MUSIC REVIEWS III - Music - http://maxpages.com/aeazine/MUSIC_REVIEWS

The Blood Divine Rise Pantheon Dreams Peaceville
This album shows the darkened imagination The Blood Divine are capable of in evoking emotion through their music and Rise Pantheon Dreams has plenty of good moments in and of themselves, but they’re not exactly as cohesive as they should be as the interesting parts of each song; the direction in which some instruments head; show up once only to disappear again. I definitely that a prime example of this is the deep orchestral intro to “Aureole” which is very captivating, made even more so by the low vocal track that surfaces among the strings and other instruments to fixate the listener’s attention on the song, before it suddenly explodes into an ethereal guitar-keyboard progression that changes into Slayer inspired riffing as it progresses. The biggest flaw as I found on other albums like this one that cover a lot of ground is that while the band are capable of handling their instruments and the varying styles of music, too many of the songs alter their moods too drastically; in this case switching from heavy alternative to doom metal to atmospheric, et cetera, and there is nothing to unify all these different styles strongly enough. Other moments help to make up for this, like the acoustic guitar intro to “As Rapture Fades” that’s nicely underscored by keyboards, but to have the very next song sound more like grind core than doom seems to divert from the intended effect. If there was something more solid as far as what could bring all these influences together the band’s potential could be fulfilled a lot more.

The Elysian Fields 12 Ablaze Black Lotus
A natural progression of the melodic, orchestral Scandinavian black metal that began its existence in the late nineties after Cradle of Filth were instrumental in expanding its emotional scope, the music The Elysian Fields create on 12 Ablaze recaptures the expressive depth that inspired the songwriters, comprising a spacious assortment of inspiration and scenic backdrops. This band never bothered trying to match the progressions taken by other black metal bands, nor did they try to directly emulate the bigger black metal bands looking for a fast ticket into the public eye, opting instead to build on their own foundations and look deeper into the unfathomable within to discover where their own mind's eyes could take them. I for one am not entirely disappointed with the results. "Enshield My Hate Eternal" launches the album with thrashy violence that goes on before unexpectedly changing its tone to something deep-rooted and meditative. This premise is repeated in a continual pattern on this album; granted there are few deviations from the chosen formula but it makes for a consistency that grows on you in the big picture. There's just minimal atmosphere in the guitars, and the vocal range keeps its extreme license, making the sudden transitions to and underlying refrains of classically influenced piano, strings and keyboards all the more gratifying to those who find release through the more depressive, mournful passages of theatrical black metal.

Biohazard Uncivilization Sanctuary
The old saying rendered here as “you can take a man out of the streets, but you can’t take the streets out of the man” is appropriate for a Brooklyn-based band that consider making it on their own terms a given. Through their career Biohazard have not promoted or glorified violence as much as they’ve done their best to shatter complacency in Middle America. From their earliest shows when they were another addition to the hardcore scene, their determination to break through to the mainstream was obvious to me even then. By bringing New York hardcore into people’s living rooms, they forced us to accept the fact there are problems that should be addressed and solved in this country somehow, including but not limited to drug addiction, gang violence, homelessness and, in keeping with their roots in hardcore, people who hide behind airs making them appear superior to others because they don’t have the ability to deal with reality, while envying and resenting those who do. The reason they have a huge following is because their audience and close friends appreciate their brutal honesty and know they’d never be lied to when they attend one of their shows. Unlike the media manufactured persona of Eminem they tell you how things really are when you don’t come from as fortunate a background. The ideas conveyed on Uncivilzation are more dangerous to the status quo than the band members would be if they were walking the streets with guns. They keep their notoriety for cutting through verbal smokescreens and aiming straight for the root of the problem without apology, as on Urban Discipline and New World Disorder. From the urban setting of the video for “Sellout” to the 1984-esque imagery of the cover art you can tell they’re as determined as ever to wake people up to what’s happening in the world from inner cities to the world of big business, while urging you to believe in yourself and remain an individual in spite of how bad things are. They’re sharing a bill with Hatebreed at Roseland Ballroom on December 26 so go see them; in the meantime look for guest appearances from Roger Miret, Peter Steele, Phil Anselmo and Sen Dog among others.

Moonspell Darkness and Hope Century Media
To this day I remember when I first listened to Wolfheart, which Moonspell recorded after signing with Century Media in 1994. This was the time they started to incorporate goth elements into their music, whereas previously they drew from the traditional black metal influences of Bathory and Celtic Frost with similar lyrics. I thought Wolfheart had a good balance between dark metal and the goth atmosphere they adopted when starting their maturation process, and the emotion they channeled through their songs. I never got around to checking out Irreligious, mostly because I read it had more goth than metal elements, and the review made it sound disappointing though the band maintain it was their first successful album, selling 50,000 copies within five months of its release. So years later, during which time I considered getting new material by them time and again, I decided to pick up Darkness and Hope to see what they sound like today. True, they reinvented themselves so much that hearing this is almost like listening to a different band, but after listening a couple of times it’s not as bad as I thought it might have been. It’s much more polished and traces of metal are still in the material, even if they’re buried beneath the songs’ predominantly goth feeling. The eroticism of Wolfheart seems to have been reinforced by these overtones as it seems to envelop the listener in a dark shroud. The keyboards used by the band reminded me vaguely of Josh Silver’s style, but generally sound fueled by solitude and introspection, when presented on their own during the quiet segments unexpectedly giving way to heavier parts with a guitar sound varying from metal to avant garde punk to gothic. I heard some nice backing vocals from a female singer named Asta who eerily made her presence known in “Devilred” just enough to draw me in closer to its introduction before I was drawn into its overlapping sounds and Andrew Eldritch-style vocals. But getting back to Wolfheart yet again I believe the vocals sound better alternating between the gruff black metal and the more melodic intonations he used there. Moonspell also add a special touch to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley” by adding a haunting keyboard break after the guitar solo that fits with their rendition of the Oz’s classic.

GG Allin Singles Collection Volume 1Temperance
Even after his death in 1993, a select number of devotees still consider GG Allin the only true embodiment of punk rock beyond peers and predecessors. Those who followed him since the eighties might discuss his exploits as if they were the stuff of legend. Celebrating his unique style of sexuality such as “Drink, Fight and Fuck,” “Gimme Some Head” and his ode to venereal disease, “Needle Up My Cock,” apparently recording albums on cassette decks for the lack of sufficient studio funds, being banned from virtually everywhere he’s played, his Maximum Rock N Roll-covered marriage and subsequent prison sentence which received its own share of media coverage. After this, he seemed to shove it into the media’s faces that being jailed for a while only inspired him to become more rebellious in attitude than ever. If you are among those who had heard of him but never quite worked up the courage to attend his performances, you may be asking, “Where did it all start?” With the Jabbers, Allin began his career singing on record what senior high school kids and college freshmen used to scrawl on bathroom stalls about ex-girlfriends as payback for being dumped; since punk had long since been embraced in America as a subculture, the kids who were angry beyond social responsibility were first to gravitate toward the defiant messages in “No Rules” and “Teacher’s Pet,” which are included here as rare singles he released throughout the eighties. Like Venom, who likewise had a punk attitude, Allin’s music is appealing because of its rawness, and it matters little if his band makes occasional mistakes if the feeling is there. But it might surprise you to discover his earliest roots seem to be in the early seventies with bands like Deep Purple, Grand Funk and the Stones judging by the songs recorded by his band Malpractice. His punk roots are from the avant-garde glam of an obscure band named Stripsearch who are included here. If you listen closely you can hear a lyric or two that GG could have written that resonate with his personality he brought to light with his own songs and the interviews added to the liner notes, one from a 1986 edition of the Manchester Journal.

Dark Throne Plaguewielder Moonfog
It’s been extremely long since we last heard from Dark Throne within these pages, however if you’ve been keeping up with happenings in the underground through other publications, they’re far from defunct About a month from now, in fact, they’ll be back in Oslo, Norway recording their next studio album for release in February according to their official website. These days Dark Throne consists solely of founding members Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, without Zephyrous who hasn’t expressed any interest in returning to the band. Perhaps it’s because I’m a major Bathory fan, or just as likely it’s because I used to enjoy hanging out in the woods a lot, but this band always spoke to me on a level apart from others, even those I relate to as deeply. Most likely it’s because they’ve stuck it out through some bummers including accusations of racism as well as a certain disillusionment with what they perceive the black metal scene has developed into today, and they’re still doing things on their own, just how they want to, and to hell with whoever has a problem with that. Besides the release of Goatlord they prove on Plaguewielder that they’re still competent musicians and can write strong material. Though they’re still undergoing a process of renewal and changing their style, with Fenriz messing around with his lyrics, the new material is tightening up under the formula they started on Total Death after parting company with the classic black metal sound of older albums like Transilvanian Hunger. Fenriz is writing shorter verse to go along with the music but the implied darkness called forth goes a long way toward bringing melancholy to the listener. It worked for Hitchcock, as it did in The Blair Witch Project; the less you tell, the more it creeps you. Why not for them? When Nocturno goes back to repeat a few verses you get more of a sense that he’s reinforcing the idea more strongly than on Total Death. The untitled introduction is a creepy piece lasting about less than a minute that puts you in the right mindset for the music that follows, proving they’re still able to grab you from the outset and prepare you for another journey through their darkened imagination. This made me look forward to what they’ve planned for the next album; the first time they’ve had that effect since A Blaze in the Northern Sky.

Uphill Battle Uphill Battle Relapse
Uphill Battle’s self-titled effort clocks in at less than thirty minutes but the material makes its duration seem much longer due to how many influences they manage to jam together. It’s an odd duality; to hear everything on this album you might have to listen to it more than once. The music is so fast and there’s so much going on a lot of what’s here could pass you by if you don’t pay close enough attention. It doesn’t take long after the album begins to learn Uphill Battle are competent musicians, and they’re among the few bands I’ve heard who can combine multiple styles on one album as convincingly as they do here. At first listen you might be prone to lump them in with the death-grind scene, but while browsing their official website you’ll find they have more of a hardcore attitude. Having started in 1999 as Crawlspace, the band hail from Santa Barbara, California. I wouldn’t have expected a hardcore band or a metal band to originate there, but nonetheless that’s where they’re from. Before signing to Relapse the band released a demo and a couple split releases with local bands. The band’s name, which they renamed themselves after discovering that other bands went by the same moniker, seems to be appropriate for the lyrics they write for this album. These lyrics are very hardcore oriented, indicative of struggling against the sort of blind conformity that inspires anger-driven music. They’re intelligently written and clear in their meaning, though the vocals could have done them more credit by adding a sense of control to the infuriated manner in which they’re sung. I like the way the band fuse hardcore with grindcore, black and death metal and avant-garde music and arrange each piece to make everything charge forward relentlessly while each instrument remains coherent without becoming a blur.

Amon Amarth Versus the World Metal Blade
Anyone who’s followed Amon Amarth through the albums they’ve released through Metal Blade since 1997 can guess Versus the World summarily describes the annals of their history. Despite being evicted from their rehearsal space back in 1995 after their equipment was burglarized, the band decided to push onward anyway. Building a reputation working with Peter Tagtgren to produce their albums in the recording studio and embarking on a widespread performing campaign that included appearances at several noteworthy outdoor festivals (one of these is the WOA Roadshow scheduled to begin in Europe in April of next year), they have established themselves as poised to conquer the world. Metal Observer magazine believes they’ll achieve their goal easily since they never recorded a weak album. I can see his point while listening, given that I’ve kept up with Amon Amarth during the time Metal Blade has continually bombarded me with their promos, haha. In other words I doubt they’ll have a problem riding the crest of Swedish melodic death to expand their following in America, especially among Hypocrisy fans. As someone who has heard virtually all of their material except for the demos, I can say their basic formula has preserved itself since their debut for Metal Blade Once Sent from the Golden Hall. While not doing anything new, the feeling of riding into battle hasn’t diminished and the band manages to avoid becoming predictable with their songs. A particular amount of their characteristic rawness has been subdued in favor of more rigid musicianship and mournful songwriting; the intro to “For the Stabwounds in Our Backs” is a case in point. Frederik Andersson, whose been their drummer since 1998, has grown to be a solid anchor for the band, holding the material together quite strongly.

Solar Dawn Equinoctium Candlelight USA
Solar Dawn wasted little time circulating their demos while seeking a record deal, weighed against the amount of time most bands take to get their name around it seems. The release of their promotional MCD Frost-Work eventually led to a contract with a leading label that has for a long time dealt with ominous, despondent music. After recording their debut for Candlelight’s American affiliates and making a few appearances around Europe, the band decided to take a temporary hiatus while bassist/vocalist Christian Alvestam, guitarist Anders Edlund and drummer Henrik Schonstrom are busily working on new material from the side projects they are involved with, Unmoiored and Incapacity. In the meantime, we have Equinoctium to experience until the band become active again. For some reason this album reminds me of the same sort of emotions Metallica and Iron Maiden brought to their music during their classic days besides the Swedish sound the band resonate with, probably from the similarities I hear in many guitar riffs. Rather than take away from the heaviness as some might suspect because Metallica drastically changed their style, this actually adds to the emotional response the band show themselves as capable of evoking. The production comes across as too gritty for these influences but you can make out each instrument being played easily enough. The vocal harmonies that complement the music is a nice touch as well, and Solar Dawn succeed in making this a profound expedition into barrenness and melancholy.

Symphorce Phorceful Ahead Metal Blade
Symphorce’s third full-length, and first for Metal Blade, was released only recently but already it has received favorable press from established metal publications including Rock Hard and Metal Hammer in addition to several internet zines for the maturity and technical expertise they achieved since the release of their freshman effort Truth to Promises in 1999 to mark the beginning of their recording career. Since I hadn’t heard anything by Symphorce prior to putting their album on, I decided to check out some older songs by accessing available MP3s on their official website. Compared to the material I heard from their debut recording and their second recording Sanctuary, Phorceful Ahead is to a large extent less raw with glossier production, substituting the rough edged guitars that were previously a component in their formula with a critically larger proportioned impression of power metal. Some might consider the power chords innate to their first album primitive measured up to what they’re doing today, evidenced by the old school thrash elements and acoustic based guitar sections brought into the music, despite that power chords are still utilized as part of these compositions and the “arena” ambiance provided by the vocal harmonies and persistent choruses has remained another steady constituent of the band’s method. Vocalist Andy B. Franck, who is also the vocalist for Brainstorm, pens all the lyrics and a sizable portion of the music. The addition of keyboards by “sixth member” H.P. Walter in addition to a greater amount of tempo changes and longer opuses give Phorceful Ahead more of an epic feeling than was present earlier.

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