Germs – Media Blitz: The Germs Story (2005) – Cherry Red

Este duplo DVD retrata uma das inúmeras bandas de curta vida do Punk dos 70s, os Germs, uma banda de Los Angeles, influenciada por Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop & The Stooges e Van Der Graaf Generator (!). O vocalista Darby Crash faleceu apenas com 22 anos, depois disso o guitarrista Pat Smear ainda tocou uns tempos com os famosos Nirvana nos seus tempos de garagem e o baterista Dan Bolles formou os 45 Grave (um misto de Punk e Gótico).Os DVDs estão muito bem feitos e são uma mais valia para os apreciadores do Punk de finais dos 70s. Os menus têm uma boa apresentação e a escolha de material é muito boa também. Vê-se que houve uma preocupação em fazer um documento completo e bem feito destes Germs. No primeiro DVD temos um concerto no The Whisky em 1979, com péssima qualidade de bootleg verdade seja dita, mas mesmo assim um documento importante que não poderia ficar esquecido no tempo. Dez faixas ao vivo, com direito até a uma cena de pugilato entre o guitarrista Pat e um ou dois membros da audiência e uma pequena confusão no palco com várias pessoas a tentar acalmar o guitarrista. Ainda no 1º DVD temos 18 raridades em áudio para completistas. No 2º DVD o prato forte é o documentário “Germ Warfare” onde a história dos Germs é contada pelo baterista Dan.Um documento importante sobre uma das bandas do Punk norteamericano dos finais dos 70s, aconselhável a todo o Punk que se preze. RDS

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Cherry Red: www.cherryred.co.uk

Rwake – Voices Of Omens (2007) – Relapse Records

Há uns tempos atrás chegou-me às mãos um álbum de uma banda chamada Rwake dos Estados Unidos. Confesso que não me tinha chamado muito a atenção, até porque este tipo de sonoridade Sludge não me agrada particularmente. Agora chegou-me às mãos, por parte da Relapse, o seu novo disco “Voices of omens”. Estiva a ouvir com atenção e das duas uma, ou não me tinha apercebido da potencialidade da banda no anterior disco, ou então este trabalho está muito acima. Isto é fantástico! Temas longos (geralmente acima dos 7 minutos), arrastados, vozes semi-guturais (masculina e feminina), som bem carregado quase lo-fi mas limpo e poderoso o suficiente para se poder ouvir tudo na perfeição. Desde a abertura acústica de abordagem Folk até ao fim, os Rwake conseguem captar a atenção do ouvinte pois, há muita coisa a acontecer ao mesmo tempo que nos vai mantendo agarrados às colunas; inúmeras mudanças de ritmos, diversos riffs na mesma música, passagens acústicas e, pasme-se, muita melodia! Apesar de ser uma sonoridade bem densa e depressiva, que nos faz sentir aquele peso opressor no peito, conseguem mostrar uma luz ao fundo do túnel com certas passagens e riffs mais melódicos e um certo sentido épico (ou apocalítptico?). Mesmo assim, não aconselhável a pessoas com problemas cardíacos, depressivos por natureza e com tendências suicidas. Para fãs de bandas como Eyehategod, Neusosis, Old Man Gloom, Isis, High On Fire ou Unearthly Trance, entre outros. RDS

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Relapse Records: www.relapse.com

Rwake: www.myspace.com/rwake

Thee Merry Widows – Revenge Served Cold (2007) – People Like You

Thee Merry Widows é a primeira banda Norteamericana de Psychobilly composta na totalidade por mulheres e “Revenge Served Cold” é a estreia que foi lançada em Fevereiro de 2006 e que só um ano depois tem edição Europeia (com 3 faixas bónus exclusivas) através da Germânica People Like You. A banda inclui no seu line-up a rainha do burlesco Miss Eva von Slut como vocalista, a sua companheira de casa Nikki Nightbreed no contrabaixo, a querida do sci-fi Andrea na bateria, a deusa da guitarra Mistress Mandy, a maníaca das motas convertida em contrabaixista Jenna Ferocious (nas faixas bónus) e a guitarrista solo e professora de primária Nishone. A sonoridade é maioritariamente Psychobilly mas é bem notório o seu gosto por Surf Music, Horropunk e Garage Rock e o visual é linha 50’s Pin-up girl e encaixa na perfeição no imaginário da banda. Faixas maioritariamente a meio-tempo e outras mais uptempo mas sem serem muito rápidas. Algumas das minhas favoritas são “Black widow”, “The Curse” ou “Grave Robbers (From Outer Space)” (com direito a teremin) ou “Talk Shit, Spit Blood”. A nível musical não traz nada de novo ou original, mas que é um disco cheio de diversão, glamour e atitude, lá isso é! RDS

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People Like You Records: www.peoplelikeyou.de

Thee Merry Widows: www.merrywidowsmusic.com

Ratos De Porão – Homem Inimigo Do Homem (2006) – Alternative Tentacles

Fico sempre excitado quando ouço falar de um novo álbum de Ratos De Porão, mas eu sou um bocado suspeito ao falar deste quarteto Brasileiro pois trata-se de uma das minhas favoritas de sempre. Posso tentar ser o mais objectivo possível, mas com um petardo destes é quase impossível!São 12 temas em apenas 30 minutos e 16 segundos bem potentes e rápidos, com muita força e atitude Hardcore. À semelhança do álbum anterior, aqui os RxDxPx mantêm a influência Thrash / Crossover da década de 80 / inícios de 90, com riffs bem thrashados, misturando isso com a sempre clara influência de Punk 77 e o Crust / Punk da escola escandinava. As letras continuam ácidas e directas como sempre, atacando a igreja católica e os recentes escândalos sexuais e de pedofilia, falando sobre a escravidão no Brasil, e declarando guerra contra o “emo” hoje em dia tão em voga.Este disco marca os 25 anos de existência da banda, fazendo dela uma das mais antigas bandas de Hardcore ainda no activo. A capa e livrete desta vez não são ao estilo dos RxDxPx mas sim com aquelas colagens típicas das edições da Alternative Tentacles o que lhes dá outra roupagem neste novo capítulo de uma carreira de 25 anos que teima em não acabar. E ainda bem, afirmo eu! É preciso dizer mais? Quem conhece sabe o que esperar, ou seja, mais do mesmo, mais do melhor! RDS

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Alternative Tentacles Records: www.alternativetentacles.com

Ratos De Porão: www.ratos.com.br

Warmachine – The Beginning Of The End (2006) – Nightmare Records

Os Warmachine são de Toronto (Canadá) e este é o seu álbum de estreia. Os Warmachine não nos trazem nada de novo ou original, mas têm uma grande capacidade de escrever grandes canções (coisa que falta a muitas das ditas bandas “grandes”) com refrões memoráveis e riffs e melodias de guitarra fabulosos secundados por uma forte secção rítmica. A sonoridade da banda vai beber tanto ao Heavy Metal como ao Power como ao Thrash, mas sempre na vertente americana do Metal. As influências são variadas e podem-se incluir nomes como Megadeth, Metallica, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Iced Earth ou até mesmo Dream Theater. O álbum foi produzido por Murray Daigle (Emerald Rain / Cauterize) e David Ellefson (ex-baixista de Megadeth, co-produziu 4 temas e toca em 3 deles).Todo o álbum é fabuloso, mas temas a salientar seriam “Empty” (com Ellefson), o meu favorito “Eternally” (um tema muito ao jeito de Iced Earth com um fabuloso refrão, com a participação vocal de Harry Hess dos Harem Scarem), a não menos fabulosa “Forgotten Demise” (grande refrão, com um solo de guitarra de Ralph Santolla dos Iced Earth / Millenium), “Taunted Souls” (rápida ao estilo Eidolon, também com Ellefson) ou “Dust To Dust” (com um feeling bem 80s). Os outros temas que têm participações especiais são “Betrayed” (Ellefson) e “Eye For An Eye” (Darren Smith, Darren Smith band / ex-Harem Scarem). Não é o melhor álbum de Heavy / Power de sempre mas é um bom álbum de estreia que nos deixa em expectativa em relação ao futuro destes novatos Canadianos Warmachine. Para fãs de Iced Earth, Eidolon, Dream Theater, Balance Of Power e das bandas atrás mencionadas. RDS

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Nightmare Records: www.nightmare-records.com

Warmachine: www.warmachineonline.com

Silent Planet Promotions: www.silentplanetpromotions.com

Autumn - Entrevista

1 – The band exists since 1995 but, with this new wave of Gothic Rock / Metal female fronted bands, aren’t you scared that Autumn can be labelled as “just one more trying to jump into the train”? How would you say Autumn differs from the rest of those bands and what do you to have to offer?
Jan: No, not scared. We released our first album in 2002, but already toured in 2001 with After forever. So I do not think that we are new in the scene and trying to profit from the hype generated by other bands. Although I have to admit that bands like the Gathering and Within temptation paved the way for a lot of bands in this genre, including our band. The fact that this happened already in the mid 90’s, shows that it is not a hype, but more of a consistent genre.
I think we differ from the other bands in the fact that we do not use massive orchestral and choral arrangements. We try to use a guitar-riff or synth-lead as the basis for a song. A bit more of a rock oriented way of writing songs. Also the voice of Nienke and the groove in the songs differs from most bands in the genre.

2 – There is a wide range of genres mixed up here and it seems that you have influences from several musical styles from 80s Gothic Rock, New Wave, Pop, Rock, Metal, Trip Hop, etc. What kind of bands do you listen and influence you to write music for Autumn?
Jan: Personally I am mostly influenced by the band Faith no More. They were able to blend in / use every genre or influence they liked, without losing their own identity. I admire this way of writing songs a lot and hope we can reach this level of songwriting as well. Making music without boundaries, that would be great! I think we already are a few steps towards this goal with this new album. Our approach of writing whatever you want and let every member fill in their view of the song, worked out great for us.

3 – After the releasing of the previous album there were some line-up changes. What happened with the previous members? In which manner do you think the new members contributed for the music of Autumn?
Jan: After releasing the Summer’s End album in 2004 we were given the chance to tour through Germany with Within Temptation and do a lot of headliner shows in the Benelux. One of our guitar players, Jasper, left the band around that time because he could not combine the busy schedule of the band with his private life and daily job. Mats, the brother of our other guitar player Jens, filled in his spot. After a long period of promoting the second album we started to think about recording our third album. This process of creating new songs, the fact that we had to search for another label and the still busy schedule of touring around, combined with a daily job and a family life were the reasons that our keyboard player, Menno and bass player, Meindert left the band within one year from each other. They were replaced by respectively Jan Munnik on keys and Jerome Vrieling on bass.
Mats was already within the band when we started to write new material, so he contributed a lot to the basis of most songs. Jan Munnik came a bit later, but he had total freedom with filling in the synth lines and, as you can hear on the album, he did an amazing job! He came up with brilliant leads and twists to the songs. Through these leads the songs came alive. Jerome came when we were in the last stage of the pre-production. He gave his interpretation to already existing bass lines. But when you listen to a song like My New Time or Closest Friends Conspire, he put so much groove into the lines that it feels like they push the songs further like a non-stoppable train.

4 – In the press-release we can read “change, in the sense of progression, is the recurring theme in the new album”. What kind of subjects influenced you to write the lyrics for “My New Time”?
Jerome: The subjects of the lyrics vary from personal themes to more abstract poetic representations that don’t necessarily correspond to real-life experiences. Some can even be seen as humorous allegories; there is for instance one song that is quite a lucid metaphor for a very common house-pet, see if you can find out which one that is…

5 – Metal Blade Records is a label more focused on Heavy / Thrash / Death Metal and Autumn is not the usual band in their catalogue. How did you ended up signing with Metal Blade?
Jerome: You’re right, they don’t have a lot of gothic rock bands under contract, but they do have some more progressive sounding bands, and I guess the musical direction we are taking with Autumn appeals to them. Our guitarist Jens still had some contacts with Metal Blade due to his prior work with the band God Dethroned. Jens’ connection there made the ‘contact-line’ with the record company a lot shorter. His previous experience with them was a very good one, so after they heard the demo songs and said they were interested in Autumn, we soon signed the contract.

6 – The songwriting process changed as well. Instead of the previous and usual “rehearsal room brainstorming / jamming” you were trading mp3s through the internet. How did that way of writing the songs influenced the musical direction in the album?
Jens: This time, instead of jamming together, we filtered our individual ideas and sent song concepts and structures to each other to elaborate upon. Since all of us have recording equipment at home, this meant we could take our time to come up with the best approach to individual songs. Working in this way, the songs formed layer by layer and this generated some surprising and inspiring results. We were able to work more focussed, motivated and much, much faster. We ended up having to choose a recording selection out of 40 songs. Tough choices, but this allowed us to filter out any weaker elements and ensure a well balanced and powerful selection of songs. This could never have been possible, had we not been through the changes of the past years.

7 – Are you satisfied with this new album, the songs, the recording process, production, final product?
Jan: Very much, yes! I just got the digipack today and it has become what we wanted it to be. The artwork is sober but very stylish or elegant and the production, mixing and mastering, done by Arno Krabman and Jochem Jacobs , both young and very talented musicians and producers, have given the finishing touch to our songs.

8 – Do you have a tour prepared to promote the record?
Jan: First we will do a club-tour trough Holland and some festivals in summer. Then for the fall of 2007 we are planning a tour trough Germany. Hopefully we can also do more touring through the rest of Europe. We’ll see!

9 – One final question. Why “Autumn”?
Jan: The founder of the band and our former bass player, Meindert, came up with the name. It symbolizes the contrast between beauty and decay. This contrast can be found throughout every aspect of life. The name has kind of a gloomy feel (in the positive manner of speaking), that can also be found in our music.
Besides this, our tour manager believes that it is the best season of the year. I do not completely agree with that, hehe, but besides the cold and the rain, natures’ scenery is often great!

10 – You can leave now a final message if you want to.
Jens: Thanks to all of you reading this for your interest in Autumn. If you have the chance to check out any of our music, we’d appreciate it if you’d drop us a line on our forum or MySpace profile. Furthermore, we hope to see you all on the road soon! Portugal would be a great country to visit and play. Thanks for your support!


Questions: RDS
Answers: Jens, Jerome and Jan

Metal Blade: www.metalblade.de
Autumn: www.autumn-band.com

Vomitory - Entrevista

1 – Ulf Dalegren decided to leave the band in September 2005. What happened?
His reasons are of private nature, so I won't go into any details out of respect for Ulf, but it was a decision that he made after long and very careful consideration. We are still very good friends and there were no bad blood involved in his departure from Vomitory. Life looks different now when you're over 30, compared to when you're in the late teens playing in a death metal band, and naturally everyone has to make certain priorities in life, and that's basically what Ulf had to do.

2 – You have a new guitar player, Peter Ostlund (also playing with the German thrashers The Law). How did he contributed in the new record with his Thrash Metal oriented guitar playing?
Peter also plays guitar in his other band, the Swedish thrashers The Law. Peter may be a total thrash-head, but in Vomitory it’s all about death metal. Peter has actually written three songs on the new album – The Burning Black, Defiled And Inferior and Heresy. His way of writing songs differs slightly from mine. There are a few moments on the new album where Peter’s thrash influences really shine through, the middle part in Defiled And Inferior and the verse riff in Heresy. Peter has a lot of cool ideas that honestly aren’t anything groundbreaking, but new to Vomitory, and that’s very cool.

3 – There is a 3 years gap between the release of the previous record “Primal Massacre” and this new one. What happened during this period?
There was a period after we did some summer festivals after the release of Primal Massacre in 2004, where we found ourselves in some kind of creative vacuum. None in the band had any inspiration to do anything, whether it was writing new songs or trying to get more shows. We just sat on our asses and did nothing. Time went by and in mid 2005, things started to happen. We got a festival in Italy confirmed as well as two small tours by the end of that year in the UK and Ireland and in The Netherlands. But short after we did that Italian festival in September 2005, long-time guitarist Ulf Dalegren decided to leave the band, so we had to find a replacement very quickly so we still could do those two small tours. Our good friend, Lord K Philipson of The Project Hate and my band mate in God Among Insects, helped us out on those tours. At the time of those tours, we had already talked to Peter Östlund about joining Vomitory, so when we had them done, Peter joined right away. After a couple of months and one show with Peter in the band, we began writing seriously for the new album. In all, it took us a little less than one year to finish all the material, so then in December we finally recorded the new album.

4 – The new album is faster and more brutal than the previous records but at the same time it has lots of heavy mid-tempo and groove oriented parts. Did it just come up like this or did you wanted it to be this way?
This is something we were very aware of when we began working on the new album. We wanted a little more variation on the new album to make it more interesting for both ourselves and for the listeners. I don’t think we forced this in any way, it came quite naturally. The majority of the material is still in the good ol’ Vomitory vein though, but it’s nice to have a little more variation in the material and that’s is one of the things we’ve developed. We even have one song that are slow in its entirety, Whispers From The Dead, and that’s the first time we have such a song on an album.

5 - Are you satisfied with this new album, the songs, the recording process, production, final product?
I am extremely satisfied with the new album! I’m so excited about everything about it – the songs, the production, the performances, the recording process, the artwork and the final product. This feels like a very solid album. Everything fit together so well – the production with the songs, the songs with the lyrics, the lyrics with the artwork, the artwork with the entire content of the album and so on. The recording process went incredibly smooth. The atmosphere was very relaxed throughout the whole process, but still we were very focused on our work. This time we also worked with a new producer in a new studio, Rikard Löfgren and his Leon Music Studios. Rikard did a fantastic job for us on this album! The production is absolutely top-notch! We also went with a photo-based artwork and layout this time. It’s really brutal, yet very artistic. It’s a bit different from the ordinary death metal covers, but you can’t be mistaken on what this album is all about! Chaos Media is responsible for the killer artwork. And as we talked about earlier, the variation in the material is also something that we are very happy with, as well as the insane intensity in some of the songs.

6 – The cover artwork for this record is a little bit brutal. Well, I have seen two different artworks, a simple one with the weapon and another one with the dead body in the back. Which one is the original frontcover? It doesn’t affect me because I’m used to this kind of pictures / frontcovers but aren’t you afraid that it can affect and even push back some Metal fans that listen to Death Metal but doesn’t like this kind of pictures?
The original is the one with the weapon in the foreground and the bloody trails that leads to the mutilated body that’s in the background, slightly out of focus. That one was too brutal and obscene for the European distributor so we had to make a milder version of the cover, with only the bloody weapon – a morning star – and the Vomitory logo + title. That cover comes as a paper slipcase around the CD case, which has the original cover on the booklet. Hell no, we’re not afraid of that, and if someone gets offended – cool! That’s the whole idea. We play death metal and we're not trying to hide that in any way. Death metal was meant to be extreme and nothing for the mainstream audience.

7 – There’s also a special edition of the record with a bonus live DVD. What can you tell me about this live recording?
Yes, the first version that is available now is the CD+DVD version. The DVD contains two live shows: Strasbourg/France (2004) from the No Mercy Festivals and Summer Breeze Open Air in Germany (2004). It's the first time we have official live footage released, so I'm sure the die-hard Vomitory fans will appreciate it!

8 – Do you have a tour prepared to promote the record?
We are currently working on getting a European tour together for this autumn to promote the album. Nothing is confirmed yet, but our management has a few things going on for us. There will be a few festivals during the summer though. Maryland Death Fest in Baltimore, U.S.A., which will be our first show in the US ever, Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg/Sweden and With Full Force in Germany. There may be a couple of more festival shows but we're still waiting for confirmation.

9 – You can leave now a final message if you want to.
Thank you for the interview! Check our website, www.vomitory.net for news about upcoming festivals, tours and shows. More dates will come soon. And of course, check out our brand new album, Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize, for some serious brutality! Cheerz!

Questions: RDS
Answers: Tobias Gustafsson (Drummer)

Metal Blade: www.metalblade.de
Vomitory: www.vomitory.net

V/A – Punk On The Road (2006) – Cherry Red

Em 1983 surgiu uma editora de vídeo especializada em Punk da segunda geração, a Jettisoundz. No início foi difícil pois na altura era algo inovador, não havia editoras de vídeo. Durante cerca de uma década percorreram as ilhas britânicas a efectuar gravações de concertos de bandas como The Exploited, The UK Subs, Peter & The Test Tube Babies ou GHB (com a primeira edição multi-câmara “Live at Victoria Hall” a entrar para a recém formada tabela de vídeos).Esta aqui é a primeira edição do DVD do vídeo compilação original, aqui sendo alvo de acrescentos e actualizações, com acrescentos de material dos arquivos da Jettisoundz, Cherry Red, Visionary e Barn End, contendo gravações desde 1983 até 2006. O som e a imagem variam muito de banda para banda e, no geral, são de qualidade um pouco abaixo da média mas, se tivermos em conta os tempos de que falamos e das estruturas, dinheiro disponível, tecnologias da altura, etc, e que, acima de tudo, isto é um documento importante da história do Punk, isso deixa de ser um aspecto negativo. Só é pena termos apenas 70 minutos de imagem e som mas são 26 temas para 26 bandas. Esta é uma pequena antologia do que foi o Punk da década de 80 no Reino Unido e as bandas que o fizeram, com algumas actualizações como já referido.A escolha de certas bandas é que deixa um pouco a desejar, incluindo algumas não tão importantes e deixando outras importantes de fora como, por exemplo, algumas das bandas de cena Anarcho Punk. Algumas das bandas importantes aqui incluídas são, por exemplo, Angelic Upstarts, GHB, Adicts, One Way System, UK Subs, Exploited, Johnny Thunders, Jayne County, Vibrators, Business, Peter & The Test Tube Babies.Apesar de não ser a melhor colectânea de sempre, é uma colectânea muito melhor e mais válida que a maioria das tretas que as multinacionais nos querem vender como “o melhor do Punk” com bandas e temas escolhidos por um engravatado qualquer que não sabe o que é Punk. Isto aqui é a verdadeira cena! Aconselhado a qualquer Punk que queira ter uma espécie de antologia em DVD do Punk britânico. RDS

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Cherry Red Films: www.cherryred.co.uk

Conflict – Re-edições 2006 – Mortarhate / Cherry Red

Estes lançamentos marcam o ressurgimento da Mortarhate Records, a editora formada pelos próprios Conflict (uma das melhores bandas de Anarcho Punk de sempre) nos idos de 1984, e a recente ligação desta à Cherry Red Records. Estes 3 CDs são os primeiros de uma série de reedições levadas a cabo pela Mortarhate. Trata-se dos 3 primeiros álbuns dos britânicos Conflict, todos eles remasterizados digitalmente a partir das fitas originais, embalados em digipacks de luxo com todo o artwork original, todas as letras, imensas fotografias nunca antes vistas e com muitos temas bónus interessantíssimos. O álbum de estreia “It’s time to see who’s who” foi lançado em 1980 pela Crass Records e, sendo uma lufada de ar fresco na altura, assaltou de rompante as tabelas independentes no Reino Unido, conseguindo o primeiro lugar. Foi gravado nos Southern Studios com o engenheiro de som John Loder e foi produzido pelo Peter Wright dos Crass. Esta re-edição contém, além do álbum original obviamente, outras gravações do mesmo período que foram lançadas na Crass como EPs, “The House That Man Built” e “To A Nation Of Animal Lovers”. O segundo álbum da banda, “Increase The Pressure” de 1984, é outro marco na história da banda, sendo os Conflict a primeira banda a deixar a Crass Records e a continuar por conta própria numa via muito DIY, marcando assim a criação da Mortarhate Records. Este álbum foi produzido pelos próprios Conflict e inclui diversos temas que foram adorados por associações como Stonehenge Campaign, C.N.D., Hunt Saboteurs ou Stop The City. Esta reedição tem com bónus a gravação ao vivo “The Brixton Ace 8.10.83” e os EPs “The Serenade Is Dead” e “This Is Not Enough”, além de 4 misturas alternativas de temas do álbum.O terceiro álbum é “The Ungovernable Force” de 1986, o qual foi considerado na altura como um álbum à frente do seu tempo, misturando Punk Rock nu e cru com cantores de ópera, coros e orquestras. Também produzido pela própria banda, este é o álbum mais vendido de sempre dos Conflict e contém o antémico clássico “This Is The A.L.F.”, cuja letra está banida e a sua reprodução proibida (daí não se encontrar no livrete deste CD). Esta reedição contém como bónus o single “The Battle Continues” e 4 misturas alternativas de temas do álbum (entre elas, duas do referido tema “This Is The A.L.F.).Os Conflict foram e continuam a ser uma banda que luta a favor dos direitos dos animais, contra as injustiças, contra o poder instituído, etc, inspirando todos os seus ouvintes a seguir as suas pisadas e tornarem-se activos e lutarem pelo que acreditam. Muito mais válido e interessante do que o niilismo e anarquia de caos de bandas como Sex Pistols, é este Punk activista e apoiado numa anarquia muito mais utópica. Esta série de reedições é recomendada vivamente a todos os Punks, Anarcho Punks e fãs de Conflict. Se ainda não tiverem estes álbuns, esta é uma boa oportunidade para os adquirirem e, mesmo que já os tenham, os extras aqui incluídos justificam largamente a sua aquisição. RDS

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Mortarhate Records: www.mortarhate.com
Cherry Red Records: www.cherryred.co.uk
Conflict: www.conflict-uk.com

Cellador – Enter Deception (2006) – Metal Blade Records

Cellador é uma banda muito nova que se formou no verão de 2004 e que lançou a demo “Leaving All Behind” em Maio de 2005. Num concerto como banda de abertura para os The Black Dahlia Murder impressionaram o vocalista da dita banda, Trevor Strnad, o qual fez chegar a demo de Cellador ao senhor Brian Slagel da Metal Blade, o que resultou logo num contrato discográfico. Isto tudo para dar a entender a facilidade que uma banda tem hoje em dia de ser assinada por uma editora (e uma grande como é a MB). Isso pode ser bom ou mau. A banda pode ainda estar muito verde para dar o passo seguinte (da maquete / sala de ensaio para o disco de estreia / digressão), mas também pode ser uma banda nova mas com enormes potencialidades que se sabe que pode vir a revolucionar a música. Neste caso, nem uma nem outra opção se aplicam. Os Cellador são novos (como banda e como pessoas) mas a sua música é boa o suficiente para se safar. Ainda por cima estamos a falar de Power Metal / Speed Metal na vertente Europeia (apesar de serem dos USA), portanto é necessário algumas potencialidades para fazer algo mais ou menos ou então sai uma grande porcaria. Os Cellador até se safam bem, não trazem nada de novo e refrescante mas até que nem é mau de todo. Power / Speed bem rápido e melódico com algumas referências directas a Dragonforce e bandas Italianas como Labyrinth ou Vision Divine. Bons riffs de guitarra, secção rítmica certinha e poderosa q.b., boa voz (muito importante neste género) e muita melodia. As letras não focam os habituais temas de fantasia, lendas, batalhas, cenários épicos, como nas bandas Europeias, mas sim temas mais mundanos, actuais e pessoais.A produção é que me chamou a atenção pela sua particularidade, tendo sido o álbum produzido por Erik Rutan, um nome ligado aos terrenos do Death Metal, tanto como músico como produtor. Mas isso até foi para a banda uma mais valia pois o som do álbum não ficou limpinho como o da maioria das bandas Europeias mas sim cru e directo. Quanto à capa, fabulosa, puro Heavy Metal.Os Cellador acabam por resultar numa lufada de ar fresco no catálogo da Metal Blade, que actualmente só aposta no território do Metalcore, já gasto há muito. Estes jovens são até a primeira banda de Power Metal americana a assinar pela MB em largos anos.Para fãs do Power / Speed mais rápido e melódico. RDS

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Metal Blade Records: www.metalblade.de

Cellador: www.cellador.com

Cellador - Entrevista

1 – Cellador is a young band but you already had the luck to sign a contract. You opened a show for The Black Dahlia Murder and their singer Trevor Strnad gave a demo to Brian Slagel from Metal Blade. How was that?

Basically what happened was we had been playing live as a full band for about 2-3 months and managed to build up enough buzz to be offered opening slots for several national bands. One of the shows we got on was opening for The Black Dahlia Murder back in May 2005. The guys in the band came out and watched our set and afterwards they approached us saying they really liked our music and our band and they suggested we give them a couple demo's that they could give to Metal Blade Records for us. We had just recently released our first demo then and while we didn't expect to get a response we still went with their suggestion and so I gave them a couple demo's. About 2 weeks after that show we got a call from Brian Slagel the CEO of Metal Blade saying he was interested in signing our band. He met with us several times over the summer of 2005, and after talking with them for 6 weeks or so we ended up signing a contract with them. It was a total surprise for us when we signed to them because we never thought a power metal type band like ours would ever gain the interest of any American labels, especially one as big in the metal world as Metal Blade. Before this point we assumed the only chance we ever had was with smaller European labels that specialize in melodic metal, but after our Metal Blade signing we gained a whole new perspective on our band and how far we can take it, which was great.

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2 – The album was produced by Erik Rutan, well known for his Death Metal bands and productions. He’s not the kind of guy a Heavy / Power Metal band would choose to produce their record. How did he end up working with you in this album?

After we signed to Metal Blade we were talking with them for awhile about studios and where we were to record our debut album at. Metal Blade and we the band agreed that we wanted to go for a natural and aggressive sounding production, and also something that would be a little bit different sounding than production styles that were typically used for European melodic metal bands. We were not very familiar with any studios outside of our region so we asked Metal Blade if they had any suggestions for us to record at. They sent us a bunch of different albums by different bands that were recorded at studios they felt would suit us. The record we liked the best was the Into the Moat debut album, which was recorded and produced by Erik Rutan at his studio in Tampa, Florida. When we found out it was Rutan, a guy known for working with extreme bands, we became more intrigued to use him because we wanted our first record to be very aggressive and intense sounding, to both suit the style of the songs and to perhaps be a unique production style for this type of music we play. At first when we contacted him he told us he was booked up for much of the year, but after he heard our demo he became really excited about working with us and managed to change up his studio schedule to be able to fit us in, which was really great of him and good for us. He really believed in our band from start to finish and put in a lot of time and effort into getting the right sound and production out of our music. He has very high standards in terms of recording and really pushed us to our best performances which we were really thankful for in the end.

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3 – Erik Rutan managed to keep your sound raw and heavy, instead of the clean and not so powerful sound in most of the European records. Are you satisfied with final result of the album?

We were very satisfied with the final results as he managed to really bring out the intensity and energy that we wanted to emphasize in our music. As stated earlier while many melodic power metal bands tend to go for a overly produced, editted, effects saturated production style we wanted to sway away from that tradition with our record by instead having it raw, intense, and aggressive sounding, which Rutan has been known to create in the projects he has worked on and most certainly attained on our record. We really wanted our first album to be balls out, very energetic sounding. We purposefully didn't want to include any slow songs or ballads on our first record, we wanted to be full speed beginning to end and Rutan understood this and gained an understanding of our vision for this record and really brought out the elements we wanted.

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4 – You are from the USA but your style has nothing to do with the American Power Metal but with the European side, which is more into speed and melody?

Yea most of our influences were European bands. I think its just a general preference of ours but we all loved the catchy melodic bands from Europe with big choruses, dual lead melodies, and speedy song structure. Bands like Helloween, Edguy, Blind Guardian really had a huge impact on myself in high school more than really anything from the USA and despite the fact nobody else here listened to these bands or wanted to play music like it I still stuck to it and pushed to form a band influenced by them. In addition to European power metal we also were influenced by thrash and death metal bands as well, so we try to incorporate elements from these other influences into our music as well, such as heavy guitars, high speeds, double bass and blast beat drumming, etc.

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5 – Your lyrics are not the usual fantasy / epic kind of lyrics of the European Power Metal but more into regular day-by-day subjects. Can you tell me something about the lyrics?

For our first album ENTER DECEPTION we wanted to avoid a lot of the cliches and stereotypes that are known to exist in power metal, and one of the things we didn't want to have was fantasy or sci-fi lyrics. Its not because we don't like these subjects, I actually enjoy them a lot, we just knew that it was a subject of ridicule especially here in the USA and we didn't want to spearhead our band into the same classifications. Instead the lyrics on ENTER DECEPTION mainly touch on subjects such as self-empowerment, individualism, being yourself, avoiding manipulation, really just positive themes that listeners can maybe relate to. A lot of the subject matter in our lyrics also really reflect the mindset of our band and the attitude we took on in order to keep going with playing this type of music here in the USA where its fairly nonexistent and where pressure to join the bandwagon or follow the crowd exists.

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6 – Do you have a tour prepared to promote the record?

Yea we are taking off here in a few days for our first national USA tour. It will be about 25-30 shows and it spans all over the USA, first our West, then Midwest, and then out East and back. We are very excited to go out and start playing, we've made so many new friends and fans in the last couple months we really want to meet as many people as possible. I think this Fall we will be lining ourselves up with a wellknown booking agency that will take us to a new level of opportunity for exposure and where we will be playing. We have been in talks with Metal Blade about going to Europe for some shows as well as Japan. I think sometime we will be going international for ENTER DECEPTION but I don't know the specific time frame yet. My guess is it will be late 2006 or early 2007.

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7 – The frontcover is awesome cool. Who made this artwork? What is the meaning of the artwork?

The artwork was done by French artist Jean Pascal Fournier. I had known about him as an artist for awhile, as he has done many covers for various metal bands and is fairly well known in the metal community. He was our first choice for our artwork and we couldn't be happier with the result he has given us. The cover is inspired by the title "ENTER DECEPTION" which is reffering basically to a person entered a world of "self deception" meaning they are entering into a false reality where they think everyone is out to get them and make their life miserable but really its just their own bad choices in life. I got the idea from a book I read that theorizes that many common social problems can arise from self-deception which comes from a person swaying from their own true ambitions or true selves. Anyway I described the idea to JP Fournier and he took what he understood from it to create a symbolisation of a person wearing a blindfold looking very desperate clinging onto a crumbling structure.

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8 – Do you want to leave a final message?

To all the people reading, be sure to check out CELLADOR's debut album ENTER DECEPTION. While we are generally considered to be melodic/power metal its a very aggressive and intense variation of the style, or at least thats what we aim to play. This is not a album just for power metal fans, it has a number of other elements that should appeal to thrash, extreme, heavy metal fans in general. Check it out and see what you think.Many thanks for the interview!!! Keep it metal!!

Questions: RDS

Answers: Chris Petersen – Guitar

Metal Blade Records: www.metalblade.de

Cellador: www.cellador.com

Jim Gilmour – Great Escape (2005) – Progrock Records

Jim Gilmour é, desde o ano de 1980, o teclista de serviço dos multi-platinados Saga. A ideia deste álbum parte de uma conversa que este senhor teve com o presidente da Progrock Records, Shawn Gordon, o qual aconselhou Gilmour a gravar um trabalho a solo. Daí a pouco Gilmour tinha 10 temas prontos (5 instrumentais e 5 vocalizados). Mas não é o primeiro, em 1997 já tinha lançado “Instrumental Variations”. Pode-se pensar que álbuns a solo de teclistas, baixistas ou bateristas podem ser extremamente enfadonhos e sem uma ponta de qualidade, apenas baseados nos seus instrumentos, mas o que acontece aqui é precisamente o contrário. Este álbum é Rock Progressivo do mais alto nível! Jim Gilmour além de tomar conta da composição e dos teclados também é responsável pela voz em metade dos temas e pela produção (juntamente com John Bianchini que também gravou as guitarras e misturou o disco). Faz-se acompanhar por um excelente guitarrista (o já referido John Bianchini), dois bateristas (Christian Simpson, Roger Banks) e uma vocalista feminina de apoio (Corrina Tofani), mas o destaque vai para as suas teclas. Há aqui fusões de Rock progressivo na sua vertente mais tradicional com uma vertente mais moderna, passagens pelo Jazz e música de improvisação e até um pouco de Folk e Pop. Os temas alternam-se (instrumental / vocalizado) para não se tornar tão cansativo. O álbum começa em grande com “No Sign”, segue na mesma linha com “Algonquin”, abranda em “Lost Along The Way”, “Killarney Sunrise” e “The Northwind”, a seguir temos um tema com tendências mais electrónicas (“Radiant Lake”) e outros dois apenas com teclas (“Carden Island”, “Wasteland”), mais um tema mais animado “Canoe Do It?” e o alinhamento “oficial” fecha com um belo exercício de Rock Progressivo intitulado “Last Portage”, mas mesmo antes de acabar o CD temos uma faixa escondida de teclas, mais na linha clássica, uma bela maneira de fechar este excelente disco. Segundo parece, este disco foi escrito com base nas imagens e experiências que Jim teve nas suas excursões pela vida selvagem Canadiana. A capa é que poderia ter sido mais trabalhada, assim como o interior do livrete. Um disco que vai agradar tanto aos fãs de Saga, como de Rock Progressivo no geral ou até mesmo Metal Progressivo. RDS

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Progrock Records: www.progrockrecords.com

Jim Gilmour: www.jimgilmour.net

Hainloose – Burden State (2005) – Elektrohasch Records

Segundo álbum para estes germânicos, depois de “Rosula” de 2003 (também pela Elektrohasch). Os Hainloose praticam um Blues Rock / Stoner com toques de Rock sulista norteamericano e com influências de Fu Manchu, COC, Allman Brothers, ZZ Top ou Kyuss. O som é cru e pesado o suficiente para agradar a apreciadores de Stoner e Hard Rock mas tem uma orientação muito Blues Rock e funky até, com as músicas a serem mais baseadas no groove.A guitarra saca bons riffs de rock’n’roll mas com boas melodias quando necessário, indo por vezes aos terrenos do psicadélico e do Blues; a voz é a típica voz grave deste género; a secção rítmica não é muito ousada mas segura bem do balanço da música. Os temas, como já disse, são mais apoiados no groove, mas temos um tema mais rock’n’roll na quarta faixa com “Disconnected”, uma passagem bem Doom em “M.O.H.” mas que termina com uma passagem bem funky, “Chernobilly” é um instrumental muito linha psicadélica a fazer lembrar Kyuss, mais material de orientação Doom em “Broken Dreams Part I” e um tema mais experimental a fechar, “Barricades And Barrels”. Não se trata do álbum perfeito de Blues Rock / Stoner, um pouco de ousadia na composição não lhes fazia mal algum, mas mesmo assim é um bom álbum para se ouvir bem alto, a beber umas cervejolas, num sábado à noite num bar qualquer. Para os apreciadores de vinil, este disco vai ser editado em LP neste Outono de 2006. RDS

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Elektrohasch Records: www.elektrohasch.de

Hainloose: www.hainloose.de

Gadget – The Funeral March (2006) – Relapse Records

Os Gadget são Suecos, têm nas suas fileiras ex-membros de Dismember e este é o seu segundo álbum, “The Funeral March”. Grindcore bem rápido e brutal com fortes influências dos conterrâneos Nasum (principalmente), Napalm Death (como não podia deixar de ser), Pig Destroyer ou Misery Index (patente na influência Hardcore) é o que nos apresentam em pouco menos de 30 minutos bem intensos espalhados por 17 temas. O início é bem brutal com “Choked”, seguindo-se mais 5 temas na mesma linha. Ao sétimo tema (“Everyday Ritual”) temos um abrandamento da velocidade e uma espécie de intermezzo com cerca de 3 minutos instrumentais de Doom / Dark com uma melodia bem sinistra, passando de novo ao ataque em “Day Of The Vulture” até ao 13º tema “Out Of Pace”, o qual começa brutal mas depois de 1 minuto nos dá mais Doom. Mais 3 temas de Grindcore ao estilo Sueco bem rápido e brutal e depois fecha-se o álbum com “Tingens Förbanneise” em toada mais Doom / Death com alguma melodia.As influências são bem notórias mas os Gadget conseguem imprimir já o seu cunho pessoal neste segundo trabalho e, o que aqui temos, é um excelente trabalho de Grindcore ao estilo Sueco, bem interessante, dinâmico e intenso. A produção é soberba, cortesia da própria banda, com um som bem potente e definido. Um dos grandes álbuns do género neste ano de 2006! RDS

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Relapse Records: www.relapse.com

Gadget: www.gadgetgrindcore.com

Empire – The Raven Ride (2006) – Metal Heaven

Este é o 3º álbum deste super projecto liderado pelo guitarrista Rolf Munkes (Majesty). No inicio a banda tinha músicos como Lance King (ex-Balance Of Power), Mark Boals (ex-Malmsteen), Don Airey (Deep Purple) ou Anders Johansson (Hammerfall). Os músicos foram mudando e hoje em dia Munkes faz-se acompanhar por Tony Martin (ex-Black Sabbath, também gravou a voz do anterior álbum), Neil Murray (ex-Whitesnake, ex-Black Sabbath, envolvido no projecto desde o início) no baixo e Andre Hilgers (Axxis, Silent Force) na bateria.As músicas para este novo trabalho foram compostas por Rolf Munkes e Tony Martin e foram produzidas pelo próprio Munkes nos seus Empire Studios. A capa foi da autoria de Jason Juta (Domain, Altaria).O estilo aqui contido neste rodela é um Hard Rock bem balançado e pesadão quanto baste e que pode agradar a fãs de Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Whitesnake ou outros nomes do Hard ‘N’ Heavy mais tradicional. Toda a banda está fantástica mas tenho que destacar a grande voz de Tony Martin, aqui no seu melhor, a secção rítmica está bem oleada, há grandes riffs e solos de guitarra. Malhas a destacar podem ser “The Raven Ride” (grande refrão), “Breath” (mais outro belo refrão de Hard Rock e uma melodia de guitarra bem sacada), “Carbon Based Lifeform” (com apontamentos electrónicos a adornar), “Al Sirat – The Bridge To Paradise” (ritmo lento bem balançado e uma prestação vocal exemplar de Tony Martin), “Changing World” (mais na linha AOR), “Maximum” (o tema mais pesado do álbum, com um ritmo mais uptempo, coros fantásticos).Para quem diz que os músicos que abandonam as suas bandas de origem e enveredam por trabalhos a solo e projectos paralelos não conseguem fazer mais nada de relevo, este é o disco perfeito. Este disco é mesmo caso para dizer, a idade é um posto (no caso de Tony Martin e Neil Murray, pois os outros dois elementos são mais jovens). Quem sabe, sabe! RDS

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Metal Heaven: www.metalheaven.net
Rolf Munkes: www.rolfmunkes.com
GerMusica: www.germusica.com

Empire - Entrevista

1 – How did you come up with this idea, this project called Empire, in the first place?

Back in 1999 I did my first solo CD. I was trying out things like which tunes are great for me and which style etc. I enjoyed working with vocalists and thought of doing a next album with some great singers and musicians. And asked Lance King and Mark Boals. Both agreed and we did a wonderful album together. Some people said with all the guests this is an all star project so I focused on putting a line up together which looks more like a band. And here we are, a four peace group.

2 – There were several line-up changes since the first record in 2001 until now and this new album. There were some major musicians involved from the beginning. Who was a part of Empire in the past, why did they left, who is playing in Empire now?

Actually they did not left, it was a project and my intention and direction changed a bit and so I have choosen different people to work with to aim that goal.

3 – Isn’t it hard to join all the musicians to record and play?

It's a bit of organisation but that happens every time you do a record. And it's worth it when the result is great.

4 – Besides Empire you also play in Majesty. Isn’t it hard to maintain both bands alive?

I left Majesty some weeks ago cause I want to do my own things and wasn't too happy in the band in the last time.BTW I have another Band called Razorback and both take some time.

5 – You composed the album with Tony Martin and you also produced the record in your own studios. Is it important for you to keep yourself involved in the whole process?

I was very happy to do it alone this time because I had a clear idea of what it should sound like. And I worked til that sound was on the desk.I was writing riffs for Tony and we arranged stuff together so it was soon clear where this road will lead us to. Another point is having all the time you need for a project like this. You don't have to pay too much studio time for other people.

6 – Who wrote the lyrics? Tony Martin? What kind of subjects did he used for the lyrics in this record?

Yep, Tony Martin did all the lyrics and there are some great ones on this. Lots of stuff is about the good and mostly bad things on us humans.And there is plenty of it isn't it?

7 – How would you say this album differs from the previous records “Hypnotica” (2001) and “Trading Souls” (2003)?

It's more mystic and dark and rocks straight in your face. On the first there was a progressive touch and the second was a bit more melodic and softer. I'm really happy with the new output and think the next should be in this direction. The music fits very good with Tony Martin and this was the concept.

8 – Are you planning to take this project to the road or is it just a studio project?

I would love to, but things are not so easy in these times. I'm working on it!!!

9 – Do you want to leave a final message to your fans?

Hope you all like "The Raven Ride" and it would be a pleasure to come into your town and rock your place!!!Thanks so much for the interview.

Questions: RDS
Answers: Rolf Munkes – Guitar

Metal Heaven: www.metalheaven.net
Rolf Munkes: www.rolfmunkes.com
GerMusica: www.germusica.com