metal bulletin #36

Metal Bulletin
Zine #36
Everett, WA
[email protected]
INTERVIEWS: Project Armageddon
Aphelium
REVIEWS:
adult contemporary metal Infinita Symphonia, Queensryche
black metal
ancient: Grave Desecrator traditional: Stonehaven transitional: Cnoc An Tursa, Negator, Windfaerer
death metal
archaic: Vorum
technical/blastattack: Defeated Sanity
doom metal
doom (traditional): Black Sabbath
grind Full of Hell, Mumakil
heavy/power metal
traditional: Attic
power: Dark Moor
melodic/growl metal Amon Amarth, Darkane, Trail of Tears
prog Scale the Summit
weird experimental Shining
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history of Metal Bulletin Zine
Issue 1 to 20: (2006-2009): Wisconsin
Issue 21 to 26: (2009-2010): Texas
Issue 27 (2010) - present; Washington State
-metal on the radio/internet (Pacific Time)
Metal Shop (Seattle, WA): Saturday 11pm-3am
KISW 99.9fm
www.kisw.com
FOUR ridiculous hours of the heavy stuff!
Sweet Nightmares (Houston, TX): Thursday night
9pm-midnight KPFT 90.1 fm
www.kpft.org
Bill The Master and his pirates take over Texas!
****
—
Due to space limitations, interviews/reviews are
shorter than on www.metalbulletin.blogspot.com
****
Project Armageddon (U.S.)
With the album “Tides of Doom,” these Texans called
Project Armageddon found the heavy metal time
machine. Project Armageddon did not travel back in
time to the 1980s, but rather to 1969-70 England, and
they took to Texas the guitar used by Tony Iommi, and
all his studio equipment, which is why this guitar sound
will recall classic Black Sabbath and big-riff doomstoner sounds.
You wanted the doom, you’ve got the doom!
Here are the answers by Raymond Matthews (the
cannons) and Alexis Hollada (the grit and the thunder)
to a set of questions sent to them in Morse code. The
lineup is completed by Brandon Johnson (the crunch).
www.projectarmageddon.com
-Hello, Project Armageddon! I have been listening to the
"Tides of Doom" album. I didn't realize that Houston,
Texas had such doomsters. Is it true that you put out the
album by yourselves? What does that mean? You have
put up your own money to record the album?
Raymond-We own the production company, Shattered
Man Records. So we did record the album ourselves,
and we paid for the CD production from money we
saved playing shows. We try hard to reinvest
everything we make back into the band so we can
continually improve our sound and quality of
production. We also hired out the mixing and mastering
to Tomasz Scull, of supernaturalsoundltd/Venomin
James & I'd say he did a killer job for us.
Are you all homeless now from having spent all your
money on the album?! Are you living in a van, down by
the river? Project Armageddon must be one tough
bunch to go at it alone?
Raymond-I've played drums for over 20 years and have
always been motivated by the excitement of creating
something new, original, and entertaining, and then
having the joy of sharing that with fans in a live
performance. I also thrive on the technical challenges
of capturing that original work in its best possible form
by recording. Though I don't have formal training in
recording, after spending countless hours and dollars
over the years I've managed to pick up enough to
make it work.
Doomstress Alexis-Really when it comes down to
it, if you have a drive and passion about something
that you are creating, then you strive to overcome any
obstacles in order to achieve that goal. There are
things that will either obstruct that objective or
perpetuate it. If it means enough to you, you will find a
way to make it happen regardless of the
consequences, and this is true in many things in life.
So how exactly does Project Armageddon achieve its
sound? Do you use special equipment? Do you use
equipment that is old, in order to achieve the classic
70s doom sound? How much autotune did you use?!!
Raymond-We use a rack mounted 24 track recorder,
the Alesis HD24. It captured the sound exactly as we
play it. I use the same Tama drums set that I bought in
new back in 1991, the Rockstar DX series, with some
good mikes and as few punches as possible. It's
important for the feel or the song to try to get in in as
few takes as possible.
We typically play the song and record the
drums, bass, and rhythm guitar all at once. This helps
capture the live feel, then we go back and add or
replace bass & guitar lines including solos and harmony
tracks. Last we lay down the vocal tracks. Doomstress
Alexis does a great job of capturing the feel in just one
or two takes most of the time.
The sound has to be attributed to the gear and
the mikes we use. Like to make sure we can capture
the same or better sound live and we have on the
album so we don't rely on any triggers or computer
generated synthesizers. We use a couple samples that
we made ourselves, too, like the marching crunch in
“Fallow Fields,” which is the same sample we used on
the first album. We do have an assortment of effects
pedals and love to experiment with them to create
original sounds as well. One example is running the
bass through a POG (Keyboard synth pedal) as heard
in the intro to “Sanctimonious.”
Doomstress Alexis-1st off-NO AUTOTUNE! We
record through a mix of different gear both analog and
digital, and then we sent it off to SupernaturalSoundLtd
for mixing (although the 1st record we did mix ourselves
via an analog mixing board). Aside from that we just
use great gear that gives us the sound we like, and we
capture it well thru trial and error, and advice from
those with the know-how.
How can people stay in touch? I live in Washington
State, have you ever played here?
Raymond-We
keep
up
with
our
Facebook,
ReverbNation, Youtube and MySpace pages. We are
on
Itunes,
CD
Baby,
hellridemusic,
shadowkingdomrecords.com, brainticket.com, and
several other locations on the web. We have also
recently created our own official band website:
www.projectarmageddon.com.
There are links to listen to and buy our music,
shirts, and other band merchandise, as well as info
about our upcoming shows and events. We also have
a blog with info about past events and a fairly
extensive photo gallery. From our site you can sign up
to become a "Fan" & receive notifications of upcoming
events.
We have not yet played Washington State, but
we do plan to do more touring this year and the next,
so check back with us at the website to stay informed.
Thanks,
Raymond Matthews.
THE END.
--
Aphelium (Venezuela)
The previous issue of this zine had a positive review of
these traditional, melodic power metallers’ demo. Now,
here they are again, explaining their musical journey in
metal.
Aphelium is Marcos (bassss), Yohan (drmrrrr),
Ismael (grrrrr), Joan (waaah!), and Christhian (keybrrr).
www.facebook/com/ApheliumBand
-Greetings, Aphelium! How is life for a power metal
band in Caracas, Venezuela in 2013? Are metalheads
in Venezuela becoming fans of Aphelium? What do
fans and zines, and webzines say about you?
Joan: First of all, we'd like to thank Mauricio for this
interview and say hello to all the Metal Bulletin
followers.
Ismael: Greetings from Venezuela! Life for any
Metal band is not easy in the beginning, but when you
love Metal, you go on, no matter how hard it is. Even
though Caracas has one of the most important Metal
scenes in Venezuela, it is difficult for Metal bands to
endure throughout the years, since there's hardly any
support from producers. There are some producers who
make great efforts in order to help maintain the local
scene, but it is not enough. This could be explained by
the fact that Metal culture is not fully developed in our
country.
Marcos: About the fans issue. Well, we are really
beginning our road as a band, we don't like to talk
about "fans", we prefer the term "followers", people who
like our music and support us. And we are thankful with
all those people who have been to our shows and who
have downloaded or bought our Demo.
Joan: So far, our Demo has had excellent
reviews, which makes us really happy, since we've put
a huge effort in our music. Local pages like "La Movida
Metal", "Hermanos del Rock" and international pages
like "Sorrow Eternal" and "Metal Storm" have talked
about how they enjoyed it, and have encouraged us
to keep on working on our music. Of course, we'd love
3
to have more songs in it, but that's all we've been able
to record until now.
What are your earliest memories of metal music in
Venezuela? A show, a video or a metalhead friend?
Ismael: The first time I listened to Metal, I was like 14
years old and I was at my cousin's house. We were
watching the MTV's top ten and I saw a music video of
Rata Blanca's "La leyenda del hada y el mago". I loved
the song but I didn't know what it was all about. The
other moment that made me love metal even more
was the Stratovarius show at "La concha acústica", a
venue in Caracas. I really enjoyed that show because
Stratovarius is one of my favorite bands, and also,
"Metempsicosis", a Metal band from Caracas which is
currently inactive (and one of my favorites), was going
to perform as the support band for Stratovarius.
Marcos: Undoubtedly, the Motorhead concert.
Lemmy Kilmister is a badass motherfucker! Watching
him was priceless!!
Joan: When I was around 8 years old, I
remember I saw an Iron Maiden video on TV. I had no
idea what it was, but I really liked it. Several years later, I
started listening to Rock music thanks to a friend in high
school and I got the chance to discover the song from
the video (which was Man on the edge!). I also
remember my first Power Metal album. I saw the Cover
and, at first, I thought it was a game or something. I
decided to buy the CD because the guy who was
selling it told me I might like it, if I liked fantasy and
Classical music. When I got home and pushed play, I
discovered music I had never imagined, Epic and
wonderful; it was Rhapsody’s Dawn of Victory!
Yohan: If you're talking about Venezuelan
Metal, my earliest memories are related to
Metempsicosis. My brother showed me that band and
I've always regretted not being able to see them live,
since I was too young to go to their shows. I had their
first record, "Alpha", which was a huge inspiration to me
and made me realize I could have a band, a record
and fill venues! Another memory I have, is the first
concert I went to. My brother took me to an Iron
Maiden concert! I was very young, and that was the
moment he taught me what Metal was and I started to
love it!
Cristhian: In my case, it was when I was14 years
old. One day my neighbor showed me "BYOB" by SOAD
and I was amazed by the melodies in the verse. The
next day I bought the Mezmerize album.
What do you think about Arkangel and "Represión
latinoamericana"? Is that band interesting to you?
Joan: Arkangel is one of the most influential Heavy
Metal bands here in Venezuela. We think the way they
expose our reality in "Represión Latinoamericana" is
remarkable. And it is interesting how some things they
describe in their songs haven't changed much.
Did Joan sing Venezuelan pop music when he was a
child? Since you are from Venezuela, did you rebel
against the music of José Luis Rodríguez "el puma"? I
suppose that it is almost impossible to avoid his music in
Venezuela? He was very famous in the 80s, but now
only old people like his music?
Joan: I used to sing jingles and stuff like that, but
besides that, and Choir music, I've never liked Pop
music. The music of "El Puma" is not something one
can't avoid in our country, as you might think (Thank
God!). He was, and still is, very famous indeed, but, just
like you said, mostly older people like his music. A
Venezuelan singer who is definitely one of my
influences is Torre de Marfil's first vocalist (Torre de Marfil
is a Power Metal band from Caracas).
Lastly, how do you imagine Aphelium in ten years? And
what are your objectives in the next couple of years,
after the demo? Is Reverbnation or Facebook good for
knowing what is happening with Aphelium?
Ismael: Right now, we are trying to keep the same
active rhythm we've had over the last years. Ten years
from now, we hope to have increased significantly the
reach of our music. Our dream is that, in the near
future, a lot of people throughout the world feel
inspired by our music. We have some planned
objectives; for example, we are currently working on
our first album material and we hope to get more gigs,
in our country and internationally.
Regarding Facebook and Reverbnation, we
consider that both are essential tools nowadays.
Facebook is ideal for connecting with your followers
and know firsthand about their opinion on the band
and their expectations. On the other hand,
Reverbnation is more focused on the music and lets
musicians keep statistics of their musical activity in
social networks, so it's extremely useful to know how
good we're doing with the band. We think these are
the best tools for new bands like us, so we'll keep on
using them in the future.
THE END.
--
REVIEWS
adult contemporary metal
by MMB
Infinita Symphonia (Italy): “Infinita Symphonia”
Queensryche (U.S.): “Queensryche”
Infinita Symphonia. This is where the good
singing takes place, where melody predominates, and
sing-along choruses await the listener.
Very quickly, here’s the deal. Huge, direct
rocking metal riffs, catchy hooks and solos,
song/rhythm-based no-nonsense drumming, and a
4
good singer with a bit of grit (not thin-high singing), but
still smooth and talented.
Rocking metal songs, proggy tracks, midtempo
numbers, and ballads. A ballad?! Yes, a love song,
perfect for your wedding. That’s right, a love song. “In
Your Eyes,” is called.
Quality stuff. Ear-friendly. Recommended for
those into “metal that the whole family can enjoy, even
the kids.”
Confession: I hated this album the first time I
heard it several weeks ago! Nevertheless, I decided to
return to it yesterday and today. Something changed!
The music is still the same, but my understanding of it
became better, and in return, I totally see what Infinita
Symphonia is doing. Fun, upbeat, rocking.
Look up the video on YouTube “If I Could Go
Back” for a taste of the upbeat, melodic metal rocking!
It’s not a high-budget video, but just listen to the music.
www.facebook.com/InfinitaSymphonia
Queensryche. Excellent singing, strong choruses, an
abundance of guitar melodies, and overall semi-prog
feel, in the sense of adult contemporary metal or light
metal. The previous Queensryche album with which this
meshes the best is probably "Empire."
It is also very good, and well done at all levels.
The bands sounds confident, experienced and
professional, and the sound quality is full and bouncy.
It's very easy on the ears and it's a very welcoming and
friendly vibe.
The band has worked extremely hard at
repairing the reputation, at redeeming the name, and
at making a serious effort to compose a well-balanced
album with great midtempo songs, and with a couple
of uptempo rockers.
Very, very recommended for Queensryche
listeners that enjoy the more midtempo, mature,
catchy and lighter metal side of the band's history.
It's probably a bit disappointing for those
listeners hoping for something heavier and faster, but if
you listen to the complete album, I would predict that it
will grow on you, as long as you listen to this, for what it
is now, and you do like "adult contemporary metal,"
easy-listening music. High quality, regardless.
black metal (ancient)
Grave Desecrator (Brazil): “Deathspells Rising”
I unknowingly lost this album and I should have
reviewed it a long time. Like I’m telling you, though, I
had not found it until last week. This is actually a 2011
compilation of demo, unreleased songs and live tracks.
Not being familiar with Grave Desecrator, I have
enjoyed this collection immensely. Grave Desecrator
sounds exactly like the typical South American
black/death/thrash bands have historically sounded.
They live up to their vicious name and I recommend it
only to anyone who particularly loves the first releases
by Sepultura, Sodom, Sarcofago, Blasphemy and others
like that. They do a cover of “Sacrifice” by Bathory,
taking that early black metal track through the meat
grinder and making that horrible song sound even
more horrid and atrocious.
Due to the variety of recording sources, the
sound quality ranges from tremendously awful to
unbelievably bad, all done to exquisite perfection.
Grave
Desecrator
is
great
stuff!
www.facebook.com/gravedesecrator666
black metal (traditional)
Stonehaven(U.S.):“Concerning Old-Strife and Man-Banes”
Old, necro, archaic black metal, recorded in a
cave. Stories of wars, feuds, conspiracies and
treachery, all written in a special language for you.
Stonehaven is a necro black metal band’s band.
Check it out, “Of the White Fall and Frozen
Walls”! How good is your Viking English? Well, I don’t
think that this story has a happy ending, nor does the
piece called “Cutting the Necks of the Upstarts.”
Tremolo riffs summon shrieks and snarls with the
appropriate drumming, Stonehaven has reached deep
into the history of black metal and barbarian Europe,
with such enthusiasm that it must be welcomed by the
total-black-metal audience. There’s a time and place,
a perspective, embodied in Stonehaven, and you will
know as soon as you hear it.
In places all over the world, in metal, there are
a few grumpy metalhead musicians who frown at the
state of metal where they live. I get the feeling that
Stonehaven is one such band.
Recommended for those into regional and
local black metal bands that are not international rock
stars, but that you know are actually pretty good at
what they do, and just as important, they know what
they are doing, and are not moved by the fickleminded trends in metal.
www.facebook.com/pages/Stonehaven/274695922642
black metal (transitional)
Cnoc An Tursa (Scotland): “The Giants of Auld”
Negator (Germany): “Gates to the Pantheon”
Windfaerer (U.S.): “Solar”
The clean production of Cnoc An Tursa‘s fast, tight
melodic black metal enhances the listening experience
by allowing the symphonic and guitar elements to
stand out.
In this instance, the songwriting itself goes
beyond any genre. Case in point, “Ettrick Forest in
November” shows tremolo picking, heavy metal
5
catchiness, and symphonic components in effective
unity. The mellower tracks like “Culloden Moor” or the
faster ones such as “The Lion of Scotland” all reveal the
commonality of emphasis on songwriting.
The audience into “Viking/folk/black”-ish metal
will find Cnoc An Tursa to be a fun, strong experience.
Plus, you are sure to enjoy learning about Scotland, its
history, nature and mythical heroes. Very competent
recording! www.facebook.com/cnocantursa
Negator plays a well-balanced style that is part black
metal, part death metal, and executed tightly,
efficiently, and in a compact format, with up-to-date
studio techniques, as found on current death metal
(non-old school death metal). Speaking of style,
Negator uses at least four recurring guitar
fundamentals: tremolo/black metal riffing; thick death
metal riffs; dissonant notes; and chunky thrashing
hooks. Vocally, the vocals are both black and death,
although the black metal style is more prevalent.
Overall, Negator’s music goes to toe to toe with
the most popular bands playing blasting/brutal death
metal. Negator may not be the most famous of names,
but I recommend this to fans of Belphegor and
Behemoth, as well as Hate Eternal, and modern
blasting metal in general. The difference is that Negator
sounds newer to the game, so to the listener they will
sound fresh, since this band comes from a black metal
approach.
Warning: knowledgeable listeners will know that
Negator used to be a lot more of traditional black
metal, with their 2004 debut “Old Black.” You should
know that they have changed a lot, and have made a
push from that style towards Behemoth-style intensity.
Leaving aside that touchy issue of style change,
if you just listen, you hear that Negator has taken a
jump to running with the big dogs, and it’s the type of
energy goes that over well with fans of “extreme
metal” in the U.S. www.negator666.de
Fans of modern, melodic, fast black/death metal, here
is Windfaerer. They will win you over with one listen.
First
things
first,
they
play
generally
fast/uptempo, tight, professional-sounding black metal,
with songs that make an impression quickly, so the
listener doesn’t have to listen 27 times to understand.
Now that you know that, to the point. Here are
two things about Windfaerer that I think are identity
makers for them.
The guitar work. Above all else, the talent heard
on the guitar makes the album. For example, “The
Morning Star” displays such a quick-hitting, big riff at the
beginning, so that this song closes the album with a
bang.
Besides the good riffs, the soloing is worthy of
your attention. Some of those notes are, in fact, ear
candy. It has occurred to me that maybe those fluid
notes are not even guitar, but I do not have enough
information or knowledge to tell you. Maybe you, dear
reader, should listen to the soloing in “A Glimpse of
Light” and see what you think?!!
Secondly, Windfaerer has a violin player and this
adds an ear-friendly, different dimension to their metal.
It’s a distinguishing mark of Windfaerer, and one that
makes the music even more listenable and enjoyable.
www.facebook.com/windfaerer
death metal (obscurantist)
Vorum (Finland): “Poisoned Void”
It is one thing to play chugging guitar and to
growl and call that death metal. It’s a complete other
perspective-craftsmanship involved in the creation of
the type of obscurantist death metal played by Vorum.
Archaic or ancient death metal functions at a whole
other level. For one thing, Vorum’s music cuts across
three genres: dark thrash, blasphemous death metal
and black metal. The key thing is how Vorum puts it all
together. There’s lots of tremolo segments, but the
guitar tone is heavy, so it sounds like a massive black
metal guitar, and the solos are about the shredding.
The vocals are semi-intelligible, but it is a growl-snarl
that takes the sound into the realms of “dark and evil
death metal.”
Vorum is so good that the music is a perfect
illustration of why death and black metal have the
same origin, were once one thing, and are, in Vorum,
one again.
Just as a side note, I’ll tell you about some
“little” things that I find excellent. I find the guitar solos
to be very enjoyable and are, for me, a highlight of the
band’s overall sound. They really add personality to
these songs.
The drumming. I like the sounds of the cymbal
work, and the hard-hitting (non-plasticky) sound. The
way the double bass, cymbals and snare join together,
it’s a pleasure to listen to, over and over again. Quite a
creative style of drumming, that will have your ears
entertained. It’s true in my case, anyway.
Very good. Recommended for the selective
listeners into obscurantist/ancient death metal.
www.facebook.com/Vorumdeath
death metal (technical/blastattack)
Defeated Sanity (Germany): “Passages into Deformity”
“Brooooootality,” slamming technicality is how
Defeated Sanity rolls. If you love, love the super-overthe-top karate-chop-moshpit beatdown and throwing
6
your elbows in good, friendly violent fun, I have to tell
you that Defeated Sanity has just entered their album
“Passages into Deformity” into the my wildly famous
Most Brutal Album of the Year contest, which takes
place in my van, down by the river.
Every person who is physically fit should form a
pit now. Do it. Do it now for Defeated Sanity!
I am not physically fit because I am 83 years old,
but I can sure lift up my hand and do the Frank Mullen
hand quake like nobody’s business!
It’s easy for me to do it because my hands already
shake all the time, anyway.
What I like the most about Defeated Sanity is
that they do well the multiple things that they do,
meaning that they cook their songs just right, at the
right temperature, and the result is a great success. The
superlow indecipherable grunting, the blasting,
slamming, shredding, riffs, pinch harmonics, solos, and
all these things are placed and measured well. For
example, the chugga-chugga knuckle-dragging lowstring plucking, if not handled correctly, bores me to
tears because it can sound like uncreative, unskilled
stuff played by good-for-nothing, weekend warriors of
death metal. That’s certainly not the case with
Defeated Sanity! Step aside, make way for the
professionals. If you want to hear a superbrutal band
this year, and you insist that you have the patience for
one album only, make it this one.
It’s that good. About the only thing that is
missing here is pig squeals and more screaming, but this
is so good that I will forgive them for that. Nobody is
perfect, but Defeated Sanity is 97.33% perfect.
www.facebook.com/DefeatedSanity
doom (traditional)
Black Sabbath (U.K.): “13”
Rolling Stone magazine’s Will Hermes says that
this album “kicks ***” and Metal Hammer UK’s Geoff
Barton gives it “9 out of 10.”
Personally, I was so bored by the third track that
I was not looking forward to hearing the album again.
There is no rocking, no headbanging and there’s a lack
of energy. It sounds tired. It is a flawed, preposterous
premise to think that they could go back in time and
recapture a sound.
Isn’t it delusional to think that they could
channel the music of the late 1960s, when they were 19
or 20 years old?
It’s not a terrible album, but it is boring-slow, too
slow for too long. What happened to the “rocking” part
of the equation? Gone. Way too much blues. This is a
snoozefest, just like that previous Black Sabbath album,
“The Devil You Know,” another one that is extremely
boring and tired, and with no rocking.
grind
Full of Hell (U.S.): “Rudiments of Mutilation”
Mumakil (Switzerland): “Flies Will Starve”
I have to tell you that Full of Hell’s music is for those into
annoyingly brilliant noisy grind punk doom sludge
whatever. The songs range from total grind blazing
speed to very slow spacey sludge doom, with a strong
tendency to make a lot of noise. A lot.
If you don’t like bands that cross genre
boundaries, then you won’t like this. If you genuinely
love noisy stuff, and you don’t get frustrated that one
song sounds like grind, and another is a crawling, snail’s
pace number, then this is for you.
Categories, limits and rules all mean exactly
jack squat to Full of Hell. It’s crazy, bipolar, dichotomous
music. www.facebook.com/fullofhell
There is never, ever a bad day for all-out grind!
Mumakil proves that the millions (and millions!), and
millions (and millions!) of grind fans need blasting. Fast is
headed your way right here!
24 songs in about 36 minutes, and only one
song reaches the 2-minute mark. Yes! Mumakil is the
type of music that you put on, and get your hearing
wrecked in a whirlwind of blasting and growling, and
then they are gone. Done. Yes!
Great, that’s the efficient way. Don’t waste my
time, just get to the grind, play the grind, play fast,
really fast, scream, yell, growl and grunt and lose your
mind. I love it. Never too much blasting.
Can you smell what Mumakil is cooking?! It’s a
spicy dish of no-nonsense grind, served on a hot plate
of sarcasm and anger, with a tall glass of talk-smack
lyrics. With a thick, modern production, not a garagestyle sound. If you like to-the-point, old-style, drill-andblast, nothing-but-grind grind, then invite Mumakil to
your
house.
Not
for
schmucks.
www.facebook.com/Mumakil
heavy metal (traditional)
Attic (Germany): “The Invocation”
Attic signed a contract with the evil powers,
and it is a one-sentence contract, as follows (yes, I
receive copies):
“Attic is hereby granted their wish to sound, as
much as demonically possible, like Mercyful Fate 19811985, and in return they agree to surrender their soul to
me [you know who] and to spend eternity in my lake of
fire.”
Anyway, yes, yes, the song titles, the singing
(even down to the laugh), and everything is meant as
a huge tribute to Mercyful Fate.
How much do you love classic Mercyful Fate?!
Well, that’s nothing. Attic loves Mercyful Fate more!
7
Everybody interested in all things MF/King Diamond,
here’s a band to keep you entertained.
www.facebook.com/atticfuneral
heavy metal (power)
Dark Moor (Spain): “Ars Musica”
This makes 9 albums, from their debut in 1999. It
is true that I have never heard a Dark Moor title that I
did not like, and listening to this new one is just as much
fun as their previous material. Featuring luxurious,
symphonic power metal; and melodies that hit the
mark big time, these veterans deliver like the true
professionals that they are. Dark Moor does not
emphasize upfront shredding guitars nor heaviness per
se, rather it is melodies, hooks and notes coated in
sugar. Speedy rockers, uptempo compositions, singalong tunes, midtempo numbers (some more
symphonic than others), ballads and others in between,
Dark Moor covers all the bases in power metal,
including acoustic and orchestral versions, and a song
in Spanish. If you like power metal and you have not
given them much of your time, this album is a very
good place to start. Another fine, fine effort. Pleasing.
www.dark-moor.com
melodic/growl metal
Amon Amarth (Sweden): “Deceiver of the Gods”
Darkane (Sweden): “The Sinister Supremacy”
Trail of Tears (Norway): “Oscillation”
Amon Amarth. This model of consistency, reliability and
quality will once again satisfy the metalheads. Overall,
the galloping riffs and the melodic hooks/solos illustrate
why this band has never disappointed me. From the
looks of it, those into them will also be pleased. The
vocals are gruff, as always, but easy to growl along to.
The drums sound perhaps a bit faster, with excellent
segments of double-bass where it’s needed.
Most importantly, you can bang your head like
nobody’s business. The band has mastered the art of
headbanging, memorable melodic/growl metal. Put it
on your “to get” list because it has everything that
Amon Amarth listeners like: quality songwriting, catchy
melodies, uptempo/galloping riffs, and a great sense of
how to get you moving.
Throughout nine albums the band has gradually
changed from a death metal band to uptempo and
memorable growl metal, while adding some heavy
metal catchiness. Formed in 1992, it’s like Amon Amarth
has studied the history of legendary metal bands, has
avoided those huge missteps that alienate their
listeners, while getting bigger each time.
www.amonamarth.com
Quality.
Experience.
High
Standard.
Perseverance. Darkane.
Darkane is modern metal incarnate, in a
positive way, that only experienced, tested veterans
can be.
What doesn’t Darkane have expertise in?!
There’s enough of everything for everyone here.
Whether it’s huge thrashing guitar work, melodic hooks
and solos, in-your-face heaviness, energetic/aggressive
vocals, singing, and well-arranged songs, it doesn’t
matter, they deliver a coherent, smooth impact.
Clearly, the matter of coherence is key.
Darkane finds ways to unite different components in
one single, unified sound.
Sometimes, Darkane goes into total thrash
mode, where the pace dictates joining in, or getting
out of the way. Just join in, as in “Humanity Defined,”
where the thrashing, galloping tempo takes over, while
allowing breathing room for a bit of melodic soloing.
This same Darkane vibe and sound, somehow
manages, in places, to sound more death metal-ish on
“The Decline,” yet it sounds very much like Darkane.
Mainly, it is because Darkane does not stay in a box,
and just cuts across different genre lines.
They even manage to surprise with the
unexpected “Hate Repentance State,” not a full-on
thrash attack, but the opposite, a mellow, melodic ditty
that seems to appear out of the blue.
Recommended for followers of bands that are
concerned with good songs, and not so much the
name of the genre. “Thrashing, melodic growl metal”?
Here’s an interesting fact for the Darkane
followers. Do you remember their debut 1999 album
“Rusted Angel”? Or have you heard it? Lawrence
Mackrory did vocals on that album and he
disappeared from Darkane’s history as “that guy” from
the first album. “That guy,” surprise, surprise is “Larry
Lethal” from silly thrashers Freddy Krueger’s Ünderwear
(FKÜ) and now is back in Darkane. Such is the cycle of
life.
www.darkane.com
Many, many, many great news about “Oscilllation” by
Trail of Tears. There is also some bad, bad news, but it’s
not even bad news about this album. More on that in a
second.
In terms of style, Trail of Tears represents the
dichotomy
of
elegant,
lush
symphonic/melodic/melancholic/pop/catchy
sensibilities with heavy/growl/headbanging metal. On
this album, they master their craft impeccably and
beautifully. It is certainly the one that I have enjoyed
the most since their debut in 1998, “Disclosure in Red.” It
would be easy to go into great detail, but for the sake
of brevity, I will tell you about one thing that really,
really, really steals the show here: the singing by
8
Catherine Paulsen. What can’t she do?! What a talent.
She knocks it out of the park on this one. Excellent way
to carry melodies, passionate singing, with a variety of
voices, from intense high, air-raid siren acrobatics to
soprano gymnastics, to midrange singing.
Anyway, I won’t bother you with more details.
The songs by Trail of Tears = excellence in their style.
Ah, yes, the bad news, eh? Trail of Tears has
disbanded! So, this is it. No more Trail of Tears. Reunion,
anyone? www.facebook.com/trailoftearsofficial
prog (traditional)
Scale the Summit (U.S.): “The Migration”
An instrumental prog band like Scale the Summit
comprises a different listening experience from most
metal because the listener can hear everything well,
without the screaming/growling (and special effects)
and without other things to distract from the music
(sound compression, constant blasting, etc.). Instead of
a barrage of noise, Scale the Summit endeavors in a
fluidity of sound, flowing notes/solos that ease their way
through the songs.
Guitar, bass, drums, and good songs. Kind of
rocking at times, but in a mellow-proggy way. The
sound of music, just the instruments. Highly
recommended if you want something musically
accomplished, but that still has songs to get into. It’s not
show-off stuff, but a good balance of music for
musicians and music for intelligent listeners. Guitar
enthusiasts, this could be for you!
www.facebook.com/scalethesummit
weird experimental
Shining (Norway): “One One One”
Shining celebrates a carnival of clashing
traditions of sounds with their “blackjazz”: industrial jazz
saxophone mosh scream electronica paranormal
postfreaky metal rock.
Shining hovers-un/covers their art with highly
annoying, teeth gnashing, nails-on-chalkboard idiot
savant majestic beauty brain snaps for the mentally
rearranged puzzles in an epidemic maze of purposeful
confusion
mis/re/un/directed
at
mindcluster
eccentricity.
This makes all orthodox/traditional/impatient
listeners reach for a new pair of clean diapers.
That’s right, come and get it. Brain melt function
mode on.
Grab
a
paper
bag.
Hyperventilate.
www.facebook.com/shiningnorway
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July 10, 2013