deliver rhythms most of the time but in many places they add some short phrases or short solos that show a different side of the band showing that they can be tight and complex and at the same time blast the listener with all their aggression. A must have for lovers of aggressive metal, thrash metal and death metal. |
| Cover Artwork by: Mychel Campbell | |
|
Produced by Revulva and Christian Donaldson |
Contact: www.revulva.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Jonathan Gerlach - vocals Frank Ruppert - guitars Johannes Appel - drums Daniel Krischke - bass |
|
|
Music by Rusted Chains Lyrics by Rusted Chains |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Scars thru reflection 2- Dedicated to Darkness 3-Tomorrow is Today 4-Decompose 5-Black Summer Days 6-Chaination |
Opening with a slow riff with extremely heavy sound in "Scars through reflection" the band soon gets into a faster rhythm that shows that this band´s goal is to achieve utter heaviness. That becomes evident in the ultra dense "Dedicated to Darkness", a track with extremely dense guitar riffs and with rhythms designed to crush the listener. The band has agonic vocals full of anger that fit really well the music developed by the rest of the band. The good thing is that the band prefers to emphasize heaviness instead of using only speed, so the result is heavier and extremely aggressive. The guitars sound huge and raw with a lot of bottom end and the rhythm section uses cleverly mid paced tempos and slow parts in order to add darkness to the heaviness of Rusted Chains music. Pure heaviness unleashed. |
| Cover Artwork by: Daniel Krischke | |
|
Recorded at Crises Studio II Produced by Rusted Chains |
Contact: www.chainnation.de |
| Label: Ketzer Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Singapore | |
|
Line Up: Zahwarlock - guitar Hanael - bass Fauzzt - drums Fyraun - gitars |
|
|
Music by Sadiztik Impaler Lyrics by Sadiztik Impaler |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Unholy Vengeance Peronification 2-Black Fucking Metal 3- Conquered by Evil 4-Warriors ov Satan 5-Sarcophagus ov the Undead 6-Rides of Perversion 7-Bestial Syonan - to Eastern predator |
Pure black fucking metal in its most evil format. That is: raw, fast, bestial without mercy for the listener, full of balst beats and chainsaw-like guitars. The recording has some slower passages but most of the time this guys put the pedal to the metal and they turn everything into pure mayhem. Influences here can be early Mayhem, early Emperor and nineties classic black metal of the rawest type. The sound of the recording is extremely raw and I think that with a better mix this compositions can be even more aggressive and effective. |
| Cover Artwork by: Mr. SAdo | |
|
Recorded at Sadiztik Dungeon Studios Produced by Sadiztik Impaler |
Contact: www.ketzer-record.de |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Finland | |
|
Line Up: Tuomas Tuimala - guitars Viljami Kinnunen - drums Juhani Taivela - vocals, bass |
|
|
Music by Sammohan Lyrics by Sammohan |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Chakra: Metal Altar 2-Chakra: Mystical Mountain 3-Chakra: Eye of Ra 4-Chakra: Mercenary Tiger 5-Chakra: Sex Chakra |
Sammohan is a band that is not afraid of exploring new paths with their thrashing music. For doing that they use an old school thrash sound and they add some orchestrations such as in the beginning of "Chakra: Eye of Ra" or the guitar lines that are played in the same tune. But most of the time the band delivers pure aggression doing fast patterns and rhythms. Juhani`s vocals sound weird and aggressive yet fitting well the music of the band and adding a wild feeling to it. The guitars deliver fast runs and riffs that wouldn`t beout of place in albums by bands like Exciter, Anvil or even old Venom. The drumming is fast and intense setting the apce of the compositions with furious patterns. The sound of the recording is raw emphasizing the old school feeling. Pure old school thrash but with interesting ideas that this guys can explore even more in the future. |
| Cover Artwork by: Sammohan | |
|
Recorded at Sounds of Manala Produced by Sammohan |
Contact: www.sammohan.cjb.net |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Brandon S. - all instruments, vocals |
|
|
Music by Brandon S. Lyrics by Brandon S. |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Brainworkz 2-Beware of God 3-Venom |
SAtanic Dirge is a one man band whose brain is Brandon S. who also is the brain behind Rainwound. The music here is black metla but with heavy keyboards and an amazingly dark atmosphere. Satanic Dirge does not abuse speed, having ultra fast parts but combined with more mid paced ones and with interesting original arrangements that makes the music here really original. The vocals are really extreme, of the black metal type and even more agonic contrasting with teh harmonic keyboards and at the same time complementing them. the keyboards are essential here and they deliver incredible atmospheric parts and also some melodic arrangements as the ones in the middle of "Brainworkz" that surprise with originality. An original and dark release that left me wanting more Satanic Dirge. |
|
Produced by BRandon S |
Contact: www.myspace.com/satanicdirge |
| Label: Century Media |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Finland | |
|
Line Up: Ville Laihiala - Vocals Miika Tenkula - Lead guitar Sami Lopakka - Guitar Vesa Ranta - Drums Sami Kukkohovi - Bass |
|
|
Music by Sentenced Lyrics by Ville Laihiala |
|
|
Tracks:
01 : May Today Become the
Day |
Here is the probable last album of this finnish band. Having witnessed the changes and progressions of the band since their "North from here" album I have to say that I feel sad because they are splitting up. In fact I like both eras of the band: the black metal one and the more gothic one that is evident in their latest three or four albums. Ville´s vocals are as good as always having power and agonic feeling that suits well the music of the band. And here we have the guitar riffs that are the essence of the band´s latest era showing that they can construct good songs with intense riffing. THe songs are extremely dynamic and memorable and they represent a good ending to this band´s career. A piece of finnish metal history. |
|
Produced by Sentenced |
Contact: www.sentenced.org and www.centurymedia.com |
| Label: Scarlet Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Denmark | |
|
Line Up: Michael - vocals Claus - vocals Skafte- guitars, bass, synths Brylle - drums |
|
|
Music by Smaxone Lyrics by Smaxone |
|
|
Tracks: 1- I see you part 1 2-Regression 3-Freedom 2003 4-Smiling 5-Waiting 6-Bad Sensation 7-Dead But Alive 8-Afterlife 9-If you Could 10-I see you part 2 |
This is a band that makes strong emphasis on the contrast between electronics and distorted guitars. their music is fat ad aggressive and here the keyboards and electronics have an essential role. there are good guitar riffs here of the rhythmic type that add the heaviness to the msuic and contrasts heavily with teh electronic side of the music. The vocals are amazing being of two types: one that screams almost spitting his throat on the heaviest parts and a clean one that does the choruses and some melodic parts in the vein of Devin Townsend (and sometimes in a lower vocal range). The drumming is really intense with fast parts and aggressive patterns that sound almos like a machine. The album has a careful mix that balances well the contrast between electronics and heaviness making them sound like a whole and not as separate parts as sometimes happens in bands that do this kind of fusion. A really innovative release with killer compositions. |
|
Produced by Smaxone |
Contact: www.smaxone.net and www.scarletrecords.it |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Portugal | |
|
Line Up: Hugo Flores - guitars, keyboards |
|
|
Music by Flores Lyrics by Flores, Mateus |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Out of Place 2-Burning Inside Me 3-Schizophrenic PLayground 4-Always Knew 5-A Chain of Actions 6-I heard of a Place called Earth 7-Ghosts of the lost planes 8-Solitary Star 9-Instrumetal 10-Moving Engines 11-Time Has Been Broken 12- Out of Place (radio edit |
Sonic Pulsar is pure progressive rock/metal full of amazing melodic ideas and virtuoso arrangements. Hugo Flores is the brain behind the band playing guitars, keyboards, vocals and bass and showing killer skills on all of this features. The songs are carefully constructed and each of them has multiple melodic arrangements and amazing keyboards work. the keyboards here are essential and they give the main progressive feeling to the music orchestrating many passages with chord progressions and doing also many arrangements. Flores vocals are really clean and they develope the main melodies while he does interesting riffs and phrases with the guitar. the sound of the recording is crystal clear and that is essential to appreciate everything that Hugo Flores creates. And on every listen you will find new elements in Sonic Pulsar music. A killer progressive release full of amazing melodic arrangements. |
|
Produced by Hugo Flores |
Contact: www.sonicpulsar.com |
| Label: Bells Go Clang |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Norway | |
|
Line Up: Torgrim Torve - vocals, guitars Ronny Flissundet - guitars, b. vocals Havard Gjerde - bass, b. vocals Erlend Gjerde - drums |
|
|
Music by Stonegard Lyrics by Stonegard |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Ghost Circles 2- Arrows 3- Hunter 4-At Arms Length 5-Resistance 6-The White Shaded Lie 7-Triggerfinger 8-Barricades 9-Goldbar 10-Dakest Hour |
The instrumental "Ghost Circles" opens up this album before the band gets into the title track a tune with sheer intensity and ultrafast drumming. The guitars here sound huge showing ultra heaviness and contrasting with the killer vocal melodies that give a lot of identity to the music.A nd despite the utter heaviness, the band has a true rocking feeling in their music as it is evident in tracks like "Hunter". A unique element here are the vocal harmonies used in some parts adding contrast to the music and at the same time making the listening of each tune truly enjoyable. The rhythm section is solid here and intereacts really well with the huge guitars that give the heart and soul to Stonegard´s music. Calmer tunes like "At Arms Length" add a lot of variation to the music of this album showing again how you can be extremely heavy despite playing clean parts and slow rhythms. The sound of the recording is amazing and that adds extra points to the band`s music making the guitars sound louder than hell and the band sound extremely compact. A must have. |
| Cover Artwork by: Martin Kvamme | |
|
Recorded at Produced by Daniel Bergstrand |
Contact: www.stonegard.org |
| Label: Sanctuary Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Finland | |
|
Line Up: Timo Tolkki - guitars Timo Kotipelto - vocals Lauri Porra - bass Jens Johansson - keyboards Jörg Michael - drum |
|
|
Music by Timo Tolkki Lyrics by Timo Kotipelto |
|
|
Tracks: 01. Maniac
Dance |
Stratovarius is back with its most classical line-up except for Jari Kainulainen that has been replaced by bassist Lauri Porra. The good thing is that here we have a slight change in sound getting a little apart from the classic power metal sound and the band gets a little bit heavier this time. Not that they will become a thrash metal band but some elements that were weak in the past are now heavier (an example of this is the tune "Fight!!!"). Besides this we don´t have many changes here so long time fans will not be dissapointed with this new album. Here we have the power metal runs, the ballad and Timo Kotipelto´s crystal clear voice doing his high pitched melodies. And also here we have Timo Tolkki´s solos and Jens Johanson orchestrating keyboards. Analbum for Stratovarius fans. |
|
Produced by Timo Tolkki |
Contact: www.stratovarius.com |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: Ritchie Krenmaier - vocals Günter Maier - guitar, keyboards, vocals on 10 Alex Hilzensauer - bass Herb Greisberger - drums |
|
|
Music and lyrics by Stygma IV, exc. 9 by Black Sabbath and 10 by Dixon/Moore |
|
|
Tracks: 1- The Edge 2-Spirits Rising 3-Mindraped 4-No reason 5-Perfect Creation 6-Terror 7-Tsunami 8-Forever 9-Heaven and Hell (live) 10- I´m a king bee (live) |
Pure metal the way it must be done is what Stygma IV delivers and what tey have delivered through all their career. That is, huge guitar riffs with ultimate power, excellent vocals that go way beyond the patterns of the style, drumming that is not only galloping but emphasizing each riff and each song structure. This guys also have some progressive touches in the rhythms and in some arrangements but played with full power that makes the keyboards sound like a razor through your spine. The main thing here are the guitars that deliver amazing riffs and also interesting arrangements that give a lot of identity to Stygma IV. And the vocals are superb being much more powerful than the ones used in the style and without abusing high pitches and stuff like that. The sound here is huge, specially on guitars and the drums are crystal clear mixed letting you feel the ride cymbal and the different arrangements created by this guy. There are two live bonus tracks here of the band doing a Black Sabbath cover and a W. Dixon one showing how the band sounds live and adding extra points to this album. Pure metal in its best form !! |
| Cover Artwork by: Barbara Aschaber | |
|
Produced by Stygma 4 |
Contact: www.stygma4.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Italy | |
|
Line Up:
Tooz- vocals Jerico - bass |
|
|
Music by Subliminal Crusher, exc. 8 by Death Lyrics by Subliminal Crusher, exc. 8 by Death |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Armageddon 2-Sense 3-History 4-Tearifying 5-Life 6-Affection 7-Outro 8-Pull the Plug |
Subliminal Crusher is a band that creates compositions taht are brutal but ath the same time have a lot of technical skills that set the band apart from all the brutal bands in the scene. With emphasis in delivering technical death metal tunes the band has managed to create here seven trcks of pure aggression plus a killer cover of Death´s classic from the "Leprosy" album "Pull the Plug". the band is fast and furious and the rhythms are fast most of the time with strong emphasis on the rhythms that are devastating. the vocals are of the growling type but clear enough to let you follow the lyrics. the sound of the recording is really loud and the mix is good specially on the guitars that ahve a really lud and compact sound. The drums have some reverb in them and sound original in a band like this one. A devastating release with multiple ideas within the death metal realm. |
| Cover Artwork by: Subliminal Crusher | |
|
Recorded at Produced by Subliminal Crusher |
Contact: www.subcrush.it |
| Label: Independent |
![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Germany | |
|
Line Up: |
|
|
Music by Subsonic Lyrics by Subsonic |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Superfreaky Crazy Heroe 2- Hours 3-Mask 4-Penis Puppeteer 5-Ass of an Angel 6-The other way 7-You are alright 8-Funeral Discount 9-Let´s get naked 10-Free my mind 11-My secret lie 12 Intergalactic Tits
|
A killer combination of aggression and melodies is what Subsonic delivers on this album. With huge guitar sound the band delivers good rocking riffs that are their trademark and uses really modern vocal melodies (also with some rapping in some of the tracks) that are really memorable and that makes each tune to stick in your mind. The rhythms are of the rocking type with emphasis on making the tunes sound powerful and heavy giving the aggressive side to Subsonic´s music. But the main thing here are the guitar riffs that are the essence of the music here. you can imagine the band paying in a live show while listening the album and I have to say that they sound extremely powerful. The recording has a really good sound that makes the music even better keeping the guitars right in your face and letting you feel all the power of this band. A powerful release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Nicola Kuhn | |
|
Recorded at Tonstudio 45 Produced by Kurt Ebelhäuse |
Contact: www.subsonic-rock.de |
| Label: MEtal Blade |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Patrick Pintavalle - guitar, vocals Nick Calaci - bass Jamie Stewart - vocals Peter Joseph - guitars Jeramie Kling - drums |
|
|
Music by The Absence Lyrics by The Absence |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Intro 2-A Breath Beneath 3-NEcropolis 4-From Your Grave 5-HEaven Ablaze 6-Summoning the Darkness 7-Shattered 8-I, Deceiver 9-My ruin 10-Seven Demons |
A long intro opens up this album with good guitars delivering melancholic melodies before the storm is unleashed with "A Breath Beneath". the Absence is a band that combines clverely a lot of aggression with excellent musicianship and specially a killer guitar work. The guitars are the main thing here creating heavy riffs and also interesting melodies and solos all over the compositions. The music here can be described as something like black/death metal because it has elements of both styles but going beyond them with a lot of originality. The vocals are extremely aggressive and contrast with the guitar arrangements. the drumming is really intense and technical and this guy is really metronomic inthe tempos and extremely violent when hitting the drumkit. Each of the tunes here is carefully developed in order to make them really aggressive but at the same time to give them a lot of originality in teh arrangements. I have to remark the excellent sound that this recording has making it one of the most violent releases of the year. |
| Cover Artwork by: Peter Joseph | |
|
Recorded at Morrisound Studios Produced by Erik Rutan and The Absence |
Contact: www.theabsence.com and www.metalblade.com |
| Label: Warfront Productions |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Norway | |
|
Line Up: Vardalv - drums Grimnisse - guitars, vocals, bass |
|
|
Music by Grimnisse Lyrics by Grimnisse |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Funeral Moonlight 2-Symbols of Winter 3-Skogens Kall |
Three tracks show that this guys are one of the most bestial black metal outfits out there. This guys are a killer mix of aggression and dark atmospheres taken to the limits. With a definite norwegian sound the band delivers here passages that takes you to diabolic woods where darkness reigns. Influences here can be classic Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone and other classical bands from the norwegian scene. but the band has its own identity and that is because of their heavy use of darker than hell atmospheres that give a different dimension to the band´s music. This release is one of the darkest releases of 2005 and Throne of Katharsis is the ideal music for a satanic funeral. Pure black dark metal!! |
| Cover Artwork by: Grimnisse | |
|
Recorded at Nordsea with 4 track recorder and in Sound of teh Dead Recordings Produced by THrone of Katharsis |
Contact: www.warfront.de and www.throneofkatharsis.com |
| Label: Independent |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: Hungary / U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Julie Kiss - vocals Tom MacLean - guitar, keyboards Akos Pirisi - drums Lee Barrett - bass |
|
|
Music by To-Mera Lyrics by Julie Kiss |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Dreadful Angel 2-Born of Ashes |
The first thing that I have to say is that the two tracks that are on this recording left me wanting more because of the good quality of this band. To-Mera features ex Extreme Noise Terror and multiple other bands Lee Barrett and Julie Kiss, ex - Without Face. And it is evident how good are the skills of this people because they deliver two really intense tunes where aggression is combined with melancholy always being really effective in transmit emotions to the listener. Julie`s vocals are enchanting in some parts, then sound sad in others or desperate or aggressive depending on the mood of the passage that he is singing. The guitars sound big and they interact with keyboards that orchestrate all the tunes adding a majestic feeling to the music. There are good solos, such as the one in "Dreadful Angel" where Lee shows his skills as a soloist and there are also som ekeyboards solos. This is what I call progressive extreme metal with experiomentation and atmospheres. I wnat to listen more from this guys because if they release an album in 2006 it can be the album of the year. |
| Cover Artwork by: To-Mera | |
|
Recorded at The Peel rehearsal Rooms Produced by To-Mera |
Contact: www.to-mera.com |
| Label: Independent |
![]() ![]() |
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Todd Pope - all isntruments, vocals |
|
|
Music by Todd Pope Lyrics by Todd Pope |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Intro- A new being 2-On your Guard 3-Blood 4-State of Decay 5-Shallow 6-THe Emptiness |
Transfigural Form is the product of Todd pope´s brain. Here we have a musical project where heavy guitar riffs interact with eerie melodies creating a unique sound that has a lot of originality and power. There is pure heavy metal here but combined with an extreme voice of the guttural type that adds a more extreme feeling to the music. And we have also some more thrash metal riffs too that make each tune an experience in aggression. The drums are programmed and they are used in a way that does not look to hide this fact. So, the drums sound weird in many parts such as in "On your guard" where they have a strange mechanical sound that adss also some industrial feeling. The tracks are well developed and they are memorable due to the riffs and the song structures. This is pure experimentation within the realm of a one man band that emphasizes aggression and innovative ideas. |
| Cover Artwork by: Todd Pope | |
|
Produced by Todd Pope |
Contact: http://www.geocities.com/transfigural_form/index.html |
| Label: |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Josh Johnson - vocals Brian Mc Kay - guitars Joe Amaral - guitars Adam Field - bass Kevin O´Meara - drums |
|
|
Music by Transfix Lyrics by Transfix |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Goddess 2-P.T.S.O.Y.F. 3-Your Rotting Body 4-This Tragedy 5-Deadearth |
Transfix is a band whose riffs are the essence of the music with influences of styles like death metal, thrash metal and even some black metal in some of the guitar runs. If you like extreme, almost agonic vocals then you should check Transfix because here you have plenty of them. One point to remark here is that there are also some modern metal influences here and there in some rhythmic riffs that are used in some parts but theis influences are always taken to the extreme. Each composition here has plenty of changes in rhythm and tempo and in this aspect the band demonstrates that they are really well rehearsed and sound very tight. The drummer is fast and does good double bass drumming in some aprts and in the slower parts does some interesting patterns to adorn the pasages. The sound is loud and direct and the guitars are mixed right in your face. A really extreme release with crushing compositions. |
| Cover Artwork by: Transfix | |
|
Recorded at Euphoria Sound Studios Produced by OScar Gouveia |
Contact: www.transfix.cjb.net |
| Label: CCP Records |
|
| Year: 2004 | |
| Country: Austria | |
|
Line Up:
Andreas Schärfinger – voc, guit |
|
|
Music by Vanitas Lyrics by Vanitas |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Endlosschleifen 2-Lebenslauf 3-Tausende Quadrate 4-Samelleidenschaft 5-Missverstanden 6-Re-Inkarnation 7-Kontrollverlust 8-Menschen...Gott...Maschinen 9-Vergangenes Kehrt Wieder 10-Relatives Freisein |
Vanitas is a band whose music is one of the most melancholic experiences one can ever listen to. Reminding me in some parts to My Dying Bride but with an even darker mood in the melodies, a really versatile singer that knows how to fit the music of the band really well and with german lyrics. And there is also a female singer whose voice is full of melancholy and that interacts really well with the more extreme male one. The keyboards are here an essential instrument to construct the atmosphere that is Vanitas trademark. The tempos are mostly mid tempos that allow the band to develope their multiple ideas carefully showing amazing musicianship (the violin here is amazing). A band that delivers really clever arrangements within a darker than hell mood. |
| Cover Artwork by: Vanitas | |
|
Produced by Vanitas |
Contact: www.ccprecords.com and www.vanitas.at |
| Label: Funerla Decadence Recs |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Vly Von Vasilisck - all instruments, vocals |
|
|
Music by Vasilisck Lyrics by Vasilisck |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Serpentis regalia 2-From the Depths of the Swamps (in 6 movements) 3- |
Vasilisck delivers here two storms of pure black metal with some industrial elements that add originality to the band´s sound. Here we have fast and dark tunes with hyper fast programmed drumming that gives sort of a machine like feeling to the music but without changing the extreme aggression that black metal must have. Raw sound is essential here to add this sort of old school norwegian black metal feeling, but at the same time the band has a more direct and loud sound than those early black metal albums had. The compositions are long and the keyboards have an essential role in many parts contrasting heavily with the extremely raw guitars. the vocals are of the extreme black emtal type with some trollish quality. To surprise more the listener there is a third track on this recording that is pure ambient and experimentation with keyboards and sounds. A dark and experimental release. |
| Cover Artwork by: Vasilisck | |
|
Produced by Vasilisck |
Contact: funeraldecadence@yahoo.com |
| Label: Pyram Axis Records |
|
| Year: 2005 | |
| Country: U.S.A. | |
|
Line Up: Marty Friedman - guitars Kim la Chance - vocals Paul Escorpeso - bass Jeff Graves - drums |
|
|
Music by Vixen Lyrics by Vixen |
|
|
Tracks: 1- Angels from the Dust 2-New Age Rockin Roller 3-Living in Sin 4-Escape the Night 5-Beg for Money 6-Hous of the rising sun 7-Secret of the Stars 8-Give it all you Got 9-Rocking Me Hard 10-The young and the Reckless 11-lady Savage 12-Angels from the Dust (original version) 13-Living in Sin (original version) |
Here we have a rerelease of some tunes from Marty Friedman`s band previous to forming Cacophony (and obviously before entering Megadeth). Vixen is pure metal with some power metal influences and also some progressive elements in some parts. With a huge range vocalist the band delivers here four tracks full of interesting melodies and with extreme power. The guitars sound raw and huge making each of |