Locus Titanic Funus-Castus Lacrima

Metal Scrap Records
2013

Having just recently reviewed an album from Ukraine's Metal Scrap Records (EDVIAN'S rather stellar release,"2012") I was pleasantly surprised to find a new e-mail from them in my inbox that contained a huge assortment of promos of various genres. This oddly named lot was sitting atop the bundle so, faced with an open afternoon, I decided to do a little exploring, at least music-wise, and see what this Moscow-based band was all about. From the looks of it we're talking about a pair of musicians in guitarist Alexey Mikhaylov and vocalist Mila Ionova (Mea Vita) who, bound together by a shared love of darker music, made the most out of what was, by all intensive purposes, a studio-only project. Or at least for now as rumor has it they would very much like to pull it all off live. With that "Castus Lacrima" is the pair's debut-release and it's a fine thing indeed! Alright, so there's both female and male vocals. That works well in conjunction with the softer, more subtle passages, and the more gruff (and frankly bleak) black metal moments/movements. Joined by studio enhancements (ie: electronic elements such as synthesizers and drum machines), our pair of  musicians set their sights on provocative (or is that pervasive and punishing?) goth-tinged, occultist metal. While the group's name reportedly has to do with disaster of one sort or another what comes roaring out is anything but a disaster. Instead we have before us what, previously (in another life-time) at least, would have just been dubbed "alternative" music, but here it's like black metal with a twist. As hinted that's a goth twist and, when some sorrowful doom is unleashed upon the mix as well, it's quite the challenge to just say that Locus Titanic Funus sound like so and so when the reality is, as warped and bloodstained as it is with this type of morbid metal, this guy and girl combo is onto something decidedly different. It's not a release for everyone in you're household (unless you live in a hellish haunted house!) as it's dark and does bear some of the tell-tale trademarks of traditional black metal (usually a love it or loathe it genre to begin with), but as I step back and look at "Castus Lacrima" I'm quite glad that I reviewed this one particular release from Metal Scrap Records first as it's likely to stay with me for awhile!

Wild Bitch-Streets Of Danger

Self-Release/Independent
2012

Is it time to let you in on a little secret? OK, it's the world's worst kept secret, seeing as I've been pretty open to the fact that I follow other music blogs, but yeah, I get ideas (as far as potential review material goes) from other sites. As such this one's not so much a review as it is a suggestion. There's little sense in writing my own review of this sweet album as the one at Sleaze Roxx is spot on! You can read it below, but here's what matters most: It's simply splendid heavy metal and, more importantly, it's a name your own price digital download! You can't beat that combo can you?
http://www.sleazeroxx.com/bands/wildbitch/streetsofdanger.shtml



http://wildbitch1.bandcamp.com/album/streets-of-danger

Forgotten Gems: Panndora-Heretic's Box

If anyone has noticed, which would naturally mean that my hit count had gone from zero to one or more LOL, I'm actually covering this Brazilian act's catalog backwards. Having reviewed the band's 2012, 3-track EP, "Behind the Crime", earlier this month (link below) I'm now turning my attention to this LP which, in addition to being another self-produced/self-released affair, is the band's sophomore output. Whew, now that we have all of that out of the way let's crack open "The Heretic's Box" and take a look inside. As noted on my previous review of Panndora, which is worth reading if you're interested in the back-story of this all female heavy metal group, these fine ladies are another example of retro-metal worship in all it's glorious colors! The difference with Panndora is that, unlike the bulk of retro-metal bands these days, their sound is more natural and free-flowing. In a way I'd compare them to Ladybeast and The Sign Of the Jackal in that these heavy metal ladies don't try to copy their heroes, but instead take their influences and, in a case of practice makes perfect, rock the living daylights out of them! It's as though Panndora actually know what they like (in this case it's everything from Doro/Warlock to Iron Maiden) and yet they fully understand that being a carbon-copy of those acts is just not cool. How I do wish that more new, up and coming, traditional metal bands would follow suite. While we all love the greats (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, etc.) do we really need 1,000 new bands sounding exactly like them? Even if it's played in sincere fashion it still sucks the air out of an enthusiasm that I might have for one of my favorite genres. Thankfully Panndora really don't sound just like band A, B or C even when they end up covering a particular artist. On this sophomore release the band choose Running Wild as their subject choice and they pull it off admirably. Mark that one down as another influence although fans seeking female-fronted metal should realize that these fine ladies are more of a combination of 80's heavy metal and the N.W.O.B.H.M. scene. It's just too bad that more people haven't taken notice of the talent level presented here, let alone the marketability of this group, as Panndora could prove to much more then this hand-drawn album art might imply.




http://metalmark.blogspot.com/search?q=Panndora

EDVIAN-2012

Total Metal Records
2012

One of the advantages of reviewing music for a hobby/living (or whatever you want to call this particular aspect of existence) is the (seemingly) non-stop influx of new music at ones fingertips. Hardly a day goes by anymore in which new albums show up in either my digital or physical mailbox. As a fan/collector myself it's cool to know that with every new day somewhere a new band is potentially either in the process of forming or releasing debut material. Such is the case with this particular album that was released at the tail end of 2012 by the Russian band EDVIAN.  Formed in 2009, and featuring two brothers – musicians: Andrew and Victor Plitkinyh in it's ranks, this particularly act focuses their attention/talent on the field on progressive music.Their full-length, 8-track debut-album, as noted, was issued at the tail end of 2012 and, theme-wise, deals with the oncoming end of the world as predicted by the Mayan calendar! Interesting to say the least. Thankfully that didn't happen (the end of the world and all) as we wouldn't all be sitting here today talking about cool progressive music like this! My guess is EDVIAN is probably pretty stoked that the world didn't end as well since they would probably like to see the fruits of their labor. With all of that said, and seeing as the world hasn't imploded (yet), onward we march to this debut-recording. As stated, this is progressive music at it's core.While we could just call it "progressive metal" I think that "progressive music" is a better tag. Sure, it does have all the hallmarks of progressive metal as evident by usual progressive metal influences (Dream Theater and Symphony-X are mentioned in the promo material and it's a fair enough statement) there's all sorts of other things present, add-ons if you, such as electronic music and progressive rock. Add all of that together, mixing gently as you go, and, after you toss in the emotion theme of a world wrapped in chaos (by way of metal that's much more extreme then the Dream Theater and Symphony-X comparisons would suggest), you end up with "2012". With only a 4-track demo to their name otherwise, this 8-track LP shows a level of maturity and experience that's normally not associated with such progressive-minded groups this early in the game.With interesting time-changes, and musicians focused more on creative metal then mass-appeal metal, these 8 tracks add up to a stellar listening experience and a suggested pick-up for the fans of all thing progressive rock, metal and beyond.

Aggressa-Nuclear Death + Demo 1 LP

Iron Bonehead Productions

2013

Right up front it should be mentioned that this one is a vinyl only limited-release. All information (in regards to limited run amount, track info, booklet info, etc.) is listed below if you're interested in the actual packaging. What's pertinent to this review is the meat of the matter-the music. Hailing from Australia, and actually active during the mid-late eighties, Aggressa played a raw form of speed metal thrash that lived up to their name's suggestion (aggression). Although they could have also been called something like slopptallica. Not because they sounded like Metallica, but because of how sloppy they played their take on extreme metal. Forget that these cuts come from demo recordings, which in and of itself does give this LP a rather underground vibe, and focus on the actually music/playing. There's nods to Venom, early Tank, Avenger and Exciter. Then again the band also echos such acts as Razor, At War and Possessed (if Possessed were more of a sloppy, Motörhead-inspired garage metal outfit!) as well as tearing through groups like Cryptic Slaughter, Hobbs Angel Of Death and Slayer. For the record the band did feature future Sadistik Exekution drummer/well-traveled veteran musician Sloth (Peter Zantey) and his drumming skills are duly noted. But, overall these recordings show a raw Australian band that were not quite ready for the big-time. Of course that means two things. The first thing would be that it would be easy enough to write off this LP collection of demo tracks as a sorry mess of sloppy, way to fast for their own good speed metal/thrash noise. The second thing you could do though would be to enjoy these acts for what they are-a group of guys playing thrash metal the best they could all while bowing down at the alters of their idols (Venom for sure, but then you do pick up on pieces and parts of  everything/everyone from Dark Angel to German thrash such as early Sodom and early Destruction). I actually find myself falling somewhere towards the second point although I do have to admit that some of these cuts are too crazy-fast for their own good. In the end this one is more of a history lesson on the early Australia extreme metal scene and is thus most-likely best suited for those looking to add to their personal collection of said scene. 

300g Jacket With 3mm Spine And Gloss Varnish

- 140g Black Vinyl

- Featuring The "Nuclear Death" Recordings '87/'88, "Demo I" '86/'87, And One Unreleased Track From '87. Sloth of Sadistik Exekution Hammering The Drums!

- 4 Page Insert On 250g Art Paper Gloos

- Authorised By Craig Martin (Guitar)/AGGRESSA

- Limited To 300 Copies

- tracks 1-7 "Nuclear Death" MLP; tracks 8-11 "Demo I"; track 12 for a compilation that was never released

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aggressa/178485065501545

http://www.facebook.com/IronBoneheadProductions

http://www.ironbonehead.de/

A2athot-Trust Your Ear

Pure Steel Records

2013

With only 3 tracks going for it you would think that this EP would run it's course before you ever knew what happened. That's not so much the case though as this precision packed EP runs close to 25 minutes in length! A one man project in nature, the name of this game is "experimental psychedelic doom" and, given that influences run the gamut from Black Sabbath to Radiohead and WAY BEYOND, it's a weird trip. Even so, one has to admit that this EP holds a certain charm and is worthwhile for those who like to listen to their metal music under the covers and all alone at night!

Free Fall-Power & Volume

Nuclear Blast Records
2013

More Swedish hard rock? You better believe it! Stockholm, Sweden-based Free Fall are just the latest group to come rocking out of this Northern Eurpean country. Much like their fellow-countrymen Vanderbuyst (who I've covered in the past) Free Fall, which was formed by ex-The Soundtrack Of Our Lives guitarist Mattias Bärjed, plays hard rock the old fashioned way. By that the influences are on the older side of things (AC/DC, Uriah Heep, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, UFO, The Stooges, the Who and Judas Priest) while the actual music that comes rumbling out ends up more fresh feeling. Kim Fransson's vocals are perfectly suited for Free Fall in that he sure does seem as if he was plucked right out of some obscure 70's hard rock act and transported to the here and now! The rythm section is filled out by bassist Jan Martens and drummer Ludwig Dahlberg (International Noise conspiracy) which fits the goal that Mattias had going into this project. While playing in his previous band, which was rock-based, but also integrated other elements such as punk and psychedelic rock,  guitarist Mattias Bärjed felt a calling to form a classic four piece act. In other words he wanted the tried and true band setup of lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Free Fall is the result and this full-length debut album is every bit a classic rock/hard rock outing. It's also a joy to those of us who love all things classic rock and classic hard rock. Though it might come off as too-retro to some there's little doubt as to the talent behind this new 4-piece outfit and the enthusiasm they have for all things late sixties and seventies. In that regard this one's a surefire winner and worth checking out for those folks who still cherish their old LPs of groups like the above mentioned as well as Deep Purple, Kiss, B.O.C, Saxon and B.T.O.

Queen V-The Decade Of Queen V

Royal Noise Records
2013

As "The Decade of Queen V" comes marching in (quite literally the opening  of "Revolution Baby" features, for lack of a better descriptive term, "battle drums") you can't help but find yourself caught up in the pageantry that is this career-spanning collection. Covering Queen V's career from 2005 to 2013 this compilation is jam-packed with track after track of blissful hard rock! Forget for a second (if one can) the stunning, soulful and sensual lead vocals of Queen V herself and just focus in on the music itself. You've got the brand new cut "Cry Your Eyes Out" which should be on every radio rock station from coast to coast here in the states to all over Europe and beyond. That would be if this was a just world. With guest musicians like Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) lending lead guitar solos to tracks like "My Machine" (from 2009) and Lemmy himself stopping by to lend co-writing credits and vocals on "Wasted" (also from 2009) it's hard to find a weak moment within these 11-tracks. Whether it's the self-reflective rock of cuts like "Good Enough" and "Right or Wrong" (both of which find emotions running wild) or the blues-rock/hard rock crunch of "Continental" (which actually opens with a sample of what sounds like a Speak and Spell (I should know as we had one in our household!) this collection of career-defining moments is damn near perfect. There's plenty of tracks here for hard rock fanatics to sink their teeth into.There's the Guns N' Roses-styled "Million To One", the beefed-up AC/DC on steroids rocker "Die For You" and the Led Zeppelin-like "Revolution Baby" (which incidentally features blues-harp by legendary blues-rocker Jon Paris!). Things do slow down with "Cry For A Minute", but when you're treated to Queen V's softer side it's hard to find room to complain. "Cry For A Minute" shows off one of Queen V's influences as it's very much in vogue with something The Pretenders would release. Other influences such as David Bowie, Queen and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts do stop in for a quick drink, but overall Queen V puts her own stamp of originally on numbers like "My Machine" so nothing here ever sounds like a carbon-copy of other artists/bands. Given the fact that Queen V is also a talented guitarist it's hard to fathom why she's not more of a household name. Wouldn't it be nice if instead of being bombarded by the same old (supposedly empowered) women on the radio day after day (whether we're talking about Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Ke$ha or however) we could actually have a real strong women like Queen V represent? Yeah, it's a pipe-dream I know, but I'd rather see young women (my 15 year old daughter) latch on to someone like Queen V who is a real musician then some of the crap (Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga) that passes as "music" these days. Oh well and hell, it is what it is. My soapbox rant aside, this collection really is a near perfect 11-track affair and, while I've never considered doing this before, it might just end up on my best of 2013 list at the year's end! Yes, it's that fine of a collection and no, I'm not blinded by the fact that Lemmy appears of the last track. I'd actually still love this collection even if Motörhead's main-man didn't appear on one of the songs...it just might be a little less love is all LOL!


http://www.queenv.com/web/

Technical difficulties have arisen please stand by...

My home computer seems to have taken an unannounced vacation. With that being the case more reviews will have to wait. Until then I will be listening to the new Alice In Chains album as well as new works by Wild Bitch, Envoi, Clutch and others in anticipation of my computer coming back home eventually. Until then enjoy the weekend and enjoy the madness.

PseudoNympho-Eponym

Bunnysnot Records
2013

Daring to be different and marching to the beat of your own drummer are qualities I quite rightly admire. Whether that applies to an individual or, in the case of this 5 piece from Leeds, a band it's all the same. It takes courage and conviction to walk alone, but, even if it's justifiably reasonable to choose a off-the-wall band moniker of your own liking, you could end up with a situation where your name (PseudoNympho) almost gets tossed out with the rest of the daily spam. It's actually more funny then anything else, but PseudoNympho's review request/inquire almost slipped past me as I initially mistook the correspondence as some tacky porn spam! Thankfully I did a second peak at the message as "Eponym", the 13-track debut album from this Yorkshire bunch, comes costume packed with track after track of  menacing metal that's meant for melting your ears off and crushing your soul into a tiny little ball! Yeah, it wouldn't have been good to miss out on that much fun would it? Not at all. The band, which up-front functions as a tight-nit unit, takes their cue from everyone from Mastodon to Neil Young, but the bulk of their debut album is built, frame by frame and cord by cord, on post-Alice in Chains/Soundgarden/Nirvanna and Tad grunge-love and the power exchange that comes from  the likes of Motörhead, Gwar/Lordi and Pantera. While "Eponym" opens with the Tool (by way of Voivod and Pink Floyd) intro track "Apothosis" things get quickly out of hand as lead vocalist/guitarist Wolfgang C. Bailey (who is the real deal on the mic) and his cohorts pull no punches with their socially-conscious, super-charged, ass kicking/take no prisoners modern metal! PseudoNympho, who have a name that I find equally weird and appealing, knock down the doors of traditional rock and roll and slam the listener repeatedly over the head with heavy music that is thankfully also intelligent and insightful. Brains and brutality are not an unknown couple in the world of rock and heavy metal as they've dated on and off for quite some time now. All PseudoNympho does is update the look of that old relationship and approach their music as if it's a cause for them. Their hard rocking style might just have been breed from the DNA of some of greats (AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Danzig, Faith No More and Suicidal Tendencies), but when they take those genes and whip them up in a blender it's all brand new and yeah, kind of magical. What's worthwhile about these lads is that they take hold of their influences and, like a mad artist staring down their latest work, they paint everything in a way that the music within "Eponym" doesn't look back towards the roots and influences but rather forward. Without ever taking their foot off the pedal the band whips out sinister (and surprisingly sincere) post-grunge/modern metal that, lyrically at least, reminds this listener of bands like Megadeth and artists like the one and only Alice Cooper. Perhaps not so much music-wise (although you could argue a case for both those acts within the walls of this LP), but lyric-wise as these songs cut so much deeper then your typical "sex, drugs and rock and roll" heavy metal act would dare imagine. It makes all the difference here as you're forced to look at the music from a different perspective even if it is keeping itself busy by melting your stereo into a bloody mess! Now, since two guitars is just not enough for this band (And why should it be?) vocalist/guitarist Wolfgang C. Bailey is paired up, riff for riff, with Ben Marsden  (lead guitar and backing vocals) and Sam "Sam" Evans (rhythm guitar and backing vocals). Last time I recalled looking there were not too many acts raging that kind of guitar set-up although Leatherwolf , who feature the same kind of basic heavy metal riff-age, might count as both an influence and inspiration. If you're keeping track at home with your own scoreboard then you'll have no doubt noticed that PseudoNympho twist-off/pull-off a variety of different influences in making their own Frankenstein-themed monster of a metal group. That's a fair assessment as this group, which features the killer rhythm section of  bassist Rio Goldhammer & drummer Don Demrow, takes a little of this and a little of that and, after adding fuel to the fire, burns everything down to the ground with their own hellfire rock and roll! Naturally this slab of  fist-banging heavy metal/ rock and roll noise pollution comes highly recommend to those who love to live life loud and proud or those of you just searching for your next favorite heavy metal band.


https://www.facebook.com/pseudomyspace

SANGE: MAIN: MACHINE-BY YOUR SIDE EP

Street Symphonies Records
2012

Released at the tail end of 2012, this 7-track EP is the latest from Italy's Sange: Main: Machine. Wondering about the strange name? Well, the band is lead by former Tarchon Fist front-man Luigi "Sange" Sangermano so that should help clear up the name game somewhat. Even if it doesn't clear things up it's the music that matters most right? Here we're talking about a group that's on the heavier side of melodic rock or, for the sake of easier understanding, more in line with classic hard rock. So what does that entail then you might be asking? As this EP features a cover of Kiss's "Creatures Of The Night" that's a good starting point. By Kiss we're talking about the mid to late eighties Kiss not the disco-era Kiss (The less said about that version of Kiss the better!). With one track sung in Italian there is a bit of a novelty vibe to this EP and, for the sake of informing fans of this rock/metal group, three tracks out of the seven were previously released on different compilation albums. I'd wager though that, like me, most reading this review have never heard of  Sange: Main: Machine. That's fine as all you need to know about "By Your Side" can be wrapped up in a few choice words. Those words would be "high energy (rocking) hard rock/heavy metal with melody and musicianship to spare!". Find out more about this splendid act at their Facebook page below.

https://www.facebook.com/SangeMainMachine

Massive Audio Nerve-Cancer Vulgaris

Dead End Exit Records
2013 

Leave it to the Swedes to give us something like Massive Audio Nerve. Where do we begin with this 4-piece? Nu Metal? Well, yes and no. I mean not really. Nu Metal is there, but then so is metalcore. There's also some progressive metal, but it's more Djent then anything. It's sort of like Prong, System Of A Down and White Zombie merged their collective consciences together and looked toward Slipnot and Korn for influence, but they didn't go full-fledged into that groove...thankfully. Utterly heavy, with some of that wonderful, bottom-end, thick ass bass-playing, this LP is sort of like the bull in a china shop. Brutality destroying everyday beauty amidst lots of dust and carnage. That heavy as hell bass-playing only helps to make the sound of Massive Audio Nerve all the more huge. With slashing guitars constantly crashing the party (In a oh so good way!)  "Cancer Vulgaris" ends up being as much a true heavy metal album as it does  a crunchy platter that is, in the end, after the assault is over with and you have a chance to collect yourself, extremely rhythmic and down-right pulsating! Could this be rave metal? Perhaps, either way though alternative metal fans will want to check this one out as well as those who enjoy metal with a more mechanical nature. A word of warning though folks. This is the kind of metal that could result in the utter collapse of society and/or random spontaneous human combustion!