Review: JOHN GALLOW – “Violet Dreams”

 

Tracklist:

1.   Entrance to the Unknown
2.   Dark Traveller
3.   Violet Dreams
4.   Ancient Tears
5.   Maelstrom of Consciousness
6.   Rain Messenger
7.   Purple Room
8.   Part Ways
9   Turn Sides
10.   Wall of Doom
11.   Passer-By
12.   Lavendeth
13.   Burning Trees
14.   Beam of Light

Release Date: 2 July 2014 – I, Voidhanger Records

John Gallow is the alter ego of renowned guitarist/vocalist/multistrumentalist John Gallo and his new project is a musical combination in the likes of Paul Chain, early Candlemass and  (also) early Black Sabbath. I could end the review here; in fact, I think I gave you a pretty good idea of what this album is all about. It’s haunting psych-doom. And it’s good! It’s like been on acid but instead of multicolor landscapes (and mindscapes…) you have only purple, violet and black ones! Spooky, hah? Well, that’s what you‘ll get. A sinister experience about death and after life, tricky but extremely interesting at the same time. I have to admit, whilst listening to this album, (black, purple and violet) clouds came upon me and left when the listening session was over. That’s doom at its best!

I really enjoyed the guitar themes, massive and flawless riffs and with a vast variety of changes. The voice harmonies and falsettos from far beyond make everything more hallucinating and beautifully haunting. Messiah Marcolin and Sabbath’s Ozzy are two names that immediately came to mind during the listening sessions of this album. As stated before, the guitar is simply extraordinary and John Gallo for me is a guitar hero. Also, some of his solos in this album seem improvised and recorded in one take, but that’s just me. Not that this is a bad thing, on the contrary; they fit perfectly in the song structures. There is not one note out of place in this record. This guy is so underrated and should get more exposure, if you ask me.

As far as a track-by-track review goes, this album is a trip that should be taken as a whole experience, in which every song is a continuation of its previous and even the instrumental pieces do not fall out of place; they are different parts of the same puzzle. Personal favorites are: “Entrance To The Unknown”, “Violet Dreams”, “Maelstrom Of Consciousness”, “Wall Of Doom”, “Purple Room”, “Lavendeth”, “Burning Trees”, “Beam Of Light”. Most likely this list will eventually change as the scratching of layers of this album continues. You will definitely find something that suits you here, no doubt about it.

The great production elevates the (already high) quality of the songs, while the cover art concept makes you familiarize with the album immediately. Great stuff, indeed!

Overall it’s a trip within a universe where the evil of man dwells and the souls of the mortals come to suffer, in which you will surely disappear. I know I did.

To put it simple, a masterpiece in its genre!

9,5/10

Review by Anarchy Divine

Premiere for new Pallbearer song

 

Pallbearer set the sails for the release of their new anticipated album “Foundations of Burden” on August 19th via Profound Lore Records. Now we have the chance to taste a new song “The Ghost I Used to Be” on NPR’S All Songs Considered and the link is: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/06/24/324878945/vikings-choice-pallbearer-the-ghost-i-used-to-be

Also, the band has announced a small tour for America in June with Deafheaven:

June 24  Lawrence, KS @ Granada

June 26  Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s

June 27  Austin, TX @ Red 7

June 28  Dallas, TX @ Club Dada

And by September they will be on tour with Yob in Europe:

September 3  Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli de helling

September 4  Bristol, UK @ The Fleece

September 5  Manchester, UK @ Roadhouse

September 6  Glasgow, UK @ Audio

September 7  Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club

September 8  London, UK @ The Underworld

September 10  Dortmund, DE @ FZW

September 11  Groningen, NL @ Vera

September 12  Aarhus, DK @ Atlas

September 13  Gothenberg, SE @ Truckstop Alaska

September 14  Oslo, NO @ Hostsabbat @ Betong

September 16  Helsinki, FI @ Tavastia

September 17  Stockholm, SE @ Slakthuset

September 18  Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen

September 19  Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz

September 20  Wroclaw, PL @ Firlej

September 21  Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu

September 23  Prague, CZ @ Klub 007

September 24  Vienna, AT @ Arena

September 25  Innsbruck, AT @ PMK

September 26  Winterthur, CH @ Gaswerk

September 29  Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie

October 2 Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz3

October 3  Madrid, ES @ Villamanuela

October 4  Porto, PT @ Amplifest

October 5  Erandio, ES @ Sonora

October 10  Athens, GR @ Kyttaro Club

October 11  Antwerp, Belgium @ Desert Fest

November 7, 8, 9  Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

Review: The Order of the Solar Temple – “The Order of the Solar Temple”

 

Tracklist

1. Fallout Woman
2. Aeon of Horus
3. The Cult (Of Rock N’ Roll)
4. Jervas Dudley
5. Pale Horse
6. Back Home
7. Dominance And Submission
8. The Order

Release Date: July 2014 – I, Voidhanger Records

“Proto Love”

Revival; an occasion that tend to be a myth of the past or something that came to stay forever producing bands with personality? The answer is, time will tell and the same goes for The Order of the Solar Temple. This band meets all the requirements as a new coming. The occult clue is in the general image of the band, as the sound is not funeral doom or something common, but a combination of hard/doom rock with proto metal .

As the album begins, you get straight into the mood of it. The lyrics help a lot to learn and enjoy them at once as in “Fallout Woman”. Also from the first song it’s getting clear that the main weapon of the album is the guitar solos and the explosiveness that is being created. And if the first song is just the beginning, check out “Pale Horse” in which the guitars are set on fire. Think what could happen when this one will be played on stage. Rock n’ roll holocaust and “The Cult” can easily keep you burning with its a la punky “Running Free” rhythm section. Actually the NWOBHM style of ancient Iron Maiden and Demon is hidden in the album.

And when things are getting doomy “Aeon of Horus” and “The Order” behead us without mercy. Gravity, epicness and an ancient spirit from Pagan Altar haunts the atmosphere; darkened liturgy in its grandeur. Songs for a long aside singing ’till you feel empty of strength to go on. Also the successful cover of “Dominance And Submission” proves that into a BOC song a Uriah Heep dose can fearless erupt it. Even the vocals have something from David Byron and thus nothing can stop you from listening to it unstoppable.

Hard/doomy riffs, rock n’ roll riffs and a mystic spirituality like the addictive and excellent artwork are the set of this debut. Do not try to think if the band is one of the same with other new bands. They are not, because no other band loves setting everything on fire by torches and through dark eyes.

8/10

Review by Dr.Feelgood

Review: GRAND MAGUS – “Triumph And Power”

 

Tracklist

1. On Hooves of Gold
2. Steel Versus Steel
3. Fight
4. Triumph And Power
5. Dominator
6. Arv
7. Holmgang
8. The Naked And the Dead
9. Ymer
10. The Hammer Will Bite

Release Date: 31 January 2014 – Nuclear Blast

“Swedish Steel”

Nowadays there are bands that are parts of various cliques and there are Grand Magus. The Swedish band is a category on its own and every new release makes your day, your year and makes your thoughts be more optimistic. They are not trying to experiment with their music nor is this something as needed. “Triumph And Power” cannot be an exception, cannot be a minor sin in their discography.

Keep going from where “The Hunt” ended, “Triumph And Power” is anthemic, addictive, ultra heavy and passionate as well. For one more album the guiders are ravens painting in the sky the initials of albums from ’70s Judas Priest and ancient Manowar (strictly first 3 albums). From the beginning till the ending the album gallops without stopping and the gentle moments of  “Arv” and “Ymer” are the sound of the wind among the trees during the epic storm. Who heard “Steel Versus Steel” and didn’t start posing with an air-guitar till kneeling on the ground? How many times will you need to learn every single word from “Triumph And Power”? Inner strength in “Fight” and “Dominator” and rock n’ roll attitude in “The Naked And the Dead”.

The trio of this band does great things, composes an epicness like which a common one has years to be shown up. And if the whole album is able to make you leave your house and face reality with a smile, the ending “The Hammer Will Bite” with its British Steel vein shall addict you keeping this smile for months. No fillers, no excuses, just pure heavy/epic metal from three musicians who honor the past, are thirsty for the future and the most important live in the present!

9/10

Review by Dr.Feelgood

New album from Pallbearer

 

The American doom band Pallbearer is ready to release the second album “Foundations of Burden” on 22nd of August via Profound Lore Records.

According to the label, with “Foundations Of Burden”, Pallbearer have delivered their most engaging work yet. Musically, “Foundations Of Burden” sees the band strengthen their monolithic melodious structures of doom that have become synonymous with their signature sound. All while incorporating a much more progressive and musically challenging scenario to their anthems which compliment the huge epic melodies and harmonics even more. Whereas “Sorrow and Extinction” expanded the foundation which Pallbearer laid down with their demo, “Foundations Of Burden” morphs itself into a glorious new vision that will see the band rise even more to promising new heights beyond the awareness brought upon them with “Sorrow and Extinction”.

“Foundations of Burden” tracklist

1. Worlds Apart
2. Foundations
3. Watcher in the Sky
4. The Ghost I Used to Be
5. Ashes
6. Vanished

Review: SPECTRAL LORE – “III”

 

Tracklist

SINGULARITY

1. Omphalos
2. The Veiled Garden
3. The Cold March towards Eternal Brightness
4. Drifting through Moss And Ancient Stone

ETERNITY

1. The Spiral Fountain
2. A Rider through the Lands of An Infinite Dreamscape
3. Cosmic Significance

Release Date: 2 May 2014 – I, Voidhanger Records

“Colorful Waterfalls of Dreams”

From the early ’90s the Greek black metal scene not only has captured the north and frost feeling of Norway, but also the most bands have managed to take music even further. In paths that no one could ever dream. The progression of black in Greece can be called without fears and prejudices as culture. Zemial, Aenaon, Hail Spirit Noir and Spectral Lore are some of those who see and act beyond what is seen.

Have you ever picked up an album which could be the soundtrack of nature or dreams? Can 88 minutes of music be a spiritual expression of something transcendental? Yes, it can and “III” from Spectral Lore is exactly this soundtrack. The music of this album is not a philosophy, it’s a belief where ambient, progressive and black are becoming one. Ayloss proves to himself more than anyone else, that he has abilities to make the human mind travel outside the fake reality and let it face its real expressions. This is the feeling as a mental product of music.

Singularity and Eternity; two sides where dreams pass from a close place to an open sky. Both sides are overwhelmed by epic black riffs and yet harmonic as well. “The Cold March Towards Eternal Brightness” and “The Spiral Fountain” are expressing definitely the black/fast riffing of luminous mountains where thoughts can travel. And on the other side, “The Veiled Garden”; a doomy blackened silence with acoustic moments that can make you see through fog. As for the vocals of Ayloss… are out of the cosmic sound.

And if the above songs can haunt your soul, the biggest journey, the brightest madness comes in “Drifting through Moss And Ancient Stone”. A majestic field of acoustic progression where strings speak their own lyrics. I could say that in this song there might be an affect from the Canadians Harmonium and their epic song “Histoires Sans Paroles”. After follows the one and only “Cosmic Significance”. Guys the melody of the ambient keys could stop the streaming of the earth and when the guitars bring the peak, we could say that this is the moment when the child touches the eternity, that was never promised to it.

Listen to it even if you don’t like black metal. Trust me, here black metal is under the command of art.

9/10

Review by Dr.Feelgood

Review: CROSSWIND – “Vicious Dominion”

 

Tracklist

1. From Ashes Reborn
2. Lords of Deceit
3. The Order
4. Angels at War
5. Legion Lost
6. Vicious Dominion
7. Aeons
8. Grim Steeds
9. Eye of the Storm

Release Date: 16 June 2014 – No Remorse Records

“Faith, Glory and Honor”

Crosswind are a classic instance of the bands having been created in the mid ’90s and due to several difficulties release their debut after all those years. You see, it’s their vision and tenacity to stay alive, get over every hurdle and be here to offer “Vicious Dominion”.

Their debut will satisfy to the fullest the fans of teutonic power metal. Whoever has missed the firmness of Helloween from their first three albums, the ignorance of Hammerfall on their debut and the inner power of Innerwish, now can lie his/her tears of happiness in this album. If in the first demos and the compilation, the band showed that has something to say, with this release things are being more certain than then.

And now what exactly have to say about the songs? From one side the power immediacy of “The Order”, “Angels at War”, “Aeons” and “Eye of the Storm” (A song from the past). Refrains that will be sung even while you are sleeping and leads that stuck in your head like the leech in the body. And from the other side the epic majesty in “Vicious Dominion” and “Legion Lost” (with an “a la John Arch break scream” in the beginning). Speed riffs and solos as you ordered them many years ago.

As the tradition asks great singers in power/prog bands from Thessaloniki, Crosswind played with the “Mat move” and brought Vasilis Topalidis to be their frontman. So, hearing this voice in a metal album after Horizon’s End is dreamy. His voice fits every single second in the songs and the rest is history. While power metal is not as strong as it used to be, I’m saying this and not because I’m a Greek; bands from Greece step on stuff that many other bands did in the past, but the feeling through the songs is strong and alive!

8/10

Review by Dr.Feelgood

Review: ANUBIS GATE – “Horizons”

 

Tracklist

1. Destined to Remember
2. Never Like This (A Dream)
3. Hear My Call!
4. Airways
5. Revolution Come Undone
6. Breach of Faith
7. Mindlessness
8. Horizons
9. A Dream within A Dream
10. Erasure

Release Date 15 April 2014 – Nightmare Records

Melodies, leads, hooks, vocal harmonies, songwriting. Have you ever wondered if out there exists a band which can combine all these characteristics? Well, you can put that research behind you, since Denmark has kindly provided us with an answer…Ladies and Gentlemen, Anubis Gate! I don’t know how the heck this band managed to get over my music radar for so long since they have been active for more than a decade. Anyway, here they are. A Danish band which plays progressive metal aggressively, with humility and talent. Even though they are HUGE players, they put their talent to the service of Songwriting.

Listening to the album (“Horizons”) I was able to discover a new galaxy of inspirational music. Even though the band has experienced various changes in the line up throughout their 10 years of existence, they managed to keep an inimitable level of musicianship. Their main characteristics are expressive, unmistakable melodies from the screaming guitars in grasping your neck and not letting you relax even for a moment, but also changes in the rhythms that are both imaginative and unpredictable that you think you are in a parallel universe where Dream Theater never fell victim of their own musical trends and continued to produce adventurous music! At the highest level, also,  the Yes-like voice harmonies, capable of providing a serious case of goose bumps, with inspiring interpretations traveling hand in hand with the wonderful and soulful lyrics. Everything in the proper dose, without a trace of arrogance and elitism , with each note that makes you look forward to the next.

By starting the record we encounter the first triple blast, “Destined To Remember”, “Never Like This (A Dream)” and “Hear My Call”, from which I’m still trying to recover. Beautifully arranged, they could easily be part of a three-piece suite. “Airways” creates a combination of musical landscapes with a fluidity of structure hard to find elsewhere nowadays. Sublime.  With the starting riff of “Revolution Come Undone” I am already part of their tortuous journey and not really caring to go back. “Breach Of Faith” has a chorus hard to forget, but It’s not just the chorus. It’s the culmination of an anthemic labyrinth. Worth listening to, again and again and again. “Mindlessness” (what a song title!) and “Horizons” are multi-coloured paintings that fit perfectly with what is an extraordinary album.

And then…. Then comes “Dream Within A Dream”. A Journey into the Dream, a Dream straight to the Journey in which Anubis Gate, as a brand new Theseus, unfold the secrets of the composition like a new Ariadne’s thread , with an excess of mastery and the confidence of a winner! The album finishes with “Erasure”, a track that evokes various emotions and memories that everyone can relate to. Stunning finish.

I could write for hours about this album, but I do not want to over-analyze it, for there is likely to lose some the magic it beholds, so I stop here. It’s not an album strictly for the progressive fans…It’s for everyone who loves MUSIC! Last year was particularly successful for the progressive music and such albums like this make me think that 2014 can follow the tendency of its predecessor. Listen and believe!

9,5/10

Review by Anarchy Divine

Review: PORTRAIT – “Crossroads”

 

Tracklist

1. Liberation
2. At the Ghost Gate
3. We Were Not Alone
4. In Time
5. Black Easter
6. Ageless Rites
7. Our Roads Must Never Cross
8. Lily

Release Date 25 April 2014 – Metal Blade

“A Shot in the Dark”

Almost every day we see new bands rising from the unknown, whether they have a personal sound from their early days or not. As I have mentioned many times it’s not what you play, but the way you do it. For me Portrait are winners. They were from the first bands presented their love for Mercyful Fate. In “Crimen…” they were very fast, sharp and black and in their new album “Crossroads” go on with their personal darkness and are more anthemical (check “We Were Not Alone”) and even less followers of the Fate sound.

Yeah, “Crossroads” is as dark and black as “Crimen…”, but the sacrifice of speed in order to incorporate refrains doesn’t hold it back. On the other hand makes it more open and a classic piece of heaviness. Think that Mercyful Fate are sounded as less as the precocious Iron Maiden and Judas Priest appear to erupt the songs. Also the way the album is sounded, helps even more Per to show to those calling him as a clone of King Diamond, that he has an ability to use his voice anyhow. Listen to his narrative and at the same time “theatrical” performance in “Our Roads Must Never Cross” or his inevitability in “Black Easter”. By the way this song could easily be the different one if my thinking reference of it’s characteristic Rush rhythm is true.

Of course, Per proves for one more time why he is the ideal singer for this band through his high and thrilled performances in “At the Ghost Gate” and “Ageless Rites”. Aside him those riffs and leads that never stop. Behind every riff are hiding several leads and this is one of the trademarks for Portrait. But guys, when it comes this EPIC “Lily” time stops. Its acoustic intro takes your memories back in the middle ’70s (“Last Rose of Summer” and others…) and then… a galloping riffing that could never end. And after, a dazzling finale with that a la Halford scream and the acoustic melody ending as “Liberation” begun (if I’m right for one more time, the intro song could easily pay tribute to the solo album of Jim Matheos “Away with Words”).

If for the most of you In Solitude are heroes because they tried something successfully different, then Portrait with this album make me a warmer follower of them. And I’m sure that Cristian Lindell and David Olofsson can keep riffing on that way and sharing with us their heavy darkness rising from the graves of Kristianstad. Please, guys keep sounding with that combat production.

8/10

Review by Dr.Feelgood

MAYHEM release new album

 

The Norwegian black metal pioneers Mayhem after seven years will release their new album “Esoteric Warfare” and it’s scheduled for release on June 6th via Season of Mist.

As the band has stated, the entrance of their new member Morten “Teloch” Iversen has helped them in the compositional work of the album. Thus the band’s sound is back to the basic roots and at the same time they take a step forward, without searching for nostalgic moments.

“Esoteric Warfare” tracklist

1. Watchers
2. Psywar
3. Trinity
4. Pandaemon
5. MILAB
6. VI. Sec.
7. Throne of Time
8. Corpse of Care
9. Posthuman
10. Aion Suntella