Misfits // Fuzz Club, Athens, Greece // 24.02.2014
When a so legendary band in its field like the Misfits come over for a gig, one owes to himself to see...
The US post-metal band A Storm of Light continues their music exhibition and delivers another hit album this year. With numerous records and releases, after the success of ‘As the Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade’, the band goals into another successful record and creates ‘Nations to Flames’. As the title reveals, the record claims to be critical and politically oriented, a criticism in social and political reality.
It’s been a long period since I thought Deicide could blow me off with a new album and I started thinking this may never happen again, especially with the last two albums of the band, ‘’Til Death Do Us Part’’ and ‘’To Hell With God’’, where I remembered their downfall during their ‘’Insineratehymn’’ and ‘’In Torment In Hell’’ days.
I had started worrying lately, as I hadn’t encountered a release concerning atmospheric metal, but it was Sad Alice Said and their album ‘’Yesterday’s Tomorrow’’ that broke this silence. I was in need of such a listening lately, as I was deep into death, thrash and beatdown listenings and despite I love all these very much, it’s times that the mind must be relaxing from such drumstorms and riffing hurricanes. This band worked for me this specific moment and let’s see what they have to offer to the listeners out there in a time where the releases get numerous and only the strong and capable survive.
This is a very focused album in what the guys want to achieve. I bet they wanted to produce something consistent and they succeeded in it, as the flow of the eight long tracks serve to have the same result and to work as one. ‘’Yesterday’s Tomorrow’’ is a mid-tempo album in all its duration, that goes as slow as it gets to avoid being characterized as a doom album. The guitars are not so heavy and the rhythms aren’t crawling, so despite the melancholy that’s filling the room where you listen the album, you won’t have any suicidal thoughts or feelings of tireness, but it won’t be a shining album to remind you of sunny landscapes as well.
Anneke van Giersbergen; It’s been numerous the cases of artists fading with the passing of time, losing strength and will to continue their art. Often finding sparks of their former glory in mediocre releases, yet the passion is nowhere to be found. Has the lovely Dutch lady become one of these cases? Are 18 years of intense career enough to sap her spirit?
Another Saturday night for Greek metalheads to have a great time. This time one of the most unique modern metal bands of our time visited our country for the second time: Children Of Bodom from Finland for the "Halo Of Blood" tour. Along with the well-known groovy Deathsters Decapitated from Poland and Medeia from Finland. The place was jam packed with young and older metalheads waiting to see their favorite band playing live.
The show started according to the schedule with Medeia. A really promising band, I didn't expect an opening act to be so energetic and warm up the crowd so well. If someone walked in when these guys (and girl) were playing he could have mistaken them for a co-headlining act. So warm was the welcome from the audience. Music wise, they sounded like a mixture of metalcore at its finest with Machine Head, some really well put female vocals by their keyboard player, a bit of blasting and great amounts of energy (had to say it again). Their frontman didn't forget to thank us all for being so loud and proud from the beginning without him even asking us to do so. I'd love to see them playing live again in Greece. They were really friendly after the show as well.
After the great warm-up with Medeia, in came Decapitated, one of Polands best known Death metal bands alongside with Behemoth and Vader. They kicked in with "Pest" off the "Carnival Is Forever" record, making most of the crowd headbang like crazy and start the first moshpits. "Carnival Is Forever" was also represented by the next track "404", "View From A Hole" and "Homo Sum" that caused some bigger moshpits and stagedives here and there, showing that even though they changed towards a groovier direction, they still sound like a killer Death metal act live. The song "Flash-B(l)ack" came from the last record with fallen drummer Vitek behind the kit ("Organic Hallucinosis"), with his replacement doing a great job tormenting the drum skins. Their setlist ended with their classic "Spheres Of Madness" causing the biggest moshpit in their set. The band was really in the mood to kick serious asses and that's what they did. We just wish to see them again with a bigger setlist.
Then we had the headliners of the evening, Children Of Bodom. This band has really attracted many young metalheads to this genre of music over the last few years. Many 15-plus-year-old kids have come to know metal music via Children Of Bodom while at the same time older people seem to really enjoy their style. So they came in like actual headliners ripping it out with "Silent Night Bodom Night" and the crowd was whipped into a frenzy, making the moshpits even bigger. The 2 first songs from "Hate Crew Deathroll" ("Needled 24/7", "Sixpounder") came up to keep us moshing and headbanging like crazy! We heard stuff from "Follow The Reaper" ("Hate Me!" and "Kissing The Shadows" with that epic guitar/keyboards solo duo in the end), "Hatebreeder" (the ultra-classic "Downfall" and "Towards Dead End"), "Something Wild" (only "Lake Bodom" even though its an amazingly addictive song), "Are You Dead Yet?" ("In Your Face" and "Are You Dead Yet?") "Hate Crew Deathroll" (the amazing title track as well as the headbanging anthem "Angels Don't Kill"), the title track off "Blooddrunk" and nothing off "Relentless Reckless Forever". Their new album "Halo Of Blood" was represented by the amazing title track, "Scream For Silence" and "Dead Man's Hand On You" which seemed well received by the audience as an absolute return to form. The band sounded so fresh, as if it was a phase of renewal for them releasing that album. The setlist as a tribute to the Greek tradition included (right before "Downfall" I think), a keyboard cover of the Alexis Zorbas theme, highly representative of the Greek musical culture. Alexi Laiho lead the way for COB as the natural frontman and one of the ultimate sex symbols in modern metal music (ladies, please contain your screams), not that the rest of the guys had less of a success, since every one of them is a shining star in his own right. Roope with his rhythm guitar work backing up his guitar partner, Janne Warmen with his incredible keyboard solos, Jaska Raitikannen/Henkka Seppala holding it all together as passionate musicians and brothers on stage (that's how they feel about each other). Only that time it was way more evident. Their setlist ended with "In Your Face" (one of their best choruses ever, Gagarin shook when we first heard the chorus) including the Medeia frontman backing up on the vocals. The band had a great time as well as the audience that gave in everything they had. And the event was well organized in order not to tire the metalheads more on their way home. Wish even more luck to the bands doing what they want to do and we hope seeing events like that in the future.
JORN, the hard rock band fronted by powerhouse Norwegian singer Jorn Lande(MASTERPLAN, ARK), has parted ways with longtime drummer Willy Bendiksen. A replacement drummer has not yet been announced.
JORN in July announced the addition of bassist Thomas Bekkevold to the group's ranks.
JORN's latest album, "Traveller", landed at position No. 12 on the official chart in Norway. The CD was released on June 11 in North America and June 14 in Europe via Frontiers Records.
Considered one of the greatest legends in rock, and by many as the best male rock singer of the millennium, Lande never seems to stop producing music, and is back with yet another slab of classic first-division heavy rock. "Traveller" is definitely a suitable title to fit this gifted and creative viking's extreme productivity.
During his almost-30-year-long career, his albums have sold millions. He managed to release close to 40 albums with various bands/projects in the past decades, and "Traveller" is his eighth studio album under the Jorn banner. Some say he has passed his successors by his gift of being versatile, and ability to not get stuck in the political frames of the music business. A true independent "freebird" hammering his legacy in stone as he goes, with a band of grounded and solid craftsmen to back up his hurricane force voice.
This album represents the first product of the pairing of Jorn Lande and the new JORN guitaristTrond Holter (WIG WAM, DREAM POLICE). The result is eleven new songs encompassing a variety of moods and styles, with Lande's voice shining through memorable anthems, backed by wonderful grooves and tightly-executed classic and melodic heavy metal. "This album has all the elements of the Jorn legacy," says Lande. "It is heavy, but still very melodic and experimental, and it really rocks! As usual we haven't spent much time analyzing the material before recording it, this is an album about life, doom and death reflecting on what I know and thoughts about what I don't."
Fifteen years ago exactly in September 26th 1998, I had the luck and privilege to witness live and get to know in person one of my biggest heroes in life, Chuck Schuldiner from Death. This day had always a special place in my heart, especially after Chuck’s passing. Luck brought it this way so that I would witness another gig this special day and it’s another great reason to remember it through the years to come.
Rating: 8
Label: Century Media Records
Website: Link
Author: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras After the release of Geoff Tate's version of Queensrӱche (wi...
Prime Time's Alexandra Obmanets sat down with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT, the renaissance-inspired rock band formed by Ritchie Blackmoreand his wife Candice Night, ahead of their June 18 concert in Moscow, Russia to talk about music, romance, and importance of gazing out the window. Check out the report below.
BLACKMORE'S NIGHT's new album, "Dancer And The Moon", was released on June 11 in North America and June 14 in Europe in regular CD configuration and deluxe edition in digipak, including a bonus DVD featuring a 40-minute "making-of-the-album" documentary and acoustic versions of"The Spinner's Tale", "Somewhere Over The Sea/Moon Was Shining","The Ashgrove" and "Queen For A Day". The album was also made available in a super-deluxe edition strictly limited to 2000 copies packaged in a polyston frame with the cover artwork printed on canvas and including a black tote bag with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT artwork, four BLACKMORE'S NIGHT pins, a certificate