Category Cd Reviews

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Drugstore Records

Norwegian band HIMORA has released their first album. They are apparently not beginners, but they lean heavily on the likes of AEROSMITH, FRANK ZAPPA and BADLANDS. Quite an intriguing mix! The 70´s and 80´s meet in their classic rock and power pop shapes. Still the info says that they are not copycats but purveyors in their own right?

Opener “Just Can´t Stop” feels like a honest statement on the state of affairs in most rock bands, no pension plans there. The refrain has an easy contagiousness about it and I think they opened in fine fashion. No beginner´s luck here. “Like a Heart Attack” smells like my old CD “Voodoo Highway” by BADLANDS, who in turn didn´t exactly invent the wheel...

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Uppsättningen trummor och gitarr börjar kännas bekant, först genom White Stripes och senare genom svenska Johnossi. Amerikanska The Black Keys har dock hållit på sedan 2001 och släpper nu sitt sjunde album.

Känslan är verkligen amerikansk. Smått bluesiga riff och mycket körsång. Ibland är inte gospel-känslan långt bort.

”Gold on the ceiling”, ”Lonely boy” och tung-gunget i ”Money maker” är några av favoriterna. ”Little black submarines” påminner på sina ställen starkt om ”Stairway to heaven”.

För fans av riffig rock/pop med starka refränger.

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Angel Air/Border

JOHN DU CANN, born John William Cann in 1946, was most famed as lead singer and guitar player of ATOMIC ROOSTER. But there´s more to John than meets the eye. In 1966 he formed THE SONICS, who never took off. An amp tester by daytime, he became part of the music scene in evenings and at night. Eventually his efforts led to THE ATTACK. Signed to Decca by Don Arden, OZZY´S father-in-law, the band split up in 1968, and John formed ANDROMEDA together with Mick Hawksworth and Jack Collins. The Telecaster man soon departed for pastures green in ATOMIC ROOSTER with Carl Palmer and Vincent Crane. As their bass player left the unique bass-less band took shape...

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Massacre/Sound Pollution

KAMBRIUM hails from Helmstedt in Germany, and debuts with this melodic death metal album. They go for everything from almost pop death metal, as in “Dewfall” to the melancholic “Hollow Heart”. Inbetwixt there is a lot of death and IRON MAIDEN-like guitar riffs. The majority of the songs are written by keyboardist Jan Hein, which you can tell quite soon. Grooves, headbanging, melancholy, how could they go wrong?

The opening intro shows who´s done most of the material. It´s a grand piece of almost orchestrated grandeur, in spite of being short. The polka meets IRON MAIDEN rifferama of “Among the Lost” opens for a great heavy metal song, only the flat and dry growl of bassist Martin Simon puts the band in another direction...

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Bastardized/Sound Pollution

Germany´s DYING HUMANITY arose in 2006, and soon released their first outing, a demo called “The Origins of DyH”. They did well enough to debut with Restrain Records in 2007, and their first opus was called “Fallen Paradise”. In 2009 their second official album, “Fragments of an Incomplete Puzzle” followed. For the all-important third album the band opted for a concept album on the topic of how we humans destroy our existence on a daily basis. DYING HUMANITY promises to be refreshing, in difference to “tons of superficial, mediocre and forgettable releases”. That was no small words… You have a lot to prove guys…

Opener “Clarity of Mind” may have the grooves, but reveals nothing else of grandeur...

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Massacre/Sound Pollution

Greek modern thrash outfit DESCENDING is produced by Fredrik Nordström at Fredman Studios. I´m a bit surprised when I see excellent guitarist Constantine involves, the rest are guitarist Theo, bass player/vocalist Noir, vocalist/shouter Jon Simvonis and drummer/percussionist Nick Vell. They debuted in 2008, not long after forming, with “Enter Annihilation”, which brought them good reviews and a good deal of gigs and festivals. They have opted for a psychoacoustic result, which is…

They open in fine fashion with “No Other Gods before Me”, a fine riff moves into a melodic part, which is followed by massive death/thrash. The ensuing “Suicide Promise” has groovy vocals, and an ultra-heavy start...

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The Serpents Curse is the second album from Pythia.

Pythia are a British band formed in 2007. The band members come from a range of musical backgrounds – vocalist Emily Alice Ovenden is a member of the classical groups The Mediaeval Baebes, and Celtic Legend, as well as being a published Novelist. Lead Guitarist Tim Neale was a founder member of London rock/metal band, Faith of the Few. Guitarist Ross White and drummer Marc Dyos were members of death/thrash metal band Descent. New bassist Mark Harrington is also a member of To-Mera, Keyboard player Richard Holland is a classical pianist. These different backgrounds are key as they feed in to making the music stand out as the different musical influences blend to create the final music.

Since their formation, Pythia have played plent...

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”Quecksilber” (Quicksilver/Mercury) is the second album from German band Stahlmann (Steel man). There is something that anyone listening to this album will think, so let’s get straight to the point – there is a very strong resemblance to Rammstein. You’ve got a German band singing in German with a similar vocal style to Rammstein, with heavy industrial music that bears an amazing likeness to Rammstein’s music. Having said that, you’d be missing out on a good album if you were to write them off as Rammstein clones and ignore them...

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”The lost children is a new release from Disturbed and is a collection of B-sides and rarities. The album includes a previously unreleased track, “Mine,” and “3,” which was as a benefit track for the West Memphis Three. Other tracks on this B-side collection include “God of the Mind” and “A Welcome Burden,” which appeared on the 2010 reissue of the band’s 2000 debut album The Sickness; “Monster,” “Two Worlds,” and “Sickened,” which were included as bonus tracks on the UK tour edition of Ten Thousand Fists; “Run,” which was featured on a limited-edition version of 2008’s Indestructible; and “Parasite,” which appeared on the Japanese edition of Indestructible.

There are two cover versions on the album...

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The Mariana Hollow are a female fronted alternative metal band from the London area. They released their debut album, ”Coma heart” in 2009 and this, their new album, ”Velvet black sky” is due for release in February 2012.

The first track on the album, ”Before the dive” opens with some beautifully haunting wailing guitar . The song is almost an instrumental – there are some whispered vocals in the background as the track draws to a close so its not strictly totally instrumental, but I think most people would call it an instrumental track. As an intro its very effective, giving an idea of the sort of melody and power you can expect from the rest of the album, and unlike some bands albums, this intro doesnt feel like something that doesnt belong on the album.

”Dead reckoning” is the first rea...