Album Review – Matanza / A Arte do Insulto (2006)

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Learning Brazilian Portuguese can be a lot easier and more fun with this awesome countrycore album.

Rating3

A+Arte+do+InsultoWith less than 3 months to the 2014 World Cup, lots of soccer fans from all around the world are probably heading to Brazil pretty soon and, of course, are trying to learn some basic words and sentences in Brazilian Portuguese (well, the original Portuguese from Portugal might be helpful too) in order to have an even better experience during the event there. However, if you really want to mingle with the locals, you’ll need more than a simple “por favor” (please) or “obrigado” (thank you), and Brazilian Countrycore band Matanza can help you out with that.

This very talented band from Rio de Janeiro plays an awesome mix of heavy music, hardcore, punk and country, being highly influenced by sacred monsters such as Johnny Cash, Motörhead, Slayer and The Exploited, and adding a huge amount of irony and sarcasm in their lyrics about women, alcohol, violence and human ignorance. After two excellent full-length albums (Santa Madre Cassino, from 2001, and Música para Beber e Brigar, from 2003) and a tribute album composed in its entirety by heavy versions of many classics from Johnny Cash called To Hell With Johnny Cash, from 2005, Matanza released A Arte do Insulto in 2006, or “The Art of Insult” if translated to English, considered their best album until today by the fans.

The title-track, A Arte do Insulto (The Art of Insult), is pure hardcore that will teach you a vast cursing vocabulary for you to use whenever you meet a Brazilian, while Clube dos Canalhas (Scoundrels’ Club) reminds us men what it really is to be a man. The next track is also mandatory for anyone that wants to party in Brazil:  O Chamado do Bar (The Call of the Bar) has some awesome fast riffs and is perfect for some insane circle pits. Sabendo Que Posso Morrer (Knowing I Can Die), a song that talks about love, and Quem Perde Sai (Who Loses Leaves), focused on the pitfalls of poker, are also pretty good fast songs that showcase all the talent of the band’s musicians, as well as the amazing Meio Psicopata (Half Psychopath) with its funny lyrics.

matanzaThe album continues its feast of black humor and bad mood with the classic Eu Não Gosto De Ninguém (I Don’t Like Anyone), an excellent hardcore song with one of the most acid lyrics I’ve ever seen, and the slow-paced O Caminho Da Escada e Da Corda (The Way of the Ladder and the Rope), which despite its cool lyrics is not as exciting as the previous songs. Then we have another great example of what countrycore is with Ressaca Sem Fim (Endless Hangover), the intelligent Tempo Ruim (Bad Weather), and Quem Leva A Sério O Quê? (Who Takes What Seriously?) which is pretty much filler. The last two tracks are pretty cool:  both Whisky Para Um Condenado (Whisky for a Convicted) and Estamos Todos Bêbados (We’re all Drunk) are some kind of funny tribute to alcoholism, with the last being even funnier due to its “pirate song” atmosphere.

Regarding the musicians, I would say the heart and soul of the band are the guitar player Donida (who wrote pretty much all the songs from A Arte do Insulto), and especially the lead singer Jimmy London. Although he was born in Rio, he doesn’t look like a “carioca” at all, resembling a lot more with a metalhead from Ireland, and his voice and attitude add a lot of value to the music of Matanza. And finally, the album art is simple but very effective, inspired by sexy saloon dancers, alcohol and guns, a constant in all of their albums.

Do you understand now how Matanza will help you during the World Cup? It’s heavy music with lots of sarcasm, bad words, and the perfect soundtrack for partying and having some drinks at a pub, which is pretty much everything you’ll be doing in Brazil, right? Or are you going to tell me you are planning to get there just to support your national squad?

Best moments of the album: A Arte do Insulto, O Chamado do Bar and Eu Não Gosto De Ninguém.

Worst moments of the album: O Caminho Da Escada e Da Corda and Quem Leva A Sério O Quê?

Released in 2006 Deckdisc

Track listing
1. A Arte do Insulto 1:51
2. Clube dos Canalhas 3:01
3. O Chamado do Bar 2:06
4. Sabendo Que Posso Morrer 2:19
5. Quem Perde Sai 2:32
6. Meio Psicopata 2:18
7. Eu Não Gosto De Ninguém 3:53
8. O Caminho Da Escada e Da Corda 3:00
9. Ressaca Sem Fim 3:08
10. Tempo Ruim 2:43
11. Quem Leva A Sério O Quê? 2:50
12. Whisky Para Um Condenado 2:22
13. Estamos Todos Bêbados 3:32

Band members
Jimmy London – vocals
China – bass
Fausto – drums
Donida – lead and rhythm guitar

Album Review – Valknacht / Le Sacrifice D’Ymir (2014)

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There are Vikings in Canada, and they play extraordinary heavy music.

Rating4

coverWhat if someone told you there’s a band from Canada that merges the extremely rich Norse mythology, constantly present in the Melodic Death Metal from Amon Amarth, with the more extreme sonority and obscure atmosphere from Black Metal in a very powerful and engaging way? Fortunately that band indeed exists: it goes by the robust name of Valknacht, and in order to make things even more unique their new album, the excellent Le Sacrifice D’Ymir, is entirely sung in Canadian French.

This Heathen Black Metal band from Quebec (or “Black Métal Païen Québecois”, as they would prefer) started back in 2005 and has already released three full-length albums: When the Might of the Storm Becomes Mine (2009), Chants de Guerre (2011), and now Le Sacrifice D’Ymir (2014), with the latest being in my opinion their strongest work so far. Moreover, although I’m not an expert in Canadian French, it’s easy to notice the presence of very interesting themes such as mythology, history and paganism in their lyrics and compositions, making the whole experience of listening to Valknacht even more enjoyable.

For instance, the name of the album, “The Sacrifice Of Ymir” in English, seems to be inspired by Ymir, father of the race of giants in Norse mythology and the grandfather of Odin, King of the Gods. “In Norse mythology, Ymir is the primordial giant and the progenitor of the race of frost giants. He was created from the melting ice of Niflheim, when it came in contact with the hot air from Muspell.”, according to the Encyclopedia Mythica. Honestly, it’s been quite a while since I saw such an original and appealing album name for the last time. But of course, not only the album name is good: each and every song from Le Sacrifice D’Ymir is a boisterous sonic storm that will please any headbanger that enjoys heavy riffs and a dense atmosphere together with an awesome lyrical content.

Le Sacrifice D’Ymir begins with the intro Normandnorum Ira, which opens the album at a high note and sounds as if it was tailored for an epic movie, followed by the perfect soundtrack for any battle La Bataille De Maldon, an excellent mix of Amon Amarth and Bathory with awesome vocals and damn heavy riffs and drums in its almost 10 minutes of awesomeness. And the Nordic battle rages on with Chants De Guerre, a Heavy Metal storm with a strong chorus that makes it one of the best of the entire album without any doubt.

valknachtThe next track, Sur Les Ruines De Rome, has a very dark and powerful atmosphere, and the addition of some folk elements (such as the flute) works really well when mixed with lead singer Thorleïf’s potent vocal range, which goes from sharp piercing vocals to totally gruesome guttural. And pay attention to the female vocals towards the end of the song, they’re pretty interesting too. Then comes what might be soon considered Valknacht’s biggest masterpiece: Le Sacrifice D’Ymir is a fast tune with an amazing intro and over 10 minutes of pure sonic massacre. It’s impossible not to love the riffs and the whole journey this song takes you through, and as soon as it’s over you’ll probably go back to listen to it again and again.

Furthermore, the epic side of the band continues to dominate their compositions in the last part of the album, with over 20 minutes of music in only three songs: De Murmures Et De Givre is more Folk and Black Metal than all other songs, albeit not as good; while Que Le Sang Constelle Mes Mains kicks off with a nice folk intro before turning into an extremely heavy song with massive riffs and drums. By the way, one interesting detail about this track are its rhythmic variations throughout the entire song, including nice acoustic passages and atmospheric keyboards. And finally we have Le Carmin Des Anges, a very Black Metal tune with an amazing riff in the beginning that remains as heavy as hell until the very end, closing the album in a very powerful way.

All band members did a wondrous job in this album, with highlights to the excellent lead singer Thorleïf and the monstrous drummer Matoleos. Not only that, the album art representing the sacrifice of Ymir is so professional and nicely done it could easily be mistaken with an actual painting at any vernissage, as even non-Heavy Metal fans would certainly appreciate it. The album is available for purchase HERE and HERE. By the way, you can also find an awesome limited edition available through the second link, which consists of a limited digipack (DVD size) hand numbered to 250 that includes the same booklet as the CD version and some extras.

To sum up, Le Sacrifice D’Ymir is a very good album that is here to prove to all of us that “la belle province” of Quebec has a lot more to offer than just smoked meat, poutine, Céline Dion and the Montreal Canadiens, and it will surely make not only the band members, but all “Québecois” metalheads and other Heavy Metal fans across the rest of Canada, very proud of their music.

Best moments of the album: La Bataille De Maldon, Chants De Guerre and Le Sacrifice D’Ymir.

Worst moments of the album: De Murmures Et De Givre.

Released in 2014 PRC Music

Track listing
1. Normandnorum Ira (Intro) 3:07
2. La Bataille De Maldon 9:32
3. Chants De Guerre 6:45
4. Sur Les Ruines De Rome 8:37
5. Le Sacrifice D’Ymir 10:07
6. De Murmures Et De Givre 7:17
7. Que Le Sang Constelle Mes Mains 7:24
8. Le Carmin Des Anges 4:56

Band members
Thorleïf – vocals
Dörv – guitars
Froidure – guitars
Siger – bass
Matoleos – drums

The Walking Dead Review – Episode 413: Alone

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Bob is not alone anymore, and that’s more than enough to make him happy even in the middle of the apocalypse.

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

If you haven’t seen Alone yet, I suggest you scroll down to the end of this post first and watch the entire episode before reading the rest of the text.

twd413_01Would you rather be alone or surrounded by other people in a zombie apocalypse? What if you choose to be with others, then you learn to like them, love them and live for them, just to learn that one day you’ll lose them and things are going to be even worse than when you’re completely by yourself? In my opinion, those were the biggest questions The Walking Dead wanted to left to the fans after last night’s episode. There were no answers to other important things, like where Rick, Carl and Michonne are, what Terminus really is or what happened to Glenn, Tara and Sergeant Abraham, though.

This episode was almost totally focused on the relationship between Bob and Sasha, with the inclusion of Maggie as the “desperate wife looking for her husband”, and more stupid scenes with Daryl and Beth “trying” really hard to screw up everything. By the way, it looks like one of the fan-favorite characters is becoming more and more like a rebel teenager, instead of growing up and becoming a man like Carl is. Again, are the writers trying to get more attention from the young female audience that’s afraid of zombies, and just want to watch the show because of Daryl? That’s not a wise choice of what to do with a good character, not at all.

But let’s go back to Bob, our main character in “Alone”. We finally got to know something about his past: poor Bob was just another lonely soul in a post-apocalyptical world, totally by himself, hopeless, wandering through the woods and facing at the same time his issues with alcohol and lots of flesh-eating zombies. We all have to admit that situation would be among the worst ones for any person with a heart and a soul, right? That’s exactly what Bob acknowledged after the attack at the prison that almost left each survivor on his own. Bob knows he’s the only person inside the prison that didn’t lose a loved one during or after the battle, and now for the first time in his post-apocalyptical life he’s not alone. He said there was some kind of “curse” on him, that he’s always the only survivor of his group, but fortunately it seems his fate has changed after being accepted at the prison (the third group in his life). In the end, that’s a very good reason for him to keep smiling even amidst so much destruction and death, and even after almost being bitten by a walker he looked relaxed! Well, Bob knows loneliness can be a lot more painful than any zombie bite, no doubt about it.

On the other hand, it takes some time for Sasha and Maggie to realize that, and therefore we see them struggling with their hopes and fears for too much time, not sure where to go and what to do. Sasha is more like that type of survivor that just wants to find a place to sleep and rest for some time, and she doesn’t want to think about Tyreese’s fate not even for a second, so strong is her fear of having lost him forever, while Maggie is just worried about finding Glenn no matter what (and that includes using zombie guts to create signs for Glenn!). One thing that I cannot stop thinking about is: what happened to Maggie’s southern accent? She sounds a lot more British now, has anyone noticed that too? Anyway, by the end of the episode, and after killing a bunch of zombies in very gruesome ways, they are ready to head to Terminus and finally find out if their loved ones are there too.

twd413_02Last but not least, I truly didn’t want to talk about Daryl and Beth anymore after last week’s episode, but as the writers are focusing on that new “romantic duo” there’s nothing we can do about it. While they were at that mansion/morgue pretending life was normal and eating junk food even surrounded by dead corpses with weird makeup, I was wondering how that scene would have been with Merle instead of Beth. The “Dixon Brothers” would never have been so sloppy or reckless like that. Daryl has officially put his guard down after losing his big brother, and guess what? They were ambushed by a mysterious psycho, who kidnapped Beth while Daryl had to fight against dozens of zombies attracted to the house by that eerie person. That was extremely predictable, and making Daryl look like a “crying boy without his new girlfriend” after that didn’t work well. At least now Beth will face some real danger and maybe stop being so childish, and let’s hope Daryl turns all his despair and desolation into anger, gets back to the old days, and uses his famous crossbow to kill those mercenaries, especially the one who seems to be their leader. His name, by the way, is Joe.

Alone (FULL EPISODE)

Album Review – Humbucker / King of the World (2014)

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As the great Mick Jagger would say, I know it’s only Rock N’ Roll but I like it.

Rating4

Humbucker_KOTWWhat once was a cover band to AC/DC, Motörhead and other classic bands back in 1998 can now be considered a reality in the world of heavy music: Norwegian Hard Rockers Humbucker are definitely here to stay. After a huge hiatus from 2002 to 2010, when they got back together to finally record their debut album R.O.C.K.S between 2011 and 2012, it’s time for one of “Norway’s coolest and most hard-working rock bands” (according to the band itself!) to release their second album, the pure Hard Rock party King of the World.

Actually, the Hard Rock in King of the World is far away from being pure: it’s just that when I say “pure” I mean “dirty”, got it? Because pure Hard Rock must have dirty lyrics, dirty riffs and dirty musicians. Of course a band can be very dirty but professional at the same time, without losing that delightful raw musicality perfect for enjoying a beer with friends and family, and that’s exactly what Humbucker do in this album. This can already be seen in the opening track, “beautifully” named Self-Made Son Of A Bitch, which after its short bass intro turns into a motherfuckin’-drunk-kick ass Hard Rock song with an excellent chorus and everything it needs to become a hit.

One Size Fits All keeps the party moving with its very traditional Rock N’ Roll approach, and I truly believe this song was made to be played exclusively at a Rock N’ Roll pub full of beautiful girls, close friends and awesome beer. The same can be said about the title-track, King Of The World, which sounds a lot like a Hard Rock version for the all-time The Rolling Stones’ classic “It’s only Rock N’ Roll (But I Like It)”, and Gone Fishing, with its funny lyrics, heavy  riffs and rhythmic drums. In my opinion, the beginning of the album couldn’t have been any dirtier and more traditional than this.

Then come one of the best songs of the album, Dirty Nelly, a superb tribute to the good old Rock N’ Roll from the 60’s with some extra “spice” from the 80’s, and Harder Being Me, a generic ballad a la Mr. Big’s “Wild World” that doesn’t have the same punch of all previous tracks, but that doesn’t compromise the overall quality of the album by any means.

The last part of the album has its highs and lows: while Lone Rider has a nice metallic riff and is a pretty good song to hit the road, Lord Have Mercy and its country elements are not enough to make this song a memorable one. Hey You! raises the bar just a little with its nice guitar solos and cheesy chorus, and the last track of the album, I Did It All (Thank You & Goodnight!), is a goddamn awesome tribute to the one and only Motörhead, one of the biggest influences in the band’s career as previously mentioned.

HumbuckerMoreover, if you still have any energy (or beer?) left for some more thrilling Hard Rock, you’re going to love the bonus tracks Strongman, an excellent fast tune previously released by the band only as a single available for digital download, and a very competent cover version for Whitesnake’s Wine, Women An’ Song.

A very interesting fact about Humbucker is that the band is even selling special signed CD copies of King of the World in jewel case in their website, showing how much they care about their “baby” and, of course, their fans. And finally, we all have to admit how cool the album art is and give lots of kudos to the awesome French Photoshop artist Ludovic Cordelières of Rusalkadesign.com. If you have some free time, I really suggest you go check out the “making of” video and other details about Pattern Platform I: Monarch, the “name” of the art that became King of the World’s front cover, it’s really interesting.

In summary, are Humbucker an excellent Hard Rock band with very talented musicians? Yes. Are they trying to reinvent the wheel with their music? Not even a little. And that’s probably why they nailed it with King of the World: we all know it’s only Rock N’ Roll, but we certainly like it. Yes, we do.

Best moments of the album: Self-Made Son Of A Bitch, One Size Fits All, Dirty Nelly and I Did It All (Thank You & Goodnight!).

Worst moments of the album: Harder Being Me and Lord Have Mercy.

Released in 2014 Abysmal Sounds

Track listing
1. Self-Made Son Of A Bitch 2:40
2. One Size Fits All 3:17
3. King Of The World 2:41
4. Gone Fishing 3:07
5. Dirty Nelly 2:48
6. Harder Being Me 4:11
7. Lone Rider 3:41
8. Lord Have Mercy 4:11
9. Hey You! 3:25
10. I Did It All (Thank You & Goodnight!) 2:21

Bonus tracks
11. Wine, Women An’ Song (Whitesnake cover) 3:44
12. Strongman 3:41

Band members
Jan Anders “Longbeard” Bøen – lead vocals
John Petter “No Thanks” Pershaug – guitars
Vidar “Maniac” Svanheld – guitars
Lars Stian “Too Late” Havraas – bass
Geir Arne “The Cannon” Dale – drums

Album Review – Syndrome / Colourful Cows EP (2013)

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An interesting and totally experimental alternative outside the world of Heavy Metal.

Rating5

Colourful CowsWhenever you want to have a “break” from all the intensity of Heavy Metal (if that’s humanly possible), an interesting alternative is the EP Colourful Cows, launched in 2013 by Israeli/English Electro-Rock Alternative band Syndrome. Formed in 2010 and based in Israel and London, UK, this independent band adds a lot of different elements and experimental techniques to their regular instruments, generating a unique sonority that will certainly please fans of alternative music.

According to the band, the EP tells the first part of a story about the “Colourful Cows”, a metaphor to our life and society, and their music is totally designed based on virtual and real instruments mixed together, live sampling, programmed synthesizing and new live performance methods. All this “technical” explanation might not make a lot of sense for anyone who’s not connected to this world of electronic/experimental music. However, after listening to the entire EP, you’ll be able to better understand their proposal.

The first track of the EP, Exhibition Trial, works as a welcome card to what the band can offer us: it’s a very experimental song, with heavy keyboards and some moments that make me feel I’m inside a “psycho circus”. It’s a good start that will make you want to listen more of Syndrome’s music. The following song, Change, is a song full of special electronic effects and samples that also has an interesting intro with a female voice saying we have to shoot “them” in the head in order to kill them. Are they referring to zombies, or maybe to real living human beings as per the original idea of the album? Even being a huge fan of zombies, I choose the second option without a shadow of a doubt.

SyndromeThen come Open The Gate, a ballad with several elements that remind me of what artists like David Bowie usually present in their compositions, and L.Q.C, a more Rock N’ Roll and by far the heaviest song in Colourful Cows, which nice solos mixed with strong synths and drumming made it my favorite of all.

Colourful Cows has three more tracks that are completely different from one another: Exhibition Trial II is an instrumental ballad based on a calm and smooth piano; Get My Words is another crazy music voyage, full of synths and with a curious synthesized guitar solo; and the outro Colourful Cows is totally experimental and as odd as it can be.

The music in Colourful Cows is so “weird” that I didn’t know where to add this review, if in the 2013 New Releases or in the 2014 New Releases. Well, guess what? Neither category was selected, first because the EP was released back in August 2013 (a long, long time ago), and second because it’s not Heavy Metal at all, so it couldn’t be added to any of those categories anyway. That’s why it ended up here in the middle of the Other Reviews, which might sound weird, but remember that’s what Syndrome are and enjoy doing after all.

Last but not least, if you’re a musician interested in knowing more about how Syndrome creates their music, go to their technical webpage called Insight, which displays video clips demonstrating their technology and methods.

Best moments of the album: Exhibition Trial, Change and L.Q.C.

Worst moments of the album: Open the Gate.

Released in 2013 Independent

Track listing
1. Exhibition Trial 3:29
2. Change 3:09
3. Open The Gate 3:12
4. L.Q.C 4:18
5. Exhibition Trial II 3:00
6. Get My Words 3:59
7. Colourful Cows 1:23

Band members
Eric Shlomi – vocals
Amo – guitar & synth
Kiki Kalifa – guitar
Shaltiel Elul – synth & conductor
Gil Zissu – bass guitar
Dima Shchukin – soundman

Album Review – Iron Savior / Rise of the Hero (2014)

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If you’re addicted to traditional Power Metal, you’ll definitely love the new Iron Savior album.

Rating4

CoverNo one knows if Germany is going to win the 2104 World Cup in Brazil in a few months. However, if they play only half as amazing as the new releases from many Teutonic Heavy Metal bands, I’m pretty sure they’ll make it at least to the final four. After the sonic extravaganza we’ve already had the pleasure to enjoy this year from bands like Primal Fear, Axel Rudi Pell, Vanden Plas, Van Canto, and even Caliban (and there are many others, but I just can’t list all of them here), here come Piet Sielck and his mates from German Power Metal band Iron Savior with another damn good traditional Power Metal album, Rise of the Hero, the eighth full-length studio album in their solid career.

I must admit it’s hard to find any signs of innovation in the whole album, but remember we’re talking about POWER METAL here, a genre where basically no creativity is necessary in the making of a great album, and besides, it’s not an item requested by the diehard fans at all: we just want some heavy riffs, fast solos and sing-along chorus while we enjoy a beer and bang our heads with our friends at a concert or festival anywhere in the world.

In order to warm up their fans for some pure Power Metal, the band offers us the good intro Ascendence, full of “spaceship” effects and other interesting elements. Then it’s time for the real party to start with Last Hero, a song that couldn’t sound more traditional with its double bass and addictive chorus, which simply means it’s awesome, and Revenge of the Bride, a very Gamma Ray-like track (maybe as a tribute to his friend Kai Hansen, who was with the band from 1996 to 2001?) with direct riffs and drums.

The electricity continues with From Far Beyond Time, which starts with a nice riff before turning into another traditional fast Power Metal tune the likes of Blind Guardian, especially the singing and backing vocals, and Burning Heart, with its astounding rhythm, awesome raw bass lines, and a chorus that is perfect for those famous “Oh-oh-oh!” moments when played live. By the way, the video for this track is really funny: how did Piet find so much time to sing the whole song inside his car? Was the traffic so bad he couldn’t move for almost 5 minutes? Anyway, it’s for sure one of the best songs of the album, if not the best.

BandFor the ones that love that insanely fast Power Metal from the 80’s, Thunder from the Mountains is absolutely mandatory in your playlist: it has the same kind of punch found on Helloween’s classic Ride the Sky. But if you prefer those songs that are made for banging your head and playing some air guitar, you’ll love the great Iron Warrior and the following track, the not so amazing Dragon King, with its 100% Manowar-ish lyrics.

The next song was supposed to be just a bonus track, but the band liked the final result so much they decided to make it a regular album track, according to Piet himself: Dance with Somebody is a cover to Swedish Rock band Mando Diao’s hit, and I guess I don’t need to say which version is better, right? The following track, Firestorm, is a good song, but it lacks the same energy as the rest of the album and it falls flat after a while; the same happens with The Demon, a semi-ballad that doesn’t exactly match with Iron Savior’s style. The last track of the album, Fistraiser, puts things back where they belong, and if you don’t see yourself in the lyrics, I’m sorry, but you’re not a true Heavy Metal fan. Finally, if you purchase the special edition or the Japanese edition of the album, you’ll also get the 2014 version for Iron Savior’s old tracks I’ve Been To Hell or Mind Over Matter, respectively.

The beautiful album art by Colombian artist Felipe Machado Franco, who has worked with many other Heavy Metal icons such as Blind Guardian, Rage and Iced Earth, couldn’t represent better the music in Rise of the Hero. In other words (and I may sound repetitive here), it’s pure Power Metal, something the talented Piet and his band have managed to do extremely well since the formation of Iron Savior, and we can happily rest assured it’s something they will keep doing in the years to come.

Best moments of the album: Last Hero, Burning Heart, Iron Warrior and Dance with Somebody.

Worst moments of the album: Dragon King, Firestorm and The Demon.

Released in 2014 AFM Records

Track listing
1. Ascendence (Intro) 1:28
2. Last Hero 5:00
3. Revenge of the Bride 4:35
4. From Far Beyond Time 5:17
5. Burning Heart 4:39
6. Thunder from the Mountains 5:08
7. Iron Warrior 4:41
8. Dragon King 5:43
9. Dance with Somebody (Mando Diao cover) 3:55
10. Firestorm 4:58
11. The Demon 5:02
12. Fistraiser 4:40 

Bonus tracks
13. I’ve Been To Hell 2014 (Limited Edition) 4:04
14. Mind Over Matter 2014 (Japanese Edition) 5:34

Band members
Piet Sielck – vocals, guitars
Joachim “Piesel” Küstner – guitars, backing vocals, additional lead vocals on “I’ve Been To Hell 2014” and “Mind Over Matter 2014”
Jan-Sören Eckert – bass, backing vocals
Thomas Nack – drums, backing vocals

 

The Walking Dead Review – Episode 412: Still

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Daryl and Beth’s “special menu” had rattlesnakes and moonshine, but it wasn’t that tasty after all.

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

If you haven’t seen Still yet, I suggest you scroll down to the end of this post first and watch the entire episode before reading the rest of the text.

twd412_01Based on the extremely slow pace of all episodes after its mid-season finale last year, it looks like the second half of AMC’s The Walking Dead will continue to be focused on building the characters rather than putting them into serious and gory confrontations with hordes of zombies or armies of living people, and honestly, I don’t really like the way things are going on now.

Of course, I’ve always told my friends that we cannot expect the survivors to fight, kill and run away from zombies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, otherwise they would all be dead by the end of the very first episode of the first season. However, spending an entire hour watching Daryl and Beth acting like two rebellious teenagers looking for booze felt more like a rip-off than anything else. I understand many fans where asking for more “details” about the hazy past of some characters such as Michonne and Daryl, but I wonder why now and why “wasting” entire episodes like that? Maybe producers are trying to reach another type of audience, people that enjoy knowing every single detail about the life of a character and that do not care too much about some real action, or even worse, that are afraid of zombies and blood. If they’re actually doing that, or if they’re just trying to extend the show as much as possible to make more money, they’ll end up losing a lot of their loyal fans pretty soon.

Anyway, let’s try to look at the good points of this episode and try to learn some lessons from it: as opposed to Rick, Carl and Michonne, who even found a good house to stay for a while, Daryl and Beth are living like real survivors, making fire out of almost nothing, hunting squirrels, eating rattlesnakes, collecting garbage, drinking dirty water, and sleeping or hiding basically anywhere. By the way, that initial sequence where they hide inside that car’s trunk for hours was excellent and should have been developed a little more, because the tension created was good but not marvelous. Getting back to the action, I believe their situation would be the most common one for lots of people in the case of a real zombie outbreak, because no survivor would be willing to rebuild anything: the human being main goal in that scenario would most probably be surviving no matter what, unfortunately looking a lot like real homeless people, which is a pretty sad but likely situation.

The other good point of this episode is that the human being is a lazy ass son of a bitch that prefers risking his life for stupid things like drugs and alcohol rather than trying to find a real way out of his problems. Looting what once was a fancy country club to find some booze because Beth wanted to have her first drink in life was totally absurd. I agree everyone would be dying for a beer after all they had to go through, but was that really necessary for their survival? Beth said we should all have an objective in life in order to actually live, and she’s right, but that craving for alcohol was way too stupid.

twd412_02Well, they ended up finding some disgusting peach schnapps, and later went to a place Daryl knew (well, it looks like they were not that lost in the end) to have some moonshine and some ridiculous drinking games together. As I mentioned before, they were acting like irresponsible teens, and they were lucky no horde of walkers was around to crash their private party. Beth might be growing as a character and even helping Daryl fight his ghosts from the past, but most of her ideas and decisions this episode were really awful.

And finally, later in the episode, Daryl cries and Beth hugs him from behind, for the total delight (or should I say despair?) of all women that watch the show just because of Daryl. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good scene full of emotion, but again I don’t think it’s time for that. I’m pretty sure every emotional girl is asking if that was the beginning of a great friendship or if it will evolve to something else, right? Personally, I don’t want to believe that the producers are going to create another romantic young couple in the show like Glenn and Maggie to pleasure the female audience, and besides, why didn’t they do it with Dayl when he was getting closer to Carol? Although I consider Emily Kinney a gorgeous woman and enjoy her character, Daryl and Carol seemed a lot more sincere and interesting together. Anyway, now that Daryl and Beth had some fun burning down a house, drinking alcohol and killing walkers, they got a lot closer and are living some kind of “fairytale”. But how long will they be able to survive like that before one of them freaks out or dies? For the sake of the whole show, I hope something (bad) happens to any of them soon.

Still (FULL EPISODE) 

Metal Chick of the Month – Dani Nolden

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You know what I am… An angel with horns!

Brazil has a lot more to offer than just samba, caipirinha and half-naked mulatas dancing during Carnival. Especially in regards to women there, that stereotype really makes me sick: I guess not even 1% of the Brazilian girls are like that, and a very good example is the stunning Daniela Nolden, or simply Dani Nolden, lead singer of Brazilian Heavy Metal band Shadowside.

Dani Nolden was born on December 26, 1982 in the coastal city of Santos, Brazil, located about 70 km from the city of São Paulo and 500 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro. She started her life in music at the age of 8, taking piano lessons, but after she was introduced to bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Judas Priest and Skid Row, she took a completely different path of what their parents were expecting from her. She then became a Metal/Rock singer and songwriter, being with many independent bands until founding Shadowside back in 2001. The band then reached some success and status in the world of heavy music in its first year of existence, being one of the opening bands for the South American/Brazilian tours of Nightwish and Primal Fear.

In the following years, Dani Nolden and her band Shadowside literally “went places”: in 2006, Shadowside supported German Heavy Metal icons Helloween during their tour in Brazil; in 2007, the band won the AirPlay Direct‘s  “All Things Digital Hard Rock/Heavy Metal” among over 1,000 bands worldwide; and due to that exposure they signed a major worldwide deal and began touring the United States, Europe and South America, performing with bands such as Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., Kittie, Sepultura and Temple of Brutality (feat. David Ellefson of Megadeth). One of Dani’s career highlights happened during Shadowside’s first US tour in 2008, at the Flight of the Valkyries festival in St. Paul, Minnesota, when she shared the stage with American heavy metal band Benedictum for a few Dio cover songs as part of an exclusive performance.

To date, Dani has recorded one EP and three full-length albums with Shadowside, being responsible for the vocals and keyboards in all recordings: Shadowside – Demo EP (2001), Theatre of Shadows (2005), Dare to Dream (2009), and Inner Monster Out (2011). By the way, the album Theatre of Shadows brings an awesome cover version for Dio’s unique classic Rainbow in the Dark, where Dani beautifully shows all her vocal range and potency. Besides Shadowside, Dani has also played with the symphonic band Sphaera Rock Orchestra, a project created by musician Alexey Kurkdjian that mixes Classical and Rock music, and appeared as a guest vocalist with the Brazilian Power Metal band Soulspell during their 2011 tour. She also works as a music consultant for the company The Ultimate Music when she’s not recording or on tour with her band.

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Her biggest influences in music include Heavy Metal legends Iron Maiden, Helloween, Nightwish and Sepultura, Hard Rock giants W.A.S.P., Skid Row and Guns N’ Roses, and more modern or contemporary bands like Disturbed, Soilwork and Rammstein. Moreover, she mentioned in an interview that if she had to choose only one band or artist for the “tour of her dreams”, that band would certainly be Iron Maiden. Up the Irons, Dani!

Last but not least, when this gorgeous metalhead is not doing anything related to her career with Shadowside, she enjoys playing videogames, reading books, watching movies, surfing, and practicing Kung Fu. She also loves soccer, which might be her biggest Brazilian characteristic, even being a teenage soccer player before having to abandon that potential career due to her increasing amount of work and tours with Shadowside. I know the world of heavy music is a lot better with Dani Nolden as a Heavy Metal singer rather than as a soccer player, but I guess no one would mind watching a simply stunning epic duel between our “Metal Chick of the Month” for Brazil and Hope Solo for the United States, don’t you agree? At least visually speaking, that would be a lot more pleasant to watch than any of the matches between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Dani Nolden’s Official Facebook page
Dani Nolden’s Official Twitter

“Dare to dream, it just might come true!” – Dani Nolden

Album Review – Bjarm / Imminence (2014)

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This new Symphonic Black Metal band from Russia has what it takes to conquer the world of heavy music.

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bjarm_imminenceAlthough the Winter Olympics 2014 are over, let’s stay in Russia and enjoy the obscure Imminence, the debut album from Symphonic Black Metal band Bjarm. Formed in 2009 and based in the city of Severodvinsk, in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the name of the band was not chosen in vain: Bjarmaland (also spelled Bjarmland or Bjarmia) was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas up to the Viking Age, and it usually referred to the southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina River, which today comprise a part of the Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia. In other words, the band has a very creative and strong name, but what about their music?

Honestly, it’s very difficult to find anything from Russian Heavy Metal bands on the web and even harder at any music store (at least here in Canada), so I didn’t know what to expect from Bjarm. I personally don’t remember listening to or reading about any bands from Russia except for Symphonic Power Metal band Арктида (Arktida) and Epic Pagan Metal band Аркона (Arkona), and even in those two cases the information is usually very scarce. However, I went to a Helloween concert during my vacation last year in Saint Petersburg and was able to see how passionate Russian fans are for heavy music, so in my mind I started to imagine their music as something at least full of passion and feeling.

And for my total happiness, I was not wrong: the final result in Imminence outdid all my expectations in terms of creativity, intensity and professionalism. Bjarm might be essentially a Black Metal band, but by adding many elements from Symphonic Metal and Death Metal in their music they were able to create a more complex musicality than just some raw generic Black Metal. Not only that, the fact that Imminence was mixed at a good studio such as Stone Oil Studio and mastered by Tony Lindgren (who has already worked with great bands like Paradise Lost and Kreator) at Fascination Street Studios, provided the album a very good and professional sound quality too.

The imposing intro Approaching Of The Close opens the album in a way that would make the guys from Cradle of Filth very proud, as it reminds me of their famous intros from the albums Dusk and Her Embrace and Cruelty and the Beast, followed by the dark and heavy Knowledge Of Doom, a pure Black Metal song with amazing female vocals and atmospheric keyboards, and without any doubt one of the best tracks in Imminence. The obscurity goes on with Ominous Dreams, with highlights to the deep growling by Andrey and the extremely heavy riffs mixed with some more strong keyboard notes.

The next track, The Nine Worlds, is one of the fastest of all (if not the fastest) especially due to the Death Metal elements found in it; it’s not less symphonic, though, as the keyboards are always there to give it that Black Metal touch. Fire Lord’s Torment sounds like if it was extracted from a horror movie soundtrack, with a beautiful piano in the beginning that works as an intro to a very heavy and dense sequence, while the title-track, Imminence, is an instrumental song very well-executed by all band members, especially the keyboards by the gorgeous Anastasiya. By the way, what’s the secret with the girls in Russia? I’ve never seen a single Russian girl that is not pretty!

bjarmGetting back to the music in Imminence, the next track, Oracle, is very melancholic and evil, and has lots of elements from Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir in it, especially the diabolic vocals by Andrey that seem to be really inspired by Shagrath, while Secret Of The Immortals gets back to a more symphonic sonority with total focus on the sound of the keyboards together with the rhythmic drums.

The last part of Imminence is composed by the song The Highest Hall, another evil track that sounds a lot like some old Dimmu Borgir songs with a pretty decent job done by drummer Vitaliy, and Tree On The Bones, a truly grim track that, although not as creative as the rest of the album, ends it in a way that will let all listeners with a very good impression of the work done by the band, eager for more of Bjarm’s Symphonic Black Metal and to see them recreating all that dark atmosphere in a live concert.

The album art, designed by artist Al.Ex, from the Mayhem Project, is also very professional, and of course, dense and obscure as expected, increasing the overall quality of Imminence even more. I’m pretty sure all band members are extremely proud of their “child”, and let’s hope new good bands like Bjarm keep coming from Russia or any other countries to provide us metalheads more unique and interesting music like what’s found in Imminence.

Best moments of the album: Knowledge Of Doom, Ominous Dreams and Oracle.

Worst moments of the album: Fire Lord’s Torment and Tree On The Bones.

Released in 2014 Fono Ltd.

Track listing
1. Approaching Of The Close 3:32
2. Knowledge Of Doom 6:33
3. Ominous Dreams 6:23
4. The Nine Worlds 5:55
5. Fire Lord’s Torment 6:04
6. Imminence 3:46
7. Oracle 3:47
8. Secret Of The Immortals 4:33
9. The Highest Hall 4:13
10. Tree On The Bones 5:30

Band members
Andrey – Vocal
Egor – Guitar
Anastasiya – Keyboards
Aleksey – Guitar
Mikhail – Bass
Vitaliy – Drums

Album Review – Vanden Plas / Chronicles of the Immortals – Netherworld (2014)

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Get ready for an amazing journey through the worlds of literature and music in the new Rock Opera Album by these German Progressive Metal icons.

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vandenplas_chroniclesIf you’re a fan of Heavy Metal and love reading a good book, you have to listen to the new concept album by German Progressive Metal band Vanden Plas, the seventh full-length album in their career, called Chronicles of the Immortals – Netherworld. The album is based on the novel Die Chronik Der Unsterblichen, by author Wolfgang Hohlbein, who, with 43 million books sold worldwide, is not only Germany’s biggest-selling author but also a fan of Vanden Plas. The novel, and consequently the album, narrate the adventures of vampire Andrej Delãny and his comrade Abu Dun, who search for the secret of their origin through Europe in recent centuries, always meeting new threats and thereby witnessing several significant events in European history. It portrays a variety of ideas about vampires and other mythical creatures, including also the modern myth of the Highlander.

Do not expect to find lots of insane guitar solos, drums as fast as possible, or any guitar shredding: the music found in Chronicles of the Immortals – Netherworld is 100% progressive, focused on the atmosphere created especially by the voice of singer Andy Kuntz and keyboards by Günter Werno. There’s a lot of melody in this album, which can already be noticed in the opening track, the intro Vision 1ne, with its beautiful narration (perfect for any movie) and piano, and Vision 2wo – The Black Knight, a very progressive track just like Vanden Plas and Dream Theater love to do with an eerie intro and calm passages.

The following tracks (or “visions”) are Vision 3hree – Godmaker, a lot heavier than the previous song with great keyboards and riffs, and Andy Kuntz doing a superb job on vocals, making it one of the best of the whole album;  Vision 4our – Misery Affection Prelude, which is just an intro/bridge to the next song, the ballad Vision 5ive – A Ghosts Requiem, with a very delicate piano and amazing choir; and Vision 6ix – New Vampyre, with great riffs, keyboards, and nice guitar solos.

vandenplasHowever, it’s the next two tracks that really stand out to our ears and souls. The first is Vision 7even – The King and the Children of Lost World, a song that has the full package: its strong riffs, beautiful lyrics and excellent solos at the end make it the perfect representation of what Progressive Metal really is. And then the second one, Vision 8ight – Misery Affection, is the perfect ballad with a smooth intro, pleasant piano, and gorgeous female vocals (who’s the owner of that mesmerizing voice?) in an astonishing duo with Kuntz. In my humble opinion, it’s the best track of the album and one of the best Vanden Plas have ever produced.

The last part of the album begins with the strong bass lines by Torsten Reichert in the song Vision 9ine – Soul Alliance, followed by Vision 10n – Inside, the last track of the album, which continues with the same level of energy from its predecessor and leaves us wanting more of this awesome progressive heavy music, even after almost one hour of complexity and intensity not easy for regular people to digest.

In summary, the whole album would the perfect soundtrack for a Chronicles of the Immortals movie. It’s a very cohesive work done by this band of terrific musicians, with extraordinary melody and, of course, an amazing storyline. Not only that, the whole production is extremely professional, from the audio mixing to the album art, which by the way looks like the front cover of one of Mr. Hohlbein’s books. Maybe that was one of the main ideas behind the whole album: creating a unique album which wanders between the worlds of literature and music, and so offering the fans of the band and of Mr. Hohlbein’s work a totally new experience in the world of heavy music.

Best moments of the album: Vision 3hree – Godmaker, Vision 7even – The King and the Children of Lost World and Vision 8ight – Misery Affection.

Worst moments of the album: Vision 5ive – A Ghosts Requiem and Vision 6ix – New Vampyre.

Released in 2014 Frontiers Records

Track listing
1. Vision 1ne 3:52
2. Vision 2wo – The Black Knight 8:29
3. Vision 3hree – Godmaker 5:24
4. Vision 4our – Misery Affection Prelude 1:39
5. Vision 5ive – A Ghosts Requiem 3:56
6. Vision 6ix – New Vampyre 6:16
7. Vision 7even – The King and the Children of Lost World 7:53
8. Vision 8ight – Misery Affection 5:08
9. Vision 9ine – Soul Alliance 6:39
10. Vision 10n – Inside 6:42

Band members
Andy Kuntz – vocals
Stephan Lill – guitars
Günter Werno – keyboards
Torsten Reichert – bass
Andreas Lill – drums