| MUSIC REVIEWS (March 2009) |
| ABSU - ABSU CANDLELIGHT RECORDS USA This is the first full length album from these mythilogical occult forefathers since 2001. A new line up still consiting of only 3 members has unleashed one of the bands best albums to date. This 3 piece is a lot stronger, advanced & more intesne than most out there with more members. They continue on with material consisting of Sumerian, Mesopotarnian, Celtic Mythology, Goetic, Chaos Enochain Magick themse. The full on intensity of their Black Death Metal sound just floors you. There are even some fast chugging riifing Thrash Metal parts mixed in as well. This is one of the best bands out there doing the old school Black Metal style & one of the most respected! www.ABSU.us |
| BUILDING CHAOS - PROMO 2009 SELF RELEASED Hailing from Greece & playing a very popular style that has been resurrected again in the past few years. I am talking about Thrash Metal. These guys play old school Thrash metal with some newer influences mixed in. There are crunchy guitars with some killer thrashing grooves running all through out their songs. The drums are thick & pounding. The vocals are a blend of old & new styles of Thrash Metal that merge together nicely. If your like me & grew up listening to bands like EXODUS, ANTHRAX, DESTRUCTION, TESTAMENT, then you'll love these guys! Fans of new schoolers MUNICIPAL WASTE will dig them as well. www.BUILDINGCHAOS.com |
| DECEIVER - THRASHING HEAVY METAL PULVERISED RECORDS DECEIVER has decided to call it quits & put the band to rest. This is the bands swan song album & probably their best material they have written. These guys have been creating strong tight & crushing Thrash / Death Metal music since 2004. They sound like a Thrash version of CARCASS most of the time, but have that old school European Death Metal flavor as well. There's llots of shredding & grooving guitar riffs all through out with harsh throaty grunty vocals to acompany the music. If the band is going to go out, this is the way to go, with some killer, well written & powerful "THRASHING HEAVY METAL"! www.myspace.com/DECEIVERswe |
| DEREK SHERINIAN - MOLECULAR HEINOSITY INSIDE OUT MUSIC / SPV DEREK SHERINIAN is best know for being a memeber of the Prog Metal band DREAM THEATER, but he has also worked with KISS, BILLY IDOL & ALICE COOPER. "MOLECULAR HEINOSITY" is the 6th solo release for this international keyboardist & composer. On this album he takes his sound a bit of a different direction encorporating more Progressive Metal influences, then Jazz Fusion in past releases. There are new guest musicians that include Tony Franklin, Virgil Donati, Brian Tichy & Zakk Wylde. Fans of Derek's past outing & of course DREAM THEATER will surely enjoy this new offering! |
| DIMENSION ZERO - HE WHO SHALL NOT BLEED CANDLELIGHT RECORDS USA DIMENSION ZERO formed back in 1995 by Jesper & Glenn of IN FLAMES. They are currently joined by members of MARDUK, HAMMERFALL, SINERGY, DARK TRANQUILITY, DIABOLIQUE, LORD BELIAL & more. This mega side project is an extremely amazing Death Metal band. They merge together some elements of Thrash & Black metal in their sound also. There are some all out fast paced aggressive Death parts mixed with some melodic Thrash Metal. The vocals are right down the middle of Thrash & Death with some slightly Black Metal sounding ones tossed in. This is one highly recommended band! You'll be blown away!!! www.DIMESNSIONZERO.se |
| EGOIST - ULTRA SELFISH REVOLUTION SELF MADE GOD RECORDS EGOIST is a one man project that consist of Stanislaw Wolonciej who does all guitars, bass, drums, vocals, synthesizers, production & artwork. Stan ahs been in several bands & projects over the years playing a wide range of music. In this project he combines a lot of his influences & elemnts of many styles. The music has a strong Electronica or Te4chnical Industrial sound mixed with lots of Metal elements & consist of progressive, rhythmic, arythmic & melodic passages. I really like the way he combines all these elements together to flow quite easily into one another. The melodic & dark vocals Stan has just adds to the bands over all sound. Check out this amazing talent! www.myspace.com/EGOISTpoland |
| F.O.B. - THE DICE: THE SEVENTH DOT FOR CERTAIN VICTORY I.F.A. RECORDS F.O.B. hails from Czech Republic & has been one of my favorite underground bands for many years. These guys just surpass themselves with each new release. Their music just evolves & gets better every time. They play a very unique & technical sounding Death Metal style. They combine fast paced Death beats with some chugging & harsh Thrash Metal guitar riffs. Along the way your hit with some low ended guttural Grindcore vocals & music then you head back into a mid paced Hardcore groove with melodic vocals. This band is definately on of the best bands to emerge from Czech Republic & the underground scene in general. This album is a must www.FOB.cz (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) |
| KYLESA - STATIC TENSIONS PROSTHETIC RECORDS "STATIC TENSIONS" is the fourth release from KYLESA & probably the best thing they have created thus far. This band is known for blurring every boundary they can when developing their sound & they have done it once again. They snag different things from Avantgarde, Experimental, Sludge, Doom, Stoner, Psychedelic Rock, Metal, Punk & so on, then incorporate them all together to create their unique sound. KYLESA just puts in what they want regardless if they fit into any catagory. The closest thing they could fit in would be the Stoner & Doom Metal genres, but they are much more than that. This band needs to be experienced in order to truly appreciate them! www.KYLESA.com |
| LEGIONS OF FIRE - THE MARK OF POWER TURKEY VULTURE RECORDS LEGIONS OF FIRE is a 3 piece from Ohio & play some Classic Thrash metal music. They have the old school vibe that flows through their sound, but they add in some Heavy Metal flare too. There are some cool change ups & some stop & start parts with melodic interludes in some songs. There are even some really cool solo parts, that have been missing from a lot of the Metal scene for a long time. The vocals are in a more Traditional Thrash or Heavy Metal style thats harsh & throaty at times. They remind me of the band ST. MADNESS on my distro label. If you like your Thrash circa mid to late 80's then your gonna love these guys! www.myspace.com/LEGIONSOFFIRE2 |
| LETHAL AGGRESSION - AD NAUSEUM HORROR PAIN GORE DEATH PRODUCTIONS The Thrashcore legends have returned! It's been 20 years since this bands last release. LETHAL AGGRESSION play old school crossover styled music & better than most playing it back then & present day. There is tons of shredding intense madness going on through out all their songs. Harsh screaming Thrash vocals with a Hardcore attitude top off this bands extreme sound. This is a must for all those people who remember the original days when Crossover was born. A must for fans of NUCLEAR ASSAULT, D.R.I., SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, AGNOSTIC FRONT, S.O.D. & more. An incredible blast from the past when music was intense, pissed off, angry & great! www.myspace.com/LETHALAGGRESSION |
| MAN MADE MAN - YOUR PUNISHMENT BEGINS TURKEY VULTURE RECORDS Straight out of the midwest comes MAN MADE MAN with their debut CD release. These guys play a new school style of Death Metal that has been flooding the scene lately. There are many out there that try & fail, but these guys have succeded in pulling it off big time. They have a very tight technical sound filled with heaviness, melody & tons of grooves. I really dig the doses of Thrash & Hardcore that are scattered through out their sound. The vocals have that Deathcore mid ranged style with some lower ended growls intertmixed. This band can hold their own with any of the bigger bands playing this style , because they are better than most of them!. Keep a watch on these guys! www.myspace.com/MANMADEMAN |
| MOTHRA - DYES SELF MADE GOD RECORDS MOTHRA is not anything what I expected them to be from looks of the cover. I was expecting some Stoner or Doom Rock band. These guys hit me full blast & I was hooked. They play a spastic sounding style of Mathcore in the likes of the great DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. I was highly impressed by the technicality & depth of this bands sound . They hit you in one direction & then your thrown back in another. The music is harsh, loud & just keeps smashing away at you in a frenzy. The vocals add right into this with harsh Death / Hardcore crossover styled screaming & growling. If your a Mathcore fan, this must be in your collection for it to be complete! www.myspace.com/MOTHRA |
| PERSONA NON GRATA - SHADE IN THE LIGHT SENSORY RECORDS This is the debut CD release from this Progressive Metal band out of Greece. These guys have been together for a little while now, but needed to perfect their sound before putting out a release. They are based in Progressive Metal, but they do add some flavoring of Power, Traditional Metal & even som Classic Rock type elements. There is a lot of depth, variety & more all intertwind within their sound. They take you on a epic journey that you want to keep taking over & over again. These guys fit in perfectly with the rest of the bands on the SENSORY roster! For fans of CIRCUS MAXIMUS, LUCA TURILI & RHAPSODY! www.PERSONANONGRATA.info |
| ROSS BYRON - SELF TITLED SELF RELEASED Ross Byron is the ex bass player from SPIN DOCTORS & KAOS FROM ORDER. He has released a solo album that a bit of Classic Rock mixed with Grunge & Traditional Metal. The music has a strong 80's vibe, especially in the Metal sounding songs. The songs are more of a 70's Rock style. The music reminds me of a bit of RUSH, KISS, FOREIGNER & JOURNEY. While the vocals are a mix of Paul Stanley from KISS with Eddie Money & Kip Winger. This is not really my style of music, but if your into any of the above bands or singers than you'll enjoy this release. www.myspace.com/ROSSBYRONsmusic |
| SEANCE - AWAKENING OF THE GODS PULVERISED RECORDS Hailing from Sweden comes one of the best & most underrated Death Metal bands, SEANCE. These guys have been churning out their form of technical Death Metal for some time. This they bring it full force & pound it into your face & never stop through out the whole album. The vocals are mid ranged thick Death growls that peirce your brain. This band should be bigger than a lot of bands out there just after one listen you can hear why! The band consist of past & current members of WITCHERY! This is sonic violence at it's best!!! www.myspace.com/SEANCEseance |
| SEIZURE CRYPT - UNDER THE GUN BAD ELEPHANT PRODUCTIONS SIEZURE CRYPT comes from the bowels of New York City & plays spastic Hardcore. The music has a bit of a Crossover style to it, cause I can hear many aspects of Metal music through out their sound. There are a lot of fast paced aggressive & intense blasts, bursts & more in their sound. The vocals are a mixture of angry Hardcore & pissed off Punk. If you took old school Hardcore from the early 80's & smashed it together with new school Hardcore you'd get a great idea of what these guys sound like. This ones for fans of THE SPUDMONSTERS, AGNOSTIC FRONT, SHEER TERROR, MADBALL, BLACK FLAG & THE MEATMEN. www.SEIZURECRYPT.com |
| STEEL KINGDOM - REFORGED REFINED PRISM BREAK RECORDS STEEL KINGDOM play a mixture of Metal styles. They are mostly based in the Traditional or Heavy Metal genre, but they add more to their sound. The guitar work has a Power Metal or Thrash Metal vibe to it, while the keyboards give the band that Progressive & Power Metal feel. The drums are a blend of Heavy Metal, Thrash & in the double bass kicks they boarder on Death Metal. The vocals are acombination of Power, Traditional & Heavy Metal styles that are clean & melodic. I didn't feel the vocals quite meshed with the music properly, maybe it's just me. This is one for most Modern Metal fans to check out. www.STEELKINGDOM.net |
| THE TARDY BROTHERS - BLOODLINE CANDLELIGHT RECORDS USA THE TARDY BROTHERS consists of John & Donald Tardy who many of you older Metal heads will remember from XECUTIONER which later evolved into OBITUARY. This is a side project the guys have been wanting to do for a long time. They wanted to put out some music they have created themselves. The music is a combination of old school Death Metal with mixtures of Thrash Metal through out. They have brought in new OBITUARY guitarist & EXECUTIONER guitarist to play on the album as well. This is a very cool side project that we will hopefully see more releases from in the future. It's like a less Deathy version of OBITUARY! www.TARDYBROTHERS.com |
| TRIBULATION - THE HORROR PULVERISED RECORDS Here we have another great Death Metal band from Sweden as well as another one on PULVERISED RECORDS. These guys play pure evil & fast Death Metal in an old school style. The music is hyper intense, pissed off & aggressive as hell. They have a Florida Death feel meets a Swedish new school Death sound. The music is very technical sounding & brutal all at once. The vocals are done in a mid to low ended Death growl range. If your a fan of old MORBID ANGEL, DEICIDE, AUTOPSY & CANNIBAL CORPSE then this is definately something you want to pick up! Death Metal that's sick, fast, evil & extremely good! Horns up! www.TRIBULATION.se |
| WITHIN A MIND - ISOLATE SELF RELEASED WITHIN A MIND is a studio project by two members of the band MONGOLOID WITCHCRAFT. This project consists of Jason Aldrich doing guitars & backing vocals &Ian Heran doing drums, bass & vocals. This is the second batch of original songs from these guys. They combine classic Death Metal with new school Grindcore. The guys posses much talent with their 10 plus years of writing together. The vocals are a mid ranged Death growl style with a groggier sounding one mixed in. I am a fan of their other band, but I actually think I liked WITHIN A MIND much better. Support these talented Death heads! www.myspace.com/WITHINAMIND |