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MY SORROW - The Plague (No Fashion/PHD)
Hey, this wasn't recorded at Abyss. Nor was it recorded at Sunlight,
nor Fredman. These youngsters made quite a debut effort with their
If Emotion Still Burns album and with The Plague, it would be fair
to say that the band has just moved a step up, continuing on where
they first left off. The first three opening tracks are just merely
well played Swedish death melodic metal but things pick up with
"Mournful Serenade", "I Will Be Your God," and "Plague Of Mine."
There are a lot of blistering guitar parts that balance out with
progressive and melodic harmonies. It's all right actually, I'm
not complaining , but their next album must, and I mean must, be
even more steps ahead of this.
Chris Bruni
DAWNBRINGER - Unbleed (Twilight Records)
On the back cover of Unbleed is an inscription that
reads, "heavy metal is the law". And so it is on Dawnbringer's ten-song
debut CD. Melding the intensity of black metal with the solid songwriting
and malevolent guitar chops of classic speed metal, Dawnbringer
develops a powerhouse sound that is a headbanger's dream come true.
The spinecrushing guitar inteplay of Bill Palko and Gregg Stainthorpe
is energetic and tight, galloping through thrashy riffs and unleashing
barrage upon barrage of devastating guitar leads that are executed
with a stylistic flair that makes Dawnbringer immediately identifiable
from its peers. The songwriting is crisp and confident, allowing
for a gutwrenching mixture of thunderous black metal with traditional
heavy metal, as found on "Blindman". However, it is the band's ability
to align such heaviness with flavorful acoustic guitars and subtle
keyboard flourishes that gives Dawnbringer a truly unique feel.
And perhaps no song offers a greater realization of this than "Moth,"
which switches from ear-blasting black metal to folksy acoustic
guitar passages with startling ease, like a warrior-bard that can
ruthlessly pillage foreign territories one moment, and sing a tale
of idealized romance the next. Heavy metal may be the law, but Dawnbringer
is the SWAT team prepared to enforce that law.
TB
Contact: Twilight Records, P.O. Box 416, Devault, PA 19432, USA
EARTH CRISIS - The Oath That Keeps Me Free - Live (Victory
Records)
I'm gonna be honest and confess up: I have never
been a big Earth Crisis fan. I have been mixed about their previous
efforts and absolutely hated their last effort Gomorrah's Seasons
End. So why am I giving this a chance? Well, I did see the band
at Milwaukee Metal Fest last year - in a live environment - and
they totally kicked my ass. I dunno if it was the alcohol, the crowd
or just the live punch of the material, but something clicked and
I remembered that. Also I do enjoy live records for the most part
and was interested in seeing if the band could capture their live
show on record. So here we have a live 12-song LP by Earth Crisis
featuring old material ("All Out War," "Born For Pain" and "Unseen
Holocaust") and some two new numbers: "Smash or Be Smashed" and
"Fate of the Neo-Gods." The band also opens with a blistering n'
heavy cover of Cream's classic "Sunshine Of Your Love." Did I get
my ass kicked? You betcha! Pounding rhythms matched by powerful
screams of anguish set this release on fire. Powerful to say the
least. For now I'm putting my view of the band onhold, 'cause this
just rules. A great live LP.
Adrian Bromley
FALKENBACH - ...Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri...
(Napalm/St. Clair)
One of the greatest advantages to being a writer
is to receive cool albums that I most certainly would have never
heard if I hadn't become a music critic. Falkenbach are one of those
bands, one of many imports that are worth paying for. With "Viking
rock" being an accurate description, Falkenbach combine rock beats
and keyboards with black metal and normal vox. Maybe the reason
I like this so much is because of its similarities to Bathory's
Blood on Ice, with its choir back vocals and overall sound. Tracks
like "...When Gjallarhorn will sound," "...Where Blood will soon
be Shed" and "The Heathenish Foray" have a stylish attitude, not
pummeling you into submission but attempting to put you in awe with
its majestic soundscapes. It's a real treat to hear something like
this, a refreshing break from the monotonous black metal that's
been filling my ears as of late. If you're lucky enough to find
this in a nearby store, you may want to think about picking it up.
Adam Wasylyk
GUILLOTINE - Under The Guillotine (Necropolis/St. Clair)
You can't help but notice the reference points, but
this is an album that just brings a smile to my face. Obviously
the album title is a Kreator reference, the song "Tormentor" is
a Sodom and Destruction reference...this just screams 80's! Even
the CD layout is 80's styles ; plain looking lyrical text, on plain
white, and there is also instructions on how to take care of your
CD, the kind of instructions that appeared when CD's first came
out! The 90's answer to Kreator? Maybe that's a little over doing
it. A nice blend of Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom? Yaaa man! I
mean you gotta love songs like "Executioner," "Grave Desecrator"
(Sodom had a drummer named Grave Violator)," "Crucifixion," and
"Violence." But really, this should be heard on vinyl! And if you
like this then check out Cranium's MCD on Necropolis, Speed Metal
Satan! Now give me that Destruction wail. Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Chris Bruni
NIGHTSTICK - Ultimatum (Relapse/St. Clair)
Ever since their debut LP Blotter I've been puzzled
by this band and tried many times (unsuccessfully no less) to decipher
the odd ideas and warped samples sewn into the distorted feedback
of this Weymouth, Massachusetts band. I still haven't figured out
what they are all about, and I don't know if I want to. It's too
hard to explain, snag a copy of Blotter and you'll see what I mean.
Onto LP #2 and Ultimatum is a much more powerful and raw sounding
record. While still chock-full of epic distorted destruction, Ultimatum
also dwells within a truly dark environment. While Blotter was very
free-flowing and oddly assembled, the intensity of Ultimatum has
been coursed out, a strike that successfully propels itself under
our skin and into our psyche. The band has not only crafted and
honed in on their ability of creepy song ideas, but magnified their
powerful sonic assault. This is noise - pure noise - but served
up so well that coming back for seconds seems like the only right
thing to do.
Adrian Bromley
SENTENCED - Story: A Recollection (Century Media/St.
Clair)
It took me while to really get into this band. And
while the band has changed it's style tremendously since their early
days, their brilliant musical career has been an interesting ride
nonetheless. Story: A Recollection is in fact a 'Best of...' package
by this popular Finnish death metal band (now more a metal/rock
act) from 1991's Shadows Of The Past onto last year's superb Down
LP. All the band's popular and/or fan faves are here: "Nepenthe"
and "New Age Messiah" (from 1995's Amok), "My Sky Is Darker Than
Thine" and "Awaiting The Winter Frost" (from 1993's classic LP North
From Here). Plus there are eleven more numbers including their cool
Iron Maiden cover song "The Trooper" and the previously unreleased
"No Tomorrow." Like a "story", this collection accurately chronicles
the various time periods of Sentenced, allowing the listener to
be captivated by strong melodies, well-thought out arrangements
and some classic melodic/death metal. An LO fans will no doubt scope
out.
Adrian Bromley
UNSANE - Occupational Hazard (Relapse/St. Clair)
Quick and punishing is the best way to describe the
latest offering from New York's Unsane. The 13 tracks clock in under
40 minutes and are constantly increasing in aggression from second
to second. Almost all of the songs have the tuned-down guitar sound
to go along with a bludgeoning percussion and bass, but there's
no let up. All the songs have a modicum of speed, fast enough so
the listener doesn't drown in a molasses of heavy sludge, but not
so fast that you would confuse Unsane with Slayer. The vocals even
have a little of the Meshuggah flavour to them without the prevailing
industrial effects. The tag of noise rock labeled on the band doesn't
do them justice. They're way too heavy to be considered just rock,
and the music isn't punky or distorted enough to be considered noisey.
Whatever you want to call Unsane, you'd have to be insane not to
a least check out the CD if you are a fan aggressive sludge metal.
Alex Ristic
V/A - The Absolute Supper (Cold Meat Industry)
It's time to go to a place where brilliance and beauty
meet. A place where one can hear the angelic-like sounds of music
wrapped within the dreamscape visions of a storyteller. A place
of warmth where no one can dictate how you are to experience life.
This is the kind of mood and feeling The Absolute Supper, the latest
compilation by Sweden's ambient/atmospheric label Cold Meat Industry,
provides the listener with. The compilation -- two CDs with over
2 hours of music (22 songs) -- is well worth the investment for
any music fan that loves to experience the kind of picture I just
painted. This compilation is quite a soothing and interesting experience,
as many of the top-notch acts on this label (i.e. Sanctum, Raison
D'Etre, Puissance and Arcana) showcase some memorable moments. All
of the twenty two songs found here are either previously unreleased
material from the bands (both current and past roster bands) or
new numbers. Complemented by nice packaging, linear notes and a
CMI catalog booklet, I'd have to say this is one of the nicest digipak
compilations I have received in some time. Getting back to the music,
the offerings by newcomers Sanctum ("{~}") and The Protagonist with
"Imitation" and "Zoroaster" are excellent, but the real treat of
T.A.S. has to be the weird spoken/musical number "Child Of Curiosity
& The Old Man Of Knowledge" by everyone's favorite pointed nose
creature Mortiis. It's creepy but quite enjoyable. Another few bands
and their great contributions include Deutsch Nepal's wickedly savvy
"Logo", Desideraii Marginis' offering "Chaos Undivided" and Brighter
Death Now's noise-infested "I Wish I Was A Little Girl". Thumbs
up to the good people at CMI for putting out a good package of material
showcasing the talent they've worked with, continue to work with
and whom they will be working with well into the year 2000.
Adrian Bromley
WORLD OF SILENCE - Mindscapes (Black Mark/St. Clair)
Being only their second album, it's hard to tell
if World Of Silence is trying to cash in on the progressive metal
boom in Europe a la Stratovarius and Elegy. Let's give this Swedish
quintet the benefit of the doubt and say that this album is a solid
effort, no more, no less. Mindscapes is nothing you haven't heard
before on a Fates Warning album. Sure there's a little bit of Rush
thrown in, but Dream Theatre does that too. The album itself isn't
a bad listen, it just lacks the freshness that some of their European
cousins have thrown in, whether it's different vocals or a less
synthetic approach. On the other hand World Of Silence do use more
shred and riff in their guitar work than most of those other bands,
and the six tracks are an average of seven minutes long, so the
music isn't necessarily made for radio play. Also, the CD seems
more inspired by North American prog rock, than from across the
pond, making it a little more diverse. These, however, are minor
positive points. The band needs to experiment some more to create
more of an identity, rather than be a part of the progressive club.
Of final note, this CD is an improvement on their first album, Window
Of Heaven. All the guys have to do now is build on it.
Alex Ristic
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