FROM GREAT HEIGHT - FGH EP (Cd Review)

01.The Messenger

02.From A Great Height

03.The Lie Of The Land

04.Initial

05.Split Seconds

Adam Ever (Vocals/Synth)

Paul Buckingham (Bass)

Michael Alp (Guitars)

Gary Boast (Drums)

"The columns of the night advance, infectiously, their cryptic dance gathers converts to the fold - in time the whole raw world will pace these same steps"...VDGG

There will come a time when everybody will catch up with this Enfield quartet, their brand of (Neo) Prog may draw comments of "Intresting" from the curious who see them for the first time to "Amazing" for those of us who have seen them many times, but if their live performances draw such comments can their EP live up to it?

The first thing you notice about 'The Messenger' is the superb basswork, then comes Adams outstanding vocals, keyboards and finally the melody of the guitar.The song itself is moody, anthemic and has some great lyrics.

'From A Great Height' could have been off any Peter Gabriel album in the early eighties but it retains an originality of their own thanks to the guitar sound which hints at some heavy metal influence.

'The Lie Of The Land', well first off great title, the songs has an almost post punk/new romantic feel, i cant quite nail it but it could be covered by Siouxie any day.

Ahh track 4 'Initial' the moody prog masterpiece that gets me headbanging every time and shouting out "Hellbent on both sides".Its on par with any prog rock classic you can name, and i do mean ANY.

Finally 'Split Second' brings the ep to a close with all the style and production of perfection.

An absoloute genius ep that puts this kind of music back into the forefront of the "Rock" scene, this is not some retro or indie band, these guys can stand on any Heavy Metal bill just as Marillion did in their early days.

But unlike That band i believe that FGH can sustain their musical integrity and produce some great albums and tours in the future and may one day find themselves in Terrorizer magazine!

Rating 10/10

For Fans Of : IQ, 12th Night, Peter Gabriel, (early) Marillion, Pallas

STU

MOUTHFUL OF FLIES - TEN NEGATIVE SIXES (Cd Review)

01.Deadened Soul

02.March Of The Clones

03.Believe The Lie

04.Blatant Frenzy

05.Breeder

06.Lost

07.Ingrained

08.Living The Nightmare

09.Black Magick

10.Strange Days

Daniel Stevenson (Vocals/Guitar)

Dean Smith (Guitar/Drums)

Robi Smith (Bass)

Johan Buys (Bass)

Recorded over a period of 3 years this was clearly a long term project that they took a great deal of care over, striving for their perfect sound.
This is technical and heavy as fuck, a huge drum sound drives each song as if life itself depends on the power with which each skin is crushed.

Then we get the guitarwork, heavy powerchords with catchy riffs lurking behind each song and the vocals are screaming right in your brain yet retain melody.
The song 'Lost' shows another side to the band with its techno intro and Wayne Static like vocal delivery.

Im seriously loving the guitar on 'Living The Nightmare' its like a non stop guitar solo, it just rips right through the whole song, play this fucker loud!

This album is just a pleasure to listen to, it simply rocks from first to last song without any drop in quality.

You should also go check them out live, where daniel and Dean are joined by Jake Findlay on bass and Kev Parker on drums.

Rating 10/10

For Fans Of : Strapping Young Lad, Static X, Dope, Fear Factory.

STU

EVILE - INFECTED NATIONS (Cd Review)

01.Infected Nation
02.Now Demolition
03.Nosophoros
04.Genocide
05.Plague To End All Plagues
06.Devoid Of Thought
07.Time No More
08.Metamorphosis
09.Hundred Wrathful Deities

Matt Drake (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals)

Ol Drake (Lead Guitar)

Mike Alexander (Bass)

Ben Carter (Drums)

Evile's second album marks a genuine milestone in thrash as the band effortlessly ups the ante, propelling the UK thrash outfit into the big leagues.
On 'Infected Nations', Evile takes thrash metal's '80s blueprints - ripping riffs and shredding solos - but refines them into a wholly more ferocious and modern beast. Having undertaken touring stints with MEGADETH, EXODUS and big shows with MACHINE HEAD, the band emerged from the studio with a new-found sense of dynamics, maturity and bag-fulls of catchy-but-pounding songs. Still proud to call themselves thrash metal, Evile just raised the bar for their fellow new-schoolers to strive for.

Okay so album number one was a great album (I had to buy it twice, second time for the dvd) but it was more than a bit overshadowed by some serious "Slayer Worship", this time however they had been writing for sometime, matured and found a brilliant producer with Russ Russell (Napalm Death, Nemhain, Dimmu Borgir).

Kicking off with 'Infected Nation' its mellow intro soon gives way to some classy thrash and it soon becomes obvious that the band have found their own style and that Matt has had a revelation vocally and really comes into his own here.

'Now Demolition' moves along like part two of track one, it has the same groove.'Nosophoros' borders on speed metal and has some great guitar solo's in it, one to crack the neck live i think.
'Genocide' is the first mini epic coming in a 7 minutes 42 seconds, it's slow paced and a real "grower" (If that makes any sense) "These demons are only men" go the dark and well written lyrics.

'Plague To End All Plagues' is another mid paced headbanger punctuated by some evil chords.

'Devoid Of Thought' is pure early eighties thrash as is the next track.'Metamorphosis' has some great bass work running through it and is another 7 minute epic.

Finally we come to the awesome 11 minutes and 14 seconds of 'Hundred Wrathful Deities' some beautiful guitarwork leads us into slow almost doom like thrash, plenty of harmony guitar work and a few solos, but most surprisingly of all its an instrumentle!

A stunning and mature album and one which will stand the test of time for the next twenty years, as i believe Jimmy Frankles would say Brilllliaaannnntttt!

Total respect here as well to Earache who are releasing a 2 disc version to start with, thus not taking 2 lots of money off the fans, and thanks for the advanced copy.

Rating 10/10

For Fans Of : Slayer, Mutant, Exodus, Virus

STU

ANAAL NATHRAKH - IN THE CONSTELLATION OF THE BLACK WIDOW (Cd Review)

01.In The Constellation Of The Black Widow

02.I Am The Wrath Of Gods And The Desolation Of The Earth Music

03.More Of Fire Than Blood

04.The Unbearable Filth Of The Soul

05.Terror In The Mind Of God

06.So Be It

07.The Lucifer Effect

08.Oil Upon The Sores Of Lepers

09.Satanarchrist

10.Blood Eagles Carved On The Backs Of Innocents

V.I.T.R.I.O.L. - Vocals

Mick kenney - Instruments

Lets face it they produced a defining "Extreme Metal" album years ago with 'The Codex Necro' and everything they have done since has always been judged by that.In fact the band themselves have always seemed to stay within the boundaries set by that classic, however this album shows progression without distracting from that original template.

From the opening screams of torment into the slow drum and guitar before that relentless onslaught of speed and hellish vocals,it seems that they have no intention of mellowing out but there is more here with some great harmony vocal and spoken overdubs, like Axis Of Perdition on steroids.

Rating 9/10

For Fans Of : Axis Of Perdition, Aborym, (Early) Berserker
STU

AFFLUENZA, 9BLIND, FROM GREAT HEIGHT, MAN OF KIN,D.MONIC Live At The Gaff 03.07.09 (Gig Review)

AFFLUENZA
9BLIND
FROM GREAT HEIGHT
MAN OF KIN
D.MONIC

The Gaff, Holloway Road July 3rd

D.MONIC
What a way to kick off a friday, this is some serious punked up metal fury delivered with some style.Take early AFI and mix it up with the Misfits and early Nirvana then give it that unique "London" twist and you have one helluva band.Caked in blood (Which i didnt notice at the time due to poor eyesight and wearing shades!!).They blew the place away and got everybody rocking from the first chord to the last.

MAN OF KIN
They may have been on earlier than they are used to but they still delivered a headline quality set, almost every song in their set is now rapidly heading towards the phrase "classic" and with audience participation throughout, it would seem that (at the moment at least) they can do no wrong.They do a great covers medley again (with the exception of bloody metallica) and the new song 'Sequence Of Lies' is growing on me already.

FROM GREAT HEIGHT
They may have shocked a few tonight, their brand of Metal is clearly marked Prog with vocalist Adam paying his respects to Peter Gabriel, but fuck these guys are good, and i mean really good, not only do they excell at what they do but they do it with a class that sets them way above any in their chosen field.
But dont think that this was all 'intresting' (As my black metal loving friend Kyron said) or "too intelligent for a metal gig" as i overheard someone else say, because they entertained and there was some headbanging (hooray :).
We got a new song debuted tonight called 'It Died A Quiet Death' and they ended their set with the awesome "Initial".

9BLIND
The third Enfield act on the bill tonight and representing a different musical genre as well, this time shouty in-your-face hardcore metal.These guys were like a bomb going off, you see after FGH everything was nice and calm then "Bang" people jumpimg around, mosh pits and lots of shouting.Performing with hi-energy songs they seem to play for a single purpose "FUN" and they deliver 100%
They ended their set with a cover of (Bloody) metallica's 'Memory Remains' and they did it very well and got everybody singing the Marianne Faithfull "La La's".

AFFLUENZA
Headlining set from the band who never put a foot wrong, tonight they started with a new song, normally a dangerous move for this lot, no problem.Just another great performance, it was however noticable that singer Al was somewhat possessed tonight by "The Claw" he did however manage to find the demon and pull off his best on stage performance for sometime.
Just love those songs "Dead Days","Affluenza Strain" and "Scorched Earth Policy" every time i hear them played, the guitar, bass and drums is just perfect.

STU

D.MONIC

MAN OF KIN

FROM GREAT HEIGHT

9BLIND

AFFLUENZA

MAN OF KIN,FERAL,MUTED,HOSTILE DAWN,FINISH HIM Live At The Gaff 28.06.09 (Gig Review)

MAN OF KIN
FERAL
MUTED
HOSTILE DAWN
FINISH HIM

THe Gaff, Holloway Road 28.06.09

FINISH HIM
Alternative/hardcore is the last type of music that i would ever bother listening too, but these guys have a "something" that puts them a mile above that enter shikari crap.They are entertaining and very 'in your face' with all band members (except the drummer) heading off into the audience.We were treatred to screams, occasional blastbeats, sing-a-longs, hip hop/disco samples and water pistol fights!!!!

HOSTILE DAWN
Heavy as fuck and armed with some serious slabs of riff laden metal tunes to make you bash your head and drink beer.
Its energetic and delivered with precision and rounded off with some good (for a change) shouty vocals.Tonight saw the debut of a new song beautifully titled 'Mouth Closed Money Shot' and if you will excuse the pun it went down well.

MUTED
There may have been a little tension within the band on stage, but their performance came over well to the audience who loved every thrash drenched second of it!Plenty of headbanging and cheers greeted each song and they put themselves over really well.

FERAL
Tonight they decided to throw away the set list and just play some songs in any order.They played well, the new song sounding better than the previous day and they ended with a great version of 'Roadhouse Blues'.

MAN OF KIN
The prospect of "Smooth Banana" showing its ugly head had cast a shadow for me before they even took to the stage, but i was still prepared to give them a fair chance.....

I have no idea what happend on that stage tonight but Jaz and his metal mobsters were totally "on fire" it was without a doubt a stunning performance and a masterclass in entertainment.

From the opening song 'I Swear To God' the crowd was inspired to headbang, mosh, dance, stage dive and form human pyramids!!!!!

A new song was unveiled tonight called 'Sequence Of Lies' and it shows a definite progression in all respects from music/writing and more intrestingly vocals, for this song has a slow atmospheric start with Jaz actually singing softley and he has a great voice, one which i hope he will use more in the future, aggressive shouty vocals are fine but think Burton C.Bell (fear factory) or Dave Kutcha (chaosanct) and the possibilities are endless.

Later in the set we are treated to a medley with the obligatory (And getting VERY boring) Metallica cover but on a better note Motorheads 'The Game' and rather cheekley Ferals 'Truth Is Lies'.

This is followed by 'Dont Let The Bastards Grind You Down', now this is a great song, but it has been ruined by a yellowish cult (No not Spongebob!), im talking about "Smooth Banana".Someone even brought a fake banana and gave it to Jaz, and sure enough during the song the entire venue except one : ME! joined in singing the evil mantra.

Order was restored for the final song when joined by Martin from feral on stage for the anthemic modern metal classic 'Primitive'.
A flawless performance and the best show i have ever seen them play.

STU

FINISH HIM

HOSTILE DAWN

MUTED

FERAL

MAN OF KIN

CAVALAR, AFFLUENZA, FERAL, XENOCHORD, CATFIGHT Live At The Gaff 27.06.09 (Gig Review)

CAVALAR
AFFLUENZA
FERAL
XENOCHORD
CATFIGHT

The Gaff, Holloway Road 27.06.09

CATFIGHT
4 months ago they made their debut at the gaff supporting Nemhain, armed with 3 covers and 1 original song, tonight they return with a full set of mostly original songs and a new guitarist and drummer.

Confident and ready to rock they take to the stage with a cover of the Misfits 'Die Die My Darling' then unleash their own songs, and they have some very good songs the audience took to them instantly at one point a mini mosh pit broke out.

One song features a duet with guitarist Samara and vocalist Marcella and it has the word "hit" written all over it, as does the catchy 'Aimia', they also threw in a cover of L7's 'Shit List' that nearly took out the original, it was that good.

Everything about the performance was 'right' Martin is a very solid drummer and held the beat perfectly, whilst guitarist Luca kept the solos going, leaving samara to keep the rhythm and alexandra to pound the bass whilst the quite beautiful and slightly mad Marcella sung and screamed her heart out whilst running around on and off the stage.

Laurence from feral described them to me afterwards as like the Dead kennedys with female vocals!!!

XENOCHORD
Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Progressive Death Metal, Great Keyboards (More synthersizer would be cool though),Brilliant Musicians, Absinthe, Absinthe, Absinthe, Superb Vocalist, Fantastic Songs, Absinthe, Absinthe.
Xenochord = FUCKING AWESOME!!!!

FERAL
Dispite the heat and the fact that vocalist/guitarist Martin was tired they pulled off yet another outstanding live set and tonight introduced a new song with the working title "Blue". Its very heavy with a few timing changes in it, it has elements of old school thrash and motorhead in there but its pure Feral and shows that they have no intention of sticking to what they have now and intend to push themselves forward musically all the time.

Of course all the favourites were played 'Truth Is Lies', 'Weapon X' and the epic 'Twisted Sinister Smile' and the sweaty audience got wetter (Does that sound right??).

AFFLUENZA
Having now perfected their stage performance with great songs, clever use of samples, outstanding guitarwork from Nicky and Marcel, faultless drumming from Zack and a great vocal delivery from Al, i wonder where they can go from here?
They enjoyed themselves as did the audience, everything is just "correct" with the band...So why are they not signed????

CAVALAR
I mean this is the same Cavalar right?
They sure look the same and yes, it is Arn on Drums, Daniel on Guitar, Max on Bass and Luca on the vocals, but Cavalar are a good solid classic rock style band who released an album called 'As A Metal of Fact' (Err twice actually).

Okay i will get to the point...Fucking hell this is a full on Heavy Metal band who could be supporting Helloween or EdGuy tomorrow.

An absolutley mind blowing set, totally breathing new life into the old songs and unleashing some incredible new ones, each song delivered with passion and energy from a band who obviously mean buisness.
Luca is not only a brilliant vocalist but quite possibley the best frontman in London at the moment, his enthusiasm and ability to get the audience moving is far from contrived like some, he, like his band, has genuine passion and it shows.

STU

CATFIGHT


XENOCHORD

FERAL

AFFLUENZA

CAVALAR