I have always appreciated two aspects of French label Distant Voices; the projects signed to their roster, and the physical aspect of each single release. When it comes to the first, the projects, well, I’d like to refer to the reviews I wrote for Arbre, Misery, Brouillard or Scars From A Dead Room. Without exception, all of them do please undersigned’s ear drums and mental state.
When I put this CD on, I immediately thought I was listening to Nickelback, but with a harder edge. The voice of Andy Biersack sound like an exact copy of Chad Kroeger’s voice. Musically though this band has a sound that is close to Nickelback but is not an exact copy of it.
What started out as a coverband called Powerage in 1998, quickly changed it’s name to Axenstar, and in the mean time started writing it’s own material. Since then these Swedes have been working hard, resulting in their first album in 2002, followed in 2003 by the ‘Far From Heaven’ album. They released their third album ‘The Inquisition’ in 2005, after which they signed with Massacre Records, on which they released their fourth album ‘The Final Requiem’. They released their fifth album ‘Aftermath’ on the same label in 2011, and following the release of th
Well well well, I thought this Italian band did split up a couple of years ago, but apparently it wasn’t but a temporary break. That’s fantastic news, but the best thing is: Absentia Lunae return with a new full length studio recording!
Tuomas Saukkonen is no stranger ! (BEFORE THE DAWN, BLACK SUN AEON) He unexpectedly laid both bands to rest and announced his intention to focus solely on a new act called WOLFHEART. I must say : there is some really good stuff here. “The Hunt” is a beautiful melodic opener. Also impressive is the somber and catchy “Witheout” which has a gobsmacking lead riff and a true Finnish winter vibe in the same vein as “Insomnium” and “Rapture”.
Is it the voice of Iron Maiden, NO, it isn’t, the only member of the original TRAUMA lineup to appear here is vocalist Donny Hillier. Hillier’s vocal sound much more refined and powerful, but they also sound incredibly like those of Bruce Dickenson. Trauma is a power speed metal band from San Francisco formed in 1981 being well known being Cliff Burton in the band before joining Metallica.
The music of “BITCH QUEENS” can be described as pure punk rock. That is based on a band like The Stooges. The start of “Kill Your Friends” sounds fresh and spreads a cool vibe. The title track sounds very nice and you can describe it a forward rocker. “Gimme a kiss” the highlight of the album makes me in a special late night moodJ, Rock’n’Roll and the wildness of punk can’t be combined much better. “Waste me” is really a waste of time, I don’t like the song at all!
Line up :
Ricky Warwick - Vocals
Scott Gorham - Guitars
Damon Johnson - Guitars
Robbie Crane - Bass
Jimmy DeGrasso – Drums
Four years after their debut album ‘Eye On The Sky’, Finnish Stargazery releases it’s successor ‘Stars Aligned’. Thae album contains 13 very good tracks, the last of which is sung in their mother tongue.
It is not that unusual anymore that a (Black) Metal band uses violin or viola in its songs. But in this case it’s a violin player that formed a Black Metal project, i.e. a guy called Ecnerual. Under the Mourning Mist moniker, he recorded this self-titled six-track studio album, assisted by several colleagues amongst whom bass player Kvasir, known from e.g. Abhor, Spiritual, Profezia or Ancient Supremacy.
