Monday, November 28, 2011

Hypno5e reveals "Acid Mist Tomorrow" cover art, track list‏

Edit: France’s innovative heavy metal act on the rise, Hypno5e, has teamed up with Lambgoat.com to premiere the title track from the band’s upcoming sophomore album, Acid Mist Tomorrow. The brand new track can be streamed exclusively online at: http://lambgoat.com/features/6/Hypno5e---Acid-Mist-Tomorrow through the weekend.
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French experimental heavy metal act, Hypno5e, has revealed the cover art and track list for its upcoming sophomore release, Acid Mist Tomorrow. This latest concept album from the innovative extreme metal group will drop in early 2012 as the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2007 debut, Des Deux L’une Est L’autre.


Acid Mist Tomorrow is…
1. Acid Mist Tomorrow
2. Six Fingers In One Hand She Holds The Dawn Part I
3. Six Fingers In One Hand She holds the dawn Part II
4. Story Of The Eye
5. Gehenne Part I
6. Gehenne Part II
7. Gehenne Part III
8. Brume Unique Obscurité Part I
9. Brume Unique Obscurité Part II

“Hypno5e is very proud to announce the release of our new album Acid Mist Tomorrow in early 2012,” said the band in an official statement. “It's been two years of hardwork on this new record, and we are very excited to make it public! A new song will be released later this week! We will be touring extensively everywhere in 2012 and hope to meet you at our shows.”

Acid Mist Tomorrow was produced, mixed and mastered by Hypno5e and Benoit Pouzol at Studio La Chévre and Belberoad Studio.
Artwork comes courtesy of Hypno5e drummer, Thibault Lamy.
Hypno5e will hit the road later this week for a European tour in support of Cynic Chimp Spanner. A tour promo video, featuring instrumental snippets from the forthcoming album, can be seen online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51HlWo7iZ-Q.
Stay tuned to the official Hypno5e Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/hypno5e for more information on Hypno5e and Acid Mist Tomorrow

HYPNO5E European Tour with CYNIC and CHIMP SPANNER…

Sat, 12/3/11 - Dublin, Ireland @ The Village
Sun, 12/4/11 - Belfast, UK @ Limelight
Mon, 12/5/11 - London, UK @ The Underworld
Tue, 12/6/11 - Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
Wed, 12/7/11 - Rotterdam, The Netherlands @ Baroeg
Thu, 12/8/11 - Paris, France @ Divan Du Monde
Fri, 12/9/11 - Aarau, Switzerland @ Kiff
Sat, 12/10/11 - Romagnano Sesia (NOVARA), Italy @ Rock’n’Roll Arena
Sun, 12/11/11 - Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Gala Hala
Mon, 12/12/11 - Vienna, Austria @ Arena
Tue, 12/13/11 - Budapest, Hungary @ Club 202
Wed, 12/14/11 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ Randall
Thu, 12/15/11 - Prague, Czech Republic @ KD Kyje
Fri, 12/16/11 - Berlin, Germany @ Cassiopeia
Sat, 12/17/11 - Osnabrück, Germany @ Kleine Freiheit
Sun, 12/18/11 - Lyngby, Denmark @ Templet
Mon, 12/19/11 - Hamburg, Germany @ Hafenklang
Tue, 12/20/11 - Amstelveen, The Netherlands @ P60
Wed, 12/21/11 – Aschaffenburg, Germany @ Colos Saa

Hypno5e is…

Emmanuel Jessua - Guitar, lead vocals
Thibault Lamy - Drums, samples
Jonathan Maurois - Guitar
Gredin - Bass, backing vocals

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Review of 17th Street by Hammers of Misfortune


1. 317
2. 17th Street
3. The Grain
4. Staring (The 31st Floor)
5. The Day the City Died
6. Romance Valley
7. Summer Tears
8. Grey Wednesday
9. Going Somewhere

After going through a line-up change, the San Francisco, CA based Hammers of Misfortune return with their new album 17th Street. As said by guitarist John Cobbett, they tried to bring emotion into this album by giving each song its own personality. He also admitted that he changed his style because Leila Abdul-Ruf, their new guitarist and vocalist, brought back his love for electric guitar. Also Joe Hutton, the new vocalist, also changed Cobbett’s style because as the guitarist said himself, “how could you not write for a voice like that.

If you asked me if I thought the psychedelic scene was a thing of the past, I would have definitely said yes. Hammers of Misfortune has proved me wrong with their album 17th Street. It really brings back those good old bands like Pink Floyd, yet adding in a mix of metal. They bring technical riffs in as well as just mellow stuff, which is what makes psychedelic music amazing. The organ and piano work is part of the reason I enjoyed this album, along with the guitar it sounded very gruelling. The three main songs I liked the most were the self entitled song 17th Street, Staring (The 31st Floor), and The Day the City Died. Each song has its own meaning and some songs are cheery, while others are dark but its great to showcase both sides. This album is very different to what I’m used to, but in a good way. It is nice to see a band bringing back the psychedelic feel to music and especially in the form of metal.


Review of Oblivion by Noctem


1. Popol Vuh
2. The Arrival of the False Gods
3. Universal Disorder
4. Abnegation and Brutality
5. Invictus
6. Sons of Hun – Vucub
7. Seeking the Ruin of Souls
8. Unredemption
9. Q’Uma’Rka’Aaj
10. A Borning Winged Snake
11. Oblivion

Oblivion is the second or third full length album from Spain-based extreme/black metal band Noctem. It was released through Rising Records and Metal Blade picked it up to be released in North America. Noctem has been making a name for themselves over the past year doing tours with many well known black metal bands such as Incantation, Hate, Ragnarok, and Gorgoroth.

To start this album of in a very epic fashion, we are given an intro called Popol Vuh which is one of the best album intro I’ve heard, second to Mayhem’s Silvester Anfang. This intro sold me already and the first song The Arrival of the False Gods got this album in my good books immediately. The whole album in general has very heavy, dark riffs along with fast paced drumming but also has it’s epic black metal slow but fitting riffs as well. The vocalist does a combination highs and lows, keeping with the band’s style with evil growls and high shrieks. This album was very intense the whole way through. I want to remind everyone that there is either a hidden track at the end of the self entitled track, Oblivion, or the song just continues after the little eerie sounding thing that plays in the middle. Overall, Noctem is bringing extreme and black metal together like I’ve never seen before.


Monday, November 21, 2011

Review of Anniversary by Cathedral



Disc One Back to the Forest (Forest of Equilibrium)

1. Picture of Beauty and Innocence
2. Comiserating the Celebration (of Life)
3. Ebony Tears
4. Serpent Even
5. Soul Sacrifice
6. A Funeral Request
7. Equilibrium
8. Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain

Disc Two – set two: Freak Winter

1. Funeral of Dreams
2. Enter the Worms
3. Upon Azrael’s Wings
4. Midnight Mountain
5. Cosmic Funeral
6. Carnival Bizarre
7. Night of the Seagulls
8. Corpsecycle
9. Ride
10. The Last Spire pt. 1 (Entrance)
11. Vampire Sun
12. Hopkins (Witchfinder General)

Cathedral’s album Anniversary is a must have for lovers of the band. It is their first and only live album the band has released. To celebrate their twentieth anniversary they played an epic concert in London at the Islington Academy. For this one time only event, the original line-up performed their debut album Forest of Equilibrium in full. On the second disc the line-up with the longest run together, Lee Dorrian, Garry Jennings, Brian Dixon, and Leo Smee, performed a set of all the loudest and dirtiest songs, new and old.

This is my first time listening to Cathedral and they blew me away. They bring a great rendition of their album Forest of Equilibrium, which would have been a blast to see as it was the original members. The whole album, both discs, bring a very well performed two set epic event. It has the doom metal performed by those who created it and also has the stoner metal from the line up who stayed together the longest. Lee Dorrian is an amazing vocalist and brings a dark, yet mellow, style to the table. While Garry Jennings brings slow and dirty riffs but can also showcase awesome solos as well. I don’t want to leave Brian Dixon and Leo Smee out either, they also performed just as well! Overall, this album is incredible with the two epic line ups as well as the sets that they played. I would recommend this album to any Cathedral fan, since this is the only live album released and it would be fantastic to own. I would also like to remind you that Cathedral has called it quits but are doing so while releasing one more album in 2012 called The Last Spire. So who knows if they will do one more tour for that album or not, but they have officially called it quits.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Review of Recorrupted by Whitechapel


1. Section 8
2. Strength Beyond Strength (originally by Pantera)
3. Breeding Violence (Big Chocolate remix)
4. This Is Exile (Ben Weinman remix)
5. End of Flesh (acoustic version)

Recorrupted is an EP from the band Whitechapel as a follow up to their latest full length album which came out June 2010 called A New Era of Corruption. That album debuted the Billbboard Magazine’s Top 200 chart at #43, the Hard Music Core Stores chart at #2, the Independent Albums chart at #3, and the Hard Music Album chart at #5. Recorrupted is a limited edition print run and is only available through the Whitechapel and Metal Blade’s Webstores, iTunes, and the band’s merch table at concerts. This EP showcases one new song called Section 8 but also brings a cover of Strength Beyond Strength by Pantera to the table. It also shows off two remixes of Breeding Violence and This Is Exile done by Big Chocolate and Ben Weinman respectively and also includes an acoustic version of End of Flesh.

Seeing a Whitechapel release made me excited as I am new to them and haven’t had a full chance to listen to them. I didn’t realize this was just an EP so I was bummed when I saw only one new song. The Strength Beyond Strength cover was alright, but for Whitechapel’s style of music it is kind of hard to enjoy it fully. Again, as I said with As I Lay Dying’s Decas, I’m not big into the whole remix thing but I did enjoy This Is Exile’s remix by Ben Weinman.



Review of Circle of 8 by Martyr


1. D.I.
2. Afterlife
3. Art of Desception
4. Circle of 8
5. All Warriors Blood
6. The Uninvited
7. Insensible Scream
8. Scene of Hell
9. Fake
10. Justified Killing
11. Locked
12. Speed of Samurai (re-recorded)

Martyr’s new album Circle of 8 is the first album they have written in twenty five years. The classic metal band is back in the scene as they reunite with Metal Blade Records to release their album. In the 1980s the band brought solid melodic and fast paced riffs as well as using technicality to bring in more of a mixture. Back in the day they appeared on compilation albums released by Roadrunner and Metal Blade. Martyr was voted as Holland’s best new metal band in the magazine Aardschok. They also toured with many bands from around the world and appeared on Sky Channel’s Monsters Of Rock.

I must admit, hearing this album made me think I was in the 1980s for sure. It is very rare to hear a band that pumps out that classic metal anymore and hearing it from a band that actually started in the 80s is very nostalgic. The guitar and vocals really make this album, but the drums aren’t to forget either. The riffs are very old school yet bringing in a more heavy style. The solos are fast, smooth and flow well. Rop van Haren is a very extraordinary vocalist and he reminds me of two people, Ronnie James Dio and Mark Osegueda from Death Angel. This album sure makes me have faith that classic metal is not dead yet and that Martyr is here for a comeback. I cannot wait to hear more new stuff from them and I hope some day I get to see them live



Review of Decas by As I Lay Dying


1. Paralyzed
2. From Shapeless to Breakable
3. Moving Forward
4. War Ensemble (originally by Slayer)
5. Hellion (originally by Judas Priest
6. Electric Eye (originally by Judas Priest)
7. Coffee Mug (originally by Descendents)
8. Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (re-recorded medley)
9. The Blinding of False Light (Innerpartysystem remix)
10. Wrath Upon Ourselves (Ben Weinman remix)
11. Confined (Kelly “Carnage” Cairns remix)
12. Elegy (Big Chocolate remix)
iTunes bonus track
13. Upside Down Kingdom (Iron Krill remix)

Decas is As I Lay Dying’s ten year anniversary album. It includes three new tracks; Paralyzed, From Shapeless to Breakable, and Moving Forward. These songs brought classic As I Lay Dying as well as a little bit of their new stuff. There are four covers which include War Ensemble by Slayer, Hellion and Electric Eye by Judas Priest and Coffee Mug by Descendents. It also include a medley called Beneath the Encasing of Ashes and four remixes of The Blinding of False Light, Wrath Upon Ourselves, Confined, and Elegy. All of which are made into electronica and dubstep style.

As I Lay Dying is a hit and miss with me, but I still enjoy them. Frail Words Collapse was one of the first metal albums I ever had. After that album I kind of drifted away from the band, but I also like Shadows Are Security. Paralyzed and From Shapeless remind me how heavy As I Lay Dying can be. The songs brought death metal riffs and good vocals, with bearable clean vocals. Moving Forward at first bugged me, but after a while it grew on me and it kind of pumps me up. It also feels as if they are trying to say, “we’ve been a band for ten years and we’re moving forward to a new ten years.” War Ensemble and Electric Eye were better than expected, they did a very good job being true to the original song but also using their own style of vocals. That type of cover is the best kind to produce. Coffee Mug was a very entertaining cover, although I have not heard the original. The Beneath the Encasing medley is very heavy. The remixes were alright, but with the overuse of dubstep and electronica in general I kind of just avoided them.



Review of Cold Comfort by Autumn


1. The Scarecrow
2. Cold Comfort
3. Black Stars in a Blue Sky
4. Retrospect
5. Alloy
6. End of Sorrow
7. Naeon
8. Truth Be Told (Exhale)
9. The Venamoured

Cold Comfort is Autumn’s fifth album and also their third which is released under Metal Blade Records. The band believes that this is their most personal and meaningful album to date, putting all their hearts into Cold Comfort. This inspiration for this album came from their experiences they had while recording and their previous tour. They expanded on the song writing and sound by coming out of their comfort zone and bringing in more possibilities into their songs.

I’m usually picky with my female vocalists, but Marjan has a great voice for the rock sound that comes with Autumn collectively. She has also come along way since the previous album Altitude and has grown stronger with her vocals for being in the band for a short period of time, joining in 2008. The guitar put a very heavy rock sound on the tracks with the way they are played. This may have something to do with the fact that they did play with old strings, as mentioned above, which would makes the tone sound more deep. Cold Comfort also brings out a different side of Autumn, as they create a new sound coming out of their comfort zones musically and giving this album all emotionally.