 | Benno on 10 Worst Ways To Behave At… |
 | SvArt on 10 Worst Ways To Behave At… |
 | K on SepticFlesh Interview |
 | New interview and la… on Zero Hour - Dark Deceiver… |
 | boerdi on Rock Hard Festival 2008 |
I stumbled upon this funny article pointing out the 10 worst ways to behave at concerts. Check it out and have a laugh. If you can think of other “do-nots”, feel free to comment.
Congratulations
The deathcore band Everwaiting Serenade has won the second edition of the Luxembourgish W:O:A Metal Battle in Esch-Alzette. A review of the whole concert will appear in a few days, so stay tuned!
We are sorry to inform you that 5 of our 7 writers will not be able to submit their reviews on a regular basis. They are in full preparation of their exams.
Stay tuned, we are back at 100% in June!
Big Kisses, your MFG-Crew
A few weeks back we urged you to visit this small festival in Gelsenkirchen and now it’s time for a little review. Due to other commitments I could only attend the festival on Sunday but nevertheless you should get a little insight on what makes this event different from others.
First of all the RHF only hosts around 6000 people and is has a much friendlier atmosphere than the huge festivals like Wacken:Open:Air or Rock am Ring. A few minutes after Terry and I arrived at the location, we met the first metal-heads from Luxembourg, and after a few hours at the festival we had met most of the Luxembourgian RHF attendees. The first band we saw was Sieges Even a progressive rock band from Germany. They had a decent sound and delivered a powerful show. It really showed that they genuinely enjoyed themselves while playing this gig, which in my opinion is always a good point. Especially the bass player managed to impress with his technically very developed skills. Next up was Jorn, the new project of the former Masterplan singer Jørn Lande. Considering the enormous talent of Jorn (the singer) it was disappointing to hear the pretty standard hard rock music backing him up. The band rocked, but that’s all they did, they certainly didn’t amaze me. Terry and I took a little break to buy some CDs and we were back in time to see the final song of Volbeat before Paradise Lost were supposed to have the stage. So the only thing I can really say about Volbeat is that I thought their singer sounded a lot like Hetfield.
Paradise Lost, one of the two reasons I visited the festival in the first place, were, to put it nicely, awful. The sound was horrible, the singer off-key and Greg Mackintosh’s lead guitar parts often sounded like they were superimposed. It could be that this was entirely the sound technicians fault, but to me it seemed like the members of Paradise Lost were either drunk or didn’t give a damn about this concert at all. There was no chemistry between the band and the audience and the band was standing in place like they were rooted to the floor. This is the 20 year anniversary tour and as such the set list was amazing. They were playing songs from all their major records including jewels like: Gothic, One Second, Say Just Words etc. Too bad the sound was very poor and the band was uninvolved.
Before the festival ended with the long awaited concert of the headlining band, Götz Kühnemund the editor in chief of the Rock Hard magazine used the opportunity to thank the security team and the fans for an amazing festival. At this point he also introduced the two winners of the karaoke challenge, who then performed the songs they won with together with the cover band Rokken. A few stars also joined in and they played some covers of popular songs. (Lande singing Breaking the Law by Priest etc.)
Then Kühnemund introduced Iced Earth and the crowd immediately started chanting “Matthew Barlow”. During the Framing Armaggeddon tour Jon Schaffer was approached by many fans, complaining about Owens’s performance of the pre-A Glorious Burdon songs. Later that year Schaffer asked Barlow if he would want to return if they would alter their tour habits accordingly and Matt agreed. It was clear why most of the people in the front rows had come to the festival that night; Matt’s return was one of the best news in recent metal magazines. Let me recapture a few moments from yesterdays show. The concert started with “Dark Saga” (watch the video I recorded below) and from the first strophe onwards one thing was clear: Iced Earth are BACK! Matt Barlow’s singing has improved over his time of absence, be it due to his experiences he gained while playing with Pyramaze, or due to massive rehearsing. The set list was also pretty versatile including songs from almost every album. Barlow’s baptism of fire was the performance of the songs “Declaration Day” and “Ten Thousand Strong”. I was glad to hear that he managed to sing both songs without any difficulties. He adapted Owens’s higher pitched vocals but still gave them the typical Barlow-feel. A small highlight was the song “Dracula” because it’s not one of their regular live pieces. With “Iced Earth” as a final song the band left the stage, leaving the audience with a big fat smile on their faces. It’s good to know that such an amazing band is still as good as they were years ago. I really can’t await the new record! (Which will of course be reviewed right here!) The new single will be released on June 16th and I’ll take a look for you to let you know what you can expect.
Until then: Stay Heavy!
A warning to all the mothers and grandmas: lock your children in their rooms, Glen Benton is back. This time with his main-band Deicide, which has released their last record in 2006. For all those who have been slept or were kidnapped that year, here’s a little retrospective: Eric and Brian Hoffman, former members since 1987, had left the band to be replaced by Jack Owen (Ex- Cannibal Corpse) and Ralph Santolla (Iced Earth).
Than they released “The Stench of Redemption” , which was surprisingly melodic and complex. Now back in 2008, the four Americans have released “Till Death Do us Part” which is once again different from previous Deicide records.
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Like the devil, Deicide has changed his form again: “Till Death Do us Part” is more about old-school death metal, the guitars are toned down and the songwriting is a little bit more monotone/repetitive in comparison with “The Stench of Redemption”. This creates some room for the blast and double base attacks by Steve Asheim and the unique and distinctive singing of Glen Benton.
O.k. there aren’t as many complex melodic guitar riffs then on “TSoR”, but the guitars stay inevitable: the way they play and the way they sound is just great. Like a huge wall of brutal guitar notes which dashes your ear-drums to pieces. Just like Cannibal Corpse. Furthermore, the two guitar players stand out for their endurance and precision. The same goes for the drums: Steve Asheim seriously knows how to swing his drum-sticks. Technical on a very high level, he reaches a speed which is just admirable. It’s not that difficult to be a fast drummer, but Steve is definitely more than just a fast drummer. By the way, he was also responsible for the second guitar which explains why the drums fit that well to the guitars.
Glen Benton, on his part, proves again that he’s one of the best death metal singers at the moment. Yes he has sometimes an insupportable behavior/character (on live tours or interviews) but hey, a CD is about music. If you only don’t listen to a band because his singer is an asshole, go watch “Sex and the City” or “Desperate Housewives” and afterwards, tell your diary that you really don’t like the ugly and frightening Mr. Benton.
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“Till Death do us part” is a mixture of older Deicide records and “The Stench of Redemption”, with a lot of good songs for your head-banging-playlist, and one or two mediocre songs which fell victim to the more monotone concept of the record.
8/10
SvArt
It has been a while since my last review… I m deeply sorry, let me illustrate my current situation with a quote from G-Man from the Half-Life 2 game: “Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman. Rise and shine. Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job. No-one is more deserving of a rest. And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until… well, let’s just say your hour has come again.” In short: I had quite a lot of work in terms of my studies and I didn’t find the necessary time to write something… but now I’m back!
So… lets talk a bit about Zero Hour shall we? Anyone of you know this awesome prog-metal band from the U.S.? I sure as hell didn’t know them a few days ago… although they already released 5 full length albums! Their latest CD Dark Deceiver, sequel to the CD Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond, is a real blast!
Honestly it took me a few tries until I was warmed up for this artistic mammoth. I felt back like the first time I heard Dillinger Escape Plan: Clueless, puzzled and confused. It isn’t totally as wild and mathematical as Dillinger because they implement clean vocals with a lot of soft riffs. The songs are very complex and unique: a wide variety of rhythms clash together in a well structured basis of riffs and vocals. Although sometimes you feel like your utterly lost in chaos, the songs are built to have a more stable part. So listening to the songs is like driving a car on steroids, at red lights you must stop and have a break out and when the light turns green you run like a maniac.
Memorable things on this work of art “à la extraordinaire” are the hyper-prog duets and solos: Everything fits like a glove. The drum parts match the guitar parts to 100%, I haven’t heard such a beautiful layout of riffs and rhythms in years. But the one true masterpiece of this musical labyrinth remain the bass parts. I’ve heard that there were great bass players out there, but I seldom really “heard” those players:
1) the mix on the CD is simply amazing
2) Troy Tipton is a bass god.
Simply listen to the track tendonitis… it’s a whole 120 seconds of pure bass solo bliss.
Last but not least let me compliment Troy’s brother Jasun for those really great keyboard and guitar solos. They’re awesome.
So all in all it’s a great mix, excellent musical performance without flaws, nice overall sounds; a heavy prog oriented album. If you like Dillinger Escape Plan, Spiral Architect and you are a fan of Ayreon this album is a must. The only flaw I have found was that the album was hard to get comfortable with, its not everybody’s music and some parts are really strange.
Blood and honor Zero Hour!
8/10
Benno
It has been 4 years since we last heard anything from the band Atrocity. The German based band from Ludwigsburg has over 20 years of experience and is mainly known for their pretty typical gothic and goth rock music. More than ten years after the release of Werk 80, Atrocity try to recapture the 80s once more with the second installment in the series. The main idea behind the project is to rerecord popular songs from the 80s with a goth rock sound. Sounds simple enough and it seems to work.
Werk 80 II includes 12 songs and starts out with the really good cover of “People Are People” by Depeche Mode, followed by the equally good “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat. The most original cover on the record is however “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It’s the only track that is performed in a really original way and not only covered with a guitar in the background. The orchestral background and the growls create the impression that there was actually some rewriting involved in this cover version. “The Sun Always Shines On TV” (A-ha) and the famous “Don’t You Forget About Me” (Simple Minds) are also among the highlights of this album. The worst song is probably “Forever Young” by Alphaville because Alexander Krull’s voice is not made for such solo parts. It sounds weak and ruins the song.
What disappoints me a bit about this record is that most of the cover versions are pretty unoriginal. Sure they use keyboard samples, orchestral sounds, and choirs along with the really good female singer, but it still feels like they just play the songs with electric guitars and don’t change much along the way. Listening to the originals will leave you with the same pleasure as Werk 80 II does. On the other hand this could be seen as a plus. If you love the 80s and can’t get enough of the music, you can probably buy this record without any regrets. The Special Edition includes the bonus track “Feels Like Heaven” originally performed by Fiction Factory. If you want both Werk 80 I+II you can also get them in a combi digipack at the moment.
6.5/10
cnspiracy
The Czech Republic, home of a respectable football-team, some top-models like Petra Nemcová or Eva Herzigová and the famous writer Franz Kafka…and Detonator 666, the reason of my current headache.
The disease: A raw black metal virus with some thrash-agents and ultra-stereotypical Satan & Alcohol lyrics. Furthermore 4 band members who seem to play in 4 different bands: most of the time, the boring blast-attempts doesn’t fit the guitars and the singer sounds like a Pseudo-Nocturno Culto, sitting with an abdominal influenza on his toilet and screaming for someone to bring him toilet paper. Darkthrone seems to be the big idol of Detonator 666, but I think when both DT members could choose between an abdominal influenza and Detonator666, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto would record their next album on the toilet. The only gleams of hope are a few cool and efficient guitar-riffs, which appear sometimes, but they are as rare as a smile on Gaahl’s face.
How to deal with this disease: place “Supremacy and Tyranny” in a big & heavy iron-box and let it sink to the deepest ground of the deepest sea…Very easy
-6 for the over strained singer and -5 for the annoying drums = -1
+1 for the song title” Satanik Alkometal Hellkult” and +2 for a fistful of good guitar riffs…
By the way, Detonator666 got 12 of 15 points from a well known german metal-zine, the same guy who’s made this review, has given Revenge in the same zine (also on MFG) a 10 of 15… Kult.Kaka.Katastrophe!
2/10
SvArt
A new Revenge record?! They still haven’t given up?? Well I couldn’t resist to listen to the new Album, hoping the music has changed, but I was disappointed once more. Okay there always will be some people who say that Revenge is cult and that their music reflects chaos of/and war and that they are brutal as fuck. But this simply is bullshit! Being true doesn’t include musical incompetence.
Infiltration.Downfall.Death (why always this dot separation??) is the third full length record of the Canadian thrash black chaos metal band and it is as excrescent as the other noise outpourings.
Every single record of every Band on this planet has at least one single positive aspect which you can point out but Revenge always proves to me that there is at least one band which is completely incapable to produce something which you could even in the broadest sense define as music. The garbage can drumming and the sleazy guitar work are completely absurd and when the shredding guitars (which appear and disappear without any logic) are launched I feel like vomiting.
You think this is it and it can´t be topped? Well you are wrong. I was concentrating the whole time on the instruments but then I was confronted with a new indefinable sound and I dare say that “it” should be the “singer” sounding like an Aids infected Pig in the end stage.
This is probably the worst thing I have ever heard!! And like I read very accurately formulated in an other review: These guys make Xasthur sound like J.S. Bach.
Nothing more to add!
0/10
(innerwille)
To be honest I have to confess that I haven’t listened to a Rage album since their 1998 hit-record XIII. At the time it was one of my favorite albums but I somehow lost touch with the band after that. This year Rage releases their 19th (!!!) full length record called Carved in Stone and I thought it was time to catch up and have a look. Their last album Speak of the Dead was done in cooperation with the symphonic orchestra Lingua Mortis but this time Rage is back with a traditional Metal album. The differences are apparent after a few first samples: Carved in Stone is heavier, thrashier and more aggressive and it seems as though Rage has gone back to their Black in Mind times.
If you have never heard of Rage it’s definitely time to update your music collection. The band was formed by vocalist and bass player Peter “Peavy” Wagner (the only steady member since 1984) and is one of the most important German metal bands of the past 20 years. They have been around for such a long time that most people seem to underestimate their potential to surprise, yet here they are once more to deliver! So let’s have a look at their new work:
When I first put in the record I was immediately disappointed by the cliché intro of the first track called “Carved in Stone”. I thought to myself: Have they really adopted such a cheesy power metal sound? But wait… What is this?… The intro’s suddenly interrupted by a heavy drum bridge and the guitars shredded in with such velocity that I was taken by surprise and a smile wiped of the initial disappointment. The guitars are HEAVY and thrashy, yet they still have the typical melodic Rage-feel to them. When the first chorus finally kicked in I felt right at home. Peavey’s vocals are remarkably variable as he manages to switch over from raw and bad ass parts to the very melodic and heartfelt chorus parts. It is also important to mention that this is the first record with the new drummer André Hilgers. After the split with Mike Terrana he has some big shoes to fill but I have to say that he manages this quite nicely.
The second song “Drop Dead” is one of those pieces that I could listen to on a permanent loop. It has such an amazing thrash metal intro that makes you feel like somebody is being punched in the face (and that he probably deserved it too). After the second chorus you will probably catch yourself singing along and shaking your fist in the air. I could go on and describe every song in detail but I’ll pick a few examples to speed this review along.
No Rage record would be complete without the mandatory ballad. In this case I’m talking about “Without You”. For a ballad the song has still a lot of power (except for the intro) and especially the riff following the chorus part will stick to your mind like glue. “Lost in the Void” demonstrates perfectly the ingenuity of the song writing which most of the time includes some memorable riffs and a sing along chorus. The last piece “Lord of the Flies” is probably the only song of the record which includes samples and a choir, and this makes it special without being too much of a traditional power metal song. It holds a dark and gloomy atmosphere that captures the listener and gives the record a very memorable and strong ending.
Rage is one of those bands that you either like or hate, because they are on the one hand very traditional but on the other hand cannot be fit easily into a specific genre. Don’t expect a record that reinvents the genre except for the last song the band takes very few risks in their latest production. I really enjoy this album as it is perfect to listen too while driving around aimlessly with your speakers turned up to 11. If you by any chance are a fan of the band I would recommend you get the Special Edition of the record since it includes a Bonus DVD of the 2007 Wacken-Open-Air show with Lingua Mortis.
7,5/10
cnspiracy
