Hier findet ihr die aktuellen Kritiken. Einige davon sind auf Englisch verfasst, damit die Bands, die uns aus dem Ausland eine CD eingesandt haben, auch ihre Kritik lesen können.
Here you find the current reviews. Some of them are written in English, so that foreign bands that have sent us a CD can read their review.
Schaut mal auf die Interview Seite, hier findet Ihr ein AKTUELLES und meines Wissens nach WELTEXKLUSIVES Interview mit Ricky van Helden von ATTACK, für mich DER herausragende deutsche Metaller überhaupt. (Dirk)
Brandneu sind die Kritiken zu Hellcircles, Masquerage, Ivan Mihaljevic & Side Effects und Twenty3:Fifty9.
There are new reviews of Hellcircles, Masquerage, Ivan Mihaljevic & Side Effects and Twenty3:Fifty9. (Ralph)
Battalion: "The fight for metal" (CH, 2006, Quam Libet, 9tr, 39'49min)
Erst mal fällt bei dieser Schweizer Band ein Cover ins Auge, daß auf Death / Thrash der fürchterlichsten Machart schließen lässt. WEIT GEFEHLT. Powergeladener Metal mit EINZELNEN Thrashparts und EINGESTREUTEN Thrash-Gesangsparts, die sogar mir als heimlichem Bonfire-Anhänger gefallen. Der Titeltrack macht Freude, bietet melodischen True Metal. Alle Songs bleiben gut im Ohr und haben für sich eine Daseinsberechtigung. Sehr selten heutzutage. Vielleicht ist so eine kurze Spielzeit machmal besser als 'ne DoppelCD mit DVD, auf der wenige Ideen in einem edlen Digibook auf maximale Länge gestreckt werden (nein, ich meine natürlich keine konkrete CD). 'Stalingrad' als Songtitel ist natürlich 'ne Chance auf eine textliche Bauchlandung. Aber gerade dieser Track mit eingestreuter deutscher Sprache meistert die Band auf anhörenswerte Weise. Denkt nicht über das Cover nach, einfach kaufen. (Dirk)
Hellcircles : “Stillness” (self-released; 5 tr./22 min.)
Hellcircles are from Italy and released their demo CD “Stillness” in 2009. The quintet’s first work starts with the title track being an instrumental intro. The first real track “Let Us Unite” is uptempo melodic speed metal not so far away from other well known Italian bands like early Rhapsody or Labyrinth. You can also hear influences by Iron Maiden. The next track “The Damage Done” at the beginning also shows influences by the early, raw Iron Maiden. Singer and keyboard player Marco Parisi mostly offers high-pitched vocals, sometimes a bit too much in my opinion, especially when he is screaming. Sometimes there are also darker vocals. These might come from guitarist Roberto Fornaroli, who gets also credits for vocals. In my opinion the band should omit this heavier non-melodic vocals because they are disturbing the sound. Next follows the uptempo melodic metal rocker “Turn Back Time” with decent background growls. The demo´s last track is “Rise Again”, offering a bit more variety with an acoustic part. The rest shows also influences by Iron Maiden, but always straighter as the far more complex/progressive British icons. A good start with the chance for the band to deliver an improved debut album. For further information look under www.hellcircles.com or www.myspace.com/hellcircles. (Ralph)
Mago de Oz: "Gaia III - Atlantia" (Warner, E, 2010, 2CD, 16tr, 93min)
Die Kritik für dieses Album kann exemplarisch stehen für alle Werke dieser eigenständigen Band aus Spanien. Geboten wird Musik in einer Stilmischung aus Metal, Hard Rock, Folk, Flamenco und arabischen Klängen. 9 Bandmitglieder feuern hier ein Highlight nach dem anderen ab. Gaia ist eine Art loses Konzeptwerk, das hier in die 3. Runde geht. Wie durch ein Wunder schafft es die Band mit ihren beinahe jährlich erscheinenden Mammutwerken keine Langeweile aufkommen zu lassen. Der Wiedererkennungswert der Band liegt bei 100%. So viel Eigenständigkeit sucht man andernorts vergebens. Die DoppelCD kommt im Slipcase daher und ist als edelstes Doppeldigibook aufgemacht. Zu allen Titeln gibt es einleitende Worte, die einen Teil der Gesamtstory erzählen. Allerdings liegt alles nur auf Spanisch vor, so daß ich zum Inhalt wenig sagen kann. Dafür entschädigt melodisches großes Tennis. Musik für Parties und nachdenkliche Augenblicke im Leben. Ein Hammer (Dirk)
Masquerage : “Moonlight Time” (self-released; 9 tr./35 min.)
This is the second release of the finnish Melodic Metal quintet. The first album called “Work-Holic-Fool” has been released in 2005. “Moonlight Time” is from 2008. While the first two tracks “We Will Never Learn” and the title track deliver classic Scandinavian Melodic Metal, the third track “I Don´t Believe in You” starts with an Accept-style guitar riff but generally also follows the Scandinavian melodic rock and metal school. “Doctors Order” is an uptempo Melodic Metal track in the vein of Stratovarius. “Retired Monster” rocks a little bit rougher. “The Helpers” is a more relaxed affair without being a ballad, getting more dynamic towards the end. The tempo is rising once again with “Better Liar”. “Silver Wings” is a hard rocker with hooklines. The final track “Everlasting Good Luck” again is a nice uptempo hard rocker. If there is one thing to criticise it is the short playing time of album and – if you like – the lack of originality, which is in my eyes compensated by the quality of the album. So if you like Scandinavian Melodic Metal or also German Melodic Metal Heroes Edguy you should look for further information via www.masquerage.net. (Ralph)
Mechanical God Creation : “Cell XIII” (Worm Hole Death Records; 9 tr./38 min.)
Mechanical God Creation are a female fronted Italian Death Metal band. Founded in 2006, the band first released a demo CD called “…And The Battle Becomes War” in 2007 featuring 3 real tracks alongside an intro. With “Cell XIII” they have now released their first real album. Though I am not really into this kind of metal style I have to admit that the record is well produced and offers a lot of good music for fans of this genre suitable for followers of Arch Enemy. Like Angela of Arch Enemy singer Lucy of Mechanical God Creation is a powerful shouter and I bet you won´t hear a big difference compared to male shouters of this genre. Of course you don´t have to expect very much originality, which is generally difficult in this genre. For further information check www.mechanicalgodcreation.it or www.myspace.com/mechanicalgodcreation. (Ralph)
Ivan Mihaljevic & Side Effects : “Destination Unknown” (SG Records/Import; 11 tr./49 min.)
This is the second solo album of Croation guitarist, singer and songwriter Ivan Mihaljevic, being released in 2010. His first album “Sandcastle” has been released in 2008 (for viewing this review click here www.metal-almanac.com/cds-j-m.html). Once again Ivan´s guitar sound, especially the lead guitar work but also some kind of the rhythm guitar riffing often reminds me of Joe Satriani´s warm tone. Not to understand me wrong: this is absolutely meant as a compliment. There are enough of so called guitar heroes with a sterile sound. What I can say after having heard “Destination Unknown” a lot of times is that Ivan has also improved his vocal and songwriting abilities, what makes the record sounding more mature. The first track “Instant Star (Add Water)” starts after a short intro and presents itself as a riff-laden mid tempo rocker with a catchy chorus and a wah-wah lead guitar. Next comes “The Curse”, a more relaxed track with acoustic guitar at the beginning, becoming heavier with the chorus. With “Choosh Pies” follows the first one of the also included instrumental tracks, with a background vocal support underlining a hookline sometimes. “Post-apocalyptic Images” is a beautiful short piano ballad without guitar, but Ivan´s playing keyboards here and is singing of course. “Dreamscapes” again is an instrumental track following in the footsteps of Satriani with two other guitarists gusting on lead guitars (Brett Garsed and John Denner). “Shadows” is a nearly tribal acoustic guitar based song having a kind of Savatage touch at the beginning and evolving into a kind of Blind Guardian folk song when the flutes are joining in, making this record a really diversified affair. “The Pirate Song” again is instrumental, with a nice wah-wah guitar. “Sorry Pt. I” is also instrumental, but far more relaxed at the beginning, becoming more dynamic towards the end. A funky rock song is “Your Plane Flew Away”, with Ivan only singing the verses and another singer (Marko Osmanovic) being responsible for the bridges and choruses. This song also features a nice Hammond organ by Danko Krznaric and Phil Hilborne as another guest delivers the second guitar solo. Then follows the balladesque and acoustic “Sorry Pt. II”, being mostly instrumental with the exception of a short vocal part. Closing the album is “Hollow Wish”, starting slowly with piano and acoustic guitars and evolving into a more dynamic rock song, with a length of seven minutes. To sum it up, Ivan managed to improve his work with this second release, raising the hope that the next one must be an even more ambitious work. For more information check www.ivanmihaljevic.com or www.myspace.com/ivanmihaljevic. (Ralph)
The Way Of Purity : “Crosscore” (Worm Hole Death Records; 10 tr./29 min.)
The Way Of Purity are a female fronted extreme metal band from Norway . They describe their style as a mixture of Black Metal, Grindcore and New Wave. The band features singer Tiril Skardal and four other musicians who have pseudonyms and hide their faces behind masks. They have a strange kind of philosophy or concept saying the band is inspired by a blind and extremely dark dimension where Christ and Satan, evil and good, are the same – an inspiration and philosophy I definitely do not follow. But as opinions are different and various and especially with this kind of music there might be lots of listeners who do not care about concepts, lyrics and things like that or even have a similar philosophy, there might be people of interest. Musically I can only say that the album according to the sound is well produced. Singer Tiril Skardal is able to shout as well as to sing in a normal harmonic way. Of course the extreme vocals dominate. Due to their own style description the music offers a certain variety with an emphasis on extreme metal. You don´t have to expect much New Wave influence while listening to the record, but the album has few slower and more “melodic” passages. A negative aspect might be the short playing time of the album. Anyone interested should at first listen to the sound files offered on www.myspace.com/thewayofpurity. (Ralph)
Twenty3:Fifty9 : “The Count, Act I – The Soul Of A Prisoner” (self-released; 10 tr./60 min.)
This is a Symphonic/Progressive Metal quartet from Texas/USA. Influences were quoted by the band with Kansas , Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Symphony X, Fates Warning and Savatage. Though formed in 2005, the band released their first in 2009. It is the first part of concept story about Alexandre Dumas “The Count Of Monte Cristo”. Lyrically the album deals with the Count´s imprisonment in the Chateau D’if. Guitarist and singer Jeff Beardsley is accompanied on three of the ten tracks by female singer Kristine Rios, of course as the voice of Mercedes. The production is okay for a self-released and self-produced album, but there could have been even more effort with a professional producer. The instrumental intro “Overture 1815” reminds of Dream Theater, while the first track “Darkness” shows also influences of Symphony X. Generally you can really hear all the quoted influences, but you never can say that Twenty3:Fifty9 (which by the way means one minute to midnight) sound like a copy of one of the named bands. The musical section is very good, also the compositions are on a high quality level, especially for a debut album. There is only one thing that could be optimized and that are the vocals by singer/guitarist Jeff Beardsley. Not to say his voice is not good enough. But if you want to play in the same league like Dream Theater or Symphony X – what the band easily does according to the instrumental part – you must have a singer extraordinaire. So for the next part of this concept story – the band is recording it at the moment – the band should put a little more concentration on bringing the vocals to the same level as the music. Not to understand me wrong: this may appear to critical but is just meant as an advice for the band for having more success in the future. The album offers good music with a very wide variety of music and is worth being discovered by any fan of Symphonic/Progressive Metal. For further information check up www.twenty3fifty9.com or www.myspace.com/twenty3fifty9. (Ralph)
