lørdag 22. januar 2022

Projekt Gemineye releases "In the Year 3073 - Book III

 




PROJEKT GEMINEYE is the progressive/melodic hard rock brainchild of Canadian Mark Anthony K, based in Brampton, Ontario.

Featuring guest appearances from David Donley (bass) and Joe Bailey (lead vocals and bass), the brand new album "In the Year 3073 - Book III" marks the finishing chapter in a trilogy of concept albums that tells the story about an expedition that returns to Earth after having lived on a distant planet for several centuries.

The album is released TODAY via K's own label Reficul Records at Projekt Gemineye's Bandcamp page, and will be available on CD, vinyl and picture disc at a later point. 


tirsdag 6. april 2021

SINGLE REVIEW: Children of the Void - We Light the Way

CHILDREN OF THE VOID (Norway)
"We Light the Way"
(Independent)
Release date: April 9th 2021
Genre: Melodic metal, modern heavy metal, metalcore

Links:
Facebook
BandCamp
Instagram
Spotify

CHILDREN OF THE VOID is a collective of young musicians based out of Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. The group consists of members from Baby Heartless, Fretmiden, Scourge and Firefight, and their music is said to be inspired from diverse melodic death, symphonic, black, industrial and deathcore acts.

The band has recorded the five track EP "Garden of Bones" that will be out later this year, and their full length debut is scheduled for release in 2022.

"We Light the Way" is the collective's first ever release, apart from the demo version that is already out on Spotify. With lyrical content that advices the listeners to stay true to their own sense of judgement, and clocking in at just under three minutes the song offers a rather brief first insight to what CHILDREN OF THE VOID are up to.

In Flames immediately appears as a possible source of inspiration, both riff and vocal wise. The guitars never lose their harmonic touch, and along with the vocal lines, as well as the voice itself (especially during the chorus), they clearly prove that the band never searched too far outside the Norwegian border for inspiration. Come to think of it, I'm hearing some Entombed in here too.

2:50 is fairly short, and certain parts of the song feel like they could benefit from a bit more exploration on the arrangement side of things. I take it that CHILDREN OF THE VOID is still a young band in terms of both existence and personell age, and therefore might still need a bit of time to mature as a collective and perfect their way of work, but their first offering certainly shows great potential.

"We Light the Way" is out on Bandcamp on April 9th, and on all relevant streaming services on April 16th.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Tracklist:
1. We Light the Way

LINE UP:
Runar - vocals
Even - guitars
Robin -  guitars and backing vocals
Jørgen - bass
Eivind - drums

tirsdag 23. februar 2021

DISCARDED SELF releases first track from upcoming full length debut

DISCARDED SELF is Jarret Beach's (Destroy My Brains/Ashes of Yggdrasil) solo project, featuring local drummers from his area in Alberta, Canada. The material mainly focuses on topics such as pain, misery, the occult, rebellion, mind control, marginalization, torture, drug abuse and suicide, and can be described as blackened/sludge doom metal.

DISCARDED SELF has released "Orbitoclast", the first track from their eponymous debut album, due for release on Sarcophagus Recordings on April 30th. 

Beach describes "Orbitoclast" thusly:

“The song Orbitoclast is a collection of riffs and vocal ideas I actually started this project with. It starts off slow, but gets straight down to it with a thrashy section that has shredding vocals bleeding all over it. For those that aren't aware, an Orbitoclast is the instrument that is hammered into a person's brain, when they were the poor individual who received a lobotomy in the late 40's early 50's. The song is of course about the horrifying practice of lobotomy, but has an extra hidden meaning. It's a metaphor for giving your trust to someone who doesn't have your best interests in mind, and only their own personal interest, with no concern of who they damage along the way.”


DISCARDED SELF on social media:

Listen to "Orbitoclast" here:

lørdag 13. februar 2021

VENGEANT release debut single "Angel's Battle Cry"

VENGEANT is a new female fronted symphonic metal band based in Sweden, formed by lead guitarist and bassist Christoffer Holm and the band's manager Emma Elmèn back in 2019.

In addition to Holm the band's line up includes Danae Komodromou (Scarlet Desire) on vocals, drummer Alfred Fridhagen (Saint Deamon, Mad Hatter and Darkest Void) and rhythm guitarist Dennis Eriksson (Mad Hatter and Darkest Void).

VENGEANT are currently working on their debut EP, due for release later in 2021, and their first single "Angel's Battle Cry" is out now!


VENGEANT on social media:

Listen to "Angel's Battle Cry" here:

onsdag 27. januar 2021

NEWSPOST: Dreamslain release debut on January 29th 2021


DREAMSLAIN are an epic/extreme metal trio based in Tromsø in the cold wilds of Northern Norway. The group was founded by Igor Jakobsen (guitars and vocals) and Daniel Paulsen Figenschou (drums) in 2010, and keyboardist Anna Loppacher completed the line-up with her arrival in 2013. 

The band have a discography that includes the Tales of War EP (2018), and the two singles Ownership Denied and He Who Rises in Force, both of which are included on the band's upcoming full length debut, Tales of Knights and Distant Worlds, due for release on January 29th.

The album will be available as a double ecopack CD and on all relevant streaming platforms.

TRACKLIST
1. He Who Rises in Force (8:29)
2. Knights of La Mancha (10:03)
3. My Mask (10:31)
4. The Fall of the Elven Lord (12:01)
5. Cosmonautics (8:07)
6. Ownership Denied (7:59)
7. Shadow Warriors (7:16)
8. Tale of the Copper Guard (14:24)
9. In Memory of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Bonus track) (3:28)

You can also check out their most recent lyric video here:


LINKS:

From left to right: Daniel Paulsen Figenschou - Anna Loppacher - Igor Jakobsen

Line-up:
Anna Loppacher - piano, hammond organ, synthesizers and bass pedals
Daniel Paulsen Figenschou - drums
Igor Jakobsen - lead and rhythm guitars, 12 string classical guitar, bass, banjo, lead and backing vocals

tirsdag 7. april 2020

ALBUM REVIEW: Future Now - Utopia Awaits


FUTURE NOW (England)
"Utopia Awaits"
(Independent)
Release date: June 24th 2019
Genre: Progressive metal, melodic heavy metal

Links:
Facebook
BandCamp
Instagram
YouTube
Spotify

FUTURE NOW began taking shape as far back as in 2009, when guitarist Jaz Hunter auditioned for Flesh That Burns, the band that drummer Charlie Mckenzie-Stewart was in at the time. They were two souls that wanted to explore and play the same kind of music, and spent the following decade writing music together. Eventually, Riko Burrows heard the material that they had written, and offered to add his voice to the recordings that were released on the band's debut album "Utopia Awaits" in June last year.

Although performing as a three piece on the album with Burrows seemingly appearing as a session member, FUTURE NOW has later on expanded into a full band in quintet form and are ready to embark on live work as well as writing material together.

In addition to its own independent release, "Utopia Awaits" was released as the soundtrack to a book with the same title. The album consists of an intro and thirteen individual tracks, and clocks in at over eightyone minutes. Far too long to this writer's personal taste, but we'll give it a go.

The album goes in many sudden directions in terms of variety, tempo, time signatures and texture. Musicianship and instrumentation is of course impeccable and precise, but the intensity becomes a bit overwhelming at times, which makes an album at this length quite a challenge.

To conclude, this listener has no difficulty acknowledging the creative and performing talents that have produced this album. There are pieces and arrangements on here that are pure brilliance. The album was produced by the band themselves, and the sound and production is right for their genre.

As a whole, "Utopia Awaits" is not among the easiest ones to get into, but for the trained ear I have no doubts that FUTURE NOW's intensity and technical flair is met with a heartfelt welcome.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Tracklist:
1. Remnants
2. Creation Of Man*
3. Dying Universe
4. From Legend To Myth
5. Pillars Of Creation, Pt 1*
6. Born Into The Underworld
7. Wisdom Of Harmony
8. Past Present Future
9. Pillars Of Destruction, Pt 2
10. Stand As One (Foreign Lands)
11. Utopia Awaits
12. Time And Time Again
13. Sky Racers
14. World's Apart

*Added to the Subterranean Noise - 2019 playlist on Spotify.

LINE UP:
Jaz Hunter - guitars
Charlie Mckenzie-Stewart - drums
Riko Burrows - vocals

lørdag 4. april 2020

ALBUM REVIEW: Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate - Nostalgia For Infinity


HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE (England)
"Nostalgia For Infinity"
(Glass Castle Recordings)
Release date: May 6th 2020
Genre: Progressive rock, electronic rock, experimental rock, neo-progressive rock

Links:
Facebook
BandCamp
Spotify
YouTube
Website

HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE provided one of the most memorable releases that were featured on SUBTERRANEAN NOISE last year, when they launched the three track single/EP "Ark". It consisted of two original tracks that served as teasers to their upcoming album, plus a curious, but interesting take on the old Irish traditional folk song "She Moved Through the Fair".

These three tracks were this writer's very first introduction to these Londoners and their music. Every song has its own colors, textures and expression, which in turn just proved to this new listener that HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE are not a band that dwell within the comforts of just one genre. Having enjoyed progressive rock for a number of years already, this new aquaintance very soon turned into a dear friend that I looked forward to meeting again.

You can read the "Ark" review here.

In essence, HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE are a duo that consists of multi-instrumentalists and producers Malcolm Galloway and Mark Gatland, with occasional appearances from Kathryn Thomas on vocals and flute. Since their full length debut "Invisible" came out in early 2012, the band's discography now counts four albums and two singles, and the fifth full length "Nostalgia For Infinity" is due for release in early May.

The album's nine minute opener bears the title "Century Rain", the first of seven tracks on the album that are inspired by sci-fi novelist Alistair Reynolds. It starts off rather delicately with soaring keyboards and a flute, as is not really uncommon in progressive rock, and develops from just a simple electric piano melody into a track that is loaded with a nineties' era Jethro Tull feel. Galloway's voice is perhaps not the band's strongest feature, but he very often reminds me of Ian Anderson and his vocal delivery. As with Anderson, Galloway's vocals sometimes sound a bit insecure and hesitating, especially on the louder parts, but the genius is that it fits!

Production- and soundwise I am tempted to mention The Flower Kings as a reference. No polished production, but an organic and natural sound that makes it seem like you're standing in the middle of the room where the band is playing. Even expressionwise as well, but in my ears HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE lean more towards the poppier side of prog than the Swedes.

"Twin Earth" is another track that continues in the same musical, as well as thematical direction as "Century Rain". Both tracks are based around the "Century Rain" novel by the aforementioned Alistair Reynolds, which to put it short is (as explained by the band) "a story about saving mysterious copies of the world, the underlying theme is our ability to dehumanise each other despite second chances to avoid the mistakes of history". A fascinating concept, to say the least!

"Ark" is, as mentioned earlier, the single cut that was presented back in September last year. A close to twelve minute long instrumental about the Ark Royal, a British aircraft carrier that played a significant role in the defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War.

Another interesting feature about this British duo, is their ability to create equally interesting storylines for their lyrics. "Nanobotoma" tells the story about a leukemia-ridden scientist who creates medical self-replicating nanobots. They are supposed to identify and destroy cancer cells, but the protagonist loses control of them, and they soon develop into a mechanical cancer instead. Musically it does not stray too far from the well-trodden path that the album's initial two tracks created, as it at times operates within a neo-progressive landscape.

After four tracks that showcase the organic sound of HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE it is time for something a bit different. "Chasing Neon" was already the B-side for their "Ark" single, so this is by no means an unfamiliar track, but in an album setting it becomes an even bigger contrast than what was the case on the single.
The track is constructed around an arpeggiated riff, with a variety of background sounds and textures. A curious instrumental with a bit of a retro science fiction feel.

The latter half of the album largely consists of the "Redemption Ark Suite", a five part set of songs that are based on Reynolds' Revelation Space novels. "Glitterband" and the album's title track bookend the suite, and the middle three are instrumentals.
As if "Chasing Neon" was a turning point on the album, "Glitterband" features more electronic elements and rhythm programming than the first four tracks. Personally I prefer the band's music when it is not as dominated by electronics as it is on these tracks, though I recognise what it adds to the story that they tell.
The title track takes the band back to where I feel they sound best, and concludes the almost 22 minute long suite.

"Voyager" is another instrumental, a calm piece of music that winds the album down as it nears conclusion, and "Sixth Extinction" with its heavier guitars and fast rhythms is the exact opposite that rounds off "Nostalgia For Infinity".

It should be well known for any HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE listener that this band is a lot about sonic exploration, textural music and variation. Their fifth album is no exception, and if you like the sound of The Flower Kings, the energy of 90's Jethro Tull and maybe even a bit of electronic experimentations...well, you get the idea.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Tracklist:
1. Century Rain*
2. Twin Earth
3. Ark
4)  Nanobotoma
5)  Chasing Neon*

Redemption Ark Suite
6)  Glitterband
7)  Conjoiners
8)  Scorpio
9)  Inhibitors
10) Nostalgia For Infinity

11) Voyager
12) Sixth Extinction

*Added to the Subterranean Noise - 2020 playlist on Spotify.

LINE UP:
Malcolm Galloway - vocals, guitar, keyboards/synths and programming
Mark Gatland - bass guitar, additional guitars, keyboards/synths and  Chapman Stick.
Kathryn Thomas - flute, vocals

Projekt Gemineye releases "In the Year 3073 - Book III

  PROJEKT GEMINEYE is the progressive/melodic hard rock brainchild of Canadian Mark Anthony K, based in Brampton, Ontario. Featuring guest a...