Category Cd Reviews

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Massacre/Sound Pollution

Since early 1987 SOLITUDE AETURNUS has been master of gloom and doom in the US. After some line-up changes the band consisted of, John Perez and Edgar Rivera on guitars, vocalist Robert Lowe (also in CANDLEMASS these days), Lyle Steadham on bass and drummer John “Wolf” Covington. 1990 saw their full-length debut, “Into the Depth of Sorrow”, which has been followed by five more releases. But setbacks and member changes has prevented the same road to success as CANDLEMASS. Various labels have come and gone, but Massacre seems to remain. The underground legend has grown and developed, and I believe the time is right for a full-fledged reunion. But, alas, in the meantime we´ll make do with this compilation of demos. And this is not just any old demos...

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Frontiers/BAM

XORIGIN? And a space opera cover at that, who are they and why do they even bother? Well, their first band name was actually ORANGE CRUSH, which makes anything else a major improvement, and the men behind the moniker are Norwegian session singer Johannes Stole and Daniel Palmqvist of MURDER OF MY SWEET. To put more emphasis on the possibilities of the band I might add that drums and production are handled by Daniel Flores (MURDER OF MY SWEET, and almost everyone else). Hey-ho, let´s go!

The spaced out intro part of opener “Can´t Keep Running” reveals nothing of what´s to come. But as openers go, it is a wise choice and the best track on offer. The rest of the album dips between ok and above average...

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Frontiers/BAM

JORN LANDE, the man, the myth, the … legend. Is the missing word rising or fading? Here JORN is captured live at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2010. Jorn, backed by guitarists Tore Moen and Tor Erik Myre, bass player Nic Angileri and drummer Willy Bendiksen were well enough received and lauded, but what was delivered. I saw the band live at the Zaragon last year, and the track list seems familiar. The bonus material once again contains the much touted “Song for Ronnie James”, as expected as the “Man on the Silver Mountain-infusion” in closing track “War of the World”. But what about the performance and the impression after a few spins?

From track one, the changes to the seemingly cemented mid-pace are few. Exactly like the gig I saw...

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Napalm/Sound Pollution

”From the far north of Iceland, the Viking horde SKÁLMÖLD springs to life with a blistering album”. Thus begins the info sheet, but is it blistering as in swell or, as Captain Haddock put it, “Blistering barnacles!”? The concept circles around the dramatic events of the Icelandic Viking Baldur. A demon-like creature destroys his family and sets him on the trail of revenge together with his two remaining cronies. The final victory comes with a prize…

Let´s just say that this is better than TYR, so, that settles another presumed Icelandic fight. I quite like the “BATHORY-light” that SKÁLMÖLD produces, and the husky voice of the real life Baldurs of the band, one of them is really called Baldur, suits the music like a glove...

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Newman is the project of singer/guitarist Steve Newman. Although there is a full band (pictured on the back of the CD cover) they don’t appear on the album. The album is almost wholly the work of Steve Newman who sings as well as playing keyboards and guitar – a drummer who isnt in the live band (Rob McEwen) was the only other musician involved apart from one song (If he loves you) where Shaun Bessant from the live band appears on guitar. It does beg the question – why when there is a full band for live shows do they not appear on the album?

Listening to the album, I’m afraid none of the songs jump out as great songs. Equally none of the songs are really bad – they’re all fairly good songs, there’s just nothing special here...

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Australian melodic rockers White Widdow were formed in 2008 and released their self titled debut album in November 2010 to great acclaim. Its a surprise then to see their second album being released towards the end of September 2011 – these days a 10 month gap between albums is almost unheard of with bands typically spending well over a year touring in support of the album before startign work on the next one.

For those of you who havent heard White Widdow before, the one line summary is that they have a very 1980’s melodic rock sound, with plenty of catchy choruses.

Comments on a few of the songs..

”Do you remember” sounds to be strongly influenced by Def Leppard, particularly the Hysteria album – there are parts of the music in this song that sound like they’d be perfectly at home on th...

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”Five Serpents teeth” is the third album from Yorkshire Thrashers Evile.

Comments on a few of the tracks.

”Five Serpents Teeth” starts with a slow menacing sounding build-up before the song proper kicks in guitar and bass work that has a real Metallica Feel.

”In dreams of terror” is a faster song with some finger shredding guitar work from Ol Drake and rapid pounding drums from Ben Carter.

”Cult” is a great song and its intelligent lyrics couple with the chant of ”Cult” during the chorus make this song stand out.

”In memoriam” deserves special mention. Written in memory of their former bassist Mike Alexander who died at a tragically young age in 2009, this track is as close to a ballad as Evile are ever likely to get...

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Famoüs Jameson is a young Swedish band. Formed in the summer of 2010, the band have already played plenty of gigs in Sweden and will be playing on the Rockbitch cruise later this year.
The band list influences including Mötley Crüe, Aerosmith, Guns’n Roses, Metallica, Skid Row & Accept – all 80’s bands with a bias towards glam/sleaze. Judging by their influences and the publicity photograph then I’m expecting an 80’s sleaze sound to be apparent in the music, but the only way to know is to listen to the songs as appearances can sometimes be deceptive. A listen to the three tracks here confirm the 80’s sleaze influences.

”Twelve steps to insanity” starts off with some good guitar work – with it starting as guitar in one speaker before it comes in on the other speaker too...

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Nemhain are a sleazy, gritty sounding punk rock band from London. Fronted by the gorgeous and talented singer Amber Elandsson, Nemhain also includes her well known husband Adrian Erlansson on drums (Cradle of Filth, At the Gates), Lisa Dickinson on bass and backing vocals as well as Lakis Kyriacou and Sam Astley on guitars.

Nemhain have released The Murder Mile EP to keep fans happy while they wait for the bands next album. For a limited period the EP is available as a FREE download (a very nice gesture) – check out their facebook page, website etc for details on where to get the EP.

”Natural born sinners” is a great opener to the EP. Its a great song with plenty of pace, plenty of power from the guitars and a great drumbeat, and Amber’s vocals giving it that sleazy feel...

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Serpentine are one of the new wave of metlodic rock bands, and are growing in popularity. At the moment though they’re a slightly odd band as the lineup you may have seen on tour earlier in the year and which will be on the next tour, is different to the lineup that is on the album.
The difference in lineup is in vocalists – the current vocalist is Matt Black (who does an excellent job in the live shows), but on the album it’s Tony Mills (TNT, Shy etc). Under normal circumstances, Matt Black would have done the vocals on the new album but due to contractual issues (the band had a signed contract to record two albums with Tony Mills) then this their second album has been recorded with Tony Mills.
It’s only the Japanese who get to hear Matt Black’s vocals on the album – the Japanese specia...