As it seems France has a lot more to offer, and i thought Gojira was a one time fluke, Scarve play a somewhat familiar mixture of technical death metal, with hints of industrial, and other “electronic metal” related sounds, i know it’s strange to say, but their music tends to go for the formula the likes of Darkane and In Flames go, it has to have a more “clean” chorus to grab peoples attention, it’s not a bad thing per say, Darkane master it to almost perfection.

So the album starts with “Mirthless Perspectives” and it’s quite a good start, it goes from angry as it gets, to a more clean vocal chorus, with loads of blasting in between, that is until the guitar solo, that although well conceived, it just killed it for me, it seemed out of place, well next track is “An Emptier Void” starts with another blasting/groovy death, and after 2 “mockup” chorus, we get into a calmer part, and a quite good one i might say, with a melodic eerie feel to it, then it resumes to a more shout/blast, and yet again the same feeling, the eerie part just doesn’t fit the blasting, it feels like they are 2 different tracks, now the title track “Irradiant”, uhhh this one starts with some heavy blasting in between slower sections, with a extremely simple catchy chorus, finally a good track, then comes “Asphyxiate” that brings a more jumping/groovy sound, more in tune with groove/math metal, that added with the guest appearance of Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah fame, brings this one home as being one of the best of the album, then comes up “Hyperconscience” again a good track, it has a nice melodic death metal feel to it.

“The Perfect Disaster”, you can say this one is the calm song, actually after the initial intro, it’s actually a slow burn metal tune, almost stoner metal, then “Molten Scars” returns us to the blasting, and that swedish feel, loads of aggression building up to some more clean cut chorus and some in between guitar solo, then when i thought the album was on it’s way out, they sneak this one in, in the form of “Fireproven”, really nice, loads of interest here, hell even the solo works great, this is one 6 minute hellblazing track, that drives us to the end with “Boiling Calm” that even though as a lot of interesting bits, it’s a bit of a mess and gives me a little “bitter end” finish.

Retention is the key word here, sure it’s catchy, has great pace, loads of wacky riffs, impressive drumming, technicality, hell even flare, some of the tracks are surprisingly brutal, and we all love that shit, but as Psycroptic latest, and in my view, that’s just not enough, this isn’t metal school, i think its a good album, and it has a lot to offer, and i’ll be sure to listen to it some more, but is it memorable? …No, is it good enough to spend your well earned money? … Well … yeah, why not, the boys have skill, and you won’t get that “i wasted my money” feel, that only Fear Factory’s can deliver.

Scarve - Mirthless Perspectives
Scarve - An Emptier Void

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Abelcain’s The Garden EP is a nice piece of industrial/metal inspired breakcore which has a certain goth/horror movie feel that sets it apart from other works in the genre. As such, it has a permanent mist of darkness which helps to contextualize the *cough* poetic vocal snippets that Abelcain sprinkles over his characteristic sound.

I would say the first song immediately demonstrates the rythmical intricacy of this album. The Garden starts with some soft legato strings followed by meticulously sequenced mid-paced breaks that quickly mutate into some evil distorted breakcore. After a brief pause, it picks up again with a grumpy bassline accompanied by some cutup distorted percussion. The music then proceeds into a few minutes of breakcore iterations (woohoo!), ending with the sound of cellos, which provides for a pleasent transition into Black Bone Orchid.

This second song begins with a really nice (albeit sad?) intro, performed by the string section, to which is added some slow breaks. After a while, the mood of the music kinda changes as a playful violin enters the party. Then, as always, the song swiftly changes again into jungle/breakcore mode with the addition of a wobbly distorted bass and some seriously mashed-up breaks.

The third “song” is quite amusing actually. Uhm.. I think i would classify Bitter Moon Blossom as a mixture of cut-up metal meets breakcore until halfway through, then proceeds into some creepy ambience and finishes off with some gabber mindfuck action.

This album wraps up with Danse Macabre. This song starts off with some subtle strings followed by a few bars of mid-paced breaks (which kinda remind me of Bogdan Raczynski and Datach’i). Then it takes a turn towards a more rude drum arrangement, as the string instruments increase in tension. The “trademark” of this song are the hyperactive harpsichord/clavichord staccato ramblings, masterfully interweaved with some seriously mashed-up breakcore action.

Abelcain - Bitter Moon Blossom

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Shadows Fall hail from Massachussets and are probably still counting the damage done by Ivan the hurricane by now. Premiered in the music market with 97s Somber Eyes to the Sky (Lifeless Records), the band was represented by Century Media from the 2000 Of one Blood album on – then there came the 2001 Deadworld EP, 2002 Fear Will Drag You Down, 2003 The Art of Balance and the present freshman in so prolific a career: 2004 The War Within. Shadows are currently FALLing over Brian Fair (vocals), Matthew Bachand (guitar, vocals), Jonathan Donais (leas guitar, vocals), Paul Romanko (bass) and Jason Bittner (drums).

Actually the band needs almost no introduction, as SF have steadily built a reputation of their own. The War Within carries on the tradition of ‘Jumping Death Metal’ – energetic rhythms and occasionally interesting details make the whole. The songs are well written the musicians know their work and how to appeal. Add a little variation, good guitar work, vocals ala Soilwork and the members of ‘New Wave of American Heavy Metal’ tour sum up in two names: Shadows Fall. You may as well expect superb sound and thrashy outlines – but this is hardly anything new, given the fact that this is the band’s fifth studio album (including Japan-only release) and there is a big label behind.

The War Within was one of the most anticipated releases of the year 2004 and the final outcome is likely to please old and new metal fans alike, as there is a touch of ‘new-ish’ music to it. Powerful though the vocalist and joit venture between the three vocalists are, the fact remains that the more melodic vocals are a bit cheesy.

Should you be considering buying the War Within, let it be known that the limited initial pressing of the album is available as double digipak and includes a bonus DVD. While not being terrific, the War Within should keep the fans satisfied.

Shadows Fall - Inspiration On Demand

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Back in 1994, sill under the moniker Anesthesia, Abominattion released the first demo, Burning Souls, which was warmly received by fans and press. 1998 set the stage for the second demo, Hated by the Flames, followed by 2000’s Rites of the eternal Hate (CD) and 2001’s Doutrine of False Martyr (spelling mistake included^). Animated Records re-released the latter, 3 years after the original album, with two bonus tracks (Eternity’s Defy and Devastated World).

The Brazilian Death Metal community has some major representatives – Krisiun and Rebaelliun are also represented in Abominattion’s music, who have kept faithful to the original extreme death metal sound they played in the beginning. Doutrine of False Martyr (spelling mistake included) is 42 minutes of straightforward, well played Death Metal. The song structures are well thought-out and some of the movements attended the Morbid Angel school. Doutrine of False Martyr needs some time of getting used to, for the songs are as a rule of thumb «dense», to put it mildly, and the production is semi-good, but I have heard much worse. Some of the strong racks are perhaps Doutrine of False Martyr, Hateful Divine Creation (bruuuuuutal) and Fallen Angel. Eternity’s Defy is somewhat doomier, more melancholic.

As a whole, Abominattion is a rather good band to listen to, but the Krisiun influences are still a bit too heavy. Dourine of False Martyr (spelling mistake included) is recommended, though.

Abominattion - Purity in Flames

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