Uhh Melechesh, even though i was going to review this, still someone had to tell me i HAD TO REVIEW THIS ONE, so ok… here it goes, Melechesh hails from Jerusalem but its actual headquarters are in the Netherlands, playing a self titled “Mesopotamian Metal”, well i don’t know about the self titled genres… a bit more and well see a bunch of bands saying ohhh no we play “Manhattan Death” or Amazoniancore hehehe, so for everyone that finds that silly, we’ll just call it a fusion of Black Metal with traditional Middle Eastern instruments, well lets have a listen, shall we.

Humm we start things off with “Rebirth Of The Nemesis” and it starts off pretty well i do feell its black metal with the garish voice and slowburn, but this is one groovy track, combining blasting and more groove oriented passages with some pretty impressive guitar and drumming work, very fresh approach… finishing it up with a very black metalish with a all male chorus, great show, “Ladders To Sumeria” hummm i don’t know … starts off like humm dont know… pretty simple i guess… then onto black metal bashing, again with clean vocal chorus, it reminds me of the kind of ethnical trickery that SOAD does pretty well (even though sometimes to excess), but it does bring some fresheness to this weird track, sounds something between hardcore/metalcore and black metal, still a solid entertaining track, “Deluge Of Delusional Dreams” ok… maybe its me but another strange start… maybe im expecting black metal and getting something different, we get strange funky riffing that goes into a metalcorish groove, ok… its cool, then the black metal comes in, with the vocal and double bass and riffing, with again some clean vocal chorus, about 2/3 way it changes into something else… kinda another groove guitar blast combo, entirely more ethical riffing, well well although already pretty formolaic, still its a pretty good listening until now, above all else it has a lot of groove.

“Touching The Spheres Of Sephiroth” starts off diferently, much more by the book black metal, well and it goes all the way through, humm a much diferent beast than before, much more focused, “Gyroscope” starts with some guitar work, then bass, then into a cool almost etchnical riff, then drumming and now a fool blown ethnical riff, humm its pretty nice, it feels black metal but not quite there, pretty cool track, “Double Helixed Sceptre” again a slow start, then a more electric riff to a blast beat and … damn some weird riff drum combo…. that brings to the black metal, and again the weird riff drum combo, this is one hell of a track and we haven’t got half way, very original, humm with voice it slows down a bit… and again back to black metal and the clean vocal chorus, and about 2/3 it goes into full blow black metal again… humm very interesting track, “The Scribes Of Kur” is a clean middle eastern instruments interlude, “Leper Jerusalem” is going again a bit into the Metalcore/Hardcore camp, then if slows down into a groove and its pretty much that, still a solid tune.

“Sand Grain Universe” is a much speedier track, still into the same black metal groove, just speedier, i kinda like it a bit better than the normal… slower kinda hehehe… and this track does it credit, loads of blasting and etchnical riffing with some slower tempos to enphasise on the higher speed, nice balance and again nice groove, “Emissaries And The Mysterium Magnum” starts of into a bass guitar combo, then into a blasting riffing and a toolish muffered vocals in the background kind of thing, this all stops with the vocals into a cutted riffing style, pretty cool, still this track has a weird tempo, with a pretty sweet guitar solo (especially because if fits into the mood) and then finally it ends with the… kinda obvious ethnically infused instrumental only “Extemporized Ophtalmic Release”.

Someone said it was kinda like Nile, humm dont know about that, sure there is a over enthusiasm with the themes and the ethnical instruments, and that kinda drags it a bit down… i think a band never wants to be fixed into a planet, when they should be aiming for the universe… but oh well, to each its own, and dont get me wrong, this wasnt the first listen but i did went in thinking it was black metal/death metal kinda of a Nile thing, and it sure isnt, they are 2 diferent beasts, and although i do like Nile, seems Melechesh will have a place there as well, if not because of the grooviness and little tidbits everywhere of musicianship and originality that i do enjoy ever so much ^_^

Official Site Melechesh | Video for Genies, Sorcerers and Mesopotamian Nights

Melechesh – Rebirth Of The Nemesis

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Oh Machine Head?, do you like good music?… then probably you don’t know Machine Head too well hehehe since hummm since The Burning Red… i just don’t give a fuck, their albums sounded like thrash, but they were mostly… how can i put this gently… shit? a big pile, well more because they had such an interesting first album, that everything after that should have been at least somewhat good, seems not, so… after 2 or 3 albums, here comes “The Blackening” (and i’m only reviewing this cause a friend told me i should check it out).

“Clenching The Fists Of Dissent” starts if off, and i’m impressed, solid thrash, it kind drags a bit on with 10min and it has a slowish middle… but i kinda get it, sort of “lets just make a freaking kick ass first track”… hell its long because it has a bit of everything, from slow burning trash, speed blasting, some Hatebreed public shouting, short burst guitar solos, hell even time to go for a clean vocal section nearing the end, breakdown head-banging end i mean… sweet ride, “Beautiful Mourning” starts pretty well, shouting and here we go, a bit of thrashing and then we get to some heavy rifting with slow singing, then we get a sweetish chorus with some blasting, ok… not so bad… sounds a bit swedish, but not in a “LETS STOP EVERYTHING AND SING LIKE A GIRL MOMENT”, plenty of hardcore breaks and again a smallish guitar solo, and thats pretty much it, again another pretty catchy track, moving on to “Aesthetics Of Hate” starts off pretty well with pure thrash, with a very big solo… all building up to a clean vocal and pretty old school breakdown… again great, now we get “Now I Lay Thee Down” humm a bit more metalcore i guess.. with clean vocal even trough the chorus, still pretty catchy and it kinda seems to be the softest until now, some guitar solos and it gets a bit heavier to the end… humm its ok.

“Slanderous” is a bit of the same with some groovy drum/guitar work to build up, but again more metalcore, some breakish moments, some guitar solos, ends with a clean vocal buildup to… a bit heavier chorus, ahhh its getting kinda formulaic, “Halo” gets us a groovy blast guitar squeal break moving trough the track, that drive us to (probably) the catchiest chorus yet, pretty sweet clean vocal/guitar work… driving again to the groovy riff, midway we get a sort of breakdown to the guitar solos and even these seem to fit well with the rest of the track and to finish it off … yeah you guessed it… again clean vocal to build up to the chorus, its great don’t get me wrong, pretty sweet, but still more than predictable… a hell yeah for this track, “Wolves” starts off like hardcore should, but then goes into metalcore mode again, and then back to more hardcorish riffs, humm it gets better as we move along, we get midway another characteristic break that then merges with the rest of the track, then we get back into thrash, guitar solo and then back to chorus for the end, and that bring us to the last track “A Farewell To Arms” were we get a slow burning guitar/vocal build to the hardcorish slow burn riffing, then again a clean vocal chorus… still catchy, after the second chorus you get the guitar solos, then we speed along to thrash and eventually it dies out… pretty solid end track.

So what did i think of “The Blackening”? well it seems the expression “time heals all”, does have a use heheheh, Machine Head did a fine album, its not groundbreaking, its a bit formulaic (kinda has always the same song structure and it kinda always revolves around thrash/hardcore/swedish melodic metal), it lacks consistency (starts heavy with loads of thrash and ends more near to metalcore), but in the end, its a pretty slick album, even the not so good tracks are solid and there are some very groovy and heavy tracks throughout, so… if you were a fan of Machine Head or you want to listen to some modern thrash, then give this one a go.

Official Site Machinehead1 | Vidcult Video Now I Lay Thee Down

Machine Head – Aesthetics Of Hate

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Seems Death/Trash is in, Dew-Scented are a German Death/Trash outfit, kinda blasting growling kind of thing hehehe, not that that’s bad at all, hehehe, so here comes “Incinerate”, lets have a look to see how it handles itself.

Humm the album starts with a small intro “Exordium” nice and slow building up for “Vanish Away” one thing is for sure, blasting and growling is what you get, cant say that this isn’t pretty tight, there is enough variation and musicianship, but it all seems like a generic track for this kind of music, “Final Warning” is different, at least that… (I’m kinda afraid cause there is a tendency for repetition…), pretty headbanging music… very thrashy Slayer like feel to it… just the vocals … they seem to be the least engaging part of the track for me, “That’s Why I Despise You” is a little more of the same, what starts to be a trend is the overwhelming speed… all the tracks seem to be in a hurry.

“The Fraud” humm well i might say its a bit of the same, “Into The Arms Of Misery” is again more of the same, i guess ill skip to some highlights of the rest of the album, “Contraddictions” is a pretty tight tune… probably one of my favorites, really sweet guitar work also “Retain The Scars” is quite brutal… again great guitar/drum work, hell seems the best is really towards the end.

Humm thrash… well i can say that Dew-Scented don’t take anything out, they actually put a lot in, but in my opinion, not enough to escape the too generic clause, its like going to a drive in cinema… its good clean fun, but if you go to a fucking IMAX with digital picture, digital sound that will melt your brain… yeah thats way more bang for the buck, so i guess is you like it raw with all the gritty messy brutal thrash… then what are you waiting for?

Official Site Dew-Scented

Dew-Scented – That’s Why I Despise You

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Ahh back to some headbashing hehehe, Diskreet is kind of the new wave of death metal, it has a more hardcore/grindcore feel to it, and not so much a leaning technical ability, nevertheless they hail from Kansas USA, and that might mean something to be mad about muahhaha.

Infernal Rise starts pretty good with “Infernal Throne”, its kinda a slow burn blast beat kind of track, pretty good and straightforward, “Infinite Hold” comes next and starts with a guttural blast/slow rifts, then it gets into a more speed up but always with a play with the speed, slowing and speeding, always with prologued drummed blasting or small bursts of blasting, actually the drumming is what shines, its always changing the pattern, pretty nice track, it finishes much like it started, “The Bigger Complex” starts with a sound clip then goes into death blasting, it kinda works like the previous track with a bit more guitar work, but it still feels like its an all drumming thing… “Entrails” starts with the death blasting thing, stops and then picks up again almost all the way through… humm

“Faust” at least starts pretty differently with a more groove metal kind of thing, but damn if the drumming isn’t kinda carrying everyone on their backs, loads of variations of blasting, feels a bit like don caballero but with worse mix between the guitarists and the drummer, it even has those more breakneck kind of breakdowns, “The Nightmare” is a bonus track and it kinda shows, its a bit more straight death metal, but still a pretty solid track, again drums shine like hell, “Promising Demise” is the last track and also a bonus one, and again a bit different from the rest of the album, slower and maybe not even death, more like metalcore even with a cleaner chorus, not so bad, its good as a final track.

Diskreet… humm, well this didn’t WOWed me, and it does feel like its a work in progress, i really cant tell if they are really good, i do like some of the tracks, but it seems like a one trick band, well we will see how they fare with time, i did particularly liked the drumming and hell with this drumming maybe its just a matter of tweaking this and that and they have them selfs a kick ass band, so why not check it out (at least the mp3) hehehe

Official Site Myspace Diskreet (Myspace? hum?) Siegeofamida.net (Label Page)

Diskreet – Faust

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Oh dear… this is one those albums thats hard as hell to review but oh so fun to listen to… if that doesn’t abode well for Car Bomb (nice name by the way… kinda appropriate) i don’t know what will, so Car Bomb is what i would call a Mathcore band, following the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Psyopus… so lets have a look see.

It all starts off with a bit of a bang with “Pieces of You”, you kinda get a picture right away of what this is all about, the music is a bit more cut and paste than The Dillinger Escape Plan, i mean they have smoother transitions, unlike Car Bomb were most of the time you see cuts between segments in the music, its not too bad cause the segments are pretty rockin, but still … cut and paste, “Gum Under The Table” comes next and a kind of fused death fuzzed metal groove going on into a electronic passage into a hardcorish kind of breakdown… and then… might i say a Meshuggah big wall of sound break… humm very nice.

Well i wont bore everyone by examining every track, suffice to say all of them seem and sound very fresh, they all follow this constant cutting and are very much founded into a more hardcore and harsh foundation, but again with loads of different stuff going around, maybe the most notable track for me is the very awkward “Best Intentions”, the rest is kind of a blazing blur of blasting and jazzing.

So… ok… is it good? txaaaa, i don’t know, like i said above this kind of music is difficult to give it a heads up or down, these boys have skill, but i do understand why a lot of people might not like it, its a bit too cut up, they barely capitalize on good grooves, i guess they seem to be in too much of a hurry to play something else, so yeah if you like weird technical metal maybe Car Bomb is just the right fit.

Official Site Car Bomb (great domain by the way)

Car Bomb – M^6
Car Bomb – His Eyes

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Seems I’m going from A to Z, well anyway here is the “new one” from the Swedish Blinded Colony, hmmm a bit of “Gothenburg” style of music, humm, first of all after a couple of listening although it sounds a bit like a more hardcorish form of Soilwork or In Flames (and lately i haven’t been that impressed with both this bands), well lets just sink our teeth on this one.

Starts of with “My Halo”, and its pretty much the growling/shouting kind of stuff, with some electronics accents and a clearish vocal chorus, kinda the formula is always there, its not that bad, but nothing remarkable, “Bedtime Prayers” is kinda a bit of the same, a bit more catchier… i guess, “Once Bitten Twice Shy” … hummm maybe its me but again pretty much the same, i guess the riffs and timing seem pretty similar, not much definition in the sound, “Need” is… well again a bit better, but it seems like its always getting the catchier stuff and repeating it to infinity.

“Revelation Now!” is … pretty weak track, skip skip, “21st Century Holocaust”… well again a bit of a mess, skip skip, “Aaron’s Sons” is again nothing to call home about, “In Here” … blahhhh, “Heart” finishes the album, and its the “quieter” track, every album seems to have one… the chick pleaser hehehe

I know i know, this kind of music tend to compare with the “big boys” and as such maybe a bit unfair, but if i played in the gender i would try and mix things up and give it an edge, well it kinda doesn’t matter the gender, you should always try and make it your own, also the album seems to die half way trough it or i maybe i just got bored, so i guess i can say that Blinded Colony are good enough but this one is only for real fans of this kind of music… I’ll probably move to more interesting stuff.

Official Site Blindedcolony.com

Blinded Colony – Once Bitten Twice Shy

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