Friday, January 5, 2007

Soilwork - Stabbing The Drama (2005)

01. Stabbing The Drama
02. One With The Flies
03. Weapon Of Vanity
04. The Crestfallen
05. Nerve
06. Stalemate
07. Distance
08. Observation Slave
09. Fate In Motion
10. Blind Eye Halo
11. If Possible



INFO:
=======
It's been a while since I've heard an album this good that I thought was great from start to finish. This band proved to me that there are still some kick ass bands out there. Heavy riffs get me pumped, and the melodic vocals balanced with assualts are great, as opposed to an all out scream fest where you can't hear the words or any rythm.

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Soilwork - The Early Chapters (EP) (2004)

01. Burn (Deep Purple cover)
02. Disintegrated Skies (Mercyful Fate Cover)
03. Egypt (Mercyful Fate Cover)
04. Shadow Child [Live]
05. Aardvark Trail [Live]


DOWNLOAD: http://momupload.com/files/9778/The_Early_Chapters.rar.html






INFO:
======
5-song EP featuring unreleased material recorded during the Steelbath Suicide and Chainheart Machine missions, plus a live tracks and covers of Mercyful Fate and Deep Purple classics.

Posted by at No comments:

Soilwork - Figure Number Five (2003)

01. Rejection Role
02. Overload
03. Figure Number Five
04. Stangler
05. Light The Torch
06. Depature Plan
07. Cranking The Sirens
08. Brickwalker
09. The Mindmaker
10. Distortion Sleep


INFO:
========
Soilwork is steadily heading toward a good balance between a clean, tight sound and a thrashy edge. Figure Number Five picks up where Natural Born Chaos (the previous album) left off - they’ve taken out some of the harmonized choruses in favor of a harsher, single vocal line and have again added a few good-sounding synths. Thankfully, the synthesized stuff is pretty minimal, so as to avoid cheesiness.
In the true Soilwork style, Figure Number Five is excellently produced (too well, some might say), each track is a song in the structural sense (verse, chorus, verse, etc.), and they’re not afraid to write slow parts in. Bjorn “Speed” Strid’s vocals have progressed noticeably since the band’s debut, Steelbath Suicide, and he sounds fuller and richer in ...Five than he did even in Natural Born Chaos. As usual, there are some good grooves and the album as a whole is very listenable. Soilwork is definitely on its way - Figure Number Five is their best one yet.

Posted by at No comments:

Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos (2002)

01. Follow The Hollow
02. As We Speak
03. The Flameout
04. Natural Born Chaos
05. Mindfields
06. The Bringer
07. Black Star Deceiver
08. Mercury Shadow
09. No More Angles
10. Sailworker's Song Of The Damned






DOWNLOAD: http://momupload.com/files/9769/Natural_Born_Chaos.rar.html






INFO:
======
Not only did Soilwork put out one of the best albums of 2001 with A Predator's Portrait, but they've turned out to be prolific as well, recording a follow-up within a year's time. Natural Born Chaos finds Soilwork continuing down the same path as last year's effort with a few minor refinements and upgrades along the way. There are a few small differences from one album to the other. The core sound of Soilwork is still intact with the mix of crunchy, melodic Swedish death metal riffing and that cool keyboard undertone still keeping the bottom intact. Singer Björn Strid has apparently worked on his clean vocal delivery and uses it quite a bit more, adding a better melodic strength to the mix. To a degree, the tempos are a touch slower, allowing songs to breathe more, but it does lose that excellent frantic and manic feel of A Predator's Portrait. However, that is not even a quibble since the songs here are very well written and memorable from beginning to end. In fact, Natural Born Chaos suggests what Dark Tranquillity might have accomplished on Haven had they not lost their nerve on the clean singing. Thankfully, Soilwork chose to continue their natural development and not wander off the path or resort to a "back to our roots" release.

Posted by at No comments:

Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait (2001)

01. Bastard chain
02. Like an average stalker
03. Needlefeast
04. Neurotica rampage
05. The analyst
06. Grand failure anthem
07. Structure divine
08. Shadowchild
09. Final fatal force
10. A predator's portrait




INFO:
=======
There is definite songwriting growth on this release, as the underlying, atmospheric keyboard use is more apparent, and the vocals are also somewhat altered in places. Clean, Opeth-like sections can now be found (mainly in the choruses), adding a new element to the band's sound. The effect is two-fold. In part it is understandably eloquent and impressive, but the vocals also have the tendency to occasionally zap some of the aggressiveness from a song. Still, this is a friggin' underrated band, and this release features its heaviest production sound yet, to boot. Pretty much ripping throughout.The bottom-heavy "Bastard Chain" shifts and morphs several times in its cycle, while "Like the Average Stalker" attacks with its fast-chopping riffs."Neurotica Rampage" is a thundering and rolling treat, with the pounding "The Analyst" following on its heels. The strutting, swaying rhythm-fest known as "Final Fatal Force" lives up to its title nicely; other solids include "Needlefeast" and "Grand Failure Anthem".

Posted by at No comments:

Soilwork - The Chainheart Machine (2000)

01. The Chainheart Machine
02. Bulletbeast
03. Millionflame
04. Generation Speedkill (Nice Day For A Public Suicide)
05. Neon Rebels
06. Possessing The Angels
07. Spirits Of The Future Sun
08. Machine Gun Majesty
=======
As if there was any question after the release of Steel Bath Suicide, Soilwork emphatically proved themselves to be one of melodic death metal's finest Swedish exports on this 2000 Century Media follow-up, The Chainheart Machine. Featuring a returning lineup of Björn Strid on vocals, Peter Wiche and Ola Frenning on guitars, Henry Ranta on drums, Ola Fink on bass, and keyboardist Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg, Soilwork improved on the sound of their debut, and more importantly, they displayed their growing songwriting chops on this sophomore outing. Their ability to craft and execute interesting, complex, and memorable metal is the group's defining element -- one that truly separates the group from the hordes of Swedish metal competitors. "Spirits of the Future Sun," along with the record's title track, are just two highlights in a record stuffed with amazing compositions that include dense harmony guitar lines and interesting rhythmic changes. Soilwork would continue to refine their sound on subsequent releases, but The Chainheart Machine certainly holds its own against anything the group released and most anything in the entire melodic death metal genre.

Posted by at No comments:

Soilwork - Steel Bath Suicide (1998)

01. Entering The Angel Diabolique
02. Sadistic Lullabye
03. My Need
04. Skin After Skin
05. Wings Of Domain
06. Steelbath Suicide
07. In A Close Encounter
08. Centro De Predomino (Instrumental)
09. Razor Lives
10. Demon In The Veins
=======
SOILWORK take the harsh and punishing power of death metal and merge it with the crisp precision and technical virtuosity of 80s thrash for an onslaught that should immediately grab the attention of all tried and true metal freaks. Their sound, although predicated on a more classic metal sound, is ripe for the contemporary metal crowd thanks to the ease in which they merge bone crushing aggression with a distinct melodic vibe. Bands like PANTERA and various RoadRunner artists have set stage but bands like SOILWORK are taking things even further by warping the sound into something that still remains accessible to the masses but has the credibility and strength to appeal to the underground.

Posted by at No comments:

Mental Care Foundation - Hair Of The Dog (2006)

01 Monster Jam
02 Corruption
03 Trailer Park Trash
04 Slashed
05 Lay Down
06 Steal & Lie
07 Nothing
08 The Holy Bastard
09 12:47
10 King Alcohol
========
It so happened that during the autumn of 2003,four relatively alcoholised friends from the great city of Kokkola (situated on the westcoast of Finland) found themselves on a drinking-binge once again. Eventually their conversation, or drunken blabber, touched upon the subject of music. And as musicians often do when they're wasted, the four friends decided to start a coverband, covering the likes of Pantera & Slayer among others....
Much to their own surprise, the talks actually were remembered the next day, so our anti-heroes had no choice but to gather at a rehearsal place and get the party started. This union of booze and great music continued for some weeks, until one morning when the boys realised they'd actually written a couple of songs during the previous nights beerfueled hazyness. Eventually some more songs emerged and it was time for a demo.
Mental Care Foundation was the name the boys settled for and by the end of 2003 they had a 4-track demo on their hand. Nothing much came of that, so in the spring of 2004 the MCF dudes entered a local studio with enough songs to record an album, and some weeks later their debut album was finished. The music was strongly influenced by Pantera, Slayer and Testament. Towards the end of 2004 the guys secured a deal with Low Frequency Records and in the spring of 2005 their debut album Alcohol Anthems was released. Due to other engagements the summer flew by without much happening but in October ' 05 the group met up again and decided it was time to do something. Studio 57 was booked for a total of 6 days (in two sessions) and equipped with tons of booze, a few riffs and the fear of God the guys started to bash it out. The spring of 2006 saw the release of the promo called The Holy Bastards which was sent all over the place yet yielded no response worth mentioning. As we know from before the summertime means drinking time for these guys but finally in the autumn of 2006, MCF found a new label to put out their 2nd album on and the latest in the grapevine says there will even be some shows coming up.
Posted by at No comments:

In Flames - Come Clarity (2006)

01. Take This Life
02. Leeches
03. Reflect The Storm
04. Dead End
05. Scream
06. Come Clarity
07. Vacuum
08. Pacing Death's Trail
09. Crawl Through Knives
10. Versus Terminus
11. Our Infinite Struggle
12. Vanishing Light
13. Your Bedtime Story Is Scaring Everyone






DOWNLOAD: http://momupload.com/files/9728/Come_Clarity.rar.html



INFO:
========
In Flames: Anders Friden, Bjorn Gelotte (guitar, bass guitar); Orjan Omkloo (keyboards, programming). Garnering a respectably sized international audience with 2004's SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR ESCAPE, Sweden's In Flames followed up two years later with another fierce set of forward-thinking metal on COME CLARITY. As always, the Scandinavian ensemble deftly mixes various strains of the genre, incorporating thrash, hardcore, and death metal to create a formidable whole that's unremittingly aggressive yet still relatively accessible. This is due in part to vocalist Anders Friden's focus on melody, occasionally playing down his tortured screams in favor of straightforward singing, as best revealed on the propulsive "Take This Life" and the plaintive title track. As committed as ever to scathing guitar lines and jackhammer rhythms, In Flames produced, perhaps, its strongest and most confident outing yet in COME CLARITY.

Posted by at No comments:

candiria - 300 percent density (2001)

01. 300 Percent Density
02. Signs Of Discontent
03. Without Water
04. Mass
05. Constant Velocity Is As Natural As Being At Rest
06. Words From The Lexicon
07. Channeling Elements
08. Advancing Positions
09. The Obvious Destination
10. Contents Under Pressure
=======
Few sights in a metal dance pit are funnier than watching a few hundred sweaty fanatics stumbling over the nonrepetitive meter of a Candiria groove. The Brooklyn band's streetwise slam possesses crushing physical power, but doesn't dole out those beats in standard measurements. Their hardcore-metal crossover is spliced seamlessly to jazz fusion. Candiria have had their ideas set since day one, and the band's steadily growing success has simply brought greater resources to refine the approach. 300 Percent Density carefully places a few thousand more crunching Sepultura-style staccato guitar notes in the service of this swimming storm of heavy, shrieking math, and "The Obvious Destination" bravely employs Martin Denny-style vibraphone for the sake of momentary bliss. It's all about not knowing what comes next: an out-of-body experience or an elbow to the head.



Posted by at No comments:

From autumn to ashes - the fiction we live (2003)

01. The After Dinner Payback
02. Lilacs & Lolita
03. No Trivia
04. Milligram Smile
05. The Second Wrong Makes You Feel Right
06. Every Reason To
07. Autumns Monologue
08. Alive Out Of Habit
09. All I Taste Is What's Her Name
10. The Fiction We Live
11. I'm The Best At Ruining My Life




DOWNLOAD: http://momupload.com/files/9711/the_friction_we_live.rar.html





INFO:
=======
Long Island's From Autumn To Ashes (or FATA to their friends) achieved success with their brand of high-octane metalcore the old-fashioned way--with the assistance of a loyal fan base, the product of an exacting performing schedule that included a high-profile 2003 Warped Tour. Their second album, THE FICTION WE LIVE, builds on the foundations of their debut, TOO BAD YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, itself something of a departure from metal norms.
The band's imaginative take on what can often be a derivative field features airy, seemingly unpremeditated arrangements that combine the requisite half-man/half-monster vocals of lead singer Ben Perri with the more plaintive stylings of drummer/vocalist Fran Mark (whose Neil Peart-influenced percussive assault stands in wild contrast to his almost high-lonesome voicings). Songs such as "The After Dinner Payback," with its switchback tempo changes, are a dynamic shot in the arm to a genre that has found it's sometimes all too easy to forsake originality for speed and crushing volume.
Posted by at No comments:

static-x - shadow zone (2003)

01. Destroy All
02. Control It
03. New Pain
04. Shadow Zone
05. Dead World
06. Monster
07. Only, The
08. Kill Your Idols
09. All In Wait
10. Ostegolectric
11. So
12. Transmission
=======
Despite changing personnel for the second consecutive album, Static-X has successfully continued down the path of hard-charging industrial rock on their third album, SHADOW ZONE. In an odd move, drummer Nick Oshiro is named in the liner notes as the departed Ken Jay`s replacement despite the fact that A Perfect Circle`s Josh Freese was responsible for all the drumming on this outing. Regardless of who was bashing skins, Static-X has clung to their formula of jackhammer tempos, lead-pipe riffs and pounding time-keeping on songs like "Destroy All," the title cut, and "Kill Your Idols." Of course, Wayne Static, the singer that looks like the guy in the Slim Jim commercials, maintains his position front and center, and although he still howls through numbers like "Otsegolectric" and "Monster," he`s also managed to harness his aggression on more melodic fare like "The Only" and "So." Concerns by diehard fans over personnel changes that might affect Static-X`s overall sound end up being for naught, as SHADOW ZONE succeeds in showcasing the band`s more progressive direction.

Posted by at No comments:

Tantric - after we go (2004)

01. Chasing After
02. After We Go
03. Falling Away
04. Hey Now
05. Hero
06. Chain, The
07. Change The World
08. Just Once
09. Relentless
10. Alright
11. Before
12. Awake
13.(bonus track) Mourning (acoustic)
=======
Tantric's sophomore effort is unflinchingly faithful to the formula of their successful 2001 debut. Aided again by Alice in Chains producer Toby Wright, the quartet banks mightily on that band's model, offering a mix of meaty hammer-down riffs, ringing acoustic guitars, and heaping helpings of the two-part harmony sound that's become Alice in Chains' legacy. As Kentuckians, Tantric's ex-Days of the New contingent does fit a pinch of Southern rock between the cheek and gum. But behind the typical bellow of Hugo Ferreira -- who suggests everyone from Staley and Vedder to Aaron Lewis and the guy from Seether -- After We Go becomes standard post-grunge fare. Highlights include the shredding lead riff of opener "Chasing After," as well as a satisfactory mid-album cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)