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| MUSIC REVIEWS (April 2010) |
| CARNIFEX - HELL CHOSE ME (10 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS This San Diego California Death Metal band is back with their second release for VICTORY RECORDS. CARNIFEX has quickly built a huge following after their last release. "HELL CHOSE ME" will definitely gain them even more fans. These guys come out blasting and never stop pummeling you with their brand of new school Death Metal. Fast, intense blast beats, low ended guttural growls, mid ranged screams & razor sharp riffs are just the start of what this band has to offer. Within all this brutality they add some grooves, break downs & tempo changes all through out. If you were ever wondering where the future of Death Metal was heading then you must pick up CARNIFEX cause these guys will be at the front of the pack leading the way! Amazing!!! www.myspace.com/CARNIFEXmetal |
| CEREBRAL EFFUSION - IMPULSIVE PSYCHOPATHIC ACTS (7 track CD) COMATOSE MUSIC After five years since their last CD "SMASHED AND SPLATTERED ORGANS", the sick minds of CEREBRAL EFFUSION have unleashed another Death Metal "Blasterpiece"! These guy combine every aggressive, brutal & sick element they can from Death Metal & Grindcore together to create some of the sickest music you'll ever experience. There are slamming blasts, high speed spastic riffage & low ended blood soaked guttural vocals. The music is coated with savage violence all through out. Be prepared to take a harsh beating while listening to these guys. This is a must for fans of DEVOURMENT, MORTAL DECAY & DISGORGE! The sickness has arrived & it's in the form of CEREBRAL EFFUSION! www.CEREBRALEFFUSION.com |
| CHAOSFEAR - IMAGE OF DISORDER (11 track CD) OLD SCHOOL METAL RECORDS / VOICE MUSIC I was very happy to find the new CHAOSFEAR CD in my hands. These guys play extremely well written, progressive Thrash Metal music. They take many elements from old school Thrash Metal of the late 80's & early 90's and melt it together with some new school Death Metal influences. The music is super tight, highly intricate & extremely good. Tons of change ups, twists & tempo change occur through out their songs. The high speed shredding guitars are the driving force of the band. If you were to mix elements of TESTAMENT, FORBIDDEN, FEAR FACTORY, DARK TRANQUILITY, DARK ANGEL & MEGADETH together you'd get a slight idea of how great this band is. These guys should have exploded by now & deserve to be better know than they are. One of the best bands I've ever heard emerge from the underground! Buy this, crank it loud and often! www.CHAOSFEAR.com |
| CLOSE YOUR EYES - WE WILL OVERCOME (11 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS CLOSE YOUR EYES hail from Texas & "WE WILL OVERCOME" is the bands VICTORY RECORDS debut release. These guy blend together Hardcore & Punk to create their highly energetic sound. The music has a lot of old school Hardcore aggression mixed with up beat Punk. They toss in some more melodic Hardcore & almost Pop Punk within all the grooved out heavy aggression. The vocals follow the same path as the music. There are some slower more melodic parts with harsh screaming Hardcore ones. I loved all the hooks, breakdowns & grooving beats in their songs a lot. These guys fit perfectly in with most of the other bands on the VICTORY RECORDS roster. A must for fans of A DAY TO REMEMBER, RISE AGAINST & COMEBACK KID! www.myspace.com/CLOSEYOUREYESmusic |
| DROWNED SORROW - FITTINGS AT THE COFFIN SHOP (7 track CD) Self Released Wow! I was totally floored when first listening to this CD. DROWNED SORROW are set out to beat the hell out of their listeners. Their music is fast paced, aggressive, spastic & brilliant. These guys make a big racket, but it is well constructed racket. I love how the music is all over the place through out the whole album. Intense Death Metal merges with harsh Hardcore with touches of Grindcore, Crust, Thrash & more. They have many levels to their sound. They take you through some slow passages, but then ram your face into some heavy, brutal insane chaos. The vocals of course follow the music, which helps take their music to another level. Blend together DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SHAI HALUD, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, THE FACELESS & JOB FOR A COWBOY to get a close resemblance of what DROWNED SORROW has to offer! www.DROWNEDSORROW.com |
| HAKEN - AQUARIUS (7 track CD) SENSORY RECORDS "AQUARIUS" is the debut release from this Progressive Rock band out of London, England. These guys have a different sounding Progressive Rock sound than most out there now. Their sound adds in some elements of Metal, Classical & even some Pop Rock styles. The songs are very well orchestrated & very powerful sounding. The album is done in a conceptual Sci-Fi & Fantasy format. It definitely feels as if you were watching a film of the above styles as you listen through each track. The vocals range from melodic Goth, Progressive Rock to more Pop Rock & even some slight Death Metal styles. This won't be for every Metal fan out there, but they have so much to offer that each Metal fan should give these guys a listen, cause they will find something to enjoy! www.myspace.com/HAKENmusic |
| JAMIE'S ELSEWHERE - THEY SAID THE STORM WAS COMING (11 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS "THEY SAID THE STORM IS COMING" is the second release from this Sacramento California six piece. These guys really have expanded a common sound of today & made it their own to help them stand out from the crowd. They have a lot of high energy pouring from their songs, but also add in some melodic flares to break it up a bit. They take influences from Death Metal, Hardcore, Screamo & Traditional Rock music, mutate them together & have created a very original sound. I love how the music bounces back & forth between the fast paced spastic parts into the slower more melodic parts. You really need to hear these guys to appreciate what they have to offer. For fans of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, UNEARTH, A.F.I., SLIPKNOT & SAOSIN combined! www.JAIMIESELSEWHERE.com |
| NEVERBORN - DECIMATOR (10 track CD) WESTERN FRONT Emerging from the dark depths of Australia comes NEVERBORN. These guys are an extreme Death Metal band, but in no way are your typical Death Metal band. You can tell these guys are into many styles of Metal after one listen. They ground themselves in the Death Metal genre, but pull influences from Black, Doom, Thrash, Hardcore, Industrial, Grindcore & many more. There is rapid fire machine gun blasts, violent chaotic riffing & harsh aggressive vocals. The music is all over the place, kind of like a controlled chaos. This band must be heard! Smash together the best elements of FEAR FACTORY, THE FACELESS, DIMMU BORGIR, CARCASS, PANTERA, MESHUGGAH & SLAYER, to get a rough idea of what these guys are all about. With a comparising like this you that you want to get this disc now & blast it! A must have for Metalheads! www.myspace.com/madnessmyfriend |
| OMEGA CROM - BLOOD, STEEL & FIRE (9 track CD) REVERSED RECORDS Vancouver Canada's OMEGA CROM has released their debut CD entitled "BLOOD, STEEL & FIRE". These guys are definitely a Metal band, but don't really stick to one style of Metal. The foundation of their sound is Death Thrash Metal with lots of Power & old school Traditional Heavy Metal mixed in. They take you from an all out blasting Death groove into some heavy Thrash shredding then into some classic Power Metal. The vocals follow the same way with low ended Death growls, mid ranged harsh Thrash screams & into some falsetto clean Power vocals. These guys pretty much cover all styles of popular Metal & are sure to pull in more fans because of it too. IRON MAIDEN & JUDAS PRIEST meets TESTAMENT & old METALLICA meets IMMOLATION & INCANTATION. All this means is you must buy this album!!! www.OMEGACROM.com |
| PROPHET & THE COWBOYS OF APOCALYPSE - THE EDGE (9 track CD) NASTY PRICK RECORDS "THE EDGE" is the first solo album from PROPHET, from the Metal band ST. MADNESS. This is a lot different from the work he does in his main band. PROPHET & THE COWBOYS OF APOCALYPSE is done in a South Western Country Rock style. Prophet wrote most of this stuff when he was battling cancer in 2006 & 2007, plus while his mom was battling Lou Gehrig's Disease. He loves Metal, but also enjoys other styles of music & wanted to do something a little different. Some of the stuff is a little dark like Johnny Cash, some is a bit tongue in cheek like Willie Nelson & some is straight up kicking Country like Waylon Jennings. I dig all these musicians, so I was really enjoying this album. This solo album just shows how much talent Prophet has that he can expand outside of his other great band ST. MADNESS. Give this a listen & support his talent! www.myspace.com/PROPHETANDTHECOA |
| SHUDDERWALL - SELF TITLED (11 track CD) Self Released SHUDDERWALL is based out of Southern France. The band consists of two brothers & 1 sister. They play a some what different style of Rock music. The music has a slight Alternative sound to it, but at times it gets more aggressive and sounds a little like Hardcore or Death Metal. It was a bit weird hearing it mixed together, but they make it work some how. They also toss in some different music that almost sounds like Flamingo. Some of the guitar work reminded me of SANTANA. The vocals also are done in the same styles. At times the more melodic vocals reminded me of EL VEZ, the Mexican ELVIS, then they kick in with screaming & growling Death & Hardcore vocals. It was kind of bizarre & I didn't think I was going to like it, but it grew on me and I was digging it. www.myspace.com/SHUDDERWALL |
| SORTILEGIUM - UNHOLY LAND (4 track CD) Self Released "UNHOLY LAND" is a four track CD demo showcasing what we can expect from these guys in the near future. The band hails from Italy and play some very Doom driven Death Metal music. The music is dark, cold & creepy Doom Death with elements of Black Metal mixed through out. At times you can feel strong Gothic atmospheres & some harsh aggressive Black Metal mayhem. SORTILEGIUM also like to mix in some Jazz Fusion & Baroque music and to change things up a bit with unique composition styles. Harsh mid ranged groggy like Death/Doom/Black Metal type vocals round out the bands sound. Any fan of old school dirty, cold, harsh & well written Black Doom Death Metal should pick this demo up & look forward to their full length! www.myspace.com/SORTILEGIUM |
| STONECREEP - THE DEATHMARCH CRUSHES ON (8 track CD) Self Released Portland Oregon's STONECREEP has released their third juggernaut of an album onto the public. These guys play fast paced shredding balls to the wall Metal. They come out full blasting from the start & never let up until the end. They blend with ease elements of Thrash Metal, Modern Metal, Traditional Heavy Metal & Death Metal all together. A lot of bands are doing this now, but most don't do it as well as these guys. Thick chugging grooves, hard hitting beats, shredding riffs & strong powerful vocals pour from every song. They have that really killer mix of a bar band & an arena band sound. Kind of the same vibe that AC/DC or MOTORHEAD gives off. I like how they have a strong serious sound, but you can sense the fun enjoyment in their sound too. Well worth checking out!!! www.STONECREEP.com |
| THE DEVIL WHITE - SILENT DANCE WITH DEATH (14 track CD) Self Released Perth, Western Australia is the home for THE DEVIL WHITE. This was originally intended as a solo project for founder Michael Lenane. He wrote, performed, produced & recorded the bands first EP. Their sound is a bit different from a lot of the stuff coming out of Australia in the Metal vein. The music is what they like to call Death Rock Metal. The music is predominantly heavy, aggressive & fast paced, but at times they use harmonised vocals, acoustic guitars, piano & cello. This was a very cool mix of styles & instruments. I have been finding a lot more bands playing this style lately. THE DEVIL WHITE is one of the better bands out there doing it. Get this disc & get your Death Rock on! www.myspace.com/THEDEVILWHITE |