You might think an Eves song which mentions flowers in the lyrics is potentially hazardous to your ears, but this bolshy little bastard remains easy on alert ears while clearly a claw hammer wrapped in velvet. Compulsive and catchy, ‘Let Me Go Home’ has nagging guitar weaving inside, and out from, the chorus, and an imperious vocal performance from Julianne. The way she draws the music to her is so different to the past where she could almost be seen as ingratiating herself into the tune. Now she stands like a battle commander, moving the pieces on her melodic map. CD1 has ‘Aquamarina’ (Mesmerina mix) which does go back many years in its feel, but with greater texture: a logical development from the Eves’ past, it provides clear continuity but now done in a bold way, where less is more. Quite a blissful, filmic thing. Then you have a Manuskript and 999 mix of ‘Let Me Go Home’; the former a brash, pulsating beast, the latter (probably not done by the pot-bellied punk band, I suspect) going for the twinkling, twittering approach.

CD2 has the grim emotional dénouement of ‘Apart’, which trickles along majestically, as though garbage finally learned how to join the dots. A fragment of ruptured lives captured beautifully, this is in keeping with the way the Eves have been steadily building over the last few years to the point where they’ve done something patently absurd in the UK. They’re teaching the younger whippersnappers trailing in their wake just how it’s done! It's a fantastic buy, whichever CD you go for (or both) and it's just come out. Buy quickly and you will slam it into the top 20, and show up all the hideous shite which clogs our dire charts.

CD 1
LET ME GO HOME
AQUARAMINA
LET ME GO HOME - REMIX
LET ME GO HOME – REMIX
CD 2
LET ME GO HOME
APART

http://mysite.freeserve.com/julianne_regan
http://www.allabouteve.net
http://www.voiceprint.co.uk
http://www.soundclick.com/pro/?BandID=182625 (5th in chart – described as ‘hot!’)

The Act
Sun (Self release)
~review by Uncle Nemesis

A three-track demo CD from a gothic rock band from Poland, and a fairly traditional-sounding bunch they are, too. They’ve got that ol’ Sisters Of The Mission Of Mercy sound nailed, and just to reinforce the message, The Act’s singer, if the photos on the band’s website are any guide, affects that early-90s Eldritch style, all aviator shades and hands draped over the microphone. It’s influences-worn-on-sleeve time, folks.

‘Silver Is Golden’, the first track here, grumbles along like ‘First And Last And Always’ -period Sisters, if they’d got out of bed on the wrong side that morning. It’s downbeat and mid-tempo, the singer giving it his best Eldritchian drone, coming to life only on the chorus: ‘I’m walking through the shadows...’ Yep, they mention ‘shadows’ in the lyric. That’s another box ticked, then. The only slightly individualistic touch here is the keyboard line - a rather cool, sixties style pop-punk buzz that sounds like it’s on holiday from a Brides song. It sounds weirdly incongruous amongst the portentous gothic rockin’ of the band’s overall sound, but hints that somewhere underneath the dead weight of their influences The Act do have their own identity.

Track two is ‘Sun’, and for a moment I think we’re going to move into goth-metal territory. The guitar revs up a metallic riff, but the song as a whole is another mid-tempo trad-goth workout. The keyboards, on this one, come over all ‘Phantasmagoria’, but the psychedelic wit of The Damned is, alas, absent. Again, the only point on the song where the singer lets go of his usual downbeat style and injects a bit of passion is the chorus, which makes much of the word ‘emptiness’. Ho hum. I realise The Act are writing lyrics in their second language, and I applaud them for that, but even so - do they have to dutifully work their way through *every* goth-cliche in the book?

And finally, ‘Take It Away’ sees the band embrace their native language, and the singer immediately sounds somewhat more at home - although ‘home’ in this instance seems to be the guest suite at Schloss Lacrimosa. It’s a slightly more adventurous tune, inasmuch as it features some rather nifty layers of electronics - this one, I’m willing to bet, is the song on which the band’s keyboard player really got to put in a few ideas. The guitar gets all metallic again, and although I can’t say I’m particularly grabbed by what I’m hearing here (it’s just too Lacrimosa-like for my liking) I have to say this is the one song out of the three where The Act sound at least vaguely contemporary.

The Act come across as a band which hasn’t quite managed to get out from under the shadows (see? I can do it too!) of their influences - they’re rehashing some fairly standard moves here, and while I dare say there’s an audience out there for their none-more-traditional gothic rock I fear I’ve heard too much of this stuff over the years to get excited by it now. If the band manage to nudge their general sound in the direction of the high-drama metallic style they explore on ‘Take It Away’ they’d immediately sound a bit more ‘now’, although I confess I still wouldn’t be inclined to join their fan club.

One for the trad dads, I think.
 

The tunestack:
Silver Is Golden
Sun
Take It Away

The players:
Iza: Instrumenty Klawiszowe
Witek: Gitary
Anton: Perkusja
Melancholik: Gitara basowa
Dyster: Wokal

The website: http://www.theact.gothic.pl

Reviewed by Uncle Nemesis: http://www.nemesis.to
 

ACTION DIRECTE
COUNTERCULTURE (Oktober Productions)
~review by Mick Mercer

I’ve said it before, so I’ll be a repetitive old bastard and say again that I like Action Directe and their Attitude, which circles aloft among the ricocheting racket they call their musical home. Not for them the soft option, not for them the languid sentimentality of Goth’s tradition, or the obscure faux intelligence of Industrial. They have a political agenda, and they shake it in your face like a mandrill with piles.

Apparently this second album (I blame the press release) is conclusive proof of more melodic and compositional strength, and that the result is Goth being pushed cunningly towards the mainstream. Brave sentiments indeed, but not actually true. It does have a strong commercial curvature, usually ripped apart by the unnecessarily bellicose vocal style, and as nobody would see this as Goth the second point is irrelevant. This is surely seen by most as an Industrial offshoot? Too bold for electro shite, too orthodox for Industrial purists and too damn political for Goth, which places it nearer Indie territory.

But, to the record. You get the mournful Twin Peaksy opener, ‘Kul’turnost’ out of the way and you’re into a dazzling ‘Playing With Monsters.’ Ignore its second part later, which is pointless arty noise, and this first half is fantastic. The samples are sandwiched between layers of sound, which is a good idea. (Why bands fail to recognise that no-one takes a blind bit of notice of their samples, or that these clever spoken passages are a plain irritant after a while, escapes me.) The synth creates shapes for the truly excellent vocals to hang on, and they produce a moving an inspirational song. Okay, it is actually ‘Do They Know It’s Xmas?’ but we’ll pretend we didn’t notice.

‘Zealots’ has nippy guitar and tight beats closing like rabid jaws on the silky synth, which can fight back. The power isn’t so trenchant this time around, that much is obvious, and the vocals are more involving. The electro chatter of ‘Dissident’ isn’t great but it genuinely feels for opportunities to attack, which is why they’re head and shoulders, like an old Russian propaganda poster, above average ebm and electro outfits, because this bunch stand for something. You won’t see them slinking out to vote for UK Independence party. To them Europe in its entirety is a land rich in disposed peasantry, who need these songs to brighten their otherwise spotty faces. Of course play ‘Plastic Fatherland’ to anyone abroad and they’d probably say, ‘Ah yes, twerp-like students used to play moogs thirty years ago too, and they sounded shit then!’ Play them ‘Europe Is My Homeland’ and they’d ask, ‘what’s with the folk rubbish, are you some Lord Of The Rings re-enactment society?’ Ah, you just can’t win. ‘Compatriot Games’ would win them over though. It’s bleepy, but it’s ugly.

‘Oktober’ sees a flea circus take over the circuitry, cutely twitching throughout, and ‘Cossack’ is a bustling beast which I hoped would keep on growing ever more unruly, but they stepped back from the abyss and fiddled about a bit. ‘Hinterland’ has some very pretty moments, which is something they could more of, utilising their lyrical strengths to deliver blows with words as much as their rasping delivery which is holding them back.

The title track holds back from a dance outbreak hazily sweeping along, and they manage to be not quite hard enough with ‘Imperious Minds’ where the rhythm struggles for fluidity, and ‘Nemesis’ is twee but bleeds beautifully.

The end result is a positively puking spectacular overall, and the only real problem is this. They clearly know they’ve got good musical vision, and the singer is aware of how to unload melodically. If they don’t want to get too conventional on the grounds their credibility might be impinged upon that’s total bollocks. The music mainly comes from machines which can caress or curse, and the voice should do whatever is necessary to put their message over best, and sounding like a demented drunk isn’t always the most coherent method. With clever ideas to put across their attitude is what saves them and Attitude will work however they choose to convey it, as these songs can testify. They hang together on different gradients around a giant angry mountain made out of individual emotive molehills.

Viva their resolution.

KUL’TURNOST’
PLAYING WITH MONSTERS
ZEALOTS
DISSIDENTS
PLASTIC FATHERLAND
EUROPE IS MY HOMELAND
COMPATRIOT GAMES
PLAYING WITH MONSTERS (PART TWO)
OKTOBER
COSSACK SONG
HINTERLAND
COUNTERCULTURE
IMPERIOUS MINDS
NEMESIS

http://www.actiondirecte.co.uk

After Forever
Exordium
~reviewed by Joel Steudler

"Nicely produced but dreadfully unoriginal gothy powermetal ala Nightwish."  That could be my whole review of After Forever's Exordium mini-CD, and you wouldn't be missing any information vital to your purchasing decision.  You -would- miss my sparkling wit, though, so I will try and carry on... for your sake.

What's there to say?  You have guitars, playing rhythms and melodies you've heard before.  You have a sweet voiced female songstress, belting out the obligatory theatrics.  There's a monster-voiced guy that pops in now and then.  They sing.  The music plays.  On spins the millstone of genre regurgitation, endlessly grinding originality into mulch.  At least the production is nice, and there's nothing overtly low-quality that will make you want to gouge your ears out.

The twenty-six minute long Exordium MCD is accompanied by a DVD that has a bunch of stuff on it for fans of the band, mainly.  There's a video for 'My Choice' which is a bit tame as music videos go.  You also get concert footage of 'The Evil That Men Do'.  There are behind the scenes bits, and art, lyrics, and photos... none of which excited me even a little.  It's all nicely presented, and I have no real complaints other than: "it seems geared exclusively to people who already like 'After Forever'... and I am not one of them."

So, fans of the band, buy this and you will likely get your money's worth.  Everyone else: don't bother giving it a second look.
 

Track List:
Disc – 1 After Forever - Exordium
01.) Line Of Thoughts 2.15
02.) Beneath 4.52
03.) My Choice 4.53
04.) Glorifying Means 5.00
05.) The Evil That Men Do 4.50
06.) One Day I’ll Fly Away 4.43

Disc – 2 Insights - DVD
01.) My Choice (Video Clip)
02.) Making of… My Choice
03.) Studio Recordings
04.) Slide Show
05.) Artwork

After Forever is:
Floor Jansen - Soprano
Sander Gommans - Guitars, solo, grunts
Bas Maas – Guitars, solo
Lando van Gils - Synths
Luuk van Gerven - Bassguitar
Andre Borgman - Drums, acoustic guitars

After Forever Official Site:
http://www.afterforever.com/

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com

Aina
Days of Rising Doom
~reviewed by Joel Steudler

So... Aina.  Well, I'll say this.  They sure didn't hold anything back when making Days of Rising Doom.  It's as if they ('they' being the 72 million musicians that make up this bloated super-group's guest star list) decided that it was all going in.  ALL of it.  Every shred of power metal nuance and character, every cliche, every single molecule of Powermetalium that they could find.  In fact, the whole periodic table of Power Metal elements is in here.  It is ALL contained in the distendedly swollen monolith of a rock opera that is Days of Rising Doom.  And it's even occasionally sort of good... but mostly, it's rehashed ideas glorified to epic proportions.

I'll point out that I didn't even get to listen to it all.  The promo sent for review contained a scant 68 minutes of its boundless expanse.  Thank goodness.  I couldn't have handled it otherwise. You know, I'm making it sound as if this album is some misbegotten abomination, and it's not.  Not totally.  Perhaps by telling you what's in it, I can illuminate the source of my chagrin.

First, you have the story.  I don't know what the story is, due to my incomplete promo... but it involves maidens, and a siege, and rebellions... read the track list.  You'll get the idea.  So, to tell this story, you need a dozen wailin' powermetal singers of various pedigree.  Michael Kiske is inovlved, so it wins some points there.  Lots of other singers, male and female.  Then you need bouncy powermetal guitar riffs, and some rockin' rocker riffs of rock, too.  Check.  Add to that synthesizers and synth orchestra, and perhaps some real orchestra, and other various instruments of various ethnic origins, and the sound is starting to round out.  Now, toss in a children's choir (perhaps the album's only real original element).  Finally, with that magnificent array of talent assembled and primed to go, hand them a massive stack of standard issue, generic power-prog rock opera songs, and have at it!

Fans of the modern powermetal scene will probably like this alot.  You Edguy and Hammerfall fanatics, devotees of At Vance and Dionysus... the brothers in true metal... you'll all find much to enjoy here.  It is possible that fans of Savatage and their offshoot Trans Siberian Orchestra will also like Days of Rising Doom if they can stand the trappings of the powermetal genre.  Perhaps I've just been too saturated with music that sounds essentially just like this to really appreciate it.  Why, though, would you bother collecting such a vast array of top notch musicians and produce so many utterly banal songs that don't have an original or exciting note in them?  I wouldn't do that if I were in charge... and I won't listen to it, since I -am- in charge of turning this off and relegating it to my massive stack of 'promos that will never see the light of day again'.
 

Track List:
CD 1:
01.) Aina Overture
02.) Revelations
03.) Silver Maiden
04.) Flight of Torek
05.) Naschtok is Born
06.) The Beast Within
07.) The Siege of Aina
08.) Talon's Last Hope
09.) Rape of Oria
10.) Son of Sorvahr
11.) Serendipity
12.) Lalae Amer
13.) Rebellion
14.) Oriana's Wrath
15.) Restoration

CD 2:
01.) The Story of Aina
02.) The Beast Within (Single edit)
03.) Ve Toura Sol (Rape of Oria) (Single edit)
04.) Flight of Torek (Single edit)
05.) Silver Maiden (Alternate Version)
06.) Talon's Last Hope (Demo)
07.) The Siege of Aina (Single edit)
08.) The Story of Aina (Instrumental)
09.) Oriana's Wrath (Alternate Version) (Bonus)

DVD:
01.) The Beast Within (3D Computer Animation)
02.) The Making of Aina
03.) The Story of Aina – Moving Storyboard
04.) Slide Show
05.) Artwork
06.) Audio Settings
07.) Credits DVD

Aina is:
A gigantic supergroup with billions of musicians.

Or 30+ at any rate.

Here are some of them:
Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH)
Candice Night (BLACKMORE'S NIGHT)
Tobias Sammet (EDGUY, AVANTASIA)
Marko Hietala (NIGHTWISH)
Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN, SUPARED)
Andre Matos (ANGRA, SHAMAN)
Jens Johansson (STRATOVARIUS, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN)
Thomas Rettke (HEAVEN'S GATE)
Olaf Hayer (LUCA TURILLI)
Damian Wilson
Simone Simons (EPICA)
Emppu Vuorinen (NIGHTWISH)
Thomas Youngblood (KAMELOT)
T.M. Stevens (STEVE VAI, TINA TURNER)
Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER)
Erik Norlander (LANA LANE)
 

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com

aLUnaRED
ELCTRK! (2003) (Gold Standard Laboratories)
SLMZK! (2002) (Action Driver)
~review by Mick Mercer

It’s that age-old story. Shoal of piranhas discover abandoned cache of rusting instruments, forms band in Canada, annoying the neighbours. Local record moguls take an interest and the next thing you know they’re releasing records, but by 2003 it’s all over. Well, plenty more fish in the sea, although not many reach my shores offering this sort of music.

I’ll start with the single, released during their last year of existence and so violently noisy that after just thirty seconds the vinyl itself had desperately daubed a message, ‘help me!’, on the underside of my record deck lid. I was powerless to intervene, because my mind was racing back through the decades to a time (’79-’81) when I was regularly lured to gigs where the brittle electronica of some bands crossed over into the birth of Indie. If you want the easiest explanation of where this band is coming from think Mekons, think Fall, and splutter Section 25.

I knew music like this carried on, but imagined it would be a murky mixture of modern electronics and Industrial espionage. Then French band Electronic Press Kit showed me how they’d delved backwards for individual inspiration, and so it seems did aLUnARED. On the single, ‘It Is Your Anthem’ gets stripped right down to the floorboards, and the wiring looks unsafe. A ranting singer/talker/stalker of the Mark E Smith firebrand variety holds sway, with stark, stomping drums, cackling keyboards and splintering guitars at his back. It has a shambolic, amateurish ending, but when they’re bashing hell out of the song’s framework it really does glow hotly. ‘The Electric Blood’ is similar with added guitar input, and twice the vitality as a result.

In small bursts music like this becomes a poisoned sorbet, sharpening taste buds dulled by well produced, harmonious records, but how do they fare when it comes to this album they insist is called Soul Music? For any band’s sound to work, regardless of genre, they need something which defines them, and here it’s the clattering drum style, akin to metal bashers of yore, and the use of the nagging, floating keyboards. These do intrigue, so it’s all down to whether they can introduce salivating schisms.

‘Blood And Muscle’ sees the drums big, the electronics bleeping steadily and the bass positively vengeful. Rabid staccato singing leads into a gentle sing-along followed by enough pauses to make you as apprehensive as you are anticipating delight. ‘Disco Track For Personal Films’ has a flaying rhythm, somewhere close to an orderly take on early Big Black, a bad-tempered Pop Group, or even 23 Skidoo, where they twist on the spot rather than running with rhythm. Added vocals and keyboard warmth both bring a soothing touch to the torment. The title track finds our vocalist barking faster while hurdling a jumble of percussion but this time the slower, echoey side is neutered by the rheumatic rhythm. Sadly, the fluidity isn’t there.

Moderating the tortured tone, ‘(eye)sore’ allows the synth to fester nicely, creating a spacious feel, then ‘Gun/Kerosene’ rampages along, with a thickening sound; a wave of quicksand in which de-funked guitar flickers. ‘This Machinery’ trips itself up when conventional vocals hop on board the crumbling moving walkway and in ‘The Shade’, where pretty electronics are helped by a layer of trumpet, similar vocals waft in gingerly to make it feel grand. Dual vocals work well in offsetting the rants, but nobody can control ‘Ear To The Church’, which is all but a brawl. Fun arrives in closing ‘The Cut-ups’, romping across sedate keyboards, where the rhythm steps up and they become engaging for all the abrasions.

What stops this being a major success is that second half, where some of the biggest impacts clearly come from orthodox ideas, which can’t have been their intention. However, it’s good to know there’d be many idiotic faux rebels that would be rather taken aback by this, even demanding an exclusion order against it, and fans of thorny music can rejoice that this is right up their street, like an ice cream van packed full of explosives.

ALBUM TRACKLISTING:
BLOOD AND MUSCLE
DISCO TRACK FOR PERSONAL FILMS
SLMZK
(EYE)SORE
GUN/KEROSENE
THIS MACHINERY
THE SHADE
EAR TO THE CHURCH
THE CUT-UPS

http://www.thewaxmuseum.bc.ca/

Apocalypse Pow!
Smash The Superstition
~review by Matthew Heilman

Apocalypse Pow deliver a rousing, wicked style of Dance Punk from Richmond VA.  Tight grooves, eccentric synths, loud pinches of guitar, percussive bass and vocals that volley between distanced wails and rhythmic snarling chants. The debut EP kicks off with “I Am Your Density,” a pummeling explosively restrained track that will immediately have your head bobbing and your neck swinging.  Irresistible up-beat drumming and strong melodic guitar hooks characterize “It Makes Me Sexy When You Say That.”  And indeed, I hope it does. “Diamonds Of War” sports a shuffling slinky rhythm cut through by some explosive guitar crunch.  “Apocalypse Pow!” is a succinct and effective thrashing, while “Smash The Superstition” sounds like what would happen if Iron Maiden went Electroclash.  Throughout the entire EP it seems as though Dan the guitarist graduated from heavy metal to play this kind of stuff.  His riffs are just too melodic and similar in technique to metal…which is a great thing for it definitely sets this band quite apart from the vast amount of bands out there exploring similar territory.

Overall I quite liked this CD, its extremely listenable, has personality in droves, and is not afraid to unleash a bit of thrash-inspired muscle when necessary.  The retro synths are used in moderation and the vocals work very well with the typhoons of noise they soar above.  While my life hasn’t been significantly altered now that I have heard them, Apocalypse Pow is certainly worth investigation, perhaps checking them out live would be twice as rewarding.  Like their songs, I will elect to keep my review short and bittersweet.

Track List:
1.) I Am Your Density
2.) It Makes Me Sexy When You Say That
3.) Diamonds Of War
4.) Apocalypse Pow!
5.) Smash The Superstition

Apocalypse Pow is:
Dan – guitar, vocals
Vivian – synth, organ, vocals
Broox – bass
Andrew – drums

Apocalypse Pow:
http://www.apocalypsepow.com

Pop Faction Records:
http://www.popfaction.com
 

ASP
Der Schwartz Schmetterling, Teil 1 (Richterskala/Trisol)
~review by Uncle Nemesis

I have a bit of a mystery on my hands here. The programme from the Beyond The Veil festival, where ASP played their debut UK gig recently, assures me that ‘ASP’s rise from nowhere to one of the top live acts in Europe has been nothing short of phenomenal.’ Well, having seen ASP in action, I can vouch for the ‘top live act’ part of that statement. But before the band appeared before my puzzled gaze at that show, I’d never even heard of them.  Maybe I’m just moving in the wrong circles. It’s certainly true that ASP’s music isn’t the kind of stuff towards which I’d normally gravitate, but the live incarnation of the band won me over, and, slightly to my surprise, I find myself rather partial to the the studio incarnation, too. Time to do some catching up, then.

The distinction between ASP as a live band and ASP as a studio project is worth noting. ASP isn’t actually a band: it’s the name of the shaven-headed, robe-clad vocalist and songwriter, the main man behind this music. I have no idea why he insists his name should be rendered in upper case like that, or indeed why he admits to no other identity. It seems we have a genuine rock ‘n’ roll eccentric on our hands here, a man whose persona is as quirky as his appearance. In cahoots with multi-instramentalist and producer Matthias Ambre, ASP has produced an album of weirdly dramatic, and often oddly funky, gothic electro-rock. The live band - five extra musicians who don’t appear on this album - are given a credit, but the material here is all studio-created stuff by Herr ASP himself and his collaborator.

Coming to the album after witnessing the ASP live show, I find myself momentarily nonplussed by the fact that the presence of the mighty guitar is less prominent here. Live, ASP is a full-on Wagnerian gothic rock experience: the studio version brings electronics, atmospheres and loops rather more to the fore. Yes, there are guitars, and they get heavy at times, in that wall-of-noise Rammstein-esque manner that, I have to say, is typically German. But elsewhere ASP (or, perhaps I should say, Matthias Ambre, since it is he who creates the music) builds up layered electronic grooves and soundscapes which act as a counterpoint to the guitar sound.  ‘Und Wir Tanzten’ is a Medievalism-meets-the-future folksong which morphs into a distorted, manic thrash. ‘Imbecile Anthem’ is spooky minimalism: it has a Kraftwerk-like melodic restraint, but sounds like it’s coming from a very deep dungeon under a Schloss somewhere in Northrhine-Westphalia.  ‘Teach Me War’ lopes into view on the back of a menacing bassline and a funky rhythm, then goes into a high-drama operatic chorus while synths wail like lost souls in the background. ‘Sing Child’ is a melodramatic romp, ASP’s vocal, a stentorian blare, foghorning out over the careering music.  At times, the mash-up of electronics and massed guitars, ASP’s dramatic bellow of a vocal, the Valhalla-chorus of backing vocals, and the rhythms which are often more dance than rock, make for an oddly juxtaposed musical mixture, but somehow it all works.

What, then, are we to make of ASP? A strange man making strange music. I can imagine ASP wandering the corridors of his mad scientist mansion, clicking his fingers to rhythms only he can hear, cackling manically to himself, and at intervals rushing outside to conduct thunderstorms like they were orchestras. Give this album a couple of listens and I’ll guarantee you’ll be pulled into the atmosphere.

The tunestack:
Schwarzer Schmetterling
Where Do The Gods Go?
Dancing
Sing Child
Teach Me War
Imbecile Anthem
Und Wir Tanzten (Ungeschickie Liebesbriefe)
Blinded

The players:
ASP:  Vocals, lyrics, music
Matthias Ambre: All instruments, programming & additional composing

With:
Oliver Himmighoffen: Additional drum programming

The website:  http://www.thetalesofasp.com

Revioewed by Uncle Nemesis: http://www.nemesis.to

ASTRO VAMPS
AMERIKAN GOTHICK (Alice In…)
~review by Mick Mercer

I hadn’t heard anything by this band since a tape in the mid 90’s so this was an interesting rampage for me. They say they’re Gothic/Deathrock, but they’re got that whole Pomp Goth thing going on, with various Rock stylings bursting through, which could be disastrous, or could be intriguing.

Here at Intriguing Central ‘Sodom Elementary’ is engaging fetish froth which drifts into ‘Alice In Gothland’ where post-Nirvana guitar lassoes Goth vocals and pulls tight. ‘Days Of The Dead’ has a massive Big Hair chorus slapped into the atmospheric surrounds, and ‘Mardi Gras Masqurade’ gets lovingly skittish and bouncy. They have lifer and lift.

‘Vampire Circus’ is thickly clotted, rousing stuff, the slow, and moody ‘Blue Melancholy Death’ swings on twisted orchestral hinges as an anguished ballad truly should, and then they start creeping uphill. First it’s the portly ‘Lament Of The Undead’ full of ghastly rasping, then ‘Transylvania’ is a clattering behemoth, hacking at you deliriously, and ‘Everyday Is Halloween’ is a heated Ministry cover given a rawk twang. ‘Black Dahlia’ is a magnificent, seismic Gawf Rawk romp, with strangler’s hands operating the guitar and a wonderful vocal display sucking you into the morass, and ‘Mr Styx’ is equally torrid, with coquettishly clunky guitar strains, quivering vocals and a sensationally corrupt chorus. (It’s worth buying this for that alone.)

‘Vincent Price’ is a fairly sloppy punky outing, and ‘Skull Love’ doesn’t seem much, being straight ahead punk guitar-basted mania, but has another precocious chorus, and by the time ‘Ghoul Parlor’ gets fired up you realise this is the sort of thing LAM might do, if they were harder, or DeSade must aim towards. They have influences galore in their guts, but have crafted something you can’t simply compare to any bigger band. Often the rockier side threatens to dwarf their personable touches, but then the keyboards will set off like early Blondie on fire, or the rhythm becomes too adventurous for plain rock castigation, and they step up another gear and grind relentlessly.

Sure, ‘Ghost Parade’ starts fairly feeble, comparatively, but it creaks in a sub-Alice Cooper vein and crackles filthily. ‘Boris Karloff’ is simple-minded drivel, and ‘Dead Lover’s Blues’ takes forever to do little more than sound angry over grandiloquent guitar (showing why Myssouri are so good at what they do!), and it doesn’t matter what you do with ‘Paint It Black’ in my opinion, it’s a shit song, and at best it could be said they tickle it playfully

A live ‘Lady Death’ sends this off with a scalding eruption of vomit, and yes, I’m impressed, because despite those lapses towards the end into traditional rock sewage, the main body of work reeks of heady perfume and seriously seedy intentions. Don’t expect fragrant, sensitive fare and you’ll be fine.

They’re total turmoil.

SODOM ELEMENTARY
ALICE IN GOTHLAND
DAY OF THE DEAD
MARDI GRAS MASQUERADE
VAMPIRE CIRCUS
BLUE MELANCHOLY DEATH
LAMENT OF THE UNDEAD
TRANSYLVANIA
EVERYDAY IS HALLOWEEN
BLACK DAHLIA
MR STYX
VINCENT PRICE
SKULL LOVE
GHOUL PARLOR
GHOST PARADE
BORIS KARLOFF
DEAD LOVER’S BLUES
PAINT IT BLACK
LADY DEATH

http://www.astrovamps.com
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/astrovamps/
http://www.darkdimensions.de – label info
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/5356/index2.html - older site

Attrition
Dante’s Kitchen
~review by Matthew Heilman

It has been just shy of five years since Attrition’s last studio album The Jeopardy Maze was released.  In the interim, several remixed, live, and compilation albums and EPs surfaced, so it never seemed as though the band had fallen under the radar or anything of that sort.  Dante’s Kitchen, the latest and tenth studio album set for release in July, is a triumphant and extraordinarily consistent album that keeps the torch of classic Darkwave fiercely burning.

This is dark, atmospheric electro in its purist form, from the very band that practically laid the landscape for Darkwave music years ago.  As well, it is shivering, spine-tingling Gothic in its literal and atmospheric sense.  Ancient decay and putrefied eloquence is fused with a stark, nightmarish vision of the future.   Fans of Attrition are already familiar with their sparse and shadowy sound, which on this release, is comparable to an even darker and spookier continuation of the excellent 3 Arms & A Dead Cert album from 1995, and it honestly blows away The Jeopardy Maze in my opinion.

Dante’s Kitchen is concentrated and determined in its focus, achieving an admirable balance between the pulsating, electronic beats with organic and more traditional elements.  Martin’s gristly baritone is downright sepulchral in its grumbling depth – securing his sovereignty as one of the smoothest and distinctive vocalists in all of Gothdom!   He sounds positively menacing on this record, and when paired with the operatic female vocals, the effect is scarier and more sublime than any other co-ed vocal duo.  In particular, longtime companion Julia Waller appears on this disc and her bewitching, frigid vocals echo with wraithlike brilliance, perhaps the most ghostly and effective performances since her earliest days with the band.

Frank Dematteis’ devilish viola is a constant otherworldly presence throughout the disc, alternating between fluid conventional passages and scraping, shrill and spidery forays into brittle dissonance.  The viola’s presence is vital and integral to the bands sound, always appropriate, always adding an additional dimension of emotional depth to the ominous soundscapes.  It pushes this material into preternatural and unsettling realms, where a sinister magic is produced as it continually reverberates throughout a yawning void of mesmerizing electronics.  This not a peppy synth pop record designed for the ignorant masses to dance around to drunkenly at their local ‘goth’ club.  No, though the structures and arrangements are accessible and orthodox enough, it is meticulous and hypnotic music that is intended to seep into your mind and heart, and haunt you with its gripping minimalism.  Technology and traditional instrumentation are fused in order to evoke the unknown and the familiar simultaneously.  Well-timed and strategically placed samples of odd dialogue appear throughout, successfully contributing to the disorienting, dreamlike atmosphere. Paranoid and faceless female characters appear and disappear, shedding light into their unstable psyches.  Glimpses and snapshots of strange places, misplaced memories, and uncertain journeys submerge the listener into mysterious and lucid depths.

Subdued, nocturnal pulsations ebb and flow, predominantly restrained but rich in tension and the threat of a sonic explosion.  The rhythms crest with frantic techno breakbeats such as those that appear in “The Long Hall” or the striking title track, but slower, heavier percussive elements appear, as with the slinky eroticism of the exceptional single “Two Gods Are Better Than One.”

“The Ladder” is steeped in contemplative melancholy, as a collage of beckoning sirens mournfully harmonize with dreary, ghostly grace atop swelling synths and a throbbing elastic rhythm and dry snapping snare.   “Dreamcatcher” creepily unfolds atop a subtly funky arrangement, bobbing angular viola and more chilling vocals, ultimately flowing toward a jagged, sprawling crescendo of found sounds and swirling noise.  The final cut “Still Life?” is a creeping instrumental, utilizing the ordinary sounds of a child’s playtime interrupted by an imposing storm.  The album ends in abstraction, on a note of quiet unease and above all, a desire to repeat the same aural journey several more times.

Dante’s Kitchen is a superb and enveloping album, a trip through a shadowy house of mirrors, spacious and reflecting blackness and your most unconscious thoughts.   The album is crafted around the principle that less inevitably offers more, as only the strongest and most effective ideas have been executed.  Though there are no immediate, pounding club hits, it is a more subversively powerful and demanding album, and as Attrition has always managed to do so successfully, they accompany the listener along the cobwebbed corridors of their own untapped revelries and they invite their fans into the nether regions of their own blackly vivid minds.   Ultimately, Attrition has not wavered in their constancy for delivering the very best Darkwave music available.  They have not compromised their longstanding visions of the strange and obscure to coincide with trends, but rather enhanced their art, forging ahead into new contemporary dimensions of their familiar style.

Fans of the band will devour this whole, and I recommend this release to anyone that appreciates music in its darkest, shadiest forms – fans of classical and dark techno will delight in hearing these genres crossing by such effortless and appropriate means.  Dante’s Kitchen is another excellent addition to Attrition’s immeasurably valuable discography.
 

Track List:
1.) Andante
2.) Dante’s Kitchen
3.) The Head Of Gabriel
4.) Two Gods…Are Better Than One
5.) The Ladder
6.) Dreamcatcher
7.) Feed The Crow
8.) The Long Hall
9.) Crash
10.) Still Life?

Attrition is:
Martin Bowes – lyrics, vocals, electronics
Julia Waller – female vocals
Frank Dematteis – viola

Attrition – Official Site:
http://www.attrition.co.uk

Invisible Records:
http://www.invisiblerecords.com

Projekt Records (Attrition’s Essential Back Catalogue)
http://www.projekt.com
 

Attrition
Dante's Kitchen (Underground Inc.)
~review by Uncle Nemesis

Now, here’s a conundrum. Attrition have a history which stretches back to the 80s proto-industrial movement, where they helped to pioneer the early scene’s ventures into art-fuelled and artful electronics, always with that essential, punk-inspired attitude that the only rule is that there are no rules. They’ve been favourably reviewed everywhere from fanzines to the mainstream music press; they’ve recorded a session for John Peel, shared a stage with Coil, and they’ve been remixed by Chris and Cosey. In short, by now Attrition should surely be lauded elder statesmen of the left-field electronica, as revered as Throbbing Gristle, basking in the kind of esteem that Coil currently command. And yet, they’re not. Somehow, Attrition seem to have missed out on all the bouquets and the prizes, and certainly they’ve missed out on the large, enthusiastic, and varied audiences their one-time contemporaries can rely upon to this day.

Only the other weekend, I saw Coil play the Ocean in Hackney, a large, well-equipped theatre venue, to a large and ebullient crowd that encompassed everyone from old-skool industrio-heads to art-rockers and avant-guardists, full-on fetishists and all-purpose indie-weirdos. On that same weekend, I saw Attrition play a small pub venue to a smattering of goths, whose level of enthusiasm never really rose above ‘politely interested’. Here we have two bands, which once seemed to be forging ahead together, and which both still work in broadly equivalent musical areas, while creating intriguing and attention-grabbing new material - so tell me: how did their fortunes diverge so drastically? I reckon I know. It’s The Curse Of The Goth Scene at work again. A few years back, Attrition found themselves diverted from the main line into the dead-end siding of goth, and as a result have substantially missed their natural target audience.

I don’t know how Attrition themselves feel about this situation, of even if they’re aware that it’s happened, but I find myself seething with quiet frustration on behalf of the band, for Attrition really deserve better than a smattering of goths in a pub. And, if you require proof of that assertion, here it is: ‘Dante’s Kitchen’, Attrition’s ninth album, not counting compilations, of which there have been a bewildering variety over the years. As you’d expect from Attrition, it’s an utterly confident collection of cerebral, other-worldly grooves; clearly a band on top of their art and brimming with ideas. It’s cool and surreal, as dark as chocolate, as spacey as the ionosphere. It is, as if you hadn’t got my drift by now, *good*. Fans of avant-electronica would, I’m sure, love it to pieces - if they ever got to know it exists. Meanwhile, Johnny Average Goth will probably treat this album with, by and large, bemused disinterest - but you know what? That’s his loss.

‘Andante’ - a neat little music-terminology pun, for those who care to pick up on it - eases us in on a hum of electronics and treated, squalling strings. A solo violin at the front of the mix stalks carefully through the sounds, as if it’s walking on glass. And then, a synth-bass pumps itself up, and we pitch headlong into the title track, a rush and a push of rhythm with Martin Bowes, Attrition’s all-round main man, enunciating the lead vocal in his trademark down-in-the-cellar voice. His words form an effective rhythmic counterpoint - essentially, the vocal is the bassline here - to the pell-mell drumbeats as he slo-mo raps: ‘Took a part time lover/Like Dante’s brother’. Julia Waller’s operatic agonising provides the punchline to every chorus - ‘Heaven help us!’ - as the song surges forward like a tea clipper running before the wind.

‘The Head Of Gabriel’ munches up another of those phat, phunky synth-bass sequences, the violin wailing like a wraith in the background. Julia Waller’s voice weaves around the rhythm, keeping its distance like a choral solo half-heard from the far end of an empty cathedral. Meanwhile, Martin Bowes mutters in the foreground like a Bishop gone bad - ‘Give me Gabriel’s head! - as the atmosphere of the song swirls and builds. We stay in church (well, sort of) for ‘Two Gods...Are Better Than One’, a funeral march from a cyberpunk New Orleans, with lyrics that read like a Peter Greenaway film treatment: ‘I’m naked and I’m hungry in my room/I’m tearing arms from deities for fun/This hell is like a holiday with guns’

‘The Ladder’ is gloriously baffling as only Attrition can be, punctuated as it is by a sampled exclamation of (almost) the title: ‘A ladder!’, as if someone’s just found an unexpected piece of domestic hardware in the shed.  Fans of Swarf might like to note the presence of Liz, Swarf’s singer, on this one, drifting through the backing vocals like a ghost at a party.  ‘Dreamcatcher’ is an quasi-ambient thing, with a rhythmic rumble in the stomach of the song and the violin chuntering to itself. A snare-chunk comes in half way through, giving the offbeat a bit of oomph and revving things up a bit as the song snakes towards the end, but this is, nevertheless, Attrition in subtle mood.

‘Feed The Crow’ sees Attrition investigating inner space with a downplayed, downbeat drift through electronic and organic cross-currents. Then we hit the accelerator once more for ‘The Long Hall’, where fast, jazzy drums rattle like ill-fitting sash windows in a gale as Attrition’s virtual opera company do their stuff in the background, seemingly oblivious to the rhythm, but always hitting the right note on the right beat. ‘Crash’ is a little analogue interlude, a swelling hum and rumble of electronica, which gives way to Attrition’s parting shot, ‘Still Life?’ as the sounds of children and thunderstorms ease in to the mix. No words, just sounds. A simple, but effective, idea that also manages to be oddly disturbing, and leaves you thoughtful and pondering as the album draws to its close.

Attrition, here as ever, celebrate the cerebral and the visceral. Instinct and intellect are at work in equal measures in their music; atmospheres collide with beats you could - given a certain suspension of the norm - dance to. They’re one of the most individual and innovative bands we have, and I’m sure a healthy, appreciative audience awaits them in the left-field electronica zone. Whether Attrition ever touch base with this audience is, of course, another thing. Meanwhile, I dare say they’ll just go on confusing the goths.

The tunestack:
"andante"
Dante's Kitchen
The Head Of Gabriel
Two Gods
The Ladder
Dreamcatcher
Feed The Crow
The Long Hall
"Crash"
Still Life?

The players:
Martin Bowes: Vocals, electronics, programming, production
Julia Waller: Vocals
Rafael: Violins
Philip Hickman: Flute
Catherine Mosey: Double Bass
Simon Stansfield: Guitar
Christine Reid, Julie Chambers, Liz Green: Backing vocals

The website:  http://www.attrition.co.uk

Reviewed by Uncle Nemesis: http://www.nemesis.to
 
 

ATTRITION
DANTE’S KITCHEN (Invisible/Undergroundinc/Big Blue)
~review by Mick Mercer

A curious album this, taking in the filmic side of Industrial music, fuelled by subtle electronics, captained by grave male vocals, and given holistic support from able, histrionic female vocals that feed off an Ethereal bloodline. So there’s your basics, and it’s either where you’ll dip your diseased toes or no, from the elders of a scene who, unlike many contemporaries, can achieve a sense of mystery without needing to have their tracks bloated with technology. In Attrition’s world nothing is particularly clear despite the songs being open and exposed.

Martin Bowes has superb vocals which don’t, curiously, dominate anywhere, but sidle up to us like a disturbing messenger, while a steady beat and winsome strings wilt in damp surrounds. They kick off with a retching instrumental, ‘Andante’ and the shove out both the interchangeable title track and ‘The Head Of Gabriel’ which suggests a tense dance direction but never actually gets above comfortable undulations, with airy female vocals ululating, opera-style.

They can be fairly annoying, with too much of the backing vocals seeming overly dramatic within such sedate numbers, but the male vocals sting with clever lyrical snatches, so ’Two Gods’ remains dramatic, ‘The Ladder is silly and syrupy, ‘Dreamcatcher’ a slow, ticking bomb. ‘Feed The Crow’ seems like the one which might finally raise itself above a polite crawl, to build and bulge, but gets caught up in morose strings instead, and it isn’t until the eight track ‘The Long Hall’ where you finally encounter some active dynamics. That they don’t actually go anywhere with it, ending among scratchy strings again, clearly indicates they’re not going for the upright excitement. It’s about mood, which they instil well, until ‘Still Life’, an exercise in blatant ambient reality.

I wasn’t bowled over, because I prefer it when background music of perverse aesthetics comes in the form of songs, and what we have here is actually very predictable in that the first minute tells you all you really need to know, but here’s the weird thing. This is a strangely compelling record, because it does what it does intentionally. With vocals that would make Rutger Hauer envious, I wanted something a bit starker, or livelier, yet what we have is happy to be remote. As if stupefied on creepy rhythmical insinuations, this is ticklish, provocative noir.

ANDANTE
DANTE’S KITCHEN
THE HEADS OF GABRIEL
TWO GODS
THE LADDER
DREAMCATCHER
FEED THE CROW
THE LONG HALL
CRASH
STILL LIFE?

http://www.attrition.co.uk

Aurora
Miedzynarodowka
~review by Matthew Heilman

In the simplest terms, Aurora is basically Poland’s answer to Nitzer Ebb, early Project Pitchfork, and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult.  Originally recorded in 1988, this release was remastered in 2002 and has miraculously made its way to me to present to you.   A few years ago, a Polish record promoter contacted us at StarVox and he has continued to service us CDs of some of Poland’s leading dark metal projects.  Some of them, in particular the oppressive angst of Variété and the swirling post-punk of D.H.M. were wonderful discoveries that I would never have had the pleasure to learn about, and I am eternally grateful for their music.

The problem is that I often wonder how feasible it would be for US readers to get a hold of this stuff, or perhaps more directly, I wonder if any of our US readers would actually TRY to get a hold of this stuff!  I hope that there are a few more adventurous folks out there that may very well have looked into Poland’s dark music scene.  Whatever the case, its very interesting to see how other countries have interpreted the styles of music that flourished in the UK or US, but unfortunately, with Aurora, I am not so sure that this is worth investigation or import prices.

The overall sound of the band is a kind of proto-agro style, with loud squealing rock guitars and clipped power chords ringing out over punchy uptempo beats.  The vocals are rough and ragged (which led to my earlier comparison to Project Pitchfork), and are distinguished by what, to our ears, are a dense and garbled kind of accent.  It predictably works well with the near-militant marches that constitute for the songs, and since the lyrics and song titles are Polish, it’s rather futile to make heads or tails regarding what Aurora is going on about.

It’s not a bad release, and I would rather listen to this as opposed to whatever contemporary EBM or new future pop project that is currently all the rage.  Aurora’s style of Industrial dance runs parallel with the seeds of the EBM genre, sporting anthemic, powerful choruses.  It also shows how at one time, electronic musicians weren’t quite as lazy and could come up with some relatively intricate or catchy rhythms.  Not to mention they would condescend to play guitar or bang on real life things with real life objects.

The problem with Aurora is that despite how intrinsically dark most Polish bands I have heard tend to be, this particular group lacks the murky undertone of urgency that characterized more familiar classic EBM bands like Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb, and instead come across as somewhat too quirky.  I don’t suspect that seeking out Aurora will reveal any kind of hidden exotic gem for hardcore Industrial record collectors, nor will it demonstrate any unique aspect of the genre in its more organic heyday.   Truthfully, it’s probably best for American or British readers to just stick with the canonized classics, and not worry too much about Aurora.  But know, however, that EBM did indeed reach as far as Poland when it first raised its fist to the world and Aurora more than likely were responsible for bringing the sound to the country.

Aurora is:
Piotr Wallach – guitar
Maciej Miernik – bass
Roman Rzucidlo – vocals
Jacek Palys - keyboards

Aurora – Official Site: (in Polish)
http://dada.terra.pl/aurora/

Furia Music:
http://www.terra.pl/furia

Azrael
Into Shadows Act II: Through Horned Shadows Glimpse
~reviewed by Goat

“Post Modern Black Metal”?  Perhaps Varg should’ve started burning Universities as well as Fantofts.  The Church of Self-Important Intellectual Wanking is just as bad as anything any Christian ever did.

Despite the typically ridiculous press release, the album itself is *partially* a delight.  It varies between individual pieces that are a blend of traditional black metal and vast black noise, to experimental interludes which I would compare to say, John Coltrane’s Om album, (but of course from a black metal cold-void sort of perspective).  ‘Kind of like if Sun Ra were a white guy who’d been thrown out on the Siberian plane with recording equipment.  The first few tracks of the album are wholly more enjoyable than the last.

You see, for being someone who enjoys experi-mental noise, I’ve never been impressed with the “avant-garde” or with progressive metal.  Parts of this album are both of those things.  And more.  Yes, it can be argued that jazz-fusion and certain aspects of black metal are similar.  But when it gets to the point that black metallers are trying so hard to be the “next big thing” of the genre that they’re polluting the genre, that’s when I pull the lever to get off at the next stop.  Which is frankly what many of the tracks on last part of this album make me want to do.  It was work making myself listen all the way to the end without skipping forward on the last few pieces.  Tracks 5 through 7 are the sounds of musicians mentally masturbating, in my opinion; a collective yawn that doesn’t go anywhere, but probably impresses chicks who think the Equator is a country in South America.

[I would include the track names for you, but of course, in the “avant-garde” it’s cooler not to name things than to name them.  Whatever.]

What you want to know though is, “Should I buy the darned thing or not?”  Well, sure, if you have the money to buy CDs just out of morbid curiousity, to see what they’re like.  But if you want to know if I think this CD is worth parting with hard-earned cash for, just due to its brilliance or inherent value as a “so negative it’s positive force” in your life, no.  I’d say wait to find it used, or buy yourself the Neptune Towers CDs which are experimental without being “avant-garde”.  Or, if you’re not into the spacey way-out sister of black metal that Neptune Towers represents, go for some purely ambient black metal that isn’t trying so hard to be something other than itself.  (Refer to the Blut Aus Nord review in this issue for recommen-dations, if you wish.)

No track listing.  (Tracks are not named.)

http://www.moribundcult/index2.html

Balzac
Came Out of the Grave
~review by Basim
 

The esteemed 18th century French author Balzac once said, “"All happiness depends on courage and work, I have had many periods of wretchedness, but with energy and above all with illusions, I pulled through them all." Pretty upbeat for a man whose thankless task of defining literary movement left him enduring a life of poverty, don’t you think? Similarly, we have Japanese punk rockers, Balzac. This is a band that really strives to do the best they can. Their live shows are so great, I know people who’d actually sit through a set of the Merchfits to see them. The band even learns their English lyrics phonetically, because they honestly don’t know more than a few words.

But I should really be getting to the music. If you’ve heard of Balzac before, you’ve probably seen them described with unfair words like... “Misfits clones”.

Unlike most horror punk bands, this music isn’t just kitsch or formulaic. You won’t find the obligatory 1950s “ironic” anthem dedicated to the undead. What you will find is an interesting mix of bleak noise dirges vivisected with throat blistering sing-along punk anthems. Certain albums, like The Damned’s Phantasmagoria, or TSOL’s Change Today, have a song for every mood. This is one of those timeless masterpieces.

What really impressed me was the approach to their noise/industrial songs. Noise is one of those genres that leave me floundering, wondering “why?” when I’m stuck listening to a “song” of it. The Balzac species of it is an evolution of their dark punk style. There’s just enough grinding rock in the noise pieces to give them momentum, but not enough to degenerate it into “Industrial Rock”. The overall effect is either grating in that grisly post-punk way I know most of you like so much.

The top of the food chain is ruled by their predatorial punk anthems. I don’t think I’ve heard murder music played so gleefully in my life. You know those Exploited gutter anthems about Brotherhood? Well, imagine songs like that, but interesting to listen to. There’s some blazing guitar work that borders on being metal in that happy Maiden/Helloween way. This album’s chock full of pinch harmonics, and dazzling solos. Guitarist, Atsushi, is great at veering out of the way when the rock songs need tension, and hitting you like freighter when the digital noise needs structure. There’s some neat, and pleasantly brief shredding here and there, which works ALOT better than it sounds. Drummer Takayuki and Bassist Akio form a formidable rhythm section. These players know the virtue of exploring the thematic possibilities from song to song. You get tempo changes, and Akio has that magical sense that cues him into sliding his bass notes at the perfect moments. You know, when the bass slides and you wince because you can’t imagine how awesome it sounds? You’ll be doing alot of wincing when listening to this album.

Oh, and the vocals.

The vocals will destroy you. This band can contend with punk rock royalty when it comes to big, three part vocal choruses. Buy this album, if your tastes can be plotted somewhere between the Punk and Gothic spectrum, you will find something to love here.

Tracklisting
1. Grave- Dreizehn
2. Japanese Title
3. Season Of The Dead
4. Inside My Eyes
5. Japanese Title
6. Pain Is All Around
7. Came Out Of The Grave
8. Beyond Evil 308
9. Art Of Dying
10. World Without End
11. Pain Is Not Around
12. I'm Losing You
13. Beware Of Darkness
14. I Know

Balzac is...
Vocals – Hirosuke
Guitar – Atsushi
Bass – Akio
Drums – Takayuki

www.balzac308.com

BATZZ IN THE BELFRY
BITB (Batzz)
~reviewed by Mick Mercer

They must be new, going on the Spartan website, but I can well see this bunch growing on people and enjoying a fine reputation for the gentler side of Goth with some highly artistic constructions. From opener ‘Ur Of The Chaldeans’, whatever that might be about, their use of winsome keyboards works to their advantage in creating a gentle song, will fills out weirdly like some kid’s xmas film, then they cut back with ‘Shinar’ displaying deep dark vocals, a mean guitar riff and Great Big Drums, and that severe beast keeps going, as the vocals turn into a grim mist, with an abrupt ending that I suspect was a mistake. The clash between the two styles shows they have depth in abundance which they are only experimenting with right now.

The understandably emotional ‘Sunday Mourning’ has slow, beautiful keyboards, and soothingly reaches a sedate end, but with weird pomp trills throughout that seem jarring and quite mad. The ‘Aspire To Heaven’ instrumental may remind some of Laurie Anderson’s biggest hit initially but in its soft and twinkling icing there is something deeply uplifting, then they take a grave religious tone for their ‘Emmanuel’ item, and it becomes an ominous malaise, with disciplined drums. It is unusual and refreshing.

Easily a band to watch.

UR OF THE CHALDEANS
SHINER
SUNDAY MOURNING
ASPIRE TO HEAVEN
O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL

http://www.batzzz.com

BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL
TARNISHED - SINGLE (Projekt)
~review by Mick Mercer

I daresay those of you who like your music mysterious in richly tantalising ways will already have your coy of The Scavenger Bride, the extraordinary 2002 album by Black Tape For a Blue Girl, which was a stunning work of diseased picturesque brilliance, that creaked with meticulous detail and crafty old sounds. The new album, Halo Star, from which this single is a taster, may surprise you a lot.

It is still not conventional but windows have been flung wide, letting the air in, and all gauzy curtains have been binned. There’s not much sunlight visible, because it appears to be dark everywhere, but the layering has been avoided. Things are clearer, more direct. Ostensibly detailing the importance as a character central to the album’s tale of a fallen idol this ‘Tarnished’ track is up, as ‘Damn Swan!’ will be down, but it’s just as intriguing and demanding as the Bride album. You’d imagine I might be talking of some jolly romps if the ‘difficult’ sounds are absent, but this is still disturbing music. Pinched strings slither beneath the strong vocal narrative given by Bret Audra, and the percussion is knottily abrasive, providing a sense of hovering horror. It’s like travelling a moving walkway, flanked on either side by gruesome Goyas.

‘Remnants Of A Deeper Purity’, in which Bret appears to have no nostrils, actually is a straightforward tale of some lost, enigmatic woman, details of which come back to haunt the sedate protagonist. Pretty, but inconsequential. ‘Damn Swan!’ is prettier by far, with Elsyabeth Grant’s voice stretching out over a slowly distended bass line, and it’s off-centre enough as a piece to keep you guessing what this involves.

The collective vision of such musicians should guarantee recorded magic, as well as your interest, and the album (Aug 31 release date) is special, I’ll tell you that much. It’s on a par with The Scavenger Bride, but entirely different, in most ways, which was the intention after all.
 

http://www.blacktapeforabluegirl.com
http://www.projekt.com

BLACKFALL
PIECES (Blackfall)
~review by Mick Mercer

I loved the instant rush of warm guitar and sudden pauses, which had them down as flamenco rebels, but it goes badly awry after ‘Traces’ because when they’re slow they’re listless and dull. ‘Medicine’ sees them being so sensitive they’re Big Gurls, and while the choppier approach and inventive percussion  in‘Desiree’ gave it all a spruce feel, and they are genuinely unusual, it’s still very mild rock, and I can’t see who that appeals to, or why.
 

TRACES
MEDICINE
DESIREE

http://www.blackfall.com

Blut Aus Nord
The Work Which Transforms God
~reviewed by Goat

Hybrid vigor.  You remember it from Intermediate Biology, right?  In plants, cattle, dogs, etc., the judicious crossing of two purebred parents may result in hybrid vigor in the F1 generation.  Further crossing of the hybrids results in a decrease of vigor in the subsequent (F2, F3, etc.) generations.  F1 generations then, while showing hybrid vigor, are useless for further breeding.  Remember this.

There was metal.  There was dark metal.  There was black metal.  And, there was machine metal music.  There was dark ambience.  There was black ambience.  Two purebreeds.  The F1 generation was probably Ulver back in... well, whatever year it was the Blake recordings came out, and then began the true and irredeemable downward spiral of Ulver.  For all of the grandiose press releases surrounding Blut Aus Nord, they are hardly the first generation hybrid of black metal and black noise.  If the Ulver comparison isn’t proof enough that it’s been done before, then perhaps Ved Buens Ende?  I’ve heard other black metal black noise/ambient variations, but I don’t recall the names of the albums.  I didn’t keep them. If there is any diligent investigation into the matter, it is simply not true that Blut Aus Nord are the first band to unveil such a hybrid.  I grow weary of such wanking and clanging in press releases.  This is *definitely not* a “new form of black metal”.  Black metal is a form unto itself which cannot be transformed, else it becoming something else.  Black metal cannot be “transformed” any more than God can be transformed, but that’s a whole ‘nother philosophical discussion, innit?

I’ve digressed so quickly! To be fair, there are places in The Work Which Transforms God where the crossing is really impressive.  Where the vehemence of pure, beautiful black metal, and the resounding chaos of black ambience work wonderfully well together, and with stunning, scintillating results.  Other times however, the blend veers dangerously close to artschool wanking and self-congratulatory prog rock.  Mainly, also, the album is not so much a blending of the two forms, black metal and noise, as it is a bit of one form, and then a bit of the other, and then a bit of one and a bit of the other, track to track.  On tracks such as “The Fall”, where there is an attempt to blend several styles and types of music together, it just begins to seem to me like Cookie Monster meets Endura with echoey layering, or some shite.  I remain unmoved.  However, on the very next track, “Metamorphosis”, there’s some exquisitely peculiar music.  Black ambient prog metal, maybe?  Is black ambient prog metal a transformation of black metal?  Perhaps, perhaps.  Not being a big fan of semantic discussions on the first place, I will simply say that the track “Metamorphosis” is a hybrid of black metal and black noise and is progressive in nature.  It’s a delight to behold, and such tracks  make the album worth finding used.  Unfortunately, they are the exception of the album, and not the rule.  Another example of when it works is track 9, “Devilish Essence” which then moves right into the profoundly ridiculous “The Howling Of God”.

Overall my feeling about The Work Which Transforms God is rather ambivalent.  I will probably listen to the CD again a few times in my ownership of it.  I would imagine it will happen twice, maybe three times a year.  There are a lot of allusions to Godflesh in the press releases; note made that Blut Aus Nord appeared on a Godflesh tribute album, and the like.  When I’m in the mood for Godflesh, I’ll reach for Godflesh.  When I’m in the mood for black metal, I’ll reach for Krieg, Averse Sefira, Burzum, etc.   When I’m in the mood for a blend of black noise and black ambience, I probably won’t reach for Blut Aus Nord The cheesy bits ruin the whole of the work for me.  I resent having to skip through parts of an album when I’m listening to CDs on my stereo.  Generally if a CD has shite bits in it, it simply never gets played.  So, if we’re judging by thumbs, I would give this Blut Aus Nord piece a one thumb up and direct your attention back to the purebreeds or the first generation hybrids.  Lustmord, Brighter Death Now, Neptune Towers, Manes “Under Ein Bloraud Maane”, Zoviet France, O Yuki Conjugate, Ildjarn, Lord Wind, Sleep Reasearch Facility or pretty much any and everything that Cold Meat Industry, Cold Spring Records, Soleilmoon and Spikefarm have ever released.  This album isn’t awful, it’s just not the new and un-charted territory it claims to be.  We’re talking F2, F3 generation here.  Dig?  And for the person who just said, “You forgot PsychicTV and Whitehouse”, well, there you have ‘em.

Track Listing:
1. End
2. Density
3. The Choir of the Dead
4. Axis
5. The Fall
6. Metamorphosis
7. The Supreme Abstract
8. Our Blessed Frozen Cells
9. Devilish Essence
10. The Howling Of God
11. Inner Mental Cage
12. Procession Of The Dead Clowns

Candlelight/Candlelight USA
http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Lucifer Rising, A Film by Kenneth Anger
Bobby BeauSoleil
~reviewed by Kirin

Things have a way of coming unburied.

Take, for instance, the Liberty Bell 7, retrieved from the ocean 38 years almost to the day, from when it went down.  On July 21, 1961, the Liberty Bell 7 went down, and astronaut Gus Grissom survived. The craft was brought to the surface on July 20, 1999.  Gus Grissom did not live to see it raised. Ironically, he died in a fire on the Apollo launch-pad six years after his crash at sea, not in the water that had swallowed the Liberty Bell 7.  That year, 1967, the first  strains of this soundtrack were set into motion.

The soundtrack, and these recordings too, have had a life of liftoffs, crash landings, burials in dark waters; discoverers traversing the depths to bring them up again, and perhaps, eventually a resur-rection by fire.  It might even be well argued that the man behind the sounds has travelled the same or similar paths.   Travails.  The labor of childbirth.

Without retelling the entire wonderfully written liner notes, I will make a skeletal recapitulation here: 1967 found Bobby BeauSoleil in San Francisco, where he met filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who was working on the film “Lucifer Rising”.  Bobby was to star in the film (as Lucifer,) and write the soundtrack.  Life happened, and 1969 found Bobby headed to Los Angeles, and Kenneth Anger headed to London.  For all intents and purposes, the project had crash landed.  The dark waters rushed in.

Bobby BeauSoleil though, did not give up on, nor did he forget about the project.  He did, how-ever, have to remember it from a jail cell, facing a life sentence and in truth, what most people would consider a hopeless situation.  Rather than collapsing under the weight, BeauSoleil formed The Freedom Orchestra in prison, and from the years 1977-79, recorded the soundtrack found on the first disc of this set.

Listen to this disc, and think about the fact that it was made on a budget of $3,000.00, in a studio built from scratch.  In prison.  Facing a life sentence.  It is not possible to hear this music and not be deeply moved by these facts.

In 1980, due to the unrelenting spirit of Bobby BeauSoleil, the film and BeauSoleil’s soundtrack for “Lucifer Rising” were experienced together for the first time at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

When I hear this music, when I sit with it, when I let it sink in, it almost always leads to weeping.  And then, eventually, to laughter.  I know of the recordings that came after.  Of the spirit of this man that flies, that soars, that neither began nor ended with these recordings, and cannot be defined only by them.  This work is beyond words, but if it moves you, please, for the sake of your heart, and your mind, and your ears, seek out his other recordings as well.  (You will find a little sampling of them on Disc 2.)

Even if you happen to have previous recordings of this soundtrack, this particular one is special.  Maybe because, like the Liberty Bell 7, it is nearly 38 years to the summer, when the Lucifer Rising project sank.  This summer, it is raised again.

Furthermore, the treatment of the project by Arcanum Entertainment is stupendous.  The packaging is fantastic and the liner notes extremely well-written.  There could be no tribute better to Bobby BeauSoleil, than a re-release so beautifully befitting as this one.  Except perhaps, his physical freedom.  That would be a Jubilee, indeed.

Also, I might add, the works have been remastered by one of the wizards of recording studio technology, (the George Martin of the Apocalypse?) Robert Fer-brache.  Some of you may recognise his name if you are a fan of Blood Axis, Human Head Transplant, Soul Merchants, or Changes.  His touch adds to this material yet another layer of beauty, irony, and serendipity.  Another indomitable free spirit adds to the flame.

Really though, besides all my caterwauling about one thing and another, this music, these sounds, to this day, have no real peers, and can have no com-parisons drawn.  They are an entity, a legacy, and a landscape unto themselves.  They have to be heard to be known.  It is not possible for me to simply tell you.  You must hear them for yourself and feel your heart be lifted.  The dregs of the past, the disappointments, the crashes, the burns, the dark waters roiling in... all of it is left behind.  The Earth grows small as you rise.  The Light lifts, it burns, it cleanses, it makes new again.  Come with it.  Hear for your self.  Make these recordings, your own.

Track Listing:
Disc One: Lucifer Rising
1.)  Part I
2.)  Part II
3.)  Part III
4.)  Part IV
5.)  Part V
6.)  Part VI

Disc Two:  Lucifer Rising Sessions
1.)  The Orkustra: "Punjab's Barber"
2.)  The Orkustra:  "Flash Gordon"
3.)  The Magick Powerhouse of Oz:
      Lucifer Rising recording session (1967)
4.)  The Freedom Orchestra: Lucifer Rising
      Sessions (1977-78)

Released through White Dog Music and Arcanum Entertainment:
http://www.whitedogmusic.com
http://www.arcanument.com

Other sites you may enjoy/find of interest:
http://www.beausoleil.net/
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/updike/723/index.html
http://www.feralhouse.com/
http://www.enterprisemission.com/lib7.htm
http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/132_parsons.shtml
http://www.heimdallr.ch/

Other music you may enjoy:
http://www.encomm.freeserve.co.uk/
http://www.brainwashed.com
http://pithuit.free.fr/FAITHFULL/
http://www.arditi.tk/
http://www.ingowanring.com/
http://www.citadel-gate.com/
http://www.classicalarchives.com/
http://www.batteryinflux.com/index.htm

Distro's to check out:
http://www.strangefortune.com
http://www.middlepillar.com
http://www.coldspring.co.uk/
http://www.theajnaoffensive.com/index.asp
http://www.soleilmoon.com

Other good sites for electronic/ambient reviews:
http://www.anus.com/zine/music/
http://tcp.sigilcor.com/radio/
http://www.holyterror.com/aversionline/
http://www.lunarhypnosis.cjb.net/
http://www.heimdallr.ch/

THE BRIDES
THE BRIDES (Hell’s Hundred Records)
~review by Mick Mercer

Progress is always good to see with bands and after a slew of bristling post-Cramps, post-Garage, post-Punk CDs, The Brides have gone onto a fine label, where they’ve wildly ratcheted up the gears until their wheels are burning.

The wicked good humour coursing through their polished veins is still here, but it hasn’t the inventive feel of earlier releases. Part of this is down to producer Jacques Cohen, who has worked with Mercury Rev. He has fashioned something of real power, more likely to create serious impact with the people who haven’t heard them before, which makes for good common sense, and the fact a little of the volatile character has been reduced simply means you have to dig a little harder.

It starts brilliantly and ends almost bizarrely. ‘Whore Money’ gets us underway with indecent glories. ‘Whoooooo!’ they gush, with hugely melodic punk and a heavenly pop chorus, whose shining teeth covers up the lyrical filth beneath. Then ‘Death Wears Red’ is contrarily tough punk, and that’s where the difference on this album becomes so noticeable. They’ve sharpened the brevity but given a rough modern feel to it. The kitsch elements remain distinct strains throughout the album, but the melodic combustion is similar to modern bands who don’t know much about the past. It allows guitars and vocals to dominate, with the organ circling behind. ‘Black Market Rebate’, replete with creepy organ and rumbling bass, sees the happy marriage of demure Blondie sauce, led astray by Stranglers grit.

The drums force ‘Normal’ to run wild, and played live it’s probably riotous, but here is ordinary, as is ‘Hags Of Old Broadway’; not a Courtney tribute, but moodily offering a vague sense of dread. ‘Hoity Toity’ has a touch of Ausgang in its bass rawness, but fast becomes their own with weirdly ladled vocals over the bumps and humps of a mesmerising encounter. What you lose on the roundabouts you gain on the slow motion swings, and I was shocked to realise that ‘Pleasure Of My Company’ really does appear to be The Carpettes, with organ added. A rising riff, catchy vocals and rolling rhythm make another snappy hit; indignant and frothing in equal measure.

They’ve definitely grown, but haven’t yet achieved balance between sharpening the good parts and avoiding some of the duller nuances. The songs which don’t carry the previous zest make do with deeper twists. ‘Pink Purple Blue’ is a twitchy detour, ‘Measure Of Caution’ has more tension, with swelling organ and thin guitar whisking you into one of their pause-caressed passages, but it also has almost rocky rather vocals and that’s a touch alarming. ‘Brooklyn Gothic‘ has a kitsch opening and welds a rough and tumble to their traditional punchy, skipping rhythm. This is a fantastic song, scolding more than scalding, and nicely intense. Then ‘Lovesick Minority’ reminds me vocally of something quite plain, showing they’re prepared to sail close to the foul-smelling wind of the purely conventional, but only a touch of drumming and clanging keyboards offsets the normality.

Digging deeper, the starker, funereal ‘Centorplex’ is a seething slasher which takes them even more strongly into Stranglers territory, given the gruff vocals, and it’s got the attitude trapped within to make it ugly as you require. ‘Overpower’ is a slightly dementoid punk jumble with vocals sprouting up to provide disciplined excitement

Then, with great charm, they go mad, and that’s reassuring. ‘Marchinha’ twinkles with luscious keyboards and unexpectedly restrained guitar. ‘The Strange Passing Of John Coal’ has stone chippings on guitar, as a swing lament from a parallel dimension staggers by in alarmist fashion, bloody and snotty. Finally, ‘Audience To The End’ sounds like a different band, bringing us double-barrelled female vocals and Cabaret sociability , introducing a cool demeanour.

I can only find fault with a few songs, so it’s a swaggering album, make no mistake. The next one ought to be exceptional.

WHORE MONEY
DEATH WEARS RED
BLACK MARKET REBATE
NORMAL
HAGS OF OLD BROADWAY
HOITY-TOITY
PLEASURE OF MY COMPANY
PINK PURPLE BLUE
MEASURE OF CAUTION
BROOKLYN GOTHIC
LOVESICK MINORITY
CENTROPLEX
OVERPOWER
MARCHINHA
THE STRANGE PASSING OF JOHN COAL
AUDIENCE TO THE END

http://www.thebrides.net - band
http://www.hellshundred.com - label
http://www.middlepillar.com/brides - order

The Can Utility
Power 0.42
~reviewed by Matthew Heilman

The Can Utility is another Richmond based Indie band on the Pop Faction label, and compared to some of the other artists on the label that I have been fond of, I wasn’t as into these guys. Primarily because there is a much lighter and dare I say, Emo vibe to what the band is doing.  “Merlin’s Blade” is the first proper song, and despite the cool bass lines and tribal drums, Noelle Schintzius’ hiccupping alto vocals were hard to get used to.  The melodic, angular guitar breaks are well placed and give the song an additional edge.  On the surface, it’s just too happy for me!  “Blood For Heroes” offers a tight rhythmic bounce and sweet floating guitars, with Noelle’s voice sounding much better here, as a more honeyed and natural alto.  There are some back up screams that expand the dynamics but again, the vibe is still relatively on the lighter side of things and leaves me kinda cold. “Fish Don’t Drink H2O” is probably the song that I enjoyed most, with its low-key groove and variety of guitar sounds and stirred up rhythms.  “Ronald Miller” and “Paddleboat Pond” continue down similar melodic paths, but at this point, my interest has waned even further.  Nothing really catches my ear on this EP, and nothing really tugs at my black heart either.  While there are many bands in the Indie scene that have the potential for crossover with fans of early Goth, the Can Utility is not one of them.  Obviously, this does not mean that they are a bad band, but from my perspective as a dark music fan who primarily judges music on how deeply my emotions have been stirred, I am unable to comment much on what this band is doing.  And I am not sure what merit they would have to a dark music audience.  It was sort of cool to hear something different, but I was reminded why I so thoroughly enjoy the usual kind of music I listen to.

Track list:
1.) Power 0.42
2.) Merlin’s Blade
3.) Blood For Heroes
4.) Fish Don’t Drink H2O
5.) Ronald Miller
6.) Paddleboat Pond

The Can Utility is:
Billy Davis: guitar/vocals
Noelle Schintzius: bass/vocals
Sammy Ponzar: drums/vocals

The Can Utility:
http://www.thecanutility.com

Pop Faction:
http://www.popfaction.com

Cannibal Planet
ContrivedMotorViolence
~reviewed by Goat

Basically a collection of not-unpleasant albeit forgettable electronica.  Nothing awful about it.  Nothing to jump up and down about, either.

It’s sort of like ultra-groovy experimental techno/trance with sample bits, splatterbeats and noodly happy sounds throughout.  Actually, for me, it’s so darned goofy it’s annoying.  I would call it art-school wanking, except for that I don’t think it’s ever even considered art school.  *Yawn*.

Track Listing:
1.)  HANDAMEAL
2.)  DIN
3.)  VALIDUSER
4.)  PIDVEIN
5.)  SPAREPAIR
6.)  SHEDRIVE
7.)  SOFAREGINA
8.)  PRINTSHADOW
9.)  SHAVETHESNOWBOMB
10.)  FLAZETTURBMX
11.)  THECHAINROLLING
12.)  RATTLEFOWL

Run time: (32:56)

http://www.airtrafficliberation.net/
http://www.geocities.com/cannibalmask/

Carphax Files
Vengeance
~reviewed by Goat

One thing I hated about a lot of the bands I liked in the 80s was that the lyrics were so insipid.  I loved the sounds, I loved the voices, but oh, those horrid lyrics.  I remember sitting in a dorm room near U.C.L.A. hearing a poor sod go on and on about how deep Depeche Mode lyrics were.  When I finally ran across the quote “Never confuse lack of talent for genius,” I had my expla-nation for most of the music I’d ever listened to.

Now, if you can, close your eyes and imagine if you could transform a band like Depeche Mode or Rammstein into a band that sang lyrics which, for better or for worse, made you face the various stark and ugly realities that surround you.  All the while, still sounding like Depeche Mode or Rammstein.

This is extremely proficient electronic music.  No sloppiness or half-assedness about this.  Precise as a Scottish tattoo.  And the lyrics, I promise, don’t suck.  Unless of course you actually do think the destruction of the human spirit and the Earth is groovy and cool.

What I also enjoy is that while the best elements of 80s electronics are present, so too is the dark shuddering shadow of 90s discontent.  Bits of Skinny Puppy and Godflesh sneak in.  The whole thing is pleasurable in that, “Dear God, look what we’ve let them do” horrible sort of way.  The music is quite beautiful.  The truths it articulates are the abominations of humankind.  Mix them together and you have the sounds of hell on earth, made by some of the last conscious people to live here in this Age.

Perhaps, we do not make order from chaos.

Perhaps we have always
undone the perfect,
Eternal Order
of the universe.
Perhaps we
are the cause
of our
chaos
after all.

Track Listing:
1.)  Machine
2.)  Another Chance to Kill
3.)  Vengeance
4.)  United
5.)  Jackal
6.)  War Cry
7.)  Violence in Your Eyes
8.)  Damage Incorporated
9.)  Pugnacious Fallacies
10.)  Solution