This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Lime Eyelid- Week of Wonders (Private Press)
Organik- S/T (Self Released)
Organik are a Danish trio featuring Per Brems-Therkelsen on
guitars (also making a lot of synth like sounds with effects pedals), Brian
Bentzen on bass guitar and Stephan Green on drums/percussion. Not sure who
plays the keyboards and synths. The spoken words on Caged and are performed by
a famous Danish rapper, MC Einar. Black Desert (See video below) starts things off with some
wind, didgeridoo (played by Michael Marienlund) and then main track begins with
a sort of riff that reminds me a lot of Glowsun (French stoner rock band). A
cool floating track with some nice spacey guitars in the middle section. It
gets really heavy and metallic at the end as it builds up. Amazing instrumental
track! Caged features MC Einar. This one starts very slow and moody with some
nice clean guitar and bass lines before the keyboards/hand drums float in and
the vocals start and he tells a story of a trip gone wrong. A very different but
great song with great melody and feeling.
Collective has a similar melodic theme until the doom guitar riff kicks
in and the mood changes and a heavy metal riff rocker sets in and the tempo
picks up. This is the heaviest track on the record. The end section features some nice wah guitar
and wah bass. I like the slide guitar section over the wah bass and spacey
background. Great song. Liquid Embrace starts with a keyboard, eerie like organ
(played by Valdemar) as the drums and bass kick in. After a minute or so, the
mood and track changes quite a lot as the organ theme comes in and Per sort of
follows this on the guitar and then heads off into his own solo as the organ
drops out. The track continues with a very beautiful theme for a while before
building up again into another guitar solo section. This is a very long track
with a lot of sections and changes but they always keep it interesting. Soul
Manure is the last track and starts with a droning synth and then a great bass
line comes in, a small vocal utterance, then some spacey sounds as the drums
come in and the track starts to build and at three minutes we are into a full
space rock mode and in full flight! The Hermit is the last track and starts
with some reverby guitar and then goes into a full on Kyuss like stoner rock
groove with a riff from Iron Maiden as well. Lots of cool changes in this hard rocking
number. A damn good and varied album. I really hope these guys can find a great
label to release this one on. Highly recommended.
The Crazy Left Experience-Death, Destruction and Magic (Adansonia Records AR023)
This is a really cool new instrumental Portuguese band. This album was
recorded live in the studio in 2017. The album features 4 jams, the 4 words of
the title of the LP. The band is a trio of Rui, Luís and Tiago. Death starts
things off with a slow building jam with some nice guitar with a bit of delay
on it as Rui (drums) and Tiago keep the groove slow and steady and let Luís go
for it on the guitar. This jam goes for about 8mins and then Destruction takes
us for a ride for the next 15! This track features more guitar exploration and
less straight up acid space rock soloing. Some of it is very spaced out and exploratory
music towards the end of the track that fades out. Side B starts with AND. IT
starts off quite slowly with some nice bass lines, a bit of delays, a quiet
slow building guitar and very dreamy. Magic takes the previous jam and brings
in some really nice, almost bluesy spacey guitar, which drives the rest of the
track. Nice…
Mirror Queen- Inviolate CD single (Tee Pee Records)
In support of their European tour, the band recorded a new song and a
cover song and Kenny was giving these away to some special friends and I happen
to get one (Tak!!). The title track (See video below) starts things off with a solo, a thumping
bass line and a relaxed vocal to start. The music builds up nicely as the vocal
also becomes more powerful. Nice harmony guitars and a bit of Thin Lizzy
vibe. How cool for the band to choose to
cover, This is your Song from the Fly to the Rainbow album by the Scorpions. So
how do they manage? Musically they perform it a bit too close to the original
with the same tempo and nearly the same guitar solo as well. Vocally, I have to
say, it is quite difficult to compare to Klaus Meine. Good choice of tracks to cover but not even
close to as good as the original. Rather
than just do an exact copy, they should have tried to make it their own some
how.
Atomic Mold- Hybrid Slow Flood (Electric Valley Records EVR014)
This is the 2nd album from this mostly instrumental Italian
trio and features 4 tracks. The opening doomy track Hypnosis (See video below) starts
things off and features a sort of dreamy vocal like Mars Red Sky. This track is
pretty repetitive and almost totally riffs and heavy bass and drums. I Fall is
a nearly 14min track. This track could have been quite a bit shorter as nothing
that interesting happens for quite a long time just minor variations on the
heavy stoned riff. Around 11:20, they double the tempo and the dreamy vocal
returns briefly. Woodline is a 19 min track that starts as a small variation on
the current hypnotic doom repetition and it slows down and is a bit spacey at
the end and then finally we get some pretty cool lead guitar with wah and some
other effects starting around 5-6mins and running for quite a while before the
riffs return and then another long section with some cool guitar work. This track is by far the best and most interesting
track on the record. Yellow Crocodile is a shorter and fast rocker to end the
album. A bit like Motorhead to start and a nice change of pace before a more
stoner doom groove kicks in. This one rocks!
Fans of bands like Monolord, Mars Red Sky….
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