I have seen this
release listed in some places as a demo and in others as an album. I
personally lean towards demo tag as it is self-released and only has
4 songs but the bands site calls it an album. It is also packaged so
professionally and presented with a DVD so I will give it the
benefit of the doubt calling it an album. H-George travels to our
ears all the way from Italy and call their sound “Alcoholic Thrash
Metal”. Which I am not sure really describes their sound that well.
As it kind of conjures up images (in my mind) of a raunchy, raw,
loose sort of band with party / non-serious lyrics. But the fact of
the matter is they play a really controlled power heavy metal
thrashy type sound with a tight crisp performance and quite serious
thoughtful emotional themes to the lyrics. It is honestly almost a
little too in control and over produced for me. But there is no
denying the talent displayed in George’s writing with some really
solid riffs and well crafted meandering and entertaining guitar
solos. This band is really George’s work and George’s baby and he
has brought in Carlos in to play drums and Trevor in to handle the
vocals. Carlos does a fine job on the kit, solid and professional
and Trevor puts in a pretty gritty late 80s sounding sort of thrashy
gruff performance. The vocals are good but buried in the mix and
less prominent than one would expect for his aggressive style and
performance. I would have liked to see him be brought a little more
up front. In fact the aforementioned intangible raunchiness the
music tag summons up is just what this release could use to put it
over the top. Just a little too controlled and over analyzed. I bet
this material comes off better in a live setting. That all makes it
sound like I do not like this release. Which is far from the truth,
as this is a nice release but it could go to another level, if it
had not been gone over so much with a fine tooth comb and just let
it all hang out a little more? The actual material itself on here is
pretty killer. Now on to the DVD... It is about 30 minutes long and
is pretty well done. It basically has interviews with the guys that
recorded this record as well as studio personnel. They talk about
their history / tastes in metal, their motivation and about the
making this record. There is some various studio footage as well as
some sprinkled stuff of the members out and about in Italy. It is
pretty cool to see and it does give you a respect for what went into
this recording. The DVD is all in Italian but there are English
subtitles so no worries there. – Dale
www.h-george.com
www.myspace.com/hgeorgemetalbeer
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Yes! Killer
grindcore with heavy death metal influence played with immense energy
and conviction - in short it will tear you apart! The compos are to the
point sick, heavy, and brutally catchy with super disgusting and
tortured vomitous vox. All death/grind fanatics feast your ears on this
14 track ball of phlemetic mayhem!
Morbid Records,
Postfach 3, 03114 Drebkau, GERMANY
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Well, if you read
issue # 1 or 2, you know how much I love this band on their early
material. My only knock on their amazing power/heavy metal style is that
they sounded too much like their heroes and not possessing an identity
you could call Hammerfall. Well they have taken a step towards that with
this mighty classic slab “Legacy Of Kings”. Joacim Cans has stepped up
his performance further putting in a superlative, first-rate vocal
display. He makes it seem so easy and effortless as he goes right
through all the ranges with silky finesse. Time honored traditional
metal with class the makes my inner flame rise! Hammerfall have still
not reached their peak potential but they are perilously close with this
album.
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So Havoc Unit
hail from the mighty lands of Finland. They recently changed their
name from …And Oceans. Now I do remember …And Oceans but it was from
their early days in the late 90s. Back then, they played solid, yet,
pretty forgettable symphonic black metal. So these days they are
playing industrial death metal hey? Interesting… Well it is good to
see a band change their name when this sort of about face happens –
more bands should follow this example. I would not call myself a
huge industrial death fan. But I do like some of the bands and have
followed it virtually from its inception as a genre. Early stuff
like Skinny Puppy to Malhovoc to Pitchshifter to old Fear Factory
and others have all graced my collection over the years. Havoc Unit
is a pretty straight forward band. To be honest they are sort of
monotone and lacking any real punch or diversity in their song
writing. Under their previous moniker they played average but pretty
good sympho black metal and now 10 years later they are still
pumping out the same quality level. Just in another genre these
days. They do little to stand out or have much staying power to my
ears and instead just blend in with the pack. It is worth a listen
if you worship this style and if not then your money is best spent
elsewhere.
– Dale
www.vendlusrecords.com
www.myspace.com/havocunit
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If you want the
cliff notes version this is basically the French version of
Halloween mixed with Gamma Ray. I hate to over paint them with that
brush. Yet the fact of the matter is they wear their influences on
their sleeve to the point it is hard to say they have much of a
sound of their own. Coupled with the fact they play a style where
you kind of need some sort of unique identity to stick out from the
crowd. It is not like they are death metal and just make sure they
are brutal to make up for the fact they are unoriginal. By deduction
I do suppose the next question would be is it well done at least?
For my liking it is a touch too clean, synth heavy and over produced
but on the whole it is well done, yes. Some engaging riffs and sweet
guitar leads. Vocalist Ben Sotto just bleeds Halloween vocals but he
sounds excellent doing so, hitting all kinds ranges and high
registers along the way. That is something Heavenly really has going
for them, in this genre you need to have a strong vocalist and they
have that part covered. If you are a fanatic of this style and can
never get enough then by all means pick this up but otherwise just
break out your “Keeper…” records instead. – Dale |
Well some years
back we had the re-formation of the classic thrash band Destruction.
During his hiatus from Destruction, mainman, Schmier formed a band
called Headhunter. A band which spat out a demo tape and 3 albums
from the early 90s to the middle 1990s. Now he has come back full
circle and both bands are going full steam at the same time for
once. The other two members of Headhunter are Uwe Hoffman (Talon)
and Jorg Michael (Rage, Running Wild, Grave Digger, Mekong Delta and
a bunch more bands) whom many or most will know about. They play
classic heavy metal. Schmier definitely has that clean and classic
80s sort of vocal style down pretty well and it is kind of cool
hearing him do this style. The music is traditional heavy metal and
it is pretty catchy and memorable. The song “Silverskull” is
tattoo’d on my brain now and is a good example of catchiness and
staying power I mentioned. It is pretty simplistic stuff overall but
sometimes that is for the best in this style. There are some solid
emotional guitar solos / fills that really grabbed my attention and
unlike some bands they do not come off as forced or out of place.
Headhunter like to mix up the dynamics every couple of songs
(energetic and fast to brooding and etc…) and it makes for a pretty
good, interesting listen. I can recommend this album. But I must
mention that the Skid Row cover kind of sticks out like a strange
sore thumb. Placing it right in middle of album (rather than the
end) amongst the rest of the tracks seems unnecessarily disruptive
to the overall flow and it is too. I could see that really annoying
some people.
– Dale
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com
www.official-headhunter.com/en/ |
This album is
nearly 2 years old and unfortunately, for the band the label, which
released it is now defunct. Yet the band must live on and keep
fighting. Hellacaust is doing just that and sent “Inevitable
Dementia” in for review to keep their name out there, while they
brew some new material. Hellacaust residing often quiet metal east
coast of Canada. They play a really interesting mix of black, death
and thrash metal. I can hear influences from everything from early
Mayhem & Immortal to Exhumed, Angelcorpse & Napalm Death to Kreator,
Slayer and Megadeth. One large melting pot but they know how to
smelt it all together into a solid and cohesive whole which is not
an easy feat by any means. I think we have all heard a band or ten
who attempted this sort thing, only to fall flat on their collective
faces. Hellacaust keep it evil sounding but never afraid to rumble
forward with some sick militaristic head banging sections in most
songs, not to mention some smoking guitar solos brief but regular
appearances. The vocals alternate between death metal bellows and
black metal rasps and are well done. This is a flat out a very good
album. I do not see Hellacaust being label-less for very long. –
Dale
http://welcome.to/hellacaust
http://www.myspace.com/hellacaust
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More metal,
sludge-core from the fine people at Rhetoric. Hellchild are cool crusty
metal with bludgeoning riffs, clear/growly vocals. This band is tops in
my books for doing the dirtiest Venom cover of “Witching Hour” ever -
Yeah bitch!! I reviewed Kilara last issue and here we have more of the
same grungy, Sabbathy metal with a hardcore flavor. These new tracks are
a bit more catchy in a laid-back sorta way - Rockin’ stuff. $8US/$12
World for the vinyl version & $10 US/$12 World for the CD.
Rhetoric Records,
P.O. Box 82, Madison, WI. 53701, USA
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This is an
interesting find for Red Stream. With a choice production backing them,
Himinbjorg present some of the best emotional and blazing metal in
recent memory! Similar in sound to acts like (early) Ulver, Immortal,
Dark Funeral, and a bit of Marduk. They posses a flair for creating
brooding yet uplifting atmospheres of sound that will soon release
itself from your grey matter. There are acoustics and keys in spots but
are utilized in such a way not to force themselves ahead of the
structure or beyond the materials general intent. I can fully recommend
this to fans of brutal atmospheric black metal that will inspire visions
of battlefields filled with pagan pride.
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I possess
nothing but respect for Katon W. De Pena and Hirax. They continue to
just rage after all of these years. I mean to stick to your roots,
for literally decades, is amazing and a mean feat all of its own.
What we have here is a mini-album. I am sure this is just a stop-gap
to keep the die hards from dying of thirst until the next full
length brew comes out. So yes “Chaos and Brutality” is short but
still a fine piece of work and worth owning. With the 4 tracks here
Hirax explode out of the gates right off the first note and do not
let up with their face ripping thrash attack until the disc stops
spinning. Hirax pack punch after punch of fast headbanging riffs
rhythms backed with De Pena’s wails sounding off like a siren of
successive growls. ARGH! Once it is over though you have to hit the
repeat button as this is just too short to hear just once. We need a
new full album now and the sooner the better.
– Dale
www.selfmadegod.com
www.hirax.org
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Hirudinea
– Are one frenetic death metal band. On these 4 tracks they employ a
set of dual vocals. The main set of pipes, sort of remind me to the
vox on the “Clandestine” album. The other set of vocals are harder
to pinpoint and are more frantic, angst filled volleys that remind
me a bit of old Ministry, of all things. I do not hear a lot of
bands playing this style lately. That is to Hirudinea’s benefit.
Watchmaker
– The Boston, Mass clusterfuck. If you are searching for some catchy
head bang riffs, actual song structuring and depth. Then look
somewhere else. It is no surprise, keeping with these comments that
Watchmaker used to have an Anal Cunt member. Because the 7 tracks on
this split are nothing short of a chaotic wall of thrashing white
noise. Their only purpose seems to be to play as fast and in as in
your face as they can, from a dead run, start to finish. They
destroy everything in their path. It is actually pretty good stuff
but you really have to be in the right mood for it, if you know what
I mean?
– Dale
www.bestialonslaught.com |
My deep and
lasting obsession with Horna began somewhere around the beginning of
1997. I received their first masterpiece of a record “Hiidentorni”
from their then label Solistitium records out Germany. Incidentally
this lead to an interview I did with them way back in issue # 2 of
Canadian Assault (I have put in a request for a new interview in
this issue, no word whether it is happening or not, as of yet). It
was during this period, the second wave after the rise of Darkthrone,
Immortal, Burzum etc… came to be and they have stood the test of
time as the best black metal band from this mid-90s era. This band
has never let me down, releasing album after album, seven inches, LP
and split vinyls at an alarming rate and each and every release has
been a quality work, a new splash of darkness across the UG scene.
Over the years the horde have managed to evolve and devolve in
interesting ways but never betraying their roots, never scarring
their devoted followers and never having to look themselves in the
mirror with anything but pride and dignity. They may make your head
bang with some devilish catchy riffs but they shall never stray far
from the epic melancholy longing and cold, evil sorrow that is the
foundation of their profound heartless cruelty. A very select few, a
diabolic elite, if you will, have the ability to create so many
emotions within the black metal realm, whilst relying upon on
traditional instrumentation. That includes Horna, they have the
uncanny ability to channel simultaneously through their music
emotions such as disgust, hate, sorrow, melancholy, introspection,
elation, adrenalized odium all while sweeping you away on a
journey. A vast journey outside of this pathetic existence, an epic
walk through fields of pain blanketed by black night. Horna have
always had some of the sickest rasps in black metal bar none and
nothing has changed in this respect with “Envaatnags…”, despite
member changes, the cold heart of Horna, Mr. Shatraug lives on, in
the infamous black metal conjurer. Almost a decade later and Horna
continues to haunt me! – Dale
www.woodcutrecords.com
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A B C D
E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Should be “Lame In
Stereo”. I liked this once (as in formerly) black metal bands demo “Isle
Of Men” back in the day. Now they are no black metal, hell they are not
even metal anymore! This sounds like the new Ulver disc minus the
industrial parts. Maybe the two bands are incestuous lovers!? Would
explain a few things.
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Grindcore with death
influences from the Czech Republic. This is a cool album of straight on,
head down grind with maniacal vocals. The production on here is very
solid and fits to the music. 18 tracks (12 on the cassette version) of
music that is not thrilling but solid and enjoyable nonetheless. See
Shindy address elsewhere.
Tentamen Records,
P.O. Box 61, 67801 Blansko, CZECH REPUBLIC
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