Tales From The Attic - Another Fairytale (CD Review)

01.The Chills
02.Trashy
03.Baby Gone Wild
04.When You Realise
05.Dearest Child
06.Another Fairytale


Christian 'Hank' Van Alstine (Guitar)
Simon Laursen (Guitar)
Jesper Wennevold (Bass)
Frederik Weile (Drums)
Emily Stavis (Vocals)

Tales from the Attic are a Danish rock band formed in 2010 originally called ‘Coffee Jam’.
Then the band started to develop a lot and now make its own tales and music. The sound is influenced by various genres of rock music due to the different musical styles of the band members, and together they balance between hard and soft, raw and sweet.

'The Chills' starts with some feedback then this odd little riff, when the rest of the band join in the song starts to take shape, a nice simple little pop rock song with a quirky vocal, but as the song progresses it starts to build up speed and turns into a great rock song, some great raw drumming really drives this along.

A different sound for 'Trashy' with its old school rock n roll drumming mixed with a modern punk vibe, song ends with a riff heavy over the top guitar solo.

'Baby Gone Wild' could almost be a mid 1970's heavy blues song, but this one keeps it feet well and truely in the now.

Strange but catchy vocal sounds give this song 'When You Realise' a real edge, the song itself is borderline modern symphonic rock, but somehow manages to have an indie/alt feel at the same time.

I do so hate soft rock ballads, so this one is not looking good at the moment, 'Dearest Child' is typical of the song genre, slow guitar, heart felt vocals and laid back drumming and yep three minutes in comes the epic guitar solo and then its back to the same to the end.

But seems the best is saved for last with 'Another Fairytale', full on hard rock, solid vocals, furious drumming and riffing all held together by a hard bass line, throw in another guitar solo and we end on a high.


Rating 9/10
For Fans Of: In This Moment, Oath, Gasoline Thrill, Auf Der Maur, Theatre Of Tragedy

Mono - The Last Dawn & Rays Of Darkness (CD Reviews)

The Last Dawn
01.Land Between Tides Glory
02.Kanata
03.Cyclone
04.Elysian Castles
05.Where We Begin
06.The Last Dawn

Rays Of Darkness
01.Recoil Ignite
02.Surrender
03.The Hnads That Holds The Truth
04.The Last Rays

Takaakira "Taka" Goto (Guitar)
Tamaki (Bass/Piano)
Yoda (Guitar)
Yasunori Takada (Drums)

Guest Vocals
Tetsu Fukagawa

When tokyo band MONO began in 1999, they set out with a simple mission: From bliss to bludgeon, no matter how long or winding the path may be. Their debut album, Under The Pipal Tree, outlined that mission in twisted, psychedelic fury. Subsequent albums would see the band honing their craft, mastering their mission, and ultimately abandoning that path in favor of more grandiose pursuits. Flanked by increasingly larger orchestras, MONO performed live at some of the most prestigious venues in New York City, London, Tokyo, and Australia. MONO had become an orchestral rock band, a spectacle of extreme melancholy and melodrama. On 2012's For My Parents, the band had finally reached the logical conclusion of that era; it was time to remember where they started, and to rethink where they were heading. Less strings? No strings? Louder? Quieter? Lighter? Darker? Yes.

They have released two albums at the same time, the reason being that it is meant to be a creatively disparate concept acting as two sides of a story that is both opposing and complemantary - at the same time!

On Rays Of Darkness Tetsu Fukagawa of Envy has the honour of being the first person to contribute vocals to a Mono recording.

So lets start with part one:
To be honest not a lot to say about this, just six really nice laid back instrumentals with occasional bursts of heavy electric guitar.

As for part two, well 'Recoil Ignite' certainly has more life in it, heavy guitar and jazzy drumming for the second half of the 13 minutes and some inspired neo prog timing changes.

'The Hands That Holds The Truth' is definately a song of two halves, first half very quiet almost too quiet but then the second half, complete with death metal vocals' is an absolute stunner!

Finally 'The Last Rays' with its sludge/doom guitar noise for 6 minutes, is one for those with a lve of the avante garde noise scene.

So for me anyway the first album is okay but does little to stand out, however the second album with all its different elements and sounds is a must have!

Rating 6/10 and 9/10
For fans of: Brainticket, Isis, Sunn 0))), Phillip Glass, Sci'enta Dystene

Dioramic - Supra (CD Review)

01.Xibalba
02.Carpets On The Walls
03.The Calm Before
04.The Storm
05.Worth
06.Big Pump
07.Melancholia
08.Logbook
09.Vortex Reflex


Arkadi Zaslavski (Guitar/Vocals)
Max Nicklas (Bass)
Alex Mauch (Guitar)
Paul Seidel (Drums)

German alternative/hardcore/screamo band formed in 2002, Recording for Supra started in 2011, but a line up change halted progress for a while. The band’s original drummer, Anton, found success with his alter ego ZEDD and recently picked up a Grammy award. This increased activity elsewhere left little time for the band so they drafted in Paul Seidel (War From A Harlot's Mouth, The Ocean).


The music's not bad but the screamo vocals are awful on 'Xibalba', the melodic vocals work, but it just becomes a noize.
Thats pretty much the same for the next few tracks until the more melodic and well structured 'Worth' this one really has that Muse vibe and is pretty good.

After another noize we get the haunting 'Melancholia' another one that fits the Muse influence, even the keyboard sound is the same.

'Logbook' even though its that horrid screamo vocal in places, really works, it has a huge backing chorus and layered keyboards.

Not sure about 'Vortex Reflex' the song was silent? dunno if this is a mistake from the record company or some clever statement?


Rating: 6/10
For fans of: Muse, Mars Volta, Deftones