Another name, two bands use it, it’s pity and annoying. For both of them. There is one Grendel from Netherlands formed in 1997 and playing Aggrotech/Post Industrial music, and Gendel we’re talking about now, from Finland, formed in 1999 originally using the name Crimson Sky – another name used by more than one artist… Hey, what’s wrong with you people?! Seriously… Leaving aside the legal issues: be imaginative, creative, don’t drive drunk, drugs are bad and stuffs like that.
So, they shift their name into Grendel in 2000 and recorded their first EP “Broken Dream”. Vocalist Vocalist Jarno Blom leave the band one year later, they bring in 2002 Mikko Virtanen to the microphone and record another EP: “Fight Against Time”. The first album, “Lost Beyond Retrieval” was recorded in 2005 and released one year later. In 2008 they sing a record deal with Firebox Records and released their second album “A Change Through Destruction”. Last year they recorded their third album, this “Corrupt to the Core”. Read more Grendel – Corrupt to the Core (2011)
Metal
Blunt Concept – Society Poetry (2011)
It’s always exciting to discover musics from the other end of the world. Blunt Concept comes from the Philippines and they play a kind of blending between more or less traditional heavy metal and rap metal. Kind of Linkin Park jamming with Iron Maiden from ’80-’82. As its trendy now days, they put two guys at the mic, Lux Ayque and Ramon Garcia, one of them singing, the other screaming, Ayi Ayque plays guitars, Ross Perez bass and Alwin Rojas drums. They say about their self: “The music of BLUNT CONCEPT are representations of poetry, individuality, courage over adversity, love and self respect. The band relates social inequality and real life drama to heavy angry music; expressin’ life struggles against the greedy, fake, vain hypocrites; screamin’ STOP NOW!!! to all the corrupt and judgmental characters of our society.” Read more Blunt Concept – Society Poetry (2011)
Asking Alexandria – Stepped Up And Scratched – Remix Album (2011)
After the April’s release of their second full-length album “Reckless And Relentless” , “Stepped Up And Scratched” is the remix version of their debut album from 2009, “Stand Up and Scream”. It’s pretty strange, or at least unexpected, while on their second album they turned to a much heavier side of their music, this remix album step back to the much electronic, “dubstep feel” content. So, they still trying to “Ride Two Horses at Once”, and definitively they will piss off one or other of their fans because metal fans will not digest this dance-club oriented mixes easily as the club music consumers are not huge fans of noisy guitars and deadly growls. If sexually it may be acceptable or at least tolerated to be bisexual, in the music business it’s pretty hard to take it both way simultaneously and keep on smiling just like nothing happened. The facts are facts: metal-heads always been extremely conservatives. Read more Asking Alexandria – Stepped Up And Scratched – Remix Album (2011)
Blood – X-Cultura (2011)
In my book, Blood was a cult Japanese band closely associated with visual kei, but they referred to themselves as a “gothic band”. It’s the first time when I heard of Blood from Alicante, Spain. The band was formed in 1999 by Jose Master – vocals and bass and Mado Javier Battery East Beneyto – guitar, vocals, sequences, and they played a blending of Goth and Industrial Metal. “X-Cultura” contains 11 brand new tracks including three remixes by Alien Vampire, Homicide Division and Obszon Geschopf. While those remixes sounds pretty EBM, the other 9 tracks sounds much darker and heavier, quite similar to the sound of Rammstein. Read more Blood – X-Cultura (2011)
Rolo Tomassi – Eternal Youth (2011)
A friend of mine from London bring to my attention this band from Sheffield, England, in 2009 and their debut album entitled “Hysterics” released one year earlier blow off my mind. Define as “progressive hardcore”, labeled as jazzcore, mathcore or simply progressive rock, Rolo Tomassi delivering a fresh and powerful mixture of hardcore, punk, post metal and avant-garde jazz which is quite innovative and brilliant.
The band was formed in 2005 and immediately began to perform at local venues and pubs to small crowds and released some of their first material, a “3 Track Demo” CD, respectively “4 Track Cassette” which they could sell at the shows they were performing at.
After a split EP with Mirror! Mirror! (limited to 333 copies and released through Speedowax) the band signed to Holy Roar Records and released a self-titled EP featuring re-recorded songs from previous demos and EPs along with new songs. Read more Rolo Tomassi – Eternal Youth (2011)
Mindset – Midnight Sky (2011)
It’s at least extremely uninspired to chose for name of your band something common and without make at least a search on Google if the particular name by any chance is still available. Mindset is one of the very bad choices possible. I found 4 bands with the same name, one from Chesapeake, Virginia, one from Baltimore, Maryland, a pop band probably from India and finally I get to what I’ve been looking for, these guys from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Fuckin’ shit! Worst, the guys from Baltimore are playing kind of similar style of hardcore and have a record deal with React! Records. So, get a grip!
“Midnight Sky” came out through Pee Records, I think at least the record label should check out the legal status of the name of their new protegee. Things like that are bad for the business when these days business is bad anyway… Read more Mindset – Midnight Sky (2011)
Arkan – Salam (2011)
Season Of Mist bring us the second full-length album by Arkan, “Salam”, following their promising debut from 2008, titled “Hilal”. Last year I discovered a couple of exciting bands from the Middle East such as Orphaned Land, Melechesh and Absolace, Arkan comes to completing the picture, their music is labeled “oriental death metal”, an inspired mixture of the sounds of East and West, the melodies of North and South, amalgamate melodic Death Metal with Oriental traditions with roots reach deep down into the ethnic sounds of Algeria and Morocco. Arkan put together the whirlwind of Arabic percussion and the magical sound of ancient oriental string instruments with crushing riffs and intense rhythms, clean singing of Sarah Layssac with the screams and growls of Florent Jannier. Mystic and intense, “Salam” (Peace) is a colourful and powerful album with all the best spices of the East and West compounding together. Read more Arkan – Salam (2011)
Deftones – Covers (2011)
To commemorate “Record Store Day“, Deftones released a special edition “Covers” album. This LP is a collection of classic Deftones’ cover tracks, pressed together on limited edition vinyl for the first time ever and only 3K of these will be available. Deftones play songs by artists like The Cure, Japan, Drive Like Jehu, The Cars, The Smiths, Lynryd Skynrd, Duran Duran. I like covers, actually I collect them and sometimes I find real pearls, interesting reinterpretations or new, unexpected dimension of some more or less classic tracks. To play one on one somebody else’s song, make no sense. It’s actually not the first time when Deftones delight us with covers,their “B Sides & Rarities” – Released in 2005 – compilation included cover songs from their favorite artists, ranging from metal, hard rock (Lynyrd Skynyrd) and post-hardcore (Helmet and Jawbox), to gothic rock, art rock and new wave (Duran Duran, Cocteau Twins and The Cure), so, they always have a “colored” taste, and this vinyl is colored and contrasting as well. Read more Deftones – Covers (2011)
Amaranthe – Amaranthe (2011)
Amaranthe is a Swedish/Danish power/melodic death metal(core) band formed originally under the name Avalanch by vocalist Jake E. Lundberg and guitarist/keyboard player Olof Morck and the project began taking shape when singers Elize Ryd, (screaming) vocalist Andy Solvestrom and drummer Morten Lowe joined the band. They has released one 4-song demo on their MySpace profile, entitled “Leave Everything Behind†in 2008. In 2009 they change their name into the actual Amaranthe due to legal issues. They singed to Spinefarm/Universal Records and recorded during the summer of 2010 their debut album which was released on April 13th 2011 and it contains 12 intense, but melodious songs.
Actually the ace in the sleeves of this band is the ability to blend the classic heavy/power elements with modern, death and metalcore sounds and approach.Elize Ryd can sing like Agnetha Fältskog (Abba), but the guys bring force, energy and power and this mixture actually it sounds fresh and pretty convincing. Read more Amaranthe – Amaranthe (2011)
Somnolent – Renaissance Unraveling (2011)
Somnolent formed in 2006, positioning itself as a funeral doom metal band. Having time for four years to perform at many festivals in the cities of Ukraine and Russia, and issuing a few releases in this vein, including full-length album “Monochromes Philosophy” in 2008 on the label Solitude Production. The band changed their style in the direction of post metal, progressive, sludge, while continuing to experiment. In 2011 they released their second full-length album, this “Renaissance Unraveling” through Slow Burn Records.
This is a dark and gloomy material, preserving the mood and trademarks of the debut album, but including some interesting colors from sludge and heavy explosions of modern metal riffings, some technical death metal elements and interesting breaks and shiftings from different tempos and moods. Read more Somnolent – Renaissance Unraveling (2011)
