47 posts tagged “metal”

Happy Halloween! I don't actually have a whole lot of time to devote to this article, unlike last year's Halloween Spooktacular. As I was looking around for inspiration and scary ideas to write about, I was sent "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" by Chico Fellini (official / myspace).

I was a teenage werewolf, braces on my fangs!

The song is a cover of the classic Cramps (myspace) 1980 song from their album, Songs The Lord Taught Us. As with the original and the cover, they both feature that distinctive guitar riff and, er, campy and moody vocals. I'm not sure what the deal is with the Chico Fellini cover, but there's about 45 seconds of "extra" jewelery box music at the end. I only ask because I had to boost up my volume to catch it.

If you love the Cramps, it might be worth your while to try and track download the bootleg called Songs The Lord Might Have Taught Us, which features an alternate mix of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf". I believe it might actually be the "Original Mix" found as bonus CD tracks on reissues, minus the Lux Interior's blowup at the false start.

Anyway, what the song is ultimately about is "growing pains" of a teenage werewolf, and I'm assuming describes the 50s film (having never seen it myself). The 50s horror film of the same name, starring a young Michael Landon, of Little House on the Prairie fame was so successful that it inspired other films such as "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", "I was a Teenage Mummy", "I Was a Teenage Serial Killer", and "I Was a Teenage Intellectual", etc.

The Remus Lupins - I Was a Teenage Werewolf

What's not a cover song is "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" by The Remus Lupins (myspace). Fans of Harry Potter should have already known about this Wizard Rock group, and if you've never heard of Wizard Rock, then my friend, you are not a Potter fan. I'm not a fan, but I think I've mentioned before that I've come to the conclusion that the teacher Remus Lupin is a werewolf in the book series. The band's name is taken from the teacher's name.

As a bonus, here's also the most famous Wizard Rock band, Harry and the Potters (official / myspace) with their song "My Teacher is a Werewolf". In fact, here's even more Werewolfy songs from previous year's entries.

Harry and the Potters - My Teacher is a Werewolf 1 comment	The Browns - American Werewolf in Calgary	Cocorosie - Werewolf	Scary Bitches - Werewolf	Southern Culture On The Skids - Werewolf
Michael Shields - Ginger Snaps Theme	Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London 3 comments	Running Wild - Prowling Werewolf 1 comment	London - Werewolves In London	Cat Power - Werewolf 7 comments
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - She Said 2 comments	La Union - Lobo Hombre En Paris 1 comment	the Dillinger Escape Plan - Sunshine the Werewolf	The Born Losers - Werewolves on Wheels	Metallica - Of Wolf and Man

ED HARCOURT
edharcourt.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter

Ed Harcourt is nothing short of amazing when he's playing live, possibly due to his many years of opening up for REM, Wilco, Beth Orton, Supergrass, etc. An amazing multi-instrumentalist, he mostly relies on his piano and strong vocals.

Recently, he composed the score for the "Donnie Darko" sequel S Darko, which I gave it a good review... despite the critics panning the movie. Russian Roulette EP is the latest release, around or after sxsw.

Like many of his previous songs, these songs on the EP tells little stories. I think sometime his personal life shows through in these songs, for instance the musical roller coaster "Caterpillar" reflects the singer's emotions of highs & lows when his newborn daughter Roxy was placed in an incubator.

It's the first song I've written about her. She was a little ill and we waited for her in the hospital for the chrysalis so we could take her home.

-- Ed Harcourt

These are great piano songs, they sometime sound a bit like old fashion television theme songs (accessible to anyone that hears it). There is one mountain folky-ish song called "Creep Out Of The Woodwork", which may be because of the country-sounding intro.

My favorite is "Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk", whose music was inspired by "Cypress Hill and Japanese children's shows". The violins towards the end by his wife, Gita, added a nice touch to the song.

You can get Russian Roulette EP from Dovecote Records, where you can also purchase his last album, The Beautiful Lie. Although it may sound gimmicky, you can get the EP via USB in the shape of a bullet. It's cool!

Harcourt will next appear in London at Standon Calling on August 2^nd.

VERISMO verismetal.com ♥ myspace Verismo - Failure 1 comment Verismo is a New York-based thrash metal trio, consisting of Stephan (vocals/guitars), Vinny (bass) and Tamas (drums). What I thought was funny is that they puke at the "throes of indie bands, experimental rock outfits, and techno-infused acts continue to battle it out for recognition in the highly-competitive New York City music scene" - all too true regarding New York's indie scene. Well metal's still huge all over the world, but it's a question of taste... and personally it's not my cup of tea. But if you like a bit of a harder (but not ear-punishing as some metal bands I've heard) guitar-noodling of Verismo, you can download their latest EP Greed for (ironically) free, if you sign up on their mailing list: FREE - "GREED" EP Friday, July 10, 2009 We want you to have it, listen to it, import it to your iPod, share it among your friends...etc. Remember a full length coming out at the end of this year! Get the EP absolutely free by signing up to our mailing list, 2 options: - Join our mailing list thru our myspace profile. - Come to www.verismetal.com and click on Mailing List.		THE RADIO DEPT. theradiodept.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter The Radio Dept. - David The Radio Dept. - Deliverance 5 comments From Sweden and our favorite Swedish label, Labrador comes The Radio Dept.'s David EP, released sometime in late June. We've previously mentioned Radio Dept. before and Randy describes This Past Week as: "it's shoegazey, melancholy, a bit subdued, but also lush and really well-layered between the vocals, guitar, keyboard, samples, and drum machine." I think anytime I read layer and drum machines, I just think of lo-fi, but they aren't. They're definitely dreamy in some chases. The single (4 tracks) are a quick listen. The songs are easy-on-the-ears, a little too relaxing with the mostly-instrumental "The Idle Urban Contemporaries". Obviously the main and title track "David" is the best among the songs. However, I didn't particularly care for the Rice Twins remix of "David", which is too jumpy and that use of vocal autotune drives me nuts, in my opinion. It could've been an interesting song if you haven't heard the original mix. But then again, I've mentioned before that I wasn't keen on remixes either. David EP is available now from Labrador.
BRAIN CHILDREN myspace.com Brain Children - Guts The children are Mikey Young and Max Kohane, based out of Victoria, Australia, who spent their years as punks and releasing DIY punk records (under such acts as Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Agents of Abhorrence). A lightning bolt must've hit the both of them as they are drinking their "Fosters" and they became a fishnet-wearing disco superhero duo called Brain Children, complete with the red Brainsmobile. They've just released a self-titled CD/12" and based on the six tracks, it's pretty much what you would expect out of a disco dance/synth band... ultimately sounding like they're from the 80s. There's definitely some bassy funk elements, especially on the "Guts", which I think there are actual girls-vocals on it. Either way, if you like what you heard, check out more at their myspace. It's easy for Australians to order the Brain Children EP directly from their record label Stained Circles (THEY SELL TAPES! TAPES!!! It's like 1986 again). Outside of ozland, you can only order 7" only, and you must use paypal.		GALA galasound.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter Gala - Freed From Desire The Un-Remix Italian pop singer, Gala Rizzatto, or simply known as Gala, gained a bit of fame over the UK (appearing on Top of the Pops), as well as playing with Janet Jackson and U2, quite a feat. Not really sure what happened, but she moved to New York, leaving her UK record label behind. Her latest release is an EP called Tough Love. This release is really polished, a very professional produced little six-track. For the most part, I love pop music, and since Gala's background is from Italy, she certainly knows her eurodisco music. If you don't like eurodisco, then turn away now, but if you dig Sophie Ellis-Bextor or Kyle Minogue, then you'll love Gala. Pretty soon, you'll find youself dancing uncontrollably to "Freed From Desire The Un-Remix" and "DKOL (Different Kind Of Love)". Watch out for that distinctive yip-yelp she does on "Tough Love". I see that she'll be heading over to Moscow for a live show at the Forbes Club on September 18th. You can follow her on Twitter, which she will occasional take some pictures on her walkabouts.

GOTHKILL
gothkill.com

Since we're primarily a music review website, we rarely get movies for review. So whenever they show up, I do make it an effort to get them reviewed. To keep in theme with music, I usually do and try to focus on its soundtrack or music-relationship.

The latest DVD we received is a horror movie called Gothkill. This is a straight-to-DVD low budgeted movie, starting America's Got Talent's Flambeaux (as Nicholas Dread), musician Eve Blackwater (as Kate) and Mistress Juliya (as Demonatrix, aka the Devil Girl).

Mistress Juliya's name should come as no surprise to fans of heavy metal, she did, after all hosted Much Music USA's Uranium, then onto its spin-off show, Metal Asylum. Her obvious sex appeal solidified her as a fan favorite, she now appears regularly on No. 1 Countdown Rock show on the MMUSA-turned-Fused TV.

Eve Blackwater's other job seems to be as a fire-eating musician. Her myspace hilariously discourages creeps: "STOP TRYING TO GET IN MY PANTS!!! IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!!! sorry to disappoint you."

The story of Gothkill is quite simple, Nicholas Dread, a Catholic Priest tries and save innocent women from accusations of witchcraft. His efforts lead the church to believe he's in league with the devil and sentenced him to be burn with the women he "confessed". This lead to Dread's disenchantment with his religion and made a pact with Satan.

100 years (?) later, in modern-day New York, Dread comes back to finish his deal with the devil. His revenge is unleashed on a stripper/goth club and basically it ends in fire and hell.

The DVD cover artwork by world-famous death metal artist Mike Hrubovcak promises us: B-Movie (check), T&A (check and check), metal (check), bloody gore (check), hell (check), goths (check), and deaths (check). While I did not enjoy very short movie, I would recommend it if you are looking for a midnight gory b-movie with a heavy goth/metal theme (with all the checks above), this will fulfill what you're looking for.

Also, it's not quite as comedic or as cheesy as some of the reviewers made it out to be, sure there are some unintentional bad acting, but that's to be expected with these type of film. I thought the Irish Scottish-punk looking actor, Flambeaux, did a decent job in taking the film seriously.

Gothkill was released May 12^th, you can netflix this (it's available, I just checked). If you insist on buying a copy for your Mistress Juliya collection or for the extras (including audio/video commentary by director JJ Connelly, Flambeaux, and Blackwater), you can head over to Gothkill Store. Watch the trailer at Wild Eye Releasing.

SCION
scion.com

Scion's unique marketing for their car through lifestyle and music have always interested me. Their latest venture is with an iPod application called Scion Radio 17 BPM Meter, which you can download for free via iTunes.

The application is really designed for DJs for determining beats per minute (BPM), for, what I'm assuming so they can match music to that thumping-thumping noise. The application was created and developed by Epic Tilt, who is the company-for-hire when big companies need to cross promote their product (such as that Be Like Lady Gaga application). It's actually a smart way to promote, I'm just wondering why companies don't concentrate their efforts on applications.

I did download and tested out the BPM application and discovered that this application was not meant for me. This is really for DJs, as I have previously mentioned. After testing four songs, the number given back to me ranges from 100-200 BPM and that's pretty much it. You can then save the information on a playlist or assign notes to it or share them with your DJ friends.... but I found that since I did not understand the use of the BPM, it quickly became a useless application for me.

However, if you're a DJ, or interested in DJ work, I think this application is valuable to you. Plus the price is just right: FREE.

TWITTER
twitter.com

It would seem like most current/modern bands all have Twitter accounts now. If not setup by the band themselves, it's set up by their record label. Pretty soon, all musicians will have a Twitter account, like they do with their Myspace.

W♥M Twitter experienced a huge spike with all the bands migrating to the service - we had +63 adds since last night, mostly by bands. It's not John Mayers numbers, but it's big for us.

And I have said it before: I don't get what all the fuss is about with Twitter. Why is the country in love with it? The limitation of 140 characters kills me.... plus people use it as a popularity contest. Also, once you add more than 50 people to follow, it becomes absolutely useless. I know hardcore Twitter users basically use 3rd party applications to keep them organize (since Twitter doesn't offer such functionality).

The microblogging service hit mainstream media earlier this year with Ashton vs CNN and Oprah endorsing it. Recently, I was at a grocery store when I saw The Times with twitter for their front page story.

If you're new to Twitter, or interested in being more productive on Twitter, here are some services that I use and endorse:

• Tweet Later: Automatically follow people that follows you - and the best part, it also drops people that unfollow you.
• Twitterfeed: Automatically post feeds (RSS).
• We Follow: A directory of twitterers, ranked by popularity.

Well I hope that helps.

Arcane and Abel, 4 Song EP, December, 2008
by
All of us/None of us
Genre: Alternative/Folk/Metal/Blues

All of Us/None of Us Guitarist and singer Eric Ray, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and R Tyck, bassist, a recording engineer and college instructor, began collaborating while Ray was living in San Francisco and Tyck in Los Angeles. Originally intending their work to be a studio project, the two wrote and recorded by sending tapes back and forth and making occasional trips between the two cities. Much of their debut album, Lucky Robot, was recorded in this manner.  Upon Ray’s return to his native Los Angeles, the two decided to start performing their material live and began looking for like-minded musicians. In 2005 they added cellist Catherine Cavella and drummer Courtney Olsen and began to perform in and around Los Angeles and the Bay Area to enthusiastic audiences. In 2006 Cavella moved away to Philadelphia. Later that same year Olsen left the group.  All of Us/None of Us continues to write, record and perform with a variety of different musicians.

All of Us/None of Us has been compared to Beck, Radiohead, P.J. Harvey and Jane's Addiction to name a few.  While I did find Arcane and Abel to be a bit Beckish, I also found enough originality in it to call it their own.

"A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it or it could be
who's hungry and where their mouth is or
who's out of work and where the job is or
who's broke and where the money is or
who's carrying a gun and where the peace is.” (Woody Guthrie)

To this end, Arcane and Abel conveys the hopelessness, social injustice and “I am fed up with society” values of  Guthrien folk music with a unique blues/metal twist, while keeping  it relevant to today's world.

My overall rating:  90 out of 100.
Would I buy this EP:  Yes
My favorite track:  #3 Excess
My least favorite and ironically the longest, track:  #4 Knew That  

At $3.96 on i Tunes, this 4 song EP is a true bargain and should find it's way into everyone's collection.

References: All of Us/None of Us MySpace Page

                      Band website

So I figure since my stack of CD's to review is kind of piling up, and I've been pretty lazy, of late, I would start combining reviews in logical ways. By genre, label, release date, etc. So today, I'm talking about some good old fashioned thrash played by some bands that I think get the idea better than most other bands playing this style of music now-a-days.

On the more hardcore end of things is the new album, Infernal Command, by the bay area's Voetsek. Ami Lawless's vocals range from hoarse shouts to high pitched screeches that bring to mind Nausea's Amy Miret. The band is about as thrash as it gets. Speed is the key here. But while the rhythm section is mostly punk, the guitars stray into metal territory quite often with killer leads wherever possible. Double-bass is used tastefully, which is nice to hear in a band like this. This band thrashes through 17 tracks in about 21 minutes, so this thing isn't for the feint of heart.

Lyrics range from dystopian (“Frozen Heart”) to social (“Self Righteous Fuckdom”) to political (“Bully With a Badge/Somone I Used to Know”) to just straight up goofy (“What Would Lemmy Do?”). I'd recommend this as highly for people who are into things like Municipal Waste, Septic Death, Man is the Bastard, Nausea, XBRAINIAX, or Hummingbird of Death as I would for people who are just into old-school 80's thrash.

They've got a few shows lined up, and they all look like complete “burn down the house” sorts of deals. Lack of Interest and Mind of Asian in particular are sick as hell. Here are the dates, and stay tuned to their MySpace page for more:

Nov 21 2008 LACK OF INTEREST, MIND OF ASIAN (Japan), VOETSEK, CALIFORNIA LOVE + more @ Gilman Berkeley, CA
Nov 22 2008 LACK OF INTEREST, VOETSEK, MIND OF ASIAN (Japan), SMD, SUMERIAN AXE, TERRORISM in SoCal Boyle Heights, CA
Nov 23 2008 GHOUL, MIND OF ASIAN, VOETSEK, I WILL KILL YOU FUCKER, DR. KILL ’EM ALL @ Burnt Ramen Richmond, CA
Nov 24 2008 VOETSEK & MIND OF ASIAN in Portland @ Plan B Portland, OR
Nov 25 2008 VOETSEK & MIND OF ASIAN in Seattle @ the Rendezvous Seattle, WA
Nov 26 2008 VOETSEK & MIND OF ASIAN in Eugene, OR Eugene, OR

Now onto the second band of this article!

I wish Sweden's Guillotine had sent me a little more info because I know almost nothing about them. But I'll work with what I can dig up! It'll be okay, I promise. They're on Singapore's Pulverised Records now, a label that I pretty consistently dig. They have one other album out. It came out ten years ago. Their sound is relentless, fast-ass thrash metal. Much more of a straight-up 80's thrash metal sound than the Voetsek album, and definitely rooted squarely in metal rather than punk. I'm not sure I get what these guys are all about, since, unfortunately, they didn't include any lyrics, but their sound is great.

The lead guitar work here is refreshingly creative for this kind of metal, with just enough of a classic sound to be familiar, but with some definite influence taken from Swedish melodic death metal (a style I generally don't like, but it works well here). The drumming is classic thrash all the way through, with a little bit of punk influence, but unmistakably metal overall. The songs here are a bit longer, with 12 tracks stretching over 41 minutes, but not one of them wears out its welcome.

And in true thrash metal tradition, this thing includes cover art by legendary thrash metal artist, Ed Repka (who has also worked with such classic bands as Venom, Death, Atheist, and Megadeth). I'd say it's worthy. You might agree. Anyone who digs things like Kreator will probably be into this. So check it out!

I don't see any tour dates for these guys on the internet, unfortunately, but I'm sure they're good and nasty live. So keep an eye on their MySpace page for some new dates.

 10/17/2008 00:04:36  ♥ written by appples ()

Ok first off, if you haven't at lest  heard of  Mötorhead, you've clearly been living in a cave. Pretty much the only first wave heavy metal band I give a shit about, Motörhead has been a band since my dad was 18, and yet they still kick way more ass than bands that are coming out today. Despite having a combined age of 153, the boys prove they can still rock harder than 95% of the bands they've influenced. Despite being almost as old as my grandfather, Lemmy still sounds like he did when he was 35 and Ace of Spades was released.

The lyrical content on Motörizer is fairly standard rock listening with plenty of references to women, one of my favorites has to be "wanna get your hands on a beautiful girl, you've gotta use a Mastercard", I also was tickled by a line from the track "Rock out" in which Lemmy bellows "Rock out, with your cock out, impress your lady friends" , which really begs the question what kind of lady friends does Lemmy have, and how does one go about befriending said ladies. Listening to this album made me wonder, just how dudes this old can rock this hard, I mean usually dudes this old playing in a band is a recipe for really bad dad rock, yet somehow Motörhead totally pulls it off.

This album sort of reminds me of Metallica's stuff before they started to suck, mixed with some AC/DC, with a healthy dose of attitude, and just a little touch of hair metal. the best example of the subtle hair metal influence is the song "English Rose" which sorta sounds like RATT's "Round and Round" except that it doesn't totally suck. Motörhead is on tour this year unfortunately you won't get to see them outside of Europe this year, let's hope 2009 brings a US tour. If your weekend plans include anything that even remotely resembles anything from Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls" music video, I suggest you go out and buy Motörizer, it's the perfect soundtrack to any sort of hard rocking debauchery. But don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Here's one I wasn't expecting! The new Outlaw Order album, Dragging Down the Enforcer, came out yesterday, but I just got it in the mail from Season of Mist today. Outlaw Order (abbreviated 00%) is a side project in the loosest sense of the word. Eyehategod guitarist, Jimmy Bower was busy playing drums in Down, and the rest of the band, all being on probation (in fact, since their first 7”, Legalize Crime, their original bassist went to prison), decided to play up the “outlaw” theme with this band. This time, bassist, Marc Schultz has been replaced (for obvious reasons), and really, they don't sound any worse for it because Justin Grisoli (also the only guy in the band who's never been in Eyehategod) does a damn fine job filling his shoes.

After a “declaration of a state of war,” the band is out the gates like a raging drunken bull. “Relive the Crime” is a really awesome track with some good sludge going on. Stoned, off-time playing, with drunken, almost punk rock vocals. I guess I'm stating the obvious when I say it sounds a hell of a lot like Eyehategod. A stoned drum-based dirge opens “Safety Off.” Slowly, the bass starts coming in, followed by buzzsaw guitars. They speed up into Sabbathy riffing with some angry drunken vocals. “Double Barrel Solves Everything” sounds like a hardcore song (in fact, I keep thinking it sounds sort of like a Minor Threat song, ironically, but I can't put my finger on which one). Pissed off vocals, economical, brutal guitar playing and drumming, and a nice sludgy bass assault make this track for me. “Alcohol Tobacco Firearms” starts out sounding a little like Sleep, and then throws that out to go into full-on old-school hardcore territory with the most speed displayed so far on the album. They stay fast and heavy for “Mercy Shot,” which has a nice crusty edge to it that reminds me a little bit of Asbestosdeath or Nausea. “Narco-Terrorists” has some really Sabbathy lead guitar going on. “Siege Mentality” goes even farther into that territory. More of the track is instrumental than not. Crushingly heavy, too! “Walking Papers” has a really cool ascending and descending lead guitar. You can smell the whiskey coming off of it. The last real song, the title track, has this cool juxtaposition of slow vocals and fast instrumentals. The drumming in particular is brutal as all hell.

This is a really solid album. I'd recommend it for fans of Down, Superjoint Ritual, Eyehategod, Asbestosdeath, Sleep, Electric Wizard... basically anyone who takes their metal slow and heavy. These guys only have one upcoming show scheduled. They're playing the Howlin' Wolf's “Raise the Dead” Festival in New Orleans. Maybe they can't leave town due to their probation? I don't know, but if you're in the area, check it out! Since their official website appears to be no longer owned by the band, more info can be found at their MySpace page.

Soup wrote this:

Oct 12 2008 8:00P Berbati’s Pan, w/Sunn0)) Portland, Oregon

Nov 11 2008 8:00P Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois

Nov 12 2008 8:00P Skull Alley Louisville, Kentucky

Nov 13 2008 8:00P Hi Tone, with Silver Apples Memphis, Tennessee

Nov 14 2008 9:00P Caledonia, with Silver Apples Athens, Georgia

Nov 15 2008 8:00P Drunken Unicorn, with Silver Apples Altanta, Georgia

Nov 16 2008 8:00P Emerald Lounge, with Silver Apples Asheville, North Carolina

Nov 18 2008 8:00P Local 506, with Silver Apples Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Nov 19 2008 8:00P Ottobar, with Silver Apples Baltimore, Maryland

Nov 20 2008 8:00P Bard College Poughkeepsie, New York

Nov 21 2008 8:00P Union Pool Brooklyn, New York

Nov 22 2008 9:00P Knitting Factory Manhattan, New York

I always love getting Sensory Records releases for review. None of them really should be my cup of tea, and they seem to be built around taking everything I personally dislike in metal and making entire albums out of those things. And for some reason I always like them! So I'm going to talk about the two I recently got: When Time Fades by Suspyre (the more “ordinary” of the two), and the soundtrack a Norwegian band, Xystus', new rock opera, Equilibrio. Yes, they sent me the soundtrack to a rock opera. I'm stoked!

I'll talk about the Suspyre release first, since it's the more straightforward of the two. These guys hail from New Jersey, and they definitely have a classically influenced thing going on. I'm not talking just adding some strings or something on a couple songs like some bands do, but this could almost be a classical piece structurally, and really, a lot of the musicianship here has nothing to do with any form of popular or folk music. The musicianship here, as on pretty much all Sensory releases I've heard, is mindblowing. Lots of speed, every note crystal clear and cleanly played. Singer Clay Barton sounds great, with both great range and the ability to sound emotive when he needs to.

There's also a lot of stylistic variation going on here. From straight up power metal, to classically influenced prog metal, from thrashy sections to prog-rock off-time sections, from straight-up clean vocals to robot voices. Pretty much any time signature you could imagine is played in here, and almost anything goes. This is a pretty great release. Fans of bands like Dream Theater or Blind Guardian will probably be into it.

Also, these dudes have a few shows coming up. They're playing ProgPower 2008 in Baarlo, Netherlands. Then they're playing on the Prog Palace radio show in Gaithersburg, Maryland on October 11^th. A little farther out, there's the Hellstock Music Festival in Palmetto, Florida, on January 17^th of next year. And a little farther out than that, they're playing the Upper East Side Music Festival in New York City on February 28^th.

Now onto the next release! It's a collaboration between Norwegian prog rockers, Xystus, and the US Concert Orchestra. As, quite literally, a rock opera, Equilibrio seems awfully elaborate for something by a band I've never heard of. I can't help wondering just how much it cost to put this thing on. This thing sounds like something only the richest bands could have afforded. But then, I really don't know much about putting on theater productions in Norway, and I really have no idea how popular Xystus are outside of the US (they said 4,000 people attended the shows in the liner notes, so they must be at least somewhat popular), so I'm probably dead wrong. The liner notes have pictures of the cast of the production in costume, a group picture of the “over... 130 people” who participated in its making, lyrics, and a picture of the band. So, of course, I'm going into this expecting something completely epic. Like over the top! And, well, these guys deliver!

The opening orchestral section of “Equilibrio Overture” sounds like something from one of the best fantasy video game soundtracks ever. The band themselves come in about halfway through, and really don't do much more than augment what's already there with rock instrumentation. Surprisingly tasteful, and yet, still incredibly over the top.

Of course, the next track, “Act 1, Sc. 1: My Song of Creation” features one of the actors (Simone Simons as the character, Lady Sophia) on vocals over an orchestral backdrop that sounds like something out of the Lord of the Rings movies.

“Act 1, Sc. 3: The Traveller” (sic) starts out by bringing back the theme from the overture, but with a more pronounced rock backing. The vocals this time are courtesy of the band's singer, Bas Dolmans, as Diegu the Traveller.

This leads into “Act 1, Sc. 5: Last Breath” on the album (I guess it should be noted that a lot of scenes appear to have not been included on the CD). This one is more of a rock track. A little more of a chaotic edge is present. The track is a dialog between Diegu and Death (George Oosthoek). Appropriately, Death's vocals are represented by, you guessed it, death growls! And he's pretty good at it, too.

The album kind of goes on like this. I mean, it's a rock opera, that's kind of to be expected. The next track, “Act 1, Sc. 6: Divided We Stand” (yeah, I cringed a bit when I read that title, too) is a dialog between Aveline (Michelle Splietelhof) and Primos (John Vooijs).

Really, I'm pretty sure everyone gets the idea here. This is as much an opera as it is rock, and although the vocal styles are definitely more slanted toward heavy metal styles, and the song structures probably take a lot more from rock, the way the instruments are used – both those of the band and the orchestra they're collaborating with - is both tasteful and yet completely over the top at the same time.

One thing I kind of wish had been included is a story synopsis. Just listening to this, I can get a vague idea of what's going on in any given scene, but the big picture is really unclear from the music alone. I'm sure it would be a lot clearer watching it onstage, but I'm just not getting it here. Regardless, the musicianship is top notch, all the vocalists are quite talented, and at the very least, what you're getting here is a pretty enjoyable listening experience that won't be lost on you if you're into this kind of music.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they're actually performing this anymore, and apparently they've just had a backing vocalist onstage to cover all the parts the band can't for smaller scale shows. The next scheduled show for them is a DVD release party, though, at Verkade Fabriek & W2 Concertzaal in North Brabant, Netherlands on January 11^th of next year. So if you're in the area, keep a look out for that, 'cause it might be pretty awesome.

And more information about both bands can be found at their official websites, of course:

http://www.suspyre.com/

http://www.xystus.nl/

 09/14/2008 11:28:08  ♥ written by vu ()