Pursuit Of Honor by Battlecross: More METAL than METAL itself

Now that's a cool Metal Band logo

This band is called “Battlecross” and they named their second album “Pursuit Of Honor”. Battle, Cross, Honor: 3 Metal keywords.

And then look at the cover of the album: there’s a sort of mutant (half muscle, half skeleton, how is this possible??) that is carrying a machinegun and it’s wearing bullet-belts. It’s also got a gasmask and there’s some sort of mutant army under his command. Wow. You’re thinking pure Metal Clichés right?

Who dares to say that Metal music is only about violence?

And the music is EXACTLY the same way: 100% Metal & Muscle, nothing else. There aren’t even hard-rock influences here, it’s like Battlecross has chosen to play a blend of Death, Thrash and Metalcore. It’s also obvious that he guys like both the American scene and the European Melodic Death Metal bands. They kind of mix the American natural groove with the European science for epic melodies. A guy who reviewed the album found some similarities with another cool band called The Absence, and that is signed on the same label (Metal Blade). The comparison is completely relevant as both bands are absolutely unoriginal but very talented, and they display an unbelievable amount of energy. Their sound is however pretty different as The Absence has no Metalcore influences at all. 

But let’s get back to Battlecross’ main strength: ENERGY. Their music is fast, groovy, powerful, everything we love about Metal. Bassist Don Slater also shows some impressive talent as his groovy lines really stand out. I also love the fact that the band has injected some very fast & brutal parts and cool guitar solos.

Pursuit Of Honour is short (hardly more than 36 mins) and full of clichés. It’s also unbelievably dense and it’s like an energy-shot that will give you that stupid yet fantastic feeling of "liquid metal flowing through your veins".

Push Pull Destroy's cool official video. Don't expect an arty black&white clip

Battlecross is an embodiment of everything you love about Metal. Metalcore has gone silly, some Metal bands like to add progressive influences and everybody’s crazy about hard-rock these days. Meanwhile Battlecross are still on the field, and they are defending the Metal Flag with impressive power, commitment and of course honor.

This is an easy [4/5].

Yath

PS: make sure you check’em out right here: http://battlecrossmetal.com/

Orphaned Land + Arkan + Myrath + Artweg @ Rennes (Ubu) – Nov 15th 2011

I’m not going to tell you again how much I enjoyed Myrath’s latest record "Tales Of The Sands". Therefore I immediately seized the opportunity to see them live when I heard they were coming to town. It’s their first real tour, and it was interesting to see how these very gifted young guys from Tunisia were handling a long tour with an important band such as Orphaned Land.

The whole caravan is going by the name “Oriental Tour 2011”. Myrath comes from Tunisia, Arkan is an oriental-Death metal band and Orphaned Land, as you all probably know, hail from Israel and are now famous for playing oriental prog’ metal.

First thing I noticed: the venue is actually a bar, with a very small stage and a limited audience. Perhaps about 200 hundred people only. Another reminder for those who might have forgotten how much times are tough for Metal bands. Orphaned Land seem so respected, so admired and yet they have to play in ridiculously small venues… Also, for those who complain about bands touring the whole world and not coming to France, this is a very clear explanation.

So just imagine the audience attending Artweg, the totally unknown opening act. But that didn’t affect the guy’s motivation as they hit the stage with passion and professionalism and their performance was full of energy. To be honest, their groovy HXC is no special or revolutionary. From what I understood, the lyrics are about anti-racism, freedom, and brotherhood…You’re thinking “completely cliché”, right? Wait ‘till you hear about the rest of the show. Besides, when singer “Mugen” says “headbang”, regarding the man’s actual size, you better obey.

Artweg's show was very energetic, despite the tiny crowd

The band I was most looking forward to seeing is without a doubt Myrath. And they sure didn’t disappoint me. The 5 guys hit the stage with radiant smiles, and you could feel the tension in the beginning of the show. It’s so refreshing to see a band so eager to play live and to transmit their passion and energy. The songs are solid and Myrath sure know how to compose progressive Metal with oriental hooks. On record, Myrath sounds like a blend of Symphony X and Dream Theater but on stage, they specifically made me think of Symphony X as they clearly chose to focus on the “heaviness” of their music. The guitars are so powerful and sharp and the crowd headbanged all along the show. The Arabic choruses and the very cool keyboards of Elyes are the things I’ll remember the most though. The closer “Beyond The Stars” was one fantastic moment enjoyed by everyone in the audience. The performance was short, intense and full of passion. WOW. I think that after some more touring, this band is going to kick some serious ass.

 Great Performance by singer Zaher, not the kind of singer that will let you down on stage

Their music reminds my Of Symphony X, and guitarist Malek kinda looks like Michael Romeo...

  

Setlist Myrath

Sour Sigh

Braving The Seas

Merciless Times

Under Siege

Wide Shut

Tales of the Sands

Madness

Beyond the Stars

I really had no idea what Arkan sounded like. I’d heard of the band, and I also knew that their drummer, Foued is very talented. He used to play in The Old Dead Tree. One thing I knew for sure: Arkan really needed to be awesome to step up to Myrath’s performance. The crowd got thicker and the guys hit the stage with their very heavy Death Metal. All of a sudden, some chick dressed up in a white traditional dress pops out of nowhere and starts dancing on stage. Talking about clichés! The “chick” is in fact Sarah, the lead singer of the band. And she’s also very good at adding that oriental/mystical touch to Arkan’s Death Metal. Again, nothing totally original here, as there are a bunch of bands that play that kind of Metal with gothic elements and a female singer. But the energy and the professionalism of the band struck me again, and the crowd went fully insane during the entire show. Their position right before Orphaned Land is well deserved regarding their awesome performance. I might give their pretty cool oriental/death metal a chance as well. Cool Show.

Sarah: the lead vocalist and bellydancer of Arkan

James from Metallica? Michael from Volbeat? No, Florent from Arkan

Bassist Samir really had a connection with the crowd. He still looks like the bad guy in Aladin

Setlist Arkan

Blind Devotion

Origins

Tied Fates

Inner Slaves

Groans of the Abyss

Lords Decline

Deux Vult

Chaos Cypher

Now I didn’t really know what to expect from Orphaned Land. On one hand, everybody keeps telling how much this band is awesome, both on stage and on record. On the other hand, I was very disappointed by their performance at Hellfest earlier this year. They’d focused on the “catchy” elements; and they had a Lebanese belly dancer on stage (almost caused a diplomatic incident, remember?)…That show was just a failure.

But tonight, the environment is completely different. The stage and the audience are small, the atmosphere is intimate, and the crowd is already satisfied. Orphaned Land walked into won ahead territory.

They still kicked ass. Ok, I must admit I didn’t watch their entire show (I had school the next day, had to go to bed early) but what I saw was already tremendous. These guys play some pretty complex tunes, but they manage to make it sound catchy on stage and they display this positive energy all along. Although their whole concept and imagery seem naïve, they still make you believe in it and you can’t blame them for trying to transmit a positive message after all…

Why so sad Uri?

Kobi, headbangin' with attitude

Maybe progressive, maybe oriental, but this was still a METAL show!

Setlist Orphaned Land

A'salk [intro tape]

Halo Dies (The Wrath of God)

Birth of the Three (The Unification)

Olat Ha'tamid

Barakah

The Kiss of Babylon (The Sins)

Sapari

From Broken Vessels

A Neverending Way

The Path, Part 1: Treading Through Darkness

Ocean Land (The Revelation)

Vayehi Or

The Warrior

El Meod Na'Ala

In Thy Never Ending Way (Epilogue)

--------------

The Beloved's Cry / The Storm Still Rages Inside

Norra el Norra (Entering the Ark)

Ornaments of Gold

All in all, this was a fabulous evening, with 4 very passionate and professional bands at their best. I also enjoyed the intimate atmosphere linked to the size of the venue. The bands communicated very easily and the crowd’s response was awesome. It’s pretty sad to see these guys playing on such a small stage, but you cannot blame them for that. In fact, we should be thanking them for coming up, and for being both talented AND humble.

It’s really time that French Metal fans, that love to criticize and to praise their favorite bands online, start showing up to concerts. There are less and less bands touring this country, and the few brave ones who take that chance have to deal with pretty shitty conditions. If you still want to see other bands than AC/DC in France (not only Paris) move your ass and attend the damn gigs!

Yath

Thanks to Anita & Fred for inviting me to that cool evening.

Note: Apologies for the lousy quality of my pictures. I only had a small digital camera that night, and unlike other disciplines, size does matter when it comes to shooting a live show. 

Heritage by Opeth – Have they gone mad??

Absolutely not. Although Heritage is different & somewhat surprising, it’s still Opeth.

The band clearly reached it’s maximum potential on the album Blackwater Park (2001), probably one of the most influent records of the past decade. After that masterpiece, Michael Åkerfeldt tried some different things but you could tell he really wanted to switch to something completely different.

I remember that after Deliverance/Damnation, he was already speaking in interviews about making a drastically different record, only back then, he was thinking about a totally Black Metal record! That gave birth to the very dark and occult Ghost Reveries, probably Opeth’s vision of Black Metal.

Now let’s get back to Heritage. The artwork is completely 70’s, like a homage to Deep Purple, a band Opeth had already referred to on the cover of the Royal Albert Hall DVD. The message here is clear though, no more Death Metal. A shocker for the fans! The most appreciated thing in Opeth was the mix between heavy and melodic music. And it was extremely interesting to see how the band was going to manage to stay attractive without it’s “heavy” component.

The Hommage

The Original

First thing you need to do is to erase Damnation from your mind, almost completely. Heritage is totally new Opeth, not just the Opeth you know stripped out of it’s heavy riffs and growls. And that precisely is what I like about Heritage. The guys (I mean Michael Åkerfeldt) really dared to blow everything away and to start over. Heritage is an occult 70’s rock/hard-rock band. With the typical psychedelic elements and sense of humor bands used to have back in the day.

 Damnation = Opeth - Heavy side

The songs sound like a mix between prog-metal, hard-rock, psychedelic-rock, the older Opeth and…Nick Drake! And that is what’s so cool about Heritage. It really sounds clumsy, a little naïve, full of ideas and stuffed with free inspiration. Wow, we’re talking about a 20 year-old band sounding so fresh! Hats off to the band guys, they DARED!

The music itself is also good. Not a masterpiece, as I was saying, Heritage is still too clumsy to become a reference, but it really has its moments. Personally, I prefer the second half of the record. Things really start to become exiting with the song “Nepenthe”, really love that refined beginning. After a few minuets the songs switches electric and goes totally prog’. “Haxprocess” is awesome as well, more typically Opeth and psychedelic. Very cool drumming by “Axe”, and fantastic singing by Michael Åkerfeldt on this one. But my favorite song is without a doubt “Famine”. The heavy guitars that come out of nowhere will tear you apart, and the crazy keys & flute are simply mind-blowing. Ironic that my favorite song on Heritage is the one with the heaviest part! I also love "Lines In My Hand", the dancing groove on that one is deadly and it underlines another inspiration for Opeth: scandinavian prog-folk bands. Everybody knows Michael is friends with the guys from Anekdoten, but on that song, it's definetly  Landberk I first thought about. 

Can you believe a band sounds so fresh and inspired after 20 years?

All in all, Heritage is a good album, albeit being a little bit confused AND confusing. It’s amazing that such an established band dared to release such a courageous record.

What’s even more encouraging is that now that the door is open, there is a sea of possibilities for the band. Their inspiration is free, and knowing their talent, we should have some fantastic things to come. After over 20 years of activity and several memorable records, Opeth are opening a new chapter that looks at least as promising as their first one. Wow.

The Haunted's Unseen - Probably 2011's best Metal album

I’ve completely rediscovered The Haunted this year, with the release of Unseen. I used to love the band for being a totally insane and typically Scandinavian thrash band. But now I truly believe they are one of Metal’s most innovating and inventive bands.

Their new album, Unseen is the key to understanding their previous records Revolver, The Dead Eye and Versus. These 3 albums are the ones the band released after the return of singer Peter Dolving to the band in 2003. They are a little bit “hesitating” sometimes, with very melodic parts and very aggressive elements as well. It was obvious that the band had found its sound, but the guys were still trying to express it at it’s best.

There it is: Metal's best album in 2011 - Unseen by The Haunted

Although many metal fans will NEVER accept it, I thing that Unseen, the band’s last album & their best, contains the pure essence of their personality. On that CD you’ll just find everything that makes The Haunted so special. Including the madness and the hysterical elements from their first and self-titled record (1998).

The choruses here are nothing short but AMAZING, peter Dolving is a fantastic singer, capable of screaming his guts out and whispering like some sort of psychic freak or singing like a rock-star.

The power of The Haunted lies in it’s ability to mix 100% pur metal elements with hard rock and grooooove. The groove element is essential to me, and like it or not, it’s ALWAYS been there with The Haunted. Just take out your old Made Me Do It album and listen to the killer breakdown on “Tresspass”. 

I just can't really explain how the band sounds, they are totally unique, they sound like no-one else, believe me. It's some sort of Modern Metal with thrash influences mixed up with rock and maybe some indie-rock sounds. This band is special, all their albums are must haves and it’s easy to give you guys some advice about what your priorities should be.

  § If you like metal, including the extreme stuff: go and get ALL their albums.

  § If you’re short on cash: avoid the album One Kill Wonder, it’s the only “not bad” album.

 § If you like your Metal melodic: focus on Unseen, their ultimate MASTERPIECE and The Dead Eye, which is also amazing, but not as exceptional.

It’s that easy with such a fantastic band.

Now the other thing that made me go crazy on The Haunted this year, is their concert at Hellfest 2011. They canceled their initial show in the afternoon on one of the mainstages and rescheduled it at 1:00 AM on a tiny side-stage, usually occupied by fat strippers.

Anyways, the guys did their soundcheck themselves, and regarding the shitty conditions it took them ages. The audience was starting to loose it’s patience and so were Per Jensen (Drums) and Anders Björler (Guiatrs)… After a 45min extra delay, Peter Dolving hit the stage and man, everyone was completely BLOWN AWAY.

The Haunted Live in Hellfest 2011: not a high quality video but does express the intensity of that show (plus I was probably standing a few feet to the left from the guy who shot this) 

The small configuration of the show perfectly suited the band actually, the energy was unbelievable, all the accumulated tension just exploded in a few seconds. I’ve never witnessed such intensity in my life. Needless to say it was my favorite show of the festival. 

As a matter of fact, it’s really on stage that you definitely realize that The Haunted has not changed. It’s still the same talented band, but the new songs express their potential much better than before.

I’m out of words to tell you guys how I feel about this band, just go listen to it, and if you can, see the guys on stage; the experience might change your life for ever.

The song "No Ghost" taken from Unseen  

"The Drowning" from The Dead Eye album - also very cool...

The Haunted is one of the most talented bands in rock/metal today, and UNSEEN is by far 2011’s best album, PERIOD!

The Haunted Online 

Disma & Miasmal – 2011’s Death Metal World Champions

We’re still in October fellows, but 2011’s world champions, in terms of Death Metal, have already been revealed. In fact, we’ve known the winners for months, probably since May. By that time, Miasmal had just released its first self-titled album and Disma was only recording its debut, Towards The Megalith.

And the 2011 Death Metal Champions are... DISMA & MIASMAL!

These two bands are completely different. Disma hails from the US and was formed by former Incantation and Funebrarum members. Needless to say the expectations were high, and everyone was anticipating the debut album, that just HAD to be tremendous. A few months before releasing that first record, the band was involved in a fabulous 7” Split with Winterwolf. The vinyl was released via Doometia Records and had that AWESOME artwork. Now as you imagine, everything was set for Death Metal fans to witness the birth of a dominating Death Metal band. Especially that the demo called The Vault Of Membros released in 2009 had a massive impact on the underground.

Now is this a fantastic artwork or is this a fantastic artwork? 

And yes, no one was disappointed when they heard “Of A Past Forlorn” on the split EP with Winterwolf. And when the album came out, with it’s superb artwork, on Profound Lore (another “hype” factor) everyone agreed that this would be this year’s best Death Metal record.

Musically speaking, we should even say DOOM Death Metal. Disma’s music is unbelievably massive, not always slow though as there are some pretty frantic accelerations here and there. I think the main word is DYNAMIC. And there’s nothing more important that dynamic when it comes to extreme music. The headbanging is mandatory, you just can’t help it, the sound is oh-so heavy and there is some kind of awesome and creepy atmosphere that totally fits the band's ambition in terms of "concept" (artwork and lyrics). 

Yes, the artwork is just as cool as the music

All in all that record makes me think of a better version of Runemagick. Really dominating and powerful stuff. I can't pick up a specific favorite song on this one, but you guys must try and listen to the awesome “Chasm Of Oceanus”, “Lost In A Burial Fog” or “Towards The Megalith” (not to mention the already known "Of A Past Forlorn").

  

The other 2011 champion is more surprising. Miasmal hail from Gothenburg, Sweden and they have released their first CD on Dark Descent Records in May. From the first listen I knew that Miasmal was a special CD. In fact, the first 2 minutes from opening track "Mesmerized" are enough to tell you how fantastic this band is. The atmosphere is creepy, humid. Feels like the music has really been recorded in some cave. The drums groove like hell and the fast riff will blow your head away.

Swedish Death Metal at its best! 

The album is a succession of instant hits, and each track stands out in it’s own way. Some tracks like “Mists” or “Death Mask” are just irresistible. The album is just as great as Disma’s and it’s impossible to determine which one is stronger, especially that Miasmal is more typically Scandinavian. Also note that the CD version of the album includes the tracks from the sold-out band's demo. 14 tracks of pure Death Metal pleasure. 

These two CDs are just the illustration of what old-school Death Metal should sound like, and they are just perfect in their own way. 

You like Death Metal? Then there is no way you can miss any of these two amazing releases.

Now before some of you start insulting me, note that I have picked 2 new bands. But of course, one must not forget to mention the godfathers, as most of them are still around. And no, Im not going to discuss the controversial Morbid Angel record. This year, in my opinion, another death metal pioneer was back with an unbelieavable release: AUTOPSY. What a return! Filthy, raw, heavy, doomy and totally insane: that’s how Macabre Eternal sounds like. The final track, "Sadistic Gratification" is completely insane, and Reifert’s voice is just like the Devil himself is whispering in your ears.

Young wolves are taking over? Maybe, but some of the Godfathers are still hungry!

Now that said, who still believes that Death Metal ain’t what it used to be??? It’s still Alive (or Dead shall we say) and VERY WELL! 

SerpentCult’s Raised By Wolves: this year’s most underrated album

OK, I admit it; I’ve always loved this band, and I’ll always think it’s not enough covered. But this time, I know I’m right for 2 reasons. First of all, the coverage in the specialized press was close to nothing. The second reason is that Raised By Wolves is a unique and special record. Not only should it have been more covered, it should have conquered several “album of the month” spots!

I fell in love with the band when their first EP came out on I Hate Records in 2007. Trident Nor Fire contains 3 fantastic heavy/doom songs and it contains one of the coolest covers I ever heard: Rainbow Demon (originally written and performed by Uriah Heep). SerpentCult played that song like a ritual, really occult and dark. Very Yummy. Of course, the warm sound, the heavy guitars had a lot to do with the atmosphere, but it was also about Michelle Nocon, the singer. Her voice was like a heavy metal singer possessed by a witch.

The first EP on I Hate Records. 4 fantastic heavy/doom songs

After that EP, the band released a pretty cool record called The Weight Of Light. Pure heavy/Doom, with the same recipe but more “resulted” than the first release, heavier, darker, more focused…

The first LP, out on Rise Above Records

And the expected move obviously was to repeat that record with better promotion, to tour and to be a little more successful record after record.

Instead of that, SerpentCult decided to change almost everything. Michelle left the band and the remaining guys decided to go on as a trio.

In fact there are almost no vocals on Raised By Wolves, the new CD. And the music has changed A LOT. It’s not about traditional doom anymore, which is a smart move really, because many bands are doing that now. SeprentCult has taken off to some farway planet. Ther music is cosmic, repetitive (4 songs, 40 minutes) psychedelic and there are some insanely heavy riffs here and there to bring you back to earth. Would you gusy shoot me if I dare saying “progressive” as well?

Amazing second CD by SerpentCult...

Raised By Wolves is a really surprising record that somehow reminds me of Yob. Ok, these two bands sound different, but they have some pretty similar characteristics as they both play with contradictory feelings; cosmic and very heavy, dark yet sometimes very bright, may seem repetitive but progressive... They even sound like they're improvising on some parts ("Longing For Hyperborea" - these wild'n'groovy bass lines are terrific!)

It is extremely difficult to describe precisely Raised By Wolves, and that may be a reason why the press did so little coverage. You have to FEEL this album to understand why I love it so much. And to feel it, you need several spins, you need to listen to it in good conditions (try to do it with headphones) and to turn off your brain. When I manage to listen to it in these conditions, it seemes obvious to me that Raised By Wolves is going to end up in my 2011 favorites. 

The best advice I can give you is to listen to the unbelievable second song of the album, called "Crippled And Frozen". The way these guys literally BUILD the main riff is amazing. Then that riff will bludgeon your sweet little head for almost ten minutes. Looks boring on paper, but it actually feels sooooo good. 

Damnit, here I am sounding like a freak again…

Is Deathcore really all about the looks?

First thing, what on earth is Deathcore? It doesn’t really mean much honestly, it’s just another new label to describe modern death metal bands, influenced by several movements other than traditional Death Metal. That label appeared to describe Metalcore bands that were heavier than the regular ones. Most of the bands come from the US and yes, one of their main characteristics is to have fantastic artworks, very cool merch and nice, studied looks. I was walking around some Metal Market at a summer fest earlier this year and it really shocked me to see all the cool Tshirts with band names I didn’t know about.

And of course, the haters use this to criticize Deathcore bands and accuse them of being opportunistic and shallow. Of course dudes. New bands, with new looks for the new generation, they have to be opportunistic right? Back in the day, bands were soooo much real, genuine, integer…I really hate that old fart mentality.

New generation means new looks and new mentality; we have to accept that. And it’s not about being pro or anti Deathcore, it’s about finding the right bands, as usual. To illustrate this, I chose 2 radically different bands, that both have awesome looks.

The first one is Whitechapel, and I think that their music is really awful. I bought the record called A New Era Of Corruption By mistake, and I still regret it after a few spins. The artwork is FANTASTIC though; a superb black digipack with very complex "man meets machine" art. The golden font is bright and classy; it makes you feel you’re holding something really precious in your hands. But as soon as you play the CD… It’s a disaster. The guys obviously can play. They can play fast and they can play sharp. It’s full of violence and heaviness, but it’s completely harmless because it has no soul. Nothing, just cold blunt riffing, with no personality and no feelings. You can play this record over and over again without even noticing it. A shame but a very good lesson that shows that it’s not enough to be technically good, you still need that bit of genius to compose proper songs.

Really cool cover right? Forget it, the music sucks...

The second example I chose is far more exiting and well recognized, especially here in Europe. I just LOVE The Black Dahlia Murder. They also have awesome looks. The new record called Ritual and it's very beutiful digibook has this ritualistic approach and also makes you feel you’re holding some Black Magik initiation book. But this time, the music fits. The Black Dahlia Murder’s Deathcore is powerful, smart, dynamic and particularly well composed. The band is technically impressive but they know how to throw in some slow parts and some cool leads to let the tension down for a moment, before they punch you back in the face with a blast beat.

Ok, now that one looks good but also SOUNDS good.

They also can create some pretty freaky atmospheres, something cold and typically Scandinavian. Not bad for a band from Michigan right? If you dig Ritual, I suggest you go and listen to all their previous records, especially my personally favorite called Nocturnal. That one’s got a pretty outstanding outwork as well. 

Just AWESOME. A real musthave for modern death metal lovers.