Hard 12 |
January / February 2009Evergrey | Sound and Fury | Holy Moses | You.May.Die.In.The.Desert | Terror | Revolution Renaissance | Pessimist | Mongrel | Tard | Touchers | Slank | Rick Danko Band Evergrey Evergrey celebrate their tenth anniversary this year. They are a leading band in progressive metal, and are in fact one of the bands who helped put it on the map, and create the prog scene as we know it today. They will no doubt continue to do that and set new standards for this genre, and they seem to be doing so with this new album. It's a very fine piece of work. They still have the classic Evergrey sound fans have come to know and love, but they move forward, and have matured over the years. "Torn" is progressive and melodic, with complex, sophisticated, classically-influenced songwriting and structures, but it's also a straightforward metal album, with a raw, aggressive edge. The guitar playing is one of the things that stood out about "Torn". There are plenty of hefty guitar chops all through the album, and the playing is very well pronounced. The guitars are heavy and crunchy, with riffs left and right, but also very technical and sophisticated. All the songs have a strong and heavy beat, giving plenty of backbone to the music. Some songs even verge on being thrash. Singer Tom S. Englund has a pair of lungs on him! His voice is powerful and operatic, with a good range. All of Evergrey have talent coming out the wazoo, and are amazing musicians. "Torn" is very much a progressive metal album, but it has a heavy edge without sacirficing melody. Evergrey are one band that can balance these things quite well, and they seem to get better at it with every album. They are well deserving of their success and status, and will no doubt keep setting standards for prog, and making great albums like this, for another decade, and beyond. Sound And Fury This band is well named, their sound has a lot of fury in it. They put the pedal to the metal and rock out from start to finish. They are old school hard rock/punk rock, like the Ramones and the Bad Brains meeting AC/DC and Aerosmith,with a new twist. They are a rocking band with a groovy vibe in all their songs, and a stripped down, rough, gritty sound, with a lot of angst. The guitar playing is very good (there are two guitarists) with plenty of great riffs, and most of the songs are high speed rockers that are catchy as hell and have a lot of cool hooks, although a couple slow down a bit, with that old AC/DC style. The songs are all about living through adolesence-angst, horniness, partying, driving fast in hot rods, hating school...stuff we all went through, or may be going through now, if you happen to be a teenager. They also have a sense of humor in their songs, I caught myself chuckling a couple of times. Sound And Fury rock out the good old fashioned way. In a time like now when it's hard to tell what's what in rock and roll, it's good to hear a band like this, who just does it straight up. Holy Moses Well, what do you know! The folks behind the ultimate metal festival have started their own record label. And what better way to launch it than with a legendary metal band from their own country? Holy Moses, still going strong after over two decades, are the legendary German thrash band, fronted by female vocalist Sabina Classan, who have the honor of being one of the first bands on the Wacken Records roster. The Holy ones could certainly rival their Deutch thrash bretheren (Sodom, Destruction, Kreator, etc), and although they have a strong cult following, Holy Moses have never gotten the props these other bands have received, over the years. That's really not right, because Holy Moses can dish out the thrash with a vengeance, and are not lacking in talent, either. This new one could be considered, if not their best, then their most aggressive album ever. Right from the get-go, this baby attacks like a pack of angry wolves! Sabina and the boys can still thrash it out like it's 1985! It seems the years have not worn them down at all. Sabina belts out the vocals like she's possessed! Her rough, aggressive vocal style verges on being death metal, and sometimes it's hard to tell she's a woman! The rest of the band back her up with some heavy artillery. They play fast, furious, aggressive, vicious, angry, and tight as a vice grip! The dual guitar playing is razor sharp, but also very skillful and technically proficient. The songs are very well written and executed. While the band does add dashes of modern elements to their music, it's mostly classic Holy Moses-pure, uncorrupted, old school thrash metal. Savage, but sophisticated. Fast as lightning, aggressive as hell, but with skillful playing and songwriting, as all great thrash metal should be. http://www.holymoses.de You.May.Die.In.The.Desert I'm not sure why the band has to have a period after every word in the band name. What I am sure of is the fact that this Seattle trio is crankin' out some seriously good progressive/jazz/instrumental tunes. Instrumental music isn't really my cup of tea. I happen to like lyrics because, to me, a song isn't complete without them. If you have something to say...which almost every musician does...you pretty much need some lyrics to make your point. However, You.May.Die.In.The.Desert seems to be doing fine without them. They let the music do the talkin' and, when you listen to "Bears In The Yukon," it does create a visual image in your mind. What I hear and see might be different than what you hear and see. But, with an album such as this...that's really the point...isn't it? So, all you instrumental fans out there might wanna give this a listen. It might create something wonderful in your mind. http://www.myspace.com/youmaydieinthedesert Terror Hardcore. Extreme. No bullshit. That's what TERROR is all about. "Forever Crossing The Line" is an example...a perfect example...of what brutal music should sound like. Straight up, go for the throat metal that has an excellent production. It doesn't sound like a lot of noise, which is my biggest complaint with hardcore music. A lot of the stuff I've heard...it goes a little too far and the end result just doesn't cut it. Sounds like a train wreck...and you don't wanna hear that. You wanna hear that train rollin' down the track at full speed, crushing everything that's foolish enough to get in the way, without going off the rails. Once your train is off the track and layin' there on the side of the road in a twisted heap of burning metal...that's the end of your power. The TERROR train is blastin' full speed down those tracks and they don't stop for anything. That's what makes them a great band. That constant forward motion. Faster and faster they go...picking up speed...becoming more powerful by the minute. Once again...this is how it should be done and, if you're into this style of music, TERROR should be at the top of your list. http://www.myspace.com/terror Revolution Renaissance Former Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki now has this new band, following the breakup of his old band. This CD is aptly titled. It features guest appearances by many metal celebs (such as Micheal Kiske and Tobias Sammet, among others), and musically picks up from where Stratovarius left off. They play melodic power metal in the vein of the former band, with influence of other bands like Helloween, Virgin Steele, and other power metal masters. Many of the songs are full speed ahead power metal gallopers, with Timo's trademark guitar style, clear, operatic vocals, and a powerful beat. A few are a bit different though. There's the beautiful ballad, "Angel", which is followed by another slower, but slightly heavier, tune, "Eden Is Burning". "Born Upon The Cross" is a darker, heavier song that most of the others, both musically and lyrically; "Keep The Flame Alive" has Celtic flavorings; and the title track, which closes the album, is another heavier song. Many fans will undoubtably be sad about Stratovarius' breakup, but they should certainly check out this album. This continues in the Stratovarius tradition, and is very well done. Timo branches out a bit without betraying his power metal roots. "New Era" is a rockin' power metal album, sure to please any hardcore fan of the genre, with some new and interesting musical elements thrown in. The albums shifts gears a few times but never strays from the classic power metal sounds Timo is famous for. Timo's talents are as strong as ever. Stratovarius is gone, hail the Revolution! Pessimist Pessimist fans rejoice-You have something to be optimistic about! The classic death metal band is back in action! This is their first release in six years! It's a collection of material from their archives (or tombs, or catacombs, or whatever you want to call them), consisting of previously unreleased material. It includes early demos, live studio cuts, and covers of classic thrash tunes. The music is what Pessimist does best-classic style death metal, brutal and vicious, fast and furious, chock full of lightning speed riffs and blast beats, with roaring vocals. All 52 minutes of this CD will brutalize your eardrums from start to finish. Mind you, some of the songs are a bit long and drawn out, but if you're a fan, I suppose that's not a problem. Pessimist are one of the bands that helped put death metal and they continue to deliver the good after all these years. Since this is a collection of archived material and covers, this might not be considered a "proper" new album, but it's still good to have the band back after such a long time. This will be something to tide those ravenous death metal fans over until Pessimist make a "real" new album. Mongrel Mongrel are mad dogs with teeth, that's for sure! They play straight up, old school punk rock that bites like their namesake would! Their music is fast, mean, aggressive, and angry. Their playing is tight with some good musicianship. The guitar work particularly stood out. The angry lyrics lash out at life, the universe, TV, the government, and everything. They are influenced by everyone from the Ramones to Offspring, and just about everything punk rock in between. There's also some metal elements in their music, especially thrash like Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies. Two songs, "Watching Myself Die" and "Dyslexic Alchemist", are particualrly Slayer like. They are heavier and a bit more metallic that the other tracks. Another metal element in Mongrel's music is the guitar playing. Much of it is thrash like and there are several guitar solos, and pretty rippin' ones at that! Adam, Mongrel's guitar player, is quite skillful, but also plays abrasively. On a couple of other songs, "Bound To Crash" and "Attribution/Retribution", the band ease off the gas a bit and show their emotional side. While not ballads by any means, these songs show a bit of sensitivity, and look at the down side of life. This shows a different side to the band. Even punk rockers can have some sensitivity. Mongrel are a band very capable of carrying the punk rock torch into the future. All those who think true punk is dead, watch out for Mongrel! Their bite is worse than their bark! Tard Tard is what happens when extreme metal goes too far. It goes from being music to being...well...retarded. This is mindless death, grind, noise...whatever you wanna call it...with lyrics that sound like they were written by someone who dropped out of school...in the third grade. Not that you can understand the lyrics. It's a female singer and you can't really tell. But, anyway, take a song like "Panty Sniffer," which goes a little something like this, "Why do people call panties a pair and not just panty cuz there's just one" and "Just because there's two legs doesn't mean you can call it a pair. Answer a question 'bout t-shirts. Why don't they call them a pair?" Or how about "Grandma's Gift," which says, "Don't you know your table manners are getting disgusting and sickening? That you know I have no patience for? You think 3 + 3 = 7 and that is what you really think it is." Am I supposed to take this seriously? I mean, really, Beavis & Butthead have more intelligence than this. You'll listen to this release once and the memory of what you heard will fizzle out like a bad fart. That's pretty much all I can say. http://www.myspace.com/tardasinre Touchers These Touchers are/were an interesting band. Their style is quite eclectic. Their influences are a wide variety, from metal/hard rock to grunge to punk to pop to 60s/Beatles. Their music goes from hard, aggressive, and agnst-y to melodic and poppy, sometimes within the same song. Singer "Bipolar" Ben Brisini is well named. He goes from one extreme to another-screaming and wailing one minute, crooning sweetly the next. He manipulates his voice well, doing a good job on both ends of the scale. He also plays guitar, along with August Rutkowski, and both jam out riffs that are rough and raw, others that are smooth and melodic. Acoustic, folks-y guitar is used on several songs. Specific influences I heard range from Nirvana, Tool, and the Smashing Pumpkins to the Beatles and the Moody Blues, to name but a few. This album is musical journey of ups-and-downs (not meant in a bad way), from hard rocking to poppy and sensitive, dark to light. As I said, both can sometimes be heard in the same song. "Blithe" concludes with the heaviest song on the album (song titles unknown to me, they did not come with the CD); it has a heavy, thudding beat, aggressive vocals, sludgy, fuzztone bass, and spacey, pyschedelic guitars. This sounds like it could have come out in the 90s grunge era, although it's even heavier than most grunge from that period. It sounds like the singer is saying "There's a dollar at the bottom of the pool", or something. Also some Tool influence in this song. Touchers are different, I'll give em that. They are also talented musicians and good songwriters, with an original style. Unfortunately, this will be their last album. Ben, the singer, is no longer with us. RIP, Ben. Thanks for one more album before you left us, and for leaving a musical legacy. No doubt he won't be forgotten by his fans, as no great musician should. http://www.thetouchers.com Slank Slank are an Indonesian band who are stars in their home country, and many other parts of the world, but are unknown on these shores. This is their first stateside/English language release. Slank play straighforward rock that's influenced by many classic artists. Their music is old school with a modern twist. Two of their main influences seem to be Aerosmith and Cheap Trick, with some Beatles here, some punk there, some folk in other places. They throw a variety of different styles into their music but are a rock band first and foremost. The faster songs are rockers, but are also smooth and polished, with a large pop element. There are driving guitars and sweet melodies, combined. There are also a number of ballads, in fact a few too many for my blood. The last four songs on the album are ballads. Granted they're good songs, but several ballads in a row like that is an overdose, in my opinion. A ballad here and there is OK, but a rock album should be a rock album. However, the band is talented, they play well, and the can rock out when they really put their minds to it. Hopefully the next album will have a few less ballads and a few more rockers on it. Best of luck to em. Rick Danko Band Former Band bassist (and Rock And Roll HOF-er) Rick Danko has his own solo project going now, which in fact includes several of his former Band mates. This CD is a live recording (with one bonus studio song, "Sip The Wine"), featuring all Band songs, some of which can be heard in "The Last Waltz". Fans or those familiar with the Band should know there songs. They are classics and don't really need an introduction. Rick has a large backup band that consists of many different musicians, playing a variety of instruments. Like the Band, the music is an eclectic and unique mix of styles; rock, pop, jazz, folk, blues, bluegrass, even some reggae here and there. Since this is a live recording, it all sounds very real and down to earth, with a gritty feel. Most of the songs are mellow and laid back, many very uplifting. There are couple of bluesy songs that have a bit more "kick", those being "Crazy Mama", "Next Time You See Me", and "Chest Fever". Dixieland jazz can also be heard in other songs, like "Ophelia" and "Blaze Of Glory". The former in fact is like Dixieland and reggae combined. Two very different styles of music, yet the fit like puzzle pieces in this song. Leave it to the Band to do that! The playing and singing is of course excellent, but that is to be expected of musicians of this caliber. The songs are already bonafide classics and all time greats, and Danko and his cronies give them a new spin on this album. Oddly enough, the Band's two most famous songs, "The Weight" and "Cripple Creek", are not included on here. One would think those would be mandotory. Maybe Rick and friends wanted to give some other, lesser known songs a chance to be heard. This is an enjoyable listen, something to chill out to, and fans of the Band should enjoy it. If you're in the mood for something mellower, this is a good choice. Also, proceeds from buying this CD go to Greenpeace, so you'll also be supporting a good cause. |