Posted in Cd Reviews

Earache/Sound Pollution

California´s RIVAL SONS seem universally hailed as the hottest new band around in 2011. Classic Rock Magazine even bowed to them, as did the German Rocks Magazine. Groove, soul and confidence, honesty and danger, all that is supposedly incorporated in the band´s sound, and those are indeed key ingredients for most of the surviving rock greats. RIVAL SONS has released an album at their own expense, “Before the Fire”, and a digital EP, before ending up in the spotlight. Is there enough fire in them to keep them there? Time to release Messrs. Jay Buchanan, vox, Scott Holiday, guitars, Robert Everhart, bass, and Mike Miley, drums.

Have you ever heard ATOMIC ROOSTER without the Hammond? Try “All Over the Road”, which has all the stamina of DuCann & Co, but without...

Posted in Cd Reviews

MDD/Sound Pollution

Japanese thrashers RIVERGE are not latter day followers, but 1985 originals themselves. Back in the day they released a few demos and singles, and toured with the likes of OUTRAGE and SABBATH before calling it a day in 1988. Their creative break actually lasted till about now. Four guys and one girl, can´t tell who´s who by their names, but here goes some Old School Bay Tokyo …or?

Shoji Nakamura´s vocals haunt opener “Thought Free”. Their punk roots shine through, with a dash of early ANTHRAX. The vocals make me sick though. The drums courtesy of Katsuyuki Matsumoto equally haunts “Till I Die”. I must confess to only enjoy three tracks, the forceful “Stavish Charge”, and the no less frantic “Hungry Child” and “Dual Attack”...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Hand (or as they prefer to spell it, hAND) bill themselves as a ”3-piece Progressive Alternative/Gothic Metal band”. I’d describe them as a 3 piece prog band. There’s definitely little here to describe as metal.

I have to admit I’ve seen hAND play live a few times and I’ve never been impressed – as a live band they really dont do anything for me. On album though its a different story. They arent alone in this – Opeth make great albums but I and many people I know, find them immensely dull as a live band. On an album all the subtleties show clearly when live they may not, and this makes a huge difference.

”Breathing” is the second album from Hand (they’ve also released two EP’s)...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Since the last and first edition was a great success, the Fade in organization and the City Council of Leiria decided to continue the fest this year in the same spot: The Castle of Leiria; let me tell you a little bit about this magnificent piece of architecture: this medieval Castle was built by the first king of Portugal D. Afonso Henriques in the XII century, first it was used as a military fortress against the moors and later on as a residency of King Dinis and Saint Isabel the Queen (that’s when the Castle lost its military function). So we have a romanesque/gothic imponent structure that in some extent reflects the style of the music and the fest itself.
The stages inside the Castle were three (one more than the previous edition) that were distributed by ground levels so if you wan...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Napalm/Sound Pollution

Swedish band DRACONIAN have released their fourth outing welcome release for the fans I believe. Their previous album, “Turning Season Within” arrived in 2008, so it has been a while. Jens Berggren at Fascination Street Studios has been turning the knobs, to guarantee an ultimate experience according to the info sheet, so what about it?

Opener “The Drowning Age” is among the best I´ve heard from the band! They are a bit harder/rougher, which suits the vocals, and there is a force they don ´t always muster. The variety of the ensuing “The Last Hour Ancient Sunlight” is also well suited, and the riff is quite simple but effective. I quite like Lisa´s voice, as well as the keyboards. There is something cozy about the DRACONIAN doom...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

MARIENBAD was a town in former Germany Sudetenland (now the Czech Republic) that was flooded in the sixties. All inhabitants were relocated, all but twelve that refused and preferred to stay and wait for death. Quite a cosy setting for an epic depressed doomy outing like this. Masterminded by EISREGEN personnel M. Roth and Yantit, vocals and guitars/keyboards respectively, who are augmented by West on bass and Allen B. Konstanz on drums. Another thing is that you get two versions, both German and English lyrics versions are included.

Is there a difference between the same story in two languages? I believe there is. First up there is a certain vibrato to M Roth´s vocals in German that is not a s clear in English...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

The last day of the festival was nicely thought by the organisers. Only 3 bands on the main stage, with the last show ending at 9 PM so that everyone could get home in decent time and start the working week on Monday somewhat rested. We went there early to watch the performance of the crazy Norwegians from Kvelertak. I just saw them live 2 weeks prior to Tuska, at Norway Rock festival, and they had such an amazing show that I had to convince everyone I could to go and see them. And I am pretty sure no one was disappointed. The 6 piece band from the West coast of Norway play a weird mix of punk/black metal as far as I noticed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if people find other genres in their music...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Saturday at Tuska had the main stage reserved for more ’mellow’ music – at least if you consider all the thrash and death from the first day. The opener was Epica, Dutch symphonic/progressive metal led by a very charismatic Simone Simons surrounded by long hair tall Dutch men. With a bunch of nice keyboards and guitar solos supporting Simone’s melodic voice, the band was really loved by the people gathered early in the afternoon. It’s also a nice show to watch as everyone has a great time on stage and I like the sight they create when the long haired stop in front of the metal cooling fans and start looking like Medusa impersonations.

I went for a short while in the building hosting the 4th stage and was nicely surprised by the intensity of Medeia’s brutal death metal...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Helsinki’s ’pain’ festival as I was told the name translates into, goes all the way back to 1998 and has seen a yearly growth in the number of attendees and also the quality of bands that performed on its stages. The 2011 edition (22 – 24 July) was the first one held in a new location, called Suvilahti, a former industrial area by the way it looks, with less vegetation but surrounded by factory buildings which had their advantages at times. The Finnish weather was incredibly friendly for the three days and except few minutes of rain, we were greeted by a lot of sunshine. My biggest positive surprise at this festival comes from the people, especially the employees/volunteers working as guards or serving drinks and foods...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Fastball/Sound Pollution

HUMAN ZOO sure stands out. Not many hard rock bands employ a saxophone player these days, or ever before. The band history starts in 2004 and comprises two previous albums, their debut “Precious Time” (2006) and the follow-up “Over the Horizon” (2007). The basic formula is simple but seemingly secure: They go for a steadfast 80´s hard rock sound, with the addition of the occasional sax. I think they have done well, sporting three albums in only five years, plus numerous gigs with the likes of THE SCORPIONS, AXXIS, KROKUS and U.D.O. The line-up has been a solid affair comprising of vocalist Thomas Seeburger, guitarist Ingolf Engler, Keyboardist Zarko Mestrovic, bass player Markus Ratheiser, sax player Boris Matakovic, and drummer Kevin Klimesch.

This is on...