|
Friday, May 13, 2005
"Summer's End (Self-Titled)"
by
Bill Vogel III
Friday, May 13, 2005 A.D.
The best new band 2005 has to be the ferocious Summer's End. Their self-titled debut, out on Hand Of Hope Records, is a catchy and brutal combination of Metalcore and Melodic Swedish Death Metal. Summer's End has a sound that grabs you by the guts and just won't let go.
Thrash fury adds extra edge, but Summer's End bleeds pure intensity. Highly skilled guitar solos crawl across roaring blasts and tight rhythms. The vocals are shrill, fiery growls. The result is a dark style of sheer, caustic beauty.
Summer's End is simply, incredibly stunning. This nine song opus features three killer songs that are live tracks. The best cuts include the savage glory of "Haunting Hollowed Graves," "Walking The Night," the powerful rumble of "Through My Blood (Live)," and "Long Time Dead." The cut "Headwound" features a guest appearance by Michael Graves of MISFITS fame....
Summer's End is brutally excellent.
In conclusion, Summer's End is an amazing band. Their dark brilliance is astounding. Stay savage. Farewell.
Related Bands: All That Remains, Glass Casket, Dead To
Fall, Darkest Hour, Red Death, Cannae,
Hypocrisy, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity,
Still Remains, Carcass, Carnal Forge,
Internal Bleeding, Eucharist, Shadows
Fall, Arch Enemy, Trivium, Rising Moon,
Atreyu, etc.
Keep the faith, and the AGGRESSION.
Copyright 2005.
Courtesy of Stranger Aeons Magazine.
W.B. Vogel III 9:03 AM
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Classic Review....
"'Alcohol Fueled Brewtality LIVE' by Black Label Society"
by
Bill Vogel III
June 26, 2001 A.D.
Studio recordings often don't do this band justice, because it could be rightly said that Black Label Society is the Trippy/Psychedelic Pantera. And at last there is a quality live recording that truly captures this unique band's power. On the 2-disc set that is "Alcohol Fueled Brewtality LIVE" [Spitfire Records], Black Label Society goes full on ferocious.
Disc 1 is all live material. There 13 tracks of Psychedelic Powercore highlighted by Zakk Wylde's masterful guitar work-pummeling onslaughts sharpened with outbursts of virtuoso ax wizardry. Heavy, grunted vocals along with deep, clean vocals, and bombastic rhythms complete the maelstrom.
The most wickedly cool cuts here include the massive "Low Down," the hulking drawl of "Bored To Tears," "13 Years Of Grief," "Superterrorizer," and the rending "Stronger Than Death." There's also a cover of Ozzy's "No More Tears." The production quality is great, and it all smashes.
Disc 2 is rare and new studio material. These 5 tracks are alone reason enough to get this release. Black Label Society did the impossible; they made a Neil Young song cool. Their somber rendition of "Heart Of Gold" is incredible, phenomenal, and amazing. They also do a brilliant cover of Black Sabbath's "Snowblind" (an underrated classic). The other 3 cuts are great as well. Those tracks are "Like A Bird," "Blood In The Wall," and an acoustic version of "The Beginning At Last."
Overall, this is a definitive opus for Black Label Society...capturing the true dark grace of their power. So get ready for some pure brutality, or brewtality. Stay savage. Farewell.
Related Bands: Damageplan, Drowning Pool, Exhorder,
Brick Bath, Pantera, Kilgore Smudge,
Mastodon, Godsmack, Rollins Band, etc.
Keep the faith, and the AGGRESSION.
Provided courtesy of Stranger Aeons.
Copyright 2001.
W.B. Vogel III 5:10 PM
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
"'The Curse' by Atreyu"
by
Bill Vogel III
May 11, 2005 A.D.
Darkness and brutality, these are the things that make Atreyu such a great Metalcore band. Taking their name from the movie "The Neverending Story," Atreyu has left a bloody path of creativity that few could match. Their 2004 opus, "The Curse" [Victory Records], is Gothic Metalcore built on the splendid wreckage of the dying light. It's powerful, sublime, and bleakly poetic.
Atreyu's sound ensorcells-dark, harsh guitars with a melancholic spirit fuse with tight, frenzied rhythms. Shrill, intense growls are interlaced with clean, emotive yells and guttural roars. Bleeding melody and power, Atreyu has a dark glory that is epic. Atreyu is an apotheosis of beautiful brutality.
With the resplendence of the night, Atreyu burns. The best of these tenebrous wonders includes the melodiously melancholic "Right Side Of The Bed," "Demonology And Heartache," the aggressive sublimity of "Five Vicodin Chased With A Shot Of Clarity," "This Flesh A Tomb," the explosive "The Crimson," and the epic "You Eclipsed By Me." Atreyu shines like ancient stars....
It's addictively, abysmally beautiful.
Overall, Atreyu has a tragic glory that is stark and irresistible. Atreyu has released one of the most extraordinary albums of the year. This is a blessed curse. Stay savage. Farewell.
Related Bands: Acid Bath, Closer Than Kin, Hatebreed,
Earth Crisis, Zao, Agony Scene, Freya,
A Perfect Murder, Martyr A.D., A18,
Between The Buried And Me, Turmoil,
Glasseater, Stretch Arm Strong, Haste,
Figure Four, Scar Culture, Silverstein,
Everytime I Die, Avenged Sevenfold,
Unearth, As I Lay Dying, Killswitch
Engage, Eighteen Visions, Poison The
Well, Chimaira, Bleeding Through, etc.
Keep the faith, and the AGGRESSION.
Copyright 2005.
Courtesy of Stranger Aeons Magazine.
W.B. Vogel III 9:08 AM
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
"'Desert Northern Hell' by Tsjuder"
by
Bill Vogel III
May 10, 2005 A.D.
When it comes to crazed, Tsjuder has it down to an ever so bleak art. Their 2005 opus, "Desert Northern Hell" [Season Of Mist Records], is an insane Blackened Thrash Metal that is raw as a corpse. Tsjuder has a sound as cold and harsh as the abyss.
Shrill, shrieking growls propel super-tight barrages of shredding guitars and frenzied rhythms. Hellish, soul-rending drums burrow like maggots through the relentless ferocity. There is some light melody used, but expect no merciful atmospheres. This is fierce to the very core.
Tsjuder is not for the faltering heart. Best tracks are the fiery "Helvete," "Mouth Of Madness," the bestial onslaught of "Possessed," and "Lord Of Swords."
In summary, Tsjuder is just what the old school Black Metal fiend has been hoping for. Stay savage. Farewell.
Related Bands: Mayhem, Throcult, Aeon, Samael,
Serpent Obscene, Order From Chaos,
Borknagar, Crionics, Morbid Angel,
Cadaver Inc., Fog, Aborym, Sigh,
Marduk, Acheron, Cradle Of Filth,
Emperor, Blood Stained Dusk, Viking
Crown, Venom, Bathory, The Abyss,
Kult Ov Azazel, etc.
Keep the faith, and the AGGRESSION.
Copyright 2005.
Courtesy of Stranger Aeons Magazine.
W.B. Vogel III 6:15 PM
"'Voyeurs of Utter Destruction As Beauty' by Pure Sweet Hell"
by
Bill Vogel III
May 6, 2005 A.D.
Extreme and eclectic, Pure Sweet Hell is a band of diverse ferocity. Their 2005 opus, "Voyeurs of Utter Destruction As Beauty" [Crash Music Inc.], enjoins elements of Gothic, Black, Thrash, and Deathrock Metal. This is true Extreme Metal-dark, melodic, and fierce.
This is killer.
Pure Sweet Hell uses clean Gothic, shrieks, and growled vocals to create severe, jagged aggression. Deep, descending grooves bleed a tenebrous euphony. Some Industrial elements are used as well. Beautiful and bleak, Pure Sweet Hell burns with a ferocious fury. (Pure Sweet Hell is a side-project of the Power Metal band Nevermore.)
The most incredible cuts the gloomy glory of "Gehenna," "Hangfire," the intense darkness of "What Your Pain Is," "Take Away," and "Golgotha On My Mind." Pure Sweet Hell is a cataclysmic wonder.
In summary, Pure Sweet Hell is dark, fierce, and abysmally cool. This is stark Extreme Metal. Stay savage. Farewell.
Related Bands: Konkhra, Cemetary, Entombed, Coram
Lethe, Samael, Darkseed, Dominus,
My Dying Bride, Children Of Bodom,
Acid Bath, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames,
Sentenced, Entwined, etc.
Keep the faith, and the AGGRESSION.
Copyright 2005.
Courtesy of Stranger Aeons Magazine.
W.B. Vogel III 10:36 AM
/// ///
|
|
|