Tag Archives: rome

Album Review – Helligators / Road Roller Machine (2015)

Posted on by
1

A high-end primeval nitro-rock music album, with the sole purpose of smashing every living creature that stands on its way just like an enraged road roller machine would do.

Rating4

copertina_road_roller_machineSometimes the Rock N’ Roll played by a band is so loud, filthy and ruthless that the band surpasses the invisible boundaries established by the music industry, becoming respected and loved by the always-demanding diehard Heavy Metal fans. This is what happens with icons such as Motörhead, Volbeat, Crucified Barbara and many other badass bands in the world, and since 2009 we can also include Italian Rock N’ Roll band Helligators on this list so vicious their music is. With that said, if you want to give them a try I suggest you take a listen at their brand new album, entitled Road Roller Machine, and you’ll be able to feel all that Rock N’ Roll electricity flowing through your veins.

Merging elements from different genres and subgenres of rock and metal music, and relying heavily on their deep-rooted Rock N’ Roll/Stoner Rock attitude night and day, this excellent band formed in Rome, Italy returns with more of their immoral music after releasing their debut album Against All Odds, from 2011. It’s interesting to see an Italian band playing what is considered pure American music, but they do it so well you’ll start asking yourself if they’re indeed from Italy or if they’re American guys who left their homeland and are now just living in “il bel paese”. Either way, by the time you find an answer to those questions, you’ll be already addicted to their top-notch heavy music.

The opening track Nomad sounds clearly inspired by the musicality from Motörhead and the badass attitude from Chrome Division, with its nonstop dirty riffs and groovy drumming supporting the rockin’ raspy vocals by Emanuele “Hellvis” and, of course, all embellished by an exciting guitar solo, exactly what is needed in visceral Rock N’ Roll. Not only the initial riff in the next track, The Doomstroyer, a killer Stoner Rock tune with no shenanigans, is 100% kick-ass, but also the atmosphere generated by the guitar lines by Kamo and Mik “El Santo” takes you to some sort of desolated and pungent desert where the music by Helligators reverberates like thunder. And if you’re taking the road anytime soon don’t forget to add Scream to your playlist, a song perfect for enjoying a cold one, banging your head and screaming as loud as you can together with Hellvis and the rest of the crew. Two lessons that can be taken from this track are first that, when they stick to the basics the result is absolutely awesome, and secondly, Kamo is an awesome guitarist who truly knows how to craft the perfect guitar solo the music is asking for.

Listen to She Laughs and you’ll see how much they love Stoner Rock/Metal the likes of Down so heavy and soulful it is, not to mention the song’s lyrics about a sultry demon-like woman, which turn it into another interesting option for a fiery strip-tease at any gentlemen’s club in the world. Then we have the outstanding razin’ tune Snake Oil Jesus, previously released in 2012 as a single, where the band puts the pedal to the metal offering the listener some fuming guitar riffs and solos while drummer Alex fuels the rhythm with his strong beats. In addition, try not to get addicted to its chorus, it’s as catchy as hell (“If you feel so sad and lonely / Pray and give me all your money / I just wanna be your friend / Come Holy Ghost and feed us / I will treat you good I swear / I am the Snake Oil Jesus”).

helligatorsRev up your engines because there’s still a lot more awesomeness to come, starting with Truckdriver, a great Rock N’ Roll song where Hellvis lives up to his nickname and its accelerated rhythm and excellent guitar duo will surely please all fans of old school rock music, followed by Swamp Man Voodoo, with elements of the eerie music by Groove Metal icons White Zombie fittting perfectly to the theme of this song. Moreover, it’s a good option for a psychological horror flick soundtrack, with the only letdown being its backing vocals, not as effective as in previous tracks. And when a song is called Bad Ass you know it’s going to be heavy and fun, with Helligators getting back to that low-tuned sonority from Stoner Rock blended with faster Rock N’ Roll and the vocals by Hellvis reminding me of the amazing Eddie Guz, the harsh and inebriate voice of The Carburetors and ex-Chrome Division.

Last but not least, the pub song Stone Crusher is perhaps the most extreme version of their Stoner Rock side, and how about that awesome guitar solo halfway through the song? Although the second half of the song loses part of its electricity, it’s nothing that would make it less entertaining, before the Country Rock semi-acoustic ballad Black Sun closes the album enhanced by huge dosages of feeling and passion by the band members, with highlights to the cool bass lines by Pinna “Yeti”, the song’s doomsday vibe and its melancholic ending. You can listen to a preview of each and every song of Road Roller Machine HERE, where Helligators present the album on the European Metal Channel.

To sum up, Road Roller Machine might not be the most innovative and complex album in the world, but who said it should be so? Helligators do a superb job delivering high-end primeval nitro-rock music, with the sole purpose of smashing every living creature that stands on their way just like an enraged road roller machine would do. If you want to connect with this talented rockin’ machine and know more about their music and tour dates, go check their official Facebook page, and if you’re one of those crazy rockers who salivates whenever you listen to a dirty riff, you can find Road Roller Machine on Amazon or Google Play, among other locations. I honestly doubt you’ll regret purchasing such an incredible feast of Rock N’ Roll like the one offered by Helligators.

Best moments of the album: The Doomstroyer, Scream, Snake Oil Jesus and Truckdriver.

Worst moments of the album: Swamp Man Voodoo and Stone Crusher.

Released in 2015 Sliptrick Records

Track listing
1. Nomad 5:17
2. The Doomstroyer 5:26
3. Scream 4:29
4. She Laughs 4:55
5. Snake Oil Jesus 3:57
6. Truckdriver 4:10
7. Swamp Man Voodoo 6:21
8. Bad Ass 6:20
9. Stone Crusher 6:14
10. Black Sun 5:02

Band members
Emanuele “Hellvis” – lead vocals
Kamo – lead guitar, backing vocals
Mik “El Santo” – guitar, backing vocals
Pinna “Yeti” – bass
Alex – drums

Album Review – Lykaion / Heavy Lullabies (2015)

Posted on by
Reply

Hailing from Italy, this band takes you into a pleasant musical journey from Hard Rock to Gothic in the same album.

Rating4

Lykaion-Album_cover640When I first saw Lykaion‘s video clip for the song “For Love”, before even listening to their full album, my first thought was “Wow, what a cool Hard Rock band from Italy!” With powerful riffs, sticky chorus, Alessandro Sforza’s sweet and full-of-attitude voice, amazing backing vocals and their Guns ‘n’ Roses and Crashdïet’s t-shirts, what else would you think? But I was wrong – and in this case, being wrong is not even close to being a bad thing.

Founded in 2000 in Rome, Lykaion mixes in their sound a lot of Gothic Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal and even Love Metal – that style well-known by Finnish bands such as HIM and To/Die/For. They are about to release their second album, Heavy Lullabies, via Finnish label Inverse Records. Along its 11 tracks, you can feel the influences of each one of these genres and be surprised with how the band can go from the deepest melancholic feelings to  Hard Rock happiness and the rage of Thrash Metal.

Heavy Lullaby opens the album and here comes the first surprise: it is a calm and smooth instrumental song! I am not quite sure if this was an interesting way to introduce the album, but it is a beautiful and deep song though. For Love comes next with a completely different atmosphere as said before, being a pure hard rock song that could be played at the iconic Rainbow, in Los Angeles, while you enjoy a cold beer, dance and sing along. The same Hard Rock feeling continues in the next track, Anthem, with great riffs and guitar solos. I would dare to say that Alessandro’s voice, in a different way and with a pinch of aggressiveness, sometimes sounds like Def Leppard’s iconic lead singer Joe Elliott.

Lykaion_Picture2Love is a theme widely explored in this album and in the fourth track, I Don’t Love You Anymore, as its own title suggests, they sing about the love that no longer exists. It is a beautiful ballad, full of mixed feelings, and to make it even more intense there are two amazing guitar solos by Fabio Valentini that can make any broken-hearted girl cry. From this point on, Hard Rock is left behind and the band dives into heavier sounds, like in Waitin’, where the band explores bass and drums in a wonderful way. Smile, although being a ballad, is still heavy, dark and deep, more like a Love Metal song. End of Time keeps the speed and the heavy feeling alive, with great backing vocals on the chorus. Out of my Heart and Animals are not exactly ballads, but they are good examples of how Love Metal songs, such as the greatest classics by HIM, should sound like.

The following track, Accept Yourself, starts with a lovely guitar solo – again, that kind of solo that makes girls cry – and you may think that here comes a love ballad, but then everything changes and what you listen is a powerful anthem, full of attitude and strong lyrics. I can imagine this music played live as one of the highlights of their concerts, with a huge interaction between the band and the audience, especially in the chorus (“Raise your hands / Up into the air / Accept yourself / Accept the mess”). What a song! After this travel through different genres, Till the End closes the album in great style, bringing some Gothic notes and feelings.

What makes Lykaion’s sound very unique is how easy they take the best features of each musical style, each band, each theme that inspired them, and turn it all into great songs that cannot be categorized in a single genre. These Italian guys genuinely know how to take their listeners into an intense and exciting musical trip. Do not miss the chance to listen to this album and show your support to this promising band on Facebook. Also, do not forget to check their YouTube channel, there are a lot of cool high quality live videos of the songs of their debut full-length album, Nothin’ But Death (2012).

Best moments of the album: For Love, End of Time and Accept Yourself.

Worst moments of the album: Smile.

Released in 2015 Inverse Records

Track listing
1. Heavy Lullaby 3:55
2. For Love 4:27
3. Anthem 4:10
4. I Don’t Love you Anymore 5:10
5. Waitin’ 3:55
6. Smile 4:04
7. End of Time 3:54
8. Out of my Heart 4:20
9. Animals 3:41
10. Accept Yourself 4:46
11. Till the End 5:06

Band members
Alessandro Sforza – vocals, guitar
Fabio Valentini – guitar
Valerio Lippera – bass
Andrea Alberati – drums

Album Review – Witches Of Doom / Obey (2014)

Posted on by
4

These Italian guys bring you some awesome Doom and Stoner Metal with a unique goth vibe. They’re the Witches of Doom, yeah!

Rating4

Witches-Of-Doom-ObeyThere were so many brilliant Heavy Metal and Rock N’ Roll bands from the 80’s and part of the 90’s with a strong goth vibe it’s hard to name just a few, like for example The Cult, Paradise Lost and Sisters of Mercy. However, very few bands playing that type of music were created (and survived) in the past decade or so, which unfortunately ended up dragging such a rich genre down to the underground of music. Let’s say that this little “problem” is almost over with the blessed birth of Italian Goth-Stoner-Doom Metal band Witches Of Doom and their outstanding debut album Obey, released a couple of months ago.

Although they’re not reinventing goth, doom or anything else, the way this Rome-based band blends all the elements from those music genres, also adding hints of 70’s Hard Rock and elements of more contemporary heavy music, is beyond amazing. In other words, you’ll be able to easily identify the influence of bands such as Moonspell and Depeche Mode in their music, but it’s far from being just a “cover” band. Witches Of Doom have their own musicality, a modern and personalized goth heavy rock that will please all fans of good occult music.

The Betrayal begins with a Breaking Bad-ish intro before turning into a thrilling mix of Doom Metal and Southern Rock, with highlights to the great vocal performance by Danilo “Groova” Piludu. The last part of the song sounds a lot like American Sludge Metal supergroup Down, especially its raw riffs and soulful solo. Following that excellent beginning, we have Witches of Doom, a much heavier version of that goth music from the 80’s played by Sisters of Mercy and an excellent “business card” from the band (“We are the Witches of Doom, yeah!”), and To the Bone, a song that could be played in any radio station in the world: it’s 100% catchy with a really cool atmosphere. Besides, it’s easy to see how much guitarist Federico “Fed” Venditti loves 80’s rock music based on his guitar lines.

The next track, Needless Needle, is another interesting song full of guitar effects the likes of Paradise Lost and a nice old-fashioned keyboard solo at the end, but its main strength is how the band supports the chorus with their instruments, making it exciting and unique; while the piano ballad Crown of Thorns focus on a more melancholic feeling, especially its lyrics, getting heavier halfway through it.

DSC_0683The second half of the album starts with the awesome distorted guitar and bass lines of Dance of the Dead Flies, which can be considered the first of the two songs that sound like a tribute to the one and only Type O Negative. It’s Doom and Stoner Metal to the maximum heaviness, with kudos to singer Groova for his badass performance on vocals one more time. The second and most Type O Negative-ish song of the album is entitled Rotten to the Core: this is one of those songs tailored to be played during a strip-tease at the most underground Rock N’ Roll strip club in the world, something like From Dusk Till Dawn (and I can even imagine Salma Hayek, or I should say Santanico Pandemonium, doing her sexy dance). In addition, once again the guitar solo enhances the overall energy of the song.

Last but not least, we have It’s My Heart (Where I Feel the Cold), a heavier and a lot better ballad than “Crown of Thorns” with nice piano notes by Graziano “Eric” Corrado and some really dark low riffs, giving it an intense goth vibe; and the title-track Obey, with its tribal intro, powerful keyboards, poetic lyrics (“I was waiting for you in the sky”), and a mesmerizing rhythm. It even has some interesting sitar notes to boost its delicious eerie atmosphere. And just for your information, this song doesn’t actually have 14 minutes: it ends at around minute 8 or 9, “returning” at minute 12 as some kind of “hidden track” that contains only some weird distorted noises.

In summary, Witches Of Doom’s Obey, available at their Big Cartel page, on iTunes and other different places, brings back to you directly from Italy that awesome 80’s goth sonority, offering you everything you loved so much in that era but without sounding obsolete at all. Quite the contrary, those guys are looking to the future of music, supported by their technique, their influences and, more important than that, a lot of feeling and passion for Rock N’ Roll.

Best moments of the album: The Betrayal, Dance of the Dead Flies and Rotten to the Core.

Worst moments of the album: Crown of Thorns.

Released in 2014 Sliptrick Records

Track listing
1. The Betrayal 3:49
2. Witches of Doom 3:54
3. To the Bone 3:49
4. Needless Needle 5:01
5. Crown of Thorns 5:25
6. Dance of the Dead Flies 5:06
7. Rotten to the Core 4:10
8. It’s My Heart (Where I Feel the Cold) 4:17
9. Obey 14:45

Band members
Danilo “Groova” Piludu – vocals
Federico “Fed” Venditti – guitar
Jacopo Cartelli – bass
Graziano “Eric” Corrado – keyboards
Andrea “Budi” Budicin – drums

Album Review – Necropoli / I (2014)

Posted on by
1

Unique and avant-garde Funeral Doom Metal from Italy, recommended for lovers of the darkest side of music.

Rating5

Forged by musicians Rodolfo Baroni and Dario Fabiani in the wonderful city of Rome, Italy, the music by Funeral Doom / Avantgarde Metal band Necropoli might not be an easy listening for people who usually stick to basic radio stuff, including even the most badass Rock N’ Roll radio stations. However, it’s indeed a delectable experimental voyage with lots of Dhrone, Death, Black and Downtempo influences, going way beyond the average Doom Metal most of us are used to, taking your senses to a whole new freakish level.

Their debut album, symbolically named I, can be considered an epitome of darkness in heavy music, with its truly long and devilish songs taking you down to a world where things like happiness, beauty and love do not exist at all. Just by looking at the album art you know this is not going to be just another commercial album full of cheesy content.

When you listen to the baby crying during the ominous intro in Ashes of my Soul, you can get a taste of how grim Necropoli can be. But it’s when their slow and dark Doom Metal really begins, with the deepest growls you can think of and its double bass and eerie synths giving the whole song a totally lugubrious atmosphere, that you’ll feel you’re like taking part of a ritual. In addition, its obscure lyrics (“This restless circle is complete / This maze will never set me free / The winds of eternity shall take away / The ashes of my soul…”) and its more than frightful ending complement the song very effectively.

Inner Space starts with some kind of weird electric or industrial sounds, and its intro goes on for almost three minutes before turning into ferocious Black Metal with sick guitar riffs and guttural vocals. It goes back to pure atmospheric music with sounds of ocean, seagulls and an acoustic guitar after seven minutes, finally becoming a Doom Metal tune to finish this dark sonic journey. A Step doesn’t make things happier or lighter, focusing on interesting piano keys blended with evil vocals and heavy riffs, all enhanced by depressive lyrics (“Opening his eyes and looking at the world around me, one single step / I got lost in it and maybe found myself many times in my path”) and an ending that is a fuckin’ massacre.

NECROPOLI band photoHowever, things get even more interesting in Silence Awaits Me, another ghostly tune filled by symphonic elements, getting closer to Death Metal in some moments and with so many rhythmic breaks it could easily be divided into three or four distinct songs.  Very epic and full of feeling, it encompasses 17 minutes of occultism and mystery that will please anyone that enjoys this type of music. And closing the album we have Curriculum Vitae (I have no idea why they chose this song name), the only track with less than 10 minutes of duration: it’s such a weird outro, consisting of demonic voices accompanied only by some persistent low synths, that I don’t know what to say about it. You’ll have to listen to it and take your own conclusions.

In summary, Necropoli’s debut album I, available at the band’s official Bandcamp page, is as unique and avant-garde as it can be, always focusing on a more unhappy and wicked side of life, of course, which doesn’t mean you’ll regret listening to it. Quite the contrary, I bet you’ll keep going back to it again and again to savor its complexity, heaviness and malice.

Best moments of the album: Silence Awaits Me.

Worst moments of the album: Curriculum Vitae.

Released in 2014 Independent

Track listing
1. Ashes of my Soul 10:37
2. Inner Space 11:47
3. A Step 12:13
4. Silence Awaits Me 17:06
5. Curriculum Vitae 4:04

Band members (Recording line up)
David Unsaved – voice
Dario Fabiani – guitar, bass, synth, vocals, programming
Rodolfo Baroni – guitar

Current line up
David Unsaved – voice
Dario Fabiani – guitar, bass, synth, vocals, programming
Francesco Romano – drums