Unchained Beast/Guiding The Light/2013 EP Review

  Unchained  Beast  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  plays  an  old  school form  of  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self  released  2013  ep  "Guiding  The  Light".

  The  ep  starts out  with  an  epic  sounding  intro  which  was  a  symphonic  feeling    to  it  and  when  it  goes  into  the  first  song  the  music  goes  for  more  of  an  old  school  thrash  direction  along  with  aggressive  vocals  that  have  somewhat  of  a  melodic  tone  to  them  and  after  awhile  solos  are  added  into  the  music.\  and  you  can  also  hear  the  bass  guitars  on  the  recording  and  at  times you  can  also  hear  clean  parts  being  utilized.

  When  the  band  goes  into  the  next  song  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  which  also  leads  to  a  heavier  and  faster  direction  along  with  blast  beats  as  well  as  the  solos  getting  more  technical  and  as  the  ep  progresses  the  band  stick  to  their  old  school  thrash  direction  and  at  time s they  also  bring  back  the  cleaner  parts  in  certain  sections  of  the  music  as  well  as  the  return  of  the  acoustics  on  the  last  track  which  is  also  a  power  ballad  that  also  utilizes  clean  singing.

  On  this  ep  Unchained  Beast  show  that  they  are  another  young  band  that  knows  there  thrash  very  well  and  for  a  bunch  of  musicians  that  where  not  even  born  yet  when  this  genre  was  in  its  prime  they  still  do  a  very  great  job  at  the  way  they  approach  this  genre  in  an  aggressive  manner.

  Song  lyrics  cover  hateful  and  political  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  for  being  a  self  released  recording  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Unchained  Beast  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Guiding  The  Lamp"  and  "The  Infection  Of  Mankind".  8  out  of  10.

  

Black Mare/Field Of The Host/Human Jigsaw Records/2014 CD Review

  Black  Mare  are  a  solo  project  from  Los Angeles,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  ambient  and  shoegaze  and  this  is  a  review  of  her  2014  album  "Field  Of  The  Host"  which  will  be  released  by  Human  Jigsaw  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  dark  sounding  clean  guitars  along  with  drums  and  post  rock sounds  which  leads  up  to  melodic  vocals  as  well  as  the  guitars  getting  more  powerful  and  on  the  second  song  shoegaze  elements  are  brought  into  the  music  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  every  song  sounds  different  from  each  other  and  on  the  last  song  you  can  hear  a  brief  use  of  guitar  leads.

  On  this  album  Black  mare  combine  the  best  elements  of  ambient,  shoegaze  and  post  rock  and  bring  a  great  amount  of  diversity,  melody  and  darkness  to  create  a  truly  melancholic  and  atmospheric  recording.

  Song  lyrics  cover  poetic  and  mythology  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  dark  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.  

  In  my  opinion  Black  Mare  are  a  very  great  sounding   mixture  of  ambient,  shoegaze  and  post  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  project.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Blind  One"  "Saturn's  Grave"  and  "Cybele".  8/5  out  of  10.    

Moonbow/The End Of Time/ Cobraside Distribution/2014 CD Re-Issue Review

  Moonbow  are  a  band  from  Kentucky  that  plays  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  End  Of  Time"  which  was  re-released  by  Cobraside  Distribution.

  The  album  starts  out  with  folk  instruments  which  bring  a  country  feeling  to  the  recording  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  music  goes  into  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  sound  along  with  70's  rock  elements  and  solos  as  well  as  some  vocals.


  As  the  album  continues  it  sticks  to  an  old  school  stoner  rock  sound  while  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  punk  rock  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to   them  and  the  music  also  has  the  heaviness  of  metal  and  on  one  of  the  songs  they  have  the  legendary  John  Garcia  of  Kyuss  fame  doing  vocals.  

  While  there  is  nothing  original  on  this  record  Moonbow  still  show  they  know  their  stoner  rock  very  well  and  they  display  a  good  amount  of  talent  and  skill  with  their  music  while  also  having  metal  influences.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Moonbow  are  a  very  decent  sounding  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "End  Of  Time"  "Take  it  For  Granted"  and  "Black  Widow".  7/5  out  of  10.  

The Land Of The Snow Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?

The Land Of The Snow is a one-man-band, based in Zurich, Switzerland. I started this project about 4 years ago, when I started wondering, if DJs and electronic musician go alone on stage, why can’t I do the same with a guitar? At the beginning the music was more a mix of post-metal with a kind of psychedelic rock taste. But eventually I started to develop the concept and the music became deeper, more complex and unpredictable and with a higher emotional involvement. During 2012 I got in touch with Petulia Mattioli, a wonderful visual artist from Italy (who worked with musicians such Bill Laswell, Mick Harris, Eraldo Bernocchi and many more) and she created 2 videos for TLOTS songs (you find them on youtube and vimeo). During that year I also started working on the first EP this project. I joined forces with Andi Pupato (once member of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin), who took care of the production, the mix and the master of the album. He suggested to have the drums played by a real drummer (Daniel Schuchter) instead of using the drums tracks I programmed, which was a tremendous idea, since the songs got a whole new powerful and dynamic feeling. The EP artwork was painted by Karyn Crisis (ex-Crisis and now Ephel Duath’s singer). The “Beloning To Nowhere” EP came out in June 2013 and now we are talking about TLOTS. 

2.How would you describe your musical sound?

I like to call it experimental jazzcore metal. You got the doomy metal sound, mixed with these kind of jazzy voicings and on top of that there’s the will to experiment with sounds and also with the structure of the songs. 

3.What are some of the themes and concepts that you bring out with your music?

TLOTS is for me a kind of medium, beside being a musical project. There’s this file-rouge that I follow, this aim to write music that moves the people and puts them into a status or a modus where they can explore and develop their inner self. Every song follows a precise mood and emotion, on which I work while composing the song.

4.So far all of the music that has been released has been instrumental, are you planning on using vocals in the future?

The future plans are to keep it instrumental. I feel this is the best way also for the listener to dive into the music, and start dealing with it. But in general I like to listen to vocals, especially when sung in a language you don’t understand at all, so that the vocals become a kind of another instrument to play with an to modulate the songs.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The Land Of the Snow'?

The Land Of The Snow as many meanings to me. The first being my love for snowy weather. I love when it snows, it just gave me this deep feeling of peace and calm falling down on earth. Then The Land Of (the) Snow is also the other name used for Tibet. This refers to my interest in Tibetan and Himalayan cultures and also to this aim of using TLOTS as a medium to explore the inner self.

6.Currently there is only 1 member in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain solo?

At the moment I’m staying solo, which actually gives me the freedom to do what ever I want, and also to be more flexible when playing live, since I only have to care about myself. But it would be great sometimes in the future to try to play together with a drummer and to bring TLOTS on stage as a duo.

7.What are some of the best shows that you have played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

On stage TLOTS is delivering a wall of sound. Both the guitar and the backing tracks go thru the PA, I barely use any amps live. So the sound is coming out really directly, sharp and precise, like and electro/industrial live-set! Maybe the best show was one, where after the concert a fan came to me and told during the concert he had an emotion trip while listening to the music. Or also once I was really glad to support US-prog-metal band Dysrhythmia!

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Next I’m looking forward to have some concerts in the french part of Switzerland, since in that area there’s quite a good underground/post-harcore/experimental scene. Then of course tour a bit around Europa would be great as well, but let’s go step by step.

9.Currently you are unsigned are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

The “Belonging To Nowhere” EP actually came out on this swiss label Altrisuoni, which has mainly a more jazz-oriented catalog. But they only took care about printing the album, so that all the rights of the music are still in my possession. It would be better to find a management, first, so that I could play more often live. To do everything by yourself sometimes ain’t easy…

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of underground music?

I think the reactions about the EP were good until now. It was also featured by another music fanzine in their best of 2013 album list, which to me was quite a big unexpected surprise! Most of the fans I talked were often amazed about my music, so until now I have to say the reactions were good.

11.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

With the time TLOTS songs are going more and more towards slow tempos, more kind of doom metal oriented and intense.

12.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Actually I’m listening to every kind of music! But if I have to point out some names which influenced me a lot, then you’ll find: Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Isis, Crisis, Ephel Duath, Eraldo Bernocchi, 80s post-industrial music, Bill Laswell, David Sylvian and Japan, but also bands like Deftones and the first Soulfly.

At the moment I’m listening to stuff ranging between ambient and doom, for example Ovo, Mombu, some works of Robert Rich, Teho Teardo and Blixa Bargeld, SIMM and Windhand to name few, and then there’s this “ethno chaos” band from Ukraine called DakhaBrakha, which is freaking me out so much! 

13.Do you have any non musical interests?

I love to read books, cook and watch the clouds.

14.Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thank you very for this interview! It was a pleasure to answer to all your questions! And if you want to follow on TLOTS you can find us here:

http://thelandofthesnow.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thelandofthesnow/

http://thelandofthesnow.bandcamp.com/http://mulomuto.bandcamp.com/http://soundcloud.com/jgilardini-music

Divine Circles/Oblivion Songs/Paradigms Recordings/2014 CD Review

  Divine  Circles  is  a  solo  project  from the  United  States  that  plays  a  very experimental  form  of  neo  folk  music  and  this  is  a  review of  her  2014  album  "Oblivion  Songs"  which was  released  by  Paradigms  Recordings.

  The  album  starts  out  with  dark  sounding  violins  and  a  few  seconds  later  melodic  vocals  make  their  way  into  the  music  and  after  awhile  the  music  gets  more  avant  garde  and  experimental  in  sound  and  on  the  second  song  tribal  style  drums  are  brought  into  the  record  while  the  following  track  uses  electric  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  you  can  also  hear  other  instruments  making  their  way  onto  the  album.

  On  this  album  Divine  Circles  while  is  based more  on  neo  folk  you  can  also  hear  experimental.  avant  garde  and  rock  music  elements  being  added  onto  the  recording  and  the  album  is  very  diverse  and  original  sounding  with  all  of  the  songs  having  a  very  different  sound  to  them.

  Song  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  nature  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Divine  Circles  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  neo-folk  and  experimental  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  artist.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Leave"  and  "Inguene".  9  out  of  10.   

Shrapnel/The Virus Conspires/Candelight Records 2014 CD Review

  Shrapnel  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  plays  thrash  metal with  influences  from  traditional  metal  and  modern  day  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Virus  Conspires"  which  will  be  released  by  Candelight  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  sound  effects  before  going  into  a  heavy  and  thrash  direction  along  with  blast  beats  and  aggressive  vocals  and  a  few  seconds  later  solos  are  added  into  the  music  and  on  the  following  song  melody  is  added  into  the  music.

  As  the  album  continues  the  music  remains  in  an  aggressive  thrash  direction  along  with  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  influences  and  they  have  a  more  modern  approach  to  this  genre  and  after  awhile  spoken  word  samples  are  added  in  as  well  as  the  bass  guitars  getting  more  powerful  in  sound   and  you  can  also  hear  classic  metal  influences  in  the  guitar  leads  at  leads  and  on  one  of  the  songs  they  bring  in  melodic  chanting  and  when  the  record  gets  closer  to  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  being  utilized  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  growls.

  On  this  album  Shrapnel  take  a  very  aggressive  form  of  thrash  and  update  it  for  2014  with  a  touch  of  modern  death  metal  and  while  you  can  hear  the  80's  influences  throughout  the  record  you  can  also  tell  that  the  band  are  taking  this  genre  into  a  heavier  direction.  

  Song  lyrics  cover  scientific  and  philosophical  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Shrapnel  are  a  very  aggressive  and  modern  day  sounding  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should c heck  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Kingdom  Come"  "The  Virus  Conspires"  "The  Watchers"  and  "All  That  We  Know".  9  out  of  10.  

  

Towers/II/Eolian Empire/2014 CD Review

  Towers  are  a  band  from  Portland,  Oregon  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge,  doom,  industrial,  psychedelia,  new  wave  and  no  wave  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "II"  which  was  released  by  Eolian  Empire.

  The  album s tarts  out  with  dark  ambient drone  sounds  along  with  drums  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  leads  up  to  dark  sounding  guitars  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  noise  rock  style  vocals  which  also  use  clean  singing  at  times  and  a  few  minutes  later  the  recording  goes  into  a  more  psychedelic  direction.

   As  the  album  continues  the  music  gets  a  lot  more  darker  and  experimental  sounding  and  the  bass  guitars  also  take  over  as  a  lead  instrument  and  for  the  most  part  the  band  always  sticks  to  a  slow  yet  heavy  direction  throughout  the  recording  yet  they  speed  up  a  bit  on  the  last  track  and  on  one  of  the  songs  they  bring  in  melodic  chanting.

  Towers  bring  a  lot  of  original  elements  to  their  music  with  the  heavier  sound  being  influenced  by  doom  metal,  sludge  and  noise  rock  and  when  they  get  experimental  they  bring  in  psych,  drone,  new  wave,  no  wave  and  industrial  sounds  and  they  belong  in  a  category  of  their  own.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy,  dark  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on t his  recording  along  with  a  couple  of  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Towers  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  noise  rock,  drone,  doom  metal,  sludge,  psych,  industrial,  new  and  no  wave  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hell"  and  "In  The  Room  Of  Misfortune".  8/5  out  of  10.