Tag Archives: alternative metal

Album Review – Lacuna Coil / Broken Crown Halo (2014)

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1

Milan-based Heavy Metal icons are back with another good album that will please their fans for sure.

Rating5

lacuna_coil_bchSome like to call them Alternative Metal, some Gothic Metal, and some even Alternative Rock. No matter which definition you believe suits them better, Italian band Lacuna Coil have always been recognized as one of the most creative and influential bands in heavy music from the past two decades, and now Andrea Ferro, la bella ragazza Cristina Scabbia & Co. return with another good album, Broken Crown Halo, which according to the band was in part influenced by classic Italian horror movies, and it’s also the last to feature drummer Cristiano “Criz” Mozzati and guitarist Cristiano “Pizza” Migliore.

We must admit it might be pretty hard for the band to stay relevant and generate innovative material after all those years on the road, but this Milan-based band always manages to provide us something that’s at least enjoyable, which is the case with this new album. I don’t know how much the departure of Criz and Pizza might have impacted the recording of Broken Crown Halo, nor how this will affect the band’s live performances, but one thing we can rest assured: the album is not disappointing at all.

Nothing Stands in Our Way opens the album in a very traditional “Lacuna Coil” way, with some good riffs and keyboards together with Cristina’s potent voice, making it one of the best tracks of the album. Then we have a more Heavy Metal track called Zombies, in which Andrea and Cristina do a very good job, with highlights also to the pretty cool and strong bass lines, followed by Hostage to the Light, which gets the album back to a more gothic atmosphere (especially due to its beautiful vocal lines).

Victims follows almost the same line as the previous track, although not as good and sometimes too generic, while Die & Rise sounds very alternative with some electronic elements. Can it be considered some kind of “heavy dance music”? Anyway, the next track I Forgive (But I Won’t Forget Your Name) reminds me a little of Within Temptation, albeit too repetitive and even too pop for a heavy music album.

lacuna_coilBroken Crown Halo goes on with another alternative semi-ballad called Cybersleep, which is not engaging at all; Infection, a heavier track with Nu Metal bass lines and an interesting chorus; and one of my favorites, I Burn in You, with its vocals, harmony and rhythm inspired by some good old 80’s Gothic Rock mixed with the musicality of bands like Paradise Lost and The Gathering. I wish they had added more of this to the album, as it’s really pleasurable to listen to and avoids that “generic” feeling we’re all afraid of finding in our favorite bands’ material.

The last two tracks of Broken Crown Halo are the good In the End I Feel Alive, especially because of its heavy riffs and bass lines (which I really enjoyed) and another very cohesive vocal duet, and the melancholic ballad One Cold Day, the longest track of the album totally focused on piano passages, beautiful lyrics and Cristina’s delicate vocals. By the way, what else can be said about Cristina that hasn’t been said yet? She’s totally awesome.

In summary, Broken Crown Halo will please almost all fans of the band, because although it’s not a masterpiece it’s far from being a “schifo” (as the band members would say), and the talent and professionalism of the whole band is always remarkable. Besides, in my opinion it’s slightly better than its predecessor, Dark Adrenaline, or at least less pop, which is a good thing for Heavy Metal fans like myself that prefer the heavy riffs found in this album than any overproduced videos or excessive cheesiness done just to make more money, and therefore it will help the band keep their fire burning for many years to come.

Best moments of the album: Nothing Stands in Our Way, Hostage of the Light, I Burn in You and In the End I Feel Alive.

Worst moments of the album: Victims, I Forgive (But I Won’t Forget Your Name) and Cybersleep.

Released in 2014 Century Media

Track listing
1. Nothing Stands in Our Way 4:07
2. Zombies 3:47
3. Hostage to the Light 3:56
4. Victims 4:31
5. Die & Rise 3:44
6. I Forgive (But I Won’t Forget Your Name) 3:56
7. Cybersleep 4:26
8. Infection 4:23
9. I Burn in You 4:15
10. In the End I Feel Alive 4:21
11. One Cold Day 6:09

Band members
Cristina Scabbia – vocals
Andrea Ferro – vocals
Marco Coti Zelati – bass
Marco ‘Maus’ Biazzi – guitars
Cristiano ‘Pizza’ Migliore* – guitars
Cristiano ‘Criz’ Mozzati* – drums

*Retired from the band in February 2014

Album Review – Eths / Ex Umbra In Solem EP (2014)

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Rachel Aspe is definitely here to stay. Or should I say she’s here to scream?

Rating4

CoverAfter the departure of singer Candice Clot from French Heavy Metal/Hardcore band Eths, no one knew exactly what was going to happen with the band, as she was considered an essential part of its musicality. However, the other band members didn’t waste any time, immediately replacing her with the gorgeous and talented Rachel Aspe (who will pretty soon be our “Metal Chick of the Month”), and now releasing a new EP called Ex Umbra In Solem.

Although the music from this Marseille-based band is entirely in French, “le langage de l’amour”, they’ve chosen Latin instead to name the EP, which in English means something like “From Shadow to the Sun”, maybe as a representation of the moment the band has been through in the past few months before finding Rachel. Anyway, Ex Umbra In Solem is a special digipak limited and numbered 1 to 1,000 (available exclusively at the Season Of Mist’s official e-shop and other French stores), containing a brand new song, three classic tracks recorded live on October 24, 2013 at the Divan du Monde in Paris, France, mixed by Nikhertz at Studio Phantom, and three songs from the III album, re-recorded with Rachel on vocals.

So let’s get down to business with the title-track, Ex Umbra In Solem, the only original song of the EP, with its slow, obscure and delicate intro that suddenly turns into pure violence with great riffs, all fostered by a really nice chorus (“Et je mâche, au plus profond je nage / J’abandonne lentement / Vide, elle flotte à déraison / Isolée, je tombe (in solem)”). Rachel’s voice is really powerful when guttural and smooth when clean, sounding like some of The Agonist songs, and I really wish there were more original tracks here. Well, we’ll have to wait for their next full-length album for that.

Then come the three live tracks recorded last year in Paris, with all instruments cleanly captured for our delight: Samantha might be a very short song, but its live recording sounded amazing, explaining why it was included in the EP. Moreover, Rachel is pretty good live, which is when it really matters, and it’s interesting how she can quickly change her voice in a very consistent way without any sudden breaks. Bulimiarexia shows that, in my humble opinion, although Rachel clean vocals live are not bad at all, she just needs to adjust them a little. And kudos to drummer Guillaume “Yom” Dupré in this track, he sounds amazing. The last live track is the classic Crucifère, and as you can see in the official video below, Rachel’s onstage performance is another reason why she was the chosen one.

In regards to the re-recorded songs from III with Rachel on vocals, they all sound very professional and as heavy as they should be: I have the III album and after listening to both old and new versions of Voragine I’m pretty sure even diehard fans will love Rachel as much as they loved Candice; Harmaguedon is my favorite of the re-recorded versions and will probably be Rachel’s “secret weapon” to win the hearts of the “unfaithful”; and finally Proserpina closes the EP in a very good way, following the high quality of the recording of all songs.

EthsLast but not least, the album art was once again created by photographer and designer Nicolas Sénégas, who already worked on the art of III, and it is a very good graphic translation of the dark, gothic and heavy music generated by Eths.

So after all those good things I’ve said about Ex Umbra In Solem, you might be asking why only a 3.5, right? In fact, it was supposed to be only a 3.0 for having just one brand new song, as there’s a lack of originality and creativity in the whole EP, but at the same time Rachel’s performance is so electrifying in all tracks that it deserved a 4.0, which leads to an average of 3.5: simple math to represent how awesome this new singer will be for the future of the band.

Best moments of the album: Ex Umbra In Solem, Crucifère and Harmaguedon.

Worst moments of the album: The fact that the EP has only one brand new song.

Released in 2014 Season Of Mist

Track listing
1. Ex Umbra In Solem 4:06
2. Samantha (live) 2:38
3. Bulimiarexia (live) 4:22
4. Crucifère (live) 4:33
5. Voragine (Rachel on vocals) 3:49
6. Harmaguedon (Rachel on vocals) 4:45
7. Proserpina (Rachel on vocals) 5:48

Band members
Rachel Aspe — lead vocals
Stéphane “Staif” Bihl — guitar, samples
Damien Rivoal — bass
Guillaume “Yom” Dupré — drums

 

Album Review – Adrenaline Mob / Men of Honor (2014)

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How to waste time and talent from exceptional musicians in a supergroup.

Rating7

amob_men of honorThe world of the so-called supergroups is a mixed bag of awesome bands such as Velvet Revolver, Chickenfoot and Charred Walls of the Damned, but at the same time lots of terrible ideas like Zwan, Loaded and Symfonia, which makes many fans kind of skeptical when their biggest idols decide to join some other famous musicians in a new music journey. We can say that Adrenaline Mob, the supergroup formed by Russell Allen (Symphony X), Mike Orlando, John Moyer (Disturbed) and A.J. Pero (Twisted Sister), is part of the “bad ideas” group: it is just a regular Hard Rock project were all musicians seem to be underutilized. That generic musicality was the main issue with their debut album Omertà, and now the same happens with their second full-length album, Men of Honor.

After the departure of Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), fans and the media were asking what would be of the band and if they would create something really different and unique in their future releases. Although I’ve never been a fan of Portnoy (I truly prefer drummers with more feeling like Nicko McBrain, Clive Burr, Dave Lombardo and Jörg Michael), I must admit A. J. Pero didn’t make much of a difference in Adrenaline Mob’s music. The album starts in a promising way with Mob Is Back, a pure Hard Rock song with very interesting solos and rhythm, but then it gets too generic with Come on Get Up, which despite its heavy riff offers nothing new, and Dearly Departed, one of the worst of the whole album.

amobThings do not get better with Behind These Eyes, a very boring semi-acoustic ballad made for radio, nor with Let It Go, which bass lines remind me of some Disturbed songs. The next track, Feel the Adrenaline, is the heavier one of the album, and its nice bass lines and chorus make it the best song of the album by far. The title-track, Men of Honor, is another forgettable generic Hard Rock song, while the ballad Crystal Clear is so boring it seems the band really wanted to torture us with it. Fortunately, the band wakes up in House of Lies, but again nothing that would blow our minds creatively speaking.

The last two tracks of the album are Judgment Day, which has a cool intro, heavy riffs, and even sounds like some good tunes from Chrome Division, and Fallin’ to Pieces,  one more torturing ballad to complete our disappointment with the album. And that’s it, there’s not much else to say about Men of Honor, except that the album art looks exactly the same as their previous release and that the lyrics mean absolutely nothing.

In my opinion, Men of Honor is slightly better than its predecessor (maybe due to the departure of the overrated Portnoy?), but again it doesn’t offer anything new to the audience. It’s unfortunately a waste of talent of all musicians involved: it might not be bad music, but we know those guys can generate something a lot more complex and interesting than some generic Hard Rock any amateur band can do.

Best moments of the album: Mob Is Back and Feel the Adrenaline.

Worst moments of the album: Deadly Departed, Behind These Eyes and Crystal Clear.

Released in 2014 Century Media

Track listing
1. Mob Is Back 4:34
2. Come on Get Up 4:12
3. Dearly Departed 4:57
4. Behind These Eyes 5:35
5. Let It Go 3:54
6. Feel the Adrenaline 5:56
7. Men of Honor 4:26
8. Crystal Clear 5:03
9. House of Lies 3:56
10. Judgment Day 4:06
11. Fallin’ to Pieces 4:57

Bonus track
12. Crystal Clear (Acoustic Version) 5:03

Band members
Russell Allen – lead vocals
Mike Orlando – guitar
John Moyer – bass
A. J. Pero – drums