| MUSIC REVIEWS July 2008 |
| BLIND RACE - SEEING RED (11 track CD) Self Released BLIND RACE play a crossover style of Modern Rock & Metal music. These guys draw from a wide variety of influences. There are some raw acoustic sounding parts on songs mixed with some Prog Metal & straight forward Heavy Metal elements. They have some Thrash & Speed Metal parts that are mostly present in the guitars. The vocals also follow the path of the music itself. Some vocals are done in a smooth clean melodic style while others are done in a raw aggressive screaming way. These guys really mix it up & do a great job at it also. A blend of bands like ALICE IN CHAINS, PANTERA, STONE SOUR, GODSMACK & OZZY! www.BLINDRACE.net |
| BLOODBATH - THE WACKEN CARNAGE (13 track CD/DVD) PEACEVILLE RECORDS BLOODBATH is a Death Metal music group that is formed by members of KATATONIA & OPETH. These guys create some of the best old school styled Swedish Death Metal out there. This new release is a deluxe CD/DVD set that captures the bands live performace from the Wacken Open Air in Germany on August 5th, 2005. These guys are by far one of the best bands out there that just destroy with their unrelenting force of great Death Metal music. Many of us unlucky bastards never get to see them live, so this is the next best thing. A must for any fan of these guys www.BLOODBATH.biz |
| CANVAS SOLARIS - THE ATOMIZED DREAM (8 track CD) SENSORY RECORDS THE ATOMIZED DREAM is the newest offering from this Prog Metal band. These guys play a warped & trippy style to it that kind of takes you on a twisted journey through thier music. There THE ATOMIZED DREAM is the newest offering from this Prog Metal band. These guys play a is a bit of a 70's Metal vibe happening as well. There are no vocals on this release, but they would very intricate style of Prog Metal that has lots of involved song structures. The music has a really probably only take away from this amazing musicianship rather then compliment it. If your a very open minded fan of Metal then this would be something you'd want to check out. The music is some of the best written, structured & played Prog Metal out there today! |
| COPREMESIS - MUAY THAI LADYBOYS (10 track CD) PARAGON RECORDS This is the debut CD release from this omnisexual Death Grind band out of New York City! This band is like nothing I have heard before. They play a very low ended style of Death Metal music that is smashed together with gutteral Grindcore music. The music is really aggressive & fast paced with lots of blasts & high speed riffing. I really dig the music a lot, but I couldn't get into the because I really dig the music a lot I was able to enjoy these guys a lot. If your into this type of sickness then you'll love this band! www.myspace.com/COPREMESIS |
| DELIRIO OCCULTO - SELF TITLED (5 track CD) Self Released This is an older release from this Italian band that came out in 2006, but was just recently sent in for review.These guys play an old school style of Black Metal music. Thier music has a really dark & raw edge to it that really brings back the vibe of some of the original Black Metal bands that started this style. There are some Thrash Metal elements present in some of the guitar work as well. The vocals are done in a an old school style as well. There are long drawn out & groggy sounding Black Metal vocals mixed with harsh raw growling ones as well. All old school Black Metal hordes will definatelly want to check these guys out! nascinos@tiscalijt |
| GRENOUER - LIFE LONG DAYS (11 track CD) LOCOMOTIVE RECORDS GRENOUER was formed in the mid 90's & comes to us from Russia. These guys started out as a pure Death Metal band but with each new album infuse their music with other styles of music as well. This new album sees the band adding in lots of flavors of Modern Metal, Hardcore, Rock &Progressive styles. The music is very intricate & has a lot of good transitions from one style to the next. The vocals also follow the same pattern as the music. These guys were great back in the day & I feel even better now. You can really hear the growth & progression of a great band with each new album. This is one for fans of FEAR FACTORY, MESHUGGAH, DARK TRANQUILITY & others like these bands! |
| (HED) P.E. - THE DIY GUYS (13 track CD/DVD) SUBURBAN NOIZE This is a CD/DVD release from California's Hardcore/Hip Hop band that has been cranking out their blend of music for over a decade. This is the bands first live album. The live CD is from their show @ Hollywood's Key Club. There is a great blend of their classic tracks as well as stuff from their newest release. There are also 3 new tracks featured on the CD. The DVD is 13 live tracks plus music videos, behind the scenes, interviews & more. These guys take Hardcore music in tons on a major label & forced to go in certain directions. Now it's anything goes! www.myspace.com/HEDPE |
| MICHELLE DARKNESS - BRAND NEW DRUG (12 track CD) LOCOMOTIVE RECORDS I wasn't sure waht to expect from this band, but I was really digging what I heard. They play a kind of Gothic influenced Metal style of music. The music has a lot of darkness ingulfing it, which I liked a lot. There is a bit of a classic New Wave Gothic style from the 80's mixed with modern Metal music. The music has a soothing comforting almost like accepting death feel to it. The vocals are done in a mid ranged clean style of vocals with a lower ended styled that reminded me so much like Pete Steele of TYPE O NEGATIVE. These guys reminded me of TYPE O alot, but with not as slow drawn out style. If you throw ina little bit of older THE CULT influences along with the TYPE O ones then you'd have a good idea of what this bands sounds like. |
| (10 track CD) CENTURY MEDIA This is the CENTURY MEDIA debut for this Black Metal band. This Chicago based band has been churning out some of the best old school influenced Black Metal for a while now & now they are getting some of the long over due recognition they deserve. This album showcases the bands skills with some well constructed songs that blend together raw aggressive attacks with some ethereal atmospheric passages along with some dreary dark parts. The music takes you on many different paths, while always keeping you in that darkend world they created. There are even some creepy rocking Black Metal parts within songs too. The vocals are done in a mixture of Black metal style as well. This is by far the bands best effort to date! www.myspace.com/NACHTMYSTIUM |
| OFFSIDES - IT'S A STRUGGLE TO COMMUNICATE (6track CD) GET OUTTA TOWN RECORDS Straight out of Connecticut & into your face is this girl fronted Hardcore band. This band play some very pissed off sounding new school Hardcore music. They do take a few old school elelements & mix them in with their sound as well. The msuic is fast paced filled with lots of some male backing vocals accompanying the leads. I dig the killer grooves & breakdowns placed all through out their songs a lot. There is a very big chance we will be hearing a lot of buzz from OFFSIDES within in the Hardcore community in the near future! www.myspace.com/OFFSIDESct |
| TIME TO KILL - INSANITY (11 track CD) TURKEY VULTURE RECORDS TIME TO KILL is a female fronted Metal band. They play a mixture of older styles with some more modern styles of Metal. The music has an old school almost Thrash metal style that's blended in with some grooving Nu-Metal styles. There is a slow sludgy like vibe that is in their sound as well. They do add in some faster parts with some break downs & change ups. The vocals are where I kind of get thrown off. The vocals seem to be in front of the music instead of within it at times. The female vocals reminded me of a mixture of L7 with HOLE & a little bit of Punk but sung like the lead singe from OTEP! It was a different combination, which seemed to work for the most part. If you want to hear something that puts a bit of a twist on Metal look no further! www.TIMETOKILL.us |
| TO THE BONE - AGAINST THE DEAD HAND (11 track CD) ROSEMONT RECORDINGS This is the second offering from TO THE BONE. These guys play a wide variet of musical styles blended together to create a different sound. They mix together elements of Garage, Experimengtal, Hard Rock & Progressive Metal. The music sometimes blends all styles into one & in other parts go just for one of the styles altogether. There is a definate uniqueness to their sound that I can't recall hearing before. It has a strong up yours to corporate mainstream music & a real do what you want & who cares about everyone else. The vocals also run the sam course as the music. This band can't really be explaind to well without hearing them cause I feel each person will hear something completely different from the next listener! www.myspace.com/TOTHEBONE |
| VADER - XXV (26 track 2CD set) REGAIN RECORDS This is a 2CD set that celebrates the bands long spanning career as one of the best Death Metal bands ever. There are a total of 26 tracks re-recorded in 2008 esclusively for this release. The songs are taken from the bands entire existence. There are rare demo tracks, unreleased stuff & songs from the bands previous albums. VADER play some of the best Death Metal out there from their beginnings straight up to today. I finally got to see these guys live last year & was blown away. If your a fan of this band or never heard them before (which you should be highly ashamed) then you really need to buy this album & crank it as loud as possible! LONG LIVE VADER! info@VADER.pl / www.VADER.pl |
| WORK OF ART - ARTWORK (12 track CD) LOCOMOTIVE RECORDS I have never heard these guys before & no nothing about them. They play a very radio friendly Pop Rock style of music though. They do have some heavy influences of 80's Pop Rock music with a bit of a modern twist on their sound. The music is well written & well performed, but it's just not something that really grabbed me or hooked me in. The guitar work reminded me a little bit of Billy Sheenan. The vocals are done in a melodic clean & powerful style with a bit of a ballad style mixed within. The band as a whole could be compared to JOURNEY, but they would be more like their younger siblings & not on the same level as JOURNEY. All in all though, this is still a good comparison! Fans of 80's styled Rock like this will love these guys! |