With Photoshop from the pirate bay,
anyone can design an album cover. Try your skills today!
A new slab of modern thrash metal today. Mutant, who formed just back in '04 and with a discography consisting of a mere 2 EP's, these guys are pretty fresh in the game. This does not seem to be a hindrance for the Brits in Mutant.
Kicking at high speed, with the feel of many modern thrash bands this may seem a bit "normal" at a cassual first listen, but all the details make this album so much more than just another thrash revival disc. The riffing has a fair amount of melodic qualities, and structurally this EP has a fair deal of progressive influences.
The guitars are about 60% Thrash revival riffing, 30% melodic/technical thrash riffing and 10% awesome solos. this is all you need to know.
The vocals range from classical shouts, to a more guttural growling (unlike about everything else i've put up to review here). They are well exceuted, and fit the music well. thumbs up.
The drums have their moments, and have a few proggy moments. mostly in bass/snare patterns, but steady as a rock, and varying the patterns a fair deal. no complaints here.
Apart from in the basssolos, you can't hear the bass all that much. it's just below the guitars in unison, not doing all that many licks, but when you hear it, they are good, and a pleasant surprise. decent day at the office.
This piece of music is defiantly something of the better stuff to come out in the last few years. it should be checked out. 8.5/10.
Sweet, sweet acoustic tones. Arpeggios supplemented by a beautiful complex melodic line. Modulations and returns. “Crystal Ann” is one of the best pieces of music written in the history of popular music. It's strong mood, and emotion gets the listener quite ready for the rest of one dam strong album. 1989's "Alice in hell" is one of the best efforts by Jeff Waters, and his crew with Annihilator.
The first song on here, what some would call the title track: “Allison Hell” starts of with a dramatic acoustic, following the intro, but then bursts into a strong melodic riff, with a interesting bassline, to then go completely nuts, and calming down. This is indicative of the entire album. There are lots of changes, and riffs and passages of highly varied nature. All the parts are also of a highly catchy nature, and most parts have a strong identity, and feeling of uniqueness.
W.T.Y.D is a mostly fast paced thrasher with a fairly technical riff. Around the halfway mark, it has a very nice calm interlude, and then a shredding bridge. One of my favorite breaks of the album.
“Wicked mystic” is a heavy song, that never really lets up, and continues to thrash about until the melodic solo starting at a bit past halfway. This is one of the more shredding solos of the album (as opposed to directional solos). Strong track, that will leave your neck tired, should you witness it live.
“Burns like a buzzard blade” tones down the speed and heavyness for a bit, but makes uf for it in a more catchy riff and chorus. The staccato riffing on the verse feels so tight that you'd wish you could stick your dick in it. The solo is not the best on this album, and this song does not count as one of my favorites on this album.
“Word salad” is an intense song, with frequent changes of of speed, and a melodic thrash riff sticking out as one hell of a technical achievement. The acoustic piece in there is also the most creepy of them all. This makes a great contrast to the inspirational and quite directional solo. A nice piece of songwriting right there.
Schizos are never alone. A Fun and highly varied song, the title hinting to schizophrenia is somewhat indicative of the songs structure. Forgetting where it is, and where it is going, but with awesome parts driving it, this song is like a highway to nowhere. You don't get anywhere, but it is a nice ride.
Staccato drumming starts off “Ligeia”. The most important part on this song is it's structure, with its mix of mid-paced heavy thrashing, and breakneck speed choruses. Also worth noting, is the phenomenal bass riff carrying the later part of the song, with nice fills and intense riffing.
Ending the album is the bass heavy “human insecticide”. The bass jumps all over the place, with harmonies and octaves everywhere, fills and unique lines flow out of the lower register at amazing speeds. In general this reminds more of the second albums basswork, and that is a good thing.
The guitars keep up the intense speed too, but allow the bass enough space to shine.
A decent way to end a fairly good album, without any weak points.
This consistent album of good individual parts, and simply headbainging tunes is deserving of a decent 8/10.
I am seeing annihilator, sworn amongst and svölk live in a weeks time, does anybody want a writeup of the consert, or are you more interested in having a more obscure recommendation instead? Leave your comment.
I know that some of you told me to update more frequenlty. sadly, writing these reviews is a very time-consuming process, and for a hobby, there is a limited amount of time i can use between my other duties of the real world. Actively listening to an album for no less than three times, with several rewindings, and then writing my analysis to you, all my readers, will rarely take less than three hours. with two updates a week, this is easily 7 hours a week, that i spend on my blog. I have school, band practice and social stuff to do, so even though you love my updates, you will have to wait for each one of them. sorry.
Now for the real reason you are here: your semiweekly recommendation of obscure metal. This time around, i will point you to one of the earliest acts of progressive metal, (if you exclude the prog-rock-metal bands). Watchtower is a Prog/tech-thrash band in some of the same vein as mekong delta, coroner and realm. Their second album, Control and Resistance is the more progressive of their two albums, and a very good progressive effort at that.
The first element that deserves attention is the bass playing. Lines that differ from the guitar is the norm on this album. It is the most impressive bass playing i've heard on any thrash record, both musically, and to some extent technically. The modal qualities of the bass playing make the lines interesting at all times. The few times that the bass follow the guitar it is still highly audible, because of the equalization, with boosted mids and a excellent production with no mud in the sound at all. There are small bass solos scattered around, but most notable is the solo on the final track: "dangerous toy". This solo has such a jazzy quality and with the band following it, it is amazing. (jazz-thrash has definatly triggered my interest, and i plan to find more bands in this vein of music, to review)
The vocals have their own, extremely distinct style, they sometimes just completely ignore what is happening with the rest of the song. The most prominent example is "Mayday in Moscow" where time and melody is in intentional conflict with the rest of the band. The result is ear-catching, as the use of progressive singing is so little widespread. The uniqueness of the vocals is simply astounding.
Percussion-vise, this album is extremely varied. The drummer is a master of accentuating at the strangest of times, (in a good way), there are a few less interesting beats around if you look for them, but they are never kept around for long, and the simpleness is only used when it is extremely effective. the only complaint one could have, is that some of the toms sound a bit flat, and could use a bit more punch. This is hardly a thing to note in a recomendation, but for the sake of not praising everything into the sky...
The guitar riffing is of a highly progressive nature, but retaining a technical and thrashy edge at most times. The leads are very memorable, and the soloing is strong. Around the record there is some of the best sweeping i've heard in a long time. However the guitars mostly hold the backseat on this record. They do their job, but they are more there to bind the sound together, than to make their own voice heard.
Strong songwriting, great individual performances and a knack for making things that are both extremely complicated, yet catchy. If you can stand the vocals, this is a great record. Easily a 9/10.
P.S. These guys have a new single out. and if they manage to find a vocalist, they will record a new album as soon as possible (most probably named: "mathermatics")
"The Music of Erich Zann" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Synopsis: A university student is forced, by his lack of funds, to take the only lodging he can afford. In a strange part of the city he had never seen before, on a street named "Rue d'Auseil", he finds an apartment in an almost empty building. One of the few other tenants is an old German man named Erich Zann. The old man is mute and plays the viol with a local orchestra. He lives on the top floor and when alone at night, plays strange melodies never heard before. Over time, the student gains Zann's trust, and eventually learns of his secret, that the old man has discovered melodies and rhythms of sound of an almost otherworldly nature. Zann plays these sounds to keep back unknown and unseen creatures from Zann's window, which is said to look out into a black abyss, most likely another dimension." (wikipedia)
Melodies and rhythms of sound of an almost otherworldly nature. This is the bar that the long self-obscuring Mekong delta set for themselves when writing their second album: The music of Erich Zann. To a great extent they have succeeded. There are quite a few progressive and strange rhythms scattered around the album. Some time signatures reach into the completely strange and inaccessible, such as the 11/8 part on "prophecy" (i think it is 11/8, feel free to correct me), and melodies of "extraordinary" qualities are present.
Most of the album is fast paced thrash, with exceptions, such as the heavy, chugging, and experimental "I, king will come", the orchestral "Interludium (begging for mercy)", the epilogue track, and various intros around the album.
The guitar-work is phenomenal, with intense thrashing riffs everywhere. I would guess that the 10 songs of this album have at least 75 unique riffs, of which barely any fails to inspire headbanging. That is not to say that they are simple, in fact the contrary is true. most of the riffs are technical and varied.
The leads are even better. while there are not lead melodies everywhere, the ones that are there are highly catchy, and memorable. Two of them strike me as highly modal, or even atonal, but this somehow suit the music. The sourness of certain leads are such a strong element of the moodscape of the songs, that you wonder how the hell you pull something like that off.
Solos here are generally of high quality, but they lack some of the direction and sense of purpose that i tend to to favor when analyzing solos. This is of course a matter of taste, and should not put anyone of from checking them out.
The vocal work is probably a deal breaker for quite a few out there. either you like it or you hate it. Objectively good things about it is the degree of variation. From a strangled rasp on parts of "I, King will come" to a falsetto like vail, to a more classical thrashy shout. Things that might offset a listener is how the vocal melodies counterpoint the guitars by being completely out of key, on purpose. The effect is a inaccessible sound, that takes some getting used to, but soon, in my ears make for a strong mood-shaper.
The bass work is quite good, and shines on a couple of tracks, like "Confession of Madness" where unique lines roll out with a punchy sound (boosted mids) with a very decent solo to top it off.
The drums are of excellent quality, and with intense markings and fills all over the place, and a varied approach to the lines, only good things can be said of the drummer on this album.
Standout tracks include the thrashers: True Lies, and Confession of madness, the catchy "memories of tomorrow" and the slow and heavy "I, King will come"
The highly technical riffing, great drumming, experimental vocals, decent bass lines, and the extremely intricate songwriting earn this album another 9/10.
Melody of Egyptian qualities. A polka rhythm to go with it. then kick in the guitars, and you got yourself a mood opening was what the danish thrashers of artillery must have thought when putting together their finest effort: By Inheritance.
Formed in 82' and releasing demos and albums of increasing quality, culminating in said album, in the year of 1990.
The first real track on the album: Khomaniac continues the trend of Egyptian melodies, but this time with a thrash riff instead of "humpa".
The changes of riff, bass solo, underlying chords, and egypto-thrash melodies, combined with an intense delivery of high-pitched thrash vocals, and a fun shout-along chorus, works to create one of the best thrashers in memory.
Beneath the Clay is a fairly good thrasher, with licks and solos still in some middle-eastern scale. the riffing however does not quite match that of the opener. The bass however is subtly present, making unique lines, not heard before you listen to the album a couple of times, or look for it. However subtle, this is a major boost to the song, and allows the song a score of "very good"
Now the real gem of the album is the title track. "By Inheritance" is a riff-monster of grand proportions, with some of the tightest double-guitar galloping i've heard since Annihilator (i might review/recommend one of their albums if you wish. tell me if you need them reviewed, or tell me to recommend you something more obscure.)
Continuing about annihilator, the next track's (bombfood) early acoustic piece bears resemblance to the style employed by Jeff Waters on several tracks on "Alice in hell".
The rest of the song is a melodic speed/thrash song. the vocals do a particularly intense job, with high pitched "clean" screams and more mellow lines, on the acoustic parts.
"Don't believe" is much in the vein of the former song, but with a greater use of contrasting harsh thrash and acoustic/melodic. The bass is highly audible and active on the first post-solo bridge, with melodic licks.
Tams and toms open the intense and speedy "Life in bondage". The blistering speed and technicality of the guitar riffing is remarkable, and the drums do a couple of nice patterns. The song eases down the tempo some for a harmonizing, melodic riff for a little while, and then it kicks you in the teeth with a lightning-speed solo.
Leaving the high-speed "life in bondage", the following song, "equal at first" pales a bit in the shine. while it is a good melodic thrasher in it's own right, the comparison leaves it looking bleak and uninspired.
Cover time! the Nazareth classic: Razamanaz gets the artillery treatment.
Short story short: not much has really changed. the vocals and solos are the only real differences, and even then, they are not great. Pointless cover.
Melancholicly opening, Back in the thrash is an interesting track. Full of riffs, and good melodies, this is a track that is likely to get in your head. The layered vocals and tonally ascending guitars makes this track feel "big". The amount of riffs, and quality of such makes this track one of extremely appropriate title.
A high quality album, with excellent musicianship, and well done songwriting. this is another: 9/10.
Iron Horse? Endless war?
Are these guys anti-Native Americans?
Debuts have a tendency of being inconsistent, or lacking direction. Realm's first offering, Endless war is no exception. Thrashing away at high speed and full technicality at one moment, and the next beeing an acoustic piece, before you throw in a power metal-ish power chord riff to be modulated up and down, before you end it with a depressing, melancholic piece.
Lack of direction aside, the individual parts are all good. The riffs are of a high caliber, and quite a few stick out in your head after you finish the album. The solos are intense, and the solos are fairly technical. The aforementioned acoustic parts have highly memorable melodies, and in their own respect, they are very good parts. The guitar work in general has an extremely tight feeling to it, that is somewhat muffled by the production.
The Bass throughout this album is worth noting, as even though there are mixes where the bass is more audible, (and this album would benefit from a more prominent bass), you can tell that there is lots of awesome stuff going on down there. The times when the bass is prominent in the sound, however, you can tell that the instrument is getting a beating. The bass sound is almost as though it was slapped, and this creates a nice dynamic, and intense sound.
The vocals are somewhat special. The falsetto screams through the album might put of the average metalhead, but the performance is top notch, and the mid-range is plesant to listen to, with all the power you could wish for in his voice. Objectively the vocals are good, but one might not like the styling of them. Hit or miss.
Drums on this album is nothing special. they do their job, and do it well. Tight drumming and some nice fills around the album, but nothing that should not be expected.
Notable songs on this album include the beatles cover of Elannor Rigby, that has a good novelty appeal, that covers up the fact that it gets a bit boring after some time of mostly galloping around the chord progression.
Other good songs are "Slay the oppressor". having the beginning as a crescendo, with gradually increasing tempo. Then continuing with a highly technical and melodic thrash riff, then a slower chugging, yet thrashy riff, and the best solo on the album: dynamic, fast, technical and finished just as it needed to.
Finally, the ending song: "Theseus and the Minotaur", with it's power chord progression (mostly alike the verse on accept's "balls to the wall") ,technical riff and sudden changes of pace is a sweet ending to an album of generally good ideas.
The sad truth is that the songwriting here lacks the flow that true masterpieces have, even that of a "good" record. This all sadly pulls the entire score down to a preliminary 7/10 Though this might change, as i listen to the album more than the three times before this review. (edit: now as i've had the time to let this grow on me i think of it as a 8/10)
"Anacrusis: the note or sequence of notes which precedes the first downbeat in a bar." (Wikipedia)
Anacrusis choose a fitting name, as their music have been ahead of the wave, preceding bands playing in the same vein of music. Their first album, which i hope to have the time to write it's own review, Suffering hour was thrash of unheard technicality. Gradually becoming more and more progressive in their sound, their fourth album, Screams and Whispers is an album that manages to be both progressive and thrashy, but also having emotional, melodic parts (in a very non-emo/gothic way)
The opening song, 'sound the alarm' is a good indicator for what the rest of the album has in store for us. It starts of with a calm synth, with heavy delay, before kicking in with a melodic, fast thrash riff. The bass does it's own unique line underneath. the next part is a part accentuating the "off" beats.
Here the guitar has a nice delay effect, creating a strong alien moodscape to the music.
The alien mood is enhanced by the vocalist, Ken Nardi, switching between a thrashy rasping, staccato shout, and a mellow, emotional, honest style. Later on, through the album, he also does more clinical "matter-of-fact" styled vocals, screams, and deeper, guttural noises.
In fact his vocal performance on this entire album is the best vocal performance i have ever heard on any album, any genre. His variety, intensity, softness, harshness and perfect conveying of emotion makes him deserving of recognition as not only one of the best vocalist in metal, but as one of the best vocalists of all time.
Apart from the Vocals, the most notable performance is that of the bass player. ever-present, demanding your attention almost as much as the guitars, doing harmonic fills, markings, melodic bass lines and syncopations. The tone is punchy, clear and in your ear, with lots of mid-tone at some times, like on "too many prophets", and deep, hard and with lots of "kick" at other times, like the deep, technical line under the chugging on "grateful" .
The guitars are varied, switching between thrashy riffs, melodic leads and beautiful harmonies. They also employ a ton of highly mood-inducing effects, such as delay, phasers and more. While this could potentially get wanky, it is pulled off so perfectly on this album. Every effect used, is part of creating a moodscape. Great care was used in the process of when to employ these. However, the guitars on this album is the least extraordinary on this album.
One of the most unique aspects of this album is the use of synth. from simple filling out the sound, adding a staccato riff backing, playing melodies and chords, or marking the beat like you would use a cymbal. the synth is the secret ingredient of this album. It might not strike you right away, but with consecutive listens, you will know that the synth is the glue, that ties the songs together, and brings every song up from the great tier, and up to masterpiece status. It is also the main drive of some songs, like "brotherhood?" and "driven".
The individual performances being great, however, is only a minor part of the whole image. The composition of each individual song is top-notch, but just as important is the composition of the album. The album progresses nicely from a thrash oriented start to a more prog/experimental feeling towards the end. These songs later on the album keep surprising. Even after listening to this album literally 50 times, i still discover new details in some songs.
