Posted in Cd Reviews

Magna Carta/Border

“…A celestial blend of enigmatic lyrical threads and layered neoclassical metal”, that is a quote from the info sheet. You need a university degree in English to come up with that phrase I believe. X OPUS is a band that is said to mix JIMI HENDRIX with SYMPHONY X and JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH! Band leader and guitarist James Williams proudly states that this is the album he´s been waiting all his life to make. I really have great expectations by now…

And yes, the guitar intro to “Terrified” is really striking. I detect YNGWIE J MALMSTEEN in here to, and the shared vocal parts never fail to impress. In short: An opening track to die for...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Sacred Legacy

The Maldives; sun, sandy beaches, vacations, picturesque, and now also death/thrash metal! SACRED HEART has been an ongoing concern since 2006, with Ahmed Shahyd as the guitarist and founder. Inspiration comes from thrash, but also from melodic and progressive metal, plus Japanese Anime soundtracks! This is the band´s second album, originally released in 2008, but the third album, plus Shahyn´s second solo album, are already in the works for 2011. Are there recipient fans for this massive output?

I wonder actually. This is an album of contradictions. On one hand there is the beautiful guitar orientated instrumental tracks, such as “Infinity Reloaded” and the title track. There is also the vocal version of the title track, a slow but moving piece with guests Shaani and Fal...

Posted in Cd Reviews

”Light up the dark” is the fifth studio album from Swiss band China, but only the first album from the band since they reformed in 2007. The last album from the band was way back in 1995. On this new album, China have worked with two different producers from Los Angeles on the album – Chris Johnson (Buckcherry, Evanescence) and Michael Parnin (Steve Stevens, King’s X), and the result is a great rock album with a modern feel.

Tracks such as ”Light up the dark” are definitely classic hard rock, while other such as ”Stay” are more melodic rock (while still retaining plenty of guitar to keep it from becoming too lightweight). ”Gates of Heaven” is a very good power ballad.

The lyrics to ”You cant call it working” say ”You cant call it working if its rock and roll” – well reviewing an album...

Posted in Interviews

Festivalphoto: Call to arms is your 19th studio album. How do you feel it compares to other albums you’ve released?

Nigel: I think musically it’s a natural progression but we did make the decision to make it less euro-metal than the last couple of albums – there are no fast double kick drum tracks on there for a start and less keyboard parts. Also we wanted to go back to how we used to record – for instance everyone in the room playing and to be less reliant on the computer side of things – that is, people all doing their parts separately.
Another thing is that, for example, I didn’t want any drum samples used, only the natural sound of the kit. As regards the album as a whole, we’re all extremely happy with the result!!

Festivalphoto: What is your favourite track on the new album, and wh...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

After witnessing a majestic Dimmu Borgir show with the National orchestra and choir on a Saturday night, the Sunday brought another special concert in the land of the vikings. This time it was held a bit further away from the city center, at the [Henie Onstad Arts Center ](http://www.hok.no) which offered an interesting collection of black&white concert photography from the 70s, 80s and 90s in one of its indoor exhibitions. But the event we gathered there for took place on the outdoor stage, build in the idea of a small amphitheater with the round space in front of the stage and circular stairs on which people could sit. The cozy part was that you could actually sit on a hill with grass which started right behind these rows of chairs...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Napalm/Sound Pollution

Faroese Viking metal band TYR has almost been in existence for 15 years now. The one armed god of war has inspired guitarist/vocalist Heri Joensen, guitarist Terji Skibenaes, bassist Gunnar H. Thomsen and drummer Kári Streymoy to do six albums, and counting. There has been success; Tours, airtime and numerous fans all over the world. They rely on their native tinges to stand out, and I believe they have done so rightfully over the years, but how long can the saga continue?

Heroes and glory to the brave in true Nordic fashion spews from my speakers. Strangely enough, opener “Flames of the Free” fail to ignite me. But the more present day orientated “Shadows of the Swastika” is high octane Eurovision Song Contest material...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

Danish band ILLDISPOSED might as well cal themselves indisposed soon. Since their formation in 1992 they have releases no less than eleven albums and they have scored a number of chart entries in Denmark and Germany. A good deal of touring has also been the outcome. This time around they celebrate 20 with producer and mixer Tue Madsen (HEAVEN SHALL BURN, SICK OF IT ALL etc.) and aim for some serious marketing. Not since 2004 and “1-800 Vindication” have they been this prepared according to the info. Aw well, make me flabbergasted!

First up the vocals are there, like it or not. Vocalist Bo Summer takes his place with confidence, with his this growl...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Liljegren Records/Sound Pollution

Divinefire bildades 2004 av finske låtskrivaren, gitarristen och trummisen Jani Stefanovic (I AM BLOOD, MISERATION etc.) och svenske sångaren Christian Liljegren (NARNIA, AUDIOVISION). Först var även Andreas Passmark (ROYAL HUNT, NARNIA etc.) med på bas, men idag är han bara med som gästmusiker. 2009 lämnade han formellt bandet och ersattes av German Pascual, en sångare som bl.a. medverkat på NARNIAS ”Curse of a generation”. Övriga gäster på plattan är kändisar som Pontus Norgren (HAMMERFALL), CJ Grimmark (ROB ROCK, FULL FORCE), Thomas Vikström (THERION och nästan alla andra), samt Markus Sigurdsson (DARK WATER etc.). Stort och bombastiskt, symfoniskt och extremt utlovas, hur låter det då?

Jag vill börja med att berömma Christian, ha...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Leatherhead is the first single to be taken from the new U.D.O. album – Rev-Raptor. U.D.O. is of course the band lead by former Accept singer, the hardworking Udo Dirkschneider, who since leaving Accept has continued to make great music. Accept have produced one album in the last 15 years, but in that same time period U.D.O. have released nine (including Rev-Raptor).

Leatherhead is perfectly suited to Udo’s gravelly voice, and is a great rock song. The fact that the single has been played pretty much constantly since I got it a few days ago gives an idea of how good it is.

”Rock ’n’ Roll soldiers” is a great rock anthem – a great tune, a good drum beat, powerful guitars, and a catchy chorus for fans to sing along to in the live shows.

The video’s are worth watching too – ”Jingle Balls” ...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

The concert that took place at Oslo Spektrum on May 28th 2011 might have been once in a life time experience, considering the amount of work, preparations, rehearsals and arrangements that are needed to make it happen. Of course there’s going to be at least a TV airing of it, if not a DVD, but the live atmosphere and goosebumps are not properly reproduced by a digital media.

About 9700 people fit in the arena for a regular concert, but there were probably way less since the scene needed for all the orchestra and choir members was rather huge. But there was still a decent amount of people, some standing in front of the stage, others sitting on the chairs displayed like in a regular hockey arena, a thing that is not so bad after all since it offers good visibility...