Magen - Thoughts In Greyscale EP (CD Review)

01.Greyscale
02.Hinder
03.Smother Me Gently
04.A Shape In The Wood


Ethel Feigman (Vocals)
Gal Shnaider (Guitar)
Naor Zakhaim (Guitar)
Ari Dorot (Bass)
Tommy Tenenbaum (Drums)

Magen is an Israeli band formed in october 2012, best described as a combination of Alternative Metal, Heavy metal, Progressive rock with elements from Jazz, swing and other classic genres.
Their attitude is: "Rock & Roll, Alternative, Heavy Metal, Prog and whatever we'll feel like in the future".

'Greyscale' starts with near Doom metal chords and drum beats, then it goes all quiet and starts to get this metalcore meets indie vibe.
Quirky basslines and rhythmic drum patterns drive this one along and it's all completed with a strong original sounding female vocal.

Basically the song 'Hinder' is more of that "metalcore" stuff, a sort of pop metal hybrid, not really my thing but the next track 'Smother Me Gently' has a little more to offer, some clever breakdowns and timing changes.

Finally 'A Shape in The Wood' a great swing inspired pop rocker, really upbeat and one i have no doubt is a live fave.

Not as complex as i was expecting from their biography, but still a good solid Ep.

Rating 7/10
For fans of: In This Moment, A Perfect Circle.

Vidian - Transgressing the Horizon (CD Review)

01.Control
02.Overdose
03.A Sad Place For Hopeless People
04.Breathe Out
05.It's Like It Cannot Be Broken
06.Temporary Life
07.Transgressing
08.The Horizon



Szymon Brazkiewicz (Vocals)
Adam Borys (Guitar)
Maciej Brzezinski (Drums)
Arkadiusz Orlowski (Guitar)
Aleksander Ziólkowski (Bass)

Polish metal band formed in 2008.
Cant tell you anymore as the bio supplied was in polish and there is no information on their facebook page.

Okay err, right. So we start with 'Control' a song of seven minutes that starts with near silence and the some strange distorted effects, then it blasts into some death metal meets metalcore riffs and screams and then goes "Lounge" with what sounds like trumpets and piano! I kid you not this is strange shit, then goes back to heavy and then some more piano.
No mention as to who is playing these instruments or if they are sampled from some early 1970's MOR collection.

'Overdose' seems to be a very rhythmic alsmost jazz/metal hybrid with agressive vocals and the next song after a slow start is fairly standard metalcore.

Up next is 'Breathe Out', what seems another standard song soon displays other influences, again you can detect some jazz rhythms and then comes some backing vocals that creates the kind of epic chorus' from the like of Turisas.

Mixing up everything from Doom to Nu-Metal, great backing vocals and delivered with measured anger.

'Temporary Life' has a laid back and melodic introduction, goes on for a while and just when you think they are throwing in another curve ball the metal is unleashed!

'Transgressing' and 'The Horizon' although they are laid down as two seperate songs they are essentially one song and this creates a massive and superb seventeen minute epic.
Starting with a slow and ambient intro and then launching into a very heavy piece, it then starts to build and create different sounds, ideas and layers, from the slow punchy powerchord style to neo-prog guitar workouts.
Towards the end of the first song there is some spoken word over guitar f/x and then a very quiet near classical ending. This carries through to the final song which then adds some, i suppose they call it "Post-Metal" stylings, personally i dont care what they call it as long as they keep making music this interesting and clever.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: System Of A Down, Mastodon, Hatebreed

Fleshworld, Gazers, Viscera - 3 Way Split (CD Review)

01.Fleshworld - Krąg                                               

02.Fleshworld - Petla

03.Fleshworld - Rezygnacja

04.Gazers - Rash

05.Gazers - The Decline

06.Gazers - Epilogue

07.Viscera/// - Versus

08.Viscera/// - Nobody's Diary

Unquiet Records present a unique limited edition (300 copies) 3 way split cd, each disc is handmade and comes in a special canvas sleeve, the label like to focus on werid, dark and heavy music.

Up first is Fleshworld, they are a "post-metal" band from Poland formed in 2010.

'Krag' may have shouty vocals, but the music is quite progressive and the use of a spoken sample works well.

'Petla' has a very quiet start before a huge bassline kicks in over the drums, the song remains rhythmic, only the overly agresssive vocals fit their chosen genre.

Guest vocals on 'Rezygnacja' by Alex and Victor from The Moth Gatherer means we get 3 people shouting over 9 minutes of slow, rhythmic and well executed music.

RATING 7/10

Next come Gazers the "post-hardcore/Screamo" band from France formed in 2012.

3 tracks of utter rubbish, pointless timing changes and endless screaming, no melody, no thought, just a noise.

RATING 1/10

Viscera/// describe themselves as "Psychedelic metal" and hail from Italy and formed way back in 2000.

'Versus' sounds more like a black metal song than "psychedelic", at times its slow and doom laden funeral doom over an evil sounding vocal, add to this blast beats and heavy riffs.

'Nobodys Diary' is a cover of a song by Yazoo, while the music is more mainstream and has a clean vocal to start with it then moves into the same black metal style, awesome!

RATING 9/10

OVERALL RATING 8/10

For Fans Of: Isis, Envy, Norma Jean, Neurosis, Converge, Deathspell Omega

Record Label: http://www.unquietrecords.com/

Emil Bulls - Sacrifice To Venus (CD Review)

01.The Grave
02.Hearteater
03.Pants Down
04.I Wanna Feel You
05.Rainbows And Butterflies
06.The Way Of The Warrior
07.The Reckoning
08.The Age of Revolution
09.Sacrifice To Venus
10.Gone Baby Gone
11.Man Or Mouse
12.Keep On Dreaming
13.Behind The Sun

Christoph v. Freydorf (Vocals)
James Richardson (Bass)
Andy Bock (Guitar)
Stephan Karl (Guitar)
Manuel Lotter (Drums)

They are the exact opposite of ‘typical German’ and at the same time one of the flagships of the German music scene.
Like no other band EMIL BULLS stands for a subtle underground spirit. For the past 19 years, the band has been delivering fresh and captivating tones without repeating itself.

3 years since their last release they return with a new record deal and new sound of "Alt Metal".
Hmm "Alternative" metal, that usuallly means crappy shouty music from what i have heard, dare i click play?

So play is engaged and 'The Grave' starts and yep its shouty crap with melodic pop chorus.Maybe the next track is good?

Well sounds better so far, 'Hearteater' has good drum playing, limited shouting and a strong melody running throughout
.

Oh no not again, shouting rubbish again, desperatly trying to be "Metal" sounds like a bunch of retarted post emo kids on an Andrew W.K bender!

No no no, there is a reason this stuff is called Alternative metal, just left out "To", sorry this is crap for kids who are looking for a new reason to pretend to metal, this is scene kid music.

Rating 4/10
For fans of: Black Veil Brides, Fightstar, Five Finger Death Punch, Kerrang! Magazine