Posts Tagged ‘review’
Full Marks – Soul Sanctuary’s Afterlife REVIEWED
Review Of Soul Sanctuary’s Debut Album “Afterlife”
Soul Sanctuary is a six piece alternative metal band from England and we’ve been keeping our eyes on them since the initial interview that they had with HeadbangToday.com! Afterlife is Soul Sanctuary’s debut album and was produced, engineered, written, sung (screamed), mixed and mastered by one of their lead vocalists Luke Gibson. Heavily talented to bring us quality heavy metal!
Their demo tracks grew onto me like a parasite, tapping into the host’s brain, convincing me that this will be an album worthy of purchase. So there I had it. I bought “Afterlife” and waited in great inticipation for its arrival. Upon receiving it, I popped it in and the only thing that kept coming to mind while listening to the entire album twice in a row was “REVIEW” – This album deserves and demands a review that will contain my thoughts and feelings that streams throughout my mind as the tracks play along.
The album explodes with the very first track after which the album is named (or vice versa) “Afterlife“. The intro of “Afterlife” itself already gave me a sense of what I can expect from the rest of the tracks with it’s brain-vibrating screaming, fast paced drumming and ground-breaking riffs. The song well put together with very nice polish that will ensure you the overall quality of the album. It has a beautiful guitar solo backed up with heavy riffing and contains two very apocolyptic-sounding breakdowns near the end which eventually leads to a nice steady decline of solid screaming which halts after the song’s trademark drumbeat.
Game Of Conviction is the second track on their album which reminds me very much of Sevendust with it’s coarse backing vocals and short-bursts of combined musical excellence. It contains yet another beautiful solo which is carried by fast metal drumbeats and kick-ass riffing. The melodic vocals and screaming compliments eachother well in this song which is something not many bands in my experience can get the hang of with two vocalists.
Afterlife’s third track is called Destiny. A new song that I haven’t heard from Soul Sanctuary before while I was enjoying all their demo tracks prior to the album’s release. It’s chorusses finnish themselves off with decent fast and well composed riffs. Another outstanding solo has managed to embed itself into this song. Their guitarists Ed Stevens and Anthony Montague have really done amazing work with their talents and have put it to a good use. The melodic bass notes serves as a perfect backbone to the song.
Killing Time, the album’s fourth track kicks off with heavy growling and excells towards slow heavy riffs with the drummer crashing his symbols timeously with the heavy riffing. A song that also proves that whispers and screams can be equally powerful. A brilliant guitar solo electrifies you towards heavy growling followed by a very fast and funky, funk, drum & bass-like bass slapping solo. This song is the shit.
Track no. 5 is Packaged To Sell. It’s been a personal all-time favourite since I heard the demo version. Some have said that the screaming vocals sound a lot like that of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor… I’ll have to disagree slightly, but I have to give it to Soul Sanctuary. Their screams/growls are indeed pretty awesome! Luke Gibson does an excellent job in his vocal work. I like the way the two vocalists have come up with using melodic singing combined with screaming and packaged it into a pretty heavy album – to sell.
The sixth track called Reflections starts off with a chilled accoustic riff and decent melodic singing from both vocalists. The song then eventually progresses into nice heavy alternative rock and rocks on until it declines back into its accoustic state. A perfect blend. I can see this type of song being played on national radio here in South Africa. It’s probably one of Soul Sanctuary’s ’safest’ songs to be commercialised and released for local radio airtime.
Number 7 – Scars Of You, was added to the album for probably no other reason but to show off each band members’ talent in their own respective department! Eardrum-tampering screams, decent melodic singing, another amazing solo, cool bass tunes with solid riffs and tight drumming is rarely heard of in one song!
REVIEW CONTINUES HERE: http://www.headbangtoday.com/articles/?p=75
Hatebreed (2009) The Review
Hatebreed 2009After the album landed on my desk a week ago, the amount of attention I’ve given it was purely minimal up until today. There is probably no better review that can be done on a band and their latest release than a review done by someone who was never really a fan of the band in general. So today I have decided to dissect it, give it a more intense listen and compare it to the personal symptoms that I have been suffering from lately. Symptoms that has recently plagued me with that very metal craving which sent me in pursuit of a remedy… CouldHatebreed be that remedy?
Hatebreed’s self-titled album explodes with “Become The Fuse”. A song with energetic rhythm and tight drumming that blends in well with the song. These are elements that I was actually looking for and the album actually starts off well, giving me that required dosage. The third track “Between Hell And A Heartbeat starts off pretty chilled with a seductive and somewhat mesmerizing intro. It then leads itself into a fast paced and well-constructed song with a decent break that will get any headbanger banging the snot and shit out of his own head at anyHatebreed concert. I can imagine it being a pretty crazy song to see them play live.
“In Ashes They Shall Reap” consists out of one of those sing-along chants that are bound to get the entire crowd to … well … sing along! I can see now whyHatebreed’s live shows are so energetic. In Ashes They Shall Reap got the adrenaline pumping throughout the veins embedded beneath my skin as I could feel my muscles tingling with the desire to break out and start a mosh in this confined office space with colleagues. There WILL be injuries.
Although I am truly satisfied with what’s been drilled into my ears and my being from the tracks I’ve given a proper listen. I knew that I am yet to find a track that wouldn’t apply to my craving as stated earlier. “Hands Of A Dying Man” seems to be that very track with it’s extremely fast drum-tapping and guitar strumming (don’t get me wrong, it’s a song written for headbangers andmoshpit kings in mind, without a doubt.) But the track was over before I even knew it. Jamey Jasta maintains the heaviness of Hatebreed. With his growlish screams and the lyrical content, it would not be statements made any clearer if it was done by any other vocalist.
There is something about “No Halos For The Heartless” that grabbed me. Its heaviness and well-written guitar riffs made this very song stand out among the rest on this album. It consists out of that pureHatebreed anthems that is bound recruit any passing headbanger into the Hatebreed army. “Through The Thorns” with its death-metal like riffing is a good song up until the break-down. But then Hatebreed proved me wrong in my previous sentence and the song swiftly recovers back into it’s metalcore awesomeness.
The album ends with “Escape.” The song that gave me the final missing dosage of Hatebreed’s latest self-titled album. The vocal work in “Escape” varies from death to melodic metal to which I rest my case. The album overall reflects the hard work and dedication thatHatebreed as a band put together for their die-hard fans. As a newcomer, I enjoyed the album, even though I would’ve liked to hear a little bit more of JameyJasta’s talented melodic metal-like vocal work.
I give the new Hatebreed Album 9 out of 10 metal horns. -
In short: Hatebreed proved me wrong on many different levels and they are the exact dosage I needed. Hatebreed personally instructed me yesterday to help the scene grow in South Africa so that we can have the live Hatebreed experience right here in our very own country.
Now that Headbang Today has Hatebreed’s attention, we hope that South Africa will be placed on their next world tour map and I am confident that Hatebreed will be reading this review. Not many reviewers can say that!
- Scream
www.headbangtoday.com
Throatball Review
ThroatballReview By Wraith
Biography:
Well I was thinking about a little history concerning the band, and what better place to get it than from them, themselves, so here is the history of the band, that I received from their manager:
“In early 2003, Paul Opie, Simon Portlock & Ian Watson got together at the, now defunct (soon to be resurrected at another location), SUI Studios to rehearse some songs for an aborted Lithium reunion. It was during these sessions that Throatball was born.
Simon and Paul had, for some years before that, been jamming in a free rock ensemble featuring, at different times, Alistair Douglas, Dane Minojlovic and Ramon Dasilva called Moranga. It was during these sessions that a love for all things speed was kindled in Simon, but, it was only when Throatball came along that it coalesced into something tangible.
In a matter of a few short months, Throatball (then called The Monomen), had a short set of songs, including ‘Packet Of Birdseed & a Pellet Gun’, ‘Deathtrap’, ‘Destruction’ and ‘Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On’, all of which were destined to appear on their first album. They showcased these songs to mixed reactions, some loving it, some looking on quizzically, and some walking out. It soon dawned upon the members that speed in music, was an acquired taste.
Then disaster struck! For personal reasons, Paul decided to quit the band. Lesser bands would have folded, but Throatball (still The Monomen) went straight into the studio to cut their first demo EP, ‘Drink Up, Fall Down. Puke In, Pass Out, Wake Up, Down Down, Oi! Oi! Oi!’. The EP featured tracks that would later appear on the album and a few that would be cut from the set as the band moved in a more metal/hardcore direction.
To add bass lines to the songs, during the recording of the demo, required a bass. This was lent to the band by Gavin Essel (a friend of Simon’s) and, from that, it seemed only natural that Gavin should join the band. This he did, and with the inclusion of mutual friend of Simon & Gavin, Warren Weitz, the band moved forward. Again to mixed reactions.
Throatball (still The Monomen) found themselves in the unenviable position of being too metal for the punk crowd and to punk for the metal crowd. ‘This must be how the New York Hardcore bands of the late 80’/early 90’s felt back in the day’, they thought. They soldiered on. Constantly pushing the boundaries of the genre they found themselves in. But it was time for some more drama…..
Warren Weitz was fired. It was with this move that Throatball became Throatball. The Monomen moniker was dropped. The band had contacted the only other Monomen in the world (a US harcore punk band funnily enough who were no longer together), and they had sternly recommended that the band change their name. So it was done. And the band was back as a power trio.
A couple of months later it was decided that the band should record an album. They had 10 songs in the bag, and with an investment from Miles Keylock (music journalist and fan) and the band, Throatball entered Ari Tereblanche’s West Coast studio to begin tracking.
It was decided that the band would live next door to Ari, and track for 5 days straight. The band would then return, piecemeal, to complete the album. The drum takes were done in 4 days. The first guitar tracks were laid down on day 5. The band said goodbye to Ari, and returned for the next 2 years to add vocals, bass and more guitar. During this time the band continued to play shows in and around Cape Town.
Following the final tracking it was decided to take the individual tracks to Theo Crous (legendary guitarist and producer) to mix. He did this again in a piecemeal fashion over the next year. During this period Paul began rumblings of wanting to return to Throatball. After many drunken evenings of ‘how can we make this work?’ Gavin was shifted to guitar and Paul assumed bass duties. The rejuvenated Throatball played their first show on Paul’s birthday, 5 June 2009. It had been a long and winding road.”
Review:
So after doing my review on the Melodic Death Metal band, Day Turns Night , I received an email from the manager of Throatball, asking me to review their self entitled album ‘Throatball’, as I didn’t know who to review next, this came as quite a help to me (thanks guys 
). But enough about that, and lets get to the fun part. After I had gotten the album it was time for what I do best, listening to music and then tossing some ideas and feelings to the side, and then giving the horns where they are due \m/.
With the start of track 1 (Sound Of The Underground), you can hear some symbols, and some water dripping, only to be greeted further down the line by some drums, that lead you down to a classic hardcore / speed metal vibe of sound, which to me was quite a unique mix, this was the first time I’ve heard something like this, sure I’ve heard hardcore music from the likes of ‘Hatebreed’ and ‘Madball’ but it has never been as fast as Throatball. The vocals weren’t the usual screaming and/or growling I’m used to listening to, so this was a welcome change, and it suited the style of music brilliantly. Moving on to track 2 (Get Up), and my oh my, never have I felt so uplifted and amped to be running around as with this song, which had some punk elements to it, it reminded me of bands like ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Lost Prophets’ and probably some others, but moving my mouse all the way to some place on my screen to go and find the band I’m thinking of is just too.. much.. effort 
. Track 3 (Packet Of Birdseed) had some heavy thrash sounds to it, which was once again, something I didn’t expect, but it was awesome to listen to.
Review and its rating continues here: http://www.headbangtoday.com/articles
Scream