Monday, July 29, 2013

Raving Season/Amnio/My Kingdom Music/2013 CD Review


  Raving  Season  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  an  atmospheric  form  of  gothic/doom  metal  with  death  metal  vocals  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Amnio"  which  was  released  by  My  Kingdom  Music.

  Starting  off  the  album  is  Turandot"  which  starts  off  really  slow  than  the  death  metal  growls  kick  in  bringing  in  some  heavier  and  melodic  riffing  with  the  dimension  turning  into  a  heavy  bass  guitar  riff, symphonic keyboards  and  etherial  sounding  clean  singing  female  gothic  vocals  as  well  as  a  dark  and  melodic  guitar  lead  which  then  goes  more  into  a  whisper  before  the  guitar  riffs  and  growls  start  kicking  in  again  returning  the  song  reverting  back  to  being  heavy  doom/death  while  still  use  the  clean  singing  which  gives  the  recording  alot  more  variety  and  dimension.

  Song  two  "Dusk  Dance"  starts  out  being  really  soft  with  some  heavy  bass  guitar  and  clean  playing  before  the  operatic  vocals  start  kicking  as  well  as  some  violins  and  heavy  guitar  riffs  which  result  in  the  return  of  the  growls,  melodic  guitar  leads  before  the  music  switches  to  some  semi  blast  beats  from  the  drumming  before  switching  to a  more  symphonic  direction  with  the  music  going  back  to  being  soft  while  adding  in  the  growls  in  those  sections  to  make  the  music  sound  alot  more  powerful.

  Song  three  "My  Last  Murderer"  starts  of  with  a  melodic  guitar  lead  before  switching  to  some  whispers  and  heavy  doom  metal  riffing,  than  the  operatic  vocals  start  kicking  in  for  a  few  seconds  and  then  they  switch  to  the  growls  as  well  as  some  heavy  and  slow  drum  playing  before  going  into  a  more  soft  direction  with  some  depressing  keyboards,  gothic  vocals  which  add in  some  melancholic  elements  before  switching  back  to  being  semi  heavy  while  utilizing  some  spoken  word  parts  and  melodic  riffing  before  the  song  goes  back  to  being  heavy  and  dark  with  some  evil  sounding  growls  while  also  combing  some  progressive  and  psychedelic  keyboards.

  Song  four  "Silent  Lake"  starts  out  being  soft  and  depressive  with  some  clean  singing  and  powerful  bass  riffs  which  continue  that  way  for  a  few  minutes  before  the  symphonic  keys,  death  metal growls  and  heavy  doom  riffs  start  kicking  in  before  going  back  into  a  more  soft  direction  along  with  some  more  prog  elements  before  the  song  starts  mixing  the  soft  and  heavy  elements  together  which  lead  to  a  very  powerful  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  lead.

  Song  five  "Restless  Rain(il  rumore  della  pioggia)"  starts  off  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  before  switching  to  being  more  heavy,  atmospheric  and operatic  which  then  leads  to  the  growling  which  results  in  the  song  getting  alot  heavier  and  darker  before  switching  back  to  the  acoustic  guitars  for  a  few  seconds  than  the  melodic  riffing  and  gothic  vocals  start  kicking  inn  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads.

  Song  six  "My  Darkest  Season  (pt.2)"  starts  of  with  some  soft  sounding  classical  guitar  playing,  before  the  powerful  bass  lines  and  operatic  vocals  kick  in,  then the  heavy  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  kicking  off  with  some  symphonic  elements  which  result  in  the  song  going  into  a  more  depressive  gothic  direction  before  shifting  into  some  melodic  metal  riffs  and  deep  death  metal  growls  which  in  turn  lead  to  a  melodic  guitar  solos  as  well  as  the  song  combining  melody  and  heaviness  together  to  make  the  song  sound  alot  more  dark  and  heavy  before  reverting  back to  the  classical guitars  which  use  finger  picking  which  close  the  song.

  Song  seven  "Testament"  starts  off   being  slow, symphonic  and  heavy  along  with  the  operatic  vocals  before  going  into  a  more  melodic  direction  which  then  results  in  the  return  of  the  death  metal  growls  before  the  gothic  keyboards  kick  in  which  the  heavy  guitar  riffs  sound  even  more  dark  while  also  retaining  a  great  amount  of  melody  with  the  solos  as  well  as  the  riffing  changing  back  and  forth  to  heavy  and  soft  elements  which  result  with  the  operatic  vocals  returning  as  well  as  the  song  closing  with  some  soft  keyboards.

  Song  eight  "Suspended  In  Spiral"  starts  off  really  heavy  with  some  dark  keyboards  and  whispers  as  well  as  going  into  a  more  symphonic  direction  before  the  heavy  death  metal  growls  start  kicking  inn  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  leads  and  spoken  word  parts  before  going  back  into  a  heavy  and  symphonic  doom/death  metal  sound  which  then  results  into  some  powerful  bass  playing  and  soft  atmospheric  elements  before  the  switch  back  to  being  very  heavy  and  dark  along  with  a  semi  blast  from  the  drums.

  Song  nine  "Annio"  starts  of  with  some  programming  and  80's  style  new  wave/gothic  keyboards  along  with  some  whispers  and  spoken  word  parts  before  the  clean  singing  gothic/dark  wave  vocals  start  kicking  inn  as  well  as  some  acoustic  guitars  which  enhance  the  dark  wave  elements  of  the  song  which  continue  that  way  for  a  few  minutes  before  the  powerful  and  melodic  guitar  solo  starts  kicking  inn.

  In  my  opinion  Raving  Season  are  a  very  great  sounding  gothic,  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  band  with  a  great  production  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out t his  recording.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.          

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Orbweaver/Strange Transmissions From The Neuralnomicon/Primitive Violence/2013 CD Review


  Orbweaver  are  a  band  from  Miami,  Florida  that  plays  a  mixture  of  psychedelia,  noise  and  technical  death  metal  with  a  slight  black  metal  influence  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Strange  Transmissions  From  The  Neuralnomicon"  which  was  released  by  Primitive  Violence.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars,  as  for  the  sound  effects  when  they  are  utilized  bring  in  more  psychedelic  and  avant  garde  elements  to  the  album.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  technical  death  metal  with  psychedelia  and  noise  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  some  black  metal  influences  and  clean  playing  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  at  times  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  high  pitched  screams,  deep  death  metal  growls  and  shouts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  science  fiction  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it  with  some  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Orbweaver  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  technical  death  metal,  psychedelia,  and  noise  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Those  Of  Non-Being"  and  "The  Church  Warden  Procedure".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Infected Society/F Is For Fuck You/Miserable Failure/Miserable Fucking Society/Kaotoxin Records/2013 3 Way Split Review

 This is a review of a 3 way split album between France's Infected Society,  F Stands For Fuck You and  Miserable  Failure  called  "Miserable  Fucking  Society"  which  was  released  by  Kaotoxin  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Infected  Society  which  plays  a  mixture  of  hardcore,  crust  and  grind.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars   range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  grind,  crust  and  hardcore  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Infected  Society  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  grind,  crust  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Old  _  School  Traditional  Butchery"  and  "Crack  Whores".  RECOMMENDED.

  Next  up  is  F  Is  For  Fuck  You  which  plays  a  mixture  of  grind,  crust,  rock  and  rock.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  grindcore,  crust  and  rock  music  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  and  there  are  little  to  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  crust  style  shouting  to  high  pitched  grindcore  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  F  Is  For  Fuck  You  are  a v ery  great  sounding  hybrid  of  crust,  grind  and  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should c heck  out  their  side  of  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sound  Of   Nothing"  and  "The  Bombing".  RECOMMENDED.

  Closing  the  split  is  Miserable  Failure  who  play  a  modern  form  of  crust/grind.

  Drums  ranges  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  crust  and  grindcore  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  and  there a re  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  crust  style  shouts,  deep  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  along  with  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Miserable  Failure  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  crust  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "All  Women  Must  Die"  and  "Inside  Me".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  grindcore.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.
 


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Mombu/Niger/Subsound Records/2013 CD Review


  Mombu  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  grindcore  mixed  with  African  Rhythms,  jazz  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2013  album  "Niger"  which  was  released  by  Subsound  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  playing   to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  present  on  this  recording  as  well  as  tribal  drums,  while  the  saxophones  bring  in  elements  of  african  tribal  music  and  jazz  to  the  music.

  Guitars,  vocals  and  song  writing  are  all  absent  from  this  recording  except  for  some  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  song  themes  cover  Voodoo  and  Occultism,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Mombu  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  grind,  hardcore,  jazz  and  African  Rhythm  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of t his  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Niger"  "Mighty  Mombu"  and  "The  Devour  Of  Millions".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.    

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Exhumed/Necrocracy/Relapse Records/2013 CD Review


Exhumed  are  a b and  from  San  Jose,  California  that  has  been  featured  before  in  the  zine  with  the  musical  style  this  time  around  being  a  mixture  of  old  school  death  metal  and  gore/grind  and  this  is a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Necrocracy"  which  was  released  by  Relapse  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  old  school  death  metal  with gore/grind  to  create  a  sound  of  their   own,  while  the   lead  guitars  are  very  old  school  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  bring  a  dark  atmosphere  to  the  album.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  grindcore  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  horror  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  still  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Exhumed  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,   you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Coins  Upon  The  Eyes"  "The  Rotting"  "Sickened"  and  "Carrion  Call".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Dead In The Dirt/The Blind Hole/Southern Lord Records/2013 CD Review


  Dead  In  The  Dirt  are  a  band  from  Atlanta,  Georgia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  grind,  crust  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2013  album  "The  Blind  Hole"  which  was  released  by  Southern  Lord  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  heavy  and  brutal  riffs  that  combine  grind,  crust  and  hardcore  together  along  with  a  good  amount  of  noisy  distortion  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  crust/death  metal  growls  to  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  social,  political,  vegan  and  straight  edge  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Dead  In  The  Dirt  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  grind,  crust,  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Suffer"  "You  Bury  Me"  "One  More  Day"  and  "Knife  In  The  Feathers".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Bio Crisis Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
Luzen: Well a lot is going on these days, we have neber been this busy, we have a lot of shows, some festivals, we are about to tour the West Coast and then coming back we are going to record a new album, trying to be as active as we can!

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album?
Neto: I think it’s a mix of all our musical influences. It takes some Post-rock elements  and incorporate them to the obligatory D-beat structure. It has angry riffs and melancholic melodies. But I think the most important thing is the emotional overall atmosphere that creates on the listener, because it takes you deep into reflection and then takes you out to do something with it.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release?
Luzen: Can be whatever you know, from talking about our city Tijuana to a more political-revolutionary song, also including some personal lyrics about our local scene.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Neto: Everyone in the band has a different meaning of it, but in some way I think that all of us would agree that behind the bands name, there’s kind of a fear of the end of life on earth by humankind.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Neto: We have had a lot of good shows with so many legendary bands and big stages, but what we really love is the energy of house shows and being close to our public.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Luzen: Yes we do, actually our tour starts tomorrow (4th of July), our first West Coast tour in the States, we are planning Europe next year!
Here is the list of the cities we are playing:
Thu-04 Los Angeles @ LA Pyrate Punx Pad
Fri-05 Corona @ Mayas Cafe
Sat-06 Oakland @ The Pink String
Sun-07 Petaluma @ Phoenix Theater
Mon-08 Chico @ Dex
Tue-09 Eureka @ The Ink Annex
Wed-10 DAY OFF
Thu-11 Portland @ House Show
Fri-12 Seattle @ FBK House
Sat-13 Portland @ East End
Sun-14 Bend @ The Warehouse
Mon-15 Sacramento @ Press Club
Tue-16 Los Angeles @ 5 Star Bar
Wed-17 Riverside @ Blood Orange Infoshop

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of crust and d beat?
Neto: It has been great! We are really happy of what has come after this new album was released. We have been invited to so much projects and festivals that we cannot afford to be in all of them haha. We have this philosophy about the freedom of music on the internet, so we put the whole album for a free download on our bandcamp page, and it has increased our audience in a worldwide level that we didn’t expect in a short term. It’s so amazing to get lots of fan letters and merchandize orders from countries we’d never thought.

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?
Luzen: Just our bassist plays drums for Fractal, actually they are touring with us, I think he will have have a hard time!

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Neto: This album was released on 2012 but the recordings began on 2009, so these are kind of old songs for us now haha. The newest songs we’ve been working on are a lot more sophisticated and mature than this album. We’ve managed to brake into another musical genres like Stoner, Post-metal and Black metal without loosing our personal sound, I think.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Neto: I think I was very influenced by Shikari, Buried Inside and Madame Germen when the band started, and some of the stuff that I’ve been listening to lately are: Kvelertak, Masakari, Doomriders, Amebix and Ghost.

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Luzen: Skateboarding, even I don't have time to skate anymore I try to be active writing for a local skate DIY zine called Cortes Crudos and I also will say playing old school video games.

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Luzen- Thanx a lot for the interview and up the fucking punks, see you guys in hell!