| CD REVIEW Alkemist Fanatix Europe special, Jan. - Feb. 2010 : Mechanical God Creation – Nameless Crime – Onsetcold – Winter Haze |
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It's a good thing my editor-in-chief had already given me copies of these albums on a whim in late December...because in January he's been so busy (and then fell ill) he'd apparently forgotten all about 'em! It's a good thing I'd remembered in time that these albums were to be distributed by Roadrunner Belgium too! It was slightly less fortunate that I'd forgotten my memory stick when time came to send The Chief this article...but then again, we probably won't be posting this before February 1st anyway (that being the date when I'm coming over to headquarters to help him out with the posting, see!? Anyway, for me these specials are a means to fall outside the style(s) of music I'm usually allotted...much to my pleasure by the way. Read on to know more! ---------------------------------------------------- Based in Milano, this Death Metal band was founded in October 2006 when former Art Of Mutilation (a band which also featured two Hecate Enthroned members and is apparently still active today) singer Lucy got in contact with guitarist/ singer Simo through a forum. Hitting it off right away, the twosome start looking for the competent members to complete the line-up. First, Simo brings in drummer Jambra (also of Lacus Mortis repute), then Runza joins the outfit as second guitarist, and eventually the band is completed when bassist Andrea is recruited. Following several months of songwriting, the band enters Milan's Larsen Forge Studios in March 2007 to record their 4-track (one the instrumental intro) demo ...And The Battle Becomes War. Released in May, the demo gets the band positive reviews both in Italy and abroad, and ensures the band's selection to play at 2007's Gods Of Metal festival (where the band played on the same stages as such music industry greats as Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, and Megadeth). More major exposure came in 2008, when the band did its first gigs outside Italy, including gigs in Austria and a performance at Slovenia's Metalcamp Festival (that year billing the likes of Meshuggah, Iced Earth, Behemoth, Amon Amarth, and more). In July 2008 the band started to coordinate their planning to record a full-length album, and around that time also signed a management contract with Carlo Belotti (akà Alkemist Fanatix Europe). Recordings begin in November, when the band records bass and drums at Pisa's West Link Studios (where a lót of Alkemist Fanatix stuff comes from, by the way...I wonder whether Belotti has interests in that studio). They then move to the Alpha & Omega Studios in Como to complete the recordings and do the mixing, aided in this by veteran Alex "Mudhead" Azalli. For the mastering, the material is sent off to Finland's Finnvox Studios, and the album eventually gets it final form in Autumn 2009...but in the meantime both Jambra and Runza had decided to quit the band, leaving the others to find replacements, found eventually in Alessandro (guitar) and Manuel (drums). Following its (Italian) release, the album already generated a shitload of reviews (check 'news' section at (www.) mechanicalgodcreation.it...and no, I did nót go through those to gather inspiration!), to which I now ad another one. With the music goin' on at unrelenting pace (but some breaks nevertheless), Lisa firmly stands her ground as frontwoman with a very nice and intelligible (meaning you can rather understands the lyrics, see?) screamed growl. She's frequently backed by Simo in different modes, ranging from something that resembles Lisa's vocals styling, to a deeper growl. For the song “I Shall Remain Unforgiven” (the only re-used track from the 2007 demo) the band invited the renowned Cadaveria for a duet (and honestly, I cannot tell the two apart). With 9 songs o the album, the band take you through a neck-breaking 39 minutes per listening session, but it's time gladly spent over and over again! Just check out the songs posted at (www.) myspace.com/mechanicalgodcreation to get a taste. Last minute update: MGC just recently replaced Alessandro for new guitarist Davide, and it would seem the band is now finally ready to throw itself more intensely upon the live circuit! 89/100 ----------------------------------------------------- The formation of this Napoli based Melodic Power/ Heavy Metal act Nameless Crime goes back to 1998, and of the original line-up only keyboardist Dario Graziano goes back to the origins (albeit with an interruption, and as drummer back then). Although still an unknown entity in our regions, NC nevertheless managed to get out several releases, some even issued through (small) labels. Let's see now, the band's self-titled and 5-tracked 2000 debut demo (featuring singer Michele Sorrentio, guitarists Marco Ruggiero and Alessandro Tuccillo, bassist Raffaele Launzise, and Graziano on the drums) was released through Northwind Records. In 2001 the band self-released a 3-track demo entitled Live in Studio, and when they returned for the self-titled debut album (issued through Nocturnal Music) in 2003, it was with new frontman Fabio Manda. Followed two 3-track demos (chronologically Promo 2004 and Backdraft) in 2004, and when the band returned with sophomore album Law And Persecution (issued through Powerzone in November 2006), it was with one Peppe Iovine on the drums. Important detail for future reference: the album's recording was the second time the band worked with Endorphine guitarist Maddalena Bellini to co-produce the album with Gabriele Ravaglia of Fear Studios. Also, this album sees the band combine the Thrash Metal influences of its predecessor with a powerful Hard Rock sound. Regretfully, the band's new label soon goes bankrupt...and in the period that follows guitarist Marco Ruggiero needs to be replaced by several session players, and is eventually considered a loss for the band. But more radical changes were about to happen! For in early 2008 all remaining members except the bassist leave the band for a number of different reasons! But just when it seems the band is a total loss, NC finds new members from an unexpected corner. As it turned out, Lanzuise also played in Endorphine, and all of the sudden Maddalena Bellini offered to join NC, bringing along her drummer Daniele Ciao (a veteran known also from Meclet, Triuphator, Vermiis, Sleep Of Thetis [in which Lanzuise also played], Burial In Sulphur, Embrace My Ruin, and Tenebra). As their frontman the band recruit Aged Teen singer Dario Guarino, and to complete things, Dario Graziano (the band's original drummer) returns to play the keyboards & synths! Along with the line-up overhaul comes a re-inventing of the band as a musical unit, the members choosing to go for a more Alternative Rock oriented Metal, examples of which they soon enough display on a new 3-track demo entitled Season Of The Grey. In 2009 the band signs a management deal with Carlo Belotti of Alkemist Fanatix, which also brings forth a licence deal with UK's Casket Music/ Copro Records for the release of the band's upcoming album. The band immediately start work on the album, with Maddalena seeking out the most interesting places and means to record, and eventually co-producing alongside Frank Andiver. Mastering of the finished recordings is eventually done by Alan Douches (something I learned with the necessary effort from an interview in Italian). Originally slated for a late 2009 release (and maybe it was actually released around tat time in Italy), the album was apparently released through Casket Music in July of last...but I was quite unable to find any info on the band at the label's website. Talking music, the sound is best defined as a nice Power Metal with elements from (modern) Heavy Metal and Thrash...with a very soulful and oft melancholic sounding singer whom simply needs to be heard...with keyboards that can go quite different and surprising ways, from wacky synth additions, orchestral atmospherics, and Hammond B3-like organs (all present in album opener “Feedtime”, and alternating equally as surprising in other songs as well) to piano (for instance in “Unsigned”, for which the band recorded an “single edit” video). Halfway the album “Sleepwalking” with its moody (male) backing vocals and halfway calmer passage (with more piano play again) makes for a reminiscence of the better (heavy) Grunge days! Actually, the synergies within his band are rather surprising! In the interview mentioned earlier, Maddalena claims that the melancholic touch in the band's music will usually be generated from her...when it's the singer whom expresses that, that the Thrashy feel comes forth from the bassist...when it's the guitarist whom expresses thàt, the drummer will complicate your life...when it's the rhythm section bringing the strong foundation of the band, and that the keyboardist brings in a jolly feel (definitely true, that one). She summarizes it all by stating that there's a Dr. Jeckyl vs. Mr. Hyde feel present throughout the band's music. 90/100 ---------------------------------------------------- Hailing from Northwich (Cheshire) in the UK, Black/ Death Metal act Onsetcold definitely seem somewhat out of place in this special, but there's a link in the fact that their self-titled debut full-length was issued through an Italian label, right? Besides, WormHoleDeath (a sub-label to Aural Music)was founded by Carlo Belotti as a means to get MetalCore and DeathCore releases out into the world! And Onsetcold was one of the two first band on the label! The band was originated in 2003 when singer Shaq set out to form a project that would create an overall epic sound with absolutely no boundaries, and which would find influences from all types of music. Guitarist Lee “Silz” Sills immediately joined the project, and following musical differences with his bandmates in Numb, drummer Ineal Sandhu also became involved. September 2004 saw the release of the band's first 3-track demo Sadness, and around the same time the then 4-piece did its first gigs in promotion of the demo. A new demo came soon enough (January 2005) with the 3-track Pig which, prolific as the band was in those days, is followed in May by the 4-tracked Like I Care. That demo's opening track “State Of Fear” would become the band's next step up in MetalLand, as it got picked up by Terrorizer (and later in October also Zero Tolerance) for inclusion of the magazine's covermount compilation album. As a result, the band continued to write new material and gigged throughout Winter 2005 gaining interest from fans and media...improving their profile by playing better venues with signed bands...and gaining label interest! In fact, the band recorded 6 songs which were to be released as a mini-album by a UK based label in June '06, but the band was simply not happy with the overall sound, and feeling something wasn't right the material was never released (the tracks were even thrown out all together, to re-start from scratch) and the deal fell through. Soon after the band gets a severe blow by the fact that Silz leaves for purely personal reasons. Still, this opens the door for one Ben Whitfield, with whom the band write and record the 2-track demo Dark Days Of My Diary, made available later in 2006 at the band's gigs with Hecate Enthroned. Well, I'm not sure what happened after. In one of my info sources I find evidence that a second singer was in the band (one Matt Bolton), and there was also a bassist named Mike Lovatt...and the two along with Whitfield and Sandhu and second guitarist Andy Milnes would later resurface as Colonel Blast (a Death/ ProgMetal outfit which released its debut full-length For the Greater Good on Condate Records in June 2010). I'm not sure at all which line-up recorded the 2008 album...and after the album's release the band took time off for a year, returning with a renewed line-up featuring guitarist Craig Gamble, keyboardist Sarah Bloodworth, bassist Stu Johnson (current status with the band uncertain) and drummer Daniel von Naden. The new material (4 songs) I've heard at (www.) myspace.com/onsetcold has a far nicer degree of complexity than this older album, and certainly is something I look out for with a certain anticipation. However, since the band is no longer listed as on the WormHoleDeath roster, I guess chances are a sophomore album will come out through a different label (with the inevitable result that it'll be picked up or review by our Death & Black Metal specialist, I suppose)! 88/100 ---------------------------------------------------- Hey, this is a case of "Been there, done that!". I mean, the album passed through my hands before, and the review was featured in an Alkemist Fanatix special posted 07/07/2010. Now you know where to go for any info on this very nice Italian Female-fronted Sympho/ Prog Metal band. No news yet on the new material the band was reported to be working on. Rating below is that given in my original assessment of the album. 90/100 Tony. |
