Reviews for July 19th, 2012
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 19 July 2012 09:50
- Written by George Washburn
- Hits: 314
Syren – Heavy Metal
I have some more Brazilian metal today in the form of “Heavy Metal” by Syren. I was not able to find much about the band; their bio is mostly testimonials. I believe this is their first full album, but cannot be sure. Encyclopaedia Metallum has “Heavy Metal” listed as a three song EP, whereas this has ten songs, so who knows. One thing I do know is, damn, these guys are good!
When did Bruce Dickinson quit Iron Maiden and move to Brazil? It is uncanny how much Luiz Syren sounds like Bruce, who is only the greatest living singer in heavy metal. When Bruce did leave Maiden, instead of getting Blaze to replace him they could have hired Luiz, and no one would have known Bruce was gone. I suppose some people might give these guys grief over sounding so much like Maiden, but you will hear no complaints from me; I think it is amazing. Stylistically the songs certainly have a Maiden influence, but the band’s own personality shines through as well.
The production on these songs is good, not Maiden good, but still very good. The important thing is they put the vocals high in the mix where they can be prominently featured. It would be crazy to bury a vocal talent this amazing.
I do not want to down-play the talents of the rest of the band; they sound good too. It is just that these vocals are making my head spin around. Luiz, brother, you have got some talent. You guys need to be heard. Please keep me informed of your progress. I would love to hear more in the future.
Check out the track “Devilroad.”
Bestial Holocaust – Into the Goat Vulva
I believe Bestial Holocaust may be my first band from Bolivia. “Into the Goat Vulva” is their third album of blackened death metal. I was immediately impressed with the music, both in that it was interesting and that the production quality of it was pretty good. With a name like Bestial Holocaust I was expecting something a lot muddier. Unfortunately, that quality was only for the music. The vocals are another story.
The vocals are handled by Sonia Sepulcral, and in terms of vocal duties she sounds like she does an admirable job belting out ferocious harsh vocals in both the upper and lower registers. My complaint is not with her talent, but with how the vocals sound in the mix. While the music is generally clear and bright sounding, the vocals always sound muddy and like they are mixed to the back of the stereo field. It often sounds like the band is playing out front and she is singing from behind them. This is too bad, because if the vocals were mixed better this would be a pretty formidable album.
Here is the track “Virgin Lust.”
Blyndsyde – Pergatory
Next up is Blyndsyde hailing from Leesport, Pennsylvania and their five song EP “Pergatory.” These guys play what sounds to me like thrash and groove metal. Apparently the Blyndsyde boys do not care much for black, death, or even power metal as they say that there has not been anything fresh to get excited about in the last fifteen years. They prefer to stick with the classics like Metallica, Anthrax and Overkill. Fair enough.
I enjoy the style these guys are playing and respect that they are trying to reinvigorate thrash metal. The production on these songs, though, has both ups and downs for me. On one hand I like that everything is fairly clear sounding and sits well in the mix. On the other hand, there is a roughness around the edges that detracts from this sounding like a pro recording. I bet these guys sound pretty good live, but that is not coming through real strong in the recordings.
From a stylistic standpoint I enjoy these songs. Like I said, I would probably dig these guys live. See what you think. Here is the track “My Pain.”
Poisonous – Perdition’s Den
Heading back to Brazil again we have death metal band Poisonous and their first album, “Perdition’s Den.” Originally released in 2010 it is being re-released now by Metalhit. On the whole this is a death metal album, but there is a case to be made that there is some extreme doom metal going on here as well. The songs often start off fast and heavy only to put on the breaks and slow way down and get super heavy. These guys could pull off funeral doom without any problem. The deep, harsh, and guttural vocals work well with either style.
The production on “Perdition’s Den” is fairly middle-of-the-road. It is not as clean and bright as I like to hear, but at the same time it is not overly muddy. I dislike when people try covering up poor production by saying the music has atmosphere, but this is one of those cases where that seems a fair assessment.
I think it will take some repeat listens to really sink in, but “Perdition’s Den” is already starting to grow on me. Check out the track “Black Clouds and Fever.”