After 15 years of being a part of RHAPSODY OF FIRE, LUCA TURILLI and ALEX STAROPOLI amicably decided to part ways to move in different directions artistically. Due to the immense contributions both had made to RHAPSODY OF FIRE both LUCA and ALEX are continuing the work of their former band only on different branches with ALEX retaining the original name and LUCA now using LUCA TURILLI’S RHAPSODY in order to release the new album Ascending to Infinity.
The album is a strong power metal record produced by LUCA himself and mastered by CHRISTOPH STICKEL with the end result being an excellently produced and beautifully arranged album. Power metal records can at times sound like one track broken into many parts, but little twists and subtle differences throughout this record prevent Ascending to Infinity becoming tired as the tracks progress. ALESSANDRO CONTI’s lead vocals have such and strength and range that when lent support by the choir produce a barrage of vocals that both compliment the underlying music and lend depth and strength to it.
“Quantum X”, and the tribal beat that underscores it, opens the album. While a good track it is not as strong a start as the album arguably deserves. Hot on its heels “Ascending to Infinity” lifts the album up with faster paced percussion and more prominent guitars.
The next two tracks “Dante’s Inferno” and “Excalibur” are my favourite two tracks on this album. “Dante’s Inferno” starts with a slow, tension building lead up before launching into great guitar riffs and solos. “Excalibur” has stronger vocals with the lead and chorus building up to crescendos regularly through the track and creating what can only be described as an epic vocal sound. This track also has some good guitar riffs and solos on it, but perhaps not as good as those on “Dante’s Inferno”.
The remaining tracks continue in the vein of the largess of the vocals and guitar riffs shining through from the music underneath while managing to add their own variations, “Tormento E Passione” is the first track the keyboards take more prominence and the contrast of male and female vocals work really well. “Dark Fate of Atlantis” has a much more eastern and oriental feel to it, “Clash of the Titans” has musical parts that almost sound like battle scenes and the closing track, at almost 16 minutes in length, is an onslaught of sounds from eerie atmospheric music, to keyboard sounds and sinister spoken words.
“Luna” is really the only disappointment to me on the album, the soft female vocals that start this ring clear, however, the overall sound of the track is more something that you would expect to hear in the background, for example in an advert. This is a shame as the remainder of the album really draws you into the music and holds its own in the foreground. The track does build to a stronger sound, but leaves you with the feeling it didn’t quite get there.
“Luna” aside, Ascending to Infinity is an excellent album and fans of RHAPSODY OF FIRE, THERION and perhaps to a lesser extent BLIND GUARDIAN and some of DEVIN TOWNSEND’s more experimental work will really enjoy this album. The only things that leave this album just short of higher accolades is the track “Luna” being a lot weaker than the others and overall, despite the grandiose sounds and the sheer depth of the musical layering of vocals and instruments, it would be nice to see something a bit more ground breaking coming out of this genre.
Metal Army America interviewed EPHEL DUATH mastermind Davide Tiso via email. The on the eve of the release of a sprawling new EP, On Death And The Cosmos, Tiso shared a great many insights. The new EP sports an all-star lineup of some of the greatest names in all of metal which enabled Tiso to bring his grand vision to life. In the interview below he not only explained the concept of the record, but broke down each song to its lyrical bones, detailed how the new lineup came together, what the future holds for the group and much more!
MAA: Please discuss the concept behind the new EP On Death And The Cosmos?
DT: The main concept of On Death and Cosmos rotates around the idea of feeling rootless. The creative process this time started from a personal loss: that event marked me so deep not just because I’ve lost a person I felt very close to, but because together with his disappearance I feel I broke the bond with the place I’m coming from. At this point in my life I think I could live pretty much everywhere without feeling home sick. I have a “cosmos” of opportunity opening up in front of my eyes, and while this can be considered a positive things for a human being, the lyrics in the EP dig in the painful process of detachment from what for 30 and more years I felt were my roots. On Death and Cosmos holds together some of the lyrics I’m most attached to. These words erupted from me, and all three songs are lyrically tied together by the theme of Death and mourning, and the escape represented by the Cosmos.
After that loss I mentioned before, I felt in a terrible depression and returning to compose for EPHEL DUATH was the way out from that paralyzing state. Some days I was feeling so bad that I felt my mind getting take over by the spirit of my dead beloved, who was not accepting his death and wanted to keep living through me:
The opening song “Black Prism” pictures the hopeless search of oneself in the splitting process of spirit attachment.
“I lie between layers of perception
I’m neither here or there Twice but still nothing My image multiplies While my sight plays dead and regress”
The song “Raqia”, the ancient Hebrew word for the English “firmament”, marks the pain caused by abandonment and the excruciating consequences of letting go.
“You may be as lonely as I feel
But the emptiness around you is cosmic Immense While mine Mine tastes just like flesh”
Composing the lyrics of On Death and Cosmos I spent a great deal of time out at night, listening music, smoking cigarettes and looking at the sky. Considering the turmoil my life was in at that moment, writing new lyrics I was literally pushing my sight and my mind as distant as possible from that mess I was in. I wrote this way every time I got the chance and I started to feel a pretty strong comforting sensation while immersing my head and thoughts into the sky/firmament/Raqia entity. I read that warming feeling like the confirmation that my healing process was supposed to pass through that stage to get to the core of my pain and I kept going.
The closing track “Stardust Rain” is an ode to self-purification through inner death of senses.
“I am the black coat
Where stars hide in I protect each of them One by one They keep shining to live I let them burning to live To my slow death I aim to”
This is probably the song I feel closer to. Everything in life has a positive and a negative power, I think that bad situations are the one that teach us the most: loss gives us the chance to readjust or even reshape ourselves during and after the mourning process. This positive chance offered by such traumatic experience is blurred out by the big dose of pain involved but I’m confident that each of us while suffering, on the long run, have the chance to know how much they are changing and self transforming day after day.
I changed for better while mourning: I was an unfocused and worse person before my grandfather died. His death brought some good to me, I had the chance to find myself again, and as I wrote inside the booklet of On Death and Cosmos: “It took one’s death to give life back to another”.
DAVIDE TISO leads EPHEL DUATH.
MAA: How did you go about recruiting such stellar talent to join the band?
DT: Respecting my music so much I try to set the bar pretty high for what concern the other musicians I involve with EPHEL DUATH. In On Death and Cosmos I’m lucky enough to be joined by my first choices in terms of drumming, bass playing, singing, producing and mastering. Thanks to the big support offered by Agonia Records and with a big dose of stubborness, this time around I was able to make the album I wanted with the team I wanted. Planning things right and way ahead of time we made the collaboration with MARCO MINNEMANN and STEVE DI GIORGIO possible. Both these musicians have a pretty tight schedule, but their enthusiasm, professionalism and commitment to the project made the difference. They found the time and the energy to learn my songs, compose and record their part, and they both did a wonderful job.
Having KARYN CRISIS at vocals is like a dream come true. I’m a huge CRISIS fan and I’ve been a fan of her since the very first time I read one of her lyrics. I’m extremely proud of having Karyn spitting out my words on a microphone and I can’t wait to have her record some new material.
To make this shine even more I choose to have the supersonic ears of ERIK RUTAN behind the mix board, and I have to say that I have never felt that connected with a producer before. Erik worked non-stop on this EP for weeks, and I found his work ethic to be frankly stunning. I consider Erik Rutan one of the key elements for On Death and Cosmos successful result and collaborating with him has been one of the best musical experience I had since I started this band.
DAVIDE TISO has truly found his muse in KARYN CRISIS.
MAA: Karen especially seems to fit the music perfectly. Did you write with her in mind originally?
DT: I composed the EP knowing that Karyn was going to sing it. There are some kind of voices that are like a slap in the face and some others that hit you directly in the stomach being that emotionally charged: Karyn’s voice has both these qualities. I think her voice fit the ED music extremely well. Karyn’s raw and cutting way of singing is able to bring the songs to higher emotional picks and I’m blown away by how effortlessly our two different musical backgrounds collapsed together in this EP.
MAA: Is the lineup going to be able to stay together to at least create the next full length album and tour?
DT: This lineup will record also the new album, Marco Minnemann is actually already recording the drums, he did 5 songs and everything sounds stellar so far. ED will return to play live once the full length will be recorded, but just if we will be offered the necessary conditions to do some good shows. To compose music is a very intimate process for me, vital I would say: I don’t do it for passion, I do it because I have to. To bring EPHEL DUATH live usually means to loose a lot of the artistic side of things, and having to deal with just the practical, and worse, side of music: promoters that don’t pay the fees, shows with lack of promotions, bad planned tours, a lot and a lot of expenses. I’m not interested in repeating that kind of experience once again. Returning to deal full time on EPHEL DUATH, I promised myself to not accept anymore compromises and to take decisions solely based on the band’s benefit. To play live in horrible conditions will not be an option for this band anymore. It would be fantastic to have this line up on a stage and I’ll work my ass off to make this happen.
KARYN CRISIS did this custom limited edition print for the new album
MAA: Do you think it is difficult for visionary artists to exist in the framework of “the music industry”?
DT: I would say that for long time it was pretty much impossible for a musician to deal with the music industry without feeling powerless. The whole music industry was in the hands of few greedy ones, now that whole mechanism is collapsing everyone seems to escape from it, trying to save the few money left and finally, the real stars of the game are returning back. Underground labels: small realities run by really passionate people, respectful of the bands and their music, that with labor of love and not the revenues in mind are putting together products with such quality and tremendous attention to details.
What it’s important now is to save the public. Probably what I am about to say could sound like a silly utopia, but I still think it’s important to underline how much the main public need to return to consider music as a form of art that have to be respected. Music is not supposed to be taken for granted, ready to be consumed and disposed with a click. Bands are not supposed to accept to spend their time begging for attention, bands should instead spend their time playing good music. I think that on the long run, quality music will keep being noticed, and it’s up to the bands to believe in themselves, creating unique music and stick to their vision. To compose honest music probably represents the only way to be musically dissident nowadays. I have faith that EPHEL DUATH’s public will keep supporting all the hard work and labor of love we put in this underground reality since day one.
MAA: What bands or artists do you listen to when you are looking for inspiration?
DT: Sometimes I listen to music to get some musical inputs, and I usually finish listening to death metal. This genre makes my brain feels very alert, there are so many nuances to capture here and there and I would say this is the kind of music I’m more fund at the moment. I like so many bands, the more dissonant the better, probably SUFFOCATION, HATE ETERNAL, AUTOPSY, DECREPIT BIRTH and CATTLE DECAPITATION are on top of my list.
Sometimes I listen to it to relax, and to get some unconscious inspiration, I like BARONESS, UFOMAMMUT, ZU, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, ELECTRIC WIZARD.
Sometimes I need music it to write lyrics: I try to enter in the “writing lyrics” mood at least once every week or two and when I do that, the day is gone: I usually finishing drunk and crying by myself in a park bench while joggers swing by. To write lyrics I usually put a song in loop, or I listen a part of a song in loop. I need heavy sorrowful music, but I never compose lyrics listening to EPHEL DUATH. Lately I have been writing listening to MONUMENTUM, AGALLOCH, CULT OF LUNA, NEUROSIS.
MAA: If you could book a festival for EPHEL DUATH to play with any bands of your choosing, whom would you choose?
DT: I would love to have EPHEL DUATH opening the festival so that I would be able to enjoy the other shows. Three stages, a Death Metal one with DECREPIT BIRTH, CATTLE DECAPITATION, SUFFOCATION and HATE ETERNAL as headliners. A Doom stage with DISPIRIT, UFOMAMMUT, AGALLOCH, YOB and PENTAGRAM as headliners. A main experimental rock metal stage with DYSRHYTHMIA, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, IHSHAN, BARONESS and REFUSED as headliners. $60 the ticket, not a bad festival!
(Special thanks to Davide Tiso, Agonia Records and Nathan T. Birk)
Let’s just start by giving a big round of applause to everyone who, despite the known presence of secret police in Boston who aim to stop people from having fun, made this night a show to remember. (Editor’s note: check our own take on the moshing ban in Boston here.) One of the most important Punk tours of the decade no doubt, with a touch of political and social dissent. Spit in the face of authority and let loose.
Starting off the festivities was OFF!, fronted by the legendary Keith Morris, some old balding dreadlocked bastard from bands you’ve never heard of including BLACK FLAG and THE CIRCLE JERKS, along with cast-offs from failures like ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, REDD KROSS, and other stuff no one cares about. All joking aside, this here is a group of seasoned musicians who know what they’re doing. It usually helps your live show when you’re skilled, I hear.
The legendary Punk Icon himself: KEITH MORRIS of OFF!
In OFF!’s 45 minute (or hour) long set, I’m pretty sure they actually played almost every song in their two LP/an EP or four discography. This despite the fact that Morris, being an embattled veteran of the Punk scene as well as fairly aged, he’s seen a lot, done a lot, is fed up with a lot, and is unafraid to make a rousing speech the likes of which follower HENRY ROLLINS could have borrowed his style from. These elements come together to make a refreshingly old school sound that’s not dating itself.
Once they hit the stage and began setting up, I was apprehensive as to the energy level, and if my fellow crowd members would be willing to break free of the constraints so flimsily placed by the friendly neighborhood BPD. For the first few songs, there was a curtain of nervousness in the air as Morris and Co. bandied about, letting loose while the audience gazed furtively at itself, hoping that someone would make a move to break the metaphorical ice. It almost goes without saying that high energy Punk Rock goes a long way to bring about the emotional climate for rule-breaking and general not-giving-a-fuck-ness. By the third or fourth song, all pretense was dropped, and the circle pit was it.
In between bombardments by ancient Punk rhythms and seething vitriol, one could catch a glimmer of Morris’ humble nature, and his unwillingness to think himself higher than anyone despite the fact that he’s led a much more interesting life than your average punx. It’s this humility and good nature that leads to fans being able to get pictures and just have a nice chat with the man.
KEITH MORRIS and Metal Army America staff writer Sean Genovese.
About a half an hour before Umeå, Sweden’s own left-wing singer-songwriter gentlemen REFUSED officially began their set, the crowd began to notice that instead of random rock tunes playing over the stereo as normal, it was some odd low droning ambiance that put a disturbing atmosphere over the venue. It gradually grew louder with every passing minute, and when the time came, the crowd took its position, pointed directly at the stage where a large black curtain was draped over the band as they clandestinely set up. As the drone intensified, it began to resemble a long sustained guitar chord. With time, the ambient sound created a mixture of fear, anticipation, and a sort of battle readiness for the oncoming insanity. Lights over the stage, we realized, were panning ever so slowly down toward the crowd, practically turning in step with the increasing loudness of the ambiance. As the sound and lights swelled to full realization and the lights overhead dimmed, the crowd could see that the black curtain had REFUSED cut out of it as the light shone through.
The energy from OFF!’s set was great, but as soon as REFUSED opened with “Worms Of The Senses/ Faculties Of The Skull”, the floor became a veritable feeding ground where tooth and claw ruled the scene, and those who could not fight were destroyed in seconds. One thing about this show that was particularly amazing was that not only was everyone into it, but the sheer diversity of people attending who all just got it. There were Metalheads, -Core kids with swoopy hair, old school NxYxHxC looking guys, huge besweatered Hardcore bros with flatbill caps, dyed/bleached punx in leather jackets with skulls on them, you name it. To shout words of protest alongside a smorgasbord of countercultures is truly empowering.
The set was varied enough, considering their discography currently stands at five EPs and three LPs. Though I am disappointed that they don’t play anything off This Just Might Be… The Truth (namely “Pump The Brakes”), their most heavy and straightforward release, I feel as though it ultimately wouldn’t mesh well with the material from The Shape Of Punk To Come and Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent, which lean towards a sort of Post-Hardcore/Experimental Rock sound, but have just enough heaviness and hard-hitting aggression to merit their place among the Punk/Hardcore greats of history. From the two-step swing of “Summerholidy vs Punkroutine” to the cannonading lyrical assault of “Refused Are Fucking Dead” (my personal favourite), and the turncoat anthem “Coup D’Etat”, all coupled with vocalist Dennis Lyxzén musing on how prophetic his lyrics of top-down oppression are in hindsight. It was all around a spectacular showcase of how Punk Rock is not just three chords and an angry British or Californian man shouting about the impending police state. Take some notes from the seminal volume Songwriting Tips For Anarchists, by U. Kuhnt, which simply contains the words “OPPRESSORS: FUCK OFF” in large, bold, red print, and listen to some REFUSED. You’ll be much wiser for it. In the meantime, should REFUSED repeat this tour, being fully active once again since 1998, and you for any reason missed this, your redemption shall come swift as an assassin’s blade under cover of night.
Someone lost a shoe in the madness of the mosh pit.
To whoever lost the shoe pictured above, I’m sure it was well worth the small loss. It’s silhouette stands out among the appeased horde cheering one of the most important Punk bands of modern times making its return like phoenices from ashes long forgotten, faintly resembling the shape of an axe, which I’ll allow you, the reader, to mark with some obtuse political symbolism. I’m stumped, if you ask me.
Malediction was recorded at long time producer/guitarist Dan Abela’s Legacy London Recordings Studios and this is SARAH JEZEBEL DEVA’s best sounding release to date as a solo artist. Since the last album, The Corruption of Mercy there have been a few changes to the band. Mainly with a new drummer, Damjan Stefanovic and guitarist Azz Inferno. Sarah and the rest of the band sound like they’ve been together forever. If this EP was done to showcase the new blood, then mission accomplished. The cohesiveness they have in such a short time is pretty damn impressive. It makes me mad it’s was just three songs, I’m left chomping at the bit, wanting more.
On “Lies Define Us” SOILWORK front man BJORN ‘SPEED’ STRID joins the mix for a wonder performance. When he kicks in on the second verse, their voices compliment and blend together very well. With Damjans choice grooves on the chorus, Sarah and Speed sound phenomenal. It is probably my second favorite stalker-y song after DANZIG’s “Stalker song”. Martin Powell on keyboards (ex-CRADLE OF FILTH) does a fine job adding extra atmosphere to this whole project.
“When “It Catches Up With You” is the lone track sans guests. Sarah shines like, well a diva with her vast index of vocal ranges. Her style of singing comes off compelling and engaging. It’s more like she is a storyteller than just a vocalist. Bassist AblaZ has a pulsing presence underneath the melody, provided by Sarah. I can see a lot of people doing the Gothic two-step to this track at some nightclub somewhere.
With “This Is My Curse” another former CRADLE OF FILTH band mate and mastermind DANI FILTH, lend this vile vocals for this duet. It’s pretty awesome to hear their usual dynamic flipped around. With her on lead vocals, it’s really nice to hear them together again after a few years apart. The harmonies they pull off are some evil sounding wails. One second I feel I should be in a black robe surrounded by black candles and the next, covered in spikes ready to burn something down.
Lyrically, this is so accessible to anyone with a heart, it’s almost scary. The songs are all about various stages of love, but they don’t come off as cheesy or annoying. This is an EP of pure enjoyment. It is highly listenable, pun intended. If you’re one of the people who do not like female singers in metal, it’s your loss. I want to get my passport and go see SJD and her band live.
SARAH JEZEBEL DEVA leads the new lineup of her band.
In the first of a new series of interview segments on Metal Army America, we bring you Conversations From the Crypt! We’ll be doing a series of interviews that are more in-depth and longer than our typical pieces usually are. Last fall we caught up with hardcore punk and metal legend CYKO MIKE MUIR. As the front man of the ground breaking SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, the funky and fun INFECTIOUS GROOVES and other projects like CYKO; he has influenced several generations of the most important bands. All of his projects have new releases in the works for 2012 and beyond, including extensive touring in Europe and their recent appearance at the Orion Music and More Festival in June. We interviewed Mike about the excellent collection he released last fall- CYKO MYKO: The Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour Part I, but we covered a host of other topics too. He gave a lot of perspectives on his career in this wide-ranging chat.
MIKE MUIR performs with ST at the recent Orion Music and More Festival in New Jersey. Image by Evil Robb Photography.
There are certain bands whom you wouldn’t mind seeing take a stylistic left turn every once in a while. PHOBIA is not one of those bands. Helmed by SHANE “THE PAIN” MCLACHLAN” for over two decades, PHOBIA has made a long, successful underground career out of melding Hardcore Punk and Crust with their own brand of pioneering and unrelenting Grind. Through over twenty releases, the formula has largely remained the same, and it’s a formula that works, so why tinker with the recipe and fiddle with the knobs? As those in the grindcore scene so succinctly sum up so many of their online postings these days on everything from culinary matters to tour recaps, GRIND! And grind Phobia does on its latest album, Remnants of Filth.
Grindcore reviews can get dicey because, for the most part, grind is grind. You’ve got your slow, building intros that dive bomb into million-mile-an-hour blast beats, trading off low growls and indecipherable shrieks, D-Beat and punk bridges between the blasts, and exhibitions of that snotty punk attitude and sense of humor here and there. PHOBIA displays all of these ingredients in short order throughout REMNANTS OF FILTH, all wrapped up in tight 60-seconds-or-less packages, for the most part, with a couple of outliers here and there. Delving in-depth into 30 or 45-second offerings almost seems farcical, as how does one describe one blasting track after another? The simple fact of the matter is that anyone who calls him or herself a fan of grind will like whatever PHOBIA puts out because they helped invent American grind, and have stuck steadfast to that which they helped forge from the beginning. What’s not to like for your average grind freak?
It is worth noting that the drum work of BRYAN FAJARDO is just about as precise and tight as grind drumming can get. This comes as no surprise when you peruse the man’s resume, which includes such other grind greats as KILL THE CLIENT, NOISEAR, and GRIDLINK. And speaking of NOISEAR, the track “Dementia Having Overdose” does seem to have a bit of that same angular, techy grind FAJARDO’s other band is so known for. Other tracks that stick out from the grind norm include “Submission Hold,” which has the closest thing you might ever hear to a breakdown in a grindcore song. “Resuscitate” is the album’s only true curveball, at about 175 beats per minute slower than the next slowest track on the record.
The rest of this disc focuses around the sped up punk riffs—punk to the core, but anything but sloppy and largely written by MCLACHLAN himself, according to interviews, and honest-to-goodness punk interludes that make up the PHOBIA grind blueprint. This is American grind pioneers doing what they do best, no more and no less. In addition to his rock solid genre-specific songwriting skills, MCLACHLAN also possesses a uniquely natural sounding voice despite oscillating between equally unnatural high and low ends of the spectrum. No matter how high or low he goes, his voice never sounds like it’s about to strain or as though his chords are about to go dry and slam together. A lifetime of screaming must teach a seasoned road dog a thing or two about that.
If there is any gripe with the album, it might be with the seeming over-dependence on movie samples within songs. Just let the music speak for itself; it can stand on its own without a cinematic counterpart. But Remnants of Filth is no doubt a crowd pleaser, with an ample amount of choruses that will allow the live audience to scream and bark along. It’s not an album that does anything other than stick to the standard PHOBIA helped invent. What else could grind fans want?
PHOBIA: If you’re happy and you know it….. oh nevermind.
VINTERSORG may be small, but they are mighty. The central heartbeat behind this band is ANDREAS HEDLUND- composer, keyboardist, vocalist and guitarist. Accompanying him on guitar is Mattias Marklund.This Swedish duo has released nine studio albums to date, since 1994. You may have seen Hedlund, who goes by the nickname, “Vintersorg,” fronting other bands such as: OTYG, BORKNAGAR, HAVAYOTH, FISSION, CRONIAN, and WATERCLIME.
In the world of classical music, my music teachers have encouraged me to always look up the translations of any non-English words in my music. Knowing all translations written into music gives a musician a much better idea of what kind of emotions they wish to portray. Thankfully, Napalm Records provided me with rough translations to the song titles for Orkan. The band name itself means “Winter Sorrow.”
The album titles read as follows in English:
1. “Ice Ages” (Istid)
2. “Out of Stardust We’re Born” (Ur Stjarnstoft Ar Vi Komna)
3. “The Polar Night” (Polarnatten)
4. “The Mire” (Myren)
5. “Hurricane” (Orkan)
6. “Mercy of the Ocean” (Havets Nad)
7. “Northern Light Visions” (Norrskenssyner)
8. “Prisioner of the Primal Weather” (Urvadersfangen)
Hedlund did a great job portraying the song titles through music. I have always appreciated how well-written Scandinavian metal can sound as frigid as the landscape it was written in. Orkan has a tasteful hybrid of progressive metal, folk metal, and a sprinkling of black metal. If you’re a nerd for complicated music like me, then this album is the one for you. Vocals soar above intricate instrumentals, and the keyboard playing is remarkably good. Every song on the album brings a new musical idea. There is no filler music on the album, and my ear was always surprised at what musical idea was going to happen next. With the unforeseen number of delays seen in releasing Wintersun’s album Time,Orkan is the album that could give Time a run for it’s money. My personal favorite track on the album is “Prisoner of the Primal Weather (Urvadersfangen)” and the beginning of that track has been stuck in my head all week. The only thing that would make this album better is if it came with a cute Swedish boyfriend and a vacation in Stockholm.
The Bottom Line: Orkan is the album that will challenge your folk metal collection.
All the way from France, with their fourth release, H.N.P. or “Heic Noenum Pax” courtesy of TREPALIUM, which is also a pretty nasty torture device. The cover art by HICHAM HADDAJI kicks ass, but sadly this album is not as bad ass as the cover. If the goal was to cover as many bases as possible, mission accomplished! Everyone involved in this album are good players, I have no problem with that it’s just what they’re playing, I get the feeling I’ve heard it all before. They’re a Heavy-Groove band with a little Prog thrown in to make it more interesting. Then there are parts when they sound like a weird MESHUGGAH, STONE SOUR, PANTERA mash-up.
The vocals of Keke remind me of DEZ FAFARA of DEVILDRIVER and GARY MESKIL of PRO-PAIN. The guitar players, Nicolas Amosse and Hurun Demiraslan are good, but when it’s solo time they show they went to FREDRICK THORDENDAL (MESHUGGAH) school of guitar soloing. The rhythm section is doing their job well and there is good use of keyboards too. The only problem I found is the lack of cohesiveness in the songs. Everything sounds all over the place. It’s like an old mix tape in the styles these guys cover.
Everything’s pretty standard and mid-tempo grooving hard rock tunes. It’s a good clear production. Maybe too clean. The first, and title song is not a bad opener. It has some good Prog elements in there. Then out of nowhere comes “Let the Clown Rise”, blast beats and all the death metal nuggets you’d expect, but it just sounds out of place. There is a nice full on instrumentation with “Raining Past” and it’s not too long either. They end the album with a pretty solid cover of “I’m Broken” by the mighty PANTERA. It’s always nice to hear something besides “Walk” covered. Overall, it just sounds like too many other things and not one solid voice. I get what they were trying to do and hopefully next time they’ll hit it on the nose.
TRESPASS AMERICA FESTIVAL is underway and reports say the shows have been killer! We are continuing to celebrate by giving away more band merch! Victory Records were supercool enough to team up with us and give away some merch to some enterprising fans. Watch the video below of this amazing Victory band and come back Monday at 12 noon EST to our Facebook page. Answer a trivia question about the video and you might win! Log on to www.trespassamerica.com for tickets and more details. Dates for the Metal Hammer Trespass America Festival are as follows:
Tour Dates:
7/13 –Broomfield, CO @ 1stBank Center
7/15 –Billings, MT @ Metra Park Arena
7/16 – Bismarck, ND @ Bismarck Civic Center
7/17 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Sioux Falls Arena
7/19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
7/21 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen County Expo Center
7/22 – Waterloo, IA @ McElroy Auditorium
7/24 – Lubbock, TX @ Lonestar Amphitheatre
7/25 – Belton, TX @ Bell County Expo Center
7/27 – San Antonio, TX @ Freeman Coliseum
7/28 – Beaumont, TX @ Ford Pavilion
7/30 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
7/31 – Evansville, IN @ Ford Center
8/01 – Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion
8/03–Battle Creek, MI @ Kellogg Arena
8/04–Rochester Hills, MI @ MeadowBrook Amphitheater
8/05–Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion At Nautica
8/07–Syracuse, NY @ SRC Arena and Events Center / Onondaga Community Center
8/08 – Glens Falls, NY @ Glens Falls Civic Center
8/10 – Scarborough, ME @ Scarborough Downs
8/11 – Montreal, QC @Parc Jean Drapeau Festival
8/12 –Toronto, ON @ Downsview Park
8/14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
8/15 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
8/17 – Worchester, MA @ DCU Center
8/18 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
8/19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Penn’s Landing – Festival Pier
8/21 – Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheater
8/22 – Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Civic Coliseum
8/24 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Katt Fest – OKC Zoo Amphitheater
8/25 – Rio Rancho, NM @ Santa Ana Star Center
8/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica Theater
8/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium
Here is the remaining band in our contest. In this video is the clue you need, to answer the question, to get some free merch! Got it? Good!
Sorry about that headline. I tend to get a little carried away. SUMMER SLAUGHTER to some fans of more extreme and interesting bands is THE tour of the summer this and every year. The line-ups are consistently good and the sponsors do a bang up job in my opinion. This years’ line-up does not fucking disappoint! The tour begins tonight! I’m super stoked to see EXHUMED and motherfucking GOATWHORE early in the day. You better not be late to this one folks. These guys could be doing their own headline tours or playing to thousands in Europe nightly. Call out sick from work or whatever you do with your days between shows, but get there early. Next JOB FOR A COWBOY is gonna crush it big time. Then I like how three of the modern metal bands in a row step up in VEIL OF MAYA, PERIPHERY and THE FACELESS. The new album from THE FACELESS’ is gonna drop on 8/14, right in the middle of the tour! Sick! You all better buy that shit and not download it you pack of crims. Then in the co-headliner spots you have BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and the impeccable CANNIBAL CORPSE. A little something for the Prog nerds and the Death Metal old-schoolers. CANNIBAL is going to gut their audiences musically and I for one cannot wait because they are one of the best bands of all time live. Get your tickets now and not the day of because apparently some of the shows have been selling out. For more details check the tour Facebook page. See you there!
The set was varied enough, considering their discography currently stands at five EPs and three LPs. Though I am disappointed that they don’t play anything off This Just Might Be… The Truth (namely “Pump The Brakes”), their most heavy and straightforward release, I feel as though it ultimately wouldn’t mesh well with the material from The Shape Of Punk To Come and Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent, which lean towards a sort of Post-Hardcore/Experimental Rock sound, but have just enough heaviness and hard-hitting aggression to merit their place among the Punk/Hardcore greats of history. From the two-step swing of “Summerholidy vs Punkroutine” to the cannonading lyrical assault of “Refused Are Fucking Dead” (my personal favourite), and the turncoat anthem “Coup D’Etat”, all coupled with vocalist Dennis Lyxzén musing on how prophetic his lyrics of top-down oppression are in hindsight. It was all around a spectacular showcase of how Punk Rock is not just three chords and an angry British or Californian man shouting about the impending police state. Take some notes from the seminal volume Songwriting Tips For Anarchists, by U. Kuhnt, which simply contains the words “OPPRESSORS: FUCK OFF” in large, bold, red print, and listen to some REFUSED. You’ll be much wiser for it. In the meantime, should REFUSED repeat this tour, being fully active once again since 1998, and you for any reason missed this, your redemption shall come swift as an assassin’s blade under cover of night.
