Originally published in ‘zine issue #39, 2008
Black Cobra Bestial
(At a Loss)
The elephantine, tubular, down-tuned tuba of a tube-amp guitar sound coupled with middy, throaty yells and big sludge rock drums smack of such forces of nature as Kylesa, 16, and High On Fire—in fact, this rumbling two-piece sounds like a pure concentration of those bands into one long, thick, cord-like unit. I won’t lie to you: Black Cobra has my fine specimen of Alabama black snake twitching in appreciation. Too boo coup, my ass!
(by Lenny Likas) ■
Chthonic Seediq Bale
(Downport Music)
Seediq Bale is a proficiently executed, decently produced “commercial black metal” release from Taiwan with a strong Dimmu influence and the occasional metalcore riff thrown in for good (?) measure. The synths are heavily pronounced, competing with the guitars and erhu (a Chinese violin-like instrument), making for a somewhat muddled mix. Lyrically, they focus on “ancient” Taiwanese culture, which is an interesting twist on typical black metal fare. While ostensibly a somewhat distinct release given the “exotic” nature of the band’s origins and themes, ultimately Chthonic offers nothing remarkably new here musically, although the songwriting is adequate and there’s plenty of adept musicianship apparent. Seediq Bale should be of interest to those into latter-day Dimmu and other commercially inclined faux-black metal.
(by R. Mason) ■
Conquest Of Steel May Your Blade Never Dull
(No Face)
Seeing as we’re a right jaded lot here—and you know this!—I trust you fine readers will take me at my unimpeachable word that this mini-album from NWOBHM-style band Conquest Of Steel is spectacularly boring—a dish best served to only a retard. Excuse me, I meant to say mentally challenged retard.
(by Lenny Likas) ■
Conquest Of Steel Hammer & Fist
(No Face)
This U.K. group’s newer record is significantly better than the mini-album reviewed above. For starters, it’s better played, has improved production, and the songs are way better. There’s lots of twin guitar leads and the melodic vocals mostly work, yet in the quiet sections cannot escape sounding remarkably like Spinal Tap contemplating the mysteries of Stonehenge. The lyrics about fighting for metal and such make my jaw slacken in stupefaction—“all for the glory, all for the whores, all for the king of heavy metal.” And just who the fuck is the king of heavy metal, exactly? King Diamond or King Fowley? What with all the veneration of kings, kingdoms, and edged weapons going on, I can only imagine these backward-looking gents as serfs afflicted by scurvy, huddled together in a leaky thatch-roofed hut with a manure floor, passing the time with fantasies of glories that never were, and singing “Sweet Home Lower Uncton” in eager anticipation of their daily beating from the local magistrate.
(by Lenny Likas) ■
Disappearer 2007 album
(Trash Art!)
Disappearer is heavy and majestic ambient rock music. This Massachusetts trio play instrumentals exclusively, a phenomenon seemingly more and more common these days. The songs are long and sprawling, enveloping and rolling. While they offer sounds that are quite common to the style, if you like to do drugs and get spaced out on music, this is nevertheless a perfectly acceptable train to ride.
(by Lenny Likas) ■
Disarray Edge of My Demise
(Inner Void)
Disarry’s fifth album finds the band sticking to a somewhat dated-sounding groove-thrash vibe. To their credit, they don’t seem to take themselves all that seriously: Edge of My Demise invites you to shut your brain off and enjoy (well, if you’re into this sort of thing) Disarray’s straight-forward, no-frills metal. The sludgy, mid-paced groovy thrash riffs are punctuated by some nice (if too brief) guitar solos, and while the production (courtesy of a Pro-Pain member) is a bit muddy, Edge of My Demise is ultimately a solid addition to Disarray’s discography. A word of advice to the band—I would strongly suggest a change of logo (seriously, it looks like something a 12-year-old might have come up with), as well as developing a more consistent and sophisticated aesthetic; the artwork on Disarray CDs tend to look pretty cheap, and in no way reflect the quality of the band’s material.
(by R. Mason) ■
Honey For Christ The Darkest Pinnacle of Light
(Rundown)
Honey for Christ is a varied metal band from Ireland. Their singer has character, delivering both articulate clean melodies and harmonies and rougher-edged verses with some urgency. The production sounds a bit amateurish and the drum mix is somewhat weak. Some of it loses me, especially when they seem to feel they are being profound but are actually sounding quite melodramatic. (And as I listened to the disc, these aforementioned parts—typically choruses—kept creeping up with disturbing frequency.) No lyrics were provided; I wonder if they are some kind of Christian group? The singer has definitely got a Franz Ferdinand thing going on with a lot of these vocalizations. Hmmm. It’s like: let’s write one good fast and heavy song and put it first, and then play a ton of sensitive melodic crap with no hooks. Again, hmmm.
(by Lenny Likas) ■
Hulda Always Haunted
(Hulda Worldwide Recordings)
Between the ambiguous band name and nondescript CD cover, I was unsure as to what to expect from Hulda. While the bio offers comparisons to Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, aside from having a female vocalist Hulda otherwise bears no resemblance whatsoever to either band. With abundant keyboards and Siousxie Sioux-esque low-register vocals, Hulda’s sound is more akin to a rather bland bar band’s approximation of a dramatic and poppy ‘80s goth style similar to Ghost Dance or late Xmal Deustchland. Oddly, the retro-goth vibe seems entirely accidental; on Hulda’s MySpace page, they namecheck Foo Fighters and Journey as influences. They’d be well-served to bust out the kohl and PVC and embrace the ‘80s goth angle, be it accidental or not, and work on further developing that aspect of their sound, which they’re fairly adept at. Otherwise, given their rather dated (if occasionally intriguing) sound, I suspect that Hulda may have a difficult time finding an audience outside of their local club scene.
(by R. Mason) ■
“Only suckbags care about stupid shit like that. These guys are heavy and brutal and that’s what counts.”
Mystic Prophecy Satanic Curses
(Locomotice)
Despite lyrics and an overall presentation that couldn’t possibly be more painfully cliché—seriously, Mystic Prophecy should have their bullet belts and Helloween albums confiscated for calling an album Satanic Curses in 2008––this fifth album from the German power metal band (and the first without Firewind guitarist Gus G) provides heavier fare than its predecessors, eschewing Euro pomp-metal tendencies for a more stripped-down, straightforward approach. Most importantly, the riffs and melodies are solid and offered in abundance. While a couple of songs drag on a bit lifelessly, the album’s relatively few uninspired moments are redeemed by tracks like the terrific Sinner-esque “Demon’s Blood” and the awesome chorus of “Damnation.” Thick guitar tone, solid drumming, and vocalist Roberto’s voice shines here, falling in range somewhere between Matt Sinner and Bruce Dickinson. A solid and worthwhile––if not necessarily essential––power metal release.
(by R. Mason) ■
Place Of Skulls The Black is Never Far
(Exile on Mainstream)
Legendary Pentagram alum Victor Griffin is back with another absolutely killer slab of melodic doom. Armed with a plethora of crushing riffs, blues-rock guitar solos, and the odd psychedelic flourish, The Black is Never Far places itself as contender for best metal (or hell, best hard rock album) of the year. Aside from an amazing metal pedigree, what puts Place Of Skulls among the doom metal elite is an attention to quality songcrafting. Far from content with sticking with by-the-numbers Sabbath mimicry, Griffin seems to effortlessly juxtapose genuinely heavy riffs with thoughtful, dramatic passages and Trower-esque guitar soloing, all while incorporating strong vocal melodies and amazing guitar textures throughout. While any fan of Pentagram, The Obsessed, or The Hidden Hand already knows well to pick this one up, The Black is Never Far is definitely worth checking out for any fan of great, timeless hard rock or classic metal.
(by R. Mason) ■
Sahg II
(Regain)
Although Norway isn’t exactly known for its doom metal exports, Sahg defy expectations with an exceptional second album of traditional doom. Thankfully, although heaps of Sabbath influence are all over this disc (the riff from “Hole in the Sky” is not-too-subtly “adopted” in “Echoes Through the Sky”), they set themselves apart from the hordes of Sab disciples with great songwriting, guitar riffs that are frequently more thoughtful than your typical played-out Iommi worship, consistently well-done guitar solos (even displaying a few nice Schenkner-esque touches here and there), and Sahg’s vocalist is more Tony Martin than Ozzy—which, in this case, is definitely a compliment. For fellow fans of Solstice’s Lamentations, early Revelation, and traditional doom done well.
(by R. Mason) ■
Within Chaos Virulent
(Koch)
Texans Within Chaos drop an oppressive slab of 21st century American mosh-loving metal that can trace its roots to bands like Pantera and, well, mostly just Pantera. Virulent, their debut for corporate-backed Koch Records, holds it down with an unstoppable barrage of Triple Rectifier-backed staccato chunk riffs accompanied by that sublime confluence of double bass fills and half-time cymbal crashes that has all those music-loving, blood-lusting Marines whipping your pitiful asses in the pit. An obvious criticism is that the songs use the same pacing and sound too similar to others on the disc—so much so that on more than a few occasions I had to check to determine if it was the same song playing or if a new track had started. But only suckbags care about stupid shit like that. These guys are heavy and brutal and that’s what counts.
(by Lenny Likas) ■
