| CD REVIEW TSM/SLW Promotion special : Arcadia – Bodinrocker – Droids Attack – Heaven Grey – The Voodoo Jets |
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I know, it's been a while again, or does it only seem like that to me(?), but then I've been delivering review upon review in the past month at a tempo which barely allows me to hang onto the exceptional releases a bit longer due to so many others (many of 'em stuff that's already out on the street) awaiting my attention. Anyway, this new batch of albums sent to us through the intermediate of the TSM/SLW Promotion Agency again saw a flurry of different bands, and from different countries, coming our way: from Italy, there's Arcadia, from Sweden there's Bodinrocker, from the USA (Madison, Wisconsin) there's Droids Attack and (from Connecticut) The Voodoo Jets, and from Latvia (of all places), there's Heaven Grey. Musically, the diversity goes from Hardcore-influenced modern Industrial Metal over Stoner Metal (those previously unheard of from the agency, at least to my knowledge) to Classic (Blues) Rock influenced Rock, to Gothic/ Doom Metal, and even a guitar-less Hard Rock band! Find out which is which below! ----------------------------------------------------- The Hardcore influenced guys, from Italy, were founded back in 1996, with a gathering at the drummer's garage after a normal school day. Two years later the band recorded its first demo tape War Of Silence, and did its first gigs in their region to promote it. With a new line-up and a changed, more personal, musical direction, the guys then record their 3-track EP Trust in 1999. It got the band signed to the small Italian imprint No Brain Records for the 2001 release of the band's full-length debut Synth, the album displaying “...a mixture of modern Industrial Metal, monolithic riffs and rough vocals...”. The band promoted the album with shows all over Italy, in the process supporting the likes of Extrema, Raw Power, and Crackdown. 2 years later (and thanks to RZ Promotionz) the band jumped onto the great opportunity to tour the US on the Sun And Steel Fest Tour, supporting Obituary, Testament, Body Count, and Henry Rollins. The experience led to an important cleansing decision in the band's line-up: whom wants to stay in as serious musician?...the others out! After a short break to reform, the new and definitive line-up (consisting of singer Michele “Mike” Nocentini, guitarist Demetrio “Dimitry” Scopelliti, and drummer Edoardo “Cacao” Nicodemo – well, I'm sure Michele also plays the bass, and the others give him the lavish vocal backings I hear on the album?) entered Genoa's Nadir Studio to record their self-produced album Fracture Concrete (2005) and moved to Los Angeles for the next year and a half. With L.A. as a basis, the guys then played over 250 gigs during their stay over in the US. In 2007 the guys returned home, and immediately started organizing their first European tour, which was to take 'em out for a couple of months, also taking in the UK and Eastern Europe. While in Prague the band was contacted by Valery Records, offering a deal for the release of the band's following album Cold Cold Bodies, so after the tour the boys took some time off for recording sessions, and as soon as the album was released (we're talking 2007 now) the guys again hit the road to play gigs all over Italy, central and Eastern Europe, and even Asia. While working on new songs (recordings starting in the band's own Studio A in February 2009) the trio still took out time to support Agnostic Front on their Italian tour and, having again taken a taste for the road, put in another European headline tour. The recording and mastering done in March of last, the band self-released the album in April. Even before the release, the band had already been confirmed to partake in the 16-date tour of American band Six Feet Under and Denmark's Illdisposed, which was to take the bands all over Europe from late April to mid May (well, eventually it were only 15 gigs, as the last day was canceled due to extremely bad weather). Not long after, Arcadia supported Napalm Death on their Italian tour, and the guys started work on the organisation of their own headlining European tour, which starts in mid-November (at the moment, the only dates are for the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Italy). The boys have made Roy Phillip Nohl a concept album (you might get the idea when abbreviating the title to “Roy P. Nohl” - get it? Well, to cut speculations short, it's the story of a disturbed young man, coming from a broken home...father in prison, mummy under medication and psychiatric care, get it?...goin' through a life in search of love and of drugs himself). Musically, the band plays a modern Industrial Metal in which the Hardcore influences become apparent during more aggressive moments (mainly in the aggressive vocals then displayed, usually in co-existence with cleaner styles of singing – we dó wanna keep up the image of that disturbed young man, don't we!?), during which the guitar also seems, to me, to be down-tuned a lot of the time. Freaky synth sounds are played at the right places, bringing in additional eerie passages. You know something, I have a real hard time describing this great album's music, so why don't you just surf on over to myspace.com/arcadiabastardcore, where the band posted no less than 5 of the 11 songs (well, actually, the album opening “Roy P. Nohl” is a spoken word thing – with some background noises) on the album (alongside 3 tracks off their previous full-lengths). How's that for an introduction? Of course, a concept album should be listened as a whole! Great stuff this, and I wish I could listen to it a bit longer (ooh, be sure to listen to “I Sold Drugs To Little Red Riding Hood”, which contains samples – must be from Mary Poppins, I guess – with Julie Andrews reading a page from the story). Who's the young kid doin' the additional vocals of the ensuing “Slaughterhouse, Obituaries And A Love Story”, I wonder! 95/100 ----------------------------------------------------- Bodinrocker is the nickname of Gothenburg based Swedish musician Anders Bodin, whom got into Rock at an early age and started writing songs on the guitar at the age of 10, influenced by the likes of Status Quo, Slade, and The Who, posters of which could be found all over his older brothers' room! Over the years he's played in a couple of bands, but none really worked out too well, so in 2005 he started on the recordings of a solo project helped out by his brother-in-law, Lars Ekberg (himself a keyboardist with experience in the bands Carola and Triple & Touch, whom also brought in the other musicians on the project: drummer Klas Anderhell who'd play(ed/s) with Jerusalem, Mikael Rickfors and Mats Ronander... and bassist Marcus Sigverdsson of Jill Johnsson and Shirley Clamp repute). The end result was the album Hall Of Flames, released under Anders Bodin's own name, on his own Bearman Music imprint in 2006. An album which would bring the young musician some instant gratification, as the album's title track, as well as the songs “Golden Girl” and “The Way Back Home” were given ample airplay on Swedish radio. Even bigger gratification came when Sweden's telly chain TV4 used the music of the title track as background when Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang was about to do his first space walk! Anders started a new recording project in June 2008 at Ekberg's own Oakmountainstudio, the latter again rallying the same musicians. A prelude to the album, which Anders this time preferred to launch under his nickname Bodinrocker, finally came in late January 2010 with the download single Scooter/ Get Me On The Road, which got some real nice radio airplay in Sweden, and entered the SNL charts (Svenska NärradioListan) at #12, in consequent weeks growing (via #11, #7, and # 3 positions), to the #1 spot! Stylistically, Anders himself describes his music as “...Put Status Quo, Whitesnake, Beatles and some Folk tones in a mixer and press the button...” (citing the likes of Neil Young, Atomic Swing, Whitesnake, Rod Stewart, Faces, Belle And Sebastian, Status Quo, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Hellcopters, the Who, and “many more” as his influences), and somehow that is correct. He forgets to tell that he does nót keep his finger on the button of the mixer long enough to make a smooth uniform mixture which spreads out evenly over his musical catalog, but only gives the machine a couple of short turns, resulting in a chunky concoction. While that may seem somewhat unappetizing when dealing with real food, in musical terms it means that while some songs get a bigger Quo likeness (check “Get Me On The Road”, “Scooter”, for starters, but you'll find Quo in most of he other tracks as well), where other get a more Classic Rock touch (the Beatles thing starting out as the proverbial liquid in which the mixture is made, it's found everywhere anyway) thanks to the added sound of Hammond B3 organ, and then suddenly you get a more Folk-oriented track with mostly acoustic guitar (“Back On Track”). Now for your acquaintance with this man's music, you might check out the trusted MySpace page (myspace.com/andersbodin), but that'll only get you full versions of two songs (album title song + “Scooter”) and samples to 3 others (plus 3 full-length songs and off and an album trailer of the debut album). Better combine with the “Audio” section at the artist's own website (www.) andersbodin.net, where you'll find àll songs posted (still, I'm not sure if that's full-length versions or just samples). Nice stuff, and definitely something I'd like to listen to a bit more at a later date...but hey, whom am I trying to fool here, with the busy schedule Concrete Web is throwing on my shoulders? 86/100 ----------------------------------------------------- Now this Madison (Wisconcin) based American Stoner Rock formation (consisting of singer/ guitarist Brad Van, bassist Nate Bush, and drummer Tony Brungraber) are no unknown entities to this website, as the website was sent the band's sophomore full-length release for review through the label's Belgian distributor. And while the review (posted 28/08/2007) was done by a Stoner specialized colleague of mine, I did get the chance to get acquainted (very fleetingly, mind you) with the band's music through a short listening session at the Conrete Web headquarters, prior to internal distribution. Regretfully, my colleague didn't check up on the band's history at all, so here I go! Regretfully I have to inform you that there's some controversy in my info sources about the foundation date of this band. One source (1) has the band self-releasing a single (the 3-track The Kegger) and demo (the 4-track All Your Chicks Are Belong To Us, recorded by Poster Children's Rick Valentin) in 2001, and a compilation (with added material) titled Demos Of Great Justice in 2002 (songs off all later appearing on the band's official label debut), but the band itself puts their birth at 2003. At any rate, the band was started by Brad Van and Tony Brungraber. Brad had played in bands before, but had gotten tired of all the efforts always turning out to the band splitting up, and had therefore turned away from music to start up a games arcade (with vintage '70s and '80s stuff). Enter Tony, a drummer whom had come to Madison in hopes to become pat of the music scene there. He'd gotten a job at this used game store where Brad occasionally hung out, and the two hit it off on their mutual interests (besides music and games, there was also classic science fiction...whence spouted the band's name). The two got together for a couple of jam sessions, and before long Brad had reconsidered his musical aspirations. Fast forward a couple of years (swish, swish...) and enter Nate Bush, a veteran bassist of he Madison area (he'd played with Bongzilla at one time) who'd been without a band for a couple of years. As luck would have it, he was a frequent gamer at Brad's arcade, but it wasn't until a mutual friend handed him an early demo of the band (hey, hey...and now all the pieces start falling together...read on...) that he talked to Brad about how he genuinely liked what he heard. Brad then told him the job of bassist was still open, and after only a couple of jam sessions everybody agreed that they had a band (...from read on...: because this is where the trio became a band, see? Okay...so forget the controversy!). While writing new material, they started booking shows, and soon fell under the attention of the people at Crustacean Records, whom released the band's debut album All Your Chicks Are Belong To Us in 2004. Soon after its release the album was given a MAMA (Madison Area Music Award) in the category “Best Punk Album Of The Year”. The band managed to build interest outside the strict limits of their hometown through an hilarious video for the song “Let Daddy See The Cake”, which mixed staged robot attacks with live footage. Thanks to further releases (sophomore album “Fatal/Error was released in the US in late 2006 and was followed up by Thee 1987 “, a split EP with Imperial Battlesnake, in October 2008...issued through Round 13 Records, by the way), and a live show which occasionally includes their metallic robot mascot “harassing” concert goers, the band garnered even more interest from fans outside the Madison area, and was able to extend their touring to venues in big cities outside their own state, such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee, even taking in the Austin (TX) based SXSW festival during 2008. The band itself has cited acts such as Black Sabbath, Captain Beyond, Budgie, King Crimson, Motörhead, Helmet, Torche, The Melvins, Cuda, Clutch, Soundgarden, Quicksand and Poster Children as their influences, and those with even half an ear will clearly recognize that! But the band is hardly a copycat. On the new album they get keyboard additions to all songs (not always as clearly audible, as sometmes way in the back as additional atmospherics), courtesy of one Tim Thompson, and a further guest appearance comes from one James Koback playing the Whammy Guitar on the album's title track. And those additions sure make a difference! To listen to two tracks off the new album (a some older material) , surf to myspace.com/droidsattack. But be warned: in the case that you already have a preference for Stoner music, you're gonna want to hear more and more, and you'll most probably resolve to running to your favourite record store in order to get yourself the band's complete catalog! Great stuff, this...I lóve it! 95/100 ----------------------------------------------------- Riga based Latvian band Heave Grey was originally founded in 1993 as a Death Metal band (I guess their Under the Grey Clouds demo comes from that era) before moving on to Doom Metal, with lyrics both in Latvian and English. After releasing the 1996 full-length demo tape Memory River, they self-released their 1998 full-length Northwind, before splitting up in the latter part of the '90s. Enter the new millennium, and come a couple of internal tragedies. First, in 2004, original guitarist Sigvard Blazhevich dies, and on September 24, 2005 the band's lead singer Ansis Melderis dies in a motorcycle accident. To commemorate their old friends, (some of) the remaining bandmembers (second singer Ervins “Verons” Francs, guitarist Vyacheslav Nikitin, and cellist Ernests Libietis – the latter taking on lead vocals as well) decide to organize a concert on March 31, 2007 in memory of their old bandmates, with a couple of session musicians to complete the line-up. During the rehearsals and the ensuing concert, the spark to get things goin' again was lighted, and so the band decided to start all over again, with guitarist Vladimir “Dr. Alien” Beluga, bassist Andrej Rivars, and a keyboardist of which I only have the first name Andrejs in place, the band organizes a second show that same year, and soon after see Libietis leave to be replaced on the cello by one Reinis Melbardis. From then on Francs takes on lead vocals...but the band's line-up tribulations weren't over yet, as in 2009 Melbardis also leaves. Meanwhile (and I have no clue of when it happened) Olga Klubova had taken place behind the piano and keyboards. A further shift in the line-up happened when, after having contributed his services to the recordings of the album, Ozolinsh also leaves. His spot is now taken by one Oleg Badulin. The music on this album has been a long time growing (check a live video of the track “Regret” posted as far ago as May 2008), and besides the guys decided to re-record older tracks “Upe” (from Memory River) and “Life” (off Northwind, it now has the vocal contribution of soprano singer Eugenia Petrova). With the new synergies within the band, their music got a slightly more Gothic touch than before, but since the band have always played the kind of music the felt best with at the time, and aspired to creating music with both heaviness and melody, the band members all feel well at home in their new musical surroundings. Personally, I have a problem with the lead vocals when not sung in the singer's native language! You see, the hoarseness of his voice has a quality which is in some contrast to the band's endeavour to incorporate melody in their music. And that's a pity, for the music is really nice, with alternating heavy twin guitars allowing the piano backings to come through to great effect, on top of a steady rhythm section. Nice music which, in my personal view, is strongly disturbed by the lead singer's vocal stylings. You might also say I simply don't like for his vocal output! And, it's easy enough for all you Doom & Gothic/Doom Metal fans to find out how yoù feel about the band, as they posted 4 songs off the album (plus an album trailer and an additional older song, as well as live recorded videos of two of the 4 songs posted) at myspace.com/heavengrey. As for the rating, the music is splendid enough, and that's why I'm still giving this 76/100 ----------------------------------------------------- Keyboardist Micah Sheveloff (who's previously played with Boston based bands The Dream, The Detours, and Velveteen Playboys) is a weird guy. Having had a classical training and hard-core classical musicians as parents who forbade him to listen to the Beatles or any other Pop music, it was simply inevitable for him to get in touch with guitar-driven music at some time, and when he did, he immediately wanted to revert from the piano to the guitar...only to find out that for the life of him he could not play that instrument! Originally, he circumvented his handicap by plugging his Fender Rhodes keyboard into a stack of Marshall amplifiers, later he discovered the keytar! Somewhere in 2002, he got together with singer/ bassist Francesco Perrouna and drummer John Fowler (known from recording and touring with Steelheart, then dedicated himself to the projects Smoke, The Voodoo Jets, Hipnotic, and instructing hundreds of drummers in the Southern Connecticut region), creating the ultimate Power Trio which, with cited influences such as the Beatles, Cheap Trick, Jellyfish, Dada, as well as a selected number from the Americana, Alternative, Folk, Punk, and Soul genres, would record the 2006 released debut album Supersonic with David Minehan (onetime frontman of The Neighborhoods) at the latter's Woolly Mammoth Studios. But on March 11, 2008 the 42 year-old drummer dies of an aneurism after having been hooked up to life support for a couple of days suurounded by his band members, son Sebastian, and a couple of the family's close ones. They gave John a nice farewell though, blasting The Voodoo Jet's song "Spaceman" through the speakers of the hospital's internal call unit system in his final hour. But eventually music is the balm that soothes the pain, and the remaining duo start looking out for a new drummer, which they find in the person of one Greg Trabandt. Now Greg aint no small peanuts in the music world. He's played drums since age 9 in Rock and Jazz bands, even played with the All Eastern UCONN Symphony Orchestra, and with his first original project Furious Styles, which released a Simon Townshend produced album, he toured with The Spin Doctors, Maceo Parker, Blues Traveller, and other acts. This again opened doors for Greg to get session work both in Los Angeles and New York (he's worked with Tommy Lee, Tony Harnell of TNT fame, Al Pitrelli of Widowmaker and Asia, Mike Viscera of Obsession, Roger Filgrate from Wishbone Ash, Danny Meranda of Blue Oyster Cult, to name but the most resounding ones). The new album consists of 10 new original songs, an energized cover of Smokey Robinson's "Tears Of A Clown", and live versions of Supersonic songs "Big Black Machine Gun" and "Spaceman". What can the listener expect? Well, on the one side there's a couple of calmer tracks [check "Cartoon" and the ensuing "I Am" (the latter has some more animated moments in the choruses though – hey, anyone get the joke I just made?)], but overall the mood is of a Pop Rock and Hard Rock feel (with that cover as the summit – gee, the guys must've drunk fàr too much coffee the day they re-wrote that song...but what a whopper!!!)! In most of the songs you can still hear it's an organ being put through the Marshall overdrive, but on the live tracks (which were recorded on the night of a benefit show the band did for Fowler's family (with Sebastian hanging around, emotions rang high with both Frank and Micah near tears, and of course "Spaceman" was dedicated to him) you kinda start to wonder. Further typical features are the harmonic backing vocals to most of the songs, and the somewhat unique vocal signature of the lead singer. You know, when looking at the words I just wrote, I kinda feel how meaningless they are, so why don't you simply check out what's posted at the band's own website (www.) thevoodoojets.com (samples of "Spaceman", "Big Black Machine Gun", and "Cold Outside", all off TVJ's debut album) or (www.) myspace.com/thevoodoojets ("Spaceman" again, and the new album's opening track "Cry"). I know there's not a lot, but the album's available from CDBaby.com and iTunes (and don't they both offer samples of all songs as a taster?). 90/100 Tony. |
