Voidcleaning - reviews pt. 6

Paul Caravasi lives and breaths metal. Any time soon his Aquelarre Magazine 14th issue will see the dark of the night, feel free to contact him and ask for a copy.

Paul is also doing his own webzine, from where I've lifted off some reviews for your enjoyment. Read on.

CORSAIR 'Corsair' (Shadow Kingdom Records)

These times I've been reviewing  many extreme metal bands. A few days ago I received a pack from Shadow Kingdom Records in the mail, when I saw the cover of this CD I had no idea what I would be listening at all. Well, after the first instrumental track, came my surprise, it was like if Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult and Rush  had given birth to a son named Corsair. Among all brutality in my ears I got to review this album full of melodies, excellent guitars solos and catchy riffs, the second song reached just perfect harmonies and I could say that Corsair features great musicianship. A fresh band very well produced. I would not say that this album contains one song that's better than the next one because to be honest the whole album is worth to listen to, but personally my favourite songs are "Chaemera" and "Path of the Chosen Arrow". I did not expect to find such a cool sound among all the brutality reviewed in Aquelarre Zine, I'm a die hard metalhead and I enjoy extreme bands but with this album I realize that there is no limit to continue discovering new bands as good as this one and not necessary has to be brutal. If you're reading this review and have the opportunity to get their album, do it now, because you won't be disappointed. An interesting record that surprises at every listen. Definitely I'll be listening this band for a long time!

Corsair 

LIFELESS 'Godconstruct' (FDA Rekotz)

2013 is surprising me with one of the heaviest death metal band on the planet so far. Wow, what a fucking beast of an album! Mixing the most brutal moments of old Nihilist, Dismember and Unleashed there's no way this can fail. Featuring 12 crushing songs that will destroy you, when you see the artwork you know that this is bound to shred. This is like a ravenous beast ripping throats in a violent rage of cannibalistic frenzy, Lifeless rip through flesh and bones without mercy, leaving me with a lust for blood and hungry for more true death. There's no way you can escape from this. Be prepared for a brutal Death metal journey to Hell and beyond. Fantastic!

Lifeless on Facebook 

THE ADVENT EQUATION 'Limitless Life Reflections' (Self-released)

The name of this band has crossed me several times, but I never  stumbled upon their music, until I got their sent by Clawhammer PR this month. I was pleased to discover that the music of this Mexican band is of good quality, and holding a fine mix of Progressive and Death metal with the occasional Blackened touch. There's a great variation to the material and a couple of songs makes my thoughts drift to Paradise Lost, Katatonia and My Dying Bride. Even if the sound is somewhat familiar, there's not many bands I would compare this to further, the melody is here and they manage to blend this with a savage sound too. I definitely got my favourites among the songs here and I'm sure you'll find yours. Different and actually quite sinister!

The Advent Equation on Facebook 

COLDSTEEL 'America Idle' (Stormspell Records) 

Coldsteel is back!! In case you were wondering this band is from the 80s underground Thrash Metal scene from New York City, it's about time I got something to review from this band. They have the old school "live and die for Metal" attitude. The vocals are not bad at all, and still very aggressive, it fits better for this style anyway. 'America Idle' show progression from their old material, there's still some room for improvement. I bet this band would be a real intense live act, "Blood Secrets" and "You Lose" are the best tracks in my opinion , the songs maintain that early 90s style drumming and injecting  technical fast riffs and mayhemic solos. Looking forward to their next Thrash Attack!

Coldsteel 

Stormspell Records 

Deceptor 'Chains Of Delusion' review

DECEPTOR

'Chains Of Delusion'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

I know very little about this UK thrash metal band but after hearing 'Chains Of Delusion' it's easy to understand why Shadow Kingdom signed and released them. Deceptor embrace everything that made metal so pure and great back in the early days of thrash, the lightning fast guitar riffs and extremely fast yet catchy and memorable metal solos. The drums are just as catchy and pummelling in their approach with fast thrashing beats. The vocalist keeps it in the traditional thrash metal realm with hollering/screaming vocal patterns and also some higher pitched screams. Definitely recommended for fans of (old) Megadeth ('So Far, So Good, So What' era), early Priest, Slayer, I even hear a little Bruce Dickinson influence in some of the vocal patterns and Maiden in the guitars.

(Patrick)

  Deceptor on Facebook

Manilla Road 'Invasion' review

MANILLA ROAD

'Invasion'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

I consider myself a Manilla Road fan, but I also admit I only have a few of their albums, which are classics in their own right, in my view at least. So 'Invasion', a re-release of their 1980 album is a new one for me. As the bio states the band were a rock ‘n roll band at this point and the material on here was written in the late 70s. You can hear hints of what would come for Manilla Road as the 80s wore on and they adopted a more metal sound. Thanks to Shadow Kingdom for pulling this out of obscurity for fans of the band and fans of late 70s/early 80s rock in general to hear. The fans that are hoping to hear vintage in their prime Manilla Road metal may be a bit disappointed. As for myself I am a fan of 1970s hard rock and this is a neat little time capsule for me. There are some cool effects and sounds on here for the time period. You can definitely feel the band attempting to find their way, it is beginning of the power that the band would become. There are strong hints at this on the awesome thirteen minute album closer "The Empire". It is an epic and ambitious tune that is finely crafted with a superb main riff and plenty of dynamics, such as duelling guitar effects, some tasty fills and mystic, moody atmosphere that keeps you interested the entire length of this marathon song. That brilliant song alone is worth the price of this album, it is well ahead of any other tune on here, this song "The Empire" is fucking fantastic I am telling you. I dig the vintage band and rehearsal photos too. I would say this is a must have for Manilla Road fans and 70s rock aficionados alike.

(Dale Roy)

Manilla Road 

Coven 'Worship New Gods' review

COVEN

'Worship New Gods'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

This is the Michigan Coven [Coven 13 nowadays - ED], not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest or Chicago bands that used the same moniker. Also up front you should know this is a re-release of an album the band released in 1987, but it was only ever released on vinyl! So does this fall into the hidden or forgotten gem category, I would say the answer is yes it does. I find their music very cool, quite hypnotic and leisurely paced but still heavy metal and not really slowing down into the doom regions. The vocalist has this very obscure, laid back trippy vocal delivery much of the time and I really like that, he does turn up the emotion now and then and even has an epic Norse (reflecting the lyric imagery) flair about his vocals. Now that I think about it I might have to take the doom comment back as now and then Candlemass comes to mind. But I must say Coven on this album have a sound of their own. I mean I can list a couple bands just to give you an idea of the type of melodic, atmospheric heavy metal they play. Some bands like Manilla Road, Omen, Cirith Ungol come to mind as having a vaguely similar sound and more than anything probably a similar pacing to their music. I'm not saying this was the ultimate find of all finds, but I am damn happy someone dusted off this cool album and brought it back out of obscurity for us all to enjoy and give the album some new life. This is my first meeting with Shadow Kingdom Records, going by this release and looking over their roster of releases I hope to be hearing again from this label and soon!

(Dale Roy)

http://www.coventhirteen.com/ 

Hellwell 'Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin' review

HELLWELL

'Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin'

(Shadow Kingdom Records / High Roller Records) 

This is a side band of Mark "The Shark" Shelton, the singer of the mighty Manilla Road. Hellwell is definitely different than Manilla Road, much more punchy and dramatic. In fact, to be quite honest for my tastes it is overly dramatic. It sort of feels like Shelton wanted to write an exaggerated musical stage play, that is the feeling I get listening to 'Beyond The Boundaries Of Sin'. I mean, do not get me wrong, there are some fantastic sections and some quality music on here. Just the style and direction he took that material does not tickle my fancy, so to speak. The vocals follow suit with the music, they are pretty animated with real emphasis certain parts of each sentence, coming off sounding very staged and theatrical dialogue influenced to me. Think of a metal soundtrack to 'Phantom of The Opera' or something like that. Also there is a lot of punctuated for maximum flair keyboards (and some Hammond organ) use which also contributes that feeling. I don't know, some parts of tracks I really kind of dig here and there, but as a whole it is just not working for me. There is no doubting the talent that is behind this album though. I think Shelton was going for a real horror vibe, but missed the mark a little bit if this is supposed to sound really evil or creepy, it is more of a 'Dark Shadows' TV show melodrama atmosphere, rather than being bone chilling and malevolent. The production and everything is top notch, nothing to complain about technically or with regards to execution. I guess it is all boils down to do you like stuff like dark and over the top stage plays and metal mixed float your boat? Not mine it is sinking rapidly, time to push stop and move on to the next review.

(Dale Roy)

Pagan Altar 'The Time Lord' review

PAGAN ALTAR

'The Time Lord'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

 

This is listed as an EP on the vinyl version in some places, but this thing is 31 minutes long roughly, some would argue that places it firmly in the mini-album or even album category. But never mind that, I dear readers am in rapture right now listening to this hidden gem! Anyone who knows me well knows I absolutely worship hard rock and doom from the 70s like Captain Beyond, Lucifer's Friend, Deep Purple, Pentagram and the like. Well I can now add 'The Time Lord' to that list of albums! This is an amazing collection of demo recordings from 1978, the recording and atmosphere / feeling of on here just screams of that found on those 70s recordings from the bands I mention above. Just amazing, flowing doomy 70s hard rock with that classic sound that makes my head spin. The vocals of Terry Jones are pretty killer and just bring me back to that time, a lot of emotion and sincerity in his delivery and they perfectly compliment these brooding, rocking tunes. Just have one listen to songs like "The Black Mass" and "Reincarnation" and if you are not hooked then you have no taste you wretched bastards. Thank you Shadow Kingdom for releasing this dusty piece of audio gold! If you are into 70s rock & doom, just get this right now son.

(Dale Roy)

Pagan Altar 

Pagan Altar Facebook 

Altar Of Oblivion 'Grand Gesture Of Defiance' review

ALTAR OF OBLIVION

'Grand Gesture Of Defiance'

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

I was a little surprised initially to find out this band was made up partially from the remnants of other Danish bands like Victimizer and Church Bizarre. Those are extreme brutalizing metal bands. While Altar of Oblivion are a slow paced, melodic heavy metal band, I hesitate to call them doom metal, yet they do remind me of Candlemass and they are a doom band, so let's call a spade a spade here. So melodic heavy metal doom band it is. Now normally when you see classic doom automatically people tend to think of Black Sabbath and bands like this, but Altar Of Oblivion sound nothing like that and do not have those big crushing riffs. Their music produces in me more of an epic, yet somber mood and if you can get in that mindset, it is an emotional journey 'Grand Gesture Of Defiance' will take you on. Despite the obvious Candlemass influence the vocalist does not have the emotional or dynamic range of Messiah Marcolin, he has some range but it is more of a monotone, hypnotic delivery and I do like the vocals. I can hear influences mixed within their doom sound such as Manilla Road, Gothic Knights, Solitude Aeturnus and the like. As I said this is a journey, not just a crush and grind you to bits with slow motion doom riffs, nothing wrong with that of course, but Altar of Oblivion spread that power out across each instrument and that glow stretches across you like a wet blanket that just encompasses you in warmth and despair. To sum things up, this is a damn fine album, which I very much recommend and the scene in Denmark continues to show its quality with this excellent young band.

(Dale Roy)

Altar Of Oblivion Facebook 

Manilla Road 'Playground Of The Damned' review

MANILLA ROAD

'Playground Of The Damned'

(High Roller Records - LP / Shadow Kingdom Records - CD)

Here’s an interesting scenario for ya, a new power metal album that actually sounds like a metal album, rather than a fan-made soundtrack to the 'Lord Of the Rings' movies. How refreshing!

Manilla Road definitely air on the much heavier side of power metal, often crossing over into mid-paced thrash territory, and indeed most of the music on this album is not very fast at all, but still brings many epic hooks, driving melodies, and blazing solos, as shown quite clearly on the opening track, “Jackhammer” and in excellent fashion in “Abattoir De La Mort.”

The second track, “Into the Maelstrom” is slow and heavy enough to make the best doom bands jealous. It’s quite a stretch to even put this one in the power metal category. The title track brings some speed back though, introducing some awesome riffs, and a fantastic, memorable chorus that really sticks. However, by the time I got to this track, it came to my attention that the vocals could be quite sub-par, and are best described as dull, with a very uninspired delivery, despite the powerful hooks and vocal melodies.

This continues throughout the album, with some songs definitely proving to be better than others vocally. “Grindhouse” begins with an amazing intro that really got me excited to hear more, but only managed to disappoint with some overly repetitious riffing and some unimaginative and lackadaisical vocals. Freakin amazing solo though.

Overall, 'Playground of the Damned' is decent, with many moment of strength and weakness alike. Lots of great melodies and solos make for an interesting listen (“Brethren of the Hammer”), but it can also be quite repetitive, and tends to drag along at times. All in all, I recommend checking it out, for I feel that this album is especially subjective. [7]

(Andrew Oliver)

Manilla Road MySpace