August 2004 Archives
CD, Century Media 2004
Track list: Into the Sea of Dark Desires - World Hate Center - 11 Dreams - reDestructDead - Firesoul - Sharpen the Edges - Supremacy v2.0 - Music Non Stop - Falling - Times without Changes - Loneliness
Mercenary's previous album, Everblack, was a bit of a surprise to me. It came out of nowhere and was bloody good. 11 Dreams is no surprise and manages to stand up to my high expectations. Mercenary still kicks butt, thank you very much. The style is the same: heavy metal, with a very heavy sound and two vocalists. I like it, the whole intensivity of it. A nice bonus is a cover from Kent, Music Non Stop. What a neat choice. ****
CD, self-published 2004
Track list: Silence Within - Whispering Cry - Myself to Seal - Soulbound - Into Despair
Miseria is a young Finnish melodic metal band. Silence Within is their first mini-cd, self-published by the band. I'm quite sure they'll score a recording deal sooner or later, with material of this quality. The band's most prominent feature is the use of two vocalist, male and female. Both are rather good. The songs are very melodic and catchy, even. This'll charm the metal-buying masses, I'm quite certain. ****
CD, Earache 2004
Track list: About time - esc. - PowerPlant - Journey to IXTLAN - Live at Palenque 2012 - Conquer the Fear - Platonic Verses - Strange Volk - The New Way
Ewigkeit, an English - despite the name - one man group mixes solid death and black metal background with lots of different influences: tribal, folk, industrial, psychedelia, industrial, you name it. Result is an interesting concoction that suits my taste almost perfectly. The promo information suggests Radio Ixtlan is a genre-defining work and a possible way forward for the scene - but I disagree. For death metal scene, this is too different. I don't the scene purists will approve. For those who prefer their metal experimental, Radio Ixtlan is a treat. ****
CD, Napalm Records 2004
Track list: Asche - Untertan - Feuer - Carneval - Inferno - Abgesang - Kinderspiel - Schlange - Blut - Abwärts - Sommernacht
It's In Extremo all over again! Fuego certainly sounds like In Extremo's Verehrt und Angespien album, but hey - that's not a bad thing. I don't think there are enough German folk metal bands, certainly more diversity (even though Morgenstern sounds almost identical to In Extremo) is good. Of course, enjoying Fuego may take some effort: bag pipes, German vocals... But if that's your thing, you'll love Fuego. ****
CD, Napalm Records 2004
Track list: One Hope's Evening - Ave End - To Bleed or not to Be - Sarah Lou - Amber Girl - Testified - Astronautumn - Evade - Wake Down - Black - Come, Solitude
Ave End is an example of elegant gothic rock. The emphasis is slightly more on gothic than rock, but the album is still rather groovy. The vocalist lacks uniqueness, but sounds very good nonetheless. The most obvious problem with the album is the lack of really good songs - there are no instantly recognisable hits and that's a shame, because Ave End would've been a five-star album with even one or two good hits. Now the general mood of the album and the generally good quality of the tracks is quite enough of four stars. ****
CD, Rage of Achilles 2004
Track list: Coming Home - Just Another Day - Shine - Fever - Above the Trees - What Can I Do - Little Man - Roots - Trippin' - Until Time Leaves Us Again - Words - Rasayana - Into the Woods
Heavy organ sound, strong bass and guitar riffing and the very best heavy metal vocalist ever, that's what Siena Root is made of. If you think Black Sabbath was at their best on their first album, here's something new for you. Siena Root is heavily rooted in the 70's and that's just fine, if you ask me - I want more of this! Rarely have I heard such good music. *****
CD, Sony Music Entertainment Finland 2002
Track list: Amaze - You Come Alive (Take Control) - Remedy - Night Ride - Ordinary - You Could Be Mine - Big Trouble - The Universe Is For Us - Out of Your Head - New World Stranger - Getting to Know You - King Kong of the Dancefloor
I bought this cd for only 20 cents. That was a no-brainer, King Kong of the Dancefloor is already enough reason to buy this album for such a low price. Unfortunately there isn't much more. Fu-Tourist's style is very French, it reminds me of Air or Daft Punk. Vocoder is a cool effect, but overused like nothing else. There's some of that, hypnotic beats and some 80's sound. All in all, it's a pleasant enough but doesn't really impress. **
