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Past
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BACK
RONDELLUS
Sabbatum (Beg the Bug)
If someone ever told me that Estonia’s medieval music band
Rondellus (or any classic/medieval band for the matter) would put
out an album of Black Sabbath classics sung in Latin, I’d think
they were fucking mad. Turns out there is such an album, and it
is pretty damn good, yet very different. While the overall structure
of the band is still there, meaning you can still kind of grasp
the chanting drive of "War Pigs" and other song sections
that Black Sabbath fans have imbedded in their skulls after years
of playing the music repeatedly, most of the music here is very
sedated and slow moving—sometimes unrecognizable. That said,
the band’s interpretations are very hypnotic and beautiful.
Gone are the darker qualities of the originals and included into
the fold is this majestic flow of harmonies textured around some
talented musicianship. Sure, songs like "Symptom of the Universe"
and "The Wizard" give off different vibes, but the fact
that a band from Estonia covered Sabbath shows just how much of
an impact the Sabs had on music. Either that, or it was the only
music on the jukebox in an Estonian bar and they had to work with
it.
<A. Bromley> -7-
SKYMNING
Artificial Supernova (Candlelight)
The most noticeable thing about the death metal approach of Skymning
is that the band isn’t afraid to step outside the ‘box’
and work their metal music with outside influences, industrial/electronic
music (in sufficient doses) being the element that the band brings
into the fold. Not as electronic as say The Kovenant, but halfway
there. I like ‘Artificial Supernova’ because of the feel
that these electronic elements give the harsh death metal overtone.
I especially like the sinister vocal snarl of singer Tyborn on "Shatter
The World/ Artificial Supernova," a strong musical arrangement.
At the end of the day, the music of Skymning may not be truly innovative,
but at least they made an effort to add some new levels of creativity
with the tools/ideas that they have.
<A. Bromley> -6-
SUFFERING DOWN
Misanthropic and Nihilist Dharma (Independent)
With a truly majestic feel to their death/black metal approach,
Spain’s Suffering Down work wonders here with their music,
a sonically luscious offering that coats itself with a very atmospheric
feel, but not afraid to leave the surreal moments/segues for a brutal
lashing of aggression and darkness as the album goes on. Heavy-set
death growls and strong guitar work lead the charge of Suffering
Down as the band revels in such impressive works as "The Kingdom
of Forgotten," "The Thinker," "The Evil Seeds"
and "The Virtue of Deceit." At times the band reminds
me a lot of Greece’s Rotting Christ; quite a good comparison
for an independent band, don’t ya think? Masterful songwriting
and stellar production pushes Suffering Down well above most of
the independent bands on the metal circuit right now. Call it luck
or hard work, Suffering Down are worthy of much attention, so scope
them out.
<A. Bromley> -8-
Contact: Paxti, Elorritxu Auzoa 2, 48180 Loiu (Vizcaya)
E-mail: suffering@euskalnet.net
TERRATOMB
At War Within (Independent
From the part of Canada that spawned such great acts as Burning
Moon, sHeavy and Dichotic, comes menacing terror Terratomb, a tight
and ruthless hybrid of extreme music all rolled into a frenzied
package of might. Singer Michael Fedora sings like a man possessed
as the quartet storms through a good array of speed/death/black
metal influenced numbers like "At War Within…Which We
Are Born," the brutal "Pounding Knives" and "Future
Slime." While powerful, my only concern is that the crazy flow
of the band kind sort of takes away from the delivery of the music.
In other words, too much is going on. If the band could chip away
at the sound and become a tad more focused, I think the blows would
be more direct rather than chaotic as they are now. All in all,
a fine extreme metal offering.
<A. Bromley> -6.5-
Contact: Terratomb, PO Box 34102 Halifax NS B3J 3S1 Canada
Email: terraross@ns.sympatico.ca
THIS.DAY.FORWARD
Kairos (Eulogy)
Very good emo-metal that harks to a fusion of Glasseater and Fugazi
with Grade and Cave-In. While most emo-based music suffers from
self-absorbed melodrama, This.Day.Forward boasts a direct musical
attack based upon discordant guitar riffage and impassioned vocal
melodies mixed with harsher yelling that balances out meditative
soul-searching with a good ol’ heavy metal-styled punch straight
to the esophagus. Playing the jarring metrical perturbations and
dissonant guitar squalor of emo against the driven rhythms and potent
guitar riffs of metal, the dynamic interplay of both sides pushes
for the establishment of a common middle ground. ‘Kairos’
reaches its peak on the fifth and final cut, "Sunfalls and
Watershine," where a sense of vocal desperation is pummelled
by some of the band’s most complex guitar work, before dropping
into a brilliant chorus arrangement where multi-tracked vocals deliver
a fluid mixture of melodic emotion and impassioned snarls, as the
guitars drop into a swirling quietude that is gradually stirred
to a rolling boil by the escalating drum rhythms, finally reaching
critical mass and exploding into the next verse. While my taste
for emo is limited, This.Day.Forward strikes a balance that elides
some of the less-desirable characteristics of emo and replaces them
with a metallic aggression, making for one of the most intriguing
and listenable emo-metal hybrids currently on the scene.
<T. Bengtson> -8-
Contact: Eulogy Recordings, P.O. Box 8692, Coral Springs, FL 33075
URL: www.eulogyrecordings.com
UPHILL BATTLE
s/t (Relapse)
While newly signed act Uphill Battle are no doubt poised to get
a good push from their label Relapse, there is something not clicking
between myself and the band. Granted, the California act has a definite
intense grind ’n’ flow to their music, fusing together
a rough hardcore attitude and some intense vocal stylings, but I’m
lost as to what I should be getting out of this. I think one of
the reasons why it is an "uphill battle" to like this
album (sorry about that) is because of the samey-ness of the material.
Diverse at times, for the most part the self-titled release finds
itself in a similar course of action as the disc plods along. Fans
of bands like Vulgar Pigeons, Spazz and Phobia will no doubt find
something in Uphill Battle, I guess I’ll have to wait till
album number two to give them a second chance.
<A. Bromley> -4-
V/A
Revelation 100 (Revelation)
Featuring rare and unreleased tracks from 20 of Revelation Records’
recording artists, there are some definite winners...and some definite
fillers on this disc. Usually an unreleased song has been kept in
the vault because the band isn’t happy with it, and that is
likely the case with songs by Shai Hulud, Gorilla Biscuits, The
Movielife and Sick of It All. On the other hand, an alternate version
of Quicksand’s "Dine Alone," plus acoustic versions
of Farside’s "Dark" and Ignite’s "You"
are enough to send tingles up the spine of anyone into those bands.
Other excellent contributions include songs by Garrison, Youth of
Today, The Judas Factor and Judge. Overall, about two-thirds of
‘Revelation 100’ is worth listening to, which is pretty
good for a compilation, and considering what’s being released
these days, pretty good overall.
<P. Silbiger> -7-
VORE
Lord of The Storms (Independent)
The opinions expressed by the reviewer are his alone, and therefore
any venom directed toward him should remain such and not aimed at
UNRESTRAINED! - but god damn it, how old are you guys in Vore? Thirteen,
maybe fifteen? Don't you know about, or aren't you aware of the
world around you? This CD just does not cut it, at all. Yes, when
death metal made a comeback in 1999 it brought hope to a stagnant
genre, but the fact is as many fresh and diverse acts benefited
from the resurgence as did "old-timers," because they
brought something else to the genre, other than rehashing tired
themes. So copying tried and true formulas is your way of getting
into the record business? I heard this CD already six times in 2001
from other bands, and a dozen times the year before - and unless
you're planning on wearing us down with repeated assaults - they
never get any better. It's fine to play brutal, growl like a zombie,
tune down the guitars, etc. So what else is new? If you can't do
it better than the bands out there, and you're not offering anything
new, why are you bothering us?
<Alex Ristic> 2.5
Contact: Vore: P.O. Box 8425, Fayetteville, AR. 72703-0008. USA
THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
s/t (Willowtip)
Much has been said about today’s black metal scene. You have
two sides to the coin; staying true to the roots, or expanding on
the sound. While it seems to be controversial to the true fans to
expand for fear of ruining the core sound, the open-minded fans
welcome the different layers that can be added to an already interesting
sound. Enter The Year of Our Lord. Basing their sound on mid-paced,
grinding black metal, they add some Swedish death metal influence
and even some progressive aspects. The end result is their brilliant
self-titled debut. Today Is the Day’s Steve Austin tries his
luck in producing the album, and doesn’t let his hardcore roots
affect the outcome of this musically different entity. Standout
tracks include the opener "Dead To You" with its In Flames
influence, "Fire Skates With Water" showcasing its fast-paced
chugging guitar melody, the undeniable energy and powerful lead
guitars of "Serpentine Medea," and the progressive black
approach of "Nightlark." This is one of those debut albums
that doesn’t sound like a debut, which can only speak volumes
about this album and the potential this band possesses.
<L. Savage> -9-
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