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by Dan Siano
 HATE
- Morphosis (www.listenable.net)
HATE is concocting a very interesting brew here.
For the most part, HATE comes at you with a modern
brutal death metal approach with tinges of black
metal (think later day BEHEMOTH). Infused over
that at key points are some unusual industrial/ambient
sounds. These touches give HATE an interesting
differentiating factor when compared to their
peers. “Immum Coeli (Everlasting World)”,
for example, has this sweeping, almost airy sound
effect going for the better part of the whole
song. Couple that with some deliciously brutal
drumming, riffs that owe equally to death and
black metal, and guttural yet clear and powerful
vocals, and you have a rough idea of what you’d
be dealing with here. Primarily, HATE steamrolls
over you in breakneck blasting mode, but there’s
plenty of intricate technicality on display here.
Witness the verses in “Resurrection Machine”,
particularly the drums. One thing I find to be
really cool is the mixture of live and programmed
drums, most prevalent in the bridges of “Resurrection
Machine” and the outro of “Catharsis”.
Also of note is the intro of “Omega”;
a melancholy acoustic guitar bit over a dark industrial
beat. The production is perfect for what HATE
is trying to accomplish. The live instruments
are clear and forceful, vocals are brutal and
articulate, and the industrial sounds and programming
are mixed just subtly enough: noticeable but not
overbearing. Overall, I’d recommend Morphosis
to any extreme metal fan, as it is comparable
to any of the best modern death/black metal bands,
yet has it’s own quirks to keep it fresh
and unique. Good stuff.
MARIONETTE-Spite (www.listenable.net)
Wow. If I had heard this album without any idea
of who it was beforehand, I would have sworn up
and down that STRAPPING YOUNG LAD reformed and
put out a very mediocre, metalcore influenced
record. This is not a good thing for MARIONETTE.
SYL has such an identifiable and individual sound
that completely mimicking it, as done here, comes
across as amateurish and childish. For fuck’s
sake, Axel Widen’s harsh vocals are an absolute
dead ringer for Devin Townsend’s. And the
clean vocals? Total core. The production style,
especially the ambient keys, is just blatantly
stolen from Townsend. Riffing and drumming blend
SYL-isms with metalcore. Making matters even more
pathetic, while Devin produces his STRAPPING and
solo records by himself, MARIONETTE apparently
needed at least three people, including a Swedish
Grammy winner for their “production team”.
Three people just to follow someone else’s
groundwork? It’s sad really. I’ll
admit; the guitarists, bassist, and drummer of
this band are a tight unit. But Gene Hoglan, Jed
Simon, and Byron Stroud they are not. Imitation
may be the sincerest form of flattery, but this
is nothing more than a 20th rate STRAPPING YOUNG
LAD tribute band. They would’ve been better
off covering the whole City album than passing
off someone else’s distinct style as their
“original material”. Trash it.
SONIC SYNDICATE-Love And Other Disasters (www.nuclearblastusa.com)
Great. More generic metalcore. It’s getting
to be ridiculous. SONIC SYNDICATE offer nothing
of note, instead opting to play by the numbers
and cash in. “My Escape” is the obligatory
“hit single”: nothing but clean vocals,
a slow and controlled tempo, and synthesized strings
waxing eloquently. I believe in the 80’s
we used to call these “power ballads”.
I’m sure SONIC SYNDICATE put this one together
to be ‘heart wrenching” or to “wear
their heart on their sleeves”. It ends up
sounding like POISON filtered through EVANESEANCE.
Not a good thing at all. The best part of it is
that they go ahead and do the exact same thing
three songs later on “Contradiction”.
Every other damn song follows the same tried and
“true” metalcore formula. Fast verses
with screaming, half time choruses with whiny
singing, half-assed AT THE GATES riffs, breakdowns,
optional bridge with spoken vocals, optional ambient
keyboards. Repeat 10 times. Nothing else catches
the ear. This is purely inoffensive background
music, and I don’t recommend this to anybody,
not even Hot Topic kids. Die already.
SYBREED-Antares (www.listenable.net)
Switzerland’s SYBREED has a fetish for all
things modern Swedish. This record is saturated
with MESHUGGAH and later IN FLAMES-isms. The guitar/bass
tone and harsh vocals echo Chaosphere, and the
synths and clean vocals are more than reminiscent
of Soundtrack To Your Escape. The riffing style
ranges from straightforward melodic chords to
a more polyrhythmic, technical approach and the
drumming suitably follows along. Occasionally,
SYBREED attempts extreme blasting, notably in
the into of “Dynamic”. And instrumental
“Ex-Inferis” steals the show here,
being the only piece on this platter that evokes
some kind of mood or vibe. Too bad SYBREED most
likely wrote it as a throwaway transitional piece.
Aside from those examples, SYBREED very rarely
stray from an inoffensive midpaced chug and it
makes for a very derivative and uninteresting
listen. It’s the all-too-common case of
a band of musicians who no doubt have the chops,
but the songwriting is either mediocre or a take
on someone else’s tried and true formula.
And folks, that’s all you need to know about
this album. Chaosphere mixed with Soundtrack To
Your Escape. If that sounds appealing to you,
then by all means, pick this up. Experienced listeners
are well advised to stick to the source material
and skip this carbon copy. –Dan Siano
 SUSPYRE-When
Time Fades… (www.lasersedgegroup.com)
Goddamn these guys can play. Dramatic prog metal
is the name of the game here, with a symphonic
bent. Check out “Evolutions”-vocoders,
symphonic strings, polyrythms, odd time signatures,
shredding as riffs, wailing vocals, choral vocals,
saxophones, synth glissandos-you name it, SUSPYRE
does it. And that’s just one song. Is power
metal style harmonized twin guitar shredding your
bag? The opening of “Lighted Endrhyme”
delivers what you crave and make those jokers
in DRAGONFORCE look like fools in the process.
A myriad of synth sounds your cup of tea? Investigate
“Possession” and you will be treated
with strings, piano, organ, orchestral sounds,
and a prominent xylophone patch at 3:15. Journeyman
Charlie Zeleny helms the kit here and throws down
like nobody’s business. No surprise from
JORDAN RUDESS’ drummer and the guy who replaced
Derek Roddy in BLOTTED SCIENCE. Vocals are more
than adequately handled by Clay Barton. This guy’s
range in both notes and dynamics is outstanding.
With ease he goes from wailing to gravely midrange,
and even hushed tones in the beginning of “Siren”.
The true stars of the show, however, are Gregg
Rossetti and Rich Skibinsky. Both handle guitars
and keys and Rossetti handles saxes and Chapman
stick additionally. These guys don’t fuck
around and each tune is densely layered and rich
with instrumentation. Andrew Distablle solidly
holds down the low end on bass, playing very song-conscious
and never overpowering the guitars/keys/vocals.
I’m so impressed with these guys that I’m
gonna let that folksy mandolin bit in “Reign”
slide. At 75:36 this is a relentless and challenging
listen, but is very rewarding in the end. Highly
recommended to all prog-metalheads or anybody
who appreciates stellar musicianship in general.
Gives DREAM THEATER, FATES WARNING, SYMPHONY X,
and SPIRAL ARCHITECT a run for their money.
TEXTURES-Silhouettes (www.listenable.net)
TEXTURES have a decent thing going for themselves-technical
and somewhat fast metalcore. Of course there are
the prerequisite clean vocals, breakdowns, and
atmospheric keys. Surprisingly enough, I don’t
hate this. The overall presentation smacks of
generic, yet it’s hard for me to ignore
the vibe in the playing. “Awake” is
a killer standout track, especially the clean
vocal sections, in which vocalist Eric Klasbeek
lays it out pretty passionately. Drummer Stef
Broks is a total beast and just mauls the kit
in a very ambidextrous fashion, complete with
awesome cymbal tinkering (especially in “Laments
Of An Icarus”) and very capable feet (which
he quite often plays contrasting rhythms against
his hands). Sadly, the guitar playing, while highly
rhythmic and at times interesting, does little
to keep up. Instead, guitarists Jochem Jacobs
and Bart “Bastaerd” Hennephof play
complimentary to each other and very conscious
of the ensemble, rarely shredding or stealing
the show. It would’ve been cool to hear
these guys lay down some riffs and leads that
are as frenetic as the drums. Still, this is well-executed
metalcore played with a fire that’s tough
to dismiss. Fans of SOILWORK, MESHUGGAH, and metalcore
in general take note. –Dan Siano
WAYLANDER-Honour Amongst Chaos (www.listenable.net)
Personally, I detest folk metal. And while there
are exceptions to every rule, WAYLANDER is not
one of them. WAYLANDER is from Ireland and mixes
blackened folk metal with indigenous instruments
such as the bodhran, tin whistle, and mandolin.
There is something inherently ridiculous about
a band that is rip roaring along in a blackened
fashion one minute and campfire jigging with
mandolins, tin whistles, and bodhran the next.
I just have a hard time taking this type of
stuff seriously. I’m sorry; instruments
like the mandolin and tin whistle are just not
metal and are very distracting. I would probably
dig this, or at least be more inclined to take
this seriously if it was just the guitars playing
these melodies instead of the whistles and mandolins
doubling up with the guitars-which is the predominant
approach with these instruments. The traditional
metal element of this record ranges from decent
to outstanding, especially the quite extreme
“Beyond The Ninth Wave” and the
ten minute epic “To Dine In The Otherworld”.
The guitars are dark and atmospheric, the vocals
are grim, and the drums are brutal and pounding.
Metal-wise, this album accurately conjures up
the appropriate vibe and imagery. So what’s
my problem? Those other instruments, especially
that goddamned whistle. It goes from serious
pagan black metal to “Stonehenge”
by Spinal Tap instantly. While this is not badly
played, or ever poor music, I just cannot get
behind this. I will say this to WAYLANDER’s
credit though, and that is that they are consistent
in quality with all of more well known folk
metal bands, and are even better than quite
a few, such as FINNTROLL and ALESTORM. I would
strongly urge any fans of the Paganfest bands
to check WAYLANDER out, as I’m sure it
is right up their alley. It’s just not
up mine. –Dan Siano
 BLEEDING
THROUGH - Declaration (www.trustkill.com)
Oh brother. I usually don’t bother reading
the bios that come with the CD’s sent
to me. And I’m not too sure why I started
here, cause the first sentence made me literally
sick to my stomach. Death metal? Black Metal?
BLEEDING THROUGH? Fail, fail, and fail. This
is the epitome of trend-whoring metalcore. There
is NOTHING death/black metal about the purest
of trendy core breakdowns 1:40 into the first
real song “Declaration (You Can’t
Destroy What You Can Not Replace)”. I
don’t care how many blast beats or tremolo
picked riffs this band attempts, BLEEDING THROUGH
can never be death metal. And holding one chord
with a string patch does not black metal atmosphere
make. Keyboardist “OMG! Hawt chick!”
Marta (no last name, only Marta) has literally
two sounds-a hokey symphonic string patch and
a piano patch. It’s so tiring and gimmicky.
I can sum up the gist of this whole album in
one sentence-kick off with some pseudo death/thrash
riffing/drumming, dive straight into breakdown,
add piano/strings, growl along rhythmically,
sing cleanly every so often, add plenty of angst-y
swear words, and repeat ad nauseam. You can
take two seconds to read that sentence, or waste
46:16 listening to this record. I can’t
comment on individual songs, because they absolutely
sound exactly alike. BLEEDING THROUGH are just
another run of the mill, race to the breakdown
metalcore band. Heard one, heard ‘em all.
Blah, blah, blah, I sound like a broken record.
The only thing I can credit to this album is
Devin Townsend’s meaty and huge production.
But that’s pretty much guaranteed when
Mr. Townsend is involved. I can’t even
honestly recommend this to the 13 year old,
Hot Topic lovin’ target audience for this
band. Chances are, said teenybopper “metal”
fan already owns a BLEEDING THROUGH record.
And since BLEEDING THROUGH albums are interchangeable,
she/he would be best advised to not waste her/his
money. I’m going to have to listen to
GORGOROTH for weeks straight to purge this record
from my short-term memory. Ugh. –Dan Siano
BROTHER VON DOOM-Relentless (www.deathcoterecords.com)
You’d think I’d learn my lesson
from the BLEEDING THROUGH review to not read
the supplied bios. I’m not totally disgusted
by this one-more of a head shaking apathy. BROTHER
VON DOOM’s (nice name, by the way) references
both DETHKLOK and WALL-E. Cartoon Network and
Disney. So far, we’re not off to a good
start. Musically, we have ever so slightly above
average deathcore. BROTHER VON DOOM can get
pretty technical at times; witness the cool
pull off riff :48 into “A Beautiful Masquerade”.
Decent stuff. Like most core bands, BROTHER
VON DOOM relies a little heavily on the good
old breakdown, as well as recycled Swedish melodic
death metal riffs. Mercifully, BROTHER VON DOOM
spares us of any clean vocal tomfoolery. But
that’s all you’re going to get here,
folks. BROTHER VON DOOM does nothing to separate
them from the pack. DARKEST HOUR has been doing
this type of stuff much better since 1995 (and
continues to do so to this very day). These
guys are all great players, and Chris Elliot
has a distinctly brutal growl, but the sum is
not greater than the parts. This band’s
songwriting is way too formulaic and generic.
BROTHER VON DOOM certainly has the chops to
be a truly sick band-the opening of “Coffins
For The Cursed” is pretty wild. But only
time will tell if they’ll forge their
own path or continue riding the wave of the
metalcore/deathcore fad. –Dan Siano
 GAMA
BOMB-Citizen Brain (www.earache.com)
Well, I wanted to totally hate this, but try
as I might, I just cannot. Make no mistake,
I don’t love this, but I will say it’s
damn solid. Totally derivative retro thrash,
but fun nonetheless. Storming out of the gates
with “Zombie Blood Nightmare”, GAMA
BOMB waste no time busting out all the right
tricks-razor sharp riffs, speedy double kick
drumming, face melting solos, rapid fire lead
vocals, and ANTHRAX-esque gang vocals. Songs
are short and to the point, the longest one
being closer “Bullet Belt” at 3:28.
It’s all not without flaw, however, and
GAMA BOMB fails in two areas. Firstly, and most
importantly, the imagery and lyrics are way
too tongue-in-cheek almost to the point of parody.
I mean check out this nugget from the 41 second,
over before it begins “OCP”: “I
don’t like cops and cops don’t like
me”. Totally juvenile and it sounds like
they are trying too hard to be funny. Secondly,
and this is a very minor gripe, all the songs
can sound a little same-y. 15 tunes can seem
like an eternity when all the songs are similar
sounding (ironically enough, the record doesn’t
even crack 40 minutes). But that’s just
collateral damage when you play rip-roaring
thrash. Overall, very solid, but if I’m
going for thrash, I’d prefer something
with a more serious bent like BLOOD TSUNAMI,
WITCHERY, or early THE HAUNTED. –Dan Siano
 GET
THRASHED (DVD) (www.lightyear.com)
GET THRASHED is a fairly comprehensive, highly
nostalgic documentary of the history of-you
guessed it-thrash metal. The main feature is
packed to the hilt with fantastic vintage and
current interview and performance footage as
well as great vintage pictures and artifacts
(ticket stubs, flyers, posters, etc.). Interviews
include members of METALLICA, MEGADETH, EXODUS,
SLAYER, DARK ANGEL, DEATH ANGEL, ANTHRAX, PANTERA,
TESTAMENT, KREATOR, SODOM, DESTURCTION, SEPULTURA,
HIRAX, OVERKILL, SHADOWS FALL, LAMB OF GOD,
THE HAUNTED, IN FLAMES, MESHUGGAH, as well as
personalities such as Eddie Trunk, Chris Jericho,
Ron Quintana, DJ Will, Opie, Danny Shipman,
Ian Christe, Charles Florio, the Old Bridge
Militia, Jon & Marsha Zazula, Brian Slagel
among a slew of others. The 100 minute film,
complete with a soundtrack of all the featured
bands, goes back to the start of the movement
in San Fran and L.A. and covers a variety of
topics such as tape trading, Megaforce &
Metal Blade records, the opposition to the glam
scene, the dedication of the fans, the “dress
code” (you know-high tops, tight jeans,
black band t-shirts, long hair, and the obligatory
leather jacket with a sleeves-cut-off jeans
jacket adorned with band logo patches over it),
headbanging, moshing, stage diving, the NY scene,
crossover, touring conditions, the German scene,
the Clash Of The Titans tour, and nu metal.
There are also brief band histories of METALLICA,
MEGADETH, SLAYER, EXODUS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES,
KREATOR, and PANTERA. No stone is left unturned,
and it is put together with the utmost respect
for each band’s well-deserved legacies.
It is not without flaw, however, as there is
definitely some highly questionable content
here. For starters, there is the inclusion of
interview footage with members of some truly
suspect bands; namely SLIPKNOT, GODSMACK, CHIMAIRA,
HATEBREED, KITTIE, and SOILWORK. These bands
have absolutely nothing to do with thrash metal,
and are here purely for the sake of getting
this film some mainstream cred. KITTIE, a gimmicky
all female nu metal band, have the balls (no
pun intended) to decry nu metal during one of
their interview clips. I laughed quite hard
at the irony. Scott Ian of ANTHRAX loses all
credibility with me when he refers to SYSTEM
OF A DOWN as true thrash metal. Huh? Finally,
I feel the timeline is way off. When we get
to the 90’s, we go straight from the Clash
Of The Titans tour-the supposed end of an era,
to how grunge “killed” metal, to
nu metal, to the recent faux-retro thrash trend
(see my GAMA BOMB and BLACK TIDE reviews). Yeah,
that’s how it happened in the mainstream,
but what about the underground movements? They
touch on the topics of death and black metal-thrash’s
logical successors-for a combined five seconds.
The filmmakers give PANTERA all the credit for
keeping metal alive during the 90’s-which
any self-respecting underground metalhead will
tell you is total bullshit. I kind of get infuriated
when 90’s metal is discredited simply
because it was not 80’s thrash. Metal
was never “dead” in the 90’s;
you just had to actually put an effort into
looking harder for it.
All in all, despite it’s misgivings,
this film come recommended on two fronts. One
is for the old school metalheads looking for
an accurate trip down memory lane. The other
is for all the kids who think metalcore is the
end all be all. This would serve well to educate
them on extreme metal’s true beginnings.
Bonus features include 90 minutes of unused
band history footage of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL,
VIO-LENCE, FORBIDDEN, POSSESED, HEATHEN, DARK
ANGEL, HIRAX, AGENT STEEL, OVERKILL, NUCLEAR
ASSAULT, S.O.D., M.O.D., PRONG, CARNIVORE, WHIPLASH,
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, SACRED REICH, ATROPHY, NASTY
SAVAGE, HALLOW’S EVE, METAL CHURCH, D.R.I.,
EXCITER, RAZOR, SACRIFICE, ANNIHILATOR, ANVIL,
DESTRUCTION, SODOM, ASSASSIN, TANKARD, CORONER,
HELLHAMMER, MOTORHEAD, VENOM, RAVEN, ONSLAUGHT,
SABBAT, MERCYFUL FATE, MORTAL SIN and synopses
of regional scenes from Texas, Canada, Denmark,
Sweden, Norway, France, and Japan.-Dan Siano
 36
CRAZYFISTS - The Tide And It’s Takers
(www.ferretstyle.com)
What a chore. This band, to me, represents metalcore
at its most bland, banal, and predictable. Seriously,
it’s as if these guys aren’t even
trying. Everything is just so standard and formulaic
that it all blends together in one monotonous
42:58 song. Screamed verses to sung choruses,
synchronized syncopated kick drum/bass/rhythm
guitars, whiny lyrics of “personal struggles”
and breakdowns galore-all the things that make
metalcore awful-are fully represented and on prominent
display. Opener “The All Night Lights”
practically has the bass and rhythm guitars riding
one note throughout its duration (you guessed
it, the open low string). There is no lead guitar
presence on this album whatsoever. Usually this
type of band will at least have a ton of flashy
guitar playing to make up for the shoddy songwriting
(see my previous review for THE AUTUMN OFFERING).
There is not one guitar solo on this record. And
what the hell is going on in “Only A Year
Or So…”? I think the monologues that
are masquerading as verses in this song are supposed
to be introspective and deep, but I ended up laughing
heartily. Only once does this band attempt thrash
metal, at the beginning of “Absent Are The
Saints”. And they really must be commended
for this, as most shitty metalcore bands that
attempt to play thrash only succeed in dragging
the concept through the mud. These guys had the
good sense to not try and be something they are
not. There are 11 songs on this record, and you
can get the same effect by playing any one of
these songs 11 times in a row. Skip this one altogether.
 APOCALYPTICA-Worlds
Collide (www.zombalabelgroup.com)
APOCALYPTICA is sort of a gimmick act that has
gone on for far too long. Cello metal. Yeah, you
heard that right. Four Finnish dudes got their
start rocking cellos playing METALLICA, among
other covers. Since then, they have added a drummer
and have gone on have their original tunes be
the bulk of their repertoire. Distorted and effected
cellos can have a cool sound, but it is not enough
to carry metal tunes and serve as a replacement
for guitars. Given their penchant for cover tunes,
I had my fingers crossed tightly that “I’m
Not Jesus” would be THE RAMONES pseudo-classic
of the same name from the Halfway To Sanity album.
Sadly, I was bitterly disappointed to hear the
jackass from SLIPKNOT crooning over a very mediocre
original song. The guest star list is impressive,
I guess. That is if you love commercial personalities
adding more novelty to an already gimmick filled
album. Singers from SLIPKNOT, LACUNA COIL, THREE
DAYS GRACE and RAMMSTEIN all make appearances.
Hell, even Dave Lombardo makes a cameo. Even though
the majority of this band’s catalog is original
material, and even though I am usually turned
off by a band making cover tunes the bulk of its
material, I was hoping this would be an album
of covers. Then, I could be mildly entertained
by somewhat unique renditions of tunes I know.
The only one I get this go-round is “Helden”
which is a mangled and auf Deutsch version of
David Bowie’s “Heroes”. A song
I could care less about. These guys can play,
and there is absolutely no doubt about that. And
they also get some amazing sounds out of these
cellos (check out the theremin imitation in the
beginning of shred workout “Last Hope”).
But I personally have a hard time getting past
the novelty of it all. Check it out if you are
looking for something different and beyond the
standard metal fare.
APOCALYPTICA-The Life Burns Tour DVD (www.zombalabelgroup.com)
I’m sorry but I probably laughed my balls
off too much while watching this DVD. There
is something inherently and unintentionally
funny about seeing 4 dudes headbanging, rocking
out, and trying to pump up a crowd while playing
cellos. I mean, the one guy standing up to face
the drummer while still sawing away at his cello
in “Quutamo” is hilarious. The weirdest
part about it all is a general admission standing
room crowd is rocking out hard and headbanging
like crazy. Being in a quasi-classical environment,
you’d bet on them playing a seated venue.
Go figure.
I will give these guys a ton of credit though;
“Master Of Puppets” is hard enough
to play on a guitar. I can’t even fathom
how hard it must be to adapt that to cello.
I kind of wrote them off in my review of the
Worlds Collide album, but actually visualizing
this stuff puts it into a different perspective
for me. It is uncanny how a distorted cello
resembles a distorted guitar. I still feel that
these guys are a total novelty act, but try
as I might, I just cannot fault them musically.
These guys are top-notch virtuosos. “Fight
Fire With Fire”? Holy shit. These guys
are shredding like Hammett note for note on
a goddamn cello. That’s mind boggling
to me. The novelty of this band shredding METALLICA
and SEPULTURA (“Inquisition Symphony”(!)
and “Refuse/Resist”) on cellos wears
off quick when they launch into their original
tunes. This is where this band is sorely lacking.
While there are quite a bit of impressive sections,
like the 16th note triplet sequence throughout
“Betrayal”, the songs in of themselves
are not noteworthy by any means.
The production values of the DVD are excellent.
Multiple cameras catch all the nuances of all
4 cellists (as well a drummer Mikko Siren).
The color scheme is nteresting; it’s not
very saturated and teeters on black and white.
It fits the mood of the sort of gothic image
the band is running with. The audio mix is a
pristine 5.1 surround, with (like most live
DVD’s mixed in 5.1) the extraneous crowd
mixed in the rear speakers. You really get the
sense of their musicianship with a mix like
this; all the playing comes at you from the
front.
Bonus features include a tour documentary,
a behind the scenes in the studio video for
“Repressed”, and 7 music videos.
Get it if you are a die-hard APOCALTYPTICA fan,
or if you are looking for a break from your
usual metal intake.
 BLOODBATH-“Unblessing
The Purity” EP (www.peaceville.com)
Fuck YES. BLOODBATH has returned from a 4-year
layoff with an absolutely vicious EP, which
triumphantly marks the return of Mikael Akerfeldt
of OPETH on vocals. For those who aren’t
in the know, BLOODBATH was initially assembled
in 1999 as a tribute to old-school Swedish death
metal (of the Stockholm variety) by members
of OPETH, KATATONIA, and EDGE OF SANITY. They
have progressed since then, incorporating a
more American death metal influence (a la MORBID
ANGEL) on this EP as well as their last full
length, 2004’s Nightmares Made Flesh.
This EP continues in this vein, as well a introducing
a very subtle black metal influence (most notably
on opener “Blasting The Virginborn”).
But make no mistake, BLOODBATH is still full
on death metal, with the bulk of the material
following along in a DISMEMBER meets MORBID
ANGEL in a dark alleyway vibe. Martin “Axe”
Axenrot is a monster behind the kit, the riffs
of Anders “Blakkheim” Nystrom and
new guitarist Per “Sodomizer” Eriksson
slay with no mercy, and Akerfeldt is truly brutal
on vocals. What more do you need to know? Buy
it.
 TESTAMENT-The
Formation Of Damnation (www.nuclearblastusa.com)
There is a ton of hoopla surrounding this new
TESTAMENT record. Firstly, and most significantly,
Alex Skolnick and Greg Christian return to the
fold since 1993 and 1996, on lead guitars and
bass, respectively. Along side vocalist Chuck
Billy and rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson, this
signifies the reunion of the “classic”
lineup (cannot be called “original”
because of drummer Louie Clemente’s non
participation; he was first replaced by Nick
Barker (ex-CRADLE OF FILTH/DIMMU BORGIR/LOCKUP)
and currently by Paul Bostaph (ex-SLAYER/FORBIDDEN/EXODUS).)
Secondly, this is the first new material from
TESTAMENT in nearly 10 years, since 1999’s
The Gathering.
So how does it stack up to all the hype and
anticipation? Truthfully, it’s not horrible,
but it isn’t awesome either. Overall it
can be most accurately compared to any record
from 1989-1992. “More Than Meets The Eye”
and “The Evil Has Landed”, the first
two proper songs, chug along in a mid-paced
mode. The band is in great musical form, but
these songs are just lacking a spark that’s
crucial to thrash. The title track is where
things get going; a storming thrasher this one
is. This is the only song that has truly retained
the elements introduced to the band on 1994’s
Low and onward-relentless speed, and harsh death
metal influenced vocals. But after this they,
for the most part, continue to chug at mid-paced
tempi. Then there is case of TESTAMENT being
influenced by the bands that TESTAMENT influenced.
“The Persecuted Won’t Forget”
literally sounds like Gossow-era ARCH ENEMY.
I chalk this up to TESTAMENT’s need to
stay current; and I guess there are worse bands
they can be influenced by. “Henchmen Ride”
is a cool stomper with a ripping thrash mid-section.
This one hearkens back to Practice What You
Preach and earlier. Thankfully, they have spared
us of any “Return To Serenity”-esque
ballad tomfoolery.
I will say this; the musicianship on this record
is outstanding. Peterson and Christian lock
in tight as hell-like they never parted ways
in 1996. Skolnick’s playing is as it always
was-fluid, melodic, modal, and very vocal like.
The years spent out of metal and playing jazz
has really pushed his leads into a whole other
dimension. Taken out of context, one can almost
envision these guitar leads played on an alto
or soprano sax. Paul Bostaph, however, steals
the show here. The double kicks are fast, clean,
and accurate. His hands are just blazing, and
strictly in terms of tone, this is the best
he’s ever sounded. This album, as well
as EXODUS’ Shovel Headed Kill Machine,
proves that SLAYER was holding him back. Bold
claim I know, but seriously, when has anyone
ever heard this guy play this viciously, this
fiery, and as powerful as he’s playing
now? Not even on Divine Intervention. This is
the best drum performance on a TESTAMENT record,
even besting Dave Lombardo on The Gathering,
Gene Hoglan on Demonic (the only good thing
about that record), and John Tempesta on Low.
Chuck Billy is in top form as well, his clean
raspy singing voice dominating the proceedings.
He does manage to sneak in some harsh vocals,
most notably in the title track.
This is not a horrible album by any means and
it is definitely worthy of the TESTAMENT name.
I’d sooner put on Low, The Gathering,
or Practice What You Preach before this, but
this is a solid album nonetheless. Recommended
to TESTAMENT fans as well as anyone doesn’t
like to get any more extreme than say ARCH ENEMY
or SLAYER. Decent stuff.
 5IVE-Hesperus
(www.tortugarecordings.com)
5IVE (a.k.a. 5IVE’S CONTINUUM RESEARCH PROJECT),
a instrumental duo based out of Boston, play a
interesting-but ultimately unrewarding-mix of
post metal, stoner doom, and drone. Most of the
tunes rely on two, maybe three, riffs and they
ebb and flow in very predictable patterns. You
know, riff A played loud 8 times, followed by
riff B played soft 8 times, etc, etc. Sometimes
they’ll throw something on top of the mix
to spice things up and the wah-wah and reverb
drenched guitar solo in the all too short “Kettle
Cove” sticks out as a good example of this.
This band has one of the best guitar tones this
side of SLEEP, and drummer Charlie Harrold grooves
like a motherfucker, but that isn’t enough
to give this album the crucial-for-the-genre atmosphere
that this record is sorely lacking. Not horrible,
but totally forgettable.
DEAD TO FALL - Are You Serious? (www.victoryrecords.com)
No, DEAD TO FALL, are you serious? DEAD TO FALL
loves all things Swedish, from the Gothenburg
death metal of “Stupid?” and “Doombox”
to the blatant Meshuggah-isms in “The Future”
and “Brainmelter”. DEAD TO FALL are
yet another disposable metalcore band and are
totally derivative of their influences to the
point of total rip-off. I’m sick to death
of these bands that go from melodic “thrash”
riffs straight into lame hardcore breakdowns.
It takes DEAD TO FALL all of 52 seconds to break
it down in “Major Rager”. There is
one, and I mean only one, interesting aspect to
this record and that’s the over usage of
theremin in “The Future”. Merit. Demerit
for the sub par attempt at an atmospheric ballad
in “Loch Ness”. Listen to “Beyond
The Realms Of Death” instead. This band
needs to shit or get off the pot; stop blatantly
ripping other bands off or break up…
…and in an interesting epilogue to
this review, DEAD TO FALL split up on 4/8/2008,
less than two months after this record’s
2/19/2008 release date. Way to go, gents. –Dan
Siano
SPYDER BABY - Let Us Prey (www.blindprophecyrecords.com)
Wow. Judging by the picture included I was expecting
absolute MARILYN MANSON worship-not a good thing
at all. Turns out I was partially right. Let
Us Prey kicks off (after an intro) with “Bugs
Crawl In”, a mediocre, but nonetheless catchy
punk sing-along. But “Goodbye” comes
along and spoils it with…MANSON worship.
Then, as if on cue, the next tune “Days
Go On” hits me with a formulaic half and
half mix of both sounds. And that’s sort
of what you get with this record-intros, punk
numbers, pseudo-“industrial metal”,
and hybrids. “Bitter” is a tolerable
MINISTRY approximation right down to the obviously
programmed drums and the record is chock full
of tasty synth sounds, particularly in “The
Worms” with it’s subtly mixed trumpet
and sitar sounds. Vocally is where this album
fails miserably; this aspect is where the MANSON
influences are strongest. All in all, this record
is wholly mediocre.
 BLACK
TIDE - Light From Above (www.interscope.com)
Man, I don’t know about this recent resurgence
of thrash and classic 80’s metal. It seems
really disingenuous. For the duration of this
sampler, I continuously ask myself, “Why
are they doing this?” While well played,
there is nothing here that has not been done
a million times before implying that there is
no real reason for this band to exist. The riffs
and structures are completely plagiarized from
Priest, Maiden, and Metallica. Seriously, Maiden
should sue these guys over “Warriors Of
Time”. I just get this feeling that this
band was manufactured from the ground up.
My feeling of suspicion is doubly compounded
when I read the bio and find out that they are
kids. Literally. The average age of these band
members is 16, with vocalist, lead guitarist,
and visionary Gabriel Garcia being the ripe
old age of 14. The bio also states that this
band will “introduce a harder rocking
sound to those who are too young to remember.”
Now don’t get me wrong, I am mildly impressed
by the skill level on display, but I don’t
need a 14-year-old kid to tell me about metal.
This just reeks of a pure major label gimmick
band with a bunch of P.R. guys pulling all the
strings. I’m insulted.
 INHUMAN
- Last Rites (www.iscreamrecords.com)
Good old fashioned hardcore. Heavy, simplistic,
and totally pit ready. I’m not a fan of
hardcore, and this is no exception. For the
most part INHUMAN coasts along with a brand
of hardcore that is generic and by the numbers.
There are a few notable exceptions, one being
standout track “What You Wanted”.
This one is a cool melodic punk sing-along.
Good tune. The stronger tunes are the more up-tempo
ones like “Fashist”, “The
Dream Is Not Dead”, and “A Fine
Line”. These guys don’t screw around
with the formula (two-step to breakdown), and
it works for them. Solid, play it safe hardcore
for fans who don’t need anything else.
Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All, and
Madball fans take note.
 OPETH
- The Roundhouse Tapes (www.peaceville.com)
Now THIS is what I’m talking about! OPETH
is a band that needs no introduction. Worshipped
by many and hated by just as many, OPETH are
one of the indisputable leaders of the progressive
metal movement. And with this, their second
live document, OPETH further establishes themselves
as a premier live act; something I can personally
attest to having seen them live four times.
And like my experiences and the Lamentations
DVD, this double CD emphasizes OPETH’s
penchant for never playing standard repetitive
setlists (with the exception on requisite closer
“Demon Of The Fall”). It almost
seem OPETH went out of their way to play noting
but the deepest cuts for this recording, opening
with “When”(!) and going through
“Under The Weeping Moon”, “Face
Of Melinda” “The Night And The Silent
Water”, and “Blackwater Park”.
“Bleak” and “Windowpane”
are the more “standard” cuts and
“Ghost Of Perdition” rounds this
collection out making Deliverance the only album
not represented. Unfortunate considering the
obscure material theme, they could’ve
easily burned the house down with either “Wreath”
or “By The Pain I See In Others”
(also, “Moonlapse Vertigo” from
Still Life would’ve killed). But this
is a very minor gripe.
Despite the complexity and length of these
compositions, OPETH never misses a beat and
only seem to be getting better and more confident.
Mikael Akerfeldt’s vocals are as strong
as ever and the transitions from growling to
singing is always amazing to me as the harsh,
deep growling never seems to affect the singing.
The soft spoken, mellow demeanor and in-jokes
between songs are hilarious as usual as it is
in extreme contrast to the music (it’s
particularly funny when he dismisses the lyrics
of “Under The Weeping Moon” as “black
metal nonsense”). This is guitarist Peter
Lindgren’s swan song with the band and
his presence will be missed. The rapport as
guitar players between Lindgren and Akerfeldt
is uncanny and integral to the OPETH sound.
I have not seen them live with new guitarist
Fredrik Akesson yet, but he has some mighty
big shoes to fill. Per Wiberg has fully assimilated
himself into the band by this point providing
tasteful organ, piano, and mellotron to the
old pieces and harmonizing flawlessly with Akerfeldt.
This is Martin Axenrot’s recorded debut
with the band and I initially approached his
entrance with the band with trepidation. Axenrot
and former drummer Martin Lopez have very different
approaches to drumming. Generally, Lopez plays
more loose and improvisational and Axenrot is
more stiff and precise. But when I saw them
live in 2006 and further cemented by this live
album, Axenrot was an excellent choice and provides
and excellent foundation for the rest of the
band. I eagerly await the studio debut of Axenrot
(and Akesson, a supposed amazing shredder) in
2008. Stalwart Martin Mendez rounds off the
band’s lineup on bass and subtly adds
color when needed but primarily holds the harmonic
structure of the pieces together like glue.
I can’t praise this band or this live
album any more than I already have. If you are
a OPETH fan, or a fan of progressive metal,
and you don’t already own this, then what
are you waiting for? Essential.
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