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October / November 2003Automatic Animal | Scorched Earth Policy | Death on Wednesday | Electric Six | Flamethrower | The Melvins | Slaughter & The Dogs | Spatial Field | A Static Lullaby | Zen | TEOS | The Unseen | Kijli | Vinnie Vincent Invasion | Winged Serpent Master | Hyaline | Honest Pod | Single Bullet Theory | Figure Four | Godhead | The Limit | Bernie Torme & The Electric Gypsies | Best of Seven | Thomson & The Desaster | High Risk | Martin Barre | Battleore | Siegfried | Leviathan | Dawn of Defiance | Sargiest | Cipressi | Cradle to Grave | Held Under | Dave Brockie Experience | Judge D | Markonee | Bugs On Junk | Lo Pro | Stretcher | Dope | Worthless United | Circle II Circle | Rotten Anal Enema | Cell Dweller | K.A. | Scum Scunge | Violent Downfall | Rage | The Act | Black Funeral | Lunatic Gods | Theatres Nes Vampires | Sic Seed | Flesh Divine | Demenus Game | Kill Hannah | Green Carnation | Various Artists' "Useless In Bed" | Acheron | Capture The Flag | Freddy Vs. Jason Soundtrack | Heart | Helloween | Kalmah | KISS | Pride & Fall | The Business | Zero Hour | Underworld Soundtrack | Never Dead | Crusher | Kottonmouth Kings | Dark Shift | Rivera Bomma | Holy Mother | Red West | John Lennon Battleore This is a melodic metal band sort of like newer Paradise Lost in spots with better songs. I am not a big fan of the female vocals, but that is just me. If your into melodic metal with plenty of melody and keyboards you will enjoy this. Info: http://www.napalmrecords.com Siegfried This is similiar to the above band though this is a little more harder edged and heavier in spots. The band play melodic metal with a bit of goth here and there. For this style the band is doing it is really good, though I am not a big fan of these types of bands. Info: http://www.napalmrecords.com Leviathan Over an hour of raw pounding black metal while not super original it gets the job done. The music is mostly fast, but the band also slow down at times to give you a breather. The production is raw as this style of music should be. Fans of Judas Iscariot and the like will love this. Info: http://www.moribundcult.com Dawn of Defiance Death-2 tracks of death metal. Hard to get a good read on a band with just 2 songs, but this was ok. The band is just one guy and he play's straight forward death metal with some not so great vocals. He doesn't sound like any one band, but the songs lack quality and are kinda just there with no substance. Like to see this guy with some band members. Info: http://www.dawnofdefiance.com Sargiest This was very weak, simple, pick riffing black metal with the same style of black metal vocals that has been done to death. Nothing more than a cheap version of bands like Darkthrone and the like. Nothing of value here. Info: http://www.moribundcult.com Cipressi Cipressi is singer/songwriter Danny Cipressi, Jr. He does all the vocals and acoustic guitar with a little help from Joseph O'Connor lead and rhythm guitar, Billy Reikert bass and David Heifet on drums. Cipressi is from Philadelphia; he has been writing and recording in the past 10 years with bands and solo. His 3-track demo self-titled "Cipressi" is loaded with tons of heavy guitar riffs and modern rock n roll. "Human", starts with acoustic guitar solo then breaks into a groovy intro followed by powerful lyrics. "Guilty", has a unique blend of lead and rhythm guitar riffs and catchy vocals. "Stained", is a slower tune with a story to tell. Cipressi sounds a little bit like Dashboard Confessionals and All-American Rejects. For more information on this artist, please visit http://www.alwaysrockin.com. Cradle to Grave 2003-Beyond bad groove metal band with those generic gruff vocals. The fake female vocals stink too. This band sounds like every other pantera wanna-be band out there. Pass. Info: http://www.cradletograve.ca Held Under Same-More boring groove metal only they throw in some Suffocation like death metal. Another generic boring band that sounds like a million others. Awful low gutteral vocals too. Next. Info: http://www.heldunder.com Dave Brockie Experience As hard as DBX may try to piss off the entire population on the planet, there's still gonna be a few of us twisted folk who are gonna get our rocks off on what they have to offer. On this platter, Dave Brockie, Mike Derks and Brad Roberts give us songs about getting blown by ugly girls, beer, cheese, getting an erection thanks to a retard and a ton of other crazy, fucked up shit. Believe me when I say that their musical cess pool is far from running dry. As you wade through this filth, you're probably wondering what tunes are worth some extra attention. Well, I would have to say the best of the bunch would be "March Of The Faggot Soldiers," "Should The Ugly Girl Blow Me," "The Chinese Have No Cheese" and "Hard For A 'Tard." I shouldn't have to explain why, the song titles should speak for themselves. Some people might pass this music off as immature or something stupid like that. Well, to those people, I say DUH! It's all about having fun and there's nothing more fun than a DBX record...and you can stick that in your toilet and flush it. If you don't buy this record, your children will grow up retarded. Judge D There's not much to tell you about this release because it's rather simple to describe. It's one of those rock/rap/metal/hardcore kind of releases, which I happen to like. It's gotta be done right though. I guess the leader of the pack, as far as this style of music is concerned, is Kid Rock. I personally think the man only had one decent song. Judge D has an entire record of decent tunes here and, on top of that, he has a perfect balance of rock 'n' rap. When I first heard this, the one band that came to mind was Underground Funk, which was reviewed here a few months ago. They had a good album from start to finish, much like Judge D here. His music will move you and there's some memorable stuff on here, especially when the album really kicks in. There's an opening track/into that got off to a slow start...about a minute, fourty seconds into the second track is when the action starts to happen and from then on it, this album kicks some major ass. Believe me, it's well worth checking out. http://www.SuburbanNoizeRecords.com Markonee A hard rock band who name themselves after a famous scientist? Does the name Tesla ring any bells here? These guys do sound a lot like Tesla, playing melodic hard rock with a rough, gritty edge to it, influenced by bands like Aerosmith and UFO. Their singer Gurio (these fellas appear to be from Italy, the homeland of their namesake) does sound a bit like Tesla's Jeff Keith, albeit with a lower, deeper pitch to his voice. One song, "Movin' To America", reminded me of Tesla's "Hang Tough". Tesla were obviously a big influence on this group (right down to the name), to the point where the two bands sound almost identical. That is not to say Markonee are bad. They can play, they can rock, they have talent, and they've made a pretty rockin' album here. But why settle for being copycats of another band when they have what it takes to be their own band? That said, they are a decent, hard rocking band who play good old fashioned, classic style hard rock. Copycats or not, I would rather listen to these guys than most bands making waves these days (or any of the bands trying to be copycats of THEM, for the matter!) At least these guys can play, that's a lot more than I can say for many of today's "big boys". Markonee just need to be a little more original, and stop aping their idols so much, and they might have something. There's just one odd little quirk on this album. The last track on it is a techno remix of their song "Loved Land". A TECHNO remix?! I was shocked! What is up with that? Most hard rock/metal bands wouldn't touch techno with a ten foot pole! I wonder who talked them into doing that!? Very weird! Bugs on Junk Bugs on Junk , a Los Angeles natives, are a melodic rock band who writes original music with a bit of punk . They are on the lines of Blink 182 and Simple Plan. Each track is about something in life. Each track is special in its own way. Some tracks got that mellow vibe and some have that up beat feel good vibe. They combine a mix of punk along with heavy guitar riffs. In addition, they use a lot of acoustic sounds throughout the album. Overall, the album is awesome. Lo Pro Are you ready to rock? Then check out the band Lo Pro. Lo Pro's self-titled album is packed with melodic and smooth hard rockin tunes. Lo Pro's five members take a new path in rock and roll. Each track is not your usual hard rock with head bangin tunes. They come up with a completely new sound of a rock. Each tune is mellow with a feel good vibe along with distinctive vocals that will blow your mind. Lo Pro can be compared to the band Staind. Stretcher I wouldn't write this band off as being a bad band. But, I just couldn't get into them. They've got a straight forward, heavy and aggressive sound and, yes, I like music like that and I actually thought the music on this release was pretty good. It's like being hit in the face with a hammer over and over again. Brutal, yes. But, every now and then, you should take that hammer and whack a knee or something, give the person you're beating a little more variety in the pain you choose to inflict upon them. I also wasn't too keen on the vocal style, which, in a way, is a bit hard to describe. It's not really a death metal thing and it's not the hardcore style, at least not in the way I'm used to. It's kinda like, right in the middle there. Almost like the guy didn't wanna go full into either style because, if he did, the band would get tagged with a label that's closer to the vocal style instead of the musical style. Even though I appreciate their approach to what they're doing, it just didn't thrill me on a personal level. Dope I'll be honest with you...when I first heard Dope, I couldn't get into 'em. I eventually picked up their debut album though for reasons which I won't get into here. Since I had it, I thought I'd give it a chance and, after going through it a few times, it grew on me and now, yeah, I can dig what they have to offer...to a certain degree though. Before this album arrived in my mailbox, I heard a lot of people who all said the same thing...Dope has lost their edge. Well, I don't know if I would totally agree with that. I thought this release did have a more mainstream sound. Ah, but, wait...I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me dig into this six song sampler a bit before I start sticking a label on it. First of all, the way the album is set up is kind of like a musical porn flick. There's a "story line" to be found here in between tunes. It starts off with Jasmine St. Clair getting a phone call from a fan. She goes into a short rant about invading her privacy until she hears the music of Dope, which turns her on. She ends up going to the fans house, where the dude admits to smoking a lot of pot. When he takes his zipper down, Jasmine asks if he's part black to which the response is, "I get that a lot." She has a few ideas as to where she could "put that." She ends up sucking him off and, when she's done, she let's us know that it was "yummy" and "good to the last drop." Finally, the end up fucking to Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" while the neighbor is screaming about the noise and he calls the cops, which puts an end to this particular sexual adventure. As they say goodbye, they express some disappointment over not being able to get some anal action, with Jasmine saying they can save that for another day. Okay, you know what, the whole sex story is, in a word, cheesy. Those of you who spend a lot of money on calling 1-900 numbers might get a kick out of it though. But, sitting here listening to it, well, it was seriously lame. It's was fuckin' childish actually. Even South Park is more mature than this. No kidding! As for the music, well, it does seem that they lost some of their edge. It's not a bad album though. "Bitch" is probably the best of the bunch. This tune should've been on their debut album. "Falling Away" could be a radio track. Actually, some might be tempted to say the same thing about "Motivation" and "I Am." "Burn" has that old Dope feel. It's a straight forward, in your face sort of tune. "Another Day Goes By" is, without a doubt, a made for radio track...kind of like Skid Row's "I Remember You," different musical style of course. Personally, scratch out all the lame sex talk and this is a pretty good release. Although I'm sure the hardcore Dope fan would leave that open for discussion. If you liked the debut album, chances are, you might not be into this one. But, if you're a casual fan or, you're looking for something different, something new, this might float your boat. Besides, we could all use a little "Group Therapy." Right? YEAH! Worthless United With an odd array of influences ranging from Bruce Springsteen to The Clash, Worthless United hits hard with their sophomore release, A Nation Under. These Jersey 'punks' came together in 1993 originally calling themselves "Worthless," and their first release Which Side Are You On was the highest selling record at Red Bank's Black Cat Records while it was in operation. This collection of 13 songs is a time bomb of feral sounding tunes. Reckless and powerful, the vocals and music are performed just as hard as each song's beat, and in some cases, more so. Vocalist Dave Colantoni belts out each of these tunes with a raw toughness as if he gargles with glass just for fun. Wildman drummer, Steve Asbury, exudes a tireless, solid energy in his bashing. Scott Asbury on bass thumps out unique rhythms that augment each of these tunes, and Zak Kaplan leads every tune like a general marching his soldiers into war. Highlights of this disc include the wild and fun "Mr. Telephone Operator," "Calemocho" which is punk's answer to the drunken country theme song, the title-cut, "A Nation Under" which is catchy and prime radio airplay material, and the more melodic (for punk) "Devotion." Also, "Walker" an instrumental, demonstrates more guitar diversity and has almost a southern-rock kind of feel, and the first cut on the disc, "I Am Nothing" which will burn itself into your brain after just one listen. The best thing about A Nation Under is that all of its songs have a singular sound. Worthless United obviously knows that no one wants to hear the same song 13 times over with different lyrics. This is a must for punk fans, and can easily appeal to mainstream alternative music fans as well. http://www.worthlessunited.com Circle II Circle Circle II Circle is the new project of former Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens, and this is their first album. Many of the songs Zak wrote with two of his former Sava-cronies, Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery, and Jon and Zak produced the album together. For that reason, as one can imagine, Circle's sound is quite similar to Stevens-era Savatage, along the lines of the "Edge Of Thorns" and "Dead Winter Dead" albums. It is traditional/progressive metal, with a touch of a Dream Theater style thrown in. The Circle also includes guitarist Matt La Porte, bassist Kevin Rothney, keyboardist John Zahner, and drummer Chris Kinder. Talented musicians, all, and they've turned out a solid effort here. Zak's voice is as strong and soaring as ever, and the others all play very well. The songs are brilliantly written (as one would expect from the Sava-boys, who are some of the best songwriters in metal) with cerebral lyrics. Most of the songs, like "Out Of Reach", "Sea Of White", "Lies", and "Face To Face", are medium paced progressive metal tunes, with some good guitar work. There are also a few ballads, the one that stood out to me being "The Wall", which I though of as a thinking person's "Home Sweet Home", if there ever was one! Another song that caught my ears was "The Circle", a driving metal number in the vein of classic Savatage, easily the album's hardest rocking tune! Horns up all the way for this one! A good album all around. Zak will be missed in Savatage, but he's off to a good start here with his own band. Savatage fans should definitely like this! Rotten Anal Enema This is why I do not smoke crack. Rotten Anal Enema? Yeah, okay, sure, whatever. This is some sort of joke, right? You're not really serious, are you? I mean, if you think I'm gonna have anything nice to say about this, you are sadly mistaken. If you would actually be stupid enough to label this as music, you might say it's an exceptionally bad combination of techno dance, death metal and porn grind. I have the urge to simply call it noise. But, even that's too strong a word. That might indicate there might actually be some talent to be found here, which isn't the case at all. This band is about as talented as a peanut in a chunk of poop...and, to be honest, that's about the best way to describe this release. A steaming, brown, smelly, chunk of dung. This is the turd that floats back into the bowl after you have done your business and flushed. The best I can do here is to offer you some good advice. Lay off the crack, seek help and get off the shit fetish because that's just wrong. Cell Dweller Cell Dweller is the brainchild of a fellow named Klayton, who fronted an industrial band called Circle Of Dust in the 90's. He is once again using his industrial music skills with his new project, and has created a style involving other styles of music. Cell Dweller makes music that is industrial/techno-rock/nu metal, in the vein of Rob/White Zombie, Korn, Powerman 5000, Depeche Mode, NIN...Klayton has done quite a good job with this project. The production and sound are good (he produced), with a very lush sound, there is some solid guitar work, with power chords a plenty, along with the electronic effects and pounding drum programming. Most of the songs are hard, industro-rockers, flavored with electronica, a touch of Goth here and there. A few ballads are also included on the album, those being "Under My Feet", "Afraid This Time" (an acoustic guitar is used on both these songs, making for a good contrast against all the high tech stuff), and "Welcome To The End", a moody tune that closes the album. Two songs that jumped out at me were "Own Little World" and "No Good Reason", both hard rocking, booty kicking little numbers that make you want to thrust your fist in the air, similar to White Zombie. Klayton has done quite a good job here. He's a talented individual who has put together a project that makes an original form of music, combining several different styles, that is produced nicely with some good effects, and all the songs are well written and rock hard! Set this Dweller free from its Cell if you're looking for a cool musical experience! K.A I appreciate their musical approach. I appreciate their variety. But, any enjoyment I mind find while listening to this release, well, the vocal style does a good job of killin' it for me. I understand the need to be brutal. I just can't get into anything...be it this band or any other for that matter...where the vocal style is a growl, scream, death belch, whatever you wanna call it. I know a lot of people find pleasure in this. I never could, never will and I've yet to find a band that could change my opinion. Don't take it personally because, I'm not bashing the product. I thought the music was good, at least on the first four tunes. The rest of the album, which is another four songs, are in demo form and they kind of sound a bit too raw for my taste. I did like the guitar work in "Brutal Against Masses" though. Scum Scunge Ah, I don't know. I dig the picture of the dog on the cover taking a dump on Mr. Lincoln. Yeah, that would explain the album title, huh? The music is rather cool. Hard rock, a little thrash maybe. Take your pick, it's cool either way. Sound quality's raw in a good way. The vocals. Now, there's where I raise an eyebrow here and there. Now, when the vocals try to match the heaviness of the music, there's no problem. What should I call it...when he screams, growls, yells, whatever, it sounds good. When he's speaking or trying to sing...ah, it doesn't work for me. Just seems out of place and it makes the album seem a bit uneven. I can dig it though. I'd say, check it out and when these guys go to do another album, just stick to what you do best. The music is good, keep it raw, keep your edge and do the vocal thing to match the music. Potential's here...make the most of it. Violent Downfall I know some people flip a knob when it comes to this style of music. But, if it's done right, it can be fuckin' killer and when it comes to this band...yeah, they're doing it right. Okay, well, right about now, you're asking yourself, "So, what are they doing?" Violent Downfall is doing the whole rap metal thing. But, they seem to lean more towards hardcore metal and hardcore rap which, in my opinion, is a perfect combination. I love it when you can headbang and get your groove on at the same time. I throw this album on and I feel like bouncin' all over the damn house. There's so much energy in this music, it simply pulls you in. My only disappointment was the fact that there was only five songs on this release. Not a weak one in the bunch. But, not enough to keep me satisfied. I'm hooked like the Captain and I want more. Check it out and you'll feel the same way. On a scale of one to ten this album is a twenty. 'Nuff said! http://www.violentdownfall.com Rage Rage are a German heavy metal band who have been going at it for two decades now (they are the brainchild of vocalist/bassist Peavy Wagner), and have become well established in the international metal community, but are only known by the underground die hards here in the states. Rage began as a straight up speed metal band in the early 80's, and have gone through many lineup changes (Peavy being the only original member remaining now), but their sound has progressed, becoming more mature and sophisticated, while always sticking to their metal roots. They are continuing in this direction on this new album, playing in their trademark style, metal that is aggressive and fast, yet also melodic and sophisticated. They dabble into progressive metal territory, using classical guitars and keyboards in some places (Rage has also played and recorded with orchestras, revealing a classical influence in their music), and even throw in the odd Pantera style riff here and there, but their musical foundation remains in classic style heavy/speed metal. Peavy is his usual self, pounding on his bass and singing in his rough and ready, but at the same time melodic and well controlled, voice. His partners in crime, guitarist Victor Smolski and drummer Mike Terrana, are both excellent at their respective jobs, making Rage a well oiled metal machine, with some gears that really crush, and has yet to show any signs of rusting. "Soundchaser" is also a concept album that tells a sci-fi tale, the namesake being the principal character. Helloween vocalist Andi Deris makes a guest appearance on the song "Wake The Nightmares". Rage have turned out a very good metal album here, as they always do, that shows the band progressing but not straying from their classic metal roots. And they kicked ass at Wacken! The Act Okay, well, there's only four songs on this CD and it has a running time that's just under fifteen minutes. But, it's one of the most interesting releases that I've heard in a long time. I could throw up a simple term or two that might describe what I heard when I gave this a listen. It would be easy to say punk or new wave because you can hear that in their music. However, they go way beyond any simple term that I can think of for the simple fact that so much came to mind when I head these songs. Now, I'm the kind of person who will stand behind any thought that comes to mind when I'm doing an album review. I may be way off base here and maybe you won't agree with me. But, here's who came to mind...the movie "Grease," Meatloaf, The Rolling Stones and, for some strange reason, Elvis. Throw in that punk and new wave sound with a very theatrical stage show and you've got The Act. It's not too often that I get a lot of pleasure from so few songs. So, I know they're doing something different and original here and, having said that, I feel this is a band that's worth keeping your eye on. Once you experience what The Act has to offer, you won't forget them anytime soon and you can quote me on that. Black Funeral Boring picking riffing black metal with those tired black metal screams and the fast pick riffing that has been done to death by so many other bands. The raw production sounds like every other trendy black metal band out there. Info: info@masterpiecedistribution.com Lunatic Gods Fast blasting At The Gates style death metal. This was pretty cool except I did not like the female vocal parts. I know the band is trying different things, but that does not work. The band can write some rip roaring riffs and the band sound tight and the production is thick and solid. This is a very good release. Info: http://www.shindy.cz Theatres Nes Vampires This is a black metal band that plays with tons of feeling and also has some of the newer Celtic Frost (Nemenis/Vanity era) to them as well. The band try and keep it fresh and had me guessing as the disc played on. The band can rip itno hyperspeed and also throw in some melody as well. The vocals are all different styles and for the most part work. Very different and sometimes weird band, that works for me. Info: http://www.masterpiecedistribution.com Sic Seed 3 tracks of some raw killer thrash that is none of that nu metal bounce shit. The band play no holds barred thrash. The riffs are stong, catchy and down right nasty. I love the vocals and the production too. I await the full length reelase which I am sure will rule. Info: http://www.jagermusic.com Flesh Divine Decent death metal that leans more toward the older style of death metal, but also throws in a mix of the new too. The vocals are strong as they are not those lower than low type of crap ones. The music is mid paced and also goes into the faster mode too. I would call this band death metal with a touch of melodic thrash thrown in and they do one heck of a job. Info: http://perennialquest.free.fr Demenus Game I don't think the name of this band is right, but when all you have is a cd and a logo that you can't read and website I got is no good in helping either. The music is grind/death metal that is both generic and weak. The band play boring Long Island death metal with those stupid low gutteral vocals that are so worthless. If you dig Suffocation and the million clone bands that spurted up then get this. Info: http://www.satanrock.com Kill Hannah Considered to be the next Smashing Pumpkins due to their mass appeal and mutual hometown, Kill Hannah is gearing up to take over the world, and Chicago has already been conquered. Released on Atlantic Records, For Never & Ever is an 11-song triumph of unique sounding songs, tight production, and a radio station programmer's dream. Having already opened for major acts such as The Goo Goo Dolls, Stabbing Westward, and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, that very array of sounds and styles are just as apparent within Kill Hannah's very own summation. Perhaps classified as an alternative band but I see Kill Hannah as more of a modern, commercial, anger-emasculated new wave assemblage. The mellow though dynamic vocals will pull you in and having you singing along with every cut on this disc. Highlights of For Never & Ever are the catchy and fun "They Can't Save Us Now," "Kennedy" which is more aggressive than the opening cut, but yet still retains an ideal radio airplay-ish groove. "10 More Minutes With You" starts out with a big guitar sound and is just as mentally contagious as all of Kill Hannah's other songs, and the forlorn "Raining All The Time" might not sound like your typical power-ballad, but it's got the same levels of strength and vitality. For Never & Ever is a good listen, not just for fans of the genre, but any music lovers who don't insist on all their favorite bands being laden with angst and hostility. Kill Hannah offers a refreshing new sound in contrast to all that is presently available. Check these guys out on the web at: http://www.killhannah.com Green Carnation Norwegian rock band, :Green Carnation, is reminiscent in some ways of early-90's American power rock. Released on Season of Mist records, A Blessing in Disguise is a hefty nine-song collection of melodic tunes laced with power-chords. The opening cut on this disc, "Crushed To Dust" is one of the best new songs that I've heard in a long time. The most original and progressive sounding song in this collection, "Crushed To Dust" is powerful and thriving. The vocals fluctuate in a truly unique, yet smooth, way that - frankly, just sounds really cool. The guitars and drums are solid and BIG sounding. Other notable tunes are the mostly beautiful "Lullaby in Winter," that throws a curveball in at the end changing to a slightly confusing, more upbeat tempo. The rock and roll epic, "Two Seconds In Life" which begins with a surprisingly long, poignant piano intro, which then blossoms into a heavier melodic run that changes several times and then wraps up with the piano once again. And, "As Life Flows By," that's got strong, stately vocals harmonies and guitar rhythms. Ironically, the ending cut on the disc, "Rain," I disliked as much as I liked "Crushed To Dust." Musically, the song is pleasing, but the vocals are dreary and the lyrics are cliché. Though most likely heartfelt when written, as all heartbreak songs are, it's difficult to sing about that dreaded state of being lovelorn while coming up with something creative and new. The lyrics fail to sound poetically profound when that was seemingly Green Carnation's intent. If Green Carnation continues to write songs like "Crushed To Dust" and strives for their own musical voice, then I think they're create some great music. However, a little too much of this disc sounds dated by about 10 years. Various Artists This is the first release by fledgling record label, House Of Stairs. It is a compilation of bands (none of whom I'd heard of before, some of which have very weird names) who play a variety of musical styles. Most of the songs featured are instrumental, but a few have singing on them. The ones that feature vocals include the opening track, "I Felt Your Arms Around Me", by a band called Miss Helsinki, a poppy, Beatles flavored number; "Olestra" by Lapsus Linguae, prog rock in the vein of King Crimson; "Only In A Rerun" by Sweep The Leg Johnny, a jazzy tune; and "I'm Ruining Something" by Defeat The Young, another Beatlesque number, in the vein of the "Sgt. Pepper" album. The remaining (instrumental) tracks include some harder rock tunes, such as "Triangulator" by Foe (very Rush influenced. The bass playing is very Geddy Lee); "Phil Collins" by American Heritage; the Sabbath-like "Pharaoh" by Guapo; "The Blooding" by Ursa; and "Drink Your Milk" by Geiger Counter. Some of the other songs ventured into different musical waters, such as "Stag" by The Monsoon Bassoon, another King Crimson/Jethro Tull influenced prog rocker; "Sand (Blowing About)" by Stars In Battle dress, which sounded like Yanni; and "Life In A Lift Shaft" by Max Tundra, which is all keyboards and sound effects. Every album has its weak links, and on this one, those were "Gaseous Exchange At The Alveoli" by Desmotabs (just a bunch of techno/electronica sound effects that sounded like a video game), and "Chiendents" by Cheval De Frise, which sounded like a band tuning up! I thought these two songs totally SUCKED! But the rest of the album is an interesting and diverse collection of music, played by bands that are decent musicians. This new label seems to focus on promoting up and coming bands who are different and experimental, so it will be interesting to see what House Of Stairs will release in the future. |
