[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXphJZwOsQw&w=540&h=396]
Formed in the early 90s, Read more Monarchy – Hysteria (album teaser)
music
Superbutt – Music For Animals (2011)
I was waiting for this one. I know András since he was the frontman of his previous band, Fresh Fabrik back in the mid 90’s and I was there when he decided to leave the uprising band and take his chances with a brand new project. And it seems he was right. Superbutt became pretty soon one of the most strongest Hungarian metal combo. “2 Minutes For Roughing” released in 2001 was an angry, raging hardcore/metalcore album blowing right in your face. Two years later the band returned with “The Unbeatable Eleven” only to prove that they are here to stay. “Black Soup” in 2006 and “You and Your Revolution” in 2008 showed a more mature band, but without they loosing their edge. Superbutt has toured all across Europe since 2001 and played over 500 gigs, sharing the stage with bands such as Clawfinger, Ignite, Pro-Pain, Soulfly, In Flames, Prong, Mucky Pup and Rollins Band, among many others.
I was waiting for “Music For Animals” and Superbutt didn’t let me down again. Read more Superbutt – Music For Animals (2011)
Haujobb – New World March (2011)
11/11/11 stir up the minds of many and several artist chosen it as release date of their albums. Haujobb are back after an extensive pause, “New World March” is their first new album in 8 years, and while their previous “Vertical Theory” released in 2003 were more software based, this time Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic used more hardware, guitars, drums, and sound recordings, delivering a monumental production. And “New World March” is also a return to the more industrial, IDM and experimental area of electronic music while they latest dance – drum’n’bass and techno – oriented influences are faded away. Read more Haujobb – New World March (2011)
Rorcal vs. Solar Flare – Split (2011)
From Hollywood to Melbourne and from soul to pop and from blues to metal, Solar Flare (in different forms) seems to be a quite popular name among artists. I dug till China and back, but it was kind of “mission impossible” to find anything about this particular Solar Flare. Finally I get some help from the Domino Media Agency and about this “Swiss doom conspiracy”.
Switzerland already delivered several exciting products this year, and the land of 26 cantons seems to be very resourceful also in metal. Rocal was formed in 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland and last year their released their fifth record, “HELIOGABALUS” – which is a single 70 minutes monolithic piece. Solar Flare is a side-project from Impure Wilhemina formed also in Geneva by Michael Schindl (Guitar, vocals), David Schindl (Drums), Thierry Baertschiger (Guitar) and Didier Baertschiger (Bass) in 1998. In 2006, the band suffered several line-up changes: David and Thierry leaved Geneva, and were replaced by Mario Togni (drums) and Alexandre Müller (guitar).
This collaborative split is exclusively available on Call of Ror label’s e-shop and for entire streaming on SoundCloud. Read more Rorcal vs. Solar Flare – Split (2011)
Archnemesis – Peoples Radio (2011)
Their debut full length album “Peoples Radio” is available now for free download at their official website, just like their debut EP, “Diamonds And Glass”. Cookies for Christmas! Anyway, this is a quite fan (and user) friendly approach.
Formed by Justin Aubuchon and Curt Heiny, Archnemesis prefers to defined themselves by the self-coined term “Intelligent Electro-Crunk”. Merging funky licks with acid layers, digging back to the earliest jazz and blues samples and mash them up with modern hip hop and soul samples, contorted dubsteb wobbles and to all this boiling cocktail adding their own sound and creating something brand new and fresh, Archnemesis definitively know to set a club on fire with their glowing grooves. Dancing becomes a nasty business, isn’t it? So, let’s get dirty! 🙂 Read more Archnemesis – Peoples Radio (2011)
Thomas O’Brien – Drum RemiXes
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtWBe5bwdJA&w=540&h=304]
Read more Thomas O’Brien – Drum RemiXes
Neurotech – 2011, free downloads
I was damn sure I did write about “Antagonist”, the band’s debut album back in March when it was released, but hell no, I could not dig out that review, but with all the troubles and errors I had faced this year with this site and my hosting, I’m not surprised of anything anymore. Anyway, “Antagonist” and their brand new EP entitled “Blue Screen Planet” are available at their official site for free download, respectively “name your price” as digital release, while you can still buy the “Antagonist” special CD+T-Shirt pack for only 15€.
Although “name your price” means even zero, I still believe artist deserves and needs all of our support, mostly artists from the underground who bring to the surface alternatives for the usual mainstream bulls*its.
Neurotech from Ljubljana, Slovenia, formed back in 2007 by Wulf delivering a pounding mixture of metal riffing and electronic layers merging powerful metal with spacy, cinematic trance/ambiental electro music. It’s a quite electrifying and refreshing experiment, harmonies, strong choruses and deep textures, grinding guitars are make perfect match here melting into one. Gothic romanticism and heavy brutality collide in their music resulting something beautiful and gloomy, mysterious and heavy. And just as I said, they efforts needs to be rewarded. Read more Neurotech – 2011, free downloads
Useless – Born To Lose (2011)
I was expected something like The Exploited, but this is more like Suicidal Tendencies. Very neat, brutally incisive, raw, but filled not only with anger and raw fury, but also with smartly sneaked harmonies and melodious parts between the merciless pounding and cutting guitar riffs. Perfect match, as it is quite interesting how they combined lyrics both in French and English. Not quite surprising while we’re talking about a band from Montréal, Canada.
Germ Sauvé (guitar/vocal), Gino Bouchard (Guitar/vocal), Amélie Rouillard (Bass) , Pierre Bouvier (Drum), and Samuel Bourgeois (guitar) delivered a color and powerful debut album filled with killer tracks and great ideas.
Four tracks, “Born to lose”, “Breaking down”, “White pride” and “Ain’t no shit” are available for free download at their Bandcamp page, although can buy the full album for only 7.99 CA $. Read more Useless – Born To Lose (2011)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, OST (2011)
The 2010’s score by Reznor and Ross for David Fincher’s “The Social Network” won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the Academy Award for Original Score in 2011 and Reznor announced that he would again be working with Fincher, this time to provide the score for the American adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” A cover of “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin produced by Reznor and Ross, with Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) as featured singer, was released as trailer for the film and it became viral on the internet. I have to admit it, I’m a Reznor fan since his 1989 debut studio album under the moniker Nine Inch Nails and follow his career since constantly and I admire his work, his ability to reinvent himself and his music, his creativity to not copying himself repeatedly, but dare to experiment with sounds and eventually styles, although remaining Trent Reznor and ultimately Nine Inch Nails.
The soundtrack for “The Social Network” it wasn’t his first involvement into cinema. Reznor produced the soundtracks for Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” in 1994 and David Lynch’s “Lost Highway” in 1997 where he is credited for “Driver Down” and “Videodrones; Questions”, while another track, “The Perfect Drug”, is credited to Nine Inch Nails.
A soundtrack is quite a different thing than a music album of an artist or band. Can’t compare one to another in no circumstances. It’s actually – I believe – a totally different occupation/job and involved quite different crafts, skills, ultimately talent. Read more Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, OST (2011)
Chevelle – Hats Off to the Bull (2011)
Formed in 1995 and selling over three million albums in the United State, released six albums, the first, “Point #1” was produced by Steve Albini, while their second album, “Wonder What’s Next”, was certified Platinum, Chevelle delivering a powerful, intense alternative/post metal, compared often with Tool, Clutch and Helmet. Despite comparisons, Chevelle having a unique sound and style, delivering mature, multicolored music.
“Hats Off to the Bull” consist of 11 tracks and 43 minutes play time is another trip into the dark, mysterious side of the (post) metal. Hanging to conventional genres, styles, labels, don’t really work in their case, this is metal, but sometimes they throw away their electric instruments and play interiorized, chill, but disturbing, acoustic tune or they just get into some gloomy, sometimes quite contorted, subtle and gently layered gloomy space build up of sounds. But at the bottom line they still and always rocks. Read more Chevelle – Hats Off to the Bull (2011)
