Thursday, May 17, 2012 : 0 CommentsSIN7SINS is a Dutch female-fronted Metal band, playing Gothic Metal, formed in 2006. A solid line-up was a fact around the end of 2007. That same year a demo was put out, which led to several live shows, one of them being at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 2008 was the year the band toured as part of the Jägermeister Tour line-up. Two years later SIN7SINS put out a first full-length: “Perversion Ltd.” and signed for this release with the German label Massacre Records, who then made it available to the masses at the end of October 2010. More gigs and a 6-month break later, enough material was written for a new album.
At the end of last year (2011) the band recorded “Carnival Of No Tomorrow”. No release via Massacre Records this time, but their own little S7S Records. The production was in the hands of Dan Swanö. He and Mark Jansen (EPICA, MAYAN) also contributed with guest vocals on this album, repectively for the songs “Cyanide Symphony” and “As Romance Dies”. The release date was set on the 11th of May 2012. “Carnival Of No Tomorrow” contains 11 songs and for the track “Sick Of You” a video was shot. See here. (more…)
More info at http://www.sin7sins.com/ Wednesday, May 16, 2012 : 0 CommentsHUNTRESS is an American, California-based, Heavy Metal band, formed in 2009 by vocalist Jill Janus and ex-members of PROFESSOR, DARK BLACK and SKELETONWITCH. In late 2011 the band signed with Napalm Records, who released the debut album, “Spell Eater”, on the 27th April 2012. The release contains ten powerful and catchy Heavy Metal tracks with a dark background. The cover art for this album was handled by Vance Kelly (DOWN, THE SWORD) in order to be inline with the lyrical context of occult practices and related.
It begins with the title track and the direct outburst of Heavy Metal with a Black Metal touch in the riffing. What follows is raging Metal, Speed Metal you might even call it. Add rough vocals, or cleans with a raw edge, and you can draw comparisons with BENEDICTUM. But clearly this song has got balls! The singing is fully clean, including high notes, in the chorus. The music takes on a more aggressive stance as well there. As is custom with Heavy Metal: solo. No complaints here. The song ends with a nice and easy outro, so to speak, gradually finishing the song while the vocals are now mere whispering… witch-style. A great song to begin with! (more…)
More info at http://huntresskills.com/ Tuesday, May 15, 2012 : 0 CommentsHERFST (AUTUMN in English) is a Belgian Melodic Death/Black Metal band, formed in 2003 – and here I copy-paste from the gig report (see here) when the band supported GOD DETHRONED in October 2011 -, has over the years undergone several line-up changes. It wasn’t until 2010 that the debut album came out: “Necrotica”. Prior to this a demo was put out in 2003 and an EP in 2005 (“Life’s Enddesign”). And before their gig in Ypres, HERFST had again changed their line-up. Matthieu Van den Brande (ex-POSEYDON) replaced Dietwin Elbers on vocals.
Live-wise HERFST has so far shared the stages with DARK FUNERAL, VITAL REMAINS, GOD DETHRONED, BELPHEGOR, THE VISION BLEAK, TANKARD, GRAVEWORM, ANOREXIA NERVOSA, SCARVE, HORNA, ANCIENT RITES, IN-QUEST, SECRETS OF THE MOON, THE LEGION, PANCHRYSIA, and many more.
Anno 2012, on the 19th of May, the band will release the first EP of a duo: “The Deathcult Pt. I – An Oath In Darkness”. This release contains 5 tracks, was recorded under the all-watching eye of Sven “Svenchi” Janssens and mixed and mastered by no one less than Dan Swanö. (more…)
More info at http://www.herfst.org/ Saturday, May 12, 2012 : 0 CommentsSWITCHBLADE ROSIE is an American Progressive Metal band, formed a few years ago. They are said to be “inspired by everything from JOHN COLTRANE to MESHUGGAH, DEATH, and even BACH.” The music contains influences from Jazz, Metal and classical music. The band released a first EP in 2010 and thanks to that could share the stage with a.o. TURBID NORTH and TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION, none of which I have heard of, by the way. But since everyone is in a band these days, it’s normal you can’t know ‘em all. On a sidenote, on the drums there is a certain Josh Fallin, who you could know from the Death Metal band DISCHORDIA, who released “Creator, Destroyer” last year. See here.
Anno 2012, since the 17th of March, the second EP is out: “Nocturnal Guest”. This contains four songs, offering an assault on your eardrums from start to finish, in a Progressive way. It begins with “Shore Of Time” and its intro: piano and clean vocals, the combo sounding quite ballad-ish, Poppish even. but then the Neo-Classical Metal breaks loose (the song also ends with this), the vocals being double-headed: clean and growls. The Metal, in general, is groovy, Thrashy, Hardcore-like… a mix, to put it short. The chorus is melodic and sung with a clean voice as well. Halfway the music changes course and you get a solo as well. Overall, this is a pretty good song, where it’s hard to not listen to the drums. Good job by Josh, in this case. One big remark, though: the disorted production. It’s hard to enjoy the music when the sound is not smooth. (more…)
More info at http://www.facebook.com/switchbladerosie Tuesday, May 8, 2012 : 0 CommentsTOXIC HEART is a Slovenian Glam/Hard Rock Metal band, formed in 2007. Back in 2009 I got the request to review their debut album, “Ride Your Life”, which you can read here. This release was a very pleasant and entertaining encounter. Of course the band then played as many gigs as possible and it seems TOXIC HEART has since then become the main band of guitarist Mike Pipenbaher, who’s also in 7TH ANGEL. No news from that band, however. Anyway, now, since late January 2012, a new release is available for the masses: the mini-album “Trailerpark Show”.
As you can imagine, the music is a bit different. Very much Country-influenced, one might say. But the guys kept things fun and entertaining. Seven new tracks were written for this. It begins with “Back Home”. This instantly sets the tone with its Country leads. You may mistake it for a power ballad, but this song just rocks a bit too much for that. It’s one of those feel-good songs, typical also to bring back memories, to reminisce. The vocals are clean and fit in well. Full melodic power and volume is presented in the chorus. Overall, the end result is catchy, very accessible. (more…)
More info at http://www.toxicheart-tv.com/ Tuesday, May 1, 2012 : 0 CommentsThe French Heavy / Power Metal band LONEWOLF started its activities in… and here it depends on the source… because Metal-Archives says 1992 with a first 3-track demo, “The Dark Throne” in that same year, while the band’s bio (see the Facebook page) states 1993 as the debut year and the first demo coming out not in 1993 (see Metal-Archives), but in 1994 under the title “The Calling”. And this demo is, according to Metal-Archives, the band’s SECOND demo (from 1993). Is it because “The Dark Throne” was perhaps more a try-out than a proper demo, so to speak? In any case, the band ceased all activities after the “Holy Evil” single from 1995 or 1996 (again source-dependent).
A reunion was in the making in 2000 and two years (or was it that same year?) later the debut album “March Into The Arena” was released. Anno 2003 – ah, both websites agree – the follow-up came out: “Unholy Paradise”. So far the band had then shared the stage with GRAVE DIGGER, PARAGON, SACRED STEEL, PAUL DI’ANNO and WIZARD. Another 5 years later, album no. 3 was ready for the market: “Made In Hell”. The French didn’t waste any time and the following year “The Dark Crusade” was made available. This album featured several guests – Majk Moti (RUNNING WILD), Jan Bünning (PARAGON) and Marta Gabriel (CRYSTAL VIPER). The album itself was produced by Bart Gabriel, known from his work with e.g. BURNING STARR, SACRED STEEL and CRYSTAL VIPER. The mixing was in the hands of Andy LaRocque (KING DIAMOND). (more…)
More info at http://www.lonewolfdivision.com/ Monday, April 30, 2012 : 0 CommentsLast year the Canadian Progressive Death Metal band DERELICT released a 3-track Promo EP (see my review here) as pre-taste for their third full-length. This new album is titled “Perpetuation” and came out on the 20th April. It was mixed and mastered by Chris Donaldson of CRYPTOPSY. This resulted in a clean, polished sound, yet still allowing for the power and aggression of the music and vocals to come out. Sébastien Pittet from Augury was asked to play fretless bass lines for this release.
“Perpetuation” begins with the title track. When looking at the lyrics, it’s probably about the current crisis, or more specifically, the neo-liberalism. It attacks in a direct way and sounds like a machine gun. Eric’s vocals are bestial, to say the least, guiding what you can consider a whirlwind of brutality. But a very nice one, I must say. “Spoils Of War” is next. It’s about Canadian history specifically, but the general idea is this: virtually all human civilizations currently existing on our planet were built upon the bones of other conquered cultures. For more details, go to the band’s website (direct link). The music begins with guitar tapping as the song is gradually being built. Blasting occurs as well, obviously, but soon enough the entire band shifts into highest gear, offering a technical, crazy whirlwind of Jazzy Death Metal. It’s nice to hear a difference between the ferocious verses with Eric’s typical extreme vocals, and the chorus, which is more of a midtempo one, despite the occasional blastbeats. Speaking of which, I find it mindblowing how, with great ease, drummer Jordan Perry played his parts. But of course one should not underestimate the guitar and bass input. In this blasting storm, it’s strange to hear a guitar solo. It will have its use, but I had the impression that it didn’t really fit or belong here. Likewise for the solo at the end. (more…)
More info at http://www.derelictmetal.com/ Tuesday, April 24, 2012 : 1 CommentPICTURE is a Dutch Heavy Metal band, formed in 1979. The band put out a total of seven studio albums, from “Picture” in 1981 to “Marathon” in 1987. Of course there’s a list of other releases like a demo, an EP, lots of singles and a compilation. See Metal-Archives.com for more info. After 1987 PICTURE got out of the… picture. It is said this band is well-known around the world and even HAMMERFALL covered one of their songs (“Eternal Dark”). PICTURE came into the picture again with the reunion in 2008. The following year a new album was put out: “Old Dogs New Tricks”. Earlier this year, on the 22nd February 2012, album no. nine came out via Artist Station. Titled “Warhorse” it contains 13 tracks of pure and traditional Heavy Metal. Among those 13 tracks is a re-recording of the aforementioned hit “Eternal Dark”.
I had never heard of PICTURE until I was sent a copy of this newest release. You do get a lot of Heavy Metal for your money with 13 tracks. For some it’s overkill and a high risk for more fillers than killers, for others an album can’t have enough songs. “Warhorse” begins with the “Battle Plan”. Of course you get sounds of horses, a battlefield, warriors/knights, and after that it’s Metal time! And firm too. See it as a mix of JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, REBELLION, GRAVE DIGGER, MANOWAR (and similar) with clean, rough-edged vocals, which are not only typical for this style, but fit in very well. The chorus is very much comparable to MANOWAR, as it sounds rather epic, as one might say. The bridge is more of an angry one, followed by the obligatory guitar solo. All in all, a decent song to start with. (more…)
More info at http://www.pictureofficial.com/ Sunday, April 15, 2012 : 0 CommentsThree years after the exceptionally well-written album “First War Of The World” (see my review here), the German Black/Folk/Power Metal band returns with a new album: “The Final Journey”. This is their fifth full-length since the band’s founding in 1992, at a time when they were a Black Metal band. It’s only with the release of the debut album, “Sceptre Of Black Knowledge” (1998) that the Folk influence became more apparent. This led, over the years, to gigs with CRUACHAN, TÝR, ODROERIR and more (i.e. the many festivals BLACK MESSIAH has played at so far). Sadly they haven’t played on Belgian soil yet. No interest from promotors? Not enough people that would show up? BLACK MESSIAH is sadly enough not the only band in the list. Anyway, a new album thus, “The Final Journey”, out since the 24th February 2012. No drawn cover art this time (unlike before), but a photoshopped one. Stil, blue is again the dominant colour, like on “Oath Of A Warrior” and “Of Myths And Legends”.
I had hoped BLACK MESSIAH would sort of make a sequel to “First War Of The World” or at least have another concept album with spoken parts, but it turns out “The Final Journey” is a mix of old and new patterns: normal songs, in English and German, and to conclude “The Naglfar Saga” consisting of four parts, featuring the narrator of “First War Of The World”, namely Tom Zahner (see also the interview I had with Zagan and Brööh in 2009). And that’s a good thing! On the other hand, this also splits the tracklist into two parts, unless the songs (or majority of them) are connected, theme-wise. I didn’t notice it at first, but there’s also a CANDLEMASS cover here. Since BLACK MESSIAH played it so well, it could even have been one of their own songs. (more…)
More info at http://www.black-messiah.de/ : 0 CommentsThe last AT VANCE album I reviewed was “VII” from 2007. See my review here. This one also marked the debut of vocalist Rick Altzi (a.o. THUNDERSTONE), who replaced Mats Levén, who replaced Oliver Hartmann. I found “VII” rather good, though not all songs were killer, so to speak. In 2009 the follow-up was released under the title “Ride The Sky”. I wanted to review that one as well, but somehow it didn’t happen. Lack of inspiration perhaps? In any case, to be honest, as listenable as that album was/is, it was far from AT VANCE’s best album. This, most likely, needs to be sought among the band’s first few albums. For me personally, at least what I have heard so far, “Only Human” (2002) is my favourite. However, albums aside, AT VANCE was a band I wanted to see live at least once. This happened at Frostrock in Kuurne, Belgium, in December 2010. And I have to say it was a very entertaining gig, so kudos to Olaf and co. for that.
Now, anno 2012, a new album is out. Prior to this one, though, a compilation called “Decade” came out, featuring songs from every important period in the band’s discography. The bonus CD came with various covers and rarities. So, a new studio album sees the light of day (the 27th April): “Face Your Enemy”. What will it be like? A step up from “Ride The Sky”, for example? The press text mentions, regarding the line-up, the name of KAMELOT drummer Casey Grillo who apparently handled the drum parts for this album. Tim Breideband would handle them on stage. The album contains 12 songs and I don’t need to explain that after all those years, mastermind Olaf Lenk has found a recipe that works and thus applies it again and again. Faster songs, ballads, neo-classical influences, … even Rick Altzi singing in a way that is typical for AT VANCE. Oliver Hartmann and Mats Levén also sang in this way. (more…)
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