Bad Son - Bad Son EP (CD Review)

01.Wasters Of The World
02.Crawl Across To Me
03.Mother Mary

Dave Kutcha (Vocals)
Paul Scanlan (Guitar)
Frank Allain (Guitar)
Steve Worrall (Bass)
Tom Huskinson (Drums)

Formed in Summer 2012 as Critical Mass the London based band brings classic rock bang up-to-date with authentic riffs, strong vocals and a heavy bass lines.
Featuring past and present members of Akercocke, Chaosanct, Fen and Skaldic Curse the band now inhabits an infinitely more accessible rock territory while still managing to preserve a raw metal energy.
Drawing on a potent blend of influences including such masters of the genre as Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy to produce a classic rock sound that is uniquely their own.

Changing their name to Bad Son in November they have released a promo cd and continue to gig, with more planned for next year.

'Wasters Of The World' is a mid paced rocker full of great guitarwork and a superb vocal delivery from dave, really nice to hear him sing as opposed to scream.

The second track 'Crawl Across To Me' sounds like a track from Saxon's "Strong Arm Of The Law" album but with a much darker vocal.
A seriously kick ass guitar solo thrown in as well complete with high pitched harmony vocals.

Finally 'Mother Mary' starts with a Hendrix style guitar riff then moves into a near sleeze rock meets blues sound.

Overall a very impressive debut, classic rock in the modern style absolutley loaded with superb guitar and vcals backed by solid bass and drums.
Anyone who knows Dave from Chaosanct or Spitting Blood will simply be blown away by his "Singing" voice and while Paul has always been a class act guitarist the black and death metal genres he's better known for have never allowed him to play like this!

STUNNING!!!!!

Rating 10/10

For Fans Of: Saxon, UFO, Voodoo Six, Amulet, Cauldron

Donkerkarnuffel - Zombie Clown Apocalypse (CD Review)

01.Blood For Donko
02.Funland
03.Givin' It The Big Un
04.The Greatest Show On Earth
05.Gypsy
06.Mourn For The Newborn
07.Divinus Infernus
08.Fire walk With Me
09.My Psychosis
10.Zombie Clown Apocalypse

Mr Bloody (Guitars)
Haggis (Vocals)
Pervo (Bass)
Skeats (Drums)

Formed in Jan 2010 by Jamie Blood (Spitting Blood) along with ex members of 'Unredempt' and 'Cycle VI'.
Creating a fusion of various influences from the hardcore style of 'Unredempt' adding the brutal and crushing 7 String Drop-Tuned riffs from 'Spitting Blood' and epic Blackened Death Metal passages from 'Cycle VI'.

Take it from me that Spitting Blood were nothing short of awesome, easily one of the best shredding death metal bands to ever grace the stage in London and it was quite a shock when Jamie announced that the band was finished, however Jamie was far from giving up and that somewhere inside his heart was a drive to up the steaks and create something even more devistating, and he and his cohorts have delivered with their self styled "Clowncore"!

The album was recorded by Tilman Wolf-Moore (Spitting Blood/Chaosanct/Xenochord) who also did the keyboards and samples.

So to the music that Jamie described to me as "Kinda like Spitting Blood but fine tuned with blackened metal endings & occasional keys...and a Zombie Circus theme running through it...enjoy!".


No sooner did i hit play on 'Blood For Donko' and was met with an instant blast of drums and guitars, no messing around this is straight in for the throat!
Not only is it brutal but the keyboard that runs through it with an almost ska beat gives it an almost un-nerving quality then about 2 minutes in a clowns horn goes off! crazy but it works, not many songs can make you bang your head and smile at the same time.

'Funland' keeps up the pressure with hyper speed drumming, non stop riffing, pounding bass, outstanding death grunt and clean vocals and some more madcap circus style organ.

Angry as hell song 'Givin' It The Big Un' packs a real punch with some fist in the air(face?) lyrics "my time is coming and i will destroy them all" kinda sums this one up!
Nice little gothy passage towards the end of the song adds another element to the sound.

'The Greatest Show On Earth' has the line "never before have you seen so much chaos" and also proclaims "Im the leader of the satanic circus", it makes me smile (in a good way)this music just fucking kicks on every level!

This track 'Gypsy' reminds me of 'Static X' at their heaviest, kind of has that
techno/death rhythm pattern and vocal style.

Absolutley love the keyboards and chorus sounds on this slab of metal 'Mourn For The
Newborn'.

A slow brooding, evil and dark riff and furious double pedal work introduce 'Divinus
Infernus', this one has a great shout it out backing vocal and again the brutality is tempered with some nice keyboard work.

'Fire walk With Me' manages to create a kind of death/groove hybrid, the drums seem to bounce through it whilst that riffing cuts through leaving the vocal to bludgeon the sences.

Another drum driven onslaught 'My Psychosis' continues to deliver the music at 100 miles per hour, nice little touches lurking in this one as well with goth tinges and symphonic keyboard mixed in.

Finally we come to the title track 'Zombie Clown Apocalypse', another song that makes me smile with its circus keyboard sound, laughing clown and clown horn mixed in with the pure power of guitar and drum and that huge screaming vocal.

Anyone who says that Britian cannot produce world class Death Metal needs to wake up and smell the plastic squirting flower, this is the best metal album of the year, it delivers on every level.

Rating 10/10
For fans Of : Decapitated, Strapping Young Lad, Send More Paramedics, Anaal Nathrakh




The copy i am reviewing is slightly different to what will later be available to buy on cd (an intro and two interludes will be added) and the artwork for said official release has yet to be finalised.

A dowload only version will be launched on 20th December at the Nambucca digital album release party and will be available for FREE download from
www.bandcamp.com/donkerkarnuffel


It will also be available through iTunes, Napster and Amazon MP3.
You can also get it via Spotify through
www.reverbnation.com/donkerkarnuffel

FACEBOOK:
www.facebook.com/pages/Donkerkarnuffel-Official/202791479803125

CHAOSANCT - THE ASCENDANCE OF IMPURITY EP (Cd Review)

01.Ascendance Of Impurity

02.Death Note

03.Oppenheimer

04.Trinity (Outro)

Dave Kuchta (Vocals)

Paul Scanlan (Guitar)

James McIlroy (Guitar)

Tilman Wolff-Moore (Bass/Vocals)

Matt C (Drums)

Hot of the press in time for last weekends 'Tsunami Festival' in Holland and completed just a few days before that, this is the second ep from the self styled "Blackened power Metal" supergroup featuring ex members of Cradle Of Filth, Biomechanical and Akercocke.

Opening song is a full speed onslaught with Dave's amazing vocal attack of screams followed by pure singing.It is a very drum driven track reminicent of early Satyricon, and also contains some great guitar solos.

'Death Note' continues in the same vein and yet again it is the vocal style of Dave that grabs your attention, the opening part has an almost arabic styled harmony before hitting that Dani Filth scream that he does so well.The song has a line in it "This is the time for retribution" and it sticks in your head instantly.

Now we come to the song i have been looking forward to since i first heard it performed live last december, 'Oppenheimer'.
It starts with a haunting riff with "Tubed" speech over it, it has a wonderful rhythmic drum backing before picking up the pace into an almost gothic/black metal epic like Paradise Lost.Im slightly dissapointed by some of the effects put on the vocal as it slightly spoils what Dave is singing (But then im used to hearing it live where dave just lets rip).
What i love about the song is the way it just moves, with 2 such accomplished guitarists in the band it is surprisng that there are no solos in the piece, but somehow that adds to the songs emotion because it allows it flow without breaks.
It is a masterpiece and it is aided by the final piece 'Trinity' which is basically a recording of the 'Enigma 2000' numbers code that used to be broadcast over shortwave radio since the second world war, to this day nobody really knows what they were for, with an ambient soundscape underneath.

Overall this is a great progression in both music and production, it is a slick well executed ep full of originality and should see the band marked out as something "special".
I look forward to the album and hope that they dont put too many effects on dave's voice next time.

Rating 9/10

For Fans Of : Cradle Of Filth, Satyricon, Fear Factory, Nile

STU

MR STU'S PODCAST THING APRIL 2009 (Free Download)

01.Alexi Sayle

02.Man Of Kin - Primitive

03.Affluenza - Dead Days

04.Spitting Blood - Behind The Machine

05.Feral - Truth Is Lies (Radio Edit)

06.Chaosanct - Dark Directions

07.Achilla - Arashi

08.Muted - Closer To Death

09.From Great Height - Initial

10.Mercy House - Inversions

11.Roxville - Bad Luck

12.Spiderbaby - Dead Chavs

13.Catfight - The Picture

14.Mighty Boosh

15.Nemhain - Second Skin

Running Time - 59.09

Format - wma

Size - 41.2 mb

Bit Rate - 97 kbs

Have'nt done one of these since last November, but in the last few months there has been so much cool music coming out of good old London that i just had to do another.So if you have one of those fancy "Doodads" like iPod or an MP3 player then download this and enjoy.

STU

DOWNLOAD IT HERE : www.megaupload.com/?d=E2AMW0DH

SACRED MOTHER TONGUE, SPITTING BLOOD, IDIOM Live At The Gaff 16.04.09 (Gig Review)

SACRED MOTHER TONGUE

SPITTING BLOOD

IDIOM

16.04.09 The Gaff, Holloway Road

IDIOM

Sanguine were due to open tonight but their van broke down.Basically Idiom want to be RATM and do quite well at it.Lots of bouncing up and down on stage and plenty of happy faces in the crowd.

SPITTING BLOOD

Not surprising that the Gaff packed out when these guys hit the stage, this was billed as their last show (NOooooooooooooooooo!!!!!).As always with jamies mob its full on metal with powerhouse drumming, pounding bass and Daves amazing scream until your head explodes vocals and course some of the best shredding you will hear.

Down side of the gig (apart from the obvious) was the idiots moshing, you know its great to see when your on stage and if you are part of the pit then thats fine too, but they dont care about the people around them, so while they are slamming into each other they are hitting people who just want to watch and enjoy themselves.So on behalf of the 20 or so people who moved away from watching the band i would like to say "Thank you twats!".

Should have headlined guys!

SACRED MOTHER TONGUE

The blurb about this band states "The most convincing british metal band to emerge in a long time", obviously written by someone who is deaf.This lot should have been the opening act, for a start they had 6 fans down the front and were completley average.Dont get me wrong they have good musicians in the band and the vocalist has a nice voice, but the music is just lifeless and dull.

STU

March Gig Flyers

CHAOSANCT NEWS

Well i have known about this for a few days now,but James has officially announced this so here is his statement from myspace :

So there it is, we are whole again! After some weeks of putting the word out, sifting through potential auditionees and then going through the audition process we are excited to welcome current Skaldic Curse and former Akercocke guitar maestro Paul Scanlan to the ranks of the Chaosanct!

We're all excited about Paul joining us, and bringing with him his own inimitable style, playing ability and infusing this into the chaosanct sound as well as writing process. There already plans in the works for a new demo for which we have 3-4 tracks lined up, not to mention live performances with our newly re-energised line up, exciting things indeed!

On top of all that, we'll be putting up more tracks for you to peruse, something long long overdue, in the coming weeks so stay tuned as we have awoken again! Also, last but not least, a thanks to all those that applied, from shores beyond ours in some cases, and to those that made it into the auditions and played their arses off.

We've seen and heard some amazing guitarists over the past few weeks, but we could only choose one!

James

Expect gigs from May onwards.

I hear that there only a handfull of copies left of the 'I Of Goliath' EP left and to quote James "When they're gone they're gone" A limited run of logo sweat wristbands are now available as well.

STU

www.myspace.com/chaosanct

NEMHAIN, NYA, SPITTING BLOOD, INNER EDEN, NOCTURNAL PLAYGROUND : ROCK AGAINST RAPE 26.01.09 (Gig Review)

NEMHAIN
NYA
SPITTING BLOOD
INNER EDEN
NOCTURNAL PLAYGROUND

ROCK AGAINST RAPE
PURPLE TURTLE 26.01.09

NOCTURNAL PLAYGROUND
The london death metal band always put on a good show and tonight their own technical take
on the genre recieved a warm responce from the audience.
This year will see the release of an album and many gigs are planned so i suggest you check them out.

INNER EDEN
Featuring ex members of Axis Of Evil and Wykked Wytch and the stunning vocal talents of
Charlie Hall (Think Enya meets Angela Gossow), Inner Eden are simply awesome a perfect blend of melody/aggression/Harmony and brutality.
They played one of the best sets i have seen in a long time.

SPITTING BLOOD
Tonight they have a few problems not least of which is that they are due on stage and their
vocalist is still on his way.Still as they have two they have no choice but to go on with
Clara and she does a fantastic job, after a couple of songs Dave arrives and to his credit
dives straight in and is (Naturally) note perfect.
Ultimatley though it was an off night for the band, however many commented that they were
much better than Kreator who played across the road at the Koko.
As you may know i love this band, but im feeling that something is not quite right with them
at the moment, but hey what the fuck do i know !

NYA
Like may here tonight i had never heard of these guys before, by the end of their set
'everybody' knew who they were.
Their blend of melodic metal is outstanding and they are armed with a very talented drummer
called Paul White whose sheer power and showmanship is a sight to behold.
One of their songs has a killer riff based on Black Sabbath's Hole In The Sky which erupted
the place and they do the best (and highly original) version of Survivors Eye Of The Tiger
since CKY.

NEMHAIN
Rapidly proving that not only are they at the top of their game but that there is much more to come, Nemhain now with the original guitarist Sam Hain returning to give us a twin guitar attack with Lakis.
Drummer Adrian's playing is always a pleasure to hear and watch but tonight is even more
impressive when he played with a dislocated vertabrae and a handfull of painkillers !
Frankly the set is just perfect from the punked up opening version of Ana through to the
closing track Speed Queen, my only disappointment was that they didnt play Heroin Child.

Rock Against Rape
The evening raised over £300 for the charity and all credit is due to Phee Kear for putting
on such a great show and baking Cheescake for everyone.
I was happy to be part of it and no doubt we can all do it again sometime.
The whole evenig was filmed and a dvd will be made available later this year.
www.myspace.com/rarcamden

Rape Crisis
Rape Crisis (England and Wales) provides co-ordination for the national network of Rape
Crisis Centres across England and Wales. Rape Crisis Centres provide a range of specialist
services for women and girls that have been raped or experienced another form of sexual
violence - whether as adults or as children.
On this website you will find information about rape and sexual violence and details of your
nearest Rape Crisis Centre if you need support. There is also information for family,
friends, students and professionals.
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/


STU

NOCTURNAL PLAYGROUND

INNER EDEN

SPITTING BLOOD

NYA

NEMHAIN

UPCOMING GIG INFORMATION

CHAOSANCT - I Of Goliath EP (CD Review)

1. I Of Goliath
2. Dark Directions
3. Slither
4. The Mind Chamber

David R Kuchta - Vocals
James McIlroy - Guitar
Andrew Ongley - Guitar
Tilman Wolff-Moore - Bass
Matt C- Drums

Its going to be hard to review this ep without going on about the amazing vocals of Dave Kuchta a man who possessess a totally unique and outstanding style that will quickly gain this band major intrest.

So we start with the title track, heavy as you would expect from the Death Metal style,but with unexpected melody and a very catchy chorus,that said it is my least fave track,its just me tho, just a bit of the guitar i dont like thats all.

Track two is a pure delight opening with keyboards put together by James and Tilman this song has every element from metal to death composed with real care to create the near perfect song Dave's vocals surpass anything ive heard this year full stop, going from Burton C.Bell to Shagrath without pausing for breath,the song just moves so sweetly from melody to speed to death powered by solid drumming and great riffs.

Slither was my fave track up to now,it kicks big time starting off with a sample stating that "some say the world will end in fire" and if it did then this is its soundtrack,triggered drums power this song at full speed towards a wall of death :) once again Daves vocal arange simply astounds and the guitar work towards the end is top notch!

Finally we come to The Mind Chamber an atmospheric piece than features guest vocals from former Interlock singer Christina Gajny,the song itself has this wonderful little riff throughout that just holds it together perfectly.

These four songs show that Chaosanct dont want to do things thre same way as everybody else this cuts them a whole new genre of what we know as Death Metal,right now there is no one any where near this !
So you will want to get your hands on a copy of this ep.so go to www.myspace.com/chaosanct or better still get one at their next gig.


Rating : 10/10

Get This If You Like : Fear Factory,Cradle Of Filth,Strapping Young Lad,Dimmu Borgir,Biomechanical

OCCUPIERS POD TYPE THING SHOW 5 (Free Download)

1.Twilight Zone

2.Viking Skull - Frostbite

3.Nemhain - Ana (2006 Version)

4.Pinhead Demons To Some

5.Amy Lawson - Forever

6.Never Take My Bunghole

7.Cathedral - Skullflower

8.De Profundis - Cease To Be

9.Derek & Clive On Jesus

10.Spitting Blood - Control The Weak

11.Stewie Okay

12.Nya - The Choir Invisible

13.Cavalar - Devils Country

14.Virus - Dont Get Mad

15.Derek & Clive - Got The Horn

16.Viking Skull - Doom Gloom Heartache N Whisky

17.Dirty Harry

18.Nemhain - Speed Queen (2006 Version)

19.King Lizard - Waterloo Ratz

Running Time - 62.00

Format - wma

Size - 43.1 mb

Bit Rate - 97 kbs

Here we go with number 5, and this time i've almost kept it to the hour !

Download and enjoy my usual mix of music, offensive comedy and soundbites.

As always support the bands and go to the gigs and if they have them buy the cd's from them.Also if the bands have tickets to sell, buy from them and not the venues or ticket agencys.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GEAXBMK9

DE PROFUNDIS,BLOODWORK,SPITTING BLOOD,JUST ONE FIX - Purple Turtle,Camden 02.11.08 (Gig Review)

De Profundis

Bloodwork

Spitting Blood

Just One Fix

Purple Turtle 02.11.08

Just One Fix

I came in as they were about half way through their set, music seemed okay, it has that duh duh sound that Beavis & Butthead loved, great to bang your head too if your not drinking.

Spitting Blood

The reason i am here tonight :)

On cd they are a very drum heavy band with aggressive vocals but live it's a different monster all together.

To start with what you get here is a band totally together and very relaxed, bassist Tillman and vocalist Dave constantly joking with each other and the audience (Packed i might add!) and new female vocalist settling in well after only a couple of gigs.

So we are treated to set of revamped album tunes delivered at high speed with dual vocals that would give Angela Gosgow a heart attack from Clara and Dave could wake the dead !

The drum work from Reuben is amazing and the shredding level from guitarist Jamie is at the top.

Go see them if you get a chance i highly recommend them.

Bloodwork

I'll be honest here, i didnt see much of them at all, as i was outside smoking and drinking,I caught one song and it sounded fine.

De Profundis

Well they were new to me, yes i know they have been around for awhile, and boy was i impressed with their black metal doom.It was all new to me but apart from some album tracks they threw in a couple of new songs which are up on their myspace and a brand new untitled song which someone in the audience helpfully named "Gerald" (Hi Gray !).

These guys are seriously good, nice long songs full of doom and death with lots of timing changes, a British Opeth ?

I felt sorry for the band as at 11 pm most of the audience left, as the last train from Camden is 11:15 the vocalist even apoligised to the fans left behind.It really is about time that Mayor Boris "Bendy-Bus" Johnson sorted this out!!!!

STU

Just One fix
Spitting Blood

Bloodwork
De Profundis

CHAOSANCT - Live At The Fly 21.09.08 (Gig Review)

Chaosanct

9Days Down

1000 Scars

Heavens Gate

Arriving early at the venue, due to the amount of people there was to talk to, i never made inside the venue until 5 minutes before Chaosanct were due on stage!
So unlike other reviewers who just lie, i must apologise to all 3 support groups who i did not get to see, therefore i cannot review their sets.I will say that from talking to various people none of them had anything negative to say about them.

Onto Chaosanct who were making their london debut in front of a packed audience and boy did they deliver!
The brainchild of James Mcilroy, ex Cradle Of Filth and current lead guitarist with Matron who has spent 2 years putting this together with Andy Ongley (ex Lozek and current Guitarist with Samsas Traum), multi talented musician Tilman Wolff-Moore on bass also with Samsas Traum and Spitting Blood, ex Biomechanical drummer Matt C and Spitting Blood vocalist David R Kuchta.

Exploding onto the cramped stage with 'Slither' (one of only four completed demos,this one was recently uploaded to their myspace page), two things strike you; firstly that the quality of music is very high with its blend of death metal and melody and secondly that Dave has the most amazing voice, like a mixture of Burton C.Bell and Shagrath, without a doubt this guy has the best voice in metal in the uk right now.

The next few songs are new to everybody as only 2 have been released so far, each song powers along with pounding bass, superb guitar work from Andy and James who also manageed to windwill without getting caught up ! (how come his head doesnt unscrew?) driven by a constand barrage of drum triggers on overdrive.

Best of all was the atmosphere.On stage the band were clearly happy laughing and joking between songs and with each song the audience were becoming more involved with much headbanging and flicking of the obligatory horns,it was a sad moment when Dave announced the last song.
All in all a great gig from a band who will be destroying venues throughout the country in the near future.

STU