And this is the heavily awaited tenth – anniversary number! – album by In Flames, the first album recorded by the band without founding guitarist Jesper Strömblad, who left the band in February last year. Cut to the chase, “Sounds of a Playground Fading” sounds intense, it’s a perfect blending of heavy and technical elements with more melodious, classic and progressive (heavy) metal schemes. They low-tuned heaviness and catchy melodic hooks signature is recognizable, pithy and In Flames is holding steady to the same path they’ve been on for over a decade.
Formed in 1990 as a side project of Ceremonial Oath, the band where that time guitarist Jesper Strömblad played, In Flames gained major popularity and became a trademark for what we call the “Gothenburg style and sound” and managed to remains a good metal band while being also “radio friendly” and one with constantly good selling. Some of the conservative death metal fans probably considered they “sell out”, but In Flames actually never giving up being metal. Read more In Flames – Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011)
Reviews
Kourgane – Corps De Chasse (2011)
Can’t dig and figure out too much about Kourgane, but I know for sure, they delivering a sick, twisted mixture of contemporary music including explosive spices of noise-rock, post-hardcore, jazz and experimental avant-garde elements. This is future-hardcore. Gloomy, heavy, contorted and restless. This universe was revealed for us by Tool at the beginning of the 90s when almost out of the blue the EP “Opiate” (1992) and their debut album “Undertow” (1993) opened a new doorway to an unexplored path of music expression of anger and twisted thoughts.
Unfortunately they are not willing to share any information in other language than French, and well, my French resume to “merde” – and I don’t wanna sound disrespectful. Frederic Jouanlong – vocals, Jarame Renault – drums, Gilles Lahonda – bariton guitar and Ryan Kernoa – guitar, introduced us in the world of pulsing riffs, pumping drums and shattered feelings. Read more Kourgane – Corps De Chasse (2011)
Bone Dance, Divider Plebeian and Grandstand – Three-​Way Split (2011)
Throatruiner Records from France in a common effort with Mayfly Records from USA tempting us with this 12″ split which will be released on early July. Noisy, contorted, experimental and exciting incursion in the area of modern (or quite post-modern) metal with flavors of avant-garde melt into extreme brutality. Three bands, three songs, different approaches, but all of them bringing to the surface new excitements.
Bone Dance from Boise, Idaho, USA, are nihilists and doesn’t want to be your friend. “Conniver” is a raw, chaotic mixture of hardcore and sludge, expression of pure brutality.
Diveder from Long Island, New York, USA blending the raw punk emergency with filthy hardcore brutality and the result is a modern, groovy, explosive metal. This sounds like the future of hardcore. “Gaia” is already an anthematic track and looking forward to listen into “Halios Geron” as well. Diveder introduce Chris Tzompanakis behind the mic, best known for his work with the influential group Skycamefalling in the early 2000’s.
Plebeian Grandstand from Toulouse, France will ripping off your head and destroy your loudspeakers instantly. Extreme, brutal, noisy and explosive, these guys promised to don’t leave survivors left behind and well, they are not joking. Read more Bone Dance, Divider Plebeian and Grandstand – Three-​Way Split (2011)
Marc Broude – Psychological Warfare (2011)
Reminds me of Ministry, Godflesh, Schnitt Acht, Bail and other contorted oddities from the industrial metal area of noise aggression, Marc Broude comes crushing. Marc Broude (born August 23, 1984) is an American cross-genre composer who started in the Chicago-based noise outfit Panicsville in 2005. He has collaborated with a diverse array of artists and groups including Cock E.S.P., Richard Ramirez and Lasse Marhaug. In 2010 Broude and Tim Lash formed Sick Spider. In 2009 Broude released Rites of Zen, a seventy-two minute dark ambient piece similar to projects like Lull and Lustmord. Working independently of major labels, Marc Broude primarily records for his own label, NoZen Records.
“Psychological Warfare” was originally released in 2006 as a 50 piece limited edition 7†which became out of print and unavailable, it was digitally remixed and re-released in May 2011. Two tracks, “Psychological Warfare” and “God Smacker”, 11:33 minutes containing pumping, grinding, twisted, extreme and noisy, quality industrial metal. Read more Marc Broude – Psychological Warfare (2011)
Sepultura – Kairos (2011)
The departure of Max Cavalera back in 1996 shaken the foundations of Sepultura and some of the fans still not comfortable with Derrick Green. After the release of album “Dante XXI” from 2006, Max managed to extract also his brother Igor from his former band and “A-Lex”, the previous album released in 2009 introduced us the new drummer: Jean Dolabella. Bass player Paulo Jr. is the sole remaining member from the band’s debut album, although guitarist Andreas Kisser might be considered veteran as well while he joined the band in 1987 and his contribution was present since the band’s second album “Schizophrenia”. And well, Derrick fronting Sepultura for 14 years now…
“Kairos”, scheduled to be released on June 24, 2011, through Nuclear Blast Records, is a return to the straight, intense sound and approach of “Roorback” from 2003, a blending of hardcore rawness and nu metal strength, it’s a grinding, heavy, balanced and typically Sepultura flavored material. And metal. Read more Sepultura – Kairos (2011)
Campbell Trio – The Campbell Trio Sings The Blues (2011)
The album starts smoothly, acoustic guitar, few noises and a whispering voice spoken in… Hungarian about music. Pretty strange for a band from Porto Alegre, Brazil. Don’t get fooled: this is raging, contorted, striped down to the bones, pure hardcore, back to the basics but looking forward music. It’s furious and experimental, cutting and abstract simultaneously. Reminds me of a widely obscure album from 1995, “Mountains of Madness” by H.P. Zinker, a band formed at New York and unfairly forgotten, although, that particular album was Grammy nominated. Anyway, The Bruce Campbell Punk Rock Trio, commonly know just as Campbell Trio, bring to the surface parts from a world of madness.
They says: “This is not a band. This is libel, slander, defamation of character. This is not a band, in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit in the face of art, a kick in the pants to god, man, destiny, time, love, beauty, what you will. We are going to sing for you. A little off key perhaps, but we will sing. we will sing while you croak, we will dance over your dirty corpse!
To sing you must first open your mouth. You must have a pair of lungs, and a little knowledge of music. It is not necessary to have an accordion, or a guitar. The essential thing is to want to sing. This then is a song. We are singing.” Read more Campbell Trio – The Campbell Trio Sings The Blues (2011)
Saxon – Call to Arms (2011)
Back in the 80s when I was a teenager “Denim and Leather” was one of my anthems along “Breaking the Law”, “Wrathchild”, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and many others. The golden years of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal were gone with the eruption of the grunge, the raging of thrash and death metal and the insurrection of the industrial genres. Bands like Judas Priest managed to re-innovate them self album by album through the 90s, but most of the others survived only by touring Japan and Germany where still are a large fan base for the old-school metal while others simply disappeared, shot down in flames. Saxon had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s, including 4 UK Top 10 albums, numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart and sold more than 13 million albums worldwide. Still, getting to their 19th studio album, seems to be unexpected.
Vocalist Peter “Biff” Byford never had the voice and status of a “metal god” as Ozzy, Halford or Dickinson and after “Crusader”, their sixth studio album released in 1984, which by the way, sold over 2 million copies, gradually I lost my appetite and any interest in them. Read more Saxon – Call to Arms (2011)
The Vines – Future Primitive (2011)
For more than two decades, The Beatles seems to be the most addictive and obsessive band ever. I’m almost scared each time I play a band labeled “indie” not to stumble into some Beatles copy. With these guys from Australia I wasn’t so lucky. Some may say it’s quite natural, eight years ago an angrier Vines released a song called “Fuck The World” and well, it didn’t get too much radio attention, I wonder why? They revisited the song’s theme for the band’s new album and this time it’s called “Screw The World” and they swallow much of their anger meantime. 33 years old Craig Nicholls says “”We’re trying to be more mature” – and mature, accidentally means John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I try to figure out, with the looks of Guns’N’Roses and that Beatles copy sound, what the tuxedo-potato-heads from Sony smelled in it and gave them a last shot chance? Read more The Vines – Future Primitive (2011)
John Scofield – A Moment’s Peace (2011)
Since the 70s, John “Sco” Scofield always is up to something, he’s shifting from one thing to another, rewinding now, I recall that “This Meets That” released in 2007 was filled up with horny horn section and blasting jazz, the previous “Piety Street” lead us to the gospel flavored edge of jazz and this brand new “A Moment’s Peace” have the smoothness of the quiet, dinner-jazz. Don’t expect this time punchy funk-playing, Sco bring the blues and some shattered bop after-taste with bittersweet harmonies and solitary, intimate solos. Some classics (You Don’t Know What Love Is or I Loves You Porgy), some his own, Sco with pianist Larry Goldings, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade serve us 12 “luxuriates in balladsâ€. Ivan Hewitt from The Telegraph said “it’s lovely for five minutes, enervating after 20” and perhaps for some that might be true, but others probably will really enjoy it more and more after the first 20 minutes. Taste are not a matter to discuss. As it’s also true, many journalists and critics expect more than a free CD to write a few nice words in a review. Well, there’s no lunch as free lunch after all, isn’t it? Read more John Scofield – A Moment’s Peace (2011)
Kaiser Chiefs – The Future is Medieval (2011)
It’s quite simple and innovating. Select 10 songs out of 20, design your cover and finally, but not at least, pay £7.50 and download. Released on their official website on June 3, 2011, this is the way the band decided to deliver their fourth album, “The Future is Medieval”. If you want all the 20 tracks, you will take off from your pocket/wallet 15£. Fans, customers, will also be able to share their version of the record with other people once it has been created, and earn £1 each time it is purchased by someone else. It’s an original way to promote your stuff, but still, I’m wondering how marketing, management, expensive videos, t-fuckin’-shirts and all the accessories took over music and we ended up having music business where the music actually is quite secondary.
On the other hand, it’s quite ok that you can listen these songs and decide if it’s worth or not to pay for them, it’s almost cool that they make you feels like matter and involved in the construction of the album, well, the idea, let’s admit it, it’s catchy. Perhaps, user fuckin’ friendly. Still, I believe, now days a band should play their ass off and sell their CDs at the gigs in the good-old-fashioned way, back to the basics, face to face. But I also admit it, a band from New Zealand or South Africa probably will never make it to Toronto, San Francisco, Berlin or …Leeds. Read more Kaiser Chiefs – The Future is Medieval (2011)
