Pest – Rest In Morbid Darkness (2008) 8/10

The thoughts that go through my mind when listening to Rest In Morbid Darkness are as follows; Cold, harsh, punky, heavy drums, heavy metal solos, oldschool gothenburg death metal, thrashy, primitive yet well produced (it’s actually possible to hear each instrument). And that’s just the first track.

The rest of the album continues in the same frantic tempo. And there’s some good riffing going on. The title track got some sort of Maidenesque feeling to it in some part. (I guess that’s where the heavy metal comes into play). They sound like a blackened Bewitched. I also sense a little Celtic Frost (read: Monotheist) in the mix. But, on the other hand, the Celtic Frost bit is something you could probably find in almost all BM bands of today. And black metal is, after all, the main ingredient of Rest In Morbid Darkness.

Pest do what all bands should do; save the best for last. The ending track: The Lust For Cruelty, is a very doomy and slow track. And it contains the best vocals of all the tracks. I really like the dissonant guitars, which make it all sound so much more evil.

All in all this is an album I would recommend if you, like I, are into the extremer side of metal.

Karl Sanders – Saurian Exorcisms (2009) 9/10

I loved Karl Sanders first solo album, Saurian Meditation from 2004, and was very excited when I heard that he had released a new one. He sings and play guitar in the technical death metal band Nile, which, like the name says is all about egyptian mythology. With Saurian Meditation and Saurian Exorcisms, he continues to be influenced by the ancient, middle-eastern mythologies. The difference is that this is as far as you can get from technical death metal. What we’re dealing with here is world music, and he does an excellent job.

A lot of metal bands claim to be influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, but this is the only album I’ve heard that actually is truly Lovecraftian. And this is totally my own interpretation. Not once have I heard or read an interview where he mention the great author.

This is one of those albums that take you on a journey to another place and another time. If I close my eyes, I can really see the mad arab; Abdul Alhazred writing his book, Necronomicon. I can see the shapes of Yog-Sothot and Cthulhu and feel the presence of the civilizations and unnameable creatures that existed long before we, the human race, came to be. I see unspeakable rites being performed.

From the beginning, Preliminary Purification Before The Calling of Inanna to the end, Dying Embers Of The Aga Mass SSSratu, it is a journey, and Karl Sanders is your guide.

The Kolony – Mischiefs And Shenanigans (2009) 8/10

http://cdbaby.com/cd/kolony

Try to imagnine the following scenario: It’s saturday night and Helloween decides to try hallucinogenic drugs for the first time in their lives. Tripping out, they suddenly decide that they want to play grindcore, kick out Andy Deris and let two friends scream their lungs out. Then they realize that they want to put punk drums and hardcore choirs and why not, some Macabre influences into the mix.

It may sound to good to be true, but this is exactly what Gothenburg’s The Kolony sound like. To make it even more psyched out, they have song titles like Good Boys Swallow, The Ballad of Sir Bastard,  Dead Metal Dance and Raping The Royal Retard.

The album contains 29 minutes of pure psychedelic punk metal madness, and it’s your own fault if you don’t give this one a listen.

Mist Signal – Happy Elephant (2009) 7/10

http://www.lastfm.se/music/Mist+Signal                                                                                                                                                               http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=311077719

I’ve been into trip hop since first hearing Portishead and Massive Attack in the mid-90’s, and this duo from Kungsbacka, Sweden is mostly influenced by Portishead.  Let’s face it, if you’re playing trip hop and have a vocalist like Malin Mellström, who sound a lot like Beth Gibbons, the comparison is inevitable. This is their first demo and I like what I hear.

There are four tracks up for grabs at either their last.fm page or their myspace page. The first one, Aftermath,  sounds very naked and actually sounds like a mix of the forementioned Portishead and the swedish band Oh Laura. That is, if Oh Laura would play trip hop.

The next one, Now, Please Be, which was the first song they recorded, starts out like a Dead Can Dance song mixed with Julee Cruise (who sang the theme song for Twin Peaks) and some Massive Attack beats.

On to number three, This Day, the cool Beth Gibbon-like vocals really gets through. You even get some tribal sounding beats, and it has a very symphonic feel to it.  The whole track has a very electronic, medieval folky feeling to it, if you know what I mean.

On the last one, Waiting Still, which also is their latest recording, you can hear that they’re on their way to getting their own identity. It’s so beautiful, yet powerful. It definitley contains promises of even greater deeds in the future.

They’re planning to put together a band, to be able to perform their music live. And when they do, I’m gonna be at the front row.

Time for a change…

This far it’s been all about metal on this blog, but it’s time for a change. Let’s face it! The musical universe is so much more than just heavy riffing, pounding drums and screaming vocals. And it’s time for my first non-metal review. Time for some Trip Hop. :-)

Manimal – The Darkest Room (2009) 8/10

Writing a review of this album is almost impossible to write without mentioning a lot of other bands. So here we go; Judas Priest, Queensrÿche (Empire-era), Dio, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Stratovarius and Helloween. With that out of the way, we can focus on the great pieces of music that’s on this disc. Although there’s a lot of different ingredients shining through on this album, Manimal manage to make their own delicious mix.

From the first track, Shadows to the last, The Life We Lived, this album is an excellent journey through different subgenrés of metal. I could never describe this as anything other than pure metal. The band have been around for some years now, and it’s probably just coincidences that they haven’t been picked up by a big label earlier. But like a certain brand of beer, this album is certainly “worth waiting for”.

I love the mix of heavy progmetal mixed with more traditional metal, and picking out a favourite track is almost impossible. Should I go with Living Dead, Ordinary Man or Spine Grinder. Or perhaps any of the other 6 tracks. I have to say it’s really impressive that they manage to stay away from the whole “obligatory ballad”.

The album shows proof of excellent musicianship as well. Obviously the vocals and the guitars are the first thing to catch your ear (it’s metal, after all), but the bass and drums also get their chance to prove their skills.

All in all an album that will end up very high on the Best of 2009-list. (That is if I ever would make one of those.) Good news to all of you people who don’t live in Sweden: The album will be available through AFM, so you will be able to find it at your local record dealer later this year.

To finish of this review, if you’re the least bit into metal, this album is a must-buy.

Time for easter holiday, but I’m coming back with new reviews next week. :-)

The video for “Bewitched” by Candlesmass directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who went on to direct videos for the likes of Madonna. Hmm..wonder if this was the vid that made her chose him. :-)

This is the first time death/grind was shown on Swedish Television, back in 1989. Those were the days. :-)

Satyricon – The Shadowthrone (1995) 9/10

Satyricon was my first contact with black metal, and The Shadowthrone was the one album that got me interested in this genré. Let’s face it, this is is a classic! The album came out when the “inner circle” of the norwegian black metal scene burned a lot of wooden churches. Satyricon was one of the bands that chose to stay away from all that, and focus on the music instead. That’s probably why I’ve always thought that they were a bit more serious than Mayhem.

It begins with Hvite Krists Død (White Christ’s Death) (8:28). This is a call out to war against 1000 years of oppression from christianity. This is, in my humble opinion, one of the best opening tracks ever. Track no.2, In The Mist By The Hills (8:01)  is a track where the title actually reflects the music very well.  On to no.3, Woods To Eternity (6:13). This is another black metal masterpiece with some nice acoustic guitar playing.

No.4, Vikingland (5:15), is another one with norwegian lyrics. (You can probably find translations of the lyrics somewhere on the net). This is the sound of the norwegian landscapes. No.5, Dominions Of Satyricon (9:25), begins with bombastic drums and continues with some great riffing mixed with some piano. No.6, The King Of The Shadowthrone (6:14) is bombastic and atmospheric. It also includes some nice acoustic guitar playing fom Satyr, who plays all instrument on the album, except for the drums which are played excellently by Frost.

With a great intro like Hvite Krists Død, they had to record a great outro.  With I En Svart Kiste (In A Black Coffin) (5:24) they manage to do just that. No guitars, just keyboards. It has a norwegian, folky feeling to it.

In fact, the whole album sounds very norwegian. It’s not just the norwegian lyrics on two of the tracks. (I En Svart Kiste is an instrumental track). The cold feeling is the sound of the norwegian mountains, if that makes any sense.

What strikes me when I hear this album is firstly; that the band consists of two musicians. And secondly; I could never, in my wildest imagination, when I heard it for the first time back in the mid-90’s, picture the success they would have. Being the first black metal to be signed to a major company is quite an achievement. And all of this without becoming sell-outs. They do what they want. And, in my book, that’s the only thing that matters.