Ankit Sood

Bismoth, Timōrātus and Symphony of Heaven – “Body of Christ” (split ep)

 Posted by on April 1, 2019 at 20:10  No Responses »
Apr 012019
 

Body of Christ

What happens when three bands come together and contribute songs to make a split album? Well for starters it isn’t just three artist, but a plethora of folks involved in the final output of this album. Every song has extensive set credits rolled out. Bismoth, features Rebekah and Jethro de Beer, which is a South African Black Metal band, TIMORATUS features the husband and wife, David & Courtney Napier, a Black/Death/Grindcore from Kentucky, US and Symphony of Heaven an Unblack/Death Metal band, the brainchild of Logan Thompson from Indiana, US . Three different geographies, but all united for the love of Christ. The album was released on the 19th of March 2019 and is currently available on Bandcamp.

Timoratus 

I start off with “Brothers, you are not alone” by Timoratus, which sets out at a tremendous pace with maddening blast beats and chunky riffs and guttural screams that holds the song together. The lyric sheet helps to decipher the meaning which stays layered within the screams. A bunch of people came forward on the vocal duties for this song, David Napier, Mason Beard, Thomas Eversoul, Jake Martin, Quincy Kane Morris, Max Kevin Ølstøren, Mark-David Palmer, Zack Plunkett, Luke Renno, Mitch Underhill and Peter Watson. Now isn’t that something!  “The Root of Unity” by Timoratus, sets out an chill soundscape as it starts and takes no time delve into the death/grind core with lightning speed beats, high tonal guitars and with the organ barraging only to get us some clean vocals and adding a bit of flavour to this heavy song.  We again have a bunch of folks on the vocal duties with the likes of Anna Martin, Courtney Napier, Johanna Fincher and Stephanie Baker. Continue reading »

For I am King – “I”

 Posted by on March 4, 2019 at 17:57  No Responses »
Mar 042019
 

Rarely do we come across bands with women fronting them, and with For I Am King we see Alma Alizadeh stepping in and delivering something extraordinary. For I am King, a Netherlands based Metalcore outfit, have come out with their sophomore album, I. The album is signed up with Redfield records and was released last December the 7th.  Their debut album Daemons won them much applause and launched them well and gave them the opportunity to play at Wacken Open Air.

Have you ever tried screaming? Well let me tell you, it is not easy, I’ve tried plenty of times and it takes a lot to bring out whats in one’s mind to one’s voice, and Alma kills it! What comes out as its result is brutal Metalcore with plenty of ambience added keeping this record heavy and straight. Metalcore as a genre restricts itself within the realms of odd time sequences, breakdowns, melodic riffs and a clean interlude. It gets hard to deliver something fresh when the formulaic has been laid out so rigid. Let’s find out how this record shapes. Continue reading »

Altitudes & Attitude – “Get It Out”

 Posted by on February 10, 2019 at 19:43  No Responses »
Feb 102019
 

When two bass players from the Big Four thrash outfits team up to join forces in creating music, the outcome has to be truly refreshing. So when Frank Bello of Anthrax & David Ellefson of Megadeth met back in 2010 to form Altitudes and Attitudes, they left their fans in anticipation which comes to an end this year, as they released their first album “Get it out” on the 18th January 2019 under the record label of Megaforce records.

Frank with his grungy voice handles the vocals for the album along with strumming some great riffs on the guitars, David fills in rhythm and bass and we have Jeff Friedl (of the A Perfect Circle’s fame) kicking it hard on the drums. To top that, the album has a plethora of artists collaborating such as Ace Frehley (ex-KISS), Gus G. (Ozzy  Osbourne, Firewind), Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper), Christian Martucci (Stone Sour) and Satchel (Steel Panther). Continue reading »

Kalidia– “The Frozen Throne”

 Posted by on December 11, 2018 at 18:10  No Responses »
Dec 112018
 

Power metal stands synonymous with fast guitar riffs, cinematic soundscapes, married with upbeat and anthem like singing style. The Italian band Kalidia, formed in 2010, stands true to this definition, released their first demo-EP in 2012 and their debut album “Lies’ Device” in 2014, and are out with their latest album ‘The Frozen Throne’, released on Nov 23rd 2018 under the record label of Inner Wound Recordings. The album was recorded and mixed by Lars Rettkowitz [Freedom Call], mastered by Achim Köhler [Primal Fear, Amon Amarth, Brainstorm] and the artwork was created by Stan W Decker [Vanden Plas, Primal Fear]. Kalidia toured around the major centres of Europe namely Italy, Germany and the UK and list Rhapsody of Fire, Hammerfall and Stratovarius and Beast In Black as some of their influences.

The album opens up with “Frozen Throne”, the name reminds of the Warcraft’s game of the same name, and as it builds up and gathers momentum it outleashes fast paced guitar riffs meddling well with keys. Nicoletta Rosellini’s impressive voice keeps the song upbeat and full of energy. “Circle’s Spell” opens up with middle-eastern styled riff and brings forth a catchy and uplifting rhythm. Nicolletta showcases her tremendous vocal range and Federico churns out an impressive palm muted riff right after the chorus and doesn’t shy away in making the guitar bleed with a melodic solo. Continue reading »

Perpetual Paranoia – “The Reapers”

 Posted by on November 14, 2018 at 00:43  No Responses »
Nov 142018
 

When two veteran musicians, separated by the Pacific ocean, Dale Thompson (of the Bride and The world will burn fame) and Tiago James de Souza (Sole axe-wielder of the Hand of Fire) decide to collaborate, they come out with a brutal debut record “The Reapers” and are calling themselves Perpetual Paranoia – which stems out of a constant fear one evades through the passage of time.

With the advent of the internet and technology, a lot of people have come together from different spheres of lives and aligned thoughts and ideated on work that baffles and captivates the intended audience. Leveraging the benefits of the above, Perpetual Paranoia came to existence and composed an amalgamation of Thrash, doom and hard rock in this album. The lyrical duties were fulfilled by Thomson and the song writing and arrangements were managed by Souza. The band had signed up with Rottweiler Records and N.O.G. and released this album in August 2018.

Without much ado, I queue up the record and as it opens with “Intro” it immediately paints a scary yet ambient soundscape with ghastly shrills lingering at the backdrop. “The Reaper” starts off as a monologue and before you know it speeds up with a doom styled guitar riff accentuated with blast beats. The vocal delivery modulates and swings between different styles that of doom and thrash metal. There’s a subdued guitar soloing which is not very evident but needs to be picked up to laud the fine craftsmanship of the guitarist. Continue reading »

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