Endeverafter - Kiss Or Kill

For the past few years, the US mainstream market has been giving more and more attention to bands that churn out old school rock music. Supagroup, Airbourne (Roadrunner is reissuing their debut in 2008), Miss Crazy (just signed a three-record deal), even Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row) has gotten an unexpected (but deserved) amount of exposure for his latest album Angel Down, considering five years ago it would have largely been ignored. Well, Endeverafter now join the ranks of modern rock bands injecting that old school flavor with their Razor & Tie Entertainment debut, Kiss Or Kill. But while other bands manage to channel their sound completely from that old (and great) era of music, Endeverafter ocassionally struggle with this, hopping from foot to foot, from 80s rock to something more akin to modern alternative rock.

Kiss Or Kill immediately lines up four hefty shots of no-frills, gritty—with maybe a bit too much sheen—rock ‘n’ roll; "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Poison" are both driving rock songs, sometimes bordering on metal with their double bass, galloping riffs, and speedy leads; but their big hooks betray that notion. While "Baby Baby Baby" and "Gotta Get Out" don more traditional garb, mid-paced AC/DC-like anthems. The modern stylings first surface during the chorus of "Gotta Get Out," touching upon something Blink 182 might have written, but it bares itself full on the ballad "Next Best Thing." While the power ballad was something of a staple in the eighties, here it comes off like a stolen (post-mainstream success) Hoobastank song. It simply lacks the magic of a true rock ballad, leaving much to be desired. But it has radio hit written all over it.

Endeverafter haven’t struck gold with Kiss or Kill, but they’re not far off the mark either. While some songs may sort of lose their identity in a shallow sea of radio pop, they also find redemption every time with quality songwriting, whether showcasing a rock style ("Tip Of My Tongue"), metal ("Road To Destruction"), or the unfortunate (but still decent) foray into pop oblivion ("All Night"). Kiss Or Kill won’t blow you away from beginning to end, but among the good there stands tall a few that are great.

Video: I Wanna Be Your Man, Baby Baby Baby

Website: http://www.endeverafter.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/endeverafter

Note: Many of these links are external. In time, they may become obsolete.

Pyramaze - Legend Of The Bone Carver

Flower metal. That's a term someone came up with to describe power metal bands that lack the most important part of that label, power. I've always thought Pyramaze fell into this category. Not sure why, but that's what was in my head. Then sometime last year the band announced that former (at the time) Iced Earth vocalits Matt Barlow had joined the band to sing on their third album, and that piqued my interest.

Matt has since rejoined Iced Earth, but none of this happened before Matt laid down vocals for Immortal, Pyramaze's third album. When samples from Immortal were first put online, I was surprised at how heavy they were. I remember commenting that the band must have consciously went for that Iced Earth sound, probably to accomodate Matt's strong vocals. (Remember, I was thinking they had been a "flower metal" band. I was wrong.)

Legend Of The Bone Carver showed up in a Newbury Comics used bin a few weeks ago, the first time I'd ever seen a Pyramaze album outside of the internet. I contemplated buying it then, but decided against it (it was $8.99, a bit pricey for a used disc by a band I was unsure about, if you ask me). It wasn't until the other day that I finally listened to some Pyramaze samples from their first two albums. Flower metal? Pffft! Hardly. Not sure what convinced me that that was their style—I'm sure the label of "Epic melodic power metal with symphonic touches" had nothing to do with it—but it's not. So I broke down (not hard) and bought Legend Of The Bone Carver, and, as they say, I am pleasantly surprised. The music is just as heavy as the samples from the upcoming Immortal. Lance King, the previous vocalist, and a fantastic one at that, is not as heavy as Barlow, but the album is still a hefty kick in the nuts. Tracks like "What Lies Beyond," "The Birth," and "Souls In Pain" shatter the notion of there being no power behind Pyramaze's music.

I strongly recommend Legend Of The Bone Carver, if you can find it. This album comes off like a more streamlined version of Pagan's Mind. Not sure how many would agree with that, but that's my early impression. An excellent album either way.

Video: What Lies Beyond
Video: The Bone Carver
Video: She Who Summoned Me
Audio: Souls In Pain

Website: http://www.pyramaze.com
MySpace: http://myspace.com/pyramaze

Note: Many of these links are external. In time, they may become obsolete.

Circus Of Dead Squirrels - The Pop Culture Massacre And The End Of The World Sing-A-Long Songbook!

Recently a band sent me their latest EP for review. The package consisted of one CDR that had the band and album name spelled incorrectly (sadly, I'm not making that up). There was nothing else in the package—no tracklisting, no band info, no website info, absolutely nothing but a twenty-five cent CDR. This was sent to me by a band member, one who couldn't even spell his band or album name correctly. I'm still annoyed at this, thinking back to the time when I was sending out albums from my own bands and how much time I'd put into it. Luckily, not every band is of the same uncaring mind when it comes to their presentation, what represents them as artists, as a whole. Circus Of Dead Squirrels takes the old school approach, understanding that the music is not all that matters, there is a visual aspect that also speaks to people.

The Pop Culture Massacre And The End Of The World Sing-A-Long Songbook!, Circus Of Dead Squirrels's third album, is lavishly presented as a children's book featuring full-colored, detailed artwork (cartoons, to be exact) correlating with songs on the album: a squirrel slitting the throat of the McDonald's owner (I presume) and making Ronald and friends eat worm-filled burgers ("The Happy Meal-Worm"); a ghoulish-looking squirrel with a chainsaw chasing down current presidential failure George W. Bush, depicted as Pinocchio ("President Pinocchio"); A squirrel performing a "fatality" a la Mortal Kombat ("Prizefighter"); a squirrel operating a guillotine, about to behead beloved Elmo while his Sesame Street pals happily watch on ("Elmo's Last Laugh"); and a squirrel raising a pitchfork over its head in a fiery, hellish cavern, looking to be commanding knife- and tuna-can top-wielding killers in the manner of the Pillsbury Doughboy, Tony the Tiger, Charlie the Tuna, Mr. Peanut, and the Hamburger Helper Helping Hand ("Hell's Kitchen"). And that's not all. Circus Of Dead Squirrels put in a lot of time and effort creating The Pop Culture Massacre, and they did the same on their previous two releases, Indoor Recess and Outdoor Recess.

Of course, as they say, you can't polish a turd. So what of the music? Well, Circus Of Dead Squirrels's talent doesn't end with creating a nice visual package, the music is pretty damn good—for what it is. The Pop Culture Massacre is a mash up of GWAR meets Misery Loves Co. meets Slipknot meets the lyrical prowess of Tesco Vee and (one of the greatest bands ever) The Meatmen—with less homo-erotic comedy (though Ninja Turtle Liberace does play guitar and keyboards, so I could be wrong).

The first true song on the album is "Overpopulation Annihilation," a brutal, pounding industrial metal anthem that's sure to get the blood flowing, through the body or knuckles. "The Happy Meal-Worm" follows a similar path, but more upbeat, layered with a twisted, circus-like foundation. "Losing Touch" sounds like a Slipknot song played through the haunted speakers of a techno dance club. The rest of the album flows in a pretty similar style, not throwing out many curveballs until the track "Nobody Quite Like Me," a mid-paced, eerie, atmospheric gem of a song. This song finds the band in more serious and mature territory, musically and lyrically. I'm tempted to say the song doesn't fit on the album, because it does seem to sort of skewer the satirical flow of the rest of the songs, but it's simply too good a song to ignore.

The Pop Culture Massacre isn't without its flaws. As is the case with many industrial-like bands, sometimes a little noise overindulgence interrupts the flow of a song; it's easy to include too much, making for a somewhat distracting listen. This doesn't apply to any one song completely, only parts now and then. The production is outstanding, and the mix is killer. While I think some songs have a little too much going on from time to time, nothing ever gets lost in the mix. The music is generally captivating in its driving rhythms and grooves, and the lyrics, while satirical, aren't necessarily stupid or cringe-worthy. And again, the artwork and layout is topnotch, an outstanding visual companion to a great album.

The Pop Culture Massacre begins with a disclaimer track, a warning to those would-be naysayers with no sense of humor, which, to quote the final moment of the track, essentially states: Thoroughly fuck off, or enjoy the show.

The latter is what I did.

Video: Elmo's Last Laugh, Nobody Quite Like Me (Fan-made)

Website: http://www.circusofdeadsquirrels.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/circusofdeadsquirrels

Note: Many of these links are external. In time, they may become obsolete.

Conjure One - Conjure One

Conjure One is a project by Delerium's Rhys Fulber. Delerium started as something of an instrumental ambient/electronic band. In 1994 they evolved a bit, releasing Semantic Spaces with Kristy Thirsk on vocals. On the follow-up, Karma, Delerium brought in multiple guest female vocalists. They scored a big hit with the song "Silence," which featured Sarah Mclachlan on vocals. In Europe, a few techno remixes of "Silence" became even bigger hits, huge among the dance crowd. On follow-up albums, Delerium shifted gears a bit again, trying to please the fans of the "Silence" remixes. On those albums, the ethereal ambient style became more of a dance pop style. They still featured guest female vocalists, and even a few male vocalists, but they never did quite match the success of Karma.

With Conjure One, it seems that Rhys Fulber wanted to go back to the more ambient sound heard on Semantic Spaces and Karma. The design is the same: ambience, electronic soundscapes, and female vocals (Poe and Sinéad O'Connor among them). But this didn't stop someone from turning a few songs into bad dance remixes (see "Tears From The Moon" video below). The album, however, is devoid of that techno style. Definitely an album worth checking out.

Video: Redemption
Video: Tears From The Moon

Website: http://www.conjureone.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/conjureone

Note: Many of these links are external. In time, they may become obsolete.

Helltown - Lead To Hell

After a long drought, Brazil's metal scene has come alive in the past few years—a drastic rebirth that includes such bands as Claustrofobia, Syren, Korzus, Andralls, Torture Squad, Drowned, Terrorstorm, Chaosfear, Ungodly, Hicsos, and the almighty Scars, all either risen from the ashes or simply now shining under the ever-brightening spotlight. Helltown is among this New Wave of Brazilian Heavy Metal. Their roots go back to 1996 and a short-lived band called Blood Course. A reunion of sorts would happen five years later in a cover band called WTC,a band that would lay the foundation for what would become Helltown. After finding a few more members to complete the line-up, the band released their first demo in 2003. In 2005, after a few more line-up shifts, the band began recording their debut full-length. The result was Lead To Hell, released in 2006.

For a young band, Lead To Hell is a damn good debut album; it plays like a high quality demo, and sounds like it could be an early demo from the great and currently missing-in-action Sinergy. Helltown play traditional heavy metal with female lead vocals and the occasional male vocal harmony. Symone Syann does a very good job on vocals for the most part; but occasionally she can sound a bit too reserved, like a little more power—which she is capable of—was needed to reach that optimum vocal level. Musically the band handles business with ease, offering great musicianship and songwriting for most of the album. The production is a little weak and the tones on the record are a little too thin and subdued; the guitars need a little more depth and crunch, while the drums and bass could be a bit thicker, adding a more solid foundation. But those things aside, Lead To Hell is still a commendable effort.

"Run For Action" starts things off and pretty much sets the standard—traditional metal fare, solid songwriting, and a great chorus. "Wanted" and "Breaking The Time" follow suit in similar fashion. "Alone In The Night" is something of a dark, mid-paced rocker with a great chorus. "Lead To Hell" and "Flames Of Fate" are two more highlights with outstanding hooks. The album dips a bit toward the end with "Forever A Rebel" and "Reach The Highest Mountain." Both are decent songs but lack a necessary hook to really grab the listener. "In The Heart Of The Storm" suffers the same problem, but to a lesser extent; this one with a riff taken right out of Metallica's "No Remorse" and a great mid-section and solo, and some outstanding bass runs (albeit short ones).

Helltown doesn't manage to break new ground with Lead To Hell, but they rest upon a solid foundation. They play a style we've heard before, but they do it well enough to warrant a listen. For a debut, Lead To Hell is a very worth release. There are some things that need to be worked on—production, strengthening the vocals, and more memorable melodies—things that should be corrected by the time they think to release a sophomore album—but Lead To Hell is a solid debut, and a very enjoyable listen.

Note: This review was written in 2006. Since then, the band has gone through some member changes; most notably new lead singer Kell Hell.

Video: Run For Action, Alone In The Night

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/helltownmetal

Note: Many of these links are external. In time, they may become obsolete.