Posted in Cd Reviews

MDD/Sound Pollution

ABRASIVE has been around since the late nineties. They take pride in offering a sound that is faithful to their underground roots. Raw and in-your-face death metal with grinding ambitions according to the old rules set by the likes of AUTOPSY, EXHUMED and SUFFOCATION will be the reward for buying this album. One demo in 1999 led to the album “Desire”, a real ball-breaker if you get my drift, which was followed by “Devotion” and “Awakening of Lust” before this release.

To save the best for last is functional in some cases, but not when releasing an album. Unfortunately that is what this trio does. It takes until the final track “Rebirth” before I discover what they could be all about...

Posted in Interviews

The Finnish metallers from Amorphis have recently released an album called ’The Beginning of Times’, which they are touring to promote now. As they performed on the festival’s main stage, on the last day of Tuska 2011 I had the opportunity for a short chat with Amorphis’ bass player, Niclas Etelävuori. It was a really hectic day so it all ended up in a fast dialogue, but I am thankful to Niclar for his time.

Me: How is it going with you guys? How’s life for the band?
NE: Busy, but good
Me: What does busy mean? Just concerts? recording anything? You just had a new release afterall..
NE: We only do shows now. We’ve been doing festivals for two months now almost every week.
Me: How long is this planned to go on? Any outside Europe concerts?
NE: In early June we played in Japan and Taiwan.
M...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lion Music Digital

VIRTUAL MIND sprung from the mind of Italian guitarist Francesco Fareri. The idea is to mix heavy metal and a progressive style on their debut album. Apart from Francesco the band consists of well travelled vocalist Titta Tani (ex. DGM, ex. ASTRA, ASHENT), drummer Dario Ciccioni (TWINSPIRITS, KHYMERA etc.), and bass player Emanuele Calvelli of NOUMENO. The band is quite fresh on the market, and so is Lion´s effort with all-digital releases.

After hearing the first four tracks I start to question the existence of the band. The vocals seem to be the stronghold but the refrains are not very memorable and they seem adamant to relive the nineties. Not until track five, “The Door” the band displays their might with some RUSH-like antics...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Voodoo Highway/Rock´n´Growl

VOODOO HIGHYAY may bring to mind bands like VOODOO X or even BADLANDS, but it is really DEEP PURPLE you should think of. These five gents from Italy have been around since 2010, by recording their first EP “This Is Rock´n´Roll, Cocks”. This effort generated some attention, not least from Craig Gruber of ELF, RAINBOW etc. fame. 70-ies hard rock is apparently blended with catchy melodies, and the Classic Rock Channel has hailed them as the best to come out of Italy since Super Mario. Gigs are lining up and everything seems bright enough for the future…or is it?

The odd but unique intro “Intro (since 1972)” is a bit surprising, but reveals that there is some thought involved. From then on much is focused around Gillan/Lord etc...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

As you may know from the previous editions, the fest takes place in a soccer field and this third edition was no different, the organization brought some improvements such as a new roof above the seats in the right side of the field. since that in the previous editions dust was a real problem, they decided to put a huge rug on the pit ground preventing the clouds of dust and because of the all known rule of the “tall guy who stands always in front of you during a concert even if the place is empty” this year they had two big screens near the stage which eased the view of the bands that were playing.

This year there was an autograph tent with a photography exhibition of the previous Vagos Open Air Editions with four main photographers: Vânia Santos, Gonçalo Delgado, Antonio Pedro Nasci...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Supernova/Sweden Rock Magazine

Åtta personer utgör SEVENTRIBE, ett Västeråsband som spelar en mix av metal och hardcore. De har inte varit direkt i rampljuset tidigare, men 2010 vann de Released – Live & Unsigned, och sedan dess har lavinen börjat rulla. Dessutom ligger de på Supernova som distribueras via Sweden Rock Mag, och ett starkt samarbete med Jägemeister har de gemensamt med band som HAMMERFALL och HARDCORE SUPERSTAR. Hur låter det då?

Jag minns en gammal demo med detta band, men det var inte positiva minnen. Idag har de åtgärdat ljudet, som inte var minnesvärt. Låtmaterialet minns jag dock inte, men här kommer tre spår som inte är direkt avtändande...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Orpheus are a heavy metal band from Trondheim in Norway. This album is their debut album, and was released in parts of Europe in 2009 but is now finally receiving a long overdue UK release thanks to Femme Metal records.

The album kicks off with ”Fuck me over”, a slice of classic metal with vocalist Ingrid Galadriel singing how she wants someone to ”fuck me over and leave me dying”.

”Peepin’ Tom” is another great track. The song starts off with a slow instrumental section with some excellent guitar work, and once the main part of the song kicks in, that contains some great guitar riffs and the vocals are also good.

”Mr Manipulative” starts off with an awesome scream from vocalist Ingrid Galadriel before the solid wall of sound from the guitars kicks in and she reverts to her normal singing...

Posted in Cd Reviews

”Melody and Malice” is the fourth (and final) compilation album released by the UK’s Femme Metal Records. As with previous releases the album is aimed at making money for charity – the charity being helped here is the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), so its a great cuase, but the question is whether or not the album is good too.

The short answer is yes it is. This is a great compilation of songs by female fronted bands from around the world. Firstly you have songs by big name bands – Arch Enemy, Lacuna Coil & In this moment, songs by established but smaller bands including Amberian Dawn, Sarah Jezebel Deva and Kittie, and songs by smaller up and coming bands.

The songs are not all the same style of music – the only real common factor is the female vo...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Darknote spelar underfundig och melodiös döds inför en mycket sparsam publik på The Rock den här lördagskvällen. Det är lite synd eftersom isländska band inte gästar oss så ofta men de som tagit sig till klubben bjuds på tekniskt sväng, suggestiva trummor och lekfulla gitarrer som låter improviserade men är väldigt inrepeterade och välskrivna. Darknote får det att låta enkelt men deras musik är avancerad och det hörs att många timmars slit ligger bakom. Instrumenthanteringen är över lag mycket professionell. Lite tekniskt strul med trummorna sätter övrigas improvisationsförmåga på prov och missödet lämnar oss ostörda. Jag gillar de schyssta tempoväxlingarna här och var men tycker att det ser en aning stelt ut på scenen...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Escape Music/Border

Glen Bridger started playing guitar after hearing VAN HALEN, when he was in his teens. Though awarded a baseball scholarship he decided to go for a music career. Learning from magazines he found work with Kansas City´s top bands, e.g. HEAD EAST. This new venture features powerful singer Terry Ilous of XYZ, keyboard player Sam McCaslin of MICHAEL SCHENKER and CARMINE APPICE fame, plus fellow HEAD EAST bass player Greg Manahan, plus a certain Danzoid on drums. Additional musicians include JK Northrup, Larry Hart (MONTROSE, KING KOBRA), Eddy Jones of HEAD EAST and Pat Fontaine of XYZ has supplied lyrics.

The MR BIG echo in “Tuesday Afternoon” makes for a cozy opening. Perhaps not a roaring thunder but a softer and well played start...