| CD REVIEW TSM/SLW Promotions, November 2010, Part 2 : Fughu – Herba Mate – Lachlan Horne – Hana Prestle – Rampart – Right To Silence – Skin |
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TSM/SLW Promotions, November 2010, Part 2 : Fughu – Herba Mate – Lachlan Horne – Hana Prestle – Rampart – Right To Silence – Skin As promised, here's the second TSM/SLW Promotions special, this time with bands from Argentine (Fughu), Italy (Herba Mate), South-England (Lachlan Horne), Montana, USA (Hana Pestle), Bulgary (Rampart), West-Germany (Right To Silence), and South-Wales (Skin). As per usual, there's something for a varied taste of music here, from Prog Rock to Stoner over Classic guitar-oriented Hard Rock to modern female fronted singer-songwriter, over Traditional Heavy Metal to all-influenced Party Metal and to Classic '90s Groove Rock. Find out which is which, and enjoy the reading, but don't forget to check out the interesting bands (as per your personal taste, of course). -------------------------------------------------- This now Buenos Aires based Progressive Rock act was founded in 1998 when, still in their high school at Saavedra (a town some 480 km SW from the country's capital), guitarist Ariel Bellizio and drummer Alejando López (whom had named themselves to the Japanese blowfish delicacy fugu, which can be frightfully poisonous when cut the wrong way), together with other founding members, “horrified the children of a school that no longer exists, playing songs like “Holy Wars” by Megadeth” (quote from the band's bio), and where henceforth banished from ever performing again at said school. Hum..in how far do you think teachers and/or management of the school used the fact that a couple of kids did not like that type of music as an excuse to push through their own visions on what kind of music is appropriate, or not? I mean, in that same (darn short) bio, it's also mentioned that sóme of those “frightened” kids of yore are today frequently seen headbanging in front at Fughu shows! Undaunted by being banned from playing at school, the band went through several line-up changes, going through a first keyboardist until they found Marcelo Malmierca, through 3 bassists until they recruited Juan Manuel López, and through two previous singers until they found the incredible vocal capacities of Santiago Bürgi. Throughout the changes, the band released their first demo, the 3-track Primer Demo, in 2002, and later the live recorded full-length Pieces 03 Live, in 2006. Something the guys also did, along the way, was their choice of musical direction...gearing away from the Thrash Metal medium in favour for a Progressive Rock with nice interplay between guitar and keyboards. In spite of the fact that the band cites the likes of the Beatles, Queen, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Van der Graaf, Gong, Black Sabbath, Dixie Dregs, ELP, Yes, U2, David Bowie, Greg Howe, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Kotzen, and Allan Holdsworth as part of their influences, they stress the fact that they don't want to be seen as a “nostalgic” band, seen as some more contemporary and/or heavier acts such as Megadeth (still there, after all these years), Death, Alice In Chains, Steve Vai, Björk, Tool, Queensrÿche, and Dream Theater (with whom they have the special link of having been hand-picked to serve as support act when the band played Argentine on March 4, 2008) are also to be counted as influences. Then, in spite of claiming nót to be “nostalgic”, the guys state “our sound is like Rock Progressive, Tango, Heavy Metal, Folklore (Argentino), Jazz, Jam Session”! What I hear, is a very nice Progressive Rock act with feet both in the past and the present, and indeed an occasional Folk or Tango passage, with varying intensities (check the nice piano ballad “Solitude”) and paces, and with a singer whom sounds like he's had a Classical training...“Classical” like in Opera, buddies...in fact, there's a couple of moments when he delivers a great tenor high-pitch...and during the album's 10-minute closing track (the longest on the album) “Pain_Craving_Broken_Stop” he even goes through a passage with...I was gonna say Italian lyrics, just to stay in keeping with the Opera thing, but I guess the words are really sung in Spanish (I'm not quite sure though)! People into Prog Rock with an occasional heavy side should definitely surf to myspace.com/funghuweb, where they'll find no less than 5 of the 12 songs on the album posted (alongside a live version of a non-album track). There's a link to the band's own website, but all you can find there is a 3-song music player with material already posted on the MySpace page. What these guys now need to do next, is keep their blogs up-dated! 90/100 -------------------------------------------------- With song titles such as “Imargem” and “Sputnik”, plus the weird spoken word album opening “Machumba”, you kinda start thinking you might have to do with a Russian band here, but the truth is Herba Mate is an Italian trio of musicians (singer/ bassist Alessandro Trerè, guitarist Andrea Barlotti, and drummer Ermes Piancastelli) hailing from the town of Castel Bolognese (situated roughly between Bologna and Ravenna, in the North of Italy), who formed the band back in 2001 after having gone through other musical experiences (apparently also together). At first the guys went through a learning process, which took longer than a year...after which came the first gigs and band contests (Faenza Cover Festival, Faenza Rock and Frogstock). Towards the end of 2004 the band finally records an EP's worth of material, which they release under the title A Desert Section. For the track “Desert Inn Part I” the guitarist then directs a video, which would participate in several competitions, reaching 3rd place at the Videofreccia 2005 event. In March 2006 Herba Mate gloriously wins the Romagna Cover Festival band competition, and in the successive years the band would continue to participate in band contests (Festival della Libertà, Frogstock, Riot Fest, Rivolution Fest, etc...), sharing stages with already renowned acts such as Damo Suzuki, La Crus, John De Leo, Pay, and Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti. In September the trio again enters a studio, this time to record their debut full-length, which we're now to review. If the above had you guessing that this trio just might be playing Stoner Rock, you would've been absolutely right. The guys like to make a difference, claiming they play both Stoner Rock and Desert Rock (making the difference at the point of absence of vocals in the Desert variety...”because vocals get most in the music”), but since they are not afraid to openly confess that their influences mainly come from Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Fu Manchu...you'll have to confess things come down to just about the same, right? To make their point, the band posted a vocal and a non-vocal track off their full-length debut (alongside the same off their EP, and I have to say at least soundwize there's a considerable improvement – yo, by the way, the track “Dos Estrellas” was apparently re-recorded on the album as “**”...get it? And the guys have recorded a track titled “***” as well – makes one fear for the title length of the equivalent of “a billion stars” - joke, of course!!!) at myspace.com/herbamate. Enjoy, my dear dessert sweeties, enjoy...then consider buying the band's material! Too bad the guys didn't post instrumental album closer “Sputnik” (well, maybe they felt posting an 8-minute song is just too much). Darn, I've always been partial to my occasional portion of Stoner (was even a regular buyer of the Man's Ruin recordings back in the days), and these South-Europeans have a nack of having one's mind wander off into the dessert planes alright! Nice stuff! 95/100 -------------------------------------------------- Hailing from Hampshire near Southampton in the South of England, Lachlan Horne picked up his first guitar at the age of 14 and, inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert and Jeff Beck, taught himself how to play the instrument before attending London's The Guitar Institute. Thanks to an intensive study of and practice on his instrument, he was then able to establish himself as a working musician, playing sessions for others and playing with the bands Too Many Words, No Idea, What About Us?, and Funky Fluid (among others). He even spent time in Australia playing with the successful Queensland based Club Crunch for a year, before returning to the UK. After years of working for others and playing second hand, he recorded and released his first solo project The Time Has Come in 2004, an instrumental album (with an eclectic variety of styles including Metal, Blues, ProgRock, Funk, Fusion and Jazz...in other words, an instrumental Rock/Metal fan's wet dream!) which garnered rave reviews and saw tracks used for several radio commercials, media projects (his music was used for computer games and even as a theme for a rollercoaster!). Well, in between Lachlan has been occupied playing his own songs every once in a while, and also playing covers of Jimi Hendrix with his tribute band Hendrix Gets The Horne, in which he also sings. That put him onto the idea to start writing his own songs. He decided to write and record a first batch of six songs in 2007, releasing 'em digitally only as “Side One”. “Side Two” was supposed to be released in 2008 but, due to a variety of reasons, didn't see light of day until 2009. Lachlan performed all instruments on the album, except the drums, part of which were performed by Darren Mooney of Primal Scream and Gary Moore fame (the rest by one Tim Guile...whom I suspect, alongside drummer Anthony Bealing and bassists All Hamilton and Owen Feeney...to be his live musicians – depending on whomever is available, I suppose). Now take the same musical diversity as on the instrumental album [but perhaps geared more towrds catchy guitar riffs for a slightly more song-directed stucture...except on instrumentals “Turbulence” (a wacky twin lead guitar piece) and “Our Star” (an acoustic track)], add fairly decent normal vocals to that, and you've got an idea of what this might sound like! Okay, I didn't give any specifications with the voice, and that's because I feel it's something you'd better discover for yourselves by checking the tracks posted at myspace.com/lachlanhorne. My personal feelings about Lachlan's vocal capacities? Well...he's not a bad singer, but there's nothing to that really sets his voice apart either! Check it out at your own discretion! 85/100 -------------------------------------------------- This Billings, Montana based singer (born in Atlanta, Georgia, and partly raised in Salt Lake City) started singing at a very young age, singing the CDs she had over an over again. At age 11, she was given an electric guitar as a Christmas present, and then started taking lessons. She started performing in Montana at the age of 14. Through “a friend of a friend of a friend”, a tape of her performance played in August 2005 in Hana's home town, landed in the hands of songwriter/ producer Michael “Fish” Herring (worked with the likes of Prince, Christina Aguilera, Tupac, to name but a few) and Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody (who's worked as producer for Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, and Celine Dion, among others). After watching he tape, the two decided to start a working relationship with this extraordinary singer. In December Hana and her parents travelled to Los Angeles to meet the producers, and in April 2006 they started the work on her debut album. However, in between Hana still had to finish high school, and thus work could only continue during her holidays. During that time she recorded backup vocals for Celine Dion's 2007 album Taking Chances. Hana's self-titled 4-track debut EP (including a cover of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah”) was released in May 2008, and landed her an opening slot for Collective Soul, Live, and Blues Traveller. The Fall of 2008 saw the release of Hana's debut video for the EP track “These Two Hands” through her MySpace and YouTube pages. Hana also did vocals to all 4 songs on Ben Moody's debut solo EP The Mutiny Bootleg EP, released December 2008, and his debut full-length solo album All For This, released June 2009 (same month as in which Hana's second EP Live In The Studio – featuring six original songs and a cover of Radiohead's “Creep” - was released as a teaser for the upcoming studio album). On the stage, Hana as a rule performs on her own, with only her acoustic guitar to support her strong singing voice...but on the album the music is a bit more elaborate, with strings (or cello, arranged, composed and directed by David Campbell) and piano (played by Moody) added to most songs. In fact there's even a couple of songs without guitar. And that guitar ain't always electrically amplified either! Guitars, by the way, are played by both producers, Hana herself, or one Patrick Kennison...keyboards (mellotron, organ, and also accordion) come performed by one Rami Jaffee, and percussion was performed by 4 different drummers. Stylistically, half of the 12 songs remain relatively calm, the other songs have either the electric guitars and/or excited stings making for a more energetic surrounding of Hana's truly sexy voice! I mean, you really have to hear this to believe it. Of course, tastes differ, but even those not usually into female lead singing will have to agree that this 21 year-old has a truly magnificent voice, frail and powerful at the same time! Just listen to the songs posted at...no, nót MySpace this time, but Hana's own website (www.) hanapestle.com, where you can find no less than 9 videos and all 12 of the album's songs, plus more! Definitely a highlight of this batch of TSM/SLW Promotion artists! 95/100 --------------------------------------------------- And with Sofia based Bulgarian Traditional Heavy Metal act Rampart, I guess I'm doin' my first review of a band from that country. The band was formed in 2006 by the duo of guitarist/ backing singer Yavor Kamenov and drummer Borislav Glavev, whom would soon invite female singer Maria Doychinova to join 'em. With the guitarist as the main composer and arranger of the songs, and the singer as main responsible for the lyrics, the trio enlists the services of session bassist Todor Dyakov and a second guitarist for live appearances, but it's apparently as a trio that they record their first demo Warriors, released on 08/08/2008. With the demo getting positive feedback, the band also gets more gigging opportunities, which eventually leads to the departure of the extra members (pity, because Dyakov was contributing to the lyrics of new songs that were being written. At the beginning of 2009 the band then finds a new second guitarist and bassist in Victor Georgiev and Alexander Spiridonov respectively, whom immediately take part in the band's live activities. In April the band then signs a deal with French label Infernö for the release of their upcoming debut album in Nov. 2009. As before, the album's recorded by the core trio, with participation of their live musicians as “session” musicians, and the contribution of one Sofia Vancheva (playing cello, violins and viola on the album's ballad ”Age Of Steel” - one of 4 songs with the lyrics written by the band's former bassist). Stylistically, you can put Rampart into the Power Metal section of the Traditional Heavy Metal scene, most of their songs (except for the aforementioned ballad and the ensuing cheerful Rock-geared Mirror To Dreams”, the two constituting the calmer part of the album towards the end of the album) being played at a stead high pace with nice double lead passages. If you'd ask me to make comparisons, I'd say the likes of Iron Maiden, Grave Digger and Running Wild (part of the bands mentioned in the announcement at the label's website) certainly have served as influences, coming through in different intensities depending on the track at hand, but never in such a way as to become copy-cat stuff! Now I have to say that during the first listening sessions I was slightly taken aback by Maria's somewhat husky voice, but as the music itself was quite delectable, I soon got used to her awkward vocal signature, and in fact by the end of the second session had come to the personal viewpoint that Rampart is that bit more unique because of her presence as a singer! To get acquainted with the more energized version of the band, check out the 4 songs (the last one, “Just A Little Sign”, is something you can read more about below) posted at myspace.com/rampartbg. Update: during 2010 plenty of positive reviews from magazines and websites throughout Europe and the UK, and somehow new of their music also got through to the USA, where songs of theirs appeared on two compilations album Kill City 22, issued by Hollywood label 272 Records, and DJ Metal Maddy's Favorite Cuts, a promo comp of the 2010 US Warriors Of Metal festival, issued through Farvahar Records). The band was also chosen by Norwegian label Epicus Records to contribute (with their version of “Just A Little Sign” - see also above) to the Helloween/ Gamma Ray tribute album Helloray, to be released at the end of 2010. Currently the band is on the lookout for a new bassist (or at least that was the latest news) and is already working on their sophomore album Bloody Symphony, to be released in the next year. I sincerely hope they think of us a bit faster this time around, because I for one am interested in finding out how this band progresses! 88/100 --------------------------------------------------- If I've got my wires crossed the correct way, we're back in Germany with this band, and more specifically in the Gross Vinschgau region (that should be roughly between Münster and Bonn, and close to Eastern Belgium), where the quintet was formed at the beginning 2007 by members with elaborate and different previous experience in the music scene. The thing is, there's also a Gross Vinschgau region in North Italy (some 70 to 100 km North of Trente), and somewhere in the bio we were sent there's actually mention of the band being from the North of Italy, in spite of the fact that their MySpace doés place the band in Germany...confused anyone? The name of the band, by the way, was taken from the infamous law term, and has therefore little to do with possible grudgy neighbours from the band's rehearsal place (even if it is also in reference to the racket the band produces). In 2008 the band recorded and released a first demo (which may have featured the band's original bassist, replaced in September 2008 by one Patrick Planötscher), after which the band spent time playing the local club circuit, giving support to the likes of Hate Squad, President Evil, Debauchery, Mando Diao, Agnostic Front, Comeback Kids, Gallows, and Danko Jones to name but the most resounding ones. For the recordings of their debut full-length however, the quintet managed to attract/ hire non less than renowned German producer Bobby Altvater (known as the guitarist from his own band Affair, he's been active as producer since 1989). Evidently, the 12 tracks on the album (some of which have been around for quite a while) were recorded at Altvater's own Sky Studio in Taufkirchen (a München suburb in the South of Germany). Stylistically, RTS' “PowerRock” is a melodic and catchy meltpot of musical styles and subgenres including Progressive Thrash, Hardcore, Blues, Rock, Metal, Metalcore, Nu-Metal, and anything else the guys can use! The singer has a weird style, what with clean and semi-screamed vocals pinched out quite uniquely in a slightly rapped way, and obviously that puts a very specific stamp on the whole. One very “odd” track is “Didgeridoo”, a moody solo instrumental for guest musician Manuel Tumler, whom apparently frequently joins the band on stage with that instrument! All together, a very nice album for anyone into Party Metal, as you will be able to witness for yourself by listening to the 5 songs the band posted at myspace.com/right2silence. Regretfully, I'm informed that in late September both the singer and bassist left the band. I mean, bassists may be easily interchanged, but not just any singer will be able to put the same animosity in his vocals as RTS's old singer, so...I wonder where this adventure may lead! 86/100 -------------------------------------------------- “Didn't this band used to be on Parlophone back in the '90s?” is what my editor-in-chief asked me while handing over the fresh batch of TSM/SLW Promotions albums to be reviewed, and all I could answer to that was a non-commital “Yeah...well, you know, not all the bands that make a comeback find the music industry equally receptive as in their golden era!”...at the same time hinting at the possibility of the band playing a style that might've had its best time, and at the fact that major labels these days are no longer the powers they used to be! The truth is, although the band logo was certainly familiar, I couldn't immediately place the band...until I checked in my personal collection before looking up more info on this Pontypridd, South-Wales based Hard Rock band. Skin was somewhat of a “supergroup”, founded at the beginning of the '90s by former Jagged Edge members Myke Gray (guitar) and Andy Robbins (bass; he was previously with Tokyo Blade and Shogun), former Kooga singer Neville MacDonald (who'd also pick up the second guitar), and Bruce Dickinson's touring band drummer Dicki Fliszar (also of Vamp). In 1993 they signed a deal with Parlophone, released a couple of successful singles, and released their even more successful (and I understand why, since I hàve that album!) self-titled debut in 1994. The band recruited keyboardist Colin McLeod to enhance their live sound, and recorded an album's worth set of covers as a free giveaway with a 1995 Kerrang! magazine's issue. 1996 saw the release of the band's second studio album Lucky, but at the time sales of British products were vastly increasing due to the onslaught brought onto the world by the American Grunge scene's growth, and Skin was subsequently dropped by their label. But the band still had a Japanese record deal, and so recordings for 3rd album Big Fat Slice Of Life went on, with the album released in early 1997 in Japan only. However, MacLeod had already left to pursue his own interests in Funk music. Later in 1997 the band delivered their 4th album Experience Electric (actually a revised version of Big Fat Slice..., with some songs missing)through Snapper Music, and to promote the album the band toured relentlessly. As a result the album went to the top of the Indie charts. In spite of the album making it into the USA, Skin announced they would be embarking on a farewell tour in 1998. The band's final show in London was recorded for posterity and released as the posthumous Hasta La Vista Baby! Both that album and Experience Electric would do fairly well over in the States, but that fact went by the band unbeknownst! (for more specific details, check the band's page at Wikipedia, which is where I distilled this shorter version from) The band's fanclub kept its favorite band name alive for a couple more years through 3 releases (1998's Foe Your Ears Only, and 1999's Skinny Dipping and Lost And Found), but eventually word around the band fell silent...until an announcement on March 16 of last year let the world at large know that the band had reformed to play at the Download festival. The band even announced warm-up shows in London (tickets to the show sold out so swiftly a second London date was added) and Wolverhampton, and Neville & Myke also put in an acoustic performance at their hometown's Muni Hall. Skin's appearance at Download turned out so successful, the band decided to reform properly (including also keyboardist McLeod). Later in the year the band had a tour coinciding with the release of the limited edition acoustic album Up Close And Personal (featuring reworkings of old material as well as new songs “Redemption” and “Re-United”) as well as the DVD Re-United, documenting the band's reformation. In 2010 the band was again invited to play at Download, playing an electric set on the first day, and an acoustic one on the second. So now there's the new studio album, and frankly I have to tell you this band shines like in their heydays! Throughout the album you get a driven twin guitar Hard Rock with catchy tunes, a high degree of what's generally known as “groove”, and a powerful singer who's occasionally backed up by one or more (no info available) female singers. Two exceptions see the singer (and musicians) in a slightly less excited mode, and that's for the ballad “When I'm With You” (use of acoustic guitar here, but still some heavier guitar as well) and semi-ballad “Redemption” [this time there's not only some acoustic guitar, but also piano and some tasteful female singing (even if the only words she got are limited to just “long way to redemption”), but overall the song keeps up a certain heaviness anyway!]. The end result is a wonderful and varied 11-track album, an assessment to which both fans and media have concurred with all kinds of hails. And justified hails they are indeed. Regrettably, non of the full-length material posted at either the band's website (see top of page) or myspace.com/experienceskin are off the new album, so I'm afraid you'll have to make due with the 30-second samples posted at the album's page on Amazon.com. If you're looking to get the album, know that it's only available online at the moment! 95/100 Well, that's it for now...hope to come back before the end of the month with another special! Tony. |
